A
funny name for a tasty cookie. In this case (unlike the unfortunate
story of the Rooty Tooty Fresh 'N' Fruity Breakfast at IHOP)
the silly name is actually worth the resulting food product.
These are delightful and sweet and cinnamon-ey. Here's what
you need.
-
3.5 cups flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 cup butter (that's two sticks) - @ room temperature for
ease...
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup (or if you're fresh out, about
half a tablespoon granulated sugar mixed with about a teaspoon
of water)
In
a small bowl for the topping combine:
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Start
by mixing the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl:
that's going to be your flour, baking powder, baking soda,
salt and cinnamon.
If you're blessed enough (as I am) to have a KitchenAid mixer
with a paddle attachment, break out that heavy mo-fo now so
you can cream the butter without creating tricep definition
in one arm. Otherwise, place the butter in a large bowl
and mix it nicely until it's smooth and creamy.
Add the sugar gradually until it's well incorporated. Then
add the eggs, corn syrup and vanilla. Mix thoroughly, scraping
down the sides of the bowl as needed - whether you're doing
it by hand or with the mixer.
Slowly add the dry ingredient mixture and keep mixing until
everything is well blended. If the dough is very runny and
sticky at this point, place it in the fridge and chill it for
a while - between 15 minutes and an hour.
Preheat the over to 375 degrees F, and begin rolling the dough
into little balls each about the size of a dollar coin (approx.
a teaspoon worth of dough). Roll each ball in the cinnamon
sugar mixture you've prepared in the small bowl.
Place each dough ball on a lightly sprayed/greased cookie sheet
about two inches apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cookies
look pillowy and the surfaces are a bit crackley-lookin'.
I
use the word "Etc." because you can make it with
or without meat and choose from a variety of vegetables
and greens to make it your own dish. I'm offering a guideline
for you. Despite the peanut sauce, it ends up being relatively
healthy since you're not using any other massive source
of oil or fat - even if you're using white meat. The shrimp
is a nice indulgence. This will serve four people generously.
Your ingredients are:
-
1 package of udon noodles or fettucine
For veggies, feel free to use all or some of the veggies below.
You can try your other favorites, but these all work with the sauce,
so I recommend these to start. Note: Yes, these do not get steamed
or cooked. The crunchiness of the fresh veggies works really well
in this dish, plus you're not cooking out any of the nutrients.
If you have problems with eating raw veggies, steam them and you'll
be close enough.
- 1 red or yellow pepper, sliced into thin strips
- 2 scallions, sliced diagonally into lots of little rings
- you can include the white part
- 1 medium tomato, diced into 1/2" pieces
- 1 small cucumber, diced as small as possible
- 1/2 cup of broccoli florets cut into small pieces
- 1 small red onion, diced
- mild to spicy peanut sauce (you can buy the dry
mix by Thai Chef or Annie Chun and add light-style
coconut milk, or you can buy the bottled
variety by San-J or anyone else)
- 1.5 to 2 pounds of uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
OR boneless skinless chicken breasts sliced into thin strips
OR pork loin, sliced into thin strips
- dash of olive oil or cooking spray for cooking meat
1. Boil water and throw in the noodles. They take a few minutes
to cook up especially if they're udon and a little more dense.
You want to cook them pretty darn al dente - but not so they're
gummy inside. Cook for 8 minutes and start checking. When
they're done, drain and rinse with cool water.
2. Meanwhile, get out your cutting board and start chopping
up your vegetables. Throw them all in a large bowl where
you can add the rinsed noodles when they're ready.
3. Heat up your cooking spray or oil in a frying pan and
then add the meat. With the shrimp, cook until they're cooked
thoroughly - totally pink and curled up tight. This should
take about 5 minutes over medium/high heat. If you're using
pork or chicken strips, they'll need a little extra time
- until they're no longer pink inside and starting to brown
a bit. This will take about 8-10 minutes on medium heat.
4. In a large bowl, you should have your veggies, noodles
and then add your meat. Pour about 1/2 cup of the peanut
sauce over the mixture and toss it to cover everything evenly.
At this point, try a noodle. Add some more sauce if you want
to, but it should be OK. If your nose begins to run a little
after a few forkfuls, you've done it right ;)
This
chili is all kinds of fun. You can spice it up, you can
play it down. Well, that's any chili really. This one is
nice and chunky and tasty. Plus, the addition of some chocolate
(yes, chocolate) counteracts the acidity of the tomatoes.
So if your friends have sensitive stomachs, it's all good.
I can't do anything about the beans, though. You will need:
-
2 pounds 80% lean ground beef (or ground turkey, but beef
tastes better)
- 1 large red onion
- fresh garlic - How many cloves is up to you. I use 4, and
that's relatively mild.
