Coconut Brown Butter Cookies

I snagged this recipe from Smitten Kitchen. I don’t know if I thought it was quite the world-changer she did, but yeah, they’re pretty good. My brother puts them on par with my macaroons, and one of my friends said they were better than the potato chip cookies (huh, apparently I haven’t written about those yet). I think they’re both crazy. They are very good, though. I’m still enjoying eating them a lot. I put more actual salt in them than SK’s recipe, as well as using salted butter. They’re almost savory this way (which is how I like my cookies). I live in fear of burning butter, so I only took mine to “tanned” instead of “browned,” but the nutty butter taste is still present and very tasty.

2 sticks butter (1 cup)
up to 2 Tbsp water
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp (aka 5/8 cup) white sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup + 3 Tbsp AP flour (aka 1 7/16 cup, but that’s a really unhelpful calculation)
1 tsp baking soda
Highly rounded 1/2 tsp flaky sea salt (I used the nice stuff instead of just going for the kosher salt as I usually do)
240 grams flaked coconut (it’s around 4 cups, but definitely weigh it, especially if you’re using shredded instead of flaked)
kosher salt

Melt butter in a medium-sized pot over medium heat. Butter will melt and foam before it starts browning. Keep stirring and keep an eye on that foam to see when the color change starts to happen. It will take 5+ minutes. Butter will continue to cook after you take it off the heat, so pull it a little sooner than “dark brown” or you might end up with “black.” Pour butter and scrape all browned bits into a 2-cup measuring cup. Add up to 2 Tbsp water to get the level back up to 1 cup. (The extra room in the cup is to accommodate the fizzing that will occur when you add the water.) Chill the butter in the fridge until solid, 1–2 hours.

With a stand or hand mixer, cream browned butter with the white and brown sugars until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix together, scraping down sides when necessary. Add salt, baking soda, and flour in two or three batches, mixing together (and scraping). Add the coconut flakes a cup at a time, mixing in evenly (you may have to do the last cup by hand—make sure if you have a smaller mixer that the flakes don’t overwhelm the capacity and climb up into the mechanism).

Prep baking sheets with parchment paper (people reported spreading problems with silpats) and heat oven to 350. I was able to fit 10 1-Tbsp size cookies to a sheet without them running into each other. Dish the cookies onto the sheet, then flatten slightly with your fingers. Sprinkle a tiny bit of kosher salt on top of each cookie.

Bake for 10-11 minutes, rotating trays at the halfway point. Cool for a couple minutes on the sheets, then remove to cooling racks. I got about 5 1/2 dozen cookies using a 1-Tbsp scoop.

[image: 65 coconut brown butter cookies on cooling racks]

Deviled Eggs with Tuna

Where this cookbook gets annoying is when it assumes sizes are standard throughout the world. This recipe just calls for “1 tin of tuna.” So… three ounces? Six? Eight? Kind of a giant range there. We used Tonnino tuna, which came in a 6.7-oz. jar, but we didn’t use all of it. I’m going to recommend a 5-oz. can, but taste the mixture and adjust to your liking. (A different recipe called for “2 packets of cooked octopus.” Thank you, that is super helpful.) In the book, this recipe was served on top of toasts, which required slicing off the bottoms of each egg half. That seemed unnecessarily fussy (and probably the egg would just slide right off the toast onto your lap anyway) so we just made them as deviled eggs.

6 eggs
2 pickled red cherry peppers (we got ours at the supermarket olive bar, the extras are in the middle of the plate in the photo)
1 small chili pepper, minced (we used a SUPER CHILI from my garden, but any 2–3 inch red chili would work)
2–3 Tbsp mayonnaise
1 5-oz. can of tuna in olive oil
1 Tbsp mixed fresh tarragon and parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
Extra fresh chopped parsley for garnish

Hard boil the eggs using your preferred method. Peel them and cut in half lengthwise. Mince one of the cherry peppers and cut the other into 12 strips (mince the rest if there’s any left over). Empty the egg yolks into a bowl. Add the mayonnaise, tuna, herbs, and both varieties of minced peppers. Mix together and taste for seasoning.

