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Recipe verdict: Both were tasty, though I think the purses may just be more trouble than they’re worth. I could make a reasonable alternative by placing the filling in mini-pot pie shells (whether actual pie crust or biscuits)...much less hassle.

The soup could use some oomph. I split the leftovers into three bowls; I may experiment with them. I’ll let you know if I figure out what it’s missing.

15. Tomato Lentil Soup
_{This has got to be one of the easiest recipes I’ve made in a while. Chop, cook, simmer. I like these recipes.}

2 tbs olive oil
2 c (2 small) chopped onions
1 c (2 large stalks) celery, sliced
1 c (1 medium) carrot, sliced thin
6 c water
1 c dried lentils
2/3 c (6 oz can) tomato paste
1/2 c dry red wine or water
1/4 c fresh chopped parsley or 2 tsp dried
3 vegetable bouillon cubes
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions, celery, and carrot; cook, stirring frequently, for 5-6 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Stir in remaining ingredients (except Parmesan). Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and cook, uncovered, for 45-50 minutes or until lentils are tender. Serve sprinkled with cheese. (I skipped this, because I had the beggar’s purses too.)

16. Corn Beggar’s Purses
_{I’m convinced that there’s a gene for being able to work successfully with phyllo dough…and I don’t have it. I love the stuff, though, so I keep trying.}

2 medium ears corn, or 9 oz canned (I used frozen – I just cooked it first)
4 oz feta cheese
1 egg, beaten
2 tbs whipping cream
2 tbs Parmesan cheese
3 scallions, chopped (I tossed in some dried chives)
8-10 small sheets phyllo pastry
8 tbs melted butter
freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease two muffin pans. (I have one 12-cup pan and one 6-cup pan…worked perfectly. The recipe makes 18-20 purses.)

If using fresh corn, strip the kernels from the cop and simmer in a little salted water for 3-5 minutes, until tender. For canned corn, drain and rinse well under cold running water. (If using frozen, cook according to package instructions and drain, if needed. Mine was a steam-in-bag deal, so no draining required.)

Crumble the feta into a bowl; stir in the corn. Add the egg, cream, Parmesan, scallions, and pepper. Stir well.

_{This is a “choose your own adventure” recipe. Below is what the cookbook says. Keep reading for the alternate plot twist – what actually happened.}

Take one sheet of pastry and cut in half to make a square. (Keep the remaining pastry covered with a damp cloth to prevent it from drying out.) Brush with melted butter and then fold in four to make a smaller square (about 3 inches).

Place a heaping teaspoon of filling in the center of each pastry square, then squeeze the pastry around the filling to make a “beggar’s purse.”

Continue making purses until all the filling is used up. Brush the outside of the purse with any remaining butter, put them in the prepared pans, and bake for about 15 minutes, until golden brown. Serve hot.

When I unrolled the phyllo, it cracked into numerous pieces. Some were roughly squarish, but I also had some rectangular strips about 2 inches wide. Since phyllo comes 2 rolls to a package, I tried the other. With similar results. So I ended up dabbing (brushing makes the pastry tear) butter on the top sheet of the square section, placing a dollop of filling in the center, and pulling up the edges of several (probably 4 or so) sheets, rolling the ends over the filling until I had a squarish pillow. I then crumpled the edges together…it was vaguely purse-like.

Which left the rectangular strips. I found that if I crumpled a handful into the muffin tin, spooned in some filling, then crumpled some more pastry on top, I got pretty much the same results as the ones I did “correctly.” I liberally dabbed the remaining butter on all of my corn-phyllo piles, then baked as recommended. I probably could have stood to bake them a tad longer, but I was hungry. :)

Using my method, you’ll use the whole box, not 8-10 sheets.

Add another to the must-make list: Macaroons.

Might just have to make a batch of these along with the cookies (since I’ll have the ganache going anyway).

Maybe this doesn’t really count as a recipe because I made it up, but I want to post it anyway.

Dice up 1 onion and 1 head of garlic. Melt 1 stick of butter and sauté the garlic and onion over medium heat (turn to low to keep warm when the onions are browned).

Meanwhile, cook about 2 pounds of potatoes until they’re really soft. I use the pressure cooker so it takes about 15 minutes, and by then the onions are done.

Dump the water out of the potato pot, and put the potatoes back in, and pour the butter and onion mixture on top. I don’t peel the potatoes. Peeling boiling hot potatoes is not fun.

Now mash! With a potato masher or whatever handy mashing implement. This is the fun part because a pile of potatoes and onions magically turns into mashed potatoes! Add salt to taste and mash it in.

(Recipes to come; just posting this to remind myself to post the recipes later.)

13. Corn and Potato Cheese Soup
Verdict: Recipe needs some tweaking; the croutons were particularly disastrous, and the potatoes didn’t get tender. Also, R has requested no shallots next time. I can’t say I don’t want any shallots in it, but maybe not so much. (I’m still burping shallots, 2.5 hours after eating.)

