Pecan Sandies with Integrity

Much to Henry’s chagrin, pre-packaged junk food does not grace the shelves of our pantry.  The reason for this is twofold:  first of all, if it was there, we would eat it and second, if I am going to abandon my skinny cook scruples and eat something like a cookie, I would rather enjoy a homemade one instead of something mass-produced and loaded with trans fats.  Now, I don’t want to sound holier-than-thou (if you could buy ready-to-eat truffled Asiago fries in a bag, I’d be a goner), but why settle for something that comes out of a factory when you can have the real thing?

Take Keebler Pecan Sandies, for instance.  A package of them was always in our house when I was growing up.  I suppose it had something to do with the fact that my mom grew up in the South and therefore anything having to do with pecans was always around.  Even my grandmother, who was an amazing baker and cook, deigned to keep a bag or two around when we would visit.  And although I was always an Oreo-kind-of-kid, it didn’t stop me from devouring those crumbly, slightly dry pecan cookies.

Fast forward to the first time I worked at Watershed (the original one, in that converted gas station in Decatur) and was lucky enough to be in the kitchen with my dear friend, the extraordinarily talented Chef Scott Peacock.  I vividly remember one afternoon in that hot kitchen when I had just finished working the sauté station at lunch.  It had been a busy service and I was sweaty, drained of energy and weary.  As I gathered up my knives to head out the door, Scott gestured me over to the space where he was working.  “Here, taste this,” he said, handing me a small something carefully placed on a paper towel.  “Tell me what you think.”

The “something” was the most delicious cookie I had ever tasted.  It shattered in my mouth as I savored it, evoking faint memories of those old pecan sandies, but amped up to pure perfection.  If I were Giada DiLaurentis on the Food Network, I would take a bite of it, roll my eyes, let out a long “Ummmmmm!” and proceed to describe it as getting the wonderful tastes of butter, pecans and vanilla, all in one ethereal crunchy cookie.  Since I am not Giada DiLaurentis, you will just have to rely on my statement that this was the best cookie ever.

Fortunately Scott had the good sense to include the recipe in the cookbook he wrote with Miss Edna Lewis (pretty much my favorite cookbook of all time, I might mention.  I told him recently that if I could only have one cookbook, it would be this one.  I wasn’t kidding.  If you don’t have a copy, you are missing out – here is the link:  http://www.ecookbooks.com/p-3925-gift-of-southern-cooking.aspx).

So here is the recipe.  Scott and Edna called them Nut Butter Balls, but I prefer to think of them as Pecan Sandies with Integrity.  Either way, bake up a batch sooner rather than later.  You won't be sorry.  Trust me!

NUT BUTTER BALLS  (adapted from Scott Peacock and Edna Lewis’ “The Gift of Southern Cooking”)

For the cookies:

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature                                       

¼ cup granulated sugar

¼ teaspoon salt (I use kosher salt)

1 teaspoon pure almond extract

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour, sifted after measuring

1 ½ cups very finely chopped or grated pecans (about 6 ounces)

3 cups vanilla sugar (recipe follows)                                                        

                                                                                                                               

Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the salt and extracts and mix until blended.  Add flour gradually, beating on low speed.  Add the nuts, stopping to scrape the bottom and sides of bowl.  Cover dough and chill at least 3 hours, or preferably overnight.

Shape the dough into 1-inch balls (I use an ice cream scoop for this task).  Flatten each ball slightly and mark the top with the tines of a fork to create lines on top of each cookie.  Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment, wrap well in plastic wrap and chill again until firm (alternatively, you can freeze them and bake as needed).

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375-degrees.  Place cookies ½-inch apart on ungreased baking sheets (or baking sheets lined with a Silpat).  Bake for 12-15 minutes or until they become slightly firm to the touch and are lightly golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 30 minutes.  Transfer to an airtight container and cover completely with vanilla sugar.  Store up to 1 ½ weeks.

Yield:  4 dozen cookies

For the vanilla sugar:

2 vanilla beans

4 cups granulated sugar

Twist and bend the vanilla beans back and forth to bruise them and release their oils.  Split them lengthwise.  Place one piece in the bottom of a 1-quart jar.  Pour ¼ of the sugar over.  Repeat, using all of the vanilla beans and all of the sugar.  Cover tightly and store in a cool, dark place for at least 4 days before using.

Yield:  4 cups

*  Scott (and Edna if she were here) would probably not approve, but I used the food processor to chop up my pecans.  Just make sure not to overprocess so you don't end up with pecan paste.

*  You don't have to flatten and score the unbaked cookies - you can just roll them into balls and bake that way - but I like the indentations on top as they catch more of the vanilla sugar.

