Homemade Pasta

I recently had a week off in between finishing up my Master’s degree and starting my permanent job.  Since Craig was tied up with studying for the bar exam, I had to come up with fun things to do on my own.  Naturally enough, these things revolved largely around cooking (and eating).  One of the things I decided to do was try this homemade pasta recipe from The Pioneer Woman Cooks.  It looked so simple and non-intimidating – no rolling the pasta through a press as I had done in a cooking class a few years ago (the only other time I made homemade pasta other than this gnocchi).  I thought the idea of pairing this rustic pasta with a rustic bolognese, as they did, was a great one, but I used my trusty 4-hour bolognese recipe.  This time around, though, I made it a turkey bolognese with half ground turkey and half turkey Italian sausage.  This pasta was very tasty and surprisingly easy to whip up.  The only trouble I had was that after I cut the noodles with the pizza cutter, I couldn’t get them apart and into the water.  They were fully cut apart in the middle, but still slightly attached on the ends.  Craig had to help me go back through with a paring knife and separate them individually, which was a pain.  Next time, I would either just use the sharp paring knife to begin with or, if I used the pizza wheel, I would move each noodle to a plate as I cut them.  Try these noodles – nothing beats homemade!

This is me cutting the pasta, oblivious to the fact that I won’t be able to move it to the pot in a few minutes.  Don’t be like me.

Homemade Pasta

Recipe from: The Pioneer Woman Cooks

ingredients (for 2 servings)

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup flour, plus more for rolling out dough

directions

1. Place flour in a large bowl and make a well in the center.  Crack eggs into the well and slowly mix together with your hands.

2. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead for several minutes, until it becomes smooth and pliable, adding more flour as needed.  Cover lightly with a towel or plastic wrap and let the dough rest for about 10 minutes.

3. Roll the dough out on the floured surface, as thinly as possible.  Keep in mind that the noodles will plump up when cooked.  Cut the noodles into very thin strands using a sharp knife or a pizza wheel (see my notes about this above).

4. Boil the noodles in well-salted water for 2-3 minutes and dress as desired.

Mahi Bento Box with Quick Asian Pickles

When I was a freshman in high school, my family took a trip to Hawaii.  I’ve always loved to travel, and I could spend hours leading up to a trip reading Fodor’s and Frommer’s guides, picking out places I have to go and, of course, things I have to eat!  One of the food items that caught my attention at that time was the bento box.  I believe this is a concept the Hawaiians picked up from Japanese cuisine, as our local Japanese place makes them as well.  Basically, it’s a divided tray of various meats, salads, rice, etc. that are designed to compliment one another – a more fun version of a boxed lunch.

For some reason, bento boxes came back into my mind recently, and I decided to make one with some mahi mahi I’d picked up.  I ultimately decided I wanted to make quick Asian pickles, and after consulting a few quick pickle recipes, I came up with my own concoction.  The key was slicing them very, very thin on the mandoline.  I was extremely happy with how they came out, and I can’t wait to make a bigger batch once my garden cucumbers are ripe (they have huge flowers – it won’t be long now).  I was really bummed that I didn’t have any fun, divided plates to make this dish a true bento box, but otherwise, everything was very good.

Quick Asian Pickles

After consulting a few other pickle recipes, I came up with this one on my own

ingredients

• Half of a large English cucumber or several small pickling cucumbers
• Salt
• Sugar
• 1 ½ Tbsp. rice vinegar
• Light green parts of 2 scallions, finely chopped
• Dash of hot sauce
• 1 tsp. soy sauce
• 1/8 tsp. grated fresh ginger

directions

1. On a mandoline, slice the cucumber into very thin rounds.  Lay the rounds in a single layer in a strainer and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar.  Set aside for 15 minutes.

2.  Meanwhile, combine the vinegar, scallions, hot sauce, soy sauce, ginger, and another small pinch of sugar in a small bowl.

3.  Add the cucumbers to the rest of the ingredients and toss to combine.  Add additional salt to taste.  Let stand 10 minutes and serve.

For Bento Box:

ingredients

• Homemade teriyaki sauce
• One 1/2-pound mahi mahi filet
• 1 cup shelled edamame
• 1 cup Jasmine rice
• Quick Asian Pickles

directions

1. Prepare rice according to package directions.  Meanwhile, preheat the broiler.  Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray and place the fish on it.  Broil fish until just firm, about 7 minutes.

