Buckwheat Biscuits

I know, you were expecting a cute cocktail or something stuck on a toothpick for New Year's Eve.  I don't blame you, but trust me, you'll get a lot more use out of these buckwheat biscuits.  I made them to go with my Black Lentil and Ham Soup, but after one bite I knew I couldn't just cram them into the soup post like an afterthought, they had to have a post of their own.  

I'm like a kid in a sandbox playing with the colors, textures, and flavors of all the new flours I've discovered this year.  I love the subtle changes they're making in some of my favorite foods, but they have serious health benefits too, not only for you and me, but for the planet.  Have you been reading about that scary wheat rust fungus that's making a comeback?  That kind of thing can cause real damage to our food supply when we're so dependent on a single crop like wheat. 
If you're unsure about it, start small.  In these biscuits I used a ratio of 1 part buckwheat to 2 parts white flour. The flour has a gray color with black specs (the ground up hulls of the buckwheat seed) running through it.  It darkens as it cooks and the distinctive specs are beautiful.  I went a step further and loaded the biscuits with parsley which gave them a green tinge as well.  They were tender and amazing.

Buckwheat is an ancient grain that isn't even related to wheat.  It was one of the earliest crops grown in North America, and buckwheat cakes were a staple right up until the mid 20th century when corn and wheat took over our farmlands and our diet. Today buckwheat is more popular in Europe (light pancakes in France and Belgium, kasha cereal in Russia and Poland) and in Asia (noodles) than it is in North America where it's pretty much relegated to specialty food stores.  

Buckwheat Biscuits
oven to 450
a generous 1/2 cup fresh parsley, packed (optional)
1 cup buckwheat flour
2 cups white flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
12 Tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) cold butter, cut in pieces
2 Tbsp honey
1 1/4 cup cold buttermilk, shaken

• If you are using the parsley, put it in the bowl of a processor and pulse till evenly chopped.
• Put the dry ingredients in the bowl of the processor, pulse to mix.
• Drop in the butter pieces and pulse about 10 times to incorporate the butter.
• Mix together the honey and buttermilk and while the processor is going, pour the liquids in and run just until the dough forms.  
• Dump it out onto a floured surface and pat it into a fat disk, about 9", the dough will be sticky.
• Cut out 6 biscuits with a 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 inch biscuit cutter.  Reform the dough gently and cut 2 more biscuits if you want, although I always find the biscuits made with the reformed dough are not nearly as good or as pretty.
• Bake on parchment or silpat in the 450 oven for about 5 to 6 minutes until the biscuits start to rise, and then turn down the heat to 400 and bake another 8 to 10 minutes just until fully risen and lightly browned.  Don't over bake!

Note: I made my biscuits extra large because I pair them with soup and call it dinner. If you use a smaller cutter you'll get more, just be extra sure to adjust your baking times. Don't be worried by the sticky dough, all you are doing is patting it into shape and plopping the biscuits on the baking sheet, so you don't need to add too much extra flour.

I don't know about where you are, but it's cold and rainy here today. These biscuits and a bowl of lentil soup sounds a whole lot better to me right now than a Pomegranate Fizz.  


Happy New Year!

Black Lentil and Ham Soup

I had every intention of making good old bean soup with my leftover ham, but when I saw these gorgeous black Beluga Lentils I switched my plans on the spot.  I knew they would cook faster, look prettier, and make a lighter soup. 

Even when I know how to make something in my sleep, like bean soups, I usually check the Internet to see what others are doing, and maybe get inspired by an ingredient or method that I haven't tried.  I happened upon a recipe from a California restaurant that perfectly fit my vision and my ingredients.  I made a few small changes, but it's a great way to use up some of your leftover ham.  

