Dried Tomato Torta
Ingredients & Directions 1 c Cream cheese — at room Temperature 1 c Unsalted butter — at room Temperature 1 c Parmesan cheese — freshly Grated 1/2 c Sun-dried tomatoes, Oil-packed — drained (reserve oil 2 tb Oil — from dried tomatoes 2 c Fresh basil leaves — Lightly packed With an electric mixer or food processor, beat cream cheese, butter and parmesan cheese until very smoothly blended. Cut 4 tomatoes into thin strips; set aside. Whirl remaining tomatoes, oil and about 1/2 cup of the cheese mixture until tomatoes arevery smoothly pureed; scrape puree back into bowl with cheese mixture and beat to blend. Cover bowl and chill for about 20 minutes, or until firm enough to shape. Mound cheese on a platter. If made ahead, cover with and inverted bowl (don’t let it touch the cheese) and chill up to 3 days; serve at room temperature. Arrange reserved tomato strips and basil leaves around torta. Sunset suggests spreading cheese on toast (they recommend toasted pita bread triangles) and topping with a basil leaf and a tomato strip. Makes 8 to 10 appetizer servings. Yields 8 Servings
Mexican Wedding Cookies
Ingredients & Directions 1 c Butter, softened 1 c Powdered sugar 2 c Sifted flour 1 c Ground nuts 1 ts Vanilla Combine all ingredients. Form into 1 1/2″ balls. Bake on cookie sheet at 350 for about 10-15 minutes or until set. Roll in powdered sugar while still warm. Yields 36 Servings
Quick Biscuits
Ingredients & Directions 2 c Flour 5 ts Baking powder 1 ts Salt 1/4 c Shortening 1 c Milk Mix and sift the dry ingredients; rub in the shortening and mix with the milk to a soft, thick dough. Drop by spoonfuls onto a well-greased tin and bake in a quick oven (425) for about 15 minutes. These are best when made with butter and come out of the oven as thin, crusty biscuits rather than the thicker variety. Twelve biscuits. –Mary Leize Simons Yields 6 Servings
Mile-high Chocolate Cake
Ingredients & Directions 1/2 c Cocoa; Baking 1/2 c ;Hot Water 2 ts Baking Soda 1/2 c Vegetable Shortening 2 c Sugar 2 ea Eggs; Large 2 ts Vanilla Extract 2 1/2 c Flour; Unbleached, Sifted 1 c Buttermilk COCOA FROSTING 1/2 c Butter Or Regular Margarine 1 oz Baking Chocolate 1 lb Confectioners’ Sugar; Sifted 1 ea Egg White; Large 1 ts Vanilla Extract 1 ts Lemon Juice 3 tb Milk Combine cocoa, hot water and baking soda in a small bowl. Let stand while mixing other ingredients. Cream the shoretening and sugar together in a mixing bowl, using an electric mixer set on medium speed, until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla and cocoa mixture. Add flour alternately with the buttermilk to creamed mixture beating well after each addition. Pour batter into 3 greased and wax paper lined 8-inch round cake pans. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F. oven for 25 minutes or until cakes test done. Cool in pans on racks for 10 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely on racks. To assemble cake, place one cake layer on serving plate. Spread with Cocoa Icing. Top with second cake layer and spread a layer of frosting. Top with third cake layer and frost sides and top with remaining frosting. COCOA ICING: Combine butter, and chocolate in the top of a double boiler. Place over hot water; stir until melted. Remove from heat; cool to room temperature. Sift confectioners’ sugar into a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and add egg white, vanila, and lemon juice. Pour in the chocolate mixture. Blend until smooth, using an electric mixer set at medium speed. Add milk to make frosting of a spreading consistency. Yields 16 Servings
Lemon Bread Pudding
Ingredients & Directions 2 c Milk 1/2 c Sugar 2 c Inch size bread cubes 2 Eggs; separated Grated rind 1 lemon Lemon sauce 1/2 c Sugar + 2 tbsp 1 c Hot water 1 tb Cornstarch 2 ts Butter 1 1/2 tb Lemon juice 1 ds Nutmeg 1 pn Salt Lemon Bread Pudding Soak bread in milk 5 minutes. Add 1/2 c sugar, tehn beaten yolks and lemon rind. Bake in buttered baking dish at 300 degrees until firm like a custard, about 30 minutes. Beat egg whites until stiff. Add 2 Tbsp sugar and spread over top and brown. Mix sauce ingredients and cook in a double boiler. Serves 4-6 Yields 4 Servings
Pistachio Nut Bread
Ingredients & Directions 1 pk Butter cake mix 1 pk Instant pistachio pudding -mix; 4 oz. 3 dr Pistachio oil 8 oz Sour cream 4 Eggs 1/4 c Water 1/4 c Oil 1/2 c Chopped pecans TOPPING 4 tb Sugar 2 ts Cinnamon 2 tb Chopped pistachios; -(approximately) ** Preheat oven to 350. Grease two 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2″ loaf pans. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Pour half the batter into the loaf pans. Sprinkle with half the topping. Pour the remainder of the batter into the two pans. With a knife, swirl through the batter to mix in the topping and give a swirl effect. Sprinkle the top with the remaining topping. Bake for 1 hour. Makes 2 loaves. MY NOTES: I didnt’ have all the ingredients at hand, so I made it with these substitutions. I used regular yellow cake mix instead of the butter recipe cake mix and used almond extract instead of pistachio oil. (Gotta find me some of that!) I also added a bit of butter flavoring and clear vanilla flavoring. ** The chopped pistachios were my addition…I sprinkled the chopped pistachios over the top layer of topping and pressed in slightly before baking. Yields 2 Servings
Grape Bread (mustaceus)
Ingredients & Directions 4 c Unbleached, all-purpose Flour 1/2 c Lard, shortening, or butter Melted and cooled 1/4 c Feta cheese, crumbled and Mashed into a paste 1 ts Cumin seed, ground 1 ts Anise, ground 1 1/2 c Grape juice, purple or white 1 pk Dry yeast 8 Bay leaves 1) Place the flour, lard, mashed cheese, ground cumin and anise, and yeast in a large mixing bowl. Blend well. Add the grape juice and mix the dough well for 2-3 minutes until all the grape juice is absorbed and evenly distributed. The dough will be damp and sticky, but no internal dry areas should appear by the end of the mixing. If they do, mix a few minutes more or add a little more grape juice and mix again. 2) Let the dough rest 5 minutes. Now sprinkle 1 or 2 tbsp. flour over the dough and knead, either in the bowl or on a lightly floured surface for 5-10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic and only slightly sticky. Add more flour if needed. Let the dough rest 2 minutes. 3) The dough should now be very smooth and easy to handle. Knead 30 seconds more, return the dough to the bowl, cover the bowl with a dish towel or large plate, and let rise at room temperature for at least 3 hours. 4) Sprinkle top with flour, punch down, and form the dough into 4 rectangular loaves (4 in. by 2 in. by 2-1/2 in.). Place two bay leaves on the bottom of each loaf, and lay them, leaf side down, on a greased cookie sheet. Cover with a towel and let rise for 1 hour, until well risen. 5) Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 35 minutes, until the loaves are brown on top and make a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom. Serve when cool. NOTE: To make these breads without leavening, omit the yeast, knead the dough thoroughly, then bake at 350 degrees for about 2 hours. They will be chewy and moist, and very foreign to our taste. The Romans thought unleaven bread was manlier and much better for the digestion. Yields 4 Servings