2. Thaw edamame under cold water.  Pat dry with a towel.  Sprinkle with kosher salt.

3. Plate the rice.  Cut the fish in half for 2 portions and gently dip each half in the warm teriyaki sauce to fully coat.  Add a serving of the edamame and a serving of the pickles, all atop the bed of rice.  Serve and enjoy!

Eggplant and Tomato Risotto: Eggplant parm in a bowl

I rarely use specific recipes when making risotto – to me, risotto is a blank canvas, like pasta, waiting for the next combination of ingredients I can come up with to put in it.  However, on our honeymoon last year, I was reading a particularly good issue of Food and Wine which featured this risotto recipe in an article about cruising the Mediterranean with Jacques Pepin.  I went back to that issue recently, where I re-encountered this recipe and immediately decided to finally put this specific risotto on my weekly menu.

This risotto was a perfect blend of flavors.  It really tasted like all of the great flavors in a good eggplant parmesan combined in each bite.  The only changes I made were to add the fresh tomatoes later in the cooking process than they instruct, in order to preserve more of their fresh taste and texture, and to make sure that I cooked the risotto in the same pan as the eggplant, scraping up the browned bits into the rice.  This gave the finished dish extra flavor.  I also used butter to start the risotto instead of olive oil and added white wine as that’s just the traditional way that I know. A key ingredient in this dish is ricotta salata, which is a dried, crumbly cheese with a slightly smoky taste.  We liked it with the ricotta salata, but Craig was less sure about it than I was.  In keeping with the Mediterranean theme, I think this recipe would also work great with feta in place of the ricotta salata, and I might try that as well.

Eggplant and Tomato Risotto with Ricotta Salata

Recipe from: Food and Wine, May 2008

ingredients

2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

1 pound eggplant, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice

3 garlic cloves, minced

Salt and pepper

1/3 cup dry white wine or vermouth

4 cups chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth (or vegetable broth, for a fully vegetarian dish)

1 small Vidalia onion, minced

1 pound tomatoes, coarsely chopped

1 cup Arborio rice

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1/2 cup crumbled ricotta salata (2 ounces)

2 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese

1/2 cup julienned basil

directions

1. In a large sauté pan with high sides (the same pan you want to use for the risotto), heat the olive oil. Add the eggplant and cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until browned all over. Add the garlic, salt, and pepper, and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute longer. Transfer the eggplant to a bowl and set aside.

2. In a saucepan, bring the chicken stock to a rapid simmer. In the sauté pan, heat 2 Tbsp. of butter. Add the onion and cook over moderate heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the rice and cook, stirring, until thoroughly coated, about 2 minutes.

3. Add the wine and cook, stirring and scraping up the browned bits in the pan, until the wine is nearly absorbed. Add the hot stock 1 cup at a time and stirring until it is absorbed between additions. When the rice is about half cooked, add the chopped tomatoes, reserving a small handful for garnish. The risotto is done when the rice is al dente and suspended in a creamy liquid, about 25 minutes total.

4. Remove the risotto from the heat. Vigorously stir in the remaining 1 Tbsp. butter, then stir in the ricotta salata and parmesan cheeses. Stir in the eggplant and basil, reserving a little basil for garnish. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to bowls. Garnish with reserved chopped tomatoes and basil. Serve right away.

Study Abroad Memories: Egyptian koshary

For a long time (as in, 5 years!), I had been wanting to make a version of a dish my husband loved on his study abroad trip to Egypt. The only problem was, the dish isn’t at all common in the U.S., and since I wasn’t there, I had never tried the dish before. That made it hard to know if the recipes I saw online, most of which were vague and seemed not to be written by native English speakers, would turn out similar enough to bring him back to his good memories of the dish. When I stumbled across an article about the dish on Gourmet’s website, written by an American chef and calling for cooking each ingredient separately, I knew I had found my challenge.

Koshary is sometimes referred to as “Egypt’s national dish.” It’s a street food classic that combines lentils, rice, mini pasta, and chickpeas, all covered with a spicy tomato sauce and fried or carmelized onions. It sounds strange, but what I learned after eating it (and enjoying it very much) is that this dish is ALL about the texture. The combination of different textures makes this dish addictive and tasty.

