Baking Inspiration - Lemon Shortbread Sandwich Creams

Though I greatly prefer cooking to baking, I've been on a bit of a baking tear lately. Specifically, I've seriously been enjoying making (and eating!) shortbread. I can't believe that I just never knew it was so easy! Butter, sugar, flour, and there you have it. Practically instant. One bowl. No egg. You don't have to feel guilty about eating the dough! Though you'll spend a bit of time chilling the dough and cutting it out, shortbread is kind of idiot-proof, which is how I like my baking. Once I got the basic method down, I decided to experiment - a lot. 

Lemon Shortbread Sandwich Cookies filled with tangy Lemon Buttercream, Photo: NK

Meanwhile, it happens to be Girl Scout cookie season and around the time I placed my order with my usual supplier, a good friend of mine mentioned she was on the hunt for Lemonades. I'd never heard of them because apparently they aren't sold in our geographic area, but when she described them - shortbread with tangy lemon icing - they sounded pretty darn good to me. Lemon, after all, is one of my all time favorite flavors, and eating buttercream, well, it's probably one of my main guilty pleasures in the dessert realm. 

My next project was clear. 

After a couple of tasty tries creating plain lemon shortbread cookies, I went one step further and created a lemony buttercream to go with them. While both the cookie and and the buttercream are easy to make, I will warn you that sandwich cookies are fairly labor intensive from a quantity perspective because you need to make 40 cookies to get just 20 sandwiches. And trust me, you'll eat them fast! Nevertheless, these were delicious, and to maximize the yield, I actually ended up icing some of them open-faced so that I could get more cookies out of the batch. Once that was done, I stored them in the freezer with parchment between the layers. If you do so, be sure to detach the cookies before they unfreeze so the buttercream stays intact. I can't wait to share these with my friend and I hope you enjoy them too!! 

Lemon Shortbread Sandwich Cookies
Adapted from Bon Appetit

Yield - About 40 cookies or 20 Sandwich Cookies 

Ingredients:
2 Sticks Unsalted Butter room temperature
1/2 Cup Confectioners Sugar
4 teaspoons packed finally grated Lemon Peel
1 teaspoon Lemon Extract 
2 teaspoons Lemon Juice 
2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Coconut Palm Sugar or Brown Sugar (optional) 
Generous pinch Kosher Salt
1Tablespoon Sparkling Sugar or other large grain granulated (or regular white sugar is fine)


Lemon Buttercream (Recipe Below)

Equipment: Small Round Cookie Cutter (Oreo sized), Rolling Pin, Saran Wrap and Parchment Paper

Cook's Note: If you use this dough recipe for larger cookies you'll likely have to bake them more like 15-16 minutes

Method:
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a mixer beat the Butter and Confectioners Sugar until smooth and a little fluffy. Beat in Lemon Peel and Lemon Extract. Add Flour and Salt and mix until just blended. Beat in the optional Coconut Palm Sugar or Brown Sugar (this gives a pretty speckle to the cookies which creates some visual interest). 

Move dough to large piece of saran wrap and form into a disk. Place another piece of saran wrap over the disk and roll it out to about a quarter inch thickness. Slide dough sheet with saran wrap still on it onto a baking sheet and transfer to the fridge to chill for 30-40 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 350 and remove the dough from the fridge. Remove the top layer of saran and cut out circles with a cookie cutter making them as close together as possible. Lift the bottom layer of saran and cut out cookies off the baking sheet. Carefully peel each circle off and transfer back onto the parchment covered baking sheet - they won't spread much but you should leave an inch of space in between if possible.  Sprinkle with Sparkling Sugar and return baking sheet to fridge to chill 10 minutes.

Reserve the dough scraps and re-roll them, repeating the same process, to make as many other cookies as you can. 

Place in the middle rack of the oven and cook 11 minutes until the edges are turning just slightly golden and you can smell the shortbread. 

Allow to fully cool without disturbing. Cookies will be very delicate. 
Once cool you can ice the cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream (recipe is below). 
***Be sure the Buttercream is room temperature when you ice the cookies so it spreads on gently and you don't break the cookie. 

Once you've iced the bottom cookie add the top cookie and gently press together. Chill again in the fridge to fuse everything together. Serve at room temperature! 

Lemon Buttercream
Yield: Approximately 1.5 Cups, enough to ice 20 sandwich cookies with more to spare

Ingredients:
1 stick Salted Butter, softened
3 Cups Confectioners Sugar
1 Tablespoon Lemon Extract 
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract 
2 teaspoons Lemon Juice
Lemon Zest (a few pinches, optional)
3-4 Drops Yellow Food Coloring (optional) 


Method:

Blend the first two ingredients on medium speed until fluffy and fully incorporated. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend. 

