Arroz Con Leche - Rice Pudding Spanish Style

There are rice pudding recipes from just about everywhere.  This recipe is from Spain and calls for round rice, which I didn't have in the house so I made it with medium grain rice and it's just delicious!.

I've had Arroz Con Leche cooked by people from many countries, and other than the rice pudding made by my cousin Sarah Rachman, Spanish Arroz Con Leche is my favorite. Super creamy, yet there is no cream.

I couldn't have made this today without my 'ayudante', my sous-chef, Mardely Elizabeth Guerrero Uyaguari.  She's the best in the kitchen.

Hay recetas de arroz con leche de casi todas partes. Esta receta es de España y requiere arroz redondo, que no tenía en casa, así que lo hice con arroz de grano medio y ¡está delicioso !.

He tenido Arroz con Leche cocinado por personas de muchos países, y además del arroz con leche hecho por mi prima Sarah Rachman, el Arroz con Leche español es mi favorito. Súper cremoso, pero sin crema.

No podría haber hecho esto hoy sin mi 'ayudante', mi sous-chef, Mardely Elizabeth Guerrero Uyaguari. Ella es la mejor en la cocina.

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Thai Iced Coffee - Gaefe Yen - กาแฟเย็น

I love Thai Iced Coffee.  I first learned about it at Pongsri Thai in Chinatown, NYC many years ago and I've loved it since that time.

When I moved to Tallahassee, Florida I felt like I was in a food desert.  There were a couple of good restaurants like Sage and Il Lusso and Kyber Grill (since closed) and Persis Indian Grill, and there are a few good  take-out places like Tans Asian Cafe but, well, you get the idea.  By the way, I have not gone to all the restaurants here, so there may be some really great ones.  And there are some good places to buy ingredients to make good food, so that's a plus.

When we first arrived here, my sister and I went to a local Thai Restaurant and ordered Thai Iced Coffee "to go".  We thought that if the coffee was delicious, it would be a sign that the restaurant was good.  We ended up throwing the iced coffee in the garbage.  Oh well.  

So, I am doing it myself.

Note:  If you can't get Thai Coffee Powder (Oliang) try it with strong coffee like espresso.  You can find Thai Coffee Powder at most Asian Markets and online at Amazon and other sellers.

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Cauliflower Latkes! Gluten Free, Low Carb and DELICIOUS

 

One of my dearest and best friends, Rocio, lives in the Basque Country, El Pais Vasco, in northern Spain.  Thank goodness for email, then texts, then WhatsApp and now Signal because we can talk daily and it gets easier and easier.  

A couple of days ago Rocio asked if I had ever tried Cauliflower Pancakes, I hadn't. She's always looking for delicous gluten and sugar free foods, and cauliflower latkes hit the mark.

I decided to take my dad's recipe for Potato Latkes and turn it into Cauliflower Latkes, and it worked!  The first batch was too salty, but I got passed the taste of salt and the rest was great.

It's not the same as potato latkes, it's a different food and you don't have to be gluten free to enjoy it.  

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Beyond Beef Meatloaf - After 37 Years of Being a Pescatarian, This Made Me Happy

It looks like meatloaf.  It smells like meatloaf.  It tastes like meatloaf.
After 37 years of being a pescatarian, I am now able to eat meatloaf!

True, it's not meat and it's not perfect.  But in this meatloaf it was terrific.  I made it (more or less) like my mom did with her meatloaf and although she was by no means a good cook, her meatloaf wasn't bad.  And this Beyond Beef meatloaf isn't just 'not bad', it is good!

There are more and more plant based meats on the market now, but I used Beyond Beef because that is the brand that is carried at Whole Foods and that's where I shop.  

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Banana Cake with Walnuts, Raisins and Spiced Rum

I prefer to make this cake a day ahead of time to allow the moisture and taste from the glaze to seep through the cake.

I have 4 super ripe bananas in the kitchen, you can smell banana when you enter the room.  I would usually have one of 2 reactions:  toss them or make banana bread.  I almost decided on the latter.  However, I already know the Queen of Banana Bread is Lia Donato, and since I don’t like being a runner up, I had to go for something different.  Banana Cake! Yep, Banana Cake with Spiced Rum! Yep, Banana Cake with Spiced Rum, Walnuts and Raisins!  Yep, that’s it.  A Banana Cake with Spiced Rum, Walnuts and Raisins.  What could be bad?

