Recipe – Page 8 – Backdoor Hospitality

A No Fuss Sausage Soup

In my life as a blogger I have realized a couple things. One is that I rarely document actual meals. I’m more of a baked treat sort of gal. You know, mama by day renegade baker by night–sort of thing. Two is that I tend to throw out a lot of posts in one week and then sit back the next couple. But I find I’m really fine with that. Well, in fact, I’m fine with both number one & two.

I think the other reason I don’t document many main dishes or side dishes is because they’re finicky. They require a person, say a mama of two small kids, to actually think out how to get the food to the table by the only source of light on the main floor for a picture (we live in a cave of a condo), while corralling in the children (get utensils, plates, & whiny one year old who should have eaten like 20 minutes before the photo shoot) to eat said food and remember all the ingredients & steps, which went into making the dish. That’s too much folks. I don’t get paid for this gig & baking is so much easier (& for me–so much more fun).

But, I have actually taken pictures of a couple food items outside of the “flour, sugar, butter” category and feel like it might be as good a time as any to showcase them. Here’s how I make dinner. I’m not a planner really. I have flops along with the successes. My kids are not relatively picky, but if I served them an all-you-can-eat fruit buffet, they would never mind. Some vegetables are hit and miss, but I never stop serving them. My oldest enjoyed broccoli till 10 months then rejected it every single time until recently. I give them way out clauses written into dinner, because there are foods I might love most of the time, but at a certain moment it just doesn’t sound too good.

The most planning I have when it comes to a meal is making sure I’ve taken the meat out of the deep freezer the night (or two) beforehand or making dough a couple hours before baking. I enjoy cooking from scratch. I love being able to know all the ingredients by name that I’m putting into my families’ bodies. And that’s why I love to bake as well. Sure, eating only baked goods isn’t healthy alone or done in excess, but when it’s me doing the baking (instead of say Nabisco) than I know the ingredient list is something I recognize.

Okay, I feel like I’m ranting at this point. Sorry, I’m done at this point and time. Maybe it’s because I watched Jaime Oliver’s Food Revolution and read Animal Vegetable Miracle on my vacation. Both encouraging us to know where our food is coming from, getting back into the kitchen & using fresh/local ingredients. I have been encouraged to post more recipes that are relatively easy to get those of you who don’t really like to cook–to get in the kitchen and enjoy it more. So I thought I would post this wonderful soup, which is seriously only like six or seven ingredients. It’s hearty and not fussy. And more importantly, my family ate it all up. Soups are always a sure win in our house for the girls and I hope it is the same for your house.

Italian Sausage Kale-Potato Soup (printable recipe)

This recipe is adapted from Epicurious. I buy Isernio’s sausage & freeze it. When dinner was coming up quickly, I simply defrosted the chicken sausage & it was cooked in the pot 10 minutes later. I love Isernio’s sausage. Also, I keep a bottle of Chardonnay in my fridge with a good cap sealer for cooking. It’s not the freshest, but I know in most recipes that call for a dry white wine, it is usually at most using 1 cup.

Ingredients:

1-2 Tb olive oil
13.3 ounces Isernio’s Italian Chicken Sausage
3 1/2 cups canned low-salt chicken broth
1 pound small red-skinned potatoes or yukon, thinly sliced
1 cup dry white wine

5 cups thinly sliced trimmed kale leaves (about 3/4 of medium bunch)
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds, lightly crushed
freshly grated Parmesan cheese for topping

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Remove casing from sausages & crumble the sausage into the heated pot. Sauté sausage until cooked through, about 3-4 minutes. Add chicken broth, sliced potatoes and white wine and bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat to medium, cover and simmer until potatoes are almost tender, about 10 minutes.

Add kale and fennel seeds to soup. Simmer soup uncovered until potatoes and kale are very tender, about 10 minutes longer. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into bowls and serve immediately. Top with Parmesan cheese.

My Little Debbie Oatmeal Pies

Ben and I just got back today from San Diego, while our girls were graciously taken care of by Ben’s folks. The downside of our trip was recovering from the sickness that invaded our family & I still carried the first couple days in southern California. It was great though. I got to read without interruption, enjoy sunshine & the salty breeze from the ocean, and spend a lot of time with my wonderful, dear friend Veronica. It was a real treat (thank you Steve & Cherie!).

These cookies are also a real treat. They are addictive with that last note of saltiness to draw you in to take another bite. As far as the real Little Debbie’s in the sealed bag found in the white box–not completely a fan. Ben on the other hand is a fan. Once when we were in the store he picked up a box of Little Debbie’s Oatmeal Cream Pies and said he wanted to buy them. In my haste & grandiose perception of what may not be so easily attainable I say, “Oh, don’t buy that…I could make that!” The problem being–is I have been known to say those last four words many a times, especially at the moment when (specifically) Ben wants the designated said item right then (not two weeks later).

However, there was a time when I followed through on my “I could make that,” by making these Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies. And you would do everyone in your household or work a favor by chanting, “I did make that!” My girls were sure to speak the praises through continuous, “MMMM!”

Little Debbie Oatmeal Pies (printable recipe)

This recipe is revised from one online (one of those copycat kinds); however, as I truly don’t like using shortening if at all possible–I omitted it from the filling & used butter instead. If you want a more firm filling like that found in the store kind, then use shortening where you see butter in the creme filling portion. These cookies are very moist. If you want them a bit more firm, then try putting them in the fridge for a while to firm them up.

Cookies

1 cup butter, room temperature
¾ cup dark brown sugar
½ cup rapadura sugar
1 Tb molasses
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs, room temperature
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp kosher salt
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
1 ½ cups Quick Cooking Oats

crème Filling

2 tsp very hot water
¼ tsp salt
2 cups marshmallow crème (7-ounce jar)
½ cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup powdered sugar
½ tsp vanilla

Directions for Cookies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugars, molasses, vanilla & eggs for 1 minute. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda & cinnamon. Combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients until just combined. Mix in the oats.

