Cinnamon - October 2010

Diva: Aven

Drinks:  Erin
Glogg

2 bottles red wine
2 oz dried orange zest
2 oz cinnamon sticks
20 whole cardamom seeds
25 whole cloves
1 pound blanched almonds
1 pound raisins
1 pound sugar cubes
5 fluid ounces brandy

Pour wine into a large pot.  Bring to a boil over medium high heat.  Wrap orange zest, cinnamon sticks, cardamom and cloves in cheesecloth, tie with kitchen string and put into pot.  Let boil for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Stir in almonds and raisins and continue to boil for 15 more minutes.  Remove from heat. 

Place a wire grill over the pot and cover with sugar cubes.  Slowly pour on brandy, making sure to completely saturate the sugar.  Light sugar with a match and let it flame.   When sugar has melted, cover pot with lid to extinguish flame.

Stir and remove spice bag.  Serve hot in cups with a few almonds and raisins.

Erin’s Note: Don’t add as many raisins/nuts, definitely take the spice bag out prior to flaming the brandied sugar, and don’t add as much sugar as it calls for

(From allrecipes.com)

Appetizer:  Mariah
Crostini with Roasted Garlic, Goat Cheese and Apple Chutney

1 c (packed) golden brown sugar
¾ c rice vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 ½ tsp minced peeled fresh ginger
⅛ tsp cayenne pepper
1 cinnamon stick
1 ½ pounds Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, cut into -inch pieces (about 4 cups)
1 c golden raisins
1 French-bread baguette, cut into 1/3-inch-thick slices
Olive oil
Roasted Garlic
12 ounces soft fresh goat cheese room temperature

Stir sugar and vinegar in heavy large saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Add next 4 ingredients and simmer until mixture is syrupy and reduced to 1/2 cup, about 8 minutes. Mix in apples and raisins. Increase heat to high and boil until apples are tender, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes. Cool to room temperature. (Chutney can be made 3 days ahead; cover and refrigerate.)

Preheat oven to 450°F. Arrange baguette slices on baking sheet and brush with olive oil. Bake until golden and crisp, about 8 minutes. Spread each toast with roasted garlic; top with goat cheese and chutney.

(Adapted from Bon Appétit October 1999)


Salad:  Aven
Fall Salad with Cinnamon Vinaigrette

Mixed Greens (lettuce, mizuna, arugula)
1 Pear, sliced thin
1 Fennel Bulb, sliced very thin

¼  pound dry Gouda, grated 


Toss greens, top with pears, fennel, cheese, and dressing



Cinnamon Vinaigrette



¼ c white balsamic vinegar

¼ c olive oil

1 T lemon juice
2 T agave syrup
½ tsp cinnamon, cumin, coriander, cardamom
¼ tsp cayenne

Side Dish:  Colleen
Corn on the Cob with Cinnamon Honey Butter



Place corn in pot with cold water.  Bring water to a boilover medium-high heat.  When water boils, corn is done.

Cinnamon Honey Butter



1.5 sticks of butter, softened
¼ c honey

1 tsp cinnamon



Whip butter, honey and cinnamon until smooth.



This butter recipe yields a large batch - enough for many ears of corn and leftovers for toast or rolls or anything else you'd like to eat buttery and sweet!

Entrée:  Sara
Cider Brined Pork Loin with Dijon-Brown Sugar Glaze served with Apple Compote

1 center cut half boneless pork loin (4.5-5.5 lbs)
4 c apple cider
1 c apple cider vinegar
1 c light brown sugar
3 T orange juice concentrate
1 T honey
2 tsp cinnamon

Whisk together the ingredients in a heated sauce pan, then allow the marinade to cool.
Take a gallon slide lock freezer bag and stick your pork loin inside it. Make sure you can zip it shut before you pour in any liquid. If necessary, cut the pork loin into two parts so that it fits in your freezer bag (or use two). Pour in the liquid, squeeze out the air and zip the bag shut. Refrigerate 2-3 hours.

Take the pork out of the refrigerator, pour out the marinade, pat the pork dry and let sit for 30 minutes.  At this time preheat the oven to 350.

Place the pork loin on a rack fat side up. Cook 25 minutes per pound and check with a meat thermometer.

At 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours, glaze the top of the loin (see below).  When internal temperature reaches 155 degrees, pull it out, cover it with foil and let it rest for 10-15 minutes.

Glaze

1 ½ c light brown sugar, packed
2 T flour
2 tsp Dijon mustard
3 T cider vinegar

Heat the ingredients in a sauce pan and allow to cool (5 mins).

(From baorao.blogspot.com)

Lentil Loaf
3 ½ c water or vegetable broth
2 onions, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 T olive oil
2 c pre-cooked rice
½ tsp salt
¼ c ketchup or barbecue sauce
½ tsp sage
½ tsp Italian seasoning

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large soup or stockpot, simmer the lentils in water or vegetable broth until cooked, about 30 minutes. Drain thoroughly then mash the lentils until they are half mashed.
Sautee the onions and garlic in olive oil for 3 to 5 minutes, or until soft.
Combine the onions, garlic and olive oil with the mashed lentils and add the rice, salt, ketchup or barbecue sauce, sage, and Italian seasoning.
Gently press the mixture into a lightly greased loaf pan.  Drizzle a bit of extra ketchup on top if desired.

Bake for 1 hour.  Allow to cool slightly before serving, as this will help the lentil loaf to firm up.

(From about.com)

Apple Compote

2 c water
⅓ c sugar
½ vanilla bean, split in half
1 T Calvados or brandy
½ tsp ground cinnamon
⅛ tsp ground cloves
⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
Pinch salt
8 large Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, and cubed

In a large saucepan, combine the water, sugar, vanilla bean and seeds, Calvados, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt and bring to a boil. Boil gently until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture thickens slightly, about 5 minutes. Add the apples and return to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the apples are very tender and the mixture thickens, about 20 minutes.

