RECIPES

[LadyRed]

after reading someone wanting a place to share recipes (I can totally do that, btw, if you want...otherwise, we can keep it to the forums) decided to start a thread about GOOD FOOD.........

curry! our favorite...

Massamam Curry, based on a recipe from "True Thai" by Victor Sodsook. I didn't have time/patience to do everything as he said, nor did I have all ingredients, but what I did make came out better than any I've had in a restaurant. Here goes...

Massaman Curry (Vegan)

For the curry paste (make ahead of time and let the flavors develop – yields about 1.5 cups)
3oz dried red chilies (require 30 minutes prep time)
1 tbsp tumeric
1.25 tsp cumin
1.5 tbsp coriander
1.5 tsp cardamom
3 tbsp creamy peanut butter (this easily replaces shrimp paste in most recipes)
0.25 tsp black pepper
0.25 tsp clove
0.25 tsp cinnamon
1 lg stalk lemon grass, tough outer leaves discarded, lower stalk trimmed to 3 inches and finely sliced
1 tbsp ginger
0.25 cup chopped garlic
0.33 cup chopped shallots

Cut the ends off the chilies and shake most of the seeds out. Cut in half lengthwise, pulling out any tough ribs. Cut into pieces less than an inch long. Put in a bowl full of water and soak for 30 minutes.

You can buy all the spices whole, grind them up fresh, and dry roast them for about 5 minutes in a pan if you are feeling truly industrious.

Otherwise, once the chilies are done soaking, drain them, reserving about 0.5 cups of the chili water. Put all the ingredients in the food processor, including the 0.5 cup chili water. Process all the ingredients until a rich, moist paste forms, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides.

You can store this paste in an airtight container in the fridge for a month, or in the freezer for up to three months.

For the curry itself (can be prepared the day before serving to let the flavors mature)…

2 sweet potatoes, chopped into half-inch cubes
1 head broccoli cut into small pieces
1 package fresh tofu, drained of water (put on a plate, under another plate with something heavy on it, for half an hour to drain the water from the tofu)
1 can coconut milk
1 cup Massaman Curry Paste
1 cup vegetable stock or broth
0.5-1 cups roasted unsalted peanuts
3 tbsp coconut-palm or brown sugar
3 tbsp Thai thin soy sauce or any good light soy sauce (or just go light on the soy sauce)

Steam the potato and broccoli over boiling water until tender (approx. 5 minutes). Set aside.

Skim the thick cream from the top of the coconut milk into a soup pot, saving the milk. Put the pot on medium-high heat. Stir in curry paste until blended and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring constantly, for two minutes. Add the sweet potato, broccoli, tofu, reserved coconut milk, and vegetable stock. Cook for two minutes, stirring often. Add peanuts and sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved and blended. Add soy sauce and cook for another thirty seconds.

Transfer to a serving bowl and serve with jasmine rice.

[liiz]

I love the Macaroni with Tomato Sauce and Goat cheese recipe from the NYT series "Recipes for Health" : http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/14/health/nutrition/14recipe.html

Curry wise, I have always had a lot of success with Nigella Lawson's Pumpkin and Seafood Curry. The basic curry is very versatile, and I often use different veggies (carrots, broccoli,bell peppers, etc) or proteins (chicken, cod, etc) but stick with the spices and other parts of the recipe:

Ingredients
400ml tin coconut milk
1-2 tbspns yellow (or red) Thai curry paste
350ml fish stock (I use boiling water and a slug of Benedicta Touch of Taste Concentrated fish bouillon; cubes would do)
3 tbspns fish sauce
2 tbspns palm sugar or caster sugar
3 lemon grass stalks each cut into three and bruised with the flat of a knife
3 lime leaves de stalked and cut into strips
half tsp tumeric
1 kg pumpkin (or butternut squash) peeled and cut into large bite- sized chunks
500g salmon fillet, preferably organic, skinned and cut into large bite- sized chunks
500g peeled raw prawns
pak choi or any other green vegetables of your choice
juice of half-1 lime
small bunch of coriander chopped, to serve

