double squash cookies

These cookies went to work with me along with the coco-choco-peanut butter ones because some of my co-workers are allergic to nuts and a couple of others, inexplicably, don't like chocolate. I started with this recipe and made a couple of changes. The name for these cookies came from one of my co-workers since they have both zucchini and pumpkin seeds.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups packed brown sugar 
2 eggs 
1 teaspoon vanilla 

3 cups flour 
1 teaspoon salt 
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons dried lemon peel 
1 teaspoon baking soda 

2 cups grated zucchini squash 
3 1/2 cups oatmeal 
2 cups roasted pumpkin seeds

If the pumpkin seeds are not roasted, spread them out on a baking sheet and put them in the oven for about seven or eight minutes. Stir and return them to the oven, checking them every two or three minutes until they begin to brown. Set aside to cool.

Mix the butter and sugar together for five or six minutes, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix again.

Combine the flour and the next four ingredients and then add it gradually to the butter mixture. When they are well mixed, add the zucchini, then the oatmeal. Finally, stir in the pumpkin seeds.

Use a 1-ounce scoop to drop the cookies on a baking sheet lined with either a Sil-pat or parchment paper. Cook for 11-13 minutes. Makes a little over five dozen cookies.

Peace,
Milton

 

coco-choco-peanut butter cookies

I've been on a cookie baking binge mainly because I bake them and take them with me to work at the computer store where they are well received. This recipe comes at the suggestion of Hakim, one of my co-workers and slightly adapted from a recipe I found here.

1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 1/2 cups flour

1 12 ounce package chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut, toasted

Start by toasting the coconut. Spread it evenly on a baking sheet and put it in a 350 degree oven for about seven minutes. Stir it and then continue in two or three minute segments until it is a little brown. :Let it cool on the baking sheet and it will brown a little more. Set aside.

Lower oven temperature to 325.

Cream the butter and peanut butter together until creamy and then add the sugars. Let the mixer run for a good five minutes until the mixture is fluffly. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix again.

Mix the flour, salt, and baking soda together and then add it gradually to the butter mixture. Once they are combined, add the coconut and the chocolate chips.

I use a 1-ounce scoop to drop the cookies on a baking sheet lined with a Sil-pat. You can also use parchment paper. Cook the cookies for 10-12 minutes. Makes about five dozen.

Peace,
Milton

lemon-basil-ginger snaps

My search for a summertime cookie has led me here.

3/4 cup butter, room temperature3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup crystallized ginger, chopped fine

Cream butter until fluffy; add sugar and let the mixer run for about five minutes. Add the egg and beat until mixed well. Add the other three ingredients and mix until everything is combined.

2 cups flour
1/3 cup fresh basil, julienned
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

 Put the julienned basil in a food processor and chop it into fine pieces. add 1/4 cup of flour to basil and combine until it creates a green flour. Whisk that in with the rest of the flour and the other dry ingredients. Add to the butter mixture a little bit at a time, mixing until combined.

1/2 cup lemon sugar (I found it at Whole Foods)

Using a one ounce cookie scoop, drop the cookies into the sugar and roll until they are covered. Put them on a cookie sheet and press them down lightly with your hand. Bake at 350 for twelve minutes. Makes about three dozen.

Peace,
Milton

cocoa cinnamon treats

The story behind these cookies begins with a request from one of my colleagues at the Apple Store for a sugar cookie with either chocolate chips or toffee. I thought, “Why not both?” The first incarnation was pretty good, but I had some ideas on improvements. Our friends Areli and Leon are opening a coffee shop in our neighborhood called Cocoa Cinnamon, so, with them in mind, the second version of these I rolled in sugar mixed with both cocoa powder and cinnamon, along with a touch of chili powder. And there’s one more thing. Roberto, the chef at Old Havana Sandwich Shop, renders manteca from the pork they slow cook everyday. I use that for the shortening.

These may be the best cookies I have ever made, or at least so say most all recent reviewers.

Preheat oven to 350.