You can store several days in the fridge but to ice the cupcakes you must allow the buttercream to come to room temperature. 

Our Favorite Party Salad - Shepherd's Salad

Long ago I wrote a post about the sad plight of the salad at barbecue or banquet-style events. Whenever you're cooking a big (and rich) party meal like a Super Bowl spread, it's easy to feel like you simply must add leafy greens to temper the gluttony.  In turn, guests will feel obliged to place a scoop or two of salad on their plates, though you're like to find the Mac and Cheese you serve goes a heck of a lot faster. The problem with standard salads is, at least in my experience, unless they are something very special, they just don't get eaten and often go almost completely to waste. As a fix, I try and keep banquet salads as interesting as possible by using irresistible (think: Prosciutto and Burrata) fun, or unexpected ingredients (for ideas, check out: this, this, this or this). 

Shepherd's Salad, Photo: NK

Nonetheless, if you need an exceptionally simple and satisfying make-ahead salad that most people actually eat, my go-to is Shepherd's Salad - a Turkish/Middle Eastern favorite made with chunky cuts of universally-loved veggies: cucumber, tomato and pepper, which are then tossed in a vinegar or lemon dressing. I don't know why diners seem to prefer Shepherd's Salad over traditional green salads, but I think it has something to do with the fact that people love crunchy things, and it's easier to serve and eat with one hand as you would at a buffet. Additionally, kids seem to be more tolerant of it than they are of leafy salads. 

Of course, this dish is at its best in summer when tomatoes are at their peak, but with a little careful buying, it can still be tasty in winter months. Just be sure to purchase whichever tomatoes (large or small) are the most ripe. Since today's recipe will accompany our Super Bowl spread, I opted for cherry tomatoes cut in half or thirds because they looked the best. 

Shepherd's Salad benefits from being dressed ahead and sitting for a bit, and you can serve it cold or room temperature, which I generally prefer. I recommend dressing it 3-4 hours before serving and giving it a few tosses. You can absolutely do the chopping the morning of or even the night before, and the salad will still maintain much of its crunchiness and freshness. Some of Shepherd's Salad omit the olives or include grated feta (or ricotta salata would be a nice choice too). I like mine with a small amount of olives and no cheese. It's tasty enough. 

Coban Salad / Coban Salatasi  (Shepherd's Salad)
Very Minimally Adapted from The Spruce
Serves 8 lightly, 6 generously

Ingredients:

2 Large Hothouse Cucumbers (Seedless) - one with the skin off, the other skin on (to create visual interest)
2 large Tomatoes or a big carton of small Cherry or Grape Tomatoes (go by what's the most ripe - in winter you may have better luck with smaller sized ones)
1 Green Bell Pepper, ribs and seeds removed
2 Tablespoons Italian Parsley, finely chopped 
Chopped and pitted (non-canned) Black Olives such as Kalamata, Gaeta or even Cured Black Olives 
Optional - 1/2 Cup Dry Feta or Ricotta Salata 

Dressing Ingredients: 
1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1.5 Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar or Lemon Juice
Salt and Pepper to taste

Method: 
Chop all vegetables except the Parsley in relatively uniform bite sized pieces and throw them in a bowl. (If using small Tomatoes you may decide to cut them in half or thirds). If large, you'll want to scrape out the seeds as much as possible).

Toss in the finely chopped Parsley and Stir. If using chopped Olives, sprinkle a handful throughout. 

Mix dressing Ingredients, tasting and seasoning to your liking. Dress the salad and let sit in the fridge or at room temperature 3-4 hours, tossing 1 or 2 times if possible. Taste and adjust seasoning before you serve. Add optional grated Cheese. 

Enjoy! 

Christmas Eve, Italian Style

Christmas Eve is traditionally our designated holiday to host, but with the end of this year being so busy for us, we were on the fence. As it is my favorite holiday meal of all time, I found that I was quite saddened by the idea of not being in the kitchen making a big fish feast, in keeping with the custom of so many (mainly southern) Italian and Italian American households. While I resolved that it would be too hectic to make seven fishes as normal, I was still very excited to choose two basic dishes that could be served to our small group of guests. Both dishes featured below can be made in less than 20 minutes once prep is done. 


First, the appetizer: Calamari alla Luciana (Squid Neapolitan Style) 

Calamari alla Luciana, Photo: NK - Recipe HERE 

and then the main, Monkfish Piccata

Monkfish Piccata, Photo: NK - Recipe HERE
 (Note: we omitted the artichokes and kale and served spinach instead) 

Do click through some of our more involved (but never difficult or unduly time consuming) Feast of the Seven Fishes menus below, but I hope today's post gives you some great ideas for your next fish-driven dinner party or family meal. 

