browned butter shortbread

Some of you may remember my shortbread experiments of the past.  Recently I saw this recipe and figured I'd give it a whirl.  I do need to note that the recipe as I found it told me microwave the butter.  At the risk of making fun of my source, I need to point out that microwaving butter doesn't get you browned butter anything.  Browning butter is a process.  Not a particularly complex one, but a process nonetheless.

With that stated, I give you:

Browned Butter Shortbread
10 tbsp butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour a 9-inch baking pan.  Brown the butter (see link above).  Combine dry ingredients, add the rest.  Now, I have personally never had a shortbread dough turn in to anything but a giant pile of crumbs, but maybe I'm doing it wrong--if your mixture actually forms dough, more power to you.  If not, don't panic.  Just press it into the pan and bake about 30 minutes.

brown sugar cookies

I made these quite some time ago and completely forgot to post them.  I've seen a few dozen sugar cookie recipes floating about lately--'tis the season, after all--and I figured I'd come back with this alternative.  Recipe via Epicurious.

brown sugar cookies
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar
1 large egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375.  Cream butter and sugar, add egg.  Combine dry ingredients separately, then add to butter.  Bake 8 to 12 minutes. Let the cookie sheet cool completely between batches.

The only note here is that they aren't kidding when they call for dark brown sugar.  I used light brown, because that's all I had on hand and I was making these on a whim, and it wasn't particularly inspiring.  However, the potential was there; it was obvious what I was missing.  I'd recommend them for a nice fall/winter cookie.

as American as ...

I always used to make my apple pie using the late-60s edition of The Joy of Cooking that I acquired somewhere in my meandering.  (Virginia, I think.  Long story.)  Unfortunately, like so many other things that I really never would have thought I could live without, that got left behind when I moved to California.

Oops. :P

So I found this recipe at The Joy of Baking when I found myself prepared to make a pie the other day, and I am really pleased with the results.

apple pie
2 1/2 pounds apples (about 6 large)
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional, see note)
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 tablespoons corn flour (see note)
1 pie shell of your choice

Preheat to 425.  Peel, core, slice apples, you know the drill.  Mix with sugars, lemon juice, spices, and salt.  Let this sit for at least 30 minutes or as long as 3 hours.  Drain the resulting juices into a saucepan, add butter, cook down until it's thick and syrupy.  Put the corn starch on the apples; toss.  Add the mix from the saucepan; toss again.  Put the whole mess in a pie shell.  Bake 30 minutes, then cover the edges of the crust with a ring of foil; I could not for the life of me get the foil to stay in place so I just kind of brushed it with water and hoped for the best.  It worked out, but it also was a low pie; the edges were folded into the pan and I suspect that helped.  Anyway, total cook time 45-55 minutes, and enjoy.

Note #1: I used allspice instead of nutmeg and I did not regret it.

Note #2: This recipe kept calling for "cornstarch (corn flour)."  I can't determine if those are actually the same thing; it doesn't seem like they should be.  Either way, though, I got corn flour because the store I frequent for that sort of thing didn't have bulk corn starch and I always wind up getting one of those giant boxes that lasts forever and eventually I throw it out, so I figured the experiment was worth a shot, and it worked out just fine.  So I'm recommending corn flour, and if you're one of those smart culinary chemistry types who can tell me whether that's just the same damn thing anyway, please do.

one bowl chocolate loafcake

Hello, world!  Long time no update this blog.  But then, long time no cooking.  I moved across the country this summer, and for a few months I was in a situation where I was sharing a very small apartment with too many people.  Plus, and it kills me to even think about this, I had to leave most of my kitchen behind.  Actually ... pretty much all of it.  I won't lie, I died a little.

We have some more space now, though, and I finally was able to fill some cabinets with baking goods and get some things in the oven.  I wanted to do a chocolate cake, but my standard recipe is complex and I forgot I don't actually have cake pans yet.  So I turned to my list of "some day" recipes, and I found smitten kitchen's "everyday chocolate cake" right at the top.  One bowl, loaf pan?  Perfect!

one bowl chocolate loafcake
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup alkalized cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Oven to 325; prepare a 9x5 loaf pan.

Cream butter, add sugars, then egg, then buttermilk & vanilla.  Sift in flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt; stir.

Now, I baked mine for 60 minutes and it got a little crunchy around the edges.  It isn't burned, per se, but it is overcooked.  (Some buttercream frosting made it all better.)  Your mileage may vary; I seem to be having some trouble getting used to this new oven.  Not that it's a bad oven.  on the contrary I think it might be the first good oven I've worked with in ages.  We'll see.  Basically just keep an eye peeled; if you know from cake you shouldn't have any trouble.

by request: MEAT CUPS

I was talking to my sister on the phone and I mentioned that I was making meat cups. As is generally the reaction, she immediately demanded the recipe, so I am posting it here for her:

1. Sautée ground meat (I use turkey, most like beef).
2. Take some Pillsbury Grands dough. Tear the dough in half height-wise (so each biscuit would now be two of equal diameter just not as tall). Put said dough in muffin cups.
3. Put meat in muffin cups.
4. Bake 10-12 minutes on 350 (or according to biscuit instructions).

