Chicken & Sliders Soup

I've never had much interest in making my own stocks before. Chicken stock/broth/bouillon was always something I bought in the store and never really minded. But sometimes in cooking you get the urge to try making something from scratch, if for no other reason than to appreciate how much hard work goes into making a soup from base ingredients. But then there's the question of what to do with the stock once you have it. Many people I've seen and read say you can freeze it in small quantities to use when you please, but I've never been much of a freezer stockpiler. My freezer currently has a loaf of bread (because it usually molds before I finish it), some frozen fruit for smoothies and some coffee. So I wanted to use my stock right away to enjoy the fruits of my labors. Then I remembered a soup that my mom used to make - chicken with sliders. Note: sliders, in this meal, are not miniature burgers, but rather fat, thick noodles that you slurp up with your soup.

Chicken Stock
From Elizabeth's Edible Experience.

Ingredients
2 rotisserie chicken carcasses, picked of meat (set aside), skin and fat
1 large yellow onion, unpeeled, quartered
3 carrots, unpeeled, halved
2 stalks of celery, cut into thirds
2 bay leaves
10 sprigs of parsley
5 sprigs of thyme
1 head of garlic, unpeeled and halved crosswise
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
1 gallon cold water

Directions




I started with two rotisserie chickens and de-meated them by hand. This is an interesting, messy and slightly gross process. It is interesting observing the structure of the chicken and how all the muscles attach to each other. The best part is letting your fingers roam, searching for pockets of meaty goodness. Get every last bit that you can because this meat will go back into the chicken soup after making the stock.


Place all of the ingredients except the water in a large (8-10 quart) stockpot. The easiest part of this recipe is that each of the ingredients, except the chickens, need only a minimal amount of preparation. The stock is strained at the end, so you don't have to worry about peeling or dicing anything. Just be sure your veggies are free of grit.


Add 1 gallon of cold water to the stock pot and bring to a boil. This will take some time since most of the ingredients are either at room temperature or cold and the water has to rise from 75 degrees F to 212 degrees F.


Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 4 hours. In this case, a simmer is heating the stock-to-be such that you see the occasional bubble float to the surface. Do not stir.


Strain the contents through a colander placed on top of a large bowl or pot. Remember, unlike cooking most foods, you want to keep the liquid and get rid of the solids. Don't forget and pour your lovely stock down the sink.


Just to be safe, strain the stock again through a fine mesh strainer. You don't want any small bones or inedible bits to get into the final product.


Place the stock in a large, sealable container and chill overnight. The next day, remove any surface fat. At this point the stock can be used immediately (after you're done admiring the magic of turning clear water into a golden broth) or you can freeze it in batches for up to 3 months.

Grandma's Chicken & Sliders Soup
Makes about 8 servings

Ingredients
Chicken Soup
Approx. 96 oz of chicken stock (see above)
3 carrots, peeled, large dice
2 celery, peeled, sliced
3 yellow squash, trimmed, diced
1 onion, peeled, large dice
1/2 lb green beans, trimmed, cut into bite-sized pieces
Meat from 1.5-2 rotisserie chickens (see above)
Salt and pepper to taste
Other dried or fresh spices (thyme, rosemary, etc.) to taste
Sliders
1 cup flour
1 egg
2-3 tbsp milk

Directions
Place chicken stock in a large soup pot and bring to a simmer. Put all of the vegetables, chicken and spices in the soup to cook, approximately 15-20 minutes, depending on how many veggies you like in your soup.


For sliders, place flour onto a cutting board in a little mound.


Form a well in the center of the flour pile. Drop the egg into the well.


Mix flour and egg together with a fork. Add enough milk to form a solid dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to desired thickness (remember - noodles will plump in the soup) and cut into short, wide strips with a pizza cutter.


Drop the sliders into the boiling soup one by one so they don't stick together. Cook until they float, about 1-2 minutes.

And there you have it! Scratch-made chicken and sliders soup. The noodles are a little heavy and chewy, adding interest to the light chicken soup. This soup is perfect any time of year because it is versatile enough, light enough and filling enough to satisfy you no matter what the weather is like. The vegetables and rotisserie chicken make the soup taste fresh, adding to the homemade quality.

Corn Chowder

Summer corn is coming into season and while this is not the most creative use of these sweet ears, I decided I needed some corn chowder. With the help of an onion and some small potatoes from my community supported agriculture delivery from this week, I made a deliciously satisfying soup.