Using a cookie scooper (2 Tb), drop onto lined baking sheet, two inches apart. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes, or until the cookies are just starting to darken around the edges. They will still appear moist in the center. Be careful not to over bake them. Transfer cookies on hot sheet to a wire rack and let sit for 10 minutes and transfer to foil.

Filling: While your cookies are baking, prepare the filling. Use a small bowl to dissolve the salt in 2 teaspoons of very hot water. Set this solution aside to cool. Combine the marshmallow crème, ½ cup butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl and mix well with an electric mixer on high speed until fluffy. Add the cooled salt solution to the filling mixture and combine with the mixer.

Assembling: Distribute the crème filling evenly amongst half of the cookies. Take the other cookie and put on top of the crème cookie, pressing gently to make a sandwich.

Comfort of Chicken-n-Dumplings

One of my favorite summer events was going camping with other family’s from our church family. We would go to Indian Hills in the Laguna Mountains right outside of San Diego (one benefit of growing up in a town like Yuma, AZ). The parents would do who knows what, while us kids would find the most willing & easily taken advantage of adult to take us to the pool. We would also try to get some wax paper from the ladies who made the meals, because there was the monster of all slides with other puny playground equipment around.

After watching Swiss Family Robinson, I was convinced that living on a deserted island in a tree was pretty much the best place ever. And here in the middle of Indian Hills was a tree house that emulated all I ever dreamed. Aside from the stairs leading up to the tree house (the key was “Don’t Look Down!”), once you got to the top we would run toward our destiny–our anticipated ride down. The ride being the largest slide I have ever encountered. It was as if we were Fred Flintstone for a mere section in the opening credits as he slid down the Brontosaurus’ neck. In fact, the camp specifically had painted on the wooden side enclosing the slide, “NO WAX PAPER.” But we threw caution to the wind. At that very moment, we embraced all that we knew to be a kid. So what did we do? We would sneak some up anyway. There was a thrill knowing we were breaking the rules, in order to gain that perfect amount of speed and a little bit of vertigo. All for round two & three and so one as we raced back to the stairs to start again. It’s no wonder that kids are innately born with tons of energy with no awareness that their play is actually exercise. Any rational person would quickly realize the time it took us to climb up wasn’t worth the ride down. But we were living dangerously with our smuggled in wax paper.

It was also no wonder that when dinner time hit, we were starving like the deserted inhabitants we envisioned ourselves to be. While the Swiss Family Robinson’s dream hit the fan around 4:30, as we whimpered to our parents about our stomachs eating themselves. I strolled on over to the eating area around 4:00 where Gramma Naomi Quinn was preparing dinner for us. Now, Gramma Quinn was that quintessential, older lady that you envision having rhythm in the kitchen. She knew what paired well. She knew how to feed an army. And she knew how to give some of the best, big Gramma hugs a child (or adult) could imagine.

She was known by everyone as Gramma Quinn. When our church did a baking auction to raise money for the Youth Group, her homemade cinnamon rolls were the big ticket item. Because with those simple six words, “They were made by Gramma Quinn,” had more clout than a notary stamp. She came up to me, as I shivered in the cool breeze, and asked, “Kamille, what would you like me to fix for dinner?” By her asking me that question, it made me think the following: a.) I would be picking dinner for everyone else b.) that “Gramma Quinn” only asked me & no one else and c.) knowing she made the best (and only) Chicken-n-Dumplings I ever tasted in my whole seven years of living. “Your chicken-n-dumplings please!”, I replied. She smiled and said, “Well, I think that would be perfect on a cool evening like this. (and indulging me a little bit) And do you think that would hit the spot for you?” “Oh YES!,” I said.

Me (8 yrs), Andrew (2 1/2 yrs), Willy (10 yrs)

That wouldn’t be the only time Gramma Quinn would make me chicken-n-dumplings, but this was the first where she made them to order on my request. Whenever I think about the creamy, salty, buttery dumpling laced with the gravy-like stew sprinkled with pepper on top, I always think of her and how she nourished my body and my soul with her big pot of goodness and her big Gramma bear hug. And so in her memory and my childhood nostalgia, make this hearty pot of chicken-n-dumplings. I think you’ll be recalling your own childhood dinner stories as you take your first bite.

My recipe is a transfiguration of sorts, which I find very handy when you’re trying to cook from scratch with shortcuts..if you will.

Chicken-n-Dumplings (printable recipe)

Now there are so many ways in which you could use chicken for the recipe. You could boil down a whole chicken, then use the chicken stock & the chicken for the soup. Or you could use some chicken breasts & pre-made chicken stock. Or you could buy a rotisserie chicken, remove the meat, then boil the carcass with the veggies to make your own stock. You be the judge.

Ingredients:

One rotissiere chicken, meat removed & cut into bite sized chunks
6 cups water
2 carrots, big chunk slices
1 onion, cut into quarters
2 stalks of celery, roughly chopped
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

Dumplings

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
3 Tb shortening
3/4 cup buttermilk

Directions:

Making the broth: In a dutch oven or big stock pot, add your chicken carcass, cold water, carrots, onion, celery & salt. Bring to a boil, cover & lower heat. Simmer for 45 minutes (Time saving tips below). Remove chicken carcass. Strain veggies out & reserve the carrots & celery (discard the onion). Put a sieve over a bowl and ladle the chicken broth to separate any remaining particles. Rinse your pot, pour the broth back in and keep heat on medium heat. Now make those dumplings.

Make the dumplings: Combine the flour, baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt; cut in the shortening with a pastry blender or two knives until the mixture is consistency of coarse meal. Add the buttermilk, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead 4 or 5 times–no more, you’re going for biscuit like. Pat the dough down to a 1/4-inch thickness. Set aside.

