Chocolate Malted M&M Cookies

For last week's Sunday treat I did a spin on Dennis's favorite, M&M bars. These cookies have plenty of M&M's (I use dark chocolate M&Ms since we both prefer dark chocolate over milk chocolate), along with some chocolate malt powder. The chocolate malt powder gives them a little zing, incorporating just a bit of extra chocolate flavor. We both think that a little more malt flavor would have been even better, so I'll try upping that next time and see what happens.

The original recipe calls for using 2 different kinds of shortening but I used 8 tablespoons shortening and 8 tablespoons butter. Next time I might use all shortening, just to see what the difference is.

Dennis's comment on the cookies was that they had a nice contrast between the crunch of the M&Ms and that the softness of the actual cookies. He's also been eating them for a week straight so I think that's the biggest endorsement!

Chocolate Malted M&M Cookies (from Culinary in the Desert)

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons shortening
8 tablespoons butter flavored shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate malt powder
2 cups M&Ms

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the shortenings together - add sugars and beat until combined.

Add the eggs, 1 at a time, mixing until combined after each. Mix in vanilla. Add the malt powder and slowly mix until combined. Add the flour gradually and mix just until combined. Stir in M&Ms. Cover and refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour.

Drop dough by tablespoons onto baking sheets lined with parchment. Bake until golden and almost set in the center, about 10 to 12 minutes. Let cookies cool on the baking sheets about 5 minutes before transferring to a rack to completely cool.

Makes about 40 cookies.

Whole Wheat Rolls

So this weekend gave us our first Nor'easter of the season. I didn't even know you could have those in mid-October but the temperature hasn't climbed above 40 for the past few days and the sun has also been in hiding. Weather like this usually causes me to curl up on the couch and stay there for hours at a time, so I decided to at least be productive and whip up a batch of one of my favorite (healthy) treats, whole wheat rolls.

My mom got this recipe from a co-workers years ago and it quickly worked its way into regular rotation. These rolls are great for breakfast with some jam on top, or for lunch with a bowl of soup. They're not too dense as some whole wheat baked goods tend to be, and they're easy to make. You just need to set some time aside as the dough has to rise. I like to put the dough in an oven with the pilot light on. That provides a bit of heat to get the yeast going, and keeps it away from drafts.

Whole Wheat Rolls

1 1/4 cup scalded milk
2 1/2 T. sugar
1 1/2 t. salt
1/4 cup butter
2 packages yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 3/4 cup white flour
1 1/2 cup wheat flour

Scald milk - i.e. put the heat on low until little bubbles form in the milk. You don't want it to boil. Then cool the milk to lukewarm and stir in the sugar, butter and salt. In a small bowl sprinkle the yeast into warm water and stir until dissolved. Stir into the lukewarm mixture and add flour.

Put the dough into a greased bowl and cover with a towel. Let the dough rise until the size has doubled. Punch down the dough and put it into a muffin tin. Let the dough rise until a size you like.

Bake the rolls at 350 degrees for 16-18 minutes.

Irish Soda Bread

When I was growing up one of our neighbors would always make Irish Soda Bread around St. Patrick's Day. That was the only kind I ever ate so that spoiled me for Irish soda bread. It was moist, studded with raisins, and absolutely delicious.

A few months ago I baked a version that didn't quite taste the way I remembered. To be honest it really didn't taste like Irish soda bread, more like white bread with raisins. So we tried again with a recipe I found online that uses a cast iron skillet to bake the bread in. This time the bread turned out great, nice and moist with just the touch of sweetness that Irish soda bread should have. The original recipe calls for caraway seeds but those were never in the Irish soda bread I grew up with so I left them out. Feel free to throw some in if that's your thing. I personally would rather just add more raisins...



Skillet Irish Soda Bread (adapted from Smitten Kitchen/NY Times)
Yield: 1 10-inch loaf.

