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Lemon Blueberry Sorbet Recipe

Lemon verbena enhances the lemon flavor of this blueberry sorbet. The rum is optional. The recipe calls for frozen blueberries, so you can make it year-round.

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

* 2/3 cup granulated sugar
* 1/3 cup whole lemon verbena leaves
* 1 bag frozen blueberries (14 to 16 ounces)
* 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
* 2 Tablespoons lemon-flavored rum (optional)

Preparation:

Put sugar and lemon verbena in a food processor and process 30 seconds. Add frozen blueberries and process 1 minute.

With the processor on, pour lemon juice and rum, if using, through the feed tube; process until smooth. Serve sorbet immediately, or transfer to a covered bowl and keep in freezer (soften slightly before serving, if necessary).

Yield: 4 servings.

Per Serving: 209 calories; 0.4 g fat (0 g saturated fat; 2 percent calories from fat); 50 g carbohydrates; 0 mg cholesterol; 7 mg sodium; 0.9 g protein; 2.9 g fiber.

Recipe Source: Desserts From An Herb Garden by Sharon Kebschull Barrett (St. Martin's Press)
Reprinted with permission.

Macadamia Nut Chocolate Kisses Recipe

Bite into these little macadamia nut cookies and get a mouthful of chocolate.

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes

Ingredients:

* 3/4 (1-1/2 sticks) cup butter
* 1/2 cup granulated sugar
* 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
* 1 egg
* 2 tsp vanilla extract
* 1-3/4 cups unsilfted all-purpose flour
* 1/2 tsp baking soda
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 3.25 ounces macadamia nuts (about 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 cups)
* chocolate kisses candy

Preparation:

In food processor, finely grind macadamia nuts to a semi-paste. You should end up with about 1/2 cup.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

Cream butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar with electric mixer until smooth and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla extract; beat well. Mix flour, baking powder, salt until combined. Add flour mixture and ground macadamia nuts to creamed butter and sugar. Mix until blended.

Form 1-inch balls of dough and press a chocolate candy kiss into the center of each, taking care that the chocolate candy kiss is completely covered and enclosed. Bake 12 minutes lined cookie sheet. Do not over-bake. Cool on wire racks.

Serve as is. You may also frost with icing or top with powdered sugar.

Yield: 3 to 4 dozen

Ozark Pudding Recipe

Pecans or walnuts, apples, and dark rum flavor this rich pudding. This dessert is best served warm. You may skip the rum, if you wish.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

* 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
* 1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/8 teaspoon salt
* 1 large egg
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 1/2 cup chopped apples (Granny Smiths work well)
* 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
* 1 cup heavy cream, whipped, or 1 cup heavy cream (see Note)
* 1/4 cup dark rum

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour a 1-quart baking dish.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Transfer to a piece of wax paper.

In same bowl, beat egg well on medium speed of an electric mixer. Add sugar and beat until light and lemony looking. Stir in vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Fold in apples and pecans or walnuts.

Pour mixture into prepared baking dish and bake in center of oven 30 minutes or until just set.

Top with whipped cream with rum beaten in, or cream with rum added, just before serving. Best served slightly warm.

Yield: 8 servings

Note: Instead of whipping the cream, you can mix the liquid cream with the rum to serve as a sauce.

Per serving: 265 calories, 58 percent calories from fat, 3 grams protein, 26 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram total fiber, 17 grams total fat, 67 milligrams cholesterol, 118 milligrams sodium.

Recipe Source: How America Eats by Clementine Paddleford (Charles Scribner's Sons) - out of print
Reprinted with permission.

Plum Pudding For Christmas Recipe

Julia Child shares this classic holiday pudding recipe (which has no plums!), served flaming with a zabaione sauce. It is loaded with raisins and spices. Be sure to read the flambe tips before beginning.

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 6 hours,

Ingredients:

* 3 cups (lightly packed down) crumbs from homemade type white bread, a 1/2-pound loaf, crust on, will do it
* 1 cup each: black raisins, yellow raisins, and currants, chopped
* 1-1/3 cups sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon mace
* 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
* 8 ounces (2 sticks) butter, melted
* 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
* Few drops of almond extract
* 1/2 cup bitter orange marmalade
* 1/2 cup rum or bourbon whiskey, heated before serving
* Sprigs of holly, optional
* 2 cups Zabaione Sauce (recipe included herein)

Zabaione Sauce:
* 1 large egg
* 2 egg yolks
* Small pinch of salt
* 1/3 cup rum or bourbon whiskey (or Marsala or sherry)
* 1/3 cup dry white French vermouth
* 1/2 cup sugar

Preparation:

Special equipment suggested:
A food processor is useful for making the bread crumbs and chopping the raisins; an 8-cup pudding container, such as a round bottomed metal mixing bowl; a cover for the bowl; a steamer basket or trivet; a roomy soup kettle with tight-fitting cover to hold bowl, cover, and basket.

