orange-cardamom cookies

I am one of those people who tears recipes out of magazines and let's this enormous pile amass on my desk. Then, a few times a year I go through the pile and I neatly file the recipes into these (totally type-A) binders in my home office...and then I usually forget to go look at the binders, until the next time I am busy filing a stack of recipes. This recipe, however, stuck in my mind and I did go dig it out of the office last night. With cooking I just wing it, and come up with my own recipes. Those of you who bake know you can't wing it. This probably explains why I don't call myself a baker any other time except Christmas...Anyway, I made these last night and they are amazing. Think dense shortbread-like cookie with the flowery, Indian taste of cardamom alongside the zest of orange. Not too sweet. Perfect with a cup of tea. An adult cookie.

Here are the caveats:

• This recipe is a lot more work than I usually like to spend on a recipe (unless it's my go-to gingerbread or a batch of traditional sugar cookie cut-outs around Christmas). If you're looking for a quick cookie, skip this one.
• I love the taste of cardamom, but give the spice a sniff before you make a double batch to make sure you like it too!
• These cookies aren't going to elicit a lot of oohs and ahhs on a cookie exchange table...they're simple: round and white, flecked with a bit of orange zest and a drizzle of royal icing if you add that. That said, they pack a lot of interesting flavor into their demure appearance.

Assuming you are undeterred by my caveats, let's go! I'm reprinting the Gourmet recipe here + giving you a few pictures of the recipe in action, so you have everything in one place:

Orange-Cardamom Cookies

(makes 2 dozen cookies)

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

zest of 2 large oranges

1 1/2 teaspoons cardamom (ground)

1 teaspoon salt

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar (I used Turbinado)

1 egg yolk

2 Tablespoons heavy cream

parchment paper

Royal Icing (optional):

1 cup powdered sugar

1 Tablespoon powdered egg whites

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4-1/2 cup warm water

To make the dough:

Mix flour, orange zest, cardamom and salt. Beat butter, sugar, yolk and cream with a hand-mixer until well blended and fluffy. At low-speed, mix in the flour until dough forms. It will be very granular. Split the dough into four portions and wrap them in parchment or plastic wrap and store in fridge until firm (about 2 hours).

To bake the cookies:

Preheat oven to 350. Roll out 1 piece of dough, in between 2 pieces of parchment paper until it's about 1/8 inch thick. (You must do it this way. I tried to simply roll the dough on a floured surface and it did not work!! The dough broke apart in a crumbly mess.) Cut dough into circles, using a cookie cutter, and transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet, 1 inch apart. The original recipe says you can only re-roll the scraps once...but I am not much of a baker (or spatial planner apparently), so I definitely did it several more times until all of the dough was cut... Bake for 9-12 minutes, until edges are golden. Cool on baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

If you choose to drizzle with royal icing:

Combine the powdered sugar, egg white powder, vanilla and warm water until desired consistency (should be like thick glue, malleable to drizzle with a spoon or spatula but not runny). Drizzle across cooled cookies. Let icing harden before storing cookies in an airtight container, or freezing a batch.

I did not read that the dough was supposed to be pressed into a disk shape before chilling it in the fridge. I made these balls of dough and wrapped each one in parchment paper...but rolling it out would have certainly been easier if I'd made them disks instead! (P.S. That's a double batch of dough you're seeing here.)

So, when it came time to roll, I had to press down on each one to get it into that disk shape before grabbing the rolling pin...

Rolling each ball of dough out first time was tough...

but eventually each ball of dough became a nice, even disk ready to be cut.

While the cookies tasted amazing: not too sweet, full of flavor...they looked a little too plain for a Christmas cookie...

so I did drizzle each one with a bit of royal icing. And that little additional bit of sweetness made them perfect.

kerry's super simple coconut macaroons

My friend, Kerry, told me about these Real Simple coconut macaroons, which she and her children have been whipping up as holiday gifts. I'd never made macaroons, though I do love a good, chewy macaroon. So, last night, we gave these a test whirl. Not only are they delicious, but they are so simple to make...perfect for little hands that want to help!

