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Note: The Leckerli are delicious. I am not going to put apple into the container to soften them. They are just the right texture and go well with tea or milk.
On Tuesday afternoon, I baked Bittersweet Blackberry Brownies, which are now cooling on a rack prior to being refrigerated. They are much better after an overnight rest in the refrigerator, so they will be ready tomorrow for a Valentine's Day dinner. I found this butter-free recipe last summer when I was picking wild blackberries in our woods and tweaked it a bit. It uses just 2 Tbs. avocado oil. They are a cross between fudge and brownies in the very best way.
February 12, 2024 at 6:30 pm in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of February 11, 2024? #41850Joan--I like your description of working a puzzle as "puzzling." Shakespeare, who did that sort of word play often, would be proud of you!
Tonight, my husband pan-cooked some boneless pork chops, and we had them with more of the barley, butternut squash, and kale.
On Sunday, I baked Leckerli, which is a Tyrolean holiday cookie. The recipe comes from McCall's Cooking School (#11), with a publication date of 1983/1984. Although Leckerli is considered a Christmas cookie, the cut-out hearts of this recipe remind me of Valentine's Day. The first time I baked it many years ago, I had a lot of problems with the dough, probably because I did not have the almonds ground evenly, and the dough also stuck to the waxed paper horribly. I may have baked them another time, although I do not recall doing so. The recipe requires candied lemon and orange peels, which became hard to find once King Arthur stopped carrying it. (It was back seasonally this year.) I had a jar of candied orange peel, and I found a jar of candied lemon peel in the Annex refrigerator. When my older bonus son stayed with us a couple of years ago, he had moved it, so last year, I thought that I had none. (Really, putting it in the butter holder in the door?) I ordered another bag to be ready for this year, and of course I then found it.
Instead of grinding unblanched almonds, I looked a the King Arthur weight chart and found out that 1 cup unblanched almonds weights 5 oz. or 142 grams. I needed 1 ½ cups, so I used 213 grams of Bob's natural almond flour (made with the skins). That certainly makes for a dough that is easier to roll. I divided the dough into fourths, as specified, but instead of rolling it out onto waxed paper, I cut half-sheets of parchment in half, which fits rolling it out to the specified 9 x 8-inch rectangle, although the eight inches takes it right to the edge. I put saran wrap over it to roll and for the required hour of refrigeration. When I cut the hearts, I moved out the trimmings, and left them on the paper, rearranging a bit for spacing, which I moved to a baking sheet, so there were two on each sheet. That works very well. My heart cutter is larger than the 3-inch specified, so I got six hearts per rectangle rather than nine. [Why do I never have the exact size of cutter a recipe specifies?!] I re-rolled the trimmings and ended up with 34 cookies--the last one being a smaller blob.
It was hard to know when they were baked. The recipe stated 8-10 minutes, and because mine were larger, I gave them 12 minutes. I had to let them cool a bit before removing them to a rack for the glaze. I baked them on parchment rather than directly on the baking sheet (recipe says ungreased baking sheet, so that may have affected them as well. They were a bit soft when moved but have firmed on cooling.
The recipe makes 46, so a slightly smaller cutter--mine was about 3 ½ inches--would be ideal. I thought that it used a lot of glaze for the baked cookies, so I made a half recipe, which was perfect. I did not do the decorating with candied red or green cherries (have none) and citron, but the cookies do not really need that unless one is out to do a showstopper presentation at a fancy party.
We will try the cookies with tea today, and I will post about the taste and texture.
February 11, 2024 at 5:01 pm in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of February 11, 2024? #41841We are among those who do not really care about the Super Bowl, so our dinner was leftover Pork Loin, barley, butternut squash, and kale from last night.
I like the variety of your pizzas, Len! You are an inspiration to all of us to expand our pizza horizons!
For Saturday's dinner, I made one of my favorite winter meals: Pork Loin Roast with Barley, Butternut Squash, and Kale. I had bought the roast from a local farmers' market vendor in the fall, but the vendor from whom I buy kale has not been coming. So, I waited until we went to the nearby town last Monday and bought organic kale at Kroger. I still have a supply of butternut squash. The roast was small, so we will not get more than an additional meal from it, but I can probably pair the barley, squash, and kale mixture with a different meat for a third or fourth meal.
We needed bread for tomorrow, so on Friday I baked my adaptation of King Arthur's Chewy Semolina Rye Bread in the Emile Henry long baker. I cut the salt by a third, but this time I used the full amount of yeast. As usual, I replaced 1 ½ cups of water with buttermilk and added 3 Tbs. special dry milk. I do not add dry onion or put the seeds on top, partly in deference to my husband, but also to allow the bread to work for a variety of fillings.
Dinner tonight was Salmon and Couscous with Greek Seasoning, accompanied by microwaved fresh broccoli.
Mike--While I'd like to be encouraging, I have to admit that I just don't understand the keto diet. It seems more a fad than rooted in scientific evidence. I will follow your attempt with interest.
The scones came out very well. I enjoyed one for breakfast, and my husband enjoyed one at lunch. He is sometimes iffy about dried fruit, but he liked these.
We finished the farro stir-fry with microwaved frozen peas.
We had leftover farro stir-fry for dinner on Wednesday. My husband likes it even better the second day.
I have a recipe for Cranberry Scones (no butter) that I adapted from Elizabeth Alston's book, Biscuits and Scones. I have used it as a basis for some other scone recipes. On Wednesday evening, I used it to make a cinnamon mixed fruit and walnut scone that I will start eating for breakfasts tomorrow. I decided to use dried fruit when I found a bag of mixed dried fruit blend from King Arthur in my baking stash that is a couple of years old and never opened. I tasted it, and it was fine, so I used a cup of it and ½ cup walnut pieces. I use half of the Irish flour from King Arthur and add some flax meal and milk powder and increase the buttermilk to ¾ cups. I use 1/3 cup canola oil in place of the butter. This time, I also added 1 tsp. of cinnamon. I usually bake the recipe in a Nordic Ware scone pan, but this time I formed the dough into eight balls, put them on a baking sheet, and flattened them slightly before sprinkling Penzey's Cinnamon Sugar over the top. I planned to bake them for 20 minutes but pulled them out thirty seconds early. I look forward to sampling one with coffee tomorrow.
An update on the Chocolate Chip Snickerdoodle Cake: Like every oil cake, the taste and texture improve the day after baking. It is no longer dry. I still think that the recipe needs some refinement, so I may bake it again at some point with a few more changes.
I made clam chowder for lunch on Tuesday and for the rest of the week. It is a light version that comes from a Betty Crocker cookbook that I have had for over forty years.
For dinner, I made a stir-fry with farro cooked in frozen turkey broth, leftover roasted chicken breast, and carrots, celery, red bell pepper, mushrooms, yellow squash, and a bit of thyme. We have enough for one or two more meals.
I also made yogurt today.
Joan--lentil soups are a favorite of mine. Yours sounds good. You actually don't have to soak lentils, and they usually cook within an hour, although I am sure that your longer cooking time let the spices permeate.
We finished the beef stew and cornbread for Monday night's dinner.
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