Halloween Candy Cookies

Leftover candies and bars find a new use in cookies.

Chop leftover Halloween candies and tuck the pieces into cookie dough in lieu of chocolate chips. Almost any candy will work—Butterfingers, Heath Bars, Milky Ways, Snickers, Kit Kats, M&Ms and even Twizzlers, gum drops, and jelly beans.

Ingredients: 
  

• 3 2/3  cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2  teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/4  teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4  teaspoon coarse salt
• 1  cup (2 sticks) butter
• 1 1/4  cups firmly packed brown sugar
• 1  cup granulated sugar
• 2  eggs
• 2  teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 to 3  cups chopped candy bits (such as Butterfingers, Baby Ruths, Heath Bars, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Twizzlers, jelly beans, M&Ms, Lifesavers)

Cooking Instructions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350F.

2.  Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
3.  Beat butter and sugars together with a mixer until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture and mix just until combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Stir in candy bits.
4.  Drop dough by tablespoons onto baking sheet. Bake 15 to 20 minutes. Cool on baking sheet 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Pistachio Pesto

Pistachios add a different flavor twist to pesto

Ingredients:  

• 2  cloves garlic
• 1/2  cup shelled pistachios
• 2  cups loosely packed basil
• 1  tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2  teaspoon salt
• 1/3  cup extra-virgin olive oil (or enough to make dip creamy)
• 1/4  cup shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Cooking Instructions:

1. Place garlic in food processor; pulse until chopped. Add pistachios, basil, lemon juice and salt; pulse until nuts are finely chopped.
2. Add olive oil gradually through food chute and process until well combined. Add cheese and pulse 2 or 3 times.

Pho (Beef Noodle Soup)

Recipe by Christina Eng

 Just before serving, add a nest of rice noodles and razor-thin slices of beef to the fragrant hot broth.

The hot broth ladled over the noodles and raw beef cooks the beef, which is why its important to cut it as thinly as possible. Eat the noodles and beef with chopsticks, and savor the broth with a spoon.

Ingredients:

     —  Broth:
   

•   1  tablespoon olive oil
•   2  medium yellow onions, quartered lengthwise
•   1  piece (3-inch) ginger, peeled and cut in half lengthwise
•   3  quarts lower-sodium chicken broth
•   1 1/2  pounds boneless beef chuck, sliced crosswise into 1-inch strips
•   1  cinnamon stick
•   3  whole cloves
•   3  whole star anise

   
    —  Noodles and Beef:
   

•   1  pound dried rice stick noodles, ¼-inch wide, usually labeled banh pho
•   1/4  cup fish sauce
•   2  teaspoons sugar
•   1/2  teaspoon salt
•   1/2  pound boneless beef rib-eye, strip or flank steak, slightly frozen, sliced paper-thin across the grain    and cut in bite-size pieces
•   1  medium yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced
•   3  green onions, thinly sliced
•   1  pound mung bean sprouts, tails trimmed, rinsed
•   1/2  bunch fresh cilantro
•   1/2  bunch fresh basil
•   2  limes, cut into wedges

 

Cooking Instructions:

   1. To prepare broth, heat oil in a large stockpot. Add onions and ginger; sauté until brown. Add chicken broth, beef chuck, cinnamon, cloves and star anise. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat and simmer 1 hour.
   2. To prepare noodles, soak noodles in warm water until pliable, 20 to 25 minutes. Drain well.
   3. After broth has simmered 1 hour, remove from heat. Remove cooked beef, and save for another use. Strain broth into another large stockpot, discarding onions, ginger and whole spices. Stir in fish sauce, sugar and salt. Just before serving, bring back to a full boil.
   4. Arrange yellow onion, green onion, bean sprouts, cilantro, basil and lime wedges on a small platter.
   5. To cook noodles, bring a large pot of water to a full boil. Place noodles, one or two servings at a time, into a sieve and lower into boiling water. Cook 20 to 30 seconds. Drain well and transfer to large individual bowls. Repeat until all noodles are done.
   6. Top each bowl of noodles with a few slices of steak. Ladle in 2 cups of hot broth. The heat should cook the meat instantly. Garnish with yellow onion, green onion, bean sprouts, cilantro, basil and lime wedges.