Recipes

[Elizabeth Bear]

Because we needed another food thread!

[CJ]

A favorite recipe.  When they're freezing, beware large phallic objects jumping out of your freezer on unsuspecting guests!  This happened on Friday, to hilarious results.

Mexican Chocolate Icebox Cookies
 
1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Generous pinch finely ground black pepper
Generous pinch of cayenne
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup sugar (or 1/2 cup white and 1/2 cup brown)
1 egg (large or extra-large)
 

Sift together flour, cocoa powder, salt, pepper, cayenne and cinnamon and set aside. Cream the butter. Add vanilla and sugar and beat to mix thoroughly. Beat in the egg, then gradually add the sifted dry ingredients, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula and beating only until mixed. Lightly flour your preferred dough-working surface. Turn dough out onto said surface, and shape into a cylinder, 10″ long by 2″ in diameter. Wrap the dough log in wax paper, and freeze until firm. You may keep the dough log in the freezer for up to two months. When you’re ready to bake the cookies, preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Unwrap the dough, and use a sharp, heavy knife to cut 1/4″ thick slices. Place the slices 1 1/2″ - 2″ apart on unbuttered cookie sheets.  Bake 10-11 minutes.

[ribby]

A favorite recipe.  When they're freezing, beware large phallic objects jumping out of your freezer on unsuspecting guests!  This happened on Friday, to hilarious results.

Oh lord, yes!  I've got a roll of my Lemon Butter Wafers in my freezer... and the score so far is Cookies 2, Kris 0. 

I use this same recipe (it's Maida Heatter's, yes?), and I've found if you're lazy, like me, and don't want to wait for the dough to chill, you can also just use a cookie-scoop on the non-chilled dough and use your fingers or the bottom of a greased and sugared glass to flatten them. 

~Kris

[ribby]

Lemon Butter Wafers

I got these from Fine Cooking magazine's Christmas issue a couple of years back, and they've been a big hit with everyone who's tasted them.  The original recipe was for lemon-lime wafers, but I liked straight lemon best.  Even people who don't like lemon like these!  Best of all, they make a *ton* of cookies, and the dough will keep in the fridge... perfect for guests or those times when you want a little smackerel of something but don't want to work!

2-1/4 cups unbleached flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound (1 cup, 2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons fesh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl.  In a medium bowl, either by hand or with a mixer, cream the butter until soft.  Add the zest and mix until well blended.  Add 1 cup of the sugar in a steady stream and beat until light and well blended (about 2 minutes in a mixer, ~5 minutes by hand).  Blend in the lemon juice and vanilla.  If using a mixer, reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in two additions, mixing just until blended.

Tear off two 15-inch lengths of plastic wrap or wax paper.  Put the remaining 1/4 cup sugar into a long, shallow pan (I use a 11x7 Pyrex rectangular dish).  Shape one half of the dough into a log about 10 inches long and roll in the sugar to coat thoroughly.  Roll tightly in the plastic wrap or waxed paper, pressing the edges of the dough in as you go to compact it a little--the finished roll should be about 9 inches long and about 1-1/2 inches thick.  Repeat with the remaining dough.  Refrigerate until firm enough to slice, about 2-1/2 hours, or freeze for up to three months.

To bake:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper.  Slice one log at a time, leaving the other in the fridge.  Slice into about 1/8 inch thick rounds and place on the baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake for about 8-10 minutes, turning the sheets halfway through and rotating them top to bottom, until they're a light golden brown at the edges and on the bottom.  These burn relatively easily, so watch them carefully for the last few minutes.  You'll probably end up (as I do) with the few on the edge being done before the ones in the middle--pull them off the sheet and put the others in for a minute or so more (but remember to set the timer!).

Makes about 8 dozen cookies, depending on how thick you slice them.

Enjoy! 
~Kris

[Elizabeth Bear]

Hungry now.

[AndrewJ]

An old family favorite, Chocolate Cottage Pudding with Foamy Sauce:

Chocolate Cottage Pudding:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 4 Tbsp cocoa
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 cup milk

Cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Sift the dry ingredients together. Add the dry ingredients alternately to the wet with milk. Bake in a greased pan at 350^oF for about 20 minutes. Serve warm with a drizzle (or a dollop) of Foamy Sauce.

Foamy Sauce:

• 1 cup sifted powdered sugar
• 5 Tbsp to 1/2 cup butter
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg white
• 1/8 tsp salt
• Optional: substitute rum for vanilla

Beat the butter until soft. Add sugar slowly and beat until well blended. Beat in the egg yolk and the vanilla. Place over hot water. Beat and cook until yolk has thickened slightly. Beat the egg white with salt until stiff. Fold the egg white into the hot sauce.

