Cuccidati (Italian Fig/Date Bar Cookies)

Posted by CookinMom at recipegoldmine.com May 14, 2001

Source: vermontliving.com

NOTE: You have to make the filling 3 days ahead.

Crust
3/4 cup margarine
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
Rind of 1 orange
4 teaspoons orange juice
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling
1 string of figs
8 ounces raisins
8 ounces brown sugar
1 pound walnuts
1 pound dates
1 orange
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 ounces whiskey
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 cups water

Frosting
3 cups powdered sugar
4 ounces butter
Orange juice

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Crust: In large bowl, cream together first 3 ingredients. Add orange juice and orange rind.

In separate bowl, combine flour and baking powder. Add to creamed mixture along with vanilla.

Filling: Prepare several days ahead of time. In a food grinder, grind figs and raisins. In large saucepan, simmer raisins and figs with brown sugar and water for 15 minutes. Grind walnuts, dates, and orange. Stir into hot mixture along with cinnamon, black pepper, and whiskey. Remove from stove, mix well, cover, and let mellow for 3 days.

Note: This recipe makes enough filling for 2 batches of crust and can be divided and frozen for up to six months.

Roll dough into 3-inch wide strips on pastry cloth. Lay filling down the center and wrap dough to form a long "sausage-like" cookie. Roll back and forth until crust seems very thin. Cut in diagonal about every 1 1/2 inches. Place on cookie sheet close together and bake for 10-13 minutes. Cookies should be barely brown. Cool and store in tins 5 days, then frost.

Frosting: In medium bowl, mix together margarine and powdered sugar until well blended. Add enough juice to make a thick glaze. Top cookies with a thin coat. Let frosting dry a couple of hours then store in tins as follows.

To Store: Line tins with foil, place a layer of cookies, then a layer of wax paper (NOT plastic wrap). Keep repeating, ending with foil and then the lid.

Servings: 4

Steak and Kidney Pie

Source: Guardian newspaper

1 1/4 kg stewing beef (shin is particularly good for this)
500 g ox kidney
50 g plain flour, sifted
1 teaspoon mustard powder, sifted
Salt and pepper
75 g beef dripping or cooking oil
175 g smoked streaky bacon
500 g onions
500 g carrots
500 ml stout beer (e.g. Guinness)
2 bay leaves
225 g shortcrust pastry or puff pastry (as preferred)

Chop up the onion quite roughly. Cut the bacon into thick matchsticks and the carrots into 1 cm-thick sections (quarter them if they are big).

Heat half the dripping or oil in a casserole and when it is good and hot chuck in the bacon and vegetable. Stir, reduce the heat and leave to soften up nicely.

Cut the beef into 2.5 - 4 cm pieces, discarding any obvious lumps of fat or gristle.

Mix the flour , mustard powder, salt and pepper in a bowl. Roll the beef chunks through the mixture and then pop them into a heated frying pan in which you have heated the rest of the dripping/oil to smoking point. Make sure you brown the meat well. Transfer the browned pieces of beef into the casserole. While all this is going on, attend to the kidney.

Cut away the inner core of fat and whatever, and cut the rest into bite-size chunks. Then give it the flour/mustard/salt/pepper treatment and pop the kidneys into the hot frying pan. It doesn't matter if there isn't much fat left - just stir them around to prevent them sticking. After a couple of minutes or so add the kidneys to the casserole and stir everything around.

Pour the stout into the frying pan and, over a gentle heat, scrape up all the gunge on the bottom of the pan then pour the whole lot into the casserole. The liquid should cover the meat so if it doesn't, take the lid off a second bottle of stout and top up. Bung in a couple of bay leaves, put on the lid and bring to a simmer. Take off the lid and simmer for about 1 1/2 hours until the meats are just tender but not disintegrating. The juice should have reduced and taken on a velvet glow by now and if it hasn't, move the meat and vegetable into the pie dish, turn up the heat under the casserole and reduce until you get the desired concentration and quality.

