Chocolate Lover's Dream Cookies

I was rooting through the “archives” the other day, and stumbled upon the August 2009 issue of Taste of Home magazine and this recipe. Because I consider myself something of a cookie aficionado, I had to give these a try.  As with most cookie recipes (I am seldom disappointed in a cookie no matter how simple and unassuming) I was glad that I did. They are quick, easy, and garnered two thumbs up from our end. These do tend to be a bit on the sweet side, so be warned.  But if you hanker for a cookie that is densely chocolate, wonderfully chewy, and decadently sweet, this recipe is definitely for you.  It turned out that they were the perfect accompaniment to an evening cup of coffee, and repeat episode of “The Closer.”  Brenda Leigh would have loved them.

Chocolate Lover's Dream Cookies

Taste of Home August/September 2009

6 tablespoons canola oil

1/4 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup baking cocoa

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup white baking chips

1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

In a large bowl, beat the oil, butter and sugars until well blended.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa and baking powder; gradually add to oil mixture and mix well. Stir in chips.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 2” apart onto ungreased baking  sheets. Bake at 350°F for 12-15 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Cool for 1 minute before removing from pans to wire racks.

Yield: 3-1/2 dozen.

This post is linked to:

Tuesdays At Our Home
Inspire Me Tuesday

Totally Tasty Tuesdays

Try a New Recipe Tuesday

Tasty Tuesdays

Wow Us Wednesday
Work It Wednesday

What’s It Wednesday

Fresh Green Beans with Bacon and Shallots

I love the Noble Pig Winery blog.  It is written by Cathy Pollak, a former wine enthusiast who, with her husband, ended up being owners of a vineyard and producing their own wine.  Cool, huh?  The blog is always interesting, written in a wonderfully friendly conversational tone, and features some mouthwatering recipes. 

I am always looking for new ways to prepare green beans since it happens to be Mr. O-P’s favorite (and when I say favorite, I mean it is one about which he does not seem to grumble), so we have them quite a lot.  When I saw this recipe last week, I knew I had to try it.  Thumbs up from us both on this one. Lover of vegetables that I am, I could have eaten this entire bowl and called it dinner.

There is a great tutorial here if you want to take a look; the recipe is below with a few of the changes that I made.  

Fresh Green Beans with Bacon and Shallots

1-1/2 pounds fresh green beans, ends trimmed (I used 1lb.)

3/4 pound bacon ends and pieces or thick cut bacon,

chopped (I used 4 slices)

2 large shallots, sliced into thin rings (I diced mine)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Blanch beans in three separate batches*, boiling for 3-4** minutes each (beans should be soft with a slight crunch ~ taste before removing the whole batch from the water.) Immediately plunge beans into a large bowl filled with ice water; let sit for two minutes before removing to a paper towel lined tray. Repeat with other two batches of beans. Soak up any excess water on beans with more paper towels, it's best if they are as dry possible. This process can be done several hours in advance if you choose.

In a large skillet, fry bacon until crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper-towel lined plate. Over low heat, fry shallots*** until slightly brown, about 1-2 minutes. Return beans to the pan and toss with the shallots, slightly warming the beans as well. Remove beans and shallots from the pan, shaking off any excess grease, and place on a serving tray. Season well with salt. Sprinkle bacon on top and serve immediately.

*I used a fairly big pot so that I was able to blanch all of the beans at once.  I turned them out into my largest mixing bowl that I had filled with ice water.

** I know the popular way to eat green beans these days is when they are crunchy, but Mr. O-P and I prefer our beans with “bend-ability,” so I cooked mine for about 6 minutes.

*** After removing the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate, I wiped out the pan and sautéed the shallots in what remained of the bacon drippings.

This post is linked to:

Clever Chicks Blog Hop

Amaze Me Monday

Metamorphosis Monday

Stone Fruit Crumble with Raspberries

 

Isn't it amazing how our tastes change from season to season?  In the winter, I never think about fruit. Winter is all vegetables for me, and in all sorts of warming comfort food dishes. Once the weather warms though, I can't wait to sink my teeth into the fruits of summer. 

I am a big “stone fruit” fan, and, yes I love every one of them from the myriad available. This morning I was eyeing two boxes of stone fruits from Melissa's, one package of plum bites, and the other of peach bites.  At the same time that I was eyeing these, I was thawing a bag of frozen raspberries that my dad found in his freezer and gave to me. The wheels started turning, and thus I give you, the amazingly easy, super delicious, Stone Fruit Crumble with Raspberries!  This, my friends, is how a recipe is born.  Served hot or at room temperature, with ice cream or not, it is a wonderful taste of summer that everyone will enjoy.

Stone Fruit Crumble with Raspberries

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup macadamia nuts

Pinch of salt

1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into ½” cubes

1 bag frozen raspberries, thawed and drained

1 box (1 lb.) of Melissa’s Organic Peach Bites pitted and large diced

1 box (1 lb.) of Melissa’s Plum Bites pitted and large diced

1/4 -1/2 cup granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Pulse flour, sugar, macadamias, and salt in a food processor until nuts are chopped and all is mixed. Add butter and pulse until mixture begins to clump.

