Cookie Baking Continues

We started with Pizzelle's this morning...  Uncle Rudy's recipe.

12-13-cookies-5

30 seconds per batch.

12-13-cookies-1

Perfect cookies every time.

I couldn't even imagine making them one at a time with a cast iron iron over the open flame of the stove.  Two at a time with a 14 year old to man the iron is my way of making them!

12-13-cookies-4

And he has definitely mastered the art!  They came out excellent!

Next on the list were Aunt Emma's Apricot Cookies.  The filling and the dough are both made a day in advance, so it's actually a fairly easy roll, cut, fill, shape, bake process.

12-13-cookies-3

Another perfect batch.

Knock wood, but these have all been the best cookies - ever.  Aunt Emma, Aunt Dolores, Uncle Rudy, Mom... they're all really watching after us this year.

It is good!


Baking Cookies

We've barely even started when Uncle Victor whacks Gino in the face with a handful of flour.  let the baking begin!

While I was at work, the gang made Aunt Emma's dough, and pizzelle dough.

12-12-cookies-1

They then started working on sugar cookies.

12-12-cookies-2

12-12-cookies-3

We decided decorating these would be free-form/ecclectic.  I mean, anyone can make a snowman look like a snowman, right?!?  It takes talent to step outside of the box!

12-12-cookies-5

We're talented!

12-12-cookies-6

Very talented!

12-12-cookies-7

Next was a batch of sugar-free Biscotti for Nonna.  Victor came up with a Slenda recipe a few years ago that's actually edible.

We then got back to some serious candy-making.  Aunt Dolores' Rum Balls.  The kids rolled and then chocolate-dipped all of them.

12-12-cookies-8

12-12-cookies-9

12-12-cookies-10

The Rum Balls may be just the best, ever.  I think these are the most like what Auntie made that I've ever made.  I could eat these all night! {{{hic}}}

We also got Vanilla Almond Thumbprints baked off and then made caramels.

12-12-cookies-11

Tomorrow is going to be an early start - making Aunt Emma's cookies, biscotti, pizzelles...  Plus the Walnut Logs, the Peppermint Patties, the Pfeffernusse...

Boy, am I glad we've cut back!  :)


Christmas Cookies 2009

'Tis the Season to bake cookies!

Our most favorite annual tradition is tomorrow - Gino and Elizabeth come to bake cookies with us!  Both expressed interest at early ages about learning the family tradition cookies.  It's great to know that these recipes are going to live on!

Since many of the doughs need to refrigerate overnight, I made Vanila Almond, Walnut Butter, Aunt Dolores' Rum Balls, and Pfeffernusse tonight so the kids will have something to work with while the doughs they make are chilling.  Tomorrow they'll be making Aunt Emma's Apricot cookies, Uncle Rudy's Biscotti (plus a sugar-free version for Nonna) and a couple other varieties, plus Pizzeles.  Maybe the Peppermint Patties, too.  And we get to chocolate dip everything!

We have made literally thousands of cookies a year, but this year we are seriously scaling back.  We just don't have the time to spend making them as we used to.  We have made upwards of 20 dozen each of 20 different cookies every year.  This year we will probably just make 10 or 12.  We'll also be doing a lot of single batches instead of the triple and quadruple batches we've made in the past.

It's going to be a lot of fun!


So-So Asian Sauce

12-9-asian-beef

I tried the first of the sauces I picked up the other day at Assi.

Lee Kum Kee Sichuan Spicy Noodle Sauce.

Eh.

12-10-spicy-noodle-sauce

It wasn't bad or anything - just "eh".  Definitely not spicy.  I used it as a stirfry sauce, not a noodle sauce.  Since I only used a few tablespoons, I'll definitely jazz it up a bit next time.  Some chili paste, for starters...

I'm used to Asian restaurants (and Mexican too, for that matter) around here being borderline bland, but I thought a jarred sauce would be more authentic.  I was wrong.  Oh well.

It still worked for dinner and it was on the table in 20 minutes.  Not bad for a cold Thursday.


Simply Salmon

12-8-salmon-1

These are the salmon steaks I mentioned yesterday.

