Blog Archive

April 28, 2015

Hazelnut Maple Cookies with Orange Zest

This week’s recipe is actually from a really amazing bakery in Brooklyn that I visited a few months ago. We stayed in this great Airbnb walking distance from this great little bakery, Ovenly. One night while waiting for our table across the street at the legendary Paulie Gee’s, we walked by the closed bakery window and smelled the fresh cookies baking in the back. The next morning we went back for a quick scone before our ferry ride across the river and decided, this place was it for the remainder of the trip. So on the last day, I grabbed their cookbook and brought it home to try out. So here we go.

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line two rimmed sheet pans with parchment paper.
In a food processor, pulse the hazelnuts until they form a coarse meal. The pieces should not be larger than about 1/8-inch in diameter.
Transfer the hazelnut meal to a large bowl. Add the sugar, egg whites, maple syrup and zest. Using a rubber spatula or your hands (if you choose this method, wet your hands first to prevent the dough from sticking to them), mix and let rest for 10 minutes at room temperature, or until the dough is slightly dry to the touch.
Using your hands or a small scoop, form the dough into 1 1/2-inch balls.
Pour the maple sugar in a small bowl. Roll each dough ball in the maple sugar, coating it completely. Place on a rimmed sheet pan, and top each with half a hazelnut by pressing the nut into the dough.
Bake for 12 minutes, or until lightly golden. Let the cookies cool fully before serving.

Get Creative

This cookie is also great with toasted hazelnuts. Simply place nuts on a rimmed sheet pan and toast for 10 minutes in a 350˚F oven. Let cool before using.
Try using any favorite nut like pecans or walnuts.
Roll cookies using any of your favorite sugars like confectioners’ sugar, sanding sugar, or even cinnamon sugar (1/4 cup sugar mixed with 1 tablespoon cinnamon)

April 21, 2015

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar and sugar.
Mix in one egg at a time and add vanilla.
In a smaller mixing bowl combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the large mixing bowl until smooth.
Mix in quick oats, walnuts (optional), and chocolate chips. Scoop out a spoonful per cookie and space them accordingly, they’ll flatten to about twice as wide while they bake. I like to use a mini ice cream scoop because is fast, clean and efficient.
Bake for 12 minutes on a silicone baking sheet then allow to cool

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

NOM!

April 14, 2015

Honey Ginger Salmon with Asparagus and Mushroom Risotto

Place the fillets of salmon in a large zip locked bag. For the ginger you can grate a tablespoon for more of an intense ginger flavor. If you want to tone it back, you can chop .5-1 cm slices right off of the root – this is also a quicker method and easy if you don’t have a way to grate the root. Mix all ingredients for the marinade (ginger, soy sauce, white wine, lemon, honey, salt & pepper) then pour it into the bag and allow the fish to marinate for 1-2 hours in the fridge. The longer you marinate the more flavorful the ending result will be.
When the fish is almost done marinating, preheat oven to 375˚
Line a baking sheet with a layer of aluminum foil, then evenly space out the fillets. Bake for 15 minutes.
Start preparing the asparagus and risotto. I just used a bag of Mushroom Risotto from Trader Joe’s which you just stir in a saucepan for about 10 minutes.
In another pan pour in a little olive oil then lay down your asparagus evenly throughout the pan. Sprinkle on some salt and pepper and stir until it looks flexible but still slightly firm. If overcooked, they will come out overly floppy.
Glaze takes only a minute or two to prepare, just add the butter and brown sugar to a saucepan and melt. Continuously mix with a silicon spatula as to not burn the sugar to the bottom of the pot. When the salmon has finished cooking, pour the glaze over each piece and place back in the other for another 5 minutes.
Nom!

Honey Ginger Salmon with Asparagus and Mushroom Risotto

March 30, 2015

Dakgangjeong (Korean Fried Chicken)

Take your wings and put them in a large bowl, rinse in cold water and remove all excess water from the bowl.
Add salt, ground pepper and ginger and mix by hand until evenly distributed.
Place your potato starch in a smaller bowl and individually coat each wing. Squeeze each wing in the palm of your hand to ensure the starch is tightly coated on the wings.
Place your cooking oil in a big pot and heat on high heat. Once you think it’s at max heat, try one wing as a test wing, if the oil bubbles, it’s hot enough to start frying.
Place the wings in the oil one by one and cook for 12 to 13 minutes turning the wings over a couple times to fry evening.
Take your batch of wings out of the oil with a strainer and let them sit. If you could not fit all of your wings into the first pot, finish off the rest of your wings.
Repeat this step to double fry your wings to make sure you get that extra crispiness. This will help keep the crunch until the next day.
While your chicken is frying, create the sauce. Heat a large non-stick pan or wok over medium-high heat. Add the cooking oil, garlic and dried chili peppers.
Stir with a wooden spoon until fragrant but only for about a minute.
Add the soy sauce, corn syrup, vinegar and mustard sauce. Stir and let bubble for a couple minutes.
Add brown sugar to give it a good gloss, stir and remove from the heat.
When the chicken has been double friend and left to cool for a few minutes, lower your peanuts into the oil for 30 seconds. The peanuts will turn white, unless the oil is too hot in which they will burn so make sure you have lowered the heat of your stove.
Add the hot chicken and mix into the sauce with a wooden spoon. Add peanuts as well. Remove from heat and you’re done!

*crunch* Nom!

March 26, 2015

Strawberry Cake

Preheat the oven to 350˚
Blend strawberries until pureed setting 3/4 of a cup aside for the middle layer of the cake. Taste test the puree to see if it’s sweet enough, if your strawberries aren’t ripe enough add confectioner’s sugar until it’s to your liking.
Spray the inside of your spring form pan with PAM and dust on a light layer of cake flour. (You can either use two spring form pans if you have two or one and cut the cake in half after you’re done baking.)
In a small bowl mix the remaining puree, milk, eggs and vanilla.
In a larger bowl mix together the flour (sifted), sugar, baking powder and salt. First cutting the butter into smaller chunks, add it into the mixture. Mix until they look like moist crumbs. Don’t continue mixing or else it will turn into a dough and will be harder to mix with the other ingredients!
Poor the wet ingredients into the dry ingredient bowl until it’s smooth then pour evenly into either your one or two pans.
If using two pans, bake for 25 minutes, if using one pan bake for 35-45 minutes or until firm. When it has finished baking allow the cakes to cool fully before trying to release it from the pan. (I suggest flipping your cake over so you have a smooth leveled surface to frost afterwards rather than a bit of a dome. Be careful not to let the cake split! If you’re cutting the cake in half to make two layers, use a serrated knife and make very small back and forth cuts to avoid making lots of crumbs.)
Use the 3/4 cup of puree to lightly layer the bottom layer of the cake. I put most of the puree in the center and not much around the edges knowing it would end up dribbling over when I put the other layer on top. Place the second layer of cake on top then frost the cake evenly.
To make the frosting add the butter in small chunks and cream it until smooth, add the vanilla and almond extract and mix again until smooth. Slowly add in the confectioner’s sugar and stir with a large spoon or a silicone spatula until smooth. Add the leftover puree from the middle section of the cake to add a little color to the frosting. Adding milk also helps to thin out the frosting to make it easier to mix and spread onto the cake.
(optional) I think it looks nice rimmed with raspberries. I put 12 raspberries on in the same placement as the hours of a clock and it gives it an extra something; along with the spacing for where to cut a perfect slice of cake 🙂
I place it in the fridge for about 10 minutes to harden the icing a little and then voila! You’re done.

NOM! ッ

March 18, 2015

Homemade Thin Mints

In a bowl fit for a standing mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and mint extract and mix thoroughly.
In a separate bowl, thoroughly mix together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients into the standing mixer until fully incorporated.
Roll your dough into a ball then flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and allow to chill for at least an hour.
Preheat oven to 325˚F and line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners (my preference.) Let dough rest at room temp then roll dough out to 1/4 in. thickness. Use a mold to cut out 1 inch circles – if you don’t have a mold, look around for a container with an opening the size of your preferred cookie. I used a small mason jar lid.
Transfer cookie dough onto your baking sheets and let your trays chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.
Bake cookies for 20 minutes; then allow to cool for 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack for best results.
Double boil your chocolate chips or if you’re hard pressed for time, microwave your chips; making sure to pause every 20 seconds to mix and make sure the chocolate is melting evenly. When chocolate is fully melted, add oil and mix in thoroughly until chocolate is a thin, dipping consistency.
Lower the cookies into the chocolate mixture with a fork, and lift to allow it to drip any access chocolate. Place each cookie on a sheet of parchment paper and allow cookies to chill in the fridge before eating.
I added green sprinkles because it’s St. Patrick’s Day today. Even though they’re minty, a chocolate cookie doesn’t look very festive when it’s just all brown.
NOM NOM NOM! OI OI OI!

