Pecan Chewy Chocolate Cookies (aka the best cookie in the world)

Pecan Chewy Chocolate Cookies
8 ounces finely chopped pecans 

(I think this might be a cup but I used a kitchen scale)
2 3/4 cups powdered sugar
7 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or Silpats. **YES.  Do this or you will be sorry

Place sugar, cocoa, flour and salt in mixer bowl and stir together. Beat in egg whites, one at a time, scrapping bowl. Beat in vanilla and continue beating at high speed for 1 minute. Stir in chopped pecans.

Drop by tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheets, leaving about 2 inches between cookies for spreading. Bake 1 sheet at a time for 10-12 minutes, turning sheet halfway though baking time. 

This is one cookie you can time.  Since it's chocolate you can't tell by looking.  Just set the timer and go by that.

You may not think it's going to work.  I've never baked a cookie like this before.  But eventually the egg whites do their voodoo and it works.

Peach Cobbler

My step-mother, Lois, came from West Texas Plains folks who cooked with the fruit and vegetables their backyards yielded and everyone in the South has a peach tree or two.  Their food was like their lives:  nothing fancy: basic and sturdy.  

When I was a young mother and not working she had me come over one day to “put up” peaches.  She went to the Farmers Market and got a bushel of fresh peaches.  Then we spent the rest of the day peeling and cutting up peaches into bags that she froze.  We peeled so many peaches that the acid from the fruit not only turned my hands prune-like but it ate the callouses off my hands and a few fingerprints, too.  At the end of the day she was delighted with our bounty.  She could make a peach cobbler anytime in the following year with the next best thing to fresh.

There was only one catch:  Lois was a horrible cook. Fresh peaches or frozen, old family recipe not withstanding, she could take perfectly wonderful ingredients and do horrible things with them.  I think part of the reason she wasn’t a very good  cook is that she wasn’t much of an eater.  She could take food or leave it.  To her cooking was something she did for other people because it was expected of her. 

Lois’ father was a circuit riding preacher and many times the situation was reversed with visiting preachers at their house for days on end plus their entire large family.  She had watched her own mother cook for a houseful of family and strangers, spending the entire day in the kitchen then wake up in the morning and do breakfast the same way. 

Ma Wood always had two kinds of meat at a meal with just about every vegetable in the garden on the table in one form or the other. And, of course, pies and cobblers.

Alas, the family cooking gene skipped past Lois completely. 

And Beaven made the biggest mistake of his life the first time he was invited for dinner with my family.  He told Lois the peach cobbler was delicious and he loved it.  From that moment on, whenever she cooked for us she would parade the cobbler around the kitchen and place it in front of him.  Then she would pronounce with great pride: “I made Beaven his favorite!” 

 

For the next 30 or so years until she stopped cooking he had to eat the cobbler and pretend it was delicious. Other family members developed severe allergies to peaches but Beaven was not as clever too honorable.

But you can trust this recipe.  I got it from the internet and everyone knows the internet doesn’t make mistakes.  Also, Beaven likes it and he wouldn’t lie to me.  There have been times I wished he would lie so I know he’s being honest when he says this is a good recipe.

Instead of a biscuit topping I use pie crust.  And it doesn’t need to be fancy shapes or intricately latticed strips.  A cobbler can be kind of messy.  Actually, you could just tear off globs of crust and throw them around.  The bar is set pretty low for cobbler in my house.  If it’s even edible we call it a victory.

AND the BEST part of this recipe is that you don’t have to spend the day putting up peaches until your fingerprints disappear.  Walmart sells frozen peaches in a one pound package. 

·       2 lbs frozen peaches

·       1/4 cup sugar

·       1 teaspoon cornstarch

·       1 tablespoon lemon juice

·       1 pinch table salt

·       Pie crust: from “scratch” or ready-made….I won’t tell

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 

 Defrost peaches completely in colander. Gently toss peaches and sugar together in large bowl; let stand for 30 minutes, tossing several times. Drain peaches in colander set over large bowl. Whisk 2 tablespoons of drained juice (discard extra), cornstarch, lemon juice, and salt together in small bowl. Toss peach juice mixture with peach slices and transfer to 8-inch-square glass baking dish. 

Bake until peaches begin to bubble around edges, about 15 to 20 minutes.

