911 Chocolate Emergency Cookies

911 Chocolate Emergency Cookies - made August 6, 2012 from Sticks and Scones by Diane Mott Davidson

One of my worst habits is leaving books lying around.  Some of which I'm in the middle of reading so I want them accessible, others I'm moving from one bookcase to another in the vain hope of trying to find room to fit them all and when I can't, they lie wherever I last had them before I got distracted by something else (squirrel!!).  Sometimes I'm also flipping through a book and a recipe catches my eye that I plan to make "someday" so I put a marker on the page (I never dog-ear a book's pages, that's sacrilege) then I put the book on my "look at me first for some reason" shelf.  Such is the case with this recipe.  It's from an old Diane Mott Davidson culinary mystery book in her Goldy Bear series (that's the name of the caterer character - really) and I must've been in a chocolate mood when I first read it because I put a bookmark on the page, put it on the aforementioned shelf then forgot about it for awhile.

I finally got to it though and made these cookies.  I made them the normal cookie way that's advocated in the book, although I did leave off the vanilla frosting listed with it.  But because the dough was soft, I also made them in little square muffin tins (my brownie bites pan) and put half a Cadbury Milk Chocolate Caramel (still going through my stash from Europe) in the middle.  I baked the brownie bites pan a little longer than the recipe called for had I been baking them as regular cookies so they really did come out more like mini brownies than cookies.  Still tasted good though.  The ones baked as cookies were a bit like baked fudge or very fudgy cookies.  Make them small as they're a bit rich but if you like chocolate, these'll satisfy any kind of chocolate craving you have.

6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened and divided

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa, sifted

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

¾ cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed

¾ cup granulated sugar

3 large eggs

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1.     In the top of a double boiler, melt the chips, chopped chocolate and 4 tablespoons butter, whisking smooth.  When melted, set aside to cool briefly.

2.     Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.

3.     In a large mixing bowl, beat the remaining 4 tablespoons butter with the sugars.  When the mixture is the consistency of wet sand, add the eggs and vanilla.  Mix in the slightly cooled chocolate mixture, beating only until combined.  Stir in the flour mixture, mixing only until no traces of flour appear.

4.     Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 25 minutes, until the mixture can be easily spooned up with an ice cream scoop.  Don’t overchill it or it’ll become hard to scoop. After scooping into dough balls, freeze until firm in the freezer (30 minutes or more) or chill for at least an hour in the refrigerator.

5.     When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°F.  Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

6.     Place the dough balls evenly spaced on the cookie sheets and bake for 9-11 minutes, just until the cookies have puffed and flattened. Do not overbake; the cookies will firm up upon cooling.  Allow the cookies to cool 2 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer them to racks and allow to cool completely.

Linked to Sweet Treats Thursday

 

Grilled Salmon

Grilled Salmon - made August 1, 2012 from Mel's Kitchen Cafe blog

This is my occasional, obligatory "throw 'em off with a real-food recipe" post.  I received one of my favorite gifts for my birthday, namely an amazon gift certificate. which burned a hole in my email inbox until I spent it on a new Zojirushi indoor electric grill.  Although I don't really cook much, I've been wanting an electric grill for awhile because a) I'm hoping that would make me miraculously cook more, b) the grill would magically turn out really good food despite my lack of cooking skills, c) an indoor electric grill is much easier to clean and cook with than an outdoor grill but mostly d) because one of my neighbors keeps grilling the most delicious-smelling, mouthwatering, drool-worthy food and I was in serious gastronomic envy every time they grilled.  I don't even know what they grill but it always smells so delicious I want to track them down, show up at their door, introduce myself and see if they'd invite me in for dinner.

But rather than pathetically intruding on my neighbors, I finally pulled the trigger on getting a grill of my own and for my first test run on it, I went with this simple grilled salmon recipe I found on pinterest.  You have to click back on the recipe title to the original blog post from Mel's Kitchen Cafe because that picture looks so good.  Mine doesn't look as moist and I think the mistake I made was not holding back some of the marinade (pre-salmon soaking) and using that to baste the salmon with as I was grilling it.  Told ya I don't cook much.  Next time.  Still, this was pretty tasty and for once, I was the one filling the air with a delicious barbecue aroma.  So there, neighbors.  Enjoy with your olfactory senses while I get down to eating.

