Heat oven to 325F. 

Butter and flour 17 x 12 inch baking pan, knocking out excess flour.  Pour boiling hot water over dried fruit in a small bowl and soak 20 minutes, then drain well in a sieve.  Stir together flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in another bowl.  Beat together melted butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until creamy, about 1 minute.  Reduce speed to low, then add flour mixture and mix until just combined.  Mix in dried fruit, almonds and chocolate.  Spread batter evenly in baking pan and bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.  Cool completely in pan on a rack.  Run a thin knife around edges of pan to loosen, then cut into roughly 3-inch squares.   Yield:  24 squares

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium high heat.  Add onions and carrots.  Sauté until onions are golden brown, about 10 minutes.  Add garlic and stir 1 minute.  Mix in cumin. Stir 30 seconds.  Add broth and barley, bring to boil.  Reduce heat.  Partially cover and simmer 25 minutes.  Stir in tomatoes with juice and lentils.  Cover and simmer until barley and lentils are tender, about 30 minutes.  Stir in tomatoes with juice and lentils.  Cover and simmer until chard is tender, about 5 minutes.  Stir in dill.  Season soup with salt and pepper to taste.  Thin with more broth if desired.

Makes 2 large loaves

2 medium-sized potatoes
4 1/2 teaspoons (2 packages) instant yeast
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon salt
6 to 7 cups all-purpose flour or bread flour
1 egg (for glaze, optional)

Peel and slice the potatoes.  Place them in a small pan and cover with water.  Boil until potatoes are soft.  Drain the potatoes, reserving 1 cup of the water.  If you have less than 1 cup of water remaining, just add enough water to make 1 cup.  Mash the potatoes and set aside.

Allow the potato water to cool until it is approximately 100°-110°.  Place buttermilk and butter in a saucepan, and heat over medium heat until the butter melts.  Add the sugar, salt, and mashed potatoes, and stir to combine.

In the bowl of your mixer (or any large bowl), combine the potato water, buttermilk mixture, yeast, and 2 cups of flour.  Beat vigorously with a whisk until smooth, about 3 minutes.  Add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough is soft and only slightly sticky.  You can use a spoon, or the dough hook of your mixer, to blend in each 1/2 cup of flour.  The amount of flour you will need depends on the climate of your kitchen. Knead the dough on a floured surface, or by mixer, for about 10 minutes.  Add a small amount of flour (about 1 tablespoon) at a time if the dough starts to get sticky.

Grease a large bowl with a bit of olive oil, and place the dough in the bowl.  Turn it over so that the top is also greased.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until it doubles in volume, about 1 hour.

Grease 2 loaf pans (9 inches by 5 inches) with butter and set aside.  Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and divide in half.  Shape each piece into a rectangle, and roll the rectangle into a log shape.  Seal the seam with your fingers.  Fold each end over and seal the seams.  Place the loaves into the greased pans, seam side down.  Cover with lightly greased plastic wrap and let rise for 30-40 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 375° during this rise.

If you’d like to glaze the top of the bread, beat the egg in a small bowl and use a pastry brush to apply it to the top of each loaf.  Place the pans on the middle rack of the oven and bake for about 45 minutes, or until loaves are deep brown and sound hollow when tapped.  Remove from pans immediately and cool on a cooling rack.

1 (2 1/2 to 3 lb.) fryer
6 c. cold water or a little more
6 peppercorns
3 whole cloves
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 c. water or rich broth
1 c. diced potatoes
1 c. chopped celery
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 1/2 c. chopped carrots
1 c. frozen peas
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. seasoned salt

DUMPLINGS:

2 c. flour
1 tsp.s alt
4 tsp. baking powder
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsp. melted butter
2/3 c. milk

Cut up chicken and plate in kettle with water, bouillon cubes, peppercorns and cloves. Simmer 1 1/2 hours until tender. Remove chicken, cut meat from bones, discarding skin and bones. Cut chicken into pieces. Skim broth and strain out spices. Return meat to broth. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 2 to 3 hours longer.

To make dumplings, sift together flour, salt and baking powder. Combine egg, melted butter and milk and add to flour mixture, stirring quickly just until smooth. Drop by spoon evenly around over boiling soup. Cover tightly and simmer 18 minutes until done without peeking. Serves 12.

For ganache, put chocolate chips in a metal mixing bowl.  Bring cream to a light boil and pour over chips until they completely dissolve.  Set aside and allow to cool to room temperature.

For filling, beat cream cheese and granulated sugar until smooth.  Mix in the 1/3 cup heavy cream.  Add white chocolate, zest and nuts and stir just until incorporated.  Fold in the ¾ cup heavy cream.  Spread into pre-baked pie shell and level off using a rubber spatula.  Put in freezer until frozen.   To finish pie, you will need to place the ganache in a microwave on the low setting for no more than 10 seconds at a time.  Stir after each warming until ganache pours loosely but is not even close to boiling.  Spread warm ganache over the top of frozen pie. 

For garnish, beat cream and confectioners’ sugar with a handheld electric mixer to a stiff peak.  Pipe edges of pie with whipped cream and sprinkle macadamia nuts over pie.  Store in fridge.

The sweetness of this cheesecake recipe checks in at just the right level to let the chocolate flavor stand out.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookie crumbs (about 18 cookies)
• 1 (12-ounce) package semisweet chocolate morsels
• 3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs
• Ganache Topping

Preparation

Press cookie crumbs into bottom and halfway up sides of a 9-inch springform pan; set aside.

Microwave chocolate morsels in a microwave-safe bowl at HIGH 1 1/2 minutes or until melted, stirring at 30-second intervals. Beat cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer 2 minutes or until smooth. Add sweetened condensed milk and vanilla, beating at low speed just until combined. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating at low speed just until combined after each addition. Add melted chocolate, beating just until combined.

Pour cheesecake batter into prepared crust. Bake at 300° for 1 hour and 5 minutes or just until center is set. Turn oven off. Let cheesecake stand in oven 30 minutes with oven door closed.

Remove cheesecake from oven; run a knife along outer edge of cheesecake, and cool in pan on a wire rack until room temperature. Cover and chill 8 hours. Remove sides of springform pan, and place cake on a serving plate. Slowly pour and spread warm Ganache Topping over top of cheesecake, letting it run down sides of cheesecake. Chill 1 hour before serving.

Yield: 8 – 12 servings

Ingredients for Ganache Topping

Preparation

Bring cream to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat; quickly remove from heat, and stir in semisweet and milk chocolate morsels until melted and smooth. Let mixture cool (about 30 minutes) until slightly warm before pouring and spreading over cheesecake.