Molasses Cookies

Yes, lots of cookies lately...this is what happens when I don't get to blog for a while lol!  Anyhow, these are actually the most recent ones I made a couple of days ago.  If you like the molasses cookies that you can find in the cookie aisle at the grocery store, you will love these.  My brother thinks they are even better than those :)

Link to original recipe:
http://www.midwestliving.com/recipe/molasses-cookies/

Ingredients:

2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. ground allspice
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. butter flavored shortening
1 c. packed dark brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 c. molasses

1/4 c. sugar (for coating)

Instructions:

1. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and salt.  Set aside.

2. In bowl of stand mixer (or other electric mixer), beat shortening for 30 seconds.

3. Add brown sugar and beat until combined and somewhat fluffy.

4. Beat in egg and molasses.

5. Add flour mixture gradually while mixing on low speed until all is just combined.

6. Cover and chill for 1-2 hours.

7. Heat oven to 350°F.  Prepare baking sheets with parchment paper or lightly coat with non-stick spray.

8. Place sugar in small bowl.  Form dough into 1 inch balls and roll in sugar to coat.

9. Place dough balls, 2 inches apart, on prepared baking sheet.

10. Bake for 8-10 minutes (I went just a few seconds over 8 each time).  Cool on sheet for 2 minutes after removing from oven before transferring to rack to cool completely.

11. Store in airtight container and enjoy!

(A Lot Of) Chocolate Brownie Cookies

Got excess chocolate just hanging around, begging to be used up?  Here's a great recipe for that lol.  Seriously, these are over-the-top chocolatey.  And had I not messed up the first step somewhat, I bet even more so.  Yeah, about that...I was trying to make these in a hurry of sorts, soooo...as tends to be the case, mistakes are made when doing so.  Silly me, I did not think about the butter and chocolate "cooking" together when trying to melt in the microwave (instead of going stovetop).  Likely would have been ok if I'd have just melted the chocolate by itself and then added in the butter, but no, that's not what I did, but, by dang, I made it work for me anyway.  The cookies still tasted fabulous, and even the first under-done batch was consumed hastily by other members of the house :)

Here is the original recipe:
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/chocolate-brownie-cookies

Ingredients:

1 lb. (16 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 T. unsalted butter
4 large eggs, room temperature (yes, this is necessary)
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. all-purpose flour, sifted
1/2 tsp. baking powder
12 oz. semisweet chocolate chips


Instructions:

1. In a double boiler (see note above on why not to use the microwave), melt the 16 oz. of chocolate chips.  Stir in the butter after the chocolate has melted, then remove top part of double boiler from bottom.  Set aside.
(this is how mine looked--not nearly as smooth as should be, I'm sure)

2. Add eggs and sugar to a large mixing bowl. Beat with a handheld electric mixer on medium speed, until thick and pale.

3. Beat in the vanilla and salt.

4. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the melted chocolate.

5. Fold in the flour and baking powder.

6. Stir in the 12 oz. of chocolate chips.

7. Place in freezer for 1 hour.

8. Heat oven to 350°F.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

9. Use a cookie scoop to portion 1.5 to 2 T. size mounds on the prepared baking sheets (original recipe calls for 2 T, but I used 1.5 T and worked fine), 2 inches apart.

10.  Bake for 10 minutes or until cookies are dry around edges and cracked on top (be careful! I went 12 minutes on first batch and they still were not quite done (didn't look it, but thought maybe tops were cracked enough).  Ended up going 14 on the other two and they were correct.)

first batch after removing from oven:

first/underdone batch after cooled on sheet:

11. After removing from oven, leave on cookie sheet for 10 more minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

12. Store in airtight container and enjoy!  *Note: after a couple of days, they had gotten a little hard--microwave for 10 seconds and they are great again!*

Lemon Crinkles

For those that are friends with me on Facebook, no, I did not make these while sick lol.  I love baking and all--but the cold has got me down for the count.  These were made a few days before the stupid cold took over.
As my mom pointed out to me when I told her about these, yes, you can make them from a lemon cake mix, too.  While I am a huge fan of cake mix cookies (I adore fudge crinkles far too much...), I wanted to give these a shot to see how they would turn out.  They are very yummy and stayed moist/soft for all the days after until they were gone--winner!  I'll have to try with a cake mix to compare for sure, though :D

I only modified slightly, as evidenced below in recipe notes.