1.Skim the thick creamy top off the tin of coconut milk and put it, over medium heat, into a large saucepan or casserole with the curry paste. Let it sizzle and, using a fork, whisk or wooden spoon, beat milk and paste together until combined. Still beating, gently, add the rest of the coconut milk, fish stock, fish sauce, sugar, lemongrass, lime leaves and tumeric. Bring to a boil and then add the pumpkin.
Method: How to cook pumpkin and seafood curry

2.Cook on a fast simmer until the pumpkin is tender, about 15 minutes, although different sorts of pumpkins can vary enormously in the time they take to cook; some squash take as little as 5 minutes.

3.As I mentioned, you can cook the curry up till this part in advance, maybe leaving the pumpkin with still a tiny bit of bite to it (it will soften and cook as the pan cools). Either way, when you're about 5 minutes away from wanting to eat, get ready to cook the seafood.

4.So, to the robustly simmering pan, add the salmon and prawns (if you're using the prawns from frozen they'll need to go in before the salmon). When the salmon and prawns have cooked through, which shouldn't take more than 3-4 minutes, stir in the green veg you're using - sliced, chopped or shredded as suits - and tamp down with a wooden spoon.

5.When the pak choi is wilted, squeeze in the juice of half a lime, stir and taste and then add the juice of the remaining half if you feel it needs it. Take the pan off the heat or decant the curry into a large bowl, and sprinkle over the coriander; the point is the coriander goes in just before serving.

6.Serve with more chopped coriander, for people to add to their own bowls as they eat, and some plain Thai or basmati rice.


I could name like a million more, but these are two that I've been lovely lately.

[PrettyKitty]

[quote="LadyRed"]

curry! our favorite...

Massamam Curry, based on a recipe from "True Thai" by Victor Sodsook. I didn't have time/patience to do everything as he said, nor did I have all ingredients, but what I did make came out better than any I've had in a restaurant. Here goes...


*********************************

Just had to say that Massaman is MY FAVORITE Thai curry. Thanks for the recipe! I had never thought to look it up. I'll try it out and report back.

[prude]

This is the best curry EVER! It's also amazingly simple.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/ ... ews-231358

[minira]

My fave mac n cheese (also from FoodNetwork: Alton Brown, i think) is:

Ingredients
1/2 pound elbow macaroni
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon powdered mustard
3 cups milk
1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 large egg
12 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh black pepper
Topping:
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup panko bread crumbs
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.

While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf, and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.

Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.

Melt the butter in a saute pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.

I love it partially because the sauce is so complex and interesting, not just cheesy, and the paprika gives it a little kick.

[minira]

I also love Nigella's recipe for Ham in Coca-Cola (totally not gross, I promise. I've served it at dinner parties and people come back for thirds then beg for leftovers to take home!)

http://www.nigella.com/recipe/recipe_de ... px?rid=253

and Giada de Laurentiis' chicken stew. Perfect winter meal! All it needs is some bread and butter or biscuits on the side, and a tall glass of milk (or wine, if you like). And it uses mostly canned stuff, pantry basics and root veggies that keep for a long time. I've made it with dried basil instead of fresh, and it tastes just fine.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giad ... index.html

And on the topic of biscuits: this is a super-simple recipe for them that takes almost no time to throw together, and makes for super-light, flaky biscuits.

http://heaveninourhomesrecipes.blogspot ... ening.html

For those who don't have self-rising flour, you can make it yourself. Add 1.5 tsp baking powder and .5 tsp salt for each cup of all-purpose flour.

[hopeless in the kitchen]

I shall call this post "recipes LR has cooked for me, because I am hopeless in the kitchen."

