My Morning Muffin

Can the perfect muffin make a difference in how your day goes?  Well, so far today, I believe that it can.  Groggy with sleep, I finally got out of bed at 8:30, jarred by Brie’s barking. Already an hour and 1/2 behind my schedule, I stumbled into the kitchen and eyed the muffins I baked yesterday.  Things were looking up.  Figured, if I was going to enjoy a muffin, I might as well have some coffee.  If you give a mouse a cookie…

Taking a bite of the muffin while waiting on the coffee was my only mistake today (so far).  The muffin was gone before the water got hot.  The coffee was good on its own too.  Now fully awake, I began opening windows and doors.  Beautiful day.  Birds are tweeting, chipmunks are chipping, the sunshine and breeze in perfect harmony.  All because of a perfect muffin.  Life is so in balance.  These muffins will make your day too.

I began a new experiment a few months ago with the purchase of a bag of Trader Joe’s White Whole Wheat Flour.  I am a baking snob.  I will always be a baking snob.  I have intermittently played with whole wheat flour in cookies and used a partial measure of it in muffins and quick breads over time. I never would have thought that a Whole Wheat flour could replace my standard, unbleached, all purpose flour.  This flour pretty much does just that.  I’ve been using it (WWW) in cookies, muffins, breads and even pizza crust.  Convinced, that’s me.

Don’t get me wrong, WWW won’t be in my angel food cake recipe, nor will I use it next week when I bake my husband’s German Chocolate Birthday cake.  But, day to day, we’ve made a commitment to use whole grains, so that’s what I do.

The other surprise ingredients in my muffin recipe are pumpkin, coconut oil, flax seed meal, golden flax seeds and natural sugar.  You’ll find most of these ingredients at either Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods. 

Don’t you just hate it when someone tells you to go shopping before you can even begin to prepare a recipe? These are great ingredients that you can use over and over, and have a long shelf life.  Maybe you’ll love these muffins enough to bake them multiple times.  Spread the love to your neighbors and friends.

Whole Grain Pumpkin – Chocolate Chip Muffins

Makes about 30 standard size muffins

Whisk together:

• 3 3/4 cups WWW (White Whole Wheat Flour)
• 3/4 cup whole oats
• 1/2 cup flax seed meal
• 2 Tablespoons + 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• finely grated zest from 2 oranges (thoroughly wash before grating)

Cream with an electric mixer:

• 2 cups natural sugar (substitute granulated sugar, if you like)
• 6 oz coconut oil* (sub canola or olive oil)
• 1 stick (4oz) unsalted butter

Add to creamed mixture:

• 6 whole eggs
• Juice from the 2 oranges
• 1 15 oz can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)

Once the eggs, juice and pumpkin are thoroughly mixed in, use a wooden spoon or spatula to gently mix in the combined dry ingredients. Add:

• 2 cups chocolate chips

Set the oven at 350 degrees.  Use paper liners for 30 muffins.  Scoop the batter into the cups.

Make a crumb topping by mixing:

• 1/2 cup WWW flour
• 1/3 cup natural sugar
• 2 Tbls flax seeds
• 1 Tbls melted butter or oil

Sprinkle the crumb topping over the muffin batter, then bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until the center springs back when lightly touched.

*Coconut oil – while the central point of this post is to highlight the versatility of the WWW, coconut oil has become an indispensable item in my pantry.  It has successfully replaced solid shortening in my pie crust, and is the only oil that I will pop corn with.  Thanks to Pam Jones, CHHC, for indoctrinating me into the coconut oil hall of praise. 

Enjoy!

 

 

Pasta Puttenesca

The fragrance of a simmering puttenesca sauce is told to have lured many to the tables.  Stories are varied, but I like the one where ‘Ladies of the Evening’, when looking for a new customer, would simmer this pasta sauce and the wafting aromas would lead men into their arms.

