A Blackberry Pockets Special

Recipe Review

Welcome to a special recipe review edition of Blackberry Pockets. These recipes are part of the Food Network’s “Twelve Days of Cookies”, an annual newsletter they publish that provides exclusive holiday cookie recipes, and will be ranked using my newly developed Five Berry Scale!

The Twelve Days of Cookies contains, appropriately, twelve cookie recipes plus one bonus but unfortunately, I only had time to test two. I did initially plan to blog the entire series but as it turns out, the holiday season has not left me with much free time for writing (I really need to start bringing the laptop to the bar…). In any case, the recipe under evaluation today is Almond Lace Cookies (Florentines) from The Food Network Kitchens.

*In order to properly judge these recipes, I made sure to adhere strictly to the recipe and also made three simple judging criteria, which are the following:

Accessibility: Does the recipe consist of ingredients that can be found at an average grocery store (for reasonable prices)?

Pay off: Is the resulting quality of the cookies worth the necessary effort required to make them?

Taste: Obviously the most important criterion and the one that carries the most weight in the decision making process — do the cookies taste good?

PART ONE
Almond Lace Cookies (Florentines)



My thoughts:
These cookies consisted of simple, easy to find ingredients that many people would usually have around the house, especially around the holiday baking season. The need to boil sugar and essentially make candy to use in the batter was, although not terribly difficult, kind of a pain. Ultimately, I found their taste to be a kind of bland and the texture to be somewhat gritty. I probably won’t make them again but they were very pretty and if you really like almonds, they are worth trying.
Overall rank: 3 out of 5


*Note, I found the following sentence of the recipe to be somewhat confusing and thought I would clarify it for you in case you make the same mistake I did and burn your cookies:

“Bake 1 pan at a time, until the cookies are thin and an even golden brown color throughout, rotating pans halfway through baking time, about 10 to 11 minutes.”

The way the sentence is constructed, I took it to mean that halfway through the baking time was 10 to 11 minutes in. However, this was incorrect. 10 to 11 minutes is the total and MAXIMUM amount of time these cookies should be baked.

I took the liberty of rewriting that section. For clarity's sake:

Bake 1 pan at a time, about 10 to 11 minutes, until the cookies are thin and an even golden brown color throughout. Rotate the pans halfway through the baking time.

Cinnamon cashew brittle

Buttery peanut brittle: delicious, but still only the opening act of the holiday season. As a child, peanut brittle always seemed like the herald of the holiday candy. It was the first treat to start appearing around people’s houses and represented a promise of greater things to come. When the headliners (cinnamon rolls, cookies, FUDGE!) would finally arrive, the brittle would retire to a quiet corner to sell posters, tee shirts and homemade CDs, sought out by only the most loyal of fans.

In order to bring a little spotlight to this somewhat unremarkable confection, I’ve replaced the peanuts with cashews and added cinnamon, positioning my brittle into rock star status. This brittle isn’t content to simply warm up the crowd for the real show; it will blow the amp, steal your girlfriend and trash the hotel room!

Cinnamon Cashew Brittle is a great sweet to have around the house or to bring to parties and it’s the perfect recipe for the first time candy maker.

Recipe:
1/2 cup water

2 cups sugar

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 cup light corn syrup

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 tablespoons unsalted butter – cut into ¼ inch pieces

2 cups roasted salted cashews

1 teaspoon baking soda

Combine the water, sugar, cream of tarter, and corn syrup into a large saucepot and attach a candy thermometer. Place the burner to medium-high and heat the contents until they reach a boil, stirring occasionally.

In another container, combine the cinnamon, butter, cashews, and baking soda.


Now you just have to wait until the candy achieves a nice golden brown color at around 339 degrees F. This part takes a little patience; you don’t have to stir the pot; you only need to monitor it. Be wary, though. Although it takes a good 25-30 minutes to achieve the proper temperature, once it hits 300 degrees, it will start to rise rapidly. Don’t do something silly like go and watch Project Runway, even if it’s just for a minute, or you might end up with something like this:

Oh yeah, that's good and ruined.

In any case, if you keep an eye on the candy, you shouldn’t have any problems. While it is heating, you can prepare a cookie sheet either by greasing it or by lining it with a silpat.

When the candy achieves the appropriate color/temperature, remove it from the heat, mix in the cinnamon, cashews, butter, and baking soda and stir rapidly to combine. Then, poor the contents onto the cookie sheet and allow it to cool. When it is ready, you can break it into pieces and enjoy!

You know, In many ways, with its dichotomies of sweet/salty taste and smooth/crunchy texture, cinnamon brittle embodies the many flavors of the holiday spirit…or something. Its jagged edges will certainly cutchoo like a mall Santa if you disrespect it though!

Halloween Goodies

After receiving a thrilling and cinematic invitation to a friends annual Halloween fiestaval, my initial reaction was to respond with “what can I bring?”

No, I wasn’t (initially) concerned with costumes, dates or transportation but with what delicious goodies I could provide. I decided on chocolate covered candied orange peels, pumpkin scones, peanut butter brownies and homemade (well, sort of) raspberry infused vodka! Judging by their rapid and complete decimation, I’m thinking that they went over pretty well :)


Recipe
http://blackberrypockets.blogspot.com/2007/07/chocolate-and-orange.html


Recipe from Joy of Baking
http://joyofbaking.com/PumpkinScones.html


Recipe from Smitten Kitchen
http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/10/peanut-butter-brownies/


Recipe to come!

That Autumn Flava

Butternut Squash Puree


Butternut squash has rapidly become one of my favorite ingredients. It’s sweet, nutty, autumnal flavor is crowd pleasing and seasonal during these fall months. My version of a simple butternut squash puree is the perfect way to liven up a tired menu.

Recipe
2 Cups diced butternut squash (about half a squash)
1 finely diced shallot
2 cloves of garlic—minced
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 cup chicken stock
½ teaspoon of salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon fresh sage



Method
Peel and dice the butternut squash into ½ inch cubes. Add the two tablespoons of olive oil to a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Add the squash, shallot and garlic to the pan and sauté over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the squash has caramelized on the edges. Season the squash with the salt and pepper during this period.



Add the chicken stock and reduce the heat to below medium and allow the ingredients to simmer for 15-20 minutes until the squash is tender.

While the squash is simmering, finely chop the sage and set aside. When the squash has reached the desired tenderness, transfer the contents of the sauté pan to a food processor or blender, add the sage and blend to a puree. Add additional salt and pepper to taste, and enjoy!

This versatile puree has a variety of uses can be a filling for ravioli or lasagna, a topping for spaghetti/linguini/fettucini and makes a fantastic pizza sauce with grilled chicken breast and Munster cheese!