Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small white onion, finely chopped
• 1-1/2 cups farro
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 3 cups water
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup parmesan
• 2 tsp butter
• salt & pepper

Preparation

1. Saute onion til soft. Add farro, saute 1 minute to coat with oil. Add wine and cook until it is absorbed.

2. Stirring often, add water 1 cup at a time as each addition is completely absorbed, about 30 minutes. (Farro should be softly al dente.)

3. Stir in cream, cheese and butter and cook until thick, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Thaw a loaf of dough for about 3 hours on a plate covered with pam-sprayed plastic wrap - it should be thawed, still cool, and not starting to rise much.

Divide dough into 12 pieces. Flatten each piece and put it in your palm to form a cup shape. Then, using a marble-sized piece of dough, spread sesame oil on the surface.

Gather edges together, seal, turn over and pat flatish, place on greased baking sheet. Brush tops of rolls with sesame oil, sprinkle heavily with sesame seeds, cover with cloth and let stand for a couple of hours. They don’t need to rise much, so you have a lot of flexibility with when you get them into the oven.

Bake for about 20 minutes at 350 or until golden brown.

Ingredients

• 1 pie crust (store-bought or homemade)
• 1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin
• 1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 1/3 cup honey
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Honey-sweetened whipped cream

Preparation

Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 13-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch deep-dish glass pie dish. Trim overhang to 1/2 inch. Fold overhang under; crimp edges decoratively. Refrigerate 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line crust with foil. Fill with dried beans. Bake until edges begin to brown, about 17 minutes. Remove foil and beans. Bake until golden brown, pressing with back of fork if crust bubbles, about 5 minutes longer. Transfer to rack. Maintain oven temperature.

Whisk pumpkin, sugar, and honey in large bowl. Whisk in eggs 1 at a time. Whisk in 1 1/4 cups cream, ginger, cinnamon, and salt. Pour into crust. Bake pie until set, covering edges with foil collar if browning too fast, about 60 minutes. Cool. (Can be made 6 hours ahead.) Serve at room temperature with whipped cream.

Bon Appetit, November 2003

Ingredients

• 1 Cup butter
• 3 Cups sugar
• 6 eggs
• 2 Cups peeled, chopped peaches (4 medium)
• 2 TB. vanilla sugar
• 3 Cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°, have all ingredients at room temperature. Grease and flour tube pan. Peel and chop peaches, mix with VANILLA SUGAR in a small bowl, set aside. Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and CINNAMON, set aside. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until well blended, light and fluffy. Add eggs 2 at a time, blending well after each addition. This is the most important part, as the cake will rise much higher if the sugar and butter are well beaten and the eggs are gradually added and well beaten. Starting and ending with dry ingredients, gently blend in flour mixture and peaches, one third at a time. Use a large spoon or blend on lowest speed to just combine these ingredients. Pour into the pan. Make sure not to get batter on the upper part of the tube, which will prevent the cake from sliding out of the pan. Place on middle rack in oven, bake about 70-75 minutes, until cake is browned and springy to the touch, or a thin skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven, let cool 5-10 minutes, run a butter knife between the cake and the outside wall of the pan, turn pan over onto a rack and let the cake slide out. Turn the cake over at this point if you so desire, and let cool completely. Place the cake on a serving plate. The cake is easiest to cut when cool. That is also the time to sprinkle with powdered sugar if you’d like-though serving the slices warm with a thin pat of butter is quite tasty too.

Penzey’s Spices

Ingredients

• 1/2 C shortening (no substitutes)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 C sugar
• 1/4 C molasses
• 1 3/4 C unsifted flour
• 1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp Powdered Ginger
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 C seedless raisins
• 1/2 C chopped walnuts
• 1 egg white (optional)
• 2 T Vanilla Sugar or sugar (optional)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.

2. In a medium bowl, cream together the shortening, egg and the sugar. Gradually add the molasses and continue beating until fluffy.

3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, Cinnamon, Ginger, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, beating just until blended. Fold in the raisins and walnuts.

4. Divide the dough into two equal portions. Place on a cookie sheet and form each half into a 12x2" rectangle, leaving 3" between the halves.

5. Bake 13-15 minutes. The dough should be slightly soft in the center.

6. In a small bowl, lightly beat the remaining egg. Remove the dough from the oven; brush each half with egg white and sprinkle with Vanilla Sugar if desired (if you are concerned about using raw egg, use pasteurized eggs or simply omit). While still warm, cut diagonally. Cool on a wire rack.

Penzey’s Spices

Ingredients

• 2 oranges, chopped
• 1 small jicama
• 1/4 c. bitter orange juice
• 2 tsp. good chile powder (pref. New Mexico)
• 2 tbsp. cilantro

Preparation

Chop all ingredients but the cilantro and mix. Let stand for an hour, then add cilantro just before serving.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 tbsp lemon extract
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp minced lemon peel, rehydrated in 1tbsp water
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup blue poppy seeds
• 2 cups AP flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup whole milk

Preparation

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. In a larger bowl, beat together sugar and butter until well blended, then add the lemon extract, vanilla extract, and eggs and beat until fluffy. Mix in lemon peel, sour cream and poppy seeds. Add the flour mixture and milk in alternating increments, beating and scraping after each addition. Batter should be thick and fluffy.

Fill cupcake liners approx. 2/3rds full. Bake for 20-24 minutes, rotating pans half-way.

Penzey’s Spices

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 c. (1 stick) melted butter
• 1 14-oz can. sweetened condensed milk
• 1–2 c. (6–12 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 1/3 c. flaked coconut
• 1 c. chopped nuts

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 (or to 325 for a glass baking dish). In a small bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and butter; mix well. Press crumb mixture firmly on bottom of 13x9-inch baking pan. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over crumb mixture. Layer evenly with remaining ingredients; press down firmly with fork. Bake 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool and cut into bars.

Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk

Ingredients

Cake:

• 1/2 Cup shortening
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 Cups brown sugar, packed
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 Cup buttermilk
• 2 Cups flour, sifted
• 1 1/2 Cups pears, peeled and diced into 1/4-1/2 inch cubes

Topping:

• 1/4 Cup cinnamon sugar
• 2 TB. crystallized ginger, finely chopped

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9x13 glass pan and set aside. Stir the baking soda into the buttermilk and set aside. Cream the shortening, salt, and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla; mix well. Alternately add the buttermilk mixture and flour to the mixing bowl, beating well after each addition. Fold in the pears and pour into the greased pan. Mix together the cinnamon sugar and chopped crystallized ginger. Sprinkle evenly over the top of the cake. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Penzey’s Spices

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 c. milk
• 1 1/4 c. water
• 1 c. yellow cornmeal
• 2 cloves minced garlic (optional)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 c. parmesan
• 3 tbsp. butter

Preparation

Combine first 5 ingredients. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, whisking often. Cook until done, about 12 minutes. Stir in parmesan, butter and salt and pepper to taste.