Feast of the Seven Fishes for 6 - Year 1
Feast of the Seven Fishes for 6 - Year 2 
Feast of the Seven Fishes for 6 - Year 3

Feast of the Seven Fishes 2015

Feast of the Seven Fishes Holiday Roundup

For Dessert: Using the selection of Christmas Cookies we'd already baked and serving them alongside high quality store bought Gelato was a fas solution. 

I've featured all the recipe to links to this year's Christmas Cookie Assortment below. Five varieties to choose from may sound daunting, but the baking was made easy and achievable by spreading it out over a few days (freezing some of those made in advance helped us immeasurably). The key is also to choose easy, foolproof cookie recipes, sticking to those that require minimal prep, ideally less than 15 minutes.

Christmas Cookie Assortment, Photo: NK

Cookie Assortment, clockwise from the top:

Ina Garten's Shortbread Jam Thumbprints
Christmas Morning Biscotti
Arrowroot Cookies with Cinnamon
Pignoli Cookies 
Spiced Italian Pecan Meringues 

~~

I hope you enjoy and that the holiday season brought happiness and peace to your home. 

We look forward to returning to our usual menu program next Christmas Eve! 

Carols, Cookies and Christmas Cheer

The holiday season is in full swing, and though this is the most busy time for some, it's actually a bit slower in our household, believe it or not. The preceding months were absolutely action packed, and try as I might, I did not get to do nearly enough blog-worthy kitchen experimentation. 

Every holiday season, I attempt to add another cookie to my highly selective baking repertoire (find two of our other favorites HERE and HERE). As a prerequisite, the recipes I repeat must be both very easy to master and predictable in outcome. Nothing bothers me more than doing everything exactly the same and getting a less than stellar result, but such is life with baking, and that's why to this day, I will always prefer to cook. 

This year I have had a bit of an inexplicable thing for shortbread (all my life I had no idea it was so easy to make, often with only 3 ingredients in the dough! ) so Ina Garten's Shortbread Jam Thumbprints drew me in almost immediately. After one test run for half this large-batch recipe, I was convinced that it was totally foolproof. A baker I am not, but I know a good cookie when I taste one. 

You'll find the link to the recipe in the photo below. You can make them ahead and freeze them too! I used unsweetened Coconut Flake whereas the Contessa calls for sweetened. I think ours came out delicious. Pull them just when the coconut stars to get slightly golden. You can't miss! 

Ina's Jam Thumbprint Cookies - Click HERE for Recipe! 

Next up, with all sugar and holiday treats around, I set out to bake an ever so slightly more virtuous treat for my family, one a little less sweet, maybe a little more biscuit like, but still satisfying over a cup of tea or, for the little one, a sippy cup of Milk. 

Arrowroot Flour always catches my eye in the health food store, and I've always been curious about it.  Given this, it only made sense that I should try and recreate a childhood favorite, Arrowroot Cookies. Turns out Arrowroot itself is pretty interesting.  It is a tropical tuber and is native to Indonesia, though is widely used across the eastern world in particular. The starch from derived from this tropical root, commonly referred to as Arrowroot Flour, is known for being easily digestible and satisfying. It was prized in ancient South and Central American cultures particularly. Arrowroot, as the colonists renamed it sometime in the mid 1600's, is almost certainly derived from an Arawak word "aru-aru" which means "meal of meals."   

Once I got my hands on a super simple recipe from another blogger, I was pleased both by how fast the easy dough came together, the equally quick bake time and of course the results. The original recipe from Someone's In The Kitchen Blog appears below with my only change, the addition of a 1/2 teaspoon of Cinnamon, a favorite spice in our house, and the fact that I used light brown sugar instead of dark. Either would work. 

Kids and adults of all ages will enjoy these simple, homey treats, and you will love the cost savings as compared to other kid's crackers. You could get creative and cut the dough into letter shapes, stamp it, decorate with a fork as I did, or even engage your kids in the effort. 

Enjoy and I hope the holiday season is as stress free and fun as possible! 


Simple Cinnamon Arrowroot Biscuits
Lightly Adapted from Someone's In The Kitchen
Yields 25-30 Cookies 

Simple Arrowroot Cookies - So many possibilities! Photo: NK 

Ingredients: 

1/4 cup butter brought to room temperature
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla 
1/2 cup arrowroot flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon Cinnamon 

Method
Preheat oven to 350. 

In a KitchenAid or using a hand blender, combine butter and brown sugar together until creamy

Add vanilla and egg and beat well.

Sift together flours, baking powder, salt and cinnamon if using.

Combing dry ingredients with egg mixture and mix until incorporated. 

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into about ¼ inch thickness.  

Cut into desired shapes and put cookies on a parchment lined cookie sheet, not too far apart as they will not spread out when baking. 

Bake for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

Cool on rack.