Snowy White Chocolate Crescents

I got this recipe from this old Mrs. Fields cookbook that I was gifted with the other week, since no one else was using it at my dad's place. These cookies aren't the most aesthetically pleasing cookies. Perhaps it is my sub-standard rolling techniques, but mine came out like weird space invader ships and not like the fancy pictures in the cook book. Plus, I think I put my powdered sugar on too soon or they need to still cool outside of a container once the sugar was on. We had some problems with melting sugar when you touched them.

Makes: Roughly 2 1/2 dozen.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder, unsweetened
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter - softened
• 1/3 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. In a bowl, sift together flour, salt, and cocoa.
3. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
4. Add vanilla and egg and beat until smooth.
5. Add in flour/cocoa mixture a bit at a time until fully incorporated.
6. Shape a level tablespoon or 1/2 tablespoon full into a 3 1/2 inch log.
7. Slightly bend the log to form crescent shape.
8. Place on baking sheet, about 1 inch apart (They don't really spread much)
9. Bake for 15-17min or until outside is hard but center is soft.
10. Cool on pan for a few minutes, then transfer to another surface to cool.
11. While still warm, roll cookies in powdered sugar until coated.

Thoughts:
These don't really require a lot of ingredients, which is why I made them as opposed to something more fancy. There isn't a whole lot of places to tweak since it is so minimal. Perhaps adding mini chocolate chips to the dough would spice things up. Also, the shape makes people thing of non-tasty things, so perhaps ill shaped crescents aren't the way to go.

Next Time:

• Mini-chocolate chips to add some flavor since everything is bitter?
• Make fun shapes? Spell out names? Since there is no leavening agent, the cookies don't change shape while baking really.

Patriotic Jello - Red, White, and Blue

Jello is a nice thing to have on 100 degree days over the summer. It's easy to do, it just takes time to sit around and wait for the layers to harden.

Ingredients

• 2 3-ounce packages of cherry-flavored Jell-O (or one 6-ounce package split in half)
• 2 3-ounce packages of blueberry-flavored Jell-O (or one 6-ounce package split in half)
• 7 packets unflavored gelatin (4 oz packets)
• 2 14-ounce cans sweetened condensed milk, divided.
• 9 cups boiling water, divided

Directions

1. Combine 1.5 cups of boiling water with one package of cherry Jell-O and one package of unflavored gelatin. Whisk together until dissolved.
2. Pour Jello layer into  a glass 9x13 cake pan and place into fridge until cooled. (Roughly an hour)
3. Once the red layer is firm, combine in the mixing bowl: 1 packet of unflavored gelatin with 1 cup boiling water, whisking until dissolved. 
4. Add 1/2 of one of the cans of condensed milk and stir until combined. 
5. Pour the milk mixture into the measuring cup with the spout and set it in the refrigerator for ten minutes to let it cool a bit. (You don't want to pour hot liquid on top of another layer of Jell-O at any time during the process. Doing so will turn the white layer pink or light blue.)
6. Remove the baking dish and the cup of milk mixture from the refrigerator and gently pour the milk mixture on top of the red Jell-O layer.
7. Return dish to the fridge until firm.
8. Repeat step 1, but this time use the blue Jello.
9. Pour blue mixture into measuring cup and repeat step 5.
10. Repeat step 6.
11. Repeat milk layer, then red layer, then milk, then last blue. Final order should be: red-white-blue-white-red-white-blue for a total of 7 layers.

Thoughts:
This is pretty easy. The original recipe only called for 1 cup of water per colored Jello layer, and that wasn't producing thick enough layers in a 9x13 pan. So I changed it to 1 1/2 cups. Also, the original recipe said to use 2 28oz milk cans instead of 2 14oz cans, but you don't need that much milk, I believe it was a typo.

Next Time:

• Rainbow Jello.

Cinnamon Lamb Stew

I've never cooked lamb before, but felt I should try. This recipe also fulfills my desire to incorporate cinnamon into more dishes other than deserts, so it was win-win. Plus, stews are really easy to make and it's almost impossible to overcook a stew. It tasted really good, it's a much sweeter stew than the beef one I've made before.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds boneless lamb stew meat - cubed
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 cloves garlic - minced
• 1 onion - diced
• 2 carrots - diced
• 2 celery stalks - diced
• 5-6 baby potatoes
• 1 28oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 bay leaf
  

Directions

1. Place the lamb in a bowl or baking dish and toss with cinnamon, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Cover and place in refrigerator for up to 24 hours, or cook immediately.
2. In a heavy saucepan or Dutch oven, sauté the pieces of lamb in the oil. Meat should be browned on all sides.
3. When all of the meat is browned, add the garlic, carrots, celery, potato, and onion, and cook for about five minutes, stirring, until vegetables start to soften . 
4. Add tomatoes, wine and bay leaf. 
5. When mixture begins to bubble, reduce heat to low and cover. 
6. Cook for 2 hours, stirring occasionally or until meat falls apart when squeezed. 
7. Serve with toasted hard rolls (10min at 350 degrees in the oven)

Thoughts:
This is a stew, so like I said, it is easy. I added the potatoes to the recipe and during the process, I added about 1/2 a cup of water about half way through, since the liquid had really cooked down. The recipe also said you could use either red or white wine, but I can't imagine making this with a white.

The recipe originally called to be served over couscous, but I couldn't be bothered to make it, and I like my stews in a bowl. I contemplated adding some flour to the mix at the end to thicken things up, but I decided against it and I think that was a good choice.

