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Emily's Recipes
Since I sometimes cook or bake away from home, I've collected a few of my favorite recipes below. Feel free to make use of them!
General Baking Tips
Aside from "active ingredients" like eggs, baking powder, and baking soda; the real trick to all baking is not in the ingredients but the cook time and temperature. The first step is to know your oven -- cookies are great for this because they come in small batches and don't take too long. I would never attempt to bake bread or pie (items that take over 1/2 hour) without first getting to know your oven with a batch of cookies. Secondly, I prefer my cookies chewy and gooey rather than the consistency of hockey pucks, so I tend to err on the side of under baking by lowering my oven temperature 25° and reducing the cooking time (you can always bake more, but you can never bake less). Third, baking takes practice -- getting to know your oven can be tricky, especially if your oven doesn't cook evenly! (My current oven tends to leave banana bread gooey on top and burnt on the bottom and the same sized cookies on the same baking sheet will cook differently.)
Cookies
Shortbread Cookies
2 sticks salted butter, softened
3/4 c. (packed) light brown sugar
2 t vanilla
2 c flour
Yields about 2.5 dozen
Preheat oven to 325° F.
Cream butter and sugar (electric mixer optional), mix in vanilla and flour.
Shape into 1-in round balls, slightly flattened.
Bake 17-19 minutes or until cookies spread.
Tips:
The cookies barely spread (and they don't flatten since there's no baking soda), so whatever shape you make them into is how they come out. I normally make flattened balls so that they come out cookie shaped. Don't over handle the dough, the cookies may get tough and chewy instead of light and crispy. DO NOT over bake -- pull them out a little early rather than let them brown, these cookies do not hold up when overcooked. Aim for a light, golden brown. I wouldn't cook more than 22 min in any oven. If cookies are underdone they may be chewy. When baked properly the cookies will by chewy straight out of the oven but will crispen up as they cool.
This recipe is based on Mrs. Field's, not Betty Crocker's. I've had Betty Crocker's, and I think it's awful.
Peanut Butter Blossoms
Like my favorite shortbread recipe, this one is quick and easy. With only 4
main ingredients, you can whip up 5 dozen cookies in about an hour (depending on
how fast you can unwrap your kisses...)
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
3/4 c peanut butter (natural is best)
2 c Bisquick
1 t vanilla
Sugar (I like to use red and green sugar for the holidays)
1 bag Hershey kisses
Preheat oven to 375°.
Beat sweetened condensed milk and peanut butter until smooth.
Add Bisquick and vanilla. Shape into 1-in balls, roll in sugar, place
2 in apart on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 6-8 min until lightly
browned (don't over bake).
PB cookies: Flatten with fork before baking.
PB blossoms: Immediately after baking, press unwrapped Hershey kiss
into the center of each cookie. Work quickly, or else the cookies will
harden into ball shape and the kisses won't stick on after the cookies
cool. Kisses will melt but retain shape unless touched (so be careful
when storing if they're warm).
Emily's Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies
I use the standard Tollhouse recipe with a few slight modifications:
- Heat oven to 350°, use about 1-2 inches of dough per cookie, and bake for 10 minutes.
- Use a tablespoon of vanilla instead of a teaspoon.
- I like to use one stick of salted butter and don't bother adding the pinch. Not over-softening the butter is key to having light and chewy cookies. Melting the butter completely will not affect flavor, but the texture is not quite as nice.
Again, the key here is the baking time. I use the standard recipe, so the only real difference is in the oven temp and cooking time. When I pull the cookies out they still look soft in the middle. After cooling, the middles will be darker than the edge (since the middle should still be a little doughy). If your cookies are falling apart with doughy middles, you might need to let them go for another minute.
I've also tried both Ghiradelli and Hershey's chocolate chips, but I don't like either of them as well as Nestle's chips.
Slow Cooker Classics
Emily's Dubliner Stew
This tasty, traditional Irish stew is made with beef and guinness and is perfect
for a cool fall or winter day. I researched a number of stew recipese before
developing this one, which I feel most tastily matches the stews I ate every day
while in Dublin.
1 bag baby yukon golds, quatered or even smaller (bite size chunks)
2 bunches of fresh carrots (with greens -- they're tastier than precut baby carrots)
1 package Small button or sliced mushrooms (optional)
small boiler onions (optional)
Celery (optional)
2-3 lbs beef chuck steak, cut into 1 inch cubes
Flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, & Emeril's for dredging the meat
4 beef bouillon cubes
1 cup water
2 cans/bottles Guinness
1 can low sodium tomato sauce
1 cup red wine
Fresh rosemary stalks (fresh thyme optional), sage (dried works well too)
2 bay leaves
3-4 health shakes of Cayenne pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced/crushed
Brown sugar, salt, pepper to taste
Makes about 15 servings.
