Repeat the Sounding Joy

I have a love affair with these cookies, a deep seated one. Because I have no recipes that involve Easter traditions, other than perhaps paska which I don’t know how to make, I’ve got one for Purim. Perhaps I should give my Baba a call… maybe I’ll hit you all with that recipe later.

Hamantaschen

For the cookies, you need:

1 C Butter
2 C Granulated sugar
2 tsp orange rind (grated or filed, not big chunks)
2 eggs
3 ¾ C flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt

In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar and orange rind until fluffy. Then add in the eggs.

In a separate bowl, add the flour, baking powder and salt. Give them a mix to disperse the ingredients more evenly. Add to the butter mixture, and stir until you achieve a smooth dough.

Divide the dough into thirds, and form each into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap to seal in the moisture, and stick them in the fridge for about an hour to firm up.

When they’re nice and cold, roll the dough out to ¼ - 1/8 inch thickness. Using a round cookie cutter, I use a 3 inch one, cut out rounds. Reroll the scraps to make more cookies.

Next, what you want to do is go around the edges with egg wash (that’s an egg beaten with about a tablespoon of water, it’s what makes the edges stick). Place a heaping teaspoon of filling (recipes for which will follow) in the middle of the cookie.

Fold up three sides to make three corners. Pinch the corners to seal them, leaving a small opening in the center.

Place the cookies about an inch apart on a prepared baking sheet, and put them back in the fridge. They can hang out in there for about half an hour.

Bake them till they’re golden in a 350 oven, that’s between 15 and 20 minutes.

For the filling:

Poppy seed variation: In a saucepan, bring milk (1 C) and water (1/4 C) to a boil. Mix in ground poppy seeds (1 C), sugar (1/2 C), chopped raisins (1/4 C), honey (2 tbsp), cinnamon (1/4 tsp), and a pinch of salt. Bring back to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, stirring often until stiff and dry, about 18 minutes. Let cool and use in cookies.

Apricot variation: In a saucepan, soak finely chopped dried apricots (1.5 C) in water (1.5 C) for about 20 minutes. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer on low about 30 minutes, until almost no water remains. Stir in 2 tbsp honey, and a splash of orange juice (I never measure, maybe a little less than a quarter cup?) and cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes. Let cool and use in cookies.

This recipe makes about 50 cookies, but they’re so good that they disappear quickly. Once or twice, in a pinch without poppy seed or dried apricots, I’ve used strawberry rhubarb jam, to much delight of my fellow Hamantaschen munchers. I’m sure there are other fillings used out there, of which I would be curious to learn, but these are the ones I know of.

Song of the Day: Love You Madly - Cake

The marathon of exams, that’s three in sixty hours, is coming to a close. Just 12 more hours until the last one, and here I am, washing the flour off my hands to write a post.

Why does she have flour on her hands? I imagine you readers asking. It is because that is what happens when I feel stressed out and need to take a second to escape. I bake.

Strange coping mechanism, I agree. Lots of difficult exams to write? It would seem logical to be perusing that last textbook, doing sample questions for the umpteenth time, but who ever said that I’m always logical? I am in the kitchen, amongst the cocoa and the sugar. And as soon as this gets typed up, I’ll be back to the books. I promise.

Though cupcakes would be nice to bake too…

I’ve been like this since I started cooking, standing upon a chair pulled up to the counter so I could reach, beside my grandma, or my mother, or (my kitchen idol) my grandpa’s little sister, who we will just call Auntie. Being in the kitchen, doing that alchemy of taking raw ingredients and putting them together just so to make something divine, has always been a very tranquil place for me.

When I visit said Auntie, we invariably end up making something. Either she has a new recipe she wants to show me, or I’m asking about how to make some particular request. And she tells stories of wee little me becoming overwhelmingly engrossed with cooking. The hyper, bouncing off the walls little girl becoming tranquil if she had flour on her hands.

So this post is for that special Auntie, as this is her recipe. They’re perfect for anyone with a sweet tooth, or a need to escape from studying.

Farmer’s Brownies

1 1/4 C Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

3/4 C Butter

1 C Brown Sugar

1 C Granulated Sugar

4 Eggs

2 tsp Vanilla extract

1 C Chopped Walnuts (optional)

Melt butter over low heat in saucepan. Let cool.

Blend together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

Beat cocoa, both sugars, eggs, and vanilla into the melted butter. (You really do want to let it cool or else the eggs will start to cook, yuck!)

Stir in dry ingredients and walnuts.

Spread batter in 9X9 inch pan. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes.

Sometimes simple is best.