I used a Bundt pan, but it can be made in a 9” x 2” round cake pan.  I have lots of fancy Bundt pans, but I decided to use a regular round one for this since it is New Year and it should be a continuing circle.  Plus, when a round Bundt pan is used, the glaze not only is poured on the top and sides, but also in the middle. Yum

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Banana Cake with Walnuts, Raisins and Spiced Rum

Lemon Orzo Soup (Avgolemono)

We are ringing in 2018 with record breaking cold.  It's the coldest recorded weather at this time in a couple of hundred years.  Climate change in full force. 
It's soup time!

I had Avgolemono, Greek Lemon Orzo soup, at a Diner in Tallahassee, Florida.  We were visiting my sister Cathy and her family for Thanksgiving, and the next day we headed to the Diner.  It was really cold outside and the soup was delicious! Fortunately for me there was no chicken in it.  This soup is often made with chicken and since I'm a pescatarian, this was perfect. We were in a diner and I didn't expect much, but the Lemon Orzo soup surprised me and I have been thinking about making it ever since.

When I returned home from a New Year's Day party at friend Julie's house in Brooklyn there was a chill in my apartment.  I always keep the windows open, even if only a crack since at 12 degrees opening the window more than just a crack would be crazy.  I put on my fleece pajamas and my fleece bathrobe and covered myself in a warm throw blanket, and my cat Mollie snuggled on my lap, but I couldn't shake the cold out of my bones.  So what does one do when they feel like that?  Make soup of course. 

I wanted to warm up right now, so there was no time to make a long cooking soup.  I realized that I had some veggie broth in the cabinet, and some lemons and orzo, so it was perfect.  I would make the lemon orzo soup.  I had no idea if throwing together this recipe would be as good as my memory of the soup from Tallahassee.  It was even better! A success!  It was MY Avgolemono, MY lemon orzo soup. 

Note - if you can't eat carbs, leave the orzo out.  Lemon soup is delicious.

Note Note - Avgolemono is often made with rice instead of orzo, and it's just as delicious plus it is gluten free

Note Note Note - I love preserved lemons.  Rather than serving this soup with regular lemon wedges, I serve it with preserved lemon. If you happen to have preserved lemons, give it a try.  Yummmm

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Big Al Frank's Famous Potato Latkes (with some new tips)

As promised, I am reposting this in time for Chanukah.  This time I've added some new tips, including one from my sister Meryl that I haven't tried, but she says it's great, so take a look!

Frying Latkes in Dad's Skillet
Al Frank's Potato Latkes

Nobody makes Potato Latkes (pancakes) like my dad did.  Even when we copy his recipe it is never exact, but it is pretty close.  He passed this recipe on to me and to my son, and then to my nephews who became our next generation of Potato Latkes champions. 

This recipe is for 10 people, depending on what you're serving with them.  The yams are a variation from Al’s recipe, I added them.  He included them occasionally, but the rest of the recipe is his all the way.

I added a few hints to improve this recipe - things I've learned trying to get these better each time:



Super Crispy Outside, Soft Inside

1. You can use the 'double fry' secret, which is to fry the latkes 3/4 of the way earlier in the day, and right before serving, complete the fry.  They'll be super crispy on the outside, and soft on the inside, just as they should be.  If you put them in the oven to reheat, even at a low temperature, you lose lots of the crispiness. You won't be sorry.

2. When shredding the potatoes, put them in a big colander over a bowl and put cheese cloth in the colander.  Potatoes are wet and you've got to get the moisture out.  Putting the shredded potatoes in a colander will allow them to drain, then you can squeeze them using the cheese cloth to rid of more moisture.  Potatoes must be dry to form the latkes.

3. Meryl's tip for cooking and freezing latkes ahead of time, and keeping them crispy. 

Cook the latkes as you normally would. When the are cool freeze them uncovered on a cookie sheet in a single layer.  Once frozen, put them in a freezer bag.  When you are going to use them, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Put the latkes in a single layer on a rack in the oven.  DO NOT put them on a pan or cookiesheet or they'll get soggy.

Note: (added later) - At Meryl's Chanukah party this year, she did tip #3 (above) for freezing the latkes and then putting them on a rack in the oven - it works! They were delicious!

 

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Butter! Ooo-la-la!

I’m an olive oil kind of gal…  I don’t use butter too often except for baking, and even then I often use olive oil (see Meyer Lemon Olive Oil Cookies in this blog from January, 2012).  Even when I’m in a restaurant I usually ask for oil for the bread.  But sometimes, in a good restaurant, when the butter isn’t pre-wrapped, I’ll try the butter.  Oo-la-la, butter's good!