Corn Chowder
Makes 6 servings
Ingredients
2 tbsp butter
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 cup celery, sliced
2 tbsp flour
1.5 cups milk
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup water
6 small potatoes, diced
1.5 cup corn, freshly shaved
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp paprika

Directions
Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook onion and celery in the butter until tender, about 6-10 minutes. Stir in flour and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 2 minutes. Stir in milk, broth and water until blended and bring to a boil over medium heat. Add potatoes, corn, salt, and pepper. Partially cover the pan and cook over low heat for about 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Stir in paprika and serve.


This recipe did not seem like anything special, but it really surprised me. The seasonings are very simple, but this hearty soup contained a world of flavors. Naturally sweet tones from the onion and even the potato are the heart of the dish. The milk and broth picked up a lot of flavor from the roux and the sauteed veggies, including some delightful caramelized bits. The slight sweetness of the paprika rounded out everything and made the soup turn a little darker in color.


I realize that we are entering the peak of summer and a think, milk-based soup is not topping everyone's list. Hot soup + hot weather does not immediately make one think of a good time. But if you need a break from all the seasonal lettuce salads out there, then this soup is an awesome option.

Lentil Soup

The snow is mostly melted here, but the cold is still stuck to us like white on ice. And I'm still in a soupy mood, so that's just what I've been making as of late. My last soup, potato-broccoli-cheddar, is on that edge of healthy and fatty. This soup, however, is definitely on the healthy side, but not at the cost of good, homey flavors.


Lentil Soup
Adapted from Gourmet Magazine.

Ingredients
1 2/3 cup lentils, rinsed
5 cups water
3.5 cups chicken stock
1 bay leaf
4 cloves garlic, chopped, divided
2 tbsp olive oil
1 lb turkey sausage
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup chicken, cooked, torn
1/2 lb escarole, chopped
1 tbsp red wine vinegar

Directions
Simmer lentils, water, broth, bay leaf, and half of the garlic in a 4 quart pot, uncovered, for 12 minutes.

Heat oil in a wide 6 quart pot over medium-high heat. Cook turkey sausages until cooked through (if raw) or until browned (if pre-cooked). Remove sausages from pan and slice on a bias.

Reduce heat to medium and cook onion, carrots and remaining garlic with some salt and pepper, stirring occasionally until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and cook for 2 more minutes, stirring frequently. Add the sausages back to the pan along with the chicken and lentils in their cooking liquid. Simmer the soup uncovered until lentils are tender, 3-5 more minutes.

Stir in escarole and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Stir in vinegar to taste and season with salt and pepper. Discard bay leaf and serve.


This soup turned out quite nice. The original recipe called for uncasing the sausages, but I like to see the nice round slices of meat. And the chicken adds some more protein and texture. The soup overall has a bit of a smokey quality. It's hearty but your spoon will not stick straight up in it. The escarole contributes some more vitamins to round out this as quite a marvelous soup. And what better accompaniment for soup than some freshly baked crusty bread.


My local grocer, Harris Teeter, has a decent selection of freshly baked breads. In addition to the loads of loaves, there are also some take-and-bake selections. If the description isn't enough, here's the gist: you buy some partially-baked bread, take it home and finish baking it in your oven. That way you are guaranteed that the bread is crusty and warm. Be warned, the bread will only last a day or so unbaked before the mold starts to get it, though I think it would hold up in the freezer. Nothing beats all the benefits of fresh bread without the hassle of making it.

Broccoli-Potato-Cheddar Soup

The weather outside is turning quite frightful. Much of the country is being hit by wave after wave of snow. We've had a fair amount here in North Carolina, and now the temperature is holding steady in the mid-thirties. When nature gives you a frigid winter and seals you inside for days at a time, here's a recipe that can help to keep you feeling warm and cozy.

Broccoli-Potato-Cheddar Soup
Makes 6 servings

Ingredients
0.25 cups flour
30oz vegetable broth
2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
16oz broccoli, frozen
1 small onion, chopped
1.25 cups milk
10oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
4 green onion, chopped

Instructions
Whisk together flour and 1/3 cup of vegetable broth.

Combine remaining broth with potato, broccoli and onion in a large pot. Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat to a simmer. Cook until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Gradually stir in broth-flour mixture. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring often.

