Posts Tagged ‘butter’

Daring Bakers: Milano Cookies

Monday, July 27th, 2009

The July Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

This was my first month with Daring Bakers and I was pretty excited about it. Nicole gave us the option to make one or both of the cookies. And I know it’s not very daring of me, but I decided to just make the milano cookies. You see, it’s been reaching temperatures of 105 degrees here lately and I had visions of being in a hot kitchen covered in marshmallow goo and freaking out over the ganache coating, which I knew would never set in this heat. Maybe I’ll try in December.

I would normally shy away from a cookie recipe that requires me to get out a pastry bag, but this one was surprisingly easy. The recipe worked perfectly, and I was able to store the cookies in the refrigerator, to make sure the ganache filling would solidify. And although mint milanos are my favorite, I was very pleased with the lemon and orange flavors in these cookies.

The key to being able to get the cookies off the pan is using parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. I also think I undercooked them a little. They should have been crispy and some of them were slightly chewy. Next time I will leave them in a minute or two longer. We served these for dessert at my dad’s 60th birthday dinner with some sweet cream ice cream from Amy’s and they were a hit. Shawn also took a few to share with a woman he works with because Milano cookies are her favorite. I’ve been informed that her husband tried them and liked them so much that he is planning try the recipe himself.

Milan Cookies
 Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website

Prep Time: 20 min
Inactive Prep Time: 0 min
Cook Time: 1 hr 0 min
Serves: about 3 dozen cookies

12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter, softened

2 1/2 cups (312.5 grams/ 11.02 oz) powdered sugar

7/8 cup egg whites (from about 6 eggs)

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons lemon extract

1 1/2 cups (187.5grams/ 6.61 oz) all purpose flour

Cookie filling, recipe follows

Cookie filling:

1/2 cup heavy cream

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

1 orange, zested

1. In a mixer with paddle attachment cream the butter and the sugar.

2. Add the egg whites gradually and then mix in the vanilla and lemon extracts.

3. Add the flour and mix until just well mixed.

4. With a small (1/4-inch) plain tip, pipe 1-inch sections of batter onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, spacing them 2 inches apart as they spread.

5. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until light golden brown around the edges. Let cool on the pan.

6. While waiting for the cookies to cool, in a small saucepan over medium flame, scald cream.

7. Pour hot cream over chocolate in a bowl, whisk to melt chocolate, add zest and blend well.

8. Set aside to cool (the mixture will thicken as it cools).

9. Spread a thin amount of the filling onto the flat side of a cookie while the filling is still soft and press the flat side of a second cookie on top.

10. Repeat with the remainder of the cookies.

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Posted in baking, desserts | 1 Comment »

Breakfast for Dinner

Friday, July 3rd, 2009

I’m not a huge fan of pancakes for breakfast. And before you start thinking I’m crazy, hear me out. It’s not that I don’t like pancakes, because I do. I just don’t like like the idea of eating a pile of plain pancakes made of white flour and doused with sugar syrup as a meal that is supposed to sustain me throughout the day. After I eat them I inevitably just want to lay down and go to sleep. And then, right on cue, a few hours later, I’m starving again. I tend to like them better at dinner because I’m planning to go to sleep shortly after anyway.

But I do like pancakes. They’re cheap, satisfying and quick. And while I’ve been known to whip them up from a boxed mix, I really prefer the ones made from scratch with buttermilk. Throw in a few blueberries or stir in a little pumpkin puree and I’m in like Flynn. And while you’re at it try replacing the white flour with whole wheat pastry flour. They’ll have more flavor, they’ll keep you full for longer and you won’t even notice a difference in texture. At least not in a bad way.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Pancakes
Based on this recipe from Deb at Smitten Kitchen who adapted it from Martha Stewart’s Original Classics Cookbook. My version uses whole wheat pastry flour and extra blueberries.

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 large eggs, beaten

3 cups buttermilk

1 pint blueberries, washed

2 tablespoons butter, melted, plus more for the skillet

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. In a separate bowl mix the buttermilk, eggs and butter.

2. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix them just barely. You want to have small lumps. Lumpy batter = fluffy pancakes.

3. Heat a large flat skillet over medium low heat and brush it with a layer of butter. (Or if you’re lazy like me you can just grab the stick of butter and run it all over the hot skillet. It accomplishes the same thing without dirtying another utensil).

4. Ladle about 1/3 cup of batter onto the skillet. Repeat this to make as many pancakes as you can (this is why it’s good to use a LARGE skillet), keeping the pools of batter about an inch apart. Sprinkle each pancake with about 10 blueberries and wait until they start to bubble before flipping them.

5. Flip the pancakes. They should be golden brown. If they are too dark, reduce the heat some. Allow the bottom side to brown slightly and transfer them to a plate. If you are feeding people who are impatient you won’t have to worry about keeping them warm because they will disappear right before your eyes. But if you need to keep them warm you can put them on in a warm oven on a heat proof plate, or cover them with a clean dish towel.

6. Serve immediately with maple syrup or sprinkled with powdered sugar (or both).

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Posted in budget recipes, vegetarian | 1 Comment »

(Almost) Painless Vegetarian Tamales

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I made vegetarian tamales. Now if we were talking about your traditional meat-filled tamales I would say, “if you’re ever feeling like you’ve just had it too easy lately and you really want to punish yourself, keep reading because I’m going to tell you exactly how to do it.” These tamales, however, are not “filled” in the way that typical meat tamales are. Instead, the vegetable filling is stirred into the masa. Thus, they are much faster and easier to put together and you could probably knock out a few dozen of them in a couple of hours.

And I know what you’re probably thinking, who cares if they’re easy. Vegetarian tamales? That’s an oxymoron. Tamales are supposed to be soft, greasy, lard-laden little bundles of joy with a meaty surprise inside. This is true. However, I’ve done some research and it appears that the more heart-healthy variety has quite the following. If you don’t believe me, hang in there. The recipe for the venison tamales that I also made over the Thanksgiving holiday—the ones that took all day long and left me twitching in a useless heap on the couch for the remainder of the evening—is coming.

Vegetarian Tamales with Sweet Corn, Carrots, Hatch Green Chiles and Cheese

These tamales are made with a combination of olive oil and butter instead of the more traditional lard. You could use vegetable shortening and they would still be vegetarian, but vegetable shortening is bad for you and it tastes like nothing, so where’s the fun in that? Make sure to season the veggies well and use a flavorful vegetable stock. Offer these with all the fixin’s: salsa, sour cream, guacamole, shredded lettuce, chopped onions, jalapenos and cheese.

Makes about 30 tamales.

6 cups masa harina

2 teaspoons salt

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 tablespoon chili powder

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon cayenne

4 cups flavorful, room temperature vegetable stock

3 tablespoons pureed chipotle peppers in adobo

1 cup olive oil

½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1 onion, 1/4 inch dice

2 carrots, 1/4 inch dice

1½ cups corn (fresh off the cob is best, but frozen is fine)

6 hatch green chilies, roasted, peeled and diced

8 oz grated cheese (cheddar, monterrey jack, queso quesadilla or a blend of the three)

1 package corn husks, soaked and rinsed

1. Caramelize the onion in a little oil or butter. Add the carrots and cook for several minutes. Add the chilies and the corn and cook until the mixture is fairly dry with no visible moisture. Set aside to cool.

2. In a large bowl whisk together the masa harina, seasonings, salt and baking powder. Stir in the stock, chipotle puree and two cups of water.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter on high speed until fluffy. Add the olive oil and continue to beat until combined. With the mixer on medium speed, slowly add large spoonfuls of the masa mixture. Then increase the speed and beat for several minutes until the mixture becomes light and fluffy. To test the readiness of the dough, drop a small spoonful into a glass of water. If it floats, it’s ready. If it doesn’t, keep beating.

4. With the mixer on low speed stir in the vegetables and the cheese.

5. Fill each husk with 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the masa. Roll the husk to enclose the filling and secure the ends with strips of corn husk if you like.

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Posted in appetizers, budget recipes, mexican, vegetarian | No Comments »