Maa Maa Mack Meep

Have you any Maamoul?

These cookies are pretty fun to make, especially if you have pastry tweezers. I don't have pastry tweezers.



The recipe hails from the book what's cooking Jewish by Elizabeth Wolf-Cohen, and is a simple one. It's a Sephardic recipe, and the most refined version of these cookies is found in Morocco. Fillings can be date (seen here) or walnuts and pistachios.

You'll need:
6 oz/175g flour
2 tbsp sugar
3 oz/85 g unsalted butter
1 tbsp rosewater (or orange flowerwater)
2-3 tbsp milk
powdered sugar

2/3 c pitted dried dates, chopped
102 tsp more of rosewater (or orange flowerwater)

Preheat your oven to 325F, and grease a baking sheet.

With a food processor, combine rosewater and dates til smooth, adding a tbsp or two of boiling water if necessary. Set aside to cool. I let my filling stay a little too lumpy.

Now, sift flour into a large bowl and stir in the sugar. Cut in the butter, til *~FINE CRUMBS~*. Sprinkle over rosewater and 2 tbsp milk. Mix gently==> soft dough. Add more milk if necessary. Make a large ball, and pinch off pieces to shape 1 inch balls.



Press into the center of a ball, and rotate your finger to create a well. Add some filling, and pinch the edges of the dough together to seal it up.

Arrange all the cookies on the sheet 1 inch apart, seam-side down. Press balls into long leafy shapes, and use tweezers to pinch the tops 3 times (or craftily use two knives to do the same). Bake 20-25 minutes (until just set. Must remain pale!)

Let cool 10 min ==> sprinkle with powdered sugar ==>let cool completely ==>sprinkle once more.

I skipped the powdered sugar alltogether and still enjoyed my cookie experience.



-Anna

This raspberry walks into a bar..

I loved that Trader Joe's creativity so much.


So anyways. I've been meaning to bake with raspberries. I wanted to make muffins, but alas, the muffin forms were nowhere to be found. After a wild sort of a recipe hunt, I settled on oatmeal raspberry bars (RECIPE). Hot damn! I don't even like bars that are not lemon. And I especially don't like oatmeal. But this feels like the best dessert I've ever made. The crunchity-flaky exterior makes the edge pieces extra grand.

Mostly, I stuck to the recipe. I used a bit more salt. And I forgot to butter the 8inch pan before putting the buttered aluminum foil on it. Big whoop.

Biggest difference: I made my own filling. I took about a carton and a half of fresh raspberries and tossed them in a wide pan that had a bit of boiling water and a heaping tbsp-ful of honey in it. I boiled away most of the water, and was left with the most beautifully red and tangy "jam."



-Anna

Thanksgiving Lingerings

First, we have what may be my favorite dish of all time:


Sweet potato, kale, and sausage
RECIPE
Mostly, I stayed true to it. Of course, I used a nommy tofurky sausage (polish kielbasa, if i'm not mistaken)
I cannot emphasize enough how best this recipe is. I mean you sizzle in mustard! I can't even handle the memory of this flavor.


And my own little cranberry upside down cake. Yes, Amanda, you may be onto something. There is something off about the phrase, making you feel like you've been smacked around a bit, without knowing exactly what part of you got smacked. It happens. RECIPE



I slaughtered a pumpkin that day, and had lots left over, so I made a sugary puree, and put a layer of that between the cranberries and the cake. Therefore, they stuck to the bottom of the form. Therefore, I got to shape the topping on myself! Mush smoooshy moosh. Yum. I've made the recipe a few times. Lusciously buttery taste. The upside-downity remains quite intact when done correctly.
-Anna

AND BAM WE'RE BACK

So, I don't like the idea of an "upside down" cake. If you're making the cake, whatever side is showing is the right side, kay. So despite Nigella's lovely intentions she named the recipe I made cranberry upside down cake. But that's wrong. So I'm calling what I made cranberry cardamom bomb cake, for obvious reasons. I also mixed it up with the batter recipe, used a little less sugar, subbed half the butter for apple sauce, dialed down the milk to accommodate for the more liquidy apple sauce and added a good douse of cardamom. omomomomom
-Amanda

Twix > Kit Kat

Baking instead of studying for a Hebrew quiz is always a good idea.

It's okay though since I can spell cake in Hebrew, not that these are cake, but close enough.


Take this add 12 ounce bag semi-sweet chocolate chips, king size twix, and king size kit kat. I winged it on the sugar, they were probably too sugar-y.
I'm very okay with that.
-Amanda

Sandwich!

Cheese meets English Muffin meets Onion meets Rosemary meets Pear meets Spinach


My first sandwich here! I remember someone telling me a really bad joke about sandwich in third grade. Something about a witch. Actually I don't think 3rd humor was at this level yet, but I just thought maybe it was about a beach-y witch. Ahah, get it?

Kay, anyhow. I got this idea from here . Except regular onion instead of red. Pear was not ripe, sad story and not grilled, which would have been better. The laughing cow cheese is bomb. I most definitely recommend.

Eat this like this .

-Amanda

The Chard Didn't Char, Wilted Instead!

I couldn't find rainbow, but this chard was red and it worked. Except it wilted quick. I got it on Friday I think, so I probably should have used it sooner than today. It's alright. This smells good and you get to use stems!

It's all from this prettiness.







I left out the thyme and used extra rosemary instead, very good. Maybe one less egg?

This is what you'll be saying to them stems.

-Amanda

Tahini Brownies

Do you ever have dreams of chocolate halvah but fluffy? I do.


Here it is. From here.

They'll be going like ...




The end.

-Amanda

Crack Pie!

I did it! It's good. It should have cooked more but that's okay. Not too hard. Got to pull out food processor. Would have benefited from the addition of some rum or something else fun. Imperfect rhyme?

Thank you L.A. Times, where you slump in theatre reviews, you make up for it in providing me recipes.

This fits .



-Amanda

Return of the Muffin

Apple Bran and Oat Muffins
These are fallish. They have bran, but don't really taste like it. They called for raisins, but I'm not a big raisin fan so I replaced the raisin with a chopped up granny smith. Sadistic?



I went here and adapted.
France would have probably had a muffin deficit. So yay! I like muffins.
-Amanda

Naked Cake: Tres Leches

Tres Leches is supposed to have whipped cream on top.
I'm not supposed to gawk at my RSS feed while making whipped cream, because whipped cream turns into butter, which with sugar and vanilla is really nasty.

Anyhow this cake was kind of bomb anyway so it's okay. Especially since I used kirsch instead of regular brandy (and too much of it).

Also, I put blueberries on top but only to distract from lack of whipped cream. Make this: time consuming, but not too much effort.
Credits to here.



(switched shot)Changeling?

-Amanda

Cupcakes or Beef Stroganoff?

The man at the counter guessed the latter, when confronted with my purchases of a few last ingredients. I understand him--I don't instantly think of cupcakes when I see heavy cream and sour cream, and nothing else.

This is what they were actually for!


I'm so glad I had an urge to make traditional cupcakes. It's fantastic. This blog's photo brought something out of me. I want to use the word nostalgic, because of Mad Men, and I'm close, but I can't. Maybe if my mom made me cupcakes as a child or something. Nostalgic for my food-making childhood? Ok I can buy that! I will! Nostalgic :)

I didn't like buying sour cream, and I hated putting it in my cupcakes. It wasn't yogurt! But I think if I thought about it less, the taste wouldn't have bothered me. These were so moist and delicious. The dough is usually never perfect! It was lightly goldened, up and rounded, delicate, cohesive, filling, scrumptious. The topping was the part that drew fans, but that's the easy part, so it's never the part I focus on.

Oh, and the batter tasted just like cream cheese frosting.

I followed the recipe all the way home, but I did use a bit less cream (237ml) and a few ounces less of chocolate. Oh I also did the chocolate-melting in a double boiler.



I want one more! But it's on to bavarian sugar cookies for me now.

-Anna

Vinaigrettik with a pickle!

Salat Vinaigrette-- something I was very skeptical of as a child. I did not like beets. They were red and squirmy!

But then I grew up, and now, here I am, recreating recipes from memory (and a few google searches just to make sure I had the basics down).

Let me break it down for you:

4 small beets
4 small potatoes (I think I had yukon gold? They were buttery and sweet and delicious.)
1 pickle (I used a persian cucumber I pickled myself. See recipe below)
1/2 med red onion
approx 1 tbsp olive oil
approx 1/2 tbsp chopped dill

Steam your beets and potatoes. Dice them up into semi-small pieces. Usually smaller is better, but it depends on your liking level of laziness.
Toss them into a bowl.
Add in diced pickle.
Dice the onion, and throw that in.
Add the olive oil and chopped dill, and mix everything together gently. It will all be pink! This includes your hands, if that's what you like to mix gently with. Be careful not to mush when you mix.



Pickles! (And pickled tomatoes!)

These were so unbelievably easy. Everything is surprising me so well!

I based my attempt on this

What I used:
6tbsp apple cider vinegar (as per my friend Maddy's recommendation)
3c water
3tbsp salt
many cloves of garlic
lots of fresh dill
tomatoes and cucumbers

Dissolve together the water, vinegar, and salt. Then throw in the dill and garlic. Then lower in your tomatoes. Splish splash. After a few days in the refrigerator, taste one! You will note that the tomatoes have cracks in them. Gorgeous. I can't imagine anything more beautiful, frankly. But beware--they spurt! All over your keyboard, in fact.

Then, when the brine is tomato-free, you can slice up some cucumbers and throw them in to pickle. A few days later, you have perfect Vinaigrette-making material.



I really liked the apple cider vinegar note of the pickles when in the Vinaigrette. The salad is a bit sweet because of the beets, so my sweeter potatoes and pickles seemed to mesh really well. I don't want to toot my own horn, but that may have been my favorite Salat Vinaigrette, of ever. That may also be because I haven't had any in a long time..