Stir in milk and 8oz of the cheddar. Cook over medium-low heat until cheese melts, stirring occasionally. Serve the soup in bowls, topped with remaining cheese and green onion.


We were snowed into the house for most of a weekend and this soup definitely lightened the mood. Not only did cooking the soup help get us off the couch, but it had a delicious flavor. The cheesiness is not like in some other broccoli-cheddar soups that have that neon orange glow to them. The cheese is more subtle and adds body to the soup. The main features are the broccoli and potato, making this soup feel more homey without busting your gut. Feel free to add the crackers of your choice for a little extra crunch.

Butternut Squash Soup

One of the last remnants of my CSA deliveries were two small butternut squash. Squash are a class of vegetables that I usually have to cook very particularly. Like melons, I'm still getting accustomed the the flavors of many squash. One classically simple way to enjoy some butternut squash is with a soup.


I used a recipe from Gourmet magazine as a base, but made my own alterations depending on what I had available. Instead of cooking some bacon for a source of fat, I used some vegetable oil. I also replaced sweet potato for the carrot and added some goat cheese in at the end for garnish and to increase the creaminess. My favorite part of making this recipe (other than tasting it) was to blend the soup after it was done cooking. Previously, I would have transferred small batches of soup to my blender, taking the chance that the hot soup would try to explode out of the appliance. Now, I have an immersion blender (aka motor boat). I simply placed the hand-held blender into the soup and blend away. No fuss, no muss. The blender makes an amazingly smooth soup in just a few seconds. One taster thought it had cream in it when it is just chicken broth and blended vegetables. All in all, the slightly sweet tones of the soup with some salt from the goat cheese made for a wonderful meal to warm me up while the weather is getting colder.

This Week in Cooking - 5/9/2009

Last post of the night, and it's a long one. Last weekend, I went temporarily insane and thought I would need all of this food to get me through the week. So I made this all in the course of 9 hours split over two days.


I brought back soup for lunch this week with mulligatawny, a spiced Indian soup. It is made with many different spices (garam masala, cumin, tumeric, etc.), chicken broth, lentils, chicken, celery, carrot, and cilantro. While I'm sure Indian people may make this dish much better, my version came out decently enough for satisfying lunches all week long.


I've wanted to shove a can of beer up a chicken's patoot for quite a while. Supposedly, using a can of beer inside of a whole chicken as it cooks helps to preserve moisture and tenderness in the meat. I was going to fire up the grill for the first time this year to make this, but it was raining, so I settled for the oven. After marinating the chicken in garlic, herbs and olive oil, I propped the chicken atop the beer can, then put it in the oven. Towards the end of the cooking, I glazed the chicken with apple jelly mixed with lemon juice. The chicken did come out pretty well, though it does look like it has a tan line problem...


As a side dish for the chicken, I made these pan-fried smashed potatoes. After boiling the potatoes until almost tender, you mash them partway, then pan-fry them in oil with salt and pepper. After cooking through, you top with shredded parmesan cheese. The great part about this side is that you get to have a boiled potato with a crispy shell and nice, salty cheese on top.


I haven't had fish in a while, so I made this dish. I marinated some mahi-mahi fillets in a combination of white wine, olive oil, salt, pepper, bay leaves, and thyme for about an hour. Then I simply sauteed the fish in the marinade until it was done (flaked with a fork). The meaty mahi held up well to the cooking, and the marinade had a nice combination of flavors.


Looking for a pasta dish with a sauce that's not tomato-, pesto- or cheese-based? Then try almonds. The sauce for this pasta is made by processing blanched almonds with some garlic and salt, then cooking it until it thickened in a pan. Peas and toasted almonds round out the flavors of this very innovative pasta dish.


Another good option to change up the routine is to use edamame, evidenced by these next two dishes. You can often find edamame in the frozen food section of the grocery store. After blanching the frozen soybeans, stir-fry them with soy sauce, oyster sauce, garlic, jalapeno, and pepper. This creates a delightful and flavorful side dish that will complement many different types of food. Think of them as lima beans except better.


Lastly in this montage of culinary wonder is this dish: grilled chicken with edamame skordalia. I'm not entirely sure as to what a skordalia actually is, but in this case, you process edamame with some water, salt, pepper, and parmesan. It is almost like mashed potatoes except more flavorful and better for you. Pairing it with this grilled chicken created a very satisfying dinner dish. And that's all the food I thought I would eat in a week. The only way I could possibly eat all of this would be if I was training to be a sumo wrestler.

