Pinwheels and Ladies

Mini Madelines

Being Jewish is only difficult two times a year- Christmas  day and Easter, which often falls during Passover. These are cruel tricks in life. But having the day to myself today, I decided to try some recipes that I had never attempted before. 

Madelines

4 eggs

3/4 c. sugar

3/4 c. butter, melted

1 1/2 c. flour

1 t. vanilla

1/2 t. orange extract

Preheat the oven to 400*F. 

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs, sugar and extracts until they are thick (2-3 minutes). Slowly add the flour and egg and beat until fully combined. Spoon the batter into madeline trays (I had mini ones which worked fine- they cooked for just a little less time). Don't over-fill them too much, since they tend to bubble up and loose the shell-shape (the whole point, don't-you-know).  Bake for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned at the top. Let them cool, then pop them out of the molds and finish cooling on a wire rack. 

Cranberry Scones

Thanksgiving left us with an abundance of extra cranberries. And scones are amazing. Therefore, there was only one solution:

I took a standard scone recipe and added cranberries. Since I was in a baking frenzy, I didn't keep track of what temperature it was at, so I just baked it until it was done. The closer you are to 400*, the more like 20 minutes, to 350, to 30 minutes. Keep an eye. 

Pinwheels

Too much cookie dough... mmmm

The Misc Cookie

The misc. cookie

This year we have decided to give gifts from our very own kitchen. After scrubbing the oven down (an annoying, but important thing to do), a couple of friends and I began the task of rolling out sugar cookies and making truffle balls. 

There was a lot of cookie dough eaten, a lot of chocolate licked off of spoons, and fully baked cookies consumed. Now I remember why I shouldn't do that....

Dark Chocolate Orange Truffles 

Truffles never fail (who can say no to chocolate in any form?) and are surprisingly easy. 

Basic Truffles:

16 oz semisweet chocolate chips

1 package cream cheese

2 cups powdered sugar. 

Flavor of your choice (I used orange extract, but I am excited to try raspberry sometime. Mint? Hazelnut? Go crazy)

Have the cream cheese at room temperature and melt the chocolate in a double boiler. 

Mix all of the ingredients well with a mixer or food processor until uniform in color and texture. Then put it in a bowl and into the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes- up to about an hour. (its a good idea to cover it with plastic wrap so it doesnt start to dry out). 

I used a teaspoon to get about the same amount of chocolate in each truffle. Roll into a ball in your hands and coat in cocoa powder. Let them sit for a couple hours to get a little hard before putting them in a box or container. 

YUMM!

Candied Orange Peels (Orangettes)

Take the peel of three oranges and slice them vertically (it works best if they are very narrow, 1/4 inch or so). Boil them for about 10 minutes in a saucepan half filled with water. Drain the water and add about one cup of sugar and one cup of water. Boil until it forms a syrup, then simmer for 30 minutes. Continue to add a little water if the syrup is really getting too sticky (keep it at about maple syrup consistency). For the last 10 minutes, stop adding water and allow the syrup to thicken substantially. Before everything turns into one sticky burned mess, remove the peels and separate them onto a piece of wax paper. Coat with granulated sugar and roll them around so they stop being sticky. Let them cool and dry overnight. You can coat them in chocolate if you like. 

Sugar cookies with Apricot Jam

Basic sugar cookies + some really small cookie cutters + some jam = pretty cookies with jam (go figure). 

Happy Holidays!

The More Garlic the Better!

A change to savory.

It was the night of garlic bread crostini, chili and corn bread- and it was a delicious night. 

I forgot to take pictures of the chili (we were just so hungry by then!) so we will have to do without. 

These little garlic crostini-type things are made with sourdough rolls sliced like one slices a baguette (in fact.. use a baguette if you have one- its so much better). Toast the slices until they are nice and crunchy. Then rub a clove of garlic on one side until it repels vampires for miles around. Sprinkle them with a little olive oil and salt. I sliced some avocado and sauted some mushrooms with salt and pepper, and topped it all off with a bit of apple chutney (one of the first posts). 

The Verdict??

Another satisfied customer. 

Cheers!

Strudel With Love and Eleni Cookies

Leftovers always yield the most interesting results. I had a sheet of filo in the freezer, an apple, and about a cup of cranberries and made this cranberry strudel (with love, of course). 