It's that easy. Now the trick is combining flavors. Yesterday I seasoned the meat with teriyaki as I cooked, then stirred in horseradish mustard, mozzarella cheese, and maple syrup. In the past I've had good luck with garlic and cheddar. The source of the recipe (my friend Becky) always makes them with some nice sweet barbecue sauce. Go with your heart.

Just make sure you eat them warm, or nuke them. Once they get cold I really don't enjoy the texture of the rolls.

Also, when talking about them, you must always stress the long "e" sound. "mEEt cups." Emphasize it like you're some sort of villain discussing his evil plan. That's just how it is, capisce?

pizza experimentations

A few weeks ago I finally got around to implementing a policy I've been pondering for years: Taking a quarterly inventory of everything in my pantry and using it up. This seems like a straightforward idea but once you put it in to implementation it's actually quite an interesting challenge, because one ends up with the oddest things in one's pantry sometimes.

One of the less odd items was a jar of pizza sauce. So I dug out my old pizza stone, acquired a round pizza pan, and decided to have at. Now, I've posted a dough recipe before, but that one always came out a little fluffier than I'd like. Good when you're making long rectangular pizza that never leaves the cookie sheet, but not ideal for my purposes. So I dug up this one, which seemed ideal for my thin-crust desire (to say nothing of my impatience with dough rising in general).

The first attempt was a wet messy flop. The middle was undercooked and ripped and there was schmutz all over my pizza stone and blah. So I whined on Facebook and got some excellent advice from the always-awesome Hanne, who suggested par-baking and a much hotter oven. So I tried a ten-minute par-bake in a 500° oven, and while I won't claim perfection, the results were a lot better than I've ever gotten before. So, without further ado:

Basic Pizza Dough
1 pkg yeast
1 c warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 c flour
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar

Give yeast & water ten minutes, add to other ingredients. Mix until dough forms, let rise 30 minutes, knead on floured board until you're bored with it.

Now, the recipe wants bread dough. I didn't have any, and I can't seem to find this pure wheat gluten that you can supposedly add to all-purpose dough to make bread dough, so I just went with it. I don't know if this is a factor in this next note, but: This dough was really wet after rising. I used a lot of flour on the board. That's not necessarily a bad thing, mind you, but hey.

Anyway, at this point you'll want a lot of cornmeal on your pizza pan, then spread the dough out, poke it with a fork a few dozen times, and bake 10ish minutes at 500. Bring it out, apply olive oil all over, then some minced garlic, then your sauce, mozzarella, and toppings. (Last night I went for chicken, cheddar, and bell pepper. Previously I've used meatball and broccoli. I was pleased with both.)

Bake for a few minutes until the cheese starts to melt, then cover your pizza stone in more cornmeal and slide the pizza from the pan to the stone. Give it another few minutes, and boom. Quality 'zza.

Finally, a note on pizza pans: I know one is not supposed to slice one's pizza on the metal pan because wah wah wah calamity. But my pizza pan cost $3. And the pizza cutter didn't even scratch it. And even if it had, my pizza pan cost three dollars. I consider the convenience worth the risk.

For the future: Experimentation with better dough recipes (several were provided by my friends) and eventually, on to deep dish.

Inception Cookies

Some time ago, a friend of mine linked to a post about Oreo-stuffed chocolate chip cookies. Which I thought was interesting. Then she referred to them as "Inception cookies" and I knew I had to make them.

The recipe is below, but I'm going to say right up front that I wasn't hugely impressed. They were awesome as an oddity, and everybody loved the idea, but they wound up being really dry.

On the other hand, they were delightful when they were still warm. So, thought one, use them for microwaving & covering with sundae stuff. Thought two, dip them in fudge shortly after they've cooled to seal in the moisture.

Of course, WE NEED TO GO DEEPER. The aforementioned friend wants to peel one cookie side off two Oreos, slap the creme/cookie remainders around a Thin Mint, then cover that in chocolate chip and dip the result in fudge. I'm having a hard time saying no, of course.

(And yes, I actually did print out that photo of Xzibit and write "Yo dawg I heard you like cookies so I put some cookie in your cookie so you can snack while you snack" on it, to put out with the cookies. Reactions were mixed.)

At any rate:

Inception Cookies

2 sticks (1 cup) softened butter
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla
3 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
12 oz bag mini chocolate chips
1 pkg. Double-Stuff Oreo cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter, sugar. Add eggs and vanilla.

In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt and baking soda. Add to wet, alternating with chocolate chips, until barely combined.

Add teaspoon of dough to each side of Oreo, seal along sides. Try to keep them as small as possible. These things get HUGE if you let them get out of control. Here's a picture for perspective:

(If you were not aware, my fist is very large.)