Soup, Lion Head and Dangerous Desserts

This week began with another helping of lunch soup. I just can't help my soup cravings when the temperature is below 60 degrees. I made a New England-style turkey chowder. After cooking some onion in butter in a pot, I added some chicken broth, 2 diced potatoes, salt, and pepper. After cooking for about 15 minutes until the potatoes were tender, I stirred in some cubed turkey I had grilled up with garlic powder and rosemary. I dissolved cornstarch in 1% milk, then added this to the soup to add a thick, creaminess. I did have to doctor up the soup a bit with some more spices, but, in the end, it came out nicely, filling me up all week long.


This dish is Chinese (I believe) and it is called lion's head. The meatballs are made of a combination of ground pork, scallions, flour, egg whites, rice wine, ginger, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, salt, and pepper. They were cooked in a pan until browned, then added to a pot with 4 heads of bok choy, halved, and 3 cups of chicken stock. Bring the stock to a boil and simmer everything, covered, for about 40 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through, turning halfway through cooking. The bok choy turned out nicely cooked and the meatballs had a surprising amount of flavor from all of those varied ingredients. The overall taste was a slightly oniony, gingeriness. These would be good as a smaller appetizer size as well if you want. The steaming also helps them keep moist.


I'm not normally one for fresh green beans. Their flavor is usually too strong for me. But this recipe made them not only edible, but enjoyable. After blanching and shocking the green beans, I cooked some sliced shallots and garlic in a butter-olive oil combination until they were tender and fragrant. To this I added a can of tomatoes, allowing the mixture to cook for a few minutes. I added the beans back in and cooked them for about 10 minutes more. At the end, I added some dry white wine, basil, salt, and pepper. The tomato and onion flavors helped to improve the green beans, and the wine managed to add a slight sweetness to it all that was both surprising and delicious.


My graduate school program had recruits in this week and I made them these coffee crunch bars. The recipe is from Bon Appetit magazine, who adapted it from a friend of one of the authors who adapted it from her grandmother. They are like a cookie bar that is cooked for a bit longer without as much leavening agent. Brown sugar adds some depth of flavor and espresso powder compliments the chocolate chips. After baking the dough as a giant cookie, you slice it into bars and allow them to cool. While cooling they crisp up very nicely, making an all-around delicious dessert that is good pretty much any time of the day.


My mom sent me a recipe for an individual chocolate cake that you make a) in a coffee cup, b) in the microwave, and c) in 5 minutes. Here's the recipe:
4T flour
4T sugar
2T cocoa powder
1 egg
3T milk
3T vegetable oil
3T chocolate chips
1 dash vanilla extract

In a large coffee mug, mix dry ingredients. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in milk and oil and mix well. Add chocolate chips and vanilla, and mix one last time. Microwave on high for 3 minutes. Allow to cool and devour. If you want to present this outside of the mug, you can grease the mug but you would have to mix the ingredients separately. The cake comes out decently, though the top is a little dryer and the chocolate chips tend to accumulate at the bottom. But, if you are hell-bent on eating some chocolate calories, at least this is for 1-2 people as opposed to making a whole cake and eating a lot more. This recipe could probably be easily tweaked to make different types of cake, making it the most dangerous recipe ever...

Italian, Asian, Soup, & Dessert - 2/2/2009

I managed to do all of this week's cooking during the weekend. That way I can bring non-sandwich food for lunch and all I have to do for dinner is push some buttons on the microwave.


The soup of the week (soup du...week) is split pea with ham. It started with cooking some carrot and onion until soft in some butter. Then I added around 7 cups of chicken broth, 16oz of split peas, cubed ham steak, some salt, whole allspice, whole peppercorns, thyme, and a bay leaf. In theory, I should have made a bouquet garni (spices held in a small bag or tied with twine) so I could easily remove them after they soup was done cooking, but I did not have any cheesecloth, so I did it the unfancy way. I cooked the soup for an hour or so until all of the split peas were softened. I like my soup nice and thick (almost paste-like in consistency), so I made sure to cook it until some of the moisture had evaporated. Even though this was the first time I've made this soup, it all balanced out pretty well. The spices provided good depth of flavor and ham is a must for split peas. This will definitely make a good lunch this week.


