Pomegranate & Orange Linzer Cookies

Who doesn't love a good sandwich cookie?  Truth be told, ice cream sandwich cookies from The Coolhaus are my favorite variety (hmm, maybe I should make some).  But when I can't have ice cream "sammies," a Linzer cookie (or two) makes for an excellent treat.

How do you make pomegranate and orange cookies, you ask?  You could do it a lot of ways, but my recipe involves pomegranate jelly-filled orange shortbread.  I've modified my vanilla rum shortbread recipe to add some sweet citrus flavor.

Since Linzer cookies require more steps than your typical cookie recipe, I'll keep this post short and sweet.  Here's R.E.M.'s "Orange Crush."

Ingredients:
--2 sticks + 6 tbsp. chilled and chopped unsalted butter
--zest of one orange (approximately 1 tbsp.)
--2 tbsp. freshly squeezed orange juice
--1 c. turbinado sugar
--1 c. cornstarch
--2 c. all-purpose flour, + extra for rolling
--1 tsp. salt
--pomegranate jelly (I used one from Kozlowski Farms in Sonoma, CA)
--about 1/2 c. confectioners' sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a large bowl, sift the flour, cornstarch, and salt.  In a food processor, combine flour mixture, butter, orange zest, and sugar.  Pulse for about 1-2 minutes.  Slowly drizzle in the freshly squeezed orange juice and continue to pulse until a dough forms.

On a floured surface, separate your dough into quarters.  Roll each piece of dough until it's about 1/4" thick (you can make thicker cookies if you'd like, but since these are going to be sandwich cookies, I like them on the thinner side).  Use a floured Linzer cookie cutter and cut enough cookies for both the bottom layer and the top layer (the one with the decorative cutout).  Repeat with remaining dough, incorporating the scraps until you've used all the dough.

Place cookies on a parchment-lined sheet and bake for 8-9 minutes (no more!).  If the cookies become golden on top, they're a bit overdone.  Remember, they'll be *really* soft when you take them out of the oven--it'll seem like they're not done, but they are.  Place on a cooling rack using a thin spatula and allow cookies to cool completely.  

Once they've cooled, place about 1 tsp. pomegranate jelly on a "bottom layer" cookie and put a "top layer" cookie on top, making a cookie sandwich.  The jelly should poke through the decorative cutout.  Repeat until all the cookies have become delicious little sandwiches.

Using a sifter, dust all the cookies with confectioners' sugar before serving.

Grape Pie a la Mode

The weather is hot, hot, hot here, and I was in the mood to make a summertime pie.  Looking for something new, I began perusing the archives of Saveur, hoping to find a unique idea.  I came across a recipe for a Concord grape pie and decided to adapt it for this delicious grape pie a la mode (no grape pie is complete, in my opinion, without a scoop of vanilla ice cream).  It's so simple yet oh-so-good.

While this pie is delicious warm, you've gotta let this one cool once you take it out of the oven.  The filling really needs to set.  If you want to have your pie warm with some ice cream or whipped cream on top, first let it set and heat it up just a tad later on.  (By the way, you'll notice my new Le Creuset red "pie bird" in my pics.  Super cool.  Thanks, Happy Cook!)

I'll let you in on a little secret: my new thing for fruit pies is adding some jelly or preserves.  It helps the filling to firm up a bit, and it adds a great jammy flavor.

And another not-so-secret tip: grape juice really does stain!  After making this pie, my fingertips were purple, and my white melamine bowls were flecked with purple.  My kitchen was in, well, a bit of a purple haze.  Naturally, here's the Cure covering Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze."

Ingredients:
--2 pie crusts (my truly never-fail pie crust recipe here)
--1 pound black grapes (you could definitely use Concord grapes, but our Virginia grocery stores don't seem to stock them)
--1/4 cup grape jelly
--1/4 c. granulated sugar
--juice from one lemon (freshly squeezed is always better!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a 9" pie dish with your first pie crust.  Now, I hope you have some patience.  Fill a large bowl about halfway with ice water and set aside.  Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil and drop your grapes in.  Let them sit for just 20-30 seconds, then remove and place in the ice water.  This is all to make "skinning" your grapes a little bit easier.  (The skins will peel off relatively easily, but this is still a labor of love.)

