Toffee Almond Sandies

A lot of guests have been asking for this recipe.  You can find it here at Taste of Home. 

Toffee Almond Sandies

Scottish Shortbread

Easy to make and ready in no time. This is a go-to cookie for busy days with many guests.

Makes enough batter to fill a large baking sheet (approximately12"x16")

5 cups white flour
3/4 cup cornstarch or potato starch
1 cup sugar
2 cups cold butter (4 sticks)
(1-2 cups ground almonds -optional)  If using 2 cups ground almonds decrease flour by about 1 cup.

Cut butter into pads.  Put half the ingredients in a food processor - blend until chunks of butter are no larger than the size of a pea. Pour on cookie tray.  Repeat with remaining ingredients.

Press mixture into pan firmly with hands or other flat object.  Lightly score with a fork.  Bake at 350º for 20 - 30 minutes until golden brown.  Remove from oven and sprinkle with 3 tablespoons sugar.  Cut into squares while still hot.  If you forget to cut while hot, put the pan back into a hot oven until warm.  Then cut into squares.

Vegan Oatmeal Cookies

This recipe I copied directly from the PBS link below.  The only thing I changed for the Guest House was the cashews.  I substituted raw sunflower seeds instead. I believe the raw cashews would have made a sweeter cookie.  But we are a long way from town and there was no chance to make the trek to Redway.   Next time I will try cashews.

Use very ripe bananas in this healthy, gluten-free recipe to get the right moisture and sweetness without having to add sugar or fat.

(Recipe Courtesy: Marc Matsumoto from the Fresh Tastes Blog) Continue
Yield: 12 cookies

• 10.6 ounces (300 grams or about 2 large bananas) very ripe banana

• 2.7 ounces (75 grams or about 1/2 cup) raw cashews

• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/8 teaspoon salt

• 6.7 ounces (190 grams or about 2 cups) rolled oats

• 2.3 ounces (65 grams or about 1/2 cup) dried fruit

Put the oven rack in the middle position, and preheat to 300 degrees F (150 C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Put the bananas, cashews, nutritional yeast, cinnamon and salt in a food processor or blender, and puree until smooth.

Measure out the rolled oats and dried fruit, and place them in a bowl. Stir in the banana mixture.

Use your hands to roll out balls of dough, and flatten them onto the cookie sheet. Because they contain no leavening they will not rise, so you can put them pretty close together.

Bake for 20-30 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned and the cookies are chewy.

These are best served warm, so if you have leftovers, just heat them up in the microwave for a few seconds.

Produced by:

Original URL: http://www.pbs.org/food/fresh-tastes/vegan-oatmeal-cookies/Ingredients

Directions

Cottage Cheese Noodles

An easy to prepare casserole that is a monastery standby during our Guest House Openings.  We prepare Cottage Cheese Noodles using all non gluten ingredients.  You can of course use white flour as a thickener for the sauce instead of rice flour and opt for wheat egg noodles.


6 oz noodles (Your choice - medium width flat noodles are best.  We use rice vermicelli noodles)
2 TBSP butter
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 TBSP white rice flour or other thickener
1/2 tsp dry mustard
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 1/4 cup milk
1 TBSP fresh lemon juice
1 TBSP gluten free tamari or gluten free soy sauce
1 cup grated cheddar cheese (We use white raw cheddar cheese)

Cook noodles as directed until just tender.  (If using rice vermicelli noodles make sure you do not over cook them.  They will cook more in the casserole.)

Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat.  Add onion and cook until tender but not browned.  Blend in flour, mustard, salt and pepper.  Cook until the flour bubbles but not brown.  Add the milk and cook, stirring constantly until thickened. Beat in lemon juice and soy sauce.

Generously oil a 2 qt. casserole dish. (We use a long rectangular glass baking dish.) Put in the cooked noodles.  Pour the sauce over the top of the noodles.  Sprinkle grated cheese over the top.

Bake at 350º for 25-30 minutes.  Brown cheese under broiler a little longer if necessary. 

Serves 6

Some notes:  I use olive oil for the casserole bottom.  You may need to add a little liquid depending how done the rice noodles are.

White Bean Soup with Butternut Squash

This is a variation of the the following recipe from Twelve Months of Monastery Soups by Br. Victor-Antoine d'Avila-Latourette, 1996,  Triumph Books, Liguori, Missouri, page 163.

1 pound dry white beans
12 cups water
2 onions
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut in small cubes.
2 leeks
1 celery stalk
a few leaves of garden greens (spinach, chard, etc)
4 garlic cloves
6 tablespoon olive oil
2 vegetable bouillon cubes (or to taste)
finely minced thyme leaves

Soak the dry beans in cold water for at least 10 hours.  Rinse them well and put them into a large soup pot with water.

Cut the onions, leeks, and celery into thin pieces.  Cut greens into wide strips.  Mince garlic.  Add to soup with chopped squash, along with oil and bouillon cubes.

Cook soup, covered, over medium heat for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally.  Let the soup sit for about 10 minutes with the lid on. 

Add salt, pepper, and thyme.  Reheat for another 5 minutes and serve hot.

Butternut Squash Soup Portuguese Style

This recipe is from Twelve Months of Monastery Soups by Br. Victor-Antoine d'Avila-Latourette, 1996,  Triumph Books, Liguori, Missouri, page 51.

6 servings (we usually make this about 3-4 times.)

6 TBS olive oil
3 onions, chopped
5 garlic gloves, minced
2 butternut squash, peeled, halved, seeded, and cut in chunks
1 potato, peeled and cubed
1 carrot, peeled and sliced
7 cups vegetable stock (we usually use 1 vegetable bouillon cube for a large pot of soup)
salt and peper to taste
1/3 cup freshly minced parsley
fresh thyme leaves as garnish

Pour the olive oil into a large soup pot and sauté onions and garlic over low heat for 3 -5 minutes. Turn off heat, covert the pot and let the onion-garlic mixture steam for 15 minutes.

Add squash, potato, and carrot and stir the mixtue well.  Pour the stock andbring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover the pot, and let simmer for 45 minutes.

Add the seasonings and parsley, stir well, cover the pot and simmer for another 15 minutes.

Blend soup with a hand blender or in a food processor or blender.  Serve garnished with fresh thyme leaves.

Macaroni and Cheese

Cook 2 cups of elbow macaroni in boiling salted water till tender; drain.  In saucepan, melt 3 TBS butter; blend in 2 TBS all purpose flour, 1/2 tsp salt, and dash pepper.

Add 2 cups milk; cook and still till thick and bubbly.  Add 1/4 cup finely chopped onion and 8 ounces cheddar cheese or mixed cheeses, cubed.  (This is the secret... we use only really good flavorful cheeses). Stir till melted.

Mix cheese sauce with macaroni. Turn into 1 1/2 quart casserole.  Sprinkle 1 sliced tomato with salt; arrange on top.  Bake at 350° for 35 to 40 minutes or until heated through.  Makes 4 servings.

We triple this recipe and put in a long baking dish.  You can spice this up if you wish with red pepper and more onions.)