Thumbprint Cookies

Cookies like these feel like the kindness and indulgence of my grandmother. I can't remember if she ever made cookies like these, but the story is more powerful than the reality. Browning the bottom of the cookie is really important to the flavor, otherwise the cookie just tastes like dough - in writing this, I realize that this is perhaps attractive to some people, but I prefer that toasted, browned butter flavor that seems to accentuate the buttery-ness of the cookie.

Makes about 20 x 1oz balls

¾ cup (6oz/169gr) butter, softened

½ cup (4oz/115g)white sugar

2 egg yolks

1¾ cups (245g) all-purpose flour

approximately ½ cup fruit preserves, any flavor, and/or soft caramel

1. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and egg yolks. Mix in flour a little bit at a time until a soft dough forms. 
2. Wrap and put in the refrigerator and rest for one hour or up to 72 hours.
3. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
4. Roll dough into 1 inch balls. If dough is too soft, refrigerate for 15 to 20 minutes. Place balls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets (do not use parchment paper which prevents, in my oven at least, for browning on the bottom). Use your thumb or an instrument of similar size to press down in the middle of the ball of dough to make a well in the center of each cookie. I use the teaspoon measuring spoon to make the indentations. Fill the hole with 1 teaspoon of preserves.
5. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown on the bottom. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.

Pumpkin Pancakes

This recipe is from Natalia, a lovely Mexican pastry chef who made them for us with some of our pumpkins. Flavorful and fluffy.

¼ cup (52 g) butter, melted 

¼ cup (52 g) brown sugar 

4 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp nutmeg

1 cup (226 g) pumpkin puree 

2 eggs

2 cups milk 490 g

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups flour 250 g

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1. Melt the butter and set aside.
2. In a large bowl thoroughly combine the sugar and spices. 
3. Stir in the butter and the pumpkin puree and mix until well combined. 
4. Add the eggs, whisk until smooth. 
5. Stir in the milk and vanilla.
6. Whisk in the baking powder and the baking soda.
7. With a wooden spoon add the flour and fold in just until the batter is smooth and no pockets of flour remain.
8. Ladle in ¼ cup of the batter into the pan at a time. Cook for roughly 2 minutes, or until you see bubbles in the middle of the pancakes and the edges are dry enough to get a spatula under the pancake. Flip and cook for 1 more minute on the other side, or until cooked through. Serve with maple syrup. Eat.

Tartignole aux pommes (apple pancake)

A dish from northern France, from among the "Ch'ti", it's like a Tarte Tatin but as a pancake. I don't know what to say. It's really good! My ancestors may have originated from this area, and over the generations made their way down to central France before making their way West to the coast, and finally over to l'île d'Orléans as early settlers. Knowing that my family are settlers in New France makes me wonder about my own indigeneity, and what wisdom my ancestors can transmit through traditional regional foods.

4 servings

150g flour

3/4 tsp baking powder (1/2 tsp = more custard, 1 tsp=more cake)

Optional, 1 Tbsp sugar

1 pinch salt

2 eggs

2/3 cup water

2 lrg apples, peeled, quartered and sliced thick (300 to 500 g)

40 g BROWN sugar

1 Tbsp calvados, brandy, or 1/2 tsp cinnamon or Poudre Douce)

40 g butter + 10 g

15g white sugar

To serve, plain or drizzle with maple syrup, or yogurt, chocolate, apple butter

1. Mix together the flour, baking powder, eggs, water, and salt. Stir the batter very well. Let it rest while preparing the apples.
2. Put the prepared apples in a bowl and mix together with the sugar and flavoring (liquor or spice), to coat.
3. Melt the 40g of butter at medium-high heat. When the butter begins to froth, reduce the temperature to Medium, add the apple mixture, spread evenly across the pan and let it cook for 2 minutes. 
4. Flip the apples to cook the second side. As soon as you've flipped all the pieces, pour the batter over the apple and cook on Low for 5-6 minutes or until the top is almost set. Put a lid on top to make this happen faster.
5. As the first side is cooking and the top is just starting to set, sprinkle the 15g of sugar on top.
6. Meanwhile, grease a dinner plate with the 10g of butter for the next step, reserving any leftover butter to add to the pan for the flip (next step).
7. When the bottom of the pancake is brown, make sure it's loose from the pan, perhaps by running a spatula underneath it. Upturn the plate on top of the pancake, hold firm with your hand, grab the handle of the pan and flip the pancake onto the plate. Remove the pan. The pancake should just drop onto the plate.
8. Set the pan back on the stove-top, add the remaining butter to melt in the pan and slide the pancake back in to finish. Cook the second side for about 3 to 4 minutes to get another nice brown crust. 

