Rugelach

The third and final jam-filled cookie I wanted to try was rugelach.


I've never had "real" rugelach before, so I don't know if they turned out how they are supposed to, but I thought they were pretty tasty. The chocolate, cinnamon, and jam go really well together. And of course, the look of both the crescents and the rolls is very unique.

Rugelach
Adapted from Joy of Cooking
Yield: 3 dozen crescents, 2.5 dozen rolls
Print recipe

1 cup butter, softened
6 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 1/4 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup seedless fruit jam (not jelly) (I used raspberry)
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup ground walnuts

1. Cream butter and cream cheese together until well blended.


2. Add flour all at once and beat on low speed just until the dough comes together.


3. Divide into thirds. Flatten each third in to a 6 x 4 inch rectangle or a 6 inch circle. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes.


4. In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar and cinnamon.


5. Preheat oven to 350F.


6. On a generously floured work surface, roll out the dough. For rolled rugelach, roll the rectangle into a 16 x 10 inch rectangle with the long edge parallel to the edge of the work surface. For crescent rugelach, roll the disc into a circle with a 14 inch diameter. The dough should be about 1/8 inch thick. Use a pastry cutter to make the shapes even, removing the excess dough to reroll later.


7. Leaving a 1/4 inch border, spread a third of the jam over the dough.


8. For rolled rugelach, place the chocolate chips along the edge of the jam on the long side nearest you. For crescent rugelach, sprinkle the chocolate chips over the entire surface.


9. Sprinkle the entire surface with a quarter of the cinnamon sugar and a third of the ground walnuts.


10. For rolled rugelach, roll the dough, starting with the chocolate chip edge, gently tucking and tightening as you go. Cut the roll into 1 1/2 inch slices.


11. For crescent rugelach, cut the circle like a pizza, creating 8 large or 16 small even triangles. Roll up from the wide end to the point.


12. Transfer the rugelach to a parchment lined baking sheet.


13. Sprinkle each cookie with the remaining cinnamon sugar.


14. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until bottoms are light golden (tops will still be blond).


15. Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool.


16. Repeat with remaining dough. Dough can be rerolled as many times as necessary.

Linzer Cookies

The second cookie-with-jam recipe is Linzer cookies. These may be the best cookies I've made in a long time. Well, the cookie is essentially a shortbread dough with almonds and cinnamon (um, delicious) and some red currant jam in between two cookies to make a sandwich. Sadly, not the easiest cookies to make, but so elegant for a special occasion.


Linzer Cookies
Adapted from Joy of Cooking
Yield: 20 sandwiches
Print recipe

1 1/4 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
2 1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup finely ground almonds
1 tsp cinnamon
2/3 cup seedless fruit jam (not jelly) (I used red currant)

1. Cream butter and sugar together until very fluffy.


2. In another bowl, whisk together flour, ground almonds, and cinnamon.


3. Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture until combined.


4. Divide the dough into thirds. Bring each third together by kneading.


5. Place each third between 2 large sheets of parchment paper.


6. Roll each third into a circle 1/8-inch thick.


7. Keeping the paper in place, layer the rolled dough on a baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.


8. In the meantime, boil the jelly for 2 minutes. Let cool to room temperature.


9. Preheat oven to 350F.


10. Working with one portion of dough at a time, peel away the top sheet of paper.


11. Use a 2 1/2-inch cutter to cut rounds.


12. For half the cookies, then use a 1-inch cutter to cut out a hole in the middle.


13. Place cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet.


14. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until pale golden.


15. Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool.


16. Repeat with remaining dough. Dough can be rerolled as many times as necessary. Place in freezer for a few minutes if it becomes to soft to work with.


17. Sift icing sugar over the cookies with a hole in the middle.


18. On the bottom of the solid cookies, spoon 1/4 tsp of the cooled jelly onto each cookie, then top with a cutout cookie.

Almond Thumbprint Cookies

There are a few cookie recipes that include jam that I want to try. The first is the almond thumbprint cookies.

I found the dough hard to work with. It wasn't really as simple as rolling the dough into a ball and then pressing my thumb into it to create a well. The dough was kind of crumbly, so I had to shape each cookie, which took a long time. They turned out cute and tasty though.


Almond Thumbprint Cookies
Adapted from Joy of Cooking
Yield: 30 cookies
Print recipe

1/4 cup butter, softened
3 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp corn syrup
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 tsp lemon zest
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup seedless fruit jam (not jelly) (I used raspberry)

1. Preheat oven to 375F.


2. Combine butter, oil, corn syrup, sugar, egg, lemon zest, vanilla, and almond extract. Beat on medium speed until well blended.


