Desserts

Lemon Thumbprint Cookies

/ Emily / 2 Comments

Life is punctuated by seasons. I think we all wake up and realize a change has happened; our tastes transition, our wardrobe adjusts and we are drawn in and out of the house. In some ways it makes me a little blue when I realize that a whole cycle of a year has passed. Fortunately, every season gives me something to look forward to. Coming out of a wet spring, I crave the summer heat. When I can’t take the sun (or mosquitos) any longer, I desire the cool winds of autumn. Then the first winter flurries arrive and I can’t wait to pull out the twinkly lights and cuddle by the fire. See how fast that went? That’s the part that makes me a little melancholy.

I can’t whine for too long, as the sun pours into my kitchen and I look at the vase of fluffy peonies on my table. Soon I will be snipping fresh greens and plucking radishes, carrots and beets from my garden. There are few things better than sitting outside, eating dinner next to the earth where it came from. Gardening has fascinated me since I was a child. Days after I put seeds in the ground and am pressing my nose to the dirt, waiting and watching for them to sprout. It is my favorite way to slow down and savor the season.

After all that garden talk, you probably expected a fabulous veggie recipe. Not today. This post is actually about another aspect of summer, wedding season! I have the honor and pleasure of making a heap of desserts for a couple of lovebirds (and 200 of their closest friends and family) in a few weeks. This is my take on a lemon bar in cookie form. Less messy and the feedback has been that they are better than their bar cousins… You can be the judge of that! I highly recommend making your own lemon curd. Cheaper and so much better than the store bought version.

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Lemon Curd

Ingredients

  • 3 lemons
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 c. butter (1/2 stick)
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

  1. Remove zest from the lemons with a vegetable peeler. Be careful not to take off the white pith (those are bitter). Juice those lemons in a separate bowl, set aside.
  2. Blend the zest with the sugar in a food processor until the zest is finely chopped.
  3. In a bowl, cream butter and add the sugar/ lemon mixture. Add eggs one at a time. Lastly, add the lemon juice and salt.
  4. Transfer mixture to a sauce pot. Cook over low, stirring frequently. After about 10 minutes you will notice it thickening up (should be at 170 with a candy thermometer). Take off the heat and transfer to jars and let cool. After a couple hours, it will be thicker (and freaking amazing)!

This makes about 24 oz. and could easily be doubled. The lemon curd will last a month in the fridge and would make cute gifts in little jelly jars.

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Lemon Thumbprint Cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1 Tablespoon lemon zest (grated with microplane or chopped finely)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • Lemon curd (recipe above)

Directions

  1. Heat oven to 350. Cream together butter and sugar until well blended and fluffy. Add in egg yolks, lemon juice & zest and salt.
  2. Beat in flour until the mixture is moistened. It is supposed to be crumbly, so don’t over mix.
  3. Form small balls (using your hands might be better than a cookie scoop, the dough is thick…). Space evenly on a cookie sheet. Grab something with a round shape, smaller than the cookie balls, to create the indentation (for the lemon curd). I used a back of my pestle, but a finger could work! A little flour will help minimize stickiness.
  4. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden on the bottom. Remove from oven and fill indentations with lemon curd. Return to the oven for 2 minutes for the lemon curd to set.
  5. Let cool and before serving, dust with a little powdered sugar. Makes about 30 cookies.

Variations: You could swap another kind of jam instead of the lemon curd. I think these would be fantastic with raspberry jam. For that, I’d skip the second trip to the oven.

I hope you enjoy these little lemon bites of heaven and are taking in all that the sunshine is providing you!

-Emily

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Tomatillo Salsa

/ Emily / 4 Comments

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One of my favorite phrases in Spanish is “Por que no?”. Simply put, it means “why not?”. I used this phrase quite a bit when I studied abroad in Ecuador. To me it came to mean; don’t overthink it! Just go for it and enjoy the adventure of life. It seems like there are times when I need to apply this mentality to cooking. When I am working with an unfamiliar ingredient or a new recipe I do all my research, watch the ratios and am my own worst critic. But it seems like my most successful dishes come when I throw caution to the wind and let the ingredients “speak to me.”

This tomatillo salsa recipe has been perfected through that organic process. I simplified where I thought I could get away with it and what has come of it is a zesty, refreshing salsa. And it’s easy! I feel like I am always saying that, but seriously… So, say porque no? And venture to the tomatillo section at the grocery store and give this a whirl!

Buen Provecho!

Tomatillo Salsa

Ingredients

  • 1 lb tomatillos, husks removed
  • 1 yellow onion, cut in half
  • 1-2 jalepenos
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 1 lime
  • 1/2 bunch cilantro
  • salt

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  1. Pre-heat the grill to medium high. If you don’t have a grill, turn the oven on broil.
  2. While your grill is heating peel husks off of tomatillos (FYI: the tomatillo skin is a little sticky), cut the onion in half, try to keep the top intact so the onion stays together on the grill. Peel the garlic and make a little aluminum foil pouch with a drizzle of olive oil in it.
  3. DSC_0226Place tomatillos, onion, jalepenos and garlic pouch on grill. Grill on medium high, turning occasionally until everything has a good char on it. You will know the tomatillos are done when they lighten in color and juices start flowing out of them. Since everything cooks a little differently, expect to take things off in stages.
  4. Let your jalepenos cool a bit then scrape the skin off. And remove seeds if you don’t want it very spicy.
  5. In a food processor blend all the grilled items with the juice of one lime, a half a bunch of cilantro and a big pinch of salt.
  6. Let cool and serve with some delicious tortilla chips! Enjoy!