Beluga Black Lentil and Ham Soup     (based on a recipe by the Bittersweet Bistro)  
olive oil
1 medium Spanish onion, diced
1 large shallot, diced
2 to 3 carrots, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
1/2 russet potato, peeled and finely diced (it will break down and thicken the soup)
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
leftover ham, diced or shredded
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 cups diced fresh tomatoes
3/4 cup black lentils
32 oz chicken stock
1 bay leaf
fresh thyme
2 Tbsp sherry vinegar
salt and fresh pepper
fresh parsley

• Coat the bottom of a heavy soup pot with oil.  Saute the onion, carrot, potato and peppers for 5 minutes.  
• Add in the ham and garlic, stir for a minute.  Add in the wine and cook for another minute.
• Add in the tomatoes, lentils, stock, bay leaf and thyme and bring to a simmer.
• Cook for about 30 minutes or until the lentils are tender.  
• Add in the sherry vinegar, season with salt and pepper and keep warm till you eat, or cool and regrigerate.  Once again, this soup benefits from hanging out a bit so the flavors can develop.
• Add the parsley just before serving.  Top with sour cream, creme fraiche or yogurt if you want. 

I love beans and legumes, but I don't like heavy bean soups that have lost all their color and texture.  With lentils the soup cooks quickly and the other ingredients don't melt into oblivion. These black lentils are some of my favorites because they retain their texture and the color is so dramatic. 

The only problem is, I STILL have lots of leftover ham!

Pear Cake with Vanilla Bean Frosting

Three red Anjou pears have been sitting on the counter for what seems like forever.  They were there while we baked all the cookies and desserts before Christmas. They sat there all week while people shuffled in and out of the kitchen grabbing snacks.  They managed to survive even after I dumped an entire crate of clementines on top of them in the big fruit bowl. The clementines have gone, one by one, but the three pears remained.

Yesterday while the rest of the family was standing in line for Sherlock Holmes I finally gave the pears their day.  This is my ideal kind of cake, a moist little square with a generous frosting to cake ratio.  Using a whole vanilla bean in the frosting is an extravagance, but it's still technically the holidays.  And besides, I've got to clear some space in this kitchen, it's starting to stress me out.

Pear Snack Cake with Vanilla Bean Frosting         (inspired by ButterYum)
oven to 375 (350 for a glass pan)
2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

1 egg

3 Tbsp butter, room temperature

1 cup ripe pear, peeled and finely chopped

1 tsp vanilla extract 

1 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

Vanilla Bean Frosting
3 Tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean
2 cups confectioner's sugar
milk or cream to thin

• Cream together the sugar, sour cream, egg and butter.  
• Add in the pear and vanilla.
• Fold in the dry ingredients just until blended.
• Spread into an 8x8, 9x9 square or equivalent small cake baking pan (I used a 7 1/2 x 11 1/2 pan)
• Bake for about 20 minutes just until the edges are starting to brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
• For the frosting, cream the soft butter with the vanilla beans with the back of a spoon.  Add in the sugar and blend together, then add in the cream or milk until you have a spreading consistency.  Beat it until smooth and glossy.
• Ice the cake when it's completely cooled.

 
Now if I can just tackle that ham...

Caramelized Onion, Goat Cheese and Herb Pie

In the days between Christmas and the new year I'll try to keep the food flowing with as little effort as possible.  This herbed pie can serve as breakfast, lunch, or dinner.  It can also sit out on a counter for grazing throughout the day.  We chose the grazing method.

This kind of French inspired tart filled with veggies and a light custard of egg, milk and cream has become a new favorite of mine.  I chopped up a big heap of mixed herbs from the random packages that piled up around the kitchen during Christmas week.  I could have added some of the leftover ham that's sitting in the fridge, but I decided to keep the focus on the tangy cheese and fresh herbs.

The tart format allows the individual flavors to shine, rather than be smothered in too much crust and custard like the kind of quiche I used to make in a pie plate.

I used Martha Stewart's No Fail Crust. I'm happy to say this recipe has completely cured me of my crust-making phobia. It's easy to roll out and it always turns out flaky and perfect whether I'm using it baked or unbaked.  Isn't that just like Martha.

