Sesame Seed Cookies

Þ  

Sesame Seed Cookies

From Desserts by Nancy Silverton, Adapted by Blue Heron Kitchen

Olive is continuing to bring me lots of unconditional love as well as a good

reason to try out new recipes. My most recent lunch included these cookies

as part of our dessert.  My mother, whose baking gene was passed on to me,

went nuts for these sesame seed gems and requested the recipe.  So, this

one’s for you, Mom.  (Olive loves her toy - thanks again!)  

This cookie is all about butter and seeds. You’ll also need sesame oil.  Unless

you’re catering a wedding with these cookies, or you’re making cold noodles

with sesame oil twice a week, buy a small bottle.  It ‘turns’ quickly. Store it in the

fridge or in a cool place.

Buy ‘brown’ or unhulled sesame seeds. Unless you’re using them right away,

store them (and all seeds and nuts) in your freezer.  Don’t buy a ‘jar’ of them at

the supermarket. In the NYC region, Patel Brothers is the place to go.  You can

shop online, get discounts up to 10% if you spend in excess of $50, and online,

7 oz. of brown sesame seeds, currently costs $2.99, and 14 oz., $4.99.  (Click

on either link, and, like, Shut up and Shop.)

These are slice and bake beauties, which stay in the freezer until you need

them.  You’re the boss.

By the way, Nancy Silverton

is a genius, and any cookbook of hers is worth all the sesame

oil in China.

Ingredients:

8 oz. unsalted butter, room temperature, not mushy (European style 83% butterfat is best)

2 Tbsp. Oriental sesame oil

½ c. granulated sugar

1 egg yolk

2 cups, minus 2 Tbsp. unbleached all-purpose flour

¾ cup unhulled (brown) sesame seeds

Procedure:

Þ   In the bowl of a Kitchen Aid or electric standing mixer, beat the butter

and sesame oil until fluffy and light in color.  It should hold soft peaks.

Þ   Beat in sugar and egg yolk, scraping down sides, as needed. (If you’ve

listened to me, you’ve already bought your beater blade,

and this task has enabled you to practice doing The Tighten Up while

your beater blade is doing all the work.)

Þ   Add flour and sesame seeds, mixing only until combined.

Þ  Wrap dough in plastic and chill for 30 minutes, until dough is firm

enough to handle.

Þ   Divide dough into three or four sections, and keeping the remaining in

the fridge, roll each into a log, by first flattening and then carefully folding

and being sure not to leave ‘air’ in the roll.  Each roll should be about 1

1/2” in diameter.  Due to the high content of butter in this batter, you have

to work quickly.  If the dough is getting sticky and annoying, you can put it

back in the fridge and work with a cold portion until that one cools down

and behaves.  You can also run your hands under cold water.  This batter

doesn’t respond to the ‘warm hands, warm heart’ theory.

Þ   Place roll on a sheet of plastic wrap with at least 4” of length on either

side of each end.  Carefully roll up and then pick up the roll and ‘twirl’ it,

one way, holding the ends of the plastic wrap, to make a tight little

‘sausage’ roll.

Frozen pre-sliced roll

Place on a flat surface in freezer. (If this doesn't exist in yours, as it rarely exists

in my horrible freezer, place on cookie sheet first.)

Þ   When frozen, you can store in a freezer bag until you're ready to slice and

bake.

Baking the Cookies (already):

Preheat oven to 325º F., oven rack in center of your oven, and line cookie sheet(s) with Silpat or parchment paper.

Using a sharp knife, (this is an inexpensive and great alternative to and electric knife sharpener that the smart knife man at Broadway Panhandler turned me on to.)

slice cookies that are slighter thinner than 1/2” and place rounds on cookie sheet.  You can ‘repair’ any crumbled off pieces by just patching them back on.  Remember, this cookie is SO high in butter content that it’s difficult to work with.  IT’S NOT YOU.

Bake 12-15 minutes, until lightly browned.  For the cookies to melt in your mouth, they must be cooked through.

Cool on racks before storing in tins between layers of wax paper.

Full recipe yields approximately 6-7 dozen


peace, love and sesame (not BP) oil,
jane

Graham Crackers

One theme for this summer seems has been "labor intensive and worth it".
In celebration of my new bundle of unconditional love, I've been working on recipes that incorporate the ingredient, olive oil.

