Hazelnut/raspberry/dark chocolate bar cookies

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Hazelnut/raspberry/dark chocolate!

Oh, the tasty trinity of deliciousity that is hazelnuts, raspberries, and dark chocolate! I’ve combined it here in the easiest way possible…a soft hazelnut shortbread, covered with a layer of raspberry jam, and coated with dark chocolate. I think bar cookies are the simplest to make, because you don’t have to fiddle with each individual cookie, and they’re nice because you get the full effect of each individual flavor in each bite. A good cookie to make when you realize it’s December 21st and you haven’t made batches and batches of cookies, yet. I used seedless raspberry jam, but you could use any kind of jam you like. Apricot, strawberry, blackberry – even marmalade! All would taste good here. And I baked mine in a 8 X 12 inch brownie pan, but you could use something larger, or even a baking sheet, if you want your shortbread layer to be thinner. And you can omit the egg and add more flour if you want it to be crispier.
Here’s Fats Waller with Black Raspberry Jam
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Flavored flat breads

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flavored flat breads

Once upon a time, I was scared to experiment with yeasted dough. I believed that if you didn’t follow the recipe exactly (resting time, kneading time, temperatures, rising time, oh my!) The whole project would fall flat. Well, it turns out that’s not exactly true. And now I have a lot of fun trying out different sorts of breads and yeasted crusts. It doesn’t always work, of course – it’s all part of the learning process.

One revelation for me, was that you don’t have to use the whole small packet of yeast in every recipe! It’s true! I like yeast to do its magical job in raising my dough, but I don’t want to taste the yeast. So I use less. Which also means that you don’t have to use pounds and pounds of flour.

These flatbreads are crispy on the outside and light and layered on the inside. You can flavor them with anything you like. I did one with herbed butter and green peppercorns. And for the other I used smoked gouda and sage. But you can use any combination of herbs and spices that you like. You could use finely chopped nuts. You could use most cheeses. You could add olives or capers. You don’t want anything too bulky, because you’re going to incorporate the flavoring element between layers, and try to roll it out as thin as you can. (Hence making the flatbread flat!). We had these with a bowl of soup, but they’d be good with pasta, or any sort of stew. Or cut into slices as an appetizer. Like all yeasted things, they took quite a few hours, but they don’t need too much attention.

Here’s Blind Willie McTell with This is Not the Stove to Brown Your Bread. I love this song!
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Roasted red soup

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Red pepper red lentil soup

There’s something pleasing about making a soup from similarly-colored ingredients. It frequently seems that foods of the same color taste good together. I’ve made a white soup, and soup meagre, which is a green soup, and now…we have a red soup. It’s comprised of roasted red peppers, red lentils and roasted tomatoes. It actually turned out to be a rusty/rosy color, because as we all know, red lentils are never actually red. They start out sort of salmon-colored, and cook up nearly yellow. Anyway…it’s a tasty soup. Smoky, a little acidic with red wine and balsamic vinegar, and bright with basil and oregano. I added a dollop of pesto as a garnish, for contrasting color, and because the flavor goes so nicely! In the summer this soup would make a wonderful use of tomatoes and peppers from your garden. In the winter, it makes a quick and easy meal with roasted reds in brine, and a can of fire roasted tomatoes. It’s still evocatively summery, though!

Here’s the Decemberist’s lovely Red Right Ankle.
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Herbed semolina dumplings

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Semolina dumplings

It’s quite a dreary day, today, grey and damp-cold, but not raining. You know what’s perfect on a day like this? Soup and dumplings, that’s what! I like to bake dumplings, so they get a little crispy on the outside, before you surrender them to the depths of your soup or stew. I like that contrast in texture, and the sense of immediacy in eating them before they lose their crispness, and in enjoying their transformation. These dumplings, made with semolina flour and eggs, are crispy outside, but they’re dense and soft on the inside. They’re a lot like Roman gnocchi, as it happens, and you could certainly eat them with a sauce of some sort, rather than dunking them in a soup. They’re quick-as-can-be to make, and you can have them hot out of the oven by the time your soup is warmed up.

Bouillabaisse photographed in the company of a semolina dumpling

Here’s Sam Cooke with Sugar Dumpling.
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Bean bean bouillabaisse

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vegetarian bouillabaise

While I was at work yesterday I got the idea to make bouillabaisse for dinner. I couldn’t wait to get home and cook it while listening to the Beastie Boys B Boy Bouillabaisse! (Because I’m crazy!) While I was stuck at work, I mulled it over (and over) in my mind, trying to decide the best way to go about it. I knew the basic ingredients I’d be working with…fennel, potatoes, saffron, white wine, a bit of orange juice, some rosemary & thyme. Then I decided to add beans. But what kind? Black bean bouillabaisse is very fun to say. White beans seemed more suited to white wine and herbs, and more generally provencal-esque. Then it hit me! Bouilabaisse is a mixture of all different kinds of bits and pieces of seafood. So why not several kinds of beans?!? I ended up using black and white. I wish I’d used fava as well – I will next time. I think kidney beans would be good, too. You could use pretty much anything you like. I have to confess that I use canned beans. We’re very lucky, in this area, to have a large variety of very good canned beans. I just can’t plan ahead well enough to account for soaking and cooking time. But I’m sure it would be even better if you took the time to cook the beans as well.

