When you are cooking, the vessel you use can serve as a special secret ingredient, changing the way your food tastes.  Morgan Baum from Clay Coyote shows us a Tagine, which is the name of the vessel and the dish.  The recipe comes from her cookbook, called Cookin’ with the Coyotes: Friends in Your Cupboards.

MEDITERRANAN CHICKEN AND MUSHROOMS

-1 clove fresh garlic, crushed
-1 medium onion, minced
-2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
-2 pounds mushrooms, chopped (we like baby bella and shitake)
-1 ½ pounds of chicken thighs
-2 tablespoons dry sherry
-1/4 cup vegetable broth
Process:
-Sauté fresh garlic and onion in olive oil.
-Add a blend of sliced mushrooms and cook until mushrooms are soft, remove and set aside.
-Add a little more olive oil and seared the chicken thighs, moving them a little to make sure they didn’t stick.
-Set the chicken aside and deglaze the pan with dry sherry and vegetable broth.
-Add the chicken and mushrooms back in, cover, and simmer over low flame for 45 minutes.

Michele’s Mom’s Sour Cream & Raisin Bars

These bars have been a staple at so many open houses. Keep this recipe handy, it’s pretty awesome, just like the women who have shared it.

Submitted by: Michele Ebert a la Lillian Novak

Ingredients: 

1 cup brown sugar
1 ½ cup flour 
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups raisins
2 cups sour cream
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter, softened 
1 ½ cup oats 
1 ½ cup boiling water
4 egg yolks
4 tablespoons cornstarch 

Process: 

Combine brown sugar, butter, flour, soda, and oatmeal until crumbly. 

Pat ⅔ of the mixture into a 9×13 sheet pan.

Bake at 350 F for 10 minutes. 

Pour boiling water over raisins and set aside for 10-15 minutes, then drain.

In a saucepan, combine egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and sour cream and cook slowly until thick, then add raisins. 

Pour wet mixture over baked crust and then sprinkle remaining ⅓ of the crumb mixture over the top.  Bake for another 20 minutes at 350 F.