Okay, I tried these once and I'm sort of addicted. I confess. It's a hardship.
No kidding, these cookies are great. I've made three batches so far this year, and I'll probably make two more before I'm done. If you want an easy cookie to do for the holidays, this is it. The only catch is that it has to sit in the fridge for at least two hours (preferably more than two; up to five days is acceptable and more time will help with the spice blending).
Ginger Cookies
From Orangette, adapted from Leslie Mackie’s Macrina Bakery and Café Cookbook: Favorite Breads, Pastries, Sweets & Savories
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 ½ tsp ground cloves
1 tsp salt
½ cup vegetable shortening, at room temp
6 tbs unsalted butter, at room temp
1 ½ cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp peeled and grated fresh ginger, accept no substitutes. Powdered ginger does not work here, it must be freshly grated for the recipe to work. (This takes a larger thumb of fresh ginger than you might expect. Buy about twice as much ginger as you think you'll need, because when you grate it, you'll find that a lot of ginger turns out to be useless water.)
1/3 cup molasses
½ cup sugar
In
a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ground cloves,
and salt, and mix with a whisk to evenly blend. Set aside.
In a
large mixing bowl and with electric beaters, cream the shortening,
butter, and brown sugar until smooth and pale in color. Add the eggs one
at a time, mixing until incorporated and scraping down the sides of the
bowl between each addition. Add the ginger and molasses, and mix to
blend well. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again.
Using a
rubber spatula, fold half of the flour mixture into the wet mixture.
After the first half is incorporated, add the remaining flour, and
continue folding gently until all of the flour has been absorbed. Scrape
down the sides of the bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and place it in
the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. [At this point, the dough can
hold for up to 4 days.]
Preheat the oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment (makes clean up so much easier, also helps cooking. Parchment. If you're making cookies and you haven't discovered it, you should).
Pour the granulated sugar into a pie pan or shallow bowl.
When
the dough is solid and cool enough to handle without horrible sticking,
scoop it out of the bowl and roll it into balls a scant 2 inches in
diameter. Toss each of the balls gently in the sugar, and then place
them on the baking sheet (you should be able to fit eight on a single
sheet), leaving 3 inches between each ball. Bake cookies on the center
rack of the oven for 15-17 minutes, until golden brown and slightly
puffed. Let cool on the baking sheet for 15 minutes before transferring
to a rack. Repeat with two more sheets of cookies.
Serves: who even knows. The recipe produces about 25 cookies, but if you eat them as quickly as my family, then it only serves about three people.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Cider Glazed Salmon
Things what I like: easy, fast fish recipes. They're healthy(ish), they're really quick, and they're practically foolproof. Exactly what I like in a go-to recipe.
Cider-Glazed Salmon
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 shallot, peeled and sliced into strips
2 cups fresh unfiltered apple cider
4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets
Salt
1/2 cup heavy cream
In a large, heavy skillet, combine the butter, shallot, and cider. Place over medium-high heat, and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes, then remove and discard the shallots (use a slotted spoon to remove shallots if necessary).
Place the fillets gently in the pan, adjusting the heat so that the liquid just trembles. Spoon a bit of the liquid over them, so that their tops begin to cook. Cover and simmer very gently. The fillets will cook for 8 to 10 minutes per inch of thickness. To test for doneness, make a small slit with a paring knife in the thickest part of the fillet: all but the very center of each piece should be opaque. (It will keep cooking after you pull it from the heat). Transfer the cooked salmon to a platter, and cover loosely with aluminum foil to keep warm.
To prepare the glaze, raise the heat under the pan to medium-high, add a pinch of salt, and simmer, stirring frequently, until the liquid is reduced by about two-thirds. It should be slightly thickened and should just cover the bottom of the pan. Reduce the heat to medium, and add the cream. Stir well to combine. Return the heat to medium-high and boil, stirring frequently, for a few minutes, until the mixture darkens to a pale golden caramel and is reduced by one-third to one-half.
Place the salmon fillets on 4 plates and top each with a spoonful of sauce. It should coat them like a thin, loose glaze. Serve immediately.
Serves: 4 (more or less depending on how you cut your salmon)
Cider-Glazed Salmon
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 shallot, peeled and sliced into strips
2 cups fresh unfiltered apple cider
4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets
Salt
1/2 cup heavy cream
In a large, heavy skillet, combine the butter, shallot, and cider. Place over medium-high heat, and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes, then remove and discard the shallots (use a slotted spoon to remove shallots if necessary).
Place the fillets gently in the pan, adjusting the heat so that the liquid just trembles. Spoon a bit of the liquid over them, so that their tops begin to cook. Cover and simmer very gently. The fillets will cook for 8 to 10 minutes per inch of thickness. To test for doneness, make a small slit with a paring knife in the thickest part of the fillet: all but the very center of each piece should be opaque. (It will keep cooking after you pull it from the heat). Transfer the cooked salmon to a platter, and cover loosely with aluminum foil to keep warm.
To prepare the glaze, raise the heat under the pan to medium-high, add a pinch of salt, and simmer, stirring frequently, until the liquid is reduced by about two-thirds. It should be slightly thickened and should just cover the bottom of the pan. Reduce the heat to medium, and add the cream. Stir well to combine. Return the heat to medium-high and boil, stirring frequently, for a few minutes, until the mixture darkens to a pale golden caramel and is reduced by one-third to one-half.
Place the salmon fillets on 4 plates and top each with a spoonful of sauce. It should coat them like a thin, loose glaze. Serve immediately.
Serves: 4 (more or less depending on how you cut your salmon)
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Poached Fish With Lemon
This is so easy. I made this tonight and served it alongside French Carrot Salad and fresh green beans, and it was a fantastic meal. Simple and fast, with clean flavors that complement each other and balance one another beautifully. It's pretty too: colorful enough to be sophisticated, and fast enough to be everyday casual. Amazing.
The one thing about this recipe that you CANNOT mess with: you want everything to be as fresh as possible. Tilapia is the freshest fish I could find, so that's what I used. My fish was caught on the same day that I prepared it. If you have cod or swordfish or even a really good salmon supplier that can get you fish that was caught today, use that. Two hints to help find fresh fish if you're not buying from a fish market: hunt down your grocery store's fish or meat manager and ask when the fish came in. In my experience, they'll love you for taking an interest, and they'll go above and beyond to help you out if you tell them that you want the freshest thing they have and that it's important. Tip two: if you can't find the manager to tell you what the freshest thing is, pick the white-fleshed fish with the pinkest veins. Pink means that the blood in the fillet hasn't had time to oxidize. DO NOT BUY FISH WITH WHITE FLESH AND BROWN VEINS OR CENTER LINES. Brown means that the fish is old. Fresh fish should be white and pinkish-red. No exceptions. If all that your market or grocery has is brown, switch your dinner plans away from a fish dish, and consider beef or chicken.
Another tip: lemon juice in bottles and actual juice from actual lemons are different things. This recipe calls for both. Do not mistake the former for the latter. There is a good reason to have an actual lemon on hand to make actual lemon wedges for diners to squeeze over their fillets. Finally, there is no substitute for fresh parsley here. None of the dried stuff. It's not an expensive recipe overall, so go ahead and buy the fresh parsley. Your mouth will thank you when your recipe turns out amazing.
Poached Fish With Lemon
Adapted from a recipe from Orangette.
4 or 5 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced
8-10 branches Italian parsley, well-rinsed
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp lemon juice (bottled)
Water
2 tilapia fillets, sliced down the center line to make 4 portions (IMPORTANT NOTE: what you're going for here is four portions. If you use swordfish or salmon, then four portions will obviously be different than if you use tilapia or a similarly thinner fish. It's okay. What you want here is four portions of whatever fish you can get fresh.)
1 lemon, cut into 1/4 wedges
Salt
Pepper
Take the fish out of the fridge. Sprinkle salt and pepper over one side of the fillets, rub it in a bit, then turn them over and sprinkle-then-rub the other side. Let the fish sit aside to absorb the seasoning.
In the mean time, slice the leaves off the parsley stems. Discard the stems, and place the leaves, along with the minced garlic and 1 tsp salt into a 12-inch skillet or sauté pan. Add water to a depth of about 1 1/2 inches. (Seriously. Measure it. I used a ruler.) Add the bottled lemon juice. Bring the whole deal to a boil, cover it, then turn down the temperature until it's barely on the edge of boiling and let the whole thing simmer for 15 minutes. Your kitchen will probably smell like parsley and garlic.
When the poaching liquid is ready, gently place your fish fillets into the pan. Cover it again, and cook for 8 minutes if you're using tilapia. If you're using another fish, then the rule of thumb is 'use 8 min per inch' on the thickness of your fish steaks. Apply this rule to salmon, swordfish, mahi mahi, etc. If your fish is less than an inch thick, cook it for 8 mins (no really, time it), and call it a day. Your poaching liquid should be VERY gently boiling: try to achieve a temp at which your water is barely bubbling, but also is not still.
When your fish is done, transfer each portion to a plate (I'd advise against serving it out of a serving dish, because the fish would cool down. You want to serve this as fresh and hot as you possibly can, so that the fish goes from saute pan to plate to mouth with as little interruption as possible). Use a 1/4 wedge of lemon per portion to sprinkle juice over the fish.
Makes 4 servings.
The one thing about this recipe that you CANNOT mess with: you want everything to be as fresh as possible. Tilapia is the freshest fish I could find, so that's what I used. My fish was caught on the same day that I prepared it. If you have cod or swordfish or even a really good salmon supplier that can get you fish that was caught today, use that. Two hints to help find fresh fish if you're not buying from a fish market: hunt down your grocery store's fish or meat manager and ask when the fish came in. In my experience, they'll love you for taking an interest, and they'll go above and beyond to help you out if you tell them that you want the freshest thing they have and that it's important. Tip two: if you can't find the manager to tell you what the freshest thing is, pick the white-fleshed fish with the pinkest veins. Pink means that the blood in the fillet hasn't had time to oxidize. DO NOT BUY FISH WITH WHITE FLESH AND BROWN VEINS OR CENTER LINES. Brown means that the fish is old. Fresh fish should be white and pinkish-red. No exceptions. If all that your market or grocery has is brown, switch your dinner plans away from a fish dish, and consider beef or chicken.
