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KARENHARAM’S

50FAVORITERECIPES

Good Taste

1982

1984

1987

1990

After 34 years of food writing for the San Antonio

Express-News, I have thousands of recipes in

my files. Out of those thousands, here are 50 of

my favorites.

Although a couple are somewhat time-con-

suming, generally these recipes go together quickly and use in-

gredients that are already in your home or are easily obtainable.

So, gathered together for the first time, are 50 favorites that I

depend on — those recipes that I turn to time and time again,

because they’re always family- or crowd-pleasers.

I hope you’ll enjoy them as much as I have.

— Karen Haram

Express-News Food Editor

A legacy of recipes

1994

1998

2003

2009

Table of contents

MikeLearyEDITOR,

SENIOR VP

Jamie StockwellMANAGING

EDITOR

DeanLockwoodDIRECTOR

OF NEWS

PRODUCTION

KarenHaramFOOD

EDITOR

AdrianAlvarez

ART

DIRECTOR

JoaquinHerreraDESIGNER

APPETIZERS 4-6DRINKS 7

SOUPS 8-9SALADS 10-11

BREAKFAST 12-15 BREADS 16-17 SIDES 18-21

MAIN DISHES 22-29 DESSERTS 30-39

M4 | San Antonio Express-News Subscriber Exclusive

Golden BakedOnion DipMakes 8-10 servings

This recipe I got from FiscaliniFarms could not be easier or tastier. Itworks well as a spread for crackers orflatbread, a dip for vegetables, as an ac-companiment to a hearty soup or cal-do, or a snack for game day. Or, if de-sired, don’t bake the dip but combineall ingredients, spread the mixture onmini rye rounds and bake them at 375degrees until bubbly. They make a deli-cious appetizer.

3⁄4-1 cup finely chopped Texas 1015 or

other sweet onion

1⁄2 cup mayonnaise

1 cup crumbled San Joaquin Gold

cheese or cheddar cheese of your

choice

1⁄8-1⁄4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

1⁄4 cup grated Parmesan cheese,

preferably Parmigiano-Reggiano

Paprika, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS: Heat oven to 350 de-grees. Mix onion with mayonnaise,cheese and Tabasco. Spread in smallbaking dish or pie plate. Top with Par-mesan and sprinkle with paprika.

Bake for 30 minutes. Serve warmwith crackers, pita crisps, flat breadsor raw vegetables.

PER SERVING (BASED ON 10): 140calories (85.4 percent calories from fat),13 g fat, 20 mg cholesterol, 170 mg so-dium, 1 g carbohydrates, 0 g dietary fi-ber, 4 g protein.

Courtesy Fiscalini Farms

San Antonio Express-News Subscriber Exclusive | M5

Bean Dip with AnejoCheese and CremaMakes 10-12 servings

This is a slight adaptation of a recipe from Too HotTamales Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, who Ihad dinner with at their then-famous City Restaurant inLos Angeles in 1986. The original recipe calls for Chi-potle Salsa (included) but any good smoky salsa works.I have had good success using La Fogata’s jarred salsain this recipe.

3 cups refried pinto or

black beans

3⁄4 cup Chipotle Salsa

(recipe follows)

1 cup Mexican crema

1 cup grated Anejo

cheese

Restaurant quality

tortilla chips, for serving

Chipotle Salsa:

4 ounces dried chipotle

chiles or 3 cups canned

chipotles, stemmed

2 quarts water

8 roma tomatoes, cored

2 tablespoons salt

1⁄2 teaspoon pepper

12 garlic cloves, peeled

INSTRUCTIONS: Heatbroiler. In ovenproofplatter or flat casseroledish, spread beans in athin layer. Top with sal-sa. Put under broiler toheat through. Drizzlecrema over salsa, thensprinkle with cheese.

Return to broiler untilcheese melts. Serve hotwith tortilla chips fordipping.

FOR CHIPOTLE SAL-SA: Combine chiles, wa-ter, tomatoes, salt, pepperand garlic in saucepan.Bring to boil, reduce heatto simmer and cook, un-covered, about 20 min-utes. Liquid should bereduced by 1⁄3 and tomatoskins falling off. Set asideto cool. When cool, putmixture into blender orfood processor. Puree un-til smooth, then pass sal-sa through a strainer.Served chilled. Can storein refrigerator for 5 days.

PER SERVING (BASEDON 12): 150 calories (52.7percent calories fromfat), 9 g fat, 30 mg cho-lesterol, 380 mg sodium,11 g carbohydrates, 4 gdietary fiber, 1 g sugar, 7g protein.

7-LayerMediterraneanDipMakes 8-12 servings

This is a Greek take-off on the ev-er-popular Seven Layer Tex-Mex beandip. You can make this in advance ofserving but make sure you seed anddrain the tomatoes and cucumbersthoroughly, so they don’t make thedip watery. We first published therecipe, from Athenos Original Hum-mus, in a 2000 article by Leslie Har-lib.

11⁄2 cups hummus

11⁄2 cups shredded greens, such as

spinach or romaine lettuce

3⁄4 cup chopped tomatoes, seeded

3⁄4 cup chopped peeled and seeded

cucumbers

1⁄4 cup chopped red onions

3⁄4 cup crumbled feta cheese

3 tablespoons chopped Kalamata

olives

Crackers or pita triangles, for serving

INSTRUCTIONS: Spread hummuson serving platter or plate. Layergreens, tomatoes, cucumbers, red on-ions, cheese and olives on top ofhummus. Serve with crackers or pitatriangles.

PER SERVING (BASED ON 12): 90calories (53.1 percent calories fromfat), 4 g protein, 6 g carbohydrate, 1 gsugar, 2 g dietary fiber, 5 g fat, 10 mgcholesterol, 270 mg sodium.

Confetti DipMakes 10-12 servings

My younger daughter Emily gave methis recipe. It’s a beauty — it’s studdedwith bright bits of green, red and yellowbell pepper — as well as amazingly flavor-ful, thanks to plenty of good olive oil andvinegar, plus a goat cheese base for thebread rounds that hold the dip.

2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 yellow bell pepper, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1⁄2 medium onion, chopped

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

21⁄2 tablespoons olive oil

Kosher salt, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 French baguette or other country bread

8 ounces goat cheese, at room

temperature

INSTRUCTIONS: Heat oven to 250 de-grees. Mix tomatoes, red, yellow andgreen peppers, onion, basil, vinegar andoil in a mixing bowl. Season to taste withsalt and pepper. Marinate for several min-utes. Meanwhile, slice baguette into1⁄2-inch thick rounds. Put on baking sheetand toast in oven until lightly brown.Cool. Spread baguettes with goat cheeseand top with a spoonful of tomato salsa.Salsa can be made several hours ahead.

PER SERVING (BASED ON 12): 180 calo-ries (43.0 percent calories from fat), 9 gfat, 15 mg cholesterol, 270 mg sodium, 18g carbohydrates, 2 g dietary fiber, 2 g sug-ar, 8 g protein.


Pesto TortaMakes 12 servings

I have shared this recipe countless times. Itcomes from Linda West Eckhardt, cookbook au-thor, former food editor of Texas Monthly maga-zine and great friend. Linda and I took an 11-day food trip to Italy together and she sharedthis recipe during one of our many conversa-tions.

3⁄4 cup minced sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil

3⁄4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

cheese

1⁄2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 pound cream cheese, at room temperature

1⁄2 cup dairy sour cream

3⁄4 cup prepared pesto sauce

Fresh basil, for garnish

Sliced French bread or bread sticks, for serving

INSTRUCTIONS: Spritz a 6-cup mold with veg-etable spray. Line the entire surface of the moldwith plastic wrap and spray again. Layer theminced tomatoes on the bottom and set aside.Combine in food processor the cheese, butter,cream cheese and sour cream and process 1minute, or until well blended. Scrape downsides and pulse to mix. Spoon half of mixtureinto mold over tomatoes. Spread 1⁄2 of pesto overcheese mixture, then spoon remaining cheesemixture into mold. Top with remaining pesto.Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerateat least 3 hours (may be frozen up to 1 month).

To serve, remove plastic-wrap cover, turn up-side down on a plate, then pull mold away andremove wrap. Garnish with basil and serve withbread.

PER SERVING: 330 calories (85.2 percent calo-ries from fat), 32 g fat, 77.5 mg cholesterol, 340mg sodium, 4.5 g carbohydrates, 1 g dietary fi-ber, 1.5 g sugar, 7.5 g protein.

Salsa diParmigianoMakes 16 servings or 31⁄2 cups

Chef and cookbook author MichaelChiarello (left) taught this recipe to stu-dents at a 2002 Central Market CookingSchool class. It’s wonderful served as adip with crisp bread rounds. Or, spreadit on bread, then bake in a 375-degreeoven until the cheese is bubbly and thebread is golden and crisp. When tossingwith pasta, I like to serve it with a fewpan-grilled scallops or shrimp on top.

1⁄2 pound Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese,

rind removed

1⁄2 pound Asiago cheese, rind removed

2 tablespoons minced green onions

2 teaspoons minced garlic

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

11⁄2 cups extra-virgin olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS: Pulse both cheese infood processor to size of fine pea gravel.Stir in onion and garlic. Add oregano,rubbing it between your fingers to re-lease its fragrance. Add pepper flakesand oil and stir well. Let stand, covered,at room temperature for at least 4 hoursbefore using. Serve on warm toastedbread, baked potatoes or tossed withpasta.

PER SERVING: 310 calories (85.8 per-cent calories from fat), 30 g fat, 25 mgcholesterol, 380 mg sodium, 2 g carbo-hydrates, 0 g dietary fiber, 1 g sugar, 9 gprotein.

Express-News file photo


Almond TeaMakes 8 servings

I got this recipe about 15 years ago from my friend Car-ol Boudreaux. I’ve used it many times since for everythingfrom luncheons to showers to a christening brunch. It’s afavorite of my daughter Jennifer, who is always happy totake any leftover tea home.

2 cups water

3 family-size or 6 regular tea bags

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

11⁄2 teaspoons pure almond extract

3⁄4 cup fresh lemon juice

6 cups cold water

INSTRUCTIONS: Bring 2 cups water to boil. Removefrom heat and add tea bags. Steep for 15 minutes. Removetea bags, squeezing out water from bags, and put tea inpitcher. Stir sugar into warm tea mixture to dissolve.

Add vanilla, almond extract, lemon juice and 6 cupscold water. Refrigerate; serve over ice.

PER SERVING: 70 calories (0.8 percent calories fromfat), 0.07 g fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 10 mg so-

dium, 20 g carbohydrates, 0 g dietaryfiber, 19 g sugar, 0 g protein.

