Chocolate Strawberry Shortcakes

Happy New Years Eve!

For dessert tonight we're making strawberry shortcake, with a chocolate twist. I don't think I'll ever make shortcake biscuits again without cocoa powder.....

Chocolate Biscuits

adapted from Gourmet, 1991

serves 4

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup all-purpose flour

4 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 and 1/2 teaspoons double-acting baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into bits

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Preheat oven to 425°F.

In a bowl sift together the cocoa powder, the flour, the sugar, the baking powder, the baking soda, and the salt, add the butter, and blend the mixture until it resembles coarse meal. Add the cream and stir the mixture with a fork (or the paddle of a stand mixer) until it forms a dough. You may need to knead the dough with your hands to get it to stick together, especially if you use a stand mixer. Divide the dough in quarters, arrange each quarter in a mound on a lightly greased baking sheet, and bake the shortcakes in the middle of the oven for 12 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the centers comes out with crumbs clinging to it. Transfer the shortcakes to a rack and let them cool.

Our strawberries were frozen from summer and were defrosting a bit slowly, so I put them on the stove on low while we were making dinner and the smell filled our Michigan winter home with the most wonderful smells!

Jordan's Hot and Sour Soup

Serves 4-6. (Can easily be doubled)

½ c. pork (cut into small pieces)

4 c. chicken broth

½ c. mushroom pieces

1/3 c. bamboo shoots

1/3 c. carrots shreds

1 tsp black pepper

1 green onion – minced

½ c. green peas

3TBL white vinegar

2 TBL soy sauce

½ tsp sesame oil

2 TBL cornstarch

½# tofu- cubed

1 egg whipped

1. Brown the pork and heat veggies in a skillet.
2. Bring the chicken broth to a boil. Add mushrooms, pork, bamboo shoots, carrots, pepper, onion, & peas to the broth.
3. Bring back to a boil. Add vinegar, soy sauce, & sesame oil.
4. Thicken with cornstarch in 1/3 c. water. Gently add tofu.
5. Slowly pour whipped egg into the boiling liquid while stirring.

Creamy Polenta

2 cups whole milk
2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup polenta (coarse cornmeal)

Bring first 3 ingredients to boil in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Gradually whisk in polenta. Reduce heat to low; simmer until smooth and thick, stirring almost constantly, about 18 minutes.

Spiced Lentil Dip

I've made this a couple of times for parties in the last couple of months. The best part of this recipe is that you can make it from left over lentils.

Lentils:

2 cups lentils (any color)

1 onion, chopped

4 carrots, chopped

3-6 cups chicken stock (any flavor stock will work)

I usually cook my lentils in a pressure cooker with about 6 cups of liquid, for approximately 30 minutes. If you want to use a regular pot you will need less liquid (maybe only three cups, but enough to cover the lentils and vegetables) and your cook time will probably increase to an hour. Simmer lentils until they are soft and starting to fall apart.

I serve these lentils the first time around with sausages for dinner. With the left overs I make the following dip. You can serve it with either tortilla chips or toasted pita squares.

Dip:

4 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon ground coriander

about 1 inch fresh ginger, grated

(I store my ginger in the freezer. It keeps much longer and is much easier to grate)

1/4 of a whole nutmeg, grated

(You could use 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, but I really like grating it myself. The flavors are much stronger and the whole nutmegs keep longer)

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (to taste)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Melt butter in a medium saucepan and add cumin, coriander, ginger, and nutmeg. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 3 minutes. And lentils and cayenne pepper (to taste) and cook until warmed through, at least 5 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and serve with tortilla chips or toasted pita squares.

This recipe is modified from http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/african-spiced-lentil-dip.

Creamy Balsamic Vinaigrette on Deviled Egg Layers

To fend off scurvy last night we made a grilled chicken salad that was out of this world. He took a whole chicken, cut it up into quarters, seasoned it with the rub listed below, and grilled it.

Chicken Rub:

1/4 cup paprika

1/8 cup salt

15 peppercorns

1 clove of garlic

olive oil

Grind the paprika, salt, peppercorns, and garlic together in a food processor. Slowly add olive oil until the mixture just holds together.

I made a creamy balsamic vinaigrette. The recipe was modified from a wonderful cookbook called, "from the cooks garden" by Ellen Ecker Ogden.

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon spicy mustard

1 tablespoon honey

1 large garlic clove

1/2 cup olive oil

Blend all together in the food processor. You really need to use the food processor; I tried to whisk it together by hand and I couldn't get the olive oil to blend it. Plus if you use the food processor, you don't need to chop the garlic up.