Crusts

A Vessel For Your Treat

Friday night I decided I wanted to make dessert to take over to my aunt and uncle's house. There was only one problem: I couldn't decide what to make. So I flipped through some magazines and cookbooks, still was undecided, and looked at my watch. That made it easier. With an hour and a half, going to the grocery store was out of the question. I was limited to what I had in the house. I opened the fridge, saw some orange juice, and decided to turn it into sorbet. But it needed something more.

A pretty bowl.

With David Lebowitz's The Perfect Scoop in hand, I set off to find something to go with the sorbet, and settled on the Almond Butterscotch Cookie Cups. And I had everything I needed to make them, leaving me with enough time to make the batter (which can be made up to a week ahead of time), and then bake it and shape it!

I then proceeded to make them again for memorial day.

Almond Butterscotch ...
I'm trying to be better about copyright laws. So the recipe, since completely unaltered, does not appear hear. I'm thinking of trying one out with pepitas to go with mango sorbet, and if I succeed, that will show up. That and trying for ones without corn syrup, but I'm not sure if I'll be successful in that endeavor.

Asparagus Salad

Spring is was in the air.
Those blue skies, pleasant breezes, temperatures in the 50s and 60s, the sound of lawnmowers, and the smell of green. But that's gone now. Today was overcast, gray, and okay, maybe the temperature was right, but the mood wasn't. Until dinner that is. This salad spelled SPRING. Maybe not really (I don't think there's any way I can make an acronym with it. I could try. Or an acrostic with: aSparagus, pecorino Romano, lemon juIce, bostoN lettuce, eGgs.)

It was a very green dinner we had tonight. And I'm referring to it's color. An amazing and light asparagus salad and pasta with arugula pesto. What better way to mark spring than that?


Roasted Asparagus Salad with Pecorino, Lemon, and Olive Oil
from Cooking Light April 2009

The link to it is here: Roasted Asparagus Salad

I actually followed the recipe exactly as written. So I think it would be illegal to rewrite it.

A Cherry Birthday To You

Among my friends I'm known for my baking. Most possibly because in the past year or two, I've been making more cookies and other treats that are easy to transport and share. So when I asked my friend last week what she would like me to make her for her birthday, her reply was "Not cupcakes." Which let me with far too many possibilities and far too many ideas. I asked her for a direction - something more specific, an ingredient, a flavor, a color, anything! A few days later, she came up to me and said, "Cherry." It took me a second to realize what she meant, but it worked out. I had a jar of cherries at home.

The first thing that came to my mind was cherry cheesecake, but I needed something more portable and fridge free. I remembered the cream cheese blondies with kumquats that I made a month or two ago, and since we had cream cheese, I figured I could make a thicker and less cakey version of them. So I tried. And failed. Well, the first time at least. They didn't cook all the way through, and the graham cracker crust seemed to insulate the insides. So the next day, I tried again. Only that time I had to go to the store. I traded the jarred cherries with frozen ones (practicality) and lost the graham cracker crust (it wasn't necessary, and I was out of graham crackers.)

I would say the results the second time were better. Gooey from the cherries, chewy from the cream cheese and brown sugar, and portable though sticky. And my friend, well, she told me she liked them, so I'd say they achieved their purpose.

Gooey Chewy Cherry Bars

8 ounces frozen cherries

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour (or all-purpose)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons (3/4 stick, 3 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
6 ounces cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temp

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup chopped pistachios

In a small saucepan, combine cherries and 1 Tablespoon sugar. Cook over medium heat until thick and syrupy (not watery!),about 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 325ºF. Line a 9x9 inch pan with foil (optional) and butter. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, cream cheese, granulated sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed until the sugars have dissolved and the mixture is smooth and thick, about 2-4 minutes, scraping sides of bowl as necessary.
Beat in the egg and vanilla.

Stir in flour mixture until just incorporated, followed by pistachios. Spoon half batter into prepared pan, spreading gently to corners. Top with cherries. Top with remaining batter.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the top is light brown and toothpick or tester comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. Set the pan on a rack to cool for at least 30 minutes.

Warm Spinach Salad

So I've been seriously neglecting my blog this year. Seventy days into the year, and there are barely a handful of posts. I've started cooking more, but when it's "let's throw these things together and hope it turns out tasty," precise measurements are neglected, and therefore recipes do not result. But I'm trying to make amends. It's much easier to blog when dinner starts with a recipe that I just failed to follow correctly - erm, made preferential changes to - like the tasty spinach salad I made Saturday night.