All I know is that this is one of my absolute favorite recipes.  It’s wholesome, spicy and very satisfying.  Like most homespun recipes, if you ask 10 cooks how to make it, each version you received would be a bit different.  Experiment with your own pantry items and your personal tastes to perfect your version!

Please search this blog for the Marinara recipe, or use your favorite sauce.

Pasta Puttenesca

Serves 4

• 1 1/2 cups marinara sauce
• olive oil
• 1/4 cup olive tapenade or chopped black and green olives
• 1 Tbls anchovy paste
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 or more cloves of fresh garlic, smashed and minced
• 4 cups cooked whole wheat pasta
• 1/2 cup reserved cooking liquid from pasta
• freshly ground black pepper
• fresh basil for garnish

In a wide saute pan, heat the olive gently, then add the anchovy paste, olives, red pepper flake and garlic.  Stir and watch closely so as not to burn the mixture.  When sizzling, add the marinara sauce, and heat to a simmer.  Allow flavors to marry for about 3-4 minutes.  Toss in the cooked pasta and enough of the reserved liquid to just loosen up the sauce and pasta.  The pasta should be evenly coated, but not swimming in the sauce.  Taste for addition of salt, pepper or more red pepper flakes.  Garnish with lots of fresh basil.

Enjoy!

Summer Fresh Salad

The only green left in the refrigerator last night was some baby arugula; not unlucky for me since it’s one of my absolute favs.  Not so good for Tony, a bit too strong for him.  I convinced him that I could tame the flavor of the arugula with something sweet (fresh corn and fennel) and some fat (olive oil and avocado).

While Tony was heating up the grill for a pizza experiment, I sliced the veggies and pulled the salad together. I pulled the first fennel bulb from my garden.  It was still relatively small compared to those found in the grocery stores, but just the right size for feeding salad to four.  Earlier this spring, I found a pot of Florence Fennel at a garden center grown for the herb garden.  There must have been 50 baby plants in that one pot!  I took the pot home, separated the plants and filled two 4 ft. beds with fennel plants.  After cutting the stems and fronds away from the bulb, I plunked them into a flower arrangement with purple stock.  Don’t you love it when all the parts of something grown in your own backyard get to be used?

This time of year, salads can take on a much different look and taste than those of early spring.  I’ve often thought how unfair it was to have tomatoes and lettuces ripen at such different times of year.  I’m still pulling some arugula out of my garden, and dreaming of August 15th to be able to plant lettuces again.

Great tomatoes are just around the corner, but probably not from my back yard.  The squirrels and chipmunks seem to take a bite out of each ‘almost ready’ tomato we have.  I am ever optimistic though and continue to plant them each year.  So, I’ll continue to frequent the farmers’ markets for the perfect tomato.

Summer Fresh Salad

• 4 cups fresh baby arugula
• 1/2 cup or more very thinly sliced red bell pepper
• 1 small fennel bulb (about 2″ wide) very thinly sliced
•  1/4 cup or less thinly sliced red onion
• kernels removed from 1 ear of fresh, raw corn
• 1 avocado, cubed
• toasted walnuts or pine nuts
• 3 Tbls olive oil
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard

Place the arugula and the remaining vegetables in a large bowl, keeping the avocado and walnuts separate for now.

In another smaller bowl, whisk the oil, mustard and honey together. Pour over the veggies and toss.  Add the avocado and nuts and toss again.  Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Mama’s Little Baby Loves Shortnin’

Christmas Eve, and I’m in my usual pre-party panic.  Guests arriving in just a few hours and my lengthy list of to-do desserts is dwindling into what I think I can accomplish is the remaining time.  Mama’s Little Baby (aka Lauren) to the rescue, coming home a bit early from her Christmas stops is just in time to put together a batch of Shortbread Cookies for me.

I immediately begin to relax, knowing that my accomplished sous chef is in charge of the cookies. (So relaxed, in fact, I begin singing the Shortbread song…) It’s not that I had a specific recipe in mind for the shortbread cookies, but surely I could lay my hands on one in my  wide array of cookbooks.  I tried three books before I found something that I thought would work.  King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion was my guide as I thumbed through multiple recipes to land on one that we could adapt for this evening.