Timing note:
Like a good fruitcake, a plum pudding develops its full flavor when made at least a week ahead. Count on 6 hours for the initial, almost unattended steaming, and 2 hours to reheat before serving.

The pudding mixture:
Toss the bread crumbs in a large mixing bowl with the raisins, sugar, cinnamon, mace, and nutmeg. Then toss with the melted butter, and finally with the eggs, almond extract, orange marmalade, and rum or bourbon. Taste carefully for seasoning, adding more spices if needed.

To microwave Plum Pudding:
Butter the dish you are cooking the pudding in, then cover the bottom of the dish with a buttered piece of wax paper. Pour in batter. Cover dish with plastic wrap and pierce the plastic with a knife in several places. Cook at "defrost" (low speed) for 30 minutes. If your microwave oven does not have a carousel which turns the dish during cooking, stop the process several times during the cooking and rotate the dish manually. Finally, cook at 5 minutes on "bake" (high speed). Let the pudding set for a few minutes before unmolding. The pudding is ready when it is firm to the touch. The microwaved plum pudding is somewhat paler than its steamed counterpart.

To steam a Plum Pudding:
Use a special pan made for this purpose. You must have a container with a very tight lid on it which will stay sealed throughout the cooking. Steaming -- about 6 hours: Pack the pudding mixture into the container; cover with a round of wax paper and the lid. Set the container on the steaming contraption in the kettle, and add enough water to come a third of the way up the sides of the container. Cover the kettle tightly; bring to the simmer, and let steam about 6 hours. Warning: check the kettle now and then to be sure the water hasn't boiled off!

When is it done? When it is a dark walnut-brown color and fairly firm to the touch.

Curing and storing:
Let the pudding cool in its container. Store it in a cool wine cellar, or in the refrigerator. Ahead -of-time note: Pudding will keep nicely for several months.

Re-steaming:
A good 2 hours before you plan to serve, resteam the pudding -- it must be quite warm indeed for successful flaming. Unmold onto a hot serving platter and decorate, if you wish, with sprigs of holly.

Flaming and serving:
Pour the hot rum or whiskey around the pudding. Either ignite it in the kitchen and rapidly bring it forth, or flame it at the table. Serve the following Zabaione Sauce separately.



Zabaione Sauce:

Whisk all the ingredients together for 1 minute in a stainless saucepan. Then whisk over moderately low heat for 4 to 5 minutes, until the sauce becomes thick, foamy, and warm to your finger -- do not bring it to the simmer and scramble the eggs, but you must heat it enough for it to thicken. Serve warm or cold.

Ahead-of-time note:
The sauce will remain foamy for 20 to 30 minutes, and if it separates simply beat it briefly over heat. If you wish to reform the sauce, whisk in a stiffly beaten egg white. Makes about 2 cups.

Yield: 12 servings

Recipe Source: The Way to Cook by Julia Child (Alfred A. Knopf)
Reprinted with permission.

This is another vegan recipe I found that I plan on cooking tonight. I hope this comes out tasty as well. whee

"Buttermilk" Biscuits

Mix and set aside to curdle:

1 cup very cold soymilk or almond milk

1 tsp vinegar

Mix together:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Add to this:

5 tbsp transfat-free vegetable shortening (like Crisco) or very cold vegan "butter" like Earth Balance, chopped into small cubes.

With a fork or a pastry-cutter, mix the fat into the flour until you have a coarse mixture with no large pieces of fat. If using "butter," work quickly because you don't want the fat to melt.

Now add the curdled soymilk-vinegar mixture and mix quickly until the dough comes together.

Make a ball of the dough, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 15-30 minutes.

Now take the dough and roll it into about 1/2-inch thickness. Use a round cookie cutter about 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter to cut the biscuits.

Place the biscuits on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Reroll any leftover scraps of dough to cut more biscuits from it.

Brush the tops of the biscuits with a mixture of 1 tbsp soy milk and 1 tbsp canola or other vegetable oil for a nice, golden-brown glaze. Leave about 1 inch space between each: don't overcrowd.

Bake the biscuits in a preheated 450-degree oven 10-12 minutes.

Cool on a baking rack.