Fine Fixin’s: Alfajores

Well, it’s cookie time. The best time of the year. We tried out this Argentinian cookie recipe from Saveur the other day and were very impressed with the results. These things are addictive sugar cookie sandwiches with dulce de leche!

Alfajores

• 1 2/3 cups cornstarch
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 10 tbsp. unsalted butter,
•    softened
• 1 tbsp. cognac or brandy
• 1/2 tsp. lemon zest
• 4 egg yolks
• Canned dulce de leche, for filling
•    cookies

Heat oven to 350°. In a bowl, sift together cornstarch, flour, and baking powder; set aside. In a mixer fitted with a paddle, beat together sugar and butter until fluffy. Add cognac and zest; beat. Add yolks one at a time; beat. Add dry ingredients; mix. Transfer dough to a floured surface, knead briefly; divide into 3 pieces. Working with 1 dough piece at a time, roll dough to 1/4″ thickness. Using a 2 1/2″ round cookie cutter, cut out cookies; transfer to parchment paper—lined baking sheets, spaced 1″ apart. Reroll scraps and repeat. Bake until golden, 12–15 minutes. Let cool. Flip half the cookies over; top each with 1 heaping tsp. dulce de leche. Top with remaining cookies.

Fine Fixin’s: Veggie Enchiladas

Vegetable Enchiladas
adapted from The America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook
serves 6
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 Tbs canola oil
1 onion, minced
1 red or yellow bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and chopped fine
1 jalapeno, stemmed, seeded, and chopped fine
1 zucchini (8 oz) halved lengthwise, seeded, and chopped small
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup fresh or frozen corn
2 1/2 cups enchilada sauce (recipe follows)
1 cup finely crumbled queso fresco or feta cheese
1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro
1/4 cup drained, canned chopped green chiles
2 cups chopped fresh spinach
1 tomato, cored, seeded, and chopped
salt and pepper
12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
cooking spray
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (about 4 oz)
lime wedges, for serving
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Lightly grease a 9×13 inch baking dish.

Mash half the beans in a bowl with fork until mostly smooth; set aside.

Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, jalapeno, and bell pepper and cook until softened and lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the zucchini and cook until just tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and corn, and cook until just fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the mashed beans and remaining black beans and cook until warmed through, about 2 minutes.

Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and stir in 1/2 cup of the enchilada sauce, queso fresco, cilantro, green chiles, spinach, and tomato. Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

Place the tortillas on a plate and cover with plastic wrap. Cook 30-60 seconds, until warm and pliable. Spread them out over a clean surface and top each one with a scant 1/3 cup of the filling. Working quickly, roll each torilla tightly and lay them seam-side down in the baking dish.

Spray the enchiladas lightly with cooking spray, and cook 5-7 minutes. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the top, sprinkle with cheese, and bake an additional 5-10 minutes, until the enchiladas are heated through and the cheese has melted. Allow to cool 5-10 minutes, then serve, passing lime wedges separately.

Red Enchilada Sauce
1 tsp canola oil
1 onion, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 Tbs chile powder
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp sugar
1 (15-oz) can tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, chile powder, cumin, and sugar, and cook, stirring constantly until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the tomato sauce and water, and bring to a simmer. Cook until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

via Pink Parsley

Fine Fixin’s: Smothered Fried Potatoes

Here’s a recipe for some Southern comfort food straight from Sarah’s grandma. One of the great things about a grandma recipe is the lack of specifics. While some may find this frustrating, I think it’s actually great. Instead of reading and re-reading a recipe while your preparing your meal, you get to think for yourself. Plus you’ll be quicker to commit the recipe to memory.

So, to make Smothered Fried Potatoes the way grandma does, you’re going to need some bacon, onion, and potatoes (you can decide what kind you’d like best). Start by cooking your bacon in a fairly large skillet. While that’s getting’ good ‘n’ crispy, go ahead and chop up your potatoes and onions. Make sure your potatoes are cut pretty thin so they’ll cook faster. Once your bacon is done, remove it from the pan and set it on some paper towels. Place your potatoes and onion in the skillet, and stir it around every once in awhile to make sure everything browns. Once your potatoes are fork tender, you’re ready to go. Season with salt and pepper, and crumble that bacon back in there if you like. Thanks, grandma.

Fine Fixin’s: Buttermilk Biscuits

Biscuits are so straightforward, yet I always hesitate to make them myself. In part, I think this comes from knowing that no matter how I make them, they will never be quite as good as my grandmother’s. But sometimes, you just need some biscuits!

Classic Buttermilk Biscuits

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
6 tbsp solid vegetable oil
1 large egg
3/4 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat the oven to 425 F. Grease or parchment line a baking sheet. In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

2. Using a pastry blender, cut the shortening into the dry ingredients. The mixture will resemble coarse crumbs, with no large chunks. If the batter gets soft, refrigerate to re-chill. Add the egg and buttermilk, stirring just to moisten.

