Avocado Soup

AVOCADO SOUP

3 ripe avocados, mashed

4 cups chicken broth

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp white pepper

1/2 tsp minced onion

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

2 to 3 tablespoons dry white sherry

1 cup sour cream

8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

1/2 cup minced chives

Mix first 8 ingredients in blender at low speed until smooth. Add sour cream, 1/4 cup at a time, until well blended. (A 5 cup blender will not hold the entire recipe so adding the sour cream must be done in two batches)

Be sure to taste as you might like it spicier – I add some Tabasco

Chill the soup for at least two hours. Also chill the bowls to be sure they are nice and cold.

Garnish with bacon and chives.

Served with an absolutely spectacular wine – Berry Bros. & Co 1934 Chablis

Persimmon Cookies

We used to have a huge persimmon tree, but it died. We did find a small persimmon tree and for the first time we finally got some persimmons.

Puny persimmon tree

Some Hachiya persimmons from our tree – not ripe yet – must be very soft for this recipe

RECIPE:

1 cup persimmon pulp – put pulp in processor and then strain (can be frozen)

1 tsp soda

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

2 cups flour/sifted

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 cup raisins

1. Stir soda into pulp and set aside

2. Cream butter and sugar.  Hand beat the egg into this mixture.

3. Hand-beat the pulp into the above mixture

4. Sift flour with the spices and baking powder.  Add to the pulp mixture.

5 Stir in the raisins.

6. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto the greased cookie sheet.

7. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes

All that was left from a full batch

Butter/Sugar Cookies

INGREDIENTS

1 cup butter

2/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

2 1/2 cups flour, sifted

1/2 teaspoon salt

Using electric mixer

1. Cream butter and sugar

2. Beat in 1 teaspoon vanilla

3. Beat in 1 egg

4. Sift and combine  flour and salt

5. Add to butter mixture and beat on low speed until just combined. Scrape dough onto saran wrap and use wrap to form into a mass.

6. Chill dough 3 to 4 hours before rolling

I roll out 1/4 of the dough at a time – a pastry cloth lightly floured makes the job much easier

7. Preheat oven to 350

The cookie cutters and decorating sugars

8. Roll out and cut

9. Decorate with colored sugar and other fun stuff

10. Bake for 10 minutes or until slightly colored

11. Cool on rack

12. Can be frozen

Dessert Fries

Faux “Fries” with Raspberry “Ketchup”

1 loaf of pound cake (homemade or store bought)

1 cardboard French fry container (ask politely at a restaurant that serves fries this way and you shall receive)

Prep

1 Preheat oven to 350°F.

2 Trim off a thin layer of the cake’s brown exterior crust. Then cut pound cake lengthwise into 1/4-inch slices. Turn slices on their side and cut into 1/4-inch strips. Trim to 4 to 5 inches in length (if this sounds confusing, just remember, you are creating French fry-shaped strips).

3 Arrange strips on cookie sheet and bake for approximately 10 minutes, or until lightly browned on top and bottom. Turn strips and bake for approximately 4 more minutes, or until remaining two sides are lightly browned. Let cool, then arrange in fries container.

Raspberry “Ketchup”

1 12-ounce bag frozen raspberries, thawed, or 2 cups of fresh raspberries

2 tablespoons of confectionery (powdered) sugar

1 empty ketchup squeeze bottle

Prep

1 Place raspberries in a blender or food processor, and puree (add a few tablespoons of water, or lemon juice, if necessary, to facilitate blending).

2 Add sugar, one teaspoon at a time, to taste—until tartness is gone.

3 Place raspberry puree in a fine mesh strainer over a bowl. Use a rubber spatula to force the puree through the strainer. Discard the seeds and transfer the puree to the squeeze bottle. Serve alongside “fries”.

Flannery’s Burger and Potato Crisps

http://www.bryansfinefoods.com/index.php?info=burgerPicks

This was the blend we chose: “The Soon to be Illegal: 50% Wagyu Chuck (Step 1), 25% Wagyu Shortribs (Step 2), 25% Wagyu Fat Blend (Step 3). The fat percentage of this beauty is around 26%, and the flavor score on is a solid 5.”

“The Soon to be Illegal” Flannery Burger Meat

Burger grilling – The burger meat is so fatty that I suggest you pan fry them instead of grilling to prevent flare-ups.

Finished Burger – before condiments are added. “Dress” according to your preference. We just used mustard and tomato as we didn’t want to obscure the meat.

Potato crisps

Recipe for Crisps:

Brush a baking sheet well with some of the oil.  (The potatoes have a tendency to stick).  In a food processor fitted with 2mm slicing disk or hand-held slicing disk, slice thin the potato on the diagonal (cut one end of the potato on the diagonal to facilitate this) and arrange the slices immediately in one layer on the sheet. Brush the slices with a little more oil, sprinkle them with salt to taste, and bake them in the middle of a preheated 400 oven for 12 to 15 minutes, turning once, or until they are golden brown.  Transfer the crisps while they are still warm with a metal spatula to a rack and let them cool.