Betty Crocker- In Love With Chocolate- Bonbon Cookies

This recipe is from another of my many chocolate books: Betty Crocker In Love With Chocolate. Is a little supermarket booklet. These cookies don't seem too hard to make and would be nice for a tea party. It seems like tea parties are definitely back in vogue.

Bonbon Cookies

3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
Dates, nuts, semisweet chocolate chips and candied or maraschino cherries
Powdered Sugar Frosting
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix powdered sugar, butter, vanilla and chocolate. Work in flour and slat until dough holds together. (If dough is dry, mix in 1 to 2 tablespoons milk.) Mold dough by tablespoonfuls around date, nut, chocolate chips or cherry. Place cookies about 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until set but not brown; cool. Dip tops of cookies into frosting. Decorate with coconut, nuts, colored sugar, chocolate chips or chocolate shot if desired. About 2 dozen cookies
Powdered Sugar Frosting
Mix 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoon milk and 1 teaspoon vanilla until smooth. Stir in few drops food color if desired. Or increase milk to 2 tablespoon and stir in 1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled.

Herb & Spice Cookery- Neopolitan Tomato Sauce

This is another recipe from my British herb cookbook, Herb & Spice Cookery. I chose it because I love the photo of all the herbs and seasonings. This book is different in that each recipe is listed with two separate ingredients lists. One for Imperial measures and one for American.

Neapolitan tomato sauce

"A thick tomato sauce is particularly good with spaghetti, macaroni, Tournedos, or any meat requiring a piquant sauce."

1 large clove garlic
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 tablespoons tomato paste
3 tablespoons warm water
1 (14 oz.) can tomatoes
1/2 small sweet green pepper, chopped
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
Small sprig rosemary
1 bay leaf
12 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
Crush the cove of garlic without cutting it and heat in the oil without browning. Remove the garlic and saute the chopped onion in the oil. Dilute the tomato puree with the warm water and add to the oil with the can of tomatoes (cut the tomatoes roughly removing the cores) and the rest of the ingredients. Bring to the boil and simmer, uncovered , for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the rosemary and bay leaf before serving.

Herb & Spice Cookery- Potato Chervil Soup

What to post, what to post. My husband just reminded me I have five boxes of cookbooks purchased in the last month that I have not blogged about. Well I told him I could blog eight hours a day and not get to them all :).
One of the books he has be bugging me about is Herb & Spice Cookery by Monica Mawson. This is a British book. He wants me to look at it so he can put it on eBay when I am finished with it, so here goes.
I had to look up chervil. It is a relative to parsley that adds a faint herbal-anise flavor to food.

Potato Chervil Soup

"A particularly delicious soup to serve as a supper dish or as a "warmer-upper" after an evening's outing. The time and trouble can be cut considerably by using an instant potato powder, in place of the raw potato. For this method, increase the stock to 5 cups and simmer for 10-15 minutes only, then sprinkle the contents of a large ( 5-oz.) packet of instant potato on the boiling liquid and stir thoroughly. Finish off as below. The chervil must not be cooked or it will lose much of its flavor, so add it only after the soup has been removed from the heat."

1 lb. potatoes, after peeling
1 small onion, peeled
2 tablespoon butter
3 3/4 cups white stock
1 small bay leaf
1/8 teaspoon ground mace
2/3 cup coffee cream or milk
Salt, pepper to taste
6-7 tablespoons chopped chervil
Slice the potato and onion,. Melt the butter and sweat the vegetables gently with the pan covered, stirring occasionally, for 8-10 minutes. Pour in the stock. Add the bay leaf and mace and simmer, covered, for 45-50 minutes.
Remove the bay leaf and put the soup through a liquidizer. Stir in the cream or milk and season to taste with salt and pepper. Reheat, then remove from the heat and stir in the chervil. Serve with fried croutons, if liked. Serves 4-5.