Robin’s Tea PunchMakes 30 (4-ounce) servings

This recipe comes from my friend Robin Hudnall, who Imet when she was fashion editor at the Express-News inthe ’80s. I’ve used it for many luncheons and get-togetherssince I got it 25 or so years ago. It keeps well and can bemade a day or two before serving.

2 (6-ounce) cans frozen orange juice

2 (6-ounce) cans frozen lemonade

9 (6-ounce) cans water

5 cups boiling water

8 tea bags

1⁄2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon dried mint

INSTRUCTIONS: Combine orange juice, lemonade and the9 cans of water (or approximately 6 cups of water). Refrig-erate overnight. Pour 5 cups boiling water over tea bags;cover and steep (let set) 15 minutes. Remove tea bags. (Isqueeze the liquid from the tea bags as I remove them.) Stirsugar and mint into hot tea to dissolve sugar; let set for 15minutes. Strain mixture, then add to orange juice mixture.Serve over ice.

NOTE: As a beverage rather thanpunch, this serves 8 with refills.

PER SERVING: 50 calories(0.3 percent calories fromfat), 0 g fat, 0 mg choles-terol, 5 mg sodium, 12 gcarbohydrates, 0 g die-tary fiber, 0 g protein.


Cold TomatoSoupMakes 4 servings

I got this recipe sometime in the’90s. It beats any gazpacho I’ve evertried. I only make it when I’m able toget vine-ripened tomatoes from a farm-ers market. This makes a great firstcourse for summer meals. I use a fewcroutons for garnish; if desired, garnishwith minced green onions as well.

1 pound vine-ripened tomatoes, cored

and seeded

3 tablespoons tomato paste

2 garlic cloves, halved

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1⁄2 teaspoon sugar

11⁄4 cups cold water, divided use

1⁄2 teaspoon salt, plus additional to

taste


1⁄2 peeled cucumber, cut in pieces

INSTRUCTIONS: In blender or foodprocessor, combine tomatoes, tomatopaste, garlic, oil, vinegar, sugar, half thewater, 1⁄2 teaspoon salt, pepper and cu-cumber. Blend at maximum speed 30seconds or until smooth. Stir in remain-ing water. Taste and add salt as needed.

PER SERVING: 140 calories (67.8 per-cent calories from fat), 11 g fat, 0 mgcholesterol, 190 mg sodium, 10 g carbo-hydrates, 2 g dietary fiber, 6 g sugar, 2 gprotein.



Mulligatawny SoupMakes 8 servings

This is a slight adaptation of a recipe fromwww.allrecipes.com (the originator was Lise P.),and it’s one of my new favorite soups. I went onthe search for a good recipe after tasting a wonder-ful version at an Indian restaurant in Dallas. Itgets its flavor from curry powder, so use a qualitybrand.

1 cup chopped onion

4 stalks celery, chopped

2 carrots, diced

1⁄2 cup butter

3 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon curry powder

8 cups chicken stock

1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped

1⁄2 cup uncooked white rice

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cubed

Salt, to taste

Ground black pepper, to taste

2 pinches dried thyme

1⁄2-1 cup half-and-half or heavy cream, heated (I use1⁄2 cup)

INSTRUCTIONS: Saute onions, celery and carrotsin butter in a large soup pot. Add flour and curry,and cook 5 more minutes. Add chicken stock, mixwell, and bring to a boil. Simmer about 1⁄2 hour.

Add apple, rice, chicken, salt, pepper andthyme. Simmer 15-20 minutes, or until rice isdone. Just before serving, add hot cream.

PER SERVING: 320 calories (48.5 percent caloriesfrom fat), 17 g fat, 60 mg cholesterol, 430 mg sodi-um, 27 g carbohydrates, 2 g dietary fiber, 14 g pro-tein.

Sichuan Carrot Soupwith Cream ToppingMakes 16 (1-cup) servings

I combined two favorite recipes to form this version of Sichaun Carrot Soup. Thesoup recipe comes from “The Soup Peddler’s Slow & Difficult Soups” by David An-sel. I freeze it in individual servings and keep on hand for a healthful lunch or tofill out a light dinner. When I want to fancy it up for company, I top it with awhipped cream/chutney topping from Ann Wilder, who brought the recipe to aCentral Market cooking class. The topping makes the soup very special.

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, peeled and

chopped

5 carrots, scraped and chopped

2 white potatoes, well scrubbed

and cut into chunks

1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut

into chunks

6 cups water

1 (2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled

and chopped

1 tablespoon peanut butter

2-3 tablespoons chile garlic sauce,

or to taste

1 tablespoon sesame oil

2-3 teaspoons salt, or to taste

1 tablespoon brown sugar, or to

taste

1 tablespoon lemon juice, or to

taste

Cream Topping (Optional):

2⁄3 cup heavy cream, whipped to

soft peaks

1⁄4 cup chutney, minced

Unsweetened coconut, toasted in

350-degree oven for 7-10 minutes

INSTRUCTIONS: Pour olive oil into a 3-to 4-quart pot. Add onions and carrotsand sweat mixture over medium heatabout 10 minutes. Add white and sweetpotatoes and water and cook until soft.Add ginger and cook 5 minutes. Removefrom heat. Puree mixture in a blender orfood processor or with immersion blen-der. Add peanut butter, chile garlicsauce, sesame oil, salt, brown sugar andlemon juice. Taste and adjust seasoning.Top with Cream Topping, if desired.

FOR CREAM TOPPING: Fold heavycream together with minced chutney. Putcream and chutney mixture on the soupand sprinkle with the toasted coconut.

PER SERVING (WITHOUT CREAMTOPPING): 60 calories (42.3 percentcalories from fat), 3 g fat, 0 mg choleste-rol, 330 mg sodium, 9 g carbohydrates, 1g dietary fiber, 3 g sugar, 1 g protein.

PER SERVING OF CREAM TOPPING(BASED ON 16): 50 calories (80.4 per-cent calories from fat), 5 g fat, 10 mgcholesterol, 40 mg sodium, 2 g carbohy-drates, 0 g dietary fiber, 0 g sugar, 0 gprotein.


Chicken AvocadoSaladMakes 6-8 servings

Shortly after I was named food editor in1985, I ran a recipe contest. This recipe, froma New Braunfels reader, was one of the win-ners and it remains a personal favorite. Oneof the best things about this salad is that itcan be made in advance. I add the avocadojust before serving, but even if it’s added afew hours ahead and refrigerated, the avoca-do doesn’t turn dark, thanks to the mayon-naise and sour cream.

21⁄2 pounds bone-in chicken breasts (you want

to end up with about 3 cups chopped chicken)

1 cup cooked white rice (see Note)

1⁄2 cup Hellmann’s mayonnaise

3 tablespoons dairy sour cream

1⁄2 cup finely diced green onions with tops

1⁄2 cup diced celery

1⁄2 teaspoon salt

2 large avocados, chopped

INSTRUCTIONS: Put chicken in pan; coverwith water and cook until breasts are tender.Let cool in cooking liquid for 1 hour, then re-move meat from bones and chop into bite-size pieces. Combine chicken with rice, may-onnaise, sour cream, green onions, celery andsalt. Gently stir in avocados. Serve immedi-ately or refrigerate to blend flavors.

NOTE: I cook the rice in the chicken brothremaining from cooking the chicken breasts.

PER SERVING: 380 calories (54.9 percentcalories from fat), 23 g fat, 100 mg choleste-rol, 410 mg sodium, 11 g carbohydrates, 4 gdietary fiber, 1 g sugar, 32 g protein.

Getty Images


AsianCucumberSaladMakes 4-6 servings

This is one of my all-time favor-ite recipes. I got it in the mid-’70swhen I was living in Okinawa frommy friend Marta Welch, who gotthe recipe from a Deanna Lukecooking class. It’s refreshing andbrightens any Asian meal.

2-3 cucumbers, peeled, seeded and

sliced

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon Accent (monosodium

glutamate), optional

3⁄4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 tablespoons dark Asian sesame

oil

2 teaspoons sugar

INSTRUCTIONS: Put cucumbersin large bowl. Sprinkle with salt,toss lightly and refrigerate 1 hour.Drain cucumbers.

Combine Accent, if using, redpepper flakes, vinegar, soy sauce,sesame oil and sugar; whisk well,then pour over cucumbers, stirwell and serve.

PER SERVING (BASED ON 6): 25calories (37.5 percent calories fromfat), 1 g fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 150mg sodium, 3 g carbohydrates, 1 gdietary fiber, 2 g sugar, 1 g protein.

Sweet and SourOvernightColeslawMakes 12-16 servings

I got this recipe from Jeannie Eisen-berg when she worked for Central Mar-ket. I love to serve this at big barbecuesor family get-togethers because it can bemade a day ahead. I store it in a zip-topplastic bag, then put the slaw with justpart of its juice in a big bowl when readyto serve. Gundelsheim vinegar is sold atCentral Market.

1 large head cabbage

1 large green bell pepper

1 large red onion

3⁄4 cup sugar

1 cup white vinegar (I use Gundelsheim, a

German vinegar)

1 teaspoon prepared mustard

1 teaspoon celery seed

1 tablespoon salt

1 cup vegetable oil

INSTRUCTIONS: Chop cabbage, greenpepper and red onion, and combine in abowl. Sprinkle with sugar. In a smallsaucepan, boil vinegar, mustard, celeryseed and salt. Remove from heat and addoil. Pour over slaw while hot; mix well.Cover and refrigerate at least 12 hours.

PER SERVING (BASED ON 16): 170 cal-ories (69.6 percent calories from fat), 14 gfat, 0 mg cholesterol, 450 mg sodium, 13g carbohydrates, 2 g dietary fiber, 10 gsugar, 1 g protein.

Greek PastaSaladMakes 6 servings

This wonderful recipe for pasta saladwas given to me by a friend and fellowchurch member, Lura Barnard, in theearly ’80s. If you want to make this moreof a main-dish salad, include cookedshrimp (cut into pieces, if large) when youadd the mayonnaise. Use a top-quality ex-tra-virgin olive oil in this salad; the betterthe oil, the better the salad.

8 ounces vermicelli (broken in 3- to 4-inch

pieces)

1⁄2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 heaping tablespoons Cavender’s All

Purpose Greek Seasoning

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon

juice

1 (4.25-ounce) can chopped black olives,

drained

1 (2-ounce) jar chopped pimentos, drained

1⁄4 cup mayonnaise (Hellmann’s preferred)

4-5 green onions with tops, thinly sliced

INSTRUCTIONS: Bring a pot of unsaltedwater to a boil; add pasta, return to boiland boil for 6 minutes, or as directed onpackage. Drain. Put pasta in bowl andadd olive oil, Greek seasoning and lemonjuice, tossing well. Refrigerate 4 hours.Toss again, then stir in drained olives, pi-mentos, mayonnaise and green onions.Serve, or refrigerate, then serve.

