Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies - the ugliest cookie you'll ever love

 

First prep 12 oz of Buttersworth original hard candies.    Unwrap, put them in a gallon ziploc bag, put bag into an old pillowcase or fold into a dishcloth, and pound with a mallet or the bottom of a heavy sauce pan:   

 

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees

 Cream together:

 2 sticks butter, at room temperature 

1 cup brown sugar

Then add: 

2 eggs

1 T vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

When well combined add in:

2 cups flour

1 cup rolled oats

Then add: 

12 ounces hard butterscotch candies (prepared as described)

Drop by the tablespoon onto parchment lined sheet pans, 3" apart.    Small balls, socially distanced.   These cookies seriously spread, y'all.      

Bake ~10 minutes.   If your oven is uneven, turn the pans halfway.   

Let the cookies cool on their tray, undisturbed.      Then store cooled cookies between layers of parchment.    

Honey yeast rolls

Mix in bottom of stand mixer bow:

• 1 cup warm tap water
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons yeast

 Let proof (get big and frothy) for a few minutes

beat together:

• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg 

add egg, salt and butter in with yeast mixture, mix 

•   2 tablespoon softened butter

Start adding bread flour, 1 cup at a time.      You want a dough that is not sticky.   

• 3 to 4 cups bread flour
  

Let stand mixer knead for about 10 minutes.     Let stand for a couple minutes, then turn on for a few seconds to beat down. 

Meanwhile grease the bottom of two 8" square pans  (or one 13 x 9 or two pie plates).     Divide dough into 18 balls, 9 per pan.     Preheat oven to 400.   Cover with a warm towel and allow to proof for 20-30 minutes.   

Brush top of each roll with a bit of cream mixed with honey.   

Bake for about 12 minutes, until lightly brown on top.   

Serve with bean and bacon soup (or any other yummy, warm dinner!) 

Deepest Darkest Chocolate Pudding

 When only the chocolatiest will do ..


First prep 12 ounces of dark chocolate - break into small pieces or coarsely chop.    I used 85% dark from Aldi.  



Lightly whisk together in a large pot (I use my 7 qt dutch oven):

3 cups white sugar
1 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup corn starch



Mix in:

12 egg yolks
1/2 gallon (8 cups) whole milk


Slowly heat on stove, stirring almost constantly until it starts to thicken.   This will take 12-15 minutes.     When it starts to thicken turn off the heat, still stirring.      

Add: 

2 Tablespoons vanilla
prepared 12 ounces of dark chocolate

Mix chocolate into pudding mixture and let it sit a minute, then whisk until combined.   

Add in:

1 stick butter, cut into 8-10 pieces.     Whisk until smooth and shiny.  

Scoop pudding into cups - I ended up with 38 servings.    This also works well as a pie filling for chocolate pie.   

Serve garnished with whipped cream and a raspberry if you wanna get fancy!

Cold Oven Pound Cake

A beautiful, buttery, understated pound cake.     Elegant with an afternoon cup of Earl Grey.    Perfect with sliced strawberries and whipped cream.  


cream together:

3 sticks butter, softened
3 cups white sugar


meanwhile mix together:
6 eggs
1 T vanilla extract
(dash of orange or other citrus oil, optional)
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup sour cream, 3/4 cup milk

mix liquid into creamed butter/sugar.

mix in 3 cups flour until just combined.


Pour into two loaf pans lined with parchment paper.     Place in oven and turn oven to 325.    It took mine about 90 minutes, but start checking at 75 minutes - see if a knife inserted in center comes out clean. 

What the Yankee girl learned attempting biscuits

 So Philadelphia, the home of my youth and my home again now, has a rich culinary heritage.       Pies and chicken and veggies from the Pennsylvania Dutch influence.    Breads and salamis and cheeses from the multiple European influences.   Soft Pretzels from German immigrants.   And of course spectacular pizza, pasta, hoagies and cheesteaks on every block, normally by 2nd or 3rd generation of family ownership with a Greek or Italian surname.    What you don't find too often here ... BISCUITS.    But I married a man of Southern heritage, South Carolina to be precise, and I decided 2017 would be the year of the biscuit.   




A few things I've learned:

1)  Self rising flour expires.    Of course in most cases if flour is in a Tupperware canister it doesn't really go BAD ... so I didn't worry about how old mine might be.   (only later I realized it was probably bought for my mother in law's visit when she made us her spectacular fried chicken ... before my first 1st grader WAS BORN).   But that's a lot of words to say that the self rising flour or baking powder should be younger than kindergarten eligible. 

Attempt number 1 had pretty good flavor but didn't rise AT ALL.    Hockey puck, anyone??

2) When biscuit recipes say to "roll" the dough with a rolling pin they don't mean as thin as gingerbread dough.    And yes, it took me TWO pans baked before I realized WHY they weren't tall enough: I was rolling the dough WAY too thin.    My husband remembered the dough being TALLER than the biscuit cutter back when his mom made homemade biscuits ... AH HA!

Attempt 2.1: flaky, some rise, too short. 