- 1 can crushed tomatoes
- 1 can whole plum tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons dried basil
- 1 tablespoon Adobo seasoning
- 1 can each of kidney beans, pink beans, black beans, and
garbanzo beans (chick peas)
- 1 square of semi-sweet baking chocolate. (If all you have
are some Hershey kisses left over from the last holiday,
throw those in. It won't kill anyone.)
- extra virgin olive oil
1.
Heat up about two tablespoons of olive oil in a nice nonstick
skillet over medium heat. Dice up the onion and crush or
chop the garlic and throw them in the oil. Sautee until
the garlic is getting golden and the onion is starting
to become transparent. Remove from heat and set aside.
2.
Get a 4 quart (or more) capacity nonstick pot. Place it
over medium heat and add the ground beef. Do not add oil
- it's got more than enough already. Using a wooden spoon,
stir and break up the big pieces until the beef is entirely
browned.
3. See all the fun juices and fat which have been released?
You can either pour this off into a glass bowl and them skim
off the fat and retain the juices, or you discard it entirely.
4.
With the meat still over medium heat, add the onion and
garlic from before, the can of crushed tomatoes, the basil
and adobo.
5.
Next, open the can of plum tomatoes and using your clean
hands, take a tomato in your hand, make a fist and then
release the tomato mush into the pot. Do this with the
entire can and then pour in the tomato juice.
6.
Open all your cans of beans. Drain and rinse them, then
add them all to the pot. Once this starts to bubble a little,
put the heat on low.
7.
Cover and let simmer for about 20 minutes. Check it for
taste and add salt and pepper as needed.
This
tastes best the next day or at night - if you make it
in the morning. Everything soaks up flavor from everything
else, and it's lovely. High in protein, high in fiber,
relatively low in fat. Get some toasty crusty bread for
dipping, and you're golden. Serves many people for many
days.
This
is a great appetizer, hot or cold, and a great side-dish
to boot. I must admit that I had a deep-seated hatred
of green beans until I tried this out. Serves about 6
as a side dish, more as an appetizer. You need:
-
1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 pound fresh green beans, rinsed and trimmed
- 1/3 cup coarsely chopped onion
- 1/4 cup hoison sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- toasted sesame seeds
1.
Heat the canola oil in a large nonstick wok over medium-high
heat. Add the green beans and onion. Cook, stirring once
in a while, until the beans begin to blacken in spots.
This will take from 5 to 10 minutes depending on the
bean's thickness. Remove beans from heat.
2.
Whisk together the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, fresh ginger,
and pepper flakes.
3.
Add the sauce to the beans and toss or stir them in the
wok to evenly distribute the sauce.
4.
Place the beans in a bowl and top with toasted sesame
seeds. Eat them with a fork or with your fingers.
This
is my favorite. Last winter, I baked seven of these to
give to various friends and two for my family. It's somewhat
labor intensive because you're making the caramel, but
so worth it. Besides, if you slack off and buy a premade
crust (I've done it!) it's not that much work.
For
the filling, you need:
-
1 1/3 cups sugar
- 1/3 cups water
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
For
the crust, you need:
-
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoom sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter
cut into small pieces
- 2 tablespoons ice water
CRUST:
1.
Stir flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt together in a mixing
bowl until blended. Add butter. Combine with hands or
pastry cutter until it resembles coarse oatmeal.
2.
Mix in enough ice water by tablespoons to form clumps.
Gather into a ball, flatten, and wrap in plastic wrap.
Chill for at least an hour. It's good for a day.
3.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Roll out the dough to
form a 14 inch round.
4.
Place dough into an 11 inch diameter pan. Fold over excess
dough to form double-thick sides. Freeze until firm,
about 15 minutes.
5.
Line the crust with foil and throw in pie weights or
dried beans. Bake until sides are set, about 20 minutes.
Remove foil and bake an additional 15 minutes or until
crust is golden brown. Remove to cool and lower oven
temp to 350 degrees F.
FILLING:
1.
Combine sugar and water in a heavy medium saucepan. Stir
over medium-low heat until the sugar dissolves.
2.
Increase heat. Boil without stirring until caramel is
a deep amber color. Occasionally brush down the sides
of the pan with a wet pastry brush and swirl the pan
to gauge the color. This process should take about 8
minutes. Remove from heat.
HINT:
When the caramel is apple juice yellow in color, you're
almost there. At this point, watch over it carefully
because one minute too long and it will burn. You want
a deep honey, amber or caramel color.
3.
Slowly add the cream. The mixture will bubble and hiss.