Crust:
2 1/2 cups flour
2 sticks unsalted butter, cold and cut in pieces
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup ice water, more if necessary

• Put the flour salt and sugar in a processor and pulse to combine. 
• Add the pieces of butter and process until grainy.  
• While pulsing, add in the ice water, starting with 1/4 cup, just until the dough holds together when pressed between your fingers. 
• Empty the bowl of the processor onto a sheet of plastic wrap and bring it together into a dough.  
• Cut the amount in half, shape into disks, and wrap each disk in plastic.  
• Refrigerate for 2 hours before rolling out one of the disks for this tart.    

Caramelized Onion, Goat Cheese and Herb Pie
oven to 350

1 unbaked crust in a 10 inch tart pan
olive oil
1 onion, halved and thinly sliced
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
heaping 1/2 cup mixed freshly chopped herbs (I used parsley, rosemary, thyme and sage)
6 to 7 oz goat cheese
salt and fresh cracked pepper

• Coat the bottom of a large saute pan with olive oil and cook the onions on medium low until they are soft and caramelized.  Rearrange them in the pan occasionally so they cook evenly and try not to let them brown. This can take 1/2 hour or more.  Set aside to cool. 
• Mix the beaten eggs, milk and cream in a bowl.  Add in the herbs, and season with salt and pepper.
• Crumble the goat cheese and spread out evenly on the unbaked crust.
• Top the cheese with the onions and season with a little more salt and pepper.
• Pour the milk mixture into the crust and even out the herbs across the top.
• Bake for about 45 minutes until browned and set.  
• Serve warm, or at room temperature.

The Morning After Gingerbread Pancakes

The morning after Christmas is fraught with so many emotions...for the head cook and shopper, aka Mrs. Claus, it's probably a huge relief.  For the rest of the family it can be a bit depressing.  Let them down easy with these lightly spiced fragrant pancakes.

Gingerbread Pancakes
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 heaping Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 eggs
2 Tbsp molasses
2 Tbsp butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

• Whisk the dry ingredients together.
• whisk the wet ingredients together.
• Combine just until blended.  Add more buttermilk if the batter is too thick.
• Cook on a hot griddle

Note:  Make it even easier on yourself and measure and mix the dry ingredients the night before.  If you don't have buttermilk, use regular, or add a tablespoon of lemon juice to regular milk and let it sit for 10 minutes.

With little tricks like this you can extend the holiday spirit right through till the new year, at which point you have permission to kick drag relocate that rapidly crisping tree out to the curb, along with every razor sharp pine needle, shred of curling ribbon, balled up blob of scotch tape, crumpled  piece of tissue paper and over-priced gift bag you can possibly cram into a lawn and leaf trash sack
...funny how the mood can change on a dime once January 1st rolls around....

Merry Christmas!

Hope you got everything you wanted!

Melting Moments

There are no curtains on our bedroom window that faces due east out over a woodland marsh.  Most mornings I'll wake to the pre-dawn glow.  So do the dogs, which may have something to do with it, but that's besides the point.  I've always been an early riser, and I treasure those fleeting moments in the darkened kitchen as I grab my first cup of coffee by laptop light.  The world makes no demands on you before dawn, and the day ahead is all possibility.

This morning I wake up to a house as full as it's ever been.  I'll have a brief moment to enjoy it; the girls will be gone by the new year.  But sitting here in the early morning somehow gives me the sense that I can slow it all down.  Of course I can't, the sun is already at the horizon.  Luckily this dough comes together in a couple of minutes and can chill while everyone sleeps.  

I grew up with these cookies at Christmas. The cornstarch is responsible for the unique melting texture and the frosting makes them sweet like little cakes.  Everyone who tries them loves them.  