For the topping: While peaches are baking, get out the pie crust recipe and cut into strips. Lay the strips in a relaxed lattice-like design.

To assemble and bake: When peaches bubble around edges, remove baking dish from oven and place dough strips in a relaxed lattice design.. Sprinkle the top with cinnamon and sugar.

Bake until topping is golden brown, about 18 minutes. Cool cobbler on wire rack until warm, about 20 minutes; serve. 

If you invite Beaven and he tells you it’s the best he’s ever eaten, the chances are pretty good that it is. He’s learned his lesson.

Blueberry Scones

I got this recipe from Shirley Miller. She made them for Linda and me when we visited her for a weekend of crafts, music and reading. She called them biscuits but I've started thinking of them as scones.

Set your oven to 425 degrees.

get your baking pan ready:  Line the pan with aluminum foil.  Spray with Pam and sprinkle with about 2 tablespoons of cornmeal

**the sprinkling part is important because these biscuits have the most awesome bottom crust

Assemble dry ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

take them for a spin in a Cuisinart
add:
6 Tablespoons cold butter

pulse a few times until the flour has those pea-sized pieces of butter.  You can put the bowl in the fridge while you do the second part:


3/4 cup cold buttermilk**
zest one orange
1 large egg

**Don't let the lack of buttermilk intimidate you.  Just add either a Tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to the 3/4 cup of milk and you'll be fine.  A lot of the TV chef's say they use this substitute more than real buttermilk.  Also I keep a bottle of Cointreau in the cupboard and use a teaspoon of it when I don't have an orange to zest.  As far as I can tell Cointreau never goes out of date.  They probably found Cointreau in the pyramids.

Add the orange zest and egg into the measuring cup with the buttermilk.  beat the eggs until they're smooth.

Transfer the dry ingredients to a bowl with a rounded bottom.  This makes it easier to mix evenly.

measure 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries and set aside.  Do not thaw blueberries if frozen

Get the dry ingredients out of the fridge.  pour the wet into the dry and stir with a fork until it all comes together. It should be uniformly lumpy.  Shirley calls for a "shaggy" mixture.  Turn out onto the countertop, sprinkling flour on the dough to make it easier to shape. Add the blueberries until they're incorporated.

Gently form the dough into about 12 balls, then biscuits, squares or triangles, with your hands. If you cut into the dough you will cut the blueberries and end up with blueberry juice running onto the pan making tiny messes. This one tiny step can avoid that mess.  Also lining the pan with aluminum foil helps.  Bake about 10-18 minutes until they're done. Check the oven after 10 minutes.

icing:
1 teaspoon almond or vanilla, extract
1 teaspoon milk
powdered sugar.....maybe 1/2 a cup

Make a small slurry of 1 teaspoon almond extract, 1 teaspoon milk then add powdered sugar until you get it the consistency you want it.  You can either pipe it onto the scones or spread with a knife. 

To pipe it - put the mixture in a small ziplock bag and cut a small hole in the corner of the bag.

Invite two friends to spend the weekend and enjoy this with them.

Brie en Croute

I think I got this off the internet.  I think every great chef has made it once in their lives.  My idol, Ina Garten, can probably make it in her sleep.  And this is the thing:  It looks like a really intimidating exercise but it really is amazingly simple.  You could probably make it in your sleep.  Maybe you already have and that explains the drips of brie on your pajamas.

I made it for Christmas Eve at Elizabeth's house.  I learned a valuable lesson that night:  you shouldn't put too many rich items out.  We were on sensory overload that night.  So, here's a tip:  Save the recipe for a lunch or light dinner gathering where this cheese can be the star of the show.

I wasn't too fond of the sugary filling.  Maybe almonds and orange marmelade instead of the cinnamon and brown sugar.  Or maybe something savory--not sure what.  Check the internet.  But definitely try this:  it's a lot easier than it looks.

Brie in puff pastry

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, pre-packaged
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 cup walnuts
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 (8-ounce) wheel Brie
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
Crackers

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
 
Defrost puff pastry for approximately 15 to 20 minutes and unfold.
 
In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Saute the walnuts in the butter until golden brown, approximately 5 minutes. Add the cinnamon and stir until walnuts are coated well. Place the walnut mixture on top of the Brie and sprinkle the brown sugar over the mixture.

