christmas dinner

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I had a nice and quiet family dinner, only made special by our menu and presents. No, we did not start with dessert, but I couldn't help but start this post with a picture of it. I'm starting to love the way desserts look served in a glass, simple yet elegant.

So I started cooking dinner by roasting a medley of vegetables scented with smashed garlic and sage leaves. The Brussels sprouts and potatoes are always a crowd-pleaser during the holiday meals, so I figured why not combine both dishes into one and add some carrots for extra color and flavor. Worked out very well, but remember not to overcrowd the pan, or else the veggies won't brown well.

I started to include a rice dish in our holiday meals last year, because my brother's girlfriend doesn't eat meat, so she needs a carb dish to satisfy her stomach. I changed it up by making a roasted butternut squash risotto. I never had to prep a butternut squash before, so let me warn you that the flesh is very hard and you need to be careful when peeling it. I cut the end off and cut right across the beginning of the bulb, that way you have a flat platform to peel and dice.

And the piece de resistance...horseradish crusted prime rib. I tried a new recipe this year, courtesy of Tyler Florence and Food Network. It was a beautiful medium rare, juicy, and flavorful rack of meat. My only complaint was that the crust was beyond salty and even the outer areas of beef were quite salty. The horseradish was completely lost in the sodium laden crust, practically defeating its entire existence. But thank goodness the prime rib was still tasty once you cut off the crust.

Dessert? Well that was a lemon curd with vanilla bean and cardamom mousse verrine. I didn't have any meyer lemons, so I used a combination of lemon juice/zest and orange juice/zest. As for the mousse, I substituted half a teaspoon of ground cardamom in place of the pods. To add texture, I added the crumble topping from my blueberry muffins. Just spread the crumble on a baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes, just until golden.

And how do you know if dinner was a success? When you see this...

This will be my last post for 2011. Have a Happy New Year, everyone!

chocolate chip cookies and christmas eve

Happy Christmas Eve everyone! Thought I would make my final Christmas cookies post before I start cooking for Christmas dinner tonight (our family celebrates on the night of the Eve with dinner and presents). With all the cookies lately, I decided to wrap it up with a classic, chocolate chip cookies.



I made a slight adjustment and added chopped toasted walnuts for texture, and for A. since she loves nutty cookies. These were extra chewy and soft, ideal to wrap up the weeks of Christmas cookies. Even her coworker Al. thanked me for them, so I'm sure chocolate chip cookies have a special place in all of our hearts. The big box went to her office, and I packaged a small take out box for Audgbodge along with her Christmas craft. Coincidentally, she's been craving for chocolate chip cookies, which made my choice perfect all around.

I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful holiday season with family and friends!

Chocolate Chip Cookies adapted from Martha Stewart

makes 3 dozen

2 1/4 cups AP flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

Preheat oven to 350. Sift together flour and baking soda in a bowl. Mix butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Add salt, vanilla, and eggs and mix until well blended. Mix in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.

Using a 1 1/2-inch cookie scoop, scoop two scoops of dough to form one cookie. Drop onto parchment lined baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake cookies, rotating halfway through, until edges turn golden brown but centers are still soft, about 12 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks for 2 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks and let cool completely.

snickerdoodles and gifts

As much as this holiday season is about food for me, it is also about giving and sharing some of that food as a small token of holiday cheer. I've always given some of the baked goods from my oven away, saving myself in part from high calories. Especially now though, I make cookies just to share. My mom requested a batch for her coworkers the other day, and I couldn't help but fill my house with the warm smell of cinnamon sugar.

Can you believe I've never had a snickerdoodle before I made this recipe? I know, I know, how is that even possible, considering it is just a sugar cookie with a cinnamon sugar crust. But I grew up in a pretty traditional Chinese household with minimal American snacks. And to be honest, snickerdoodles never quite interested me before, because I'm not a big fan of regular sugar cookies which are a bit sweet and plain for me.

But with all the baking with chocolate and nuts and spices, I thought this would be a nice change for simplicity while the flavor profile of cinnamon still kept it festive. They were better than I expected, with a crust from the cinnamon sugar giving way to a soft and chewy center. I wrapped them up two at a time separated by a piece of parchment paper over a splash of sunflower seed candies. Just a little treat with the comforts of home.

On an additional note, I brought my dog, Chiller, for a bath to be nice and clean for Christmas earlier in the week. I baked a batch of simple chunky cookies to bring to the groomers as a thank you and happy holidays. Here he is, surrounded by his toys, resting on his couch as usual.