14. Spinach Spheres (revisiting an old recipe)
Verdict: Spinach R will eat. (The recipe made eight spheres. I got two.) What more need I say?

Next up:
15. Tomato Lentil Soup
16. Corn Beggar’s Purses
17. Spring Vegetable Tart
18. Coconut Chocolate Chip Sandwich Cookies

This one’s definitely going on the list!

Coconut Chocolate Chip Sandwich Cookies

Tastes wonderful, but the consistency is much soupier than it should be. Actually, it’s almost exactly like cheese soup with spinach/ricotta-filled pasta tubes in it. I’m going to tweak the recipe (both to reduce the soupiness and to reduce the number of pots it requires – almost all of my pots are dirty now); if it turns out well, I’ll post the revision.

_{Will post the cooking story later…it was quite an ordeal.}

_{‘cause I plan on trying another recipe before I try the one that this goes with.}

I have this phobia about heating oil. Seriously…not much phases me in the kitchen, but frying and broiling unhinge me. And this recipe calls for sauteing seasoned bread cubes in hot olive oil, so I figured I’d better take my crouton skills for a test run.

I think this one’s going to take me a while to master. I obviously didn’t get the oil hot enough, quite possibly didn’t use enough oil, and/or used the wrong kind of pan. However, even if you screw them up, they’re still tasty. Just kind of soggy and greasy.

Oh, the recipe:
_{Note: this is the one I used, half made-up and half half-remembered from the soup recipe it goes with. I’ll post the real one later.}

2 pieces bread, cut into 1/4- to 1/2-inch cubes (Have I mentioned I’m also bad at guesstimating sizes? Mine were closer to 1-inch cubes.)

Seasoning (I just shook some Penzey’s Sandwich Sprinkle in a baggie, tossed the cubes in, and shook til mixed.)

A splash of olive oil (probably ~2 Tbs)

Heat the olive oil. It’s got to be really hot, or you’ll just make greasy bread cubes. But not smoking hot, unless you enjoy setting off the fire alarm.

Season the bread (I’m a shake-n-baker, but I suppose you could also just sprinkle the bread before cutting), then saute in the olive oil until golden brown and crunchy. Or until you get too hungry to wait any longer, because the rest of your dinner’s getting cold.

(Let me know if any of you know how to make these properly…it’d be really cool to make my own croutons!)

for the win. (Yes, I’m channeling Prax tonight. :)

Recipe to come later…right now I’m working on my second helping of cheesy, chewy, crunchy veggie goodness.

Coconut Cake Recipe.

Step 1: You will need Units: Metric US Imperial UK Imperial
■150 g sugar
■100 g brown sugar
■280 g plain flour
■1 tbsp baking powder
■A pinch salt
■3 eggs
■1 tsp vanilla essence
■250 ml coconut milk
■350 ml shaved coconut – dessicated coconut
■240 g soft butter
■1 26 cm spring form tin buttered floured and lined with parchment paper
■1 mixer with the whisk attachment
■1 rubber spatula
■1 wooden skewer
Preparation Time:
10 minutes

Step 2: Preheat the oven
Firstly, turn on the oven to 170 degrees centigrade.

Step 3: Whip the butter, vanilla and sugar
Introduce the white sugar, the brown sugar, vanilla essence and the butter into the mixer bowl. Lower the whisk attachment down into the bowl and blend on high for a few minutes to whip the butter.

Step 4: Add the eggs
When the batter is thoroughly whipped , slow down the speed and start adding in the eggs. Add the first egg and allow to mix in. Then add the second egg. Allow to blend in and add the final egg and mix in thoroughly.

Step 5: Add the remaining ingredients
Continue by adding the baking powder, salt, then add half of the flour, little by little, add in some of the coconut milk little by little, allowing each amount to mix in before adding the next batch. Then add a little more flour, a little more coconut milk, add the remaining flour and when thoroughly combined shake in the coconut and give it a quick blend. Switch off the machine, twist off the whip attachment, shaking off any batter and remove the bowl. Finally, give it a quick mix by hand using your rubber spatula.

Step 6: Transfer to the baking tin
Spoon the batter into the buttered spring form baking tin and using your spatula spread it evenly. It is now ready to bake!

Step 7: Bake
Place the baking tin in the centre of the oven preheated to 170 degrees centigrade and bake for roughly 45 minutes. Check to see if it’s done by piercing it in the centre with a skewer. If it comes out dry it is done!

Step 8: Present and serve
If you want you can sprinkle with icing sugar before slicing it and serve with whipped cream or strawberries!

Very moist and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

I made muffins for the first time! I used this recipe http://www.cacaoweb.net/chocolatemuffins.html and it turned out quite well. I took them into my Chinese class as a treat for everyone since I can’t keep baked goods at home (they’ll get eaten in one night). Great start to this goal :3 though I’ll have to postpone further work on this goal until I can afford ingredients (its ramen for me this month). Or until I can go to my parent’s house and cook for them.