PER SERVING: 410 calories (63.4 percentcalories from fat), 29 g fat, 5 mg choleste-rol, 650 mg sodium, 32 g carbohydrates, 3g dietary fiber, 2 g sugar, 6 g protein.


Cafe Beaujolais’Buttermilk-CinnamonCoffeecakeMakes 12-16 servings

I have served this at more brunches than I can remember and canbarely read my original recipe since it’s stained from years of use.For Thanksgiving, this is a breakfast staple because I can make thisa week ahead, triple wrap it with foil, and freeze it in the pan. I takeit out of the freezer before going to bed the night before the big feast,and it makes a simple, delicious quick breakfast snack that my fam-ily can’t get enough of. I got this recipe in 1984 from “Café Beaujo-lais,” (Ten Speed Press) written by Margaret S. Fox and John Bear.

21⁄4 cups flour

1⁄2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon, divided

use

1⁄4 teaspoon ground ginger

1 cup firmly packed light brown

sugar

3⁄4 cup sugar

3⁄4 cup corn oil

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg, beaten

1 cup buttermilk

INSTRUCTIONS: Heat oven to350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch pan well.

In large bowl, mix togetherflour, salt, 1 teaspoon of thecinnamon, ginger, both sugarsand corn oil. Remove 3⁄4 cup ofthis mixture, put it in a sepa-rate bowl and add walnuts and

remaining 1 teaspoon cinna-mon to mixture. Mix well andset aside.

To remaining flour mixturein large bowl, add baking soda,baking powder, egg and butter-milk. Mix to combine all ingre-dients. Don’t overbeat; smalllumps in the batter are allright.

Pour batter into preparedpan. Sprinkle the reserved nut/cinnamon/sugar mixture even-ly over surface. Bake 30-35minutes or until done. Testdoneness by inserting tooth-pick near center; it shouldcome out clean. Sides of cakealso will pull away from pan.Do not overbake.

PER SERVING (BASED ON16): 290 calories (47.4 percentcalories from fat), 16 g fat, 15mg cholesterol, 210 mg sodium,36 g carbohydrates, 1 g dietaryfiber, 21 g sugar, 4 g protein.

Getty Images


Great GranolaMakes about 30 (1⁄2 cup) servings

Hands down, this is the best granola I’ve evertasted. It’s an adaptation of a recipe that I gotfrom www.allrecipes.com. I like this without rai-sins or dried cranberries, but if you want to in-clude them, add 2 cups of either to the granola af-ter it has completely cooled. I store this in thefreezer to keep it fresh.

8 cups rolled oats

(about 30 ounces)

11⁄2 cups wheat

germ (about 6

ounces)

11⁄2 cups oat bran

(about 41⁄2 ounces)

1 cup sunflower

seeds (about 5

ounces)

1 cup finely chopped

almonds (about 41⁄4

ounces)


pecans (about 4

ounces)


walnuts (about 41⁄2

ounces)

11⁄2 teaspoon salt

1⁄2 cup packed

brown sugar

1⁄4 cup good-quality

real maple syrup

3⁄4 cup honey

3⁄4 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon ground

cinnamon

1 tablespoon vanilla

extract

INSTRUCTIONS: Heatoven to 325 degrees. Inlarge bowl, combineoats, wheat germ, oatbran, sunflower seeds,almonds, pecans andwalnuts. In a saucepan,combine salt, brownsugar, syrup, honey, oil,cinnamon and vanilla.Bring to a boil over me-dium heat; pour overcereal and nuts and stirwell. Divide among 4silicone-lined bakingsheets. Bake for 20minutes, stirring onceafter 10 minutes. Letcool completely, thenbreak up and stir inraisins, if using.

NOTE: Granola doesn’tget crisp until it cools.

PER SERVING: 310calories (45.8 percentcalories from fat), 17 gfat, 0 mg cholesterol,120 mg sodium, 35 gcarbohydrates, 6 g die-tary fiber, 9 g protein. Getty Images


Simple MuffinSouffléMakes 4 servings

I first sampled this recipe, from Wol-ferman’s, at a food conference in KansasCity back in the ’80s. It received ravereviews from food editors there and myfamily, once I got home. It’s a greatbrunch dish as it goes together quicklyand looks more impressive than the in-gredients would make it seem.

8 thin slices Black Forest or lightly

smoked ham

2 English muffins, split and toasted

12 fresh asparagus spears, cooked

1⁄2 cup mayonnaise (no substitutes)

1 tablespoon chopped pimento

1⁄3 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Pinch of pepper

1 egg white

INSTRUCTIONS: Place two ham sliceson each muffin half. Trim asparagus tothe length of muffin; arrange thesespears on each.

In a small bowl, combine mayon-naise, pimento, cheese and pepper. Inanother bowl, beat egg white until stiffpeaks form and fold into mayonnaisemixture; divide evenly among sand-wiches, leaving asparagus tips exposed.

Broil until topping is puffed andgolden brown. Serve immediately.

PER SERVING: 360 calories (69.1 per-cent calories from fat), 17 g protein, 11 gcarbohydrate, 1 g sugar, 2 g dietary fi-ber, 28 g fat, 40 mg cholesterol, 1,000mg sodium.Paul Strowger / Getty Images

Oatmeal PancakeMixMakes 36 (5-inch) pancakes

I got this recipe from www.southernfood.about.com. This is a favorite recipe of my husbandMark and daughter Emily, who both love the ear-thy nuttiness of these pancakes. Each 2 cups ofMix (the Mix makes 6 cups total) makes about 12(5-inch) pancakes. This is nice to give as a gift,with instructions on how to make the pancakes.

Mix:

4 cups quick-cook oats

2 cups flour

2 cups whole-wheat

flour

1 cup dry nonfat milk

powder

2 tablespoons

cinnamon

41⁄2 teaspoons salt

3 tablespoons baking

powder

1⁄2 teaspoon cream of

tartar

Pancakes:

2 eggs


2 cups pancake mix

1 cup water

FOR MIX: Combineoats, both flours, drymilk powder, cinnamon,salt, baking powder andcream of tartar. Refrig-erate or freeze in air-tight container.

FOR PANCAKES: Ina medium mixingbowl, beat eggs. Beatin vegetable oil grad-ually. Alternately stirin 2 cups pancakemix and water. Usingabout 2-3 tables-poons of mix foreach pancake, pouronto a lightly greasedskillet or griddle overmedium-high heat;cook until the topsshow broken bubblesaround the edge andbottom is browned.Turn and cook about2 minutes more, untilgolden brown.

PER SERVING: 120calories (55 percentcalories from fat), 7 gfat, 35 mg choleste-rol, 370 mg sodium,10 g carbohydrates, 1g dietary fiber, 3 gprotein.

Eggs Sardou CasseroleMakes 10-12 servings

When I interviewed Elizabeth Alston, former food editor forWoman’s Day magazine, about her “Breakfast with Friends”book, she told me about this recipe, which I’ve slightly adapted.It’s great for brunch, served with spiral-sliced ham, Cheese Grits(see recipe in Sides), fresh fruit salad and rolls.

Bottom Layer:

5 tablespoons butter

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup sliced green onions

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 (10-ounce) package frozen

chopped spinach, thawed and

squeezed dry

2 (9-ounce) packages frozen

artichoke hearts (see Note)

1⁄4 cup chicken broth

Freshly ground black pepper, to

taste

Salt, to taste

1 dozen hard-cooked eggs, peeled

Top Layer:

5 tablespoons butter, divided use

1⁄4 cup flour

11⁄2 cups heavy cream

11⁄2 cups chicken broth

3⁄4 cup freshly grated

Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

21⁄2 tablespoons freshly squeezed

lemon juice

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

leaves (fresh are best, or

substitute 1⁄2 teaspoon dried

thyme leaves)

Freshly ground black pepper, to

taste

Salt, to taste

FOR BOTTOM LAYERS: Heat ov-en to 350 degrees and lightly but-ter 13-by-9-by-2-inch ovenproofdish. Melt butter in Dutch oven orpot over medium heat. Stir in on-ions, green onions and garlic. Cov-er pot and cook about 5 minutes,stirring every now and then tocheck to make sure onions andgarlic are not browning, but be-come soft and tender. Stir in spin-ach, artichoke hearts and chickenbroth. Cover and cook about 4-5minutes or until there is just a lit-tle bit of moisture in the mixture.Add salt and pepper, to taste.Spread mixture as evenly as youcan into prepared dish. Slice eggs(an egg slicer is great) and spreadthem on top of spinach artichokemixture, covering it as much aspossible. It’s fine if they overlap alittle.

FOR TOP LAYER: Using Dutchoven or pot, melt 3 tablespoonsbutter over medium heat. Stir inflour and cook, stirring constantlyfor 2 minutes, making a roux.Pour in cream and chicken brothand whisk sauce until it is wellblended and no lumps are seen.Bring sauce to a boil until saucestarts to thicken, reduce heat andlet simmer about 2-3 minutes, stir-

ring con-stantly so itwon’t stick.Remove fromheat and let set 5minutes. Addcheese, re-maining 2 ta-blespoons butter(cut into pieces),lemon juice, thyme andsalt and pepper to taste. Blend to-gether and then carefully spoon orpour it over artichoke and hard-cooked eggs in casserole dish so allareas are covered. Cover casseroledish with aluminum foil and bake30 minutes until well heated, thenuncover dish and bake it for about10-15 minutes longer until it isbubbling nicely. Take it from ovenand let it rest for about 5-10 min-utes before serving. If desired, thiscan be made a day or two ahead ofserving and refrigerated. Bake un-til bubbly and golden.

NOTE: If you can’t find frozen arti-choke hearts, substitute 2 cans ar-

tichoke hearts in brine. Drainthem, rinse them well with water,pat them dry and quartered them.Don’t cook them with the spinachmixture; instead, spread the spin-ach mixture in the pan, then topthe mixture with the artichokehearts, then with the hard-cookedeggs.

PER SERVING (BASED ON 12):

320 calories (72.3 percent caloriesfrom fat), 26 g fat, 285 mg choleste-rol, 370 mg sodium, 12 g carbohy-drates, 4 g dietary fiber, 2 g sugar,11 g protein.

Isabel Pavia / Getty Images



CornbreadMakes 6-9 servings

This sweet cornbread is one of mymost requested recipes. Everyone whotastes this says they “must have” therecipe. It’s as much cake as cornbread,and was given to me 25 years ago by

my friend Rickie Leonard, who’s afabulous cook. It is correct with

only three tablespoons cornmeal.I sometimes double the recipe

and bake it in a 9-by-13-inchpan, which lengthens the

baking time.