Apple Cinnamon Bread

THE BREAD

1½ cups apple sauce, drained in a sieve of extra moisture before measuring (390g)

¼ cup/4Tbsps (2oz/58gr) melted butter 

½ cup sugar (110gr)

½ cup (4.5oz/125gr) Brown Sugar (packed)

2 eggs

1 + ½ tsp ground cinnamon 

1½ cups (7.7oz/220gr) flour

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp cloves

STREUSEL TOPPING

¼ cup (32g) flour

¼ cup (62g) Brown Sugar (packed)

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

1½ Tbsps. (23g) melted butter

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350°F. 
2. Sieve any extra moisture from the apple sauce before measuring the 1½ cup.
3. Melt the butter and whisk into the apple sauce
4. Add the sugars and then whisk in the eggs.
5. Without stirring, add the flour, cinnamon. salt, baking soda and cloves.
6. With a wooden spoon mix the batter just until combined.
7. Grease a bread pan with butter and pour in the batter.
8. In a small bowl, mix the flour, brown sugar and and cinnamon until evenly combined. Rub in the butter.
9. Sprinkle the streusel on top of the batter.
10. Bake for 1 hour or until a knife comes out clean.

Soda Bread with Caraway Seeds

3 1⁄2 cups flour (535g)

1⁄2 cup sugar (100g)

1⁄2 tsp baking soda

2 tsps. baking powder

2 tsps. salt

2 Tbsps. caraway seeds

2 cups sour cream or yogurt 3.5%

2 eggs

Optional : 

1cup (2.5oz) sharp cheddar

3⁄4 cup raisins

1. Preheated the oven to 350ºF.
2. Combine dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
3. In a small bowl beat eggs and stir in sour cream.
4. Add the egg mixture optional ingredients, if using, to the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon.
5. Batter will be very thick and sticky.
6. Place batter in a greased 9 inch spring form pan.
7. If you find the dough too sticky, you can dust the top with enough flour so that you can pat the batter like a bread dough evenly in the pan without it sticking to your hands.
8. With a knife make a shallow crisscross on the top.
9. Bake for 50 minutes.

Classic Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles appear to be much like peanut butter cookies in that there appears to be near universal agreement on the recipe. I was searching because this is not food of my people, but food of Ben's people. For years I thought it was a Christmas tradition for him to have snickerdoodles, but apparently I was mistaken and you can have them anytime. Therefore, I shall!

Cookie

1 cup (8oz/225gr) butter at room temperature

1½ cups (11oz/315g) sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsps. vanilla

2¾ cup (13oz/365g) flour

1½ tsps. cream of Tartar

½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

Cinnamon-Sugar Topping

¼ cup sugar (2 Tbsps.)

1½ Tbsps. cinnamon (3½ tsps.)

1. Place oven rack in the top ⅓ of the oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar for 4 to 5 minutes until light and fluffy.  Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the eggs and vanilla. Cream for 1 to 2 minutes longer until you feel that it has fluffed up enough. 
3. Stir in the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt, just until combined. 
4. In a small bowl, stir together the sugar and cinnamon. 
5. If time allows, wrap the dough and let refrigerate for 20 to 30 minutes.  
6. Roll into small balls (½ oz to 1 oz) until round and smooth. 
7. Drop into the cinnamon-sugar mixture and roll to cover either half or the whole ball of dough. 
8. Place on the parchment paper lined baking sheet, cinnamon sugar-coated face up, and gently flatten to a thick 1¼" disc. 
9. Bake for 15 minutes or until the edges just start to brown.  Let cool for several minutes on the baking sheet before removing from the pan. 

NOTE: Do not freeze, or freezing is not recommended - it changes the texture.

Buckwheat pancakes (Galettes de sarrazin) - Plain

Food of my people immortalized by the character Séraphin Poudrier in Claude-Henri Grignon's "Un homme et son péché", published in 1933. Séraphin's beleaguered child-bride Donalda was forced to only eat these with molasses to satisfy her husband's avarice. Myself, I quite like them but, then again, I choose to eat them. They can be eaten with sweet toppings or there are classic savory versions that are equally delicious. This is the basic recipe for the pancake.

