MY NAME IS LARISSA.

YUMMY...YUMMY...YUMMY...YUMMY...YUMMY...YUMMY...YUMMY

I love to cook! I often get requests from friends and family for the recipes for things I make. Here I will post recipes as they are requested. New recipes will be listed at the top of the page. Previous recipes will remain on the page and move down in the order. Would you like to request a recipe? Email me and tell me.

UPDATE...

In the fall of 2008 I became vegetarian (lacto-ovo). I will leave my meat-filled recipes up on this page but will be adding no new ones. Stay tuned for new veggie master-pieces!

2007 HOLIDAY JAM & JELLY

Requested by Me (so I can remember for next time).

RISSY & OMAR'S HOT!! CRANPEPPER JELLY

(makes about 30 12oz. jars)

Ingredients Needed:

5 jalapeno peppers
12 red Serrano chilis
12 red Thai chilis
2 orange bell peppers
1 pt. fresh cranberries
2 64oz. bottles of cranberry cocktail
1 34oz. bottle of "Just Cranberry" juice
8 cups water
2 cups apple cider vinegar
20 cups sugar
Pamona's Universal Pectin (4 packs pectin plus 30 tsp. calcium water) bought at Whole Foods Market

Directions:
Chop into large pieces the jalapeno and bell peppers. Place into a deep stock pot with all the juice, water and vinegar. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Scoop out the peppers and using the back of a soup spoon press into a strainer to remove all juice. Discard the remaining pulp. Put the cranberries and remaining peppers in a food processor and add to the juice. Then add the sugar. Bring to a full rolling boil over high heat. Boil for 5 minutes stirring constantly. Add the pectin and calcium water and blend with an emersion blender if needed. Bring to full boil for 1 minute then remove from heat and jar immediately. Boil to seal as usual.

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RISSY & OMAR'S DATENUT JAM

(makes 42 6oz. jars)

Ingredients Needed:

11 1/4 cups water
13 cups sugar
75 whole cloves in a sachet
15 cups chopped dried dates
3 cups lemon juice
2 cups finely chopped blanched almonds
2 cups finely chopped raw walnuts

Directions:
In a deep stock pot bring the water to a boil over medium heat. Add the sugar and cloves (in a sachet) and bring to a boil stirring constantly. Stir in the dates and turn the heat to medium low. Cook covered, stirring occasionally until a uniform paste is formed. Stir in the lemon and all the nuts and cook for about 6 more minutes. Jar immediately. Boil to seal as usual.

MY MASHED POTATOES

Requested by Fari.

(serves 6-8 people as a side dish)

Ingredients Needed:

4 pounds small, dense, thin-skinned potatoes (I use lady fins, but they may be hard/impossible to find and baby red-skins will work as well)
6-8 cloves garlic
1 stick butter
1 tub sour cream
1 large bunch parsley
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
Scrub the potatoes well. (You will be leaving the skin on so they need to be really clean!) Cut the potatoes into quarters, place in a large pot and just cover with water. Salt the water. Cook/boil until soft and then drain. While the potatoes are cooking, in a smaller sauce pan put the garlic, butter and pepper. Cook over medium low heat until the garlic is soft. Chop the parsley fine and set aside. After draining the potatoes, in a large bowl, using an electric mixer, combine with the butter & garlic, parsley and sour cream. Add more salt if needed. Enjoy!

GUACAMOLE

Requested by Rachel.

(serves 6-8 people as an appetizer)

Ingredients Needed:

3 to 4 large ripe avocados
1 medium shallot or 2 scallions
2 garlic cloves
juice of 1 fresh lime
4-6 cherry tomatoes
1 hand-full fresh cilantro
cumin and salt to taste

Directions:
Pit and peel the avocados and put pieces in a large mixing bowl. With clean hands, squeeze and squish the avocado into a paste with some chunks remaining. Mince the garlic with the salt to make a paste. Mince the shallot or scallions. Add the garlic/salt mixture and onion to the avocado paste. Mix well. Squeeze the all the juice from the lime into the mixture and combine well. Dice the tomatoes and chop the cilantro. Add the tomatoes and cilantro and cumin to the mix and stir together. Get some tortillas chips and enjoy!

