Jam Thumbprints with Toasted Coconut, MACARONS by Fançois Payard and World Peace Cookies
In the mood to feel good? Need to unplug for a moment? I can magically make that happen:(1) Read my blog;(2) While still (hopefully) chuckling from Dorie & Ina: The Art of Fierce, drive to to your local theatre to see “La La Land”. If you’re not happy after (1) and (2) then, apparently, you don’t do happy.
EYE to EYE with JULIUS CAESAR at CAESAR’S PALACE.
One afternoon, during the Thanksgiving holiday, my son-in-law asked if I wanted some coffee. It wasn’t 5 o’clock anywhere so coffee sounded like a good substitute. “I’ve got a new cup for you, Mary,” he said as he reached into the cupboard.
He set the “new” cup in front of me. As you can see, it says, FIERCE. Melissa, standing nearby, watched as I morphed into my ‘hurt feelings’ position. You know, head down, shoulders rounded, going mum. Realizing her mother was of a different generation, she jumped in, “Mom, mom, that’s a good thing. It’s a compliment. My friends just gave it to me and we thought you’d like to use it.”
“You mean being a fierce woman is a good thing?” I questioned, somewhat amazed.
“Yessssss,” Missy emphasized. “They – gave – it – to – me – as – a – compliment.”
“It’s good, Grandma” Emma chimed in, with the entire family shaking their heads in agreement. (I knew Clara, who remained silent, was thinking, “Whew, that was close.”)
LA TOUR EIFFEL (FAUX)
ELLEN FAHR (L) AND HER HUSBAND, CHARLIE, WERE OUR FIRST FRIENDS WHEN WE MOVED TO HENDERSON IN 2004. BEST REALTORS EVER. LUNCH, 58 TOUR EIFFEL, PARIS LAS VEGAS
So I’m all over this but discovered via Google I was fiercely ignorant in the urban slang department. The first twisted version of fierce grew up in the 1990s and later evolved into a fashion statement. Six years ago model/television personality Tyra Banks hijacked it and social media went nuts.
I AM ALWAYS RELIEVED WHEN I SPOT ANTHEM COUNTRY CLUB’S RESIDENT GREAT BLUE HERON. SUCH A GORGEOUS CREATURE GREETING ME EACH MORNING WHEN I WALK THE “LOOP.”
Today fierce, in its affirmative form, seems to have landed between ‘the combination of a positive mental spirit, bold words and unapologetic actions used collectively’ and women ‘who are on fire and possess too much swag for the common man or woman to handle.’
Take your pick.
“FIORI DI COMO,” THE GLASS SCUPLTURE BY ARTIST EXTRAORDINAIRE DALE CHIHULY HANGS FROM THE CEILING IN BELLAGIO’S LOBBY. IT IS BREATHTAKING TO SEE, YEAR AFTER YEAR.
EVERY DAY BETWEEN 15,000 TO 20,000 TOURISTS VISIT THE BELLAGIO’S HOTEL-CASINO LOBBY TO SEE CHIHULY’S MAGNIFICENT ART BLOSSOMS.
However you phrase its definition, Baking Icon Dorie Greenspan and renown television personality and author Ina Garten are double-digit fierce. That’s why I’m featuring them and their favorite cookies in today’s post. Both are incredibly hard-working and classy women who, for thirty-some years, have shared their lives and talents with us. This special season is an opportune time to reign glory on Dorie and Ina. Let’s do it.
DORIE GREENSPAN’S 12TH COOKBOOK WILL GARNER SOME AWARDS OF ITS OWN.
The seemingly indefatigable Greenspan, an IACP/James Beard award-winning cookbook author, just published her 12th cookbook. Greenspan was the French Fridays with Dorie guru of our virtual group which cooked through all her recipes in Around My French Table, More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours. This week-end I baked her renown World Peace cookies featured on the cookbook’s cover. All recipes below.
Then there’s the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten, whose tenth cookbook, Cooking for Jeffrey, just hit the bookstores. Having always been an Ina fan, I already own most but am trying to fill in the gaps by haunting favorite used book and thrift stores. Long ago I bookmarked her Jam Thumbprint cookies from her Family Style cookbook. Fun to mix together and a tasty morsel.
OKLAHOMA FOOD-BLOGGING COLLEAGUE & FRIEND, GUYLA MAYO SENT ME HER LATEST JIGSAW PUZZLE SUCCESS. IT’S WINTER AND TIME TO RETURN TO MY MONTHLY JIGSAWS. THANKS GUYLA & GARY.
