Jerry's Thoughts, Musings, and Rants!

White Chocolate Dried Blueberry Cookies

The other day I was searching a cookie recipe to bake . . . I had lots of white chocolate chips that needed to be used up and had found three packages of dried blueberries (don't bother to ask how that happened!) I found a recipe that would allow me to use up some of both - how efficient is that?

These cookies were very easy to make - really they were just like traditional chocolate chip cookies except with the addition of white chocolate chips and the dried blueberries. The taste was incredible - the combination of white chocolate and the strong blueberry taste was amazing!

Enjoy!

White Chocolate Dried Blueberry Cookies

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 white chocolate chips
2/3 cup dried blueberries

Preheat oven to 375F. Line  baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract. Mix in the flour mixture, followed by the white chocolate chips and dried blueberries.

Drop tablespoonfuls of dough (1-inch balls) onto prepared baking sheet. Flatten with a flat-bottomed glass (dip the base of the glass in flour so the cookie won't stick to the bottom)

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until cookies are just beginning to turn a light golden color around the edges. Cool for about 5 minutes on the baking sheet until cookies are completely set, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container

Makes about 4 dozen.

OBD

Have you voted in the photo contest?

Four of our trip pictures have been entered in a photo contest run by the good folks at easycar.com. Oh happy day - all four photos are currently in the top 10 out of 370 photos. You can vote for each by clicking here, (remember 10 is a good vote! *smile*)  here, here, and here.

Yes, you CAN vote for all four photos.

You can only vote once from any given IP address - this means you can vote once for EACH pic from both at home and at work! If you have two computers networked at home, you can only vote on one of them, however. If you have a Blackberry though, that is a third vote. If you send these links to friends, relatives, or people who bug you with unwanted e-mails - just think of the of votes! It boggles the mind.

Heck, do what I do - vote at every hotel, conference centre, and friend's house in which you find a PC attached to the internet. Don't be shy at all. :-)

---

My pal Palma tells me that I have a disorder! ACK ACK ACK

Happily it won't kill me, at least not directly.

She claims that I have OBD, also known as obsessive baking disorder. Those of you who know Palma will smile at the thought of her calling anyone obsessive . . . hello pot . . .! Anyone who can host a sit down dinner for 48 at her house is the queen of obsessions, but I digress.

What does this disorder look like? What are the symptons?

Well, I imagine that it is different for everyone but this is a good sign that you have OBD:

32 containers of cookies, squares, and candies. All of them homemade in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

In addition, you panic that you might run out of baked treats so you have this in your freezer:

Logs of frozen cookie dough just waiting to be thawed, sliced, baked, and enjoyed. These are far tastier than any Pillsbury cookie logs, Sandi!

There you have it, two very strong indicators that you minght have OBD.

There is a third and final sympton though. This one closes the deal, in my opinion. If your Christmas cookie tray looks like this:

and you have made everything yourself, run and get help! It isn't too late.

Seriously though, there has been a lot of baking taking place in our household. We don't eat all of these cookies ourselves, instead we give most of them away. Nothing says I like you like a tin full of delicious Xmas baking!

Have a happy Christmas!

Rainbow Cookies

Have you voted in the photo contest?

Four of our trip pictures have been entered in a photo contest run by the good folks at easycar.com. Oh happy day - all four photos are currently in the top 10 out of 370 photos. You can vote for each by clicking here, (remember 10 is a good vote! *smile*)  here, here, and here.

Yes, you CAN vote for all four photos.

You can only vote once from any given IP address - this means you can vote once for EACH pic from both at home and at work! If you have two computers networked at home, you can only vote on one of them, however. If you have a Blackberry though, that is a third vote. If you send these links to friends, relatives, or people who bug you with unwanted e-mails - just think of the of votes! It boggles the mind.

Heck, do what I do - vote at every hotel, conference centre, and friend's house in which you find a PC attached to the internet. Don't be shy at all. :-)

---

My grandmother used to make these cookies when I was younger - although she stopped as I got older - likely because they were too fiddly for her arthritic hands. Ever since I found the recipe in a Taste of Home cookbook I've wanted to try them but I was afraid of the recipe - it just seems intimidating!

This week, in my frenzy of festive baking, I decided to throw caution to the wind and revisit my childhood. I discovered that these cookies aren't hard to make - as long as you work through each of the steps carefully.