JEWELED APPLESAUCE CAKE with Caramel Glaze

Requested by Sheila

(serves up to 12 people depending on the size of the piece)

Ingredients Needed for Cake:

2.5 cups all-purpose flour
1.5 cups unsweetened applesauce
1.25 cups sugar
.5 cup (1 stick) butter softened
.5 cup water
1.5 tsp baking soda
1.5 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp salt
.75 tsp baking powder
2 large eggs
1 cup raisins
.75 cup chopped dried apricots

Directions for Cake:
Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Using vegetable shortening grease a bundt pan. Coat the shortening with a dusting of flour. Beat all the ingredients together except the raisins and apricots until well blended. Add the raisins and apricots and mix again until evenly distributed. Pour in to the bundt pan and bake for 45-50 minutes or until knife test is clean.

Ingredients Needed for Caramel Glaze:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 cup corn syrup
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Directions for Glaze:
In a medium sauce pan combine all ingredients except for the vanilla. Bring to a boil over medium high heat stirring constantly. Slightly reduce heat and continue to stir until the mixture reaches 248 degrees. Turn off heat and stir in the vanilla. Spoon desired amount over cooled cake that has been removed from the bundt pan.

Additional Notes:

You must use real butter in both the cake and the caramel.
There will be a lot of caramel, probably more than you want to pour on your cake.
This caramel is great for making (8 medium sized) caramel apples, drizzled on ice cream and in candies (see recipe below).
Save extra caramel in an air-tight container in the fridge and reheat in a pan on the stove to use.

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To make easy, yummy candies: In a double boiler melt milk or dark chocolate. In waxed paper muffin cups, layer melted chocolate, chopped nuts, caramel and more chocolate. Be sure to pour chocolate then nuts and allow to cool to room temperature before you add the caramel. Allow caramel to cool to room temperature before adding the last layer of chocolate. Place in the fridge to finish hardening then enjoy!

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FUL

Requested by Aunt Peggy

(serves 4 to 6 people)

Ingredients Needed:

1 bag frozen, 2 cans or 1.5 lb. fresh shelled and blanched fava beans
3 T tahini
juice of 1 fresh lemon or 3 T bottled lemon juice
1 medium sized can diced or 3 large fresh diced tomatoes
8 fresh cloves garlic minced or 8 whole roasted cloves
1 large onion diced
5 T olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
.5 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cumin
.5 tsp paprika
.5 tsp turmeric
.5 tsp ground ginger
.25 tsp ground sumac (optional)
1 sprig fresh or .25 tsp dried marjoram

Directions:
In a large pan over medium heat put your olive oil, garlic and spices. Fry the spices for a couple minutes then add the onion. Once the onion starts to soften add the fava beans. (Be sure to drain liquid off of canned beans.) Add salt and pepper. Stir, slightly reduce heat and cover. Once the fava beans start to soften and break down add the tomatoes. Stir and cover for 5 to 10 minutes. Stir through the tahini and lemon juice and allow to combine for a couple minutes over low heat. Serve with flat bread for dipping or serve spread on a thicker style bread/toast.

Additional Notes:
Ful (pronounced fool) is the national dish of Egypt. It is eaten for breakfast, lunch, dinner or as an appetizer. Fava beans are also called broad beans. Fresh favas are found in large long green slightly fuzzy pods. The inner beans also are encased in a light green skin that needs to be removed before cooking. Fresh and frozen favas are bright green in color. Canned favas are tan. Tahini is sesame seed paste and is sold roasted or raw in cans or jars. Both varieties are similar in taste and either will work.