Snickerdoodles --Martha Stewart

makes about 30

2 3/4 cups AP flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups plus 2 tbsp sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Mix butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Mix in eggs and gradually mix in flour mixture.

Stir together cinnamon and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl. Shape dough into balls by combining two scoops from a 1 1/2-inch cookie scoop (4 tsp). Roll in cinnamon sugar and space 3 inches apart on parchment lined baking sheets.

Bake cookies, rotating halfway through, until edges are golden, about 12 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.

banana-walnut chocolate chip cookies

Continuing my cookie baking bonanza, I made these wonderful banana-walnut chocolate chip cookies. They were deliciously right between chocolate chip cookies and banana nut bread. A great combination of flavors to package away as gifts.

I loved how these cookies called for wheat flour and oatmeal, making me feel just a bit better about all the buttery goodies I've been making and tasting. By adding the banana, the recipe called for less sugar than usual, which was another added benefit.

I packaged a box to send to A.'s office for her to share with her coworkers. The rest went into little cellophane baggies adorned with my Christmas craft this year of personalized felt gingerbread houses as a little Christmas gift to my college friends.

Banana-Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies --Martha Stewart

makes about 3 dozen

1 cup AP flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
8 oz semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

Preheat oven to 375. Whisk together both flours, salt, and baking soda in a bowl.

Mix butter and both sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low and add egg and vanilla, until combined. Mix in banana. Add flour mixture, mix until just combined. Stir in oats, chocolate, and walnuts.

Drop dough onto parchment lined baking sheets by a 1 1/2-inch cookie scoop. Space about 2 inches apart. Bake cookies, rotating halfway through, until golden brown and just set, 12 to 13 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks for 5 minutes, and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

chewy chocolate gingerbread cookies

So I've deviated from the Hors D'oeuvres book lately because of the holidays, which is a season of baking to me. My house has been filled with the warmth of the oven and the smells of baked cookies a couple times each week this month. And as with the season of giving, I'd like to introduce the cookie recipes I'm going to share in the next few days leading up to Christmas. These are brand new recipes that I tried from an early Christmas gift from Audgbodge, the Martha Stewart's Cookies recipe book.

As part of our gift exchange, A. decided to flip through the book and earmark recipe requests. This was one of the first ones she requested as part of my holiday baking. I agreed that they looked quite delicious, especially since Martha Stewart referenced them first in the introduction of the book.

These were simple enough drop cookies spiked with a hefty amount of ginger, making them a much more sophisticated treat for adults. The strong ginger flavor was a surprise on the palette, adding a nice zing to the rich chocolate dough. My recipe made much more than expected, since I used a 2-tsp cookie scoop, and a bag was packed and given to A. to share with her coworkers.

Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies  -Martha Stewart

makes about 3 dozen

1 1/2 cups plus 1 tbsp AP flour
1 1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tbsp unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/4 lb unsalted butter, room temp.
1 tbsp freshly grated peeled ginger
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup unsulfured molasses
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp boiling water
7 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chips or 1/4 inch chunks
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Line baking sheets with parchment paper. In a bowl, sift together flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa. In a bowl of an electric mixer with paddle attachment, beat butter and fresh ginger on medium speed until lightened. Add brown sugar and beat until combined. Add molasses and beat until combined.

In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in boiling water. Beat half of flour mixture into butter mixture. Beat in baking soda mixture, and then remaining flour mixture. Mix in chocolate and turn onto plastic wrap. Pat to a 1 inch thickness and seal with wrap. Refrigerate until firm, 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 325. Scoop dough with 2 tsp cookie scoop and roll into a ball. Place 2 inches apart on baking sheets and chill for 20 minutes. Roll in granulated sugar. Bake until surface just begins to crack, about 10 minutes, rotating halfway through. Let cool for 5 minutes and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

pumpkin galore

I had a bunch of pumpkin puree left over from the Thanksgiving dessert, so I followed up with more pumpkin goodies the week after Thanksgiving. I made this pumpkin nut bread last year, and my coworkers really liked it. It was a nice change up from the normal banana nut bread.

The recipe is from the reliable Williams Sonoma, since they never fail me in offering up delicious recipes for tasting and testing. It was originally a pumpkin bread with dates, but I swapped the dates for toasted chopped pecans. As for the nut oil it called for, I substituted canola oil, which has a neutral flavor and won't take away or distort the bread flavor.

