The holiday season is here again and that means everyone is baking all kinds of delectable treats to share with family, friends and co-workers. It’s an annual tradition for me to make these gingerbread cookies. I set a weekend date in early December to make these so I don’t feel rushed later in the month. Once all of the cookies are baked and cooled, I pull up a stool to the counter and start decorating each cookie. Once I’m done decorating, the cookies are stored in sealed bags in the freezer until I am ready to pass them out. They are so much fun to make!
Homemade hummus is the best. It is so easy to prepare and the end product is certainly worth the 30 minutes you spend making it. All the ingredients except for the herbs and pistachios go into the food processor. Blitz away until the mixture is as smooth as you want it to be. We enjoy eating hummus with homemade pita chips and falafel. Hummus keeps well in the refrigerator and makes a great snack for home or work.
This time around I decided to remove the skins from the chickpeas. It took me about 9 minutes to pinch off the skins from a can of beans. I didn’t mind the extra step since I enjoy spending time in the kitchen. Of course this is optional, but I found the hummus to be magnificently smooth. I came upon a curious recipe from the Minimalist Baker blog. The undrained chickpeas and garlic cloves are heated in the microwave for a few minutes making the chickpeas very smooth and creamy when blended together with the other ingredients. The garlic mellows a bit which makes for a well-balanced hummus.
When you microwave the chickpeas use a large bowl since the chickpea liquid tends to expand. I cover the bowl with plastic wrap leaving a small vent for air to escape. Once the chickpeas come out of the microwave I drain them, saving just a few tablespoons of the liquid for later. Then everything goes into the food processor until smooth and creamy. Place the warm hummus in a container and refrigerate until cool. Transfer the cooled hummus to a serving plate, add your favorite fresh herbs, pistachios, and a swirl of olive oil. Dust with cayenne pepper and serve with pita chips.
It’s really a chore to stir tahini in the container or jar that it comes in. The bottom of the container usually has solid pieces of tahini that are hard to get at. These days I just pour the entire container into a bowl and whisk away until the tahini is mixed to perfection. The thought of having to clean another bowl might discourage you but you will save a lot of frustration. It only takes a minute to wash the bowl!
1 can (15 ounce) chickpeas, drained with liquid reserved, skins removed (optional)
3 medium garlic cloves, peeled
¼ cup + 1 tablespoon well stirred tahini
2½ - 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
2-3 tablespoons cold water
1-2 tablespoons reserved chickpea liquid
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
⅛ teaspoon cayenne (optional) + more for serving
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil + more for serving
handful of fresh herbs
pistachios, salted and shelled
Preparation
Drain and reserve the liquid from the chickpeas. Pinch off the skins from the chickpeas
Transfer chickpeas, reserved liquid and 3 garlic cloves to a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap leaving a small vent for the air to escape. Microwave for 3½ - 4 minutes.
Drain chickpeas, reserving 2 tablespoons of liquid. Transfer chickpeas to a food processor along with the garlic cloves, tahini, lemon juice, salt, 2 tablespoons cold water, 1 tablespoon chickpea liquid, cumin, cayenne and olive oil. Process until mixture is smooth, scraping down the sides as needed. If the hummus is too thick, add water or chickpea liquid until it is the texture you prefer. Keep in mind the hummus will thicken a bit once refrigerated. Transfer mixture to a container and refrigerate until chilled.
When ready to serve, spoon hummus onto a serving plate. Place fresh herbs in the center and top with pistachios. Drizzle olive oil over hummus and sprinkle a bit of cayenne over the top. Serve with pita chips.
Maui Style Potato Chips are my favorite chip. They are very crunchy and unlike some other brands, they are not smashed to smithereens when you open up the bag. Some of them are curved, some folded over (I like these best), and they are perfectly salty as a chip should be. With that being said, they are ideal for this recipe. I can understand the 5 star rating these Fine Cooking magazine cookies receive from those who have made them. They are delicious.
If you can’t find Maui Style Potato Chips you may substitute with your favorite kettle-style potato chips.
Finely chopped pecans contribute to the cookie’s crisp texture.
The cookie dough is shaped into balls then pressed with a buttered cup coated with sugar. The dough is not overly sweet and the sugar-coating adds a nice finish to the cookies once baked.