I took a really great cheese making class with Chef Katie Rosenhouse at Sur La Table in Hell’s Kitchen, and we not only made mozzarella, ricotta and mascarpone, we also made butter.  I knew that making butter was super easy, because when I was a kid the owner of the farm where we kept our horses would give us gallon jars of fresh milk from the cows he raised.  And true to the adage the cream really did always rise to the top.  Mom would pour the cream into her mixer and make whipped cream and butter.  But I was a little kid, the farm is now a housing development, and we don’t get too much access to cows on the Island of Manhattan, so mom's butter making left with the last cow on Bowne Road in Wayside, NJ. 

Making butter is fast, easy and fabulous!  Wow!  I have to talk myself into not making it all the time or next year’s cholesterol test results won’t be anything like the results I had a month or so ago! But sometimes it’s a scrumptious treat . 

If you have kids, making butter is a great project.  It takes more time (about 15-30 minutes), but it's worth it.  My sister Carol is a teacher and her preschoolers love making butter even though their arms get tired.  Next time it rains and your kids are stuck inside, get some super clean jars, some heavy cream and start shaking!

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Pasta al Limone (Lemon Pasta) - A Taste of Sunshine!

Summer is here and to me that means lemon dishes, blueberries, cantelope, Jersey tomatoes, basil, strawberries - Yummmm... 

I love, love, love lemons.  They really do taste like sunshine. 

I was introduced to this dish by my friend Ginger Brokaw on Saturday night at a trendy little place in the East Village called Supper, and it was well worth the wait (they don’t take reservations).  It is one of my very favorite pasta dishes.

I experimented at home, and think I got pretty close with the recipe But, it was missing something.  My Roman friend, Barbara Roppo, was visiting and she said it was missing butter, her mother always uses sweet butter, not olive oil.  I didn't believe her. Butter? Not just olive oil?  Well, she was right.  It was missing butter.  Who knew?

Pasta Al Limone is a burst of summer in every mouthful. Served in small quantities it can be an extraordinary first course, or in larger quantities it is a delicious (an unforgettable) main course.  Very different.

This is great served with a spinach or arugula, orange (clementine) and pineapple salad with a lemon/balsamic vinaigrette.

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Egg Islands - Who Doesn't Love Breakfast Any Time of Day!

I had 2 favorite breakfasts growing up.  My earliest favorite was 'Lakalas', which was a child's way of saying the diminutive for little latkes, that is, matzoh meal pancakes.  I used to stand on a chair and 'help' my mom or Aunt Mollie make them.  Loved them as a little kid, not so much anymore.

My lasting favorite was and still is Egg Island.  Yes, I know that not everyone calls them Egg Islands, but we did and we still do, and I love 'em! I had the Egg Islands you see in the picture for dinner last night, and even all these many years later, every time I make them I think of the anticipation I felt as a kid when my mom (and sometimes my dad) would make this delicious breakfast. 

Egg Island - A GREAT childhood memory!

I remember being surprised that my friends didn't know what Egg Islands were.  So, I thought my parents must have invented them. Many years later I found out that it wasn't really their invention, but I know they perfected them.

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Orecchiette with Broccoli (Anchovies and Chickpeas)

Most recipes call for broccoli rabe rather than regular broccoli, but my Albenganese friend Cristina d’Abramo taught me this dish and she taught me with regular broccoli, and it was deeee-licious!

I made this as a 2^nd pasta for a Spaghettata di Mezzanotte (the first being Spaghetti con aglio olio e pepperoncino – with garlic, oil and hot pepper of course) on Saturday night, and I knew something was missing.  It was delicious, but lacking a taste I knew it should have.  In the middle of the dinner Debbie Fineman (one of 3 Americans at the table) brought up the anchovies.  That was it! The anchovies!  I forgot the darn anchovies!  How can you make this without anchovies!  Well, I did, and as I said it was delicious, but it would have been over the top had I remembered the darn anchovies.

I doubt I will forget them again.

Orecchiette or “Little ears” are easy to find now, so the dish is easy to prepare.  And if you live near a grocer like Fairway or Trader Joe’s, you can get a good imported brand of orecchiette, because as I’ve stated over and over again in this blog, the pasta you buy really makes a difference.

