Think Spice, Think -- Anise

One of my favorite spices has always been anise. While I usually make springerle cookies, this year I wanted to try a different recipe. I ran across a recipe for Rich Anise Cookies, that sounded delicious, so I gave them a try. What's really nice about them is that they are refrigerator cookies, so I can bake them up at a moment's notice, whenever I want a fresh, warm dessert. This is a good thing so I don't eat them all at once!

I'm sending this along to Manuela at Baking History, who is hosting this month's Think Spice event. Be sure and check out her blog for all the entries, and also take a look at Sunita's blog. Sunita started the event and there are always wonderful and spice-laden recipes at her site.


Rich Anise Cookies

2 1/2 cups sifted flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
3 ounces of cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons anise seeds, crushed

Sift together the flour and salt and set aside.

Cream together the butter, cream cheese, and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and beat well.

Gradually stir in the dry ingredients, mixing well. Stir in the anise seeds.

Divide the dough in half. Shape each half into a roll, 2-inches in diameter. Wrap the rolls tightly in waxed paper and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Cut the rolls into 1/8-inch slices. Place the rounds about 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges start to brown. Remove from baking sheets and cool on racks. Makes about 6 dozen.

My Kitchen, My World: Iran

Before I describe my experience with Persian cooking, let me tell you about two things I learned.

1. One person's difficult/hard recipe is another person's easy recipe.

2. Dehydrated herbs, in quantity, are to be avoided.


Now, on with the story.

When I learned that we were traveling to Iran this week, I contacted my neighbor, who is also my excess-baked-goods recipient. I knew that one of her friends came from the central Asia region, so I decided to find out which country it was, hopes high. Much to my pleasure, she told me that F was indeed from Iran and would be more than willing to share some recipes with me. So, F and I met at a local coffee shop and she showered me with 4 recipes, instructions, and some dried whole lemons.
She also referred me to a local shop that might have some of the less common ingredients. Her generosity was amazing.

After we parted, I went straight to the shop, and found the three ingredients in question. F had suggested that for one dish, using the dried herbs would be much quicker than washing and chopping all the fresh ones, so based on her recommendation, I bought this:


Combining the recipe on the can and F's recipe, I prepared Gormeh Sabzi. On one level, it was a delicious, lemony meal, but oh, those dehydrated herbs! They just never lost that grassy taste, even after soaking, sauteeing, and cooking. I will have to remake this dish using the fresh ingredients, for I am sure it will be ten times better that way. I really don't recommend using them if you ever make this. Also, I did substitute beef for lamb, which F does as well, since she doesn't like the taste of lamb.




Since F gave me four recipes, I now have three left to try. I will only use fresh ingredients, because, for me, it is not a burden to wash and chop. I will be sure to write a post about them as they are each different from one another: Fesenjan, Dizi, and Tah Chin. (When I re-post the remake for Gormeh Sabzi, I will include the recipe.)

Thanks to Elra for taking us to Iran this week, to Lauren for hosting, and to Susan for having a vision.

The Happy Waitress

One of the nice things about working from home is being able to call my own shots. Work when I want, cook when I want, play when I want. I think you get the picture. It's why I look forward to the various Internet cooking events and challenges and then actually have time to participate in most of them. Sometimes the challenges match up with a work-related project as well, which is fun.

This month, I've been working on a travel book with a special section on Diners, which fit right in with the November theme for the Weekend Cookbook Challenge (34): Diner Food. Ani, of Foodie Chickie, is the gracious hostess this month. With all the desserts and dinners I've been creating lately, I searched for a menu item that would work for breakfast or lunch. I came across a reference to a sandwich that sounded interesting and delicious. It's basically an open-faced grilled cheese sandwich with bacon and tomatoes. Since I love grilled cheese, and you can never go wrong with bacon, I knew this was the right choice. While I forgot to add the French Fries in my hunger and excitement, it still made a delicious lunch.

I present to you the Happy Waitress:




Butter and grill two slices of bread. Top with bacon strips and tomato slices followed by a slice of American or Cheddar cheese. Grill or toast until cheese is melted. Serve with French Fries.

Thanks to Ani for hosting and to Sara of i like to cook for creating this event. I look forward to next month.

Barefoot Bloggers Bonus: Chive Risotto Cakes

Knowing that I would be using rice in several dishes this week, I prepared a large amount this past weekend. So, yesterday, I was down to the wire for making the Chive Risotto Cakes, a November bonus recipe chosen by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen.

I had planned to make them Tuesday night, but that didn't happen. And yesterday, I was headed to the dentist for some heavy-duty dental work, so I knew I wouldn't be able to eat much for a day or two. I decided to have dinner for lunch and made the cakes in the early afternoon.

Now, all the ingredients were chilled, just not chilled together, so the cakes refused to stay in one piece. I felt like I was frying chive risotto crumbles. So maybe there is something to mixing the ingredients and having the entire mixture chill as one.



Even so, they turned out fine and were delicious. I had two hot ones with lunch, then refrigerated the remaining ones. By dinnertime, I couldn't feel, chew or taste much, so I ended up eating those remaining ones, cold, with a bit of salt. I can say that they are good either hot or cold and definitely worth making.

So, thanks to Deb and the Barefoot Bloggers for a good bonus this month.