It was a lot of fun to tease Craig about making him a “surprise dinner” and give him clues to see if he could figure it out. Some of the clues I gave him were that it was a vegetarian meal and that I had never had it before. What finally tipped him off was when I complained, after standing over 3 burners on a hot day, that I didn’t know how people in its country of origin could stand making it given the hot weather. After tasting it, he said that this version tasted pretty authentic, although he would have liked it spicier, and he really appreciated that I made it for him as a way of remembering his trip. I will make this again – it’s good! If you try this (and I hope you do), I think my version minimizes the number of dirty dishes and streamlines things over the original I’ve linked to.

Egyptian Koshary

adapted from: Francis Lam, gourmet.com

ingredients

1 large onion, sliced thinly

6 oz dry lentils, picked over and rinsed

8 oz small pasta (I used ditalini, which was great, but you can also use elbow mac)

1 cup (uncooked) basmati rice

1 can (15 oz.) chickpeas, rinsed and drained

dash ground cinnamon

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp coriander

3 cups homemade or store-bought arrabiata, fra diavolo, or other spicy tomato sauce

Hot sauce

Extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

Note: you will need a skillet, a pasta pot, a saucepan, and a large bowl in order to cook all of the ingredients separately.

directions

1. In the skillet, caramelize the onion. Coat the bottom of the pan with oil and heat over medium-high. Get it hot, so that the onion sizzles when it goes in. Quickly toss to coat the onion in oil, then turn the heat down to low or medium-low. Stir it occasionally while it’s still pale, then more frequently when it starts to take on color, so that it caramelizes evenly. It will take at least 20 minutes to caramelize. Once they are done, remove from heat and set aside.

2. Meanwhile, in the pasta pot, bring water to a boil to cook the macaroni.  Once it boils, cook the pasta to al dente. Here is the trick to saving time in cooking all the ingredients separately – reserve most of the boiling water by pouring it into a large bowl. Drain the pasta and toss with a little olive oil so that it won’t stick while it’s cooling.  Cool completely. 

3. Return the hot water to the pasta pot and return it to a boil. When it boils, add the lentils. Turn it down to a lazy simmer, and cook partially covered, checking them after 20 minutes. Cook to al dente, which will probably take about 25 minutes. Drain the lentils and let them cool slightly.

4. While the lentils are cooking, cook the rice in the saucepan. Bring the rice, 2 cups of water, and the cinnamon, cumin, and coriander to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook 15-20 minutes according to package directions. Once it’s done, remove the pot from the heat and set aside to let rest, covered, for 5 minutes. Then, remove the cover and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to the large bowl. Fluff with a fork and let cool slightly.

5. Meanwhile, in the now-empty saucepan, warm up the spicy tomato sauce, adding more hot sauce if desired (or, each person can add more to their own serving).  While that’s happening, heat some olive oil in the skillet. Get it really good and hot, and throw in your pasta. Don’t touch it for a minute; let it get a bit brown and crusty. Toss it, and let it toast for a while.

6. Combine the pasta with the rice in the large bowl, then add the lentils. Sear the chickpeas slightly in the skillet. Add the onions to the pasta, rice, and lentil mixture and toss to combine. Add more salt and pepper to taste. To assemble the dish, add a serving of the mixture to a shallow bowl. Top with the warm tomato sauce, then garnish with the toasted chickpeas. Serve with additional hot sauce if desired.

The source of foods to come

The big food-related news around here? We have a garden! After a year and a half on the waiting list, we found out in March that we would receive a plot in the community garden near our home. Set on federal park land here in Washington, DC, our community garden has been in continuous operation since the victory garden days of World War II. Each season, dozens of neighborhood families use their plot to grow vegetables and herbs using organic methods.

The plots are extremely large – ours is 23 by 28 feet – so figuring out what to plant and where is the first task. We bought Burpee’s guide to organic vegetable gardening right away, and it has been extremely helpful already. We’ve determined a basic layout and set aside space for putting a table and chairs for relaxing. Our apartment has no outdoor space, so this area will be wonderful to have.

After pulling some of the many weeds and laying out 3 beds, we planted arugula seeds in early April and Swiss chard seeds last week. Here is our full planting list:

Arugula seeds – early April (done and sprouted)

Swiss chard seeds – mid-April (done)

Broccoli seedlings – ASAP

Thyme – ASAP

Chive plants (regular chives and garlic chives) – ASAP when I can find an already-growing bulb

Tomato seedlings – mid-May

Basil (regular and Thai) – mid-May

Bell pepper seedlings – mid-late May

Cucumber seedlings – mid-late May

 

I am so excited to make things with my garden produce and hang out in our outdoor space. Below is a picture of Hobbes and me in the garden the first week we went (in late March). I can’t believe I was wearing a fleece in that picture because today it’s supposed to hit 90 degrees! Hopefully, the greens will grow nicely in the warm weather this weekend. As things progress, I will certainly share my best garden recipes and lessons learned with you!

