Chai Shortbread Cookies

Wow, these were sooo good. I found this recipe in the December issue of Sunset magazine and of course I changed it up.
It took me all day to make these cookies...not really but it was one of those deals where first I had to re-organize my spice cupboard. Here's what it looked like on my kitchen table.

I had so much stuff to go through, sort out, repackage, compost...it seemed like it took all day. So my treat to myself was to make these cookies.

Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 tbsp. cinnamon powder
1 1/4 tsp. ginger powder
1/2 tsp. cardamom
1 tsp. ground fennel seeds
( The original recipe called for leaves from one English Breakfast tea bag and 1 cup of white chocolate chips, I found both ingredients inappropriate and even slightly disgusting.)

1) Preheat the oven to 350 F, line two baking sheets with parchment.
2) Beat the butter, sugar, salt and vanilla with a mixer until smooth.

3) Crush the fennel seeds in a mortar.
4) In another bowl mix together the flour, and spices.

5) Add the dry mixture into the butter mixture and beat on low speed until blended.
6) Roll a tablespoon of dough into a ball and place on the baking sheet about an inch apart.
7) Flatten them with a lightly floured glass or with cute little cookie stamps. They were one of the things I found when I was cleaning out my spice cupboard.

8) Bake 15-17 minutes, switching the trays halfway through the baking time, cookies are done when light golden on the bottom.
9) Transfer to a rack to cool. Serve with tea, coffee or ice cream !!
Here's how my cupboard looked after I cleaned it. Ooo ahhhh !!

Lemons, Limes, Blood Oranges, oh my !!

It's the citrus time of year, so much beautiful fruit out there. I had some Meyers lemons and two kinds of limes in my fridge from friend's trees. I decided to trying making a combination of preserved lemons and limes. You may remember my recipe for preserved lemons, I did it the same way but added both lemons and limes and the juice from both.

In seven to ten days, I will know how it turns out.

I still had lemons and limes left so I decided to make lemon-limeade. I have tried making it with just limes before and it can get too bitter, so I did a mix this time. Again I used my favorite lemonade recipe just without the berries. It came out great !!

At the farmer's market this weekend I tasted a sample of blood oranges, usually they are quite tart but these were sweet and such great colors. If I had more I would have added a few to the lemonade for color.

Laurie's Chili

I made up this recipe the other day for a football game meal. My team lost but the chili is a winner. This dish can easily be meaty or vegan !! And the making it ahead only helps the flavors marry :-)

Ingredients
2 chopped onions
4 cloves smashed garlic
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 lbs, grass fed beef
1 tsp. chipotle powdered chili
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano or 3 sm fresh sprigs
1/4 tsp red chili flakes ( more if you want it hotter)
1 tsp sweet paprika
1/2 smoked paprika
1 to 2 roasted bell peppers, chopped
1 pint stewed tomatoes
1 16 oz.can black beans
1 16 oz.can kidney beans

Saute the onions and garlic in the olive oil, as they begin to soften add the herbs and spices.

If this is meaty chili, add the meat once the onions are soft.

Cook until the meat is no longer pink, stir to keep it from burning on the bottom.

Add the stewed tomatoes, beans, roasted bell peppers. If this is vegan chili, you could add another can of beans, maybe pinto for variety.
Turn down the heat and allow to simmer for an hour. Stir occasionally to be sure it's not sticking to the bottom. You can add more stewed tomatoes if it is too thick or let it cook longer if it is too soupy. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with tortilla chips, fresh avocado or guacamole, grated cheddar cheese, hot sauce and fresh chopped cilantro or sour cream (not pictured).

Madelines: those cute French cookies !!

I love these cute little, shell shaped, soft cookies, they are just so elegant and can make ice cream a fancy dessert offering. Turns out Madelines are from the northeastern part of France: the Lorraine. My Great-Grandfather Gless is from that region, no wonder I like them so much.

Yes, you need a special pan but they are pretty easy to find.
Try yard sales, Freecycle, Craig's List, any foodie friend or a fancy kitchen store.
I am happy to lend you one of mine !!

Madeleine Cookies
Ingredients
2  large eggs
2/3  cup sugar
1  teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2  teaspoon grated lemon peel
1  pinch salt
1  cup all-purpose flour
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly
 powdered sugar for dusting

   1. Preheat oven to 375°F Generously butter and flour pan for Madelines.

   2. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and 2/3 cup sugar in large bowl just to blend.
      