Bringing it altogether: Put the pot of broth on medium-high heat & bring it to a boil, and stir in the milk & pepper. Correct seasonings, if you so desire. Take the dumplings and pinch off 1 1/2-inch pieces, one or two at a time and drop into the boiling broth & reduce the heat to medium-low. Stir from time to time to keep the dumplings from sticking. Continue dropping in the dumplings until there are no more. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes. Add the cut chicken, carrots, & celery to the pot and simmer until heated through. Remove from heat, a couple of grinds with pepper & serve.

Time Saving Tips:

Use the rotisserie chicken for the chicken, but use boxed chicken broth instead of making your own.
The original recipe calls for cooking up a whole chicken for 60-70 minutes to make the broth; however, I find an already roasted chicken makes for a deeper & richer broth.

Lemons for Lindsey

Coconut Cream Cheese Filling

My good friend Lindsey’s birthday was last weekend and I know my practical gifts of love made in my kitchen are always a sure hit with people, especially Lindsey who never hesitates to sing my culinary praises. In fact, if I’m feeling a bit blue, I can ask Lindsey what she liked about my latest creation & by the end—I’m encouraged. Ya know, sometimes it doesn’t take much.

When I asked Lindsey what her favorite type of flavors or desserts were she said, “Lemon, not pie or cake–not so much!” Well, I understood what she was talking about. Because I really like lemon desserts, but lemon meringue & a lemon cake (or should I say lemon filling) doesn’t sit well with me. I do like lemon curd though & lemon tart; however, the meringue atop a lemon pie is so sad most of the time. And the lemon filling in cakes is typically poorly done. I knew what she needed was lemon sandwich cookies, but all the recipes you would come across for lemon sandwiches are the rolled out kind and this tired mama wasn’t feelin’ it after putting my girls down for bed & cleaning up the chaotic remains.

So after perusing my cookbooks I came across this Vanilla Sugar Cookie and knew it could easily be adapted to suit that lemon hankering I was seeking. I thought I would make two different kinds of frosting to spice things up a bit. And since I wasn’t about to go and buy more cream cheese than what my fridge was holding, I did what any inventive baker would do–split it in half & say a blessing to see if the frosting would multiply like the loaves & fish. Some had lemon & some had coconut filling. And I would say both hit a great spot with just the right amount of lemon in the cookie. Ben even said, “These are pretty good for a lemon cookie, because I don’t like lemon cookies.” And he ate more than one.

Lemon Cream Cheese Filling

Lemon Sandwich Cookies with Coconut & Lemon Filling (printable recipe)

I was inspired by the Vanilla Sugar Cookie in The Good Cookie Cookbook. I wanted to make a lemon cookie and used two different fillings. One is a lemon filling, while the other is coconut filling. You choose what you like best..or do both!

Cookie Ingredients

1 cup granulated sugar
zest from one lemon (about 2 Tb)
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
½ tsp lemon essence
squeezed juice of one half lemon
Coarse sugar (turbinado) for sprinkling

Coconut Filling Ingredients & Lemon Filling Ingredients

½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp coconut extract
1 cup sweetened coconut
½ to 1 tsp lemon essence

Directions for cookies: Preheat the oven to 375. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silipat.

Put the granulated sugar into a bowl and add the lemon zest to the sugar. Using your fingers to rub the zest into the sugar, in order to get as much of the oil out of the zest as possible. Set aside. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, & salt and set aside.

In a mixer bowl, add the butter and beat on medium speed for about 1 minute. Add powdered sugar & the lemon zest sugar to the butter, beat on medium speed for 3 minutes, till the mixture is light & fluffy. Turn off the mixer and add one egg at a time, briefly beating at low speed just until the egg is combined. Add lemon essence & lemon juice and mix for about 10 seconds. With mixer on low, slowly add dry ingredients until it’s all combined.

Put about ½ cup of coarse sugar in a bowl, then take the other half of the lemon and do one light squeeze onto the sugar. It will get the sugar a bit wet, but not drenching it. Have your hands lightly wet, put one tablespoon of dough in your hand and roll it to make a ball. Continue doing this placing the rolled dough 2 inches apart on the lined baking sheet. Either roll the balls around in the lemon turbinado sugar or sprinkle the lemon turbinado sugar on top. Lightly press down on each ball, so you’re making them into a circle (not too much & not too little either). Bake for 9-11 minutes.

Put on a cooling rack and let them cool for about 5 minutes. Remove and put on aluminum paper. Meanwhile, make the frosting.

Directions for Frosting: Beat the butter in your stand mixer on medium speed for 1 minute. It should be light & fluffy. Now add the cream cheese in halved pieces and beat for 2 to 3 minutes, still on medium speed. Turn mixer down to low and slowly add powdered sugar. Once the powdered sugar has been fully incorporated, then turn up the speed to medium and beat for an additional 30 seconds.

Get out a medium bowl and scoop out 1/3 of the frosting. Add ½ tsp of lemon essence to the bowl and mix thoroughly. Set aside and there is your lemon frosting.

Add the 1 cup sweetened coconut & 1 tsp coconut extract, mix thoroughly and there is your coconut frosting.

Assembling: You might have assorted sizes, so match up the ones most similar and begin frosting by putting about 1 tablespoon of frosting on each cookie smoothing it out and put another cookie on top. Then eat one or two to sample, so you can attest to their goodness to your family & friends.

Mrs. Carrillo’s Spanish Rice

I’ve spoken of my adopted family the Carrillo before & again. My love for genuine Mexican food is not something I can keep hidden. In fact, just the other night I was having dinner at a friend’s house and someone asked where I grew up. My answer going back to Yuma, Az, which inevitably leads to my love of Mexican food. I was asked what type of Mexican food stood out as the best back in my hometown. And it always, always goes back to the Carrillo’s home.

