Just a little update on the new kitchen. The joiner (carpenter) who is coming to fit the kitchen said he would "be here in the middle of this week at the earliest" we are interpreting this as probably next week. These oak worktops are supposed to be oiled and, indeed the oil came with them. However, as my MIL (85) lives with us and is likely to use all sorts of chemical sprays on any available surface (and will not be told) we decided that it was safer to varnish them. The joiner says this will be fine and at least they will maintain their fabulous finish. The varnish is matt so it really doesn't show at all.
I was really excited when I saw how gorgeous the worktops look and how well they match our wooden floor. Mind you we have spent all weekend moving them, painting them and stepping over them!
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Title: Wooden Worktops by Norfolk Oak
Norfolk Oak - wooden kitchen worktops of the highest quality, bespoke kitchen worktops, oak worktops, walnut worktops, solid hardwood worktops, furniture grade wood worktops.
Title: Wooden Worktops by Norfolk Oak - Routing A Wooden Kitchen Worktop With A Plunge Router
Wooden Worktops by Norfolk Oak. Routing out a series of custom alterations to a solid wooden worktop. Starts with measuring and construction of templates for the wooden worktops through to the actual cuts with the router and the finished wooden worktop.
Oh guys, it's taking every ounce of strength in me to not turn this post into a sob story about the best summer ever coming to a close, but I will keep my strength. It is difficult and a little painful. Same goes for these cookies--Baci di Dama. Baci di Dama is italian for "lady's kisses," how apt. Though, let's get real: they look a little bit like poops. Haha sorry, sorry...is anyone still reading this? Whatever, let's just think of them as the cookie sisters to Hershey's kisses. Unfortunately, the baked incarnation of this phrase is far more tedious and frustrating than actual lady's kisses, but what can you do.
Traditionally, Baci di Dama are made with hazelnuts I believe, but this recipe uses almonds. Once again I used almond meal instead of almonds that I ground up myself, and this time I think I should have ground them myself. The dough was a little too thick, which in part might have been because of how I whipped the egg whites, but also because the almond meal I was using is rather coarse.
Here's a question for all you meringue pros: after whipping the egg whites to stiff, glossy peaks, whenever I add the sugar, the mixture gets very sticky, heavy, and gunky. And as a result, I think my cookies aren't as light and airy as they could be. Remember the Hazelnut Cookies of yore? Same problem. I'd love any advice you guys have to give! Granted, this recipe does specifically state that the batter should be thick and sticky, but I still think I could get the cookies to be a tad lighter in the end.
Alright, so after you make the dough, you pipe it out into a bunch of kisses onto your cookie sheet and baked them. Tedious tedious tedious. But not so bad. Here's the bigger issue: Martha tells you to make the kisses have a little mound, or peak, at the top (like a Hershey's kiss, sorta), but that makes the whole procedure that follows quite difficult. You see, you make this ganache and are supposed to sandwich it between two cookies, but with the peaks--kisses, if you will--it becomes nearly impossible to stand them up in a way that will let the ganache set. If you lay them sideways, the top cookie slides off and the ganache oozes everywhere into a mess. So I tried to wedge the peaks of the cookies between the grates on my cooling rack, but it still sucked. And plus, the ganache really refuses to set unless you refrigerate the cookies, which doesn't really help their texture much in the long run. Not impressed, Martha.
So I managed to make a million or so of these cookies and only had three mental breakdowns in the process. I wouldn't really mind though if the cookies were totally delicious in the end, but they weren't. They just tasted "meh." I'm sure you can buy some really fantastic Baci di Dama in Little Italy or at some Italian bakery somewhere, but this recipe isn't worth all the effort it requires.
I'll just tell it to you straight: I wouldn't recommend making these cookies. They don't really look that gorgeous when complete (even in the picture in the book), they don't really taste that great, and therefore they aren't really worth spending an entire afternoon swearing and sweating. Just hand out some real kisses instead--they'll be appreciated more, by both the receiver and the giver.
xoxo
Baci di Dama
Makes about 1 1/2 dozen (but I got way way more)
Ingredients
Cookies
2 large egg whites
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
Make cookies: Place egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on high until egg whites form stiff peaks. Add the sugar slowly; continue beating until egg whites are very thick, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in cocoa until combined. Stir in almonds; mix until completely blended. Batter should be quite thick and sticky.
Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 inch round tip (such as Ateco #806). Pipe teaspoon-size, peaked mounds onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing about 2 inches apart.
