Cosmopolitans & Nibbles

Cosmopolitans & Nibbles
I never thought that Cosmopolitans were a serious cocktail. How I scoffed at those yuppies and dot-com kids sipping their pink drinks, while I enjoyed an icy cold martini (gin only, please!) with the smug satisfaction that I was 'hard core' and they were not.
Then I noticed that one of my food heroes, Arthur Schwartz, printed a rather good argument for their existence and a recipe for the drink on his web site. After some sleuthing, my friend Clifford forwarded me a recipe that I fussed around with to create the perfect Cosmo.
Okay. Snobs may feel that you should use Grand Marnier or Cointreau, but it's not right. Perhaps because I use fresh lime juice instead of the often-used sweet Rose's Lime Juice, but the syrupy sweetness of Triple Sec pairs perfectly with the tart lime and cranberry juice. If you do choose to use Grand Marnier, you should add about 1/4-1/2 teaspoon superfine or Baker's sugar.

Cosmopolitans
For 2 cocktails

4 shots vodka
2 shots Triple Sec
juice of 1/2 lime
cranberry juice, just enough to give a pink color

Fill a shaker with ice, add the above ingredients and shake vigorously. Strain into well-chilled martini glasses.

Of course, cocktails should always be served with little nibbles. Here are two of my favorites:

Middle Eastern Spiced Olives

Take 1/2 pound mixed olives. Toss in 1 tablespoon of harissa (Middle Eastern red chili paste). Remove the pulp from one preserved lemon, and cut into small dice. Toss with the olives. (You did make preserved lemons a few months ago when I gave you the recipe, didn't you? If not substitute three 1/2-inch strips fresh lemon or orange zest).
Harissa can be purchased in tubes in middle eastern markets or is easily made at home.

Roasted Nuts with Rosemary
(from The Union Square Café in New York City)

Roast 3 cups of mixed raw, unsalted nuts (almonds, pecans, cashews, hazelnuts, brazil nuts all work well) in a 350 degree oven for about 12 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer the hot nuts to a bowl, and toss in 3 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves, very coarsely chopped, 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and 1 tablespoon kosher salt.

Lemon Frozen Yogurt with Blueberry Swirl

Lemon Frozen Yogurt
4 cups strained yogurt (Greek-style yogurt)
1 lemon, zest and juice
1/3 cup sugar

Blueberry Syrup
3/4 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1/4 water
2 Tablespoons sugar
dash cinnamon
In a small bowl, add the lemon zest, juice, and sugar. Stir until sugar dissolves and a light syrup forms. Stir syrup into the yogurt. At this point, you had a wonderfully flavored lemon yogurt. Add the mix to an ice-cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer directions. It took about 25 minutes for it to reach a soft-serve consistency.
While the yogurt is in the ice-cream maker, add the blueberries, sugar, cinnamon and water to a small saucepan. Simmer for 10-15 minutes or until blueberries pop and the mix reduces to a semi-thick syrup. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
I’m not a pro when it comes to swirling things together. I added the frozen yogurt and blueberry sauce in alternating layers to a glass bowl. Then, I gave one or two stirs with a spoon to swirl them together. Place into the freezer and allow to firm up.
It will eventually freeze quite firm (i.e. difficult to scoop). Allow to set out for a few minutes before serving. On another attempt, I might consider adding a bit of limoncello which may deepen the lemon flavor and preclude it from freezing solid.

Recipe Girl's Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Mmmmmm........so good.  I love her web site - you will too - please check her site out.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

COOKIES:
2 sticks butter (1 cup), at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup pure pumpkin puree
1 large egg
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

ROLLING SUGAR:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp allspice
1. In a large bowl, cream butter with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add sugar and pumpkin puree and beat well. Mix in egg and vanilla, scraping down sides of the bowl to incorporate all of the ingredients.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and ground cinnamon. Beat flour mixture into liquid mixture a little at a time until incorporated.
3. Cover dough with plastic and chill at least an hour, or until dough becomes slightly firm.
4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper (or spray with nonstick spray). Mix rolling sugar in a small bowl.
5. Remove cookie dough from refrigerator. Use a medium cookie scoop (1 1/2 Tbsp.) or a large spoon to scoop out dough and roll into balls. Use your hands to roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar and make sure they’re coated really well. Place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.  Use a glass with a nice, flat bottom to dip in sugar and flatten the balls.
6. Bake at 350°F. for 10 to 14 minutes, or until they are slightly firm to the touch. Let cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes or so, then remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Yield: About 3 dozen
Cooking Tips
*Store in an airtight container. These cookies freeze well too. Place them in freezer zip bag and remove from freezer when the craving hits.
Source: Adapted from dlynz.com
PRINT THIS RECIPE using your browser’s ‘print’ function. It’s automatically formatted to print recipe & picture only.
RATE THIS RECIPE (2 votes, average: 2.50 out of 5)

Read more: http://www.recipegirl.com/2007/11/05/pumpkin-snickerdoodles/#ixzz0Xb3VP4Bz

Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Biz of Biggest Diabetic Loser has perfected the Best Oven Fries Ever (the picture is proof enough)!! I decided to throw caution to the wind and use the same technique, but for sweet potatoes instead.