Mrs. Carrillo would make fresh flour tortillas on the comal. Mr. Carrillo would eat jalapenos straight from the jar while watching soccer, while I would stare in amazement. I learned by eating a jalapeno straight from the jar that you need to drink milk or pour some salt on your tongue to get that burning feeling away (I wanted to show everyone I too could be strong enough, but I only got so far as let it touch my tongue while running to the kitchen–while Mr. Carrillo would simply sweat from the heat). I learned that not all Mexicans like menudo and Mrs. Carrillo would make a pre-cow tongue batch for Veronica. Nopales con carne became my all time favorite dish (cactus with meat). And that the only way you would get a recipe from Mrs. Carrillo was to watch her at her art.

She didn’t have these recipes on paper filed neatly away. They instinctively ran through her person. Still to this day, the only recipe Veronica has from her mom is her flour tortillas (which I don’t–umm, I really need that if you’re reading Mrs. Carrillo). However, I did get the nopales con carne recipe, simply by watching her in the kitchen–her talking half in English and the other half in Spanish (Mrs. Carrillo a firm believer that I could really understand a lot more Spanish than I let on–but she didn’t let it get in the way). I would even ask Veronica if she had any of her mom’s recipes, to which she would say, “I always ask her and she always gets sidetracked.”

So, I decided one day back in my college days that I needed a genuine Spanish rice recipe to make for dinner. I called up Mrs. Carrillo & got it from her. No sidetracking that I saw. I think it still makes Veronica jealous (in that good sort of way) that I have one up’d her in the recipe department. And now I pass it on to you. Very simple, very good, and pure comfort.

Mrs. Carrillo’s Spanish Rice (printable recipe)

I changed this up a bit, but not much. I will put her recipe as is and in parenthesis put my changes.

Ingredients:

2 cups white rice (I used long grain)

1 big clove of garlic, or 2 smaller ones, crushed

2-4 Tb oil (I used canola, I wouldn’t use olive oil)

1-14 oz can tomato sauce

2 chicken bouillon cubes (I used 4 cups homemade chicken broth, unsalted)

4 cups water

1/2 of a small white onion, cut into four small pieces.

Directions:

Put rice in a bowl and add enough water to cover it. Stir it around with your fingers to clean & rinse the rise. Drain the water and set aside.

In a heavy bottom pot (8 qt) over medium heat, add about 2 Tb oil and add the crushed garlic. Stirring constantly to avoid browning it. Add more oil if the pot is getting dry. Cook garlic for about one minute. Add the rinsed rice to the pot. Stirring constantly, adding more oil if need be. You want to toast the rice, cooking it till it’s a nice golden to medium brown color (not all of it will get toasted, it’s more of an overall appearance). This will take around 8-12 minutes.

Slowly add in the tomato sauce, being very careful, because the liquid will splatter. Add either the chicken bouillon cubes & 4 cups water, or 4 cups chicken broth. Stir completely to get all the rice covered. Add the 4 halves of onion. Allow the mixture to reach a boil. Once it boils, turn the heat to low & cover. Cook for an additional 20-30 minutes. You want to check on it to see how much of the liquid it has absorbed. You’ll know it’s done when there’s still a little liquid resonating on the sides of the pot, but when you stir it around it disappears.

Remove from the heat, season with salt to taste if you used unsalted chicken broth (no need with chicken bouillon).

Bursting with Delight Cookies

Not only are these cookies bursting with delight, but I have been reflecting upon this notion as I await what the Christian world calls “Holy Week” or “Passion Week.” As my girls took their nap today, I was folding laundry listening to the song, ‘O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus.’ One of the lines says, “How he loveth, ever loveth, changeth never, nevermore…how for them he intercedeth.” I was struck by how great his love is for me. When I was a little girl I would stand up on mall benches and sing “Jesus Loves Me.” When people would ask me why I believed in Jesus, I would respond with, “why wouldn’t I (this at a very young age).”

I think it’s because I was drawn to Jesus’ incredible love. I knew he was good, but not just good as in the superhero fighting the villain, it was much deeper than that. And as my oldest is three understanding more concepts, listening to all the stories we tell her, taking initiative in conversations & thoughtfulness, I’m seeing how at such a young age–Jesus makes sense. I was reading to her some Bible stories, very simplistic in nature, and it came to the part where Jesus was being crucified (like I said, it was simplistic, not the Passion in full swing) where she had a sadness in her eye. I could identify with that sadness and conjure it up from when I was her age, because I like her, could see why it was so sad. It was sad & lonely, because this person who was so incredibly good & just was being robbed of life.

But the part in which I burst forth, as did she, was when we soon realized that wasn’t the end of the story, but Jesus overcame death, bursting forth from the tomb–leaving it empty. I could see the shadow of sadness quickly being replaced with joy & hope in my three year old’s eyes. And as I saw in this child illustrated Bible, feet on a cross, my eyes got misty connecting with the same mourning my daughter was feeling. But, unlike watching a fake romance movie Hollywood has portrayed giving us hope deferred & hope renewed–this is such a better love story. This is a love story even a three year old understands to be true & wholeheartedly genuine.

And even though we rarely think about feasting upon cookies during this season of Lent (most people giving them up), I do offer you a burst of delight upon your senses (not that I think these compare to the Easter story at all). I made these cookies for my mom getaway a couple weeks back and I find they have a wonderful marriage with sour, freshness of the lime, the creamy depth of the cream cheese, the buttery, saltiness of the caramel and the crunch & melding of it all with the macadamia nuts. I like how the flavors blend, some pack more of a punch, while others leave a nice undertone on in your mouth.

