snow days and molasses cookies

Truth is, I still think snow is magical- the flutter of winter air and the flawlessness of it all. It never tires on me. I love how it makes the city all kinds of pretty. Sort of like the perfect outfit- you know, the one you’ve kept in your closet for years. The one that has the ability to hide the less than perfect bits and enhance all else.

When it snows like this in Seattle, it seems as though the world almost pauses. We forget the normal for a little. Kids sled down the street, work slows down a bit, hot drinks are sipped, and cookies are baked. Which, really, is a perfect time to tell you about the ones I made this weekend.

Snappy and sweet with a good punch of spice and sticky with molasses- Martha really comes through with these. I should maybe tell you that because of their lacy bite and chewy centers, they make excellent bookends for a big spoonful of ice cream. But I won’t, because it would be dangerous. Okay?

I hope that these keep your bellies full for a while, friends, because I am going on vacation(!)  in two days (!) Hope you all have a lovely week.

Chewy Molasses Spice Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups sugar, divided

¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 large egg

¼ cup molasses

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Place ½ cup of the sugar in a shallow bowl and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and remaining cup of sugar until combined. Add egg and continue to beat until fully combined. Then add molasses until combined. Reduce speed to low and gradually mix in dry ingredients until a soft dough forms.

Scoop up dough one tablespoon at a time and roll into a ball. Roll each ball in reserved sugar to coat. Arrange balls of dough on prepared baking sheet, about 3 inches apart. Bake, one sheet at a time, until the edges of cookies just become firm (about 10-15 minutes). Cool one minute on baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe by Martha Stewart

roasted brussels sprouts with lemony browned butter

One of my favorite things about winter is the return of brussels sprouts.

It wasn’t always this way. I used to live in a world where the mere thought of a sprout crossing my lips would send me running. I’m not sure when the change took place but these days I am always happy to make their acquaintance. I’ve been stuck on the same recipe for awhile and was pretty much ready to rest on my laurels when I came across Molly Stevens version in her latest book All About Roasting.

You start by oven roasting a pile of brussels sprouts, which if you are me already has you sold. Once you have them browned on one side and shiny emerald green on the other.  You bang them around with a little browned butter and add some lemon to close the deal. The butter is sweet and nutty and belies the earthy bitterness of the brussels sprouts. Topped with a little parmesan and scooped up on a hunk of crusty bread, they might be all you need for a warm dinner on a cool night.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Lemony Browned Butter

Molly's original recipe calls for mustard seeds and capers.
I had none at the time but I would imagine both would pair beautifully with this dish. 

1 pound brussels sprouts, trimmed
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1-2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, plus more if needed

freshly shaved parmesan to taste

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat to 425 degrees F. Line a heavy-duty rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Depending on their size, cut the Brussels sprouts in halves or quarters; you want them to be small enough to be bite-sized. Place in a large bowl and toss with the olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Arrange the sprouts in a single layer on the baking sheet. Don't worry if some of the leaves fall off, they will crisp up and add a lovely crunch to the dish.

Roast the brussels sprouts in the oven, turning once or twice with a heat-proof spatula, until the sprouts are tender throughout and smaller bits or leaves that have fallen off are browned and crunchy, 20 to 25 minutes. Test for doneness by piercing a sprout with the tip of a paring knife, or simply eat a piece right off a handy fork.

Meanwhile, make the browned butter. Melt the butter in a small skillet or heavy saucepan (it should be no more than 6 inches across or the butter will burn). Cook over medium heat until the butter is melted. Increase the heat to medium-high, and cook, watching the pan carefully and swirling frequently, until the butter begins to foam, turns golden brown, and begins to give off a nutty scent (about 2 minutes).  Add the lemon juice (the butter will sizzle) and immediately remove from the heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste and keep warm until the Brussels sprouts are ready.

Transfer the Brussels sprouts to a serving dish and add the browned butter. Toss to coat. Taste for salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Add the shaved parmesan to taste and serve immediately. 

Adapted from All About Roasting by Molly Stevens

This weekend I flew home to Arizona to spend some time with my family. We celebrated new transitions and birthdays and we unwrapped presents under a makeshift holiday ficus tree.