My version was:

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4" to 1/2" slices
~5 Tbsp vegetable oil
salt
pepper
onion powder
garlic powder

Preheat your oven to 475°. Then, peel and slice your sweet potatoes. Mine were very large so I cut the potatoes in half and then made strips. Be very careful cutting sweet potatoes! They're pretty resistant to a knife, so you have to use a little more muscle - you don't want that slipping and coming down on a finger!


Once the potatoes are sliced, soak them in water for about 10 minutes. I think this is key in successful oven fries because it'll help with getting them fully cooked in the beginning, leaving time for better browning in the end.


Prepare the baking pan by coating the bottom with about 4 Tbsp of the oil, salt, pepper, garlic and onion powders. Pat the potatoes dry (I didn't, but I'm lazy!!) and toss with about 1 Tbsp of the oil. Lay the potato slices evenly on the baking pan.

Place the pan on the bottom rack of your oven, covered in foil, for 5 minutes. Again, this is key to the overall success. By being in the bottom of your oven, it is very close to the heating element, and by covering for the first five minutes you cook the potatoes through and can then start on the browning.

Remove the foil and then continue baking for 30 minutes. Every ten minutes remove the pan from the oven, flip the fries and then place it back in for another 10 minute round.

Mine were looking great until maybe the last 4 or 5 minutes, when I smelled that they were getting a little too dark. I think maybe because of their higher sugar content, they were more susceptible to burning. We happen to like the darker bits, but admittably some were a little charred.

I think this method would work perfectly for regular potatoes, but if using it to cook sweet potatoes keep a close watch on it the last 5 minutes! It happens fast and you'll want to catch them before they get black!

Overall, VERY delicious and easy to pop back into the oven and warm up leftovers. I dunked mine in ketchup, just as you would a "normal" fry. I look forward to cooking them with different spice experimenting in the future!

Honey Almond Biscotti

Healthified Honey-Almond Biscotti

makes 2 logs of ~20 pieces of biscotti cookies

1 1/4 cups all-purpose or whole wheat flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I like to double to 1 tsp)
1 large egg + 1 egg white
1/2 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
1 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup crushed almonds
powdered sugar, for rolling
Part I:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a cookie sheet with parment paper
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, lemon zest, and honey together. Add to flour mixture with the almonds. Stir till stiff dough forms. (as seen below. I didn’t add any more liquid to it after the picture was taken.)

4. Scrape the dough onto a lightly sugared work surface and divide it into 2 chunks. Shape and roll each piece with the palms of your hands into a log slightly shorter than the length of your cookie sheet.
5. Place logs  several inches apart (the logs will double in width) on cookie sheet.

Bake for 15 minutes, until the logs feel set or firm to the touch. Set the cookie sheets on racks and let cool. Reset the oven to 300°F.
Part II:
6. When cool to the touch, place the logs on a cutting board. With a serrated knife, slice them into 1/2-inch pieces. (Check out the texture inside the biscotti!)

7. Lay the biscotti out on the prepared cookie sheets in a single layer and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, until they are dry and lightly toasted. Cool completely. Store in an airtight tin or plastic container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

Flavor & Texture: The flavors are complex. Before biting, you smell the fragrant lemon zest with a light touch of cinnamon. The crust crumbles gently in your mouth while the center of the biscotti is moist and crunchy from the almonds. Each bite is filled with the sweet combination of lemon, honey, almond, and cinnamon. Absolutely addictive.

Overall Review: This recipe is so worth the effort!!!! It’s oil/grease free, full of good fiber, nut protein, and a zesty, fresh flavor!

Pioneer Woman's P-P-Perfect Pie Crust

This is one of my favorite sites and her step by step photos are wonderful!

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/12/p-p-p-pie_crust_and_its_p-p-p-perfect/

Coconut Frozen Yogurt with Tropical Fruit

by SteamyKitchen on September 21, 2007 · 22 comments

Co-Co Fro-Yo, Baby

Recipe is adapted from Perfect Scoop <–which by the way is written by fellow food blogger David. If you’ve never visited his website before..then…. STOP. Collaborate and Listen. Go visit D’s blog for a brand new sensation… Ice Ice Fro-Yo Baby. Fro-Yo Baby…. sorry. I couldn’t help it. I’m still stuck on the 80’s thing….

Coconut Frozen Yogurt with Tropical Fruit

6 cups of low-fat/whole plain flavored yogurt to yield 3 cups, strained (see below) or 3 cups Greek-style yogurt
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp coconut extract
1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes
mixed tropical fruit (mango, kiwi, papaya, etc.)
Ice cream maker (remember to freeze your insert if you have one)
1. Strain the yogurt: If you are using regular yogurt, you’ll need to strain out the water. Line your mesh strainer with a double-layer of cheesecloth. Spoon the yogurt in, and let it sit propped over a deep bowl in the refrigerator for at least four hours. Discard the water. If you are using Greek-style yogurt (like Fage — found at Whole Foods), you don’t need to strain.
2. Mix and rest: Mix the strained yogurt with the sugar and coconut extract. Let it chill in the refrigerator for one hour to let the sugar dissolve.
3. Churn, baby, churn: Following instructions that came with your ice cream maker, churn until the mixture is the consistency of soft ice cream. 4. Toast coconut and dice fruit: While the fro-yo is churning, toast coconut. Take a dry skillet. Set on medium heat and add the coconut flakes. Stir constantly until flakes toast to a golden brown. Remove from heat immediately, and set aside. To serve, sprinkle the toasted coconut and spoon the diced tropical fruit on top of your frozen concoction.