Favorite Recipes of Home Economic Teachers- New Holiday Cookbook

This recipe is from the Valentine's section of New Holiday Cookbook, Favorite Recipes of Home Economics Teachers. There a lots and lots of home economist recipe books and I think the recipes tend to be good because like a community cookbook the contributor is giving their name with the recipe. It makes sense that they would only choose a recipe they knew was good.

Rolled Chicken Breasts

6 chicken breasts, boned and skinned
Salt to taste
1 6-oz. package Swiss cheese
6 thin slices ham
Flour
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon instant chicken bouillon
1 3-oz. can sliced mushrooms
1/3 cup sauterne
Toasted almonds
Place chicken breasts, boned side up, on cutting board. Pound chicken lightly with wooden mallet to make 1/4-inch thick cutlets. Sprinkle with salt. Place cheese slice and ham slice on each piece of chicken; tuck in sides and roll up, pressing to seal well. Coat with 1/4 cup flour. Heat butter in skillet; brown chicken in butter. Remove to 11x7x1 1.2 -inch baking pan. Combine 1/2 cup water, bouillon, mushrooms and sauterne in same skillet; heat, stirring to remove crusty bits from skillet. Pour over chicken; cover. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes or until tender; transfer to warm serving platter. Blend 2 tablespoons flour with 1/2 cup water; stir into liquid in baking pan. Cook stirring, until thickened. Pour small amount over chicken; garnish with almonds. Pour remaining gravy into sauce boat; serve with chicken Yield 6 servings. Viki Ann Sommers Roosevelt Jr HS, Coffeyville, Kansas.

This is an easy punch recipe from the same chapter:

Valentine Fruit Punch

1 package cherry Kool-aid
1 package strawberry Kool-aid
2 cups sugar
3 quarts water
1 6-oz. can frozen orange juice concentrate
1 6-oz can frozen lemonade concentrate
1 quart ginger ale
Mix Kool-aid, sugar and water. Add orange juice and lemonade; mix until thawed. Add ginger ale just before serving. Yield: 25 servings of 3/4 cup. Mrs Dorothy Smith Virginia HS, Virginia, Illinois.

Choclate Lover's Collection- Chocolate Cherry Torte

Valentine's day makes me think of chocolate but it doesn't need to be just candy. This torte is a fairly simple to make but impressive looking dessert. It would make a nice Valentine's day dessert. I have seen this recipe in a Duncan Hines recipe booklet but I found it again in Chocolate Lover's Collection. This a little stand up easel type book and boy does it have a lot of yummy sounding recipes.

Chocolate Cherry Torte

1 package Duncan Hines Devil's Food Cake Mix
1 can (21 oz.) cherry pie filling
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 container (8 oz.) frozen whipped topping, thawed and divided
1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds, for garnish
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.
Prepare, bake and cool cake following package directions for basic recipe. Combine cherry pie filling and almond extract in small bowl. Stir until blended. To assemble, place one cake layer on serving plate. Spread with 1 cup whipped topping, then half the cherry pie filling. Top with second cake layer. Spread remaining pie filling to within 1 1/2 inches of cake edge. Decorate cake edge with remaining whipped topping. Garnish with sliced almonds

Classroom Favorites Take-to-School Treats-Valentine's Treats

Today I received a little book I had ordered from paperbackswap, Classroom Favorites Take-to-School Treats for Every Holiday by Leigh Ann Michael. I don't have any grandchildren or work with kids anymore but it sounded like an interesting book and it is. Lots of quick and easy recipes that would be great to use at home too. Not for those that are into low sugar and no food additives though :) lots of sugar in there. Here are some of the treats from the Valentine's section.

Cupid's Cups

Valentine cup cake liners
1 box chocolate cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup oil
24 mini-peanut butter cup candies
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place cupcake liners in muffin pan. Prepare cupcakes according to package direction, except bake the cupcakes for 10 minutes and then remove from the oven. Place 1 peanut butter cup candy in the center of each cupcake, return to oven and bake for another 10 minutes. Cool and serve.