Oh, and my mom finally made me clean out my childhood closet. You wouldn’t  believe the things I found: so many old pictures, and boxes of hand written letters, playbills, and vacation mementos, and well hidden bottles of booze (we had a good laugh about that one).  

It was strange going through all those memories- emotional, and funny, and exhausting all wrapped up in one small closet. It got me thinking, though, about how easily things are lost. Of how memories and feelings sometimes falter in the space from one decade to the next.

And you know what else? It sort of reminded me that life is more or less just a collection of moments. Moments that lead to a collection of events that lead to the stories that make up our lives. Its sort of a simple thought but I found it comforting.

And I’m glad that I have this blog to record some of those memories because I don’t think I’ll ever have enough closet space to store them all.

perfect bourbon sidecar

Have I ever told you about Sun Liquor? It’s this lovely little bar right down the street from our apartment. It’s the kind of place where you walk up to the counter, tell the bartender what you feel like, and let him go crazy. It’s also the kind of place where even the simplest of cocktails are made with the utmost precision.

It was here, not too long ago, that I discovered my love for bourbon. You see, I had a habit of turning my nose up at anything brown in the liquor department- blame it on too much spiced rum in college. But those Sun Liquor bartenders can be quite persuasive and when I said I wanted a drink with citrus, he said he was making a bourbon sidecar, and there were no two ways about it- I’m a real pushover, I know.

I apprehensively took that first sip and then I immediately had to have another. It seems that, when paired with freshly squeezed citrus, bourbon isn’t all that bad. In fact, it's really quite good. That same week I went out and bought my very own bottle of bourbon, vowing to give it another chance- which I did, several times over. So really, in a way, the Sun Liquor sidecar has been my gateway drug for many a bourbon cocktail. In fact, its what I’m going to be drinking for the rest of the winter. Starting riiiight… now.

Perfect Bourbon Sidecar

At home, I typically serve this drink in whatever glass I can find, but at Sun Liquor, they put it in a pretty sugar-lined martini glass. To be honest, I like it so much that I would most likely drink it out of the bartenders cupped hands, so feel free to serve it any way you like.

1 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice plus extra for rim of glass

1 ounce good bourbon ( I like Bulleit)

1 ounce Cointreau

Sugar for rim of glass (optional)

Prepare your glass by rubbing the rim with a little lemon juice. If desired, place glass rim side down on a plate with sugar and twirl it around until the edge of glass is lightly covered in sugar. Fill a shaker with ice and add the lemon juice, bourbon, and Cointreau. Put the lid on tight, flex your muscles, and shake the heck out of it- this will get you the pretty pieces of ice on the surface of your drink. Fill your glass and sip away. Recipe makes one cocktail.

Recipe from The New York Times

**Congrats to Jaclyn from Cooking Classy for winning the Eleven Madison Park Cookbook!! If you haven't seen her lovely blog head on over and check it out now!!

blood orange yogurt cake

I spent some time yesterday staring out the kitchen window and wondering at what comes next.

The number of ways I am nervous about the transitions ahead are too many to count. I wish I could accept change more easily.

I'm rolling with it.

Lucky for me, cake helps. Especially a sturdy, rustic one like this. The citrus is bright and warming and the course crumb is perfect for an evening snack or paired with your morning coffee.

Yes. I ate cake for breakfast. What? Did you want me to let it go stale? 

Blood Orange Yogurt Cake

The original recipe calls for pink grapefruit verses the blood oranges. I would imagine this cake would do well with any citrus. I'm thinking about making it again with tangerines. I also substituted a cup of all purpose flour for whole wheat flour. This was in part because I ran out of all purpose flour halfway through baking but also because I love the the rustic texture and nutty flavor it gives to cakes.

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 cup greek yogurt

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup freshly squeezed blood orange juice

1 tablespoon blood orange zest

(Both the juice and zest will most likely require about 2 medium blood oranges)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 tablespoons powdered sugar

(plus extra for garnish)

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease a medium-sized loaf pan and set aside. You can also use a 10-inch spring form or bundt pan. Just be sure to grease and flour well.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In another medium bowl combine the granulated sugar and blood orange zest. Make sure your hands are clean then rub the zest into the sugar until it is nice and fragrant.

