April 2019 Recipes

Thyme-mustard Poppy Seed Turkey Rolls

Linda MacDonald

Yield:  48 rolls

Adapted from “Southern Snacks: 77 Recipes for Small Bites with Big Flavors”

2-1/2  cups (6 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

½ large onion

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons dry mustard

2 teaspoons dried thyme

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons poppy seeds

48 rolls (2 boxes) King’s Hawaiian Party Pack

1 pound mesquite smoked turkey

1 pound Swiss cheese

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

Put butter out to warm to room temperature. Dice the onion and place in food processor with metal blade. Pulse to chop onion finely, then add the butter, Dijon and dry mustards, thyme, salt and poppy seeds. Blend until smooth. Place butter mixture in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, pressing down to seal air out. Put in refrigerator for at least several hours, or up to 48 hours, to allow flavors to combine.

Bring butter mixture to room temperature so it can be spread. Scoop about 8 tablespoons of mixture into a small saucepan and set aside. Remove the entire flat of rolls from the pans and use a knife to slice them horizontally in one large piece. Do not separate the rolls. Place the bottom halves each on a baking sheet. Spread the butter in an even layer over each of the bottom halves. Spread evenly to the edges of the bread.

Divide the turkey and then Swiss cheese evenly over the poppy-seed-spread rolls. Place the top halves of the rolls over. Use a knife to run between the rolls to make them easier to pull apart after baking.

Add the brown sugar to the reserved butter in the saucepan and heat over medium, stirring, just until the sugar is dissolved. Pour half of the melted butter over each pan of rolls. Leave to cool and cover each pan tightly with foil. The rolls can be refrigerated for several hours at this point.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the rolls, covered, for 30 minutes or until warmed through and golden. Serve immediately.

Rainbow Fruit Salad with Citrus-Honey Dressing

Suzanne Williams  

This is a slight alteration of Debbie Bouton’s recipe.

1 small fresh pineapple (or ½ large one), cored and cut into small wedges/pieces
1 mango, peeled and cut into small cubes

4 mini tangerines, each piece halved
½ pound strawberries, hulled and quartered
1 medium-size package (about 11 ounces) fresh blueberries
1 tablespoon finely chopped or julienned fresh mint leaves

Add all the cut fruit to a large bowl, and if not cold already, chill for about 30 minutes. Pour the Citrus Honey Dressing over it, and sprinkle in the julienned/chopped mint; toss everything together, and serve immediately. If making slightly ahead, you can just keep the cut fruit in a bowl in the fridge, and when ready to serve, toss with the citrus-honey dressing and the mint, and serve.

Citrus-Honey Dressing:

2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 teaspoon lime zest
2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed orange juice
½ tablespoon fresh lime juice

Add all dressing ingredients to a small bowl and whisk together until well-combined; use immediately, or. keep covered and refrigerated until ready to use. (Best used as soon as possible after being prepared for best flavor.)

Mini Caprese Phyllo Cups

Linda MacDonald

Yield:  30 pieces

Adapted from a Kroger recipe for Athens Phyllo shells.

6 ounces finely shredded mozzarella cheese

6 ounces grape or cherry tomatoes

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, optionally more for decoration

2 boxes (1.9 oz each) frozen miniature phyllo shells (30 shells)

Sea salt flakes, to taste

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Slice tomatoes in half lengthwise (if grape tomatoes), then slice in quarters. Put in large bowl. Add mozzarella. Stack fresh basil leaves, roll in cylinder and slice to make thin pieces, add to tomatoes and cheese. Pour olive oil over top, add seasonings, toss gently to combine all.

Place phyllo shells on a baking sheet. Fill each shell with about 1 tablespoon of mixture. Sprinkle each with a few salt flakes and additional basil pieces or full leaves, if desired. Bake cups 8 to 10 minutes until heated through.

Easy Vegan and Gluten-Free Crackers with Herbs

Mary Beth Collins

From Ohsheglows.com. “ Easy, delicious, easy to roll, and endlessly customizable. Doubling the batch is recommended!”

Yield: approx. 35 [1.5”] crackers

1/2 cup brown rice flour

¾ cup almond flour

2 tbsp ground flax

1 tbsp nutritional yeast 

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

Scant 1/4 tsp baking soda

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

1/4 cup water

1/2 tsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment. In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix well with spoon. Knead dough with hands until it comes together. Shape into a ball.

Place ball of dough on parchment paper or a non-stick mat. Roll out dough until it’s about 1/8th inch thick, or as thin as you can get it without ripping. With a pastry wheel or pizza slicer, slice into crackers.  I used a cookie cutter.

Bake for 18-20 minutes until slightly golden in color. Cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes.  Store in air-tight container once fully cool.

Blackberry Bread Pudding

Suzanne Williams

(Adapted from Gale Gand’s Brunch! Clarkson Potter/ Publisher)

1/2 large loaf brioche or challah bread(about 8 0z)
2 cups half-and-half
2 cups heavy cream

1 pinch salt

6 large eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

1 t vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract

2 cups fresh blackberries (2 cartons) (may also use strawberries or blueberries or raspberries)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cut crust off bread and cut bread into 1-inch cubes

Toast bread cubes until light brown, 10-15 minutes. Whisk eggs, sugar, and vanilla together.

In a large bowl, combine half-and-half, milk, and salt. Whisking constantly, pour milk mixture into eggs and sugar. Strain back into milk bowl, to remove any lumps.

Add bread cubes, toss gently, and let soak until bread absorbs some of the custard (15-30 minutes), stirring once to ensure even soaking.

Fold the blackberries in, and pour into a deep 9 by 12-inch baking dish.

Place the dish in a roasting pan and fill with water to reach half way up the sides of the baking dish, to create a hot water bath. Bake until pudding is set and golden brown on top, 45-50 minutes. Serve by the large spoonful immediately or let cool to serve warm or chilled.

Glazed Almond Lavender-Lemon Verbena Cookies  

Mary Beth Collins

Hilda Norwood introduced me to these cookies, and I modified the recipe by adding lemon verbena.

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

½ teaspoon almond extract

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs, separated

2 2/3 cups cake flour, sifted

3/4 cup blanched almonds, chopped

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon culinary lavender

Lemon verbena leaves, chopped

48 unblanched whole almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar until light. Beat in extracts and egg yolks. Add chopped nuts, flour, salt, lavender, and lemon verbena. Mix well. Roll into 1-inch balls and dip in unbeaten egg whites (this will provide the glaze). Place 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheet. Put a whole almond in the center of each ball and push down to flatten the cookie. Bake for about 10 minutes. Yield about 4 dozen cookies.

Fresh Rosemary Muffins

Mary Beth Collins

Another recipe from Hilda Norwood!  Southern Living featured this recipe from Stop and Smell the Rosemary, the Junior League of Houston’s cookbook.

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup golden raisins

1/4 cup raisins

1/4 cup currants

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon table salt

1 large egg, lightly beaten

4 ounces goat cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook first 5 ingredients in a heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring often, 2 minutes or just until it begins to steam; remove from heat. Add butter; stir until butter melts. Cool completely. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture.

Stir together egg and milk mixture until well blended; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moistened. Spoon one-third of batter into 1 lightly greased 12-cup muffin pan; add 2 teaspoons goat cheese to each muffin cup. Spoon remaining batter over goat cheese, filling each cup two-thirds full.

Bake for 20 to 24 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan on a wire rack 3 minutes. Remove from pan.

Iced Tea

Made with Teavana’s Citrus-Lavender tea.