Weekly recipes for November 2, 2011
Great Pumpkin Cookies
This recipe is from Toni Fiorenza of Toni's Courtyard Cafe & Catering, Merced, Calif. (www.toniscourtyardcafe.com).
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 cups flour
1 cup old-fashioned oatmeal
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
Blend butter, sugars, egg and vanilla in a large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and blend well. Combine all dry ingredients in separate bowl and slowly stir into pumpkin mixture. Place spoonfuls of dough on buttered baking sheet.
Bake 325 degrees for 25 minutes or until center of cookie is lightly firm to the touch.
You can add chocolate chips to the dough to make great chocolate chip pumpkin cookies.
Petits Fours A L'Anise
This recipe, from One Sweet Cookie: Celebrated Chefs Share Favorite Recipes, by Tracey Zabar (Rizzoli, $30), is from Andre Soltner of the French Culinary Institute. When you bake these, they rise a little and look like mushrooms.
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon whole anise seeds
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted, plus more for flouring pastry sheets
Unsalted butter for pastry sheets
Instructions:
Butter pastry sheets and dust with flour.
Put sugar and eggs in the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix for about 10 minutes on high speed until a ribbon forms when a whisk is inserted and lifted from the mixture. Add the anise seeds and beat for a few minutes more, until the seeds are blended. By hand, with a spatula, gently fold in the flour. Put this dough in a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch tip. Pipe dough onto the pastry sheets, forming circles 3/4-inch across. Let them dry overnight, or at least four hours, at room temperature. Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Bake cookies for about 10 minutes.
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Makes 2 dozen
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned or quick-cook oats
2/3 cup raisins
Cream together the butter and sugar on medium until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and mix a bit more. Sift flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon into a bowl. Pour in the flour mixture and work mixer on low just to work in dry ingredients. Stir in oats and raisins with a spoon. Scoop out tablespoon-sized balls of dough onto parchment-paper-lined sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake 12 to 14 minutes at 350 degrees. Chilling dough results in a taller, chewier cookies.
From The Cookiepedia: Mixing, Baking, and Reinventing the Classics, by Stacy Adimando (Quirk, $18.95).
Petis Fours de Noel
Makes about 100
8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 ounces candied orange peel (optional)
8 ounces ground almonds
Grated zest of 1 lemon
3 small eggs
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1 egg beaten with a little cold water
Cream butter and sugar. Add cinnamon, candied orange peel, almonds, lemon zest and three eggs and mix thoroughly. Add flour and knead until you have a smooth paste. Enclose dough in plastic wrap and let rest in refrigerator overnight, or up to two to three days.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Butter a pastry sheet and dust it with flour.
On a floured work surface, roll out the dough to a 1/4-inch thickness. Cut with cookies cutters. Combine scraps and roll and cut again. Arrange cutouts on the pastry sheet. Brush them with beaten egg. Bake until they are golden brown, about 10 minutes.
From One Sweet Cookie, from Andre Soltner.
Sweet-Surplus-Of-Chocolate Cookies
Makes about 21 cookies
2/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon unsifted bleached all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
11 tablespoons (1 stick plus 3tablespoons) unsalted butter
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large egg yolks
2 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons quick-cooking (not instant) rolled oats
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup firmly packed sweetened coconut
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment. Sift flour, baking soda and salt together.
Cream the butter in the large bowl of a free-standing mixer on low speed for three to four minutes. Add the brown sugar and beat on moderate speed for one minute. Add the granulated sugar and beat one minute longer. Add the egg yolks, beating on low speed until just incorporated. Blend in the vanilla extract and then the sifted ingredients until flour particles are just absorbed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and then blend in the rolled oats, then the chocolate chips and coconut. Place 3 tablespoon mounds of dough about 3 inches apart on prepared baking pans. Bake 16 to 17 minutes, or until just set. The edges off the cookies will be just a bit darker than the centers.
From Baking Style, by Lisa Yockelson (Wiley, $45).
Almond Crescents
Makes about 28 cookies
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup finely chopped almonds
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar (plus 2 1/2 cups for dredging baked cookies)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
3/4 cup slivered almonds for pressing on the baked cookies
Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Scatter over the finely chopped almonds and whisk to combine.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the melted butter, 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and almond extract. Add the flour almond mixture and stir to form a dough. Chill the dough, wrapped in plastic wrap, for 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place slivered almonds in bowl.
Scoop up 1 tablespoon-size pieces of dough and roll into stubby logs. Place each log of dough 2 inches apart on baking pan. Form the logs into crescent shapes, tapering the ends slightly. Apply sliced almonds to the top of the cookies and gently plump up the dough. Bake cookies 15 to 16 minutes, or until set and light golden. Cool cookies. Dredge the cookies in confectioners' sugar. Wait 20 minutes and dredge in sugar again.
