Rhubarb Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

It's unusual to see a cookie recipe with rhubarb as an ingredient. Rhubarb turns wet and mushy when cooked and one would think the cookie would fall apart while baking, but not so. The rhubarb is incorporated diced and raw which avoids that wetness. I was truly surprised at how much I liked this recipe as I much prefer a crisp cookie and this is definitely a cake-like cookie. The coconut in them adds an extra element and the rhubarb yielded a tang in every bite. All that brown sugar makes for a caramel flavored cookie and adding some vanilla bean paste to the cream cheese frosting gave it just that little bit extra. They'd be perfect with a cup of tea....you could make them smaller if that's how you plan to serve them.

Rhubarb Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from Jill at Dulce Dough

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed

 2 eggs

 3 cups all-purpose flour

 1 teaspoon baking soda

 1/2 teaspoon salt

 3/4 cup flaked coconut

 1 1/2 cups fresh rhubarb, diced

Ingredients for Frosting:

3 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 tablespoon butter, softened

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

3 teaspoons vanilla bean paste

Method for cookies:
Preheat oven to 350.

Cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy; beat in the eggs.

In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. The dough will be somewhat stiff.

Add the rhubarb and coconut.

I used an ice cream scoop and placed the cookies two inches apart on parchment paper. 

Bake for 10 - 14 minutes or until lightly browned.

Cool briefly on the cookie sheet and then remove to a wire rack. Cool completely before frosting.

Method for frosting: 

Beat cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy; beat in the confectioners sugar and vanilla bean paste.
Frost cookies and serve.

Vegetable Strudel

If I remember correctly, I first saw this on Pinterest and saved it. Marie's idea of using leftover vegetables rolled up in phyllo made for quite a flavorful dish. I used what I had: cauliflower, red pepper, red onion, garlic, eggplant and carrots, roasted them all together first and then filled phyllo with them. The phyllo was in my freezer, 1/2 package left from another recipe. Topped with cheese and then baked, wow! Yummy supper and pretty darn elegant too, considering this was all leftovers. 
I did things a little differently than Marie. She was a good girl. I wasn't. She sprayed each phyllo layer with olive oil and sprinkled with Romano cheese. Ditto on the top. I went with butter and bread crumbs, making this a richer dish. Your choice. Marie had some marinara sauce leftover and used that on the side. I loved it just the way it came out of the oven. No sauce. I could barely keep my hands off the roasted vegetables, the flavors were so spectacular, let alone add sauce when it was baked. But again, your choice.
When it was all rolled up, I brushed on some more butter and sprinkled some Parmesan cheese on top.Unfortunately, this was not an actual recipe, but I'll do the best I can. Hopefully, everyone knows how to work with phyllo; Marie went into more detail and no doubt you can find additional information online. This was an awesome idea for leftover veggies. 

Vegetable Strudel
Idea from Marie at Proud Italian Cook

Ingredients:
I used: leftover eggplant, red pepper, red onion, carrots, cauliflower, garlic
8 phyllo sheets, thawed overnight in the fridge if frozen
various cheeses; I used mozzarella, Parmesan, fontina and gruyere
Unsalted butter, melted
plain bread crumbs
olive oil
salt and pepper

Method:
Make certain your vegetables are cut in similar sizes. If you use cauliflower, it should be cut into very small florets. Combine the vegetables and place in a sheet pan. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast in a 425 oven until browned, about 30-35  minutes. Allow to cool.
Unfold your phyllo sheets onto a damp tea towel. Also have one available to place on top so the sheets don't dry out. Reduce oven to 400.
I used 8 layers of phyllo, buttering each layer and then sprinkling with bread crumbs.
Add your roasted and cooled vegetables in the center, spreading out, but leaving a border all around the edges of the phyllo. Sprinkle with the cheeses, I used all those listed except the Parmesan, which I sprinkled on top. Roll it up into a log, brush some butter on top and sprinkle with Parmesan or Romano.
Bake in a 400 oven until cooked through and brown, about 30-40 minutes. Mine took a bit longer because my roll was fat and stuffed with lots of vegetables and it took about 45 minutes for the cheese inside to melt completely.

Ina First Fridays: Meringues Chantilly with Roasted Berries

Welcome once again to Ina First Fridays! I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday weekend.
This Ina Friday selection is a dessert....Ina does the best desserts, don't you agree? This particular recipe is a great summer treat....I made it last summer (!), but never posted it. You have two choices for serving: you can use freshly whipped cream with a touch of sugar, vanilla and orange liqueur, or vanilla ice cream. I've served it both ways, but ice cream is simpler as you don't have the extra step of whipping the cream. On the other hand, whipped cream kind of offsets the sweetness of the meringue; it's pictured it here with whipped cream.

Meringues Chantilly with Roasted Berries
From Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa, 2008

Ingredients for meringues:
4 extra - large egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
Pinch kosher salt
1 cup granulated sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

(Recipe for roasted berries follows)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a small glass and a pencil, draw 4 (3 1/2-inch) circles on each piece of paper. Turn the paper face down on the baking sheets.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt on high speed until frothy. Add 2/3 cup of the sugar and continue beating on high speed until the egg whites form very stiff peaks. Whisk in the vanilla. Carefully fold the remaining 1/3 cup sugar into the meringue. With a large star - shaped pastry tip, pipe a disk of meringue inside each circle. Pipe another layer around the edge to form the sides of the shells.
Bake for 2 hours, or until the meringues are dry and crisp but not browned. Turn off the heat and allow the meringues to sit in the oven for 4 hours or overnight.
Makes 8 meringues.
For serving, place each meringue on a separate plate, top with whipped cream or ice cream and add the berries.


Roasted Berries
Ingredients:
1 pint fresh strawberries
2 half-pints fresh raspberries
2 half-pints fresh blueberries
2 half-pints fresh blackberries
(I added some black cherries I had left over)
1/4 cup sugar
Vanilla bean, split and seeds removed

Method:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Place the strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries on a sheet pan and toss with the sugar and vanilla bean seeds. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes. 
Cool to room temperature before serving.

Whipped Cream with Orange Liqueur

Ingredients:
2 cups cold whipping cream
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon orange liqueur such as Grand Marnier

Method:
Whip the cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. When it starts to thicken, add the sugar, vanilla and orange liqueur and continue to whip until the cream forms fairly stiff peaks. (Don't overbeat!)

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Ina Fridays participants:

Alyce from moretimeatthetable.blogspot.com 

Mireya from myhealthyeatinghabits.com

Nancy from mypicadillo.com  

Veronica from mycatholickitchen.com

Linda from There and Back Again 

Chaya from bizzybakes.blogspot.com

Ansh from spiceroots.com  

Martha from simple-nourished-living.com
Minnie from TheLady8home.com

Bhavna from justagirlfromaamchimumbai.com/ 

B. from The Rocky MountainWoman 
Ria from Ria's Collection
Linda from Tumbleweed Contessa