As I end this post, my last for 2016, I thank you for loyally following my blog. It seems amazing that my subscriber list continues to grow with other readers stopping by occasionally. I appreciate your comments and personal e-mails. Know these two things for sure: 1) I love writing this blog;2) LOBNB’s Readers are FIERCE.
Sending kindness and good wishes to All.
WORLD PEACE COOKIES by Dorie Greenspan, Dorie’s Cookies
Makes about 36 cookies
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup BEST-QUALITY unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks, at room temperature
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel or 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
5 ounces best-quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped into irregular sized bits
DIRECTIONS:
1. Sift the flour, cocoa and baking soda together.
2. Working with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter and both sugars together on medium speed until soft, creamy and homogenous, about 3 minutes. Beat in the salt and vanilla.
3. Turn off the mixer, add all the dry ingredients and pulse a few times to start the blending. When the risk of flying flour has passed, turn the mixer to low and beat until the dough forms big, moist curds. Toss in the chocolate pieces and mix with beater on low to incorporate. Sometimes the dough is crumbly and sometimes it comes together and cleans the sides of the bowl. Happily, no matter what, the cookies are always great.
4. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and gather it together, kneading it if necessary to bring it together. Divide the dough in half. Shape the dough into logs that are 11/2 inches in diameter. (Use a ruler for a correct measure.) Don’t worry about the length — get the diameter right, and the length will follow. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and freeze them for at least 2 hours or refrigerate them for at least 3 hours.
5. When you’re ready to bake: Center a rack in the oven and preheat it to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
6. Working with one log at a time and using a long, sharp knife, slice the dough into 1/2-inch-thick rounds. (The rounds might crack as you’re cutting them — don’t be concerned, just squeeze the bits back onto each cookie.) Arrange the rounds on the baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between them. Slide in the fridge for 15 minutes before baking. Cut the second log and put in the fridge while you bake the other.
7. Bake the cookies for 12 minutes — don’t open the oven, just let them bake. When the timer rings, they won’t look done, nor will they be firm, and that’s just the way they should be. Leave the cookies on the pan and transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the cookies rest until they are only just warm, at which point you can munch them, let them reach room temperature or put them in an airtight container.
STORING: The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. If you’ve frozen the dough, you needn’t defrost it before baking — just bake the cookies 1 minute long.
Oven-Ready Thumbprints
JAM THUMBPRINT COOKIES with TOASTED COCONUT
by Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa, Family Style cookbook
Yield:32 cookies
INGREDIENTS:
3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
7 ounces sweetened flaked coconut
Apricot preserves and Blackberry preserves or filling of your choice
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until they are just combined and then add the vanilla.
3. Separately, sift together the flour and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the creamed butter and sugar. Mix until the dough starts to come together.
4. Dump on a floured board and roll together into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes.
5. Roll the dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. (If you have a scale they should each weigh 1 ounce.) Dip each ball into the egg wash and then roll it in coconut. Place the balls on an ungreased cookie sheet.
My baking and cooking projects improved when I invested in a food scale two years ago.
6. Press a light indentation into the top of each with your cookie ball with your finger. Drop 1/4 teaspoon of jam into each indentation.
7. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the coconut is a golden brown. Cool and serve.
TIP: 1. Use your food scale to gauge a 1-oz. ball of dough.
2. After making the thumbprint cookies, slide the entire pan in the refrigerator for 15 minutes before baking.
3. These cookies freeze well.
Are any of you hooked on The Canal House? Have Melissa Hamilton and Christopher Hirsheimer (no relation) reeled you into their culinary world? Each weekday I receive an e-mail, accompanied by the most gorgeously enticing photograph, describing these ladies’ lunches.
This week’s recipe, Cheating-on-Winter Pea Soup, pairs perfectly with cornbread slathered in honey and Black Mountain Vineyard’s Pinot Noir.
This week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe choice, Cheating-on-Winter Pea Soup, presented the perfect opportunity for me to play house like Melissa and Christopher. I returned to Nevada last weekend, after spending the week in Colorado organizing my March move. So, for the next month, most of my days are revolving around sorting and tossing and donating and selling and packing and not having any fun at all. (Okay, that last part is a fib.)
As you can tell from the Mise en Place, The ingredients for this simple soup are probably already in your pantry, refridgerator or freezer.
