Two Shortbread Recipes (one is spiced)

Two Shortbread Recipes (one is spiced)

Here are 2 recipes I use. The first one is from a British expatriate fund-raiser cookbook:

2-1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 sticks butter (no substitutions!)
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. almond extract (opt)

Cream the butter and sugar til fluffy, then gradually work in the flour and flavoring. Roll out onto a cookie sheet, score serving pieces, and pierce with a fork. Bake in a preheated 400ºF oven for 10 minutes, reduce heat to 325ºF and bake 15 minutes more. Shortbread should be very light brown.

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Leidra's Shortbread

My friend Leidra concocted this recipe. It's for a spiced shortbread.
Not traditional, but good.

1-1/3 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
3 cup sifted all purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt (omit if butter is salted)
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp ginger
3/4 tsp allspice
1-1/4 tsp caraway seed (opt)

Cream butter and sugar. Mix in other ingredients. Roll out 1/2" thick on cookie sheet, score and prick with a fork. Bake in preheated 350°F degree oven for about 50 minutes.

Cut where scored while still slightly warm. Store in an airtight container. These have an even better flavor a day or two after baking!

Ann
(2/19/01)

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Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookies

Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookies

(From the Toll House Cookbook - 21st printing 1945.)

Cream 1 cup butter, add 3/4 cup brown sugar, 3/4 cup granulated sugar and 2 eggs beaten whole.

Dissolve 1 tsp. soda in 1 tsp hot water, and mix alternately with 2-1/4 cups flour sifted with 1 tsp salt.

Lastly add 1 cup chopped nuts and 2 bars ( 7oz.) Nestles yellow label chocolate, semi-sweet, which has been cut in pieces the size of a pea.

Flavor with 1 tsp vanilla and drop half teaspoons on a greased cookie sheet.

Bake 10 to 12 min. in a 375°F oven makes 100 cookies.

I didn't go to check the back of the bag, but the only difference I note is mixing soda into water first (maybe soda is less lumpy now or something?) and having to cut up the bar chocolate.

Helen D.
(2/15/01)

Comment:

Yes, the original recipe had the soda mixed into the water because baking soda back then tended to get into very hard chunks and could not be easily mixed into the flour.

I found that I got much better Toll House cookies when I made them at my sister's house, without all of my fancy baking equipment (mixer etc.). Using a wooden spoon to cream everything and later mix in the flour, made for much better cookies -- perhaps the lighter mixing didn't develop the gluten in the flour, and made my cookies less tough.

I also don't use two eggs, because I find that if you only use one jumbo, you get a much crisper cookie, and I prefer that. I hate soft cookies.

Carolyn

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Stir-N-Drop Sugar Cookies (Betty Crocker circa 1955)

Stir-N-Drop Sugar Cookies (Betty Crocker circa 1955)
Amount: about 3 doz. 3" cookies
I dug out my mom's old cookbook and here it is:

Preheat oven to 400°F degrees.

Beat with fork until well blended....
2 eggs

Stir in...
2/3 cup cooking (salad) oil
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. grated lemon rind

Blend in until mixture thickens...
3/4 cup sugar

Sift together and stir in...
2 cups sifted Gold Medal flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Drop by teaspoonfuls about 2" apart on ungreased baking sheet. Flatten with greased bottom of glass dipped in sugar. Bake  8 to 10 minutes, until a delicate brown. Remove immediately from baking sheet.

Deanna in Massachusetts
(2/14/01)

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Joe's Cookies

Joe's Cookies

(I have no idea who Joe was - but that is the name on my mothers recipe card)

1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
5 cups flour
4 tbsp. milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
vanilla extract
almond extract

Cream butter and sugar. beat in eggs. Mix salt and soda into flour. Add 1 cup flour, 1 tbsp. milk, 1 cup flour, etc. until flour and milk are in (mixing well between additions) Add enough vanilla and almond, (I never measure flavors for this recipe- I've made it for over 40 years - maybe 1 tsp of each). Chill dough.

Roll thin on a floured board. Cut and place on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake at 400ºF until golden (about 6 to 7 min. in my oven). Remove from sheet immediately and cool on rack.

These can be rolled a bit thicker for a softer cookie. They decorate well - colored sugar and sprinkles before baking or frosting after. They make great stained glass cookies - put foil on cookie sheet, cut out large cookies - transfer to foil. use small cutter to cut a window in the cookie. Fill window with crushed lollypop or lifesavers or similar candy. Bake as usual. Slide foil off cookie sheet to cooling rack. after candy is hard, peel cookies off the foil (or vice versa).

Try to handle the dough as little as possible and use as little extra flour as you can - and when you gather and re-roll scraps, re-chill the dough between handling. I use my Kitchen Aid mixer, but have made half batches of this in food processor. As a desperate college student I even mixed by hand, but it gave me respect for pre-electric cooks.

