4-H Pledge

Just in case you've ever wondered what those "H"s stand for! I took numerous 4-H cooking classes as a kid, which explains the presence of this in my recipe box.

Gingerbread

Generally we make and decorate sugar cookies for Christmas, but last year I tried this recipe because I wanted to hang them on the tree and I thought it would be a little hardier than sugar cookie dough. Man, it was good! Much better than the gingerbread I remember as a kid. So most of the cookies still ended up on the tree, but not all.

This recipe is from Wheatleigh, a fancy schmancy resort here in the Berkshires. I’ve never been, but they printed this recipe in our local paper.

1 cup shortening
1 cup molasses
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Approximately 5 cups all purpose flour

Combine shortening, molasses and sugar in a pot. Bring to simmer. Remove from heat and add cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Gradually stir in up to 5 cups of flour to make a stiff but workable dough. Roll dough 1/4 inch thick. Chill rolled dough for a half hour, then cut into desired shapes. Bake at 300 degrees for 20 minutes, or until firm.

Cool completely, then decorate as you like!

Mashed Potatoes with Browned Onions

My favorite mashed potato recipe, although really just about any kind will do! The vinegar provides a distinctive tang, and sometimes I even add it to potatoes without doing the onions. This is adapted from a cookbook I've had for years 50 Best Mashed Potatoes. (No, I haven't tried all 50 recipes.)

3 tablespoons butter
1 lb. (Spanish) onions, halved & thinly sliced
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1+1/2 lbs. potatoes, peeled & quartered (I use russet or Yukon Gold, or a combination of both)
1/2 cup hot milk
salt & pepper, to taste

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-low heat. Add onions, stirring to coat with butter. Cover & cook 10 minutes, or until onions soften and exude liquid. Uncover, increase heat to medium and cook 15-20 minutes longer, stirring frequently, until onions are browned and reduced to 3/4 cup. (Sometimes this takes longer--it really depends on how carmelized you want them.) Stir in vinegar and set aside.

Boil potatoes until tender. Drain potatoes, then return to pot & mash. Gradually stir in hot milk until potatoes reach the consistency you like. Stir in browned onions, salt & pepper. (I usually add more butter too!)

Stir-Fried Cabbage with Cumin Seeds

It's sad to think I wasn't introduced to Indian food until I was 20, in England. Similarly, I didn't get into cabbage and brussels sprouts until the past couple years. But now... I love them all! And this recipe addresses some of those things (though not the sprouts...I'll have to post on that another time). This is adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's Quick and Easy Indian Cooking.

1/2 head Savoy cabbage
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1+1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
1 onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon salt
pinch of cayenne
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 - 1 teaspoon garam masala

Cut out and discard core of the cabbage, then cut into long, thin shreds. Heat the oil in a wide skillet over high heat. When hot, add the cumin and sesame seeds. When seeds begin to pop, add the onions and cook, stirring often, until golden, about 5 minutes. Add the cabbage and cook, stirring often, until wilted and lightly browned, about 5 minutes more. Reduce heat to medium, add salt and cayenne. Cook until cabbage is soft and sweet--should only take a few minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and garam masala.

Tunafish Samwich Filling

This is one of the earliest recipes I ever wrote down. It always makes me chuckle...

Chocolate Sables

These are officially "Pierre Herme's Chocolate Sables" by way of Paris Sweets by Dorie Greenspan, as excerpted in the NY Times Magazine a few years back. Got all that? In any case, chocolate yumminess! The large grains of salt contrast nicely with the rich chocolate.

1+1/4 cups flour
1/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel (salt)
1 stick plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (that would be 11 tablespoons total), softened
2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4-5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chip-size bits

Sift (or whisk) the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt together. In a separate bowl, beat butter until creamy. Add the sugars and vanilla and beat another 1-2 minutes. Stir in the dry ingredients, then the chocolate. Work the dough as little as possible.

Divide dough in half and roll each into a cylinder about 1+1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap each in plastic wrap and chill for at least one hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Slice the logs into 1/2 inch disks. (If the cookies break, squeeze the broken-off bit back onto the cookie. Or eat it!) Place the cookies on the baking sheets, leaving an inch of space between each. Bake only one sheet at a time for 12 minutes. (The cookies will not look firm, but take them out anyway.) Transfer the sheet to a cooling rack and let rest.

(FYI, the cookies don't really expand much, the second photo is just closer.)

My Favorite Brownies

These are Marion Cunningham's "Parker Brownies." I wrote the recipe down years ago (see below) and had no idea where it came from, but a little web search has settled the mystery. I don't have any of her cookbooks, so it must have been reprinted in another source. Anyway... I have tried many brownie recipes over the years, but always come running back to this one! Chewy, but not quite fudgy, these come out on the thin side--so you just have to eat a larger piece!

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate

1/4 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup (or more) chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 300 degrees and grease an 8" x 8" pan. Melt the chocolate and butter over medium heat. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar and vanilla, then the egg. (It should become kind of glossy.) Finally add the dry ingredients and nuts. Spread in pan and bake for 30 minutes. Isn't that easy?!