Hello, everyone! As promised, here is my March contribution to the Fool for Romance Giveaway Extravaganza!
Comment on my blog here today for a chance to win a spot in the Great Big Giveaway. At month’s end, the winners for each day will have a chance to win a HUMONGOUS prize pack from all the contributing authors for the month…including a Kindle! It’s a fun and fabulous event, there are plenty of ways to win, and I’m so happy to be a part of it!
My contribution to the prize pack: A signed (by both me and Sherri) Dark-Hunter Companion, along with assorted other fun D-H buttons and bookmarks and ornaments and stuffage!
So let’s get to today’s entry: RECIPES. After all, what’s the one thing most of us love even more than romance? FOOD!
In the Greek section of The Dark-Hunter Companion, I broke a bunch of rules and printed some of my family’s recipes. I just don’t think great recipes are meant to die along with their creators…and since I probably won’t have the opportunity to personally cook for every single one of you, why should you never be able to taste my Greek Chicken or Baklava?
Today I share with you a new recipe — and because I have a migraine this morning, it’s going to be GLUTEN FREE. This delicious recipe can be enjoyed by both my sister and myself without us regretting it later with stomach aches and headaches.
My mother perfected this recipe and passed it along–Soteria and I pretty much shared an entire batch of these over our Greek Christmas holidays. I hope you enjoy the recipe. And if you know of any other great gluten-free recipes, please link to them or post them here in the comments so that we might all share in the yumminess!
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DATE LAYER BARS (gluten free)
Date filling:
1 pound pitted dates (Costco usually has great dates)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water (or 1/4 cup orange liquor (Triple Sec) and 1/4 cup water)
Stir constantly over medium heat until mixture boils and thickens. Cool. Just before using, add 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts.
Crust:
3/4 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup almond flour (or just superfinely chop up 3/4 cup of any kind of nuts)
3/4 cup Gluten Free All Purpose Flour (they sell this at the grocery store – it’s easy to find)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
2 Tbsp water
Cream together sugar & butter. Sift dry ingredients & stir into creamed mixture. Add oats & water; mix until crumbly.
Firmly pat 1/2 of the mixture into a greased 9×13 baking dish. Spread with date filling. Drop remaining 1/2 of crust mixture on top and pat smooth.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes. Cool and enjoy!
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Remember — please comment and/or share a recipe in order to participate in the contest!
Dark-Hunters Rule!!
You are right. Recipes should not die with their owners/creators. They are alive as long as others can cook them well and serve them with love. That’s how it should be.
this is one of my family’s favorite recipes that I make for a quick fix dinner Spinach and Cheese stuffed Shells
Ingredients
32 or 1 box of jumbo pasta shells
2 cups Ricotta cheese
2 (10 ounce)packages of frozen Spinach or 1 (20 ounce) if it can be found, thawed and drained
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons finely chopped rosemary
2-3 teaspoons of dried basil (depending on taste)
4 cloves of garlic finely minced
1 (32 ounce)jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
and salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Preheat oven 350 degrees
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil, gently place pasta shells in boiling water; bring water back to boil. Cook until noodles are just tender; drain well.
Squeeze spinach dry. Combine spinach, ricotta, 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, fennel, basil and garlic in a large mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper; mix well.
Spread 1/2 cup marinara sauce evenly over the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish.
Fill each pasta shell with the spinach cheese mixture. Arrange the shells, filling side up in the baking dish. Spoon remaining marinara sauce over the shells. Sprinkle remaining Parmesan cheese on top of the shells.
Cover the pan loosely with aluminum foil and bake in preheated oven until heated through; about 30 minutes.
Recipes! What a great idea! This one is not my personal creation, but it contains the most important ingredient – chocolate!
* * *
Double Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies (Gluten-free)
2 1/2 cups almond flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup grapeseed oil
1/2 cup agave nectar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup sliced almonds
Directions
1.In a large bowl, combine almond flour, salt and baking soda. In a medium bowl combine grapeseed oil, agave and vanilla. Stir wet ingredients into the almond flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Fold in chocolate chips and almond slices.
2.Spoon dough 1 heaping tablespoon at a time onto a parchment lined baking sheet, pressing down with palm of your hand to flatten. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 7 to 10 minutes, until lightly golden. Cool cookies on the baking sheets for 20 minutes, then serve.
(Created by: Elana Amsterdam, cookbook author, “The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook.”)