Cookie sheet, parchment paper, you know. Bake until golden brown. These took close to 17 minutes in my oven; your results may vary wildly, because that seems excessive. Let 'em cool for a bit before putting on a wire rack.

Makes about 2 dozen.

caramel popcorn

I was watching an episode of NCIS the other day that involved caramel popcorn, and I found myself craving it. So, I made it. Source recipe is here; this is halved because the original makes way more popcorn than I needed.

Caramel Popcorn
~1/3 cup popcorn kernels
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 250F. Pop the popcorn.

Melt the butter in a saucepan on medium heat. Add sugar, syrup, and salt. Stir constantly until it boils. Let it boil four minutes without stirring. Remove from heat, stir in soda and vanilla. Pour over your popcorn, mixing said popcorn to coat evenly.

Pro tip #1: Do not, at this stage, sample the caramel. Your teeth thank you.

Put the popcorn in a baking dish. Put in oven. Cook for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

Pro tip #2: If, at this stage, you decide to leave the burner you used to make the caramel on medium heat because, like me, you are an idiot, do not rest the baking pan on the burner when you are stirring the popcorn, as you will end up with a sticky burned mess stuck to the bottom of your pan, although the popcorn will probably survive if you manage to figure out what's happening within a reasonable period of time.

After the hour, serve. Enjoy.

bella braised chicken

I got to cook with my mother recently, which is a rare experience. I also got to learn a new dish, which is not so rare, but what I like about this one is its variability. I think the origin is a Weight Watchers cookbook, but my mother uses a variety of low-fat recipe sources so don't quote me on that. Besides which, I've filed off the serial numbers. I'm giving you the version I used for my recent dinner party; I'll include some notes afterwards about variation.

Bella Braised Chicken
1 tbsp butter
1 medium onion, diced
~4 stalks celery, diced
~4 carrots, diced
~2 gloves garlic, minced
~5 medium potatoes, sliced very thin
3 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp black pepper
~2 lb chicken
~1 tbsp oil
14 1/2oz (i.e. 1 can) diced tomato
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 tbsp minced parsley
1 tsp dried thyme

Sauté the vegetables in the butter, then place in a large baking dish. Spread a layer of potato over the top. Combine the flour and the pepper, toss the chicken, then "brown" it in the same pan. Place it over the potato in the baking dish. Sauté the tomato, broth, wine, and spices in the same pan you've been using; scrape up any bits of chicken coating that stuck. Bring to a boil, then pour into baking dish. Cover, bake about 1 hour at 350.

The end result of this is quite tasty, but tends to be a large mass. When I made it with my mother, we user a layer of quartered mushrooms instead of the potatoes; the end result involved copious liquid. The next time I make this I think I'm going to leave out the potato so I get said quantities of sauce, then turn that into something resembling gravy.

We served it over fresh spinach fettuccine the first time, and then I used whole grain linguine the second. In the latter case this just felt really forced, probably because of the potato. I'm at a loss for what (if anything) to serve this version with. That being said, if I do go the gravy route next time I'm going to try it on rice.

Let me know if you try this with some variation I haven't mentioned here.

buttermilk scones

There isn't a lot of preamble here. These are some nice simple scones. I got the recipe from my father, and I must admit his are usually better than mine, but mine are still reasonably tasty. The only note on this is that you shouldn't let the butter get too soft; since you're cutting it in rather than blending, you're going to want it to stay somewhat chunky.

tea scones
3 cups sifted flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup raisins (optional)
1 cup buttermilk (or 1 tablespoon lemon juice then fill to 1 cup w/ milk)

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt. Cut butter into mixture until it resembles course meal. Add raisins.

Gradually add buttermilk and mix until dough clings.

Turn onto floured board and pat into 1/2 inch thick round. Cut and place on greased baking sheet. Bake 15 minutes at 425 degrees. Watch closely.

butter crescent cookies

'Twas the night before Christmas and I decided I was just going to go ahead and make my mother's incredibly unhealthy crescent cookie recipe because life is short and butter is tasty.

There's not a lot to say about this. You really are supposed to mix these by hand. Also, for whatever reason, my mother assures me that you cannot double this recipe, because the dough simply won't mix properly. I can't vouch for the accuracy of that, because I've never tried it.

buttery crescent cookies
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar (plus extra for topping)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
3/4 cup butter, softened

Preheat oven to 375°.

In large bowl, combine dry ingredients, then add butter and combine, by hand. (By hand = stick your hands in there and squish the sucker.) Make roughly crescent shaped cookies from approx one slightly rounded teaspoon worth of dough.

Place on cookie sheet. Bake 12 minutes or until lightly golden. Place on wire rack to cool.

Once cookies have cooled somewhat but not completely, put them in a container with some more confectioner's sugar and agitate gently. Consume and enjoy. Then buy larger pants, because after these you'll need 'em.