This Week's Concoctions Ending 11/26

Here are some highlights of items that I made this week other than the "Weekly Cookie"

Last week was one of my co-worker's birthdays. He doesn't eat much sweets so he suggested a spinach-artichoke dip. He also mentioned that he didn't like mayo so this recipe uses a jar of Alfredo sauce.

As I have chronicled before, I like trying different meats. This below is a meatloaf made out of kangaroo. I liked it.

This week is another one of my co-worker's birthdays. She had wanted either pound cake or lemon squares so I made a lemon pound cake.

November 24: Candied Fruit and Bourbon Cookies

Candied Fruit and Bourbon Cookies

Ingredients:
1 pound chopped candied fruit, such as cherries, pineapples, oranges, or citron mix
1 1/4 cups golden raisins
2/3 cup bourbon
2 cups (9 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/3 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
7 tablespoons (3.5 oz) melted unsalted butter, cooled
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
3/4 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in 2 teaspoons water
2 1/2 cups chopped walnuts and pecans, or all pecans or walnuts

1. Mix the candied fruit and raisins in a bowl. Pour in the bourbon and stir to coat the fruit. Cover and let sit at room temperature overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 325 and place a rack in the center. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick foil.
3. Mix the flour, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and both sugars together in a large mixing bowl.
4. Add the cooled melted butter, beaten eggs, and baking soda mixture to the flour mixture and stir until all the ingredients are mixed. Add the soaked fruit and the nuts and stir until blended.
5. Scoop up generously heaping teaspoonfuls of batter and arrange 2 1/2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store covered and let the bourbon flavor mellow.

Mixture of candied fruit, raisins and bourbon

Flour mixture

Addition of butter, eggs and baking soda

Addition of candied fruit mixture

Addition of pecans/walnuts mix

Thoughts: I used 1/2 pecans and 1/2 walnuts.I baked them for about 16 mins/batch. They are also really gross.

November 18: Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:
Base:
1 cup (4.5 oz) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
8 tablespoons (4 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon orange zest
2 large eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
1/2 cup toasted and chopped pecans

Frosting:
3 oz cream cheese, softened
6 tablespoons (3 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon orange zest
2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

Addition of vanilla

Addition of orange zest

Addition of egg

Addition of flour mixture

Addition of pumpkin

Addition of toasted pecans

Addition of vanilla and orange zest

Addition of powdered sugar

Thoughts: Bars are so much easier than cookies! That said, I would prefer making cookies over homemade frosting. Powdered sugar is super annoying because it goes everywhere! This recipe was very straightforward and easy except it took forever to beat the sugar and the butter because I didn't let the butter thaw enough from the fridge. It was tasty except I would've preferred to have no nuts in the cake part.

This Week's Concoctions Ending 11/19

Here is the highlight that I made this week other than the "Weekly Cookie"

It's a cookie dough rice krispy treat. It has a rice krispy bottom with a chocolate cookie dough (no eggs involved) top.

November 11: Lemon Rosemary Shortbread

Lemon Rosemary Shortbread

Ingredients:
3/4 cup (3.4 oz) all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons rice flour
1/2 tablespoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3 oz) butter, cut up and room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Grease an 8-inch round metal cake pan and set aside.
2. Combine the flour, sugar, rice flour, lemon zest, rosemary, and salt in a food processor and pulse to mix. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture is coarse. Add the vanilla and pulse to mix. Place the dough on a flat surface and shape into a ball. Press into the prepared pan cake pan and poke holes in the top with the tines of a fork. Chill the dough in the pan for 1 hour or until ready to bake.
3. Preheat the oven to 300 and place a rack in the center.
4. Bake for 38-42 minutes, or until set. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Cut into 12 wedges while still warm, then let cool completely in the pan.

Addition of butter

Addition of vanilla

Thoughts: I don't own a 8 inch metal cake pan so I used a 8 inch square glass pan. I also hate things that require the use of zest. I don't know why I had to shape the dough into a ball because then I just flattened it into the pan. Maybe it would make more sense if I had the right pan...I dunno.  The smell of lemon and rosemary is very pungent so much that Patrick only put the piece near his mouth and knew he didn't want to bite down. I thought it was ok but I'm not crazy about lemony stuff.

Culinary Observations From Our Trip 11/13

We went to Florida briefly over the last week. We went to Orlando to Universal Studios so Patrick could see The Simpsons getup. We ordered a Flaming Moe (which turned out to be nonalcoholic citrus drink) and had burgers at Krusty Burger.

This burger was actually quite gross. The cheese was a sauce rather than a melted cheese slice

Then we went to Cape Coral where my grandparents-in-law live. We ate out the entire time we were there and there isn't much to say except....

Fried Gator Tail

It was good :)

This Week's Concoctions Ending 11/5

Here are some highlights of items that I made this week other than the "Weekly Cookie"

It was my co-worker's birthday and she wanted something with spice cake or pumpkin. Duncan Hines has a box mix that is Pumpkin Spice. It's nice...they give you the mix, frosting and a pastry bag. The frosting was a bit annoying and I kind of had to improvise because it wasn't giving me my desired consistency. So I didn't use the pastry bag.

This week at work we had a Halloween/fall food theme. I made pumpkin fudge. I have a hard time with fudge....the directions called for the temperature to be 234 degrees before removing it from the heat. I couldn't get it higher than 224 without getting nervous that I was going to burn it. So I'm not extremely happy with the firmness and consistency. The taste is very sugary.

November 1: Sesame, White Chip, and Oat Cookies

Sesame, White Chip, and Oat Cookies

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups (6.8 oz) white whole wheat or all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
12 tablespoons (6 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/3 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sesame seeds, lightly toasted and cooled
1 cup white chocolate chips or white chips
1 cup old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats (not instant)
1/3 cup sweetened flaked, or sweetened or unsweetened shredded coconut (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and place a rack in the center. Have ready 2 ungreased baking sheets.
2. Mix the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg together in a medium-size bowl; set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl, using a handheld electric mixer, beat the butter on medium-high speed until creamy. Beat in the brown sugar and continue beating for about 2 minutes, or until the mixture is smooth. Reduce the speed of the mixer to medium and beat in the eggs and vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture. Stir in the cooled toasted sesame seeds, white chips, oats, and coconut, if using.
4. Scoop up rounded tablespoonfuls of dough and shape into 3/4-inch balls. Arrange about 2 inches apart on the baking sheets and press down the tops slightly. Bake one sheet at a time for 11-13 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool on the baking sheets for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Dry Ingredients

Addition of vanilla and eggs

Addition of flour mixture

Addition of sesame seeds

Addition of white chocolate and oats

Addition of coconut (optional)

Thoughts: I'm just going to throw out there that sesame seeds are expensive. I used a Spice Islands jar of sesame seeds that yielded about 2/3 cup and it cost $6. Sadly I feel that the sesame seeds was the taste of the cookie that we didn't like. The recipe calls for baking them for 11-13 minutes so I did that for the first batch (11 minutes) but then only 10 minutes for the next and I think they came out pretty much the same.