Put grape skins in a large bowl and set aside.

Add skinned grapes to a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring regularly for about 12-15 minutes, or until the grapes are quit soft.

Using a potato masher or a fork, mash them just a little bit (you want them mashed but retaining a bit of shape).  Transfer them into the bowl with the skins.  Add grape jelly, sugar, and lemon juice.  Mix and pour into unbaked pie shell.  (If you have a "pie bird" like mine, place him in the center of your pie crust before pouring in the grape mixture.)

Cover the pie with the second crust.  You can do a lattice pie if you'd like, or simply cover with a full pie crust and cut a small hole in the center.  Pinch the edges and cover them in foil.

Bake for 35 minutes with crusts covered.  After 35 minutes, remove the foil and bake for about another 20 minutes, or until crusts are just golden brown and the top of the pie crust is firm.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

I really recommend serving warmed, a la mode.  The pie leftovers will keep for quite a few days and are also delicious straight out of the fridge.

Ginger Lemon Tart

This dessert is my own version of a deconstructed (or reconstructed, as it were) gingersnap cookie dipped in bittersweet lemon curd.  It's a ginger cookie crust, filled with homemade lemon curd, and topped with a molasses whipped cream.

It's been awhile since I've made a tart, but every time I do, I think about "Queen of Tarts"--a gorgeous little food and pastry shop in Cape Town, SA that's more than worth a visit (or two). 

The Felice Brothers have a new album coming out, "Favorite Waitress," and it features a pretty excellent song I heard about a year ago on a recording from Asheville's Orange Peel.  Here's that acoustic version of "Cherry Licorice."

...All she wants to drink is lemon spritzer/ she don't care if the image fits her/ Who wants to spend their time/ choking on lemon rind

Ingredients:
*Adapted from Ina Garten's "Lemon Curd Tart"
Ginger Cookie Crust:
--12 tbsp. unsalted butter, chilled and chopped
--1/2 c. dark brown sugar
--1 3/4 c. flour
--1/2 tsp. salt
--1 tsp. ground ginger

Lemon Curd Filling:
--5 lemons
--1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
--8 tbsp. butter, softened at room temperature
--6 eggs
--pinch of salt

Molasses Whipped Cream:
--1 pint heavy whipping cream
--1/2 c. granulated sugar
--2 tbsp. molasses (you could add more or less depending on taste)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

First make the crust.  In a food processor, combine butter, dark brown sugar, flour, salt, and ginger.  Pulse until the mixture begins to form a crumbly dough.  Form into a ball and press into a 10" tart pan.  Press dough from the center outward until the interior of the tart pan--bottom and sides--are covered.  Cover the crust with aluminum foil and bake for 18 minutes.  Remove tart crust from the oven and remove the foil.  Poke fork holes throughout the dough and continue to bake uncovered for another 20 minutes, or just until the crust begins to turn a light golden color.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.

While your crust is cooling, it's time to make your lemon curd filling.  Zest all five lemons.

Then cut the lemons in half and juice them.  You should have just about one cup of lemon juice.  Pour through a sieve and set aside.

Combine the zest and the 1 1/2 c. sugar in a food processor, and pulse for about 2 minutes.  You'll want the zest to be extremely finely ground and completely incorporated into the sugar.  In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the zest and sugar mixture with the butter until smooth.  Add your eggs one at a time and mix at a low speed.  Drop in a pinch of salt.  Slowly add the fresh lemon juice, continuing to mix at a low speed until all ingredients are combined.

Transfer your curd mixture to a medium saucepan and heat over low for approximately 10 minutes, stirring constantly, until the curd has thickened.  Remove it from the heat, allow to cool just slightly, then pour into the cooled crust.  Allow the mixture to set for 30 minutes at room temperature and then transfer to the refrigerator.

