Chocolate Thumbprints with Cookies and Cream Hershey’s Kisses

Thumbprint cookies are a childhood favourite. There’s something so satisfying about pressing your thumb into a soft ball of dough! I think the standard flavour is peanut butter which is filled with jam or jelly, so this is a bit different. Still, I have done peanut butter ones with kisses in the centre (actually, chocolate caramel kisses)!

I made these for Christmas (I know, I know, I’ve really fallen behind in posting) but I think they’d be really cute Valentine’s Day treats… they are kisses, after all! Christmas 2010, I managed to find the candy cane kisses (as mentioned  here) but this past Christmas I missed the boat! They were all sold out by the time I went to buy ingredients. Oh well, things like that just force us to be more creative and think about other things that work well! I chose cookies and cream kisses since the white would contrast well against the dark chocolatey cookie, but choose whichever flavour you please! They might even have Valentine’s themed ones…

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

1 1/3 cups sugar

2 egg yolks

2 tablespoons cream

2 teaspoons vanilla

pinch of salt

1 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 bags Hershey’s Kisses (any flavour, and you will have leftovers!)

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 F and line your cookie sheet with parchment paper (these don’t stick as much as the macaroons, so sticking is less of a concern – use aluminum foil if you like).

Cream the butter and sugar until lightened in colour and fluffy.

Add in the egg yolks, cream (I used half-n-half), vanilla, and salt then mix until smooth. This is actually a really good recipe to make around the same time as the macaroons, since this one uses 2 yolks and the other recipe needs 2 whites! Or you could eat an egg white omelette… but if you’re like me, you probably think that’s no fun.

Add the cocoa powder and mix until smooth. I know, a whole cup of cocoa is a lot (and expensive!) but trust me, it makes these soooo chocolatey. You can also cut down on the expense by buying it at a bulk store – there’s always one around but you might have to hunt (read: google) to find it.

Add in the flour. I said “about” 1 1/2 cups in the ingredients because I tend to withhold a bit of the flour until I see how it’s mixing. If the dough looks too soft, I add the rest. If it looks fine, I leave it out. The original recipe I was working off of (another Martha one) called for 2 cups, but I left out 1/2 a cup for a much more tender cookie. My point is: use your senses and your brain, they’ll tell you when it’s right. Mix in the flour just until the streaks of white disappear – you don’t want to over mix.

Measure out scoops of dough – I used a tablespoon to get even-ish sized cookies – and roll these into balls. Place them on the cookie sheet and flatten them slightly with two fingertips (otherwise they’re too thick and don’t bake through).

Make a thumbprint in the centre – or, if you want to be exact, use a foil-wrapped kiss to make a depression (just don’t leave it in there!).

Put the cookies in the oven. While you’re waiting on them, unwrap enough kisses for the cookies in the oven (1 per cookie).

After about 8-10 minutes, pull the cookies out. Immediately start squishing the unwrapped kisses into the centre of the cookies – it’s important this is done while the cookies are hot out of the oven or they’ll crumble into pieces! It’s OK if they crack a little though, they look pretty that way!

Let the cookies cool slightly before lifting them off the sheet. Use a spatula to avoid breaking the cookies when you move them to the cooling rack. Let these cool thoroughly before packing into bags or containers, otherwise you’ll smush the kisses all over!

I brought these to a Christmas dinner with my friends and it was downright comical how fast they gobbled them up! These are just one of those things that perfectly mix childhood (kisses) and more grown up (dark chocolate) flavours.

Macaroons

Important note: these are the North American coconut macaroons, not the swanky French meringue- and almond-based macarons. (The extra ‘O’ makes all the difference…)

Macaroons are incredibly easy to make. They’re one of those recipes where you read the  instructions and think to yourself “That’s it?” I really don’t understand why these aren’t sold at every bake sale or in every Christmas cookie tin. The boys in my family are always so excited about them that I’ve taken to making a double batch every time.

As I mentioned in my Christmas Cookies post, this is another go-to recipe from Martha Stewart.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut

3/4 cup sugar

pinch of salt

2 egg whites

splash of vanilla

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Definitely use parchment paper (or a silicon mat) because these guys have a tendency to stick!