*  Speaking of the vanilla sugar, make extra and keep it in your pantry.  Just replace the sugar as you use it.  Try substituting it for regular granulated sugar when you bake!  Not bad on cereal, either!

*  I recently had a dinner party and made these cookies to serve alongside a silky smooth and scrumptious butterscotch pudding.  Pure.  Heaven.

Watershed on Peachtree: A Relic Returns to the Kitchen

Those of you (wonderful) people who follow this blog may remember that I worked at Watershed here in Atlanta for 5 years, doing everything from baking to working the line on the sauté station to frying the chicken that was only offered on Tuesday nights and was a sell-out by 7pm.  It was the pre-cursor to my stint at Star Provisions and it served me well in learning how to navigate around a professional kitchen. 

nevertrustaskinnycook1.blogspot.com/2010/07/watershed-moment.html

That was few (thousand) years ago.  Fast forward to 2012 and Watershed has morphed from a cult-like, low-key restaurant in sleepy Decatur to an energized, celebrity-studded, cutting edge, you-want-to-try-everything-on-the-menu new hotspot in SoBuck (south of Buckhead).  It kept its roots but it has also propelled itself into a new era, under the helm of Executive Chef Joe Truex and Chef de Cuisine Julia LeRoy.  It’s the old Watershed to the tenth power.

Except that they still do the fried chicken.  Once a week, now on Wednesdays.  

When the new Watershed on Peachtree opened in late May, we were honored to be guests at the “friends and family” trial run.  Fried chicken was on the menu that night.  I tasted it and my immediate reaction was “this ain’t right.”  I said as much to my dear friend Ross (one of the owners) and followed it up with “you need to let me fry the chicken for you.”  Clearly, I had imbibed too much wine.

Liz, be careful of what you ask for because you just might get it.  Ross texted me the next Tuesday, one day before the first “Fried Chicken Night” and asked if I would come in to make it happen.  

So I am now the Chicken Bitch at Watershed on Peachtree.  I get there by 9:00 every Wednesday, start frying by 9:30 and it takes me until 7pm or so to finish the job.  This is no ordinary fried chicken, people!

  

It gets brined on Monday, then soaked in buttermilk on Tuesday.  I pan fry it on Wednesday (no deep fryers here; every piece is lovingly attended to by me) in a lovely “fry fat” mixture of lard, country ham and European butter.  I fry it in a steam kettle (or tilt skillet, as I call it) and I can do about 25 pieces per batch.

Yesterday I fried 140 orders, which translates into 560 pieces of chicken.  It also translates into 9+ hours of standing there with no food, no pee break  and no nuthin’ other than frying those damn birds.  Ridiculous, but I love it.  Each week I tweak it just a little bit more and it's become my personal challenge to see how many perfect pieces I can produce.  Oy veh, Liz!

Take a look at the new Watershed on Fried Chicken Night.  Yep, that's me in the third slide!

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2012/06/07/slideshow-watersheds-fried-chicken.html?s=image_gallery

When I finally stagger out to my car, I can barely stand myself.  I stink.  (Of course, I will never need a facial again).  The first thing I do when I get home is strip off those clothes and hop in the shower.  EXCEPT for the time I managed to lock my closet door when I left in the morning and came home to the sad realization that I didn’t have a key to open it.  One locksmith, $200 and 2 hours later, I had access to my clothes and could finally get into the shower.  I think it was probably the best shower I ever took.

I will give you the recipe for the fried chicken in a later post.  For now, we are going to wallow in the “old Watershed” and revel in two recipes of years past.  They may not be a part of Watershed as we know it today, but they are part of its history.  As am I.  Except that they couldn't get rid of me!

BLUEBERRY BUCKLE (from Watershed)

For the berries:

3 pints fresh blueberries, washed, drained and picked over

¼ cup granulated sugar

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon flour (I used White Lily)

For the topping:

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

3 eggs, at room temperature (I used extra-large)

3 cups White Lily flour

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1 ½ teaspoons cream of tartar

¾ teaspoon baking soda

1 cup whole milk, at room temperature

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325-degrees.  Butter and flour a 13x9x2-inch baking pan or dish.  Layer berries in the pan and sprinkle with the ¼ cup of sugar, ½ teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon of flour.  Set aside.

In electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together on high speed until light and fluffy, scraping down bowl several times.  Reduce mixer speed to medium-low and add eggs, one at a time.

Sift together the White Lily flour, salt, cream of tartar and baking soda.  Combine the milk and vanilla extract.  With mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients in thirds, alternating with milk until just combined.  Do not overbeat.  Spread topping over berries.

Bake for 1 ¼ or 1 ½ hours until cake tests done.

