Milk Chocolate & Macadamia Nut Lacey's

Milk Chocolate & Macadamia Nut Lacey's

Ingredients

Ingredients:
	6.5 ounce jar of macadamia nuts (1¾ cup) - or any kind of nut - almonds and hazelnuts would be good
3	Tablespoons all purpose flour
¾	cup sugar
2	Tablespoons heavy cream
2	Tablespoons light corn syrup
5	Tablespoons butter
1	teaspoon pure vanilla extract
	12 oz. bag of semi-sweet OR milk chocolate chips

Directions

Makes about 24-26 sandwich cookies

In a food processor, pulse the nuts until finely chopped but not pasty. If you don't chop them fine enough, it may be difficult for the dough to form into a ball so make sure to chop them pretty fine. Transfer nuts to a large heatproof bowl and add the flour. Mix together and set aside.

 In a small saucepan over medium heat, add sugar, cream, corn syrup, and butter. Stir occasionally and cook until mixture comes to a rolling boil and the sugar is dissolved. Continue to boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Pour hot mixture into the nut mixture and stir just to combine. Let cool for about 25-30 minutes until it's cool enough to handle. The mixture will stiffen up into a firm "dough" as it cools.

While the dough is cooling, preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Once the dough is cool enough to handle, scoop the dough using a 1 teaspoon measurement and roll into balls. I get about 50 balls out of one batch, enough to make about 25 sandwich cookies. The dough will spread out into 3 inch cookies when baked. Roll all the balls out at once and place on a large plate until ready to bake.

The dough continues to stiffen up the longer it sits out; if it cools down too much, it gets crumbly and more difficult to shape into balls. If this happens, just pop the bowl into the microwave for about 30 seconds to warm it up and make it more pliable.

Place balls onto prepared baking sheet, leaving about 3-4 inches of space between each cookie. Bake one pan at a time until the cookies are thin and an even golden brown color throughout, 9 to 11 minutes. Rotate pans once halfway through the baking time.

But we're not done with them yet. We're going to make little lacey cookie sandwiches with the chocolate next.

Melt chocolate chips using the double boiler method: Fill a saucepan with about an inch of water, bring it to a low simmer, then place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl that's large enough to fit in the pan but not touch the bottom. Set the bowl over the simmering water without letting the bowl touch the water. Stir occasionally until melted and smooth.

Since the cookies are kind of delicate, I set the cookie on a solid surface like my cutting board to keep it stable and use a pastry brush to spread the chocolate to the edges. This will reduce the risk of breaking the cookies as you're manhandling them with chocolate. Then top the chocolate cookies with the remaining cookies. I sandwich them bottom-to-bottom so the tops of each cookie face the outside. Place cookies back onto wire rack and let set completely. Chocolate may leak through some of the undersides of the lacy cookies while they're cooling, so place a paper towel under the rack to catch any drips.

Easy Oven Roasted Chicken Shawarma

Easy Oven Roasted Chicken Shawarma


Ingredients

Chicken Shawarma
• 3 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• ½ tsp turmeric
• 2 tsp cumin
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• juice from 2 lemons
• ½ cup olive oil
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 large onion, sliced
• fresh parsley for garnish
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
Garlic Sauce
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• ⅓ cup lemon juice
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 egg white*
• 1 tsp salt

Chicken Shawarma Wraps
• hummus
• tabbouleh salad
• garlic sauce
• Naan or Pita Wraps

Instructions

Chicken Shawarma

1. In a large bowl add the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, cumin, black pepper, paprika, turmeric, red pepper flakes, cinnamon, garlic, and whisk well. Add the chicken and toss making sure the chicken is well coated in the marinade. Cover with plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate for at least an hour. The longer the meat marinates the more flavor you'll have.

2. Preheat oven to 425 F degrees. Add sliced onion to bowl with chicken and toss well so that the onion is fully coated in the marinade. Add everything to a 9x13 baking dish. I didn't have much marinade leftover since the chicken absorbed most of it, so that's why I added everything to the baking dish. Spread everything evenly over the baking dish.

3. Bake in the oven until the chicken is browned and crisp on the edges, for about 40 to 45 minutes. If you want the chicken crispier on top, turn the broiler on to high and broil for 3 minutes until nice and crispy on the outside.
4. Let the chicken rest for about 5 minutes, then slice it into bits.

Garlic Sauce

1. Add all the ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth, it should take 1 to 2 minutes. This recipe will make about 1½ cups of sauce, refrigerate leftover sauce.

Chicken Shawarma Wraps
1. To make the chicken shawarma wraps, warm up the wraps first in the microwave for about 30 seconds, then spread some hummus over each wrap, spoon about 2 or 3 tbsp of tabbouleh salad, add chicken shawarma, and drizzle with garlic sauce and serve.

Notes
Prep time does not include time for marinating chicken.
*If you don't want to use raw egg whites in the garlic sauce, you can omit it, just add the oil little by little to the blender until it thickens and should have the consistency of mayonnaise.

Roasted Garlic Hummus

Ingredients
• 3 whole garlic heads
• 1 19 ounce can chickpeas, drained
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp peanut butter or tahini paste
• 3 tbsp water
• juice from one lemon
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
• salt to taste
• fresh chives for garnish
• extra olive oil for roasting garlic

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 F degrees.
2. Cut the top of the cloves off for each garlic head and place them in aluminum foil with the cut part on top, drizzle with some olive oil and salt and place them in the oven and roast for about 20 minutes.
3. Once the garlic is roasted, let it cool down for a few minutes, then squeeze or pop the garlic out, right into the food processor.
4. Add chickpeas, olive oil, peanut butter, lemon juice, water, cayenne and salt and process until the hummus is smooth.
5. Transfer to a serving plate, drizzle with additional olive oil if preferred and chives and serve.

Tabbouleh Salad

Ingredients
• ½ cup uncooked bulgur wheat
• cup water
• ¼ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup lemon juice (1 or 2 lemons, depending on size)
• 3 cups tomatoes, chopped
• ½ English cucumber, chopped (about 1 cup)
• cup green onions, chopped (about 7 green onions)
• cup fresh parsley, chopped
• cup fresh mint, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
1. Add water to a small pot and bring water to boil. When the water is boiling add the bulgur and cover. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. Stir occasionally. Let the bulgur cool.
2. Add bulgur to a large bowl, then add remaining ingredients. Toss well.

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Fresh boiled chicken breast, cut into cubes
1/2 cup cream cheese softened
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup grapes, cut in half
1 Granny Smith apple, cut in small bites with skin left on
1/2 wedge of freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup of sliced almonds, toasted
salt and pepper to taste.

1. Mix ingredients together

2. Chill overnight (or at least 4 hours)

3. Serve on croissants

It's also delicious with your favorite crackers!