These delicate cookies aren't the best choice for shipping, but they are perfect for setting out on the counter or holiday table, and they survive the journey from plate to mouth just fine.  In place of the vanilla or rum you could try almond, citrus, or peppermint flavors, with the appropriate garnishes.  I have a feeling I'll eventually try a dark chocolate version but today I'm sticking with the classic as it was typed out on my mom's recipe card. 

The holidays can be a source of tension, regret, frustration and even sadness for so many people.  They wash over us like a tidal wave and can leave even the most prepared among us feeling inadequate. We feel like we didn't do enough, didn't find that perfect present, didn't get around to decorating the house, don't have enough money... maybe we're missing people who aren't with us, or remembering idyllic holidays past.  

This season I'm trying to appreciate each unique moment without thinking too too much about what was, what will be, or what could have been.  My dough is chilling.  We'll scoop it out and bake it later this morning.  It'll be fun.

Enjoy your week!  I'll be back after Christmas.


Notes:  I used an 1 3/4 inch ice cream scoop to scoop out the dough.  Bake on an ungreased, cool cookie sheet to prevent spreading.  Let them cool first on the baking sheet. They are very delicate so move them and frost them carefully---you will be rewarded for your efforts.   This recipe makes one and a half dozen cookies.  

Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake and a blog award

I tasted this cake many years ago and have held onto the memory and the recipe.  It's from Bon Apetit 1995.  The cake is safely under glass and waiting for the first daughter to arrive home today.

This cake has the texture of a dense pound cake. 

 

Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake
oven to 350

2 large egg whites (1/4 cup)

1/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar

Pinch of salt

1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts

1 1/4 cups mini semisweet chocolate chips, divided

2 cups cake flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

3 large eggs

3/4 cup sour cream

Topping
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons sour cream
(I microwaved some dark chocolate chips in a baggie till melted, sniped off the tip and drizzled it over the cake.)

• Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Butter and flour 10-inch-diameter tube pan, then spray with nonstick spray. Mix egg whites, brown sugar, and salt in bowl. Mix in walnuts and 1/4 cup chocolate chips.
• Whisk flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl to blend. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Stir in flour mixture in 4 additions alternately with sour cream in 3 additions, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Stir in 1 cup chocolate chips.
• Transfer batter to pan; smooth top. Spoon walnut mixture evenly over. Bake cake until tester inserted near center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Cool in pan on rack 10 minutes. Turn cake out onto rack; invert onto second rack (walnuts should be on top). Cool.
• Mix powdered sugar and sour cream in bowl; drizzle over cake, or melt chocolate chips in a baggie, snip the tip and drizzle.

---I'm so excited, I got a lovely blogging award from 2 people the other day. Thanks to Rose from 
1 More Shopping Blog and Louise from Cosmetic Bee for passing on the award.  

This award is given to bloggers with fewer than 200 followers.

The award has these stipulations:

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.

2. Reveal your 5 blogger picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.

3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.

4. Hope that the people you have sent the award to will forward it to their favourite bloggers.

Here are the bloggers I'd like to hand this award on to---

Simone from Junglefrog
 A Dutch food photographer from The Netherlands, her recipes and photographs are always inspiring.

 Sarah from Snippets of Thyme

Sarah's blog is so polished and her photos set the standard for me.  I especially like how she blends her cooking and photography with life stories.

Victoria from 21st Century Urban Housewife

Victoria blogs from Edinburgh, and it's been fun following along with her as she gets acclimated to the city and shares Scottish traditions.

Yasmeen from Wandering Spice 

Yasmeen is an expat who blogs from Melbourne, she celebrates her Middle Eastern heritage through her family's recipes.

Mary from Barefeet in the Kitchen

 Mary's turned me on to making my own tortillas, whole wheat chocolate chip cookies, and baked oatmeal, she even grinds her own flour.

The hostess from hostess of the humble bungalow

Hostess blogs from British Columbia about mid-life in the bungalow and in her beautiful seaside community.