When you're ready to serve, make the molasses whipped cream.  In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, combine heavy whipping cream, sugar, and molasses until you have your desired thickness.  I like to whisk mine until medium-stiff peaks form.  Top your ginger lemon tart with the molasses whipped cream and serve.

Tiramisu

Tiramisu is one of those desserts that looks really complicated, but it's actually a treat you can make with relative ease as long as you have a little bit of time on your hands.  And it's one of my favorite "desserts served cold."  (You know what I mean--cookies and pies often seem best when they're still warm from the oven, but tiramisu is at its most delicious around 38 degrees F.)

Sometimes this sweet treat has raw eggs in it.  And while those varieties--like Giada's version, for instance--are delicious, I like to make mine with zabaglione (an Italian custard) instead.  In other words, no raw eggs.

This dish takes some time to put together and also needs some time to chill in the refrigerator, so be sure to give yourself a good 6 hours before you want to serve it.  Since this dessert is all about the coffee flavor, here's Mississippi John Hurt singing "Coffee Blues."

Ingredients:
--1 package Savoiardi ("ladyfinger" cookies, and you'll need about 30)
--6 large egg yolks, separated
--1/3 c. granulated sugar
--1/3 c. brandy
--16 oz. mascarpone (usually two small tubs)
--1/2 c. heavy whipping cream
--2 tsp. vanilla extract
--2 c. very strong coffee, brewed and cooled
--1/4 c. cocoa powder
--1/2 c. shaved dark chocolate

(Note: you'll need to brew and cool your coffee ahead of time so it's ready to go.  You can substitute strong coffee for espresso, but I like to use a French press to make a really strong and flavorful coffee for the tiramisu.)

In a double boiler, whisk egg yolks and granulated sugar constantly until the mixture just begins to thicken.  Slowly add the brandy, whisking constantly, until it's combined.  Continue to heat mixture, whisking, until you have a creamy, medium-thick custard (about 4 or 5 minutes).  Now you've got yourself "zabaglione," or an Italian custard.  Cover with plastic and allow to cool in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the mascarpone, vanilla, and whipping cream until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.  Slowly add the zabaglione to the mixture on low speed until it's combined.  Set aside.

In an 8x8 baking dish, place approximately 10 ladyfingers (just so the bottom of the dish is covered).  Using a teaspoon, drizzle the coffee over the ladyfingers until they're wet with coffee (you don't want them dripping, but you want them soft).

Next, using a spatula, spread about 1/3 of the cream mixture onto the lady fingers.

Then top with about 1/3 of the cocoa powder and 1/3 of the dark chocolate shavings (by the way, if you like a little less chocolate, you could just use either the cocoa powder or chocolate shavings).  Repeat two more times until you have tiramisu!  Chill covered in the refrigerator for about 2-3 hours.

Store leftovers in the fridge.  This won't keep for more than about 48-72 hours, so eat up!

Millionaire's Shortbread ("Billionaire" Style)

Have you had the most delicious shortbread in the world?  Here's the recipe!  Millionaire's shortbread is a popular British treat, and this recipe is adapted from Jennifer Yee's "Billionaire's Shortbread" featured in Food and Wine.  In short, it's more decadent than the classic millionaire's shortbread with amber caramel, a rich dark chocolate ganache, and a sea salt topping.

This recipe is more than a little time intensive, so make sure you have several hours to spare if you're going to make it.  No doubt, it's worth it.  You'll end up with one of the most deliciously rich shortbread confections you've ever tasted.  Since it's topped with a thick layer of ganache, it's gotta be served chilled and stored in the refrigerator (don't take it to a picnic).

Do you know the Cleveland bank Rocket from the Tombs?  I discovered them on CD in college and found the same collection on vinyl at Normal's in Baltimore a year or two ago.  (Rocket from the Tombs was a very short-lived but amazing punk band.)  If you don't know them, you should.  Here's "So Cold" from a "posthumous," if you will, collection of live and demo recordings from 1974-75 on The Day the Earth Met the Rocket from the Tombs.