Best portobello mushrooms: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Portobello-Mushrooms-Stuffed-with-Spinach-and-Goat-Cheese-351016

Best brussels sprouts: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Carrots-and-Brussels-Sprouts-241514

Best asparagus recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Stir-Fried-Sesame-Asparagus-103789

Best chicken on the face of the planet, hands-down: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Orange-Glazed-Chicken-108729

Actually, this one might be slightly better than the orange one, if only because I love peppers so much: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chicken-with-Sweet-and-Hot-Red-Peppers-107805

[LadyRed]

I can't resist posting this...I just threw it together and it turned out much better than I had anticipated (and I will try to reproduce it here so I can remember what I did!)

1/2 a container of sliced baby bellas
1/2 a container of grape tomatoes, cut in half
bunch of kale, however much you want
1/2 a bunch of asparagus
1 sweet onion
minced garlic (the kind in a jar LOL)
basil (dried, from my costco spice rack)
"italian spices" (dried, same spice rack)

heat water on high with a steamer on top
toss skillet on med-high heat
when skillet is ready toss on some olive oil and chopped onion
brown onion
add big spoonful or two of garlic, depending on your taste
swirl it around a bit until it starts smelling good (maybe a minute??)
add everything else except kale
toss kale in steamer on boiling water
add basil, italian spices, or whatever the hell else spice you like
sautee all veggies until al dente (i don't like soggy veggies)
add kale
mix up
take off heat
serve
would probably be pretty decent on pasta, but I'm too fucking lazy to make pasta the veggies do a really good job of complimenting each other.

[liiz]

Are we keeping this threat as official recipe thread?

I have one I have been making a lot lately which I am just crazy about - braised cod provencale (from the America's Test Kitchen cookbook).

You need
1 onion
1 bulb of fennel
fresh thyme
4 cloves minced garlic
1 can chopped tomatoes
dry white wine or vermouth
4 8 oz filets of cod (or other similar white fish)
salt/pepper

slice onion and fennel thinly
heat saucepan with oil
cook onion and fennel til soft
add garlic til fragrant
add wine, tomatoes and thyme, bring to boil
add fish, cover with sauce, turn to med-low and let cook for about ten minutes.

it's SOOO good and SOOOO easy.

[FoodSnob]

Funny that a recipe for massaman curry would be in a cookbook entitled "True Thai," since the curry is so named because it belongs to Malaysian cuisine, and its popularity has crept over the border into Thailand. Malaysians are mostly Muslim, especially in the northern region that borders Thailand, and the Thai word for Muslims comes from late medieval Sanskrit: something like musselman (German speakers will recognize the shared root).

[GreenMonster]

****Cheap, quick eats recipe****

This is the time to hit the grocery store's meat area and buy up pounds and pounds of corned beef. St. Paddy's day is over, the demand for corned beef has gone down, and they need to clear it out. You can usually buy for less than a dollar/pound! They keep till Apr/May in the fridge, and frozen for much much longer! We just bought 10 packages for about $40 from Safeway. During the year, each package costs $11-17 at Costco.

OK, now for crock pot corned beef:

trim excess fat
stick in crock pot with juices from package
arrange a bunch of carrots and onion halves/quarters on top (also can do potato quarters here)
cover with a mixture of water and chicken broth (I use the boxed organic kind from Costco)
shake in the spice packet it came with, plus add anything else you like (we do whole pepper, juniper berry, and 2 bay leaves)
turn on high for 5-6 hrs, or low for 10-12.
(ALL THIS TAKES 10 MINUTES, INCLUDING CLEANUP!)

...when done, remove from crock pot and place on cooling rack over/in sink. While that's cooling enough to handle, remove carrots and onions (those are for eating!) You have a bunch of liquid left over. You can either boil this down on the stove for stock (store by freezing in ice cube trays and putting in plastic baggies--instant 2-tbsp of stock, great for sauteeing/cooking later) or strain it and wash it down the sink.

If you want to do cabbage, wait for the last 2 hours to place coarsely chopped cabbage on top of simmering beef.