In a large bowl or in the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugar/zest mixture until they are thick and pale yellow. Add the yogurt, oil, 1 tablespoon of the blood orange juice, and vanilla extract. Continue to mix until well combined. Add the flour mixture and stir to combine (if using an electric mixer, use the paddle attachment to combine the flour).

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a rubber spatula ( I forgot to do this and the top of my cake was lump city!). Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a wooden skewer comes out clean when inserted near the center. Place the pan on a wire rack for about 10 minutes to cool. Run a knife around the edge of pan to loosen the cake and then ease out of pan. I just turned my loaf pan upside down. The cake was sturdy enough to be flipped right back over. Continue to cool completely on the wire rack.

In a small saucepan, combine the powdered sugar and the remaining blood orange juice and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, or until the glaze is just slightly thickened. Remove from heat.

To finish the cake, place it on your serving plate. Pierce the cake all over the top with a skewer and pour the warm glaze slowly over the cake, using a pastry brush to help guide where it goes.

Cake can be stored at room temperature, wrapped well for about 2 days.

Adapted from  The Greyston Bakery Cookbook via  Joy the Baker

Eleven Madison Park: The Cookbook and Gougères

Some people become free spirits the moment they enter the kitchen. And let me be clear about this, I am not one of them. I was the seven-year-old who, when baking cookies, decided that salt could be substituted for sugar because, you know, they pretty much look the same.

In this fashion, I learned to cook by falling, getting up, and trying again. To this day I continue to crave organization and structure in the kitchen. I follow recipes so closely at times that I’m pretty sure if a step said “spread sauce on face”, I would do just that.

Enter the Eleven Madison Park Cookbook…

It is, in a word, stunning. Luminous photographs grace the sturdy matte paper making it a perfect book for both kitchen and coffee table.

Written by Chef Daniel Humm and manager Will Guidara, it’s exactly what you would expect from the award winning restaurant located on countless bucket lists. The recipes focus on fresh and seasonal ingredients and although they are geared towards a higher kitchen skill (and kitchen gadget budget) there’s a lot that the average home cook can take away. The layering of the flavors and the attention to detail is inspiring, walking a beautifully fine line between simple and complex.  It’s the kind of cookbook that makes you want to be a better cook, sending you back into the kitchen to try and try again.

Oh, and it can be yours!

Just leave me a comment either here and/or on my facebook page and let me know that you want it. I’ll pick a winner at random and make an announcement a week from today.


**Update! Congrats to Jaclyn from Cooking Classy for winning this giveaway. Check out her lovely site whenever you have a chance!!  

Gougères

makes 32

When I first read through this cookbook, I thought,  1) its gorgeous and 2) I will never in my life be able to cook anything from it. However, upon second glance, I noticed that there are a lot of recipes, and pieces of recipes, that are just perfect for any home cook. Take these Gougères, for example. They are nothing short of dreamy with a light custardy crumb. And although I followed the recipe (as usual) to a tee, there are a lot of options to de-fancify them. For instance, regular old sea salt will do just fine in place of the fleur de sel, and I would imagine that a sharp cheddar would replace the Gruyere beautifully. The excess dough freezes well too. I divided mine up between several baggies making it perfect for pulling out to defrost whenever the mood strikes.

2/3 cup butter

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1 pinch cayenne pepper

2 cups bread flour

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons grated Gruyere cheese

5 eggs

1 egg yolk

1/3 cup cream

Fleur de sel

Preheat the oven to 425 F and line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium saucepan, bring 1 1/3 cups of water to a boil with the butter, salt, nutmeg, and cayenne. Add the flour and incorporate with a spoon as the mixture thickens. Cook the dough on the stove for about 2 minutes over medium heat.

Place 1 cup of the Gruyere in a medium bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the cooked dough to the cheese and mix until the dough stops steaming.

In a separate mixing bowl whisk together the eggs, egg yolk, and cream. Add the egg mixture 1/3 cup at a time to the dough. Fully incorporate each addition before adding the next.

After all of the eggs have been incorporated, transfer the dough to the prepared baking sheet. To do this you can either use a piping bag, fitted with a pastry tip with a 1/2 inch round opening, or simply scoop the Gougères into silver-dollar-sized heaps. Top each Gougère with a pinch of the remaining 2 tablespoons Gruyere and a sprinkle the fleur de sel. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until golden brown. Serve warm.