   3. Beat in vanilla, lemon peel and salt.
   
   4. Add flour; beat just until blended.
   
   5. Gradually add cooled melted butter in steady stream, beating just until blended.

   6. Spoon 1 tablespoon batter into each indentation in pan.

   7. Bake until puffed and brown, about 10-16 minutes.

   8. Cool 5 minutes. Gently remove from pan onto a cooling rack.

   10. Repeat process, buttering and flouring pan before each batch.
   (Can be made 1 day ahead.).

   4. Dust cookies with powdered sugar.

Pork Shoulder In the Slow Cooker

We happened to go to the Sunday farmer's market a couple of weekends ago and were delighted by the variety of vendors there. One guy was selling meat he had raised in near by Soquel, less than 30 minutes from us.
I am a big proponent of getting your food as locally as possible !!
I bought a couple of small pork shoulder roasts from him, each one about the size of a softball.
I didn't take many photos of this dish because I had no idea it would come out so well...I should know by now to photograph anyway ;-) I have to admit, sometimes I just want to cook and not have to document every step. Luckily this dish was easy enough to remember.

I started by coating the roasts with a rub the night before I was going to cook them. I covered them and returned them to the fridge.

Here is what I used, it is very flexible. Mix all the ingredient together in a bowl.

Laurie's Rub
1 tsp onion granules
1 tsp smoked paprika
1-2 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp celery seeds
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp Herbes de Provence*

*(it's a mix of oregano, rosemary, thyme, bay, lavender, basil, I was just being lazy you could use just dried basil and oregano or any other combination)

The next morning I got out my slow cooker/ crockpot.
Into the pot I put:
1 chopped  onion
1 pint stewed tomatoes
1 cup pineapple juice

I added the rubbed pork shoulder roasts and turned it to high just to get it going. After a couple hours I turned it down to low and let it cook the rest of the day.
It cooked about 8 to 10 hours.
I did push the meat around a few times to cover it in the sauce.
Towards the end I helped it fall apart, so more of it could soak up the liquid.
The herbs from the rub cooked down with the tomatoes, onions and pineapple juice and made it's own barbeque sauce.
The house smelled divine !!
I served it with mashed potatoes in a bowl and a side of kale salad.
Perfect for the cold rainy day it was.

Flop and failures, they happen to all of us.

Last weekend I had three things in one day fail on me. Bob said I must have angered the cooking goddess, I say sh.. happens. Since three in one day is quite a record I decided it was worthy of a post.
Failures and flops are a chance to learn. I try not to throw them away, sometimes they can be used as is or re-purposed into something else !!

You can see in the first photo, a loaf of what was supposed to be cinnamon swirl bread, made in the bread machine.
In this case the bread was still usable as toast. If it had not been I would have made it into bread pudding.
My sister-in-law found a page of trouble shooting for bread machine loaves. Turns out the sunken top means the loaf rose too quickly or too much. The fix is to try 1/4 tsp. less of yeast or 1 to 2 tablespoons more flour. I was very careful with my next loaf and it came out perfectly.
Sometimes the devil IS in the details ;-)

These cookies are a perfect example of the above adage. I have made these chocolate walnut cookies many times. They are supposed to look like this.

Instead they were very flat and too thin. My mistake was to add toasted nuts that were still warm to the batter, this melted the butter, resulting in those very flat cookies. It may sound like a fine line but I could definitely tell the difference. Bob is not so discriminating and was happy to have his own batch of cookies. I made brownies to serve instead.

Over the holiday I made a very nice batch of nougat, it was soft more like divinity. I thought my brother would enough some so I made a batch before his recent visit. Oops.

It was too soft, I was unable to cut it and it was a bit grainy still. I haven't made enough nougat to know exactly what I did wrong. I will try a few adjustments and hope I get it right.
That's really what cooking is all about anyway, trying new things, messing up and figuring it out.
I decided to use the gooey nougat in some way in cupcakes. Frosting, or swirled or directly into the batter were my choices. I went with the easy way and mixed it directly into the batter. I added some almond extract and had some tasty cupcakes !!

Why I haven't posted lately...and a few photos.

This past week we helped Genna move to this building. I didn't cook for a whole week but I did eat out and I will tell you about it. I didn't take photos of food like I should have but I will try and relate the photos I did take to food.