And this is what they became in about 10 minutes:

12-8-salmon-2

Horseradish-Crusted Salmon Steaks

  • 2 salmon steaks
  • 1/4 cup white wine
  • butter
  • 3/4 cup crumbs (bread crumbs, cracker crumbs)
  • 2 tbsp mayonnaise
  • 1 tbsp horseradish
  • 2 green onions, minced
  • salt and pepper

Preheat broiler.  Butter small broiler pan.  Place salmon in pan, butter salmon and add wine.

Place under broiler and cook about 6 minutes.

While salmon is cooking, mix crumbs, mayo, horseradish, minced onion, and salt and pepper.

Remove salmon from broiler after 6 minutes and pat crumb mixture on top.

Return to broiler until crumbs are golden and salmon is finished - another 4 minutes, or so.

I served with brown rice and Korean squash (which looks and tastes amazingly like zucchini).

The salmon steaks didn't look that huge in the package and didn't look that huge in the pan.  When they got to the plate?!?  They were huge!

We both ate half and have wonderful salmon leftovers for a salad.  Or maybe croquettes!


Asia at Assi Plaza

112-7-assi-logoOh boy, do I have a new favorite store!

Since moving east lo these many years ago, I have had a hellava time finding ethnic groceries.  Things are so white-bread out here on "The Main Line" that I couldn't even find chipotles in adobo until last year!  I have to drive to Wegmans to get Sambal Oelek. It's pretty sad.

I've been having Lumpia withdrawal for quite a while, now.  Once upon a time, a woman named Abundia who I worked with at UCSF kept me supplied.  But that's been 10 years...  Finally, I asked a woman I work with who is Filipina where she got hers.  Her answer?!?  Assi!

It's about a 35 minute drive - without a lot of traffic - but WOW!  What fun!  It was just like being back home!

12-7-assi-3

Miles of aisles of fun exotic foods that you're just not going to find at the local A&P.  Or Wegmans.  Or Acme.  Or anywhere else!  I was like a kid in a candy shop, looking at every item, trying to decipher labels, and just overwhelmed by the sights, sounds, and scents.  And actually hearing Chinese spoken.  It was great.

12-7-assi-1

I went a little crazy.

I bought two types of Lumpia, three types of pork buns, vegetable buns, potstickers, noodles, won ton wrappers, rice dumplings, and even banana leaves!  And that was just the frozen aisle!

12-7-assi-2

And I got teas, and sauces, rice cooking wine, mirin, coconut vinegar (I mean, when was the last time you had coconut vinegar, eh?!?)  And something I had never seen before - corn noodles.  I am just psyched.

I also picked up fresh vegetables and a bunch of meats - and two salmon steaks that were just perfect.  You'll see them tomorrow when we have them for dinner!  Presentations and quality were unsurpassed.

12-7-assi-5.

Tonight, we steamed buns,

12-7-assi-6.

baked off pork buns,

12-7-assi-7.

and I got my Lumpia fix.  And potstickers, to boot!

It's a little too far and a little too specialized to be a regular shopping haunt, but it's definitely going to be a quarterly trek!  My stomach is smiling, the cabinets and freezer are full.

Life is good!


Comfort Foods

12-6-chicken-pot-pie

It's cold outside.  I want comfort food!

I've been working away on a dear friends new website, so writing about food has been secondary to getting the website published. But since it's almost ready to go...  Here's two days worth of Comfort Food Dinners!

Today was an easy one.  I put a big ol' chicken in a pot this morning, filled it with water and turned on the heat.  While I was working away, so was the chicken - making a rich broth and fall-apart-tender bird.

I drained and strained the broth and skimmed the fat.

In a new, clean pan (Victor was in the kitchen cleaning up after me!!) I used the fat with some flour to make a roux.  Added enough broth to make a medium-thick sauce.  I added salt, pepper, garlic,  and poultry seasoning and then noticed about a half-cup of heavy cream in the fridge.  In that went, too.

