Cooking from Scratch
Munch, munch, munch!
Our Cocoa Nib Biscotti are so tasty that we were nearly afraid to change the recipe to make a new variety. As you can see, we got over our fears and decided on biscotti that combine cherries and almonds, which seems like a perfect pairing. How does that sound to you, fellow scratcher? Good? Good. Let’s get into the Scratchin’ It Test Kitchen and whip some up.
Continue reading “Cherry-Almond Biscotti”
Like the Gozinaki we made just the other day, this recipe comes from Dorie’s Cookies, by none other than Dorie Greenspan. In the beginning of the book, she covers fairly standard cookies, chocolate chip and similar ilk, but, later in the book, she has a number of different-sounding cookies, such as Gozinaki, and this one for a partly salty, partly savory, and partly sweet cookie. We were intrigued. So, we made up a batch.
Continue reading “Salty Black-and-White Sesame Cocktail Cookies”
Often, when we go out to dinner at an Indian restaurant, we order a sampler appetizer, consisting of pakoras, samosas, and the like. Sometimes we like these even better than the meal; not surprisingly, because they’re usually deep-fried. Well, we don’t deep-fry here in the Scratchin’ It Kitchen, mainly because of dealing with all that oil, so, we figured, why not bake samosas instead?
Continue reading “Potato and Pea Samosas”
One of us got a notice to report for jury duty on Monday (possibly), the same day we volunteer downtown, which is when we bring treats for the other volunteers. Jury duty might mean that one of us would be gone most or all day, so any treats we made would have to be made ahead of time, which eliminates an awfully lot of baked-fresh goods. Now, if we add to the mix that we want our treats to match somewhat an adjacent holiday, month, or season (Bourbon-Pecan Mini Pies or Kings Cakelets for Mardi Gras, Peppermint Stick Ice Cream for December, etc), it gets difficult to figure out just what to make. After all, the only holiday this time of February is President’s Day.
Continue reading “Cherry Almond Brittle”
We wanted to try a new type of candy this year and had just read a recipe for peppermint patties, or, as we’ll refer to this version, pepperminties. We found this in Prune, by Gabrielle Hamilton, which we really enjoyed. It’s printed to look like the notebook that the staff uses in the restaurant (maybe it’s basically a copy; we don’t know), including handwritten notes about handling and plating the food. If you want to have some feel for what goes on in a high-pressure restaurant kitchen, check out this book. But, for now, let’s check out how to make pepperminties.
Continue reading “Pepperminties”
No one seems to make candy from scratch anymore. And, while we can understand that, well, just a bit, because candy is so ubiquitous, we happen to know that candy you make at home is about a million times better-tasting. Plus, some candies are remarkable easy — you can have a batch done in under an hour with very little effort on your part. But, we do have this caveat: use a candy thermometer, preferably a digital candy thermometer. It’ll set you back about $15, but, once you start using one, you’ll never know how you did without. So, if you have a thermometer, let’s scratch up a batch of brittle.
Continue reading “Peanut Brittle”
Hamantaschen? What the heck are Hamantaschen? Basically, little filled, triangular-shaped cookies traditionally eaten during the Jewish holiday of Purim (we looked it up on Wikipedia to check as, not being Jewish, we have only very rudimentary knowledge of Jewish foods and customs). So, now that we know these are cookies; what’s up with the savory filling?
Continue reading “Sweet Potato and Parmesan Hamantaschen”