Olive

Since her arrival, we've been having lots of visitors, so I've been cleaning entertaining more than usual. I'll have lots of great olive oil recipes to share in the coming weeks.  She's been an inspiration and tons of fun. Olive is labor intensive and worth it, and these graham crackers follow in her 10 week old pawprints.

No olive oil in these - only butter. (She's teething, regressing some in her toilet training, and can go up but not down stairs, so butter is akin to revenge calling the babysitter and taking the night off.)


Just like my pup, these cookies are labor intensive and worth it.

Bob's Red Mill's whole wheat graham flour is the ticket.
Most graham cracker recipes call for plain old whole wheat flour.  But this flour uses hard red wheat, and I think this product renders these Grahams as Martha's and not Billy's. (But, if you simply can't get this great stuff in time to start rolling, substitute a good quality whole wheat flour, preferably stone ground. (It's a texture thing.)

If you don't buy Bob's Red Mill stuff locally, you can through Amazon, or go directly to their site.

Graham Crackers

Adapted from Marion Cunningham’s The Fannie Farmer Baking Book

By Blue Heron Kitchen

Graham Crackers
Blue Heron Kitchen

Not all projects are worth the labor.  A few that come to mind are children (or pets) if you have them, homemade puff pastry, and these crackers.  

You’ll need to buy graham flour.  Bob’s Red Mill is a great resource for this (and a ton of other flours, ground nuts, grains, cereals – go to their site and see for yourself).  You’ll also need a fluted pastry cutter.  

I bought mine at Broadway Panhandler.  But you can get the one I bought there online. 

Your dark brown sugar has to be soft and fresh, and I like Golden Blossom Honey, no kidding.

Ingredients:

4 oz. unsalted butter, softened

2 eggs, size large, room temperature
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

¾ cup dark brown sugar, very fresh and moist, tightly packed

8 Tbsp. (or, if you want to use a measuring cup, 2 ½ oz., liquid or 100 ml.) honey

1 tsp baking soda

4 tsp. water

1 tsp. kosher salt

3 c. graham flour

1 ½ c. unbleached all-purpose flour [Play around and use 1 c. all purpose and 
   1/2 c. spelt flour. More nutrients and less gluten for a softer product.]

Procedure:

Þ   Preheat oven to 350º F., Line several cookie sheets with parchment paper.  You’re gonna have lots of cookies.

Þ   In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the two flours and the salt.  Set aside.

Þ   Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of a Kitchen Aid, fitted with your Metro Design Beater Blade (or another type of stand mixer), until well combined.  Add the eggs and beat until batter is lighter, smooth and creamy. Add vanilla extract.

Þ   Add honey and blend. 

Þ   Dissolve the baking soda in water and add to the batter.  (Don’t be concerned if it looks separated or curdled.)

Þ   Dump in the combined dry ingredients and blend completely.  The dough will come together. 

Þ   Dust a clean, flat surface with graham flour and roll a manageable hunk of dough into a rectangle, about 1/8" thick.  

Þ   Using your fluted pastry cutter, cut into 2 or 2 1/2 “ squares.

Þ   Prick each square 3 or 4 times with the tines of a fork and with a spatula,

carefully transfer the separated crackers to the lined cookie sheets. (They don't spread much, but leave an inch between them.)

Þ   Bake for about 8 minutes and (Here’s more to do, if you’re not already cursing and muttering why hadn’t you bought those small batch, handmade, artisinal graham crackers at Whole Foods.) remove sheet from the oven and turn the crackers over.  Return them to the oven to bake for another 6-8 minutes, or until they’re nicely brown and baked through.

Þ   Remove from oven and cool on racks.

Þ    When completely cooled, store in airtight tins, lined with wax paper. (I ♥ wax paper)

Yields 5-6 dozen crackers (Plus a baker's dozen dolphins*)

Serving suggestion:  Go out and buy those small batch artisinal marshmallows at Whole Foods (or just a bag of Campfire, which is what I’d do), Get yourself some top shelf chocolate bars. (I love Valrhona.) 

S’mores.  

Or call them Artisinal S’mores. 

Or S’mosts.

In the words of the immortal Satchmo,

S'all

peace, and love,

jane and olive

   

Happy Birthday, Pops

Born on the Fourth of July.

Carrot Salad with Mango and Cumin

Carrot Salad with Mango and Cumin

Blue Heron Kitchen

Locally grown carrots are available at the farmer’s market. Buy them.  Buy small ones and don’t bother peeling them; just wash them.  They taste like carrots.  

Several zestless lemons have been waiting for me in my fridge. 