So, the dessert selection wasn’t too shabby.  Not exactly what I had in mind when I designed the menu of two cakes, three cookies, candies, etc.  But Oatmeal cookie wedges, Chocolate Cake with Orange Butter cream and Chocolate Ganache, Truffles, and these Shortbread Cookies seem to be enough to satisfy everyone.

I rarely get a chance to bake enough cookies during the holidays and January is usually when I try to make up for that.  Since Christmas, we have already managed to bake up a batch of Martha Stewart’s Outrageous Chocolate Cookies, but I still  need some Thumbprints with blackberry jam and Coconut Macaroons.    These shortbreads will be a repeat performer, and I hope you’ll like them too.

What makes a shortbread cookie ‘shortbread’?  Well, it’s the fat content.  High fat content, such as in biscuits, pie crust and shortbread cookies, ‘shortens’ the gluten strands and prevents the item from getting tough or chewy.

What makes a shortbread cookie an easy, last minute choice for a baker in a rush?  Simple, always on hand ingredients – nothing fancy or peculiar.  If you don’t have the coarse ground sugar on hand, just use granulated sugar, colored sanding sugar, or skip this step.  The cookies are improved by the extra crunch of the coarse sugar, but it’s really not a necessity.  These cookies would be great to cut into ‘fingers’ and use as dippers into chocolate fondue – decadent!

Christmas Eve Shortbread Cookies

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 generous teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 1/3 cups (10 ounces)unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 Tbls (or more) coarse Bourbon Vanilla Sugar (Demerara Sugar or Sugar in the Raw are  good substitutes)

Heat oven to 300 degrees.  In the bowl of a mixer, cream together the butter, granulated sugar and vanilla.  While the butter and sugar are mixing, whisk the flour and salt together in a separate bowl.  Once the sugar and butter are fluffy, mix in the flour and salt until thoroughly combined.

Press the mixture into an 8″ square baking pan or a 9″ round cake pan.  Since the air that has been whipped into the cookie dough will provide space for steam to help ‘rise’ these cookies, handle the dough minimally and gently press into the pan.   Sprinkle generously with the coarse sugar, and press the sugar down lightly, helping it adhere to the dough.  Bake for 30-45 minutes, the center will be puffed and the edges golden brown.  Remove from oven and allow to rest for about 5 minutes.

Using a bench knife or other flat blade, cut the shortbreads into squares or wedges and allow to cool completely in the pan.

Enjoy!

How to plan an excellent Italian adventure!

I never watched the Griswold’s version of a European Vacation.  In fact, other travel films like ‘If this is Tuesday…’ haven’t been in my selection either.  My travel abroad had previously been limited to one trip, albeit a 4 month adventure, to an English speaking country.  That was 26 years ago.  You might say that I was overdue.  Tony and I hadn’t vacationed in over 5 years, so, yeah, we were overdue!

I’d also never traveled with a group other than my family.  I was unprepared and a bit anxious about what could happen in Italy, for 8 days,  with a large group whose happiness and satisfaction I was taking responsibility for.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  They weren’t making me responsible, it was just me.  My desire to make people happy.  Little did I know that my peeps would blossom into full fledged swans of travel.

I should have known, I guess.  Every pre-tour get together grew more raucous and fun.  Looking back now I can see that we were forming the perfect Italian family.  Multiple and simultaneous conversations, everyone speaking at a pitch sure to be heard.  Lots of laughter, lots of wine, hugs, kisses and concern for each other.

Oh, and food, we ate plenty before we left for Italy.  And it was good, no doubt.  But no meal could have prepared us for what lay before us in Italy.  We drank a bit of wine, too. Yeah, right!  We didn’t foresee  the Italian free flowing river of wine that our group consumed while in Italy.  So, I was thinking how could I begin to tell the tale of our travel – the sites, the food, the people and the drink.  Where would I begin?