8 ounces Earth Balance Buttery Sticks (or regular butter), softened at room temperature; more for shaping
½ cup granulated sugar; more for shaping
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 ounces (scant 2 cups) all-purpose flour
½ cup finely chopped pecans
¾ cup finely crushed potato chips
Preparation
Position rack in the middle and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
With a hand mixer, beat the Buttery Sticks and sugar on medium speed in a large bowl until creamy and well blended, about 4 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed (or use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment). Add the vanilla and beat again until blended. If using a hand mixer, stir in the flour, pecans and potato chips or mix on low speed with a stand mixer.
Shape dough into 1½-inch balls. Arrange the balls about 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Put some sugar in a shallow bowl. Lightly grease a flat-bottomed glass or small bowl with soft butter. Dip the glass into the sugar and press the glass down on a dough ball until it's about ¼-inch thick. Repeat dipping and pressing with the remaining balls. You will need to grease the glass now and then with more butter.
Bake 1 sheet at a time until the cookies look dry on top and the edges are light golden, about 12 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet on a rack for 5 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.
If you are not serving the cookies right away, freeze them in an airtight container. This keeps them fresh and crisp. Remove cookies from the freezer 30 - 60 minutes before serving.
This summer dessert tart is for those lucky people who have mango trees in their yards. If you don’t have mangoes, use peaches just as the original recipe from Amanda Hesser calls for. The tart is excellent on its own, or with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
It is now October and our two mango trees are bare of fruit, so we will patiently wait for their return next summer. Both the Rapoza and White Pirie varieties are delicious, however, the White Pirie is what I used for the tart because of its firmer texture. It’s a super sweet mango that we also use in mango bread and mango jam.
The White Pirie has a gorgeous orange color to it.
The dough ingredients are mixed together then pressed into the tart pan. If you don’t own a tart pan, a pie pan is an adequate substitute.
The mangoes are arranged in a concentric circle with the center portion filled with smaller pieces.
A good sprinkling of the butter, sugar, and flour mixture is layered over the entire top of the fruit before baking. It may seem as though there is too much of the crumble mixture, but use it all. It will melt into the mangoes enhancing this beautiful tart.
2 tablespoons whole milk or half & half, lactose free or regular
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Tart Topping:
¾ cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons cold Earth Balance Buttery Sticks or regular butter
Fruit Tart:
4 medium mangoes, peeled, seeds removed, and sliced about ½-inch wide
Preparation
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Wrap the exterior of a 10" tart pan (with a removable bottom) with foil (juices from fruit can seep through the tart pan).
Mix together 1½ cups + 2 tablespoons flour, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, and 1 teaspoon sugar in a medium mixing bowl.
In a small bowl, whisk together the oils, milk and vanilla extract. Pour this mixture into the flour mixture and mix gently with a fork (just enough to dampen; do not over work it). Transfer the dough to a 10" tart pan with removable bottom (I use a non-stick). You may also use a 9" tart pan if that's what you have available. Use your hands to pat out the dough so it covers the bottom of the pan, pushing it up the sides to meet the edge (pat firmly). I find that using a 10" tart pan works perfectly. There won't be any leftover dough and it may seem there is not enough but keep pressing the dough until it is evenly distributed.
In the same bowl you used for the dough, combine ¾ cup sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, and the Buttery Sticks. Using your fingers, pinch the butter into the dry ingredients until crumbly.
Starting on the outside, arrange mangoes overlapping in a concentric circle over the pastry. Fill in the center with the smaller pieces of mango. The mangoes should fit snugly. Sprinkle the pebbly butter mixture over the top (use it all). Place foil wrapped tart pan on a baking sheet and bake for 35 minutes until shiny, thick bubbles begin enveloping the fruit and the crust is slightly brown. It's a good idea to check the tart crust after it has baked for 25 minutes. To protect the crust from over browning, drape a piece of foil over the tart and continue baking. Cool tart on a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. You may refrigerate the tart until ready to serve once it has cooled. It is best eaten the day it is made.
If I had to compile a list of my favorite foods, rice (and eggs) would be at the top. This humble grain is simple to prepare, can be an accompaniment to a number of dishes including tempura or seared ahi, or it can be turned in to something show stopping like this dish. Here is a healthy and flavorful rice dish that is a snap to make. The edamame mix beautifully with the cooked brown rice and sesame seeds.
Brown rice can take a while to cook so plan ahead. You can make this in the morning, cover and refrigerate then heat slightly before serving. This dish is best served at room temperature.
This rice goes well with orange chicken, grilled teriyaki salmon, and all types of tofu dishes. I can be thoroughly content eating this rice with a side of kimchi or Japanese pickles.