Saturday was spent knowing I needed to get a lot of homework done so that the week wouldn't be stressful, and simultaneously doing absolutely nothing productive - no baked goods, n o cleaner room, no organized cabinets, no ironed clothes, no meandering walks - to avoid it. In all honesty, whatever I did was so mind-numbing that I don't remember what it was - until my friend called at two asking if I wanted to see a movie. Yes, a legitimate way to procrastinate! Count me in. An hour and a half later I was settling into the recently renovated theater with the permanently reclined seats as the opening credits blasted Bob Dylan's "The Times Are A-Changing." Three hours after that, my dad picked me up and -surprise! - two more guests for dinner. I relayed to him the contents of our refrigerator and my original plans for our dinner, and since I had planned for leftovers, it was easily adapted. We had plenty of food.

Oh, the salad. While it was the risotto patties I was the most excited about, misinterpreting the word "has" and "can" led to a change. And while everyone loved the risotto, it was the salad that I found to be much more exciting. With just fifteen minutes, a flavorful, warm side salad resulted. I think I'm discovering warm salads a bit too late, considering it was in the 50s and 60s, but today it dropped back down to 20s.

Regardless, the salad with the crisp spinach, mellowed fennel and onions, and sharp sweet balsamic is a keeper.


Spinach Salad with Fennel-Red Onion Dressing
adapted from Jack Bishop's A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen

6 ounces baby spinach
3 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small fennel bulb (about 8 ounces), stalks and fronds discarded or saved for another use, bulb thinly slices
1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
black pepper

Place spinach in a large bowl.

Heat the oil in medium skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add fennel, onion, salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened and carmelizing, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the vinegar and cook just until syrupy, about 30 seconds to a minute. REmove the pan from the heat and stir in ground black pepper to taste.

Scrape the fennel mixture into the bowl with the spinach, and toss to combine until spinach wilts slightly, about one minute. Serve immediately!

A Sweet Potato Salad for a Sweet Weekend

I've already made this salad twice. And I ate 3/4 of it the first time. If that doesn't attest to it's tastiness, then I'm not sure what does. Or, I suppose, you could argue that I ate it out of convenience since it was already made and in the fridge. Which is true, but it wouldn't explain why I made it again for dinner tonight.

It took me three days to make this salad. I bought everything on Wednesday with the intent to make it that night, but it took me until Friday night to make it. It was the first thing I did when I got home, along with a double batch of banana-oatmeal cookies with chocolate-covered espresso beans. Actually, it was the only thing I did at home. After making dinner and eating some, I packaged some up in a container, threw it in a lunchbox with a fork and some cookies, and headed off to pick up my friend to go to a concert. Which would be another highlight of my night. In all of its loud glory (despite my purple earplugs), That Was Something and Go Crash Audio were the highlight of the evening, despite my chronic tardiness causing us to miss half of it.

And along for the joyous occasion on Saturday, my lunch was once again this salad, in between the actual competing at regionals and learning that we placed first. Meaning that the entire math team is going to state for a fourth consecutive year! That's not a bad streak. Though I doubt I have much to do with it.

But that has little to do with the salad. I just think you should give it a try. Even my dad gave it approval. It was much better than last night's not-so-succesful attempt at Saag Paneer. Anyone have a good recipe for that?


Sweet Potato Salad with Apple and Avocado
adapted from Vegetarian Times February 2009 p.67
serves 6 as a side salad, 3-4 as a main course

1 lb sweet potatoes (about 1 big one), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup frozen corn
1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
1 medium red apple, diced (1 cup)
1/2 small onion, finely chopped (1/2 cup)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/3 cup lime juice (from about 3 limes)
2 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 avocado, finely diced (mine was a small avocado, so I used the whole one)
4 cups mixed salad greens, baby spinach, or arugula
salt and pepper

Place sweet potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook about 3 minutes. Add corn and cook 1 to 2 minutes more, or until potatoes are tender. Drain in colander and rinse under cool water.
Meanwhile, toast pumpkin seeds in dry skillet over medium-high heat 3 to 4 minutes or until seeds begin to pop. Keep and eye on them, they burn easily. Transfer to a plate to cool.
Combine apple, onion, cilantro, lime juice, sweet potatoes, corn, and oil in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in avocado and toasted pumpkin seeds just before serving.
Divide greens among 4 plates and top with sweet potato salad.