The name of this building reminds me of teriyaki.

Los Angeles is an amazing place for us foodies. Our first night there after a grueling drive from Santa Cruz we walked from my niece's apartment to Taco Por Favor. Great Mexican food, very fresh, no lard, big portions, great salsa bar.

The person on the left is my niece, she and Genna are hungry.

The next morning my niece walked us down to this amazing French bakery, Pain Du Jour for fresh pastries. "Pain" is  bread in French in case you had images of grimaces instead. The almond croissant was divine.

That evening we took Genna and her new roommates out to dinner at their favorite Korean place, Tofu Ya. Wow, Bob and I loved it. We don't have any Korean restaurants in Santa Cruz which made this a special treat.

Genna's new kitchen and dining room where many good meals will happen.

Genna was lucky enough to find roommates who are as "foodie" as she is. They go to two farmers markets on Sunday !!
On our last day we walked around the UCLA campus.

Looks like these should be edible...

The campus has some amazing architecture.

We eventually ended up in a quad with two food trucks, and four hungry people.

The Gastrobus.

 

 

 

We had two choices, one that did Philly Cheese Steaks and The Gastrobus.
At first the name put us off but their menu did not. We all got their Thai chicken wraps, now I am not really a fan of wraps, but this one was delicious. It had fresh roasted chicken, lots of fresh greens, cilantro, a nice spicy peanut dressing and small crunchy bits of fried wonton skins. I am just sorry I did not take a photo, I was too busy devouring it.

Done in LA, we headed north for a visit with my brother and his wife. Lompoc does not have the vast array of restaurants found in the City of Angels but they do have a decent sushi place, Sushi Teri. That's where we had dinner.

The next day we went on a delightful hike to Lake Oso Flaco. I was hoping all that walking would work off the great breakfast my brother made us.
For lunch we picnicked at this little park in Oceana.

There were lots of birds.

While we ate our lunch, this seagull enjoyed his.

The next day we drove home and I have spent this last week catching up.

French Onion Soup

French onion soup is the epitome of wonderful homey French cuisine. It was served at the cafes around the great market place Les Halles late at night as the people were bringing in their wares.
One of my fondest memories of this dish comes from my Paris high school buddy Rob. He stayed up all night at our ski chalet stirring the pot to serve us this fantastic soup. Perfect after a long day on the slopes.
It is also  traditional to serve on New Year's Eve, which I decided for some friend's coming over last Saturday.
There was one new twist for me, one of our diners was a vegetarian and traditionally this soup is made with beef broth. I was up for the challenge.
I ended up using a combination of recipes with amazing results. I will use the miso in this soup whenever I make it.

Laurie's French Onion Soup

Ingredients:

For the soup

8 cups thinly sliced red and yellow onions
8 cups vegetable broth (or beef broth)
1 /2 cup yellow miso paste
1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup red wine (optional)
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup olive oil
1-2 tsp fresh or dried thyme

For the croutons

1 baguette sliced diagonally, figure  two 1/4 inch slices per bowl of soup
2 cups grated Swiss cheese*, I used a combination of Comte and Emmentaler
olive oil for brushing on the bread
garlic clove for rubbing on the bread
 * please use good Swiss cheese, no low fat or cheap Swiss from Safeway and stay away from Jarlsberg. Both Trader Joe's and Costco have great Comte, Gruyere, and Emmentaler that are not that expensive.

You are going to slice a lot of onions there's no way around it. I found that using my mandolin made it much easier and they came out such a nice uniform size.
Once you have all the onions sliced heat the oil and butter in a large heavy bottom soup pot.
Add the onions and stir.

It will seem like a lot of onions but they cook down a lot. I start with medium high heat, the trick is to be patient and let them caramelize, that can take 45 minutes to an hour.

They will get quite brown. I found that if I stirred them too much they weren't browning, Genna told me to let them darken, she was right. Don't worry about the brown bits on the bottom of the pan you will be deglazing all that goodness back into your soup.

Once your onions are well browned you are ready to deglaze you pan. Pour a small amount of your soup stock into pan, use your wooden spatula or spoon to work all the dark bits off the bottom, keep adding more stock as the bottom comes clean.
Now for the rest of the ingredients.

Before you add the rest of your stock, pour a cup into a bowl with the miso to make a slurry. I used my immersion wand and was very pleased with how quickly the miso mixed with the stock. Add that slurry, the rest of the stock, vinegar, wine and thyme into the pot.
Simmer for 30 to 60 minutes.