In writing classes over the years, one of the most impressive concepts that I learned was this: tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them. That being said, I feel I should start out with a summary, filling in the details over time.

My overall experience in Italy was beyond belief, beyond words and well beyond expectations.  We managed to pull off an extraordinary trip filled with extraordinary people, sites, food and drink.  Inspirational, really.  I am inspired to cook, shop, eat and drink Italy.  So much so that the focus of my cooking classes over the next few months will be as much Italian based as possible.  I’m even going to do an Italian Thanksgiving class.  But what about you?  What about my readers ?  Either the ones who traveled with us, or those that didn’t.  What would you like to know?

I have put together my thoughts on what it takes to have an awe inspiring Italian trip, and I thought that I would share these thoughts with you.  If you are planning a trip to Italy, perhaps these points may lead you to have a better trip.  If you’ve been to Italy, they might remind you of pleasantries you have already experienced.  Those of you who have no interest have already hit the red X button in the top, right hand corner.  Arrivederci!

So, hear we go.  Mary’s top 10, sure fire ways to put together an Italian trip that will leave you breathless!

Number 1 – Choose a hardworking, dedicated Travel Agent who has contacts in Italy and is not afraid to make the phone calls and emails necessary to get you the perfect trip.  Our trip was honed to perfection over the course of months of meetings, conversations and arrangements with my travel agent.  Kathy Collins did a dynamic job of keeping up with all the details and communicating tirelessly with our Italian contacts.  Kathy’s email is kcollins@cruisepanners.com .

Giuseppe

Number 2 – Insist on a native speaking tour director for your travel throughout Italy.  If you are fortunate enough to have one with personality, charm, a sense of humor and wit, so much the better.  Young, single and good looking – Score!

 

 

 

 

Number 3 – Balance your trip with a variety of topics.  My focus was food and wine, but Kathy and Giuseppe were seasoned enough not to make the trip linear.  We had a wide range of food, wine, winery tours, cooking classes, world class meals and other ‘real’ Italian experiences.  Sprinkled with history, culture, art and the antic dotes of real Italian life made the trip diverse and appealing to everyone.

Number 4 – Select a group of fun, like minded travel mates.  Our group was a perfect blend of wonderful, beautiful (inside and out) women and “thoughtful, intelligent” men.  These were words  we heard in toasts on one of our last gatherings in Italy.  We really couldn’t have been any more fortunate for the group members!  Everyone was fabulous and added their own particular facet to our experience.  Without their interest and faith in our team, our trip wouldn’t have become a reality.

Our Group at Castello de Verranzzano

Number 5 – Get to know your travel mates.  We did this by scheduling an event every month for the 8 months leading up to departure.  Travelers were very comfortable with each other, mingling and mixing throughout the tour.  I believe everyone felt included and cared for.

Number 6 – Have a support system in place.  My brother and his fiance offered their condo to do two of the events which helped to change things up and give people a chance to see another  part of town.  Bob and Julie, as far more experienced travelers than I, offered great advice on travel, packing, money, electronic devices, etc.  Julie even took everyone’s picture and put together a cheat sheet to make face/name connections a breeze. Our travel group began making plans for follow up parties at their homes before our third day in Italy.  (Steve and Doris & David and Karen – I can’t wait to get started!)

Number 7 – Ask the experts for help.  One of my goals was to learn as much and share as much about Italy BEFORE we left as I could make possible.  Getting my traveling buddies things they needed was important too.  My mother, Jackie, put our group in touch with her employer, Taylor Trunk, for luggage wisdom and discounts.  Blu Italian Grille was host to an early Italian meal.  Gemelli Wines and Spirits gave us an education on Tuscan and Umbrian wines.  We savored gelato at Gelato Gilberto in Norton Commons.  Add a style show with packable clothes from JockeyPerson2Person, jewelry from Sara Simpson Designs and accessories from Bliss Gallery and Gifts, and you’ve got the makings of nearly a year of activities.  If you are lucky enough to have a member in the group that makes home-brew Limoncello – (Bring it on Betty!) take full advantage!