I used a pumpkin shaped cookie cutter to shape these thick slices of bread into cute little pumpkins. A small baggie was packed and left for my brother to taste.



Still left with some puree in my fridge, I continued on the pumpkin journey with cookies. This time I tried to clean my fridge of the remnants of Thanksgiving. There were fresh cranberries leftover from making cranberry sauce, so I oven dried them on a parchment lined baking sheet in a 275 degree oven. I hoped to mimic dried cranberries, but some of them bursted. Nonetheless, I added them to about half of the batter before baking.

The recipe once again was from Williams Sonoma, only with my tweaks. The original pumpkin cookies were iced and called for walnuts and raisins, but I opted out of icing, since I prefer my baked goods less sweet than most and swapped in pecans and cranberries. The results were pretty good for a first time try of the recipe. A's coworkers thought they were gingerbready, most likely a result of the ground ginger. The cranberries were actually quite sour, but worked well to balance the flavors of the cookies.

I can honestly say I've never had this much pumpkin, but it was nice to fill my house with the familiar smells of warm spices of the holiday season. I love busying myself in the kitchen, my favorite room of the house. I hope everyone has a little time to do their own baking to share with family and friends this holiday season.

thanksgiving dessert

As promised, here is the pumpkin mousse trifle that I made for Thanksgiving dinner. I was inspired by the wonderful way layered desserts look in a clear glass cup. The layers included vanilla sponge cake, pumpkin mousse, and crushed pralines. This was mine spin on a trifle for Thanksgiving. I kept the flavor profile simple, letting the three main components speak for themselves. Last year, I made Williams Sonoma's pumpkin mousse cake, which is quite similar, and where I drew the pumpkin mousse from.

I wanted a crunchier dimension to the cake, so decided to add crushed pralines, which worked well since pecans and pumpkin complement each other so well. It also gave me an excuse to finally use the Silpat that A. got me years ago. After the pralines cooled, I crushed in my food processor. I experimented a handful of times for the sponge cake, trying to achieve a light airy texture without the sticky top crust. I adjusted temperature, sugar, fat, and time, but still couldn't quite eliminate the problem of a sticky top crust after being completely cooled after baking. My final advice? Place a piece of parchment paper on the top after cooling and once ready to use, peel it off to remove the sticky crust.

I'll continually work on the sponge cake until I reach a perfect product, but until then, this recipe offers every quality a sponge cake should have, albeit with an added nuisance of a crust. My family loved this, and most surprisingly loved the praline, which I would have thought to be too sweet for their tastes. They actually sprinkled more on top as they devoured the cups. I served them with a hot cup of coffee and frothed milk, which was just a perfect way to end a holiday dinner.

Pumpkin Mousse Trifle
makes about 6 14-oz glasses (depends on the size of your glasses)

Praline - I used the praline recipe from Epicurious, and halved the recipe

Pumpkin Mousse - I used the whole recipe from this wonderful Williams Sonoma recipe

Sponge Cake
makes 1 half sheet

6 eggs, separated
2/3 cup baking sugar
1 cup cake flour, sifted
4 tbsp butter, melted
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400. Line sheet pan with parchment paper.

Beat eggs yolks with sugar (but reserve 2 tbsp of sugar) until you reach the ribbon stage. Add vanilla.

Whisk egg whites until frothy. Add cream of tartar and salt. Continue whisking and once the whites start to thicken, sprinkle in reserved sugar and continue to whisk until you have stiff peaks. Fold a dollop into the egg yolk mixture to loosen it. Fold in remaining whites gently and fold in sifted flour. Lastly, fold in melted butter.

Be sure not to over mix and deflate the batter, since there are no leavening agents.

Bake until toothpick comes out clean, about 9 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Assemble

Use the cup as a guide and cut out 12 circles of sponge cake.

Pipe a thin layer of mousse at the bottom of the cup. Place one circle of cake and gently press down to remove gaps of air. Pipe a layer of mousse on top, matching the thickness of the cake. Sprinkle with crushed pralines. Repeat starting with cake. Finish with a final layer of piped mousse, pipe extra to crown the cup just a bit. Use a knife or spatula to cut off extra mousse, leaving the mousse clean and flushed with the edge of the glass.

Refrigerate until set and up to overnight. Take out of refrigerator about 20 minutes before serving to bring it back to cool room temperature.