FRIED CHICKEN

Requested by Maria

Ingredients Needed:

5-8 assorted pieces of chicken with skin and bones
2-3 cups flour
1-2 package(s) bread crumbs
4-5 eggs
2-3 cups milk
salt
garlic powder
cumin
paprika
parsley flakes
pepper
savory
ground mustard seed
1 stick butter
1 cup olive oil
1 small tub Crisco or other similar solid fat

Directions:
I apologize for the variance in the amount of the ingredients, but this is one I never have measured. I add things until they look right and that depends a lot on the size of your chicken. Anyway... here is how it all goes together: In a deep large pot I put all the fat plus a few good shakes of garlic powder and about a tablespoon of salt. Cover with lid and allow the fats (butter, olive oil and Crisco) to melt and combine and infuse with the garlic and salt over medium low heat. It is important to use all three types of fat because each has its own purpose. The butter gives you that nice brown color, the olive oil imparts flavor and the Crisco allows you to use high heat. Anyway...while that is melting get out 4 good sized mixing bowls. In one bowl whisk the eggs (with a pinch of salt) in one put the milk (also with a pinch of salt) in one put the flour and in the other put the bread crumbs and all the spices. You'll need to use a lot of the spices to make them show up in the flavor of the crispy crust, like half a palm-full of each, except for the salt and pepper. You don't need as much of those since you have added salt to oil and milk. Then you rinse your chicken and start an assembly line. Coat in the milk then the flour then the egg then the breadcrumbs. Turn the heat under the oil to medium high and fry the chicken up. You wan to try to leave it alone once you get it in the oil and only turn it once or twice. That will give you the best crispy out side. But don't fret too much over that. It's most important that the chicken is cooked all the way through. When I take it out of the oil I lay it on a plate layered with an old tea towel to soak up the excess oil from the meat. It's good hot or cold.

PASKA (Easter Bread)

Requested by Michelle

(makes 2 large loaves)

Ingredients Needed:

2 packs of yeast dissolved in 1/2 cup warm water
2 cups scalded milk
1 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar
6 eggs beaten (save one white)
4 tsp. vanilla
1 T salt
9 to 10 cups flour

Directions:
In a pot on the stove scald the milk. Then stir in butter and sugar. In a separate bowl beat the eggs, vanilla, salt and the dissolved yeast mixture. Adding only a tablespoon at a time, stir in the scalded milk mixture. Gradually add the flour until a stiff batter has formed. Kneed in additional flour until the dough is satiny and bubbly. Cover and let the dough rise for 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Punch down the dough and then cut it into two pieces. At this time you may want to pinch off small pieces of dough to make a decorative pattern on each loaf. Place the dough into round greased pans. Cover and let rise for 45 minutes. Brush the tops of the unbaked loaves with the set aside egg white. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, then turn down the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 30 more minutes. When the bread is done it should sound hollow when tapped.

MY-CHAI

Recipe requested by Molly

(serves up to 6 people)

Ingredients Needed:

6 cups of water
1 T loose black tea leaves, not flavored (optional)
2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and smashed with a mallet
1 sprig of fresh mint
2 cinnamon stix
1 star anise pod
4 green cardamom pods
1 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 a vanilla bean or 2 tsp of vanilla extract
1 tsp lavender
1 tsp whole cloves
honey and milk or cream to taste

Directions:
In a kettle bring your water to a boil. Place a tea basket in your tea pot and fill it with all the ingredients except the honey and milk. Pour the boiling water over the herbal mixture and allow to steep for 3-5 minutes. If you don't want the caffeine omit the black tea leaves but then you will need to let it steep for 5-7 minutes. In the bottom of each mug put about 1 good table spoon of honey and about a half inch of milk or cream. Stir vigorously to dissolve the honey in the milk. Pour the tea into the mixture and enjoy!

Additional Notes:
If you do not have a tea pot you can boil your water in a saucepan and drop the herbs into the pan to steep. Pour and strain to serve. Also, the honey and milk amounts can be adjusted according to your individual taste. Smashing the ginger helps it to better release its flavor in the tea. This is a great alternative to coffee after a meal and goes great with cakes and cookies.