Remove from the heat and remove the vanilla bean pods. Let cool to room temperature before serving.  (The mixture will thicken as it cools.)

(From foodnetwork.com)

Dessert:  Tamara
Baked Pears with Cinnamon Soy Ice Cream and Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Points

Pears

6 pears, peeled, halved and cored
melted butter
1 T cinnamon
¼ c brown sugar

Melt butter in small saucepan over medium heat and stir in cinnamon and sugar.  Baste both sides of pears with butter mixture.  Bake in baking dish, 350 degrees until desired tenderness.

Cinnamon Soy Ice Cream

2 c vanilla soy creamer (or any non-dairy milk)
2 c vanilla soy milk (or any non-dairy milk)
¾ c sugar
2 T arrowroot
2 T cinnamon


Mix 1/4 cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.
Mix the soy creamer, soy milk, and sugar together in a saucepan. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).  Mix in cinnamon.

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker's instructions.

(Adapted from veganicecream.blogspot.com)

Cinnamon Tortilla Points

2 whole wheat flour tortillas
cinnamon
sugar
spray oil

Lightly spray tortillas with oil on both sides.  Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture.  Bake in oven at 350 until desired crispiness.

Serve pears with ice cream on top and a tortilla point.

Lottery:  Ashley

Garlic - December 2007

Diva: Erin

Drinks: Aven
Funky Garlic

Sprite (or other citrus soda)
Coke (or other cola)
White wine

All ingredients should be chilled. Mix together in equal parts. Serve over ice.

Garlic Martinis

3 oz gin or vodka
¾ oz dry vermouth
splash olive juice
2-3 garlic stuffed olives or marinated garlic cloves
rosemary stems

Shake alcohol and olive juice with ice and strain into a glass. Skewer olives and/or garlic on rosemary and place in glass.

Appetizer: Colleen
Olive Tapenade

2-3 c kalamata olives (twice as much as the green at least)
1-1.5 c green olives
half to full jar (to taste ) capers
~ ¼ c lemon juice
few T olive oil
few T red wine vinegar
few cloves fresh garlic (to taste)

Put it all in the food processor and grind away.

Roasted Garlic Hummus

1 ½ c chickpeas
3 T tahini
3 T fresh lemon juice
2 T vegetable oil
1 T olive oil
1/4 tsp cumin
salt to taste
I added probably 8-10 cloves of roasted garlic (peeled garlic and roasted in olive oil in foil for maybe 20-25 minutes at 350)

put it all in a food processor and puree.

I served the tapenade and hummus with warm pita bread, thinly sliced tomato and cucumber, and feta cheese. Build your own style.

Salad: Sara
Creamy Garlic Dressing

1 teaspoon salt 

3 garlic cloves, minced 

1/2 Sour Cream

3 tablespoons white vinegar
Ground Black Pepper and Salt to taste

3 tablespoons oil

Combine salt and garlic in small bowl, pressing with the back of a spoon to form a paste. Whisk in remaining ingredients. Cover and chill 1 hour.

Serve over bagged Italian salad mix tossed with drained artichokes, mushrooms, canned chickpeas, and shredded Parmesan cheese.

Soup: Lovina
Roasted Garlic Potato Soup

6 baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
2 T olive oil, divided
½ tsp ground black pepper
1 onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled
3 c vegetable broth
1 c water
1 c whole milk
salt to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

Place potatoes and garlic in a shallow roasting pan and drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Sprinkle with pepper; stir to coat. Bake for 25 minutes, or until potatoes are browned. Reserve 1 cup of roasted potatoes.

In a 3 quart saucepan heat remaining oil; saute onions for 5 minutes. Add potatoes and garlic and stir in broth and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes.

Spoon half of broth mixture into a blender; blend until nearly smooth. Repeat with remaining mixture; return all to pot. Stir in milk and season with salt to taste. Ladle into bowls and top with reserved roasted potatoes, chives and smoked Gouda cheese.

Side Dish: Mariah

I prepared sautéed beet greens, kale and spinach tossed in balsamic vinegar topped with oodles of roasted garlic and beets. The beets and garlic were roasted slow and hot at 425 until crispy.

Entree: Ashley
Garlic Chicken

Salt and pepper to taste, boneless skinless chicken breasts. Place in one layer on bottom of casserole dish. Coat heavily with Patak's Garlic Relish (from the Coop). Bake at 350 for about 35-40 minutes or until chicken is done.

Dessert: Nicole
Garlic Ice Cream

1 ½ tsp Gelatin
¼ c cold water
2 c milk
3/4 -1 cup sugar
2 T lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 c whipping cream
Strawberry topping (or other fruit)

Soak the gelatin in cold water while you heat to a boil the milk, sugar and salt. Dissolve the gelatin in the hot milk. Cool, then add the lemon juice and garlic. Chill the mixture until slushy. Whip the cream until thick but not stiff and stir into the mixture. Freeze in a mold, or in a foil-covered tray. (I used my ice cream maker).
Garnish servings with the fresh fruit topping. Serves 6-8.

WildCard: Tamara
Chocolate covered espresso beans – helps with the garlic breath!

1/3 c roasted coffee beans
1/2 c chocolate chips

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler until liquid and smooth. Drop in a handful of beans, and stir them around. Scoop them out with a spoon, and set them out on waxed paper. Keep them separate. Continue until all the beans are covered. They will harden overnight, or if you are in a hurry, you can freeze them for about half an hour. Once hard, they won't stick together and can be stored in any air-tight container.

I also put some beans and chocolate in candy molds to make different shapes.

Lottery: Stacey