[LadyRed]

PPK-esq fare, takes me about 1.5hrs to make usually...prep/cook time included (am bringing to potluck tonight and am willing to bet no one guesses that it's vegan!)

Spinach Tofu Stuffed Shells

Ingredients
1 package jumbo stuffing shells (16 oz)
1 pound firm tofu, pressed
1/2 lb fresh spinach
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp olive oil
2 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
32 oz tomato sauce
16 oz soy/rice cheese shreds
handful fresh basil leaves, chopped fine (ten leaves or so)
dash oregano and/or "italian spices"
dash fresh black pepper

Directions
In a large bowl, mush the tofu up with your hands, till it's crumbly.

Add lemon juice, garlic, oregano (and/or italian spices), salt and pepper and basil. Mush with hands again, this time you want it to get very mushy so squeeze through your fingers and mush until it reaches the consistency of ricotta cheese. May take 2-5 minutes.

Add olive oil, stir with fork. Add nutritional yeast and combine all ingredients well. Use a fork now, because the oil will make it sticky. Add spinach to tofu mixture, making sure to thoroughly drain spinach, if necessary.

Coat bottom of casserole pan with tomato sauce. Fill each jumbo shell with approx 1-2 tb of spinach tofu mixture (or more if you're feeling frisky). Place shells in casserole pan and cover with remaining sauce and a hefty layer of soy/rice cheese.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake 15 minutes. Uncover and bake for additional 20 minutes or until cheese is melty and fantastic.

[minira]

My new favorite lasagna recipe: time-consuming, but worth the effort! The sharpness of the parmesan, the richness of the ricotta and mozzarella, and the sweetness of the onions and squash make for a fantastically complex flavor. Tastes even better the next day.

Butternut Squash Lasagna with Caramelized Onions

1 large butternut squash (about 1-1/2 to 2 pounds)
1 tsp. kosher salt or sea salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
3 medium-to-large yellow onions, sliced into rings
pinch of sugar
1 pound lasagna noodles (regular, no boil or refrigerated)
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
2 cups 2% milk, heated in the microwave 1-2 minutes until warm, but not boiling
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Peel butternut squash, slice in half and scoop out the seeds. Cut into 1-inch chunks. Toss squash with 1 Tbsp. olive oil, kosher salt and black pepper. Spread out in an even layer on a half sheet pan or a Mario Batali pizza pan if you have one (the Batali pan is an excellent tool for roasting vegetables). Roast 35-45 minutes, turning once or twice, until butternut squash is browned and fork-tender. Remove from oven and turn the oven temperature down to 350 degrees.

Meanwhile, heat butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and saute 1-2 minutes until the onions start to soften. Add the pinch of sugar and reduce heat to medium-low. Continue cooking onions until they become very soft and golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Set aside.

If you're using regular lasagna noodles, prepare them according to package directions. Drain, but do not rinse.

In a 3 quart saucepan, heat the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook 2 minutes. Add the milk all at once, whisking constantly to avoid lumps. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Let the sauce cook about 5 minutes, until it coats the back of a spoon.

Transfer the butternut squash to a food processor. Add the ricotta cheese and nutmeg. Process until smooth.

To assemble the lasagna, spray a 9 x 13 pan with nonstick cooking spray. Place about 1/4 cup of the white sauce on the bottom of the pan. Top with enough lasagna noodles to cover (it doesn't matter if you have to cut the noodles to fit). Top with half of the caramelized onions, then half of the butternut squash mixture and 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese. Top with another layer of sauce, then the noodles, the remaining caramelized onions, butternut squash mixture and the rest of the Parmesan cheese. Finish off with a layer of noodles, the rest of the sauce and the mozzarella cheese.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake 1 hour. Remove the foil and bake another 15 minutes. Allow the lasagna to rest at least 20 minutes (30 minutes is even better) before serving.

Serves 10.