November 8, 2012

Snickerdoodle

Let the butter sit until slightly cooler than room temp, and then cut into small chunks and add to a mixing bowl (or standing mixer with a paddle attachment). REMEMBER: If you let your butter melt too much, it’ll thin the cookies out in the end! Never melt your butter in the microwave! This also means, don’t let your batter sit out in the kitchen for too long, once the butter melts too much, there’s no turning back!
Preheat oven to 350˚
Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone sheets.
In a shallow bowl, mix together the 3 Tbs. of sugar and cinnamon.
Mix the shortening in the bowl with the butter until they are creamy and thoroughly blended together.
Add the remaining 1 1/2 c. of sugar to the mixture until light and fluffy.
Then add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla.
In a small bowl, mix together the cream of tartar, baking soda and salt, then add that to the butter mixture.
Add the flour and continue mixing until smooth.
Using a melon baller, scoop out 1” balls and roll them into balls in your hands. Then roll them in the cinnamon sugar until they are completely covered (the more cinnamon sugar the better in my opinion). Then place them on the baking sheet 1 1/2”-2” apart.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, you’ll know when they’re almost finished because the tops will start to crack and you’ll see that familiar Snickerdoodle look. Don’t overbake them though, Snickerdoodles are meant to be fluffy and a little chewy, not hard.
Allow them to cool on a rack, and enjoy!

November 11, 2011

Pilgrim Cupcakes

Something I saw on Foodgawker and just had to try. This is not something I came up with on my own. Regardless, I love baking random things for my friends and wanted to do something new and for the holidays so here goes 🙂

Directions

I could have found a yellow cake recipe but there were so many parts to these little guys that I decided to take one step out and went for a box of yellow cake from the store. I guess I filled the cupcake liners too much cus they all bulged over (you need a more flat surface so the hats don’t tip) but no worries I just cut off the tops and my roommates and I ate all the cupcake tops…. yum!
In a stand mixer or with a beater, mix the butter until fluffy. Then mix in a cup of confectioner’s sugar. Mix in the milk and vanilla (no need to worry about the big clumps yet) then add the last of the sugar. If your frosting isn’t thick enough, add creme of tartar, beat on high for a few minutes until at your desired thickness. (Keep in mind the frosting should be very thick to hold up the hats.) You can add a little cocoa powder too for a touch of color to get a nice off white.
While the frosting is beating you can melt the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl. About a cup and a half will do. Reheat the chocolate if it starts to get too thick.
Drop a marshmallow in the bowl of chocolate and push it around with a chopstick, when all the sides are covered pick it up with a toothpick and place it on the chocolate covered side of the cookie. (I used a bent open paper clip because it was easier to hold on to.)
As those are cooling, fill a piping bag with your frosting and top the cupcakes about 1/4 inch then place the hats on top. (If they are squishing the frosting it’s not firm enough, try refrigerating or adding more sugar)
Let them cool in the fridge until everything is set then you can draw on the hat buckle and their faces!
Enjoy!

Happy Nomdays 🙂

July 29, 2011

Palmiers

Defrost the puff pastry.
Preheat the oven to 450˚
Mix the sugar, salt and cinnamon and pour 1/3 of the mixture onto a clean countertop and spread it out evenly (you’ll be using this the same way you would flour dough to make it not stick)
Unfold the soft puff pastry and lay it down on the sugar mixture, use a rolling pin to lightly roll the dough (enough to get the sugar to stick to the dough, not to flatten it)
Pour 1/2 of the remaining sugar mixture on the top of the dough and evenly spread it out.
Now fold the dough in half, it should look like a book. Unfold and fold both sides of the square towards the middle where your new crease is. Now fold it once more like a book so they meet in the middle. You should have 4 layers.
Cut off the ends of your rectangular pastry log if they are uneven (it’s important for all the pieces to be the same thickness so they bake evenly).
Cut into 3/8 in. slices and set them down on their sides. Using a pastry brush (or your fingers if you don’t have one) brush the cut sides of each piece of dough and dip into the left over sugar mixture (you want all part of the dough to be sugared so that it will caramelize.
Use a handful of remaining sugar mixture and sprinkle it over the entire cookie sheet, covering the cookies and their surrounding baking area.
Place them on a baking sheet with lined with parchment or a silicone baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes.
Take the sheet out and flip each cookie and allow to bake for an additional 2-3 minutes. (Watch your cookies! An extra couple of minutes could turn them into burned crisps!)
Repeat with your other sheet of puff pastry.

Nom!