Scoop yolk mixture back into eggs, rounding the tops nicely. Garnish with the reserved strips of cherry pepper and a sprinkle of parsley.

Marinated Anchovies

Mom and I made a bunch of tapas today. It was exhausting. But now I have a bunch of recipes for here! We used The Best 100 Tapas by Esperanza Luca De Tena as our guide, but we didn’t really follow any of the recipes precisely. So here is our interpretation.

10–15 white anchovies (we used Wild Planet), which I believe had 12 in the tin)
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp table salt
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
2 Tbsp chopped parsley
1 Tbsp chopped tarragon
1/2 cup olive oil
1 bay leaf
Baguette
freshly ground black pepper

Remove the spines from the anchovies using the tip of a knife. Try to keep them as intact as you can, but it’s okay if they fall apart a bit (see the photo at the top of this post). Place in a bowl.

Combine vinegar, salt, sugar, parsley, and tarragon. Whisk in the olive oil and add the bay leaf. Pour mixture over anchovies. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or up to 24.

Cut 1/2″ slices of the baguette. Lightly toast bread (mostly just to get it warm). Remove bay leaf from mixture. Spoon some liquid over the bread, then lay anchovy pieces on top. Drizzle some more liquid and grind pepper on top.

Sweet Potato Soup

I saw this recipe in the latest Cook’s Illustrated, and it looked so bizarre I had to try it. You put the peels in the soup?! So weird! My personal additions were limited to some chipotle powder, because I feel like you can’t have sweet potatoes without some of that smoky spice. Cook’s Illustrated currently has a video detailing this recipe on their website, but I don’t know how long it will be available for non-subscribers. I tried to make an artful drizzle, but it’s kind of… Pollock-y, at best.

4 Tbsp butter
1 shallot, thinly sliced
4 sprigs fresh thyme
4 1/2 cups water
2 lbs. sweet potatoes (garnet yams), peeled, halved and sliced 1/4″ thick, plus 1/4 of their peels reserved
1 Tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp ground chipotle powder
extra salt and pepper to taste
minced chives (optional garnish)

Melt butter in a pot. Add shallot and thyme and cook over medium-low heat for 5 minutes, until the shallot has softened but not browned. Add water and bring to a boil over high heat (I boiled the water ahead to cut down on the time it would take everything to get hot). Once boiling, turn off the heat and remove the pot to a cool burner. Add the sweet potatoes and peels and let sit uncovered for 20 minutes, stirring once or twice so everything gets a chance to be below the water level.

Add sugar, apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper, and chipotle powder. Bring back to a simmer over high heat, then reduce heat to medium low and cover. Cook until potatoes are very soft, 10–15 minutes.

Discard thyme sprigs. Puree the soup with a stick blender (or in batches in a normal blender) until smooth. Return the soup to a simmer and adjust thickness with water if necessary. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with optional minced chives and a drizzle of…

Maple Sour Cream

1/3 cup sour cream
1 Tbsp real maple syrup

mix together. voila.

Scallion Pancakes

[image: scallion pancake with dipping sauce]

For a more in-depth look at how exactly to roll the pancakes, take a look at Serious Eats, which is where I got this recipe. I halved it (because my little desktop green onions could only yield so much!) and changed a few little things. Next time, I think I’ll add one of my chile peppers to the scallions inside the pancake for some extra kick.

1 cup AP flour (plus extra for rolling)
1/2 cup boiling water
sesame oil
1 cup green onions, thinly sliced
vegetable oil
kosher salt

Put flour in food processor. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in the boiling water until the dough just comes together (it will probably end up being not the entire amount). Remove from workbowl and knead a few times on a floured surface. Shape into a ball and place in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit on the counter for a half hour (or overnight in the fridge).

Divide dough into two balls. Take one half and with a rolling pin, roll out on a floured surface into an 8-inch round. With a pastry brush (or just lightly with your hand), lightly coat with sesame oil. Roll up into a cylinder, then twist the roll into a spiral, tucking the end underneath. Reroll into an 8-inch round.

