Mark Bittman's Maple Cornmeal Cookies

I recently discovered Mark Bittman's wonderful maple cornmeal cookies. These drop cookies are so simple to make and they can be served with a myriad of things: tea, espresso, ice cream, or on their own for a delicious and nostalgically New England treat!

The trick with these cookies is to undercook them in the oven. Remove the cookies from the oven and let them sit for a few minutes on the cookie sheets, and then carefully transfer them to racks to cool and set, and this way the cookies retain their oh-so-wonderful chewiness. Homemade cookies are marvelous anytime, but they have a specialness in winter — just the process of baking cookies fills the kitchen with delicious smells and warms the soul.

Here is a link to the recipe.

Happy cookie baking!

Meringues

This blog post is written by my friend, JB.

I made boiled custard, which left me with six egg whites, so I made:

Meringues:
6 egg whites
an old sneaker full of sugar
a small mouthful of maple syrup
an old tuna fish can of cocoa powder
Beat until stiff
Bake @ 200º for about 2 hrs.
Insert into Mouth.
Chew.
Swallow.
Repeat.

(This is a sample Rx from my up & coming White Trash & Swamp Yankee Cookbook.)

Roasted Butternut Squash & Maple Syrup Ice Cream

Today, during the Thanksgiving frenzy of cooking in the kitchen, I found myself oven-roasting an inordinately large amount of butternut squash. On the spur of the moment, I came up with the idea to puree roasted butternut squash and use it in a small homemade batch of ice cream. Wow. This was amazing.

I made the ice cream base: egg yolks, maple syrup as the sweetener, heavy cream, and milk, staying true to the tradition of gelato-making by using equal parts cream and milk. I whisked in the pureed butternut squash, and put the whole thing through the ice cream machine.

The results were amazing. The perfect dessert accoutrement on Thanksgiving!

Amazing Roasted Butternut Squash

Peel butternut squash and chop off ends.
Remove seeds.
Chop into fairly equally-sized chunks.
Parboil squash for three to four minutes.
Grease a ceramic or Pyrex baking dish with butter.
Toss squash with olive oil, maple syrup, Kosher salt, pepper, ground gloves and nutmeg.
Roast in preheated 375° oven until tender and amazingly delicious.

Red Jacket Orchards Apple Juice

I am convinced that I have found the most incredible apple juice on the planet. Red Jacket Orchards, located in the Finger Lakes, makes apple juice by pressing whole fruit and they use Fuji apples. The juice is cold pressed, flash pasteurized and it is highly addictive. There are different varieties of the juice like strawberry apple juice and rhubarb apple juice; there are others as well. I love their straight-up Fuji apple juice. Luckily, it is available at Whole Foods.

Ridiculously Good Oatmeal

Here are the keys to making amazing oatmeal.

Start with old fashioned rolled oats.

Use half water and half milk. Bring to a boil on the stovetop.

Add the oats, as well as any or all of the following:
dried cherries
dried cranberries
dried blueberries
raisins
drizzle of honey
chopped walnuts
chopped apple

Stir over medium heat, and when the oatmeal is ready, remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.

This is oatmeal. Makes a wonderful breakfast on a crisp autumnal morning.

Pan Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

Today, I made one of my all-time favorite things to eat: pan roasted fingerling potatoes. The best way to make these is to wash the potatoes, halve the potatoes, parboil the potatoes for two to three minutes and drain. In a heavy saucepan, melt some good butter, toss the potatoes with the butter, and sprinkle with Kosher salt. Cook covered for twenty minutes or so, shaking the pan regularly while holding the lid to ensure even cooking. I like to add fresh rosemary. Pan roasted fingerling potatoes with fresh rosemary is quite possibly one of the most amazing things to eat. I'm a fan.