Sapphire Cosmopolitan

Forget making cosmopolitans with vodka - that stuff tastes like swill, anyway! Here's an upscale recipe for the traditional cosmopolitan using fine Bombay Sapphire gin. Just a word of warning - these are extremely potent and will quickly knock you on your ass if you're not careful! 

Sapphire Cosmopolitan

3 parts Bombay Sapphire gin

2 parts premium orange liqueur (Cointreau or Grand Marnier)

2 parts 100% cranberry juice

1 part freshly squeezed lime juice (do NOT sub with the bottled stuff)

Pour the ingredients into a shaker filled with ice. Shake thoroughly and strain into a chilled martini cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange or lemon peel before serving.

Makes 1

Dainty Orange Drop Cookies

I'll admit it freely - I'm a cookie connoisseur and a snob. I really don't care for any of the newfangled recipes coming out these days, especially when it comes to holiday cookies. I prefer to use the old, tried and true recipes from the 1930s and 1940s, and lo and behold, they always turn out beautifully and everyone loves them. 

This particular recipe is for a small, but very flavorful cookie. It's soft and chewy, redolent of fresh orange, and has some interesting textural ingredients - corn flakes, dates, and chopped nuts. It might not sound all that appealing, but they're super delicious. I'm a huge fan of citrus in baking; it creates such a wonderful flavor profile, and usually you can taste it most in the aftertaste. These are an easy cookie to make, but do beware. They have a tendency to stick to the cookie sheets even if you grease them. They also tend to brown very quickly, so make sure to rotate your cookie sheets halfway through baking so everything is baked evenly.

Dainty Orange Drop Cookies

½ cup unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1½ cups corn flakes, crushed

½ cup dates, pitted and chopped

½ cup walnuts, chopped

Grated rind of ½ an orange

Juice of ½ an orange

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Make sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure everything is well incorporated.

Add the eggs and the orange zest. Beat well.

Sift the flour and baking powder together. Add to the creamed mixture along with the orange juice. Add the corn flakes, dates and nuts. Mix well until everything is incorporated. Chill the dough for an about an hour; the cookie dough tends to be a bit loose right after it's made.

Using a small cookie scoop, drop onto greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 - 15 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown. Remove the cookies to cooling racks and let cool completely. Place in a tin lined with waxed or parchment papers, and top with an additional piece of waxed or parchment papers. Slip in a piece of sandwich bread to help the cookies to stay soft and make sure the lid fits tightly.

Makes about 4 dozen

Fruit, Ham and French Bread Pizza

Sometimes you want all the flavors of a pizza, but don't want to put forth the effort to craft your own, and sometimes, you're too lazy to even call for delivery. This ridiculously simple recipe solves all your problems. It's toasty, cheesy, saucy...but it's all on small baguettes instead of being pizza-shaped. Everything comes together very quickly and can be on the table in less than half an hour. It's also versatile - feel free to swap in the cheese(s) and vegetables of your choice. Allow one slab per person, and if serving a crowd, slice into modest portions. Since this is so easy, it can easily be multiplied to suit your needs - just make sure you've got the oven space and a couple of helpers with you to get these together quickly, as it can be slightly time consuming if just one is making these.

Fruit, Ham and French Bread Pizza

2 small baguettes

1¼ cups pizza sauce (preferably one with herbs in it)

½ lb. lean sliced cooked ham

4 canned pineapple rings, drained and chopped

½ a small green bell pepper, seeded and cut into thin strips

2 oz. reduced fat aged Cheddar cheese (I used mozzarella)

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the baguettes in half lengthwise and toast the cut sides until crisp and golden.

Spread the pizza sauce over the toasted baguettes. Cut the ham into strips and lay on the baguettes with the pineapple and green pepper. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Grate the cheese and sprinkle on top.

Bake for 15 - 20 minutes, until crisp and golden.

Serves 4

NOTE:  You can substitute lean cooked chicken, cooked peeled shrimp, or flaked tuna in place of the ham.

Fettucine con Crema di Aglio e Peperoncino

Let me set the record straight. This dish is ONLY for serious garlic lovers. Why? This potent pasta packs a whopping SIX whole heads of garlic into it. No, that is not a misprint. Don't worry, however. The garlic is roasted so the sharp, spicy and pungent bite is mellowed and tamed. It becomes deliciously soft, nutty and sweet in a slow roasting process. This dish also features a double punch with the spicy addition of cayenne pepper. Feel free to add as much as you want - just be mindful if you're serving this to guests who may not enjoy searing heat as much as you. This dish can be made with regular, gluten-free or any low carb fettucine/linguine. If you want extra spice, top each serving with a sprinkling of crushed red pepper flakes (as shown above).

Fettucine con Crema di Aglio e Peperoncino

6 whole heads garlic

1¼ lb. fettucine

6 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

Kosher salt

¼ - ½ tsp. cayenne pepper (or more, to taste)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Wrap each head of garlic separately in foil. Place the parcels on the center rack of the oven and bake 45 minutes. Remove the garlic heads from the oven and set aside to cool slightly so they can be handled.

Unwrap the garlic heads, separate the cloves, and squeeze the garlic cloves from their papery sheaths into a hot serving bowl. This process takes awhile, so make sure you have not started cooking your pasta at this point. Add the olive oil and season to taste with kosher salt. Sprinkle with the cayenne pepper and blend together well with a fork.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta according to the package directions until al dente.

Drain the pasta and transfer it to the serving bowl. Toss the pasta with the sauce and serve immediately.

Serves 6

15 Minute Chili Cheeseburger Skillet

 

15 minutes? No way. Yes way, 15 minutes. This delightfully quick and oddly satisfying skillet meal will make everyone happy, from kids to adults. There's an extremely short list of ingredients and hardly any prep work. This recipe is supposed to use broccoli, but obviously, based on my photo, I used peas (forgot to pick up the broccoli!). Regular chili powder is used for a lot of flavor, but if you'd like a little heat, or go for a more smoky flavor, try adding a little chipotle chili powder or even a little pimentón (smoked paprika). You can easily play with this recipe and tweak it enough to make it your own, but make it once following my recipe to see how you like it before you make changes. This is my first post of 2013, and I promise I'll try to be a little more active here this year!

15 Minute Chili Cheeseburger Skillet

1 lb. supreme lean ground beef (93/7 split)

2 cups water

1 package (7.25 oz.) Kraft Macaroni and Cheese Dinner

1 tsp. chili powder (or more, to taste)

3 cups chopped broccoli

¼ cup ketchup

Brown the meat in a large skillet, then drain it completely. If needed, wipe out any residual fat using a paper towel.

Return the meat to the skillet. Stir in the water, macaroni and the chili powder. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover and let simmer for 5 minutes, stirring twice. I found that it needs to be stirred rather frequently in order to keep the noodles from sticking to the pan; stir at your discretion.

After 5 minutes, add the broccoli. Simmer another 5 minutes or until the macaroni is tender. If the mixture seems to be dry, add a little more water. Stir in the cheese sauce mix and the ketchup until blended. Serve immediately.

Serves 4