I think that’s why I find these cookies applicable with this post–it’s about awakening the senses. So as you might read the Passion story for the first time or the 70th time, notice how much of the story deals with smell, touch, taste, sight, & sound. How Jesus reached us with our senses. How the Lenten season is typically about denying the senses, yet as Jesus burst forth from the tomb on Easter morning–we burst forth in celebration with him to feast in a hope no longer deferred.

Burst Delights (printable recipe)

I used my Orange Cardamom Cookies as the base for these Lime-Cream Cheese-Macadamia Nut-Caramel Cookies.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons lime zest
1/4 cup macadamia nuts, measure out 1/4 cup and finely chop it up
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg yolk
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 lime for juice

Cream Cheese-Caramel Icing

1/3 – 1/2 cup whipped cream cheese
1/4 cup homemade caramel sauce (or store bought)
splash of lime oil essence (or extract)
2 teaspoons lime zest

Make dough:
Whisk together flour, zest, 3 Tb. finely ground macadamia nuts, and salt.

Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, then beat in yolk and cream. At low speed, mix in flour mixture in 3 batches just until a dough forms. Put the dough on parchment paper.

Mound the dough together and roll into a log. Once you get a basic log shape, position the dough in the middle of the parchment. Then, take the parchment that’s north of the dough and cover it over the dough. Take a bench scraper and push the edge of it at the base of the parchment covered dough, trying to make a concentric log. Roll the log so the parchment covers the whole thing and twist the edges. Refrigerate for 3 hours to overnight (if you want to speed the process, then place in freezer for about 30 minutes to 1 hour).

Cut and bake cookies:
Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.

Remove firm dough. Unroll the parchment so the dough is still sitting on top of the paper. Place on a cutting board. Cut the dough into 1/8 inch. Transfer cookies to a parchment-lined large baking sheet, arranging them 1 inch apart.

Bake until edges are golden-brown, 12-15 minutes. While the cookies are still warm, slice the zested lime in half and squeeze the juice over the cookies. The cookies will absorb the juice and give the cookies that great lime kick. Cool on baking sheet and arrange with below directions.

Make Icing:

Put the whipped cream cheese in a small bowl and add 1 Tb of caramel sauce at a time. Mixing to get a balance of caramel & cream cheese. Then add some lime essence, just a splash. You want to have a balance of the flavors. Not too much of the lime, but enough to have it stand out.

Putting them together:

With a spoon, put about 1/2 teaspoon icing on each cookie & swirl around. Drizzle caramel over the cookies with a fork or spoon. Sprinkle with remaining chopped macadamia nut & lime zest.

Pseudo, yet easy Chocolate Mousse

With spring’s early advent in the Northwest, one cannot escape the driving urge to buy fresh produce (preferably strawberries & rhubarb) to make a pie or crisp to welcome the May Day in March. However, as we’ve been fooled into thinking it’s time to pull out our swimsuits & sandals, we cannot escape the reality that it’s not the summer sun shining down quite yet. Hence making it impossible to eat that fresh strawberry-rhubarb pie.

During this Lenten season, our family is eating beans & rice Monday through Friday for dinner, trying to embrace simplicity in our everyday lives. It’s been a fruitful experience thus far. It’s also fun to read or hear about a number of individuals eating beans & rice for the whole month of March. As we’ve been partaking in simplicity for our weeknight dinners, it has made Sunday night dinners extra special. I made this last Sunday along with this Chocolate Mousse. I was wanting to make a chocolate cream pie, but it was around 4:00 and my ambitious, idealist nature waved the white flag to that simple, realistic side screaming at the top of its lungs.

Now this mousse seriously feeds a crowd (I put the rest in a tupperware and sent it to Ben’s work). It’s creamy, rich and has a chocolate ice cream sort of taste. If you’re a fan of these and you don’t have much time to make a dessert, I recommend this hand’s down. And if you’re standing in your kitchen in late Spring when fresh strawberries are available, but your palate is saying, “chocolatey richness!” Then, make this and top with sliced strawberries–perfectly divine.

Pseudo Chocolate Mousse (printable recipe)

Ingredients:

2 cups heavy cream, cold
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, I used a bag of Ghiradelli 60% cacao chips
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Directions:

Chill an electric mixing bowl & the whisk attachment for about 10 minutes.

In a small pan, fill with about 1 cup of water and place a heatproof bowl on top. Make sure the water doesn’t touch the bowl. Heat over low heat, you want the water to simmer. Add the chocolate chips or chopped chocolate to the bowl, stirring occasionally until melted. Once melted, remove bowl from pan and let come to room temperature.

Remove the electric mixing bowl and whisk attachment and attach to the mixer. Pour in the cold whipping cream and turn your mixer on high speed (10 on Kitchenaid). Beat until stiff peaks appear, because you’re using the whipped cream as your base for the mousse (about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes). When you raise your beater, the whipped cream should be able to stand up well on it’s own.

Add the can of sweetened condensed milk to the cooled, melted chocolate. Stir until thoroughly combined (no streaks remain). Fold in the whipped cream until no visible streaks remain from the whipped cream. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or foil. Refrigerate for an hour (if you can wait that long). The longer it sits in the fridge, the more congealed it will get, which is a good thing.

Receiving the Gifter

Our church body has been going through I Corinthians since September. I have to say that it’s been a wonderful & fulfilling process digging through this letter. It hasn’t been a quick study, which makes me feel like I have bypassed those awkward first couple of dates and now I’m building a relationship. One thing we as a large body are doing is memorizing this passage in the Lenten season:

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

Just the night before I was talking to Ben about stuff in my life revolving around this verse. One of those things was on food and the ability to use it as an idol of sorts, or even use it to snuff other people. What got me thinking about it was my friend Talia asking us moms at our Thursday morning playgroup about advice on cooking a steak. I found myself desperately wanting to give my input and mainly so I would continue to be known as the person who is most knowledgeable about food. I recalled different instances to Ben that I have done this in the past month.