So I still had half the dough and made it much much taller when I rolled it.   These ones were good!

3) hexagon biscuit cutters are great!

4) a heavy duty lasagna/cheesesteak type spatula is PERFECT for cutting the cold butter:  




 <<< slice longwise down the stick, rotate 90 degrees, and slice again

<<< see how the hexagon cutters leave no waste between biscuits?

5) it's highly annoying to get your hands clean enough to take pictures in the middle of making biscuits

6) when in doubt, for any food picture, add a small jar with some jam ;)   

recipe:

into bowl of food processor:

4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 T baking powder
1 T kosher salt
1 T sugar
... pulse a couple times

Add:
4 sticks COLD (1 pound) butter, cut into small bits  (next time I do half lard)

... pulse 3 quick pulses.   DO NOT OVERMIX

mix in a 2 cup measure or small bowl:
1 1/2 cup plain kefir (my yankee sub for buttermilk)
1/2 cup heavy cream 
2 eggs

Mix into flour/butter mixture, again a few quick pulses.      Let dough sit covered in a cool kitchen (my back section is in the 50s during winter) or in fridge for about 1/2 hour.    Set oven to 400 degrees.

Liberally sprinkle a clean dry counter (cool stone is great for this), then sprinkle top with flour and flour your hands and flour your rolling pin and flour the floor (ok, that part is optional, but I always do!).     Gently/quickly/barely roll out the dough - but this isn't cookies, so it should still be quite thick!     Use a straight sided drinking glass or biscuit cutter to cut biscuits, place them on pan an ungreased sheet pan.     Bake 12-14 minutes.

Homemade Caramels

Do you have a few extra hours today?     Want to spend them by the stove making as many calories as humanly possible in one pot?  And you have a candy thermometer at the ready?   Do you have real cream, butter and good vanilla?    Have I got the recipe for you! 

 I decided to try my hand at homemade caramels, so I read about 3 dozen recipes, decided I didn't want "microwave in seven minutes" or "open a can of sweetened condensed milk"  I wanted a recipe that belonged in my circa 1908 house ...      So I settled on this one:  http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2014/12/10/moms-caramels/ with a few modifications:


In a large pot (I used a seven qt dutch oven), combine:

1 qt (4 cups) heavy cream
3 cups white sugar
3 cups brown sugar
1 pint (2 cups) corn syrup
1 pound (4 sticks) butter, sliced into pieces
1 Tbs kosher salt

Mix them all in the pot, then move to stove on medium-low heat.    Once the ingredients are all melted (I'm looking at you butter chunks), you begin the very slow ascent to 248F on your thermometer.     You don't have to stir quite constantly, but much like when you're stirring risotto, you can't leave the room for five minutes.    It's not a bad project while socializing with a visitor at your kitchen counter ...

One of the things you can do while you get ready is VERY lightly butter a 13 x 9 pan.     I also readied a couple of mini pans.    Maybe thinly slice an apple, for sampling any "drips" ;)  

KEEP THE HEAT LOW - barely bubbling.    Your patience will be rewarded.     It took me about 2.25 hours to bring the temperature SLOWLY up to 248F.     Did I mention low heat and going slowly?

Once you reach 248 take the pot off the heat and stir in 3 Tablespoons of GOOD quality vanilla

Pour the hot caramel into the prepared pan(s).    The scrapings from the bottom of the pot go onto a plate for cook's treat.    Allow the caramels to cool for 20-30 minutes, then sprinkle with kosher salt flakes if desired.   Leave undisturbed for at least a few hours and preferably overnight.


Cut caramels into bite size pieces - small bites if you're going to serve directly on a tray, larger bites to wrap individually:

Caramels cut and wrapped in squares of parchment paper:

TINY cuts of caramel on a tray with Turkish figs, petite basque, Chianti salami, along with roasted baby brussel sprouts and pistachios: 

Try the caramel in your mouth with a nutty cheese!   (Dubliner, Petite Basque, Parrano ...)





 

Soft Sugar Cookies

What to do on a rainy day with four young children to entertain?   (I was borrowing a couple of them for the morning)    Make cookies!     We didn't have quite enough time to make rolled cookies, wait for them to cool and then frost/sprinkle them, so I needed a recipe that added the sprinkles before baking.    These also TASTE very, very good. 

 

Soft Sugar Cookies

~ 2 dozen 

• 2 cups  all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar 
• 1 T brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 t double strength vanilla 

Preheat oven to 375 standard/350 convection.   Whisk flour with baking powder and salt.    In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar.    Then add in egg and vanilla (use the good stuff).       Much like when making peanut butter cookies, roll balls of dough in sugar (maybe bourbon/vanilla bean infused raw sugar?) or sprinkles, and place on parchment lined pans - far apart!    I was doing 8-9 cookies on a half sheet pan.     Bake 10-12 minutes until lightly browned on edges, allow to cool a few minutes on the parchment before removing from tray. 

Really easy Unmashed potatoes - organic, unprocessed and cooked in the microwave!