1 cup medium grain brown rice, cooked according to package directions
1 cup frozen shelled edamame
½ teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
kosher salt
2 scallions thinly sliced on the diagonal
black roasted sesame seeds
Preparation
Cook rice in a rice cooker or on the stovetop according to package directions.
Cook frozen edamame in a small pot of boiling water for 4-5 minutes. Drain well.
In a small bowl, dissolve sugar in lime juice and rice vinegar. Add sesame oil and stir to combine. Set aside.
Transfer rice to a medium bowl. Fluff rice with a fork. Sprinkle ¼ teaspoon of kosher salt and stir into the rice . Add edamame, dressing and sesame seeds. Stir well to combine the flavors, adding more salt to taste. Sprinkle scallions over the rice before serving.
Without a doubt, my favorite classic French dish is duck leg confit. I’ve had this dish every year at Fringale, a small French bistro in San Francisco. It is the one meal I always look forward to each time we are there. Duck confit is one of those dishes that takes a lot of patience because of the lengthy process of preparing it. The duck is salt cured and then cooked slowly in lots of duck fat. The problem of doing this the traditional way, is that you need quite a bit of duck fat as the duck legs need to be submerged in it, then slowly cooked for several hours. Sous vide duck confit on the other hand allows the home cook to replicate this dish without requiring all that duck fat. The duck legs are cooked in a sealed bag that holds the small amount of fat that renders from the duck legs, reproducing the submerged effect of the classic method. The first time we made it I thought the 36 hour cooking time would never end. But it did, and the outcome was fantastic. When you sous vide meat the first thing you’ll notice is that it looks quite drab. There’s no browning (yet) but the meat is cooked to perfection. In this recipe the duck is finished for 7-8 minutes under the broiler until the skin is gloriously browned and crisp.
Fortunately we can find good duck legs at our local Whole Foods market. We buy 3 packs of two legs each and sous vide them all at once then vacuum seal and freeze the ones we don’t eat right away.
Frenching the duck legs (cutting away the meat from the bone) makes for an elegant presentation. I also trimmed off some of the thick, excess fat from the duck.
The duck legs are generously salted then sealed in an airtight bag with thyme, garlic and orange peel (optional) and torn bay leaves if you prefer. There is some discussion as to whether or not using raw garlic at low cooking temperatures is safe. To err on the side of caution, I slice the garlic and gently pan-fry each piece before they go into the sous vide bag with the duck legs. Alternatively, you can substitute dried minced garlic.
Let the 36 hour timer begin! Our favorite sous vide device is the ChefSteps Joule. You may have seen some very large and heavy sous vide machines at various stores. The Joule is small, light weight and controlled through their app on your phone.
Once the duck leg’s 36 hour sous vide time is up, they are gently wiped clean of any herbs and excess duck fat. You can clearly see that the duck legs are pale and not very attractive at this point. But they are perfectly cooked and fall off the bone tender.
The duck legs are placed in a roasting pan (we use a higher sided pan as the duck can splatter a bit) and one that is safe to use under the broiler. We use a heavy enameled cast iron pan.
I like to serve this with braised lentils though sometimes you need a quick fix which means any type of potato (even tater tots are welcome) will be just fine. Sometimes you get both.
Special equipment: Sous vide immersion circulator, vacuum sealer and bags (or Ziploc freezer bags), large pot or dedicated sous vide container with lid (to prevent excessive evaporation)
6 fresh duck legs, trimmed of excess fat
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves sliced thin, pan-fried on low heat
fresh thyme sprigs
slivers of orange peel (optional)
2 bay leaves, torn (optional)
Preparation
Heat water to 155 degrees
Generously salt both sides of the duck legs. Grind fresh pepper over each side (to taste).
Place thyme sprigs, garlic, and orange peel and bay leaf (if using) on meaty side of the duck legs. Place 2 duck legs in each vacuum bag and seal according to vacuum sealer manufacturers instructions (or use 3 separate Ziploc freezer bags using water displacement technique to remove air).
Place sealed bags in preheated water bath. If the bags float, weigh them down. Set timer for 36 hours.
When finished, remove bags from water (If not eating all of the duck right away, transfer to an ice water bath to cool quickly. Then freeze for up 4 months).
Remove duck legs from plastic bags and scrape away thyme, orange peel, bay leaves, excess fat and garlic. Heat broiler to high heat. Place duck legs in oven proof skillet or roasting pan and broil on the second shelf down from the top for 7-8 minutes or until the skin is nicely browned. Serve with braised lentils.