2 cups Bisquick

1⁄2 cup sugar

3 tablespoons

cornmeal

1 cup butter, melted

and cooled

1 cup milk

2 eggs, beaten

INSTRUCTIONS:

Heat oven to 350 de-grees. Combine bis-

cuit mix, sugar andcornmeal well in bowl.

Stir butter and milk intomixture. Add beaten eggs.Pour into greased 9-inch

square pan. Bake until done, about30-40 minutes. Cut in squares to serve.

PER SERVING (BASED ON 9): 360 calo-ries (63.5 percent calories from fat), 27 g fat,105 mg cholesterol, 360 mg sodium, 30 gcarbohydrates, 0 g dietary fiber, 10 g sugar,5 g protein.

Classic SconesMakes 8-12 servings

I’ve tried many scone recipes during the years and this one, which Islightly adapted from the 1997 edition of “The All New All Purpose Joyof Cooking” by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker and EthanBecker, is my favorite. If you want, cut out individual scones with a sharpbiscuit cutter and place them an inch apart on the baking sheet. I’ve evencut these into heart shapes for showers. I like to serve these with Devonor Mock Devon Cream, seedless raspberry jam and lemon curd.

2 cups flour

1⁄3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1⁄4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons (3⁄4 stick) cold

unsalted butter, cut into

pieces

1 large egg

1⁄4 cup heavy cream

2-3 teaspoons cream or milk,

for brushing

Sugar (preferably coarse

sugar), for sprinkling

INSTRUCTIONS: Positionrack in center of oven. Heatoven to 425 degrees.

Whisk flour, sugar, bakingpowder and salt together thor-oughly in large bowl. Cut inbutter with 2 knives or a past-ry blender, tossing pieces withflour mixture to coat and sep-arate them as you work, untillargest pieces are the size ofpeas and the rest resemblebreadcrumbs. Do not allowbutter to melt or form a pastewith flour.

In separate bowl, whisk to-

gether egg and heavy cream. Addcontents to dry mixture and mixwith a rubber spatula, woodenspoon or fork just until the dryingredients are moistened.

Gather dough into balland knead it gently againstsides and bottom of bowl5-10 times, turning andpressing any loose piecesinto dough each time un-til they adhere and bowlis fairly clean. Do notoverwork dough.

Transfer to lightlyfloured surface and patdough into an 8-inchround about 3⁄4-inch thick.Place on ungreased bakingsheet and cut into 8 or 12wedges. Brush tops with creamand sprinkle with sugar. Bakeuntil tops are golden brown, 12-15 minutes. Best when servedwarm.


200 calories (45 percent caloriesfrom fat), 3 g protein, 27 g carbo-hydrate, 1 g dietary fiber, 10 gfat, 45 mg cholesterol, 290 mgsodium.

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SausageCornbreadMakes 12-16 servings

Former Taste editorial assistant andwonderful friend Barbara Boatrightoften brought this great, hearty corn-bread to office potlucks. If desired,you can sprinkle a little additionalcheese on top before baking so it willbe cheesy on top, but I don’t. This isalso wonderful made into muffins ormini muffins; it makes a ton of them.It’s great hot, warm or at room tem-perature.

1 pound Owen’s sage sausage

1 large onion, chopped

1 large green bell pepper, chopped

3 (6-ounce) envelopes Martha White

yellow cornbread mix

3 eggs

1 (14.75- to 16-ounce) can creamed

corn

1⁄4 cup milk

4-6 tablespoons diced pickled

jalapeño peppers, drained (or more or

less to taste)

2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

INSTRUCTIONS: Heat oven to 375 degrees. Brownsausage in large skillet, breaking up well. Removesausage when cooked and add onion and bell pep-per to drippings and saute until tender.

In large bowl, combine cornbread mix, eggs, cornand milk. Stir in sausage, onion mixture, jalapeñosand cheese. Put into greased 9-by-13-inch pan (youneed a deep pan; if it’s too much for the pan [and itmay well be; it is for me unless I use a really deeppan]), put the rest of the batter in a small greased

Corningware pan or muffin tins andbake separately. Bake for 35-45 minutesor until done, checking that it’s set andgolden brown but not overbaked.

PER SERVING (BASED ON 16): 320 cal-ories (49.2 percent calories from fat), 17 gfat, 75 mg cholesterol, 650 mg sodium,28 g carbohydrates, 3 g dietary fiber, 9 gsugar, 12 g protein.


Pecan PieMuffinsMakes 36 mini muffins

This recipe comes from Barbara Harris,who ran a number of successful restaurantsin San Antonio beginningwith Daisy Tea Room andending with SugarbakersCafé and Bakery at theQuarry Market. These muf-fins go together in minutesand are great served with asalad plate. Harris didn’t mention toasting thepecans, but taking the extra few minutes tobake them pulls out their nutty flavor.

1 stick butter (1⁄2 cup), melted

3⁄4 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1⁄2 cup flour

1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup pecan pieces (see Note)

INSTRUCTIONS: Heat oven to 375 degrees.In mixing bowl, stir together butter andbrown sugar. Add eggs and mix well. Fold inflour. Add vanilla and pecans.

Drop by 2-teaspoon scoop (or put 2 tea-spoons) into greased mini muffin tins. Bakeuntil set and golden around edges, 10-12 min-utes.

NOTE: Toasting the pecans in the oven forabout 5 minutes intensifies their nuttiness.Watch carefully because they burn quickly.

PER SERVING: 70 calories (62.1 percent cal-ories from fat), 5 g fat, 20 mg cholesterol, 5mg sodium, 6 g carbohydrates, 0 g dietary fi-ber, 1 g protein.

Harris


Karen’sDeviled EggsMakes 24 servings

Normally when I preparesomething like deviled eggs, Idon’t bother to use a recipe. Butthese deviled eggs are so good, Ifollow this recipe to the letter.

12 hard-cooked eggs

1⁄2 cup mayonnaise (no

substitutes; I prefer Hellmann’s)

2 teaspoons finely minced onion

2 teaspoons minced sweet

pickle

1 teaspoon sweet pickle juice

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1⁄2 teaspoon salt

1⁄4 teaspoon black pepper

Paprika, for sprinkling

INSTRUCTIONS: Cut eggs inhalf lengthwise; remove yolks tobowl. Set whites aside.

While warm, mash yolks wellwith fork or potato masher; stirin mayonnaise, onion, pickle,pickle juice, dry mustard, saltand pepper, stirring or whiskingwell to make the mixture light.

Spoon or pipe mixture intoegg white halves. Sprinkle withpaprika. Chill until ready toserve.

PER SERVING: 70 calories(78.5 percent calories from fat),6 g fat, 110 mg cholesterol, 115mg sodium, 1 g carbohydrates, 0g dietary fiber, 3 g protein. Express-News file photo


Gulliver’s CornMakes 8-10 servings

Rudy’s Country Store and BBQ has never shared its recipe for creamed corn, but this one is closeenough to work for me. I got this recipe from Diane Phillips, who taught it at a class at Central Mar-ket Cooking School that focused on dishes that can be made well ahead of Thanksgiving dinner.

Butter, for pan and

dotting top of casserole

1⁄2 cup grated

Parmesan cheese,

divided use

11⁄2 cups heavy cream

(see Note)

2 (16-ounce) bags

frozen kernel corn,

defrosted

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon sugar

3 tablespoons flour

mixed with 3

tablespoons melted

butter or margarine

INSTRUCTIONS: Heat oven to 350degrees.

Butter an ovenproof baking dish.Sprinkle 2-3 tablespoons Parmesanover the butter, tilting the pan todistribute the cheese. Bring whip-ping cream to a boil. Reduce heatand add corn. Simmer 5 minutes.Stir in salt and sugar. Make a pasteout of the butter and flour by stir-ring the flour into the melted butterfor an uncooked roux, and stir intothe corn and cook until thickened.Turn corn into ovenproof dish,sprinkle with remaining cheese anddot with butter. Bake 30 minutes oruntil bubbling and golden brown.

TO DO AHEAD: Refrigeratethe unbaked casserole for 3days, or freeze for 1 month. Canbe made in individual ramekinsor an ovenproof souffle dish.

NOTE: If you would prefer touse a lower-fat product, try us-ing whole milk; it is not as lux-urious, but it does the job.

PER SERVING (BASED ON10): 270 calories (61.2 percentcalories from fat), 18 g fat, 60mg cholesterol, 550 mg sodium,22 g carbohydrates, 2 g dietaryfiber, 4 g sugar, 5 g protein.

Aunt Helen’sMemorialBeansMakes 6 servings

This comes from my friend LindaWest Eckhardt, who published it in“The Only Texas Cookbook.” Lindasays it “destroyed my prejudice againstcanned beans. Aunt Helen’s reputationwas made with this recipe.” It’s a goodenough recipe that I actually follow it.Until I got this one, I just threw ingre-dients together for baked beans, whichtasted good, but not nearly as good asthese beans.

1 (28-ounce) can pork and beans

2 slices bacon, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon chili powder

1⁄2 cup ketchup

1⁄2 cup water

1 small jalapeño, chopped fine

INSTRUCTIONS: Heat oven to 325 de-grees. Mix beans with their juice, ba-con, bell pepper, onion, brown sugar,chili powder, ketchup, water and jalape-ño. Put in 1 1⁄2-quart casserole dish andbake, uncovered, for 3 hours. Stir often.

PER SERVING: 200 calories (20.8 per-cent calories from fat), 5 g fat, 15 mgcholesterol, 920 mg sodium, 35 g carbo-hydrates, 6 g dietary fiber, 16 g sugar, 8g protein.


Gulliver’s corn can be made in advance and is a great addition to a Thanksgiving dinner.


Cheese GritsMakes 12-16 servings

I combined several recipes to come upwith this one. I like to serve this withGrillades (see recipe in Main Dishes). It’salso good served at brunch with nearlyany egg dish.

53⁄4 cups water

11⁄2 cups quick-cook grits (NOT instant)

2⁄3 cup butter

12 ounces Velveeta cheese, cut in chunks

4 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded

2 teaspoons seasoned salt

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1⁄2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

1 (4-ounce) can diced green chiles,

undrained

3 eggs, beaten

INSTRUCTIONS: Bring water to boil,stir in grits; reduce heat to low. Coverand cook 5-6 minutes, stirring severaltimes. Remove from heat; add butter,cheese, seasoning salt, salt, Worcester-shire, Tabasco and chiles to grits. Cover;let melt 20 minutes. When melted, stirwell and partially cool.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Fold eggs in-to cooled grits. Pour into 9-by-13-inchdish. Bake 50 minutes or until top islightly browned. (Grits can be made inadvance and refrigerated, then baked thenext day.)