You can add to this recipe, as I did with the Chickpeas (Ceci or Garbanzos) because I am a pescatarian and need protein and this more than a healthy addition, it’s a tasty addition. Lots of people add sausage, be it pork, turkey or whatever you want.  Most people also add breadcrumbs to the pasta after it's cooked.  I usually don't, but it's your choice of course.

I also changed the typical recipe by making it more like a Cacio e Pepe recipe – lots of Pecorino cheese and lots of excellent freshly ground black pepper. 

Ummm – maybe I’ll have this for dinner again tonight!

Hint - The first time Cristina made this pasta for me she told me two things:
   1) When you put the orecchiette into the frying pan, put the flame on high.  It's great when these delicious little ears get just a bit crispy around the edges.
  2)  This delicious pasta dish is always better the 2nd night.  The flavors meld together, add a little olive oil and a bit more Pecorino and you'll be surprised and the difference when you take the first 2nd night bite!

Cristina was right - follow these hints and this dish is extra special!

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Nutella Crème Icebox Pie - Passover (milchik ) or Easter

Nutella - who doesn't love Nutella?  OK, my sister Carol, but other than Carol, who doesn't love Nutella?  I was trying to think of a delicious dessert for a sedar, other than Sponge Cake or Flourless Chocolate Cake (the latter being delicious, but it can't be the only delicious Passover dessert). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I started out thinking I would make this a toasted coconut crust, which would also work well, but I'm going with toasted pecans for this one.  I'll save the toasted coconut for another dessert. Note:  I also made this with a graham cracker crust and it was delicious - there's always so many options!

Lago di Bolsena, Bomarzo Italy -
 My first Nutella gelato

This dessert came to mind a while ago based on the first Nutella gelato I ever had. It was a hot, hot, hot summer day in Bomarzo, a lovely lakeside town in Lazio, Italy.  My friends and hosts Paolo and Agostina gave me a tour of Bomarzo and bought me a Nutella gelato cone that was unforgettable.  A creamy vanilla mixed with Nutella plus scrumptious 'globs' of Nutella.  Mamma Mia, it was wonderful!  Then came the pie.

Nutella Crème Icebox Pie should be creamy and high, and when it hits your mouth - wow!  Happy!

This isn't a dessert I recommend making often.  It's rich, it's sweet and it's delicious, but it shouldn't be a weekly treat by any means.  Remember, something is only special if it's special.  Two or three times a year makes it just that.  Eating desserts like this every week, or even every month, make it just another dessert, There's no way something this rich and sweet should be just another dessert for any of us. 
Enjoy (but not too often or you'll need to buy new jeans)!

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Brisket for Passover and Beyond! What could be bad?

I’m a pescatarian.  I know that it’s unusual to see a brisket recipe from someone who hasn’t eaten brisket in well over 20 years.  But, my mom loves brisket and I love my mom, so I make brisket and some other non-pescatarian foods for her.  She’ll still be in Florida this year for Passover, but I’ve made it for her before and she loved it. 

There’s a few should do’s when you cook brisket, and I’ll list those hints here before we get to the recipe so you can decide what you do or don’t want to do. 

Hint #1 – Brown the brisket in the same pan in which you are going to braise it.  For Passover you won’t dredge it in flour (you will at other times of the year), but you should still brown it for about 5 minutes on each side.  Have some tongs available to turn it and to hold it up when you scrape the pieces of meat that stuck to the bottom of the pot when you were browning.

Hint #2 – Braise the brisket ahead of time.  The day before is great.  You could make it the same day, but it’s always better (and easier) if you make it ahead of time.

Hint #3 - Brisket should be cooked in a heavy pot, like a Dutch Oven, and it should have a tight seal.  I’ve even heard of people making a seal with flour and water around the seal, but then it’s hard to open to check the level of the cooking liquid.

Hint #4 – Keep the cooking liquid level just under ¾ of the way to the top of the meat.  Don’t drown it. 

Hint #5 – This recipe calls for broth as the cooking liquid.  If my sister Carol wasn’t allergic to red wine, I would use half broth and half Cote du Rhone, or a nice Burgundy.  (or maybe all wine and no broth, depending on the mood). There are plenty of good full bodied Kosher wines now.  I haven’t tried too many but I know of Castel, Grand Vin Castel  2003 from Israel, but it’s pricey, as are many of the good Kosher wines.

Hint #6 – Don’t make brisket if you have to meet someone at the airport in 2 hours.  You have to cook it at a low temperature, between 300 and 325 degrees.  And you will cook it for 3-4 hours – with a short break in the middle (see Hint #7).

