Pictures of the competition

Goat Stew

Came up with the French Goat stew last night utilizing America's Choice Fresh Soup Greens and Stewing Mix which included a carrot, parsnip, onion, turnip, leek, celery, and potato. Browned off a lb of goat meat, diced the rest of the vegetables, added the dill and cilantro they supplied, a bit of tomato, mushrooms, tomato paste and about a cup of red wine, salt and pepper, and some orange peel, then added enough water to cover and let boil for an hour. Added more water and brought the stew back to a low boil for another hour.

It was tasty and gone by the time our cookies were finished cooling. :)

Lamb Stew: Not so much.

This meal didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped. The Lamb stew was pretty basic, browned off lamb neck, onion, carrots, potatoes, turnips, and cilantro with herbs de provence. The problem was that I didn't have any broth or stock on hand or tomato paste, so it was rather bland. Either or of these things would have fixed it easily. The Broccoli was steamed and then croutons, bacon, and vinegar was added with parsley, but it was so cold in the house that by the time we ate the broccoli was cold too. Ick. I don't thing I'd make the vegetables again, but adding wine and some tomato paste to the stew would totally work.

Grandma's apple lavander cake

1.5 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 tbs of butter
1 diced Golden Delicious apple
+/-handful of rosemary
+/- handful of lavender
cap of orange extract
cap of vanilla extract.

Mix and bake at 400 degrees F for 45 min.

Impromptu Fish Cakes

We weren't planning on making fish cakes the other night, but apparently if you boil flounder fillets, you get mush; who knew?



Took 4 flounder fish fillets, boiled for three minutes each in the bag in hot water. Mixed the fish with a bit of crab cake seasoning, some paprika, old bay, and panko until a loose crunchy paste formed, then rolled lightly in hands and patted into hamburger shapes and fried lightly in butter over low heat until a nice crunchy brown formed. Served with yellow rice pilaf.

Nutty Chocolate-Raspberry Thumbprints

Nutty Chocolate-Raspberry Thumbprints
By: Jennie White Royer

Serves: 3 dozen

Ingredients

*Dutch-processed cocoa has deeper flavor than natural cocoa.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter , softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup pecans , toasted and chopped fine
6 tablespoons seedless raspberry jam
1/2 cup white chocolate chips , melted

Method

1. MAKE DOUGH Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl. With electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg and vanilla and mix until incorporated. Reduce speed to low, ad flour mixture, and mix until just combined.

2. SHAPE AND BAKE Place pecans in shallow dish. Roll 1 tablespoon dough into 1-inch ball, then roll in pecans, pressing to adhere. Repeat with remaining dough. Place balls 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Using teaspoon measure, make indentation in center of each ball. Fill each dimple with 1/2 teaspoon jam. Bake until set, about 10 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking. Cool 5 minutes on sheets, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
**I found placing the dough in the freezer for a minute to firm up made pressing the balls easier.

2. DRIZZLE CHOCOLATE Drizzle cookies with melted chocolate and let sit until chocolate hardens, about 15 minutes. (Cookies can be stored in airtight container at room temperature for 3 days.)