Helen Delano
(2/13/01)

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Mini Chocolate Souffles

Mini Chocolate Souffles

1 (6 oz) pkg semi-sweet chocolate morsels
4 eggs
1 egg white
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese cubed
Confectioner's sugar

Preheat oven to 375°. Melt morsels over hot, NOT BOILING, water, stirring until smooth; remove from heat.

In blender container OR food processor, combine eggs, egg white, milk and sugar. Cover; blend or process until smooth.

With blender or processor running, add cream cheese cubes with the blender lid slightly ajar OR through the food processor feed tube. Cover and blend just to combine.

Pour into 6 ungreased 6-oz. souffle dishes or custard cups. Bake at 375° for 40 minutes or until knife inserted near centers comes out clean.

Lightly sift confectioner's sugar over tops of souffles and serve immediately.

Amy
(2/6/01)

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Breadstick Dip or Salad Dressing Recipes

Breadstick Dip or Salad Dressing Recipes

Not the typical recipe, but we like to stir a tablespoon or two of pesto (I make it) with a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a glass bowl, mince a fresh tomato and stir it in, then cover with Fini (gold, not silver) balsamic vinegar, grind some black pepper over, and let sit for a few hours for the tomato to marinate. Works well as a salad dressing too, but I dip
breadsticks in it.

Sylvia, not even 1% Italian, but I love the food!
(2/6/01)

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The best, imho, dipping for good bread is the best quality extra virgin olive oil you can afford. That's it. Just savor the delicious olive taste.

If you must have something more, any number of herbs can be steeped. You can make a pesto like topping -- process fresh basil, a clove or two of garlic, some ground pine nuts and put in a little jug with the olive oil.

Or forget the olive oil and make a Bagna Cauda:

Melt some clarified butter into which you have chopped a bit of anchovy and garlic and slowly simmered these. Serve this warm (in Italy, bagna cauda is served fondue style with lots of cubed bread, veggies, etc.).

You could also steep a few sprigs of rosemary, or some sage leaves, etc.

Carolyn
(2/7/01)

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I like good olive oil (about 4 T) with good balsamic vinegar (about 4 T). Add some crushed garlic to taste (probably 1-2 cloves and make sure it is really pulverised), a pinch of crushed rosemary, about a T finely grated strong cheese (parmesan, asiago, romano, etc). Grind a bit of black pepper over it, mix thoroughly, then let it sit for a little bit for the flavours to blend - maybe 30 minutes or so. It will separate, so mix it up again before serving.

Cherry
(2/7/01)

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Yummy. Balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil with hot crusty bread to dip into it. Food of the gods.

Judy
(2/8/01)

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Eggplant Spread

Eggplant Spread
My family is Romanian, too - on my father's side. Here's the recipe for what we always called

1 medium eggplant
3 tbsp. minced onion
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
4 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. sugar

Bake the eggplant in a 475° F oven until the skin turns dark and brown. Cool and peel.

Chop the eggplant until very smooth. (I suppose you could use a food processor, but I've always used that wooden bowl and half-moon chopper). Add everything else. Chill.

Serve with black bread - much better than crackers.

Barbara on Staten Island, NY
(2/5/2001)

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Orgasm Cocktail

Orgasm

double shot glass

1/2 oz Baileys Irish Cream
1/2 oz Amaretto
1/2 oz Kahlua

Sounds good to *me*!

potwench (Debbi)
(1/16/01)

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Baklava

Baklava

Amounts are really only approximate because the quantities of ingredients depend on the size of your pan and your personal preference.

Defrost THOROUGHLY 1 to 1-1/2 pounds of phyllo pastry. (I'm presuming that I don't have to tell you how to handle it to keep it from drying out.)

Melt 1/4 cup (or more) of butter or margarine (the margarine is a concession to kosher cooks who want to serve it after a meat meal; butter tastes a lot better--but it must be UNSALTED).

With a pastry brush, grease a cake pan (doesn't matter what size -- 8" x 8" is a good size to start with, or 9" x 13" if you're expecting a crowd) with melted butter. Then work quickly. Layer pastry and lightly brush with butter each layer. (You don't have to cover every square millimeter, just get a good smear on each layer.)

When you've used up half the pastry, sprinkle with lots of finely chopped pistachios/almonds/walnuts/whatever nuts you fancy. Usually 1/2 to 3/4 cup is plenty. This isn't meant to be a nut torte.

Then keep on layering and brushing butter until you've used up all the pastry.

IMPORTANT: Cut it into diamonds BEFORE you bake it. You need a very sharp knife to do this. Also, cut it into small diamonds, no bigger than 1-1/2" or so. Restaurants tend to serve enormous slices, like regular cake-size, and that's rather overwhelming, not to mention insulin-shock-inducing. With all that butter and sugar, it's quite a rich dessert, absolutely lovely with fresh espresso.

