Tuscan Rosemary and Pine Nut Bars

The Altitude Adjustment Section
This week I have a very interesting recipe for a kind of shortbread with an Italian twist and it goes like this:
Ingredients
1/4 cup pine nuts
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter cut into 10 pieces
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon fresh chopped rosemary
1 cup all purpose flour
Procedure
Preheat oven to 350. Place rack in the middle of the oven
Spread the pine nuts on a sheet pan and toast them in the oven for about 5 minutes or until they get light brown. Careful they love to burn! Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan melt the butter over medium heat. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the sugar, rosemary and pine nuts. Then stir in the flour to make a rather stiff dough. Spread and pat the dough into an ungreased square 8-inch pan and bake till golden and firm around the edges about 20 minutes. Cool in the pan for about 2 minutes then using a sharp knife cut into 16 squares. Let the bars cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes and then remove them with a small spatula. Lovely with sliced pear.

Chimmichurri,Spicy Sweet and Sour Sauce, and Tosated Pumpkin seed sauce

Seasonal Recipe of the Week
Sauces are the difference between “oh another piece of grilled chicken” or,” My doesn’t this look special.” All three recipes can be made ahead of time and stored ‘til needed.

Chimmichurri
Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
2/3 cup white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons sherry
3/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 cup parsley chopped
3 tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped
3 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
6 large cloves garlic, chopped
1 shake of red Chile flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
Procedure
Put everything but the oil in the blender or food processor and pulse till smooth. Then while machine is running add the oil in a slow steady stream.

Sweet and sour sauce
Ingredients
2 1/2 tsp. cornstarch
1 c. cold water
4 tbsp. sugar
5 tbsp. brown sugar
4 tbsp. ketchup
1/3 c. green onions cut in 1-inch lengths
1/4 tsp. red hot pepper flakes or Tabasco sauce, optional
1/3 c. fresh ginger, finely shredded
1/2 tbsp. dry sherry wine
2 tbsp. sesame oil
Procedure
Combine cornstarch and 1/4 cup water. Stir in remaining water.
Stir in white sugar, brown sugar and ketchup. Set aside.
Heat 1 teaspoon sesame oil in a small saucepan. Add onion, pepper and ginger. Mix thoroughly and then add wine. Cook for 1 minute or until flavor from ginger becomes aromatic.
Add onion, pepper, ginger, wine and sesame oil. Cook until it boils, reduce heat and stir constantly. Slowly add the cornstarch mixture and cook for about 1 more minute. Add 1 teaspoon sesame oil to finish off.

Toasted Pumpkin seed sauce
Ingredients
1 large onion chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
3 cloves chopped garlic
1 diced Jalapeno
1 cup pumpkin seeds
3 slices white bread crusts removed and cut into small pieces
1 cup half and half with 1 teaspoon Knorr chicken base mixed in
1 cup water
3 shakes Tabasco (optional heat)
Procedure
In a large sauté heat the olive oil then ad the onions, garlic, Jalapeno, and cumin. Cook till onions are tender. Then add the pumpkin seeds and cook till seeds appear toasted and brown. Next add the bread cubes and cook till the bread starts to brown and absorbs all the oil in the pan. Now add the half and half and stir and cook till it reduces by half. Now put the whole thing into the food processor and mix till a smooth paste forms. Add water to thin to a sauce consistency. Adjust seasonings.

The Man and his Mini Bagel

Bagel Bob
Bob wanted to prove he could bake a decent bagel in any kind of oven, so he baked this one in a child's toy; an "Easy Bake" oven. Though it was teeny tiny it was better than any bagel I have ever bought in Santa Fe.

The Ultimate Bagel recipe- in Abbreviated Form

Seasonal Recipe of the Week
This is the recipe we have all been waiting for! No more reason to eat the mushy dough balls served all over town. They said it was the water, they said it was the altitude, guess what, it was just low standards.Go figure! Created by Bagel Bob (Robert Shlaer), my dear friend, as a result of hundreds of carefully documented trials, extensive research into ingredients, and pure devotion. I love to share this with the world! If you would like the full 10 page document in PDF form( which is very informative) please email me and I will forward it with you. Bob is interested in hearing the results from people who try the recipe! P.S. There is a brewing supply store on Cerillos which sells all the malt products, so you have no excuse!
Ingredients
540 grams High Gluten Flour (about 4 cups)
320 ml water (10-3/4 fl oz) (1-1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp) at 120 deg F
1 tsp instant yeast
2 tsp salt
2 tsp diastatic malt powder
1 Tbsp dry malt extract, dark
1 Tbsp dry malt extract, amber
1 Tbsp malt syrup, dark
2 tsp baking soda in 5 cups (boiling) water
Procedure
Place the dry ingredients (keeping the yeast separate from the salt) in a food processor fitted with a steel blade and run for 5-10 seconds to mix. Dissolve the malt syrup in the water and with the processor running, pour the water quickly down the feed tube. Process for 30-45 seconds, until the dough forms a ball. Remove the dough and knead by hand for 2-3 minutes. Cut into twelve equal pieces, roll out each one into a snake about ten inches long and pinch the ends together to form a ring. Dust a jelly roll pan with semolina flour, place the rings on it, cover with plastic film, and refrigerate for 12-18 hours. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and in a 2 qt saucepan place 5 cups of water and 2 tsp soda, then bring to a boil. Remove the bagels from the refrigerator and poach each bagel for 20 seconds, poking it down if it floats, remove, and put on a rack to drain. Arrange the bagels on a heavy baking sheet lined with parchment paper, (they will stick firmly to almost anything else,) place it on a middle rack in the oven, and spray the oven with water before closing. Spray the interior of the oven with water again after 5 minutes. After another 9 minutes of baking (14 minutes total at this point) rotate the sheet and turn the oven down to 400 degrees. Bake another 15 minutes (total baking time 29 minutes) to a dark reddish-brown crust, then remove the bagels and put on a rack to cool.

Website updates!

hi folks, Monica here.

Well, except for the audio posts and iTunes Podcast, all my updates are pretty much finished here. Here's a quick rundown of some of the changes:

• The archive links in the sidebar are formatted a little differently now, just click on the little arrows next to each year or month to see an expanded list of all the posts.
  
• The search box in the sidebar has a new results function. It shows you your search results right on the page, instead of taking you away to a separate Google page, like it did before.
  
• I've added some links for post categories in the sidebar. These are Stacy's usual radio show segments: Refreshing Beverage, Altitude Adjustment, Seasonal Recipe of the Week. The link for Reviews has also been moved there. When you click on any of these, you'll get a results page with the 20 most recent posts tagged with each category. At the bottom of the page, there will be links for Older and Newer Posts. Just click on those to page through.
  
• The Cookbook Corner is now a long list in the left-hand sidebar. Is this more annoying than having it on a separate page? On the other hand, it alphabetizes itself automatically now.
  
• On the cosmetic side, there's a new background tile (salmon boomerangs!) on all the pages, until I can figure out a good way to randomize it. And the scallop-ey edge along the top seems to have decided that it prefers being folded over.

As for the Podcast ...sigh... ah, the Podcast. The Audio posts and iTunes podcast are disabled, for now, while I figure out a workaround, since Blogger doesn't do audio hosting. Until then, you can always listen live on the KSFR web stream, and later at PRX.

If anyone has any suggestions, please leave a comment on this post. Thanks for your patience, everyone!