Bake until slightly cracked, 15 to 17 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Let cool on sheets several minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
Making filling: In a small bowl, combine shortening and melted chocolate. Spoon about 1/2 teaspoon of chocolate onto flat side of cookie; place another cookie on top. Press together gently so chocolate oozes out slightly. Return cookie to wire rack to set; repeat with remaining cookies. Cookies can be stored between layers of parchment in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.
****
{End Results} Baking Difficultly: 4.5/5 Ingredient Accessibility: 4/5 Tastiness: 2/5 Attractiveness: 3/5 Is it worth it?: No.
{Pairings}
Drink: I think these would go nicely with an espresso, something small to go with their size.
I made this Foccacia with Olives on Sunday. It comes from a lovely bread book by Eric Treuille and Ursula Ferrigno, that I've had for a while.
As it is a Dorling Kindersley book, it has fabulous photographs. The recipe is really a fairly simple white bread recipe with olive oil instead of butter, I made mine on the dough cycle in the bread machine and then added the chopped olives before proving the dough again before baking.
It was delicous served with my own version of Coronation Chicken inspired by The Hairy Biker's, Mums know best cookbook. I made mine with left over turkey, Tikka curry paste, a chopped yellow pepper and a mix of mayonnaise with a little double cream. I also had some coriander left over so added that too. There are many more ingredients in the Biker's version but I just used the general idea and what was in my fridge. Also in my fridge was some smoked salmon so we had some of that as well!
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Title: CookwithTom.com: Rosemary Focaccia - Part Two
This masters class on bread making results in a simple way to create a delicious bread with great big pockets of air, a delicious crust, and a chewy crumb.
Be sure to make extra, because it doesn't last long. (I made two loaves for a family function and they were gone in 10 minutes).
The recipe:
1 cup warm water
1 1/2 teaspoons yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
3 cups flour
1 1/4 teaspoon table salt
2/3 cups American style lager
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon Kosher or Sea Salt
6" long fresh rosemary sprig, washed and diced
1. In a large bowl, dissolve sugar, and yeast, in water.
2. Wait 10 minutes until all yeast is dissolved/proofed
3. Add flour, lager and salt
4. Mix on low speed, stopping as necessary to scrape the sides of the bowl until all dry ingredients are incorporated.
5. Mix on high for 6 - 10 minutes, until gloss forms on dough, and dough starts "grabbing" the dough hook.
6. Pour one tablespoon of olive oil into a separate bowl, spread around with a rubber spatula, coating both the bowl and the spatula.
7. Move dough from mixing bowl to oiled bowl, sprinkle 1 tablespoon of olive oil on top of dough.
8. After oiling your hands, gently turn the dough ball over in the oil, making sure all sides of the dough are coated.
9. Cover with plastic wrap, and place in a warm, draft free location for 2-3 hours. (until has grown 2 1/2 times it's original size).
10. Preheat oven to 450 degrees
11. Cover baking stone with parchment paper
12. Pour 1 tablespoon of oil over parchment paper and spread until paper is covered.
13. Dump dough on to parchment paper, carefully forming the dough into a circle.
14. Let rise for 15-30 minutes
15. Using a fork, poke 30-40 holes in the dough to relieve surface bubbles
16. Sprinkle sea salt over the top of the dough
17. Place in 450 degree oven and set timer for 20 minutes.
18. With 5 minutes left on the timer, sprinkle diced rosemary liberally over the top of the bread.
19. If you're feeling brave, remove the parchment paper from underneath the bottom of the dough.
20. Bake for at least 5 more minutes, or until top of the loaf is golden brown.
Notes:
This dough can also be used as a base for a pizza. Instead of placing on a stone, bake on a greased 10" X 15" cookie sheet. After the dough has risen, dump it onto the cookie sheet, and spread the dough with your hands. Add pizza toppings of your choice. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the bottom of the dough is dark brown.
If you choose to omit the lager, increase water by 2/3 cups.
Title: How to Make Focaccia with the help of Your Bread Machine
Visit my blog at www.overthekitchencounter.com for more ideas on cooking and crafts.
Focaccia: an Italian flatbread brushed with olive oil and flavoured with grated Parmesan cheese, garlic, salt and rosemary - and so easy to make the dough in a bread maker!