Pour the juice over the meat, cover and set aside to cool down, preferably overnight. If you need to plough ahead, however, no matter.

If you're using puff pastry, turn the oven to 220 degrees C/425 degrees F/Gas 7; if shortcrust, to 200 degrees C/400 degrees F/Gas 6.

Roll out the pastry of your choice and stick it on top of the mixture in the pie dish. Make a slit in the top to let out the steam, brush all over with a mixture of egg and milk beaten together and decorate with pastry ships or birds or leaves, if you must, and bake for 15 - 20 minutes.

After that, and whichever type of pastry you are using, turn down the heat to 180 degrees C/350 degrees F/Gas 4 and bake for another 15 - 20 minutes.

Tacos para Desayuno (Breakfast Tacos)

12 flour tortillas
4 strips bacon, chopped
2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2/3 cup green chiles, minced
2/3 cup onions, minced
2/3 cup potatoes, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
Heaping 1/4 teaspoon salt
Heaping 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano
8 ounces chorizo
1 1/4 pounds very lean ground beef
4 eggs, slightly beaten
Refried beans (optional)
1 cup Monterey jack cheese, grated

Fry the bacon until it is soft. Drain grease and remove bacon to a small dish.

Heat olive oil in a skillet over moderate heat and add green chiles, onions, potatoes and garlic. Saut? the vegetable until they are well browned, adjusting the heat as necessary, about 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often. You may have to add a little more olive oil to keep the vegetable from sticking. Add tomatoes and continue cooking for 3 minutes, stirring often. Add salt, cumin and oregano and cook for 1 minute. Add chorizo, breaking it up and stirring it into the vegetable. When the chorizo has browned and released most of its fat, add the ground beef, breaking it up and mixing it with the other ingredients. When the ground beef has browned, add the bacon, cover the skillet, turn the heat to very low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

Add the eggs and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until eggs are well incorporated and set.

Spoon filling on each tortilla, add some refried beans, if used, top with cheese, and serve with your favorite hot sauce.

Adobo

Adobo is used extensively in Puerto Rico to season meats and poultry before cooking. It will keep for several days in the refrigerator, and can be frozen indefinitely. This recipe makes enough to season about 10 pounds of meat.

12 whole black peppercorns
6 cloves garlic, peeled
6 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar or lime juice

Combine all ingredients in an electric blender or food processor and process until well combined. Rub into meat thoroughly and refrigerate for several hours before cooking.

Makes about 1 cup.

Caldo Tlalpeno

1 dried chipotle chile
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 or 3 Roma tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 small onion, peeled and quartered
1 clove garlic, peeled
1/2 cup cold water
6 whole skinless chicken thighs
1 potato, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces
1 chayote squash, unpeeled, cut into bite-size pieces
1 teaspoon salt
1 small zucchini, cut into bite-size pieces
1 cup chopped green beans
1 cup green peas (thawed if frozen)
3 small Key limes, halved
Extra salt to taste
Canned chipotle chiles or hot sauce to taste

Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium-low heat and add the chipotle chile.

Fry the chile slowly, turning it over often in the oil until it is softened and puffed up. The oil should not be too hot or the chile will burn.

Meanwhile, place the tomato, onion, garlic and cold water in a blender and whirl until pureed.

When the chipotle chili is softened, add the puree to the pan, increase the heat and "fry" the mixture until it changes color. Add the chicken to the pot, along with more water (about 2 cups), the cubed potato, chayote squash and salt. Cover the pot and simmer the soup for 20 to 30 minutes, until the chicken is cooked.

Add the zucchini, beans and green peas to the pot and cook 10 minutes longer, until the squash is tender.

Remove the chipotle from the pot, mince and return it to the soup. Heat through and season to taste with more salt and pepper, and more chiles. Place a chicken thigh in the bottom of each bowl and ladle some of the vegetable and broth over top. Squeeze some fresh lime juice each bowl.

Serves 4 to 6.