When life gives me lemons, I bake Buttery Lemony Möhn Kichel (the next fabulous cookie in my hopeful debut cookbook, "365 Ways to Bake Möhn Kichel"), or I make this great salad, which uses 1/3 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice. 

Be patriotic and buy organic lemons. 

And, on Independence Day Eve, consider this: 

Let’s become independently healthy .. not just in our diets, but politically too. 

This gorgeous, fat-free salad is loaded with vitamin A for America!

Ingredients:

4 cups of grated carrots

¼ cup currants

1 small or ½ large mango, diced

1/3 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice, strained

½ tsp. toasted ground cumin (see directions below for toasting and grinding)

1 Tbsp. Agave syrup (you may use Lyle’s Golden syrup or a mild honey)

¼ c. chopped fresh herbs, one or mixed, your choice:

                                                  parsley, pineapple sage, cilantro, dill

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Procedure:

To make toasted cumin: in a small cast iron skillet, heat whole cumin seeds, being careful not to scorch them, until toasted and aromatic.  Cool slightly and grind in a spice grinder (I have a coffee grinder that I use solely for spice grinding.) Store in a glass jar. You will be astonished at the difference between your ground cumin and ordinary ground cumin you buy commercially. 

Grate carrots into a medium sized bowl.

Add currants, and mango and toss.

In a small bowl, whisk the lemon juice, toasted ground cumin and Agave syrup and pour over carrot mixture.  Toss.

Add chopped herbs and salt and pepper to taste.

Refrigerate for several hours or overnight before serving.

Serves 4-8 (In my house, 2)

     

The Best Plain Cake

The Best Plain Cake

or

French Yogurt/Almond Cake

Adapted from Baking by Dorie Greenspan by Blue Heron Kitchen

Baking shortcakes for the Fourth of July is always on the a-list, but I don’t have heavy cream in my fridge these days.  I always have Total Fage Greek Yogurt. Don’t let anyone convince you that Trader Joe’s own brand is ‘just as good’.  It doesn’t come close.

This is one of those cakes that ‘every’ French homemaker/baker has in their arsenal, and thanks to Dorie Greenspan’s brilliant recipe, it’s now in mine and I’m sharing it with you. 

When wrapped well, these cakes will keep for (in a cool room) for several days, up to a week in the fridge, and for a month or two in the freezer.  Dorie's recipe calls for a marmalade glaze, but I’m keeping this simple.  If you want to get fancy, you can make a simple jam glaze by heating up marmalade (lemon) and a little sugar, until liquid, straining it and then glazing the loaves when they’re cooled. Adorn or n’adorn.  

This is the best goddamn plain cake in the world, and you can make it by hand.

Berries are a natural complement.  Sorbet, sherbet, ice cream, crème fraiche, whipped cream. Bosco.  You name it.  Instead of all ‘flavorless oil’, I opted for ¼ toasted almond oil.  La Tourangelle, a French sounding company, but actually based in California, makes a reasonably priced product that has a round, warm flavor.  (The picture and link is on the left, but I found a can of it at Home Goods for eight bucks.) You can use this in other baked products. Or, try it in pesto!  Bob’s Red Mill’s almond meal/flour is my brand of choice. You can buy it at Fairway or online at their website. French almond flour is gorgeous and much more refined, and it’s easy to find in the supermarkets in France, but not ici.  You can play around with this and use other nut flours/oils/extracts; and if you’re adverse to nuts, just substitute flour (try some whole wheat flour instead of the nut flour.)

Happy 4th, 14th, whatev. You’re going to love this recipe and make it all year round.

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ cup ground almonds (or, whole wheat flour or just more all-purpose flour)

2 tsp. baking powder (I use Rumford – no aluminum)

¼ tsp. kosher salt

1 cup granulated sugar

Grated zest of a lemon (use organic if you can)

½ cup 2% Total Fage Greek Yogurt

3 eggs, size large, room temperature

½ tsp. vanilla extract

2 Tbsp. toasted almond oil

¼ c. + 2 Tbsp. flavorless vegetable oil (If you omit almond oil: ½ cup flavorless oil)

Procedure:

Center rack in oven and preheat to 350º F.  Butter and flour, or spray release and flour medium sized loaf pan (8 ½-x-4 ½ inch) or smaller loaf molds. (If using paper molds, which are great for ‘giving’, freezing, and looking like you know what you’re doing, you don’t have to grease them.) You can also bake this in a round cake pan and then turn it into a filled layer cake!