PER SERVING: 240 calories, 9 g protein,18 g cabohydrate, 1 g sugar, 1 g dietary fi-ber, 14 g fat, 75 mg cholesterol, 1,090 mgsodium.

Wedding RiceMakes 6 servings

I’m not sure what the original name ofthis recipe was, but we always refer to thisas Wedding Rice because friend MarjorieWilson brought it to my family’s home theday Mark and I were married. It goes to-gether quickly and is a wonderful side dishto most any kind of chicken entrée. Theoriginal recipe called for a drained 4-ouncecan of sliced mushrooms instead of freshmushrooms; if using canned, add them tothe baking dish just before baking.

1 stick butter

1 cup Minute rice

1 large onion, diced

4 ounces white button mushrooms, sliced

1 (10.5-ounce) can chicken rice soup

1 soup can water

Onion salt, to taste

Pepper, to taste

Salt, to taste

Garlic salt, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS: Melt butter in skillet.Add rice and onion and sauté for severalminutes, stirring frequently. Add mush-rooms and saute mixture until onions aretender. Add chicken rice soup, the soup canof water, onion salt, pepper, salt and garlicsalt to taste. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Pourrice mixture into buttered baking dish andlet stand a few minutes until rice is soaked.Bake until done, about 45 minutes.


Glow Cuisine / Getty Images


Cauliflower GratinWith Almond CrustMakes 6-8 servings

I first tasted this when friends Marilyn and the lateJohn Angel hosted our supper club in their home for Val-entine’s Day. Everything was delicious, but the stand-outdish was this delicious gratin, which they got from South-ern Living magazine. Making it even better? It can be pre-pared in advance and baked before serving. You don’thave to love, or even like, cauliflower to enjoy this recipe.

1⁄4 cup butter

1 head cauliflower (about 21⁄4 pounds), separated into

florets

1 small onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons flour

2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

1⁄2 teaspoon salt

1⁄2 cup whipping cream

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Gruyère cheese

2⁄3 cup Japanese bread crumbs (panko)

1⁄4 cup sliced almonds

1⁄4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, preferably

Parmigiano-Reggiano

INSTRUCTIONS: Heat oven to 400 degrees.Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Add cauliflower, onion and garlic; sauté 10 minutes or un-til golden and just tender. Sprinkle with flour, thyme andsalt; stir well. Remove from heat.

Spoon cauliflower mixture into an 11-by-7-inch bakingdish and drizzle with cream. Sprinkle with Gruyèrecheese, bread crumbs, almonds and Parmesan, in that or-der. Bake about 30 minutes or until golden.

PER SERVING (BASED ON 8): 260 calories (62.6 percentcalories from fat), 18 g fat, 55 mg cholesterol, 290 mg so-dium, 15 g carbohydrates, 3 g dietary fiber, 10 g protein.

Getty Images


Linguine with Pink ShrimpSauceMakes 4 servings

This recipes comes from a Central Market Cooking School class taught byGiuliano Hazan. This recipe goes together in less than 30 minutes and provesthat you don’t have to go to much work to produce a delicious, company-worthentrée. Part of the shrimp in the sauce is finely chopped, giving the sauce ameat-sauce like consistency. This is from his “Giuliano Hazan’s Thirty MinutePasta” cookbook.

3⁄4 pound large shrimp

2 medium cloves garlic


2 tablespoons tomato paste

1⁄2 cup dry white wine

Salt, to taste


1 pound linguine

6-7 sprigs flat-leaf Italian parsley

1 cup heavy cream

INSTRUCTIONS: Fill a pot for thepasta with about 6 quarts of water,place over high heat and bring to aboil. Peel and devein the shrimp. Cut1⁄3 of the shrimp into 1⁄2-inch piecesand leave the rest whole. Peel andlightly crush garlic cloves. Put oliveoil in 12-inch skillet, add garlic andplace over medium-high heat. Sautéuntil garlic cloves are lightly brownedon all sides, then remove them anddiscard.

While garlic is sautéing, dissolvetomato paste in white wine. After re-moving garlic cloves, add wine withdissolved tomato paste to pan andcook until liquid has reduced by

about half. Add the whole shrimpand season with salt and pepper.Cook until shrimp have turned pink,2-3 minutes, then remove pan fromheat.

When the water for the pasta isboiling, add about 2 tablespoons salt,add linguine, and stir until all strandsare submerged. Cook until al dente.Finely chop enough parsley to mea-sure 2 tablespoons. Use a slottedspoon to transfer the cooked shrimpto a food processor. Pulse untilshrimp are chopped to a medium-fineconsistency, then return them to thepan. Place pan back over medium-high heat and add the cream. Cookuntil cream has reduced by abouthalf, then add the raw shrimp andparsley. Season lightly with salt andcook until shrimp pieces turn pink,1-2 minutes, then remove pan fromheat. When pasta is done, drain well,toss with sauce, and serve at once.

PER SERVING: 810 calories (35.9percent calories from fat), 32 g fat,210 mg cholesterol, 310 mg sodium,90 g carbohydrates, 4 g dietary fiber,35 g protein.

Country QuicheMakes 6-8 servings

Country Quiche, which I first published in 1994, issimple but delicious. This is one of those recipes whereit’s important not to substitute ingredients. There’s noother cheese that’s quite as good in this recipe as theGruyere, no mustard that tastes as good as the Dijon,no milk that’s as good as the half-and-half. You get thepoint. It came from “Cooking with Love” by FrancisAnthony.

2 potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

1 onion, thinly sliced

1⁄2 teaspoon salt, divided use


3 eggs

1 cup half-and-half

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Parsley flakes, to taste

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

1 partially baked 9-inch pie shell, baked until firm but not

brown

3⁄4 cup top quality diced ham (I like Black Forest ham)

3⁄4 cup grated Gruyere cheese

INSTRUCTIONS: Season potatoes and onion with 1⁄4

teaspoon salt. Saute potato and onion in butter untiltender and lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Coolslightly.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix eggs, half-and-half,mustard, parsley, remaining 1⁄4 teaspoon salt and pep-per; set aside. Put potato mixture in pie crust, thenham, and then cheese. Top with cream mixture.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until set. Remove from ov-en and let set 10 minutes before slicing.

PER SERVING (BASED ON 8): 310 calories (54.9 per-cent calories from fat), 19 g fat, 120 mg cholesterol, 660mg sodium, 25 g carbohydrates, 1 g dietary fiber, 2 gsugar, 11 g protein.

Joseph De Leo / Stewart, Tabori & Chang

Linguine with pinkshrimp sauce(recipe) from

"Thirty MinutePasta" by Giuliano

Hazan.


Karen’s AsianSalmonMakes 8 servings

I developed this recipe back in the ’80s asa way to incorporate some of my favoriteAsian flavors. It was a favorite of my daugh-ter Jennifer. It’s great served with steamedjasmine rice and Asian Cucumber Salad (seerecipe in Sides).


2-3 tablespoons dark Asian sesame oil

1⁄4 cup soy sauce

4-5 garlic cloves, minced

1 (11⁄2 to 2-inch) piece fresh ginger root, peeled

and minced

Black pepper, to taste

8 (4- to 5-ounce) 1-inch thick salmon fillets or

steaks

INSTRUCTIONS: Combine both oils, soysauce, garlic, ginger and pepper. Remove andreserve 2-3 tablespoons marinade. Place salm-on in glass dish; pour remaining marinadeover and marinate for about 4 hours. Removesalmon from marinade.

Brush grill grate with oil and heat grill tomedium-high (you can hold your hand about1 inch above the grill grate). Put salmon, skinside down, on grill and cover. Cook, withoutturning, about 10-15 minutes or until salmonjust starts to release its fat (the opaque, whit-ish thick liquid) and/or flesh flakes easily.Brush with reserved marinade before serving.

PER SERVING: 170 calories (43.8 percentcalories from fat), 8 g fat, 50 mg cholesterol,230 mg sodium, 0 g carbohydrates, 0 g die-tary fiber, 0 g sugar, 23 g protein.

Zoryana Ivchenko / Getty Images


Pixie’s ChickenMakes 4 servings

This is one of the best recipes for chicken I’ve evertasted. I got the recipe from Pixie Koch, co-managerof the cooking school at Central Market when itopened; she called it River Rat Chicken because itwas a favorite family dish when they were at the riv-er, but I just call it Pixie’s Chicken. Rather than mar-inate the chicken, you grill it, then toss it into a her-by vinaigrette. This dish can be served hot or atroom temperature, making it perfect for entertaining.

8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

Salt, to taste

Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Vinaigrette:


2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon capers, chopped

2 tablespoons chopped mixture of fresh basil,

rosemary and oregano

Lemon quarters, for garnish (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS: Dry thighs thorough-ly. Sprinkle the thighs skin side up withsalt and pepper. Place skin side downon a medium-hot fire for 10 minutes,sprinkle other side with salt and pepper,turn over and cook for another 10 min-utes. Take off the fire and test by cuttingon either side of bone. If juices runclear, even though meat is still pink, it’sdone. The key to doneness is the clearjuice. If it needs more time, grill in 5-minute increments and test again.

FOR VINAIGRETTE: While thighs arecooking, mix olive oil, balsamic vinegar,garlic, capers and herbs together. Re-move thighs from grill and ladle vinai-grette over thighs. Can be served hot orat room temperature.

PER SERVING: 260 calories (56.8 per-cent calories from fat), 16 g fat, 130 mgcholesterol, 200 mg sodium, 1 g carbo-hydrates, 0 g dietary fiber, 1 g sugars, 27g protein.


Crispy CheesyChickenMakes 4 servings

I’m including this because it’s a recipe thatkids can easily make. Our daughters Jenniferand Emily frequently made this to give me ahead start on dinner before I got home fromwork. I never used a recipe but when ouryounger daughter was going to make it forthe first time, I wrote down the directionsfor her. I treasure the faded piece of paperit’s on. Butter stained, it has a note from myhusband that reads, “Em, Looking forwardto dinner. Can’t wait. Love ya, Dad.”

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 cup stuffing mix

1⁄2 cup Parmesan cheese

2 cloves garlic, minced (see Note)

4 tablespoons butter, melted

INSTRUCTIONS: Heat oven to 350 degrees.Pat chicken dry with paper towels. With roll-ing pin or in food processor, crush stuffingmix. Combine stuffing mix, cheese and gar-lic.

Dip chicken into butter well, then roll instuffing mix. Place on baking sheet. Sprinklechicken with remaining crumbs and butter.Bake until done, about 40-55 minutes, de-pending on size of chicken breasts.