A meandering street in Orvieto

Number 8 – Get ready to walk.  No matter where you go in Italy, you are going to walk.  Bring comfortable shoes and lots of Aleve (or drug of choice).  The streets are sure to be either uphill or down.  I’m sure we walked 2-5 miles per day.  It was worth every step.  At every corner in every small town, the vistas were marvelous.

 

 

 

Number 9 – Take a good camera.  My only regret!  I should have invested in or borrowed a camera.  Mine just didn’t take the range of pictures that I would have loved to have kept.  Fortunately, there were 28 others on the trip with cameras and we have vowed to share.  I’d estimate that we took at least 10,000 pictures in total and I won’t be surprised if the total were double!

Number 10 – Come back home just long enough to make enough money to go back again, and again.  We’re already planning another trip.  Let me know if you’d like to join us.

Ciao!

Summer Sings with Tomatoes

It might seem redundant, but another post about Tomatoes seems altogether fair to me.  Tomatoes from the farmer’s market have come in by the box full.  My favorite dish was the fresh tomato marinara that I made for my son’s 18th birthday.  I am not sure which of these two salads that I made recently was best; both are worth trying.

For a business meeting at my home, I prepared a BLT salad. Complete with colorful greens, heirloom tomatoes and a simple dressing, it was sort of a play on the sandwich of the same name, but made much ‘dressier’ presentation.

BLT salad

Another rendition of the classic ‘Caprese’ salad was included in my dinner with friends last night.  A base of fresh, baby arugula topped with a collection of my neighbor’s tomatoes and some from my yard too.  The bright yellow and green tomato taking center stage is the ‘Green Zebra’ plucked right from the vine yesterday afternoon.  ‘Juliet’, ‘Sungold’ and a handful of tiny red grape tomatoes rounded out the mix.  Normally, I would serve a balsamic vinaigrette (Cook With Mary brand of course), but last night, I opted for the ultra simple 18 year old balsamic vinegar and a bottle of walnut oil that I received recently as a gift.  Wow!  What a flavor combination.  I topped the salad with some fresh Feta cheese rather than the usual fresh mozzarella.  It is amazing to me how such a simple salad can have such a wide range of tastes just by changing up the  cheese and dressing choices.

Caprese Salad

Let me know what your favorite version of a classic summer tomato dish might be.

BLT Salad Dressing

• 2/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 Tbls vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste
• chopped fresh herbs: chives, parsley, tarragon – to taste

Mix all ingredients together and serve with a platter full of lettuce leaves, sliced fresh tomatoes and crisp bacon.  Bread is optional!

Enjoy!

Brain Teaser

If there was a more beautiful day, I refuse to remember it.  In Louisville during the summer months to get out of bed and walk outside and feel like you need a jacket is a rarity.  It’s my first day off in many, many days and I am perched on a bar stool on my deck with my feet propped up in another and wrapped in a blanket.  The door is flung open and I turned off the A/C.  Man, what a relief!  My goals today are fairly simple:  write a blog entry, walk Brie, work in my garden and meet my son for a few medical appointments.  After that, dinner and drinks on the deck should wrap up a perfect day.  Back to work tomorrow and the intense flow of my job begins again.

But seize the day, and seize I shall. My hands are itching to get dirty and move some plants around. I have a hanging basket holding a ‘Tumbler’ tomato plant that has far outgrown its original home.  I’ll move that to a larger pot, so that the fantastic harvest of yellow tomatoes continues.  I need another planting bed like another hole in my head, but my red daylillies with the yellow throat are in the ‘nursery’ area and I suppose we are going to wait to later to build onto the patio, so I feel another urge calling me to fill in this little plot of dirt next to the deck.  And so it continues, this need to plant, move and create in the garden.