Cut potatoes into 1 inch pieces (the smaller the chunks, the more stuff you can
fit and the better it will cook), add to pot. The potatoes should probably fill
1/4-1/3 of the pot, no more than 1/2 (if you want extras to thicken with). Cut
carrots (and optional celery) into small, bite-sized pieces, about 1/8-1/4 of an
inch, add to pot. Add mushrooms, if desired. Add garlic, rosemary, thyme, and
bay (and any other spices you like, such as several dashes of onion powder,
garlic powder, cayenne, as well as dried thyme and rosemary). Mix 1 can
guinness, wine, and toamto sauce and pour enough to cover mushrooms (if not
mushrooms, add more potatoes, pot should be about half-3/4 full). If you don't
mix the liquids the wine seems to stay put and saturate the mushrooms. You can
turn on the pot now. Add eough of the dry spices to the flour so that the flour
has a little flavor (tastes a little salty and almost edible), and then dredge
the meat in the flour mixture. Just brown the outside of the dredged meat in a
pan with a little butter/oil (sprinkling with Worcesteshire), without over
crowding the pan, adding each batch to the pot (the meat can be pink on some
spots on the outside, just go for the majority of the sides brown). Deglaze pan
with the 1 cup of water, and add the bouillon cubes. Scrape all the good bits
off the bottom and sides of the pan, while you wait for the bullion to dissolve.
Add to pot. Add the remaining half can of guinness to fully cover the meat.
Wait for 4-8 hours, depending on your crock pot and if you cook high or low.
Once finished, add salt, pepper, and brown sugar (no more than 1/4 cup though)
to taste. Remove rosemary, thyme, and bay. Serve with biscuits or crusty bread.
Tips:
To thicken the stew, add a roux of cornstarch and water at the end before the heat is turned off. Let the stew continue to bubble for about 10 minutes. You can also puree some of the carrots and potatoes, but that has less of an effect.
If you find dredging the meat and cooking it to be a pain, marinade it instead in Worcesteshire and be heavy hadned with the dry spices -- it comes out just as tasty, and if you prefer your meat to fall apart (at the risk of being too dry) this is the way to go.
If the stew is too bitter for you, substitute more of another liquid for part of
the Guinness. I've found 2 cans of Guinness to be too bitter, but 1.5 to be
about right. Or, you could also try using a lighter Irish beer, such as
Smithwicks.
The stew tends to be better the second day, and freezes very well. I like to
freeze single servings to pull out all week or month -- it's great for a hearty,
quick frozen meal if you live alone!
Salads
Lemon Rosemary
As you can see with the lemon, this salad was inspired by some of Giada's recipes (Arugula Salad and Tuscan Salad). If you like dressings with a little less lemon, you might also like to try Giada's Arugala salad with white wine vinaigrette.
The Dressing
Juice of 2 lemons (don't let any seeds get in!)
1 sprig of fresh rosemary, chopped
1 T sugar
1/4 c good quality extra virgin olive oil (I like dressings with a lemon punch, so I like to have more lemon than oil. Feel free to adjust this to your own taste.)
1 t onion powder
1/4 t garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
The Salad
1 package of baby arugala (or other field green)
1/2 - 1 c toasted pine nuts
Freshly grated pecorino romano cheese (or parmesan)
Dry toast the pine nuts in a skillet on the stove. In a magic bullet, food processor, or other blending and chopping device, combine the ingredients for the salad dressing and blend well. Combine greens and dressing in a large bowl, coating each leaf evenly. Sprinkle the pine nuts and shave some romano cheese on top of the bowl, or on each serving.
Modifications to try: olives, different cheeses, diced red onion.
Other Tasty Treats
Buttermilk Biscuits
These biscuits are incredibly light and fluffy, and super easy! Recipe makes about 4 1/2, 3" diameter biscuits -- I'd double it if you're serving more than two people, or use a smaller cutter.
2 1/4 cups Bisquick Baking Mix
2/3 cup Buttermilk
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix Bisquick, Buttermilk and Sugar together, then
add the melted butter. Stir until a soft dough forms. Turn onto surface dusted
with flour. Knead 20 times, roll out biscuit dough to 1/2" thickness, cut with
biscuit cutter or use the top of a glass. Place close together in an ungreased
8" x 8" cakepan. Brush tops with melted butter. Bake for 8 to 10 min.
Crepes
(1) 4 eggs
(1/2) 2 cups milk
(1/8) 1/2 cup melted butter
(1/2) 2 cups flour
pinch salt -- optional if using salted butter.
Combine eggs (and salt) in a bowl, whisk or mix with spoon. Add flour and milk (adding a bit of each back and forth) and mix until smooth. Mix in melted butter.
Recipe claims you should refrigerate batter for at least an hour, I say at least 10 min. Cook on a nonstick pan or use cooking spray so the crepes don't stick. Cover bottom of pan with light coating of batter. Once top of crepe doesn't look liquidy and has holes/bubbles like pancakes do when they're ready, flip them over. Don't leave the other side on too long or it will burn. The first crepe or two usually come out a little funny as you adjust temperatures, etc. If batter's too thick, thin with milk or water so crepes will be thin and not like pancakes.
Can be frozen for up to a month. 4 eggs makes 30-35 crepes, 1 egg makes 8-12.
Recommended Fillings:
- Fill with two slices of ham and one slice of swiss cheese, heat in oven to melt cheese (I like to split the swiss and put half inside and half outside so I know when the crepes are done heating). Finish with maple syrup or a simple sauce of mushrooms, milk, and soy sauce to finish (or any other sauce you like!).
- Sprinkle sugar over flat crepe and fold twice.
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