Ingredients:             10 Tbs (5 oz) unsalted butter

                                    ½ cup sugar

                                    1/3 cup water

                                    pinch salt (or more if you like salty toffee)

                                    1 Tbs corn syrup

                                    ¼ tsp baking soda

                                    handful of chopped chocolate

                                    chopped nuts (optional)

Procedure:

1. Lightly grease a cookie sheet and set aside.
2. Combine butter, sugar, water and salt in a heavy bottomed saucepan.
3. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture leaves sides of pan and turns a golden brown color.
4. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda. 
5. Quickly spread toffee to a ¼ inch thickness on the greased cookie sheet.  Top immediately with chocolate, allowing it to melt.
6. Spread chocolate in an even layer over the surface of the toffee; sprinkle with nuts if desired.
7. Let cool, then break into pieces.

Ingredients: 1 heaping tsp curry powder
2 green cardamom pods
1 tsp chopped gingerroot
one large shallot, peeled and finely chopped
a little butter or oil
½ cup apple juice or apple cider
¾ cup brown sugar
2 cups cranberries
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped
½ cup golden raisins or chopped dried apricots
salt

Procedure:

1. Sweat the shallot, curry powder, cardamom and ginger in a little butter or oil.
2. Add the apple, brown sugar, cranberries and apple juice/cider and stir to combine; reduce heat to medium-low.
3. Cook gently until the cranberries have released their juices and the apple is soft, about 25 minutes. Mixture should be quite thick.
4. Stir in the golden raisins and/or apricots. Season to taste with salt if desired; cool then refrigerate until ready to use.
 

For the filling:
3 large eggs
½ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
½ cup light corn syrup
½ stick unsalted butter (4 tablespoons), melted and cooled
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ¼ cups fresh cranberries, washed well and coarsely chopped
1 cup chopped pecans
Confectioners’ sugar, for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 if using convection). For the dough: In a large bowl combine the butter and sugar and stir to blend with a wooden spoon. Add the vanilla extract, salt, and flour, and stir for form a soft cookie like dough. Do not let it form a ball. Transfer the dough to the center of a 9 or 10” fluted tart pan. Using the tips of your fingers, evenly press the pastry onto the bottom and sides of the pan. The dough should be quite thin.

For the filling: In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, salt and vanilla until the mixture is smooth. Stir in the cranberries and pecans. Pour the filling into the shell and bake the tart in the middle of the oven for 25 – 30 minutes, until filling is not runny and tart is golden. Remove tart to a rack to cool. When completely cool, remove the rim of the pan, transfer to a serving plate and dust with confectioners’ sugar just before serving with best-quality vanilla ice cream.

*Note: for a crisper crust, the crust can be blind-baked (cooked without the filling), for 10 minutes in the oven until puffed and golden. The recipe can then be followed by pouring the filling in the crust and baked.

Ingredients: two 13.5 ounce cans coconut milk
4 fresh green chiles, such as jalapeno or Serrano
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
2 Tbs chopped garlic
4 kaffir lime leaves, sliced thinly
a few thai basil leaves if available
2 Tbs chopped gingerroot
1 stalk lemongrass, edible portion
1 Tbs fish sauce
2 Tbs soy sauce
Sri Racha (Thai hot pepper sauce) if needed

Procedure:

1. Place contents of both cans of coconut milk into a medium-sized saucepan. Heat just to boiling; reduce heat and simmer until thick, 15-20 minutes.
2. While coconut milk reduces, prepare the chile paste: remove the seeds and ribs from the chiles.
3. Combine chiles with cumin, coriander, garlic, kaffir lime leaves, basicl leaves and gingerroot.
4. Slice lemongrass very thinly and add to mixture. Mash with the back of a spoon to crush ingredients slightly.
5. Place mixture in the bowl of a food processor along with the fish sauce and soy sauce. Process to a paste as best you can.
6. Add the coconut milk in a thin stream until the the mixture turns green and is as smooth as you can get it.
7. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed i.e. more soy if salt is needed, a little Sri Racha if the paste is not spicy enough.

Head to CulinAerie!

By: Kate Nerenberg of the Washingtonian

Like many chefs, Susan Holt and Susan Watterson dreamed of owning a place. They just didn't want to spend 18 hours a day in a

restaurant. So the former instructors at Gaithersburg's L'Acadamie de Cuisine, created what they knew best: a cooking school.

The recently opened CulinAerie is targeted at a new generation of foodies who think of chefs as celebrities and farmers markets as social meeting spots. Some of the hands-on classes have ethnic themes-Persian, Far East fusion-and other sessions cover basics cake making and knife skills. The calendar also features lunchtime lectures with talks on food writing, nutrition, and throwing a dinner party…

Continue reading at the Washingtonian!

At 12:30 p.m., seven cooks circle a large stainless-steel table. In front of each one is a platter of ingredients: a clove of garlic, a slice of onion, basil, spinach, feta cheese and tomatoes. In the next 30 minutes, they will mince, slice, chiffonade and saute their way to a lunch of pasta with fresh tomato sauce and spinach.

The skills are basic, and, even with the clock ticking, the vibe is relaxed. That's the goal of classes at Cookology, a culinary school that opened last month. The bright storefront in the Dulles Town Center mall offers lessons in knife skills, baking and 30-minute meals, all for between $40 and $60 each.

"The old standby of going to a really expensive restaurant doesn't work anymore," says owner Maria Kopsidas, a former public relations and marketing consultant. "At a class, you're in there getting some skills, a glass of wine, talking to the chef and eating your creation."

At a time when consumers are cutting back on just about everything, entrepreneurs are betting that cooking classes are the way food lovers…

Continue reading at the Washington Post!

How to Make a Raspberry Tart with Susan Holt
How to Make a Raspberry Tart
Raspberry Tart – Making the Filling
Raspberry Tart – Plating the Desert

Summer Salads with Susan Watterson
Mixed Greens Salad
Classic Caesar
Bread Salad
Fatouche Salad
Composed Salad of Beets, Endive, and Orange
Fruit and Vegetable Salad