Creating in the kitchen is my key obsession, and when challenged to create a menu of  ‘Brain Food’, I referred to a list of the 50 best foods for Brain Health given to me by my friend, Carmelita.  Not surprising, the list holds many of the same sorts of foods that we are told to eat for an overall healthy lifestyle: olives and olive oil, fresh fruits and berries, broccoli, red peppers, fish and nuts.

It was a fairly easy thing to do, really.  To put together a menu of brainy foods while the book club discussed ‘Still Alice’, a story of a woman’s struggle with Alzheimer’s.  We started the night out with olive and fig tapenade, tomato bruschetta and green tea.  A salad with spinach, oranges, avocado, dried cranberries and raspberry vinaigrette  followed.  The main course was a pan seared salmon filet atop a bed of red lentils and finished with a blueberry salsa.

Many times while cooking for a group, I watch rather than eat.  But on Monday night, I luckily had enough of everything to prepare myself a plate to enjoy after the dishes were cleaned up.  I surprised myself with the combination of flavors. The pop of the sweet, cool blueberries with the hot, seared salmon was a delight.  Earthy and creamy lentils were a perfect foil for the smoked paprika I used as a rub for the salmon and played nicely against the lime-enhanced salsa.  Someone not too long ago said that I routinely referred to a dish as my ‘favorite’ thing.  Well, here I go again.  Let’s just say that during blueberry season, this combination of flavors will be my new favorite thing.

For the Brain Teaser mentioned in the title of this post, perhaps you can name the simplest thing that we all can do to improve our brain health.  Again, no big surprise here – drink plenty of water!

Salmon with Blueberry Salsa

Seared Salmon with Blueberry Salsa and Creamy Red Lentil Hash

For the blueberry salsa:

• 1 pint fresh blueberries, washed and drained
• 2 Tbls minced red onion
• 1 Tbls freshly minced Italian parsley
• zest and juice of 1 lime
• 2 Tbls honey
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
• 1/4 cup minced red pepper
• Several gratings of black pepper

Mix all ingredients except the blueberries together until the honey and lime coats all the vegetables.  Add the blueberries and stir gently.  Chill.

For the Red Lentil Hash

• 2 cups water
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups red lentils
• 1 cup blanched broccoli florets
• 1 smashed and minced garlic clove
• pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup minced red bell pepper
• 2 Tbls minced fresh parsley

Bring the water to a boil and add the salt and the lentils.  Cook until just tender, about 10-12 minutes.  Keep warm until the fish is covered, then stir in the broccoli florets, pepper, garlic, red pepper and parsley.  Cover and allow to rest while the fish is in its final cooking stage.

For the Salmon:

• 4 4oz portions of fresh (preferably wild caught) salmon, skinned
• salt, pepper and smoked paprika
• olive oil

Drizzle olive oil over the salmon and sprinkle generously with the mixed paprika, salt and pepper.  Heat about 1 Tbls of olive oil in a large saute pan.  Place the salmon portions in the pan and sear for 2-3 minutes until the fish released from the pan easily.  Turn each portion over and seared the second side for 2-3 minutes.  Cover and allow to finish cooking to desired degree of doneness, about 2 more minutes for medium-well.

To plate:

Place a mound of the Red Lentil Hash on the center of a plate.  Top with a portion of the Salmon and Spoon the Blueberry Salsa over the salmon.  Garnish with fresh herbs or as I did, with a beautiful nasturtium blossom.

Enjoy!

Easy Caramel Sauce

I can’t believe I’ve been away so long.  I have a ton of ideas for blog posts, but time for only one quick one.  I was trying to come up with an easy dessert option after a fish class.  Parameters were tight for the overall class: no gluten, no shellfish, no onions, no garlic, no salmon.  Dessert wouldn’t have been much of a challenge if time weren’t such an issue.  I decided to do tiny ice cream sundaes with fresh strawberries, caramel and ganache sauces, whipped cream and mint leaves.