Stir until caramel is smooth. If a clump forms, place
over LOW heat until it smoothes out. Mix in vanilla and
salt. Cool caramel for at least 30 minutes.
4.
Whisk eggs in a bowl to blend. Add caramel mixture. Sprinkle
pecans over the crust. Slowly pour the caramel over the
nuts. It will have to find room in all the spaces between
nuts.
5.
Bake until the caramel sets which will take about 35-45
minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool completely.
Serve
this with rum-laced whipped cream or, better yet, with
a scoop of real vanilla ice cream on the side - with
the pie warmed up, of course.
For
some reason, fruit and cheese go together. OK, I know
the reasons - one is light and refreshing, the other
is rich and creamy. It's all about the contrast. That's
why those fruit and cheese platters are so popular
in continental breakfasts and during luncheons. Anyway,
I was inspired by a salad I had at the Suzette's in
Millburn. It was mixed greens with ham, Brie cheese
and slices of green apple, in addition to other yummies.
I, in turn, had leftover French bread and some brie
cheese (but not enough to fondue), so I decided to
try something new... this is technically an apple salsa,
but I thought that would scare people. I made this
for a cocktail party once and it was a hit. Trust me.
I always have a nice spread :)
Apple Salsa (for 12 crostini)
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon of honey
• a little salt and pepper to taste
• 1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and
diced into the tiniest pieces possible (should yield
approx. 2 cups of apple chunks)
• 2 tablespoons diced red bell pepper
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
• 2 tablespoons minced FRESH cilantro (SOOOO good!)
Crostini
• loaf of French or Italian bread, sliced by 1/2
inch (this recipe is for 12 slices, so make more salsa
as you see fit)
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Dash of salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup Brie cheese, rind removed
- To make the crostini, heat the oven
to 350°F.
- Combine the olive oil, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
- Set out the slices of bread on a baking pan and brush
each slice with the olive oil mixture. Place pan in the
oven and bake bread between 5 and 10 minutes (depending
on the thickness of your slices) or until the bread is
beginning to brown on the tops.
- Remove the bread from the oven.
- Preheat your oven's broiler.
- To make the salsa, stir together the
vinegar, oil, honey, salt and pepper in a bowl.
- Add the apple bits, bell pepper pieces, onion and cilantro.
Mix 'em all together.
- Check it out and salt and pepper additionally to taste.
- Finally, place 1 tablespoon of the apple salsa on each
piece of bread on the baking sheet.
- Place about 2 teaspoons (one thick slice - 1" by
2" by about 1/4" thick) of the Brie cheese
on top of each scoop of salsa.
- Place the tray in the oven, about 5 inches below the
broiler, for about 1 minute or until your Brie cheese
is nice and melty.
Serve these nice and warm and toasty. If you like, you
can make a lot of the salsa and keep it in a bowl on
the side with some tortilla chips for dipping. Otherwise,
make a few and keep 'em begging for more. Or for the
recipe.
I
celebrate the return of the cocktail party to American
culture. OK, maybe they include beer sometimes and
people don't get as schnazzed up as before, but it's
still a good good thing. This is a recipe I like
very much and which has gone over well at several
cocktail shindigs. Most recently last night. In any
event, here's the recipe for my cheese puffs. I hate
Swiss cheese, but it's somehow manageable in this
form. Maybe it's the onions and chives breathing
new life into them, but whatever. It works.
You will need:
•
1 loaf of challah bread (16 oz.)- try to get an unbraided
one. It's easier.
Cut the challah into 3/4" cubes. You can leave
the crusts on or off. Off will allow for more uniform
cubes. On makes it easier for you.
• 4 oz. of cream cheese (half a package)
• 1 stick of butter (separated into 1 tbsp and
7 tbsp pieces)
• 1/3 cup of grated Jarlsberg swiss cheese
• 2 teaspoons dehydrated onion powder
• 1/3 cup finely chopped red onion (that's basically
on small onion)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
• 2 egg whites @ room temp.
1. Take 1 tablespoon of butter and melt it in a small
saucepan along with the onion powder. Once the butter
is melted, add the chopped onion and sautee it for
about 4 minutes - until it gets a little golden and
softened. Remove from heat.
2. Prepare a double boiler. If you don't have one,
grab two saucepans of fairly equal size. Put about
an inch of water in one saucepan and set it to boil.
Once the water is steaming, place the second saucepan
on top. Voila! You have a double boiler.
3. Into the top of the double boiler, place the cream
cheese, Jarlsberg cheese and remaining 7 tbsp of butter.
Stir constantly until the whole thing is nicely melted
together. Add the onions from the other pan. Remove
from heat and add the chopped chives.
4. In a small mixer bowl, beat the two egg whites until
stiff peaks form.