Double check that you got unsweetened coconut – sometimes grocery stores only stock the sweetened stuff and that would make these waaaay too sweet. Seeing I usually need tons of it (for the double recipe), I usually go to a hippie-esque bulk store to get it – they always have unsweetened!

After you’re certain you have the right coconut, put it in your bowl with the sugar and salt and give a quick stir to mix.

Add the egg whites and a splash of vanilla.

Give them a thorough mix, it’ll be quick with a mixer but a tad slower by hand since the egg whites sometimes scoot around before mixing in. (The mixture would look prettier with the clear vanilla, but I’m not concerned… they’ll go golden in the oven anyway!)

Now the fun part… if you like repetitive tasks, that is! (Really, it’s not that bad – plus, the recipe’s been ridiculously simple so far!) Set yourself up a little bowl of water beside the parchment-lined cookie sheet.

Scoop out about 1-2 tablespoons of the mixture onto the cookie sheet (I usually use a measuring spoon or a coffee measure for this). The nicer the heaps you make using the spoon, the less work you’ll make for yourself – since now you shape them into little haystacks using your fingers. In between cookies, dip your fingers in the bowl of water to avoid sticking to them/avoid pulling them apart with your sticky fingers. When you’re done, they’ll look something like this:

Pop them in the oven and wait for them to be golden brown. Martha says that’s 15-20 minutes, but really, I just watch for the right tinge of toasty coconut.

When you pull them out, let them cool for at least 5 minutes before trying to move them. I know, I know… most cookie recipes say that but this is one of those cases where you’ll a) hurt yourself on the hot sugar and/or b) break the macaroons into pieces.

Remove to a cooling rack and hide them from your family!!

I will never understand why the boys love these so much, but they do! Oh and if you somehow broke them (ahem, I warned you about letting them cool!) any disasters can be covered up with a dip in or a drizzle of dark chocolate. Enjoy!

Miso-Marinated Cod in Broth

Apologies for being MIA, my laptop was on the fritz just before Christmas, so it only got fixed recently. Luckily, the awesome guys at Laptop Expert managed to salvage my files.

I figured I’d start off the new year with a healthy recipe – something that’ll work with those resolutions (if they’re still on the go)! It’s still warm, filling, and tasty, so it’s not one of those recipes that’s like rabbit food. It’s actually a New York Times recipe with a couple adjustments, and made with the assistance of my boyfriend.

We started in and realized that we wanted to serve this in broth – but had no prepared vegetable broth in the house. So we threw some onion, carrot, celery, salt and pepper in a pot, covered with water and simmered it as we prepared the rest.

Next, we prepared the marinade which included a few Asian-inspired ingredients. Miso paste is now fairly easy to find in regular grocery stores. I got the light/white kind because I find it most versatile. The red/darker kinds tend to have a more intense flavour that (in my opinion) doesn’t pair as easily with other flavours. Don’t be phased by the large tubs – this stuff lasts forever and is handy to have around (especially in wintertime, since it’s really good to make miso soup when you have the sniffles). Mirin, on the other had, was a challenge to find. I think it’s really odd that I had such trouble because my regular grocery store in my small university town carried it, but I couldn’t find it in downtown Toronto! I eventually came across a bottle in a health food store, which is equally odd because it’s a sweet rice wine – I wouldn’t really equate that with health food!

To make the marinade, I used a microplane to grate 2 teaspoons of ginger.

I then mixed it with 2 tablespoons mirin, 3 teaspoons miso, and a tiny squeeze of sriracha.

My boyfriend picked up a skinless cod filet instead of the halibut, we cut it into four serving-sized pieces.

We coated each piece of fish with the marinade and set it aside for about half an hour. We then put it on an oiled sheet pan and placed it under the broiler. While the fish was in the oven, we prepared the vegetables. My boyfriend sliced green onions into thin threads, and we put these, along with a small handful of baby spinach in the bottom of our bowls.

My boyfriend sauteed some sliced mushrooms in olive oil with a minced clove of garlic, and layered these on top of the greens. The fish cooks quickly, and was ready in just under 10 minutes. We placed a portion of fish in each bowl on top of the veg. The last step was to ladle the broth over top.

The cod was awesome, but you could swap it out with any number of white fish, dependent on what’s available near you. This made for a healthy, light dinner on a cool weeknight – and it’s always good to remind yourself that healthy food can taste good!