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg

Mix the butter and shortening together until blended; add the sugars and mix for five to seven minutes. Add the egg and mix until blended. Meanwhile, mix dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

With the mixer on low, add incrementally to the butter mixture until combined. Add

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

and mix until blended. Then add

1 12 oz package semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (6 ounce) package Heath  Bits O’ Brickle chips

and mix until combined. You may have to do the last mixing with a spoon. I dump it out of the mixer into a bigger mixing bowl where I can stir it.

1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon chili powder

Using a 1 oz scoop, drop balls of the dough into the sugar mixture and roll them to coat. Put them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a Silpat and bake at 350 for 9-10 minutes. I choose the lesser time because it make a wonderfully soft cookie.

The recipe that got me started is here.

Peace,
Milton

ginger molasses cookies

Here's how the story goes: in Asian cooking, ginger and chilis go together, so I decided to add some

cayenne pepper instead. Then I thought about the chili and chocolate combination in Mexican cooking and added a little cocoa powder. The result is one seriously good cookie.

In an electric mixer, beat together

2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 cups butter (at room temperature)
1/2 cup molasses

I let the mixer run a good five to seven minutes. Add

2 eggs

Mix eggs are combined. In a separate bowl mix

4 cups flour
1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Add the dry mixture gradually to the butter-sugar mixture. Form 1 ounce sized balls and roll them in sugar before putting them on the baking sheet. Cook at 375 for eleven to thirteen minutes. I cook my one ounce cookies for eleven, the two ounce cookies for thirteen.

Peace,
Milton

roasted asparagus and poblano soup

2 bunches asparagus, trimmed
2 sweet white onions
2 leeks (white and light green parts only)
2 poblano peppers
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup Arborio rice
4 cups stock (either chicken or vegetable)
2 limes, juiced
olive oil
salt and pepper 

If you have a gas grill, turn the burner on high and put the poblano peppers directly over the flame until they char. Put them in a mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let them sweat for ten or fifteen minutes. Take them out of the bowl and, using paper towels, wipe the outer skin and char off the peppers. Also clean out the seeds from the inside. If you want more heat in your soup, add more seeds. Try not to wash the peppers clean; this affects the flavor. (If you don’t have a gas burner, put them in the oven for about twenty minutes in a small pan covered with foil and then sweat them.)

Peel the onions and cut them in half. Put the flat side of the onion down and cut across the grain, so you get little half moon slices. Cut the leeks in half and due the same thing. Put about two tablespoons of olive oil in a stock pot over medium heat and add the onions, leeks, and garlic. Cover, stirring occasionally, until the onions begin to caramelize – about fifteen minutes. Cut the asparagus into one to two inch segments and toss with olive oil and then spread out on a baking sheet. Cook in a 350 oven for ten to twelve minutes. Take out of the oven and add to the stock pot, along with poblanos, the Arborio rice and the stock. (The rice will make the soup creamy without adding cream.) Bring the mixture to a boil and then lower the heat and let the soup simmer for about a half an hour.

Remove from the heat and add the lime juice. Puree using an immersion blender, or let the soup cool a bit and carefully puree in batches in either a food processor or a blender. When you serve the soup, Drizzle good olive oil over the top.

Peace, Milton

pumpkin seed brittle

For Christmas, Ginger gave me The New Southern Latino Table, which is an awesome cookbook. This recipe came from there. I made one small change in that I used pumpkin seeds that had already been roasted, rather than buying raw ones.

2 cups roasted pumpkin seeds (out of the husks -- they are small and green)
1 ¾ cups sugar
¼ cup honey

Butter a large metal baking sheet.

In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar and honey and cook, stirring, over medium-high heat until the sugar melts. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring for 8-9 minutes, or until it turns a dark amber color; it should register between 300’ F and 310’F on a candy thermometer. Remove from the heat and stir in the seeds.

Spread the mixture carefully onto the prepared pan (it will be very hot).

Cool completely (about 25 minutes) and break it into pieces.


This tastes great on its own, but I served it with my Coffee Flan and it added a nice touch.

Peace,
Milton

coffee flan with bourbon coffee sauce

I love flan. I love coffee. I love this dessert.