1 1/2 pounds salmon fillets
lemon pepper to taste
garlic powder to taste
salt to taste
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil

1. Season salmon fillets with lemon pepper, garlic powder, and salt.
2. In a small bowl, stir together soy sauce, brown sugar, water, and vegetable oil until sugar is dissolved. Place fish in a large resealable plastic bag with the soy sauce mixture, seal, and turn to coat. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
3. Preheat grill for medium heat.
4. Lightly oil grill grate. Place salmon on the preheated grill, and discard marinade. Cook salmon for 6 to 8 minutes per side, or until the fish flakes easily with a fork.

 

Snickerdoodle Blondies

Snickerdoodle Blondies - made August 4, 2012 from Mandy's Recipe Box blog

I've been trying a lot of recipes from other foodie blogs lately, thanks in large part to pinterest.  In the "old days" (aka a couple of months ago), whenever I came across a recipe I wanted to try, I used to cut and paste the url and keep in a word doc so I can find the recipe later.  Thanks to pinterest, I can now pin those recipes with abandon on a board I labeled "Baking Recipes I Want to Try" and whenever I need inspiration or want to try a new recipe, I just go back to that board and comb through whatever might strike my fancy.  Technology and innovation are wonderful things.

Usually what determines why I pin a particular recipe is either I like the picture, I'm intrigued by the recipe, it contains an ingredient I know I'll need to use up someday (buttermilk, I'm talking about you) or all of the above.  In this case, I was meeting a friend for brunch and needed something quick and easy to put together, with the added advantage of it won't melt in summer, it doesn't contain nuts (one of her kids is allergic) and I had all the ingredients on hand. So I went with this recipe from Mandy's Recipe Box blog. I like snickerdoodle blondies because they retain the goodness of a snickerdoodle cookie but are easier and faster to bake since it's just a one-pan affair.  This was so quick and easy to put together that I literally mixed up the batter and had it ready to bake just in the time it took my oven to preheat to 350 degrees.  I only made a half recipe and baked it in an 8" pan so I adjusted the ingredient amounts accordingly below.

This came out pretty well and was more moist and chewy but still a little cakey than a regular snickerdoodle cookie, probably because it was thicker than a cookie.  Although, technically, it's also not like a snickerdoodle cookie because it doesn't contain cream of tartar.  I used a new jar of Vietnamese cinnamon that I got from Sur La Table and it was taste-bud-opening the difference in taste between fresh cinnamon and the stuff I've been using from the Costco jar I bought long ago.  The one type of ingredient you don't want to buy in bulk is spices.  Buy them right before you need them, in as small a quantity as possible.  Spices lose their freshness after a short time and while you can compensate by increasing the amounts you add in the recipe, it's still better to use fresh spices.  I learned that lesson the hard way when I bought the cinnamon jar from Costco many moons ago.  I've been using it since I didn't want to waste it but now that I have a new (much smaller) jar of cinnamon, I'm tossing the big bottle and sticking with the fresher spice.

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon grated or ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1 egg, at room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

a pinch nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 x 8" pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and set aside. 
3. In large bowl, beat together butter and brown sugar for 3-5 minutes. Add in the egg then the vanilla, and beat until smooth. 
4. Stir in the flour mixture until well blended. Spread evenly in prepared pan. Combine the granulated sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a little bowl. Evenly sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over the top of the batter.
5. Bake 25-30 minutes or until surface springs back when gently pressed. Cool before cutting. 

   

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Lemon Crinkle Cookies - made dough July 28, 2012, recipe adapted from The Royal Cook blog

Switching back to a "summer flavor" in the form of lemon cookies - this was the third cookie dough I made on my I'm-still-jet-lagged day.  I found it on one of my link parties and pinned it to get back to later. This follows the same idea of chocolate crinkles except it's a lemon cookie dough ball that you roll in powdered sugar before baking. I increased the flour by 1/4 cup as the dough was again a bit soft and I didn't want the cookies to spread too much.  I also increased the amount of lemon zest in the dough because I wanted to make sure the lemon cookies were, well, lemony.  Recipe below reflects my modifications.

This was a very good cookie.  It's like a cross between a lemon sugar cookie and a lemon bar in cookie form.  It didn't spread too much and it had a nice balance of sweet and tart.  I did a test cookie rolled in powdered sugar as the recipe directs and it was good but you can also roll it in granulated sugar.  Be careful not to overbake this as part of the goodness is in the moist texture of the cookie.  I liked it just slightly underbaked when the edges are barely beginning to brown and the middle is just past raw and are barely done.

½ cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 teaspoon lemon zest (or all of the zest from 1 medium to large lemon)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking powder
⅛ teaspoon baking soda
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup powdered sugar

1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Stir in all dry ingredients except for the powdered sugar slowly until just combined. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly.  Form into dough balls and chill until firm or freeze overnight.
2. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
3. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll cookie dough balls in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet, evenly spaced apart.
4. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown and cookies look matte {not melty or shiny}. Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Linked to Sweet Treats Thursday
 

Chocolate Caramel Cookies

Chocolate Caramel Cookies - made July 28, 2012, cookie recipe adapted from Cookinfood blog

The actual chocolate caramel in individual size

This is the second of three cookie recipes I tried my first day back from Europe.  One of my favorite things to buy when I travel, especially to places like Switzerland (or just about anywhere in Europe), is chocolate.  They conveniently have nice big blocks of chocolate at any airport store and when I travel for work, sometimes that's the only place I can shop.  My favorite chocolate is the Cadbury milk chocolate caramels - they're rectangular blocks of milk chocolate filled with the best liquid caramel ever.  I bought a couple of hefty packs because I knew I wanted to use them in baking.

That lump in the middle is the Cadbury chocolate caramel

For this one, I knew I wanted a dark chocolate cookie to enrobe around the Cadbury caramel chocolates - the dark chocolate cookie should be a nice complement to the sweet milk chocolate and caramel candy.  Taste-wise, I think this worked well with exactly the contrast/complement I was looking for in flavor.  However, the dough was a bit soft to work with so I think next time I'm going to try this again with a recipe that makes a more firm dough to cover the chocolate caramel with, maybe something similar to the Cocoa Kiss cookie dough.  Because the dough was so soft, I only used it to wrap around a few pieces of the Cadbury caramels.  For the rest, I added milk chocolate chips and made as normal cookies.  The original recipe called for using white chocolate chips and I think those would've been good too.  But I didn't have white chocolate chips on hand and I didn't want to take the time to chop up the bar of white chocolate I had bought in Zurich so I went with milk chocolate chips instead.  That worked too as this was a very good chocolate cookie. You can really taste the cocoa flavor so please go with a good-quality cocoa for these cookies.

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Pernigotti and Droste)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Mix the butter, brown sugar, and sugar until light and fluffy in large bowl.  Add in eggs and vanilla,  mixing well.
3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt, and mix together. Then gradually pour those dry ingredients into the wet mixture above at a very slow speed –being careful not to spray or spill.  Stir in chocolate chips.
4. Form tablespoon-sized cookie dough balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet, spaced at least an inch apart. (Or you can choose to chill or freeze the dough balls for a few hours first and bake later.)
5. Bake one cookie sheet at a time for 9-10 minutes or until the middles no longer look raw or wet.  Do not overbake.  Allow to cool on wire rack.

Linked to Sweet Treats Thursday
   

Orange Cookies with Orange Glaze

Orange Cookies with Orange Glaze - made July 28, 2012, recipe adapted from Stephanie's Kitchen blog

Back to the recipes.....

After 23 hours of travel time from my hotel in Barcelona to my house, I finally made it home only to spend the weekend trying to adjust back to my local time zone.  I tried staying up so I could adjust more quickly and just ended up with some raging headaches from sleep deprivation and I still woke up at 2 am.  I love to travel but sometimes I'm not a good traveler because I can't sleep on planes and it takes me awhile to adjust to different time zones.  Nevertheless, it was good to be home and I missed baking in my kitchen so of course, sleep deprivation or not, I hit the butter, flour, sugar and eggs to start baking again.

First recipe out of the gate is this one for orange cookies from Stephanie's Kitchen blog.  I indulged shamelessly in Swiss chocolate while I was gone so I switched gears back to oranges with this recipe.  This is a good summer cookie with its citrus flavor.  I modified it slightly by increasing the flour by 1/4 cup as when I used the original amount, the dough seemed a bit too soft and I didn't want it to spread flat.  I liked the fresh orange taste of this cookie but this is one you definitely don't want to overbake or it'll easily be dry.  Err on the side of underbaking for the proper texture which is moist and almost "fudgy" had it been chocolate.  I also only used just enough orange juice to make more of a thick glaze or a frosting rather than a runny glaze.  It's the glaze that brings out the orange flavor really well.  This is not a stackable cookie unless you let the glaze set so I wouldn't recommend it for care packages or bringing anywhere really hot or else the glaze will just melt off the cookies.