Enjoy!
Rebecca
rrgreene at earthlink dot net
This is a recipe passed down from my Grandma Lowery. Christmas isn’t the same without this punch! Thanks for helping with the contest! It has been fun. I have three recipe boxes so this one is right up my alley 🙂
Grandma’s Slush Punch
6 1/2 cups boiling water
6 oz. red jello
2 cups sugar
46 oz. pineapple juice
1-2 tsp. almond extract
6 oz. frozen lemonade concentrate
1 quart gingerale
-Mix all ingredients except gingerale into boiling water and pour into large bowl or ice cream pail and freeze.
-set out 4 hours before serving
-add gingerale 1/2 hour before serving
-will be slushy and yummy!
Sadly I don’t cook anything special. 🙁 Hope to see some more awesome recipes to try here! Would be fun to shock my family with something new.
I love that you included family recipes in your book, and that you’ve provided a gluten free recipe here. I’ve had to change all of my mom’s baking recipes to rice flour lately, and as a result, have rekindled my love of baking. You rock, Alethea!
West Virginia (Hillbilly) Fried Mush
My Grandfather used to fix this all the time. He showed me how to make it.
Ingredients:
3 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup yellow cornmeal
Directions:
1. Use a medium-sized saucepan
2. Heat the water to boiling and then reduce the heat to around medium.
3. Add the salt and cornmeal. Stir regularly and cook it until it thickens.
4. Remove from heat, let sit until cool, and then place in refrigerator.
5. Once cold, remove from saucepan and slice in thin to medium sized portions.
6. Heat skillet with either oil or butter and fry the slices of mush to a crispy golden brown.
I cannot wait to try this recipe. I have tried the Greek Chicken recipe from the DH Companion and it was amazing. Knowing that it is actually one of your family recipes makes it that much cooler!
APPLE SALAD
4-5 Red Apples (I’ve discovered that MacIntosh & Braeburns have the most flavor for this), cored and chopped into bite-size pieces
1 Bunch of Red Seedless Grapes, cut in half
1/2 Pound Bag of Chopped Walnuts or you can crack & chop them yourself (These are optional. Dani, one of my sisters doesn’t like walnuts, so my mom always makes a small portion sans walnuts for her)
2 Half-pint containers of Heavy Whipping Cream (My mom has always bought the 2 half-pints, versus a pint-sized container. I’ve never asked why, but I know for me, it helps me judge how much cream I’ve used, because I don’t always use the full pint.)
Granulated sugar to taste
1. Cut and chop your apples, grapes, & walnuts
2. In a mixer on low/med speed start whipping your cream. **I like to refrigerate my bowl for about 30 min before I start whipping the cream.
3. When the cream starts to stiffen add sugar to taste. **I know people who use confectioner’s sugar & vanilla for flavor to the cream, but I think the end result is very sweet and masks the great flavor of the apples.
4. Whip the cream until light & fluffy (almost the consistency of Cool-Whip, but not quite).
5. Fold in the fruit and nuts.
This needs to be stored in an airtight container and refrigerated immediately if not being served. This recipe serves 8-10 people depending on portion size. If you have leftovers, you only have about a three day window to finish it before the acids in the fruit starts to separate the cream and it’s not longer tasty.
I hope someone finds some enjoyment from this. I know for me it’s not the holidays if this doesn’t get made.
Thought I’d share my Peanut Butter cookies which happen to be flourless.
Peanut Butter Cookies
2 cups peanut butter (I use a whole small jar)
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
Cream Peanut butter and sugar until smooth. Mix in eggs, baking soda and vanilla until well blended. Drop by teaspoon onto lined cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes. Cookies will be really soft when warm but should harden as they cool. Takes some time to figure out baking times since every stove is different but cookies should be golden when coming out.
Sara
I tried the cookies. When I looked, all I had was Harry & David Banana flavored peanut butter. Used it anyway. 🙂 Good cookies.
Mark
after cooking every meal for 25 years, i don’t cook anymore! but i do agree it’s important to pass recipes on. i made sure to get a few recipes from my hub’s grandmother before she passed. we cooked them several times before she died to make sure we had them right. that saved us from forever having to eat banana cream soup! i gave them to my daughter so they will not disappear!
All the recipes look very good. I have never tried a gluten-free recipe, but I imagine they are just as good??
Judy
magnolias_1{at]msn[dot]com
BLT Dip- Very tastey/VERY easy…YUMMY Snackaroo!