Another tip: lemon juice in bottles and actual juice from actual lemons are different things. This recipe calls for both. Do not mistake the former for the latter. There is a good reason to have an actual lemon on hand to make actual lemon wedges for diners to squeeze over their fillets. Finally, there is no substitute for fresh parsley here. None of the dried stuff. It's not an expensive recipe overall, so go ahead and buy the fresh parsley. Your mouth will thank you when your recipe turns out amazing.
Poached Fish With Lemon
Adapted from a recipe from Orangette.
4 or 5 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced
8-10 branches Italian parsley, well-rinsed
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp lemon juice (bottled)
Water
2 tilapia fillets, sliced down the center line to make 4 portions (IMPORTANT NOTE: what you're going for here is four portions. If you use swordfish or salmon, then four portions will obviously be different than if you use tilapia or a similarly thinner fish. It's okay. What you want here is four portions of whatever fish you can get fresh.)
1 lemon, cut into 1/4 wedges
Salt
Pepper
Take the fish out of the fridge. Sprinkle salt and pepper over one side of the fillets, rub it in a bit, then turn them over and sprinkle-then-rub the other side. Let the fish sit aside to absorb the seasoning.
In the mean time, slice the leaves off the parsley stems. Discard the stems, and place the leaves, along with the minced garlic and 1 tsp salt into a 12-inch skillet or sauté pan. Add water to a depth of about 1 1/2 inches. (Seriously. Measure it. I used a ruler.) Add the bottled lemon juice. Bring the whole deal to a boil, cover it, then turn down the temperature until it's barely on the edge of boiling and let the whole thing simmer for 15 minutes. Your kitchen will probably smell like parsley and garlic.
When the poaching liquid is ready, gently place your fish fillets into the pan. Cover it again, and cook for 8 minutes if you're using tilapia. If you're using another fish, then the rule of thumb is 'use 8 min per inch' on the thickness of your fish steaks. Apply this rule to salmon, swordfish, mahi mahi, etc. If your fish is less than an inch thick, cook it for 8 mins (no really, time it), and call it a day. Your poaching liquid should be VERY gently boiling: try to achieve a temp at which your water is barely bubbling, but also is not still.
When your fish is done, transfer each portion to a plate (I'd advise against serving it out of a serving dish, because the fish would cool down. You want to serve this as fresh and hot as you possibly can, so that the fish goes from saute pan to plate to mouth with as little interruption as possible). Use a 1/4 wedge of lemon per portion to sprinkle juice over the fish.
Makes 4 servings.
French Carrot Salad
This salad is terrifically simple and fast to prepare, but it's also very colorful and has bright, bold flavors that pair well with other simple, fast dishes. I served it tonight with poached fish and fresh snapped green beans for a beautiful, colorful, healthy plate that took about 30 minutes to prep start to finish. During the holiday season, when meals are often heavy and fussy, this is a welcome respite.
My take on this one isn't strictly the French version -- for something closer to what you'll get in Paris, omit the apples and add another carrot or two to make up the volume -- but it's darn close.
French Carrot Salad
2 tbsp orange juice
1 tbsp Dijon mustard (you can safely substitute stone-ground mustard here as well)
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 lb carrots, peeled and shredded
1 Fuji apple, UNpeeled and julienned into fine sticks
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (or l tsp dried parsley flakes)
Salt
Pepper
In a small bowl, whisk the orange juice, mustard, olive oil, salt, pepper, and parsley together until the dressing is completely blended. Combine the carrots and the apple in a medium bowl. Pour the dressing over the carrots and apples and toss thoroughly to coat the carrots and apples in dressing. Chill it for 30 minutes, then toss again to make sure all the dressing doesn't settle to the bottom of the bowl before serving.
Optional garnishes: golden raisins, walnuts, slivered almonds, or unsalted sunflower seeds
Makes 4 servings.
My take on this one isn't strictly the French version -- for something closer to what you'll get in Paris, omit the apples and add another carrot or two to make up the volume -- but it's darn close.
French Carrot Salad
2 tbsp orange juice
1 tbsp Dijon mustard (you can safely substitute stone-ground mustard here as well)
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 lb carrots, peeled and shredded
1 Fuji apple, UNpeeled and julienned into fine sticks
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (or l tsp dried parsley flakes)
Salt
Pepper
In a small bowl, whisk the orange juice, mustard, olive oil, salt, pepper, and parsley together until the dressing is completely blended. Combine the carrots and the apple in a medium bowl. Pour the dressing over the carrots and apples and toss thoroughly to coat the carrots and apples in dressing. Chill it for 30 minutes, then toss again to make sure all the dressing doesn't settle to the bottom of the bowl before serving.
Optional garnishes: golden raisins, walnuts, slivered almonds, or unsalted sunflower seeds
Makes 4 servings.
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