Paul gave them the 'sampler' test tonight and decided that they were wonderful! When I tried my first one I closed my eyes and was immediately transported back to my childhood Christmases at my grandmother's house.

Enjoy!

Rainbow Cookies

1 can (8 ounces) almond paste
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
4 eggs, separated
2 cups all-purpose flour
6 to 8 drops red food coloring
6 to 8 drops green food coloring
1/4 cup seedless red raspberry jam
1/4 cup apricot jam
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Grease the bottoms of three matching 13-in. x 9-in. baking pans (or reuse one pan). Line the pans with waxed paper; grease the paper. 

Place almond paste in a large mixing bowl; break up with a fork. Cream with butter, sugar and egg yolks until light, fluffy and smooth. Stir in flour. In another mixing bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold into dough, mixing until thoroughly blended. 

Divide dough into three portions (about 1-1/3 cups each). Color one portion with red food coloring and one with green; leave the remaining portion uncolored. Spread each portion into the prepared pans. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. 

Invert onto wire racks; remove waxed paper. Place another wire rack on top and turn over. Cool completely. 

Place green layer on a large piece of plastic wrap. Spread evenly with raspberry jam. Top with uncolored layer and spread with apricot jam. Top with pink layer. Bring plastic wrap over layers. Slide onto a baking sheet and set a cutting board or heavy, flat pan on top to compress layers. Refrigerate overnight. 

The next day, melt chocolate in a double boiler. Spread over top layer; allow to harden. With a sharp knife, trim edges. Cut into 1/2-in. strips across the width; then cut each strip into 4-5 pieces. Store in airtight containers. 

Yield: about 8 dozen.

Cranberry White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Have you voted in the photo contest?

Four of our trip pictures have been entered in a photo contest run by the good folks at easycar.com. Oh happy day - all four photos are currently in the top 10 out of 370 photos. You can vote for each by clicking here, (remember 10 is a good vote! *smile*)  here, here, and here.

Yes, you CAN vote for all four photos.

You can only vote once from any given IP address - this means you can vote once for EACH pic from both at home and at work! If you have two computers networked at home, you can only vote on one of them, however. If you have a Blackberry though, that is a third vote. If you send these links to friends, relatives, or people who bug you with unwanted e-mails - just think of the of votes! It boggles the mind.

Heck, do what I do - vote at every hotel, conference centre, and friend's house in which you find a PC attached to the internet. Don't be shy at all. :-)

---

Wow - what a day!

Once I receovered, it was back to the baking. Note to self - don't be so foolish as to donate 16 dozen cookies to the silent auction at work. Double ARGH!

I like this recipe because it makes a soft oatmeal cookie - my favourite. You might be wondering about oatmeal cookies for Christmas but the tart dried cranberries give these oatmeal cookies a festive touch and balance decadent chunks of white chocolate. I particularly like the hint of cinnamon in these treats.

Enjoy!

Cranberry White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats (not instant)
3/4 cup dried cranberries
6 ounces white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375°F.

In a large bowl using an electric mixer combine the sugar, brown sugar and butter; mix well to cream together.

Add in egg and vanilla extract and mix until combined.

Add the cinnamon, baking soda, salt and flour and mix well.

Fold in the oatmeal, dried cranberries and white chocolate chips- making sure that all ingredients are uniformly distributed.

Roll dough into 1-inch balls and place 3 inches apart onto a greased cookie sheet and bake at 375° for 10-12 minutes, just until the edges are lightly golden.

Remove from oven and let cool for 2-3 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer cookies to cooling rack.

Whipped Shortbread

Have you voted in the photo contest?

Four of our trip pictures have been entered in a photo contest run by the good folks at easycar.com. Oh happy day - all four photos are currently in the top 10 out of 370 photos. You can vote for each by clicking here, (remember 10 is a good vote! *smile*)  here, here, and here.

Yes, you CAN vote for all four photos.

You can only vote once from any given IP address - this means you can vote once for EACH pic from both at home and at work! If you have two computers networked at home, you can only vote on one of them, however. If you have a Blackberry though, that is a third vote. If you send these links to friends, relatives, or people who bug you with unwanted e-mails - just think of the of votes! It boggles the mind.