Despite stirring in the avocado and pumpkin seeds just before serving, I think that this salad seems to hold up fairly well for about 2 days. It doesn't age well; the seeds just get soggy and the avocado browns a bit, but it doesn't turn absolutely gross and disgusting either.

Pistachio Cookies

When I walked in the house on Tuesday, I knew that even if I went up to my room, I wouldn't do my homework.

So instead I went into the kitchen, sniffed around, found some pistachios and white chocolate, and set to work on a cookie. I remembered a macadamia butter cookie recipe I'd seen a couple years back in a Cooking Light magazine, and with my soon-departing friend in mind, set off to make a cookie she'd like.

The first batch came out burnt. But it had potential. Great potential. I just needed to be more careful with the oven.

The second batch came out a tad bit overbaked. But this time, you could tell they were good crunchy cookies.

And the third batch, while crispy, proved it was the oven, and not the cookie, that was the problem. So last night, between 5:15 and 6pm, the short window of time which I was in the house, I whipped up another batch (after buying more pistachios and white chocolate) and this time, they were exactly what I was looking for: subtle pistachio flavors, slightly overwhelming white chocolate scattered throughout, and the occasional sweet-tart kick from dried cranberries.

Pistachio-White Chocolate Cookies
makes 2-3 dozen cookies

2/3 cup (4 ounces/113g) unsalted pistachios or pistachio nut butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
scant 1 cup (3.5 oz/100 g) all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 ounces/170 g white chocolate chips, finely chopped (or chips pulsed in food processor)
1/4 cup (1.5 ounces/40 g) sweetened dried cranberries, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350ºF/180ºC/Gas Mark 4. Line or grease two baking sheets.

In a food processor, process pistachios for 2 minutes or until ground into a paste, unless using purchased nut butter. In a large mixing bowl, combine pistachio butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Beat together until combined. Beat in egg and vanilla extract until smooth and evenly combined.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir into wet mixture. Mixture will be thick. Stir in white chocolate and dried cranberries until just evenly dispersed.

Drop tablespoonfuls of dough onto prepared baking sheet, two inches apart. Flatten with a fork in criss cross patterns or the bottom of a greased glass.
Bake for about 9 minutes, or until edges are golden. Let cool 1 minute.

Four-Day Weekend Blondies

It's like a Friday afternoon. Only better, because it's three fifteen and I've been home for FOUR hours. Granted, my mom thinks I should be medicated and on the couch knocked out by Nyquil, but I'm full of energy. Sniffly, yes, but energetic. And with hands that have been washed far too many times today.

But that's what let's me bake. Well, I guess not exactly, but it's how I keep from worrying about killing anyone. Or at least giving them a cold. If I feel a sneeze coming, I run out of the kitchen. So far, this plan is working. I hope.

Today I baked with levkar for the first time. And the brownies turned out surprisingly moist, not unlike butter-laden brownies.

But this is not that recipe. Oh no, far from it. This is a recipe that I think Paula Deen might approve of. Actually, probably not, because it only has one stick of butter, and no nuts. And there are dried kumquats! The kumquats are optional, because I'm not sure where you would find them, other than crazy shops in Chinatown with a variety of dried/preserved fruits to sample and choose from. There were at least three kinds of kumquats, varying in salty sweet tartness. I'm sure dried apricots could be nice, though the recipe didn't originally have any dried fruit, it was just a suggestion at the end of the recipe for modifications (which also included crystallized ginger, adding extracts, nuts, etc.)

Time on my four-day weekend is ticking away, so I think I'll cut to the chase:

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Blondies (with kumquats!)
Adapted from Cream Cheese Blondies in Bruce Weinstein's The Ultimate Brownie Book, p.124
makes 24 2x2" blondies

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temp
1 large egg yolk, at room temp
6 ounces white chocolate, chopped (about 1 cup)
4 ounces dried kumquats, chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a 9x13 inch pan with foil (optional) and butter. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, cream cheese, granulated sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed (or, I'd recommend a stand mixer, my hand mixer wheezed a bit at the beginning) until the sugars have dissolved and the mixture is smooth and thick, about 4 minutes, scraping sides of bowl as necessary. (Weinstein recommends 8, but 4 seemed to be fine.)
Add the eggs one at a time, allowing the first to be incorporated before adding the second. Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla.

With a spoon or spatula, stir in the chocolate chips and chopped kumquats (if using). Stir in flour mixture until just incorporated. Spoon batter into prepared pan, spreading gently to corners.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the top is light brown and toothpick or tester comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. Set the pan on a rack to cool for at least 30 minutes.