Victor cut up celery, carrots, a potato, and we threw in frozen peas.  I thought it still needed a bit more stuff, so I cooked up a handful of noodles.  It was another clean out the fridge meal.

As that was all simmering, I made a pie crust:

Julia's Food Processor Pie Crust

  • 1 3/4 cups flour
  • 1 stick (1/4 lb.) butter, cut up
  • 3 tbsp. grapeseed oil
  • 1 tsp. salt

Blend flour, butter, oil and salt in food processor until crumbly. Add 1/4 cup of cold water and pulse until mixed.

This is super easy, just don't over-mix!  I usually wrap in plastic and refrigerated for about 30 minutes.

I made it as a double crust pot pie and have to admit that we both were bad and went back for seconds!

12-6-soup

Last night was another clean out the refrigerator dinner - beef vegetable soup.

I browned off some cubed beef and added beef broth.

Into the broth went the odds and ends in the vegetable bin - pea shoots, cauliflower, carrots, green beans, celery, plus a can of beans, a handful of rice, a handful of barley, a handful of small shell pasta, some mushrooms...

I added a bit of salt and pepper and some herbs d'Provence.

I had seconds of it, also!

Hot soups, stews, and casseroles.  The only things I like about this weather.....


Christmas Fruitcake

12-4-fruitcake

The picture is just not doing this justice.  This really looks so much better in person - and wow!  Does it ever taste good!

I'm a little late making the fruitcakes this year.  Usually they're done by late October and definitely before Thanksgiving.   But since I'm less than 2 weeks past "Stir-Up Sunday" - the traditional day of making fruitcakes in Britain - I'm not too concerned.

I went hunting for a new recipe this year.  I've tired of the Apricot Macadamia Fruitcake I've made for the past 20-odd years and while the cakes I made last year were okay, they were just okay.  I wanted something better.

I didn't find a recipe I really like, so I found one I knew I could reinvent.

It worked.

The 2009 Fruitcake

  • 5 cups golden raisins
  • 4 cups dark raisins
  • 3 cups dried currants
  • 5 cups chopped glacéed fruits
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup dark rum
  • 1 tbsp Lyle's Golden Syrup
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 4 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 1/4 lb unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 3 cups (packed) dark brown sugar
  • 10 large eggs
  • 3 cups pecans

Mix dried fruits in large bowl.  Heat water and rum and pour over fruit.  Mix well.  Mix in syrup and baking soda. Let stand until fruit mixture absorbs liquid, stirring often, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 325°. Butter 9 full-sized loaf pans.

Sift flour, baking powder,and salt into medium bowl. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl until well blended. Beat in eggs 1 at a time.

Add flour. Mix until just blended.

Mix batter and fruit mixture. Divide mixture among pans. Cover pans with foil.

Bake at 325° about 1 1/2 hours. Reduce oven temperature to 275°and continue to bake covered until tester comes out clean but slightly moist, about 30 minutes longer.

Transfer pans to cooling rack.  Remove foil and drizzle about a tablespoon (or more) rum on each cake while hot.

Wrap and store in a cool place, adding more rum weekly.

I actually had Lyle's Golden Syrup (available at Wegmans) but if you don't, use a light molasses.  I also resisted using any other spices and I'm really glad I did.  The flavors worked perfectly and will only improve with age - and a bit more rum!


Stuffed Shells

12--4-shells

I was planning stuffed burgers tonight.  Victor had other ideas while I was at work.  We've been on a bit of a kick to use up stuff that has been collecting in the cabinets, refrigerator, and freezer.  I buy on sale, buy bulk, and otherwise try to maximize my shopping dollar, so at some point there can easily be six different pastas on the shelf, 8 cans of tomatoes, cheeses and other assorted odds and ends left from other meals.  The fun and the challenge is putting them all together.

That's what Victor did tonight!

We had pasta sauce left from Monday, a box of shells, pancetta  from last week, the ground beef I had taken out of the freezer for the burgers...

So...

Victor made a filling of the ground beef, garlic, bread crumbs, chopped oil cured olives, gorgonzola, roasted yellow and red peppers, salt and pepper.