Read more: Butternut Squash Lasagna: A vegetarian lasagna recipe that's worthy of serving to company. - http://healthycooking.suite101.com/arti ... z0CUt3Z6Mh

[hairtwirler]

Stuffed peppers
I actually got this off the tesco website!
Red, yellow or green peppers, cut in half length wise (i.e. through stem)
Add one teaspoon pesto, crumbled feta cheese, halved cherry tomatoes and an olive
Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes until browned.
Yummy appetizer, snack or addition to couscous/ salad

[lillielil]

Low-fat pumpkin cheesecake
This is from a weight watchers cookbook and I think it is awesome. I'm a freak who doesn't like pumpkin pie (but loves everything else with pumpkin in it), and I will totally be serving this at Thanksgiving.

9 graham crackers (2 1/2" squares), crumbled
1 cu low-fat (1%) cottage cheese
3/4 cu part-skim ricotta
3/4 cu egg substitute
1/2 cu sugar
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
15-oz can pumpkin puree

1. Preheat oven to 350, spray 9" glass pie plate (I used a springform pan, because what the hell else do you make a cheesecake in?) with nonstick spray. Sprinkle the graham cracker crumbs over the bottom of the pie plate.
2. In food processor or blender, combine cottage cheese and ricotta, process until smooth (1 minute). Transfer to a large bowl, stir in egg substitute, sugar, ginger, vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt.
3. Reserve 1/4 cu of the batter. Add the pumpkin to the batter and stir until blended.
4. Scrape the batter into the pie plate, then drizzle the reserved batter in 3 concentric circles (fancy!) over the pumpkin batter. With a knife, lightly draw a line through the batter from the center toward the outer edge; about 2" from that line, lightly draw the knife through the batter from the outer edge toward the center. Repeat around the pie, alternating directions, to make a spiderweb.
(or you could just make it all pumpkin-colored. whatever)
5. Bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. The instructions say 45 to 50 minutes, but ours took 65 minutes. Cool completely on rack. Refrigerate, covered, until ready to serve. Mine cracked even with a pan of water in the oven, but you might have better luck.

[minira]

My new favorite soup Chicken or Veggie Tortellini, can be veggie or non-veggie, depending how you make it.

The following makes about 4-5 big bowls
One large onion, chopped
2-3 ribs celery, chopped
3-5 carrots, sliced
1 package mushrooms (chestnut, preferably) sliced
3-6 cups water
2-4 chicken or veggie bouillon cubes
1 head kale or cabbage, washed and chopped
1 package cheese or meat tortellini
2 chicken breasts, browned and shredded (optional)

Saute onion, celery and carrots in olive oil over medium heat until softened. add water and bouillon cubes, bring to a fast simmer. Add kale or cabbage, mushrooms, and chicken if using. Simmer until leafy greens are tender. Add tortellini and cook for 2-5 minutes. Serve hot with grated parmesan on top, if desired, and a side of bread and butter.

OK for lunch the next day, thought the tortellini softens up and the cabbage flavor gets much stronger.

[SpringFlowers]

It's Thanksgiving, ladies - time to flaunt those home-baking skilz!

Never Fail Pie Crust

Makes 5 crusts: two tops, two bottoms, and an extra for the pecan pie! Or, it freezes wonderfully (details to follow).

Sift together (Oh, sift, dammit, it's not that difficult!):
4 cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt

Cut in:
1 and 3/4 cups (3 and 1/2 sticks) of butter*

Beat together in separate bowl:
1 tablespoon plain white vinegar
1 egg
1 cup cold water

Stir beaten egg and water mixture into flour mixture, just until mixed. It will be stickier than you think it should be. Don't adjust anything.

Divide into 5 equal parts, shape into hockey-puck shapes, wrap in waxed paper. Allow to rest in refrigerator for a minimum of 1 hour, or overnight. (You cannot skip the "resting" step. I tried, once, it wasn't pretty. I usually find peeling the apples or whatever kills the time nicely, though.)

Or, at this point, you can drop the wax-paper wrapped crusts into a zippie freezer bag and pop 'em in the freezer for later. Remove them from the freezer to the refrigerator for about a day to thaw to usable state.

