Week of 6/12/2000


Lemon-Nutmeg Shortbreads with Lemon Icing
Serve with vanilla ice cream for a great warm weather treat!

1 cup all purpose flour
2 1/2 Tbls. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbls. plus 1 tsp. grated lemon peel
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Lemon Icing
1/2 cup powdered sugar
3 tsp. (about) fresh lemon juice

Place sugar in small bowl. Mix in lemon juice as needed to make icing just thin enough to drip off fork.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, cornstarch, nutmeg and salt in medium bowl; whisk to blend. Using electric mixer, beat butter, sugar, lemon peel and vanilla in large bowl until light and fluffy. Add dry ingredients and mix until dough begins to come together.

Turn dough out onto sheet of waxed paper. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Cover with second sheet of paper. Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness, turning and freeing paper from dough occasionally. Free bottom sheet of paper; remove top sheet. Cut out cookies, using 3 inch cutters. Transfer to 2 ungreased baking sheets, spacing cookies 1/2 inch apart. Gather and reroll scraps; cut out additional cookies. Transfer to sheet.

Bake cookies until firm to touch and just beginning to color, about 15 minutes. Transfer cookies to rack and cool.

Drizzle icing from fork tines onto cookies. (Can be made 1 week ahead. Store airtight in single layer at room temperature.) Makes about 18 cookies.

Broccoli-Chicken Salad

4 skinned and boned chicken breast halves
4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb. fresh broccoli florets
4 green onions, chopped
1 medium-size red bell pepper, chopped
1 cup sweetened dried cranberries
Chutney Dressing (see recipe)
1/4 cup chopped peanuts

Bring chicken, broth, soy sauce and garlic to a boil in a medium saucepan. Simmer 15 to 20 minutes or until chicken is done. Cool in broth. Remove from broth when cooled and cut into bite-size pieces.

Toss together chicken, broccoli and next 4 ingredients. Chill 1 hour. Sprinkle with peanuts before serving. Serves 6.

Chutney Dressing:
1 (9 oz.) jar chutney (may use Major Grey Chutney)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp. dried crushed red pepper

Stir together all ingredients.

Lemon-Ginger Iced Tea
A refreshing, caffeine-free way to quench your thirst.

4 cups water
2 large lemons
1 2-inch knob fresh ginger root
1/4 cup sugar, or more to taste
Ice cubes

Bring the water to a boil in a medium saucepan. While you are waiting for the water to boil, halve 1 of the lemons and squeeze its juice into the pan. (don’t worry about the seeds). Add the squeezed lemon halves to the pan.

The next step is to grate the ginger. There’s no need to peel the ginger; just grate it on the fine holes of a box grater. There should be about 3 Tbls. grated ginger. Add the ginger of the water and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain the tea through a mesh strainer or a colander lined with paper towels. Stir in the sugar until dissolved.

Refrigerate the tea until well chilled. Thinly slice the second lemon. Serve the tea over ice in tall glasses garnished with lemon slices. Serves 6.