Real Simple's Coconut Macaroons

(makes 50 teaspoon-sized macaroons)

14 oz bag of sweetened shredded coconut

4 egg whites

2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon of salt

parchment paper

round measuring spoon: teaspoon

Preheat oven to 325. Combine all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl, using a hand-mixer. The original recipe says to "drop packed tablespoonful onto a parchment lined baking sheet". At Kerry advice, we did teaspoonful and they were plenty big, especially since they're so sweet! Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Will store for 7 days in an airtight container, if they last that long.

For extra decadence, you can make them chocolate dipped, though I thought that seemed unnecessary, since they were so delicious as is...

turkey pot pies (from leftover Thanksgiving turkey & gravy)

Last night, when clearing out a spot in my freezer for the results of my cookie baking marathon, I realized I had never used the last of the turkey breast and gravy from Thanksgiving. Remember how I accidentally over ordered those two giant bone-in breasts? Well, I'd shredded the turkey and popped it into an air-tight bag, tucking it away in the freezer back when we were tired of eating turkey... a few chops of carrot and celery combined with the leftover gravy (which I'd also frozen) and the turkey topped off with some (store-bought) puff pastry and dinner was made in minutes.

Turkey Pot Pies (from leftover turkey)

(freezes perfectly, so make extras if you can!)

shredded or chopped turkey

gravy

whole milk (optional)

carrots, chopped

celery, chopped

lemon zest (optional)

puff pastry

Combine turkey, gravy, carrots and celery in a mixing bowl. If your mixture seems really thick, consider cutting it with a bit of whole milk. Pour turkey mixture into an oven-proof baking dish. Top with puff pastry, cutting a vent for steam to escape. Bake at 400 for about 30 minutes or until puff pastry is golden brown. You can also cook from frozen. If doing so, cook time will be more like 1 hour.

elf antic - day 13

if you'd like to see more of what elf's been up to around here, here's the elf antic archive...

and for that gingerbread recipe, click here.

now i'm going to go peel him off the ceiling after all that sugar he ate last night.

elf antic - day 12

eggnog bread pudding

I saw this eggnog bread pudding recipe last week and knew I had to give it a try. I happened to have a ginormous panettone on my kitchen counter. One of those impulse purchases, where I knew I wanted a panettone...but somehow I neglected to notice the size of the thing. So anyway, I come across this recipe that promises to turn half of my (huge) sweet bread into an equally decadent dessert-- or in our case, brunch-- and I knew it was fate. OK, fine, I don't need to get all dramatic about it. But seriously, you must try this recipe. Not only because it is so, so easy, but because it's Christmas-y and special and soooo good.

Eggnog Bread Pudding

based on this recipe from Cooking with Trader Joe's

(makes a 9x13" dish of decadence)

750g loaf of panettone*

6 eggs

1 quart of eggnog (4 cups)

1-2 Tablespoons of vanilla

zest of an orange, optional

cooking spray or butter

Preheat your oven to 350. Butter your baking dish, or lightly coat with cooking spray. Cut the panettone into roughly 1" cubes and place the bread in the baking dish. In a mixing bowl, combine the eggs, eggnog, vanilla and orange zest (if you are adding it) and mix until well blended. Pour evenly over bread. Let this sit and continue to soak while the oven is warming up. The original recipe has you making a water bath and baking the bread pudding for about 1 hour. You can go that route, or you can skip the water bath (as I did) and bake it (normally) on the middle oven rack, uncovered for the first 45 minutes. Then, I covered mine with foil because the top was starting to brown quite a bit, and I continued to cook it for another 45 minutes. You'll know it's done when a butter knife inserted in the center comes out clean. As you all know, my ovens are dying a slow death, so you can assume that the whole cook time is somewhere around 1 hour...but it could be as long as 1.5 hours, depending upon how pesky your oven is. (Plan ahead if you're having guests!!)

Speaking of planning ahead, this dish can be made in advance either fully baked (and then warmed in the oven, covered loosely with foil) or you can pour the egg mixture over the top and pop it into the fridge, and bake it the next day if you want to wow your family/friends/house guests with an absolutely amazing smelling kitchen. That said, if it's going straight from the fridge into the oven, count on it taking more like 1.5 hours to bake.

Here are action photos for those who like to see the step by step:







*A little side note: panettone is studded with dried fruit and has quite a distinctive taste. I thought that was what made this bread pudding special...I loved the plump raisins and bits of orange rind in the finished product. But, if you think your family would prefer it with plain bread, you can make the recipe I posted above with about 5 cups of French bread, also cut into 1" chunks.

crunchy rainbow chopped salad

This salad is so super easy, and because it's hearty, it actually holds up well in the fridge (even with dressing), so you can make it ahead of time, or enjoy any leftovers the next day.

crunchy rainbow chopped salad

(makes 4 very generous servings)

1 tub of Trader Joe's Healthy 8 chopped veggie mix (found in the produce section, by the bagged salads)

1/2 cup Trader Joe's Tzatziki sauce*

champagne or white wine vinegar, to taste

freshly ground pepper

Combine everything in a mixing bowl. Add more yogurt sauce or vinegar until you reach the desired amount of dressing, and your desired level of zestiness and creaminess. This salad is hearty and will hold up for 2-3 days in the fridge, so enjoy those leftovers. If you have any!

* I happened to have a partial tub of Tzatziki Sauce on hand, but or you can simply use Greek Yogurt, like Fage 0% instead for the creamy portion of the dressing.

lemony pasta with chickpeas and Feta

I didn't feel like going to the supermarket today, so dinner was a hodgepodge of what I had on hand. It turned out so well that I'm going to quickly share two of the recipes, because everyone enjoyed them, and they are so ridiculously simple! Plus, if you make a big batch, like I did, you'll have lunch made for tomorrow. Here's the first one, that can be serves warm or room temp, and makes a great vegetarian side or meal:

Lemony Pasta Salad with Chickpeas and Feta

(makes 8 servings)

8 oz dried whole wheat rotini (or your favorite pasta), cooked according to pkg

15 oz can of chickpeas, rinsed

zest and juice of 1-2 lemons

6 oz herb pesto*

6 oz Feta, crumbled

sat & pepper, to taste

Combine everything in a mixing bowl. Serve warm, or room temp. Can be made ahead and stored in the fridge.

* I happened to have a jar of Bella Cucina herb pesto (nut-free, bonus so this can be sent in my little one's school lunchbox this week...) in my pantry that I'd been given as a gift. If you want to make your own, simply combine a few hearty handfuls of your favorite fresh herbs in a blender with enough olive oil to reach your desired consistency.

elf antics - days 10 & 11

it should be abundantly clear that the elf antic creativity wasn't my top priority this festive holiday weekend...

even if there weren't notes, huge messes, or death-defying acts, his antics still elicited excited squeals both days.

when the elf climbs down from this latest spot, hopefully he'll spot the sticky half-eaten candy cane my little one has lovingly left for him...

special class snack: make-your-own yogurt parfait bar

My little one's birthday is coming up, so he gets to bring a special snack to school to share with his classmates. His choice? A yogurt parfait bar. My husband balked, wondering "what 4 going on 5-year-old asks for a yogurt parfait for his birthday snack", but I kind of wonder if the kid is on to something?

Each child will be given a clear cup with yogurt on the bottom, then a variety of toppings to choose from. As a special treat, I am also giving the teachers whipped cream and some Stonewall Kitchen Raspberry Syrup. At home we use a variety of nuts and seeds as well, when we're making parfaits. But his class is nut-free, so we're going with:

• strawberry, banana and vanilla yogurts
• strawberries (from frozen)
• pineapple
• cantaloupe
• peaches (from frozen)
• blueberries (which I paid a small fortune for organic ones in mid-December...)
• nut-free granola (Back to Nature was one of the only brands at Whole Foods that was nut free... I believe Berkshire Grain is also nut-free, but our Whole Foods didn't carry that brand. Kevin, if you're reading this, in Berkshire Grain granola nut-free?)
• cheerios
• raisins
• cranberries (fyi: Trader Joe's organic brand is one of the only "not-produced in a plant with tree nut" varieties I can find)
• Stonewall Kitchen's Raspberry Syrup
• and whipped cream (which, no, we don't usually top it off with at home!)

elf antics day 8 & 9

an elf treat for mom too

completely forgot to mention that the elf also left me a treat today

catch all of our elf's antics here....oh, and i promise to write a meal-related post soon too...it's just that there are only so many hours in the day, and the elf has been hogging them!