Ingredients:
*Adapted from Jennifer Yee's Billionaire's Shortbread
Shortbread:
--1 stick unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
--3/4 c. all-purpose flour
--1/4 c. corn flour
--1/3 c. granulated sugar
--pinch of salt

Caramel:
--1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
--2 tbsp. unsalted butter
--1/2 c. heavy cream
--pinch of salt

Chocolate Ganache:
--16 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
--3/4 c. heavy cream
--1 tsp. vanilla
--coarsely ground sea salt (for topping)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Make the shortbread first.  Combine butter, flour, corn flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor.  Pulse until a dough forms.  Now line an 8" square baking pan with aluminum foil so that the foil comes up over the edges (take two sheets of foil and cross them in the pan).  Then line the bottom with a square of parchment paper.  Press the shortbread dough into the pan with the palm of your hand and smooth it until it's even.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, or just until the edges are slightly golden.  The dough will still be slightly soft when it's done.  Don't overcook it!  Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Now make the caramel.  Jennifer Yee makes a wet caramel, but I prefer to make a dry one.  Dry caramels (or those made with *just* sugar and no water) are a darker amber color, and I think they go really nicely with dark chocolate and sea salt.

In a medium saucepan, add 1 1/2 c. sugar over medium heat (on the lower side of medium).  Let the sugar sit until it begins to caramelize.  Don't mix it.  Instead, using a spatula, just continue pushing the edges of the sugar down into the pan.  You'll see the sugar begin to caramelize and turn an amber color.  Fight the urge to mix it!  The rest of the sugar will incorporate and caramelize, too.  But watch it very closely--once all he sugar has incorporated, it's done--don't let it burn.  Turn the heat to low and add 2 tbsp. unsalted butter.  Swirl in the butter until it has melted.  Now add the heavy cream (be careful when doing this--it splashes) and mix continuously for about 3-4 minutes, or just until you've have a beautifully textured caramel.  Swirl in the pinch of salt and remove from heat.

Immediately pour over the chilled shortbread and place in the refrigerator to cool down for about an hour.

Finally, make the chocolate ganache!  Place 16 oz. chopped dark chocolate in a medium-sized bowl.  In a small saucepan, heat 3/4 c. heavy cream over low-medium heat until it reaches a simmer.  Pour over the chocolate and add 1 tsp. vanilla.  Let it sit until the chocolate melts almost completely.  Then stir until you have a smooth, creamy ganache.  Pour over the shortbread/caramel and smooth with a spatula.  Top with some coarsely ground sea salt.  Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1-2 hours.

Once the ganache has chilled, remove the shortbread from the pan (the foil and parchment should allow you to just lift it up) and cut into squares.

Serve chilled, and store any extra squares covered in the refrigerator.

Hummingbird Cake

Rumor has it that this recipe was named the "hummingbird cake" because those who had a delicious slice spent the rest of their days happily humming.  It's a banana, pineapple, and walnut cake with layers of cream cheese buttercream icing.  What's not to love?

I actually made this cake for my birthday last month, but I'm just now getting around to posting it.  I adapted my recipe from the one that appears in Saveur.  The magazine indicates that this cake has its origins with Edna Lewis, an African American southern cooking extraordinaire from Virginia who lived most of her adult life in New York City.

My first piece of hummingbird cake was a magnificent experience at Maxie B's, a bakery in Greensboro, NC.  In honor of that fantastic Carolina cake shop, here's Ryan Adams singing "Oh My Sweet Carolina."  

Ingredients:
*Adapted from Saveur
Cake Batter:
--3 c. flour, + extra for flouring your cake pans
--1 tbsp. cinnamon
--1 tsp. baking soda
--pinch of salt
--3 tbsp. unsalted butter, + extra for buttering pans
--4 large eggs, beaten
--1 tbsp. vanilla extract
--1 c. crushed pineapple
--4 ripe bananas, mashed
--1 c. brown sugar
--1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
--1 c. finely chopped pecans
--1 c. canola oil

Icing:
--3/4 c. unsalted butter, chilled
--3 8-oz packages of cream cheese
--1 tbsp. vanilla extract
--1 vanilla bean, seeded
--2 3/4 c. confectioner's sugar
--1 c. chopped pecans (for sprinkling on top of the icing)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter Line two 9" or 10" round cake pans and dust with flour so that the flour covers all of the butter.  Gently tap out any excess flour.  Line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper and set aside.