I made some excellent Asian marinated steaks too. I combined some white miso, mirin (sweetened sake), soy sauce, and sesame oil in a bowl, then tossed some steaks in the marinade and let this mixture sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, for my side item, I cooked up some jasmine rice. After it was cooked and cooled a bit, I mixed in chopped garlic, olive oil, cumin, half of a cucumber (halved, seeded, and sliced), cilantro and lemon juice. Lastly, I grilled the steaks in my cast iron skillet and served it all immediately. The steaks adopted some good flavor from the marinade and the rice salad was a great way to add some veggies to the usual carb side.


No, you're monitor doesn't have its colors wrong. Those light green florets are, in actuality, broccoflower, a hybrid of broccoli and cauliflower. It is mostly like cauliflower but with some hints of broccoli flavor. Plus it's a weird limey green color. Anyways, I roasted the florets with grape tomatoes on the low rack of an oven for 15 minutes. While it cooked, I chopped garlic, sage and prosciutto in a food processor, then mixed this with the roasting vegetables to finish cooking for another 5-10 minutes. I cooked the last of my linguine primavera from Italy and, once it was done, reserved some of the cooking liquid. Once the veggies were done in the oven, I combined the pasta, vegetables, some cooked and chopped chicken breast, parmigiano, and arugula, along with some of the pasta water to moisten it all. Some salt and pepper helped accentuate the flavors. I have not had pasta in a while, so this dish was a nice change, especially since I don't have to feel too bad about it with all of the vegetables and grilled chicken inside. Guilt free and delicious!


I was invited to a get-together with my classmates this past weekend. I heard it was someone's birthday, so I thought I'd try out a cookie bar recipe: ginger bars. The dough is made much like cookies: cream butter and sugar, add eggs and then the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg). This was spread in a relatively thin layer in a greased 9"x15" baking pan, then baked for about 15 minutes. It did not look entirely done (it jiggled in the middle), but it baked like a cookie, staying soft until it cools. I let it sit until it was entirely cooled, then cut it into triangles. The ginger flavor was not as strong as gingerbread, but it was like a soft, chewy, triangular, ginger cookie. They went very quickly at the party, so I guess that says something about how they tasted.

Seafood Gumbo and Apple Chicken - 1.28.09

I've been in a soupy mood lately, so here's what I ended up with:


This is seafood gumbo. The only changes I had to make to the recipe I used was substituting turkey bacon for regular bacon, which meant I had to add more vegetable oil to the roux. I will admit I should have cooked the roux a bit longer to turn more dark brown, but I was impatient. With the roux, I cooked onion, bell pepper and garlic. Then I added the fish stock, canned tomatoes, frozen okra, thyme, bay leaf, parsley, and scallions. After letting the vegetables cook, I added fresh shrimp, some canned oysters and lump crabmeat. It is my understanding that gumbo is served with a mound of rice, so I made my rice into an island in the center of a sea of the gumbo. This gumbo turned out nicely with seafoody goodness. It's a good thing I like it because it made about 10 servings worth of soup. It does make a nice lunch on cold days, though.


My main meal of the week was apple and honey-glazed chicken. Like most of the chicken dishes I make, this one is pretty simple. Cook the chicken breasts in a pan with some salt and pepper. In a bowl, mix together some honey, Dijon mustard, cinnamon, salt, and apple jelly. While the chicken cooks, baste it with this sauce. Once the chicken is done, serve it topped with the sauce from the pan. The chicken comes out sweet, but not overtly so, with an interesting addition of the mustard to the sauce. As a side, I made red quinoa and mixed in some cumin, turmeric, lemon juice, toasted pine nuts, chopped dried apricots, salt, and green onion. The spices in the quinoa as well as the sweet apricot complimented the chicken pretty nicely, and the combination of the two seemed to improve each other by adding depth.

Barley Soup, Flank Steak & Sweet Slaw - 1/3/2009

Happy New Year! Now that the holiday festivities have concluded, it's time to start cooking healthily again.


I'm considering cutting down on the carbohydrates I eat at dinner, so the carb element of this meal is a smaller serving of barley soup. You cook raw barley in vegetable broth for half an hour. Then add two sliced carrots, 2 cups of sliced mushrooms, tomato paste, pepper, paprika, thyme, and salt. Let this simmer until tender, about 30 minutes more. To serve, you add a small splash of vinegar and some parsley.


