Toll House Cookies

Toll House cookies have been on my To-Do list for a couple of weeks. After the Allure of Chocolate talk and refreshments, I needed a palate cleanser. Toll House cookies were the perfect answer. Just for fun, I tried the Pan Cookie variation. Oh, who am I kidding? I was in a hurry and didn’t want to spend an hour baking cookies a dozen at a time.

Toll House cookies have been a part of my life seemingly forever. My mother did almost no baking but one of the very few recipes she made regularly was Toll House cookies. When I was setting up housekeeping in college, one of the first things I bought for my kitchen was cookie sheets so that I could continue baking them. When my daughter was young, I kept her busy on Christmas Eve baking Toll House cookies for Santa Claus. Now I bake them when I need a chocolate injection. They freeze perfectly, so five dozen is not too much for one person.

The Pan Cookie variation was easy. The batter spread easily in the jelly-roll pan. After 20 minutes, it was golden brown and ready to come out of the oven. I forced myself to wait until it had cooled down a bit before using a pizza cutter to make smooth, even bars.

Verdict: Yum!! This one’s a keeper!!




Tollhouse Cookies(source: back of the Nestle semi-sweet morsels package)

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks.

Makes about 5 dozen cookies

Pan Cookie Variation: Grease 15x10-inch jelly-roll pan. Prepare dough as above. Spread into prepared pan. Bake for 20 t0 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan on wire rack.

Makes 4 dozen bars.

Recycle: vanilla extract bottle

Compost: eggshells

Thanksgiving Epilogue - Turkey Tetrazzini

There are recipes out there that call for already cooked poultry as a starting ingredient. I don’t usually make such recipes because I don’t like to take the time to cook the chicken (or whatever) first. It’s true, though, that when you’re making something that starts with raw chicken, you have to cook it as part of the process anyway, so maybe the total preparation time is about the same in the end…so maybe my objections are psychological more than anything else. But at any rate, I don’t usually make recipes that start with precooked poultry.

However, I had a goodly amount of leftover turkey as a result of the Nutty Thanksgiving. I’d been looking through a stack of recipes a few days before and came across one I’d printed out nearly five years ago, for Chicken Tetrazzini. It mentioned that leftover turkey also works. At that point I had, I guesstimated, about a pound of leftover turkey meat, so I cut the recipe in half. I also omitted the truffle butter, and used small pasta shells instead of spaghetti.

I think I’ve made this recipe before, but I don’t remember anything about how it turned out. Maybe that should have told me something.

The recipe calls for you to make an enriched and concentrated stock. It sounds tasty, but I didn’t want to take the time. Besides, I didn’t have any bones. So I just used 1 cup canned chicken broth. Maybe that was the problem. The sauce was thin, and on the whole, I thought this dish needed more flavor. Also I felt there was too much meat in it, but then I may have misjudged how much meat I had. And if you do make this dish, I would suggest cutting the meat up small; 1-inch chunks are too big, in my opinion.

Verdict: Not bad, but I don't think I'll be making it again.

Chicken (or Turkey) Tetrazzini
(source: www.epicurious.com, originally from Gourmet, Nov. 2003)

• 1 to 1 1/2 pound chicken bones (from 2 cooked chickens), broken into 2- to 3-inch pieces
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 carrot, thinly sliced
• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
• 2 celery ribs, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed
• 5 whole black peppercorns
• 1 Turkish or 1/2 California bay leaf
• 2 whole cloves
• 3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter
• 3/4 pound mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons medium-dry Sherry
• 2 tablespoons truffle butter* (optional)
• 1/2 lb spaghetti
• 2 pounds chicken meat (from 2 cooked chickens), torn into 1-inch pieces
• 1 ounce freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (1/2 cup)

Bring chicken bones, broth, carrot, onion, celery, garlic, peppercorns, bay leaf, and cloves to a boil in a 3- to 4-quart heavy saucepan, then simmer, partially covered, skimming froth, 30 minutes.

Pour stock through a large sieve into a bowl, discarding solids, and return to saucepan. Measure stock: If more than 2 cups, boil until reduced. Keep warm, covered.

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a shallow 3-quart glass or ceramic baking dish.

Heat 3 tablespoons butter in a large heavy skillet over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then sauté mushrooms with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper, stirring, until liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated and mushrooms begin to turn golden, about 8 minutes.

Melt remaining 3 tablespoons butter in a 2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan over low heat, then add flour and cook roux, whisking, 3 minutes. Add warm stock in a fast stream, whisking constantly, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, whisking occasionally, 5 minutes. Add cream, Sherry, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper and simmer over low heat, whisking occasionally, 10 minutes. Stir in truffle butter (if using).

Cook spaghetti in a large pot of >boiling salted water until al dente, then drain well.

Toss together spaghetti, mushrooms, and half of sauce in a large bowl, then transfer to baking dish. Stir together chicken meat and remaining sauce in same large bowl. Make a depression in spaghetti, then spoon chicken into it and sprinkle dish with cheese.

Bake until sauce is bubbling and top is lightly browned, about 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

*Available at some specialty foods shops and D'Artagnan (800-327-8246).

Recycle: broth cans, spice jars, sherry bottle

Compost: vegetable peelings/trimmings

Pecan Pie

Pecan pie seemed like the obvious choice for dessert for the Nutty Thanksgiving. Only, I’d never made it before and was a bit uncertain about it. I wasn’t sure what all went into one, and for some reason was expecting it to be somewhat complicated.

After a bit of online research, I discovered that some recipes call for molasses. I liked this because I had had to purchase some to make gingerbread, and I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with the rest, so I was glad to find a way to use some of it up.

This particular recipe caught my attention not only because it uses molasses but also because the writer claimed that it was not overly sweet. I like pecan pie, but it can be too sweet, and I wanted to avoid that.

