Author: Megan

Florentines

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Florentines

Paula Peck's Florentines

I’m no expert in making Florentines but it’s hard to go wrong with these gooey chewy chocolate dipped cookies. I realize they should probably be crispier, thinner, maybe rounder, and more even. But I’m not complaining. A cookie recipe that my father remembers my grandmother making, he confirmed that these turned out how she intended. Candied orange peel is the special ingredient that makes these different from many Florentine recipes that use grated orange zest. It maybe a little harder to find, but candied orange peel is what will definitely win over those orange-chocolate lovers. Not a orange-chocolate fan (I’m not particularly crazy about it myself)? Try candied ginger and you’ll have a whole different cookie.

A note about this recipe: those of you who are foolish ambitious enough to try to replace the shortening in this recipe with coconut oil, feel free but just make sure you use a very a mild one. Otherwise, the results are..lets just say, less than ideal. I would recommend skipping the shortening all together and just using melted chocolate as is.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup honey
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup candied orange peel, finely chopped
1/2 cup sliced almonds
3 tablespoons sifted flour
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable shortening

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease baking sheets well.

Combine sugar, cream, honey, and butter in a heavy saucepan. Stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Raise heat and boil without stirring until soft-ball stage (a ball forms when a bit of mixture is dropped into cold water) or until mixture registers 238 degrees on a candy thermometer. Cool slightly.

Stir in orange peel, nuts, and flour. Drop small rounds of batter on the prepared cookie sheets, leaving at least 2 inches between each cookie. Flatten each cookie with a fork dipped in milk (if necessary). Bake 8-10 minutes or until cookies are golden brown. They will spread while baking. Therefore, immediately upon removing them from the oven, pull each one back into the shape of the round with a greased 3-inch cookie cutter. Using a cutter will ensure their final roundness.

When cookies are firm, remove from cookie sheet and finish cooling on a rack. Melt chocolate in a double boiler. Stir in shortening. Coat underside of each cookie thinly with melted chocolate. Place in refrigerator long enough to set chocolate.

Yield: approximately 16

Adapted from “The Art of Fine Baking,” by Paula Peck

Florentines

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Roquefort Bars (or Blue Cheese Bites)

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Roquefurt Bars

Roquefurt Bars (blue cheese bites)

Tucked away in the back of “The Art of Fine Baking” is an hors d’oeuvres section I keep finding myself coming back to. With recipes such as pizza pennies, potato puff sticks, and poppy seed straws, I always seem to find something interesting that I haven’t seen done before. Using puff pastry for a savory appetizer is somewhat foreign for me since as a dessert lover, I’m usually inclined to make something sweet or chocolatey. In this case, I happened to have some leftover puff pastry from my adventures in making puff pastry, so I set out to throw this quick appetizer together. If using store bought or pre-made puff pastry, this recipe couldn’t be easier. Roquefort or any blue cheese is combined with an egg yolk and a little cream, then spread on strips of puff pastry dough. The strips are then sandwiched together, baked, and simply cut into squares or rectangles. Served warm, the rich buttery taste of the flaky pastry and the sharp blue cheese is a decadence any party guests (perhaps the Superbowl?!) will definitely appreciate.

Ingredients:

1/2 puff pastry recipe or 1 sheet of frozen puff pastry, thawed
2/3 cup roquefort or blue cheese of your choice
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon chopped parsley
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1 to 2 tablespoons heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To make the cheese filling: cream together cheese, egg yolk, chopped parsley, and pepper. Add 1-2 tablespoons heavy cream or just enough to make the mixture spreadable.

If using homemade puff pastry, roll out puff pastry dough to less than 1/8 inch thick and trim edges.

Divide sheet of puff pastry into strips 2 1/2 inches wide. Spread half the strips thinly with cheese filling. Cover filling with remaining strips of pastry.

Place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Chill 30 minutes. Bake 50-60 minutes or until pastry is golden brown. Cool slightly. Trim edges and cut into rectangles or squares.

Yield: Approximately 2 dozen

 

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101 Classic Cookbooks and The Art of Fine Baking

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Paula Peck in 101 Classic Cookbooks

I happened to be walking through Chelsea Market when I decided to stop in Posman Books, a small independent bookstore. I made a beeline for the cookbooks, a habit of mine when shopping in an actual store that sells books (somewhat of a rarity these days). Prominently displayed on a large table, “101 Classic Cookbooks 501 Classic Recipes,” caught my eye. Published in 2012, bright yellow, and the size of a dictionary, I casually flipped through it thinking that my grandmother might (and should!) be mentioned. In the 90’s, I became accustomed to looking for signs of her in bookstores since “The Art of Fine Baking” remained in print until the mid-late 90’s. For some reason this habit remains with me, but this time I was not disappointed. A color photo of her book, a brief mention of her contribution to the baking world, as well as notable recipes such as Croissants and Linzer Torte (coming soon right here!) are listed on pages 124-125, right after Julia Child. And as a side note, there are some other really delicious looking recipes listed in this book – with contributions by Florence Fabricant, Judith Jones, and Alice Waters, it’s definitely worth checking out.