The main feature of the day, though, is an Asian flank steak with sweet slaw. You start by marinating a flank steak in soy, vegetable oil, ginger, and garlic for 30 minutes. While this is marinating, thinly slice some cabbage and green onions. Dissolve equal parts sugar in rice vinegar in a small saucepan over medium heat. After removing from the heat, add some more fresh ginger. If you want to add some heat, add some thinly sliced jalapenos. Pour the vinegar mixture over the cabbage and green onions, then toss to coat. I grilled my steak using my cast iron skillet, then let it rest for 10 minutes on a cutting board before slicing it thinly. Serve the steak atop some of the sweet slaw. I really like this recipe because it was pretty easy and the flavors melded nicely.

Here's to a happy and healthy 2009!

Holiday Baking - 12.23.08

The past few weeks have been rather hectic. I've been juggling finishing my first semester of graduate school, Christmas shopping and doing what in hindsight appears to be a ridiculous amount of baking. Here's an overview of my culinary activities over the past few weeks:


My sustenance for the past week was a very veggie chili. After cooking some onion in garlic and oil, I added canned tomatoes, pinto beans, corn, chopped cilantro, cumin, salt, and pepper. At the end (since meat is a very prominent staple of my diet), I added some rotisserie chicken that I got at the local grocery store. This turned out to be one of my better chilis and it was very simple to put together. The recipe called for hominy, but I could not find any, so maybe next time. Now on to the good stuff...




While in Italy this summer, we found out how to make limoncello, a delightful lemon liqueur (if done right). Some of my family made a batch and gave it to me for my birthday. Since I'm not a heavy drinker (I failed binge drinking 101 at UF), I decided to put the limoncello to better use: in baking. The cookie itself has a base of ricotta cheese, giving it a cakey texture. You can see in the above pictures how much the cookies puffed up from the small dough balls on the baking sheet. The limoncello in the dough is backed up by vanilla and lemon extracts as well as some lemon zest. The glaze on top is a basic confectioner's sugar glaze with limoncello to make it spreadable. I was very happy with this cookie and it took me back to our enormous afternoon lunch in Rome where we first had this delightful drink. Warning: limoncello may induce napping.


To continue our world cookie tour, the next stop is Germany for some lebkuchen. The cookies themselves contain a base of toasted nuts (hazelnuts and almonds), cinnamon, cardamom, orange and lemon zests, and cocoa powder. After baking the cookie is accompanied by a simple glaze of confectioner's sugar and milk. These cookies came out dense, nutty and full of holiday spice flavors. For the recipe, see the January 2008 Cooks' Illustrated.


Now for an American twist on a classic favorite. These are potato chip cookies, in the family of pecan sandies. In fact, the probably are pretty much pecan sandies with crushed potato chips replacing some of the pecans. Don't worry about them being too salty or oily. These cookies bake up nicely with a salty undertone that is great for those who can't get enough of the salty-sweet combination (like chocolate-covered pretzels).


For those who want a quicker holiday cookie that is still a step above store-bought, these are the cookie for you. Anyone who enjoys peanut butter blossoms will recognize the general idea behind them. You can either use pre-made gingerbread dough, a gingerbread cookie mix, or you can start from scratch. I decided to try the first choice to save myself some time this year. After baking the cookie, you place a Hershey's chocolate kiss (or hug if you want something different) in the middle. You may notice the cookies in the picture have two different textures - this is what happens when you forget to roll half the dough balls in sugar before baking. Oh well, they were delicious anyways, but the peanut butter blossoms will still be my favorite.


If you've ever had thumbprint cookies and wondered, "Why do I only get to have one flavor of filling?" these are your cookie. You prepare three mini thumbprint cookies and add a small dollop of three types of jam - raspberry, apricot and strawberry. If you can fit it in your mouth at once (might be difficult), you can enjoy all three at once. Even if you can't, though, you still get to have a nice triplet of fruit flavors.


I love the look of crinkle cookies, and for the holidays, what better compliment to the white of the powdered sugar than a healthy red from a red velvet cookie? These cookies come out cakey with a slight chocolate flavor (red velvet technically is a chocolate cake, after all). Be warned, however, if you have allergies to red food dye, you should definitely avoid this cookie. I used 1 full ounce (4 little bottles) of red food coloring to get this color. But the end result is a cookie that I think Santa would enjoy.


