Sugar Cookies

My grandma had surgery a few weeks ago and rather than send her flowers (I am sure she received plenty of flowers.. and they always die! Giving someone a plant that will continue to grow is always better from my perspective). However, I did not have a plant to send so I decided to make her the next best thing... colorful sugar cookies! A few months ago I purchased supplies to decorate cakes as I had been hoping to take a class this winter. Unfortunately that did not work out... however, I did find a class starting in April and my friend Gloria and I are going to learn how to decorate cakes this spring. The reason for the long explanation is that I had the supplies at home to dye the icing those incredible colors. On a cloudy day like today, everyone could use a colorful sugar cookie in their life, right?

Vegetable Reubens

As I mentioned in one of my previous blogs, Mr. E. and I were in Burlington, VT for a wedding and ate at this amazing restaurant called the Penny Cluse Cafe for the rehearsal dinner and then for brunch before we flew home on Sunday. My brunch meal was a vegetable reuben with homefries that had to be one of the top five sandwiches I have EVER eaten, hands down. So this past Friday I attempted to recreate this mouthwatering sandwich for the Mr. and I...and I must say... I was quite successful!


SANDWICH INGREDIENTS

Light Rye Bread (unless you want the full intense flavor of Rye... I like a mix)
* 1 large yellow onion
* 8 oz. button mushrooms
* 8 oz. frozen spinach
* Gouda Cheese (or Swiss if your husband will eat it...)
* 6 oz. Sauerkraut
* 2 T butter
* 1 T olive oil
* sprinkling of white sugar

EMERIL'S RUSSIAN DRESSING (www.foodnetwork.com)I actually halved the recipe because we did not need 1.5 cups for two people... and we had leftovers for aioli the next day!

* 1 cup mayonnaise
* 1/4 cup chili sauce
* 1 tablespoon minced yellow onion
* 1 tablespoon minced dill pickle
* 1 tablespoon minced celery
* 1 tablespoon minced parsley leaves
* 1 tablespoon heavy cream
* 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
* 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
* 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
* 1/4 teaspoon sugar
* Salt

In a bowl, combine all ingredients except salt and whisk until well-blended. Add salt to taste, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Yield: about 1 1/2 cups

Slice the onions and button mushrooms and defrost the frozen spinach in the microwave with a tablespoon of water. Melt 1 T butter and 1 T olive oil in a large saute pan and add the onions. Saute the onions until translucent, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with white sugar to help them caramelize a bit... add the mushrooms and spinach and continue to saute until mushrooms have turned a creamy brown color. Set aside to cook.

Prepare the reuben dressing and then slice enough Gouda cheese for both sandwiches. Take one piece of rye bread and spread the dressing on the sandwich and follow with a layer of vegetables and then a layer of sauerkraut (I patted mine with a paper towel to remove some of the liquid). Top with the gouda cheese and the second slice of rye bread.

Turn the broiler to medium heat and place a medium saute pan on the heat. Paint some of the melted butter on the sandwich and place it butter side down in the pan for four minutes. After four minutes, paint the other side of the sandwich with butter and flip and grill for an additional four minutes until cheese is melted and sandwich is warmed through. Repeat with the second sandwich. Slice the sandwich on the diagonal (I will only slice on the diagonal for reubens...) and serve with a big kosher pickle!

Mojito Dipping Oil

Last weekend Mr. E.'s best friend got married in Vermont and we spent a long weekend celebrating the happy couple. Their rehearsal dinner was held at this wonderful restaurant in Burlington called the Penny Cluse cafe. It was AMAZING. The dinner was so good that we went back for brunch on Sunday before we left town and the sandwich I ate ranks in the top 5 sandwiches that I have ever eaten so I will attempting to replicate that later this week. Anyways, during dinner they served crusty sourdough bread (homemade I am sure...) with this wonderful dipping sauce (not the right word....) or oil and it was just the right mixture of zing with a touch of oil but primarily fruit juice based. I asked the waiter what was in the special sauce. He was nice enough to share that it was called Mojito sauce and provided the ingredients. I attempted to make it this weekend and the recipe follows. It was wonderful with bread and then I used the leftovers as salad dressing!