Butter for greasing pan plus 1/4 cup unsalted butter melted
3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoons salt1 teaspoon baking soda
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
2 eggs, well beaten
1 1/2 cups raisins or currants

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 10-inch oven-proof skillet and line with parchment or waxed paper.
2. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. In a separate bowl, combine the buttermilk, eggs and 2 tablespoons melted butter. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until just combined. Do not overmix. Stir in the raisins.
3. Pour batter into skillet. Brush top with remaining butter. Bake until golden and firm to touch, about 45 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before serving.

Soba Salad With Spinach, Edamame and Miso Dressing

I was looking for something quick and easy tonight. Not to mention something meatless. I think we're still recovering from Dinosaur BBQ this weekend where we ate our weight in wings, ribs and brisket.

I came across this recipe in the NY Times from Mark Bittman and it seemed to fit my criteria. I did need to pick up some things (anyone know what I can use a whole jar of miso for?), but once we started putting it together it took no more than 15 minutes. Perfect for a weeknight meal, and it tasted good too. The soba noodles had a bite to them, and the dressing had a nice Asian flavor, not too sweet like most dressings. And using chopsticks to eat it definitely makes dinner a little more fun, but then again I'm easily amused.



Soba Salad With Spinach, Edamame and Miso Dressing


Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 to 4 ounces soba noodles
1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
2 cups edamame (frozen are fine)
2 to 3 tablespoons soy sauce
Juice of one lime
2 tablespoons white or light miso
1 tablespoon mirin or 1 teaspoon sugar, or to taste
1 10-ounce package fresh spinach, washed and trimmed
1/4 cup chopped scallion
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Drop in the noodles and carrot and cook until tender, 2 to 4 minutes; add the edamame for about 15 to 30 seconds just to warm, then drain everything in a colander. Set aside.

2. In a large salad bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, lime juice, miso and mirin or sugar. Add spinach, noodles, carrot, edamame, scallion, and toss; then taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Garnish with grated ginger at the table.



Yield: 4 servings

Thai Beef with Chiles and Basil Over Coconut Rice

Up until a few months ago I had been a vegetarian. Well, actually a pescatarian once I gave into the siren song of sushi. That expanded my horizons for the time being, but eventually I find myself wanting more. Namely the chance to experience restaurants like Dinosaur BBQ and Momofuku without gazing longingly at everyone else's plates. So I finally started eating meat again and was surprised to find how much I like it. Ribs are one of my new favorite foods and I forgot how amazing a piece of bacon can be. Surprisingly the meat I'm least enamored with is chicken. Is it just me or is chicken sort of boring? It's good for a quick weeknight meal, but I've never had a chicken that wowed me. But I digress...

Before Dennis and I kick back and start our Labor Day weekend, I thought I'd make a recipe from Everyday Food that caught my eye. The recipe says it takes about 25 minutes, though it took me closer to 30-35 minutes. Still not too bad for a weeknight meal. We both thought it came out quite tasty, though I think next time I wouldn't seed the peppers quite so much. It could've used some extra spice. And maybe something crunchy for a nice contrast, like some crushed peanuts on top.

Thai Beef with Chiles and Basil over Coconut Rice (from Everyday Food)

1 1/4 cup jasmine rice

1 can (13.5 oz) coconut milk (I used light coconut milk)

Salt

2 TB plus 1 tsp fish sauce

2 TB plus 1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp sugar

1 TB vegetable oil

3 garlic cloves, chopped

3 long hot peppers or red jalapenos, seeded and sliced into matchsticks

1 1/4 lb ground beef

1 cup loosely packed basil leaves

Lime wedges for serving

In a medium saucepan, combine rice, coconut milk and 3/4 cup water and 1/2 tsp salt. Cover and bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until rice is tender and liquid has been absorbed, about 25 minutes. (My rice overflowed once it started boiling so just keep an eye on it. Also, it was done in 15 minutes.)

When rice is almost done, combine fish sauce, soy sauce and sugar in a small bowl; set aside. Heat a skillet or wok over high. Add oil and heat; add garlic and half the chiles. Cook, stirring constantly, 15 seconds. Add beef and cook, breaking up meat with wooden spoon until completely browned, about 4 minutes. Add soy mixture and cook for 30 seconds. Add basil and remaining chiles and stir to combine. Serve beef over coconut rice and with lime wedges.