3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead gently about 6 times, or just until the dough holds together. Pat the dough down to no more than 3/4″ thick. Cut up your rectangle of dough with a biscuit cutter.

4. Place the biscuits 1/2″ apart on the baking sheet. Place the baking sheet on a rack in the center of the oven and bake 15 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown.

from The Bread Bible

Fine Fixin’s: Provençal Potato Salad

Sarah and I love salads, well we love potato salads. There’s something so nice and simple about a good potato salad, which of course lends itself to endless variations. Just the other day we whipped up this lemony take on a red potato salad, and let me tell you it was scrumptious!

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Fine Fixin’s: Carrot Tangerine Bread

Sometimes I just feel like making bread, and I have a sweet tooth all of the time. So whenever I want to bake bread it is generally best if it is sweet. Here’s a recipe that you can pretend is good for you since it has two cups of grated carrots.

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tbsp tangerine juice
Grated zest of 1 tangerine
2 cups finely grated raw carrots

makes two 9″ x 5″ loaves

from The Bread Bible { Photo Credit: bread bag by Martha of Chickadee’s Nest }

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Fine Fixin’s: Inside Out BLT’s

Do you like BLT’s?  If so, you’re gonna love this.  If not, you’re probably still gonna like this.  I’m not crazy about BLT’s myself.  I blame the tomato.  I try to like tomatoes… I really do.  Every time I get a sandwich, I restrain myself from saying “hold the tomato, please”, because I think “this time, this time I’m gonna like it.”  And you know what always happens?  I pick the tomato off.  But praise the lord!  I have found a tomato I can appreciate, thanks to BUST Magazine.  In their Dec/Jan issue, I found this intriguing recipe, and because of my blind determination to like tomatoes, I decided to give it a try.  We served these Inside-Out BLT’s at Brian’s birthday party, and they were a big hit.  Unfortunately, we didn’t get a good photo (before Sarah H. scarfed them all down), so I drew a wee picture to illustrate their cuteness.  Ok, ok.  I helped Sarah eat them all.

“Start with 2 pints of cherry tomatoes.  Cut off the top and scoop out the insides of each one.  Fry a package of bacon (turkey or tempeh bacon works too) until crispy.  When it’s cool enough to handle, crumble and mix with a shredded head of iceberg lettuce.  Fill your tomatoes with this and top with a drizzle of mayo.  These can be made up to a half hour before serving but no earlier, as they can get soggy.”

If you’re like me, you’re not afraid of a gut-filling glob of Miracle Whip and a heartier (anti-artery-er) portion of bacon.  Instead of the bacon bits and shredded lettuce combo, I mixed the lettuce with a few spoon-fulls of the Miracle.  Then each little tomato buddy was topped with a single chunk of bacon.  Heaven, people.  Heaven.

Swig & Swill: Dead Bastard

{ Tiki Gardens Postcard from Greg Tykal }

With the revival of vintage tiki drinks and the opening of bars like Smuggler’s Cove in SF, Rum seems to be set for a big decade. For our party a little while ago, I used Joe Scialom’s recipe for the

Dead Bastard (via TraderTiki):

• 1/2 oz Gin
• 1/2 oz Brandy
• 1/2 oz Bourbon
• 1/2 oz Rum
• 1/2 oz Rose’s lime juice
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• 4 ounces of chilled ginger beer

Shake Gently with 1 cup Crushed Ice, pour into Goblet or other large vessel.  Garnish with whatever the hell, it’s dead and doesn’t care.  I used a whole lime.  It’s a big drink.

To really hammer home the deathly theme of the drink I used Bulleit Bourbon, and Death’s Door Gin. If anyone happens to know any death themed Rum or Cognac, please let me know.

Swig & Swill: Pink Slip

Results from last weekends cocktail trials are in and surprisingly, one of the most popular cocktails was one I created myself: the Pink Slip:

2oz Tanqueray (works well with white Rum, too)
3 basil leaves
2 tsp raspberry syrup
3/4 oz lime juice
ginger beer
a dash or two of  grenadine

Add raspberry syrup, lime juice, and basil to a fizz glass. Muddle. Fill glass 3/4 full with cracked ice. Top with ginger beer. Then top the whole thing off with a little bit of grenadine for a bit of a color boost!

A note on ingredients: You’ll benefit by making some of these ingredients yourself:

Raspberry syrup is really easy. Start with a rich simple syrup. Simmer a 2:1 mixture of sugar to water in a small pan until it is clear and not cloudy. Let it cool and poor over a bunch of raspberries (frozen will work fine). Let the syrup and raspberries sit out overnight before straining out the berries. You should be left with a sweet red berry syrup.

For the grenadine, I used Jeffrey Morgenthaler’s super easy recipe.

For the ginger beer, I used Audrey Saunders recipe, which is equally easy. If you use housemade ginger, you’ll want to add a little seltzer to give it a sparkle.