Coffee Jello with Sweetened Cream

My New England 1950s mom made dessert every night when I was a young child. It was often Snow Pudding with Lemon Sauce (from the Fannie Farmer Cookbook), tapioca pudding, Junket (made from a box), or baked custard. I don't remember many pies or cakes, except for birthdays and perhaps holidays with lemon meringue, apple, mincemeat and pumpkin pies. On Christmas, we had snowballs - vanilla ice cream rolled in coconut. I think there was a hot cherry sauce.

Later on when I was a teenager she made layered Jello desserts - fancy rainbow colors in tipped wine glasses. She started making cakes of all kinds and even fancier desserts around this time as well as she became an even more accomplished gourmet cook.

One of my favorite desserts in the younger years was coffee jello. My mom saved the percolated leftover coffee in the refrigerator and added gelatin and sugar and chilled them in custard cups or glass dishes. It was so simple and was served with whipped cream - sweetened, I'm sure. We all loved it as I remember.

Lately, I've been making my own homemade coffee jello in glass OUI yogurt containers (they have covers available on Amazon.) They make a great dessert and I've used both no sugar or a packet of Truvia for 3-1/2 cups. I add about 1/2 cup of no-sugar whipped cream and a few drops of no-sugar caramel syrup or some espresso crystals. It's a yummy treat and an after-lunch pick-me-up.

Mix two packets of Knox Gelatin and 1/2 c. cold coffee. Mix until dissolved completely.  Add 3 cups of hot, hot coffee. Add sugar or substitute if desired. When cool, pour into containers of any kind, cover and chill several hours. 

Turkish Bowls - Meat and "Rice"

This was a Green Chef recipe that we loved. They packed a bit more Turkish Spice than necessary so we have it to use again. However, I searched for a recipe and you will find it at the bottom.* The same with the lemon crema - it is easy to make and you can use it again to garnish more recipes. 

For the bowls:

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. 

1. Medium dice one Roma tomato about 1/2 inch thick pieces.
2. Trim and thinly slice a scallion or two, separating whites from darker green.
3. Finely chop 3/4 ounces of dates.
4. Prepare or defrost 6-8 ounces of riced cauliflower. 
5. Crumble 2-4 ounces of Feta cheese
6. Set aside 1/2 oz of sliced almonds
7. Trim ends from two zucchini squash and halve lengthwise and then slice across into 1/2 inch thick slices. Place them in a bowl and drizzle with 1-1/2 T olive oil and season with 1/2 tsp. or more of Turkish Spice. Stir to coat and spread the squash on parchment on a grilling pan or baking sheet.
8. Prepare Turkish spice if necessary*
9. Prepare a lime or lemon crema.**

• Roast zucchini for 12-15 minutes until fork tender. (Stir halfway through.)
• Saute 10 ounces of ground meat (could use any ground meats - turkey, pork, lamb, beef, chicken) and 1 tsp. of the Turkish spices. Cook for 4-5 minutes and then add the diced tomato.  Stir to combine.
• In a clean pan, heat 1-1/2 T oil in the pan and add the cauliflower rice and scallion whites to the pan. Season with salt and pepper and cook 3-4 minutes. Don't overcook. Add the chopped dates and 1 T butter. Stir and place in warmed bowls. 
• Top with meat and squash, drizzle with lemon crema, and garnish with feta cheese, sliced almonds and scallion greens. 

 *Turkish Spice Blend: Combine and store

• 4 T paprika
• 2 T garlic powder
• 2 T dried cilantro
• 1 T salt
• 1 T dried mint
• 1 T sugar
• 1 T turmeric
• 1 T onion powder
• 1/2 T ground cumin
• 2 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. smoked paprika
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon

**Lime or Lemon Crema

Mix 1 cup of sour cream, 2T mayonnaise, 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, 1 lime or 1 lemon, zested and juiced, 1 clove of garlic, pressed, and 1/2 tsp. coarse salt. Process until smooth. Double as necessary!

Chicken Marsala with Roasted Potatoes and Fresh Green Beans

Last night we had a comfort food dinner. It was really delicious. Gerry roasted sliced potatoes with oil and Kinder butter seasoning for 20 minutes. We steamed green beans three minutes and add salted butter when done.

Prep:

• Cut 4 boneless chicken thighs into smaller pieces and dredge in flour, salt and pepper. 
• Peel and chop 1 shallot and chop finely. 
• Peel and mince 2-4 garlic cloves.
• Chop a handful of fresh parsley leaves and chop fine.
• Chop thyme (leaves and can include very soft stems) and rosemary needles and use about 2-4 tsps of the chopped herbs. 
• Slice 12-16 ounces of a combination of mushrooms (Bella, white, shitake)
• Measure 1/2 c. stock or prepare bouillon.
• Measure 3/4 c. heavy cream.
• Cut 3 T. butter.

Add 2 T butter and 1 T olive oil to a hot pan and cook the chicken with the thyme and rosemary. Transfer to a hot plate when cooked golden. 

Add 2 T. butter to that hot pan and add the mushrooms and cook 1minutes. Add the garlic and toss. Do not salt the mushrooms until they are cooked. 

Deglaze the pan with 3/4 c. Marsala wine (we use the cooking version). Add the shallots and 1/2 cup of chicken stock or Better than Bouillon equivalent. Reduce sauce and add 6 oz. of heavy cream, cooking until thick.

Return chicken to the pan and heat. Transfer chicken to plates with roasted potatoes and green beans and pour over the sauce. Sprinkle with the parsley. 

Taco Seasoning

 Don't have any taco seasoning for your taco salad? Make your own.

Mix together all these herbs and spices:

2 T chili powder

1 T ground cumin

2 tsp. sea salt

2 tsp. black ground pepper

1 tsp. ground paprika

1/2 tsp. garlic and onion powders

1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

Makes about 6 T. or about two packets of seasoning.

Left to right starting at top: pepper, chili powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, cumin, sea salt, oregano, paprika, garlic powder.