101 Classic Cookbooks

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Mashed Potato Egg and Sausage Pizza

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Mashed Potato Egg and Sausage Pizza

Mashed Potato Egg and Sausage Pizza

This may look like just a casserole but hidden beneath the layers of sausage, vegetables, cheese, and perfectly delicious runny egg yolks is a pizza crust like no other. Seasoned mashed potatoes are baked until just a touch crispy so they hold together to create that carb replacement for the average pizza dough. The mashed potatoes also add a richness that makes this unusual pizza both filling and satisfying. So why the casserole dish instead of a baking sheet? The original recipe titled “Potato and Egg Pizza” in “The Art of Good Cooking” says to use a baking sheet such as a jelly roll pan. I decided to use a casserole dish simply because I wanted a fairly thick layer of mashed potatoes, a favorite comfort food of mine. However, any baking sheet with an edge would work well here.

The beauty of this Mashed Potato Egg and Sausage pizza is how over-the-top it is. Onions, pepper, and mushrooms along with sliced sausage (I used Italian style chicken sausage) are just the beginning. Fresh mozzarella, Parmesan, and star-of-the-show golden yolks, ooze over the mashed potatoes. Try it with garlic mashed potatoes and this may be one unforgettable pizza.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup olive oil
3 cups very well seasoned mashed potatoes
1 large onion peeled and sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 green pepper, seeded and sliced
4 cooked Italian sweet or hot sausages
6 eggs
1/4 grated Parmesan cheese
2/3 cup diced mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Grease a large flat baking dish (such as a jelly-roll pan) generously with as much olive oil as necessary. Spread mashed potatoes evenly. With the back of a large spoon, make indentations in the mashed potatoes for the eggs which will be added late.

Bake potato-lined pan for 30-40 minutes or until potato seems slightly brown and crisp on bottom. Remove from oven.

While potato is baking, sauté onion, garlic, mushrooms and green pepper in remaining olive oil till soft. Slice cooked sausage 1/4 inch thick.

After potato has been removed from oven, spread top of it with sautéed mixture and sliced sausage, leaving indentations clear. Break eggs into each of the indentations. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and dot with pieces of mozzarella cheese. Return to oven. Bake about 25 minutes, or until eggs are set and cheese bubbling. To serve, cut into wedges or squares.

Serves 6.

Adapted from “The Art of Good Cooking,” by Paula Peck

Egg Sausage and Mashed Potato Pizza

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Panettone

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Panettone

Panettone

This classic Italian Christmas bread you see in those funny shaped boxes in just about every supermarket this time of year, is somewhat of a holiday staple. I’ve never been a huge fan of Panettone, but it’s hard to resist this rich sweet bread hot from the oven. It’s a fairly simple recipe that yields impressive results. In the original recipe from “The Art of Fine Baking,” my grandmother says to use the “extra-rich coffee cake dough” which calls for 12 eggs. Since I’m always a little apprehensive about recipes that use more than 8 eggs, I decided to use just the basic coffee cake dough recipe which uses a moderate 6 eggs instead. The result was perfectly satisfying- as I said, it’s hard to resist warm rich raisin bread right from the oven. Happy Holidays!

Ingredients:

Basic Coffee Cake Dough or Extra-Rich Coffee Cake Dough
1 1/2 cups additional all-purpose flour (if using the extra rich coffee cake dough)
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup black raisins
2/3 cup diced candied citron
1/4 cup melted butter

If using Extra-Rich Coffee Cake Dough, follow recipe and add enough additional flour to make a fairly firm dough. Otherwise, follow Basic Coffee Cake Dough recipe.

After dough has risen, knead in raisins and candied citron. Do not handle dough more than necessary after fruit has been added, or it will turn gray.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease Panettone holders or grease a large baking sheet. Divide dough in half. Shape each piece into a ball. Place balls into Panettone holders or space well apart on greased baking sheets and enclose with a 5-inch collar made of greased heavy brown paper. Secure collars by pinning them (if necessary).

Let dough rise until almost double in bulk. Brush with melted butter. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees. Continue baking 30-40 minutes longer, brushing twice more with melted butter. Bake until golden brown.

Panettone

Adapted from “The Art of Fine Baking,” by Paula Peck.

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