(Purportedly) authentic beef bulgogi

I am back! Well, sort of. The demands of finishing up my Master’s degree and securing a full-time job have had me bogged down lately. Not only has my blog been suffering, but my cooking has shifted to faster and easier dishes as well. However, there is an end in sight as I will complete all requirements for my M.A. on June 15! I am looking forward to having a lot more time for all things food-related – cooking, blogging, and gardening (more on that coming soon). In the meantime, I wanted to share this awesome recipe for a dish I made a couple of weeks ago: beef bulgogi.

Bulgogi is a Korean dish. Craig could not say the word “bulgogi” at all, which led to a lot of teasing. The dish is pretty simple – it consists of very thin strips of beef, marinated and quickly sauteed. This recipe, which comes from the Culinary Institute of America and purports to be authentic, has you serve the beef as lettuce wraps, with a lot of Korean-style accompaniments such as kimchee and sticky rice. However, I wanted the beef to stand out (and I couldn’t find a lot of the Korean accessories at the grocery store), so I decided to go with a simpler presentation. I wrapped the beef in thin tortillas and added a small amount of oven-baked brown rice, a few blanched asparagus spears, and plenty of the pan juices. In terms of the actual beef, though, I followed the recipe’s instructions pretty much to a “t”. I highly recommend this dish. The key is to slice the beef as thinly as possible and resist getting lazy and slicing it thicker as you go. To make the slicing easier, as they suggest, you can pop the sirloin in the freezer for 30-60 minutes before slicing. If you do that, this will turn out great.

Korean beef bulgogi

Adapted from: Epicurious.com

ingredients

¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon Asian (toasted) sesame oil

1 tablespoon mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine)

¼ Asian pear, coarsely grated (about 1/4 cup) (follow their instructions and grate it – mine was too ripe to grate, so I diced it, but then I had to take out the pieces that were left after I sautéed it since I didn’t want them in the finished dish)

½ medium onion, coarsely grated (about 1/2 cup)

2 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 teaspoon)

½ teaspoon fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated

1 teaspoon sesame seeds, toasted, plus additional for garnish

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 pound beef sirloin, trimmed of excess fat and thinly sliced

2 tablespoons canola oil

 

directions

1. Toast sesame seeds in a dry skillet and allow to cool (if you have not already done so).

2. In large bowl, whisk together soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, mirin, pear, onion, garlic, ginger, sesame seeds, and pepper. Let marinade stand 30 minutes at room temperature, then add beef and toss to coat. Refrigerate, covered, 1 hour (or more – up to overnight. I did about 2 hours).

2. In large skillet over medium-high heat, heat canola oil. Remove beef from marinade, draining it very briefly over bowl to remove excess liquid, and then cook until browned and done medium-well, 6 to 7 minutes.

3. Serve as desired!

Green enchiladas with roasted chicken

These enchiladas are so delicious. I simplified this recipe from the “Tyler’s Ultimate” version, which has you make your own green enchilada sauce out of tomatillos. Someday, when fresh tomatillos are abudant in my suburban DC grocery store, I may attempt that, but in the meantime, store-bought tomatillo salsa works fabulously. These enchiladas have an ideal blend of flavors, and the filling comes out velvety and smooth. I think I have made this dish about 4 times now, which, as I’ve mentioned before, says a lot about the recipe, since at least 4 or 5 of the dinners I cook each week tend to be new recipes. Enjoy!

Green Enchiladas with Roasted Chicken

Adapted from: Tyler Florence, Food Network

ingredients

 

½ of a large rotisserie chicken (to make about 2 ½ cups of shredded meat)

1 large poblano pepper, roughly chopped (or, if the poblanos at your store are old and shriveled like mine were last week, you can combine a green bell pepper and half of a large jalapeno as a substitute)

½ large sweet onion, roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. cumin

¼ cup all-purpose flour

2 ½ cups low-sodium chicken broth

8 small flour tortillas (You can also use corn if you prefer. It’s what the original recipe calls for, but I prefer flour with my chicken or pork and corn with my beef.)

