Salted Lavender Cookies

Salted Lavender Cookies, originally uploaded by michele wynne.

I love that feeling when I wake up early on a rainy morning and realize that I don't have to go to work...even better when there is nothing on the To Do list that involves me having to get out of my jammies and leave the apartment. Yesterday was such a day. I popped season 2 of Downton Abbey into the DVD player and noodled away the day in the kitchen. I started with waffles. I still can't get those Black Bear Diner Sweet Cream Pancakes out of my head. I've been making & tweaking various recipes  amping up the sugar in a variety of ways: subbing in vanilla sugar, infusing warm cream with vanilla sugar, adding more vanilla, adding more sugar,  a couple of squirts of agave nectar...and on and on...the little test kitchen is hard at work as is my sad little waffle iron. Coincidentally, there's a giveaway going on over at The Pioneer Woman Cooks. Fingers crossed.

This morning the sun has been teasing in and out whilst I chill at Simple Pleasures enjoying a pint of java and these Salted Lavender Cookies I made yesterday. Unlike the waffles, this recipe seems to have found it's balance. They've been a work-in-progress since my first crack at them back around Thanksgiving. Now, thanks to my Christmas Kitchen Aid, there's an added churn power that gives the dough a fluffy lift and slightly more tender texture.

Dorie Greenspan's recipe for Sables has been a little kitchen go-to for years without fail (using a $10 hand mixer). It's the basis of my salt & lavender ratio tweaks over the course of several test runs. The last tweak is to the method, inspired by Christina Tosi's book Momofuku Milkbar, the insider revelations behind Milkbar, Momofuku's bakery in NYC.

Salted Lavender Cookies

adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Sables

1 cup butter - 2 sticks - room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup powdered sugar - sifted

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

2 large egg yolks - room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon finely crushed, dried, lavender buds*

Maldon sea salt for finishing

In the bowl of an electric mixer, paddle the butter at medium speed until smooth and creamy -    about 3 minutes. Add both sugars and salt. Beat until well blended - 3 more minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, waiting for each egg to incorporate before adding the next. Add the vanilla. Paddle on high for 7 minutes, occasionally scraping down the side of the bowl.
Stir the lavender into the flour. Add the flour mixture into the butter and mix it in using a the lowest speed just until the flour has been incorporated. The dough will be soft and slightly sticky. Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and form into a roughly rectangular mass. Divide it in half lengthwise so you have two logs. Place one log onto a piece of plastic wrap rolling the dough into a compact, uniform roll about 9 inches long, by twisting and tightening the ends of the plastic wrap. Repeat with the second log.

Refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours or overnight. The dough can be frozen at this point as well. Put the wrapped logs into a freezer bag and press out as much air as you can.

Arrange a rack in the center of the oven and pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and slice the logs into 1/2 inch rounds, slicing uniform pieces from each end first, then slice the remaining log into 1/2 thick rounds. Lay each round an inch apart. Sprinkle each round with a light pinch of Maldon sea salt and press the flakes lightly into the dough.

Bake one sheet at a time for 16 minutes, rotating the baking sheet at the 8 minute mark. Remove when the edges turn golden brown. The top of the cookie should still be pale.

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 1-2 minutes and then transfer them onto a wire rack to continue cooling.

*I forage lavender from my neighborhood and let it dry out on my window sill. Scrape the buds off the stem and onto a cutting board and chop, chop, chop and chop some more or use a mortar and pestle crushing & pounding until you have a variation of powder and bigger bits.

caramelized onion and mushroom tart

caramelized onion and mushroom tart, originally uploaded by riptideredsf.

Two years ago when I started educating myself about cooking, I knew nothing about caramelized onions. I didn't know what "caramelized" even meant. Sure, I'd cooked onions until they were brown, blindly following recipes without any analyzation of the process or result. Sugar in onions? Who knew? A few french onion soups had been produced throughout a lifetime of sporadic cooking, rarely processing the process. It was a  means to an end, satisfying hunger as quickly as possible, or occasional entertainment, and as long as the result wasn't burnt or raw or oversalted and tasted good (which meant edible) , the task was deemed a success, tagged with a bookmark or stuffed into a binder and I moved on.

I discovered a recipe for Onion Jam  in Kim Boyce's Good to the Grain last year. It was only then that  I fully understood the process. Suddenly, all of that browning and caramelizaton talk from Americas Test Kitchen finally made sense. If I had to choose my biggest kitchen AHA! moment, that would be it.
It takes about 90 minutes to cook the onions down their jammy consistency. Onion jam on a BLT is the most amazing thing ever. I mixed some into a tuna salad today that was off-the-hook. Even on a fork, all by itself, it's the ultimate marraige of sweet and savory in one bite. Caramelization is a beautiful thing and shouldn't be rushed. Onions for this tart don't have to be cooked this long though, you want more structure.

