This Week's Concoctions Ending 4/16

Nothing to report....I haven't made anything special, but this upcoming week should be a little more exciting. I am making a dessert for a childrens' book club and hopefully a slow cooker meatloaf.

April 14: Split-Second Pecan Cookies

Split-Second Pecan Cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups (9 oz) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (6 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1/3 cup of your favorite preserves

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and place a rack in the center. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick foil.
2. Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt 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 and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce the mixer speed slightly and beat in the egg, vanilla, and almond extract. By hand or using the lowest speed of the mixer, add the flour mixture and stir until incorporated.
4. Divide the dough into 4 portions and shape each into a skinny log about 12 inches long and 3/4 inch wide. Roll the logs in pecans. Place 4 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets, 2 logs per sheet. With your fingers, press a long indentation down the center of the logs and fill with your favorite preserves. Bake one sheet at a time for 15-20 minutes, or until the logs begin to brown around the edges. Let cool on the baking sheets for 2 minutes. Using a serrated knife, cut crosswise slightly on the diagonal every 3/4 inch. Carefully separate into individual cookies and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Dry Ingredients

Adding the egg

Adding the flour mixture

I think 12 inches would be too skinny

Before...

and after

 Thoughts: I typically don't like making roll out cookies just because it's a pain. The counter gets gross and and I hate spreading them out especially with a rolling pin. These luckily didn't require it even though the counter did get a little gross. I didn't measure out the preserves, I just used as much to fill 4 logs. I made two without the pecan crust. I used seedless strawberry and seedless red raspberry jams. They went in for about 17 minutes. Patrick liked this cookie, but I didn't. I'm not crazy about nuts or jelly...

This Week's Concoctions Ending 4/9

Here is the only out of the ordinary item that I made this week other than the "Weekly Cookie".

Shrimp Pesto Salad

April 6: White Chocolate Mango Cookies

White Chocolate Mango Cookies

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups (6 oz) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cornstarch
8 tablespoons (4 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon heavy cream
2/3 cup pecans, lightly toasted
3 1/2 oz white chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped dried mango

1. Preheat oven to 375 and place a rack in the center. Line two baking sheets with nonstick foil or parchment paper.
2. Mix the flour, baking soda, salt, and cornstarch together in a medium-size bowl; set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in large mixing bowl, using a handheld electric mixer, beat the butter and both sugars on medium speed until creamy. Beat in the egg, vanilla, and cream. By hand or using the lowest speed of the mixer, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. When the flour mixture is absorbed, stir in the pecans, white chocolate, and mango.
4. Drop rounded tablespoonfuls of dough 2 1/2 inches apart onto the baking sheets. Bake one sheet at a time for 12-13 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.



Dry ingredients

Introduction of egg, cream and vanilla

 

Adding in the flour mixture

Thoughts: Another straightforward cookie recipe. The only alteration I had to make is that I only baked them for 11 minutes. I could've even baked them for 10 minutes and I think it would've been ok. The finished cookie picture is from 11 minutes and I think it's a little dark. Patrick and I both didn't like the cookie. I tend to dislike dried fruit (except maybe raisins but only then in Raisinette form) so I didn't like the bites with mango. Dough was ok.

Culinary Observations from Our Trip: Washington DC

We just got back from our 5 day trip to Washington DC. I could compose quite a long post about all the sights we saw, but it's the food that matters, right? It doesn't seem like Washington is known for anything in particular, however when we were there, the city was celebrating their Cherry Blossom Festival so many restaurants we went to had special cherry themed dishes and drinks. Other than that, the only other item that was often on the menu was oysters (which I never tried).

We left on Easter Sunday so we ran into a couple of issues when trying to find lunch on the road. We were on the highway in rural PA and finding that most restaurants even ones like Burger King and Subway were closed. We stopped in Tyrone, PA which in pretty much in the middle of the state near Altoona. We ate at a place called D'Ottavio Italian House (no website, 3 locations...I just added it on Urbanspoon). They had an Easter dinner special where you could get turkey or ham with mashed potatoes or stuffing, vegetable, salad and a scoop of ice cream for $11.99. Patrick, our friend Bob and I ordered the dinner special. I was just ecstatic to have ham, which is probably my favorite dinner meat. It turned out to be gross. Some ham pieces were fine, but others were overcooked, the (frozen)vegetables were very mushy and I thought Patrick's stuffing was the worst! Even the ice cream was a little gross. For dinner, we walked to Elephant and Castle (http://www.elephantcastle.com/). The restaurant is similar to a Gordon Biersch. I ordered the meatloaf with double green beans (bad picture):

It was very good especially the green beans! The service could've been better but it was holiday and there weren't too many servers.

Our hotel was across the street from a Starbucks so we ate/got a drink from there every morning. The boys got granola with fruit and coffee/milk and us girls got coffee/specialty coffee drinks.

For lunch on Monday, we ate at Potbellys (http://www.potbelly.com), which was also across the street from our hotel. Potbellys has soups and sandwiches. I built my own tuna sandwich and had a cup of spicy southwest vegetable soup. It was just ok, the soup was creamy which I didn't expected. I tend to like brothy soups. Everyone else liked their food. For dinner, we ate at Georgia Browns (http://www.gbrowns.com/), which our friends had been to and liked it. The food was very good...

Louisiana "Devil" Shrimp with Collard Greens

Blah, blah...the highlight of the dinner is that when we arrived, this man was leaving:

My biggest regret is that I didn't ask for a picture!!

