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Posted on » by Ashley » Theme:

Goat Cheese Sugar Cookies

Goat Cheese Sugar Cookies

Goat Cheese Sugar Cookies
Love and Olive Oil (Adapted from Cooks Illustrated)

Yield: 36 cookies
Total Time: 1 hour

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup (3 ounces) soft goat cheese, room temperature
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
nonpareil sprinkles or sanding sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.

In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Combine sugar, goat cheese, and melted butter in a large bowl and whisk until mixture forms a smooth paste (a few lumps are ok). Whisk in oil. Add egg, milk, and vanilla extract and stir until smooth. Fold in flour mixture until incorporated and no dry ingredients remain.

Pour sprinkles or sugar into a small bowl. Dough will be soft, but should still be workable. If not, refrigerate it for 15 to 20 minutes until it is. Use a small cookie scoop to portion out about 1 tablespoon of dough, then roll in sprinkles/sugar to coat. Arrange on prepared baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches of space between each cookie.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until cookies are just set and slightly cracked. Cool on the baking sheet for 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

Posted on » by Michael » Theme:

Lemon-Ginger Wafers


I was surprised that the cookies weren’t very gingery. Next time I will add more ginger. I added 1 TB of jarred fresh ginger (is that a contradiction?) I decided to make them lime instead of lemon and I got really positive feedback (unless no one wanted to make me feel bad)
Recipe courtesy Food Network Magazine 

Total Time:
3 hr 0 min
Prep
2 hr 45 min
Cook
15 min

Yield:
about 60 cookies
 

Ingredients

1 3-inch piece ginger, peeled (I used 1 TB)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Chopped crystallized ginger, for topping

Directions

Finely grate the ginger into a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl. Press with the back of a spoon to squeeze out the juice (you’ll need 1 tablespoon juice); set aside. Whisk the flour, cornstarch and salt in a medium bowl.

Beat the butter and 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in the lemon zest, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, the vanilla and ginger juice. Reduce the mixer speed to low; add the flour mixture and beat until just incorporated.

Divide the dough between 2 sheets of plastic wrap; form into two 1-by-9-inch logs. Wrap and freeze until firm, about 1 hour.

Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Unwrap the logs and slice into 1/4-inch-thick rounds; arrange 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake, switching the pans halfway through, until the edges are golden, about 13 minutes. Let cool5 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

Make the icing: Put the remaining 1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar in a bowl; stir in 2 to 3 teaspoons lemon juice, a little at a time, until the icing is spreadable. Spread on the cookies and top with crystallized ginger; let set 30 minutes.

Posted on » by Michael » Theme:

Sausage, Pepper and Onion Snakes (Sausage, Pepper and Onion Roll)

Cook’s Illustrated. – July 2008

I took the cooks illustrated recipe for Sausage and onion and modified it to make the snakes. Red is my revisions (I also crossed off anything that didn’t apply to my version)

Sausage, Pepper and Onion Snakes
Why this recipe works:
We wanted a foolproof grilled sausage recipe that would produce nicely browned links with juicy interiors, accompanied by tender, well-cooked vegetables. As a first step, we started the vegetables, then layered the raw sausages over the hot vegetables in a disposable roasting pan. Cooking the sausages and vegetables together in the oven, covered, before browning the sausages directly on the grill and uncovering the pan to allow the vegetables to caramelize completed our perfect grilled sausage and vegetables recipe.

This recipe will work with any raw, uncooked sausage. Serve sausages as is or in toasted buns.

Serves 4

Ingredients
  • 2 large onions , halved and cut pole to pole into 1/4-inch-thick slices (I used ~1.25)
  • 4 large red bell peppers
  • 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
  • 1/2teaspoon table salt
  • 1/4teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 13- by 9-inch disposable aluminum roasting pan
  • 2 pounds hot or sweet Italian sausages (8 to 12 links) (I used hot turkey)
  • 2 – Italian dough (10 oz each)

Instructions
  1. 1. Turn all burners to medium-high and heating grill with lid down until very hot, about 15 minutes. Scrape grate clean with grill brush.
  2. Peel skin off sausage.
  3. Cut peppers into quarters (from top to bottom) – remove seeds and stuff
  4.  Meanwhile, combine onions, thyme, salt, and pepper in medium microwave-safe bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high power until onions begin to soften and tips turn slightly translucent, 4 to 6 minutes, stirring once halfway through cooking (be careful of steam). Transfer onions to disposable roasting pan. Place sausages in single layer over onions and wrap roasting pan tightly with foil.
  5. On the side next to onions and sausage (in the roasting pan) put the (as flat as possible.)
  6. Place roasting pan in center of grill, cover grill, and cook 15 minutes. Move pan to one side of grill and carefully remove foil cover. Using tongs, place sausages directly on grate. Grill sausages, with grill lid down, turning every 1 to 2 minutes, until golden brown on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer sausages to platter and loosely tent with foil.
  7. Take peppers out of time to cook directly on grate until well browned.
  8. Crumble the sausage in the tin with the onions.
  9. Cover grill and continue cooking onions (and crumbled sausage), stirring occasionally, until liquid evaporates and onions begin to brown, 5 to 10 minutes longer. Serve sausages, passing onions separately. – I threw the tin into the broiler to brown the meat a little and dry the mixture
  10. Once slightly cooled chop everything up (add the peppers to the onion and sausage)
  11. Roll Italian dough into a long thin strip. Fill sausage, peppers and onions and close it up.
  12. Bake about 10 minutes about 500 until well browned.