Song of the Day: My Way Out - David Usher

Yesterday, the rescheduled Valentine’s was rescheduled again because Fearless has come down with a serious bout of the flu.

I went to his place at the time he had given me, dressed for the weather as I was told to do. And when I rang the buzzer, there was no answer at the door. I was confused at first, wondering if I had forgotten I was supposed to meet him elsewhere? I got out my phone and dialed his number.

The door opened. It was him, looking like death warmed over, wearing naught but a pair of gray sweats.

It’s Sunday? He asked, voice a little raspy.

I didn’t answer. You’re sick?

He ushered me inside. His movements were slow, very out of the ordinary because he normally carries this kinetic energy that buzzes from him. He grabbed a blanket from the floor, where he must have dropped it, and plunked down on the couch. I’m sorry about Valentine’s. He proceeded to lie down again.

The caregiver in me kicked in (as it always does), Have you eaten anything today?

He pointed at an open but untouched looking packet of soda crackers and said, Keep throwing up.

Are you staying hydrated?

He lifted a bottle of water from his side.

I fluffed the pillow under his head. He started to mumble something about moving Valentine’s to another day again, but I shushed him, gave him a kiss on the forehead, and told him I was going to make him some chicken soup. Fearless started to protest; he’s such a protector, he likes to do the taking care of, not be the object of it. Luckily, he was tired and weak from being sick, so protesting didn’t get him very far.

I whipped up a simple stracciatella, the perfect thing for a sensitive tummy, and brought him a new glass of water.

He ate, got sick, and tried to eat a little more. I got him into his bed, solved his achey muscle issue with a long massage, and just sat with him for a while in the quiet. He kept saying sorry about Valentine’s day, he had so much planned; but really it wasn’t bad at all. I got to spend a quiet day pampering my man and showing him I care. The only thing better would have been if he wasn’t sick.

Valentine’s has been moved again, to as soon as he’s feeling up to snuff again. From talking to him today, it seems he already feels much better. I hope work tomorrow doesn’t make him any worse, it sounds as if it’s going to be a rather intensive day.

Stracciatella

7 C Chicken Broth

1/2 C Orzo (my personal choice for this) or other small pasta

2 Eggs

1/3 C Grated Parmesan Cheese

2 Tbsp Chopped Parsley, fresh is best but dried works too

Pinch pepper, to taste

Bring six cups of the broth to a boil, reserving one cup. Stir in orzo or other pasta, and cook until al dente.

In a bowl, whisk together eggs, cheese, parsley, pepper, and reserved broth. Gradually pour mixture into boiling broth, stirring constantly until the eggs break into strands.

Serve!

Song of the Day: I’ll Cover You - RENT

What better than to follow up the first, cold part of the weekend with something luscious and hot?

Quintessentially female, I have quite a love affair with chocolate. I made them for Fearless earlier in the week, and he loved them too! I’m lucky the recipe makes a bunch, because he didn’t want to settle for just one. He was a lucky man because I let him take some of the extras. What can I say? Food is love! They’re just perfect little personal cakes of pleasure, ready to go the way of volcanoes at the first touch of a spoon. Each mini cake is baked with a truffle in the middle, and as the cakes bake, the truffles melt. Just divine!

1. Truffle

4 oz bittersweet chocolate

1/3 C whipping cream

2 tbsp Bailey’s Irish Cream (or other preferred liqueur, Bailey’s is my personal favorite)

In a saucepan, heat whipping cream over medium heat until steaming. While waiting for the cream to heat, chop up the chocolate and place it in a bowl. When the whipping cream is ready, pour it over the chocolate and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the liqueur, and then refrigerate until firm. That takes about an hour.

Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with plastic wrap. Spoon mixture into eight mounds onto the sheet. Roll them into balls. Cover and freeze until firm, around four hours.

While you wait, grease eight 3/4 cup ramekins lightly, these cakes are sinful enough without adding a lot of extra butter.

2. Cake Batter

3/4 C Butter

3/4 C White sugar

12 oz Bittersweet chocolate, chopped

4 Eggs

4 Egg yolks

1 tbsp Vanilla

1 C All purpose flour

In a bowl set over a saucepan of hot, but not boiling, water, melt the chopped chocolate with the butter. Let cool.

In another bowl, while the chocolate bowl is cooling, beat the eggs, extra yolks, and sugar until thickened. (Takes me around 5 minutes, but I guess it depends on your skill at beating eggs) Fold in the cooled chocolate mixture and vanilla. Stir in the flour.

Spoon half of the batter into the prepared ramekins, and then place a frozen truffle in the center of each. Cover with the remaining batter.