Serves 12 - 16

*  White Lily flour is made from soft winter wheat and we Southerners like it a lot for our baked goods as it produces a lovely and tender crumb.  If you can't find it, no worries.  You can use all-purpose flour and your buckle will still be delicious.

*  You can gild the lily (no pun intended) and serve your buckle with whipped cream, a splash of heavy cream or even ice cream, but I prefer it unadorned, served warm straight from the pan.

WATERSHED’S CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

4 cups all-purpose unbleached flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

1 ½ teaspoons salt (I used kosher)

1 lb. unsalted butter, softened

¾ cup light brown sugar (firmly packed)

¾ cup dark brown sugar (firmly packed)

1 ½ cups granulated sugar

4 eggs (I used extra-large)

1 ½ tablespoons pure vanilla extract

2 cups chopped pecans

2 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

4 cups milk chocolate chips

Place flour, baking soda and salt into w mixing bowl.  Whisk together and set aside.

Place butter into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.  Beat until creamy, 2 – 3 minutes.  Add brown and granulated sugars and continue to mix on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, scraping down bowl several times, until light and fluffy.  Reduce mixer speed to low and add eggs, one at a time.  Beat in the vanilla extract.  Add flour in three parts, mixing only until just incorporated.  Do not overbeat.

Remove bowl from mixer stand and stir in pecans and chocolate chips.  Wrap dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate before using.

To bake:

Preheat oven to 350-degrees.  Use an ice cream scoop to scoop out even portions of cookie dough.  Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet, at least 1 ½-inches apart.  Place tray on middle rack in oven and bake for approximately 15 minutes, rotating pan once.  Cool slightly the transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Yield:  9 ½ dozen cookies (if using a 1 ½-inch scoop)

Don't you just love the teeny-tiny stove in my temporary kitchen?

*  This makes a lot of cookies, so feel free to halve the recipe.  Or do what I do, which is to scoop out the dough, roll into balls, place on a cookie sheet and freeze.  When frozen, store in plastic bags and keep in your freezer.  When you need a warm chocolate chip cookie fix, just bake up however many you like.  This is not necessarily a good thing if you want to be a skinny cook, but it does mean you will always be prepared  when friends (or kids) are around.

Speaking of kids, mine will be around this weekend, Andy with his fiancee and Eric with his girlfriend.  Can you guess where we are taking them to dinner on Saturday night???

HO HO HO. No More Oreos.

Admittedly, it’s been a few thousand years since Santa made an appearance in this household. Okay, I’ll admit that he used to show up, along with a Christmas tree or two, when the kids were little. I have fond memories of our late-night hours on Christmas Eve, scrambling to assemble everything, ably assisted by Baba and Grandpa Ed.

Henry and I still laugh over that massive GI Joe aircraft carrier which was situated next to the bucolic Care Bears village. Suffice it to say that within a couple of hours, the Care Bears were targets of the missiles next door. Oh, the joy of having boys…

Perhaps I should mention that I had not yet converted to Judaism in those days.

If Santa still visits your house, perhaps you need to cut him a break this year. I mean, how many Oreos can he face? Do him (and yourself) a BIG favor and make these toffee crunch cookies instead. I made them today and I confess that I consumed a few more than I should have. (Oh hell, I think I devoured about 6 of the damn things – so much for my 17-Day Diet). Yep, they are THAT good – crunchy, crispy, buttery and brown sugar-y. Serve a few to Santa, hoard a few for yourself and keep some of the dough in your freezer so you can bake them off whenever you need a fix. You will thank me for this!

Happy Holidays from my sweet dogs.  Lucy and Roxy (top 2 white dogs) have health issues right now.  I'm just happy to have them here for one more holiday.

TOFFEE CRUNCH COOKIES   (adapted from Jeannie Eddy)

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs (I used extra-large)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 10-oz. bag toffee candy chips (like Heath Bar)
1 cup regular oatmeal
1 cup sweetened, flaked coconut
1 cup whole, blanched and skinned almonds, chopped

Place butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat until creamy, then add both sugars and the salt. Beat until well-combined and fluffy, about 5 minutes, scraping down bowl several times. Add eggs and vanilla and continue to beat until mixture is well-combined and creamy.

Add flour and baking soda. Mix on low speed until just combined. In another bowl, stir together the toffee chips, oatmeal, coconut and almonds. Add this to the mixer and blend briefly to combine.

Place the dough on a sheet of plastic wrap and pat into a round. Wrap well and refrigerate for at least an hour until dough is chilled. Scoop dough into balls (I used a 1-inch ice cream scoop) and place on a baking sheet. Freeze until ready to use.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350-degrees. Place balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing 2-inches apart. Bake for 12 – 14 minutes, or until just golden. Remove from oven, cool slightly, then place cookies on a baking rack to cool completely.