1 cup (120g) buckwheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 cup+ (250 ml+) milk of choice

2 eggs

Butter for frying

1. Combine the ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk until uniform.
2. Let the batter rest for 30 to 40 minutes.
3. Beat again before using. 
4. The batter will likely be a bit thick. Add more milk until you get the consistency of light cream.
5. Heat an empty 8 to 10" fry pan over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until it's very hot.
6. Melt some butter and pour in ⅓ cup of batter, swirling the pan to get an even distribution; you may also use a palette knife or pastry scraper to smooth it out with a deft turn of the wrist. The bottom of the pan should be completely covered.
7. When the bubbles pop and the surface dries out a bit, flip to cook the other side; this should happen within 30 to 60 seconds, if not, adjust the heat. The bottom should be a light golden colour, not too dark since the galette will be re-heated with the filling of your choice.

Straightforward Cornbread

A very simple and good version where I can dial down the sweet for savory and dial it back up for desert applications (buttered and slathered with maple syrup, oh my!).

1 cup milk (250g)

6 Tbsps (3oz/84 gr) melted fat (butter, lard, olive oil, whatever)

2 large eggs

1¼ cups (210g) cornmeal 

1¼ cup (180g) flour

2 Tbsps to ⅓ cup sugar

1 Tbsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1. Heat oven to 400°F.
2. Grease bottom and side of a round cake pan or line with parchment paper.
3. Whisk the milk, butter and eggs in large bowl.
4. Plop in the remaining ingredients all at once and stir just until the flour is moistened (the batter will be lumpy).
5. Pour it into the pan.
6. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown and it passes the toothpick test.
7. Cut into wedges and serve.

Frittella Di Spaghetti Fritti

A fantastic way of using up leftover pasta dishes. The trickiest part is the get the right balance of salt, which is dependent on the saltiness of the original dish. Was it already salty? Is there cheese in it that make it salty? The uncertainty is worth it, given the lovely crunchy browned crust that develops thanks to the parmesan-laden egg. Dairy free if you omit the cheese and use olive oil instead of butter.

LHSS Score 7.7 / 10

With Wheat Berry Salad - LHSS Score 8.6 / 10

8 oz dried pasta OR 16 oz of leftover pasta dish

2 whole eggs

1 to 2 oz grated Parmesan cheese

¼ to 1 tsp salt, to taste

½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1 Tbsp (½ oz/14gr) + 1 Tbsp (½ oz/14gr) butter + more to grease the plate

OPTIONAL - 1 tsp minced garlic

1. If using leftover pasta, skip this step. If starting from scratch, cook the pasta and drain well, letting cool a bit before using.
2. Meanwhile, mix the eggs, Parmesan, salt, and pepper (and optional garlic) in a large bowl. 
3. Add the cool/cold pasta to the egg mixture and toss well. 
4. Heat a 6" (preferred but not essential) frying pan over medium low heat with one tablespoon of butter. When it's sizzling, about 5 minutes, add the pasta mix. Let it cook for about 5 to 7 minutes until a nice brown crust has formed.
5. Meanwhile, lightly grease a dinner plate with a bit of butter for the next step.
6. When the bottom of the pancake is brown, make sure it's loose from the pan. Upturn the plate on top of the pancake, hold the plate firmly in place with your hand, grab the handle of the pan and flip the pancake onto the plate, and remove the pan. It should just drop onto the plate. Set aside for a moment.
7. Set the pan back on the stove-top, add the remaining Tbsp of oil and slide the pancake back into the pan. Cook the second side for about 5 minutes to get another nice brown crust. 
8. Once browned on both sides, flip back onto the plate and serve immediately.
9. And you're done. 
10. This should make a dinner for two people, or side dish portions for four.

Jacques (apple spooncakes)

According to Elizabeth David, these are from the Perigord region of France. It's amazing how the texture improves if the batter is left to hydrolyze overnight. They are small, custardy delicious little pancakes.

1 cup flour (4¼oz/120g)

½ cup of milk

½ cup water

1 Tbsp oil

a pinch salt

1 tsp sugar + more for sprinkling

2 eggs

2 or 3 small apples (5oz/approx 300g) preferably old and wrinkled, grated. If skin is tough, remove it.

Optional: rum or brandy

the juice from ½ lemon

Butter

NOTE: This recipe should be started several hours before making, preferably left overnight. 

1. Mix together the flour, milk, water, oil, salt, sugar, and eggs; stir the batter very well, then let it rest for several hours to overnight.
2. Grate the apples and mix in the lemon juice (and/or booze). TIP: if it's a fresh apple, take fists-full of the grated flesh and squeeze out as much juice as possible. Lightly desiccated this way the apple will more easily soak up the lemon or booze, and won't make the pancakes soggy.
3. Coat a thick bottomed pan with a pat of butter and heat up until the butter just starts to froth. Turn the heat down to medium low for a slow fry.
4. Using a wooden mixing spoon, drop a spoonful of batter onto the hot pan, making room for more; you should be able to cook at least four little spooncakes at-a-time in the pan. They are done when both sides are nicely browned.
5. Put more butter in the pan for every new batch of spooncakes.
6. Serve immediately. Tasty with maple syrup and/or apple butter and yogurt.