Coat with another layer of sesame oil, then sprinkle 1/2 cup of green onions on top evenly. Roll up again (carefully) and twist into a spiral, and roll down into an 7-inch round (carefully, dusting more flour around if things start sticking). Sprinkle both sides with kosher salt and lightly press in.

Repeat for other half of dough.

Heat vegetable oil (Serious Eats recommends 1/4 cup, I just used enough to coat my pan) in a non-stick 8-inch skillet over medium-high heat. When oil is shimmering, slip in one pancake. Cook for 2-3 minutes per side, shaking pan so that it heats evenly. Be careful when flipping so that you don’t get oil everywhere. Remove from pan, let drain on paper towels, and cut into wedges. Repeat for second pancake. Serve with…

Dipping Sauce
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
1/2 tsp grated ginger
1 tsp sriracha
1 tsp sugar
1-2 tsp minced green onion (basically whatever you have leftover from filling the pancakes)

Mix together.

So my first pancake turned out uneven and sort of burned in spots because I didn’t keep the pan moving enough and wasn’t cognizant of the oil temperature.

[image: slightly burnt scallion pancake] — [image: unevenly burnt scallion pancake]

So look more like the top picture and less like this one. (Of course, the ones on Serious Eats look way better, but I do what I can.)

Pesto

2 cups fresh basil
2 large cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/4–1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

Note: if you won’t be eating it straightaway, you can blanch the basil to preserve its color for storage in the refrigerator or freezer. Plunge it in 30 seconds in boiling water, then shock in ice cold water. Drain and continue with recipe.

Toast the pine nuts over medium heat until just starting to brown. Immediately remove from heat (so they don’t burn) and let cool.

Combine the basil, garlic, pine nuts, and cheese in a blender or food processor. Pulse to combine. Turn the machine on low and drizzle in the olive oil. After a quarter cup, pause and turn the speed up to medium. If you need to, add more oil (our blender will just whizz air around uselessly if the contents are too thick and not liquidy enough). Process until it’s a consistency you like. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Further note: this recipe seems on the more concentrated side, so I only have to use a tablespoon or so to coat 3 ounces of pasta. Reserve a little cooking water and toss with the pasta and pesto to combine and finish over low heat. (I also like to add a bit of red pepper flakes. And an extra finishing sprinkle of salt.)

Easy Sausage Meatballs

1 lb. Italian sausage (spicy or mild)
1 cup Italian-style breadcrumbs
1 egg
1/4 cup grated onion
1/4 cup grated parmesan
olive oil (if frying)
1 24-oz. jar spaghetti sauce (if you’re lazy like me) (otherwise make your own sauce)

Squeeze the sausages out of their casings. With your hands, mix together the sausage, breadcrumbs, egg, onion, and parmesan. Form the mixture into 1 to 1.5–inch diameter balls. Sort of toss or throw them between your hands to ensure they’ll stay together while cooking.

Either fry the meatballs up in olive oil over medium heat (2-3 minutes, then roll around and fry the other side) or bake them on a rack over a rimmed pan in the oven for 15–20 minutes at 400 degrees.

Heat the sauce and add the cooked meatballs. Stir gently to combine and let simmer for 15 minutes. Serve with pasta.

Hummus

This is a fairly simple recipe—you could jazz it up with paprika, sriracha, roasted red bell peppers, etc. But it’s pretty good on its own with a bunch of veggies or pretzel sticks to dip!

1 15 oz. can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup tahini (or make your own, see below)
2 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp kosher salt
1/8-1/4 tsp ground cumin
2-4 Tbsp olive oil

Optional step for ultra smooth hummus: remove skins from garbanzo beans.

In a blender (or food processor, but I find a blender makes for a smoother product), combine the garbanzo beans, tahini, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and cumin. Pulse to combine roughly. Turn machine on low speed and slowly drizzle in the oil. Increase speed and run until the hummus is smooth in consistency. Check seasoning, then refrigerate for an hour to let the flavors meld.

Tahini
rounded 1/4 cup sesame seeds
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Toast sesame seeds in a small frying pan over medium heat. Let cool, then empty into a coffee grinder. Pulse 10 or so times to reduce the seeds to a paste. Empty into a bowl and add the oils and salt. Mix to combine.