Roll out fridge-temperature crusts with plenty of flour on your board and pin. Fill as desired, brush with egg, bake. Yum.


*Now, the SpringFlowers-developed method is to use frozen butter, straight from the freezer, and a cheese grater; but you can cut in the butter any way that you like. I love the freezer method because it keeps the pastry cold while you're working with it and you don't have to remember to set out the butter to soften. (Method developed from forgetting to set out the butter to soften.) I just take the frozen stick and grate it straight into the flour. Some of the flour on your hands, the butter, and the grater kinda seems to help. Stir in the butter gratings and you're at that "like coarse meal" step that you get from using two knives or a traditional pasty cutter.

[liiz]

Something I threw together last night from the random things in my kitchen (granted I keep a fairly well stocked kitchen)...

Chicken Stew (I guess that's most closely what it would be)

1 small onion sliced (I used red onions because that's what I had)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lemon quartered
2 boneless/skinless chicken breasts sliced
2 can chopped tomatoes
5-10 large black and/or green greek olives, seeded and halved.
1/2 - 1 cup chicken broth
splash of vermouth (or dry white wine)
splash of hot sauce (i used regular old Tabasco because I wanted a little vinegar-y taste)
Dried thyme and oregano
1 cup dilatini pasta

Brown the chicken pieces in a separate pan and set aside.

Cook onions in large soup pot with olive oil until the onions are translucent. Add garlic and stir for about 30 seconds. Add herbs, liquids (wine, broth, hot sauce) & chopped tomatoes (with their juice). Squeeze lemon quarter into the pot then drop in to pot. Add olives. Bring to simmer and add chicken. Simmer for about 5 - 10 minutes, then add dilatini pasta, simmer for another 8 minutes or so. Be sure to stir occasionally so that the pasta doesn't stick to the bottom.

This could probably be converted to vegetarian very easily with white beans and veggie instead of chicken broth...

[SpringFlowers]

I want to decorate cut-out cookies for Valentine's Day.

What's your favorite rolled & cut cookie recipe? [Yes, yes, everyone's favorite cookie is chocolate chip, but that's what I'm doing!]

I already googled it, smarties, but I want to know if you've used one that you particularly like. Also, any icing that's easy to work with?

THANKS!

[MargieMac88]

Courtesy of my Aunt Em since I am at work and don't have my baking notebooks on hand (and why I am the long process of taking a decade's worth of cooking notes and recipes and making google docs.)

My grandma has made these cookies every x-mas for the last sixty years but the recipe is really my great Aunt Marguerite's. Not sure who she got it from.

Here's the recipe,

1 cup sugar
3/4 cup shortening
2Tbs butter (or margarine)
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
pinch of salt
1 tsp soda (scant)
1 tsp cream of tartar

Cream sugar, shortening, and butter. Add eggs, vanilla and mix well. Sift dry ingredients and stir in. Chill dough. Roll thin, cut and place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 425 for 5-7 minutes until lightly browned. Makes 4 1/2 dozen.

Emily's note on this recipe: The dough is VERY tender and needs lots of additional flour when rolling it out. I have found that the dough can take at least 1/2cup more flour, sometimes closer to a cup. Also watch as they bake- it's always better to get these out before they're brown rather than too late. They can turn quickly.

My notes (this off the top of my head and I will update when I get home and go through my notes if I forget anything.): I have done these all butter for better flavor but it makes the dough much more finicky. It will hold its shape, bake slightly better and bake a stronger cookie with the shortening. I chill the dough over night, roll out and cut the cookies, put them back in the fridge to chill and then preheat the oven. A cold kitchen helps these a lot when cutting. And I second the note that they turn quick.