1 cup mayo
1 cup sour cream
1 lb bacon (fried and crumpled- I use a bag of picnic bacon pieces)
shredded lettuce (comes in a bag for tacos an s such)
couple of diced tomatos
New York Style sea salt bagel chips
mix the mayo and sour cream together an dspread in a lazagna dish, then top with the lettuce, tomato and bacon. Serve with the bagel chips
Gluten free stuff! Awesome! 🙂 I sadly found that I had Celiacs this year, so gluten free recipes are always welcome.
My boyfriend made some wonderful gluten-free soup tonight. It’s a veggie/sweet potato soup:
Soup Base-
1 Stalk Celery cleaned and chopped
2 carrots peeled and chopped
1 onion peeled and diced
2 cloves garlic diced
1/4 teaspoon thyme
4 leaves fresh basil chopped
2 quarts gluten free chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup gluten/lactose free creamer(I used Silk Brand soy creamer)
Main Ingredients-
4 medium sweet potatoes peeled and cubed
6 small turnips peeled and diced
1 bunch collard greens rinsed and chopped/shredded
2 cans sweet corn
Saute the first five ingredients of the soup base in 2 Tbsp butter and 1 Tbsp olive oil. Transfer to a large soup pot and add all the remaining ingredients except for the creamer. Bring to a boil and then reduce to low heat. Let simmer until potatoes and turnips are done (letting it simmer with a lid on for a longer period of time will improve the flavor). When done, remove some of the soup and place in a bowl. Mash with a potato masher (or put in a blender for a smoother texture) and return to soup to thicken. Remove from heat and add 1 cup creamer. For an added southern touch server with gluten free cornbread or biscuits.
What a great idea! I love the sharing of recipes. For those of you without gluten problems the date bar recipe can be made with all purpose flour. Use 1 1/2 cups of regular flour and use only a 1/2 cup butter.
Cajun-crusted Chicken over Linguine with Tomato Artichoke Sauce
This is a recipe I conceived a few weeks ago and have been thinking of on and off the entire time. I’ve never cooked with artichokes before, but my previous successes with cream sauces lent me a bit of confidence. It turned out just as good as I imagined it would, and I’m definitely adding this to my regular repertoire.
3 Skinless, Boneless Chicken Breasts
2 Jars Artichokes in Oil
1 Small Can Sliced Olives
1 Medium Can Diced Tomatoes
1 Pint Heavy Cream
1 Tbsp. Minced Garlic
Cajun Seasoning
Table Salt
Dump the oil from the artichokes into a large sauté pan and heat on high. When the oil’s hot, dump the breasts in and sprinkle liberally with Cajun seasoning. Depending on the size of the breasts, cut into either strips or chunks; it’s your choice whether to do it before or after cooking, but they will cook faster if you do it before. While the chicken is cooking, add the drained artichokes and garlic to a food processor and chop (add a dash or two of red wine, if you like).
When the chicken is done, remove from pan and set aside. To the remaining artichoke oil and chicken juice mixture, add the pint of cream and stir. Drain the olives and tomatoes and add, along with the chopped artichokes. Heat to boiling and add salt to taste.
I served this over linguine, but bow ties should serve admirably as well. I put the water for the pasta on at the same time I began heating the oil for the chicken, and when the pasta was done cooking, the sauce was ready as well. Plate the pasta, add sauce and top with chicken. Serves four.
Oh boy this is really tough to say but I’m not such a great cook, actually (whispering …I’m not a cook fullstop *lol*
The recipes are all so amazing, only wish I could have the patience to cook, but unfortunately I have no skills … have tried but I’m hopeless – mom given up on me and boy did she try, tradition for all Europeans *lol*
YUM, thanks for sharing … now who can I convince to make me some DATE LAYER BARS “BEG”
Rita from South Africa
Date bars rock! Now if only my date palm would start making dates… LOL!
I’ll have to try your recipe. Thanks for sharing it. Sounds nummy! Have you ever had mincemeat pie? It’s one of my favorites. I have a recipe for mincemeat bars. Totally delish! I’l have to dig up the recipe and post it here.
Thank you all SO MUCH for the fabulous recipes…I’m going to print them all out — I can’t wait to try them all!
And congrats to Sandra Davis, who was randomly picked from these comments to go on to the final round of the Fool For Romance grand prize!
You guys rock. xox