Lay the puff pastry out on a flat surface. Place the brie in the center of the pastry. Gather up the edges of the pastry, pressing around the brie and gather at the top. Gently squeeze together the excess dough.  Glue each fold with the egg wash so it doesn't come apart while cooking.

Brush the beaten egg over top and side of Brie. Place Brie on a cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes until pastry is golden brown.
 
Serve with crackers.
 
To give a special look, cut extra pastry into heart or flower shapes and bake until golden.

Egg Nog

Everybody wants egg nog at Christmas.  One of the several things my daddy was proud of was that one of his patients was the man who personally was in charge of making the egg nog at Oak Farms Dairy in Oak Cliff in the 1950's.  And every Christmastime, even if he wasn't sick, Mr Laguard would stop by Daddy's office to bring him a carton of egg nog.  And every year Daddy would take enormous pride in the delivery of the egg nog as though  Shorty Laguard had made it just for him..

Beaven's daddy also made a killer egg nog.  Except George made his from ice cream and bourbon.  The ice cream gave it a smooth richness and the bourbon insured that it never reached a frozen state again.  George stored it in the freezer and it was about as cold as egg nog could be but never froze.  It had so much bourbon in it that I swear you could have set fire to it. One year when Emily was in middle school she and a friend visited George and Blanche with us, drank some egg nog and got their first buzz.  Slept all the way home.

Here is the recipe a friend posted.  Looks rich and creamy.  No bourbon.  Add your own. 

Mike Cole’s Egg Nog

1 1/3 cup sugar
8 egg yolks
8 egg whites
1 tsp salt
1 gallon whole milk
4 tsp vanilla
2 cups heavy whipping cream

Beat 1 1/3 cup sugar into egg yolks, add salt and stir in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture “coats” a spoon. Chill.

Beat egg whites till foamy. Gradually add ¼ cup sugar, beating to soft peaks. Stir into the custard mixture and mix thoroughly. Add vanilla. Mix the whipped cream until fully whipped, add ¼ cup sugar as you are whipping. If you are saving for use, add the whipped cream and mix thoroughly. Chill and store. If you are using for a party, pour the custard mixture into a punch bowl and “dot” the mixture with islands of whipped cream. Sprinkle with nutmeg for effect and taste.

Sticky Buns

It's the morning after Thanksgiving and everybody is Turkey Comatose and you've cooked everything with any kind of Wow factor.  Try this.  It's Ina Garten's recipe.  Her stuff always works.

Of course, you don't have a package of puff pastry in your freezer.  You were looking for an excuse to go to Walmart on the day after Thanksgiving, weren't you? I'm sure there will be no one in the grocery department.

Whenever you make this, it is a surefire winner.  I've never known it to fail or fail to please.  Ina uses raisins in her recipe but I don't like raisins so I don't have them here.  If you want, use them in place or in addition to the pecans.

Notice the ingredients are two parts:  one step is putting stuff in the muffins tins and also putting filling on the pastry. This is a real sugar overload.


Ingredients
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature.
1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup pecans, chopped in very large pieces

1 package (17.3-ounces/ 2-sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted

For the filling:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup raisins …. Or not.....or chopped pecans!!!  :)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place a 12-cup standard muffin tin on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the 12 tablespoons butter and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Place 1 rounded tablespoon of the mixture in each of the 12 muffin cups. Distribute the pecans evenly among the 12 muffin cups on top of the butter and sugar mixture.

Lightly flour a wooden board or stone surface. Unfold 1 sheet of puff pastry with the folds going left to right. Brush the whole sheet with the melted butter. Leaving a 1-inch border on the puff pastry, sprinkle each sheet with 1/3 cup of the brown sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the cinnamon, and 1/2 cup of the raisins. Starting with the end nearest you, roll the pastry up snugly like a jelly roll around the filling, finishing the roll with the seam side down. Trim the ends of the roll about 1/2-inch and discard. Slice the roll in 6 equal pieces, each about 1 1/2 inches wide. Place each piece, spiral side up, in 6 of the muffin cups. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry to make 12 sticky buns.

Bake for 30 minutes, until the sticky buns are golden to dark brown on top and firm to the touch. Be careful - they're hot! Allow to cool for 5 minutes only, invert the buns onto the parchment paper (ease the filling and pecans out onto the buns with a spoon) and cool completely.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/easy-sticky-buns-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback