Tuna Croquettes

Ingredients:
2 cans albacore tuna (drained)
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon good quality Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon Old Bay
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 eggs
½ cup bread crumbs
Fresh dill, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil (for pan)

Directions:
Break up tuna in chunks in a large bowl. Combine with remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. Form into patties. Fry in a large pan until golden, flipping half way through.

How to Boil Perfect Eggs

Place eggs in pan. Fill pan with cool water until it is about 1 inch above the eggs. Bring a rapid boil. Immediately cover and remove from heat. Sit covered for 15 minutes. Drain, cool under cold water. This method produces hard boiled eggs with nearly centered yolks with no green edge.

Spicy Deviled Eggs

Ingredients:
a bit of cayenne
a bit of mexican chili powder
a squirt of good quality Dijon mustard
salt
a tiny dot of mayo for moisture
fresh black pepper
a sprinkle of Hungarian Hot Paprika (for the top)
adjust amounts as needed depending on how many eggs you are making

Directions:
Cool boiled eggs. Slice in half. In a bowl, combine yolks together with all ingredients except paprika. Spoon (or be fancy and pipe using a pastry bag) yolk mixture into egg halves. Sprinkle with hot paprika and voila.

Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:
1 lb butter (at room temperature)
6 eggs (at room temperature)
4 cups sugar
7 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla
colored sugar

Directions:
In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter until fluffy. Beat eggs separately then add to butter mixture. Add vanilla, baking powder and flour. Mix thoroughly and chill over night, Preheat oven to 375. Roll dough on floured surface to desired thickness and cut into shapes. Sprinkle with colored sugar if desired. Repeat as necessary to use up all the dough. If the dough becomes warm, re-refrigerate and begin again when dough is cool. Do not "over work" the dough, discard dough that has been rolled out more then once or twice or the cookies will be tough. Grease cookie sheets with shortening in between each baking. If baking more then one sheet at a time, rotate halfway though cooking time. Bake 8-10 minutes or until just done. Do not brown. Cool briefly in the pan on a rack then place on a foil covered surface to cool. This recipe makes so many cookies, I normally cover my kitchen table in newspaper, then foil to allow the cookies to cool. Store in an air tight container.

Suggestion: I also make these for Valentine's Day, using red sugar and heart shaped cutters.

Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup plus 6 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 oz semisweet chips (I used Hershey's Special Dark chips)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly spray one cookie sheet with spray oil. In a medium sized bowl combine flour, salt, and baking soda. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and combine thoroughly. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the sweetened butter. Once combined, add chips and distribute evenly using the mixer on the lowest setting. Form cookies by dropping 1 teaspoon of dough on the sheet two inches apart. Smoosh them down a little then bake until light brown, about 12 minutes. Let cool if possible then serve with plenty of cold milk.

Yields: aprox. 2 dozen cookies, depending on size


Too many cookies? Try this cookie dough tip.

My thoughts:
These are seriously the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever had. Chocolate-y, chewy, crisp. Cookie heaven.

Latkes

Ingredients:
2 lbs potatoes, grated
1 large onion, grated
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons matzo meal
olive oil
Directions:
In a large pan, heat oil. In a large bowl, combine the eggs and the matzo meal. Add potatoes and onion and combine. Fry in hot oil, flipping half way through, until just golden then drain and serve with sour cream. Yum.

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