1 cup sugar
1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup whole milk
5 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons instant coffee dissolved in 1 teaspoon boiling water
1 tablespoon bourbon 

Preheat the oven to 200F. Place a 9 inch round x 2 inch deep cake pan on the sheet and warm it in the oven. (You can also make smaller individual flans in ramekins, if you like; warm them the same way.) In a heavy medium saucepan, cook sugar over medium heat, stirring frequently, until melted and golden brown, 5 to 8 minutes. Take your time melting the sugar, but move quickly when it reaches a dark amber and pour the caramelized sugar syrup into the warm cake pan. (Take it out of the oven, first.) Tip the pan around to coat the bottom and up sides a bit with the caramel syrup. Set aside.

Raise the oven to 325. In a saucepan or the microwave, bring about 3 cups of water to a boil. Combine the three milks, the eggs, egg yolk, vanilla, coffee, and bourbon in a blender. Mix on low speed for one minute until everything is completely mixed and smooth. (If there is too much liquid, blend in two batches to prevent overflowing.) Pour the custard into the caramel-lined pan and place it (or the ramekins) is a larger dish or baking sheet that has high sides and then put it on the middle rack of the oven. Carefully pour boiling water into the larger holding pan to a depth of about an inch. Bake uncovered for thirty minutes and then check it. If custard is still not set (which mine usually is not) increase the temperature to 350 and set the timer in ten minute increments and continue cooking until custard is set and a thin knife blade inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely on a rack and then refrigerate covered with plastic for at least two or three hours. You can refrigerate it over night.

While it's cooking, make the Bourbon Coffee Sauce.

1 cup sugar
1 2/3 cups extra strong coffee (best at room temperature)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/3 teaspoon salt 

In a heavy skillet, melt the sugar slowly, stirring often, until the sugar melted and has turned a light amber color, about five minutes. Slowly add 1 1/3 cups of the coffee, stir ring constantly. Be prepared for a lot of steam. In a small bowl, blend the cornstarch and the remaining 1/3 cup of coffee until smooth. Stir the mixture into the hot coffee-sugar mixture. Continue cooking over low heat and stir until the sauce boils and thickens, about 8 to 10 minutes. Let it cool and then refrigerate.


Set both the sauce and the flan out of the fridge for a couple of hours before serving. When you are ready to serve the flan, run a thin knife around the edge of pan between custard and pan. (Press the knife against the pan, not the custard.) Place a deep serving plate with a rim over the pan and invert it to move the flan to the serving dish. Carefully lift up pan and allow syrup to run over the flan. Cut into wedges and enjoy. I served the desserts with chards of Pumpkin Seed Brittle.

Peace, Milton

pimento cheese stuffed sweet potatoes

This was one of my Thanksgiving creations this year.

3 large sweet potatoes

Preheat oven to 375. Place sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and then in the oven. Bake for an hour, until they feel soft to the touch. Set aside.

2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 small jar pimentos
1 tsp bourbon
black pepper

Ritz crackers, crumbled

Mix the ingredients together. Cut the potatoes in half and scoop them out into a bowl, leaving enough in the skins for them to hold their shape. Add the cheese to the potato in the bowl and mix them together. Put the filling back into the skins and place them side by side in a baking dish. Cover the tops with the cracker crumbs. Lower the oven temperature to 350 and put them back in the oven for twenty minutes.

Peace,
Milton

white chocolate, craisin, and pumpkin seed cookies

This started from a recipe that had the white chocolate, craisins, and macadamia nuts, but I didn't want to spring for the macadamias, so I began thinking of other options. The roasted pumpkin seeds seemed a good replacement, bringing a little crunch and savoriness to the cookies.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt

Mix dry ingredients together and set aside.

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Cream butter in electric mixer and then add sugars and mix until fluffly. Take your time: let the mixer run a good 6-8 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well. Add vanilla. Add the flour mixture gradually, mixing until just mixed. Then add

1 pkg (11 oz) white chocolate chips
1 cup Craisins
1 cup roasted, salted pumpkin seeds

Mix just until the added ingredients are well distributed throughout the dough. Drop on to a cookie sheet and bake for 11-13 minutes.

Peace,
Milton