I love this texture when it's just slightly underbaked

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons orange zest
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 egg

For the glaze:

1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon orange zest
fresh orange juice

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. 
2. In a small bowl, mix the sugar and orange zest. Rub together with your fingers until zest is throughout the sugar. The sugar will become moist from the oils being released. 
3. Using a mixer, cream the butter and orange-zested sugar. Add egg and orange juice. 
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients until well incorporated. At this point you can chill for an hour or so or overnight. 
5. Scoop onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and roll into smooth round balls. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10-12 minutes or until very lightly golden on the bottoms.
6. Mix the confectioners’ sugar, orange zest and enough orange juice to get a glaze consistency and mix until smooth and creamy. Pour glaze over the tops of the cookies and let set.

   

Barcelona, Spain 2012

My next stop after Schaffhausen was for a series of meetings in Barcelona.  I'd gone there last year for the same type of meetings but this time, the schedule worked out so that I was actually on the ground in Barcelona a little longer than I was in the air (last year's trip was a whirlwind, literally).  The night I arrived from Switzerland, our group went out for a late dinner.  We left the hotel a little before 9 pm and came back around 12:30 am.  Talk about leisurely dining!

The restaurant, Merendero de la Mari, was close to the wharf and the weather was perfect: not too hot, not too cold, with a small breeze.  With that kind of climate, it's almost sacrilege to eat inside so of course we ate outside.  I had missed lunch since I was on a plane half the day (quick connection in Heathrow) and airlines never serve food anymore on short trips but I wasn't too hungry because when I arrived at the hotel from Barcelona airport, I was welcomed with this thoughtful presentation from our events management company - do they know me well or what?

I did refrain from scarfing down all of the cookies and actually only ate one.  And when we got to the restaurant, I opted for seafood because it was lighter and I preferred not eating a big, heavy dinner so late at night.  Plus, it's Barcelona, so of course I'm going to have seafood.

Shrimp Catalan

My entree turned out a bit lighter than I expected and I don't eat the heads of shrimp, just the shrimp itself, but it was actually the right amount because that left room for dessert.  I had "Chocolate Textures" - I had to ask the waiter to explain to me what that was since there was no description on the menu.  It turned out to be layers of chocolate mousse sandwiched between layers of solid chocolate and praline.  Good stuff.

On our last night in Barcelona, my colleagues and I went to Las Ramblas, a busy shopping and dining district of Barcelona.  And in keeping with local fare, we went to a tapas bar.  I've had tapas before but not at a tapas buffet so that was kind of fun.  They didn't have food labels on anything so you had to take your chances on what you were selecting.  I guessed wrong on a couple of items (a breaded scallop-shaped tapas was not actually a scallop but filled with something cheesy-seafoody) but for the most part, enjoyed sampling the little plates.  The restaurant charged 1.80 euros per stick (see how each tapas has a stick in it?) and as we ate and emptied the sticks, we put the used sticks in a round metal container at our table and when we were finished, our waiter counted up the sticks in front of us and prepared our bill accordingly.  Think of it as the Spanish version of dim sum but instead of stamps on your bill as you selected dim sum plates from the carts, it was sticks that tallied up your meal cost.

The tapas buffet

And lest you think all I did in Barcelona was eat, we did walk around Las Ramblas quite a bit and I took some non-food pictures.  Just don't ask me what anything is called because.....I don't know.  But I just love the impressive architecture and the energetic vibe of Barcelona, not to mention the fabulous weather while we were there.  While I don't speak Spanish, it's close enough to Tagalog that I'm familiar enough with the language to be dangerous.  And not get lost on the way to the airport since the meaning of "aeroporto" is much easier for me to guess than "flughafen", lol.

Schaffhausen, Switzerland

Although I did some posting this past week, in truth, I was traveling for work and posting from there at odd hours, thanks to jet lag and my inability to sleep on airplanes.  I went to Europe on business and my first stop was Schaffhausen, Switzerland.  I'd been to Zurich before some years back but not to Schaffhausen.  I didn't have much time (I was there to work after all, ha) but I flew in a day early to (theoretically) get over the jet lag before I had to show up in the office.  I had a chance to walk around Schaffhausen for a few hours, partly because I was looking for our office and partly because I like exploring new grounds on foot.  It turned out that the hotel had given me the wrong directions to the office so I ended up covering more of Schaffhausen on foot than I had intended.  But it was all good since it gave me a chance to leisurely explore the area.  Walking along the Rhine was pure poetry because it was a beautiful day with cool temps and the sun shining.