MOJITO SAUCE


For 2...

1/4 c. cilanto, washed and de-stemmed but not chopped
the juice of one orange
the juice of 2 limes
hearty dash of cayenne pepper
2 pressed garlic cloves
add olive oil until the taste seems good... not too much though, perhaps 1/8 cup?

Refreshingly good...

Yukon Gold Cinnamon Rolls

This past weekend was my pseudo-birthday as Mr. E. and I were traveling home from a wedding weekend on my real birthday AND I was sick with bronchitis... no fun! So we pretended that this weekend was my birthday and so I made cinnamon rolls to welcome in my birthday weekend. You may ask why I made the rolls for my birthday (rather than Mr. E.). Well to put it simply, I love to bake and I would have been so impatient watching him have all the fun of kneading the dough and seeing the fruit of his labors. So I decided to create the breakfast for us and it was delicious. Not too rich, and not too sweet... just right and of so comforting to start the day. And yes, these cinnamon rolls are made with mashed potatoes :)


Ingredients
DOUGH
* 1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, cut into 2-inch pieces
* 1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
* 3 large eggs
* 4 1/2 cups (or more) unbleached all purpose flour
* 1/2 cup warm water (105°F to 115°F)
* 3 1/4-ounce envelopes active dry yeast (scant 2 tablespoons)
* 2 tablespoons sugar

FILLING

* 1 1/3 cups (packed) golden brown sugar
* 2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
* 3 tablespoons unbleached all purpose flour
* 9 tablespoons (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, room temperature
GLAZE

* 2 cups powdered sugar
* 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
* 2 tablespoons (or more) whole milk
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/8 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

Preparation
DOUGH

*
Combine potatoes, 2 cups water, and 1 tablespoon coarse salt in large saucepan. Boil until potatoes are very tender, 15 to 18 minutes. Mash potatoes with water in pan (do not drain water). Add butter and mash until butter is melted. Whisk in eggs, then 1 cup flour; mash until very smooth. Let potatoes stand until barely lukewarm, about 10 minutes.
*
Meanwhile, pour 1/2 cup warm water into large bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment; stir in yeast and sugar. Let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. Add potato mixture to yeast mixture; mix on low speed until well blended, 2 minutes. Mix in 3 cups flour, 1 cup at a time, beating well. Beat until sticky dough forms.
*
Spread 1/2 cup flour on work surface. Scrape dough out onto floured work surface. Knead until dough is smooth and elastic, adding more flour by tablespoonfuls if dough is very sticky, about 8 minutes.
*
Coat large bowl with butter. Transfer dough to bowl and turn to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, make filling

*
Mix brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour in medium bowl. Using fork, mix in butter.
*
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 425°F. Line large rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Turn dough out onto well-floured work surface. Roll out dough to 24x16-inch rectangle. Sprinkle filling evenly over dough. Starting at 1 long side, roll up dough jelly-roll style, enclosing filling. Using large knife dipped in flour, cut roll crosswise into 12 pieces. Transfer rolls to baking sheet, spacing rolls about 3/4 inch apart. Cover baking sheet loosely with plastic wrap. Let rise in warm draft-free area until almost doubled in volume, about 20 minutes (rolls will be very puffy).
*
Bake cinnamon rolls until golden, about 20 minutes. Cool rolls 10 minutes on baking sheet.

Meanwhile, make glaze

*
Whisk powdered sugar, melted butter, 2 tablespoons milk, vanilla, and coarse salt in small bowl. If glaze is too thick to spread, add more milk by 1/2 teaspoonfuls as needed. Spread glaze over warm rolls.

Bon Appetit Magazine, March 2009