This is quick and easy to make, and only gets better and more flavorful as you let it sit. I served it with herbed semolina dumplings, which were a perfect match for ultimate warmth and comfort on a very cold December evening. (recipe coming soon!)

Here’s B Boy Bouillabaisse. I should warn you that it’s sweary and snotty. Give it a miss if you don’t appreciate those qualities in your Bouillabaisse-cooking music.
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Spaniko-sushi with spicy sauce

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Greens & feta rolls

I don’t eat seafood, so I don’t eat sushi, well…ever. But I like the idea of tasty little rolls that you can dip in a spicy sauce. So I came up with these little morsels. They reminded me of spanikopita because they combine greens and feta in a flaky crust, and they reminded me of sushi because of their shape. And they happen to be another addition in my series of savory pastries-that-make-an-elegant-vegetarian-appetizer-but-also-make-a-good-dinner-with-soup-or-a-big-salad!

I put black mustard seeds in the pastry, because I like their flavor with greens, and because they add a nice speckledy crunch. I used kale and spinach because I had them, and because I think the mild flavor of spinach is nice with the more assertive flavor of kale. And the sauce is a roasted red pepper and chipotle sauce. Quite spicy, and very pretty with it’s bright red tint.

Roasted red pepper chipotle sauce

Here’s Mean Greens by Eddie Harris.
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Spiced cider cake with chocolate-covered ginger

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Spiced Cider cake

Chocolate-covered ginger? Chocolate-covered ginger! I saw this at my extremely ordinary grocery store in the bulk food section. Of course I had to try it! Of course I had to put it in a cake! After feverishly running through various options in my head (a lemon ginger cake? A dark molasses-y cake?) I decided on a light but very spicy cake, with apple cider in it. To remind you of fall walks with fresh cider and cider donuts and apple butter… It smells wonderful while it’s cooking, and tastes just as good. If you can’t find dark chocolate-covered ginger, I would recommend using candied ginger and dark chocolate chips. I cut a snowflake out of paper and dusted powder sugar over the cake (and myself!) to make the pattern. Once again proving that cooking is all about the games you played when you were little.

Here’s James Yorkston’s beautiful Woozy with Cider (I used regular American cider, but I think you could use hard cider, too. Hmmm…I’ll have to try that!)
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Cherry coconut cookies with lime glaze

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cherry coconut cookie

Light, crispy on the outside, and chewy on the inside, these cookies are an antidote to all of the heavier chocolate desserts that abound during the holidays. They’re sweet, of course, because…well, they’re cookies! But they’ve got dried cherries in them, which are slightly tart, and a lime glaze, which is decidedly tart (though, oddly, made mostly of sugar!) Easy to make, and very pretty, with their lacy texture and flakes of green against pieces of red cherry. Do you remember cherry lime rickies? I have a vague memory of being told about them when I was a teenager and worked at a soda fountain. Are they real? What are they? These were the thoughts going around in my head as I made these cookies.

It’s got to be Coconut, by Harry Nilsson, doesn’t it? This song always scared me a little bit.
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Parsnip & apple galette

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Here’s another one that Mrs Rabbit could make after she sends Peter foraging in the hedgerows for nuts and stealing root vegetables from their neighbors’ gardens. This is a rustic-looking galette, with roasted parsnips, apples and shallots, sharp cheddar cheese and some arugula thrown in for greenness. The parsnips are sweet, the apples are tart, the cheese is sharp, and they all go well together. The crust is made with hazelnuts, and lends a nice crunchy nuttiness to the soft, sweet insides. Galettes are the easiest crusted-thing to make, because you just fold them over and they look nice. There’s not fussing with crimping or roundness or fitting-into-anything-ness.

Here’s Sonny Boy Williamson with Apple Tree Swing.
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Oatmeal buttermilk biscuits (with 2 kinds of pepper!)

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Oatmeal biscuits

Is there anything nicer than a warm biscuit straight out of the oven? A homemade biscuit can be just the thing to turn a bowl of soup into a satisfying dinner. And they’re good the next morning toasted and buttered, with jam or scrambled eggs.

These biscuits, rendered more hearty and flavorful with toasted oats and black & white pepper, are dropped rather than rolled and cut out. So they’re super simple and quick to make! The slightly peppery taste goes well with coffee in the morning, and even with jam. Pepper makes everything better!!

Here’s the Beastie Boys with Biscuits and Butter
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