Chocolate Thumbprints

L olallieberry jam, C orange marmalade, R chocolate chips

I made several changes to a recipe to suit my chocolate-loving husband, as well as reducing the sugar slightly and simplifying the steps.

2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa 
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temp
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup coarse or powdered sugar for rolling
1/2 cup orange marmalade, berry jam, OR 1 cup chocolate chips

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, and salt. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat 1 cup each butter and sugar on until light and fluffy, 3 minutes. Add egg and vanilla; beat to combine. Lower mixer speed and gradually add flour mixture. Beat to combine.

Place 1/2 cup coarse sugar in a pie pan. Roll dough into 1-inch balls, then roll in sugar to coat. Place balls, 1 inch apart, on parchment-lined baking sheets. Using your thumb or back of a spoon, press a 1/4-inch indentation into the top of each cookie. Spoon 1/2 teaspoon jam or 5-6 chocolate chips* into each indentation.  

Bake until cookies are just set but still look moist, 12-15 minutes.  Let cool on wire racks.

Makes about 4 dozen.

Note:  *Chocolate chips will retain their shape, so after removing from oven, flatten with a knife.  Once cool, place in refrigerator for half an hour or more until the chocolate has set.

Beef Stroganoff

This is a wonderful treat, but especially in the winter.  I've been using this recipe for over 40 years.  There are many recipes that cook it for less time, but this is what I've always made.  Very tender and oh so good.

3-4 Tbsp butter or olive oil              1/3 C flour  
1 onion, chopped                            salt & pepper if needed  
1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced                 2 C beef broth
2 lb. sirloin steak, cut in strips         1/2 C red wine (optional)                           
             1/2 C sour cream or creme fraiche*

Saute onion and mushrooms in some of the oil on medium heat until onions are softened and lightly browned.  Remove to a bowl.  Spread beef strips on a cutting board and sprinkle with flour.  (You may need more or less.)  Toss around until they are more or less covered.

Heat more oil and saute half the meat at a time until browned.  Remove to another bowl.  Saute rest of meat, then return first batch of meat to pan.  Add broth and wine.  Let simmer one hour.  Add onion and mushrooms to meat and cook another 20-30 minutes.  

Turn off heat and mix in sour cream.  (Sour cream will curdle if heated too high.  Creme fraiche isn't supposed to.)  

*To make your own creme fraiche, watch Chef John make it here:  creme fraiche

Special Day Waffles

These can be "special day" waffles or you can make them to be "everyday" by varying the amount of a few ingredients.  I like this recipe because you don't need to whip the egg whites, as most waffle recipes call for. * Use the greater amount for Special Day, and the lesser amount for everyday.  Or something in between.  This is another recipe that I've been making for over 40 years.

2 C sifted flour                              2 C buttermilk or sour milk (see note below)
1 Tbsp baking powder                   *2-4 eggs
1 tsp baking soda                          *1/2-1 C melted butter, or salad oil     
1 tsp salt 

Start heating waffle iron as directed.  Melt butter and set aside to cool slightly, if using.

Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl.  Combine buttermilk and eggs in another bowl, then add to the flour.  Beat with a mixer on medium to high until smooth; stir in butter or oil.

When waffle iron is ready to use, pour batter into center of lower half until it spreads about 1" from edges.  Bring cover down gently.  Cook as directed. 

Makes about 10 6" round waffles.

 Note: To make sour milk, add 2 Tbsp vinegar to measuring cup.  Add milk and stir.  Let sit a few minutes before using.

Recipe from : Good Housekeeping Cookbook, 1963

Singapore Crab (or Tofu)

Mexicali Chicken

This is a really tasty, really easy dish, followed by lots of compliments.  It was given to me by a friend who is originally from Germany.

Measurements are approximate.  I often use frozen chicken tenders from Costco.  They thaw out quickly, so I can make these without planning too far ahead.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts   

1 package taco seasoning + 2 TB flour

oil to saute

1/2 cup of your favorite salsa 

3-4 TB peach jam, apple jelly, or other jam

Dust chicken breasts w/ taco seasoning-flour mix.  Brown in oil for 2-3 minutes on each side.

Add salsa and cook.  Stir in jam and cook until chicken is done.  

Serve with Mexican Rice and a green salad.

Sauerkraut Pork Chops

Tim, this is for you and anyone who enjoys German food.

When I was student teaching in Arizona, my supervising teacher would talk about this delicious meal she would often prepare.  I finally asked for the recipe.

  

2 large jars sauerkraut,* rinsed and drained      4-6 pork chops

½ chopped onion                                                          1/2 cup flour mixed with

2 Tbsp brown sugar                                                                  salt, pepper, and

2 Tbsp bacon fat                                                                        paprika

1 can of water                                                                   1/2 cup sour cream

Serve with mashed potatoes

Mix sauerkraut, onion, brown sugar, bacon fat, and water in a 4 qt pot.  Bring to a boil, then simmer for 1 ½ -2 hours.  (This makes the sauerkraut very mild and even some of those who think they don’t like sauerkraut may eat this.)

After about an hour of cooking, flour the pork chops.   Brown both sides in a little oil in skillet.

Drain the sauerkraut well.  Place into a 9 x 13 inch casserole, then put the browned pork chops on top.  Cover and bake  for about 1 ½ hours.  Pork chops should be fork tender by this time.  Remove them to a platter, drain liquid from sauerkraut and mix in sour cream.  Serve alongside pork chops with mashed potatoes, using the sauerkraut like gravy.

