almonds, finely ground
Directions
Cream the butter and sugar in a small bowl with a wooden spoon until light and fluffy.
Add the egg yolks, one at time, beating well after each addition.
Add crème cheese.
Beat.
Add almond extract, vanilla extract, nutmeg, parsley, and ground almonds.
Mix well.
Butterfly Butter
This can be slow and tedious, but well worth the effort.
Ingredients:
4 cups white-radish “Butterfly Wings” (See Directions)
⅛ cup clarified butter and savory salt (to taste), strained through cheesecloth.
1 large mint leaf
¼ teaspoon edible glitter (http://www.lusterdust.com/ludubycsa.html); we prefer the translucent white glitter for best effect.
¼ teaspoon Hawaiian Spice
Directions:
Peel white radishes.
Slice them thin as thinnest rice paper until you have 4 cups.
Soak slices in a large bowl of very icy water.
Once the slices begin to curl, caress each so it curls separately.
Once “wings” have curled, drain, and add clarified butter with savory salt.
Place mint leaf on soup, salad or any other dish.
Place wings on mint leaf.
Dust with edible glitter.
NOTE: if you want this sweeter, blend one teaspoon of powdered sugar in with the edible glitter before “dusting”.
Sprinkle with Hawaiian Spice.
Caramelized Onions
Some things you must really learn how to do, because they’re a basic part of some recipes. Even with the unique ingredients we use in our book’s recipes, other things are just tried-and-true common sense.
Caramelizing brings out the natural flavor of onion(s) and changes their chemical balance to make them more stomach-friendly for those who find them unpalatable when raw. We use caramelized onions in lots of recipes. The key is in blending them with other flavors.
Caramelized onions are important to stews, soups, casseroles, and are delicious on toast points.
Ingredients:
Onions (you pick the number)
A few drops of oil
Clarified butter (See Recipe for Clarified Butter)
A wiggle (1/16 teaspoon) of NapaStyle® gray sea salt
A wiggle (1/16 teaspoon) of pepper
A wiggle (1/16 teaspoon) of sugar (if you just have to have sugar)
A drop or two of water, white wine, or beer,
Directions:
Boil onion(s) for about one minute to loosen skin and reduce watering of your eyes.
Peel and chop boiled onion(s).
NOTE: Split your onion(s) in half for easy chopping. Place half of an onion, cut side down, on a clean, flat cutting surface, and then chop.
In a large sauté pan, medium-high temperature, add your butter and a few drops of oil.
Add onion(s) and stir until they are coated with oil and butter.
Continue to stir, careful not to burn onion(s).
Add a pinch of salt (this will increase the speed of cooking, by taking away some of the moisture through rapid evaporation).
Add pepper and sugar.
Continue to stir but allow some of the onions to stick to the bottom of the pan (yes!) while onions continue to darken.
Add a drop or two of water, white wine, or beer, depending on your taste, to keep all of the onions from sticking, and loosening those that have.
Remove from heat when your desired degree of caramelization has occurred.
Chili Butter
Ingredients:
½ cup dark beer (or cabernet sauvignon wine)
1 cup cream cheese
2 cups clarified butter
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire® sauce
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1 Tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon NapaStyle® gray sea salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon white sugar
2 Tablespoons wheat flour
2 Tablespoons oat bran
Directions
Blend beer, cream cheese, and butter.
Add remaining ingredients.
Blend.
Refrigerate overnight.
Re-blend, before serving, if it has begun to separate.
Clarified Butter
Ingredients:
2½ cups of butter
Directions:
In a sauce pan, over a very low heat, place your butter.
Let butter melt slowly (don’t play with it, just let it separate into the following three layers: foam, butterfat, water, and milk solids).
Skim off the foam.
Ladle out the butter fat (clarified butter)
Discard water and milk solids.
Or freeze the mixture and carve off the unusable top and bottom layers.
This makes about 2 cups of clarified butter.
Cranberry/Pinot-Noir Sauce
Ingredients:
2 cups whole cranberries
½ cup white sugar
½ cup water
1 cup firmly-packed brown sugar
1 cup pinot noir wine
1 teaspoon Mexican Spice
2 teaspoons hot Chinese mustard
Directions:
In a medium saucepan, combine cranberries, sugar, and water.
Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat.
Let simmer until cranberries are tender, stirring.
Add brown sugar, pinot noir wine, Mexican Spice, and Chinese mustard.
Stir.
Simmer 5 minutes, stirring often.
Remove from heat.
Honey Lemon Butter
Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon olive oil
¼ cup lemon zest
2 cups clarified