So, for Lent, instead of giving up something, I’ve promised myself I will stop each day and make a nice, nutritious lunch. Nothing fancy. Nothing difficult. Just lunch. A catch-up-with-yourself moment. And, thanks to Dorie, Thursday’s lunch was quickly created and delicious.
“The soup, made in about 15 minutes, is the liquid version of a classic French dish, peas with lettuce and onions,” Dorie explains.
Everything in this soup was already in my cupboard and fridge – no last-minute trips to the grocery store. The bag of frozen peas, found at the back of my freezer, were just begging for attention. I melted some butter to soften the coarsely chopped onion. After seasoning, I poured in the chicken broth, bringing it to a boil. Then I added the peas and the trimmed, sliced romaine lettuce to the broth, asking it all to simmer while I made corn bread.
Warm Corn Bread is always a treat. Drip a little honey on top, even better. This was a perfect opportunity to sweeten up my lunch menu.
Don’t you think corn bread slathered with honey goes well with just about anything? I decided to go all Pioneer Woman and make it in my cast iron skillet. Just loved smelling the aroma while I pureed the soup in my blender. Because I wanted a smooth, silky texture, I then strained it. Rather than garnish my pea soup, I browned and added some pancetta bits before adding a dash more of pepper. A civilized, tasty meal break during a busy day.
PART TWO: COEUR À LA CRÈME
The End of the Story: For last week’s FFWD recipe dessert, we made Coeur à la Crème, and I used Dorie’s recipe as well as the Barefoot Contessa’s (Ina Garten) for my two Coeurs. Both desserts were admired and willingly devoured, calories be damned. Because Dorie’s Coeur was refrigerated for three days, Ina’s, only 24 hours, it was firmer. I preferred that. Otherwise, the two complemented each other and we noticed little difference.
Admittedly, my friends would rather cook than pose but they indulged me for the sake of FFWD. Charlotte (l), is smiling, kinda, but worried about her garlic burning (it didn’t). DonnaG (middle), our always generous hostess, helped me make the dessert. DonnaC’s, (r), task was to add the panache to DonnaG’s and my Coeur à la Crèmes. As you will see, that lady can work wonders with raspberry coulis.
THE MOHAIR MOMENT.
Our hostess pulled out some special plates, beautiful heirlooms from her family, for serving and to honor this special dessert.
It took a village to produce these two Coeur à la Crèmes but aren’t they pretty? Note the bow (r) which DonnaC recycled from our earlier present exchange.
“If you really want to make a friend, go to someone’s house and eat with him… the people who give you their food give you their heart.” Cesar Chavez
What did you find in your stocking Christmas morning? I found celery root.
Odds are that when you planned Christmas dinner, celery root did not come to mind. When you were thinking about pies, I’m betting it was whether to bake pumpkin, pecan or apple. “Pot” probably didn’t enter the picture.
Here’s the problem. During the past six months, my Christmas dinner guests here in Henderson turned sorta-kinda-vegetarian. Sorta-kinda-vegetarian means they will not eat four-legged animals. If it moos, baas, oinks or whinnies, it’s a nonstarter. Furthermore, they won’t eat creatures with wings. Flying is a no, no. Swimmers? Yes, but only those with a shell.
Peel and cut up 2 celery roots and one medium russet potato. Quarter an onion. Add this to a pot of boiling milk, water and salt. To avoid a strong peppermint flavoring, discard the candy canes.
Here’s another problem. The French Friday with Dorie recipe this week is Go-With-Everything Celery Root Purée. To answer your question? Neither had I.
Merry Christmas. Ho! Ho! Ho!
Doesn’t everyone serve Lobster Pot Pie on Christmas Day? (With profound apologies to my Iowa born-and-bred, very traditional Mother.)
Thankfully, this story has a delicious, Christmas-bells-are-ringing ending. My menu may not have been traditional but, with a little help from you foodie friends, I pleased all our palates. Here are the 3 principal players —– We began with Cranberry and Avocado Salad topped by Candied Spiced Almonds and Sweet White Balsamic Vinaigrette as featured by Chris Scherer on The Café Sucré Farine. I added some baby beets, quartered.
The Barefoot Contessa’s Lobster Pot Pie solved my main course dilemma in a very tasty, très élégant manner. A bubble off, perhaps, but, hey, lobsters swim and have shells.
Thank you, Dorie, for this delicious, nutritious, Go-with-Everything Celery Root Purée.