1 cup + 1 Tbsp water
3 cups flour
2 Tbsp dry milk
3-1/2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
3 Tbsp butter
1-1/2 tsp fast-rise yeast
Everyone knows that Friday is fish day for Catholics (even for some lapsed Catholics like myself). A traditional Friday dish in Rome is baccala' e ceci, salted cod fish with chick peas. (I love fried baccala', and there was a well-known place on via dei Giubbonari, close to our apartment, called Filetti di Baccala' that I loved to go to--whenever I could convince my fish-shy significant other.) Anyway, I still make baccala' from time to time and on a recent Friday I decided to try my hand at baccala' e ceci, which I had never made before. The recipe is actually very simple: you cut pre-soaked baccala (see note below) into fillets, dip them in a simple batter of water and flour (I added a bit of olive oil) and fry them until golden brown.
You serve these fried fillets over a bed of chickpeas stewed in oil seasoned with garlic and rosemary. Chickpeas come canned or dried. They are simple to cook--like other beans, you need to soak them first for a few hours or overnight, then simmer them in water very slowly until tender. But cooking dried chickpeas takes a long time--several hours to soak and several more hours simmering in water until they're tender (using a pressure cooker speeds things up, but it will still take an hour or so)--so I usually resort to canned chickpeas, which are actually quite a decent substitute. But the problem with canned chickpeas is that you lose the 'broth' that results from the long simmering, which gives any resulting dish a wonderful deep chickpea taste. So on Friday, being too lazy as usual to use dried chickpeas, I decided to add tomatoes to the garlic and rosemary cooking base for some more flavor. The result was quite good--cod fish and chickpeas are a great taste combination--, but, if I had to do it over again, I'd add a bit more water to 'loosen' the peas. And one day I'll need to try it the old-fashioned way. By the way, if you have leftovers, you can make another classic Roman dish, pasta e ceci. (I'll post that recipe one of these days.)
The classic way to make filetti di baccala', by the way, is with a different kind of batter (pastella in Italian) that includes eggs and yeast. The result is a much thicker, almost fluffy crust that resembles a fritter. The delicious Roman answer to fish and chips. Whether you use this batter or the simpler one described above, you should let the batter 'sit' out for two hours or so to allow its elements to meld. I'm not sure about the chemistry, but it just doesn't come out right if you skip this step. The other thing to remember about making a batter is that the more liquid it is, the lighter the resulting crust will be--which I prefer. But too much liquid and the batter will not stick to whatever piece of food it is meant to cover, so don't overdo it! I find a batter that is just a bit thicker than heavy cream works well.
Since I had too much fish for a dinner for two, I used the rest of it to make my favorite salt cod dish, brandade de morue, one of the classics of Provencal cooking. It is very simple to make if you have a food processor: just simmer the pre-soaked salt cod in water (with some potato if you like, even if purists apparently call this inauthentic) for a few minutes, until both fish and potato are soft. Add the cod (and potato, if using) into the bowl of the processor, add chopped garlic (or chop it in the processor before you add the cod fish) and begin processing. Begin adding milk (or cream if you're feeling extravagant) and olive oil alternating between the two a little at a time, until the mixture is smooth and fluffy. Adjust for salt if needed. If you like you can pass it under a broiler until it forms a nice crust (see photo), a good way to reheat it if you make it ahead. Brandade is absolutely wonderful served with toasted baguette slices (rubbed with garlic if you like), accompanied with some green salad and washed down with some cold white wine, it makes a marvelous quick and easy light supper.
There are many, many other ways to make baccala'. In the south, baccala' is often lightly fried and stewed in tomato sauce, while one of my other favorite ways to make it is baccala' alla vicentina, baked in a sauce of onions, parsley, olive oil and milk, from the Northern Italian city of Vicenza. Next time we have baccala' I'll post some more recipes.
NOTE: Baccala' is cod fish that has been preserved by being salt-cured and dried. When you buy it dry, it is quite hard to the touch and very, very salty to the taste. In other words, you can't eat it that way--it generally needs 24+ hours of soaking in various changes of water. In Italy, it is really easy to make as a lot of places will sell you pre-soaked baccala' on Fridays. Here in the States, I've only seen pre-soaked baccala' once, in an Italian neighborhood in New York. You can probably find it in Little Italys in other cities. Most places, though, you'll need to pre-soak the salted cod fish yourself. It's no big deal, but you need to plan ahead. Some types of baccala' need less time to soak. The kind I buy at our local Whole Foods is not that salty, so if you start soaking in the morning, it's more or less ready for dinner. I find that if I soak it for 24 hours, it loses too much of its saltiness, which is typical of baccala'. But for those who prefer a less salty baccala', just soak it longer and remember to change the water more often. Friends have reported that their grandmothers also used milk instead of water to soak the baccala'.