From Baking Style, by Lisa Yockelson (Wiley, $45).
Molasses Construction Crumples
Makes about 4 dozen
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar, for rolling
Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves in a large bowl; set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the shortening and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about two minutes. Mix in the egg and molasses on low speed until blended. Add the flour mixture gradually, and beat until just incorporated, about one minute. Form the dough into a ball, and cover tightly with plastic. Chill for at least two hours.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line sheets with parchment paper. Put granulated sugar in a small bowl. Roll a tablespoonful of dough into a ball the size of a large walnut. Dip the top half of the dough ball in sugar and place it sugar side up on the baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until cookies are set but soft in the center.
From Sugar, Sugar: Every Recipe Has a Story, by Kimberly "Momma" Reiner and Jenna Sanz-Agero (Andrews McMeel Publishing, $29.99).
Triple Chocolate Cookies
Makes 2 dozen
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
12 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt into a bowl and set aside. Set a small pot of water on the stove and bring it to a simmer. Place chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl atop the pot. Stir chocolate until it's melted and smooth. Remove from heat.
Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and the vanilla and mix to combine. Pour in the melted chocolate and continue beating. Add the flour mixture and chocolate chips, half at a time, and mix on low speed, until just incorporated. Refrigerate dough 15 to 20 minutes, or until firm. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Roll dough into 1 1/2-inch balls and place on cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for eight to 10 minutes. Cookies will firm once cooled.
From The Cookiepedia.
Greek Stuffed Peppers
Makes 4 servings. Preparation time: 20 minutes. Cooking time: about 15 minutes
4 red, orange or yellow bell peppers, halved, seeds removed
1 (15.5-ounce) can rinsed chickpeas
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium chopped onion
6 ounces baby spinach, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon dried or 1 tablespoon fresh oregano
2 cups cooked brown rice or orzo
3/4 cup fat-free crumbled feta cheese, divided
1/4 cup well-drained sun-dried tomatoes in oil, diced
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
Place peppers cut-side down in a large baking dish; add 1 tablespoon water. Cover; microwave on high 6 minutes. Cool slightly; drain and set aside.
Meanwhile, mash chickpeas into a chunky paste with a fork; leave some whole. Set aside. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet on medium. Add onion; cook 6 minutes or until soft. Add spinach and oregano; cook 1 minute, stirring, or until spinach is wilted. Stir in rice or orzo, chickpeas, 1/2 cup feta, tomatoes, vinegar and salt; cook 2 minutes or until heated through. Divide filling among peppers; sprinkle with remaining feta and serve. (Adapted from Eating Well magazine.)
Per serving: 326 calories, 17 grams protein, 7 grams fat (19 percent calories from fat), 0.8 gram saturated fat, 52 grams carbohydrate, no cholesterol, 897 milligrams sodium, 10 grams fiber.
Pan-Fried Catfish with Cajun Tarter Sauce
Makes 4 servings. Preparation time: 10 minutes. Cooking time: less than 20 minutes
4 (6-ounce) catfish fillets
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
1/8 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 cup low-fat mayonnaise
1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish
1 tablespoon minced onion
1 tablespoon rinsed capers
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
Heat a large nonstick skillet on medium-high. Sprinkle fish evenly with Cajun seasoning and salt. Add 2 fillets to pan; cook 4 minutes per side or until opaque throughout. Remove from skillet; keep warm. Wipe pan clean with paper towels; repeat procedure with remaining fillets.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, relish, onion, capers, pepper sauce and oregano; mix well. Serve with fish. (Adapted from The Cooking Light Gluten-Free Cookbook, Andrea Kirkland and Rachel Quinlivan West; Oxmoor House, $21.95.)
Per serving: 219 calories, 28 grams protein, 7 grams fat (29 percent calories from fat), 1.2 grams saturated fat, 10 grams carbohydrate, 99 milligrams cholesterol, 511 milligrams sodium, no fiber.
Lemon-Lamb Chops with Couscous Pilaf
Makes 4 servings . Preparation time: about 20 minutes. Cooking time: about 10 minutes, plus couscous
1/2 cup couscous
1 cup water
2 teaspoons salt-free lemon pepper seasoning
2 1/2 teaspoons cumin, divided
4 shoulder lamb chops (3/4 -inch thick)
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 (15.5-ounce) can rinsed chickpeas
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced undrained tomatoes with sweet onion
1/2 cup crumbled fat-free feta cheese
Prepare couscous with water according to directions; set aside. Mix lemon pepper seasoning and 2 teaspoons cumin in a small bowl; rub on both sides of chops. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; cook chops 3 minutes per side for medium doneness. Combine chickpeas, tomatoes and remaining cumin in a medium saucepan; heat to boiling. Stir into prepared couscous; toss to mix. Sprinkle feta over pilaf. Serve chops with pilaf. (Adapted from Woman's Day magazine.)