1 jar/tub of your favorite salsa verde or green taco sauce (you’ll need at least 1 ½ cups)

5 oz. shredded Monterey jack or your favorite white Mexican cheese blend

Salt and pepper

Extra-virgin olive oil

 

directions

 

1. Pull the chicken into long shreds by hand. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

 

2. Heat about 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Add the chopped peppers, onions, and garlic. Cook 8-10 minutes on medium, or until the peppers and onions are very soft, but not brown.  Add the cumin and stir to combine; cook 1 minute. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetable mixture and cook 1 minute, stirring vigorously.

 

3. Add the broth in 2 or 3 batches, stirring well to avoid any lumps in the flour. Once well-combined, raise the heat to medium-high and bring the mixture to a rapid simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to simmer about 5 minutes, until the mixture has reduced slightly and the sauce is velvety. Turn off the heat and fold in the chicken, stirring to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. At this point, the mixture may look a little thinner than other enchilada fillings. However, it will continue to set in the oven, creating an ideal texture.

 

4. Pour a little salsa into the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish and spread evenly. Pour some more salsa into a wide, shallow bowl. To assemble enchiladas, dip a tortilla into the bowl of salsa to coat. Add a line of chicken mixture in the center, and sprinkle a little cheese on top. Place in the pan and roll up so that the seam side is down. Repeat with remaining tortillas. To finish, spoon a little more salsa on top and sprinkle with a bit of additional cheese.

 

5. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving, with sour cream or additional salsa if desired, or just serve as-is!

In honor of our last spring break ever: Texas carne guisada

Given the fact that Craig and I will both graduate from graduate school this spring, we are confronted with the reality that this year brings the last spring break we will probably ever have in our lives. We couldn’t just stay home for that, so we decided to book tickets to Texas to visit Craig’s best friend. He’s been pestering us to come down there for 3 years now, so it’s really the least we could do . We’re really looking forward to the trip (leaving next Friday), and as a bonus, our trip coincides with the Houston Rodeo, which I hear is a great foodie experience. To start getting us in the mood, I decided to make this slow-cooked beef, Texas carne guisada, from the awesome Homesick Texan blog. Click the recipe link below to learn more about this dish and its importance in Texas. I loved this meal. It was pretty easy to make, and tasted better than a lot of what is served in most Tex-Mex restaurants, at least the ones where we live (far from Texas).

Texas Carne Guisada

Adapted from: The Homesick Texan

ingredients

(this is for a half recipe, but it was so good that I would probably make a full recipe next time and freeze some)

 

2 pounds of beef chuck roast, cut into 1-inch cubes (my package was actually 1.75 lbs.)

2 Tbsp. canola oil

1 small onion, diced

2 large or 3 medium cloves of garlic, minced

1 cup canned diced tomatoes

Hot peppers of the green variety, of your choice, minced – I used one fresh serrano and a handful of pickled jalapenos

½ Tbsp. cumin

½ Tbsp. chili powder

½ tsp. oregano

1 cup of water, plus more for adding later

6 oz. beer (the recipe calls for dark beer, but I forgot to buy some especially for this, so I just used the Yuengling we had on hand)

 

The original calls for cilantro, which would be good if you like it – we don’t like it enough to buy it.

 

directions

1. In a large pot or a Dutch oven, brown the beef on medium high to high heat in the oil.  Remove beef from pot and set aside.  Pour off all but 1 Tbsp. of the drippings and cook on medium heat the onions and chiles for about 10 minutes or until the onions are translucent.  Add the garlic and cook for another minute.

 

2. Add the browned beef, the tomatoes, and the herbs, spices, water and beer and mix everything well.  Turn up the heat to high, bring the stew to a boil and then turn heat down very low and simmer for five hours, mostly covered, stirring occasionally and adding more water as needed. At this point, some of the meat will have turned to strings thus thickening the gravy.

 

 

To serve: Mexican rice as seen on the Dinner and Dessert blog (I simplified this recipe just a little bit – it was great), and avocado slices drizzled with lime juice and sprinkled with kosher salt.

Of course, this beef would also make a great taco filling! However, we both thought that this meal had an excellent blend of flavors and textures.