I came across this article at Slate.com this morning that was dead-on, humourous and an eye-opener about writing recipes. The writer accuses recipe writers of lying about how long it takes to caramelize onions, because the long cooking time is a deterrent to a recipes appeal. 

The article concludes: "The best time to caramelize onions is yesterday".

Earlier in the week I caramelized about 3 pounds of onions in a dutch oven. I was left with about 2 cups of gooey good onions. It keeps in an airtight jar for a week, though rarely lasts that long. I use caramelized onions in all kinds of ways, the breakfast tacodilla is it's most frequent destiny.

 I've been in  pastry mode for a couple of weeks now, so when I scored  giant bag of button mushrooms from the Chinese market I knew a tart was in my immediate future. This is a hybrid of recipes adapted from Smitten Kitchen and Dorie Greenspan's Around my French Table.

caramelized onions-again, way more than you need for this recipe and do this ahead of time. A dutch oven is great when cooking a large batch because the cast iron has great heat distribution, there's a lot of surface area to promote browning.

2 tablespoons oil
3 large yellow onions (sliced 1/4 thick)
1 teaspoon salt
black pepper
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

Heat the oil in dutch oven on medium-high heat and then add the onions. Toss until the onions are coated and cook until they start to brown, stirring infrequently, just to redistribute the onions so they come in contact with the surface of the pot. Once the browning starts (it take's about 20 minutes to get there), add salt, lower the heat and cover the pot and cook for another 20 minutes so the onions release their moisture and get really soft.

Remove the cover and continue to cook for another 30 minutes until the water evaporates and the onions become brown. De-glaze with red wine vinegar at the end.

Pastry
from smitten kitchen

1 1/4 cups flour
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter, diced
1 egg

In the food processor pulse the dry ingredients to combine. Pulse butter until it's in bits the size of small peas. Pulse in the egg until the dough forms.

On a floured work surface roll the dough into a 12 inch circle, carefully roll it over the rolling pin to lift it off the counter and into the tart pan. Press the dough into the corner of the pan and trim off the excess. If you're using a fluted tart pan with a removable base lift the tart pan by the edge and put it onto a plate. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

filling:

2 tablespoons butter
1 pound white button mushrooms-stems removed, sliced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
1 cup of beef stock ( or vegetable stock)
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
1/2 cup caramelized onions
2 eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup fontina cheese (or gruyere)
salt
pepper
nutmeg
1 teaspoon dijon mustard

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Remove the chilled tart shell from the fridge. Line with foil or parchment and weight the pastry down with pie weights, dried beans or rice. I keep a jar of white beans labeled For Pastry and re-use.

Bake for 10 minutes, remove the weights, foil or parchment and bake for another 5 minutes, until the pastry appears dry, but not browning.

Remove from the oven and brush with dijon mustard. Set aside

While the pastry is par-baking (also called blind baking) heat up a  large skillet over medium high heat, melt the butter until it stops foaming. Add the sliced mushrooms and toss to coat, then let them cook undisturbed, about 5-7 minutes until they start to brown. Toss again to redistribute and continue to brown. Add the salt, pepper and tarragon. The mushrooms will release their water. Cook uncovered until the water evaporates and a fond  (the browned bits) forms on the skillet. Add the beef broth and de-glaze the skillet. Continue to cook until the broth reduces. Remove from the heat and stir in fresh thyme.

In a small bowl or a large pyrex measuring cup, wisk the eggs, cream, salt, pepper and nutmeg together then stir in the grated cheese.

Place your par-baked tart shell on a sheet pan, spoon in the caramelized onions and spread it evenly over the bottom. Then add your mushroom layer spreading it evenly over the onions. Pour the egg mixture over the surface.

Place the sheet pan on th middle rack of the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes until the center is puffed and brown. Let it rest for about 10 minutes, remove the fluted ring from the base. Slice and enjoy with a big green salad.

This tart re-heats nicely and I pack it for lunch.

