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Showing posts from December, 2021

Multigrain and Seeded Sourdough Boule

This Multigrain and Seeded Sourdough Boule is a wonderful hearty bread filled with lots of whole grains and topped with a variety of seeds. This is a large loaf of bread that you bake in a Dutch oven. It includes sour dough starter, whole grains and seeds, and a combination of unbleached white and white whole wheat flour. It makes excellent toast, and lasts for quite a few days. It is really easy

Lemon Curd Muffins

These lemon curd muffins begin with a lemony muffin spiced with cardamom and ginger that is filled with a tablespoon of lemon curd and then topped with an oat and pecan streusel and finally drizzled with a sweet lemon glaze. These muffins are lemon upon lemon upon lemon, which is always good. Add the crunch of the oat and pecan streusel topped with the lemon glaze and you will love every layer.

Mexican Chocolate Cake

This Mexican Chocolate Cake is faintly spiced with cinnamon and cayenne pepper, reminding you of the flavors of Mexican hot chocolate. This cake is frosted with a mixture of melted chocolate chips and heavy cream that you spice with cinnamon, cayenne, and coffee liqueur or extract, and then you whip in a stand mixer until thick. The cake itself is super moist and decadent. I purposely slightly

Vietnamese-Style Chicken and Rice Soup (Instant Pot)

This Vietnamese-style chicken and rice soup is made with a stock that is flavored with ginger, spices, herbs, and garlic. Add lots of chicken, sticky rice, more spices, and fish sauce, and you have an amazingly satisfying and delicious soup. Chicken and rice soup has always been one of my favorite comfort foods. This recipe elevates chicken and rice to higher level. The broth or stock is cooked

Leek and Celery Root Soup

This leek and celery root soup makes an excellent dinner party or cocktail party appetizer. Who doesn't love a sip of hot soup on a cold winter evening.Greet your guests with a tray of these little two ounce sips of hot leek and celery root soup to warm them up. These little soups would be such a nice surprise, wouldn't they?This soup is so refined and elegant and would make a wonderful first

Viet-Cajun Seafood Boil

This Viet-Cajun Seafood boil is a delicious marriage of the flavors of the Gulf Coast and traditional Vietnamese ingredients. Viet-Cajun seafood boils are based on Louisiana crawfish boils with added traditional Vietnamese flavors, including lemon grass, fish sauce, and lots and lots of garlic. It's a delicious fusion with the flavors of the American South.Typically, Viet-Cajun seafood boils

Ekmak | Syrian Sweet Bread

Ekmak is a Syrian sweet bread that consists of a soft dough shaped into a boat and filled with sweetened soft cheese, fruit, jam, and drizzled with honey. This ekmak is shaped like Georgian khachapuri. It's filled with cheese like khachapuri, but it is sweet instead of savory, and the dough is super soft and fluffy. I found this bread in the July/August edition of Bake from Scratch Magazine.

Christmas Wreath Focaccia

This Christmas wreath focaccia is fun to decorate and even more fun to eat. To decorate it, I used large flat leaf parsley (which I had growing in a pot on my patio), scallions, cherry tomatoes, mini pepperonis, mini sweet peppers, and, to add flavor, mini fresh mozzarella pearls. You don't have to limit yourself to the ingredients I used. Use whatever you have on hand, including rosemary, sage,

Cheddar Cheese and Pecan Crisps

These cheddar cheese and pecan crisps are the perfect appetizer to go with a sparkling white wine before dinner. These crisps are deliciously flaky, light, and tender. They remind me of what the best cheesy biscuits would be like if they were a cracker. This cheddar and pecan cracker recipe is so easy to make too. Just toss the ingredients into the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times.

Bacon, Leek, and Cheddar Mini Quiches

These Bacon, Leek, and Cheddar Mini Quiches are perfect for a cocktail party, game day gathering... or even a portable breakfast. The combination of the bacon and leek flavors, along with the cheddar cheese is pretty amazing. Of course, bacon! One of my favorite appetizers to serve is mini quiche Lorraine. They are always a huge hit for brunch, lunch, and baby showers. These bacon, leek, and

Zimtsterne | German Christmas Cookies

These zimtsterne cookies are a crispy cinnamon almond cookie shaped into a star for Christmas. I have seen several explanations of Zimtsterne (German cinnamon star cookies), the most common being that almonds and cinnamon were very dear in seventeenth century Germany, so these cookies were served only at Christmas as a special treat. My favorite story is that these cookies are hung on Christmas

Toasted Sesame Seed Crackers

These toasted sesame seed crackers are the perfect little savory appetizer treat. These little coin-shaped crackers are the perfect little nibble with a glass of champagne or sparkling cider. These sesame rounds are super buttery, tender, and crumbly, just like your favorite shortbread or, if you're French, sablé! The only thing wrong with these little crackers is that you won't be able to stop