On Tuesday, we took the advice of our legislator's intern (who is also from Buffalo) and went to We the Pizza (http://www.wethepizza.com/), which he said was the best pizza in the DC area. I was not crazy about it...the crust was definitely the issue. Everyone else liked theirs and I admit it could've been my pizza because I was the only one who ordered white pizza (they all ordered cheese and pepperoni) and half of the time I don't like the white (but when you get a good one, it is always worth it!).

For dinner, I met with my family who lives in DC and went to Gordon Biersch that just opened by them. We have a location here so food was fine and the waitress was very friendly. They still have a couple of opening kinks to work out still.

On Wednesday, we went to the other place that the intern suggested called the Good Stuff Eatery (http://www.goodstuffeatery.com/). It is burgers, fries and shakes. I got a burger, fries and a Milky Way malt. The burger was good but greasy, the fries mushy (I didn't mind) and the shake was very good. For dinner, we went to the 701 Restaurant (http://701restaurant.com/). The salmon which Patrick and I both ordered was phenomenal. It was the best salmon of recent memory.

Scottish Salmon with soy oil, bok choy and water chestnuts

 For dessert, we went to a place called FrozenYo (http://frozenyo.com/). Our friend had been there before and loved it. They have several locations in the city and surrounding areas, but none around here. It was delicious. I had 4 different flavors: cake batter, mint chocolate, chocolate, and banana cream with a couple different toppings like M&Ms, Oreo bits, fudge. You pay by the weight.

Thursday was our "Virginia" day. We went to Arlington National Cemetery and old town Alexandria. By the time we got to Alexandria, we were famished. We stopped at a place called Asian Bistro (http://asiabistrova.com/). We were banking on quick arrival of food so we ordered appetizers. The girls shared calamari and the boys each ordered crab wontons. I don't like crab wontons so I didn't try them but everyone else thought they were good. The calamari was also good but I didn't like the dipping sauce. Entrees were very standard. We were shocked when the bill came and it was $80!

Calamari

My hunan chicken...not very spicy!

Lo Mein

Sesame Chicken

We had a late dinner because we had gone on a walking tour that didn't end til around 8:30. We stopped at Old Ebbitt Grill. I ordered a cup of chili which was a little spicy and the chicken "cherryaki". The chicken was very tender, but the rice was too mushy. The "cherrytaki" sauce was good for the meat but it tasted weird with the rice. For dessert, we shared the chocolate layer cake with a raspberry sauce.

 

On Friday, my uncle had gotten us a tour of the Supreme Court so we ate at their cafeteria. It was very much "cafeteria" food...nothing special although Patrick liked his panini quite a bit. For dinner we were on the road so we ate at a Pizza Hut in Breezewood, PA.

 

Overall, all of our food experiences in DC were positive...YUM!



This Week's Concoctions Ending 4/2

Here is the only out of the ordinary item that I made this week other than the "Weekly Cookie".

Apple Cream Coffee Cake

This was given to the family that watched our dog while we were away

March 30: Espresso Toffee Bars

Espresso Toffee Bars

Ingredients:
2 cups (9 oz) all-purpose flour
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1 cup (8 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (4 oz) toffee bits
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, or 10-12 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
2/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted and chopped, or 2/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and place a rack in the center. Line a 10x15 inch metal pan with nonstick foil or parchment paper.
2. In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl with a wooden spoon, mix together the flour, sugar, salt, and espresso powder. Cut the butter into chunks and add it to the flour mixture along with the egg yolk and vanilla. If using a stand mixer, mix on low speed until soft and crumbly. If using a wooden spoon, beat until the mixture comes together, and then use your hands to finish mixing until moist and crumbly. Alternatively, you may mix all dry ingredients in the food processor, add the butter, egg and vanilla, and then pulse until moist and crumbly. Stir in the toffee bits. Press the mixture evenly into the prepared pan and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the edges are lightly browned.
3. Melt the chocolate in the microwave, using 50% power, stirring at 1 minute intervals until smooth, or in the top of a double boiler. Spread the melted chocolate over the bars. Sprinkle the top with almonds. Set the pan on a rack and let it cool in the pan for about a hour. Chill for about 30 minutes or until chocolate is set. To serve, lift from the pan and set on a cutting board. If cold, bring to room temperature. Using a chef's knife, cut into 36 bars.

 

 

Thoughts: Sorry about the delay...I made these the day before we left on a trip (more about that in a later post) and I loaded the pictures on the website but decided to write the thoughts section the next night. However, I brought the iPad instead of the laptop. The iPad wouldn't allow me to scroll down to complete this post in a timely manner. So here it is almost a week later...

 

Once again, this is another recipe that required the use of a jelly roll pan and I was once again worried about the chocolate topping overflowing. However, it turned out fine and everything meant smoothly. This recipe doesn't really appeal to me because I don't really like toffee. I had a taste of some of the toffee chips and they were not so good. I had a minor butter issue because I left it out to get to room temperature and when I went to go use it, I thought it was a little cold still. So I put it in the microwave for 11 seconds...bad idea. I guess it was ready before it melted all over the bottom of the microwave. Other than that, this was a very straightforward recipe. Patrick was extremely leery of trying this recipe because he doesn't like toffee or espresso-coffee like flavors, but he ended up trying a bite and it "wasn't horrible". As for me, the recipe was ok...it was a nice buttery shortbread cookie.