Original recipe:
http://www.cookingclassy.com/2014/06/lemon-crinkle-cookies/

Ingredients:

2 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
10 T. unsalted butter, softened
1 c. plus 2 T. granulated sugar
1 T. lemon zest
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 T. fresh lemon juice
3/4 tsp. lemon extract
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
yellow food coloring (optional; I used Wilton food coloring gel)
1/2 c. powdered sugar (for coating)

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F.* (I ended up refrigerating my dough and will probably do so the next time I make these as well, so might want to wait on heating the oven.)

2. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.

3. In bowl of stand mixer, cream butter, sugar, and lemon zest until pale and fluffy.

4. Mix in the egg and egg yolk.

5. Add lemon juice, lemon extract, vanilla extract and food coloring.  Mix until well combined.

6. Gradually mix in dry ingredients mixture at low speed until just combined.

* The dough is to be rolled in balls and coated in powdered sugar.  Mine was very soft still yet, so I put it in the fridge for 15 minutes.  I should have gone longer, as it was still not 'shapeable'.   I ended up just dropping it from tablespoons into the powdered sugar and rolling it in there to form sort-of ball shaped lumps. *  ...and I forgot to take baking stage pix...d'oh!

7. Prepare cookie sheets by covering with parchment paper.

8. Place powdered sugar in a bowl, roll dough into balls and toss in the sugar to coat.  Transfer to cookie sheet, placed 2 inches apart.

9. Bake for 10-13 min.* (Mine still looked underdone, so I went closer to 15 min.)

10. Cool on baking sheet for at least 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

11. Store in tightly covered container and enjoy!

Spice-Rubbed Braised Chicken Thighs

It has been far too long since my last entry, ugh!  I've been as busy as I predicted a few posts back; again, my apologies.  I do hope to do better once June gets here and school is out...
Anyhow, I've done a couple of recipes that I intend to blog soon, but the most recent one is the one I wanted to start with because mmmmm!  So yummy!  The spice mixture is such a different combination, and despite the level of crushed red pepper, it's still not overwhelmingly hot (I would rate it between mild and medium spicy, but I don't eat a lot of extremely spicy stuff all that often).

Original recipe link:
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/spice-rubbed-chicken-thighs

Ingredients:

1/2 T. coriander seeds
1/4 star anise pod (2 'points')
1/2 T. whole black peppercorns, cracked
1 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 T. kosher salt
8 chicken thighs (bone-in, skin-on)
1/4 c. canola oil
1 large Spanish onion, thinly sliced
1 large leek, white and tender green parts only, thinly sliced
2 plum tomatoes, chopped
3 thyme sprigs
3 oregano sprigs
1 c. dry red wine (I used Bogle vineyards Merlot--very nice!)
1 c. water
1 T. red wine vinegar
1 T. honey
dried parsley (for garnish)

Instructions:

1. In a small skillet, toast the coriander, star anise, cracked peppercorns, and crushed red pepper over medium heat.  Shake the pan occasionally, cooking until fragrant, about 2 minutes.

2. Transfer the mixture to a spice grinder and let cool for a couple of minutes.  Pulse until coarsely ground (I think I might have gone past coarsely, but it was still tasty :)).

3. In a small bowl, mix ground spices with the kosher salt.  Rub the spices all over the chicken.

4. In a large skillet (I opted for my cast iron skillet and will choose the same next time), heat the oil over medium-high heat.  Add the chicken and cook for 5 minutes.  Turn chicken and cook additional 5 minutes.  Transfer cooked chicken to a roasting pan, arranging skin side up.

5. Heat oven to 350°F.

6. Pour off most of the oil from the skillet (I think I left about a tablespoon or so).  Return skillet to stove and reduce heat to medium.  Add onion and leek, cook for around 5 minutes or until vegetables have softened/reduced.

7. Add the tomatoes, thyme, and oregano.  Cook for around 3 minutes, or until tomatoes have just started to break down.

8. Add red wine and cook for around 5 minutes, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pan while cooking.

9. Stir in the water and pour mixture over chicken in roasting pan.

10. Cover the pan with foil and braise chicken in oven for 1 hour.

11. After removing from oven, use foil to line a broiler pan.  Transfer chicken to the foil on pan and turn on broiler to HI.  Place a strainer over a saucepan and strain remaining braising liquid into saucepan.

12. Bring sauce to boil over high heat.  Boil for 4 minutes, then add the vinegar and honey.  Boil for 1 additional minute.

13. Meanwhile, once broiler is ready, broil chicken for 2-3 minutes, until skin is crisp.

14. Serve with sauce and sprinkle with parsley.  Enjoy!

Strawberry Génoise with Whipped Cream

I made this a while back; it's a recipe that would be good for people that don't like a very sweet dessert.  Unfortunately, I prefer mine a tad sweeter than this and believe there are better recipes for génoise out there.  This is a lot of work, too--quite time consuming.  The beginning part where you have to hold the bowl over the water made me feel like my arm was going to fall off before I got it to the correct temperature lol.  Needless to say, I won't be doing this one again.