PICKLES

Recipe requested by Rachel.

(serving size varies)

Ingredients Needed:

2 lbs of fresh veggies (see below for suggestions)
1/2 cup salt
1 cup white vinegar
2 bay leaves (fresh or dried)
2 T mustard seed (any color you like)
2 T pepper corns
3 T coriander
1 head of garlic, cloved and peeled
1 handful of fresh thyme and marjoram chopped
1 T fennel seeds
8 cups water

Suggested Veggies:

pearl onions
jalapenos
hungarian peppers
small sweet peppers
small eggplants
turnips
carrots
cabbage
brussels sprouts
cauliflower
ramps
leeks
baby squash and/or zucchini
green tomatoes
beets (but know that while they will not change the flavor of other veggies beets will turn everything you pickle with them pink)
cucumbers (see second variation for making cucumber pickles)

Directions For Veggies Other Than Cucumber:
In a large pot place all the ingredients except for the veggies. Stir well and bring to a heavy boil for a couple minutes. Then drop the heat and simmer until you have finished the next step. Wash all of your veggies. Smaller veggies like pearl onions, baby carrots and baby squash can be left whole. Cut larger veggies into wedges or strips about the size of a pickle that you would buy in the store. Beets and turnips will need to be peeled as well. Place all of your veggies in a shatter resistant bowl; stainless steel or tempered glass. Pour the brine mixture over the veggies. Cover with saran wrap being sure to poke holes for the steam to escape. Allow to site at room temp for 3 hours. Pack the veggies in a jar and cover with the brine. Seal and put in the fridge. The pickles will be ready to eat in 24 hours and should keep for 2 to 3 weeks.

Directions For Cucumbers:
When making cucumber pickles choose small thick skinned fruits like lemon cucumbers or "pickling cucumbers". Follow the same steps to make the brine, except that you need to allow the brine to come to room temperature BEFORE you pour it over the cucumbers. Once you have the brine poured over the cucumbers cover loosely and keep in the fridge for 1 whole week. At that point the cucumbers will be "half sour" and you can eat them. (They will be tasty but the process can go farther.) Pack the cucumbers in a jar. Cover the pickles half with some of the brine and half with fresh water. Seal and put back in the fridge for another day or two. At that point they will be "full sour" and keep up to a month in the fridge.

Additional Notes:
Pickles are made by many cultures and can be spiced in many different ways. This recipe is a Mediterranean version. Change up the herbs and experiment with the flavor of the brine. WholeFoods Market recently had great pickling jars for sale at a good price. They are air tight with a rubber seal and are dishwasher safe and reusable.

CLAM CHOWDER

Recipe requested by Melissa.

(serves 4 people for dinner)

Ingredients Needed:

3 lbs. fresh/live littleneck clams in the shell
3 stalks of celery
2 large carrots
1 large onion
6 small red skin potatoes
6 cloves garlic
1 large sprig of rosemary
1 fresh bay leaf
1 stick goat butter
1 cup white rice flour
1 qt goats milk
1 hand-full of crumbled goat cheese
water
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
Rinse the clams in cool water in the sink then place them with 1 pat of butter and the bay leaf in a large pot on the stove. Cover the pot and turn heat to medium. The clams will steam open in their own juices. While the clams are steaming wash and chop the celery, potatoes, carrots and onion into small bite-sized chunks or cubes. Peel the carrots only. Set the veggies aside in a bowl with the sprig of rosemary. Check the clams. You will know they are done when they are all open. Remove all the cooked clams using tongs and placing them in a bowl. Be sure that you save all the "clam liquor" in the bottom of the pot. Dump all the veggies, rosemary and clam liquor into the pot without the clams. Pour enough water over the mixture to cover it by about half an inch. Add salt & pepper to taste. Cover the pot tightly and turn the heat up to medium/high or high until all the veggies are tender. While the veggies are cooking remove all the clam meat from the shells. Then, using either a small knife or your thumb nail (I prefer using my thumb nail) remove the blackish/greenish sandy belly from each clam. Set the clam meat aside in a bowl. In a medium sized sauce pan place the rest of your butter. Melt it over a medium to medium low heat. Once it is all melted add the rice flour, using a whisk to stir it smooth into the butter. Let the flour cook while whisking constantly over medium high heat for about 5 minutes. Reduce heat back to medium and whisk in the goat milk. Check on the veggies by spearing them with a fork. If they are firm but tender they are perfect. Reduce the heat to medium/low or low and add the clam meat. Go back to the milk mixture on the stove. Turn the heat up to medium/high to high and whisk constantly until the mixture starts to become thick. Add the had-full of cheese and stir through. Once the mixture is all one smooth consistency and slightly pulls away from the pot when stirred it is ready to add to the veggie/clam mixture in the big pot. Stir it in and turn the heat up slightly. Taste for salt content. Add salt if needed and allow to combine over low heat for an hour or two. Serve with crusty bread or crouton garnish.