Heck, do what I do - vote at every hotel, conference centre, and friend's house in which you find a PC attached to the internet. Don't be shy at all. :-)

---

The Christmas baking is in full swing. So far I've managed to finish 14 of the cookies and squares on my list. I've got 10 different types of cookie dough in the freezer, all shaped into logs and ready to slice and bake. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

This recipe is one of my favourites - the flavour is excellent, but more than that - it is easy! Imagine just dumping some ingredients into the Kitchen Aid mixer, beating the heck out of them, dropping the dough onto cookie sheets, placing a cut cherry on each tiny mound of dough, baking, and presto - you're done. Quick, easy, and delicious shortbread!

Enjoy!

Whipped Shortbread

1lb butter
1 cup icing sugar
3 cup flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla
15 candied cherries

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Cut cherries into 1/8's.

Cream butter, sugar and vanilla together until until very soft. Add cornstarch and flour and beat until the dough takes on a stiff whipped cream consistency.

Drop by spoon onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Top each cookie with a piece of cherry.

Bake for 10 min or so until golden on the bottom, but not browned on top.

Makes 4 dozen or more

Ginger Pork Sandwich

I first made these a few months ago and they were a huge hit. In fact, there were repeated requests to grill them up again. I couldn't blog about them at the time because the picture, frankly, blew. What was a blogger to do? Make them a second time, make Paul a VERY happy lad, take a good pic, and then blog away!

Serve these sandwiches for dinner, reserving some of the pork and mayonnaise mixture for your lunch the next day. Assemble the sandwich in the morning. We discovered that it is just as delicious when the pork is cold. In fact, we doubled the recipe the second time we made this so that there were LOTS of leftovers.

Ginger Pork Sandwich

2 tbsp (25 mL) sesame oil
1/2 tsp (2 mL) ground ginger
1/2 tsp (2 mL) each salt and pepper
1 pork tenderloin (12 oz/375 g)
1/2 cup (125 mL) light mayonnaise
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1 tsp (5 mL) rice vinegar
4 kaiser buns, halved
8 lettuce leaves
8 thin slices tomato

In shallow dish, combine oil, ginger and half each of the salt and pepper; add pork and roll to coat all over. Place on greased grill over medium-high heat; close lid and grill, turning once, until just a hint of pink remains inside, 18 minutes. Transfer to board and tent with foil; let stand for 5 minutes before slicing.

Meanwhile, in bowl, mix mayonnaise, onions, vinegar and remaining salt and pepper; spread on cut sides of buns. Sandwich pork, lettuce and tomato in buns.

Canadian Living, June 2005

Back to School Cookies - Oatmeal Raisin

I can't believe that the students went back to school today. Where has the summer gone? I blame evil Stephen Harper! He must have had his evil hand in the disappearance of summer. Did I mention that Stephen Harper is evil? Did I? He is, you know.

I love blogging. :-)

Actually I have to blame retailers, but it is nice to blame the pinhead for anything and everything! The kids are no longer out of school when the back-to-school displays go up! Parents haven't even sorted through the contents of their kid's locker that have been dragged home in a Hefty garbage bag and dumped on the family room floor when they are cajoled to go stock up on reams of paper and Bic pens.

Have you noticed how rushed everything is these days? I'll have to dig out the Halloween decor shortly. Heck, today when we were coming home from my mother's house we saw a house in our neighbourhood with its Christmas lights on! GASP

Again, it is Stephen Harper's fault.

My life has always revolved around the school year calendar - my mom was a teacher, than I was a student, and then a teacher. For our family, back-to-school always had significant connotations. Of course, until I started teaching it just meant the end of freedom. Actually, I guess as a teacher it was sort of the same as well.

It has been 10 years since I was last in a classroom, I am still active in education but not an active classroom teacher, and last night was the FIRST night I had a great night's sleep prior to the first day of school. Normally I would always wake up, frozen in fear, in the middle of a bad dream. Usually the dream involved 35 students from hell (all of whom looked like me, of course), running uncontrolled about the classroom, with me a huddled lump somewhere on the floor.

Another back to school tradition that I haven't shaken is that I bake cookies. We don't have kids but as soon as school starts Paul gets fresh cookies in his lunch. No more Keebler Pecan Sandies (which he LOVES BTW).