Christmas Cookies

I’m a big Christmas baker. If I don’t bake it’s not Christmas. I’m not sure how this came about, but at some point I started making cookies to give away. Every year, I buy a cookie tin for each household in my family and fill it with a variety of cookies. I usually pick 4-6 recipes for the tins but this time of year tends to have lots of get togethers/potlucks/office parties etc., so I usually make cookies for those as well.

I know many people have a tried-and-true recipe that they make year after year, but I like using these tins as an opportunity to try a bunch of new recipes. I tend to pick these out in advance, to make life a little easier for the days leading up to Christmas. By planning it out, I can also make sure that there’s a variety of flavours, not just chocolate, chocolate, chocolate! (Not that all chocolate would be a bad thing… but it wouldn’t be ideal for some non-chocoholic family members.) The actual baking is usually accomplished in the 2 or 3 days leading up to Christmas because I used to bake in advance and freeze, but then I had a couple disasters!

Past Successes

Martha Stewart’s Rum Balls are delicious. I’ve made them a couple times now, and they’re always SO good. The recipe is a two-step process, where you make the brownie-ish chocolate cake, then it’s crumbled, mixed with dark rum, and rolled into balls. Instead of rolling them in sugar, they’re better off with a chocolate coating or a roll in cocoa powder mixed with icing sugar. Recently, I’ve been using the brandy from Brandied Cherries instead of rum, which is really tasty!

Chocolate or Peanut Butter Thumbprint Cookies are super simple and always a hit. I usually just google a recipe for basic cookies (or use the recipe on the peanut butter jar). Before the cookies go into the oven, press your thumb into the centre of the cookie to make a little well. When they’re fresh out of the oven and still soft, press an unwrapped Hershey’s kiss into the centre. Hershey’s has been making some really cute variations on kisses lately and many of them pair well, like the chocolate caramel kisses with peanut butter cookies or the candy cane kisses with chocolate cookies. The candy cane ones are extra cute and Christmassy, too!

Martha Stewart’s Coconut Macaroons are also super simple with only 5 ingredients (coconut, egg whites, sugar, vanilla, and salt). I’m not a big coconut fan, but the boys in the family seem to really love these, so I’ve made them a couple of times now. I actually double the recipe every time because they’re so popular (and I make them a little bigger than instructed!). They’re also really good with a drizzle of (or a dip into) dark chocolate.

This Year

I’ve been scouring all my favourite resources looking for recipe ideas. So far, there are lots that appeal! I think the rum balls and macaroons are a must, so here are some flavours and recipes I think might be nice to round out the variety:

• Coffee:  Mocha Madeleines (these would be a really different texture from everything else in the tin) or Espresso Bean Shortbread (such a cute idea to make them bean-shaped!)
• Pecan: Maple Pecan Shortbread (my boyfriend’s a maple addict) or Pecan Tassies (making the little dough cups might be quite frustrating though!)
• Lemon: Cream Cheese Lemon Bows (I can’t figure out if we’d like this flavour combo) or Lemon Pistachio Wreaths (these are so pretty)
• Spiced: Molasses Spice Cookies (or I could use the recipe on the carton of molasses) or Cardamom Cookies (cardamom is my mom’s favourite)
• Peanut butter: Chocolate Caramel Kisses in Peanut Butter Thumbprint cookies
• Something else: The cookie-a-day Advent Calendar in the newspaper keeps giving me new ideas!

I obviously need to narrow down this list a bit, and there are only a couple days left! What recipes would you include in your cookie tin? Do any of these recipes sound particularly delicious to you? Let me know, it will help out a lot!

Turkey Lentil Soup

You know those recipes that run in families? Lentil soup runs in my family. I only discovered this when I sat down for dinner at my aunt’s house in Scotland and the first course was a soup just like my dad’s. They told me that my grandma taught all of them how to make it. Since moving to Canada, my dad adapted the recipe to use up Thanksgiving leftovers, so I used turkey to make this recipe – but chicken works well, or you can leave out the meat entirely for a lovely veggie soup.

I started out by browning the turkey legs in hot pan with a little olive oil. I left the skin on for flavour and a little fat (without it, there’s barely any in the recipe). While the legs were getting some colour, I filled our kettle and turned it on.