Chai is a wonderful tea that has some strong, spiced flavors from cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg and a variety of others (including but not limited to allspice, vanilla, anise, clove, and orange). While this version of shortbread cookies contain no actual tea, they do utilize some of the flavors, including cardamom, cinnamon, clove, and even a dash of black pepper. Feel free to substitute in your favorite holiday spices to add some punch to your holiday treats.


Though my favorite type of cookie is the drop-and-bakes, this set of cookies is a slice-and-bake. Poppy seeds are combined with orange juice and the zests of an orange and a lemon for a more refreshing, light cookie. Be careful about eating too many and taking a drug test, though (don't worry, you would probably pass unless you ate the entire batch of cookies...though that is a definite possibility).


Another type of cookie is the cut-and-bake, seen here in the shape of Christmas trees. The difference in these sugar cookies is the lemon zest and chopped rosemary to give the cookies a woodsier, earthier taste. Feel free to decorate them as you wish. I opted for simple white icing and some dragees (the edible silver balls...don't worry, I did not know what they were called either).


For a lighter cookie, here is a set that is similar to a meringue. After melting some chocolate, whip up some egg whites with cream of tartar, vanilla extract and sugar. Fold in the chocolate and some chopped walnuts. Bake the cookie until shiny and cracked. These cookies almost melt in your mouth and have a decidedly bittersweet chocolate flavor. Thanks to Fine Cooking magazine for the recipe.


Gluten addicts look away. This batch of sugar cookies has two surprises: first, there is no gluten in this recipe. I used a gluten-free (GF) baking mix so my mom could eat them. The second surprise is that they are stuffed with apple butter. You can make these cookies normally. Just take your sugar cookie dough, roll it out a little thick, and sandwich two cutouts around some apple butter, sealing the edges before baking. You can add some glaze to these if you want to hide the pocket of apple butter.




I bought a pomegranate and was looking for something to do with all of the arils (first picture, above). I had been using them as part of snacks and desserts for myself throughout the week as the fresh pomegranate is a lot sweeter than the juice you buy in the store (be careful because they will stain like nobody's business). Then I found a recipe for a chocolate chunk cookie using the pomegranate seeds. Be sure to delicately fold the pomegranate arils into the dough, otherwise you will end up with something that looks like the red velvet cookies. The pomegranate added a nice, fresh, fruity flavor to brighten up the basic cookies.


Here ends the cookies, but now begins the parade of other confections. In the south, the above are only known as brown candy. They taste like a cross between fudge and a pecan praline. I was wary of making this because I recently failed at making caramel, but these candies came out very nicely. Be sure to toast your nuts if you can because the flavors are much more intense.


If you want an easier pecan candy, here it is. You simple melt together some candy coating (vanilla or chocolate) with sweetened condensed milk, salt and vanilla, then add in chopped pecans. Simply let it cool in the fridge then cut. Even though you did not slave over the stove for an hour to make this candy, they still come out quite nice.


Speaking of easy recipes, here is the world's fastest and tastiest peanut butter fudge, courtesy of Alton Brown. You microwave 1 cup of butter with 1 cup of peanut butter in the microwave until it is all melted. Stir in 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1 pound of confectioner's sugar. Pour into a pan and refrigerate until it is cool, et voila! This recipe used half of a regular jar of Jif peanut butter (is there any better). I don't normally keep peanut butter in the house, just because I finished off the other half of a jar in about a week.


Those who have followed this blog for a little while know I like to make fruit and nut breads. I found this recipe on foodnetwork.com and had to make it. The bread features pumpkin puree, raisins and apple cider, along with some extra cinnamon to bring together many of the holiday's best flavors. While I could not taste it myself (the one drawback of gifting someone a bread is you can't taste it without making it obvious), I hear the bread turned out nicely.


Lastly, one of the first things I did upon arriving in Florida for the holidays was to bake. This month's Gourmet magazine had a recipe that, like the limoncello cookies, reminded me of our trip to Italy. Vin Santo is a grape-based, sweet wine that can be served with biscotti. This recipe, though, pairs Vin Santo with red grapes and orange zest. The batter is baked in cupcake molds (1/2 cup- or 1 cup-sized) and served warm. The Vin Santo flavor permeates the cakes and gives them a wonderful, fragrant flavor.

After all that, you would think I would take the rest of the year off, but my family has enlisted me to assist in making various dishes this year, including Pietro's cheese bread. I hope everyone has a safe, fun holiday season. Look for more cooking in 2009!