Simple crèpe omelette

Eggs are a delicacy unto themselves. Sometimes, I just want a simple egg dish, and Laura Calder's French-Style Omelette is exactly what will satisfy. There is nothing I feel needs altering about this recipe, in all its glorious simplicity. I like to have it on a slice of lightly toasted Commons bread.

French Style Omelette

1 tsp (4.7gr) butter

2 eggs

1 tsp chopped fresh herbs (such as basil, dill, thyme, chervil or parsley)

Salt and pepper

1. Melt the butter in an omelette or crêpe pan. 
2. Lightly whisk the eggs and pour them into the hot pan. 
3. When the bottom has just set enough to be lifted, gently lift up the edges, here and there, and, tilting the pan, let some of the runny part on top spill underneath. Do this until the top is set, but still a little slithery. 
4. Sprinkle with chopped fresh herbs. Season with salt and pepper. 
5. Then roll the omelette into log like a crepe and slip it onto a plate (or fold it a couple of times into a squarish slice and slip onto a lightly toasted piece of bread). 
6. Brush the top with extra butter, if you like, to make it nice and glossy. Serve.

Pear and Chocolate Tart

It is extraordinary that there is no additional sugar added to this tart. I admit that we tend to like less sweet desserts, and if you do, I'd recommend sprinkling a tablespoon of sugar on top after the initial 10 minutes of baking.

Part 1 - the pie crust

1 cup (150g) flour
¼ tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
½ cup (4oz/114gr) butter, cut into pieces
1 egg yolk
1 Tbsp + cold water

1. Follow the instructions for the Pie Crust, but substitute the vanilla for 1 egg yolk and be careful about the amount of water you add to avoid having a wet dough. 
2. Put the crust to chill for at least 15 minutes.

Part 2 - the filling

4 oz/114g 70% dark chocolate, chopped fine
3 to 4 pears cut in half, peeled and cored
1 egg
1 egg yolk
½ cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. After chilling the crust, sprinkle in the chopped chocolate, and arrange the pear halves, cut-side down, to fill the crust as completely as possible, most easily accomplished if arranged in an attractive flower pattern.
3. In a small bowl whisk together the egg, yolk, cream and vanilla to make a simple custard.
4. Use a spoon to pour the custard mix evenly over the pears so that they have all been wet by the liquid - this will help them brown nicely. 
5. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn down the heat to 350°F and cook an additional 25 to 30 minutes.
6. If the pears have not caramelized, put under the broiler until they do.

Welsh Rabbit (Rarebit)

Also known as Welsh Rarebit. It's a lovely, cheesy, bready meal made with beer. Homer Simpson, eat your heart out!

⅔ cup milk

1½ Tbsp flour

14 oz sharp cheddar

1 tsp English mustard powder

4 oz beer (I haven't explored the difference between using Stout or Ale)

2 egg yolks

a pinch of cayenne

Black pepper, to taste (¼ tsp)
Crusty country-style bread (my fave)

OPTIONAL - 1 thick slice of ham per slice of bread.

1. Start toasting, until golden brown, some thick homemade bread (I used slices of Bread).
2. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat the milk until just below boiling and whisk in the flour to make a roux. Whisk until it just starts to brown.
3. Whisk and add the beer slowly. It will bubble up, which actually helps break up the roux. Cook another 3 minutes, whisking, until thick and smooth.
4. Add the cheese, the egg yolk, the mustard and the cayenne. Cook until the cheese melts and everything is well combined, then season with black pepper and set aside to rest a couple of minutes.
5. Turn on the broiler. Arrange the bread onto a cookie sheet. Spread the cheese sauce until it spills over the edges of the toasted bread; this prevents the edges of bread from burning under the broiler, then put in the oven to grill for 20 to 30 seconds or until it's bubbly and starting to brown.

Potage Fontange (Mixed Vegetable Soup)

This is a soup which was eaten at Giverny, Monet's country home where grows to this day the garden that inspired so many of his paintings. I've leaped into the book Monet's Table once again and tried a couple more recipes. I've made substitutions to this soup just because some of the ingredients are a little challenging to find here - not impossible, just not at the grocery store nearby. I've indicated the substitutions as well as the original ingredients for the sake of keeping a record - my additions are in parentheses and italicized.