Christmas Cookiepalooza

Christmas Cookiepalooza, originally uploaded by riptideredsf

Two years ago, whilst noodling around in cyberspace, I came across this post over at The Amateur Gourmet that transformed a lifetime of Christmas cookie baking. I, like pretty much everybody who has their go-to Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, figured my recipe (well, Good Housekeeping's actually) was The Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. I baked that recipe, which included peanut butter, oatmeal and Rice Krispies, every Christmas for 10 years as part of my Menage et Trois. Three go-to recipes that became legendary and much anticipated amongst family, friends and co-workers. I'd spend the week before Christmas up to my ears in baking every night after work so as to deliver the freshest cookie trays and gift bags as close to Christmas as possible. It wore me out.

When I came across Adam's post, a Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe from Top Chef Just Desserts contestant Eric Wolitzky, I was intrigued by the same things he was: melted butter and measurement by weight...but the game changer was the note about freezing the cookie dough. How did I not know this!?! Only then did it occur to me that was how my mom was able to produce the insane assortment of cookies we'd bake every year. I'd been torturing myself needlessly.

Form and freeze the unbaked cookies on the baking sheet until solid, then transfer them to a freezer bag. I lay the bag flat on the table to distribute the frozen cookies into an even layer then I suck all the air out of the bag, to make all subsequent bags stackable.

This is the recipe that propelled me into buying a kitchen scale. The ingredients are simple so the dough comes together quickly. I've made a few tweaks to this since last year. I use a combination of chocolate. Bitter and semi-sweet chips as well as a dark chocolate bar that I chop up. I read the tip about using different chocolate from Alton Brown who recommends including milk chocolate as well, but I just don't like milk chocolate. The combination of flavors and textures makes every bite different.

I loved, loved, loved the idea of melting the butter because then I could take it a step further and brown it! I make these cookies all the time now.

The other cookies in this trio are Kim Severson's Bacon Fat Gingersnaps from CookFight and Dorie Greenspan's Beurre & Sel Jammers.

I can't tell you how thrilled and delighted I was when I found Dorie's recipe in this month's Bon Appetit. I started making her recipe for Sables about a year ago when I discovered her recipe for World Peace Cookies (which I currently have in my freezer). She creates Jammers, baked in custom designed cookie rings, for her new cookie store, Beurre & Sel in Manhattan. The uniform shape is recreated in the home kitchen using muffin tins! They're a bit labor intensive, but worth it.

The gingersnaps were the not-all-that bookend,  of an otherwise deliciously prepared meal,  at the book event dinner for CookFight. The cookie I ate that night, though tasty, had been over-baked (like the Gougeres). So, of course, since I vindicated Julia's Gougeres I had to do the same with the Gingersnaps, seeing as I just happened to have a jar of bacon fat just waiting for  my next attempt at skillet cornbread. The bacon fat replaces butter...brilliant! Moisture achieved and Kim's recipe is deemed a keeper!

 

Cheddar Gougere Smackdown

Cheddar Gougere Smackdown, originally uploaded by riptideredsf.

The next big thing to happen to the little kitchen recently was a lovely surprise from my fellow foodie, friend and neighbor Sheena.

The Thursday after Thanksgiving, she picked me up after work to take me to a surprise event she'd been cooking up for several weeks. All I knew was that we were headed across the Golden Gate Bridge to a pre-paid, non-refundable event that started at 6:30 and that it involved food.

As we approached the private dining room at the Left Bank Brasserie in Larkspur that dark and stormy night, and I realized what was in store for us, I was blown away by crazy coincidence. Let me back track a moment.

A few years ago I came across two books that would unexpectedly, collide with a third on this evening, propelling my little kitchen OCD to a whole new level.

It started with Dorie Greenspan's gorgeous book Around my French Table. The most repeated recipe is her Cheddar Gougeres- light, airy, cheesy puff pastries that are super simple to make and pair perfectly with soup or just a  glass of wine.

The other book, The Best Food Writing of 2009 was picked up at Community Thrift around the same time, perfect for bedtime and bus reading. The most re-read story has been Kitchen Smackdown, an entertaining and engaging trio of articles by Kim Severson, Julia Moskin and Frank Bruni, New York Times food writers, friends and co-workers. The articles recount the challenge Mr. Bruni set upon the two friends and collegues to prepare a dinner for six for $50.  He would attend both dinners and judge a winner. 

I hadn't picked up the book in ages, but an impromptu bus ride had me scrambling for some reading as I rushed out the door on Wednesday morning.  Kim and Julia's story was re-visited.

Thursday evening, I was dining with Kim Severson and Julia Moskin.

