Soft Honey Butter Cookies and Baklava Cookies

Is this picture blurry, or do I need to clean my glasses?

If you like crispy cookies, stop reading this right now. These are soft and chewy buttery-sweet cookies. If you want to bite into a cookie and get crumbs in your lap (or in your cleavage) this in not the recipe for you. 

Preheat your oven to 350 convection, or 375 degrees regular oven.

Ingredients:

1 stick salted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup of the best quality honey you can get
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 egg
1 and 2/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

Almonds for topping, or to mix in (optional) 
Walnuts, sugar, cinnamon and honey for baklava topping (optional)

The method is pretty standard, if you've made Nestle Toll House cookies, you can make these. Mix the butter and sugars together first, then add the egg and honey and beat for another minute. (The vegetable oil is for you to rub the inside of the 1/3 cup measuring cup with before you measure out the honey, so the honey won't stick to the cup.) 
Add the dry ingredients next and beat well until combined. 

Drop your dough onto a cookie sheet (I use some parchment paper lining because I hate cleaning pans) by rounded tablespoons. I like to use my hands to ever-so-gently roll each ball of dough and then squash it into cookie shape, so the cookies come out nice and round- you don't have to do that. (But you should, don't be lazy!)

Before you put them in the oven, you can sprinkle the tops with sugar, or if you like nuts you can sprinkle the tops with sliced almonds or add some sliced almonds to the batter. 

If you're feeling really adventurous, you could mix 1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts with a teaspoon of sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon, and sprinkle that mixture on top of them to give you kind of a 'baklava' cookie, and when they come out of the oven, you would drizzle just a wee bit of extra honey on top.
Bake them for 8-10 minutes. I like to pull them out the second they are just barely cooked, when the dough is not shiny-raw looking on top, but not yet really brown on the edges. The more undercooked they are, the more you'll get the flavor of the honey; nine minutes is probably ideal, if you do ten minutes they'll be less on the soft side and more on the chewy side. Set a timer, or don't leave the kitchen! Burnt cookies are the worst.

Let them sit for one minute on the pan before you GENTLY remove the cookies with a thin spatula to cool on a rack (or paper towels of you don't have a rack). They will seem very soft while they are still hot, resist the urge to put them back in the oven, unless they are truly raw and wet in the middle.

Roasted Chicken with Moscato Peach Sauce and Black Rice

First of all, you don't have to use black rice. I just happened to see a giant bag of it at Costco and decided to try it. It looks really pretty (if you compare them in your brain to shiny black pebbles instead of bugs) and it tastes sweeter and nuttier than regular white rice. Don't follow the water amounts on the bag though, I noticed that it needed the standard 2 cups water to 1 cup rice just like any other kind, but you do need to cook it for 30 minutes like it says, I didn't add anything fancy to the rice, just salt and butter at the end. 

Now to the chicken. I use chicken thighs- they cook quickly and they stay moist no matter what. If you absolutely insist on using chicken breast (because you're a weirdo like my husband) then at least use the breast with the bone and skin still on.  I'm yawning just thinking about chicken breast. For this recipe, you want 8-10 chicken thighs (two per person). 

Season the thighs first with:
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 heaping tablespoon (or more) of dried herb, I used thyme, but you can do sage or marjoram, or whatever strikes your fancy.
 
The peach sauce:

2 cups of fresh peaches, peeled, pitted and chopped
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup Muscat wine (Moscato) cheap stuff is fine
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper or white pepper
1 tablespoon of cornstarch diluted in a little bit of water

Bring the ingredients to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes.

To cook everything in order:

-Preheat the oven to 375 for the chicken. 
-Get your peach sauce going on the stove.
-Start the water boiling for the rice. 
-Put the seasoned chicken in a roasting pan in the oven. 
-Pour your rice into the boiling water, cover, turn down to simmer and set your timer for 30 minutes. 
-At the end of that time, pour peach sauce over the top of the chicken and put the chicken back in the oven another 15 minutes. 
 -After pouring the sauce on the chicken, turn the heat off of the rice and let it sit there covered until the chicken is done.

Serve the chicken with the buttered and salted rice and lots of the pan juices poured over the top.

Obviously you could serve white wine with this, but a cold beer and biscuits would be good too.

Cream Baked Eggs and Fried Celery Root

The cashier at the market usually has to think for a minute to remember the code for celery root (or celeriac), or she has to look it up. The bagger will frequently look puzzled, and ask me, "What do you DO with that?" 

I always say the same thing, "Oh you just peel it, and substitute it in recipes for potatoes." 

I like celery root, it has that nice herb-y sweet celery taste, but with starchier texture. True to my word to curious bag-boys at the grocery store, I suggest using it here as a potato replacement for a fried breakfast side dish.

But first, we begin with the eggs, because they will go in the oven while you make the root vegetables.