Cranberry Strudel

1 package filo dough, thawed

1 cup cranberries

1 apple (granny smith is best)

1 t. cinnamon

1/4 c. sugar

3 T. honey

1 egg, beaten

Preheat the oven to 350F. 

In a small saucepan, boil 1 cup of water with the cranberries. Add the sugar, honey and cinnamon and simmer until the cranberries are soft. Peel and chop the apple and add. Simmer for 5 minutes. 

Lay out the filo and spoon the filling into the center. If you want you can roll it up or make little pouches like I did. Close and seal with a little water, and brush the egg over. Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden on the top and flakey throughout.

Serve warm on its own, with ice cream and with a cup of coffee. 

And Italian cookies, round 2! with some color coordination to boot.

I henceforth name these the Eleni cookies. 

Happy munching!

Finally Finals

Finals week is a big drain on everyone here. Students pulling all-nighters, three nights in a row, having breakdowns over broken pencils, and turning purple next to printers and scanners. Computers crash left and right. It is, in short, madness. 

But what else cures a case of the freak-outs than a batch of comforting starchy awesomeness? Steamed dumplings!

T and I went to a chinese restaurant on Thanksgiving afternoon (the only place open in a 20 mile radius). Luckily they were serving Dim Sum and I introduced T to this wonderful invention. We had the steamed pork dumplings which were delicious. I decided then and there it would be my mission to make them once (actually, T had a go this time, so he is the braun in this case). Then we went home to have Thanksgiving dinner..... we were very full. 

I have two little bamboo steamers, but alas, they were too small. So we put our tired minds together and invented our own! We put a pot with a little water to boil on the stove. Then we put a metal strainer on top so it rested on the rim above the water. We put our little dumplings inside, seam side down and a lid over the top just to keep more heat in. Genius!

Steamed Dumplings

Dough:

1 c. warm water

3 T sugar

1 package dry yeast (I used rapid rise)

3 c. flour

3 T canola oil

1/4 t. salt

1 1/2 t. baking powder

Filling:

We made up our own because we didn't have any ingredients for traditional filling. We just mixed some lean ground beef with black beans, salt, and pepper in a pan. Traditional fillings are pork or red bean paste (my next attempt).

In a large bowl, mix the yeast with the warm water and sugar. Allow to sit for 5 minutes. Then add the flour, oil, salt and baking powder. Mix with your hands until combined and knead until very smooth (5-10 minutes). Cover and let to rise 1 hour (it takes a little less time with the rapid rise yeast). 

Make your filling while the dough rises. 

When the dough is ready, punch down and let rest 5 minutes. Then separate into 10 pieces and roll into a flat circle. Put some filling in the middle and pinch all the sides together at the top to make a little pouch. Place seam-side down in the steamer (or awesome makeshift steamer) and allow to steam for 10-15 minutes. You can check if they are done by cutting into one. If the dough is fluffly through, its finished. Serve hot. 

Over some beer and good company, these made an excellent dinner. Its a little bit of work but definitely worth it. 

But lets be serious, what stress-relieving baking day would be complete without a batch of something sweet. I decided to make these rather traditional Italian cookies Livia-style.  They are not very sweet, but get just the right touch from the glaze. They are usually made with anise flavor, so I used seeds instead of an extract as well as vanilla. YUMM!

Italian Cookies

3/4 c. unsalted butter (melted)

3/4-1 c. sugar (if you like your cookies just a tad sweeter)

4 eggs

3 c. flour

5 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

2 t. anise seed (or extract if you prefer)

2 t. vanilla extract

Glaze:

2 c. powdered sugar

4-5 t. milk

food coloring (optional)

sprinkles (optional)

flavor (vanilla, anise, etc. optional)

Preheat the oven to 370F. 

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix the wet ingredients in a separate bowl and then add to the dry. Mix until it forms a soft dough. 

Roll into little balls (3/4- 1 inch) and place on a baking sheet (they don't spread out much so they can be fairly close together). 

Bake for 8-10 minutes (watch that they don't turn brown), then allow to cool for 10 minutes. 

This makes 60-80 cookies- good recipe for holiday gift-giving and family baking. 

To make the glaze, mix the powdered sugar and milk until smooth. It shouldn't be too runny or else it won't stick to the cookies. Add coloring if you like. Dip the cookies in and allow to set for about an hour so they don't stick together. Enjoy!