In a medium bowl measure the sugar.  Using your Microplane Zester, being careful to not include the bitter pith (the white stuff) of the lemon, zest the rind and with your fingers or a fork or a small whisk, incorporate the rind into the sugar.  Set aside and the oils of the zest will get into the sugar and make it smell really great.

In another bowl, whisk together the flour/almond meal, baking powder and salt.

You can use the whisk attachment of your Kitchen Aid, or by hand, a human whisk. Start with the sugar, add the yogurt, eggs and extract and whisk vigorously until well blended.  Still whisking, add the dry ingredients, making sure to whisk until the batter is no longer lumpy.  Stop the machine and remove the bowl, or if doing this manually, switch to a rubber spatula.  Fold in the oil.  The batter should be smooth, shiny and thick.

Fill prepared pan(s) and bake, depending upon size of pan, anywhere from 30-50 minutes.  Cake is done when top is golden, it springs to the touch and a tester (or sharp knife) inserted in the middle comes out clean. 

Transfer to a rack and cool for 5-10 minutes.  If the cake doesn’t easily release, run a knife between the cake and sides of pan.  Unmold and cool to room temperature before wrapping.

peace, love, and get out of Afghanistan

jane

 

My New Kitchen Aid is Doing the Tighten Up

With her new professional silicone Beater Blade, my 6 qt. Kitchen Aid, "Pearl" barely needs to be scraped down.  She's doing the Tighten Up.
peace and love, jane

I Heart Celeriac (Cheater's Celery Remoulade)

I love the taste of celery root. This knobby, ugly root, when peeled and julienned in your Cuisinart (or if you're a fan of the quiet, meditative state you achieve during what I call "chop therapy", by hand), is easily transformed into one of the most refreshing salads.

Julia Child's recipe in MTAOFC for this salad is the best one, but it calls for a ton of olive oil. My recipe uses .... bottled dressing. I'm serious.

To cut down on both calories and time, I came up with a quick and low calorie/fat recipe that Julia would despise. But as much as she's my dead hero and it's terrible to say anything bad about her, here goes:

Buy a celery root at the farmer's market.  It's also called celeriac.  Buy a young, firm and fresh one.
Peel it and julienne it - either in the food processor or by hand.
Sprinkle generously with vinegar.  I used organic rice wine vinegar.
Here are some other acids to try:  lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, champagne vinegar.  Let it sit for a few minutes.
Meanwhile, chop up a bunch of fresh parsley (buy it at the market) and mix it in.
To this, add about 6 Tbsp., more or less to taste of Annie's Naturals Lite Honey Mustard Vinaigrette.   You can buy this dressing at Whole foods, Fairway, Wild By Nature or any health conscious, well-stocked market or health food store. When all else fails, buy it online.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Marinate in fridge overnight.
This salad gets a little better each day.
And then, like all good things ... it's gone.

peace, love and happy summer,
jane

Lemon Poppy Seed Dolphins

Port Washington has an independent book store called The Dolphin Book Shop. According to a sign in an empty, prime location on Main Street, The Dolphin Book Shop is moving from its you hardly know its there current location to its new home smack in the center of town, on the water - a really great location.

While they're busy scraping the David Yurman logo off the window and readying our new beautiful book store, I've been busy developing what I think are "Mommy, can we go to the dolphin cookie store now?" cookies for their new location.

I assumed the shop would be actively seeking out a signature cookie for their new home.

Unless someone wants to come over and cut out these buggers or order me a custom dolphin die cut cookie cutter template, this is going no further than this post.

I did create a great variation of Grandma Rae's Möhn Kichel. It uses whole wheat pastry flour, (remember this was intended for venue where people read about things. And whole wheat flour was never mean to you, was it?) some organic lemon rind and lemon extract.

You can use a cookie cutter or a pizza cutter, crimped or not crimped.

Don't limit yourself to dolphins.  If you have a turtle shape, use it and call them Lemon Oil Spill Cookies.

So, rather than sweat the small stuff, my new dream is to write a cookbook:
365 Ways to Bake Möhn Kichel. 

Lemon Poppy Seed Dolphins

Lemon Poppy Seed Dolphins

Blue Heron Kitchen

Ingredients: 

3 eggs, size large, room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. lemon zest (organic lemon preferred)

1 cup canola oil

1 tsp. lemon extract

¼ cup room temperature water

1 Tbsp. baking powder

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1.25 oz poppy seeds

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350º F., line 4 cookie sheets with parchment or Silpat.