[elsie]

Gods, you are all making me very hungry, and I don't even eat sugar anymore!  Hmmm, I guess I need to find some hi-calorie no-sugar stuff with which to retaliate ...   


elsie

[Emma Bull]

Retaliation is the sincerest form of flattery.

[ribby]

Gods, you are all making me very hungry, and I don't even eat sugar anymore!  Hmmm, I guess I need to find some hi-calorie no-sugar stuff with which to retaliate ...   

Oh, please do retaliate away... that'll give me more reason to post more recipes!     Like I *need* more reason...

~Kris

[mocknot]

Oooh, these all sound so good.

This is the only complicated thing I can cook, because I like lemon meringue pie a lot, but store-bought just doesn't cut it.

Lemon Meringue Pie

Somehow acquire a 9" gram-cracker pie crust
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups water
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup corn starch
1/3 cup water
4 eggs--separated
1/2 cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
1 tsp grated lemon peal*
3 tblspn butter
1/4 tsp cream of tarter
1/2 cup sugar

First, make lemon part: Combine 1 1/2 cup sugar, 1 1/2 cup water, and salt into sauce pan, bring to boil, and stir it a bit. Mix cornstarch and 1/3 cup water until smooth. Add cornstarch water to the boiling sugar water, stirring constantly. Cook until it becomes thick and clear (keep boiling, keep stirring).

Remove from heat

Combine egg yoke (beaten) and lemon juice. Stir into ^ mixture.

Return pan to heat, stir constantly until it boils again.

Remove from heat, and stir in lemon peal* and butter, until the butter melts.

Set aside until lukewarm, than put mixture in your pie shell. If it needs to be baked, that should be done first, but I don't think gram-cracker ones usually do.

Meringue: Very important, you CANNOT get any egg yoke in the whites. Separating the eggs is the part of this recipe most prone to disaster, or at least a huge mess.

Beat egg whites and cream of tarter until frothy.

Gradually add 1/2 cup sugar, keep beating until the whites form soft peaks (looks sort of like whipped cream). Pile it on top of the pie.

Bake @ 350 for 15 min or until meringue is lightly browned.


*I recommend preparing this before hand, as it's a huge pain to do without any nifty kitchen things, and almost every time I've made this I've forgotten and had to be frantically picking the peal out of the grater with a toothpick while in the middle of doing all this. So yeah, you can leave the mixture off heat for a bit and it'll be ok.

[elsie]

The drool level around my computer is getting dangerously high ...

I'll retaliate after I get back from Balticon.  I'm having to pack tonight because we're going to see Indiana Jones tomorrow night - yay! - and then Friday it's a ridiculous 20-minute trip to the con.   


elsie

[Emma Bull]

Balticon is this weekend? Balticon always used to be Easter weekend! Nobody tells me anything!

(And hey, that's the Anomalous Crimes Task Force's back yard. Are you the only delta attending?)

--Sincerely,
Off-topic Lass

[sleary]

OK, breaking out of desserts: Parmesan-crusted salmon for two (though easily doubled or halved). I was not a huge fan of Dijon mustard before trying this, but it's awesome -- and it does good things for a bland salmon.

3/4 lb. salmon, in two fillets
2 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp. Italian bread crumbs
2 Tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley (dried will do if your produce section is as pitiful as mine)
2 small garlic cloves, diced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
some Dijon mustard (we like to use Jack Daniels honey Dijon)

Place the salmon in a baking dish. Coat the top with a thinnish layer of mustard, as much as seems good to you. Mix the Parmesan, bread crumbs, parsley, garlic, and olive oil in a small bowl, and spread the mixture on top of the fish. Bake at 400° for about 20 minutes, or until the thickest part of the salmon is done.

Brianna's New American dressing goes great with this if you're serving a salad; it's tangy enough to stand up to the mustard.

[jennythe_reader]

Balticon is this weekend? Balticon always used to be Easter weekend! Nobody tells me anything!

(And hey, that's the Anomalous Crimes Task Force's back yard. Are you the only delta attending?)

--Sincerely,
Off-topic Lass

Nope, I'll be there too.

[dancing crow]

To quote Brother Chaz: This is my brownie recipe. There are many brownie recipes in the world, but this one is mine, and I like it. Also I remember it without the cookbook. It is simple, and scales well. I have used it to make 2 brownies. I have also used it to make 5000 brownies. That was several batches, but it worked, and worked well. I was proud.

dry:
  1.5 cup sugar
  .75 cup flour

wet:
  6 Tablespoons butter, melted
  3 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted
  1 oz really awesome semi-sweet chocolate, melted
  3 eggs
  some vanilla

mix thoroughly, bake 300 degrees F for 45 mins or thereabouts, until edges pull away from pan and the center doesn't feel squoogy when touched. 

The better the ingredients (chocolate, butter, fresh eggs) the better the resulting brownie. These are unleavened, so they work for Passover. They are quite dense, but with a little extra time in the oven they get cakeyier.