Bake with ramekins on a baking sheet on the center rack of a 350° oven for 22 minutes, or until the centers are sunken, soft, and shiny. Let cool until you can just handle them. Gently loosen edges with a knife, and unmould onto plates. Serve immediately.

They’re beautiful little cakes, that so far haven’t ever failed to impress. The person who taught me the recipe serves them with a Crème Anglaise flavored with the same liqueur, but I find the cakes rich in and of themselves, and skip it. They’re great when you have people coming over for dinner, or any other time, but then you don’t get to finish them all right when the cakes have come out of the oven and are perfect. Though, a little reheating and treating yourself the next day or for a midnight snack isn’t uncalled for…

Song of the Day: She’s So Hot… BOOM! - Flight of the Conchords

My Grandma, a transplanted product of the Green Isle, has never served a meal I’ve attended without soda bread. My mom, who isn’t Irish at all, tells stories about meeting my father’s family and wondering why they always ate that ‘funny, dense, nutty bread.’ It’s tradition that Grandma has just never let go of.

I learned to make this bread standing on a chair at the counter beside her, listening to stories of about my grandfather, her husband, who worked on ships before they came here, and how he would come home smelling of salt in the evening for a warm meal with this ubiquitous bread.

Not being in that household for every meal, the habit of eating it with every meal hasn’t been instilled in me to its full extent, but there is little else so comfortable as a thick slice of soda bread, warm from the oven, with some butter or some home made jam.

Grandma’s Brown Soda Bread

1 C All-purpose flour

1 C Wholemeal flour

3/4 C Rolled oats

1 1/2 tsp Baking soda

1 1/2 tsp Caraway seeds

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 C Cold butter, cubed

1 C Buttermilk

2 Tbsp Molasses

In a large bowl, mix together all of the dry ingredients (that would be the first six, for those of you who may wonder). Add butter cubes, and use two knives to cut it in until mixture gets fine crumbs.

In a different bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and molasses, and then add to the dry ingredients. I suppose you don’t have to mix the two together beforehand, but doing so lets the molasses distribute evenly. Mix together just until combined; do not overwork!

On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough 8-10 turns, just to even it out. Form into a round loaf, and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Cut a cross into the top of the loaf, and bake at 375 until the edges go golden and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Those are the cooking rules I’ve been told, but it generally takes about 45 minutes.

Often, soda bread comes with raisins, it just depends what you’re eating it with. If you want the raisins, add a handful in the mixing process before you start kneading.

I have found that substitutions for the buttermilk do not go over well, as the loaf won’t turn out with the gorgeous tender crumb that soda bread is famous for. Also, after some conversations with non-family members, I’ve learned that molasses isn’t the most common ingredient to use in soda bread, and have tried other recipes without, but this is the one I’ve been raised on, so I’m sticking to it.

Song of the Day: Fisherman’s Blues - Kilt

The kitchen has always been somewhat the heart of the home I grew up in. It is a place where advice is given, relationships are discussed, stories are told, food is prepared and, in my case, a lot of singing and dancing goes on.

I play music when I cook. I have since I started cooking when I was still rather small. And, as things tend to go with music and myself, a good deal of silly dancing about and singing along soon follows.

A few evenings ago, after getting back from classes (yes, classes have started up again), I decided to whip up a nice hot pot of my Jambalaya. So I turned on my Creative Zen, put on my headphones, and got to the chopping, browning, stirring, singing and dancing.

After I got it simmering away and I was giving it a last good stir before covering, one of my ear buds decided to escape. I guess I have small ears? The buds just never sit right, and then proceed to fall out at inopportune times. With quick reflexes, I saved it, but it still got a little wet. They don’t work anymore. Anyone know of any good ear buds that are small-er?

Anyways, the recipe.

Jambalaya

12 oz chorizo sausage, sliced

4 chicken thighs, skin removed and cubed

1 medium onion, chopped

3-4 stalks celery

1 green pepper

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp basil

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

2 bay leaves

salt and pepper to taste

1 28 0z can diced tomato

1 cup chicken stock

1 cup water

2 cloves of garlic, very fine chop or through a press

1 1/2 cups parboiled long grain rice

12 large raw shrimp, thawed, peeled and deveined

In a large Dutch oven, slowly bring up heat and add sliced sausage. As fat renders, increase heat to medium-high, and brown. Transfer into a bowl, leaving behind fat. Add the cubed chicken (I prefer a fine cube, it cooks faster and is more bite size, but its really up to you), and brown well. Place chicken in the bowl with the cooked sausage.

