Ingredients

Directions

1. Place the baby leeks in a small saucepan with the olive oli until the leeks are soft.  Add the rest of the ingredients except for the chives, setting them aside.
2. Simmer until the peas are cooked through.  Add the chives to the pan & use a hand blender to blend until smooth, or your preferred consistency.
3. Serve with warm bread.

Chef’s Note: If you prefer the soup to be 100% Vegetarian, you can substitute vegetable stock for the chicken stock.  I prefer to serve with toasted sourdough.  A swirl of cream will make this look nicer and taste richer.

Ingredients

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Cut the acorn squash in half, remove the seeds & clean out the center. Add salt & pepper to the flesh of the squash & place 1 tbsp of butter into the cavity of each squash half.

2. Once the oven is ready, place the squash flesh side up on a baking sheet or casserole dish & bake for 45 minutes.

3. Put the quinoa into a bowl or container & fill it with water until the quinoa is covered. Set aside.

4. Remove the stalks from the kale & discard them. Rough chop the kale leaves & place into a skillet over medium heat along with 1 tbsp of butter. Add salt, pepper, & crushed red pepper to taste & saute until the kale is dark green & wilted, approximately 5-10 minutes.

5. Drain the water from the quinoa. Pour 1 c. of water in a pot, salt the water liberally & bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the quinoa & kale, stirring together. Place a cover on the pot & reduce the heat to low.

6. Remove the squash from the oven. Spoon the quinoa & kale mixture into the cavity of each squash half & serve.

Chef’s Note: Spinach can be substituted for kale if desired.

Main Ingredients

Sauce

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375° F. Mix together in a bowl, form into loaf shape onto a cookie sheet. Bake 40-45 minutes.
2. Once done, combine the sauce ingredients & spoon over baked loaf. Cook an additional 5 minutes.

Chef’s Note: I actually strain the onions out of the soup mix because I don’t like onions.

Ingredients

Directions

1. Combine figs & water in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil & cook until tender, and liquid has reduced. Remove from heat & stir in the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, rosemary, thyme, & cayenne. Add olives &  garlic, & mix well. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Cover & refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight to allow flavors to blend.

2. Unwrap cream cheese block & place on a serving platter. Spoon tapenade over cheese, & sprinkle with walnuts. Serve with slices of French bread or crackers.

Melt 1 c. sugar in heavy skillet over low heat, stirring constantly. Heat until melted to a golden brown syrup, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add boiling water & stir over low heat until lumps are dissolved. Pour into measuring cup ¼ c. of caramel mixture & add enough cold water to make 1 c. of liquid.

Cream together the softened shortening & remaining sugar until fluffy.  Beat in thoroughly eggs.  Sift together the flour, baking powder, & 1 tsp. salt.  Stir in alternately with caramel mixture.  Pour into two 9″ layer pans or 13″x9″ oblong pan & bake 35 minutes in preheated 350°F oven.

Heat together remaining caramel mixture, cream, & butter to make the burnt sugar frosting.  Beat in the powdered sugar, salt, & vanilla extract.

Chef’s Note: You can substitute 2½ c. Softasilk cake flour for the sifted regular flour

Topping

Frosting

Combine butter, water, & cocoa & bring to a boil.  Mix all ingredients, except topping & frosting ingredients, well (batter will be thin).  Bake at 350°F in a greased 11″x16″ pan for 20 minutes. Cover with the topping ingredients.

Bring to a boil the butter & milk from the frosting ingredients.  Add additional frosting ingredients & beat until smooth.  Frost bars.

Barbecue Sauce

Combine & bring to a boil.

Place ribs on a flat pan.  Sprinkle ribs with garlic powder.  Arrange onion & lemon slices on top.  Bake, uncovered, in oven at 450°F for 30 minutes.  Drain.  While ribs are baking, make the sauce.  Place ribs, onions, & lemon in heavy baking dish or pan with lid.  Pour hot barbecue sauce over ribs.  Cover and bake in 325°F oven for 1½ hours.

