Old Fashioned Hermit Cookies

With September coming my thoughts are more and more turning to fall, the leaves changing color, trips to an apple farm, and fall flavors. Hermits are an old fashioned cookie, traditionally the dough is rolled into logs and baked, then sliced and are called Hermit bars. I just find making them as drop cookies much easier. They are delicious and last a long time if stored in a tin. In olden times New England wives and mothers used to make them and give them to their sea faring fishermen, sailor, sons or husbands or other loved ones to have a piece of home to take with them. With their warm spices they are a familiar touch of fall. When I was a child my mother would pack them for school lunches or picnics, makes about 32 cookies.

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1½ tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp salt
½ cup unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
¼ cup molasses
1 large egg
2/3 cup raisins

Preheat the oven to 375° and line a large baking sheet with parchment. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, spices, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl or in the bowl of a standing mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the molasses and egg and continue to beat, scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula if necessary. Gradually add the flour and spices mixture until just combined. Stir in the raisins. Drop tablespoonfuls of cookie dough on to baking sheet, and bake on the center rack of your oven for 13 minutes, until the edges are barely crisp, you don’t want to overcook them. Remove them from the oven and cool.

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Storm Last Tuesday

Tuesday, the 24th, this was the scene in the parking lot behind my church. The storm drains on this side street must have been clogged. I was grateful that I had been able to park on the Main St. when I needed to drop someone off. The day ended with the sun coming out, drying up with a high of 81°, with much lower humidity.

American Chop Suey

American Chop Suey has been an old standby in New England since the Great Depression, dishes like it, have been family favorites, and my mother made it regularly for dinner. She passed before I had a family of my own never got her recipe and ended up trying one recipe after another. Despite it being such a popular dish in my neck of the woods, I found that not everyone followed the same formula my mother, school cafeteria’s, diners had for decades. It was the proverbial needle in the haystack. Several years ago, I found Elise Bauer’s mom’s recipe Hamburger Macaroni on Simply Recipes and was happy to find that it was the definitive American Chop Suey. It’s a very adaptable recipe, I usually add 1 chopped green pepper as that is what I grew up with, or a few stalks of celery, chopped. You can stretch the recipe to serve 6 by using 3 cups of macaroni. 

4 servings

2 cups uncooked macaroni

1 tbsp olive oil

1 pound ground beef

1 yellow onion, chopped

1/2 tsp seasoned salt

Pinch chili powder

1/2 tsp celery seed

1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Get a large pot of salted hot water (1 tbsp of salt for 2 quarts of water) boiling and begin cooking the macaroni as per the directions on the macaroni package. While the water is heating and macaroni cooking, prepare the sauce. In a skillet, brown the ground beef in a tbsp of olive oil on high heat. Stir only infrequently so that the ground beef has an opportunity to brown. When the beef has mostly browned, add the onions to the pan and toss to combine. Cook until the onions are soft, about 4 to 6 minutes. Add the celery seed, a dash of crushed red pepper and seasoned salt. Pour in canned tomatoes, add the Worcestershire sauce and stir to combine. Simmer for 5 minutes. Drain the pasta, reserving a half cup of the pasta cooking water. Mix in the drained and cooked macaroni and the parsley. Cook for another 5 minutes. Add in some of the pasta water if the dish is too dry. Add freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste.

Lemon Posset

1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup superfine sugar
juice of one meyer lemon, a regular lemon or other citrus (about 1/4 cup)

Combine the cream and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring just to a simmer over medium low heat and remove from heat. Let stand until just cool, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes.

Stir in the lemon juice. Blend well. Divide between 2 goblets or small serving dishes, cover and chill until firm, at least 4 hours and preferably overnight. Garnish with fresh blueberries, if desired, before serving. Recipe may be doubled, tripled, etc with no problem

 

Maple Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Back in 2008, watching an NCIS dvd, with commentary, I heard the actor, David McCallum, who portrays Ducky, the medical examiner, talk about roasting Brussel sprouts in this way. I felt intrigued.. and despite never having liked the vegetable, I gave it a try. They were so good, not the smelly, mushy sprouts of my childhood, but delicious, slightly sweet. Now they're a regular, and not just at the holidays.

2 lbs brussel sprouts
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsp maple syrup
sea salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 425ºF.
Wash sprouts and remove yellowed and discolored leaves, and slice in half. In a large bowl, whisk together oil and syrup ’til emulsified, then pour in the sprouts. Using your hands rub oil/syrup mixture over all sides of the sprouts until they are completely coated. Spoon the sprouts into a roasting pan, making sure to leave any extra oil/syrup in the bowl. Sprinkle with several good grinds of sea salt & black pepper. Bake in oven between 20 to 30 minutes, until they are caramelized (checking occasionally after 20 minutes. You can also insert a thin sharp knife in and if it inserts easily they are done).