*It tasted best with the canned stuff from another era.  Choose a sauerkraut you like, whether it is in a jar or the fresh style from a deli.

Berry Pie

One of the food blogs I follow is Feast for the Eyes. She recently posted a recipe for a berry pie.  It has probably been over 20 years since I have made a pie crust from scratch.  Marie Callenders' frozen crusts have been used a lot.

But I decided to try this crust and it came out pretty well,

although I would like to have rolled it thinner, but I didn't have the patience.  It was still a very tasty crust, and the pie was delicious!  I used a combination of blueberries, cranberries, raspberries, and frozen olallieberries*.

          For the crust:

     12 tablespoons very cold unsalted butter

     ⅓ cup very cold Crisco

     3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon sugar

6-8 tablespoons ice water (about 1/2 cup)

           For the berries:

8 cups of fresh or frozen berries

1 cup sugar (less, if the berries aren't tart

5 Tbsp. cornstarch

1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 pinch kosher salt

pats of butter under the crust

OPTIONAL

1 egg and splash water (for egg wash)

For the pie crust:

Dice the butter and Crisco. Return it to the refrigerator while you prepare the flour mixture.  Make your ice water now, too.

Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl. (Or use these directions to make your pie crust.**  )

Add the butter and shortening.  Cut in with a pastry cutter until the butter and Crisco are the size of small peas.

Pour the ice water in, starting with the smaller amount, until the dough begins to form a ball.

Dump out on a floured board and roll into a ball.  Divide into two parts and wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Roll each piece on a well-floured board into a circle.

Fold the dough in half, place in a 10-inch pie plate, and unfold to fit the pan.  Place back in refrigerator.  Roll out the top crust.  Wrap back in plastic and return to refrigerator until needed.  

(I've found the crust to be very thick because it uses 1/2 C more flour than most for a 2-crust pie.  I tried rolling it thinner, and it wasn't as good.)

For the berry filling:

Pick any stems and debris from the fresh berries.  Rinse and drain.

Combine cornstarch with the sugar and whisk to combine.

Add the sugar to the berries and allow to sit for a few minutes.

Taste to check for tartness.

Once you have the bottom layer of the pie crust in the pie plate, poke the bottom with a fork a few times.

Add the berries.

If desired, you can add a few pats of butter.

Cover with the top pie crust.

Cut slits for steam to escape.

Crimp to seal both pie crusts.

Whisk egg and water and brush the egg wash over the pie crust, before baking, if desired. This gives a nice golden color to the pie. If you have coarse sugar, it’s a nice tough to sprinkle some on top, if desired.

On a baking sheet, place the pie into a 375F oven and bake for about 50 minutes, or until golden.

Allow to cool for at least 4 hours before serving for the juices to set.

* Olallieberry: a blackish berry that is a hybrid of a loganberry and youngberry, resembles an elongated blackberry,

**King Arthur Pie Crust

Challah from the Artisan Bread Book

Challah bread, eggy, buttery, and delicious!

Traditional challah braid

An artisan bread recipe was introduced to me by a friend, who was given the recipe by a Pampered Chef representative.  I tried that recipe, but I also found one in the America’s Test Kitchen Baking Book.  (I liked this recipe because of the slightly sourdough flavor.)   And further research also lead me to this website (http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/) and their cookbook (Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day  by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois).

The recipes in the book are different from the other two mentioned above in that they make dough that makes several loaves of bread, rather than just one loaf.  (The rest of the dough is stored in the refrigerator or frozen for later use.)  The recipe below is for half the normal recipe, and I baked the whole batch in an 8” x 4” loaf pan.  

 

Recipe can be doubled or quadrupled

1 packet of yeast (2 ¼ teaspoon)

2 ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

¼ C honey

¼ C melted unsalted butter or vegetable oil

7/8 C lukewarm water________________

3 ½ C unbleached all-purpose flour

Egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 Tbsp water)

Sesame or poppy seeds for top

In a large bowl mix together the ingredients above the line.  Mix in the flour without kneading, using a spoon, large-capacity food processor or heavy-duty stand mixer.  If you’re not using a machine, you may need to use wet hands to incorporate the last bit of flour.

Cover (not airtight), and allow to rest at room temperature until the dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2-3 hours.

The dough can be used immediately after the initial rise, though it is easier to handle when cold.  Refrigerate in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 5 days.  

(Beyond 5 days, freeze in 1-pound portions in an airtight container for up to 4 weeks.  Defrost frozen dough overnight in the refrigerator before using.  Then allow the usual rest and rise time.)

On baking day, butter or grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper.  Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1-pound (grapefruit-size) piece.  Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go.

You can then braid it as is traditional.  (See book, pp. 181-2 for further instructions or click how-to-six-strand-braided-challah  using all the bread dough for a 6-strand braid.)

(I formed 2 dough balls using all the dough, and placed them into a greased 8” x 4” loaf pan, separated by a greased piece of foil, so I would have 2 smaller loaves.)

Allow the bread to rest and rise for 80 minutes (or 40 minutes if you are using fresh, unrefrigerated dough). 

Preheat the oven to 350.  Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with seeds, if desired. (I forgot to do this.)

 

Bake near the center of the over for about 25-35 minutes.  Smaller or larger loaves will require adjustments in baking time.  The challah is done when golden brown, and the braids near the center of the loaf offer resistance to pressure.  Due to the fat in the dough, challah will not for a hard, crackling crust. 

Allow to cool before slicing or eating.