Most of this was due to pride. However, what got me thinking a bit further was how easy it is to turn on a snobbery about food. Not only food, but places I will shop, items I will buy, mantras I will endorse. Food is such a sticky subject when you get right down to it. It serves a basic need and provides a creative outlet. It nourishes & sustains; as well as, stimulates & binds. I love food for all these reasons. I am convicted by what I choose to buy for my family, trying to ensure quality while maintaining a modesty, if you will, for those who are starving. I also understand that as you eat more food, your palate broadens and you become more picky about what you will put into your body.

In Bellingham, we have been a “Green” city long before it was vogue. Composting, buying local, grass-fed, organic weren’t just marketable clichés, but a way of life for many. And as we’ve been studying the church of Corinth and some of their issues it has got me thinking about how as a Christian our issues may be different, but attitude has not. In looking at my culture in my town, these “organic, buy-local, free-range, farmer’s market from the Earth” values are good. It is both the Christian and the non, seeking to be stewards of the Earth. However, where I feel like I personally have gone astray is when I’ve taken these inherently good values and made them more important than the person giving a gift. Let me break it down into a simple story if you’re not tracking with me.

My mom said to me about four years ago that she could get some gift cards from her work (due to some reward thing) for Wal-Mart, which could go towards anything I needed for our first child (I was pregnant at the time). Now, many people shop at Wal-Mart, but at this moment in time, and then, I don’t–due to moral convictions. However, what I said in response to my mom is what I would define as a snobbery, which is putting my “values” ahead of the person. I told her that I wouldn’t really want the gift card, because I don’t want to support Wal-Mart and what they stand for. In my ignorance, I was thinking I was stomping on feet of injustice. But really–I was stomping on the generosity of my mother trying to give anything she had for me. I was putting what I would call a good value ahead of the person. I was lacking love.

It’s exactly as the writer says in the thirteenth chapter of I Corinthians, “If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.” Whenever I put my own agenda, values, or convictions (even if they’re good) ahead of a person who is created in the likeness of God, I defecate on them, because I lack love. When I snub off a gift of factory farmed chicken, tasteless steak, plastic made toy, dessert from a box, or even (shall I say it) coffee from Folger’s, if I have let these stand above the person, I have lacked love.

But…I don’t want to end with you (or me) thinking it is never okay to hold to standards we’ve set forth. For me, I have a standard of eating cake from scratch for instance. However, if my friend invited us over for dinner and she made it from a box, I’m not going to say, “no thanks,” because of it. Instead, I’m going to delight that my friend loved me enough to prepare something for me; regardless, if it meets my standards, because she meets God’s standards and that’s what love is. Because I want to receive the gifter more than the gift (yes I know gifter is not a word).

So as any good friend (that I hope to be, even if we’ve never met), I want to share this tangible gift, which comes in the form of creamy, semi-modest, yet flavorful tomatoey (c) goodness. I have made it a couple times, but the most memorable was for a group of graduating college Seniors for their banquet. The director of the group had been to many of these banquets over the years and told me this main dish (and the dessert Panna Cotta with Balsamic Strawberries) was the best Senior Banquet meal he had ever had (that’s at least 20 years worth).

Creamy Tomato Sauce with Pasta (printable recipe)

This is an easy gift to give and I doubt many people would refuse it. It has depth of flavor, creamy, great texture and invites you to serve up another bowl. Recipe is adapted from Cooks Illustrated.

Ingredients:

3 Tb unsalted butter
1 ounce prosciutto, minced (about 2 Tb)
1 small onion, diced fine (about ¾ cup) [I used shallots this time around]
1 bay leaf
pinch of red pepper flakes
Kosher salt
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 Tb tomato paste
2 ounces oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained, rinsed, patted dry, and chopped coarse
¼ cup plus 2 Tb dry white wine
2 cups plus 2 Tb crushed tomatoes (from one 28-ounce can) [I used whole tomatoes and crushed them in the pan]
1 pound pasta (use a short pasta, ziti, penne, or fusilli)
½ cup heavy cream
ground black pepper
¼ cup chopped fresh basil leaves
Grated Parmesan cheese, for serving

Directions

1.Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add prosciutto, onion, bay leaf, pepper flakes, and ¼ teaspoon salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is very soft and beginning to turn light gold, 8 to 12 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high, add garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in tomato paste and sun-dried tomatoes and cook, stirring constantly, until slightly darkened, 1 to 2 minutes. Add ¼ cup wine and cook, stirring frequently, until liquid has evaporated, 1 to 2 minutes.
2.Add 2 cups crushed tomatoes and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to low, partially cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thickened, 25 to 30 minutes.
3.Meanwhile, bring 4 quarts water to boil. Add pasta and 1 Tb salt and cook until al dente. Reserve ½ cup cooking water; drain pasta and transfer back to cooking pot.
4.Remove bay leaf from sauce and discard. Stir cream, remaining 2 Tb crushed tomatoes, and remaining 2 Tb wine into sauce; season to taste with salt & pepper. Add sauce to cooked pasta, adjusting consistency with up to ½ cup pasta cooking water. Stir in basil and serve immediately. Top with Parmesan.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Olympics

I remember sitting on my parents bed watching the opening ceremony of the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. I was eager in anticipation to watch the Women’s (really girls) gymnastic team. I would study their moves, watch with my jaw dropping at Dominque Dawes floor performance and wonder why my mom didn’t enlist me on my path toward gold medaldom (copyright Kamille) at age 2. However, once it hit the Atlanta Olympics, where the US Women clinched the gold title with Kerri Strug’s renowned performance on the vault, my interest in the Olympics had hit a standstill. Not only have they hit a standstill, but a divorce of the relationship. As I sat around a table of friends discussing how they couldn’t get enough of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver and how they’re a bit sleep deprived as a result, I hated to respond, because I was afraid of the obvious scorn. I piped in a bit sheepishly, “Yeah, well, I haven’t watched one ounce of Olympic coverage this year.” Looks were given. Them trying to be courteous without telling me of my ignorance.