NOTE: This is better when garlic is added,but I omitted it when my daughters wereyounger because I didn’t want them using aknife while I wasn’t there to supervise.



Italian LasagnaMakes 10 servings

This is a slight adaptation of a recipe from the Time-Life series “Recipes: The Cooking of Italy.” After tastingauthentic lasagna in Italy, I searched to find a recipe thattasted like the lasagna found in Italy. This one does. It iscorrect with only a small amount of tomato paste in it.

1 (8.8-ounce) package dry Rustichella d’abruzzo lasagna

noodles, available at Central Market (see Note) or about

9-12 sheets lasagna noodles from Fresh Pasta, or as

needed (recipe accompanies)

6 quarts water

1 tablespoon salt

Sauce (recipe follows)

Besciamella (recipe follows)

1⁄2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Sauce:


1⁄4 pound smoked ham,

minced

1 cup finely chopped onion

1⁄4 cup finely chopped

carrots

1⁄2 cup finely chopped

celery

2 tablespoons olive oil

3⁄4 pound ground round

1⁄4 pound lean ground pork

1⁄2 cup dry white wine

2 cups beef stock

2 tablespoons tomato

paste

Pinch of nutmeg

Salt, to taste

Freshly ground pepper, to

taste

Besciamella:


6 tablespoons flour

2 cups milk

1 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon salt

Pepper, to taste

Pinch of nutmeg

INSTRUCTIONS: Cook lasagnanoodles in boiling salted water, stir-ring to prevent sticking. When justtender, or al dente, drain, then rinseunder cold water. Drain and lay outseparately on paper towels. PrepareSauce and Besciamella. Heat oven to350 degrees. Generously butter a 9-by-13-inch pan. Spread a layer ofSauce 1⁄4-inch thick. Spread with 1cup Besciamella. Lay 1⁄3 of noodleson top. (If using Fresh Pasta, laynoodles in pan to cover; you mayneed to trim to make them fit.) Re-peat Sauce, Besciamella and noodlestwice; top with another layer ofSauce and Besciamella. Sprinklewith cheese. Bake 30 minutes oruntil Sauce is bubbling hot. Let setat room temperature a few minutesbefore serving.

FOR SAUCE: Melt butter in heavyskillet. Add ham, onion, carrots andcelery; cook, stirring often, 10 min-utes or until lightly browned. Re-move; set aside. To same skillet, addolive oil, then ground round andground pork. Lightly brown meats,breaking up very well. Add wine;increase heat and boil briskly untilliquid evaporates, stirring often.Add browned ham, onion, carrotand celery you had set aside, beefstock and tomato paste. Bring toboil over high heat; reduce heat andsimmer, partially covered, 30-45minutes, stirring occasionally. Youwant a sauce with body, but onethat is not completely dry. Season

with nutmeg and add salt and pep-per, to taste. Set aside.

FOR BESCIAMELLA: In heavysaucepan, melt butter; stir in flour.Add milk and cream, beating withwire whisk. Return to medium-highheat and cook, stirring constantly.When sauce comes to a boil andthickens into a smooth cream sauce,reduce heat and simmer, stirring,2-3 minutes. Remove from heat.Season with salt, pepper and nut-meg.

NOTE: When making this dish, Inormally make pasta from scratch,using the accompanying recipe.When I don’t make my own pasta, Ilike to use the flat dry Rustichellad’abruzzo lasagna noodles from Ita-ly that are available at Central Mar-ket. The sheets of pasta are thinnerand more tender than many otherlasagna noodles; if you don’t usethose, preferably use a lasagna noo-dle without the frilly edge, whichwould detract from the texture ofthis lasagna. Fresh pasta (availablein the deli area of Central Market)also can be substituted. The Sauceis also delicious served atop pasta.If serving as a pasta sauce, cookSauce as directed, then stir in 1 cupheavy cream; heat thoroughly.

PER SERVING: 410 calories (53.1percent calories from fat), 25 g fat,90 mg cholesterol, 530 mg sodium,29 g carbohydrates, 2 g dietary fiber,18 g protein.Getty Images


Fresh PastaMakes 11⁄2 pounds pasta or enough for 2-3 lasagnas

This recipe is slightly adapted from one from Lidia Bastianichthat I found at www.Lidiasitaly.com.

3 cups flour

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

1⁄4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

7 tablespoons very cold water, plus more as needed

INSTRUCTIONS: Put flour in bowl of food processor and processfor a few seconds to aerate. Mix eggs, olive oil and 7 tablespoonswater in measuring cup or spouted container. Start food processorrunning and pour in liquids through the feed tube. Process for 30to 40 seconds until a soft dough forms and gathers on the blade.If the dough does not gather and is wet and sticky, process inmore flour in small additions. If it is dry and stiff, process in morewater, by spoonfuls.

Turn dough out on a lightly floured surface and knead by handfor a minute until it’s smooth, soft and stretchy. Press it into adisk, wrap in plastic wrap, and let rest at room temperature for30 minutes before using. For later use, refrigerate for up to a dayor freeze it for a month or more. Defrost frozen dough in the re-frigerator; return to room temperature before rolling.

To roll dough in a standard home pasta roller, cut it into 6 piec-es. Keeping dough lightly floured, roll pieces at progressively nar-rower settings, gradually stretching them into strips about 20-24inches long and as wide as your pasta maker allows. Cut eachstrip in half crosswise so you have 12 strips, about a foot inlength. Lay them flat on a lightly floured surface and keep coveredwith towels.

One at a time, slice the strips lengthwise in half, using a sharpknife or a rotary pasta cutter and a ruler to guide the blade. Youshould get 2 such ribbons from each strip, giving you a total ofabout 24.

NOTE: You will have some leftover pasta, which can be cut intoshapes of your choice. If not using immediately, freeze on a tray,then pack in plastic bags and store in the freezer until you cook it.

PER 1⁄2 POUND PASTA: 650 calories (27.8 percent calories fromfat), 20 g fat, 215 mg cholesterol, 70 mg sodium, 96 g carbohy-drates, 3 g dietary fiber, 19 g protein.Glow Cuisine / Getty Images


Green Chile StewMakes 10-12 servings

This is an adaptation of a recipe I got from CentralMarket. This also can be made with cubed chickenbreasts, but pork gives a better flavor. This is great servedwith hot tortillas and Mexican rice. Don’t omit the cremaand cilantro; it makes it special.

1 (3-pound) Boston pork

butt, cut into 1-inch cubes

2 tablespoons vegetable

oil, divided use

2 large onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 (14-ounce) cans chicken

stock

12-18 Hatch green chiles,

roasted, peeled, seeded

and chopped (or to taste)

4 large tomatoes, peeled,

seeded and chopped

6-7 medium potatoes,

peeled and diced

1⁄2 teaspoon dry Mexican

oregano

1⁄4 teaspoon ground cumin

2-3 minced tomatillos or 3

tablespoons tomatillo

salsa

Salt, to taste

Pepper, to taste

1⁄2 bunch fresh cilantro

1 (16-ounce) jar Mexican

crema

INSTRUCTIONS: Heat 1tablespoon oil in skilletover medium-high heat;brown pork in batches, be-ing careful not to crowdmeat or it will steam.

Transfer pork to largestockpot when browned.Add remaining oil to skilletand add onions. Cook untilsoft, about 7 minutes. Re-duce heat and add garlic.Cook for 1 minute. Add on-ions and garlic to pot withmeat. Add half of chickenstock to skillet and deglaze,making sure you get up allthe browned bits from thebottom of the skillet. Addthe deglazed stock, remain-ing stock, chiles, tomatoes,potatoes, oregano, cuminand tomatillos to pot. Addsalt and pepper, to taste.Simmer on low heat forabout 11⁄2-2 hours or untilpork is very tender and liq-uids have thickened into astew consistency. Put intobowls to serve, garnishedwith cilantro leaves. Put adollop of crema on top tobe stirred into stew to addrichness and creaminess.

PER SERVING (BASEDON 12): 470 calories (55.3percent calories from fat),28 g fat, 110 mg cholesterol,260 mg sodium, 25 g car-bohydrates, 2 g dietary fi-ber, 7 g sugar, 26 g protein.

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Veal-Stuffed Flank SteakMakes 8-10 servings

I originally got this recipe from my friend, the late Bert Greene, when heconducted a cooking class for the Express-News back in the early ’80s. Hispartner Phillip Schulz and I prepped this dish for the class that had some1,000-plus students at the Convention Center. This is a sophisticated, butnot-terribly-complicated, recipe that’s great for serving company on a coldevening. Mashed potatoes make a perfect accompaniment as they soak upthe delicious juices.

5 tablespoons butter,

divided use

1⁄4 cup plus 1 tablespoon

oil, divided use

2 cups 1⁄2-inch bread cubes,

without crust

1 pound ground veal

2 eggs, slightly beaten

11⁄2 cups chopped onions,

divided use

1⁄2 rib celery, chopped

1 tablespoon chopped

fresh parsley, plus

additional for garnish

Salt, to taste

Freshly ground black

pepper, to taste

11⁄4 teaspoons chopped

fresh thyme, or 1⁄2

teaspoon dried, divided use

2 flank steaks, about 21⁄2-3

pounds total weight,

butterflied (have the

butcher do this)

3⁄4 cup chopped carrots

2 bay leaves

1 large ripe tomato,

chopped

1⁄2 cup beef broth

1⁄2 cup dry red wine

Chopped fresh parsley, for

garnish

INSTRUCTIONS: Heat 3 tablespoons butterand 1⁄4 cup oil in skillet. Add bread cubesand saute until golden; drain on paper tow-els. Combine veal, eggs, 3⁄4 cup onion, celery,1 tablespoon parsley, 11⁄2 teaspoons salt, 1⁄2

teaspoon pepper and 1⁄4 teaspoon thyme inlarge bowl, add bread and mix thoroughly.

Spread the veal mixture over the flanksteaks and roll up. Use household string totie the meat in 2-3 inch intervals to keep itfrom unrolling. Sprinkle with salt and pep-per. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons butterand 1 tablespoon oil in large deep Dutch ov-en, brown meat on all sides; add carrots, re-maining 3⁄4 cup onion, bay leaves, remaining1 teaspoon thyme and tomato. Cook overmedium heat 5 minutes, add broth andwine, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmercovered over medium-low heat 11⁄4hours.Remove the meat to a serving platter tokeep it warm. Strain the meat juices into asaucepan. Stir in the tomato paste and cookover medium heat until slightly thickened.Stir in 1 tablespoon butter if needed tothicken and enrich sauce (I usually do).Taste and add salt and pepper if needed.Remove string; slice meat in 3⁄4-inch pin-wheels and serve topped with sauce andsprinkled with parsley.