I know, that's six.  So sue me.   
Congratulations ladies...thanks for your wonderful blogs!

Roasted Winter Vegetable Lasagna

When it gets this close to Christmas, every day comes with its own list of things that needs to get done, but 'to do' lists are useless if you cram too much on them.  I'm guilty.  I'll sheepishly scrawl down things that I want to do, but know darn well won't get done.  Somehow it makes me feel better.  Today one of my jobs is to get a big family dinner into the freezer for this week.  I only have 8 days with my girls, I don't want to waste any of it wondering what's for dinner or doing last minute grocery shopping. 

I love lasagna, but I have to admit if they hadn't invented no cook noodles I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.  All the pots and pans and mess turns me off.  But lasagna has some redeeming qualities: everybody loves it, and a good sized pan can feed the family for days. It's really perfect for the week before Christmas.
Open a box of no cook lasagna noodles, pull out your largest casserole dish, a couple of baking sheets for the veggies, and a cutting board.  The hardest thing here is thinly slicing the fresh mozzerella.  I don't use fresh ricotta because I think the store bought is actually a little creamier; fresh ricotta doesn't always melt well.  Lots of fresh sage mixed in with the eggy ricotta scents and flavors the whole dish.  This lasagna is made like the classic, just substitute roasted vegetables for the meat layer.

The key is to roast the vegetables just long enough to get some color (and thus flavor) without cooking them too much.  They'll cook further in the baking process and you don't want them mushy.  Use whatever vegetables you have on hand, just slice them thin enough so they can be layered between the noodles.

Roasted Winter Vegetable Lasagna
oven to 400 (for the roasted veggies)
makes 9-12 servings

1/2 butternut squash, peeled and sliced
1 leek, sliced
1 fennel bulb, sliced

a couple of handfuls of Brussels sprouts, quartered

about a cup and a half of thickly sliced mushrooms
3 garlic cloves,whole with skin on
olive oil
1 package of no cook lasagna noodles
1 large jar of your favorite tomato sauce, or tomato puree
1 14 oz can fire roasted tomato puree (optional)
1 1/2 lb of whole milk ricotta cheese
2 eggs
large handful of fresh sage leaves, chopped
salt and fresh cracked pepper
2 -3 8 oz balls of fresh mozzerella, thinly sliced

• Spread the vegetables out on baking pans in one layer.  Drizzle them with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and fresh cracked pepper.  Roast them in the hot oven just until they brown a bit and are almost tender.  This will only take 10 or 15 minutes.  Stir or shake the pan once or twice during roasting. After you take the vegetables out of the oven, turn down the heat to 375.
• Squeeze out the roasted garlic from its peel and chop it up.  
• Mix the ricotta with the eggs and sage.  Season liberally with salt and pepper.
• Ladle some of the tomato sauce to cover the bottom of your 9x12 lasagna pan and lay a first layer of noodles down.  Try to cover most of the space, breaking noodles to fit, if necessary.
• Put down 1/2 of the veggies, 1/2 of the ricotta mixture, and 1/3 of the mozzerella.  
• Make 1 more layer the same way.  Press down on the noodles lightly as you layer and season with salt and pepper.
• For the last layer put down the noodles, top with sauce, and mozzerella. Make sure all exposed noodles are covered in sauce.  No-cook noodles need extra sauce to cook in and absorb.
• Cover loosely with non-stick foil and bake at 375 for 50-60 minutes.        
• Remove the foil for the last 15 minutes, and run under the broiler to brown if necessary.
• Let rest for 15 minutes before cutting.  Cool completely before freezing.

There's no way around it, lasagna is a bit of an effort, but when I heft that weighty pan from the oven I get a real sense of accomplishment.  Speaking of which I guess I need to move on down my list.  I reeeealllly hope I didn't write down clean the refrigerator...