Be Mine Butterfinger Pie

1 large box chocolate pudding
1 large container whipped topping
3 Butterfinger candy bars, cut into bite sized pieces
1 ready made chocolate pie crust
Mix pudding according to package directions. Add whipped topping and candy pieces. Mix until all ingredients are well blended. Pour into pie crust. Chill and serve.

Disappearing Mini Cheesecups

1 box cheesecake mix (Jello brand type)
vanilla wafers
1 can strawberry or cherry pie filling
Prepare cheesecake according to package directions. Put 1 vanilla wafer into bottom of a muffin tin. Pour cheesecake mixture over wafer. Top with pie filling. These will not last long.

Favorite Recipes- Kikkoman Oriental Cooking, Fish

I keep telling myself I need to eat more fish meals but never seem to get around to fixing it. I like fish with an Asian flare so I will make myself put one of these recipes on my menu. I think I might be able to grind the sesame seeds in my mini food processor. These recipes are from the now unPC titled Favorite Recipes Kikkoman Oriental Cooking.

Imperial Sesame Fish

2 teaspoons sesame seed, toasted
1/4 cup Kikkoman Soy Sauce
2 teaspoons white vinegar
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger root
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 pounds fish or thawed fish fillet, 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 green onion and top, chopped
Measure sesame seed into blender container; cover and process about 120 seconds, or until finely ground. Add soy sauce, vinegar, ginger and sugar; cover and process about 15 seconds, scraping down sides once. Remove 3 tablespoons sauce mixture from blender container; combine with water in small saucepan and set aside. Generously brush both sides of fish with remaining sauce. Broil about 5 minutes, or until fish flakes easily when tested with fork. Meanwhile, blend cornstarch with mixture in saucepan. Bring to boil; cook and stir until sauce thickens. Stir in green onion. Just before serving, spoon sauce over cooked fish. Serve with assorted vegetables. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Ginger Fish Fillets

1 pound fresh or thawed fish fillets
1/4 cup Kikkoman Teriyaki Sauce
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon slivered fresh ginger root
1 large green onion and top, cut into 1-inch lengths and slivered
1/3 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
Place fillets in single layer in shallow baking pan. Combine teriyaki sauce, oil and sugar; pour over fish. Turn fillets over to coat well. Marinate 20 minutes, turning fish over occasionally (If fillets are very thin, marinate for only 10 minutes.) Sprinkle ginger and green onion evenly over each fillet. Bake in marinade at 350 degrees 6 to 10 minutes, or until fish flakes easily when tested with fork. Remove to serving platter and keep warm; reserve 1/4 cup pan juices. Blend water and cornstarch in small sauce pan. Stir in reserved pan juices. Cook and stir until mixture boils and thickens. To serve, spoon sauce over fish. Makes 4 servings.

Wild Game Cookbook- Vagabond Venison

Recently I was pursusing The Dover Publications site looking for vintage clip art. I noticed that they had some cookbooks in their online catalog. Somehow it had escaped me that they published cook books. While at The Cook Book Store today I picked up the Wild Game Cookbook by John A. Smith, 1986. I am sending this to my brother-in-law who lives in Alaska. No venison around here. After getting home and looking at it I see that is a Dover book.
This recipe certainly makes sure that none of your game goes to waste:

Vagabond Venison

1 deer heart
1 deer tongue
1 tablespoon lard or bacon grease
2 medium onions, sliced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 can mushroom caps with brine
2 tablespoons sherry
1 tablespoon dark rum
1/2 teaspoon paprika
Cut heart and tongue into bite sized pieces. Melt the lard in a Dutch oven. Saute the onions until golden. Add the heart and tongue and stir for a minute. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Add the mushroom caps with brine, sherry and rum. Stir and cover. Cook over medium heat for 35 minutes. Reduce heat to low and cook for 2-3 hours until tender. Sprinkle with paprika and serve hot over noodles.