I had a notion for something with peanut butter in it. I buy the Whole Earth Crunchy original peanut butter, but haven't had any for some time. While blog hopping round the cooking blogs, I saw some muffins with pb and choc chips, I decided not to make those but went in search of a cookie recipe featuring the same ingredients.
Preheat oven to 375°F/190C/Fan oven 170C/Gas Mark 5. Cream the butter, peanut butter and sugars until light. Add the egg and mix until fluffy. Blend the flour, baking powder, soda and salt together well. Add these dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Add the chocolate chips. Drop cookie dough by teaspoonfuls onto lightly greased baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
It was a dream of a mix to make and came out just the right texture.
No fancy fiddling making into balls and getting all sticky, just wallop down a teaspoon of dough and put it in the oven.
As usual my cookies varied from slightly over done to slightly underdone with some perfect ones! I'm hoping that my new cooker will cook more evenly, I think it is because the door seal on the old oven has really past it's best so heat escapes from the front of the oven.
As there were really far too many cookies for us to eat (we would have eaten them all because they are delicious, but it wouldn't have been good for us) I made up a little package to take to a Party Lite party I had been invited to last night. This is where crafting meets cooking! I'm even beginning to quite like my own handwriting!
The cookies got 5 stars on the About.com site and I would agree.
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Title: It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time!!!
Animation by by Ryan Gancenia Etrata.
http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/banana
Dancing Banana - Peanut Butter Jelly Time
Title: Peanut Butter & Jelly
This is just a random music video I made for kicks to a song that I LOVE!
It's sung by the LDS (Mormon, but don't jump to conclusions.) A Capella group, InsideOut. They are wonderfully talented. This song is from their album 'Sharing Time'. You can find it on iTunes.
It's lame, but I had fun making it. PB&J forever!
Oh, and I know that Jelly is really jam, but seriously. I looked everywhere and could find Raspberry Jelly. So I decided that Jam would have to do. So just enjoy it despite this detail. I do.
2010 not only marks the start of a new decade, but the beginning of an anti-aging revolution. The beauty and grooming industry is filled to the brim with zillions of lotions, creams, washes and assorted serums all claiming to delay the common physical signs of aging. Everything from crow’s feet and laugh lines to 11’s between your eyebrows, however out of all of these products how many of them actually deliver on their “fountain of youth” claims?
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Here's a wonderful way to 'recycle' leftover brasatoor other pot roast—as a filling for stuffed pasta:
Prepare the filling by finely chopping the leftover roast in a food processor together with an egg or two, lots of grated parmesan cheese and, if you like, a few spoonfuls of the leftover sugo (gravy) from the roast. Season, if need be, with salt and pepper to taste. (A bit of nutmeg is also nice.) Make sure the mixture is quite smooth and not too dry. If it is a bit too stiff, add another egg.
Meanwhile, you can make fresh pasta dough and cut it into rounds about 5 cm (3 in) in diameter—or do what I did tonight, and use some 'Hong Kong style dumpling wrappers', ready-made round disks of 'pasta' (see Notes below). Brush them lightly with some water to help them stick together and then place a heaping teaspoon of the filling in the center of each disk, (see photo above).
Fold the pasta disk over and then seal the round edge by pressing down firmly with your fingers, starting at the center and working your way to each end with both hands. (This helps avoid the filling oozing out.) (See photo at left.) Proceed until you have used up your ingredients.
You can cook your mezzelune right away, or let them dry a bit before using. If, however, they are to wait for more than a half hour or so, cover them with a towel to prevent them from drying out too much.
Bring abundant well salted water to a soft boil, then add your mezzelune (being careful not to mangle them!) to the boiling water. Adjust the heat so that they boil gently. Do not allow the water to come to rolling boil or they may break apart. Cook for only 2-4 minutes, depending on how long they have been waiting around.
When the mezzelune are done, scoop them out of the water with a large slotted spoon. You can dress them in a number of ways. Here are three possibilities:
Al burro e salvia: Perhaps the most common (and, to my mind, the best) way is to melt a good amount of butter (say 50g/2 oz per serving) in a skillet with some sage, allowing the sage to 'simmer' in the butter but not allowing the butter to color at all. Then add your mezzelune to the skillet, along with a bit of the pasta water and a bit of grated parmesan cheese. Toss together over medium heat very quickly and serve with additional parmesan on top.