Cut blondies into 24 pieces. Serve immediately or let cool completely before storing. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days, or frozen for up to 3 months.

A Winter Break Adventure

What? You say that doesn't look like a winter adventure?

And I'll be honest, there is nothing adventurous about rice krispy treats dipped in chocolate and sprinkles, or even making them. But the adventure is what led me to even consider making them, inspired by what I saw in the dessert case at Foodlife.
I'm sure dipped rice crispy treats on sticks are common. I'd just never seen one before, and it seemed like a neat concept. Other than the jaw pain I endured today trying to eat one straight out of the fridge (please, learn from my mistakes.)

I realize I still sound like a bore. But foodlife was not a part of the plan at all. It was merely that my friends and I decided we wanted to go ice skating, so I suggested we make it even cooler since the weather was warm (yes, 40 degrees is warm) we go ice skating in Millenium Park. Two hours later, we were on our way there. And pleasantly surprised to see that it wasn't too crowded.

And then there was a slight problem. An hour-and-a-half long problem that is. At 6:30 at night, ice skating is popular. There was a long line that we somehow failed to notice, attributing to onlookers or just ignoring. So ice skating was postponed.

The next day, arriving half an hour before the rink opened proved to be a much quicker solution. And three hours later we were off the ice and ready for lunch. Which is when I saw the rice crispy treats on a stick dipped in chocolate and then dipped in coconut. Mmm...

Neither my friend nor I were hungry enough for dessert, so when I got home, after making a nice fish dinner that, in order to be cooked perfectly, was eaten cold, made my version of the treats, sans sticks. I ran out of coconut, but it is my favorite of the toppings I used.


Dipped Rice Crispy Squares
makes 36

1/4 cup (1/2 stick, 2 oz) butter
1 (10.5 ounce) bag marshmallows
6 cups cripy rice cereal (Rice Krispies)
6 ounces milk chocolate (or semi-sweet)
1 to 2 cups assorted things to dip (shredded coconut, chopped nuts, sprinkles, etc.)

Line or grease a 9x9 square pan.
Melt butter in a heavy pan over medium heat. Stir in marshmallows, stirring until melted. Remove from heat and stir in cereal. Press into prepared pan and chill for 30 minutes.

Cut into squares (6x6, or other size). Melt chocolate, either over simmering water on the stove, or in the microwave on medium in 30 second increments until melted. Dip squares into chocolate and then coconut. Set upright on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Repeat for remaining squares.
Chill until set.

Full circle, almost

My first post of the year was Oatmeal-Raisin cookies, and I'm ending 2008 with more cookies.

I guess that was a bit of a premonition about what my habits would be for the year, with cookie recipes now equaling muffin recipes, with 7 cookie recipes posted this year.
Make that 8 now.

I was not planning on making cookies today, but when I went to Trader Joe's today, I saw Miniature Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter cups. They were too cute to resist, and at the same price as a bag of chocolate chips for 12 ounces, too easy to toss into my basket. I figured I could use them in cookies of some sort.

Then it was crunch time. I told my parents I'd have a clean kitchen for them (I made banana muffins and espresso candied walnuts today) when they got home, I had to pick out what cookies I was going to make. I had just thrown out the bag from some Hershey Kisses and remembered that there was a recipe for peanut butter blossoms on the bag. I figured I could just use that as my base dough and work my way from there.

Quick, easy, and by the time my parents got home 30 minutes later, the last pan was in the oven.

Peanut Butter Cookies with Peanut Butter Cups
makes 30-40 cookies
Note: If you can't find mini peanut butter cups (I haven't seen them anywhere but TJ's), you can omit them or substitute chopped peanut butter cups or chocolate chips. Milk can also be used instead of buttermilk.
I also think this dough would work for thumbprints, but I haven't tried yet. I've yet to find a dough that I like for them.

1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 oz) butter, softened
3/4 cup (186 grams) creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour or all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 ounces (1 package) mini peanut butter cups

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Line 3 cookie sheets with parchment or baking mats.

In a large bowl, beat the butter, peanut butter, and sugars on medium speed until combined. Beat in egg, buttermilk, and vanilla extract.
Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
Stir the flour mixture into the peanut butter mixture until combined. Stir in the mini peanut butter cups.

Drop rounded teaspoons of the dough onto prepared baking sheets spaced 1" apart. Bake for 10 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned.