Parmesan Delectibite Appetizers

My Grandmother, Gladys, use to make these. She was an amazing cook; she would have 100 people over for a cocktail party and make it look effortless. These have got to be one of the easiest-to-make appetizers on earth. Beware! Once you start eating them...you won't stop (cue the scary organ music).

Ingredients:

2 C flour
1/2 t salt
2 t baking powder
1/4 t ground red pepper
1 C cream
3/4 C finely grated parmesan cheese
1/4 C butter
1/4 C olive oil

Ingredients:

Mix dry ingredients together in a food processor to distribute evenly. Add Parmesan and cream and pulse until blended (if you don't have a food processor you can use your hands). Gather up wet dough and make into a log. Refrigerate for 8 hours then cut into 1/4" thick slices. Melt butter in a large skillet. Add olive oil and combine over heat. Place slices in skillet and bake the whole thing in a 450 degree, preheated oven for 12 minutes. Serve warm.

Lentil Soup A La Jenn

There is so much to love about Lentil Soup. It is packed with good protein and fiber-filled fresh vegetables. The result is almost a miracle food!  Yes--there is a little fat, but you can skip the ham if you have high cholesterol. However, I would use the bacon if you don't have sherry. One or the other or BOTH adds that special flavor punch! WHAMO! Gottcha! FLAVOR. This was adapted quite a lot from a recipe from 'The Soup Kettle" restaurant recipe by Juanita Gomez. Yield: at LEAST 12 large bowlfulls.

Ingredients:

1/2 large onion--chopped
5 large carrots--sliced
3 slices REAL bacon (optional if you use sherry)
2 -4 C REAL ham--cut in 1" cubes or pieces (just buy one of those large, packaged ham slices)
2 garlic cloves--smashed and minced
2 large stalks celery--sliced
4 C lentils
4 quarts beef stock or 4 quarts water and 4 large beef bouillon cubes (6 gram size)
4 oz tomato paste
1/2-3/4 C good sherry (optional if you use bacon)
Sour cream or lemon wedges
Nutmeg

Directions: Rinse lentils and pick through them for dark ones while still in the colander. If you don't have a colander--use your head! Wait...that came out wrong. Unless you have holes in your head do not use your head. Use a large strainer.

Boil water in a 6-qt. soup pot and stir in bouillon cubes. Add lentils and boil for 30 minutes (some people soak their lentils overnight before boiling--this is good but not necessary). Meanwhile sauté first 6 ingredients in a large frying pan or a second pot. Add sauteed vegies to lentils and cook until lentils are soft. Add tomato paste and sherry. Cook for another 10 minutes. At this point I let the whole thing cool and leave it in the refrigerator overnight. But if you are hungry--you can serve it right away and put the excess in the fridge. Perhaps freeze some for another week? Absatutely!

To serve: Heat and salt and pepper to taste. Top with a blob of sour cream on top (swirl it to make it pretty) and a tiny bit of grated nutmeg. Alternatively--serve it with a slice of fresh lemon floating in the bowl. Note: Lentil soup does tend to get thicker with time--you can always add more water as you heat it up in the microwave or saucepan.