This is unpretentious weeknight cooking to be sure, but also very tasty!

1) wash potatoes  (mine were organic from the CSA)
2) cut them up in bite size pieces (don't peel)
3) place in microwave safe large bowl, cover with water
4) cook until tender (took about 16 minutes in my microwave with about 8 cups of chopped potatoes)
5) pour off water (doesn't need to be too thoroughly)
6) mix in some butter, thyme, paprika, salt  (if you forgot to take butter out of the freezer until now, microwave for one more minute)
7) stir and serve in the same bowl!

So easy, so good ... and don't worry about adding some butter - its still MUCH better for you than most processed foods!

Everything on the grill

One of my goals in the summer is to have yummy meals without heating up the kitchen, so I grill just about everything, especially the wonderful produce coming from my CSA.   I facilitated this by buying some sturdy metal pans - two 8" bread pans, and a quarter sheet pan ... both WITHOUT non-stick, so I didn't have to worry about the high temperatures on the grill:

Cauliflower and/or broccoli:   wash, chop into bite size pieces, put in bread pan, shave a bit of butter on top, cover with foil, cook on top rack of grill.

Beets:  remove stems and leaves, wash well but GENTLY so as not to remove skin.    Place in bread pan, add about an inch of water, cover with foil, cook on top rack.     Take off, allow to cool, use fingers to rub off the skin, then slice and keep in fridge for salads the next day.   Beets are naturally sweet but need a touch of salt or a little salad dressing in a salad  ... or serve warm, sprinkled with some chevre and toasted almonds ... or make a beet and green bean salad with a bit of Italian vinaigrette ....

Green Beans:  butter/bread pan as above

Potatoes and spring onions:   same idea as this, but chop the potatoes small, and the onions thin.    Mix with some butter or oil, and sprinkle with salt, pepper, thyme and paprika.   Cook with the sheet pan directly on the grill (closer to the heat), and stir frequently.

Squash:  Slice zucchini or other summer squash thin, mix with one thinly sliced onion and one red bell pepper.   Drizzle with olive oil, salt and black pepper.   Cover tightly with foil and cook on the top rack until the onion is completely cooked.  

Dessert:   wash, (pit if cherries, cut if strawberries or rhubarb), toss in a bread pan with just a little sugar, break 1/2 a frozen pie crust over the top in small pieces, bake uncovered on top grill rack!  I've now made them with multiple combinations of sour cherries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and rhubarb ... every one turned out great!     I lean towards under sweetening.   You can always serve with some vanilla ice cream.

Homemade Cinnamon buns

These are SOOOO good, and they make your house smell like a Cinnabon while they are baking. (Cinnabon is, I'm quite certain, a registered trademark. I am not claiming these are the Cinnabon recipe. But two different people told me they were better)

In the bread machine, run these ingredients on the dough setting (the second time I made these, I actually set the dough cycle to run right before going to bed, and didn't die because there was milk in the recipe. On the other hand, we keep our house in the mid 50's overnight during the winter nights, so take that into consideration if you try it in the African heat):

1 cup warm milk
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup butter, melted
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 packed (2 1/2 tsp) yeast

When finished, punch dough down and transfer to board:

Very lightly flour, and roll/stretch out, then brush w/ 1/4 cup butter, melted (or spread if you thought ahead enough to have some very spreadable):

Combine 1 cup brown sugar with 1 Tablespoon cinnamon. (GOOD cinnamon. Not been in your cabinet since Reagan was president cinnamon) If the smell isn't incredible when you open the container, don't bother making this recipe)

Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture on all but the far edge (make sure to cover all the way to the edge of the other three sides):

Roll it up. To do this, start by turning the closest edge over once, then run your hands down to finish that "crease", stretching the dough to the sides a bit as you go, and keep rolling. Sprinkle a bit of water on the very edge to help the dough seal to dough to close the roll.

Cut into 12 pieces. I do this by cutting in half, then the half in half, then each quarter into three:

Place in a 13 x 9 pan, which you already greased. Turn the oven to 400 degrees. Cover the buns with a cloth just dampened with warm water, and allow them to rise, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in another part of the kitchen, put 1/2 brick of cream cheese (4 oz) with half a stick of butter into the merry go round with 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar and some vanilla (I actually used vanilla paste):

Give'm a whirl!

Bake the buns for about 20 minutes - until they are light brown on top:

Immediately after removing from the oven, spread with the frosting, so it gets ooey gooey melty on top:

By the way - did you know sticky buns, a regional favorite in Philadelphia are made almost the same way, but omitting the cream cheese frosting? You would just put a brown sugar (1 cup)/butter (half stick)/pecan (1 cup, chopped) or raisins mixture on the BOTTOM of the pan before allowing the buns to rise. They come out of the oven, you immediately flip them out of the pan so the gooey mixture on the bottom becomes the topping. If I was making sticky buns I would have used two 9" cake pans instead of one 13x9, for easier flipping.

How to make a sticky bun LESS healthy

Just in case you are feeling guilty about all the steamed vegetables you ate this week, here's a way to atone for the damage: