Food and Things » Recipes

These Rich Sugar Cookie Sandwiches Got Raves

Laura Weiss — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 19:02:14 +0000

I almost tossed the sugar cookies I baked for New Year’s Eve into the garbage. The recipe was from Mark Bittman, the NY Times food writer and cookbook author. The round-faced Bittman is usually a reliable source for most cooking and baking challenges—from how to prepare kale to putting together a no-fail buttery pound cake. But this time, it looked like the trusty Mark had failed me.

A few minutes out of the oven, this particular batch of sugar cookies could have passed for water crackers they were so bland and tasteless. Since I was baking treats for a New Year’s Eve party at Chef Renee Marton’s, I set to work to try to rehabilitate them. (It wasn’t Bittman’s’ fault it was mine; I over-mixed the batter.) For sure, when you bring a dish to a chef’s house, you want to get it right.

I thought to myself, OK, add some sugar and fat. So I rolled each cookie in powdered sugar. I whipped up some chocolate ganache and smeared it between two cookies to create a richly fudgy sandwich. That was the only filling I made. Everything else—the nutella, the dulce de leche, I pulled from my fridge. Then I glommed a tablespoon or so of sauce onto each cookie, smoothed it with a spatula, and smushed two cookies together to create a sandwich.

The result? The powdered sugar boosted the drab little ovoid’s richness and heightened the sweetness just a tad. The filling seeped into the cookies transforming them into sumptuous little morsels. By the time midnight rolled around, my near-disaster cookies were fit to be eaten—even by a chef.

What was the best part of this cookie-making enterprise? When Chef Renee drifted by a little after midnight and announced, “Everyone’s raving about your cookies.”

Click here for Bittman’s sugar cookie recipe or use your own.

Recipe: Spiced Holiday Walnuts

Laura Weiss — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 20:35:05 +0000

Photo: By Family O’Abé via Flickr.

These dressed-up walnuts from Chef Renee Marton are great for the holidays, or any time of year for that matter.

Spiced Holiday Walnuts

Ingredients

2 pounds walnut halves

2 egg whites

½ cup granulated sugar

1.5 tablespoons kosher salt

2 teaspoons ground cardamom

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

zest of one orange

Method

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Line two baking trays (with sides) with parchment paper or foil.

Whisk egg whites until very frothy and fold in spices. Toss walnuts gently with mixture until coating is evenly spread throughout the nuts.

Spread on baking sheets evenly, keeping walnuts flat.

Bake for 8 to 12 minutes until toasted and medium brown.

Cool on baking sheets for 30 minutes, then remove walnuts by “peeling” then off the paper.

Store in a closed container—will stay fresh for about a week. These nuts can be frozen.

Thanksgiving Recipe: Sweet Potatoes But Hold the Marshmallows Please

Laura Weiss — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:24:45 +0000

Photo: By Sifu Renka via flickr.

Sweet Potatoes, a New Way for Thanksgiving

by Chef Renee Marton

I’ve never been a fan of sweet potatoes topped with marshmallows, although I know many people love them.

Here’s a sweet potato recipe that might just make you dump that bag of marshmallows. It’s adapted from a recipe by June restaurant’s Chef Vuoc Long in Seattle. This recipe yields about 4 to 6 servings. It is a little more work than the traditional dish, but really worth the effort.

3 to 4 sweet potatoes (2 pounds after cooking)

2 eggs

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

4 to 5 cups flour

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon minced garlic

3 tablespoons minced shallot

2 to 2 1/2 cups brown chicken or turkey stock

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup frozen pearl onions

½ cup butter

1/4 cup chopped parsley

¼ cup chopped mint

Boil potatoes in salty water until tender. Peel them. While still warm, mash them with salt and pepper, eggs, cheese, and enough flour to make pliable dough, which you roll out into a long cylindrical strip, about 1 inch in diameter.

Cut the strip into one inch pieces and blanch them in salted water until they float to the surface. Reserve them on a plate until you have finished blanching all the pieces of sweet potato dough.

In the meantime, melt the butter and olive oil in a wide saucepan. When butter is sizzling, add shallots. After one minute, add garlic and stir together. Then add dumplings and crisp them a little in the butter/oil mixture, shaking the pan so all sides heat up and crisp. Add the stock and bring to a simmer. Then add pearl onions and peas. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes to thicken the stock and create a “sauce.” When ready to serve, add parsley and mint. Taste for salt and pepper.

You can add strips of Parmesan sprinkled on top.

Black Cat Halloween Cookies

Laura Weiss — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 11:15:45 +0000

While researching Halloween, Chef Renee Marton came across these Black Cat Cookies, a very easy way to make cookie with a black cat design.

For Candy C0rn Halloween Cupcake recipe, click here.

Black Cat Cookies
adapted from Betty Crocker’s Cook Book
for Boys and Girls, 1957

Ingredients

1/3 cup shortening
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg, slightly beaten 
2/3 cup honey 
1 teaspoon vanilla 
2-3/4 cup flour 
1 teaspoon baking soda 
1 teaspoon salt 
flat bottomed glass or small rolling pin
chocolate peppermint wafers - round
semisweet chocolate chips 
toothpick

Thoroughly mix first 5 ingredients. Stir flour, baking soda and salt together and then add to mixture. Blend all together, but don’t overmix. Chill for one hour. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease baking sheet. Roll dough into balls the size of walnuts. Place on cookie sheet. Dip bottom of glass in flour. Use bottom to flatten cookies. Bake for about 8 minutes.

As soon as cookies are removed from oven, place a peppermint wafer slightly off center of each cookie (this will become the main body of the cat). Place two chips close together next to top edge of mint wafer and one at the center of the bottom edge of wafer. With toothpick, using a circular motion, stir the two top chips—one at a time—and drag the toothpick upwards to form the point of the cat’s ear. Repeat. On the bottom chip, with toothpick, shape the melted chocolate into a long tail by pulling the chocolate down and to angle.

Ice Cream Recipes Galore!

Laura Weiss — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 17:12:12 +0000

My friend Virginia Willis, the outstanding cookbook author, food entrepreneur and all-around Food Maestro, offers up these delicious-sounding ice cream recipes. I haven’t tried them yet. But from the buzz online, they sound pretty sensational.

Chill, Baby

Virginia Willis

I’m enjoying my summer. I’ve been trying to chill. Trying. It’s admittedly not always my nature.

One of the many things I am enjoying is that I’ve been making ice cream or sorbet this summer at least 2-3 times a week. Read more here.

Three Great Recipes for An All-Tomato Dinner

Laura Weiss — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 15:36:16 +0000

Heirloom Tomatoes. Photo: Laura B. Weiss

At this time of year, there’s no such thing as too many tomatoes. Try these Chef Renee Marton’s recipes that celebrate that luscious summer fruit.

Make each dish individually.

Or go wild and have an all-tomato dinner! Why not? Summer will be over soon and we’ll all be struggling through a tomato drought until summer rolls around again next year.

Summer Tomato Dinner

Serves 4

1. Tomato Rum Punch

2. Tomato, Corn and Flowers Salad with Tomato Toast

3 Tomato Upside Down Cake with Tomato Jam Filling

1. Tomato Rum Punch

This recipe is a riff on lassi- the Indian fruit and yogurt drink—but with an alcohol kick.

4 round tomatoes, cored and peeled (after coring, briefly dunk tomatoes in boiling water. Then remove skin and discard it. Squeeze tomatoes to remove seeds)

4 large basil leaves

juice of two limes

1 teaspoon honey

1 cup rice milk

1 cup dark rum

1 chili pepper—if you like it hot.

Blend everything except the rum in a blender (not a food processor) until well mixed and pourable. If it is thicker than you want, add a little more rice milk. Don’t forget that the rum will thin it down.

4 highball glasses filled with ice.

Divide the rum between the 4 glasses.

Fill with tomato punch and stir. Garnish with a sprig of mint.

2. Tomatoes and Corn, Chives and Nasturtiums, with Tomato Toast

4 red round tomatoes, cored and sliced thickly

2 large shallots or 4 scallions, finely diced, rinsed off under cold water

2 ears of sweet white or yellow corn, shucked

½ cup excellent olive oil

½ teaspoon sea salt

Freshly ground pepper

big handful of chopped chives, including flowers

big handful of nasturtium leaves and flowers

Lay tomatoes on a platter and sprinkle salt over them.Mix everything else together, and place over tomatoes. Leave at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes.

Serve at room temperature with toast.

Tomato Toast

1 baguette, sliced in half lengthwise, toasted

2 cloves of garlic

1-2 tomatoes cut in half crosswise

Salt and olive oil to taste

Rub a cut clove of garlic over each half of baguette until it is mostly gone. Then rub each piece of bread with a tomato half, cut side down, so the juice and some of the pulp drench the bread. Sprinkle lightly with salt and a drizzle of olive oil.

Serve with the tomato and corn salad.

3. Tomato Upside Down Cake

Recipe by Patricia Eddy, adapted by Renee Marton

1 firm, ripe tomato

2 ounces butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup tomato jam (recipe below)

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

4 ounces butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Slice the tomato into 1/8th inch slices.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.

Melt 2 ounces of butter in a small pan, add the brown sugar and heat until it is all melted and mixed together. Pour into a 9-inch cake pan or pie plate.

Lay the tomato slices on top of sugar/butter mixture so the slices are touching, but not overlapping. They should fill up most of the space. Gently spread 1 cup of the jam over the tomatoes.

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or large bowl with a hand-held mixer), beat the 4 ounces of butter and ½ cup sugar for five minutes, until creamy and light colored. Beat in eggs, one at a time alternating with half of flour mixture Beat gently until just blended. A couple of lumps are okay. Scrape the batter down from the sides of the bowl and beat again until just combined.

Spread the batter evenly over the tomatoes and jam. This will be a little tricky, but place small dollops spaced evenly and spread them out flattened a bit.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the cake comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes, then place a plate on top of the pan and invert cake onto the plate. Do this quickly oR there will be drips.

Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

Tomato Jam

1 quart cherry or plum tomatoes, coarsely diced

1 thin-skinned lemon, seeds removed and very thinly sliced. (If you can’t find a thin-skinned lemon, remove the peel with a peeler and chop finely, eliminate the white pith, and slice the pulp—keep as much juice as possible).

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup water

Combine everything in a medium saucepan- not an aluminum pan. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring once in a while, Continue simmering until thickened. Remember that the mixture will thicken more, as it cools. Cool before using in cake recipe.

Blueberry Pancake Eating Contest at Fairway Upper West Side

Laura Weiss — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 13:51:57 +0000

Blueberry pancakes are a snap. But if you’re too lazy to make your own. Or if you’ve turned your spatula into a back scratcher and your frying pan into a planter, then this Fairway blueberry eating contest is for you.

And if I’ve shamed you into cooking up some blueberry pancakes, here’s a great recipe from 101 Cookbooks. I use whole wheat pastry flour to make them extra-healthy.

July 4 Recipe: Red, White and Blue Soup

Laura Weiss — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 20:50:35 +0000

By yogamam.co.uk via flickr.

Red, White and Blue Soup sounds kind of, well, trite when it comes to a July 4 recipe. But, really, this is a colorful and healthy sweet/tart starter for any July 4 meal, says Chef Renee. There are a lot of ingredients, but the prep couldn’t be easier. All you need is a knife, a cutting board and a blender, and you’re good to go.

July 4 Recipe: Red, White and Blue Soup

Yield: 6 servings

RED

Soup base:

1 red seedless watermelon, peeled and cubed. Save all the juice.

½ cup grenadine

Juice and zest from 2 lemons

1 cup white grape juice

1 teaspoon white sugar

½ teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon ground white pepper

Place all ingredients in a blender. Don’t fill blender more than halfway. Blend the mixture until it is fully liquefied. This will take 2-3 minutes.

Refrigerate for at least one hour and stir periodically. The soup should taste sweet and tart.

WHITE

1 cup plain yogurt

1 tablespoon honey

1 lime, juice only

Mix all together and refrigerate for one hour. Put into a squeeze bottle, or you can use a spoon to make dollops onto the soup when you serve it.

BLUE. This is the “salsa” that will garnish the soup.

½ pint blackberries, coarsely chopped

1 pint blueberries, coarsely chopped

1 medium shallot, peeled, finely diced

3 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

6 mint leaves, shredded into thin strips

1 teaspoon white sugar

pinch salt

pinch pepper

1 lemon, zest and juiced.

Mix all the ingredients of ‘Blue” together and wait an hour—keep at room temperature.

When ready to serve the soup, remove it and yogurt from the refrigerator 15 minutes ahead of when you plan to serve it.

Stir soup well, and pour into 6 chilled wide soup bowl.

If you are using a squeeze bottle, make a design on top of the soup, or with a spoon place a dollop of yogurt in center of soup.

Place a spoonful of blueberry “salsa” on top of yogurt.

Garnish each bowl of soup with a sprig of mint.

A Man-Pleasing Recipe for Father’s Day: Bacon Chive Rice

Laura Weiss — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 17:31:51 +0000

Bacon. Photo: by shawnzam via flickr.

This man pleasing bacon and rice recipe for Father’s Day—or any day you want to please your man—comes from a 1971 booklet called Man-pleasing Recipes, published by the Rice Council of America.

The cover photo, explains Chef Renee, shows a huge rare roast beef, along side a casserole of colorful seasoned rice. You can also pair this bacony rice with gazpacho and a salad.

As for the bacon? A recent study revealed that Americans eat more bacon today than at any time in the last 15 years!

Bacon Chive Rice

INGREDIENTS

3 slices bacon, diced

3 cups cooked rice

¼ cup chopped chives

½ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

METHOD

Cook bacon until crisp. Add rice, chives and seasonings. Blend well and heat thoroughly.

Makes 6 servings.

Mother’s Day Cupcakes with Organge Buttercream Icing

Laura Weiss — Tue, 03 May 2011 01:31:44 +0000

Orange Cupcake. By abakedcre via flickr.

Chef Renee concocted these cupcakes, sure to please Mom on her special day. Combine with a gift certificate to a day spa, and you’ll have one happy mother.

Orange, Pecan and Toasted Coconut Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350°F.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tsp. baking powder

pinch salt

1 cup butter, room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup coarsely ground pecans (don’t overprocess, or they will become oily)

Zest of 1 orange

4 eggs

1/3 cup orange juice

1 cup shredded coconut, toasted (5-7 minutes at 350F)

1 cup chopped pecans, toasted (same as above)

METHOD

Line two cupcake pans with cupcake papers (24 cupcakes)

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, using an electric beater, cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy.

Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Reducing the speed of the mixer, alternatively add the flour with ground pecans and orange juice. Mix until just blended.

Portion the batter between the cupcake holders. Don’t overfill the cups– the cupcakes will rise, and you need room for the icing later. Bake 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Do not overcook.

Transfer cupcake pans to racks and cool for 15 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and cool completely.

Fast Orange Buttercream Icing

8 oz. unsalted butter, softened

4 oz. granulated white sugar

2-4 oz. orange juice

1 egg yolk

pinch of salt

1 cup powdered sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2 Tbsp Cointreau or Grand Marnier

Zest of 1 orange

In a food processor or with an electric mixer, add the butter, egg yolk and granulated sugar. Blend until well incorporated and fluffy. Slowly add powdered sugar and 2 ounces of orange juice in alternating amounts. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as you work. Add salt, vanilla, orange zest and liqueur.

If the mixture is not easily spreadable, add the other 2 ounces of orange juice, one ounce at a time. Mix well, and taste for seasoning.

Decorate each cupcake with the icing, and sprinkle with toasted pecans and toasted coconut.