Pop it into a preheated moderate oven (about 350°F?) and bake until it is puffy and golden, about half an hour (YMMV).

In the meantime, make a syrup with equal parts sugar and water (say 3/4 cup of each) and cook till it's a light syrup. Remember that it will thicken as it cools, so you don't want it too thick to begin with. When it's the right consistency (coats a spoon), sprinkle in a few drops of orange-water or rosewater. Remember that rosewater is stronger than orange-water, and you don't need as much of it. Also, it reminds some people of Jurgens hand lotion, so you may prefer to use orange-water. Then stick it in the fridge. Yes, the fridge.

When the baklava is baked, take it out and pour the cooled syrup over it (the pastry should still be hot). It's divine if you eat it shortly afterwards. It also keeps well for several days at room temp or up to a week in the fridge. On no account must you serve it chilled, or your guests will never get their teeth out of it. Cold baklava is chewy, sticky, and you can't appreciate the flavours.

Enjoy! Hmmm. I think I'll make some if we have guests this shabbat. It's so easy and it's unusual enough (a lot of people I know just buy packaged cakes instead of baking) that it's a real treat. BTW, considering that a 1/2 to 3/4 cup of nuts will make enough baklava to feed a herd (cut the diamonds SMALL!), it's also considered an economical dessert in this part of the world.

Avital
(1/9/01)

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Avital's Homemade Yogurt (with notes from members)

Avital's Homemade Yogurt (with notes from members)

I make my own constantly. I don't use anything special. I have a plastic container that holds a liter of milk and has a lid that fits tightly. A thermos would work well.

My culture is local, so that won't help you, but any natural unflavoured yogurt should do. Note: Brown Cow works well.

You should scald the milk first (I do it in the microwave in a glass bowl, Shoshana uses a 1-quart microwave-safe measuring cup, or you can do it in a pot on the stove but watch it really carefully--boil-overs are a PITA to clean up).

You need a thermometer that will measure 100°C (that is, not a deep fat or oven thermometer; I got mine at a lab supply store). Wait till the temperature is 50°C (remember that it'll be hotter in the middle than around the edges of the bowl) and then pour the hot milk into whatever container you'll use to "set up" the yogurt.

Take 3 tbsp. of milk and mix with 1 tbsp. of the yogurt starter. Mix it thoroughly, then stir gently into
the rest of the milk.

Cover with a blanket or dishtowels and leave it UNDISTURBED (don't even bump it) for at least 6 hours in warm weather, maybe longer in cool weather.

You can use the new batch to make more yogurt but you must use it within a week, or the bacteria end up killing each other off and the yogurt won't set.

The yogurt may be a bit viscous or jelly-like, so you should give it a good stir with a fork or a whisk before using it.

If you want a thicker yogurt, you can add powdered milk (they don't sell powdered milk here, so I've never tried it) or reduce the milk by simmering it for a while (DH did this once by accident; he thought he'd turned the heat off and he'd just turned it down).

That's all there is to it. It's not rocket science. People in this part of the world have been making their own yogurt for centuries.

Avital
(1/7/01)

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A few notes about making your own yogurt from various list members:

Joy wrote:
When I make my own, I have used one of the tall, 2 quart vacuum lid french canning jars, scalded the milk, added a little whole or skimmed milk powder if I wanted it thick, cooled it to lukewarm (the same temperature range bread yeast likes), add about 1/2 cup of plain live yogurt, wrapped the whole thing in a big, thick towel and stuck it in the oven (off but with pilot light) all night.

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Jola Gayle wrote:
And I just use a mayonnaise jar (unsterilized), scald the milk, cool it, haven't much added milk powder, put a half-cup buttermilk in the jar, pour in a little milk, stir it, add the rest, screw the lid on, put it in a pan deep enough to cover the jar with warm water at least
half (preferrably 3/4) and set it on top of the refrigerator until the next morning.

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Erika wrote:
I have a New Zealand-made gadget called an Easiyo, which is basically a very large insulated jar in which you place a 1-liter container of milk and culture and pour hot water around it to keep it warm. Leave it for 6-8 hours, and it's done. The nice thing about it is you don't have to worry about turning it off; the water cools gradually, so it's practically impossible to spoil the yoghurt by forgetting about it. I much prefer it to the electric gadget I used to have.

I imagine you could do something similar with a small picnic cooler; or just put the yoghurt in a thermos.

And here's the thing I learned from Laurel's Kitchen years ago:
Powdered milk (especially the Milkman brand, which has just a little bit of fat) makes excellent yoghurt. No messing around with boiling and cooling the milk--just use hot (110-115 deg F) tap water to dissolve the milk powder, then add the culture. Of course, with powdered milk you don't know much about the source, relativehappiness of the cows, etc., so you may still prefer to use regular milk.

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