Maybe someday soon I'll make Salat Olivier for you too!

Til then, byebye

-Anna

Bananas 4 this frozen treat

Yumumum.

Roast some bananas (I used 4 smallish ones) for thirty minutes in the oven. They should be cut into bananaslices, and placed on parchment paper. The oven should already be 400F by they time they hop on in there.

Then let them cool, pop them in the freezer, and blend them when frozen! Eat them right away. It's a very filling snack, so share with friends.



See here for the origin of this wonder.
-Anna

Underwhelmed

These aren't my favorites. They were supposed to be great. I took the good bran muffin from before and then swapped greek yogurt for the milk and added a bit of ground almonds and peaches instead of raisins.

Maybe pumpkin pie spice would have made it better. Or almond extract.

I used this recipe .



You know I used a bit more greek yogurt and only 1/2 c. of applesauce for the muffins. Maybe that killed it?

Also maybe frozen peaches are just dumb.
-Amanda

Bake Vs. Gratin

I say bake. This seems simple but actually takes quite a bit of leg work. Got it from here.

Swapped the rice for barley, just cause. Didn't feel like buying rosemary, so that go nixed. I must say I do like the idea of using the chard stalks.



Impressive NY Times. I clap for you. Just a little bit.

-Amanda

Boil, Barley, Boom!

This is really simple and made up. Boil water, rinse barley, put barley in water. For about a 1/2 c. of barley in 2 cups of water that took like 35 minutes. Then chop some carrots, de-stem some spinach, chop some scallions, take the leaves off some thyme and sauté with salt and pepper and a little white cooking wine. Add barley and some grated gouda.

And Bam!




-Amanda

A Brownie Comparison

I tried making brownies once. I failed miserably, but that's all right.

The image above is not a picture of my failure, but it is a funny picture. It's of the second type of brownie being compared here today.

So I met this girl, and she's not on good terms with gluten. That was all the impetus I needed for the first brownie.


Gluten-free Almond Chocolate Brownies!

Thoughts: Very VERY moist. Soggy. If you like fudgier brownies, it'll work out well for your mouth. I liked the taste a lot. I could only eat teeny tiny bits though--pretty sweet and filling.

link to recipe

I tried sub'ing agar flakes for xanthan gum (i read it online somewhere, but i think it was a silly attempt.) My friend at trader joe's led me to the gum section near the registers when I asked for xanthan. Maybe next time!

I didn't have--or want to buy--rice flour, so I made some almond meal and used that instead. So much almond! I also used all of the zest of my orange, so it was just jam-packed with flavor.



This second kind has its fair share of flour.

link to recipe I think I used

I remember so little about this. I was in a frenzied state, cramming carboxylic acids and their derivatives into the corners of my brain for the text the following day. Brownies needed to happen. I'm glad they did--they served me well that week. I'm realizing more and more how important it is for me to have something to tea with regularly.



-Anna

I Made a Recipe!

Whole Wheat Penne with Kale, Onion, Thyme
I found a recipe it called for chard. I used kale. It called for feta. I was going to use goat cheese, but then I decided I didn't feel like opening the container. Then I was going to use a combination of ricotta and not fresh Parmesan. The ricotta had expired over a week before, so it was only Parmesan. It called for red onion sauteed in olive oil. I broke our olive oil container last week and only had a white onion, so I sauteed it in vegetable oil. It called for pine nuts. Pine nuts are expensive, so no. It called for oregano, no oregano, so I used thyme. It called for tomato sauce or canned tomatoes, I'm not a fan and didn't feel like opening up a container regardless.



I think this means I made a new recipe(!) So first chop an onion. Sauté it in a tablespoon of oil. It'll cook so fast if it's vegetable and not olive! While this happening heat up a pot of water to cook the pasta. Once the water is ready put in about 4 or 5 handfuls of whole wheat penne. It usually takes like 15 minutes or so to cook fully. While the water is heating/pasta is cooking take a bunch of kale and tear the good leaves off the stalks into bite-size pieces. Gradually add the kale to the onion pan and make sure the heat is pretty low, say simmer. As the vegetables are cooking add some from thyme and salt and pepper. Stir until the kale is nearly soft, but still bright green. Mix together in a bowl with the cooked pasta and add however much Parmesan you like.

It's real.

-Amanda

The First Lemon Bar Post?

Can it be?

I feel like lemon bars are what I crave making/end up making most often, when I don't have a recipe I specifically shop for. It's usually honey lavender, but these here are going to be nice plain ones. With a guest photo by pro photographer Angela Char.

I used less sugar; still too sweet. This is becoming a recurring problem for me!


When you cut into bars while hot.


When you cut into bars once cool.

And for the grand finale:

Angela's magic.

Recipe: Not sure. It was plain! We googled lemon bars! Maybe you remember, Amanda?

I think powdered sugar all over lemon bars is just frivolous. They are brilliant nude.
-Anna