Week of 4/29/02

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Lemon-Nutmeg Shortbread with Lemon Icing
Vanilla ice cream is just the right accompaniment to these cookies.

1 cup unbleached 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

Preheat oven to 350š F. 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. Makes 18 cookies. Can be made 1 week ahead. Store airtight in single layer at room temperature. 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.

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Sauteed Green Beans with Onions and Bacon
Easy and delicious....

1 lb. green beans, trimmed and halved crosswise
4 bacon slices
1 (16-oz.) bottle cocktail onions, drained
2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 1/2 Tbls. cider vinegar
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper

Cook beans in boiling water 4 minutes or until crisp tender. Rinse with cold water, drain and pat dry. Cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving 2 tablespoons drippings in pan; crumble bacon and set aside. Add onions to drippings in pan; cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add sugar and thyme; cook for 3 minutes or until onions are golden brown, stirring occasionally. Add the beans; cook 2 minutes or until throughly heated. Add vinegar, salt and pepper; toss to coat. Stir in crumbled bacon just before serving. Makes 8 (1/2 cup) servings; 59 calories and 3 grams fat per serving.

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Easy Chicken and Rice
So fragrant and delicious...just takes minutes to prepare!

1 pkg. pick-of-the-chix cut-up chicken (9 pieces)
Vegetable oil
1 1/2-2 cups raw rice
1 large onion, chopped
1 1/2 jalapenos, seeded and diced
1 (8-oz.) can tomato sauce
2 tsp. salt
1-2 cloves of garlic, finely diced
1 tsp. ground cumin
Juice of 1/2 lime

Rinse the chicken and pat dry with paper towels. Brown the chicken pieces in 1/4 inch of vegetable oil in a large skillet; set aside. Use this oil in a large cooking pot to brown the rice, onion and peppers adding the diced garlic last. Add extra oil, if needed. When the rice is brown, add the browned chicken, tomato sauce, salt, spices and 2-3 cups of water. Stir well. Simmer, covered, 35 to 45 minutes or until the chicken is tender and most of the water is absorbed. Squeeze the lime juice over it and serve.