Louisiana Creole & Cajun- Chicken Rochambeau

Yesterday I bought a little cookbooklet Louisiana Creole & Cajun by Margaret Maring. It is an American Cooking Guild book. Today is Mardi Gras so it is appropriate to post a recipe from it. This recipe doesn't really seem Creole or Cajun, but I like the name. The scan above is from the booklet.
I visited New Orleans about twenty years ago and have always wanted to go back. It almost seemed like a foreign country compared to where I live. Everything was so different and the seafood was so reasonable. Even though I live on the coast seafood as always been expensive.

Chicken Rochambeau

2 tablespoons butter
1 cup finely chopped green onions with tops
1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoons flour
1 cups chicken stock, heated
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup dry red wine, Burgundy or Claret
1 tablespoon Worcestershire
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper or to taste
Salt to taste
4 chicken breast, boned
1 tablespoons flour seasoned with salt and pepper
6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons oil
4 slices Canadian bacon
4 Holland rusks or toasted English muffin
1 recipe standard Bearnaise Sauce (may be prepared ahead)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large heavy saucepan over medium heat, melt the 2 tablespoons butter until it foams. Add the green onions and the garlic and cook until they are soft but not brown. Add the flour and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Remove from heat and whisk in the hot chicken stock and return to heat and cook until mixture begins to thicken. Add the mushrooms and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the wine, Worcestershire, cayenne and salt. Cook for 2-3 more minutes and taste for seasoning.
Wash and dry the chicken breasts; coat with the seasoned flour. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt the butter and oil. Add floured chicken and saute until golden brown on all sides. Place in a shallow oven-proof dish and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes until done.
To assemble and serve: Broil the Canadian bacon until hot. Arrange Holland rusks on serving plates. Warm the mushroom sauce. Place a slice of Canadian bacon on each Holland rusk, cover with the mushroom sauce. Place chicken breasts over the sauce and spoon 2-3 tablespoon Bearnaise sauce over all. Pass extra Bearnaise sauce at the table. 4 servings

Pillbury's Party Fun- Crunchy Veggie Dip

This recipe is a variation of the infamous Knorr Spinach Dip. I really love that dip. When I have some leftover I use it as a sandwich spread and more than once it was the sandwich filling. This version is from a little Pillsbury supermarket booklet Party Fun published in 1987. I suppose you could make this with low-fat versions. One time I made the classic spinach dip with low fat sour cream and nonfat mayonnaise and it was OK but not as flavorful. I think that was the fault of the fake mayonnaise not the sour cream.

Crunchy Veggie Dip

1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 cup mayonnaise
8 oz. can water chestnuts, drained, finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped carrots
1/2 cup finely chopped broccoli
1/4 oz.. package dry vegetable soup mix
In medium bowl, combine all ingredients; mix well. Cover; refrigerate several hours to blend flavor. Serve with assorted vegetable dippers, chip or cracker. 3 1/2 cups.

Hot Sourdough-Clam Dip- Desserst & Party Foods Cookbook

2008 sure has got off to a fast start I can hardly believe it is February already. With the Super Bowl coming up I will post some snack ideas for the next few days. I enjoy clam dip and this sounds like a good hot version.This takes awhile to warm so you could make it up ahead, put it in the oven when the game starts and it would be ready at half-time. It is from Beta Sigma Phi International- Desserts & Party Foods Cookbook. This is an interesting cookbook because it includes party menus for various holidays and functions including Founders Day, Rush and Ritual of Jewels.

Hot Sourdough-Clam Dip

1 round loaf unsliced sourdough bread
2 (7 oz.) cans minced clams
1/2 cup clam liquid
2 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons chopped chives
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
6 drops Tabasco sauce
2 tablespoon lemon juice
Slice top off bread loaf. Hollow out inside. Cut removed bread into 1-inch pieces. Combine the remaining ingredients in bowl, mixing well. Pour into hallowed-out loaf. Wrap in foil. Bake at 250 degrees for 1 1/2 hours or until heated through. Serve with warmed bread pieces.