Part 1 - the peas

2 cups dried green or yellow (split) peas

Part 2 - the soup

2 Tbsps (28gr) of butter

1 onion (6oz/170g) thinly sliced

2 leeks (12oz/340gr) white parts only, thinly sliced

½ lb sorrel (or ½ lb spinach, plus 1 Tbsp lemon juice added later) trimmed and shredded

1 head iceberg (or romaine) lettuce (550g) trimmed and shredded (or 300g Swiss chard, thick midribs removed)

3 sprigs chervil (or 1 Tbsp finely chopped French tarragon or parsley), finely chopped

2 potatoes (16oz) peeled and cut in half (or quarters for a piece in each bowl)

6 cups rich beef broth (or any broth) or water

½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

Part 3 - the cream

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2 egg yolks

1 cup crème fraîche, full fat yogurt or heavy cream (maybe just ½ cup?)

½ cup (4oz/114gr) butter, gently melted and allowed to cool 1 to 2 minutes

Bread to accompany the soup

1. The split peas: Soak the dried peas in water for 2 hours (I put it in a pot and left it on the stove at the lowest temperature, just to keep the water hot but not boiling to make this go faster) then drain.
2. The soup: In the meantime, melt 2 Tbsps of butter in the soup pot. Add the onion, leeks, sorrel (or spinach, not the lemon juice yet), lettuce (or chard) and chervil. Cook over low heat until the veg are well coated; do not let them brown.
3. Add the split peas and potatoes, give it a good stir, then add the broth. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer gently for 60–120 minutes, or until the split peas are completely soft and beginning to break down.
4. (If using spinach, add the lemon juice now). At this point you have two choices: 1) strain the soup (using a vegetable mill or forced through a sieve using a wooden spoon) or 2) keep it chunky where it's recommended you break up the potato with the back of a spoon and mix it in. Either way, you'll then need to make the cream, and for this you must...
5. The cream: The purpose of this step is to enrich the soup with a classic French liaison — it will give the finished soup a velvety, rounded quality that sets it apart from a plain pea potage. 
1. Beat the softened butter with a wooden spoon until it is completely smooth with no lumps.
2. Beat the dairy and egg yolks together in a bowl. in the crème fraîche or cream a little at a time until fully incorporated, then beat in the egg yolks one at a time. 
3. While whisking continuously, stream in the melted butter into the dairy/yolk bowl. The mixture should look uniform and creamy. 
4. 
   
5. Place this cream either in a warmed soup tureen or divide it among individual bowls. NOTE: Your soup must be very hot when you pour it on top — ladle a small amount of the hot soup over the cream first, stirring it directly into the cream to begin warming it gradually, then pour or ladle the rest of the soup over slowly, continuing to stir as you go. This gradual approach warms the egg yolks gently without scrambling them, and brings the whole thing together into a rich, unified soup.
6. Enjoy with crusty bread.

Apple-Custard Pie

This is part of a perfect marriage. I like fruit pies, Ben likes custard pies. This apple custard pie blends the creaminess of the custard with the pleasant bite of cooked apple. I like vanilla a lot so I always put in a bit more than most, and in this recipe the custard takes on more of a pastry cream texture, with the vanilla lending a wonderful floral quality that marries well with the apple.

Cookie Crust Pie Shell, partially blind-baked (when blind-baking, only bake for up to 10 minutes and try to protect the crust by covering it - the pie will bake an additional 30 minutes and you don't want the crust to overcook)

4 firm apples such as Spartan, Jona Gold, Granny Smith, etc, peeled, cored and sliced thin

1⁄4 cup + 2 Tbsp sugar

Pinch of nutmeg

1 cup heavy cream

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

3 Tbsps (42gr) butter

1. Set the oven rack in the middle position and preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, smear the paper with a little butter and arrange the apple slices in a single layer on top (you will likely have to use two cookie sheets to do this properly. The apples have to cook and absorb the sugar which is best done if they're not overlapping). Sprinkle each cookie sheet with 1 Tbsp sugar, powder with the pinch of nutmeg. The amount of time the apple cooks depends on the firmness of the apple - test the slices with a paring knife; if it goes in smoothly, the apple is done. The slices should be tender yet still keep their shape.
3. Whisk the cream, eggs and vanilla together, add the remaining sugar and mix a bit more then set aside.
4. Layer the apples in the pie shell in concentric circles. I tend to make two layers of apples in two concentric circles. At last pour the egg mixture on top. Dot the surface with the remaining 2 Tbsp of butter and bake the pie at 400°F 30 minutes.
5. During the baking, check the crust; if you see it browning too much, remove the pie from the oven and cover the edges of the crust with tin foil, then re-introduce into the oven.
6. Allow to cool completely before serving.