Next Time:

• Add 1-2 cups of water while the stew is cooking to produce more broth. (Don't if serving over couscous)
• Add a 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of red pepper to add a little kick.
• Maybe add peas at the end to provide some color
• Maybe swap the nutmeg for allspice
• Buy actual stew meat as opposed to lamb on the bone and cutting the meat out.

Chicken Cacciatore

I've made this a couple times, it's another recipe from cooking class. I forgot to take a picture until I was putting stuff away, so this is what I've got. It's an impressive recipe, so much flavor for a pretty easy cooking method

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 6 skin-on chicken breasts
• flour as needed
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup white onion - diced
• 1 red, yellow, or orange bell pepper - seeded and cut into thin strips
• 3 garlic cloves - minced
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 28oz can Italian plum tomatoes - shredded with their own juice
• 1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary - chopped
• 1 1/2 dried oregano

Directions

1. Wash the chicken in cold water and pat dry with a paper towel.
2. Season chicken breast with salt and pepper and then dredge in flour.
3. Heat oil in a large skillet to a simmer and brown floured chicken until golden brown on both sides.
4. Remove chicken breasts from pan after browning (do not cook all the way through) and put them to the side
5. In the same pan, add more oil if necessary, then add the onion and pepper.
6. Cook onion and pepper, stirring occasionally, until soft.
7. Add garlic and continue to cook for 2 more minutes.
8. Add wine to the pan, allowing it to simmer and reduce by half.
9. Add tomatoes, rosemary, and oregano to the pan and reduce to a simmer.
10. Place chicken back into the pan and cover, until it is cooked all the way through, about 15min.

Thoughts:
I like this recipe. It is pretty impressive for more prep work than actual cooking work. Mostly you just sit there and watch it. Something key to have when browning the chicken is an oil catching screen. It keeps oil from going everywhere and making a huge mess. Something you can do is add more peppers if you like, to add more a color variety. I like to change the peppers up, since they all come out tasting the same anyway.

Roasted Herb Pork Tenderloin with Sage Pan Sauce

This is one of my fancy recipes from cooking class. I typically don't like pork, since my childhood was filled with bland, flavorless boot-leather passed off as pork chops, but this recipe is none of those things. It has amazing flavor and is very tender if you don't overcook it.

Ingredients

Roast: 

• 1 lb pork tenderloin - trimmed

Herb Rub:

• 2 Tablespoons fresh thyme - chopped
• 1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary - chopped
• 1 Tablespoon fresh sage
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil

Sauce:

• 1 clove of garlic - minced
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup chicken or beef stock
• 2 teaspoons sage

Directions

Roast:

1. Mix the herb rub together in a bowl.
2. Coat the tenderloin generously with the herb rub and olive oil and marinate for 30minutes at room temperature or overnight in the fridge.
3. Preheat over to 350 degrees.
4. Heat a large, dry skillet over high heat.
5. Sear the pork for a few minutes on all sides until browned.
6. Place in a roasting pan and roast until cooked throughout, about 15-20 minutes, when the internal temp is 155 degrees at the thickest part, it is done.
7. Remove from over and allow to rest for 5 minutes

Sauce

1. Retain 1 Tablespoon of fat from the roasting pan, along with any meat juices (from when you cut the roast)
2. Sauté the garlic in the juice over medium heat until tender
3. Add the remaining ingredients, scraping out any browned bits
4. Bring the sauce to a boil and reduce over high heat until thickened.

Thoughts:
These recipes make some really good food, and I've made this roast a couple times now and every time it comes out really great. It's one of those fairly simple recipes you can pull out and impress people since the hardest "work" is chopping all those herbs.

This goes really great with sautéed apples and another side, such as green beans.

Sautéed Apples

This is another recipe from cooking class. It is really simple and makes a good compliment to pork dishes, since apples and pork always go hand in hand.

Ingredients

• 4-5 Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 2 Tablespoons sugar

Directions

1. Peel and slice the apples into uniform thin slices.
2. Put the apples into large enough bowl and pour in the sugar
3. Toss the apples with the sugar
4. Heat butter on medium heat over a saute pan.
5. Cook the apples in the butter over high heat until the sugar caramelizes and the apples are tender - roughly 7-10minutes, depending on how many apples you have.

Thoughts:
These apples are quick and simple. This last time I made them, I added in some cinnamon to the apples when the apples were about 80% done. Apparently either cinnamon either burns quickly or exacerbates the effect of heat on apples because the apples went to completely done in a matter of seconds and some pieces burned. The non-burned ones tasted great, so I'm not sure if my course of action for next time should be either to do the cinnamon with the sugar in the beginning or wait until the apples are done cooking. We shall see.

Green Beans

So this is one of the fancy recipes that I learned in cooking class. It isn't too complex; the trick is to keep the garlic and shallots from burning when the beans are cooking, since that makes everything taste bitter.

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 3 shallots - sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic - minced
• 1 Tablespoon thyme, chopped
• 1 1/2 pound green beans - trimmed
• 1/4 cup chicken stock
• Salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. Place the butter into a large skillet and heat until melted and foamy.
2. Add the shallots and garlic and cook until lightly golden brown (Do not over cook, they will burn in the next part if you do)
3. Add the thyme and green beans and toss to cover with butter.
4. Add the stock and cover
5. Cook over medium-high heat for 4-6minutes until the beans are tender.
6. Season with salt and pepper

Thoughts:
This is a pretty good recipe, like I said above, the main thing to keep in mind is to not let the garlic burn. You need to make sure the skillet is large enough otherwise it will take a while to get the beans tender since they will be piled on each other and then the garlic/shallots will burn. My photo above is an example of too small a pan.