I didn't know this as we were led through the restaurant, back toward a private dining room. There were about 5 people sitting at a large, lovely table set for 14. A woman standing at a small round table at the entrance checked Sheena and Guest off her list and  handed us each a book, informing us that the authors hadn't yet arrived due to the dark & stormy. I peruse the cover:

CookFight!  I was utterly gobsmacked. I've been OCD/ADD-ing in other places, completely unaware of this books existence (much less this event), the culmination of 11 subsequent kitchen smackdowns between Kim and Julia since that first (and the only one on my radar) in 2009. What a weird, wild and amazing coincidence. Sheena and I had never discussed their names and she had no idea what to expect herself when she set forth planning this.
What an amazing surprise!
I mentioned this to the authors as we had our books signed. Kim wrote:
"To Michele, I love how the universe works!" I'm still floored by it.

The menu that evening consisted of recipes from the book, prepared by the Left Bank chef. It was a series of courses, each consisting of two dishes from the book, from each of the authors.
There were some interesting stand-outs, but maybe not for the reasons one might expect.

Julia's Cheddar Gougeres was one of the starters. I was intrigued because I love Dorie Greenspan's gougeres so much. The ones that I ate that night? not so impressed. They were dry, pale and barely hinted of cheese. How could this be? Was it the recipe or the cook?
There was actually an interesting discussion at one point during the evening when the bookseller commented on chef/authors who insisted on bringing in their own team to cook the event meal. I guess this was case in point. The meal was bookended with a similar kitchen faux-pas in the dessert course,  over-baked Bacon Fat Gingersnaps. Everything else was wonderful. Baking must not be a strong suit at Left Bank.

I couldn't get  those gougeres out of my head. Julia had even commented on their dryness.
Thusly, the little kitchen created The Gougere Smackdown the very next morning. Dorie's recipe came first and resulted in their usual, lightly puffed, cheezy, can't -stop- shoving -these- in- my -mouth, delicateness.
 In the afternoon, I made Julia's, which turned out nothing like the dry biscuits we had the night before. The two variations I'd just prepared  were identical in appearance and consistency and the recipes were slightly different. An additional egg and milk in Dorie's recipe had me thinking they would be the moistest of the two, where Julia's had the additional zing of mustard powder and cayenne. I was using inexpensive, supermarket, extra sharp block cheddar as opposed to some kind of fancy white cheddar that was most likely behind the version I had a the restaurant.
I took them both to Sheena's and had her choose the favorite:

Julia's Gougeres are vindicated and triumph!

avocado bacon & tomato tartine

avocado bacon & tomato tartine, originally uploaded by riptideredsf.

The little kitchen was a hotbed of activity this weekend. There's nothing like a tidy kitchen to make me want to mess it up all over again. A clean kitchen is my blank canvas. I perused the possibilities.
I started out by reining in the wildly out of control stacks of photo-copied & printed recipes...things I've yanked out of magazines and the Chronicle Food & Wine section, recipes I've copied from stacks and stacks of cookbooks I've lugged back and forth from the library, those freebie recipe cards from the grocery store and the farmers market info table. I flipped through each and every one, evaluating the who's, what's, where's, why's, and when's.
As much as it pained me I did toss away a good third of the mass accumulation. Some were easy, like the quarter pound beet burger. The photo was gorgeous and all the ingredients seemed managable and it would have fullfilled my adventurous quest at meeting new vegetables but in the end it had to go, so many recipes so little time.

I can not believe how close I came to tossing this one: Dieters Tartine. The title of the recipe turned me off. I hate anything that labels anything as "Diet" food. It immediately sounds restrictive, even if it did come from my guru, Dorie Greenspan's gorgeous "Around My French Table", a gorgeously written and beautifully photographic inspiration of French cookery. I've marched this book back and forth from the library probably 6 or 7 times in the last year.
The ingredient list was small and I had every thing on hand, including a half of a large cucumber that was teetering on the edge of the trash can, two plum tomatoes and about a third of an Italian loaf that was definitely ready for toast.

I chopped up the tomato, cucumber and basil and tossed it with a little salt and pepper. The recipe called for some kind of fancy spreadable french cheese I'd never heard of, but what I did have was a big log of goat cheese that I ended up mixing in with a little greek yogurt to make it spreadable.

The slices of french bread are toasted in the broiler on one side only. My tweak was to rub some garlic on the hot toasted side.

I then spread the cheese and yogurt mix all over the toast, spooned the diced vegetables on top and finishing with a touch of white pepper, sea salt and a few strips of basil.

Super simple, waaay de-lish and kinda elegant.

I tweaked it the next day, adding avocado and bacon crumbles to my leftover vegetable mix from the day before. A Dieters Tartine? not so much.