Usually I use a basic icing i.e.powdered sugar, dash vanilla, food coloring and milk to reach the consistency that I am shooting for. I tend to decorate with knife and other tools but you can certainly pipe icing. Annie's Eats has a nice tutorial and there is a link to her recipe for icing. http://annies-eats.com/2009/12/04/how-t ... yal-icing/

I made over 12 dozen of these sugar cookies the day that I heard that I got into Smith. I bake when stressed and knew that word was coming so if you have questions post back or send me a PM. I think I might have to go home and make sugar cookies now.

One more thing these are not my favorite cookies to ship. Not sure what your plans are but I would recommend something that doesn't have icing.

*edited to add* If you want this recipe with weights instead let me know and I will post that after work.

[SpringFlowers]

Thanks for a super amount of info, MargieMac88, right up until you said "don't ship". Poop. Yes, I want to mail 'em to my hubby.

Why NOT ship? The icing gets knocked about and knocked off and un-prettied? I didn't think of that...

Poop.



Recipes with weights make me want to kill myself. There is a horror-story of a perfectly decent southern girl who can bake pies with the best of 'em being asked to do so for her 16 new in-laws on the night she meets them all for the first time. The story begins with "Where do you keep the measuring cups, Mum-in-law?"

It ends in tears.

[gearhead]

I took fancy red measuring cups as a "gift" for my grandmother this year, just for that reason. Her response was confusion, and she wondered if her great grandchildren would like them as toys.

I think Margie Mac's recipe has much more soul, but just in case here's my standby from an old issue of Blueprint. http://www.marthastewart.com/article/es ... ar-cookies

They're pretty basic, foolproof (so far) and the dough keeps in the freezer. I've used the dough for basic log cookies, rollout cookies and linzer window cookies with raspberry jam and lemony icing. Mmmm. I have never tried the Jolly Rancher candy window style that Martha suggests. Has anyone here? Is it the fiddly burned sugar mess that I imagine?

[dancingeyes]

They may be more appropriate for other holidays, but I love gingerbread cookies. I particularly like this recipe as it has a really nice spicy kick: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Eileens-Spicy-Gingerbread-Men/Detail.aspx. I baked mine for 9ish minutes. They will firm up overnight, so if you bake them closer to the 10 minute mark, you'll have ginger snaps (equally good in my book). The dough can be refrigerated overnight before cutting, but let it sit for a moment before you roll it out (you probably knew that). They seem to ship fairly well, too, but when I did I didn't decorate them, so I can't speak to the icing issue. Maybe in the tin/box you use, make little trays for the cookies to sit on in single layers and use something to space the layers so the cookies don't squish each other? I'm thinking like cutting up a cardboard box and using cardboard tubes as spacers.

[MargieMac88]

My aunt and I have been having a gchat discussion about mailing these cookies since I posted. She has mailed them in the past to varying degrees of success including sending a batch with her husband to the South Pole several years ago.

My reasons for not liking to send them amount to be a perfectionist with my baking and totally disliking the risk of their aesthetics being ruined. I also send most of my cookies in care packages to my brother who lives at the top of the central valley and have had many things melt before he gets them. My other reasons with these cookies are that they tend to be a little soft and I am inclined to cut more intricate shapes that make packaging them more difficult and i hate sending a box of crumbs though I blame the postal service as much with that one. Em said they ship best when packaged in a tin with wax paper separating the layers and to go with sturdier shapes. She thought hearts should be fine. She also roles her cookies a little bit thicker if she plans on shipping them and to frost evenly.

I also went and read cooks illustrated recipe for cut cookies after posting and they suggested several things that are interesting including use baker's or extra-fine sugar for a better crumb and to reverse cream the butter to make a more workable dough. If I get a chance I may experiment with the dough and adding an extra egg white to give it more structure but thats just my musings since its a rainy weekend so I am stuck indoors.

We won't talk about weights for recipes again. Good luck

[SpringFlowers]

Reverse cream the butter? Can you explain?


If I had known that measuring cups didn't exist in England, I would have brought one!


This video makes it look really easy. I love the "wet on wet" technique!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFTAxNxD ... re=channel