In a standing mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla until light and smooth.  Add the crushed pineapple, bananas, and canola oil.  Continue to beat until combined.  Sift in the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.  Mix on low until combined.  At the end, add in the chopped pecans.

Divide your batter evenly between your two prepared cake pans.  Bake until a cake tester comes out clean, or about 55 minutes.  Allow the cakes to cool for 10 minutes, then remove them from the cake pans.  Set aside to continue cooling.  While the cakes are cooling, make your icing.

Clean your standing mixer.  With the paddle attachment, beat the butter for about 3 minutes, or until it's very smooth.  Add the cream cheese, vanilla, and vanilla bean seeds and beat for another 1-2 minutes.  Slowly add the confectioner's sugar on low speed until it's incorporated.  Then increase the speed to medium-high until the icing is firm but fluffy.

On a cake stand, place a small dollop of the icing and set the first cake on top (the icing will hold it in place).  Spread about 1/3 of the icing over the first cake layer, then generously sprinkle chopped pecans onto the icing.  Add the second cake layer on top.  Add another 1/3 of the icing and cover the cake completely, tops and sides.  With the remaining 1/3 of the icing, decorate the cake however you'd like.  I used an icing bag with a star tip.  Sprinkle remaining pecans all over the cake.

Serve!  And can I just say that this cake also makes for a delicious breakfast and coffee-time treat.

Duck Confit

The last time I saw Paris . . . I also saw a lot of duck confit.  Buttery, salty, tender, melt-in-your-mouth duck confit.  What is this delicious dish?  It's traditionally a duck quarter (leg and thigh) cooked and stored in its own rendered fat.  Yes, you read that right.  A very rich dinner, duck confit is easier to make at home than you might think.

One of the really tricky tasks for making duck confit is locating enough duck fat (and spending quite a lot of money on it!) to cover your duck quarters.  Thanks to the confit-ing genius Michael Ruhlman, I realized that I could have duck confit anytime by simply using olive oil instead of rendered duck fat in the cooking process.  You'll still need quite a bit of olive oil, but you can purchase it readily at any grocery store.

Plan ahead for making this dish: you'll need to start at least 3 days before you want to eat it.  The waiting time will give you more time to listen to "This Country's Going to War" from the most perfect film to complement a duck dish--the Marx Bros.' Duck Soup (in fact, you'll have time to watch the whole film more than once).  

Ingredients:

--4 duck quarters

--herbes de provence 

--a lotta salt

--about one quart olive oil

Day One:

Place duck quarters in an enamel cast iron pan and heavily salt them.  Sprinkle on herbes de provence with a heavy hand, and then rub in the herbs and salt.  (By the way, you can use any herbs you'd like.  Fresh rosemary and thyme would be great.)  Store covered in the fridge for at least 24 hours.

Day Two:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees F.

Rinse the duck legs in cold water to remove the herbs and salt.  Pat dry.  Repeat with the remaining duck quarters.  Place skin-side-up in the enamel cast iron pan and completely cover with olive oil. 

Bring to a simmer on the stove and then transfer, uncovered, to the oven.  Bake for approximately 10 hours, or until the oil has become clear and the duck legs are resting on the bottom of the pan (different chefs say anywhere between 6-12 hours, but I think 10 hours is just about perfect).

Allow to cool and then transfer--the whole cast iron pan and all--to the refrigerator.  Keep refrigerated in the oil, completely submerged, for at least 24 hours.  Here, the longer the better--you can make these up to 3-4 weeks before you're going to serve them since the oil acts as a preservation method.  But remember, at least 24 hours in the cooled fat before eating.

Day Three:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Remove duck quarters from the fat and scrape off remaining fat (it will have congealed around the meat).  Transfer to a baking dish, skin-side-up, and bake for about 20-25 minutes, or just until the skin is quite crispy.  Remove from oven and serve.  Ohmygod.  It's so delicious, and oh-so-easy.