Add salt and pepper to taste.
Now you can prepare the croutons. If you have oven proof bowls to serve it in, you can broil the croutons right in the bowls. I chose to make them on a cookie sheet.
Slice your baguette in diagonal quarter inch pieces, rub them with a clove of garlic and a small amount of olive oil.
Top each slice with your mix of grated Swiss cheeses.

Broil or heat in a hot oven until the cheese is well melted.
Pour the soup into bowl , top with two croutons and serve with a nice glass of red wine if you like.

Persimmons

Perfectly ripe Hachiya persimmon.

There are two kinds of persimmons, Hachiya and Fuyu.
And two kinds of people, those who like persimmons and those who can't stand them. Sometimes that can be one in the same person. My daughter used to love the soft, mushy Hachiya variety when she was little. We would give her one and have her eat it in the shower, that was the best way.Now she makes a face when I mention them. Then there is Bob, he loves the Hachiyas but is very cool to the Fuyus.
One thing most people can agree on, they look beautiful hanging in the trees when they are bright orange.
My dad had a Hachiya tree in his back yard, every fall we would help him pick the persimmons. The Hachiya are orange but still hard when picked, we would set them in trays or along the window sill to ripen. One of our cats was very fond of them, we found this out when we noticed strange punctures in the fruit ripening on the kitchen table.

It's not easy to see in the photo but here are the two kinds side by side. The Fuyus are on the right, they are very rounded at the bottom and are usually eaten while still hard. I prefer to let them soften a bit first, this gets rid of that astringent pucker that you get when eating an unripe persimmon of either variety.
The skin on these persimmons is very tough. I peel them before using them.

 I have also found they are delicious when paired with lime juice or a tangy fruit like kiwis.

They are great sliced thinly in a spinach or kale salad with toasted nuts and a light vinaigrette.

Hachiya persimmon must be completely ripe to be used in any way. We like to eat them straight up, add them to plain yogurt or bake them into cookies.

Here is a  cookie recipe I just modified. Bob likes these because they are not too sweet, very moist and full of flavor.

Persimmon Oatmeal Cookies
Preheat oven to 350 F

Ingredients:
1/2 cup soft butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup persimmon pulp
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. of any or all of the following: ginger, cloves, cardamon

1 /12 cup oatmeal
1/4 cup almond meal(optional)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans.

Cream together 1/2 cup butter and 2/3 cup brown sugar.

Add 1 egg and 1 cup persimmon pulp, mix well.
In another bowl mix together: 1 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp other spices.
Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and combine.
Add 1 1/2 cup oatmeal, 1/4 cup almond meal, 1/2 chopped nuts.
Mix to combine.

Drop spoonfuls on a greased or parchment covered baking sheet.

Bake for 12 minutes.

Both kinds of persimmons can be dried. With the Hachiya variety we like to wait until they are very ripe, use a very sharp knife and only cut 2 to 3 slices. They will take a while to dry in the dehydrator and have a wonderful date like quality when done. In some cultures they dry Hachiya whole persimmons on strings in their kitchens. That doesn't work here in moist coastal California.
The Fuyus must be peeled first then sliced thinly, they dry more quickly, retain their orange color and are wonderful snacks as well.
Hachiya persimmon pulp can be frozen, in fact my mother used to freeze the persimmons whole and defrost them slightly to serve as a cold dessert confection. My dad loved them that way.

A year in review...

I have lots of food in my fridge so I decided not to cook today.
I have three or four recipes waiting to be posted, but was too busy with other paperwork today to get them ready.

Instead I want to reflect on the one year anniversary of my food blog.

It has been more fun and more work than I thought it would be. I use it a lot when I cook and am delighted when people actually use the recipes and tell me about it !!

For fun I want to offer my favorite recipe from each of the twelve months. It was hard sometimes to pick just one recipe. I hope to have a lot more to choose from this year !!

January: Making your own fresh cheese.

February:Cannellini Bean and Kale Soup
No photo but some of my favorite soup.
March: Frittata

April: Tortilla Soup

May: Roll you own sushi

June:Roasted Zucchini

July:Granola

 August: Brown Sugar

September:Roasted Tomato Sauce

October: Pumpkin Cupcakes

November: Polenta

December:Massaged Kale Salad

Happy New Year !!