Orange Bars

I was curious as to whether I could use oranges to bake something like lemon bars. Here's the results. I was fairly pleased. 

For the Crust:

1 1/2 sticks of butter

2 cups of flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

For the Filling:

2 large oranges (1 cup of orange juice)

2 cups of granulated sugar

1/3 cup of flour

4 eggs

2 egg yolks

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease the baking pan. Mix the ingredients for the crust to make a nice simple shortbread crust. Line the bottom of the pan with the shortbread, and line about a quarter inch up on the sides. Bake for twenty to twenty five minutes. 

For the filling, first zest the oranges. Juice the oranges. You need 1 cup of orange juice. Whisk the eggs, sugar and flour. Slowly whisk in the orange juice and zest.   Pour the filling in top of the crust. Bake for thirty to thirty five minutes. 

When finished, garnish with a light layer of powdered sugar sprinkled on top. 

Some thoughts:  I used California oranges. The taste was fine. But I prefer tangelos because the taste is more intense. The problem is that tangelos have a short season, usually the end of the summer. The next time they are in season, I may try this again with the tangelos. 

For an extra kick, you may want to add a little bit of salt to the filling. 

Melomakarona - Honey Cookies with Walnuts

Tomorrow is immigrant day at my daughter's school. She plays the role of a Greek immigrant as her project. For extra credit, she made a Greek cookie.

The cookie is called melomakarona. They are honey cookies with walnuts.

The recipe is here:  

http://greekfood.about.com/od/cookiescakes/r/Melomakarona-Spiced-Honey-Cookies-With-Walnuts.htm

The cookies are delicious. Her classmates are in for a treat. 

Simple Pho: Take 2

Ok. I'm not afraid to admit it. My last attempt at pho was not very good. This is take two, and the kids say it's much better. 

Ingredients:

64 oz. beef broth

Two 12 oz. packages of frozen Vietnamese beef balls

5 star anise 

6 whole cloves

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 

1/2 large white onion

1 glove garlic, minced

2 inch piece of ginger, sliced in half

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 tablespoons fish sauce

Thai basil for taste

Pepper to taste

Making this is simple. Bring the broth to a simmer. Add the anise, cloves, and cinnamon. Add the beef balls. Dice the onion. Add to mix. Add the ginger halves. Add the garlic. Add the soy sauce and fish sauce. Let simmer until the beef balls are thoroughly cooked. Add Thai basil and pepper for taste.

Serve in a bowl over rice noodles. 

The kids liked this, but said it was a tad salty. Next time, I'll lighten up on the soy sauce. The better course is to make your own beef broth from the bones. But that would take much longer.