And the writer was correct. This pie is tasty and not obnoxiously sweet. We both agreed on that. It’s also ridiculously easy. Especially if you use a purchased pie crust (which I didn’t , as is probably obvious from the photo). Literally, a child could make this. You just mix everything and pour it over the pecans, and they magically rise to the top. Why have I never tried this before?

Verdict: Yum! This one's a keeper!

Pecan Pie
(source: Simply Recipes, http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/pecan_pie/

2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp molasses
2 Tbsp melted butter
2 Tbsp flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups pecans, coarsely chopped

1 9-inch pie shell, chilled for an hour if freshly made, defrosted for 10 minutes if frozen.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spread pecans along the bottom of the pie shell. Mix the remaining ingredients and pour over pecans. The pecans will rise to the surface of the pie.

Bake at 375°F for 45-50 minutes until the filling has set. About 20 minutes into the cooking you may want to use a pie crust protector, or tent the edges of the pie crust with aluminum foil to prevent the pie crust edges from burning.

Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Serves 8.

Recycle: corn syrup bottle, molasses jar, vanilla bottle

Compost: eggshells

Mediterranean Herb-Roasted Chicken

I’ve decided that an important reason why Americans are so fat these days is that every dish served in casual dining establishments as well as every recipe featured on cooking shows and recipe sites is smothered in a cream sauce or melted cheese, or fried. Sometimes it’s all three. I’ve become very conscience of my weight since joining a gym (spandex is NOT your friend) so I’ve been seeking out recipes that are not smothered in cream or cheese, or fried. They are tough to come by.

This recipe caught my eye because it fits my criteria and is my favorite kind of recipe, the one dish meal. It’s similar to the Rosemary Chicken and Vegetables recipe that I’ve made for years but with different seasonings and roasted in the oven rather than prepared on top of the stove.

Anything cooked uncovered in an oven is going to be dry so basting it or marinating it is critical. This recipe offers an “herb mixture” to spoon over the ingredients. I thought that it would be sufficient until I actually made it. It’s more “herb” than “mixture”. And two tablespoons is not nearly enough for the initial roasting time.

I chose not to use whole chicken legs simply because I don’t care for them. I used my usual boneless breasts. They have little or no fat on them. I assume that legs are fattier because there was virtually no “accumulated juices” to baste with. The chicken and vegetables came out of the oven dry, dry, dry. I also have to quibble with the size of the vegetables. Cutting the potatoes into 8 wedges was too large. They didn’t cook through. Likewise, cutting the zucchini into 2” pieces. Too big. I cut mine into ½” pieces and it cooked perfectly.

Now for the good news. The aroma while this was cooking was mouthwatering. And it looked fantastic when it came out of the oven, probably the most colorful dish that I have ever made. Topping it all off, it tasted every bit as good as it smelled.

I want to make this again. The first time, I would try baking rather than roasting. I am curious if merely covering this would seal in the juices, creating a moister dish. If that doesn’t work, I would add chicken broth to the herb mixture similar to the Rosemary Chicken recipe, adding much more than two tablespoons for the initial roasting time.

Verdict: Needs work


Mediterranean Herb-Roasted Chicken(source: Cooking Club of America)

5 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
4 teaspoons chopped garlic
½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 ½ teaspoons dried thyme
½ teaspoon dried savory or oregano
¼ teaspoon pepper
3 medium red potatoes, cut into 8 wedges each
2 medium onions, cut into 1-inch wedges
4 whole chicken legs
1 (4-oz.) pkg. multi-colored mini sweet bell peppers, halved, or 1 red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch wedges
1 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise, cut into 2-inch pieces

Heat oven to 375°F. Finely chop rosemary, garlic and salt together; place in small bowl. Stir in lemon juice, oil, thyme, savory and pepper.

Spray bottom of wide shallow roasting pan with cooking spray. Scatter potatoes and onions in pan; add chicken. Spoon 2 tablespoons of the herb mixture over chicken and vegetables in pan; toss to coat. Place chicken on top of potatoes and onion.

Bake 45 minutes. Remove from oven; baste with accumulated juices. Scatter peppers and zucchini around chicken; spoon remaining herb mixture over chicken and all vegetables. Bake 20 to 30 minutes or until chicken is browned and no longer pink in center.

4 servings

Recycle: lemon juice bottle, olive oil bottle

Compost: rosemary stems, garlic skins, onion skins

Chestnut Stuffing

Okay, I admit that one of the reasons I suggested nuts as the theme for this year’s Thanksgiving dinner (or, rather, last year’s at this point…) is because I wanted to make this stuffing again. I’ve made it a couple times before and enjoyed it. If you’ve never tasted chestnuts, the flavor is milder than most nuts, and the texture is softer and more crumbly.

I admit, however, that preparing the chestnuts is a pain. You can buy peeled chestnuts in jars, which would be much easier, but they’re also considerably more expensive. So I started with the raw, unpeeled nuts.

The directions say to drain the nuts after simmering. However, from experience, I have learned that it’s better to leave them in the water until you peel them. In other words, remove them from the pan one at a time, make two gashes at right angles in the pointed end, extend these cuts around, and pull back the peel. Just inside the peel is this fibrous stuff that may or may not stick to the nutmeat. I eventually decided that it’s not worth it to go to a lot of trouble trying to get that all off if it doesn’t come off easily. And yes, this all is hard on the fingers…because of all that, and for reasons of balance (i.e. I feel the nut level in this dish is a little high), you might want to reduce the amount of nuts a little.

This was the first time I’ve tried making dried bread cubes, and it turned out to be easy. I bought a loaf of cheap sandwich bread, cut 7 slices into cubes, spread them on a cookie sheet, and set it in my oven (it’s a gas oven with a pilot light, so it’s always warm even when turned off). Within a day they had dried out.

The recipe as written calls for celery, but I don’t care for the stuff so I left it out.