Again, Dorie is correct. Why do I ever doubt that woman? When she calls this recipe, Go-With-Everything Celery Root Purée, she means business. “Because the flavor is subtle, complex, and just a little sweet,”, she writes “the purée is the perfect accompaniment to fish, meat or poultry, whether it’s a main dish that is robust and big flavored or one that is light and mild.”
No one at my table had ever sampled celery root served as a purée. It’s a wonderfully, less caloric, and more nutritious substitute for mashed potatoes. I used my Immersion Blender, instead of fussing with a food processor, to whirrrrr it into a smooth ivory purée. If you want a more silky texture, use the processor. Surprisingly, the lobsters and the celery root did not do battle. This dish totally complimented the pot pie with one guest even using it as a tasty base under the pie.
Seconds, anyone?
The ultimate compliment? No room for dessert.
Dessert, anyone? Last night Michelle and I contributed the sugar for our neighbor’s, Bobby & Adriana Scrima, annual everything-Italian Holiday Open House.
Michelle’s Eggnog Panna Cotta and Dorie’s Top-Secret Chocolate Mousse. When Lilly, a party guest from France, tasted this, her eyes brightened. “Very french,” she remarked. I asked her if she knew the secret? She replied, “Oui,” and preceeded to rattle off the recipe from the back of the Nestlé Dessert Chocolate Bar wrapper that Dorie had discovered and shared with us.
May I wish a Happy New Year 2013 to all you loyal Readers and my fellow Doristas, far and wide. And, to you, Trevor, for loyally cooking with us as our one-and-only FFWD “token” male. May the year ahead be filled with peace & happiness, good health, family & friends and the fellowship of food.
An early supper, prior to showtime, roasted chicken, céleri rémoulade and a baguette.
Since a trip to France is in my near future, it’s time to dust off the grammar books, pull out the flashcards and begin listening to Michael Thomas’ “Speak French” CD’s. He may be touted as “the language teacher to the world” but, truthfully, I find him very irritating. Still, I listen and repeat, over and over again.
The highlight of my summer schedule, to reward myself for daily disciplined study, is French film night. Once a week I order a film and settle in.
L’Affaire Farewell, a spy thriller based on a true Russian espionage event which occurred during the Cold War era in the Eighties.
Although I always block the English subtitles, after twenty minutes I usually fold and turn “English” on (but try not to peek). Tonight I’m watching “L’Affaire Farewell”, an espionage thriller set at the height of the cold war (1981). It’s based on a true story involving a KGB official and a French engineer. Sounds good, don’t you think?
To set the mood, I picked up a roasted chicken from my butcher, bought a baguette and prepared Céleri Rémoulade, a classic French starter/salad and #3 of my summer salad recipes. Americans sometimes compare this dish to coleslaw. Although celery root is considered a winter vegetable, I found these handsome devils at my local farmers market last week-end.
These little balls of bumps are happy being called céleri or celeriac or celery root. Your choice.
This was quite simple to put together, was a perfect compliment to the chicken, and would be just as delicious with a steak or the like. I’ve tasted Céleri Rémoulade so many times when in France and am happy to now know how to make it myself.
The celeri, after being grated in the food processor. It’s time to mix in salt and lemon juice.
The mustard, mayonnaise dressing.
CÉLERI RÉMOULADE
Adapted from Ida Garten’s Barefoot in Paris cookbook, Celery Root Rémoulade, p. 94.
Céleri Rémoulade
Serves Six
Ingredients
2 pounds celery root
3 teaspoons kosher salt
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard
2 teaspoons Champagne vinegar (or, white wine vinegar)
2 tablespoons capers
5 cornichons, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Pinch freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Wash the celeriac (also called celery root) well. Using a sharp knife, peel off all the celeriac’s brown outer portions. Cut the celery root into thin matchsticks with a mandoline, or grate them in a food processor fitted with the coarsest grating blade. I applied pressure to the pieces as I fed the chunks through the feeder. Place the celery root in a large bowl, sprinkle with 2 teaspoons of the salt, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and mix gently. Allow to stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl whisk together the mayonnaise, the 2 mustards, the remaining tablespoon of lemon juice, the vinegar, the remaining teaspoon of salt and the pepper.
Add enough dressing to lightly moisten the salad and to your taste. Stir in the capers and cornichons. Save the extra sauce to add, if needed, just before serving when you also add the chopped parsley. Serve cold or at room temperature.