5. Fold in about one third of the egg white mixture
into the cheese and combine it nicely. Add the rest
of the egg whites and mix it all up.
6. Finally, take the challah cubes and dip them each
into the cheese mixture. Coat all side fairly evenly,
and let the excess drip off. Place them on a baking
sheet covered in either foil or waxed paper.
7. Preheat the oven to 350°F and bake those bad
boys for about 15 minutes or until they're kind of
golden and pretty. Serve 'em up while they're hot and
tasty.
Whenever
we have three or more consecutive days of rainy
overcast weather, my mind and stomach desire the
comfort of soup. Soup, it seems, makes these cold
wet days a little easier to handle. At least for
me and my family. We will wake up in the morning
and say, "Today looks like a soup day." Today
is one such day, so I'm posting up the recipe for
me tomato spinach soup. This is enough to serve
me and a family member two HUGE bowls of soup.
Normally, it will serve about four peeps.
For this soup, you will need:
•
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 quarts of chicken broth (or vegetable broth
- buy it premade or throw in the appropriate amount
of bouillion cubes into two quarts of boiling water...)
• 1 pound fresh spinach, stems removed and
leaves coarsely chopped - rinsed THOROUGHLY, even
if you buy the pre-rinsed kind
• salt and pepper
• 1 28-ounce can of crushed, diced or plum
tomatoes in their own puree
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
Here's whatcha do:
1) Saute the garlic and onion with the olive oil
in a deep soup pot for about 3 minutes or until the
onions begin to turn a bit translucent and golden.
2) Add the flour and stir until any lumps disappear.
3) Add the chicken broth to the pot and bring liquid
to a boil.
4) Stir in the spinach in handfuls - it will wilt
into the soup and become mushy and stringy looking.
That's how it's supposed to be, so don't fret.
5) Add the salt and pepper to taste.
6) Add the can of tomatoes. If they are plum tomatoes,
crush them between your fingers as you add them so
they get nice and chunky. Heat the soup thoroughly
for a further 4 or 5 minutes.
7) Finally, slowly stir in the 1/2 cup of milk to
make the soup a little creamier and more delicious.
8) Remove the soup from the heat and pour into bowls.
Right before eating it, throw some grated cheese
on top for extra flavor.
Even though you're not supposed to dip bread into
soup, this soup is great for dipping. Get a nice
crusty loaf of Italian or French bread and tear it
up and dip away!
It's
late, you're tired and the LAST thing you want
to do is make something for yourself or your
significant other or the family. Here's something
super easy and not entirely bad for you either.
Chances are, you'll have these ingredients sitting
around the house in partially consumed form,
so it's a great way to get rid of condiments!!
You can use any type of peanut butter, or ANY
kind of salsa you like. This recipe is based
on two servings - double, triple, etc., to make
enough.
For this chicken dish, you will need:
•
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed and
cut into 3/4"
chunks (you don't have to be neat or specific about
it... just cut it small enough that it will cook
quickly!)
• 1 teaspoon olive oil for the frying pan
• 2 heaping tablespoons of peanut butter
(crunchy, creamy, low-fat, natural, whatever you
like...)
• 4 tablespoons of salsa (hot, mild, extra
garlic, whatevs)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• couple of sprigs of fresh cilantro, chopped
finely - or just ripped up by hand
Here's whatcha do:
1) Preheat the oil in a frying pan over medium
heat. Meanwhile, cut up your chicken breast into
bite size 3/4" chunks.
2) Throw the chicken chunks onto the frying pan
and fry them for about five minutes, occasionally
stirring or tossing so that it's evenly browned
on all sides and thoroughly cooked.
3) Lower the heat to medium-low. Pour the 3 tablespoons
of salsa over the chicken and stir to cover chicken
with salsa.
4) Soon thereafter, the salsa will begin to bubble.
Add the 1/2 cup of water to make a sort of broth
and keep the pan from burning.
Note: if you want to add the cilantro, throw it
in now...
5) Push the chicken to the outside edges of the
pan. Add the peanut butter into the space in the
center and stir with a spoon until it starts to
melt into the broth.
6) Once the peanut butter has started to melt into
the salsa sauce, incorporate the chicken so it's
coated with the peanut/tomato sauce.
Note: if you want to add the lemon juice for a
slightly different flavor, here is where you add
it.
7)
Continue to cook the mixture, stirring occasionally,
for about 2-3 minutes. It will bubble and thicken
and create a lovely sauce.
This chicken is delicious served over rice, lo
mein, chow mein or glass noodles, udon, soba, or
fettucine or just as a meat dish. I like to have
some whole grain bread nearby to soak up the rest
of the sauce. You'll want to lick your plate clean.
