Herbed Garden Marmalade

Award winning!

3 cups chopped, seeded, peeled, cored tomatoes (about 3 pounds)
2 teaspoons slivered lemon peel
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh basil
1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano
1/4 lemon juice
4 1/2 cups sugar
1 package powdered pectin

Put tomatoes in a large saucepot. Cover; simmer 10 minutes. Measure 3 cups cooked tomatoes. Combine tomatoes, lemon peel, garlic, herbs, pectin and lemon juice in a large saucepot. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Add sugar; stirring until dissolved. Return to a rolling boil, boil hard one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary. Ladle hot marmalade into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Adjust two piece caps. Process 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner.

Parmesan Herb Buttermilk Biscuits

2 cups flour
2 tsps baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
6 Tbs unsalted butter, frozen solid
Extra ingredients (for flavor variations)
1 cup cold buttermilk (plus a few extra teaspoons, if needed)
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbs each, chopped fresh dill and tarragon

Heat oven rack in the middle position and heat to 450 degrees. With a fork, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Using the large holes in a box grater, coarsely grate butter into the dry ingredients; mix quickly with fingertips to blend evenly. Mix in extra ingredients, if using them. Stir in buttermilk with the fork and mix until dough just comes together. If necessary, add extra droplets of buttermilk over any dry patches.

Turn dough out onto floured work surface and pat into a thick disk about 6 inches across. Cut in half with a knife, and then cut each half into five parts. Pick up each piece and gently, without over handling the dough, shape into a round. Spray a 9-inch cake pan with cooking spray and arrange biscuits in pan. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Makes 10 biscuits. Per biscuit: 163 calories, 4g protein, 21g carbohydrates, 7g fat (5g saturated), 19mg cholesterol, 1g fiber, 361 mg sodium

Extra ingredients:
For Parmesan Herb Biscuits (this is what I made)
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbs each, chopped fresh dill and tarragon

Lemon Balm Cheesecake

PASTRY

1 CUP ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR
3 oz MARGARINE, CUT ONTO PIECES
PINCH OF SALT

FILLING

2 oz MARGARINE
2 TBSP HONEY
2 EGGS BEATEN
6 TBSP VERY FINELY CHOPPED LEMON BALM
12 oz CREAM CHEESE

SERVES SIX.

1. Preheat oven to 400 *F

2 . For the pastry, sift the flour and salt into bowl. Rub in the margarine with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add enough water to make soft dough. Roll out to line a 7 inch quiche dish. Bake blind for 15 minutes.

3. For the filling, beat the margarine, honey and cream cheese together in a bowl until soft and creamy. Beat in the eggs and fold in the lemon balm. Reduce the oven temperature to 350*F.

4. Pour the filling into the pastry case. Bake for 45 minutes until the filling is golden and set. Serve with whipped cream or yogurt.

Basil & Fresh Tomato Angel Hair Pasta

Angel hair pasta-1 12 oz. package
10-20 large fresh basil leaves
1-2 large fresh tomatoes
1-2 cloves garlic
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
Boil 1/2 package of angel hair pasta until almost done. Drain and set aside.

In large skillet add few tablespoons of olive oil, cook garlic until transparent, not brown. Add pasta with a little more oil to loosen pasta. Chop tomatoes in bite size pieces and add tomatoes to the skillet. Salt and pepper to taste. Warm through and add fresh basil and stir briefly. Do not heat too long or the basil will turn dark.

Sprinkle with parmesan cheese until slightly melted and serve.