So there you have it. I’m not an Olympic watcher. It honestly doesn’t interest me that much anymore. I understand why people get all excited about it (the various cultures & people represented, the nostalgia, etc, etc); but, really, it’s something I’m not crazy about. Instead, I have spent the past two days preparing for what I call the Chocolate Chip Cookie Olympics. Now this is something I get excited about. A chocolate chip cookie can bring people together or tear them apart. You understand. You walk into a coffee shop and they have those big chocolate chip cookies in the big glass container and you pause. You really want to eat one, but you wonder if they meet the criteria. You could possibly end up hashing out $1.50 – 2.00 on a waste of your daily caloric intake. I would wager to say that there is nothing quite as disappointing as biting into what looks like the promise land flowing of chocolate chips & butter to find a C.C.C. disguised as a dry sand-like substance floating around your mouth. We’ve all been there. So I set out to make three different chocolate chip cookie recipes, where I would present them to my tasters and they would judge & award gold, silver, & bronze.

Superlative Chocolate Chip Cookies (Cooks Illustrated)

I first made these Superlative Chocolate Chip Cookies from Cooks Illustrated in late summer (click on the above picture and it will take you there). These cookies probably have one of the most superb flavor profiles you’ll find. I chose this recipe, because it is my favorite chocolate chip recipe. The recipe calls for chocolate chips & toasted pecans. There are chocolate chip recipes masquerading as “chocolate chip cookies,” but they’re not true to the definition. The ones that include oats, dried fruit, nut butters, coconut, etc. They’re good for sure, but for the sake of all things being equal. I was on the search of a true chocolate chip cookie, no strings attached. So for this round, I took out the toasted pecans to make it equal among the other two candidates.

The other two contestants were the classic N.Y. Times chocolate chip cookie & a recipe claimed as the best chocolate chip cookie from ‘Not Without Salt‘ blog. A word why these two were chosen. My friend Paige loves to bake equally as much and I would say enjoys food more than I do (that’s a compliment by the way). She has mentioned that these are her family’s chocolate chip cookie of choice. After I posted on the Superlative C.C.C., she commented that her & her husband Stephen still found their aged cookie to be better. I still never made them. Then, a couple days ago, a friend Julie emailed me about the best cookies she ever tasted with sea salt on top. Guess which cookie she was talking about? Yup! N.Y. Times C.C.C. So they were enlisted immediately. And the last cookie was enlisted because Ashley Rodriguez of Not Without Salt was the former Pastry Chef of Ciao Thyme in Bellingham. I trusted the head chef Matio Gillis’ opinion of Ashley, so when she said her’s were the best, I thought, “heck, I need to try them.” And so goes the C.C.C. Olympics.

I made each of the cookies warm to order, so all of the tasters ate them warm. I however, didn’t make them equal in using the same type of chocolate for each, which caused a bit of discrepancy in the final tasting (but I did take that into account for the final tallying). I will go through each cookie stating the Pros & Cons.

Cooks Illustrated Cookie

Pros: Tasters said these had the best flavor of the three. They noted, “buttery, salty, caramel & toffee, nutty…tastes like a blondie in cookie form…chewy, with crisp edges.” These cookies don’t need to sit in the fridge for 24 to 36 hours to get those flavors, like the N.Y. Times cookie. They don’t require a mixer, just a whisk.

Cons: Texture didn’t win as big on these. Although they were chewy, they lacked the combination of soft, chewy that one taster found she liked in the “Subway Chocolate Chip Cookie.” Upon sitting at room temperature, these cookies tend to dry out a bit faster. One taster said that he didn’t care for the chocolate in these cookies, compared to the N.Y.Times one. However, I did use different chocolate chips in both, so had I used the same kind, the outcome could have been different. Doesn’t make as many cookies as the other recipes.

Technique: The caramel, toffee, nutty taste comes from melting the butter and toasting it; rather, than the typical creaming method. By melting the butter, you’re taking out some of the liquid found in the solidified butter and lends to a chewier cookie. Also, by using one egg & one egg yolk, you create more chew and take away the protein found in the extra white, which cuts back the dryness factor. I chilled this dough for 12 hours in the fridge and measured all the ingredients; as well as, measuring each cookie to 3 1/2 ounces to bake.

NY Times Cookie

Pros: The tasters were unanimous about loving the texture on this cookie. As one taster mentioned sheepishly, “It tastes like, don’t judge me, but like the Subway cookies, a bit of chew, softness, chocolate chunk, and melds together well.” Another taster said, “as a chocolate chip cookie purist, this one wins for me. This is what I think of when you say Chocolate Chip Cookie.” For me, I did two tastings. One at 36 hours of aging the dough and another at 41 hours, and I would say that this cookie tasted better the second time. The first tasting I didn’t taste strong notes of toffee, caramel, or butterscotch like the article said it would have at 36 hours. However, I did taste it at the 41 hour mark. They still have softness after sitting on the counter (wrapped up) 24 hours later.

Cons: They take 36 hours in the fridge before they’re ready. And if you want more depth of flavor, leave them in there up to 72 hours (reminded me of how long a baby can stay in the womb once the mama’s water breaks–weird, huh?). The flavor wasn’t as stand out as the Cooks Illustrated.