Next, I prepared the veggies: an onion, a couple stalks of celery, and a couple carrots (even though I prepped 4 here, I actually only used 2 or 3 carrots… the rest were snacks). This is a classic combination of vegetables that has its own culinary term (mirepoix). It’s often used in French cooking as a flavour base for soups or sauces. To begin, I washed the celery and scrubbed the carrots, then took the tops and bottoms off of each.

I then finely chopped the onion, finely sliced the celery, and grated the carrots. Grated carrots may seem unusual but it actually evens out the cooking time for the vegetables, allowing the carrots to cook at the same speed as the onion and celery. Otherwise, the carrots are usually the last to cook through. Mirepoix is technically supposed to be 2 parts onion to 1 part each of carrot and celery, but I tend to go more 1:1:1 when making a soup.

When the turkey legs were browned all over, I set them aside on a plate (careful, they’re still raw!). I quickly sauteed the mirepoix in a little olive oil in the same large pot where I browned the turkey legs. I made sure to use the moisture coming out of the vegetables to scrape up (deglaze) the tasty brown bits from the bottom of the pan.

I measured out 1 cup of red lentils and gave them a rinse under cool running water. Red lentils are the traditional lentil in my family and I, quite frankly, like them better than de Puy or other green/brown lentils. To me, they have a much milder taste. They also break down more when cooked, giving the illusion that the soup has been lightly pureed.

I added the lentils, turkey legs, a 1/2 teaspoon of chicken bouillon, a few grinds of pepper and a bay leaf to the pot. I then poured in boiling water to cover (about 1L, from the freshly boiled kettle).

I simmered this for about 20-30 minutes, stirring about every five minutes, until the turkey legs were cooked through. I checked the turkey throughout by pulling it out, slicing through to the bone, and looking at its doneness once or twice. When it was cooked, I removed the turkey legs to a cutting board and let them cool, letting the soup continue simmering.  When they were cool enough to handle, I removed and discarded the skin, then shredded the meat.

When my dad makes this soup with the leftover Thanksgiving turkey, he does this the other way around (since the meat is already cooked). The morning after Thanksgiving, he picks the meat off the bones and uses the bones to make a stock. He uses the stock instead of boiling water and chicken bouillon, then adds in the shredded turkey.

I then stirred the shredded turkey back into the soup, simmering an extra couple minutes (because my turkey looked a little pink!). I tasted to make sure the lentils were cooked, and adjusted the seasoning as needed, then it was done!

This is such a basic soup, but it’s so comforting and healthy. With the turkey left out (and vegetable broth swapped for chicken), it is a vegetarian meal that you can make when camping or elsewhere that you don’t have refrigeration, because its ingredients can be left at room temperature. I like both versions, but most of all I like to eat it the way my mom does – topped with a little cheddar!

Butternut Squash and Kale Risotto

Some days I have a really hard time getting inspired. I’ll walk around the aisles of the grocery store like a zombie, picking stuff up and putting it back. It’s those days where I end up just buying ingredients then figuring out a use later… which sometimes works out and sometimes just means I have to head back to the store. Luckily, it worked out for me on this day, when I picked up a butternut squash and some kale on my wander around the 3rd grocery store that day. After a quick Google, I settled on tweaking an Epicurious recipe for risotto and using this foodmomiac recipe as guidance.

First I got out my trusty ingredients… and a wooden mallet. It’s my secret weapon for getting through big hard-to-cut veg.

Be really careful when you slice your butternut squash open – it’s easy to slip and cut off a finger! I split this one in half and scooped out the seeds with a spoon.

I then sliced the whole thing into 1/2 inch pieces, and laid them out on an oiled baking sheet. I kept the skin on – inspired by Jamie Oliver! He said on a recent show that, once baked, the hard skin becomes much softer but keeps a bit of chew – and he was right! I baked them in the oven at 450 for about half an hour, and flipped them half way through.

While the squash was in the oven, I got to work on the kale. My local grocery store sells it in massive bunches – so I only used 1/4 to 1/2 of it for this recipe. I removed the tough stems and tore each leaf into bite-sized pieces. Kale tends to be quite tough compared to other leafy veg, so I gave it a head start by sauteing  it in a bit of olive oil for about 5 minutes.