A red Valentine’s treat: red velvet whoopie pies

I know, another baking post – how weird! I just wanted to let you know about our very color-appropriate Valentine’s treat – red velvet whoopie pies. My desire to make these stemmed from two places – Craig’s recent facination with red velvet, and my love of cream cheese frosting. These pies, of course, combine those two things. These were pretty easy to make, but still one of the more involved among the limited number of baking projects I’ve attempted. They were definitely worth it. The cream cheese icing was delicious, and the cakes were soft, with a subtle cocoa flavor. My only critique was that they had a very, very slight sour taste (not very noticeable at all – everyone who tried these loved them), which could have been either from the buttermilk or from the amount of red food coloring that’s used. I would probably reduce the amount of food coloring next time since they didn’t need that quite much in order to be very red. Craig went to town on these, and I ate 3 in one sitting myself!

My only other tip is to bake these a little longer than you might otherwise think, so that they will be easy to handle. I was paranoid about burning them on the first batch and took them out when they were still a little too soft, probably. This made them harder to handle for frosting them and storing them. I let the next two batches go a little longer, and they were perfect. I will make these again, and I am excited to have such a great cream cheese frosting recipe for other uses, too.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

Source: Bridget’s blog (The Way the Cookie Crumbles), cake recipe originally adapted from Better Homes and Gardens

ingredients

Cake:
2 cups (9.5-10 ounces) unbleached flour (I used 2 C. of all-purpose flour)
2 tablespoons cocoa powder (not Dutch processed)
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup (7 ounces) packed light brown sugar
1 egg, preferably room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup buttermilk, preferably room temperature
2 tablespoons red food coloring

Filling:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter, softened
2 cups (8 ounces) powdered sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla

directions

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; preheat oven to 375F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper (I used my Silpat). In medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

2. In large mixing bowl, beat butter on medium-high speed for 30 seconds, until smooth. Add brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. With mixer at medium speed, add egg and beat until thoroughly combined, then beat in vanilla. Add about one-third of flour mixture followed by half of buttermilk mixture, mixing until incorporated after each addition (about 15 seconds). Repeat using half of remaining flour mixture and all of remaining buttermilk mixture. Scrape down sides of bowl and add remaining flour mixture; mix at medium-low speed until batter is thoroughly combined, about 15 seconds. Remove bowl from mixer and fold batter once or twice with rubber spatula to incorporate any remaining flour.

3. Spoon (or pipe) batter in 1-inch diameter rounds about ½-inch high on prepared baking sheets, allowing 1 inch between each round.

4. Bake 7 to 9 minutes, or until tops are set. Cool cookies on cookie sheets.

5. To make filling: Add cream cheese and butter to mixer bowl and beat until smooth. Gradually add powdered sugar, alternating with vanilla. Beat until smooth.

6. To fill, dollop (or pipe) cream cheese filling on flat sides of half the cookies. Top with remaining cookies, flat sides down.

 

A perfect treat for your valentine!

Oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies

Oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies are, I think, my favorite type of cookie. I love their texture. So, when we decided that we should make more of our cookies ourselves instead of just buying some to put in our lunches every week, I knew I wanted to start with this recipe, which I had seen in Cate’s blog. We got in the kitchen together and whipped up a batch of these. These cookies were delicious – thick and chewy, just how I like them. Craig really liked them, too, although when I asked him what, if anything, he’d change, he said, “Probably cut out the oatmeal.” Oh well! That’s just personal preference, and I will have no problem eating these all by myself if he ever decides to pass on having one (not likely).

Oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies

Source: Cate’s blog

1 1/2 sticks butter, softened

2/3 cup sugar

2/3 cup dark brown sugar (I used light brown because it was what I had on hand)

2 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup old-fashioned oats

1 12 oz bag chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F

Beat the butter with a wooden spoon until smooth and creamy. (I used a hand mixer on medium-low speed for most of the stirring steps)

Add both sugars and beat until homogeneous.

Stir in vanilla and egg and mix well.

Add flour, baking soda, and salt, and give the bowl a few good stirs. (Here is where I switched to mixing by hand)

Add the oats and chocolate chips, and mix until well-distributed.

Bake on silpat-lined baking sheets until just set and browning on the edges, about 10-12 minutes.

Let cool on the baking sheets for about 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks (I moved them sooner because I like my cookies less crispy, and I always cool my cookies on brown paper bags since I don’t own wire racks. It’s what my mom always did!)

I will be making up another batch of these soon. Yum!