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Almond & Orange Biscotti

/ Emily / Leave a comment

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What I love about biscotti is that it requires you to sit down and enjoy it. It is no “grab and go” kind of treat– there are far too many crumbs for that! Biscotti is meant to be savored with a strong cup of coffee. Although I think it is technically in the cookie category, it is really it’s own variety for that reason. The other thing I love about biscotti is you can make it as simple or as extravagant as you want. Since I had intended these to be part of a balanced breakfast, I kept it pretty basic. I was going to dip them in chocolate (because, why not?), but when I shared them with my girls at work, they said they were just right. So here you have it, a simple, slightly sweet breakfast treat. Enjoy!

Almond & Orange Biscotti

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup. butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tsp. vanilla or almond extract (I prefer vanilla)
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • dash salt
  • 1/2 cup sliced almonds
  • 1 TBL orange zest
  • 2 teaspoons milk

How to:

  1. Cream butter and sugar until nice and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, incorporating after each addition. Beat in extract.
  2. In separate bowl combine the dry ingredients. Slowly add to the cream mixture and mix well. Stir in almonds and orange zest.
  3. Transfer to wax/ parchment paper and chill the dough for about an hour. This will make forming the logs easier!
  4. With extra flour on hand, divide the dough into two equal portions. Shape in about 12 in x 3 inch rectangles. Brush with milk and sprinkle with a bit of sugar.DSC_0024
  5. Bake at 375 for about 15 minutes or until golden brown and firm to the touch.
  6. Let cool for about 10 minutes and turn your oven down to 300. Transfer to your cutting board and slice diagonally with a serrated knife in about 1/2 inch pieces. Place cut side down on baking sheets.
  7. Bake for 10 minutes on each side or until firm and crunchy. The idea is to dry out the cookies, not get them too dark.

Tips: Cut logs slowly. I had a couple of slices that crumbled in half when I got a little too excited.

Change up the flavors! You can really add anything to the basic recipe.

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Pots of Chocolate-y Goodness

/ Emily / 1 Comment

You know that song about heaven missing an angel? I am pretty sure it was written about these. And before you say, “that looks too fancy for me to make” read the recipe and see how simple it actually is. Our friend and brother came to visit this weekend and luckily, these guys enjoy food as much as we do. Kyle planned on making a French inspired dinner so I wanted to make a complimentary dessert. I had planned to make creme brulee, but didn’t get enough whipping cream so I had to go back to the drawing board. The result was a super decadent to eat, impressive to look at and easy to prepare dessert.

Trust me…

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Chocolate Pots de Creme

makes about 6 individual 4 oz. servings

Ingredients

  • 8 oz. semisweet chocolate (2 boxes of the Baker’s brand bars or 1/2 bag of chocolate chips)
  • 1.5 cups whole milk
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 6 egg yolks
  • 4 TBL sugar
  • pinch of salt

How to:

  1. Break up chocolate into pieces and put in your blender or food processor. Pulse it until it becomes like a coarse powder.
  2. Separate your eggs so you just have the yolks (save the whites for an omelet or something!), whisk in the sugar just until blended.
  3. In a saucepan over medium heat, whisk together milk, heavy cream, egg & sugar mixture and a pinch of salt. Cook this for about 5 minutes while stirring constantly. Watch the temp of your burner. You don’t want this to get to a boil. Just a very, very light simmer. Cook until your mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon (see photo). Take off the heat.
  4. Pour the mixture directly into your blender over that chocolate powder from earlier. Pulse your blender until everything is smooth and incorporated, scraping the sides if you need to. Divide among ramekins (6) and give each one a few little taps to get out the air bubbles. Put in the fridge to chill for about 3 hours.
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This is what “coating the back of a wooden spoon” looks like.

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Ready for the fridge.

Toppings (optional, but encouraged!)

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  • 1/2 c. whipping cream
  • 1 t. vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
  • 1/2 Tablespoon powdered sugar

1. Whip it all together!

Fruit Topping

  • 2 heaping tablespoons cherry preserves (you could do raspberry, blackberry etc.)
  • splash of whiskey

1. In a small saucepan or skillet over medium heat heat the preserves. Once they start to bubble a bit, add the whiskey. Enjoy the poof of whiskey aroma as the alcohol cooks off and then let it simmer for just a minute more. Remove from heat.

The final moment…. Your pots should be set and firm. Top with the whip cream, add a drizzle of the warm fruit and then prepare to sit around the table in silence while everyone savors these pots of deliciousness!

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Side note: I have ramekins, so I used those. But since there is no actual cooking in the vessel, you could use tea cups, little jars, etc.