Once the squash had cooled, I chopped it into small dice-sized cubes. I only needed about half of the roasted squash, so I stashed the other half in my freezer in a ziploc bag, to use another day. I also put a stock pot on the stove with 6 cups of water and 2 vegetable stock cubes, and brought it to the boil. Meanwhile, I finely chopped a medium onion and minced two cloves of garlic.

In a large pot over medium heat, I sauteed 1/2 a teaspoon of cumin, the onion and garlic until softened and translucent. Actually, it got a little brown because I wasn’t paying attention… but I had intended to do it until it was translucent.

I then added another glug of olive oil because the pan looked a little dry. Once warmed, I stirred in 1 1/2 cups of arborio rice, making sure it got coated in the oil and changed to translucent (a couple minutes). It’s really important to use actual arborio rice (or a similar starchy short-grain rice), not a long-grain one like basmati. This is because risotto depends on the rice releasing lots of starch into the cooking liquid, which gives it the creamy consistency. Long grain rice just doesn’t do that the way short grain rice does.

Now onto the liquid-stir-repeat phase. This is how the starch is teased out of the grains of rice. First liquid of choice: white wine… because I like it… and was already drinking some while I cooked. This one’s from an Ontario winery in Beamsville (near Niagara) called Angels Gate. It’s their 2009 Sussreserve Riesling. Yum.

I kept stirring and it kept simmering until the wine was absorbed. Then I started ladling in the hot broth from the other pot. I’d pour in just one ladle, stirring and cooking until the liquid was absorbed, then I’d repeat. This went on for a while… 20-30 minutes I’d say. You want to continuously keep tasting, checking to see if the rice is cooked through (but not mushy!) because this is one of those scenarios where you can’t just set a timer and walk away. I didn’t actually end up using all the broth I made. Once you’ve got it to the perfect doneness, you’ve got a basic risotto that you could use as a base for many things (but maybe hold off on that cumin if it doesn’t go with your flavour combination!).

I then gently stirred in the squash cubes, kale, and about a 1/4 cup of finely grated pecorino romano. I also seasoned it with pepper and a little salt, then topped my bowl with more cheese and some roasted squash seeds.

I actually froze individual portions of this meal to bring to work or have for a lazy dinner. I know, it sounds blasphemous. The trick, though, with pre-prepared risotto, is to slightly undercook it. When the rice still had a bit too much bite, I pulled it off the heat, and ladled portions into tupperware containers. I then ladled a small amount of additional broth over top of the risotto and popped the containers in the freezer. When you want to eat it, thaw it, and microwave, stirring frequently, to bring it back to risotto consistency. Trust me, your colleagues will be jealous of your gourmet lunch… and you’ll be eating a hearty vegetarian meal!

Pesto

It’s getting verrrry cool out, so I don’t think my outdoor plants will last much longer. My basil thrived this summer, but it’s time to strip all the leaves before the frost kills it. And of course an excess of basil leaves means… a double batch of pesto!

I started off with a large bowl of washed basil leaves… about 6 big handfuls.

Next – the nuts… or seeds. Pine nuts are the traditional choice, but most types will work. I made a batch this summer with walnuts, but this time I only had sunflower seeds in the house. I put 2 handfuls in a dry pan over medium heat.

Watch these carefully – they can burn really quickly! Toss them frequently and take them out of the pan as soon as they look and smell toasty.

Finely grate about 2 handfuls of Parmesan or a similar cheese.

Now for the assembly – put 2 cloves of garlic, peeled, into a food processor and process until finely chopped.

Add the nuts or seeds, about 4 tablespoons of olive oil, and a grind of  salt and pepper. Process again to give it a bit of a head start – the nuts/seeds don’t have to go smooth just yet.

Now start adding the basil leaves and cheese – if your food processor is little like mine, then you’ll probably need to do it in a couple batches. I stuffed it full, then processed, then repeated.

In between batches, I stirred the pesto to make sure everything was getting incorporated. If it gets too dry, just add another drizzle of olive oil.

Continue until all the ingredients have been fully incorporated. We’ve been making way too much pesto around here because of the basil explosion that happened on our balcony… so this batch is headed straight for the freezer.

I laid this flat while it froze – that way it’s really easy to break off frozen chunks whenever I feel like some pesto for my pasta this winter. Or maybe I’ll try some over burrata, like I had at Luma…