Note: clean the coffee grinder by grinding some uncooked rice to a powder, discarding said powder, and then wiping it out with a damp paper towel.

Self-Frosting Spice Cookies

I found this recipe while researching traditional Dutch and German cookies. These are called Anise Platzchen or Self-Frosting Anise Drops, and traditionally they’re made with anise (er, obviously). I found this spice variation along with a vanilla one on Gin’s Kitchen. I found the concept SO WEIRD that I had to try it. But while the recipe worked (which honestly I was really not expecting), I didn’t actually like the taste? But I brought them to a party today, and my friends seemed to enjoy them, so here is the recipe.

Self-Frosting Spice Cookies
recipe adapted from Gin’s Kitchen
3 large eggs
1 1/8 cup white sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 3/4 cup AP flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp table salt

Using a stand mixer (or electric hand mixer—trust me, you will not want to do this by hand), beat the eggs together until they have lightened in color. Slowly add the sugar. Once the sugar is in, beat the mixture on medium speed for 20 minutes.

While the mixer is running, whisk together the remaining dry ingredients.

Also do this while the mixer is running: line 5 baking sheets* with parchment paper (or prepare 5 pieces of parchment to go into baking sheets if you have fewer than 5 sheets) (I read a couple recipes that said you can’t use parchment for this, but I didn’t have any problem with sticking). If you don’t have parchment, prepare the pans with butter and flour or Baker’s Joy spray.

Once the 20 minutes is up, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet. Continue beating for another 3 minutes.

Use two teaspoons and scoop about a teaspoon of dough at a time. Use the other spoon to shove the dough off the first spoon onto the parchment. It’s very sticky. Try to get the dollops as circular as you can. Space them about 1.5 inches apart.

Let the cookies sit out overnight. Yes. Do that.

[image: before baking, how the self-frosting spice cookies look on the pan]

The next morning, heat your oven to 325. Bake each sheet for 10 minutes, rotating halfway through. Let cool on the sheets for 5 minutes, and then move to a cooling rack. If your cookies stick, let them cool a bit more before removing them. I didn’t need a spatula, just a little twist and they released from the parchment. I recommend baking one sheet at a time, if you can. I couldn’t get both sheets to get to the same level of doneness when I baked two at once.

As the cookies bake, they will lift up from the bottom slightly, as shown in the top picture. Voila, self-frosting cookies!

* I fit 12 cookies onto a sheet, and the recipe provides dough for 60 cookies. If you can fit more than 12 cookies onto a sheet, good for you. Make your calculations for how many sheets you’ll need. 12:5, 15:4, 20:3 or whatever.

Coconut Macaroons

(adapted from David Leibovitz)

4 large egg whites
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp honey
2 1/2 cups unsweetened finely shredded coconut
1/4 cup flour (see note)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Note:
If you’re making these for Passover, grind up matzoh in a spice/coffee grinder instead.

Mix all ingredients except vanilla in a large nonstick skillet over low to medium heat. Stir, and do not stop stirring. Things will look a little dire at first, but they’ll coalesce soon enough. Keep stirring.

When the mixture starts to scorch (I take this to mean darken a bit in color and make schlorpy noises when you move it around the pan), remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Transfer to a bowl and let cool to room temperature. I recommend a narrow container with as little exposed surface area as possible. Press some plastic wrap down on it to minimize air contact. (At this point, the mixture can be refrigerated for up to one week, or frozen for up to two months. Bring it back to room temperature before baking if you do this.)

Heat oven to 350 and line baking sheet with parchment paper. Form dough into 1-inch mounds with your hands and space evenly on the baking sheet. Bake for 18-20 minutes, rotating halfway through. Do not be tempted to pull them early, the darker they get, the better they taste! I sometimes use the convection setting for the second half of baking in order to get the edges dark and crispy. Cool completely before serving.

(These get better in the days following baking, so if you have the time, make them early. I store them in an unsealed zip-top bag in order to preserve their texture. Sealing it will soften them.)