Oh, and no dairy!  Sorry.  The dairy free girl had strawberries while the rest of the class finished our meal with yummy sundaes.  Here is the sauce.  So much better than the jarred stuff.  Simple and no preservatives too.  Think about caramel sauce when you might want to dress up a chocolate cake, brownies, or in this case, just some vanilla ice cream.

Caramel Sauce

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 Tbls unsalted butter
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

In an 8-10″ stainless steel saute pan, melt the sugar over medium heat, swirling the pan often.  Watch the color change from snowy white to a rich caramel color.

Sugar can easily burn at this point, so you want a rich caramel color, but seconds later, the sugar will burn.  Watch closely.  Be careful, melted sugar burns are very painful!

Once the sugar is completely melted, remove from the heat and drop in the butter and add the lemon juice.  Return to the medium heat.  The mixture will sputter and cause a bit of an uproar in the pan, but keep stirring until it smooths back out again.  Add the cream and whisk or stir again until smooth.  Allow to cool slightly, then use as a luxurious element in desserts, or just eat it with a spoon.  Yum.

Enjoy!

Delectible Florentine Cookies

If you want to appear as if you are an incredibly gifted baker, impressing your guests, friends and family; learn to bake Florentines.  This exquisite cookie is one which mass producers of packaged cookies haven’t been able to manufacture – thank goodness!  They are too delicate, too sensitive to humidty and temperature to be packaged and transported.  So you’ll see them only in bakeries having discriminating tastes and an ample dose of patience.

Not that Florentines are difficult, they are not.  They’re not even time consuming to make.  The batter comes together in just a few minutes as long as you have on hand the two ingredients that will bog you down if trying to ‘do it all’ in one time allotment.  Advice to those who want to give these cookies a try: make the candied orange peel and toast the almonds a day or two ahead.  You’ll be amazed how quickly these delicate delights will then come together.

I had a large bag of navel oranges a number of weeks ago and had the foresight to save the peels.  I kept the quartered peels in my fridge until I had enough to make the process worth the investment.  I simply scored the whole orange into fourths, peeled the oranges, and scraped most of the pith (the white part of the skin) out of the peel.  Keep the peels in an airtight container or zip lock bag until you have a nice stash.  Having the peels of about 8-10 oranges will give you enough peel for two batches of these cookies.  When oranges are in season, this is a great way to make good use of those fragrant peelings that usually get tossed in the compost heap or garbage can.

Slice the orange peel into julienne strips, then cut the strips crosswise into tiny cubes.  (If you’d like to leave some of the peel in strips and dip into dark chocolate, well, that’s a treat that you’ll enjoy almost as much as the cookies.) 

Cover the orange peel with cold water and bring to a boil.  Simmer for 10 minutes.  Drain and cover again with cold water.  Repeat the simmering and draining process twice.  After the third draining, return the zest to the pan and add 1/4 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar.  Boil gently until the syrup has become very thick and nearly completely evaporated.  Add another 1/4 cup of ganulated sugar and toss to coat the orange peel.  Turn out onto a parchment lined sheet pan and separate the pieces.  Cool and allow to dry. (You can certainly use the peel the day that you make it, but sitting it aside to dry will make it easier to handle.)

Spread 2 cups of almond slivers on a rimmed baking dish.  Bake for 5-8 minutes in a pre-heated oven until lightly and uniformly browned.  Cool, then chop into small pieces.  Now you are ready to make the Florentines. This recipe is a combination of Susan Branch’s Christmas Joy cookbook, King Arthur Flour’s Cookie Companion and a dose of intuition about adding the ginger.

Florentines

Florentines

• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 2 cups finely chopped, toasted almonds
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup finely diced  candied orange peel
• 1/4 cup minced candied ginger
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 8-10 oz semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped (or use chocolate chips)

Preheat the oven to 350.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Melt the butter with the cream and sugar over low heat.  Once melted, raise the temperature and bring to a boil.  Remove from heat and add the almonds, flour, orange peel, ginger and almond extract.  Stir well. 