If you’re looking for this in your BH&G cookbook, it’s listed as a variant of Bread Stuffing; I’ve rewritten the recipe slightly to make it easier to follow. The cookbook says that the basic recipe without the nuts makes about 3 cups, or enough to stuff a 4-5 lb chicken, and that you should double the recipe for a 10 lb turkey. But the nuts add quite a bit of volume (as would the celery if you used it). We didn’t actually stuff the turkey with this, so I can’t say whether a single recipe of this is enough for a turkey.

Verdict: Yum! This one's a keeper!

Chestnut Stuffing
(source: Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book)

3 cups (1 pound) fresh chestnuts in shells

3 tbsp chopped onion

1 cup chopped celery

6 tablespoons butter

4 cups dry bread cubes (about 7 slices cut in ½-inch cubes)

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

½ tsp poultry seasoning

½ tsp ground sage

¼ cup turkey or chicken broth

Put the chestnuts in a pan and cover chestnuts with water; simmer 15 minutes. Drain. Make gash in shells with sharp knife; peel off while warm. Chop nuts.

Cook onion and celery in butter. Combine with bread, seasonings, and chopped nuts. Toss with broth.

Recycle: broth cans, if any; spice jars

Compost: chestnut shells, vegetable trimmings

Baked Acorn Squash

OldRoses did a great job of posting holiday recipes in a timely fashion. 'A' has gotten behind over the holidays and is trying to get caught up...

A few weeks before Thanksgiving, I purchased an acorn squash at a farmer’s market. Before preparing it, I consulted my trusty Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. One suggestion was to bake it with brown sugar and applesauce. I tried this, and it turned out to be so wonderfully good that I decided to make this for the Nutty Thanksgiving. Hey, an acorn is a nut, right? Close enough.

I agree with OldRoses's previous comment that squash (winter squash, specifically - summer squash is pretty soft) is difficult to cut and peel. Butchering a butternut squash usually gives me sore fingers and maybe a blister. But - that's only true for RAW squash. COOKED squash is much easier to deal with. The beauty of this recipe is that your interaction with the raw squash is minimal. All you have to do is cut the thing in half and scoop out the seeds. Removing the cooked squash from its shell is relatively easy on the hands.

Although we’re dealing with squash, this dish is sweet, not savory, even though I didn’t add very much brown sugar, maybe a tablespoon per half. The flavor has a fruity quality to it. (Hey, squash actually is a fruit, technically...) You could almost serve this dish as a dessert. And it’s so easy! It's ideal to make at the same time as a casserole or meatloaf, when the oven is turned on anyway.

Verdict: Yum! This one's a keeper!

Baked Acorn Squash
(source: Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book)

1 acorn squash

1 cup applesauce

Butter

Brown sugar

Halve the squash and remove seeds. Bake cut side down in a shallow pan at 350° for 35 to 40 minutes. Turn cut side up. Brush each half with butter and sprinkle with brown sugar. Fill with ½ cup applesauce. Bake about 20 minutes longer.

Recycle: applesauce jar

Compost: squash shell

Meat Filled Jumbo Shells

This is another oldie but goodie whose origins are lost in the mists of time. I may have forgotten where I found the recipe, but I haven’t forgotten why I tried it. In my forties, I became an exception to the rule that people of Northern European descent are able to consume dairy products throughout their lives.

I love cheese-stuffed shells, but after I developed lactose intolerance, they didn’t love me. Meat stuffed shells sounded like just the ticket. I eventually found a solution to my digestive difficulties in Activia yogurt. It’s not a complete cure, but I can now eat dairy with minimal gastric distress.

I love this recipe because it’s easy and each shell tastes like it has its own little meatball inside. Stuffing the shells can be a little time consuming. A soup spoon holds just the right amount of meat to fit into each shell. It’s very rhythmical: scoop, stuff, place in pan, scoop, stuff, place in pan. With the aluminum foil covering the pan, there are no worries about spaghetti sauce splattering all over your oven.

Verdict: Yum!! This one’s a keeper!!



Meat Filled Jumbo Shells(source: unknown)

1 box (12 oz.) Jumbo Shells, uncooked
1 lb. ground beef
1 lb. ground pork
4 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup flavored bread crumbs
1 cup (4 oz.) shredded Mozzarella cheese (optional)
¾ cup finely chopped onion
¾ teaspoon dried oregano leaves
½ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
3 cups (28 oz. jar) spaghetti sauce
Grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Cook Jumbo Shells in boiling salted water for 15 minutes. Replace boiling water with cold water to stop cooking until you are ready to use. Brown beef, pork and onion in skillet; drain. Combine meat, onion, eggs, bread crumbs, Mozzarella cheese (if desired), oregano, salt and pepper. Fill each shell with about 2 tablespoons meat filling. Spread a thin layer of sauce on bottom of 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Place the shells in the pan; cover with remaining sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, if desired. Cover with aluminum foil; bake at 350°F about 45 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

10 to 12 servings.

Recycle: spaghetti sauce bottle

Compost: onion skins, egg shells

Crazy for Cocktails: Margarita

I welcomed in the New Year with my favorite cocktail, Margarita. I began my hunt for a recipe at the Jose′ Cuervo site where I was directed to use a Margarita mix. I think I’ve been very clear how I feel about pre-made anything. So I hopped over to my new favorite site, About.com: Cocktails and wasn’t disappointed. Colleen has recipes for all kinds of mixers for cocktails.

She also offers the alternative of sugar, instead of the usual salt, to rim the glass. I don’t eat a lot of salt, so I have always ordered my margaritas with it, but I have to admit that I am intrigued by the idea of using sugar.

Now a word about tools. Other than the alcohol, I haven’t wanted to invest a lot of money in my little cocktail experiments. Instead of running out and buying a lot of fancy gizmos that I may or may not ever use again, I’ve just been using whatever I have on hand. For a stirrer, I’ve used a chopstick. Instead of a shot glass, I’ve used my measuring cup. For the margarita, I needed a cocktail shaker which I don’t have, so I substituted a Ziplock container. Glassware has also been a problem. I’ve substituted plain old drinking glasses for rocks glasses and in the case of the margarita, I used an old-fashioned wide champagne glass:

How Not To Make A Margarita

My first margarita tasted a little “off”. I decided that it must be too much triple sec. My measuring cup starts accurate measurements at 2 ounces. Anything less than that such as the ½ ounce of triple sec has to be guesstimated. I guessed that I guesstimated a little on the heavy side. The second one tasted better with less triple sec. I still have lots of mixer left so I’ll probably be trying margaritas again some time. Maybe with sugar on the rim.


Margarita(source: About.com: Cocktails)

1 ½ oz tequila
½ oz triple sec
Dash of lemon or lime juice
3 oz sour mix
Lime wedge for garnish
Salt or sugar to rim the glass (optional)

Pour the ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice cubes.

Shake well.

If desired, salt the rim of a chilled margarita glass.

Pour contents, with ice, into the glass.

Garnish with the lime wedge.

Recycle: tequila bottle, triple sec bottle

Compost: lime

Christmas Cookie of the Week: Pfeffernusen

For my final Christmas cookie recipe, I made a cookie that I remember from the Christmases of my childhood. Christmas cookies were not a part of our tradition except for Pfeffernuse. My father always bought a box and ate most of them himself. The rest of the family didn’t care for them. I never understood why he liked cookies that tasted just plain weird. I chalked it up to the powdered sugar. He liked powdered sugar doughnuts, so it made sense, sort of, that he liked cookies with powdered sugar.

Years later, when a relative was sharing family secrets with me, I got an inkling of why he liked pfeffernuse cookies. My father had a German grandmother. It’s not surprising that I never heard of her. My parents were born during the Great Depression and grew up during World War II when everything German was bad. People of German descent were suspect so families with any German connections concealed that fact from everyone.

Pfeffernuse cookies were most likely a holiday tradition during my father’s childhood prior to WWII. The taste of them years later probably brought back fond memories for him. In honor of the woman I never knew, I made pfeffernuse cookies for Christmas.

I chose a recipe from Martha Stewart. Her cookies are always so buttery. I was a little concerned because the batter was very wet but I was able to roll it into balls with a little effort. The cookies baked up perfectly. Shaking them in the powdered sugar was fun. The taste was . . . well, I don’t know how my father could stand eating those hard, stale-tasting little cookies for so many years. These were soft and flavorful. They will become part of my holiday tradition.

Verdict: Yum!! This one’s a keeper!!


Pfeffernussen(source: Martha Stewart Holiday Baking 2002)

1 ¼ cups confectioners’ sugar
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup firmly packed light-brown sugar
1 large egg
¼ cup unsulfured molasses
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Place the confectioners’ sugar in a brown paper bag.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, pepper, cinnamon, allspice, nutmet, cloves, and baking soda. Set aside.

Place butter, brown sugar, and molasses in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Beat on medium until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture; beat until just combined. Pinch off dough in tablespoon amounts; roll into 1 ¼-inch balls. Arrange balls 1 ½ inches apart on prepared baking sheets. (Dough can be frozen at this point, covered tightly with plastic wrap, up to 1 month.)

Bake until cookies are golden and firm to the touch with slight crackng, about 15 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Transfer sheets to a wire rack to cool slightly, about 10 minutes. Working in batches, place cookies in paper bag; shake until well coated. Let cool completely on wire rack. Store in an airtight container.

Makes 3 dozen

Recycle: molasses bottle, vanilla bottle

Compost: egg shells

Crazy for Cocktails: White Russian

Not being a black coffee drinker, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the Black Russian. I’m more of a café au lait person. I like a little coffee with my cream and sugar. So I was really looking forward to trying a White Russian.

Using the Kahlua recipe of 2 parts Kahlua and 1 part vodka, I added Half & Half but didn’t stir it. I’m learning mixology, the study of mixing cocktails, courtesy of Colleen Graham on About.com:Cocktails. I’ve learned important things like adding ingredients in the order in which they are given in the recipe. This makes sense to me as a cook and baker.

In the case of a White Russian cocktail, if you mix the cream into the other ingredients, it becomes another cocktail, a Dirty Bird. And I have to say, drinking the White Russian with the cream on top and the alcohol underneath gives the impression that you are drinking coffee ice cream with a kick. Yum!!




White Russian(source: Kahlua.com)

2 parts Kahlua
1 part vodka
Add milk or cream

Pour over ice in a rocks glass.

Recycle: Kahlua bottle, vodka bottle

Crazy for Cocktails: Black Russian

When I saw that the recipe for the Chocolate Tart called for Kahlua, the ubiquitous TV commercials immediately sprang to mind. I had just visited the Bacardi site in search of a recipe for mojitos, so I searched the Kahlua site for cocktail recipes. There were about a dozen, two of which were popular when I was a child, Black Russian and White Russian.

I had often overheard these cocktails mentioned in adult conversations, but had never actually seen either one. I grew up in a dry household. Alcohol, kept in the cabinet over the refrigerator, was only served to guests. My parents didn’t drink. Or so they claimed. Teenagers are often awake late at night and that was when I discovered that Late Night with Johnny Carson wasn’t the only reason that my father stayed up later than my mother. He liked his Scotch. There were even rumors that at neighborhood parties, his consumption of Scotch had to be closely monitored lest he start trying on lampshades.

I opted to start with the Black Russian. The recipe was simple. 2 parts Kahlua, 1 part vodka, pour over ice in a rocks glass. Whatever that is. Unlike my parents, I do drink. Outside of my home. I keep no alcohol in my house. So I know nothing about barware. A little Googling led me to a wonderful columnist on About.com:Cocktails, Colleen Graham. From her I learned that a “rocks glass” is that short, fat little glass from which my father drank his Scotch. I wasn’t about to run out and buy new glasses for a cocktail that I may or may not like. I settle on using my usual tall glasses. Having used them, I can see the wisdom of rocks glasses.

Interestingly enough, her recipe for Black Russian was the opposite of the Kahlua recipe. She uses 1 ¾ oz vodka, ¾ oz coffee liqueur, then instructs you to build the ingredients in an old-fashioned glass filled with ice and stir well. I decided to try both versions.

I started with Colleen’s recipe. It was okay. Nothing to write home about. Then I reversed the ratio with the Kahlua recipe, which turned out to be fabulous. I loved the smooth coffee flavor of the Kahlua with just a kick from the vodka. Hmmm . . . maybe I’ll go out and buy those glasses after all.



Black Russian(source: Kahlua.com)

2 parts Kahlua
1 part vodka

Pour over ice in a rocks glass.

Recycle: Kahlua bottle, vodka bottle

Chocolate Tart with Hazelnut Shortbread Crust

As long as I was going to be doing something completely different for Christmas dinner, I wanted something really spectacular for dessert. It would have to be chocolate and totally unlike anything I had ever attempted. That’s a pretty tall order. I surprised myself, finding exactly what I wanted rather quickly: Chocolate Tart with Hazelnut Shortbread Crust. Mmmm…chocolate…hazelnut…shortbread. Perfection.

I decided to go all out and buy a tart pan rather than making do with a pie plate. And so began The Great Tart Pan Hunt. The hunt spanned two days and three malls. I visited kitchen specialty stores including my favorite, Williams Sonoma, and various department stores. And came up empty. Either the store(s) didn’t carry tart pans or they had tart pans but in the wrong size or carried a glorified pie plate (slanted sides) with little ridges on the inside giving the illusion of a tart pan as opposed to a tart pan with straight, crimped sides.

In the end, I was forced to do what I had been trying to avoid. I went to Amazon.com. There, I found a nice selection of tart pans in various sizes, manufacturers and materials. I read all of the reviews and ordered that one that best suited my recipe. I hate malls, especially during the holiday season, but in these difficult economic times, I was willing to make an exception and brave the crowds to help out my local brick and mortar stores. But I can’t help them if they don’t have the merchandise I need.

I had another briefer hunt, for unflavored gelatin. Three grocery stores before I found anything other than Jello. Buying Kahlua was a whole lot easier. In fact, I had a choice of sizes and purchased a smaller bottle. The recipe called for 1 tablespoon so normally I would have left it out, but I had other plans for the Kahlua. I did skip the hazelnut oil, substituting canola oil. I happened to have whole-wheat flour on hand. Not the pastry flour as called for in the recipe, but I thought I could substitute it with no problem. Another substitution that I made that worked out well was lightly rubbing canola oil on the tart pan in place of the recommended cooking spray of which I had none.

I used the egg whites from the two yolks instead of dried egg whites. There is a note accompanying this recipe that dried egg whites are pasteurized and a wise choice when making an uncooked filling. Thankfully, using raw egg whites was not detrimental to my health and I was able to sample this dish and review it.

When I first read over this recipe, it seemed incredibly complex. I hate recipes that have too many steps, but I found that by following each step exactly, everything flowed beautifully. It was surprisingly easy to make.

As for the taste, well that was a little disappointing. The hazelnut shortbread crust was heavenly. It would make a great cookie. The filling was too light, both the texture and the taste. I would have preferred a denser texture and more chocolate-y taste. Overall though, it wasn’t bad.

Verdict: Not bad, but I won’t be making this again



Chocolate Tart with Hazelnut Shortbread Crust(source: EatingWell: November/December 2008)

Crust
1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup hazelnuts
¼ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons hazelnut oil, or canola oil
1 tablespoon ice water

Filling
1 ½ teaspoons unflavored gelatin
1 tablespoon water
¾ cup low-fat milk
2 large egg yolks
2 ½ tablespoons plus ¼ cup sugar, divided
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
1 tablespoon coffee liqueur, such as Kahlua (optional)
4 dried egg whites, reconstituted according to package directions (equivalent to 2 egg whites)
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 400°F.

To prepare crust: Coat a 9-inch tart pan with cooking spray. Combine whole-wheat pastry flour, ¼ cup all-purpose flour, hazelnuts, ¼ cup sugar and salt in a food processor; process until the nuts are finely ground. Add butter one piece at a time, pulsing once or twice after each addition, until incorporated. Add oil and ice water and pulse just until incorporated. Turn the dough out into the prepared pan (it will be crumbly), spread evenly and press firmly into the bottom and all the way up the sides to form a crust.

Bake the crust until set and the edges are beginning to brown, about 15 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.

To prepare filling: Sprinkle gelatin over water in a small bowl; let stand, stirring once or twice, while you prepare the rest of the filling.

Heat milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat until steaming (but not boiling); remove from the heat to cool slightly.

Whisk egg yolks, 2 ½ tablespoons sugar and 1 tablespoon flour in a medium bowl until combined. Gradually whisk in ½ cup of the hot milk. Whisk the egg yolk mixture into the pan with the remaining hot milk. Return to the heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon (do not boil), about 1 minute. Remove from the heat; whisk in chocolate until completely melted. Whisk in the softened gelatin and coffee liqueur (if using) until smooth.

Beat reconstituted egg whites and cream of tartar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on low speed until frothy. Increase speed to high and beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining ¼ cup sugar and beat until stiff peaks form, 3 to 5 minutes. Gently fold the chocolate custard into the egg whites until blended. Spoon the filling into the crust; smooth the top with the back of a spoon and chill, uncovered, until set, about 1 hour.

Recycle: oil bottle, milk bottle, Kahlua bottle

Compost: egg shells

Crazy for Cocktails: Mojito

I resisted the siren call of cable TV for years. I didn’t watch a lot of TV. I’m more of a book and movie person. Reality TV does nothing for me. Bachelors, Bachlorettes and Idols don’t do it for me. Nor do Big Brothers and Survivors. The internet, on the other hand, became a bigger and bigger part of my life. Banking, shopping, income taxes, blogging, email, I was spending more and more time online. Time to upgrade from dial-up.

After 14 months of DSL hell, I switched to cable. And discovered my television. Who knew that I could watch Law & Order any time, day or night? I began to branch out. CSI, NCIS, Criminal Minds, Dexter and, my all-time favorite, House.

CSI: Miami fascinates me. No workplace could possibly function with that much cleavage being flashed around. Whenever the ME kneels over a corpse, I hold my breath waiting for a wardrobe malfunction. When the characters aren’t flashing cleavage or trying to ignore flashing cleavage, they’re offering someone a mojita, drinking a mojito or examining a corpse who died after drinking a mojita.

Which lead me to the logical question: what is a mojito? A little Googling told me that it is a drink made with rum. I just happened to have a bottle of rum in the house that was used in the Rum Balls. A quick visit to the Bacardi site and I added a lime and mint to my shopping list. I was making Cuban Pork for Christmas. Mojitos seemed the perfect accompaniment.

The pork was excellent. The mojito on the other hand was not a revelation. Since I was using sugar instead of simple syrup, I discovered that the ice prevented the sugar from being dissolved by the rum and club soda. So the second time (one always has to have a second drink, just to make sure) I poured the rum in before the ice, stirring to make sure the sugar was dissolved. The lime offset the taste of the rum and the mint added a refreshing touch, but it didn’t wow me so much that I wanted to run right out and buy a push-up bra.




Bacardi Mojito Cocktail(source: Bacardi.com)

1 1/2 oz. Bacardi Superior Rum
12 fresh spearmint leaves
1/2 lime
2 Tbsp simple syrup (or 4 tsp sugar)
Top with club soda

Muddle mint leaves and lime in a tall glass. Cover with simple syrup and fill glass with ice. Add Bacardi Rum and club soda. Stir well. Garnish glass with lime wedge and sprigs. of mint.

Recycle: Rum bottle

Compost: lime, spearmint stems

Cuban Pork

After decades of doing the same things every Christmas, I decided this year would be different. Instead of a Christmas tree, I would make a gingerbread house. I would bake Christmas cookies, trying a new recipe every weekend. And I would finally end the annual torture inflicted on an innocent piece of roast beef.

My ancestry is mainly English. My family always had roast beef for Christmas in the place of the usual turkey. My mother was a champ at torturing roast beef. There was no medium or rare in her kitchen, only well-done which meant cooking the roast until it was blackened and half of its original size. Eating it was like chewing the proverbial shoe leather.

In my own kitchen, I aimed for rare but usually came up with medium on the outside, rare up to half an inch and raw the rest of the way. After failing year after year for three decades, I think that it’s time I added “properly cooking a roast beef” to the list of skills I am congenitally unable to master. Other items on the list include baking biscuits from scratch, drawing a straight line and crochet.

I pulled a recipe from my “Recipes To Try” folder on my computer that was completely different from my traditional holiday meal. It’s pork, it’s Cuban and it’s cooked in a crockpot. I wouldn’t even have to clean the oven afterwards. Perfect!

I had my doubts at first that I would be able to successfully cook this dish. I unknowingly brought home a pork shoulder with a bone. I’ve never cooked anything in a crockpot that had a bone in it. Would the bone explode? Get all mushy and yucky? Would the marrow melt out into the juices that would be needed when serving the pork?

Marinating is usually a great idea, but I didn’t have a bowl or baking dish large enough or deep enough to accommodate the shoulder of a large mammal. Nor did I have a bag of the correct size. In the end, I used a large salad bowl and (don’t read this if you’re squeamish), a 5-gallon (new, clean) trash bag. When I mixed the marinade (grapefruit juice! Whoda thunkit?), it smelled like garbage. I assured myself that it was just the cumin. After 24 hours, my entire refrigerator smelled like garbage. I was grateful to finally be able to pour the entire thing into my crockpot.

I am happy to report that the garbage smell was transformed into a savory aroma when cooked. So savory that the Fur Patrol was begging for scraps as I shredded the meat. Nothing bad happened to the bones. The meat literally fell off of them. Add onions and salsa and roll in a tortilla and I think I may have my new Christmas tradition. It was that good.

I have included the Pico de Gallo recipe that was part of the original recipe although I didn’t try it myself. I was feeling lazy and opted for a jar of organic salsa.

Verdict: Yum!! This one’s a keeper!!

Cuban Pork

(source: BHG.com)

½ cup lime juice
¼ cup water
¼ cup grapefruit juice
3 cloves galic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 bay leaves
1 3-pound boneless pork shoulder roast
1 cup sliced onion
Vegetable-flavored flour tortillas or flour tortillas
Pico do Gall or bottled salsa
Lettuce or purchased avocado dip (optional)

For marinade, in a small bowl combine lime juice, water, grapefruit juice, garlic, oregano, salt, cumin, pepper, and bay leaves. Trim fat from meat. If necessary, cut roast to fit into slow cooker. With a large fork, pierce meat in several places. Place in a large plastic bag set in a deep bowl or a baking dish. Pour marinade over meat. Close bag. Chill in the refrigerator for 6 to 24 hour, turning occasionally.

In a 3-1/2- to 5-quart slow cooker place onion. Top with meat and marinade mixture.

Cover; cook on low-heat setting for 10 to 12 hours or on high-heat setting for 5 to 6 hours.

Transfer meat to a cutting board; cool slightly. Skim fat from juices; keep warm. Remove bay leaves; discard. Use 2 forks to gently separate the meat into shreds. Transfer shredded meat to a serving platter. With a slotted spoon, remove onions from juices. Transfer onions to same serving platter. Serve meat and onions in tortillas with small bowls of the hot juices and Pico de Gallo. If desired, pass lettuce and guacamole.

Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Pico de Gallo: In a medium bowl combine 2 peeled and finely chopped medium tomatoes, 2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion, 2 tablespoons snipped fresh cilantro, 1 teaspoon lime juice, ⅛ teaspoon salt, and dash sugar. Mx well. Cover; chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight. Makes about 1 ¼ cups.

Recycle: lime juice bottle, grapefruit juice bottle, salsa bottle

Compost: garlic skins, onion skins

Christmas Cookie of the Week: Bacardi Rum Balls

The record breaking Nor’Easter that buried New Jersey over the weekend threatened to disrupt my holiday baking schedule. After shoveling my driveway , especially the huge wall of snow the plow left at the end, and my walk and front porch so that the mail carrier could get through (gotta love online shopping – your packages come to you!), I had no desire to spend several hours in the kitchen baking cookies.

So I put aside the recipe I had planned to bake and instead made Bacardi Rum Balls, a no-bake option that I had originally planned on making the same weekend that I made the Peppermint Bark, another no-bake recipe. I had overscheduled myself that weekend and ended up putting the Rum Balls recipe aside. This weekend was the perfect opportunity to revisit it. Just grind up first the walnuts and then the vanilla wafers in the food processor (no liquid, no mess), stir in honey and rum, and then sit comfortably while making 1-inch balls and rolling them in confectioners’ sugar.

Except that’s not what happened. Grinding up walnuts and vanilla wafers was a breeze. It was when I added the honey and rum that things began to go terribly wrong. There is too much liquid in this recipe. I tried adding more vanilla wafer crumbs hoping that they would soak up some of the liquid, but to no avail. The result was too sticky to roll and too wet to hold its shape. It also soaked up all of the confectioners’ sugar on its surface.

They passed the taste test though. Yum! They are quite addictive. And after an afternoon of flinging snow around, I definitely needed a drink.

Verdict: Needs work


Bacardi Rum Balls(source: Bacardi Rum)

¼ cup Bacardi Gold rum
2 cups ground walnuts (from 2 ½ cups chopped walnuts)
1 ½ cups vanilla wafer crumbs
½ cup honey
Confectioners’ sugar

In a medium bowl, combine walnuts and wafer crumbs. Stir in Bacardi Gold and honey. Shape into 1-inch balls. Roll in confectioners’ sugar.

Store in tightly covered container.

Makes approximately 2 ½ dozen

Recycle: rum bottle, honey bottle

Chicken Marsala with Mushrooms

This is an oldie but goodie, a leftover from the days when I was cooking for a picky eater who was only willing to try new dishes if they had mushrooms in them. I added mushrooms to a lot of recipes in an effort to get her to try new meals. When I went hunting for the origins of this recipe and found it in my 365 Ways to Cook Chicken, I was surprised to learn that I hadn’t added mushrooms. Instead, there are two very different versions of Chicken Marsala in the book, one with and one without mushrooms. After reviewing the version without the mushrooms, I think I’ll stick to this one.

I don’t pound the chicken breasts thin. They cook just fine in their normal plump state. And it was a lot easier to convince a picky eater to eat chicken that actually looked like chicken. I make my usual substitution of beef bouillon for beef stock. Really, other than would-be contestants on TV cooking shows, who has beef stock on hand these days? As for that “salt to taste”, it has been my unhappy experience that professional chefs like salt a whole lot more than I do. In the few restaurant versions I have sampled, salt has been added with such a heavy hand that it masks the delicate flavors of the wine and the chicken. I prefer my version.

Verdict: Yum!! This one’s a keeper!!




Chicken Marsala with Mushrooms
(source: 365 Ways to Cook Chicken) 

3 tablespoons flour
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, pounded to ¼-inch thickness
4 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
½ cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, chopped
½ pound mushrooms, sliced
3 tablespoons dry Marsala
⅔ cup beef stock
Salt to taste

Mix flour and pepper in a shallow dish. Dredge chicken in flour mixture to coat; shake off excess.

In a large frying pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the butter in oil over medium heat. Add chicken and cook until lightly brown, about 3 minutes a side. Remove and keep warm. Add onion and garlic and sauté until onion is tender, about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook until they are lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes.

Return chicken to pan, stir in Marsala and beef stock. Bring to a boil reduce heat, and simmer until liquid reduces by one-third. Whisk in remaining butter. Season with salt and additional pepper to taste.

Recycle: vegetable oil bottle, wine bottle

Compost: onion skins, garlic skins

Christmas Cookie of the Week: Spritz

I cheated this week. I made a recipe that I’ve made before. Once. A long time ago. But nothing says Christmas like Spritz, so I got out the cookie press that has been gathering dust in the back of the cupboard and my trusty Betty Crocker cookbook and baked a batch of Spritz.

I chose the Betty Crocker recipe because I know that it works. I tried another Spritz recipe a few years ago that was a disaster. The problem was that it was too stiff. Comparing the two recipes, it was easy to see why. Betty uses significantly less flour and sugar. Fewer dry ingredients equals a wetter dough which is easier to push through the cookie press.

I was surprised at the saltiness of Betty’s dough. The salty taste is less noticeable after baking but still definitely there. I liked the taste of the other recipe better. Again, looking at both recipes, the reason was clear. Betty uses ½ teaspoon salt and salted butter. The other recipe uses unsalted butter and only a dash of salt. Hmmm . . . I see the beginnings of an OldRoses recipe, don’t you? A little experimentation with ingredients and I can probably come up with the perfect OldRoses’ Spritz recipe.

Using only ¼ of the dough at a time in the cookie press makes it easy to switch shapes. I made trees, wreaths, poinsettias and ornaments and decorated them with red and green sugars.

Verdict: Needs work


Spritz(source: Betty Crocker) 

1 cup butter or margarine, softened
½ cup sugar
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 teaspoon almond extract or vanilla

Heat oven to 400°F. Cream butter and sugar. Blend in remaining ingredients. Fill cookie press with ¼ dough at a time; from desired shapes on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 6 to 9 minutes until set but not brown.