Stuffed the shells and topped with the leftover sauce and then added crisply-fried pancetta and lots of freshly grated parmesan.

Into the oven for about 45 minutes.

We had rolls in the freezer that became garlic bread.

12--4-shells-2

And fruitcake for dessert.

True Confessions Time...

After the picture was taken I added another shell to my plate - and then got two more after those were finished!  OMG it was good!


Chicken Mole Verde

12-3-mole-verde

This may be the least traditional mole ever created - but, dayum, it was good!

I started off with a jar of Doña Maria Mole Verde and a couple of chicken breasts.  I had first thought I would just make the sauce (add a quart of broth to the jar of sauce) and serve it over the chicken but then I thought I'd rather have it served over rice.

I diced and then sauteed the chicken, added the sauce, and then added some frozen corn.  And then some canned beans.  And half a bag of frozen spinach.  And a small can of sliced black olives.  And some leftover rice from the night before.

I couldn't help myself - it became a clean out the kitchen obsession!  What else could I put in this simmering pot?!?  I almost put in some cheese (I had both Spanish blue and Philly cream) but finally realized I had done enough for one pot.

What started out as a simple sauce over a chicken breast became a thick and hearty stew.  It was amazingly good!

It's one I won't be replicating any time soon, but it really does show the versatility of the Doña Maria sauces.  They're like $1.99 - I always have a couple in the cabinet for those lazy whatever nights.

Yum.


Pork Chops and Repurposed Cranberry Sauce

12-2-pork

'Tis the Season to See Red!  And Green!

While we have gone through most of the Thanksgiving leftovers, there was a goodly amount of Cranberry Blackberry Sauce that was just asking to be reworked into another meal.  I answered the plea tonight!

The original sauce was actually pretty basic:

Cranberry Blackberry Sauce

  • 1 bag cranberries
  • 1 cup blackberries
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3/4 cup water
  • 1/4 cup sherry

In a heavy saucepan combine the cranberries, blackberries, sugar,water, and the sherry. Simmer the mixture, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, or until the cranberries have burst and the sauce is thickened. Cool and refrigerate.

As I said, pretty basic.

Tonight, I heated about a cup of the sauce, added a heaping tablespoon of grainy Dijon mustard, and used it as a sauce over pork chops!

The pork chops were thick-cut, browned in a  skillet and then finished in a hot oven.  I added salt and pepper.  That was it.

The simple pork chops went perfectly with the sweet and tangy sauce.

Buttered asparagus and a wild rice and brown rice mixture finished off the plate.  For the rice, I sauteed a shallot, added a half-cup of wild rice and a half-cup of whole grain brown rice along with 2 cups of chicken broth.  Simmered for 45 minutes.

Victor made a rustic pear tart that we all ate before I could get a picture.

Suffice to say, it was really good!


Burgers, Brasiole, and a New Look

12-1-burger

Lots of things have been happening around here.

We're still eating well, still managing not to gain weight (although the weight-loss has slowed to a trickle) and I finally have gotten ALL of the recipes into one place!  What a chore!

The recipes were  actually on 5 different subsites.  Updating anything was a huge chore.  I knew it had to be done, but I just kept putting on another band-aid. I've been avoiding this for years.  Really.

No more.

The look itself is going to be tweaked a bit more.  I don't really like the header picture all that much, but it's okay for now.  And everything can now be reached from the navigation bars along the top.  All of the recipes are at your fingertips!

And in going through every single recipe, I was amazed at how many I had forgotten about and how many are really, really good!  I'm thinking that in January, I may just do a month of recipes from the site a la Julie and Julia!

So...

The photo up there?!?  It's a stuffed burger.  Stuffed with spinach, chevre, and roasted red pepper.  A bit of S&P and garlic powder.  That's it.  Mashed potatoes, and cauliflower baked in the oven with a bit of butter and parmesan cheese.

This is what we had last night...

12-1-brasiole

Brasiole and rigatoni.  The brasiole was left over from our Food Fest a couple of weeks ago.  Vacuum Sealer bags are a good thing.

So...  take some time to visit some of the other recipes on the site.  You may just find your next favorite dish!