May 2019 Recipes

May 2019 Recipes

Cucumber Tea Sandwiches from Susan Poel

½  seedless cucumber, peeled and very thinly sliced (about 32 slices)

½  cup unsalted butter, room temperature

½  cup coarsely-chopped watercress leaves

16 slices best-quality white bread*

Salt to taste

½  cup alfalfa sprouts

* Choose the best-quality white or wheat bread as possible. Never serve end slices. Freezing the bread before cutting and then spreading makes for easier handling.

Place cucumber slices between layers of paper towels to remove excess moisture.

In a small bowl, combine butter and watercress; spread on one side of each slice of bread.

Lay cucumber slices onto the buttered side of eight slices of bread. Sprinkle the cucumbers with salt. Cover each with 1 tablespoon alfalfa sprouts and top with the remaining slices of bread, buttered side down.

Carefully cut the crusts from each sandwich with a long, sharp knife after the sandwiches are filled. Cut the sandwiches in half diagonally and then cut in half again. If desired, decorative shapes can be made with cookie cutters. Refrigerate.

Three Basil Cheese Spread from Susan Poel

2 cloves garlic, peeled
4 leaves Genovese basil
4 leaves lemon basil
4 leaves Thai basil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
One 8-ounce package cream cheese (I used goats’ milk cream cheese)
With the back of a knife, smash the garlic to release the oils. Place the garlic in a food processor fitted with a steel blade.
Stack the basil leaves and finely chiffonade. Add all the herbs to the food processor and pulse until finely chopped, about 30 seconds.
Drop in the cream cheese and pulse until well blended, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Transfer to a small bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Serve with simple crackers, crunchy vegetables, or thinly sliced grilled French bread. Garnish with nasturtium flowers.

 Prosciutto Wrapped Melon Balls from Susan Poel

1 cantaloupe, chilled

½  lime, juiced

prosciutto

mint leaves

balsamic glaze

Half the melon and remove seeds. Using a melon baller, scoop out as many balls as possible. Transfer to a medium bowl. Pour lime juice over melon balls.

To assemble: Cut prosciutto into strips and wrap around melon balls. Garnish with mint leaves and a drizzle of balsamic glaze.

Lemon Thyme Tea Biscuits from Susan Poel

1 cup butter, softened

1 ½ cups sugar

2 eggs

Zest of one lemon

1 tablespoon fresh lemon thyme

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

½ teaspoon salt

Cream the butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition. Stir in lemon zest and lemon thyme. Combine flour, salt, and cream of tartar and stir into batter. Refrigerate covered several hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a baking sheet. Roll dough into 1- inch balls and place on prepared baking sheet. Do not crowd. Refrigerate 15 minutes.

Bake 10 minutes (watch closely) or until just brown around the edges. Yield: 4 dozen coo

Caprese Salad Kabobs from Holly Jeffries

24 grape tomatoes

12 cherry-size fresh mozzarella cheese balls

24 fresh basil leaves

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

On each of 12 appetizer skewers, alternately thread two tomatoes, one cheese ball and two basil leaves. To serve, whisk together oil and vinegar; drizzle over kabobs.

Lemon Lavender Shortbread from Susan Poel

1 cup (8 oz.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
Zest of 3 lemons, divided
1 teaspoon culinary lavender buds, ground or very finely chopped
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt

Few drops of lavender oil
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

To make the dough, combine the butter and confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer with the zest from two of the lemons and the ground lavender and lavender oil.  Beat on medium-high speed until well blended, 1-2 minutes.  Blend in the vanilla extract and salt.  With the mixer on low speed, blend in the flour until a dough comes together.  Form the dough into a disc, wrap with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until slightly firm, about 30-60 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  In a small bowl, combine the zest of the remaining lemon with the granulated sugar.  Rub together with your fingertips until evenly mixed and fragrant.  Unwrap the chilled dough and place on a lightly floured work surface.  Roll out to ¼-inch thick.  Sprinkle the top of the dough generously with the majority of the lemon sugar mixture, and go over lightly with the rolling pin to press the sugar into the top of the dough. Cut out about 24 rounds, squares, etc. as desired and transfer to the prepared baking sheets.  Re-roll dough scraps as desired and cut additional cookies. Do not crowd. Refrigerate 15 minutes.