Ingredients for Two People:

4 eggs
4 slices of your favorite soft sliced bread (if you're doing Paleo, use "cloud bread")
2 teaspoons of soft butter
4 tablespoons heavy organic cream
salt and pepper
4 ramekins, or just use a muffin pan

Preheat the oven to 350, or 325 convection.
  
I have the standard little ramekins from Cost Plus World Market, they are fairly inexpensive, and when you're not using them for stuff like this, they are good for serving dipping sauces and condiments.

Start by rubbing the inside of each ramekin with a half teaspoon of soft butter. Then, cut circles out of the center of each bread slice. You can either use a biscuit cutter that's about the same size, or a little bigger than, the diameter of the ramekin. I actually just used the ramekin itself to cut the circles (they weren't perfect, but who cares?) Stuff each circle into the bottom of a ramekin. 

Carefully crack a large egg on top of each bread slice, and sprinkle very well with salt and pepper. Top with a tablespoon of cream, then put  in the oven for 15-20 minutes, depending on how you like your eggs. They are soooo gooooood.

You can go ahead and serve them in the ramekins, they will stay warm longer, but if you're worried about someone accidentally burning their fingers on the burning hot ceramic (that would be me), you can just run a thin knife around the edge and use a large spoon to gently half-scoop half-slide them out onto the plate.

While your eggs are in the oven, you can make the side dish.

Ingredients for the Side Dish:

1 celery root
4 skinny young carrots (small sweet ones)
olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper 
1/4 teaspoon allspice
fresh chives

Pour a generous amount of oil for frying in a cast iron (or regular) skillet and turn heat up to high. Don't worry about fat, these veggies don't soak it up like potatoes do. 

Start by peeling your celery root. Use a chef's knife and think of it like a pineapple. Cut the bottom off and then use the knife to carve off the outside from the top down, then cut the top off last, it's better to err on the side of wasting than be left with ugly brown outer fuzz.

Slice the celery root into discs, then chop into little cubes. Chop the carrots as well (don't bother peeling them) and put them in the frying pan. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and ground allspice and cook on high 10-15 minutes stirring frequently.

After ten minutes, just give one of your celery root cubes a taste, to see if it's cooked to your liking, you may like it a little on the firmer side than I do (also check for salt). Use a slotted spoon or spatula to remove from the pan and serve with fresh green chives on top, along with your buttery-creamy baked eggs.
(I had them on the side in the picture, but you should chop the chives on top of the vegetables.)

Cupcakes For a Party

This recipe makes about 48 cupcakes, or 3 cake layers. They are so light and buttery, beware of having them in the house after the party. I ate 15 of them in three days. For real.

Ingredients:

3 1/4 cups flour
3 cups granulated sugar
8 eggs, room temperature
4 sticks of butter, soft
1 cup milk, room temperature
4 level teaspoons baking powder (make sure it's pretty fresh)
1/2 teaspoon salt, IF your butter is unsalted
1 tablespoon vanilla

In your mixer, mix the butter, sugar and eggs together on medium speed for one minute. Add the milk and vanilla next and mix well at least another minute. Add the flour and baking powder next, and just kind of stir the baking powder into the top of the pile of flour to distribute it a bit. Start mixing on low  for one minute, then mix on medium/medium high speed for exactly three minutes.

Pour into the cupcake cups about 2/3 the way up. What I would do is hold the cupcake paper in your hand, fill it and then dump it in your muffin pan. Trying to make it from the bowl to the pan with a dollop of batter always make a big damn mess!

Bake at 350 or 325 (my oven runs hot, I do 325) for about 15-20 minutes, depending on how accurate your oven is. Mine take exactly 17 minutes. You want light golden brown, and really try not to overcook or they will be dry. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for two minutes, then remove them to a rack to fully cool before you frost them. 

If you want, you can do three 9 inch cake pans instead, but then you would need to cook the cakes for about 40 minutes. (Take them out when they are light golden and the centers don't dip down anymore, NO LONGER.) Please use a circle of wax paper or parchment paper in the bottom, plus butter and flour the pans so there is no chance of sticking.

For frosting, I would use Martha Stewart's Swiss Buttercream recipe, or any other egg white and butter based frosting, you can make it look fancy with some piping tips if that's your thing.

If the cupcakes are for kids, I would just whip together four cups of sifted powdered sugar with two sticks of soft unsalted butter, a pinch of salt, and a teaspoon of vanilla. Color the frosting with food coloring and either pipe them into fancy roses, or put contrasting sprinkles on top, because  let's face it, desserts taste a little nicer when they're pretty. Anyway, the powdered sugar frosting is denser and sweeter than meringue-type frosting and holds it's shape better.

(For chocolate frosting, heat two sticks of butter in the microwave until melted and bubbling, then blend in mixer along with 20 ounces of semi sweet chocolate chips until the chips are all melted. Add three to four cups of powdered sugar, depending on how thick you want the frosting. You can always add hot water, a tablespoon at a time, if you need to thin it out- I usually do.)