Place fruit in a medium mixing bowl and toss gently with sugar.  Taste the mixture to avoid over or under sweetening.  The amount you need depends upon the tartness of your fruit.

Spread fruit in an 8” deep-dish pie plate and cover evenly with topping, mounding in the center.

Bake crumble in middle of oven until fruit is bubbly and topping is golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes.  Cover with foil if topping begins to get too brown.

Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

This post is linked to:

Full Plate Thursday

Create It Thursday

Inspiration Gallery Thursday
Home and Garden Thursday

Home Sweet Home

Be Inspired Friday

 Show and Tell Friday 

Foodie Friday

Scallion Butter

 This simple three-ingredient recipe has become a new favorite staple in my fridge. Fresh creamery butter, chopped scallions plucked from a container of regrown kitchen scraps in my Deck Potager, and the smallest bit of kick from hot sauce, and I have a simple flavored butter that has the power to transform almost any savory dish. 

An obvious enhancement to a slice of bread or crusty roll, it also makes for a wonderful topping for mashed or baked potatoes. It livens up an ear of freshly roasted corn, gives special flavoring to a pot of green beans, flavors steaks on the grill, and when embedded in a burger makes them moist and delicious. Almost anywhere that you use butter, you can substitute a flavored butter with excellent results. 

Nothing is easier than this recipe. Plus, it gives me an excuse to use these cute little individual butter dishes that are one of my favorite tabletop accessories. Store what you don't use in an airtight container for up to a week in the fridge, or roll into a cylinder, wrap in plastic and keep in the freezer for up to 4 months. 

Scallion Butter

1 stick butter, softened
2 tablespoons finely diced scallions
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce

Place ingredients into a medium mixing bowl.  Beat with a hand mixer until combined. Scoop into decorative container and chill until ready to use. For longer storage, be sure to store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. 

This post is linked to:

Inspire Me Tuesday

Totally Tasty Tuesdays

Try a New Recipe Tuesday

Tasty Tuesdays

Wow Us Wednesday
Work It Wednesday

What’s It Wednesday

Double Peanut Cookies

When it comes to cookies, I like them in the same way in which my youngest son likes them.  To quote him, “I love cookies.  I love them so much.”  Clearly he is his mother’s boy!  But when it comes to peanut butter cookies, while I like them, I can’t say that they are among my favorites or that I make them all that often.  They are just so much trouble when I’m anxious for a cookie fix.  All of that rolling into balls, and then the fork thing, impressing first in one direction, and then in another to get that signature peanut butter cookie look.  Trouble!  If you feel the same, then you will appreciate this recipe.  It goes together quickly, isn’t cloyingly sweet as some peanut butter cookies are, and contains the delicious crunch of unsalted peanuts right in the dough (something for which I am most thankful since Mr. O-P mistakenly bought a big jar of them).

Much like peanuts themselves, these cookies are positively addicting.  I had one for breakfast.  Don’t judge me.

Double Peanut Cookies 

1 cup creamy peanut butter 
3/4 cup granulated sugar 
3/4 cup packed brown sugar 
1/2 cup butter
1 extra-large egg 
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 
1 teaspoon baking soda 
1 1/2 cups chopped unsalted dry-roasted peanuts 

Heat oven to 375ºF.

In the work bowl of your stand mixer (or with a hand mixer) combine peanut butter, sugars, and butter, beating until smooth and creamy.  Add egg, beat until incorporated. Mix in flour and baking soda just until combined. Stir in peanuts (dough will be stiff). 

Drop dough by rounded tablespoons (I used a medium cookie scoop), onto an ungreased cookie sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake 10 to 14 minutes or until light brown. 

Cool 1 to 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 30.

This post is linked to:

Clever Chicks Blog Hop

Amaze Me Monday

Metamorphosis Monday

Marvelous Mondays

Barbecue Shrimp

Summertime is barbecue time, but if it’s too hot or rainy in your part of the world for outdoor cooking, bring that seasonal, zesty taste of barbecue indoors with this easy shrimp recipe.  You can turn up or down the heat according to your preference.  Serve it hot from the skillet or at room temperature, it makes an excellent starter, tasty dinner, or a toothsome addition to the brunch buffet.  Versatile!

BBQ Shrimp

½ cup Caesar Salad Dressing (I used Panera)

¼ cup Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons butter

2 teaspoons dried oregano

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

2 teaspoons dried rosemary

2 teaspoons dried thyme

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (I used Crystal)

2 bay leaves

2 garlic cloves, finely minced

1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/3 cup dry white wine

Thick slices of crusty bread

Lemon wedges

Combine first 11 ingredients (salad dressing through garlic cloves) in a large non-stick skillet.  Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Add shrimp and simmer for 7 minutes until shrimp are fat and pink, stirring occasionally.  Add wine, return to a simmer, and cook for 1 additional minute to heat through.  Serve with bread and lemon wedges.

Makes 4 appetizer servings or 2 main dish servings.

This post is linked to:

Inspire Me Tuesday

Totally Tasty Tuesdays

Try a New Recipe Tuesday

Tasty Tuesdays