Al sugo d'arrosto: If you have any gravy left over from the brasato, you can re-heat a bit of it in a skillet and toss the mezzelune in it. Serve with some grated parmesan on the side for those who want some.
Al sugo di pomodoro: You can also dress the mezzelune with a very simple sugo di pomodoro, known in the English-speaking world as a 'marinara sauce'.
These mezzelune are also very nice served in brodo, in homemade broth.
Mezzeluna al sugo d'arrosto
NOTES: Those round Hong Kong style dumpling wrappers were quite a discovery! I found them at H Mart, a Korean-owned Asian supermarket with branches all over the US and South Korea. (Besides these useful wrappers, they have excellent meats, fish and produce at very reasonable prices.) Another well known 'short cut' for making stuffed pasta is to use wonton wrappers, but I generally find these to be just a bit too fine for Italian pasta dishes; they tend to get overwhelmed by the stuffing and/or sauce (though I have used eggroll wrappers to make cannelloni with very satisfactory results). These dumpling wrappers, on the other hand, while still a bit too 'translucent' when cooked, are a nice golden yellow and a bit thicker, and have a rather firmer texture—in short, they look and react to cooking much more like real fresh egg pasta. (The looks are, however, partially deceiving: their yellow color actually comes from using Yellow Dyes #3 and 5...)
In Piemonte, where this dish originates, the usual pasta to be stuffed with this brasato filling is actually agnolotti (aka ravioli) a kind of square pasta. But since I had round pasta on hand, I used made them into another common stuffed pasta shape, the mezzaluna, or 'half moon', made by folding the pasta disk in half as described above. You can also make round ravioli by placing one disk on top of another—with the filling in between them, of course.
Ham & Cheese Mashed Potatoes This recipe can be made with homemade mashed potatoes or instant mashed potatoes. Either way it tastes fabulous!
Ingredients: 2 cups of mashed potatoes 3/4 teaspoon of garlic salt 1 cup of fully cooked ham, diced 1 cup of cheddar cheese, shredded 1/2 cup of whipping cream, whipped
Directions: Begin by combining the potatoes and garlic salt in a medium sized bowl. In a greased baking dish, spread the potatoes in the bottom. Add ham by sprinkling it all over. Fold the cheddar cheese into the whipped cream. Spoon it over the ham. Bake at 450°, uncovered for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 4-6 servings.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Cheesy Mashed Potato Pots
Ingredients
2 pounds cut up, red potatoes, peeled 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Milk (optional) 1/2 cup whipping cream 1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese Freshly ground black pepper (optional)
Directions 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a covered large saucepan, cook potatoes in enough boiling water to cover for 15 to 20 minutes or until tender. Drain.
Mash with a potato masher then beat with an electric mixer on low speed. Season with the salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. If necessary, add a small amount of milk for desired consistency.
2. Grease four 10- to 12-ounce individual casseroles or custard cups or a 1- to 1-1/2-quart casserole. Spoon potato mixture into prepared casserole(s). In a chilled medium bowl, beat whipping cream with chilled beaters of an electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form (tips curl over); fold in cheese. Spoon cheese mixture over potatoes. Place casserole(s) on a baking sheet. Bake, uncovered, about 20 minutes or until lightly browned and heated through. If desired, sprinkle with additional black pepper. Makes 4 servings.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Walnut & Sage Potatoes Au Gratin
Ingredients
2 pounds small new potatoes 1 medium onion, chopped 1 teaspoon minced garlic (2 cloves) 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 2-1/2 cups milk 3 tablespoons snipped fresh sage 1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese (4 oz.) 1/3 cup broken walnuts Fresh sage leaves (optional)
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 2-quart casserole; set aside. Halve potatoes lengthwise. Place potato halves in colander. Rinse with cold water; drain.
2. For sauce: In a medium saucepan, cook onion and garlic in hot oil over medium heat until tender. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper. Add milk all at once. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat; stir in snipped sage.
3. Layer half of the potatoes in a greased 2-quart casserole. Top with half the sauce. Sprinkle with half of the cheese. Repeat layering with potatoes and sauce. (Cover and chill remaining cheese until needed.)
4. Cover and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake about 25 minutes more or just until potatoes are tender. Sprinkle with remaining cheese; top with walnuts. Bake, uncovered, for 5 minutes more. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. If desired, garnish with sage leaves. Makes 10 to 12 servings.
Microwave Directions: Using microwave-safe casserole, prepare as directed through Step 3. Cover with plastic wrap, turning back edge of wrap to allow steam to escape. Microwave on 70 percent power (medium-high) for 25 to 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Sprinkle with remaining cheese; top with walnuts. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes.
What else does one do besides drink during the holiday season? Find out some tips for drinking for free in this edition of Pandora's Holiday Survival Guide!
Another round come and gone. Actually, it's the 9th round, and 9 is my lucky number, so I would have to say that I'm a little disappointed that this set of ten cookies weren't better. These were my summer cookies, so I really have no excuse for not going all out! We had some really nice ones, that's for sure, but nothing that really blew my socks off. Is that even an expression? Blowing socks off? What?
Anyway, it's definitely going to be a rough 10th round, that's for SURE SURE. This whole gas oven with no temperature gauge is killing me! I am literally baking completely blindly. Oh, and there is a nation-wide gas shortage, so that also doesn't really help me out. And to top it off, I don't have a cookie sheet, so I've been using a roasting pan. Aaaaand, I only have a 1-cup measure and 1/2-cup measure. No teaspoon measures. Yep. And the butter they sell here is sold by the 200g block, with no tablespoon/cup measurements on it, and I have no scale. Sooooooooooo…yeah.
But let's cut the crap and get on with it. Here's the 9th round, in all its mediocre glory!
Alright, these were really nice. Besides the fact that they are very easy to make look nice (you just cut out a perfect circle of dough with a cookie cutter and squish a pecan onto it! simple!), the cookies have a surprisingly deep flavor--even if you don't add the maple extract, like I didn't. The maple syrup lends enough rich flavor alone, and the toasted pecans in the dough work fantastic with it. Highly recommend this one!
These also have a really nice flavor that's a little unexpected. The cookie itself is a lot like a Hobnob (OMAHGAH HAVE YOU HAD THESE?!!? LOVE), but a lot less sweet. In fact, they are hardly sweet at all, but have a great cinnamon undertone, along with the toasty almond flavor of the biscuit. Great for tea, or really any fancy, fruity dessert. Pile on the clotted cream plz.
So almondy, so good. And they are majorly adorable, right? Am I the only one that gets all warm and fuzzy inside when she sees an adorable cookie? Is it bad that I look at cute cookies like normal people look at cute puppies?
Okay, I ranked these highly because they basically introduced me to the nectar of the gods: Lyle's Golden Syrup. Holy shit, I can't even begin to tell you how many cans of this I'm bringing back to the US--customs or not! As for the cookie itself, I could eat the dough for hours/years/eternity.
I was partial to these because I really love whole-wheaty, nutty, oatsy, hippie-dippie snacks, and these really fit the bill. But I have to say, they are more like a cake than bar, and hardly could be considered a cookie…just sayin', Martha.
These definitely look very elegant and nice, but they didn't end up being as flavorful and spicy as the uncooked dough was. They tasted a little boring and bland once baked, but they are fun to make, so that's a plus.
These took a lot of work. Yep. Making the fig filling is fun and it is very aromatic and delicious, but for some reason once the cookie is all assembled and baked, the fig filling isn't all that special tasting anymore. The assembly of the bars (ie. the rolling of dough, spreading of filling, and sandwiching of the two layers of dough) is a little tricky and tedious. They're good, but not worth all the effort.
These taste exactly like you'd expect, and I think that the only reason Martha made the recipe "GIANT" was because the dough itself isn't all that special. The use of vegetable shortening does, however, lend a pleasantly different taste and texture to the cookie. You could add stuff to this recipe and easily spice it up, if you're interested. Add white chocolate chips, dip the bottoms in ganache, somehow incorporate peanut butter...
Ugh, what a serious pain in the ass. "Piping" the filling onto these little poops was a disaster, since the filling absolutely didn't hold its own and spilled all over the place. And the cookies, once I managed to actually get them to set and solidify, were hard and chewy and not so fab. Meh.
Alright, great. Got those done and behind me, and I'm ready for the new! But maybe that's just the Rosh Hashanah speaking. To all of you enjoying the first signs of autumn, I am whole-heartedly jealous of you. Eat lots of pumpkin and spice for me, because right now I'm looking at nothing but pineapples and plantains for another 3 straight months. Until my next post, soon...
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