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (356°F).  Brush a round 22cm (9″) base measurement cake pan with melted dairy spread to lightly grease.  Line the base with non-stick baking paper.
2. Combine the cocoa powder & hot water in a medium bowl.  Combine the instant coffee powder & boiling water in a cup.  Add the coffee to the cocoa mixture & stir until combined.
3. Add almond meal, sugar, & egg yolks to cocoa mixture, & stir until well combined.
4. Use an electric beater to whisk egg whites in a clean, dry bowl until soft peaks form.  Use a metal spoon to fold a spoonful of egg whites into cocoa mixture until combined.  Gently fold in remaining egg whites until just combined.
5. Pour mixture into prepared pan.  Place cake pan in a roasting pan.  Pour enough boiling water into the roasting pan to reach two-thirds of the way up the side of the cake pan.  Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.  Remove from the oven.  Remove cake pan from water bath & set aside for 20 minutes to cool  Turn cake onto a wire rack & remove paper.  Set aside for another 20 minutes or until cooled to room temperature.
6. Cut cake into wedges & carefully transfer to serving plates.  Serve with strawberries

1. Slice the rhubarb thinly and put it, the brown sugar, water, & spices in a saucepan on lowest heat for about an hour, with the lid on, until the rhubarb has totally collapsed. Strain the liquid into a bowl or jug. Remove the cinnamon & star anise & then set the rhubarb aside to cool.
2. Create a batch of sweet shortcrust pastry (see link for recipe). Once you’ve mixed it all up, put it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before rolling out.
3. Roll out your pastry & place in your tart or pie dish. Cover with parchment paper & fill with rice or baking weights & bake for about 15 minutes. Allow to cool while melting chocolate.
4. Melt 375g (about 13.2 oz) of semi-sweet good quality chocolate. When the chocolate is melted, pour it into the base of the tart. Don’t fill it too much, you want just a thin layer. Refrigerate until chocolate sets.
5. Make custard. You could do this from scratch, or use 1 box of custard powder & make according to the directions on the package.
6. Once your chocolate/pastry has hardened, put a layer of the cooled rhubarb on top of the chocolate. Pour the custard over the rhubarb & put in the refrigerator to set. You need the custard to set to about the firmness of Jell-O before you top with strawberries.
7. Decorate the top with strawberries. It’s hard to say exactly how many you will need, but about three baskets should do it. Once the custard has set, layer the strawberries, halved, on top of the custard in a circle starting from the outer edge until right in the middle. Make a second layer on top to cover any visible gaps where you can see the custard.
8. Sprinkle with fine white sugar & put back in the refrigerator. The strawberries will absorb the sugar & turn into a sort of glaze. If you want to get fancy, you can use a dessert torch to heat the sugar & caramelize it into a nice crust. Serve with vanilla ice cream on the side.

Chef’s Note: You can omit the rhubarb and use more strawberries to turn this into just a strawberry tart.

1. Cream the shortening, water & sugar together until light & fluffy. Add the molasses & egg yolk & mix until well blended.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. If using a stand mixer, use stir. The dough will be sticky. DO NOT ADD MORE FLOUR REGARDLESS OF HOW TEMPTED YOU MAY BE!!! Too much flour will make the cookies tough. Form into 2 flat disks & put in the freezer for at least an hour or more.
3. Preheat oven to 350°F.
4. When the dough is cold enough to handle, roll it to about ¼” thick between 2 pieces of wax paper (the wax paper keeps you from having to use more flour). I roll mine a little thinner because I like a little crispness on the edges. Gently press together the scraps into another disk & put back in the freezer until ready for use. Bake for 8-10 minutes on parchment lined cookie sheets. Cool on pan for about 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Cool completely before decorating.

Chef’s Note: I use shortening instead of butter or margarine because shortening is flavorless and doesn’t impact the spices. I think butter is best served in sugar cookies. If you decide to substitute butter or margarine for the shortening, omit the water from the recipe.