Hint #7 – Take the brisket out after about 2 hours.  It will still be stiff, let it sit for about 20 minutes.  This is the perfect time to slice it (against the grain of course), then put it (and all the juices) back in the pot. Keep cooking for about 1 more hour.  Why would you slice it at this point?  The meat will be so tender that it may be difficult to slice later.  Do it now and give yourself a break later.  At this point I also scoop out the veggies, and put in new ones - that way they only cook for 1 or 2 hours and they have some of their own flavor left.

Hint #8 - Some people like to thicken the gravy, some don't, it's your choice. If you decide you want to thicken it, here is a hint, and it's not just for Passover even though I'm using Potato Starch.  My mom used flour to thicken or sometimes even oatmeal, but I find that Potato Starch works really well and really fast.  You can use a small bowl with a small whisk, but my mom always used a small jar to shake it up and I find that the small jar method is my favorite. This is your slurry.  It's really important to make your slurry rather than adding the potato starch or flour directly to the cooking liquid or you'll get lumps all over the place.  Add about 1 Tablespoon Potato Starch  first and then add 1/4 cup wine (or water) and shake it up baby.

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Polenta - the almost no stir method

I was introduced to polenta (and to most of my cooking skills) by the mom of my dear friend Peter Cauterucci.  Mary Cauterucci could cook.  Had she been born at a different time, she would have been the CEO of a large, very successful company.  Instead she had 11 children and cooked each day like a top chef.  No spaghetti and meatballs in the Cauterucci house, it was high-end northern Italian fare for her family.

She taught me how to make polenta, and I loved it.  But, I hate standing over a stove and stirring.  So, I found a better way (not more delicious, just easier).  I'm not saying it is my invention, but I received tips from friends over the years and I don't know who to thank, so I'm just putting this out here.

        Course Stone  Ground for Polenta                             Fine Ground for Corn Bread & Muffins

Tip #1 - Use course Stone Ground corn meal.  Fine grind is for corn bread, not polenta.  Medium grind is OK, but course grind really gives you the results you want for polenta.  There's instant polenta too, but although it's not terrible, there's nothing like the real thing.

Tip #2 - Use just a pinch of baking powder.  How do you measure a pinch?  My mom bought me measuring spoons that measure a pinch, a smidgen etc, but you don't need that.  Simply pinch some  baking  powder between your fingers and there it is! A pinch!.  I started doing this a few years ago and it really makes the polenta smooth and just the right consistency without all the stirring. I wish I could credit whoever it was who gave me this tip, but I have no idea who it was, sorry.

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Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta and Bean soup)

In the US most Italian-Americans call this Pasta Fazul. This is probably because most of their ancestors come from the southern tip of the Italian boot, and this is the translation of their dialect.  That pronunciation isn’t Italian.  It is really pronounced Pasta Fa-jo-li.

This is another peasant dish.  Both delicious and nutritious, and no longer just for peasants, you find it in restaurants all over the City.  I love this dish.  It’s perfect on freezing winter afternoons.  Plus, the second day you can either rehydrate it as a soup (the pasta drinks all the liquid) or you can eat it with a fork, it’s a totally different meal.

The pasta you use should hold the sauce.  Great pastas to use are: Conchigliette (small shells), Funghini (little mushrooms), Orecchiette (little ears), Ditalini (small tubes), Quadrefiore (square flowers),  and Gomiti or Chifferi (elbows). Cooking times vary for these, but be sure they are al dente (firm to ‘the teeth’) because they will continue cooking in the soup, and nobody wants mushy pasta.

I use a vegetable base to accompany the tomatoes, but feel free to use a beef or chicken base.  When I have the ends of the Parmigiano Reggiano left I put them in a ziplock bag and freeze them.  When I make the base for Pasta e Fagioli, I throw them in.  They add lots of cheesy flavor.

This is a super dish on cold winter night. Serve it with a crusty Italian pane integrale (whole grain bread) and plenty of Parmigiano Reggiano and if you have any leftovers, don't be surprised to see someone in your family with a bowl of cold Pasta e Fagioli for breakfast! 

 

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Garlic Shrimp Risotto and Cannellini Bean & Tomato Salad - An Unplanned and Delicious Dinner Menu -

My son Marc came to visit and I hadn't gone food shopping.  I thought about ordering something, after all, I live in Manhattan, I can order just about anything I want.  But I wanted to prepare a dinner that he would remember. 