PER SERVING (BASED ON 10): 560 calo-ries (48.4 percent calories from fat), 29 g fat,235 mg cholesterol, 600 mg sodium, 8 gcarbohydrates, 1 g dietary fiber, 2 g sugar,60 g protein.

GrilladesMakes 10-12 servings

I adapted this from a recipe from friend and Louisianan Co-rinne Cook. It makes a fabulous brunch dish served withCheese Grits (see recipe in Sides) or a great dinner entréeserved with mashed potatoes. I have used leftovers as the baseof a cottage pie topped with mashed potatoes and baked. Thiscan be made a day ahead; be sure to reheat it slowly over verylow heat (not in the microwave).

1 (5-pound) boneless beef

chuck roast, trimmed of all

fat and gristle and cut in

bite-size pieces

3 tablespoons bacon

drippings

3 tablespoons prepared

dark roux

1 cup hot water

11⁄2 cups chopped onions

2 cups chopped green

onions

3⁄4 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped green bell

peppers

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups chopped tomatoes

1 (8-ounce) can tomato

sauce

2⁄3 teaspoon dry thyme

1 cup water

1⁄2 cup red wine

1 tablespoon salt

1⁄4 teaspoon pepper

Dash of cayenne

2 bay leaves

1⁄4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

2 teaspoons Worcestershire

sauce

1⁄2 cup chopped fresh

parsley

INSTRUCTIONS: In Dutch ov-en, brown meat in small batchesin bacon drippings. As meatbrowns, place on separate plat-ter. To pan drippings, add rouxand hot water. Stir untilsmooth. Add onions, green on-ions, celery, bell peppers andgarlic. Sauté over low heat untilvegetables are tender.

Add tomatoes, tomato sauceand thyme. Cook until tomatoesare softened. Add remaining 1cup water and wine. Stir untilwell blended. Add meat back topan. Add salt, pepper, cayenne,bay leaves, Tabasco and Wor-cestershire. Bring just to boil,then lower heat, cover and sim-mer 2 or more hours or untilmeat is fork tender. Refrigerate,preferably overnight. Whenready to serve, slowly reheatover low heat. If too thick, morewater can be added. Taste forseasoning. Put in serving bowl;top with parsley. Serve overCheese Grits.

PER SERVING: 310 calories, 41g protein, 9 g carbohydrate, 3 gsugar, 1 g dietary fiber, 10 g fat,95 mg cholesterol, 780 mg sodi-um.


Lemon Crunch CookiesMakes 4 dozen cookies

I came up with this recipe after tasting a similar cookie from an East Coast bakery. This isn’t yourmom’s sugar cookie. These beauties get their wonderful crunchy texture from cornmeal. Pure lemon oiland fresh lemon zest give these cookies a wonderful flavor. They are delicious made with lime oil andlime zest as well.

1 cup coarse yellow cornmeal

13⁄4 cups flour

1⁄2 teaspoon salt


2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 cup butter, at room

temperature

13⁄4 cups sugar, divided use

3⁄4 teaspoon pure lemon oil (see

Note)

Zest from 2 large lemons (about

2 tablespoons)

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 egg yolks

1 tablespoon water

INSTRUCTIONS: Heat oven to375 degrees. Combine cornmeal,flour, salt, baking soda andcream of tarter; set aside.

In mixing bowl, combine but-

ter and 11⁄2 cups sugar. Withelectric mixer on mediumspeed, cream mixture untillight in color and fluffy. Tocreamed mixture, add lemonoil, lemon zest, vanilla, eggyolks and water. Beat withmixer on low speed untilcombined.

Add cornmeal mixture tocreamed mixture and beat onlow speed until combined.(Dough will come together in-to a ball that is easily han-dled; if desired, dough can berefrigerated for 1 hour beforeforming into balls.)

Put remaining 1⁄4 cup sugarin small bowl. Form doughinto balls about 11⁄2 inches indiameter. Drop balls, two at atime, in bowl with sugar. Coatballs thoroughly with sugar

and place balls 3 inches apart onungreased baking sheets.

Bake just until edges are setand lightly golden, and cookie iscrackled on top, about 12-14 min-utes. Do not brown cookies. Letcookies set on baking sheets 1minute, then remove from pan torack and cool completely. Whenwell wrapped, cookies freezewell for up to two months.

NOTE: Boyajian is one manufac-turer of pure lemon oil. I boughtit at Central Market.

PER SERVING: 80 calories (42.2percent calories from fat), 4 gfat, 10 mg cholesterol, 50 mg so-dium, 11 g carbohydrates, 0 gdietary fiber, 5 g sugar, 1 g pro-tein.

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Tricia’s ToffeeMakes enough for 4 (gift-size) packages (each withabout 10 pieces)

I first tasted Tricia Petrick’s toffee in 2002 at a neigh-borhood gathering. The next year, she let me watch as shemade this delicious treat. With my husband Mark’s help(he’s the stirrer!), I make this nearly every Christmas andgive it as gifts. Recipients tell me that they love it. It keepswell in the refrigerator if it lasts that long. Don’t eventhink about making this without using a candy thermome-ter.

5 cups pecan halves, broken in half lengthwise

11⁄2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter

21⁄4 cups packed light brown sugar

11⁄2 (7-ounce) bars Hershey chocolate, broken into squares

(see Note)

INSTRUCTIONS: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spread pe-cans in single layer on 10-by-15-inch cookie sheet withsides; toast 8 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.Combine butter and brown sugar in heavy pan. Cook, stir-ring, over medium heat until mixture reaches 310 degrees(hard-crack stage) on a candy thermometer. (After mixturereaches 240 degrees, stir only occasionally, not constantly.)Immediately remove from heat and pour mixture overnuts, gently spreading mixture so all are covered. Immedi-ately place squares of broken chocolate evenly on top oftoffee. Cover cookie sheet with another cookie sheet of thesame size for about 2 minutes; this facilitates the meltingof the chocolate. Spread chocolate evenly over top of toffee.Refrigerate, uncovered, overnight. The next day, break tof-fee into serving-size pieces. This needs to be kept refriger-ated because the chocolate hasn’t been tempered.

NOTE: An equivalent amount of semisweet or dark choco-late, broken into squares or pieces, can be substituted forthe milk chocolate.

PER PIECE: 228 calories, 1.8 g protein, 15 g carbohydrate,13 g sugar, 1.8 g dietary fiber, 20 g sugar, 18 mg choleste-rol, 48 mg sodium.

Salty Chocolate OatiesMakes 18 large or 36 medium cookies

This is my adaptation of a recipe for Salted Oatmeal Cookies from Leigh Lam-bert of the Washington Post, who was on a quest to find a recipe for salt-spikedoatmeal cookies like those she’d tasted at Teaism, where she’d first tasted themunder the name Salty Oats. When I make them for my family, I add top-qualitybittersweet chocolate chips to the dough. It’s a good addition for those who feellike a cookie just isn’t a cookie without chocolate in it.

11⁄2 sticks unsalted butter, at room

temperature

1 cup light brown sugar

1⁄2 cup sugar


1⁄4 teaspoon baking soda

1⁄4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

13⁄4 cups flour

2 cups rolled oats (not quick-cooking)

1 (10- to 12-ounce) package top-quality

bittersweet chocolate chips

Sea salt, for sprinkling

INSTRUCTIONS: In large bowl ofstand mixer fitted with paddle attach-ment, beat butter a few minutes onmedium-high speed until light andfluffy. Scrape down sides of bowl andadd both sugars, baking powder, bak-ing soda and cinnamon, beating untilmixture is well blended. Reduce speedto medium and add eggs and vanillaextract, mixing until well incorporated.Reduce speed to low and add flourand oats, scraping down sides of bowlas necessary and mixing just untilthey are incorporated. Add chocolatechips.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap andchill dough for at least 1 hour beforebaking.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line largebaking sheet with parchment paper orSilpat silicone liners.

For 18 cookies, form dough into golfball-size balls and place about 2 inchesapart on the baking sheet. For mediumcookies, use half that amount of dough.Sprinkle sea salt generously on top ofeach ball of dough, as you would sugar.Bake 1 sheet at a time 12-15 minutes (forlarge cookies; medium cookies will takeless time) or until cookies are puffedand beginning to turn golden, beingcareful not to overbake. (The cookiesshould have a tender interior.) Transfercookies, still on parchment paper, to awire rack to cool completely.

NOTE: This is a great dough to makeahead and keep on hand to bake off afew when the urge hits. You can refrig-erate the dough for several days. Thecookies can be stored in an airtight tinfor up to 1 week.

PER SERVING (BASED ON 36): 150calories (44.2 percent calories from fat),8 g fat, 20 mg cholesterol, 30 mg sodi-um, 20 g carbohydrates, 1 g dietary fi-ber, 11 g sugar, 2 g protein.


O’HenryBarsMakes 12-16 servings

My sister-in-law Euni Richmondgets credit for this recipe. It goestogether in less than 10 minutes,start to finish, including cookingtime. The food editor of the NewOrleans Times-Picayune told memy recipe was very popular thereafter Hurricane Katrina becausepeople had to depend on only mi-crowaves for cooking.

1 stick butter

1⁄4 cup white corn syrup

1⁄2 cup packed brown sugar

2 cups quick or old-fashioned oats

3⁄4 cup chocolate chips

3⁄4 cup crunchy peanut butter

INSTRUCTIONS: In 8-inch glassdish, melt butter in microwave.Mix in corn syrup and brown sug-ar. Stir in oats. Microwave on highpower until bubbly all over (3-4minutes), turning dish a couple oftimes. Remove.

Combine chocolate chips andpeanut butter and heat about 1minute in microwave. Stir andpour over hot bars. Refrigerate un-til firm. Cut into bars.



Mom’s Pumpkin BarsMakes 24 bars

This is a favorite family recipe from my mother, Ger-trude Wolfe. One of my special memories about this rec-ipe is when Mom made them for a July 4 block party,since I was at the hospital giving birth to our daughterEmily. She sent a small plate to me at the hospital; nev-er do I remember a dessert tasting better.Bars:

4 eggs, well beaten

12⁄3 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

1 (15- to 16-ounce) can pumpkin

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt


Icing:

1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese, at room temperature

1 stick butter, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups sifted powdered sugar

FOR BARS: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix eggs, sugar,vegetable oil, pumpkin, baking powder, flour, cinnamon,salt and baking soda together in order listed, mixingwell. Pour into ungreased jellyroll pan (cookie sheetwith sides). Bake until done, 25-30 minutes. Cool com-pletely, then ice. Cut into bars to serve.

FOR ICING: In mixing bowl, beat cream cheese andbutter. Stir in vanilla. Add powdered sugar a little at atime, beating well until mixture is smooth. It may ap-pear dry but keep beating. Do not add milk or it will betoo moist.