Bake 10-12 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through baking, until the cookies are just set.  Let cool on the baking sheets a few minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Rose Geranium Punch from Susan Poel

2 pints apple juice

4 limes

1 cup sugar

6 leaves rose geranium

Boil the apple juice and sugar and geranium leaves for 5 minutes.  Strain the liquid. Cool. Thinly slice and crush limes, add to the liquid.  Pour onto ice in punch bowl and garnish with geranium leaves.

Rose Scented Geranium Lemonade from Holly Jeffries

½ cup sugar

6 cups water

8 scented geranium leaves

½ to ¾ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Bring the sugar and 2 cups of the water to a boil in a small (1-quart) saucepan. Add the geranium leaves, cover, and remove from the heat. Let the syrup steep for at least 30 minutes. Strain the syrup into a pitcher. Stir in ½ cup lemon juice and the remaining 4 cups water. Taste and add more lemon juice to taste. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.

Herb Substitutions: In place of the geranium leaves, use 2 tablespoons fresh lavender buds, six 4-inch sprigs of fresh rosemary, ½  cup fresh mint sprigs, or ½  cup fresh basil leaves.

Fancy Deviled Eggs from Holly Jeffries

Kosher salt

8 large eggs

3 tablespoons mayonnaise

3 tablespoons very finely chopped celery

2 tablespoons finely chopped drained pickle relish

2 tablespoons very finely chopped scallion

2 teaspoons yellow mustard

2 teaspoons very finely chopped parsley, plus more for serving

2 dashes hot sauce (such as Tabasco), plus more for serving

Freshly ground black pepper

Bring a small pot of salted water to a boil. Carefully add eggs. Bring water to a simmer and cook eggs 10 minutes. Drain and transfer to a bowl of ice water; let sit until cool enough to handle. Peel the eggs. Meanwhile, whisk mayonnaise, celery, relish, scallion, mustard, 2 teaspoons parsley, and 2 dashes hot sauce in a medium bowl; season with salt and pepper. Halve the eggs lengthwise. Scoop yolks into mayonnaise mixture and place whites on a plate. Gently mash yolks into dressing; season with salt and pepper. Using 2 forks, fill the egg halves with yolk mixture. Top eggs with pepper and more parsley and serve with hot sauce.

Pimento Cheese from Stephanie Holden

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

½ cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon Adobo sauce

Blend all of the above in a mixer or food processer then add grated cheeses, dill, cayenne, and pimentos and mix slightly until blended. Chill for two hours.

8 ounces sharp cheddar, grated

8 ounce Monterrey, shredded

4 ounces Havarti, shredded

4 ounces pimentos, diced and slightly drained

Fresh dill

A few dashes of cayenne pepper

Pistachio and Cardamom Cookies from Stephanie Holden

These cardamom cookies are the perfect blend of exotic flavors and traditional comfort food. The pistachio adds a unique twist. These are perfect for dunking in milk, yet fancy enough to serve at high tea. 

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 sticks of butter, room temperature

½ teaspoon salt

¾ cup confectioner's sugar

1 tsp ground cardamom, heaped

Zest of half a lemon

½ cup pistachios, roughly chopped

Add the flour salt, confectioners’ sugar, lemon zest, cardamom, and butter to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until a dough forms. Add the pistachios and pulse again until combined. Remove from the food processor, roll into a log of roughly 2½-inches in diameter, and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or overnight to allow the cardamom and lemon zest to fully infuse.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Slice the dough into 24 cookies and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges begin to golden. Cool on the baking tray before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Cookies are the best the day after baking as the flavors really come through then. Alternatively refrigerate the dough overnight before baking.