Technique: What makes these cookies stand out is letting them sit in the fridge for up to 36 hours before baking them. And you sprinkle sea salt on top to let the flavors pop. By letting the dough age, you’re allowing the proteins in the flour meld with the butter, sugar & salt to create a broader flavor profile. You also use two different flours (cake flour & bread flour), which create a wonderful marriage in the chemistry arena of the baking process. Cake flour with low proteins doesn’t suck up liquid like bread flour; rather, cake flour’s low protein creates a softer, paler end product along with the protein creating steam with the liquids. Bread flour with it’s higher protein browns faster and sucks up the liquid. So if you only used cake flour, you would have a cakey cookie, lacking any chewiness or a bit of a crust. However, if you only used bread flour, you would end up with a very brown, crisp cookie. Hence the perfect marriage. I also used 60% & 70% cacao, along with some milk chocolate chunks in this dough.

Not Without Salt Cookie

Pros: This was the least loved. Tasters said it was fine, and a nice fall back option. The dough was a bit above average (C+). The sprinkling of sea salt added that pop flavor. I could note a bit uniqueness in the crust, which might be attributed to the use of Turbinado sugar. I had a bit of caramel tones.

Cons: Too much chocolate (the recipe called for quite a bit), lacked anything special about it. It was okay, but not the best.

Technique: I went ahead and let this one sit in the fridge for 36 hours too, but it never aged as well as the N.Y. Times cookie. If I were to make these again, I wouldn’t use as much chocolate as the recipe called for, because it ended up feeling like you were eating chocolate with some cookie, not the other way around. Sprinkling Fleur de Sal on top before baking lends something extraordinary to even the most ordinary chocolate chip doughs.

Results: The tasters were not unanimous in their decisions. One said her favorite was the Cooks Illustrated. Three other tasters said the N.Y. Times one was their favorite. And as one taster said, “Although the flavor of the C.I. cookie is superior to the N.Y. Times one, the N.Y. Times has great texture and slightly inferior flavor, but makes it a better cookie since it meets both standards–regardless if the flavor isn’t as superior.”

So if you have time on your hand (41 hours to 72 hours), make the N.Y. Times cookies. However, if you want warm cookies right now, make the Cooks Illustrated. The comparison between the two reminds me of Michael Phelp’s Miracle finish. So you be the judge and make both–let me know what you think.

Overall Scores:

Gold to N.Y. Times

Silver to Cooks Illustrated

Bronze to Not Without Salt

Update (2/28/2010): I did not use the feves talked about in the N.Y. Times recipe. Instead, I bought a pound of chocolate from Trader Joe’s (70%) and cut it into smaller chunks with a serrated knife. I did the same with some milk chocolate I have in bulk. You could use packaged chocolate chunks as well. I feel like the chocolate chip texture doesn’t hit the spot as well as chunk form.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

When I was in junior high, our church youth group would have overnighters occasionally on the Sunday nights when we didn’t have school on Monday. There were those kids who would never come to the overnighter, because they are the ones who “couldn’t cut it (Ben would have been one of those).” In retrospect, they were the smart ones who knew at a young age what their body could and couldn’t take. However, in our juvenile setback, we saw it not only as our duty, but our obligation to stick it to the man by experiencing the world from dusk to dawn.

Our ammunition was nothing less than your basic food groups–High Fructose Corn Syrup disguised as Dr. Pepper, Monosodium Glutamate disguised as Nacho Cheese Doritos, transfats disguised as Grease cloying Pizza & Unrefined sugar disguised as any & all candy. And what happens when you eat those basic food groups over the course of 10 hours? You crash and burn my friend, crash and burn. It wasn’t until we were driving home at 6:00 am with the Arizona sun burning a hole in my retinas, that I began to wonder if a night-time of no sleep, crap food, and a bit more crap food was worth it? My stomach was hungry for real food, but my body was beyond tired. I felt like a two-year old at the one o’clock hour being pushed around the mall with my mom saying, “one more store honey.” That morning my body trumped my stomach and slowly walked down the hall, with random clothes & stuff dropping the floor like Hansel & Gretel walking toward their candy house ecstasy.

It wasn’t until around 12:30 when I arose from my zombie induced coma to meander towards the wafting smell of the kitchen. My mom was making some food for the potluck that evening and all I can say is that I’ve never tasted anything as good as chili mac at a moment like that, nor the chocolate cookie with peanut butter chips. I ate a bit to rid my stomach from eating itself and went back to bed. When I finally woke up for the day, I came back to the kitchen to find that the cookies weren’t just an illusion, but were actually really good cookies that I later ate a couple more. And as I tasted these chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting, I can’t help but think of those cookies on the Memorial day back in the 90s. I remember grabbing a glass of cold milk to compliment the obvious marriage of chocolate & peanut butter. And for these cupcakes, I recommend the same. Just leave the overnighters to those crazy middle & high schoolers.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting (printable recipe)

This recipe is adapted from Barefoot Contessa at Home. One thing about Ina Garten’s recipes is she always uses extra-large eggs, which no one ever has in their home. So I always use large. I used two large as an equal exchange in this recipe. However, if there were three or more extra-large, then I would increase the large eggs to equal it out. And you should definitely have a glass of milk when eating these cupcakes.

Ingredients

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, shaken, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
2 tablespoons instant espresso (follow directions) or brewed coffee
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup good cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Kathleen’s Peanut Butter Icing, recipe follows

Directions: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and 2 sugars on high speed until light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes. Lower the speed to medium, add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla and mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, and instant espresso. In another bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. On low-speed, add the buttermilk mixture and the flour mixture alternately in thirds to the mixer bowl, beginning with the buttermilk mixture and ending with the flour mixture. Mix only until blended. Fold the batter with a rubber spatula to be sure it’s completely blended.

Divide the batter among the cupcake pans (1 rounded standard ice cream scoop per cup is the right amount). Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, remove from the pans, and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Frost each cupcake with Peanut Butter Icing. Sprinkle with some sea salt.

Kathleen’s Peanut Butter Icing:

1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup heavy cream

Place the confectioners’ sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.