About 5 dozen cookies

Recycle: almond extract or vanilla bottle

Compost: eggshells

Baked Steak Burritos

This is one of those recipes that is made with totally fake ingredients but I thought that if I liked it enough it would be worth trying to duplicate like the macaroni and cheese. In fact, my version might even be better.

First, though, a word on those ingredients. Have you tried to buy cheese lately? Almost all of it is low-fat. Besides not tasting right, it doesn’t cook right. Really nasty stuff. It took some digging around the dairy case, but I finally found some “real” cheese. My fellow Americans, please eat less and exercise more so that we put this low-fat nonsense behind us.

My first quibble with this recipe is the steak. I wasn’t really thrilled at cooking it in half a cup of butter but trying to stuff the tacos with “bite-sized” strips and then trying to actually eat tacos stuffed with “bite-sized” pieces, which kept falling out, made the whole thing a waste of time. This would work much better made with lean ground beef. No need for butter and no pieces of steak sliding down your chin as you try to eat your dinner.

My next problem was the size of the flour tortillas. The recipe calls for fajita-sized tacos, but they are way too small to properly fold and roll. Large tortillas would work much better.

And lastly, one 13x9-inch baking dish is also too small. I was only able to fit 9, not 12 burritos in mine. Which is pottery. I don’t have a glass dish that size.

When all was said and done, this recipe tasted remarkably like chimichangas, a recipe which I don’t believe I’ve ever reviewed here. I hardly ever make it since my daughter left home. She was the one who liked it. I wasn’t thrilled with the taste and all those tortillas were a pain to fill and roll. The best part was that the leftover chimichangas froze well to be thawed and reheated at a later date when I needed something quickly for dinner but had no time to cook.

I froze the leftover burritos. It remains to be seen if they will also thaw and reheat well.

In the end, this recipe just wasn’t worth playing around with. I really have no desire to eat any version of it again.

Verdict: Not bad, but I don’t think that I’ll be making this one again.



Baked Steak Burritos(source: BettyCrocker.com) 

½ cup butter or margarine
1 package (1.25 oz) taco seasoning mix
1 ½ lb beef boneless sirloin tip steak, cut into thin bite-size strips
1 can (16 oz) refried beans
1 package (10.5 oz) flour tortillas for soft tacos & fajitas (12 tortillas)
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (8 ox)
3 medium green onions, thinly sliced (3 tablespoons)
1 can (10 oz) enchilada sauce
1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend (4 oz)

Heat oven to 400°F. In 10-inch skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in taco seasoning mix. Add beef strips; cook 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until desired doneness; drain.

Meanwhile, place refried beans in microwavable dish. Microwave uncovered on High 2 minutes, stirring once or twice.

Spread each tortilla with refried beans to within ¼ inch of edge. Top each with beef, Cheddar cheese and onions. Roll up, folding in sides. In ungreased 13x9-inch (3 quart) glass baking dish, place burritos with seam sides down. Pour enchilada sauce over burritos. Sprinkle with Mexican cheese blend.

Bake uncovered 7 to 12 minutes or until burritos are thoroughly heated and cheese is melted.

Recycle: refried beans can, enchilada sauce can

Compost: green onion greens

The Wooden Spoon Cooks hold a Bûche de Noël Contest

Last fall, the Wooden Spoon cooks were part of a group that took a trip to Frelinghuysen Arboretum (see the report here). While there, we saw a flyer for an upcoming workshop on how to make a Bûche de Noël, which is a traditional French dessert. It’s basically a jelly roll cake – a thin layer of cake rolled up with filling inside – decorated to look like a log (“Bûche de Noël” is French for “Christmas Log”). We decided that we would each make one for the Rutgers Gardens holiday potluck, and let the other guests choose their favorite. The results – at the party – are shown above. For the recipes, look here and here.

Cranberry-Orange Relish with Walnuts

This recipe is slightly modified from the one I made for our last Wooden Spoon Thanksgiving two years ago. I cut the original recipe in half, cut the spices in half again (i.e. 1/4 the original), and added walnuts, to meet the requirement that everything at this dinner have nuts. The recipe I actually made is given below; for the original recipe, see here.

Because there was less, I was able to make this easily in a 2 quart saucepan. This amount is probably enough for 4 people at least. Maybe because there was less, the relish started to scorch near the end of the cooking time, but fortunately this didn’t seem to affect the flavor. It also got darker and thicker than I remember, but that’s okay. Even with half the amount of ginger and cinnamon, I felt it was plenty spicy. You might want to cut back still further.

I added walnuts because I had seen other relish recipes that included them. We decided that this was an excellent idea. The walnuts add more texture, and the flavor complements the rest of the relish well. I added them late in the cooking process because I thought they might get soggy if I put them in earlier, but I haven’t actually tested this.

Addendum, 1/10/10: I made this again as below but with only half the amount (i.e. 1/2 tsp each) of ginger and cinnamon. I think this is about the right amount. Also, you might want to reduce the amount of walnuts a little, say to 1/3 cup.

Verdict: Yum! This one's a keeper!

Cranberry-Orange Relish with Walnuts
(source: modified from a recipe in USA Weekend, Nov. 13, 2005)

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup honey

2 cups orange juice

1 tsp ground ginger

grated zest of 1 orange

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 bag fresh cranberries

½ cup chopped walnuts

1 tsp salt

In a medium-sized, heavy saucepan over low heat, combine the sugar, honey, and orange juice. Simmer until completely dissolved. Add ginger, zest, and cinnamon; stir to combine. Add the cranberries and simmer, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until mixture begins to thicken, about two hours. Add the walnuts after about an hour and a half. When thickened, add salt. Chill and serve.

Recycle: honey jar

Compost: ginger peels