Original recipe here:
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/strawberry-genoise-with-whipped-cream.html

Ingredients:

--génoise--
4 eggs
1/2 c. sugar
3/4 c. cake flour, sifted
3 T. unsalted butter, melted

--filling and topping--
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. water
1 tsp. kirsch
2 c. heavy cream
2 tsp. confectioners' sugar
3 c. strawberries, hulled and cut into to slices; reserve a few to garnish

Instructions:

1. For génoise: heat oven to 375°F.  Line bottom of a 9" springform pan with parchment paper.

2. In metal bowl of electric mixer, whisk together the eggs and sugar by hand until combined.

3. Place bowl over, but not touching, simmer water in a saucepan.  Gently whisk until mixture reaches 140°F on an instant-read thermometer (this took me far longer than the supposed 3 minutes the recipe indicated.  Am guessing they used room temperature eggs?)

4. Put bowl on the mixer and beat with the whisk attachment until mixture is pale and almost tripled in volume, 5 to 8 minutes.

5. Remove bowl from the mixer.  Sift the flour over the egg mixture in 2 additions and carefully fold in with a rubber spatula.

6. Fold a large dollop into the melted butter, then fold back into the egg mixture.

7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.  Bake until top of cake is browned, about 20 minutes.  Transfer pan to wire rack and let cool completely.

8. Run a table knife around edge of the pan, then pop off side of pan.  Invert the cake onto a work surface and turn the cake right side up, leaving the parchment in place.

9. Slice the cake into 2 equal layers.  Put the top layer, cut side up, on a serving plate.

10. For filling and topping: in a small saucepan over medium heat, combine granulated sugar and water.  Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves.  Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature (I transferred mine to a different bowl to help this go faster).

11. Add kirsch to the sugar syrup mixture.  brush cake with about half of the syrup.

12. Whip the cream and confectioners' sugar to soft peak stage.

13. Place sliced strawberries in a bowl (except for the reserved ones).  Fold about 1/4 of the cream into the berries.

14. Spread mixture over top of cake on serving platter.  Position remaining cake layer, cut side down, on top.  Remove parchment paper.

15. Brush with remaining syrup, then spread remaining cream over top and sides of cake.

16. Use reserved strawberries to decorate/garnish cake as desired.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Slow Cooker Braised Short Ribs

Yes, it's yet another recipe for short ribs...this time for the slow cooker!  It's very similar to others that I have tried and posted already, just with a different cooking method.  The taste is just as great; will definitely make again :)

Original recipe:
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/braised-short-ribs.html

Ingredients:

4 lb. bone-in beef short ribs (I actually used 4.5 lbs.)
kosher salt and coarse ground pepper, to taste
all-purpose flour for dredging
3 T. olive oil, plus more as needed
2 large yellow onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped (I put both onions and garlic in food processor together)
3 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1" chunks
1 bottle full-bodied red wine (I used Red Diamond Merlot)
1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
3 fresh thyme sprigs
2 fresh rosemary sprigs
1 bay leaf
1 to 2 c. beef stock (no idea how much I used, as I did not measure)

Instructions:

1.  Season the short ribs with salt and pepper.  Dredge in flour, shake off excess.

2. Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Brown ribs on all sides; be sure to work in batches/don't crowd.  Transfer ribs to slow cooker and set cooker to low.

3. If needed, add more oil to the Dutch oven.  Reduce heat to medium and add the onions/garlic mixture and the carrots.  Cook for around 10 minutes, or until vegetables have softened (I think I may have gone closer to 8 minutes).  Transfer to slow cooker.

4. Add wine to the Dutch oven to deglaze the pan, stir to scrape up the browned bits.

5. Add the tomato paste, thyme, rosemary, and bay leaf.  As you stir in, mash up any larger chunks of tomato paste with spoon.

6. Increase heat to medium-high and cook until thickened, 8-10 minutes.

7. Pour wine mixture over ribs and vegetables in slow cooker.  Add enough beef stock to come halfway up the sides of the ribs.

8. Cover, increase heat to high on slow cooker.  Cook for 6 hours or until ribs are falling off bone.

9. Discard bay leaf and herb stems.  Skim fat off of surface and serve with desired accompaniment. (I chose egg noodles, as that is our favorite.)  Enjoy!

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