Drain the Dutch oven of the majority of fat and decrease heat a little so that when you add the vegetables (onion, celery, and green pepper) to saute and caramelize, they do not stick to the brown bits on the bottom of the pan and burn. Mix regularly, because that is what they’re going to want to do. While waiting for the veggies to brown, I like to run the thyme, oregano, paprika, cumin, basil, salt, pepper and cayenne over with the mortar and pestle to increase their aromaticity. When the onion starts to turn golden, the vegetables are done so it is time to add the crushed seasonings, bay leaves, sausage and chicken.

Give it all a mix until you can catch the aromas of the herbs. Add the can of diced tomatoes, liquid included, the chicken stock, and the water, and scrape up the brown bits from the bottom. Bring to a boil, and then decrease heat so the oven holds a low, even simmer.

Normally, the garlic is added with the onion, celery, and green pepper, but I find I get the acrid overcooked garlic flavor in the jambalaya if I add it then. I add it here, after the liquids are put into the Dutch oven, so that it heats through and the flavor comes out, but you don’t get the acridity.

Add the parboiled rice, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes until rice becomes tender. If you happen to have leftover rice in your fridge, I find its okay to just add that in, making sure it isn’t in big clumps, but then you just want to simmer until it can heat through.

Stir in the shrimp, and cook, stirring, until they become pink. It should around 5 minutes, but probably a little less. You don’t want to cook them much longer than that, or else they get overcooked and rubbery.

This recipe will generally last two suppers in our house, but if you aren’t a fan of leftovers (I like it better the second day), you can half the recipe, or if you have got a crowd coming, it is easily doubled.

Song of the Day: Louisiana Bayou - Dave Matthews Band

Brr! Is it ever chilly outside! What we were doing making unconventional gelato, outside, in the cold, is beyond me. Though it is a wonderful thing to eat, getting yourself thoroughly chilled and eating frozen food isn’t something I generally do in close succession to each other. Lemon saw a cooking show (I’m apparently not the only one with that addiction) where they made ice cream using this method. Due to a lack of cream, we made a gelato; but only after a lecture on aeration levels from our beloved Resident Italian, who felt the need to correct the misnomer.

First: Ingredients

None of these were explicitly measured (its the most fun unmeasured, I think), but we used: a good handful of hazelnuts (maybe 1/2 cup), around a half cup sugar, 2 heaping teaspoons of cornstarch, a pinch of salt, a little more than two cups of milk, and a couple of ounces of chopped bittersweet chocolate.

Second: Heat

Hazelnuts, sugar, starch, and salt go into the food processor, process until nuts are fine. Transfer mixture into a saucepan and whisk in milk gradually. Continue to whisk over medium heat until the mixture thickens, it took us about 15 minutes, but the milk was really cold, so it could be faster if one prepared ahead. Remove from heat and mix in chopped chocolate, continue stirring until melted.

The salt does not make for a salty gelato, because it is in small concentration it aids in the rounding out of flavors, much like the pinch of salt that goes into cookie dough or cake batter.

Third: The Unconventional Factor

You need two clean empty cans, one of which has to be able to fit into the other. We used large and small coffee cans, as they are just about the right size to do all the gelato in one batch. The not-yet-but-soon-to-be gelato mixture goes into the small can with a marble (clean please!), which acts as a mixing ball. Place on the lid and secure/seal with duct tape. The small can goes into the large can, which you fill the rest of with ice and then some salt. A good seal on the small can is important, because salty gelato is not something we were looking for. Seal the larger can with duct tape. The can apparatus gets wrapped up in some kind of padded insulator, it keeps the cold from escaping the system and lets you play with it without worrying about breaking the cans too much; we used a silver safety blanket… and some more duct tape. What can I say, we grew up watching the Red Green show, that stuff fixes everything!

In this step of our process the salt serves to disrupt equilibrium with the ice, so that it is melting more than it is freezing, aiding in the freezing of the gelato.

Fourth: Games

All thats needed at this point is motion of the gelato making package to mix the gelato while it solidifies. We hung ours from a tree branch and played something vaguely like tether ball, until the rope broke, at which point we just played soccer on the road. Much to our advantage, the road was salted so that it wasn’t ice covered and slippery. Kicking things around and running are so much simpler when not on ice.

After about 20 minutes (possibly a little fast for comparison times if this is ever to be repeated, it is below freezing out after all) we took it all apart, rinsed the small can off to keep salt water from getting in, and enjoyed our tasty treat.

Whoever thought this method up, on whatever cooking show Lemon was watching, they had a good idea. I think that this could be a lot of fun at a barbecue, potluck, or other outdoor shindig; you get to kick the ‘ball’ around, and later enjoy their dessert. We’ll have to try some other flavor combinations when the weather gets warmer.

Song of the Day: Mambo Gelato - Ray Gelato