I looked in the refridgerator and saw that I had some grape tomatoes, arugula and some freshly roasted sweet peppers.  In the freezer were some shrimp.  If you wonder why I had frozen shrimp, you should ask your fish monger if the fresh shrimp you buy is really fresh.  It probably isn't.  Almost all shrimp is flash frozen and defrosted when you buy it.  So, I keep shrimp in my freezer for last minute meals.

My garlic shrimp risotto is not typical.  However, I have served it to my friends from Italy (from all parts of the boot) and they love it, so give it a try.

Our first course was a cannellini bean, grape tomato and arugula salad.  The main course was garlic shrimp risotto and the finale - meyer lemon olive oil cookies.  An easy unplanned menu that could be last minute for my son, or for a party.

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Easy, Sweet, Delicious, Little Roasted Sweet Peppers

These versatile little roasted nuggets are so delicious and so easy to make that whenever I see them, I have to buy them.  

You can serve these bitesize delights with any meal or as a snack between meals.  I cut them up for a delicious breakfast of peppers and eggs, I bring them to work with my salad for lunch, and I cook them with risotto or pasta or as a side to spicy blackened fish for dinner. You can serve them on a picnic blanket in Central Park, or as part of a formal dinner party.  My favorite is to eat them out of a bowl on my lap while I'm watching TV.  Anytime, with just about anything. 

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Sopa de Milagros (Spanish Garlic Soup of Miracles)

Feel a cold coming on? Coughing? Sneezing? Does your throat hurt?
I have the cure!  OK, maybe not a cure but  it is a heck of a home remedy! And if you're not cured, it is still so delicious and so warming that you can't help but feel better.



Rugged and breathtaking Basque coastlline

I found out about Sopa de Milagros  (Soup of Miracles) many years ago when I was visiting my wonderful friend Rocio, comadre mia,  in the Basque Country (aka Euskadi or el País Vasco) in northern Spain. She told me about a soup that her father-in-law, Anastasio Lasuen, made when family members were sick.  His remedy was called Sopa de Milagros, and that it really was a miracle if you have aches and pains, or a fever, or you are congested.  I asked her what was so great about it and she simply answered 'it works',  hence the name, Sopa de Milagros. It's one of the many wonders of the beautiful, mountainous, wooded area that reaches well into France (Pays Basque).


Historically Sopa de Milagros is a peasant dish. Like so many other
peasant dishes it is delicious and it has a purpose.  Now people take things like Garlique for good health, but I'll take this super flavorful Basque cure-all any day.  And for those of you who combine the well known Eastern European Jewish cure-all, chicken soup, with the Basque cure-all. what could be bad?

Because this was a peasant dish, Sopa de Milgagros was often sauteed garlic with a soup base of water poured over the toasted bread.  On a good the egg was added.  On a great day the base was made from chicken carcass.

Today, it still works!  My family loves it, my friends love it.  When anyone who knows me is sick, they ask for Sopa de Milagros.  And if you live in New York and make it, your whole floor has the wonderful fragrance of sauteed garlic, so if you're going on a date, or having guests, make sure they have some too.

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Meyer Lemon Olive Oil Cookies

T'is the season for Meyer Lemons!  That delicious little hybrid of a mandarin and lemon that only stays with us for a couple of months!

Meyer Lemons

 I should have bought a lot more because there's so many things I want to make, but I'm starting with cookies.  These aren't super sweet cookies.  These are a combination of savory with just a touch of sweet. They're grown-up cookies.
                        

I decided to use olive oil rather than butter to compliment the savory taste I was looking for.  And I added just a bit of dried sage and a little more salt (not table salt) that is usually found in a sweet cookie.  In order to get the savory and sweet together it's important not to use table salt, you need a salt of substance. 



Meyer Lemon Olive Oil Cookies
with Espresso

I wasn't looking for a sweet, cakey cookie and I found exactly what I was looking for!

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Blackened Shrimp and Arugula Salad

You might wonder why I'm posting so many salad recipes.  Well, there's a reason to my madness. 

First, these salads are meals you can make for yourself or you can make them when you are entertaining friends and they're always a success. Second, it is January 4th.  Just a few days after the holidays and many of us have eaten way more than we should have and the last thing we want to think about is stuffing our faces. 

But, that doesn't mean we have to starve.  Take a minute and read the page titled 'Salads - They are NOT a Punishment!' on the right side of the page on this blog. These salads are delicious! I promise. 

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