(The bonus cakes will have to wait until I can eat again.)

TWD: Arborio Rice Pudding

I've eaten a lot of rice this week, helped along by our TWD pick of the week: Arborio Rice Pudding, chosen by Isabelle of Les Gourmandises d' Isa. I still have more rice dishes to go. Some weeks are like that. I usually have a variety of rices on hand: Basmati, brown, and Arborio, since it is a versatile grain.

While I decided to make just half a recipe, I kept the full amount of rice, since it was only 1/4 cup. I was skeptical that such a small amount of rice would really absorb over 3 cups of milk, and after reading comments on the P&Q, that was confirmed. It only took the rice about 35 minutes to cook, so perhaps a longer cooking time would help evaporate the larger amount of liquid. My end result was a nice thick rice pudding, not soupy at all.

I divided the pudding into two parts to try some different flavor combinations. For the first one, I whipped some heavy cream and folded it into the pudding, then sprinkled the top with nutmeg. It reminded me of fluffy tapioca, which I love.



To the remaining pudding, I added some raspberries, since I was in a fruity mood rather than a chocolate one. Chocolate just seemed a bit heavy to me and I felt the fruit would give the pudding a bright touch. The basic rice pudding is such a blank slate, so playing around is encouraged.



For other tasty renditions, check out the other TWD blogs.

My Kitchen, My World: Puerto Rico

This week the MKMW group traveled to Puerto Rico, courtesy of Lauren, of I'll Eat You. Several years ago I had the opportunity to spend a week in Puerto Rico. The first few days, we stayed in a B&B in Old San Juan, walking all over the city, enjoying the sights, and touring interesting places. Then, we got our rental car and spent several days driving all over the island, from end to end and top to bottom. I know I have photographs buried somewhere, so I'll have to continue searching, but we did have a fabulous time, playing in the mountains and the oceans and the tropical forests. And, of course, food was part of that experience.

For my dining pleasure tonight, I decided to marinate two boneless chicken breasts in this:


The actual marinade consisted of 1 ounce rum (hand carried back from the Bacardi distillery in San Juan, I might add), 1 ounce soy sauce, 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger, 1 tablespoon minced onion, 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, 1/3 teaspoon dry mustard, and a couple of pinches of crushed red chiles.



The chicken breasts were marinated for 4 hours, then baked at 350 degrees F for 25 to 30 minutes, or until tender and cooked through.

Meanwhile, I took one of these:




No. It's not a banana. It's a plantain, and I turned it into tostones. I peeled the plantain, then made inch thick diagonal slices and sauteed them, flat ends down, until brown on each side. Because of the sugar content, you must watch carefully so they don't burn. When the slices were browned, I removed them, drained them on paper towels, then took my handy-dandy custom-made wooden mallet and mashed them flat. After creating the little plantain patties, I put them back into the frying pan, and cooked them until they were golden brown. Upon removal, I put them back onto paper towels to drain, then sprinkled them with salt.



To plate, I served the chicken with rice and the tostones, topped with sour cream and some minced green onion.


I have to declare, that while the chicken was tender and flavorful, those tostones were out of this world! I will definitely make them again, and maybe use two plantains instead of one.

Now, I'm looking forward to seeing where we travel this coming week.

Barefoot Bloggers: Herb Roasted Onions

Ah, today. Just another normal day in the ‘hood.

Not.

Best laid plans and all that.

You see, having had a busy Monday and Tuesday, I had hoped to get caught up on work today. Yep. Just a quiet day, get my quota done, settle in to watch the new season of Top Chef (one of the cheftestants is a local guy! Root root root)

But no. I had gone up to the kitchen to fix lunch, around noon. As my lunch was thawing out, I stepped to the living room window to check out the scene. Is that a strange car parked across the street? Must. Get. License Number.

Oh, wait. What the heck is that? Let’s see, 8 police cars (3 unmarked), 2 canine units, one ambulance, one fire truck. Something must be going on. . . .

Two hours later I came back in the house, trying to refocus on work and lunch.

Any guesses? That’s right. The police hit the drug house this morning, complete with bullet-proof vests, firearms, battering rams, canines, the whole she-bang. While I missed the initial entry, I was able to join my fellow conspirators neighbors to see much of what transpired. While this may only be the first of many hits, the police scored a notorious drug dealer and a quantity of substances. Even as recently as tonight, several more suspects were nabbed. Apparently, the grapevine is out of commission, so even though clients are showing up to an empty house, they aren’t getting away.

And, can you believe there’s a 5-year-old girl living with all this? Mercifully, the police timed the raid while she was in kindergarten, and the grandparents took her home from school, but my word. . . .

Now to the task at hand. Onions.

Kelly from Baking With The Boys chose the first recipe of November for Barefoot Bloggers, Herb Roasted Onions. These were simple to prepare and delicious to boot. I served them with roasted chicken thighs and roasted potatoes – everything cooked together (separate pans lined with non-stick foil), so there was minimal clean up and minimal effort. I highly recommend them as a side dish. I probably should have made more, since I had leftover chicken, and when I reheated it tonight, I really wished I had onions to reheat along with it.

(I did have a green vegetable to go along with everything else, so it was a balanced meal.)