PER SERVING: 250 calories (54 percent calories fromfat), 3 g protein, 29 g carbohydrates 21 g sugar, 1 g die-tary fiber, 15 g fat, 50 mg cholesterol, 220 mg sodium.

SymphonyBrowniesMakes 24 servings

I tasted these at a wedding showerfor my nephew Andrew in Galves-ton. Since I first published this recipein 2005, I have begun using 1 (8-ounce) package of Hershey’s Drops inplace of the Symphony candy bars.My family and friends like my adap-tation even better than the original.

2 boxes Ghirardelli brownie mix

(Double chocolate or Chocolate

Walnut flavors preferred)

3 extra-large (7-ounce) Hershey’s

Symphony Milk Chocolate Bars with

Almonds and Toffee (see Note)

INSTRUCTIONS: Heat oven to 350degrees. Prepare brownie mixes asdirected on package, preparing eachmix in a separate bowl. Spread oneprepared mix in greased 9-by-13-inchpan. Top batter with candy bars (youmay need to break one in half to getit to fit perfectly), then top with otherprepared mix. (Or, if using Hershey’sDrops, place one candy next to eachother; you may not need to use allthe Drops.) Bake 40 minutes — nolonger. Cool completely before slicing.

NOTE: These are the extra large barswith the blue label.

PER SERVING: 360 calories, 4 gprotein, 52 g carbohydrate, 2 g die-tary fiber, 16 g fat, 5 mg cholesterol,190 mg sodium.

From Karen Haram/Melinda Walker

Courtesy photo

Jam TartMakes 12 servings

Former co-worker John Griffin used to bring this dessert to work fre-quently; as I recall, it came from one of chef Cindy Pawlcyn’s books.When my daughter Emily was making dinner for a friend and her chefhusband, she asked me for an easy dessert that would impress. I toldher to make this, she did, and yes, the chef was impressed.

11⁄2 sticks (12 tablespoons) butter, at room temperature

1⁄2 cup sugar

1⁄4 teaspoon almond extract

11⁄2 cups flour

1⁄4 teaspoon coarse salt

Jam of choice, at room temperature (I particularly like cherry, peach and

seedless raspberry)

Slivered or sliced almonds, to taste

Powdered sugar, for sprinkling (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS: Heat oven to 350 degrees.Cream butter and sugar at medium mixer speed. Add almond ex-

tract. Mix flour and salt together. Add to creamed sugar at low speeduntil incorporated.

Remove 2⁄3 cup of dough and spread on a plate. Put in freezer. Pressremaining dough into round 9-inch tart pan. Top with a thin layer ofjam, taking it to about 1⁄4 inch from edge.

Remove dough from freezer, breakup and sprinkle on top. Sprinkle al-mond slivers on top.

Bake about 20-25 minutes; topshould be lightly golden brown. Donot overbake.

When cool, sprinkle with pow-dered sugar, if desired.




Fresh Fruit AndCream TrifleMakes 14-18 servings

This is an adaptation of a recipe from the “Better Homesand Gardens New Baking Book.” When I really want tomake this recipe special, I use homemade pound cake in it.You can make this a day before serving.

11⁄2 teaspoons unflavored

gelatin

11⁄2 cups heavy whipping

cream

1⁄2 cup sugar, divided use

1 tablespoon vanilla

12 ounces dairy sour cream

6 cups mixed fresh berries,

such as raspberries,

blueberries, blackberries

and sliced strawberries 3⁄4-1 prepared angel food

cake OR pound cake OR

other vanilla-type Bundt

cake

3 tablespoons fresh orange

juice

1 tablespoon raspberry

liqueur OR brandy

(optional)

INSTRUCTIONS: In smallsaucepan, combine gelatinand 3⁄4 cup cold water; letstand 5 minutes to soften.Heat and stir over mediumheat until gelatin dissolves;cool.

Beat cream, 6 tables-poons sugar and vanillawith mixer until soft peaksform. Do not overbeat.

Combine cooled gelatinmixture and sour cream;mix well. Fold sour creammixture into whippedcream. Chill 30-45 minutesor until mixture thickensand will mound on a spoon.

Combine fresh fruit andremaining 2 tablespoonssugar. Let stand 10 minutes.Combine orange juice andraspberry liqueur.

Cut cake into 2-by-1⁄2-inchstrips. In 21⁄2- or 3-quartclear glass serving bowl, ar-range 1⁄3 cake strips on bot-tom. Arrange 1⁄3 of fruit ontop of cake. Sprinkle with 1⁄3

of juice mixture. Spoon 1⁄3

cream mixture on top. Re-peat layers twice, endingwith cream on top. Coverand chill 2-24 hours. Whenserving, make sure to spoonup trifle through all layers.

PER SERVING (BASED ON18): 210 calories (47 percentcalories from fat), 3 g pro-tein, 27 g carbohydrate, 17 gsugar, 1 g dietary fiber, 11 gfat, 40 mg cholesterol, 140mg sodium.Express-News file photo


Buttermilk PieMakes 8 servings

One of my early interviews for theExpress-News was with “Cooking Tex-as Style” author Candy Wagner, whohas since become a good friend. This isher recipe for Buttermilk Pie and it’s awinner. I like to top this with a dollopof whipped cream.

4 tablespoons flour

13⁄4 cups sugar

1⁄2 teaspoon salt

1⁄2 cup butter, melted and cooled

3 eggs, beaten

1 cup buttermilk

1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla

1⁄2 teaspoon lemon extract

1 (9-inch) unbaked pie shell

Cinnamon to taste

(optional, but I use it)

Whipped cream, for serving

(optional, but I use it)

INSTRUCTIONS: Heat oven to 350 de-grees. Combine flour, sugar and salt inmixing bowl. Add butter and eggs andstir with whisk or fork until well blend-ed. Stir in buttermilk, vanilla and lem-on extract and mix well. Pour into un-baked pie shell and dust with cinna-mon, if desired. Bake in center of ovenfor 55-60 minutes or until filling is setand lightly browned.

PER SERVING: 380 calories (46.6 per-cent calories from fat), 21 g fat, 115 mgcholesterol, 340 mg sodium, 49 g car-bohydrates, 0 g dietary fiber, 33 g sug-ar, 5 g protein.

Beatty’s Chocolate CakeMakes 16-20 servings

This cake recipe from Ina Garten, also known as theBarefoot Contessa, was shared with me many years ago byoriginal Chefs’ Secrets columnist Arlene Lightsey. It’s thecake that my daughters Jennifer and Emily and grand-daughters Ellie, Kate, Rebecca and Callie want for theirbirthdays. I add melted unsweetened chocolate to the frost-ing (which may or may not have been Garten’s recipe) tomake it more chocolatey and less sweet. The original recipecalls for baking this in two 8-inch round pans, but I’vefound that’s not enough to hold the batter.

13⁄4 cups flour

2 cups sugar

3⁄4 cups good cocoa power

2 teaspoons baking soda


1 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk, at room

temperature


2 extra large eggs, at room

temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup brewed hot coffee

Frosting:

1 stick (4 ounces) butter, at room

temperature

2⁄3 cup good cocoa powder

Pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 (16-ounce) box powdered sugar

1 tablespoon brewed coffee

2 ounces dark unsweetened

chocolate, melted

Milk or cream, as needed

INSTRUCTIONS: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Greaseand dust with flour three 8-inch pans or a 9-by-14-inch or 10-by-14-inch pan.

Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, bakingpowder and salt in the bowl of electric mixer; mix onlow speed until combined. In another bowl, combinebuttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla. With mixer on lowspeed, slowly add wet ingredients to the dry. Withmixer still on low, add coffee and mix just to combine.The batter will be very thin.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans/pan. Placeon a larger baking sheet. Bake for 35-40 minutes (13-by-9-inch cake may take longer) or until cake testercomes out clean. Cool in pans for 20-30 minutes, thenturn out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

FOR FROSTING: Put butter, cocoa, salt, vanilla, pow-dered sugar, coffee and chocolate in mixer bowl andbeat, adding milk or cream as needed. Beat untilsmooth, adding more milk or powdered sugar until ofspreading consistency. Frost between layers and out-side of cake.

PER SERVING (BASED ON 20): 310 calories (34.4percent calories from fat), 13 g fat, 35 mg cholesterol,300 mg sodium, 51 g carbohydrates, 2 g dietary fiber,38 g sugar, 4 g protein.


Beatty’s Chocolate Cake comes fromIna Garten, aka the Barefoot Contessa.


Peanut Butter And Milk Chocolate ChipLayered CheesecakeMakes 12-14 servings

I featured several recipes from Lemma Nite and her incredible cookbook collection of some 15,000 vol-umes through the years. Lemma found this recipe in “Hershey’s Holiday Favorites 2009 edition” and it’s fab-ulous for any special occasion.

11⁄2 cups graham cracker crumbs

11⁄3 cups sugar, divided use

1⁄3 cup cocoa

1⁄4 cup butter, melted

2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 (8-ounce) cartons dairy sour cream

3 eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup milk chocolate chips, divided use

1 cup peanut butter chips, divided use

1⁄2 teaspoon shortening (do not use butter, margarine

or oil)

INSTRUCTIONS: Heat oven to 325 degrees. Combinegraham cracker crumbs, 1⁄3 cup sugar, cocoa andmelted butter in medium bowl. Press crumb mixtureevenly onto bottom and about 11⁄2 inches up sides of9-inch springform pan. Bake 8 minutes. Removefrom oven and cool slightly.

Increase oven temperature to 350 degrees. Beatcream cheese, remaining 1 cup sugar and vanilla on

medium until well blended. Add sour cream; beaton low until blended. Add eggs, beat on low, justuntil blended. Do not overbeat.

Pour 2 cups filling into prepared crust. Reserve1 tablespoon each of the milk chocolate chips andthe peanut butter chips for drizzling on the top.

Sprinkle remaining milk chocolate chips andpeanut butter chips evenly over filling in pan.Carefully spoon remaining filling over chips.

Bake about 1 hour or until center is almost set.Remove from oven. Using knife, loosen cheesecakefrom side of pan. Cool on wire rack an additional30 minutes. Remove side of pan. Cool 1 hour.

Combine shortening and reserved chips insmall microwave bowl or bag. Melt on medium forabout 30 seconds, then an additional 15 seconds ifthey’re not melted. Drizzle over the top of cheese-cake and refrigerate at least 4 hours. Chill.

PER SERVING (BASED ON 14): 500 calories(59.5 percent calories from fat), 33 g fat, 125 mgcholesterol, 230 mg sodium, 40 g carbohydrates, 1g dietary fiber, 11 g protein.

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