Additional Notes:

The goat products in this recipe can be replaces with cows products. When choosing a cow cheese for this soup a variety of Parmesan or Romano would work nicely. I use the goat products because they are easier to digest and because of their tang and slight saltiness the soup requires less salt. I find that the goat products are great for cooking even if you don't like the taste of goat milk or cheese alone and that they add a richness and complexity to the food while still being reasonably good for you. Also, it is good to note that when you buy goat butter it comes in a very large brick instead of a stick. Half of this brick is equal to one regular stick of butter. You will want to half your brick for this recipe. Goat butter is pure white, unlike cow's butter, because it does not contain any karotin. Karotin is what gives cow's butter that, well, buttery hue.
The rice flour in this recipe can also be replaced with regular all-purpose wheat flour. I like to use the rice flour because is easier to digest without having to sacrifice any creaminess in the soup. You do want to make sure that you cook the flour long enough in the butter however, or you will end up with a fine gritty texture to the soup. Wheat flour will make your soup a bit more glutenous in texture, which can be desirable. I find that when I make it with wheat flour that it takes less soup to fill me up.
The littleneck clams in this recipe are pretty easy to find at your local fish monger. It is best to buy the clams on the day you intend to use them, but you can keep them in the refrigerator over night for 1 day. Place clams, free of packaging, in a bowl and cover with a damp but not sopping wet dishcloth. Then place it on the middle shelf of your fridge in the back. This is the coldest spot in your fridge. If a clam is open before you have cooked it it is dead and not a good idea to cook it. If it is closed tightly it is alive and fresh.
This soup will keep for one day after cooking it. I do not recommend eating it after that.

CHICKEN SOUP

Recipe requested by Nga.

(serves up to 6 people)

Ingredients Needed:

1 whole chicken 3 to 4 lbs with giblets removed
4-5 stalks celery cut into 2 in pieces
4 lbs potatoes quartered
5 large carrots pealed and cut into 2 inch pieces
1 large can diced tomatoes
2 hand-fulls of fresh flat leaf parsley chopped coarse
2 large yellow onions quartered
3 sprigs fresh thyme or 2 tsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf
a couple pinches of dried ground sage
salt and pepper to taste
3 minced garlic cloves
water
1 lb what ever noodles you like or 1 cup uncooked rice

Directions:
Put all the ingredients except the noodles or rice in a large stock pot. Cover with water about three inches away from the top of the pot. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer all day. About an hour before you are going to eat pull the chicken out of the pot. Remove all the bones and skin and put the meat back in the soup. At this time also taste for salt content and adjust as needed. Just before you are going to eat make the noodles or rice. Do not put the left-over noodles or rice in the soup to store over night.

Additional Notes:
Do not store left over noodles or rice with the leftover soup. Keep noodles or rice in a separate container. You can also cut this recipe in half (buy half a chicken at the meat counter) and prepare it in your crockpot if you can not be home all day to watch the soup.