Cowboy Cookies

I stole this recipe from the Moosewood Dessert book, but I suspect they in their turn stole it from somewhere else: a guest at a party to which I brought a batch exclaimed ‘Cowboy Cookies, yippie!’, but denied all knowledge of Moosewood.

Ingredients:

1 c. butter ½ c. white sugar ½ c. brown sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 c. flour ½ tsp salt 1 tsp baking soda ½ tsp baking powder 2 c. rolled oats 12 oz. chocolate chips

Note: butter and sugar both weight essentially twice as much as flour, so this recipe is essentially a 1 flour 1 butter 1 sugar type concoction, skewed by the addition of oats. The cookies turn out rather dry: for a chewier variant, experiment with more sugar, or perhaps fewer oats. Walnuts and raisons are legitimate additions.

Discipline the butter and sugars, introduce them to the eggs and vanilla, and fuse this gloop with all the dry ingredients except the oats and the chips, which for inexplicable reasons are to be added in a separate step (5 quid says it makes no difference.) Bake on ungreased sheets at 350 for about 15 minutes

Poulet Roti

Straight from L’Enfante Julie herself. Dog simple: chicken, heat, and fat. But here is a collection of important points:

1. Any chicken up to about 7 pounds can be roasted. Heavier fowl should be fracasseed, or worse.

2. Rub inside with salt and butter before cooking; rub outside with butter alone.

3. Brown at 425 for 15 minutes, turning from center to left side to right side in five minute intervals. Baste at each turn with a bit of melted butter.

4. After 15 minutes, reduce heat to 350 and cook until done (roughly 1½ hours total for a four pound beast.) Half through the total cooking period, salt the bird and flip it so its left side is facing up. With 15-20 minutes to go, salt again and flip so breast is facing up.

5. Allow to cool for 5-10 before carving so juices are reabsorbed into the flesh.

6. A wonderful brown sauce can be made with the giblets: first brown them in oil, then drain and add two cups stock, along with a handful of herbs. Boil mercilessly for an hour, semi-covered. Rather than use this sauce as is, add about a cup to some scallions sautéed in a few tablespoons of the pan drippings. Reduce, remove from heat, and add a tablespoon of butter. This calorie bomb is served over the meat.

7. Chicken is done when its skin pops and coos, and juice from a fork wound run clear.

Empanadas

Crust Ingredients:

4 cups flour
2½ tsp salt
1 stick (½ cup) cold butter
½ cup shortening/lard
2 eggs
⅔ cup water

(For filling suggestions see directions below)

Directions:

1. Make crust: Combine flour and salt. Slice butter into mixture, add lard and mix with a pastry blade or the tips of your fingertips until crumbly. Mix egg with water, add. Gather dough in with your hands and try not to knead too much – only enough to hold it together. Chill in freezer, 1 hour, or as long as patience allows. (Entertain yourself making the filling). Cover with plastic! Don’t let it dry out!

2. Make filling(s):
Pepper/chorizo: Sauté ½ pound chorizo for 2 minutes. Put aside. Sauté 1 medium onion, diced, until glazey, add oregano, bay leaf, garlic, salt (not too much! the chorizo is already spicy!) 1 large pepper cut in small cubes until tender. Add ½ lb. potatoes, previously cut into small squares, sauté for 10-12 min with lid on.
Mushroom, leek, and cheese:sauté 1 leek, thyme, and ¾ pound mushrooms until the mushrooms lose their grip on their juice, add a bit of Worcestershire sauce, 2 tbsp. bread crumbs, salt. Remove from heat and add to about ½ block, grated cheese.

3. Divide into 32 pieces, roll each piece into a ball and roll out with a rolling pin, thin enough to hold some filling, thick enough that it won’t break. Put one tablespoon of filling, fold, press edges together, and make it look good according to cultural prejudices. Brush with beaten egg to make shiny. Bake 30 min. at 375º.

Flourless Chocolate Espresso Cake with Raspberry Sauce

Hands down, the most delicious chocolate creation ever.

Sauce
3 10-ounce (283 gr) packages frozen raspberries in syrup, thawed

Cake
12 ounces (320gr) semisweet chocolate, hacked to bits
4 ounces (115 gr) unsalted butter, also hacked to bits
1 c (24 cl) freshly brewed espresso
1 cup (24 cl) packed golden brown sugar (suitcase optional)
8 large eggs, subjugated
-----
Getting saucy:
Compliment frigid raspberries lavishly until they thaw. Then, in food processor (or with a fork), betray their trust by mashing them to a pulp. Then add insult to injury by sugaring them (if they haven't been sugared already).

The cake:
Find an incontinent cake pan 9 inches (23 cm) in diameter with 2-inch high (5 cm) sides, and line its bottom with parchment. (Leaks would be so embarrassing.)

Place dismembered chocolate in large bowl. In a medium saucepan, incite the butter, espresso and sugar to boil, stirring to ensure that the sugar mingles with the rest of the crowd. Add rioting mixture to chocolate; beat to suppress, until smooth. Let everybody cool off slightly. Then throw in the conspirator eggs and beat again.

Pour mixture into prepared cake pan, then place cake pan inside a roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until the center of the cake is set and tester inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 1 hour. Remove pan from water. Let cake cool a few minutes to set, then place a platter over pan and invert. Serve warm with raspberry sauce.

Try not to eat all at one sitting. Warning: people have shed blood fighting over this cake.

Rum Balls

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. pecans
1 1/4 c. crushed graham crackers
1/2 c. powdered sugar
2 T. cocoa powder
2 T. corn syrup
1/4 c. rum

Dead simple: toast the pecans for about 10 minutes at 350, then mix everything together. Chill, if the mix is sticky, then form small balls, arrange tastefully, and dredge with powdered sugar. Voila, on y est.

Notes on substitutions: shortbread, cookies, vanillia wafers, anything of a sweet and crispy character will do for the graham crackers. I used honey instead of corn syrup and things turned out well. And one should of course top off the rum generously.

Borsch

Ingredients:

½ pared carrots 1 cup very fine shredded cabbage
1 cup skinned onions 1 tbsp vinegar
2 cups pared beets 1 tbsp cultured sour cream
1 tbsp butter Grated cucumber (optional)
2 cups beef or other stock

Chop carrots, onions, and beets until very fine. Barely cover these ingredients with boiling water, and simmer gently, covered, about 20 minutes. Add butter, stock, cabbage, and vinegar and simmer 15 more minutes.

* Place the soup in bowls and add a dollop of sour cream (if desired, mixed with cucumber) and serve with dark bread.

From The Joy of Cooking.

Lemon Bars

Mix: 1 cup flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter

Press the crust batter down in an 8 inch x 8 inch pyrex mold, and bake in oven at 350 for 20 min.

Take out and put filling in:

Filing -- mix: 2 lightly beaten eggs
3/4 cup of powdered sugar
6 tbsp Lemon juice, lemon peel
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 cup coconut

Bake again for 25 min. Let cool, put in fridge, once it is completely cold, sprinkle powdered sugar on top and cut into squares.

From The Joy of Cooking.