Around my hotel, there were a lot of little cute shops but since I was walking around on a Sunday, many of them were closed.  I did happen upon some restaurants, one of which I patronized for lunch and a gelato shop where I availed myself of the gelato.

Spaghetti Carbonara from Don Quixote restaurant

Chocolate and mocha gelato

I didn't know much about "Swiss food" beforehand but when I looked it up, it seemed to be a combination of German, Italian and French.  German was the primary language in Schaffhausen but I ended up eating Italian cuisine most of the time.  The great thing about Europe is the variety of cuisines available.  Ironically though, in the area around my hotel and the office, I really didn't see any German restaurants.  They all seemed to be predominantly Italian.  A coworker and I went out to dinner one night and I had Italian again - risotto this time with prawns.  And in sticking with the Italian theme, a banana split with gelato.

Risotto Gambieri from Santa Lucia

One tip if you ever find yourself in Switzerland and don't speak German (I'm bilingual but German is not my 2nd language).  "Flughafen" means airport. I almost missed my stop on the train ride back from Schaffhausen to the Zurich Airport because I erroneously assumed the stop I was going to get off at was the airport, since I didn't recognize Flughafen as the stop I originally came from when I arrived.  I was so intent on figuring out how to get to Schaffhausen when I first arrived and which train to take that I made the cardinal mistake of not noting where I started from.  Fortunately though, my coworker ended up on the same train as me and, having lived in Switzerland for the past year and a half, she knew exactly where to go.  Whew.

And I must give props to the Flughafen Zurich because they had an inordinate amount of chocolate shops that I must applaud.  Even down to the classy chocolate button proclaiming your location on the gelato from the Lindt store.

Milk Chocolate Gelato

Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

Sour Cream Sugar Cookies - made July 14, 2012, recipe modified from About.com

"Not a real sugar cookie but a soft blank slate" - those are the words of one of the reviews from About.com and I have to admit, that's pretty accurate to describe this cookie.  I was still in "gotta use up sour cream" mode so I tried out this recipe.  Usually I can tell if I like a cookie in the first bite.  For this one, I had to eat a whole cookie and even then I wasn't really sure how I felt about it.  My first thought was "wow, this is really..... bland."  I liked the soft texture but I wouldn't call this a sugar cookie.  If you want it sweeter, add a frosting or glaze.  Otherwise, it's a nice chewy cookie but don't expect to be overwhelmed by its flavor.  You also have to bake these just right - if you take them out too early, they'll be gummy.  If you overbake them, they'll be cakey-dry.

2 7/8 (or scant 3) cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup sour cream

Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
 In a mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla with an electric mixer. Beat for 2 minutes.
Add sour cream and half of the sifted dry ingredients; beat 1 minute. Stir in remaining dry ingredients with a wooden spoon.
Divide dough in half and roll each portion into a log.  Wrap in waxed paper and put in the freezer  until firm.  Cut into thick rounds (at least 1/4" thick).  Place rounds on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper; bake at 400° for 8 to 10 minutes. Store soft sugar cookies in an airtight container.

Food is a safe gift for a foodie

My birthday was last week and one of my old college roommates, Caroline, always manages to find a new bakery to send me something from.  Last year it was cupcakes from Crumbs Bakery in New York which were to die for.  This year, she sent me mini cupcakes from another New York Bakery, Baked by Melissa.  I'll have to ask her how she finds all these great bakeries that ship from online orders. For some reason, I never think of it when I have to give gifts.

This year's cupcake treats came in a large box, surrounded by a dry ice container labeled with all sorts of dire warnings about not touching with bare hands and opening in a well-ventilated place.  Once you get past those skull and crossbones, you get to the cupcake package inside.  Both packages were simply and beautifully presented, with a legend on what flavors the cupcakes were.

The best part is they were an assortment of mini cupcakes, meaning you could have 1 (or um, 3) and not feel like a complete pig since they were literally bite-sized.  When giving someone a sampler pack, it's always nice for the samples to be small enough that you can do quite a bit of sampling without feeling sick :).

The chocolate-covered mini cupcakes were enjoyable too although I think the chocolate couverture tended to overwhelm the minis a bit so the individual cupcake flavors weren't as pronounced as the non-chocolate coated ones.  They were almost like high-end Ding Dongs but better tasting.  Still, it was a thoughtful and delicious gift for a foodie - thanks, Caroline!