Sugar Cookie Jewels

One of Gavin's favorite cookies is a Sugar Cookie with M&M's on it.  Not sure if he likes the sugar cookie but he loves the challenge of eating all the M&M's stuck in the top.

Ingredients
3/4 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon backing soda
3/4 cup M&M's
Granulated sugar

Directions 
Preheat oven to 350F.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy;  add egg and vanilla
Combine flour and baking soda;  add to creamed mixture just until blended
Shape dough into 1 inch balls and place on greased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.
Sprinkle each cookie with small amount of sugar
Press 5-6 M&M's into top of cookie. Close together is OK they will spread with the cookie.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges are light golden; let col 1 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Left Bank French Onion Soup

Ingredients

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons butter
4 yellow onions cut in half, then sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup sherry
2 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon peppercorns
2 cups chicken stock
4 cups beef stock
salt, pepper
Sliced baguettes
Emmenthal or Gruyere cheese shredded


Preheat oven to 350 degrees
1. Heat butter and oil in a large heavy bottomed soup pot.  Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally,  until caramelized.
2. Add white wine and sherry.  Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer until reduced by half.
3. Tie the thyme, bay leaves and peppercorns in a square of cheesecloth to make a sachet.  Add, along with stocks; simmer for 1 hour.  Remove sachet from soup. Season to taste.
4. Brush baguette slices with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake until crispy, 5-10 minutes.
    NOTE: on next few days when baguette becomes stale 20-30 seconds in the microwave will make it soft.
5. To serve, fill warm soup bowls with onion soup, float two or three baguette slices on top and add a generous sprinkling of cheese.  Slide under the broiler and cook until the cheese melts and caramelizes.

Recipe is from San Jose Mercury, David Bastide executive chef, Left Bank Brasserie, San Jose.  

Pork Chops in Dijon Sauce

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 4 center-cut rib or loin pork chops, boneless or bone-in (whatever you prefer), about 1 1/4 inch thick
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped shallots or green onions
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 3/4 cup chicken stock*
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 Tbsp chopped parsley (optional)

*If cooking gluten-free, use homemade chicken stock or gluten-free packaged stock.

METHOD

1 Pat the pork chops dry with paper towels. Sprinkle salt and pepper all over them. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Stir in the butter. As soon as the butter has melted, add the pork chops to the pan and sear them, about 2-3 minutes on each side. Reduce the heat slightly if the chops brown too quickly.

2 Remove the pork chops from the pan and pour off most of the fat. Add the green onions or shallots and cook them on med high heat until softened, about 1 minute. Add 1/2 cup of the wine and bring to a boil, deglazing the pan by scraping the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir in the stock and return chops to the pan. Bring sauce to a simmer, reduce heat, cover and cook until chops are cooked through (145°F internal temp), about 10 to 15 minutes.

3 Remove the pork chops to a warm platter; cover with foil to keep warm. Add the remaining half cup of wine. Increase the heat to high to boil the pan juices. Reduce the juices by half, about 3 minutes. Add the heavy cream and boil 3 minutes more, until sauce reduces and thickens, and scraping the pan with a wooden spoon leaves a trail. Remove from the heat and whisk in the mustard and parsley. If you want, add more mustard to taste. Place chops on a bed of sauce and serve.

Macadamia Nut Cookies with White Chocolate Chips

This is a wonderful recipe that I dressed up with a product I found on Maui. Hershey's Kisses with Macadamia nuts.

Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
1 cup coarsely chopped white chocolate
1 Hershey's Kiss for each cookie.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla and almond extracts. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in the macadamia nuts and white chocolate. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown. Makes 48 cookies.

Glazed Ham with Pineapple Mustard Sauce

This is a great glaze with a mild mustard sauce

Ingredients

• Vegetable oil for greasing pan
• 1 (8- to 10-pound) partially cooked smoked shank-end ham (preferably Cook's brand)
• 3 cups unsweetened pineapple juice (24 fl ounces)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 3/4 cup Dijon mustard (7 ounces)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves

• Special equipment: an instant-read thermometer

• Garnish: sprigs of fresh thyme

Directions

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 325°F. Oil a large roasting pan.

If ham comes wrapped in plastic, rinse ham and pat dry. Cut away and discard any thick skin with a sharp paring knife, leaving a 1-inch band around shank end, then cut away all but about an 1/8-inch layer of fat where possible. Put ham, cut side down, in roasting pan. Pour 3/4 cup pineapple juice around ham and cover pan tightly with foil, then bake 1 hour.

While ham is baking, combine sugar and remaining 2 1/4 cups pineapple juice in a 1 1/2- to 2-quart heavy saucepan and gently boil, stirring occasionally, until reduced to 3/4 cup, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer pineapple syrup to a bowl and cool 5 minutes. Whisk in mustard, salt, and pepper, then pour 1/2 cup into a small bowl and stir in thyme. Reserve remaining mustard mixture for serving.

Discard foil from pan and brush ham with thyme mustard mixture, then bake, basting with pan juices occasionally, until thermometer inserted into center of meat (do not touch bone) registers 145 to 150°F, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours. If pan juices evaporate during baking, add 1/2 cup water. Transfer ham to a platter, discarding pan juices, and let stand, uncovered, 15 to 30 minutes before slicing. Serve ham with reserved mustard mixture on the side.

Cooks' notes: ·Pineapple mustard mixture, without thyme, can be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered.
·Ham can be trimmed of skin and fat 8 hours ahead and chilled, its surface covered with plastic wrap. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before baking.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe from Cathy Lowe via the Food Network.

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 2 cups chocolate chips, 2 Hershey's chocolate bars, chopped or M&M'S
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a bowl stir together flour, salt, and baking soda.

In another large bowl stir together butter, both sugars, eggs, vanilla and cocoa.

Gradually stir flour mixture into butter mixture and mix until combined.

Stir chocolate chips and walnuts, if using, and stir to distribute evenly.

For cookies: Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto greased baking sheets and bake about 10 minutes. Cool on a baking rack.

For bars: Pat dough into a greased 9 inch square baking pan and bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cut into squares when cooled

Pork Pie

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 pounds lean ground pork
• 1/2 cup minced onion
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup fresh bread crumbs
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Crumble the ground pork into a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion. Cook, stirring frequently, until evenly browned. Add water and remove from heat, and mix in the fresh bread crumbs. Season with salt, cinnamon, and cloves, and mix well.
3. Press one of the pie crusts into the bottom and up the sides of a pie plate. Fill with the pork mixture. Place the second crust over the top, and pinch the seams to seal. Poke a couple of holes in the top crust to vent steam.
4. Bake for 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until crust is golden.