This recipe is from a friend of mine that suggested I try them. You can find the recipe at www.eaththelove.com/2012/12/speculaas.
If someone is looking for kidney friendly cookie options, these will be ok for you. My dietitian recommended I try these. There is a spread, like nutella, that is made out of these cookies. I haven't tried this spread yet.
I learned that it better to chill the dough in this recipe before rolling it out. We didn't have the cookie mold that they recommend. So, we rolled out the dough and cut in squares with the pizza cutter. For our second batch, we chilled the dough for about 15 minutes in the refrigerator. Then we put a little bit of flour out on the board, like we did when we rolled the dough. This time, though, we made balls. That seemed to work a little better. If you want to try to make a pattern, you can criss cross a fork on the ball, while pushing down slightly. This is like what you do when making peanut butter cookies.
We didn't have the white pepper. It was ok without using that. Couldn't tell too much of a difference. I think by adding the pepper, I could really taste the vanilla and cinnamon better.
I kind of liked the taste of these cookies. Maybe the next time I'll make it, I'll just roll into the ball into making the squares. The dough is so delicate that it is kind of hard to work with.
1 whole chicken
1 onion, sliced thinly
3 cloves garlic minced
2 stalks celery with leaves
3carrots cut into sticks
basil 3 leaves
rosemary 3 stalks
thyme 1 stalks
sage 3 leaves
1T olive oil
1 cup chicken stock
1 lemon sliced thinly seeds removed
1/2 tsp. mrs. dash chicken
1/2 tsp mrs. dash garlic & herb
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp mrs. dash onion & herb
1 T. honey flavored whiskey
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place rack in oven at the bottom level. Put chicken in roasting pan. Cut up onions and garlic.
Saute onions and garlic, add in a little bit of olive oil. Add some of the celery leaves to cook down as well. Add whiskey. Cook until soft, but do not caramelize as they will continue to cook in the oven with the chicken.
Place fresh herbs (sage, rosemary, thyme, basil) in the cavity of the chicken. Drizzle olive oil on top of chicken. Sprinkle all the spices onto the outside of the chicken.
Place all vegetables (carrots, celery, onions, garlic) on top of the chicken and around. Last, place the lemon slices on top of the chicken. Pour the chicken stock around the chicken. Place lid on top and put in oven. Cook at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes per pound of chicken. Make sure to check temperature of chicken to ensure it is done. It should be around 160 - 165 degrees.
1 1/2 cups dice rhubarb
1/2 pound of cherries pitted
1 small pkg. frozen berry blend
sugar, to taste
In a sauce pan, add all of your fruit and cook on medium low heat. Cook down fruit until it is able to be purred. You can mash the fruit with either a potato masher, or use an immersion blender to mix it together after it cooks down. Add sugar until it tastes sweet to you. I started with about 3 T of sugar and ended up with around 6 T at the end. Let cook until the sauce starts to thicken. If it doesn't appear to be thickening, you can add a small amount (about 1tsp) of corn starch to mix in to thicken.
Sauce can be stored in the fridge or you could can it as well. It will last longer if you can it.
I chose to serve with some buttermilk biscuits. This recipe tasted old fashioned like grandma used to make. They were very tender. You can the recipe for these biscuits in the new cookbook by Pauley Perrette (from NCIS) called Donna Bell's Bake Shop. The recipe I used is on page 11.
If you want to serve it over biscuits, it is very good. I also like it over ice cream or with some cool whip.