This week I made Oatmeal cookies - one of my favourites. I used an old recipe from Gourmet magazine. I was a bit skeptical - it only has 3/4 of a cup of flour - but I was sure that they would never had included it in their huge anniversary cookbook if it was a bust. I was right. This is my new favourite oatmeal cookie recipe - they were soft and chewy (I detest crunchy cookies) with a wonderful hint of cinnamon. I made the cookies smaller than was called for so I was able to get 40 cookies out of the recipe.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1 3/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease baking sheets. Stir together oats, flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Beat together butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined well. Add oat mixture and beat until just combined. Add the raisins to the mixture and stir until well distributed.

Drop dough by heaping tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets and flatten mounds slightly with moistened fingers. Bake cookies in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until golden, about 12 minutes total. Transfer to racks to cool.

Fig and Chile-Glazed Pork Tenderloin

We tried this quick recipe, originally from Cooking Light Magazine, the other day. I used the fig preserves that I had in the fruit cellar. The resulting dish was amazing! The chile heat is quite mild, in fact, I would consider doubling the amount for a more pronounced 'zing'.

This recipe serves 8. I used the leftovers for an amazing fig and pork tenderloin quesadilla. YUM

Enjoy!

Fig and Chile-Glazed Pork Tenderloin

1/2 cup fig preserves
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon chile paste with garlic
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
2 (1-pound) pork tenderloins, trimmed
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cooking spray
Fresh chives, cut into 1-inch pieces (optional)

Prepare grill to medium-high heat.

Combine preserves, vinegar, chile paste, soy sauce, and 1/4 teaspoon salt, stirring with a whisk.

Sprinkle pork with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Place pork on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 18 minutes or until thermometer registers 160° (slightly pink), turning occasionally and basting frequently with fig mixture. Garnish with fresh chives, if desired.

CALORIES 193(18% from fat); FAT 3.9g (sat 1.3g,mono 1.8g,poly 0.4g); IRON 1.6mg; CHOLESTEROL 74mg; CALCIUM 11mg; CARBOHYDRATE 14g; SODIUM 274mg; PROTEIN 24g; FIBER 0.3g

SSB # 13 Almond Fingers (ditti di mandorle)

First, an update on the photo contest.

As I mentioned here, easycar.com is running another photo contest. Last year my picture of Venice came in 12th of 467 photos. It is early days in the contest, for awhile I was in first, now my three pics have slipped to 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. hmmm - that really won't do! So, if you haven't voted yet, click on through and vote for Chicago Bean, Tuscany Poppies, and Siena Tower. Remember, the best vote is a 10. There is no need to be shy, feel free to vote for all three! *smile*

My fourth picture was declined! Sadly it was the best of the lot I thought! Apparently it was too large so I am reformatting it and hopefully ballooning in Tuscany will be posted shortly.

And now back to baking with the Sunday Slow Bakers and their blogs . . .

---

Another Sunday and another great recipe by Gina De Palma. This is the latest stage in the Sunday Slow Bakers' exploration of Dolce Italiano by Gina De Palma. Krista came up with the notion that it might be interesting to get a group of folks together to bake and blog each week. This week's recipe was selected by Terry.

I wasn't sure if I would be making these or not for two reasons - it has just been too warm to turn the oven on and second, one of the main ingredients is almond flour which I have been unable to find in the past. This morning at 6 am it was cool so turning the oven wasn't a disaster. The almond flour worked out as well - I found some at Whole Foods. Almond flour isn't a real flour, it is finely pulverized almonds. It wasn't cheap, now I have to think about what I can do with the rest of a $ 20 bag of pulverized almonds.

These cookies are simple to make - the dough comes together quickly (it was done by the time my coffee had dripped through the coffee maker). It chills for an hour, you then roll it into logs, slice off a cookie-sized piece, dip it in egg white, and sliced almonds. After 16 minutes in the oven (during which your kitchen will be filled with wonderful aromas) you take them out and cool 'em.

I really enjoyed the flavour and texture of these cookies. The centre was almost cake-like with a vary fine crumb. The flavour was a wonderful - lemon and almond with a subtle hint of vanilla. The almonds on the outside had crisped up which provided a great texture variation between the interior and the exterior.

Almond Fingers (ditti di mandorle)

Makes approx. 4 dozen cookies

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup almond flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, separated
Freshly grated zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups sliced blanched almonds
Confectioner's sugar, for dusting

In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, almond flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.

Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and granulated sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg yolk, followed by the lemon zest and vanilla extract, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Beat in the dry ingredients on low speed to make a stiff dough. Remove the dough from the bowl, flatten it into a disk, wrap it in plastic, and chill until firm enough to roll, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 325. Lightly grease two baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray or butter or line them with parchment paper.

Place the almonds in a shallow bowl. In another shallow bowl, lightly beat the egg white with a fork until frothy.

Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces. Work with 1 piece at a time, keeping the other portions wrapped and refrigerated. Roll the piece of dough into a narrow log 1/2 inch in diameter. Cut the log into cylinders about 1 1/2 inches long. Roll each cylinder in the beaten egg white, then in the sliced almonds to coat it completely. Place the cookies on the prepared sheets, spacing them evenly, about 1/2" apart. Repeat with the remaining portions of dough.

Bake the cookies until they are firm and the almonds are lightly golden brown, 14 to 16 minutes, rotating the sheet 180 degrees halfway through the baking time to ensure even browning. Allow the cookies to cool on the sheets for 1 or 2 minutes, then use a spatula to remove them gently to a wire rack to cool completely. Dust the cookies generously with confectioners' sugar.

The cookies can be stored in an airtight container, layered between sheets of parchment paper, in a cool, dry place for up to 4 days.

You can check out what the other Sunday slow baker bloggers have been up to by clicking through to their blogs (although some are traveling this week or dealing with 115 degree weather and NOT baking . . perhaps we'll have to take on the trailer trash jellied salad cookbook for our next round):

Destination Anywhere
In and Out of the Garden
My Place in the Sun
Palmabella's Passions
Postcards From the Trail
Whistlestop Cafe Cooking
Baked Alaska

Sunday Slow Baking # 9 - Bittersweet Chocolate and Hazelnut Cookies

Krista came up with the notion that it might be interesting to get a group of folks together to bake and blog each week. This week was Marta's turn to select the recipe. A group of us on Slow Travel are going to do just that. Each participant selects a recipe from the cookbook and we all work our way through it. Today is the ninth entry in our baking challenge (I missed a few good ones while we wer ein Italy it would appear) as we continue to work our way through Dolce Italiano by Gina DePalma (who also happens to be a member of the slowtravel community).

These cookies are incredible! They bring back memories of Piemonte where chocolate and hazelnuts are often ground together to make many wonderful treats from cookies, to cakes, to chocolates, to gelato, to Nutella! In fact, the treat I'me bringing back for my assistant is a huge bar of chocolate filled with toasted hazelnuts.

Chocolate and Hazelnut Cookies

Makes 5 dozen

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetend Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup whole hazelnuts, skinned or unskinned
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
5 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar, for dusting

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Place the hazelnuts in the bowl of a food processor and pulse them 2 or 3 times to chop them medium-fine. Add the hazelnuts to the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir to combine them.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and granulated sugar on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract and scrape down the sides of the bowl. On low speed, beat in the dry ingredients, followed by the chocolate, and beat just until combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill the dough until firm, about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 325. Lightly grease two baking sheets with nonstick cookign spray or butter or line them with parchment.

Place the confectioner's sugar in a shallow bowl. To form the cookies, roll 1 scant tablespoon of dough into a 1 inch ball, then flatten it slightly with your fingertips to form a small disk. Roll the cookie in the confectioner's sugar to coat evenly and place it on the baking sheet. Repeat until all of the dough is used, spacing the cookies 1 inch apart on the baking sheets.

Bake until the cookies are puffed and cracking, 8 to 10 mintues. Rotate the baking sheets 180 degrees halfway through the baking time to ensure even baking. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 1 to 2 minutes, then use a spatula to transfer them gently to a wire rack to cool completely. If desired, dust them with additional confectioner's sugar.

The cookies can be stored in an airtight container, layered between sheets of parchment paper, and kept in a cool, dry place for up to 1 week.

You can check out what the other slow bakers have come up with at their blogs ((although I do believe some are travelling this week):

Destination Anywhere
In and Out of the Garden
Keep Your Feet in the Street
My Place in the Sun
Old Shoes, New Trip
Palmabella's Passions
Postcards From the Trail
What I Really Think
Happy Trails For Us: My Reluctant Blog
Whistlestop Cafe Cooking
Baked Alaska