Walnut Pesto

INGREDIENTS

• 1/3 cup walnuts
• 2 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 2 cups gently packed fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Place the walnuts and garlic in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process until coarsely chopped, about 10 seconds. Add the basil leaves, salt, and pepper and process until mixture resembles a paste, about 1 minute. With the processor running, slowly pour the olive oil through the feed tube and process until the pesto is thoroughly blended. Add the Parmesan and process a minute more. Use pesto immediately or store in a tightly sealed jar or air-tight plastic container, covered with a thin layer of olive oil (this seals out the air and prevents the pesto from oxidizing, which would turn it an ugly brown color). It will keep in the refrigerator for about a week.

From Once Upon a Chef

Lemon Basil Cashew Spread

Steven got this recipe from a member on his mission. It is good spread on baguette.

• 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water for 30 mins or overnight
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup vegetable broth or water (or more as needed)
• 1.5 cups fresh basil leaves (lightly packed)
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast (gives the cheese flavour)
• 3/4-1 tsp kosher salt (or to taste) + freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp onion powder (optional)

1. Drain and rinse soaked cashews. With the food processor turned on, drop in your garlic cloves and process until chopped. Add in the rest of the ingredients and process until smooth, scraping down the bowl as needed.

from: Oh She Glows

Asian Dumplings - Chloe's SAIT Camp

250 g ground pork
250 g ground chicken
1 c diced mushrooms
1 large carrot brunoise (very fine dice)
¼ onion brunoise
2 green onions, fine dice
1 T minced ginger
1 T minced garlic
2 T soy sauce
2 T sesame oil
salt/pepper

round wonton wrappers

Sauté vegetables until soft.
Sweat the onions, garlic, and ginger until translucent.
Mix all ingredients together.
Cook off a small amount of the meat mixture and adjust the seasonings if needed.
Form meat mix into small balls.
Fold the dumplings.
Cook in boiling salted water until they float.
Remove and enjoy with sauce.

Sauce:

equal parts:
soy sauce
rice vinegar
sesame oil
sugar
green onions
water

Mix all ingredients together.
Heat on stove until sugar has dissolved.
Cook until thickened.

Cranberry Sauce

· 1 1/2 cups dried cranberries 

· 3/4 cup water or preferably cranberry juice or pomegranate-cranberry mix

· Zest of one orange, then juice the orange

· 1/4 teaspoon salt

· Juice from zested orange

· 2-4 tablespoons raspberry jelly

· 2 tablespoons of cornstarch mixed into 4 tablespoons water

Add all ingredients except the cornstarch to a pan, bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and cook until the cranberries plump up. Then add the cornstarch slurry slowly while at a slow simmer until the sauce is thick and of the right consistency. You might not need it all. Makes about 2 cups.

Roasted Red Pepper Dip

http://www.heatherchristo.com

Ingredients

• -4 ounces roasted red peppers(packed in water and drained)
• -2 cloves garlic
• -¼ cup almonds
• -½ cup fresh parsley, rough chopped)
• -1/4 cup olive oil
• -kosher salt to taste

Instructions

1. 1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the red peppers, garlic, almonds and parsley. Stream in the olive oil and then season to taste with kosher salt.

Feta Cheese Dip

¾ pound Feta cheese, broken into pieces
2 green onions, chopped
1 fresh red chili, stem removed, chopped
2 Tbs dill
2 Tbs oregano
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
¼ cup olive oil

1) In the bowl of a food processor, combine the feta, green onion, chili and herbs.

2) Pulse until the cheese is well combined.

3) Add the olive oil and lemon juice and puree until smooth.

http://www.heatherchristo.com

Chloe's Caramels

Dairy-free Caramel

1 cup Earth Balance margarine
2 cups sugar
1 can (14.5 ounce) coconut milk plus enough almond milk to make a total of 2 cups (coconut milk and almond milk combined)
1 cup light corn syrup replacement (see below) or light corn syrup
1 1/2 teaspoon gluten free vanilla

Prepare your pan/s:  Line an 8 inch x 8 inch pan with parchment or, if dipping apples, cover a baking sheet with parchment and poke the sticks into the apples.  I do this by  very lightly oiling my pan, then laying in the parchment so the parchment does not slide around. If you will be coating apples, you can cover a few apples and then place the remaining caramel in a smaller parchment lined container such as a bread loaf pan for the caramel you will have leftover.  If making caramel sauce, have a canning jar and lid ready.  I use a canning jar, pouring the sauce into a clean canning jar, letting the sauce cool before capping and storing in the refrigerator.  Heat caramel sauce by putting uncovered jar in a sauce pan with water and heating to desired temperature.  

Place the margarine, sugar, coconut/almond milk mixture and corn syrup replacement in a large saucepan.  Clip candy thermometer to saucepan.  Slowly bring ingredients to a low boil stirring very, very often.  Keeping things at a low boil prevents the caramel sugars from forming grainy crystals, prevents boil over and hot sugar spatters.  

Cook over medium-high heat while continuing to stir often until candy reaches 248 degrees F. For softer caramels cook to 243 for softer caramels.  If you are making caramel sauce for dairy-free ice cream or for less sticky caramel (like I did for my daughter with braces) cook the caramel to 230 degrees.  This takes quite a while generally 1 ½ to 2 hours with my stove, so I will do this while I have other things I am puttering around with in the kitchen.  Trust me it is worth it!  You could cook it at a little higher temp than I do so it goes faster, but then you need to stir continuously.  It starts out very milky looking, but will become a nice caramel color when cooked.  Mmmmm…

Remove saucepan from heat and stir in vanilla. 

If making caramels:  Pour into the prepared lined baking pan.  Cool the caramel completely.  Us the parchment to lift out the caramel.  Snip with an oiled kitchen scissors or sharp knife .  Wrap in waxed paper.

via: Angela's Kitchen

Mustard Sauce

1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup dry mustard

blend together, then add:

2 eggs slightly beaten
1/2 cup vinegar

Cook slowly, stirring constantly. When hot, add:

1/4 cup butter

Continue to stir and cook until thick.
Serve with ham.

Lactose-free Caramel Corn

12 C popped popcorn (about 1/2 - 2/3 c kernels)
2 C brown sugar 
1/2 C white Karo syrup 
1 t salt (if you are using salted microwave popcorn then omit salt here) 
1 cup margarine 
1 t baking soda 
2 t vanilla

Pop popcorn and set aside. Place brown sugar, Karo syrup, salt, and butter in a microwave safe dish. Cut up the butter into chunks so it melts better.
Microwave for 30 seconds. That should be enough to melt the butter at least half way. Stir it all to combine. Now microwave on high for 2 minutes. Take it out and stir. Microwave for 2 more minutes.

While the caramel is cooking, put the popcorn in a big bowl. Use one that is way bigger than you think you’ll need. Also, try to get any un-popped kernels out so you don’t break a tooth.
When the caramel is done cooking, take out of microwave and add baking soda and vanilla. Sit back and watch it do cool things like bubble and foam. 

Stir it well and then pour it over the popcorn.

Mix it up well with a big spoon. I usually spread it all out on a piece of foil and let it cool for a minute so it doesn’t get stuck in one big clump. The longer it sits out, the firmer it will get, but it won’t ever get crunchy-hard unless you bake it.

adapted from: ourbestbites.com

Chocolate Sauce

1 pkg milk choc chips
1 can eaglebrand
1/2 can evaporated milk

heat till bubbly

Caramel Sauce

½ c margarine

1 c brown sugar

½ c white corn syrup

½ c eagle brand

Heat until bubbly