Espresso Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies

Holiday Shortbread variation #2 for 2011 is inspired by the wonderful coffee nut cake I made a few weeks ago.  I used my basic shortbread recipe and added strong espresso and ground hazelnuts for a refined flavor. The coffee really comes through both in the scent and taste of these cookies.  I had planned to drizzle them with milk chocolate, but the chocolate was a little too thick to drizzle elegantly, so I inelegantly dunked them right in. 

Espresso Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies
makes about 14 small cookies
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1/2 cup finely ground hazelnuts (Bob's Red Mill makes a Hazelnut Meal/Flour, and Trader Joe's carries ground nuts at the holidays)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp instant espresso dissolved in 1 Tbsp boiling water and cooled
1/2 cup, 1 stick, unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips (for drizzling or dunking)

• In the bowl of a stand mixer or food processor (you can also use a hand mixer, or your hands) mix together the flour, sugar and hazelnuts.  
• Add the softened butter, vanilla and cooled espresso and mix until the dough comes together.  
• Turn out onto waxed or parchment paper and form into an 8" log.  
• Wrap the log in the paper and twist the ends, smoothing the shape as you go.
• Chill for at least an hour, or overnight.
• Pre-heat the oven to 325, and line and baking sheet with parchment.
• Slice the dough into 1/3 to 1/2 inch slices.
• Bake in the center of the oven for about 12 minutes.
• Cool on the pan briefly before finishing on a rack.
• When the cookies are completely cool, melt the chocolate for about a minute in the microwave stirring until completely smooth, then drizzle or dunk the shortbread.  You can just dust them with powdered sugar if you don't want to use the chocolate.

I love this shortbread variation.  They would be a great hostess gift because even people who don't drink coffee love the taste, and these are perfect for after dinner.  Like all shortbread doughs, you can keep it in the freezer to pull out when you need it.  If you freeze the sliced dough you can bake right from frozen, but if you freeze the whole log you will have to let it defrost before you can slice it.

Double Dark Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

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Now that I've got most of my cookie gift boxes in the mail, it's time to focus on what's staying here with us.  

Shortbread of all kinds is a recurring theme in our house.  It's one of those holiday staples that we all look forward to.  I make different varieties every year depending on my mood.  These extra dark cookies are amazing, if I do say so myself.  They melt in your mouth with an explosion of deep rich chocolate that'll make your eyelids flutter.  I  love the unique texture of shortbread, it's super soft inside with a delicate crunch on the outside.  

I used extra dark cocoa powder and dark chocolate chips, so this is about the richest chocolate you can bite into short of a truffle.

This kind of shortbread cookie, with its short list of ingredients and easy prep is the ultimate holiday cookie.  There's no stress involved, they come together in minutes, and the whole thing can be done ahead of time and the dough kept in the refrigerator or freezer. 

Double Dark Chocolate Shortbread
(makes about 12-14 cookies, double the recipe if you want to) 
oven to 325
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1/4 cup dark cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

• Cream the butter, cocoa powder and sugar together until completely combined and smooth.  Add in the vanilla.
• Mix in the flour, and finish with a wooden spoon.  Don't over mix.
• Stir in the chocolate chips and turn the dough out onto a board and form into an smooth 8" log.  The dough will be sticky. 
• Wrap it in waxed or parchment paper and twist both ends to secure, shaping the log as you roll.  Refrigerate for at least an hour, or overnight.  You can also freeze the dough for later use.
• Slice the log into 1/3" slices with a sharp knife.
• Put on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake in the center of the oven for 12 to 15 minutes.  They will feel slightly soft, don't over bake them.
• Cool for a few minutes on the pan and then transfer to a rack.
• If you're going to give them away make sure they are completely cool before you package them.  
 

I used Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa powder for these cookies---it's a blend of Dutched cocoa processed to give a deeper, richer chocolate color and flavor.  I liked it quite a bit.  You can see the color above is unusually deep, and the flavor is as well.  It makes my dark chocolate chips look pale in comparison!  I highly recommend this cookie to all of you who love chocolate.