Drop the batter by scant tablespoons onto the parchment lined pans, leaving plenty of room between cookies.  Using a spatula, spread the batter to a even disc shape.  I only bake 12 cookies to a 12×16″ (half sheet pan size) pan.  These cookies spread alot!

Bake for 10-12 minutes – watch closely.  You’ll think they will never brown, then they are over-browned.  Remove from oven.  While very hot, use the back of a teaspoon the ‘push’ the edges back to a more evenly round shape. (You don’t have to do this, but they look a bit prettier.)  Alternately, you could use a round cookie cutter to score the edges of the cookies, leaving the crumbly edges on the paper (to sprinkle on vanilla ice cream – YUM).  Cool the cookies completely.  Remove from the sheet pans so that you can bake the next batch.  I got 48 -  3″ cookies from this batch, and actually left the batter at room temperature after baking the first 2 dozen,  then baked the remaining 24 cookies the second day.

Melt the chocolate over extrememly low heat.  When slightly cooled and thickened, spread a bit on the flat side of each cookie.  You can use a fork or cake comb to make a wavy pattern on the warm chocolate.  Cool until the chocolate sets.  (I usually put my cookies in the freezer for 5 minutes to rush this along, after all, once you’re finished, you shouldn’t have to wait too long to enjoy these yummy cookies.)

Make yourself a cup of coffee or tea and munch away.

Enjoy!

Goat Cheese Bruschetta with Olive Tapenade

I am working on my Italian pronunciation.  So far, it’s pretty pitiful.  Bruschetta rolls down my gullet alot easier than it rolls off my tongue.  I hear the word spoken correctly, but I can not consistently say it properly.  Brew-shetta comes out.  Brew-sketta is correct.  Thank goodness I can cook it better than I can pronounce it. 

Late last Saturday afternoon, I had the house to myself.  Music – eclectic and at a moderate volume.  Friends – in cue for dinner.  Husband and son – on their way back from Lexington.  Alone with Brie (she doesn’t cause any problems), I was prepping dinner, planning and sipping.  Oh, yeah.  Did I mention I was alone?

A partial loaf of Blue Dog baguette – sliced thin.  Olive tapenade – at the ready. Capriole Farms Chevre and Basil Pesto – check and double check.  I pulled my list of ingredients out onto the counter and began assembling a simple appetizer.  Enough for 5 people, a hearty beginning to a meal with friends.  So much for planning.

The friends begged off.  The husband wasn’t hungry enough for dinner.  The son – PLEASE – dinner with the old folks on Saturday?  I didn’t think so.  Instead of the dinner I had planned, Tony and I finished off the bottle of wine and had just the appetizer in front of the fire.   Very satisfying, simple and made with local bread and cheese, and homemade pesto oil and tapenade.

Goat Cheese Bruschetta

Goat Cheese Bruschetta with Olive Tapenade

• Olive oil
• 1/2 loaf  baguette, thinly sliced
• 2-4 oz fresh goat cheese
• 1/4 cup olive tapenade
• 1 plum tomato, seeded and diced
• 1 Tbls basil pesto
• freshly ground black pepper
• finely shredded parmesan or romano cheese, optional

Preheat the oven to 400. 

Pour about 1 Tbls of olive oil onto a half sheet pan.  Smear it around the pan until you have a thin, even layer.  Place the sliced baguette on the pan, pressing the slices into the oil, then turn the slices over.  Smear a bit of the goat cheese onto each slice of bread.  Top with a teaspoon or so of the tapenade.   Sprinkle with the diced tomatoes and add the shredded parmesan, if using.  Grind some black pepper over the bruschetta. 

Thin the pesto with two tablespoons of olive oil and drizzle over the bruschetta.  Bake in the preheated oven for 5-8 minutes, or until the toasts are hot and beginning to brown at the edges. 

Serves 4 – 6.

Enjoy!