In a bowl, whisk together the baking powder and flours and set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix the lemon zest into the cup of sugar and set aside.(The oils from the zest will flavor the sugar.)

In the bowl of a Kitchen Aid, fit with a paddle attachment (get a beater blade - you'll never stop beating it), beat the eggs, oil and lemon zested sugar until thick.  Add the lemon extract and mix. Add the water, mix, and then, the poppy seeds. Mix.

Add the dry ingredients and blend on low speed.  Finish mixing by hand.  You can flatten the dough on a lightly floured board and wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until you are ready to roll and cut.

On a flour coated surface, roll out between 1/8”-1/2” thick and cut, with a cookie cutter or pizza cutter(or a knife!)into squares or rectangles.

Place on parchment lined cookie sheets and “bake until golden brown”, about 10-15 minutes.

Yield varies depending on size of cookie. 

peace, love and smooth sailing,

jane 

Asparagus Pesto

Asparagus Pesto was offered in the Times a couple of weeks ago, and after buying some beautiful asparagus today at the Kennedy Plaza Farmer's Market in Long Beach, NY, I pulled out my food processor and toasted some pine nuts.

Captain Kitchen, my adorable daughter, just got a new food processor.  So, this one's for you, Sweetheart!

Don't limit yourself to pine nuts (did you know they come from pine cones?)  You can toast up any nut to make pesto.  Walnuts come to mind.

I cut down dramatically on the amount of olive oil (but I never cut down on the quality of the oil) when I make it.  The biggest difference will be in the texture.  Oh, and oil will 'round' the flavor. This looks pretty creamy, doesn't it?

Asparagus Pesto

Adapted from Mark Bittman by Blue Heron Kitchen

Ingredients:

Kosher Salt

1 pound asparagus, trimmed

1 clove garlic, or more to taste

1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted and cooled

1/4 cup excellent quality extra virgin olive oil

(more or less, to taste – I use much less – closer to half the amount -  to reduce calories and fat)

3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Freshly ground black pepper

Juice of 1/2 lemon, or to taste.

Procedure:

1. In a frying pan or a sauté pan, large enough to hold them, bring the asparagus with some water and some salt, to a boil, cover and cook until fully tender. Drain and let the asparagus cool slightly.

2. Cut into two or three inch pieces and transfer the asparagus to a food processor. Add the garlic, toasted pine nuts, some of the olive oil, Parmesan, and a pinch of salt. Process the mixture, stopping to scrape down the sides of the container if necessary. Gradually add the remaining oil. Add the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.

Serve over pasta, fish, chicken or roasted vegetables.

Can be covered and refrigerated for up to one day.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

I love cauliflower.


I pestoed my steamed organic cauliflower in a cast iron gratin dish, first rubbed with garlic and then sprayed with olive oil.  I threw in sautéed mushrooms and garlic (get 'em at the market!) and some julienned Applegate Farms slow cooked ham.  

I topped it off with the asparagus pesto, then some more grated Parmesan cheese and baked it at 375º F.  Low calorie, hugely healthful and SO delicious.  You can leave out the meat, but I like ham - especially with mushroom and asparagus and parmesan cheese.

Opening Day at Kennedy Plaza Farmers Market 2010

A perfect day on Kennedy Plaza.  

Welcome back farmers, vendors and shoppers!

Millport Dairy's eggs are free range and adorable!

Carucci's flowers are gorgeous and ready to be

put into your beds.

Dan Madura's shallots, red mustard greens, shallots 

and 

oh.... the asparagus.  

You haven't lived until you've

had some. The season isn't all that long... so get them.

Cut the bottoms, like flowers and store them in some water in the fridge.

Change the water every day or so.

Steam, grill, roast ...

smear them with some goat cheese 

(or herbed or plain cream cheese) 

and then, wrap them with

smoked salmon or 

thinly sliced Prosciutto de Parma. 

Or crunch into them raw.  
They're that fresh, sweet and good.

Asparagus
is gorgeous

Asparagus is gorgeous.

Dinner.

Recipes and trucs forthcoming.

In the meantime, rejoice in the new season and 

Thank you to Bernadette for making the market return to life.

here's when:

Every Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

and Saturdays 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

where:

Kennedy Plaza, Long Beach, NY

(adjacent to the LIRR train Station)

peace, love and asparagus,

jane