3. In another bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.


4. Stir the flour mixture into the egg mixture just until combined.


5. Shape cookies into a ball with a well in the center and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.


6. Fill the wells with fruit jam.


7. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes, or until the tops are just barely tinged with brown.


8. Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool.

Southern Dinner

Inspired by an episode of Fresh with Anna Olson, we made buttermilk fried chicken, angel biscuits, and zucchini lemon slaw for dinner. The biscuits were my favourite - the dough was so nice to work with and it made a very attractive-looking biscuit. The slaw was my least favourite, but I ruined it by using too much garlic. I omitted the garlic from the recipe I posted below because I think it would be better with no garlic at all.


Buttermilk Fried Chicken
Adapted from this recipe by Anna Olson
Yield: 4-6 servings
Print recipe

Marinade
1 fryer chicken, cut into equal pieces
2 cups buttermilk
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp salt
2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.


2. Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours and up to a day, stirring occasionally.

Fried Chicken
3 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp pepper
6 cups vegetable oil, for frying

1. In a large, flat dish, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper.


2. Without shaking off excess liquid, lift chicken pieces out of marinade and coat in flour mixture. Let chicken sit in flour, turning occasionally, while heating oil.


3. In a large, heavy bottomed pot, fill half way with oil.


4. Heat oil over medium high heat until it reaches 350F.


5. Add 4 pieces of chicken and reduce heat to medium low.


6. Fry chicken for 12 to 14 minutes, turning once. Adjust heat during cooking so that oil is around 300F.


7. Transfer chicken to a paper towel to drain. To test for doneness, a probe thermometer should read 170F.


8. Return oil to 350F and repeat process with remaining chicken.

Zucchini Lemon Slaw
Adapted from this recipe by Anna Olson
Yield: 3 servings
Print recipe

1 medium zucchini
1 medium carrot
1 tsp salt
2 green onions, sliced on the bias
juice and zest of half a lemon
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp dill, chopped
pepper

1. Grate zucchini and carrot coarsely.


2. Toss with salt and let sit in a colander to drain for 30 minutes.


3. Squeeze out excess liquid.


4. Combine with remaining ingredients.


5. Chill until ready to serve.

Angel Biscuits
Adapted from this recipe by Anna Olson
Yield: 6 or 7 biscuits
Print recipe

1/2 tsp instant dry yeast
1 1/2 tsp warm water
1 cup flour
4 tsp sugar
1/6 tsp baking soda
1/6 tsp baking powder
1/6 tsp salt
3 tbsp cold butter
1/3 cup buttermilk

1. In a small bowl, combine water and yeast and a pinch of sugar together. Let sit for 5 minutes.


2. In another bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.


3. Cut the butter into the flour until the mixture has a crumbly texture.


4. Stir the yeast mixture into the buttermilk.


5. Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour.


6. Mix until a dough comes together.


7. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 6 hours.


8. Preheat oven to 425F.


9. On a floured surface, roll dough to 1/2-inch thick.


10. Fold the dough in half, pressing down gently.


11. Cut out biscuits and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.


12. Bake 9 to 11 minutes, until just lightly browned.


13. Serve immediately.

Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake

I really like the taste of rhubarb, but I've never really eaten it in anything other than strawberry rhubarb pie.

We bought some rhubarb with the goal of not using it in a pie. I used one stalk to make a rhubarb chutney served with pork chops, which was delicious. The second stalk was used for this upside-down cake. The cake itself was really moist, and I think the rhubarb on top is really pretty. There was a crumble on the bottom of the cake, and though I'm not sure how necessary it is, I've included it in the recipe anyway.


Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake
Adapted from Martha Stewart Living, May 2010
Yield: 8 servings
Print recipe

Crumble
3 tbsp butter, melted
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt

1. Combine all ingredients together in a small bowl.


2. Stir together until moist and crumbly.

Rhubarb
1 stalk of rhubarb, cut on a very sharp diagonal, about 1/2 inch thick
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp butter

1. Toss rhubarb with sugar and let stand for 2 minutes.


2. Meanwhile, grease a 9-inch round cake pan.


3. Cut the butter into pieces and dot along bottom of pan.


4. Arrange the rhubarb and sugar in the pan.

Cake
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
juice and zest of half a lemon
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 350F.


2. In one bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, and salt.


3. In another bowl, cream together butter and sugar.


4. Beat in lemon zest and juice.


5. Stir in eggs, one at a time, until combined.


6. Stir in flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with sour cream.


7. Spread batter evenly over rhubarb.


8. Crumble the topping evenly over the batter.


9. Bake until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour.


10. Let cool for 10 minutes.


11. Run a knife around the edge of cake and invert.

Italian Dinner

I am definitely a little crazy for fresh bread. I had a breakfast shift at work, which started at 7am. Yet I woke up even earlier that I had to so that I could knead some dough together, all so that we could have fresh bread for homemade garlic bread.

We had also bought some cans of San Marzano tomatoes to make marinara sauce. I have been dying to try these tomatoes because they are supposed to be the best for making tomato sauce. They were pretty expensive, $6 a can, but since tomatoes are pretty much the only ingredient in marinara sauce, we were willing to splurge a little for the best. The simple sauce was really good, and I can't imagine making it with any other tomato.


Marinara Sauce
Adapted from Joy of Cooking
Yield: 4 cups
Print recipe

2 cans San Marzano tomatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 sprigs basil or oregano
6 sprigs fresh parsley
salt and pepper, to taste

1. In a large pot, warm olive oil over medium heat.


2. Add tomatoes, crushed between your fingers as you add them to the pot.


3. Add garlic and herbs.


4. Simmer, uncovered, until the sauce is thickened, about 10 minutes.


5. Season with salt and pepper.


6. Remove herbs before serving, if desired.


7. Toss with hot pasta. Top with pecorino romano cheese, if desired.

Garlic Bread
Adapted from Joy of Cooking
Yield: 4 servings
Print recipe

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 clove garlic
1 tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Preheat broiler.


2. Bring a small pot of water to a boil.


3. Add garlic. Simmer for 5 minutes.


4. Remove garlic from water. Mash to a paste.


5. Add to softened butter. Stir to combine.


6. Cut 4 pieces of bread.


7. Spread garlic butter on each piece of bread.


8. Season lightly with salt and pepper.


9. Sprinkle rosemary on top of bread.


10. Place bread under broiler for 5 minutes, or until just golden brown.

Indian Dinner

I clearly love cooking. I come home tired from standing all day cooking at work, and I still want to cook and try new recipes for dinner. Things are a bit different now that I'm working so much, like I'm making slightly simpler things, and making bigger batches of it so that it lasts longer. But I'm definitely still having fun.

Last night, we had an Indian meal of lamb buttermilk curry and rice pudding. Both were laborious in that I had to stand by the stove to regularly stir the pots, but otherwise, very easy dishes. The lamb was good, but nothing particularly memorable for me. The rice pudding, on the other hand, was outstanding. The texture was really smooth, and I love the taste of cardamom, so I thought the flavour was perfect.

Lamb in Coriander, Black Cardamom, and Buttermilk Curry
Adapted from Vij's Elegant and Inspired Indian Cuisine
Yield: 6 servings
Print recipe


2 lbs lamb leg, cut into 2-inch cubes
3 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 tbsp coriander seed
1 tbsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp chili powder
10 cloves
seeds from 8 black cardamom pods
2 tsp salt
2/3 cup water
1 medium potato, cubed

1. Pour buttermilk into a large mixing bowl. Add lamb and mix well. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 6 hours.


2. In a mortar, lightly pound coriander seeds to crack the seeds in half.


3. In a pot, heat oil over medium heat.


4. Add cumin seeds. Allow seeds to sizzle for about 15 seconds.


5. Add garlic and saute for about 30 seconds.


6. Add coriander, chili powder, cloves, black cardamom, and salt. Stir well and cook for 3 minutes.


7. Add marinated meat with all the buttermilk. Add water. Stir continuously and bring to a boil.


8. Reduce heat to medium low, cover and cook, stirring regularly, for about an hour.


9. Add potatoes. Cover and cook for another hour, or until meat is tender. Make sure meat is covered in liquid, so add more water if necessary.


10. Remove cloves before serving, or remember to expect them in your meal.


11. Serve with plain basmati rice.

Rice Pudding
Adapted from Vij's Elegant and Inspired Indian Cuisine
Yield: 3 servings
Print recipe


4 green cardamom pods
1/4 cup basmati rice
4 cups homogenized milk
1/3 cup sugar
chopped raw unsalted almonds, for garnish

1. Lightly pound green cardamoms and peel off the pods.


2. Place seeds into a medium pot.


3. Add rice and milk. Bring to a boil over medium low heat.


4. Simmer for about 70 minutes. Stir gently and regularly (this is very important). As the rice and milk cook, the consistency will become more and more like pudding. If the milk begins to stick to the bottom of the pot, stir more often or turn down the heat slightly. Do not scrape the bottom of the pot if it has scorched otherwise the pudding will have a burnt taste.


5. Remove from heat and add sugar. Stir well.


6. Sprinkle almonds over the pudding just before serving.


7. Can be served hot, warm, or cold.