Yield: 100 small cookies (using a 1-inch scoop)

• These things are GREAT! Santa will love you, I promise!

• The chopped almonds are crucial to this recipe. Don’t be tempted by slivered almonds. The chopped-up ones give these cookies great texture and crunch.

So here’s the thing about Christmas and Chanukah. We sort of celebrate both. Henry was out last night at a Christmas party (first night of Chanukah) while I stayed home, lit candles and watched “A Very Glee Christmas.” Oy veh.  Oh, and I also decorated a VERY small Christmas tree which now resides on the buffet in my dining room.  Don't tell my kids ...

Life with a Few Cookies Thrown In

Those of you who read this blog on a regular basis (I bow down in gratitude to all of you) know that I write about more than just recipes. I’m notorious at poking fun at myself  because I think everything is better with a dose of humor. I’ve had lots of fun sharing things like fruit flies in my garage and rats in my backyard.

When describing my blog to those who aren’t “in the know,” I usually make the comment that it combines a slice of life with a slice of cake.

So yes, I am going to give you that recipe I promised you in the last post for Raspberry-Filled Shortbread, but not before I give you another one of those little slices of life.

It has to do with one of those marathon walks that Henry and I embark upon most every weekend. (Well, usually … but we’ve been out-of-pocket for the last six weeks, what with mobile wedding cakes, other travel and moving Eric to a new apartment in Philly). We set out recently, resolute that we could persevere, even in 95-degree heat. We forgot how hard it is after a long hiatus.

We slogged it out for about four hours (no, I’m not kidding) then finally caved and decided it was time to stop for some nourishment (that would be air-conditioning, Greek salad and a glass of wine – for me, anyway). We were hot, sweaty and looked ridiculous, but we didn’t care. Places we stop usually get this and seat us far, far away from other patrons. This is generally a good call, lest they run off their other customers.

We stopped at a mediocre Irish pub. It wasn’t our place of choice (that would have been Leon’s Full Service), but we knew we needed to stop. I ordered that wine.

Unbeknownst to me, the one waitress in the place was doing shots with folks who were seated behind me. I know this because Henry had an unobstructed view. Next thing I knew, she was approaching our table while trying to balance at least four glasses in her hands.

She attempted to set my wine in front of me. It was like slo-mo. I saw it slip out of her hand and could do nothing but watch as it sloshed all over my chest, my lap and my iPhone. Really???

Guess that’s what I get for imbibing in the middle of a walk when I probably should’ve been drinking Gatorade. To her credit, she was mortified and offered to bring me a dry T-shirt. I demurred, but she insisted. I ended up with three T-shirts.  Guess guilt can be a pretty powerful weapon!

I looked at Henry. “This is blog-worthy,” I said.  Even though I got to change my shirt, the bottom half of me was still wine-soaked and I’m sure I smelled like an alcoholic mess on the rest of the walk home.  Gotta wonder what the neighbors thought!

RASPBERRY-FILLED SHORTBREAD  (adapted from Gale Gand)

1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
4 egg yolks
2 cups granulated sugar
4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt (I used kosher)
1 12-oz. jar seedless raspberry jam
1/2 cup confectioner's (or non-melting) sugar

Line a 13 x 9-inch baking pan with heavy-duty foil to overhang sides.  Butter or grease foil well.

Place the butter into the bowl of an electric mixer and cream well, scraping down bowl at least once.  Add the egg yolks and mix well.

In a medium bowl, stir together the granulated sugar, flour, baking powder and salt.  Add to the butter/egg mixture and mix on medium-low speed until just incorporated and dough starts to come together.  Turn dough onto a floured surface and form into 2 ovals.  Wrap each one in plastic wrap and freeze at least 2 hours or preferably overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350-degrees.

Remove 1 package of dough from the freezer and coarsely grate (I used a box grater).  P1ace on bottom of the prepared pan and press down lightly to form a bottom crust.

Stir jam to loosen and spoon over the dough.  Use a small spatula to spread evenly within 1/2-inch of the edge all the way around.

Remove second package of dough from the freezer and grate.  Sprinkle it over the raspberry jam and press lightly to form a top crust.  Bake until light golden brown, about 40 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool on a baking rack.  When cool, remove foil and cut.  Dust with the confectioner's (or non-melting) sugar.

Yield:  12 to 16 bars, depending upon how you cut them

Butter?  No such thing as too much.

 

*  I know I seem to post a lot of shortbread recipes, but get over it.  Shortbread rocks!

*  I served these with that scrumptious Lemon Mouuse I told you about in the last post, but they are pretty wonderful all on their own.  They're not bad for breakfast, either!