Oven Fried Chicken

We pulled this recipe together at the last minute for dinner on Sunday night. I wanted to make the fried chicken recipe from the Weight Watchers cookbook, but we didn't have cornflakes, which were a critical ingredient. So, I turned to Williams-Sonoma and found a fried chicken recipe that coated the chicken with a combination of flour and cornmeal instead so I ran with that. Of course, the Williams-Sonoma recipe also called for frying the chicken in a ton of shortening and that isn't terribly diet friendly, so I stuck with baking the chicken in the oven. It turned out well, but I do think it would have been better with the cornflakes. The baked cornmeal/flour combo just didn't provide the crispiness you expect from fried chicken. We'll definitely make this again when we have cornflakes on hand as I'm sure it'll be wonderful.



Oven Fried Chicken
adapted from Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook by Weight Watchers and Williams-Sonoma

1/2 cup fat-free buttermilk
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp chopped fresh sage
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
4 teaspoons canola oil
1 lb chicken breasts

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Spray a large baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, slip the chicken pieces into the buttermilk. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or as long as overnight.

In a shallow baking dish, stir together the cornmeal, flour, salt, pepper, sage, paprika, garlic powder and onion powder. Remove each piece of chicken from the buttermilk, allowing the excess to drip away. Coat the pieces evenly with the seasoned flour and place on the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle the chicken with the oil.

Bake 3o minutes, then turn the chicken over. Bake until cooked through, 15-20 minutes longer.

TWD: Fluted Polenta and Ricotta Cake

This week's recipe was chosen by Caitlin of Engineer Baker. When I found out what we were making this week, I was definitely a little nervous. This isn't the sort of dessert I'd typically be drawn to. I tend to stick with things that are slightly more traditional. However, that's part of the reason I joined this group - to step outside of my comfort zone. Despite paging through Dorie's book more times than I can count, I've never even noticed this recipe. So, thanks for choosing it Caitlin and opening me up to new things!

I decided to substitute craisins for the figs in the recipe, as I don't much care for figs (unless we count Fig Newtons). I also used cornmeal and not polenta (I don't know exactly how they differ to be honest). When I finished making the batter, I had enough to make both a 10" tart and a 4" cake in a mini-springform pan. Everything seemed to be going well until my cakes came out of the oven. The small cake was fine, but the larger one never quite seemed right. For lack of a better word, it was greasy. I didn't even use the extra butter on top that is included in Dorie's recipe. It almost seemed like I undercooked the cake, but if that's the case I'm not sure how - I baked it for 45 minutes, saw it pulling away from the sides of the pan and had my knife come out clean when I tested it!

Since the small cake turned out better, I tried a piece of that one. I didn't hate it, but I just don't think it was my thing. (That's a rousing endorsement, isn't it?) That said, I've browsed a number of the other results over at TWD, and a majority of the girls seemed to like this cake. Be sure to check out their cakes!

Next week's recipe is a Peanut Butter Torte and I can't wait!

Fluted Polenta and Ricotta Cake
from Baking: From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan



About 16 moist, plump dried Mission or Kadota figs, stemmed
1 c. medium-grain polenta or yellow cornmeal
½ c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 c. ricotta
1/3 c. tepid water
¾ c. sugar
¾ c. honey (if you’re a real honey lover, use a full-flavored honey such as chestnut, pine, or buckwheat)
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 large eggs



Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 10 ½-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom and put it on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.

Check that the figs are, indeed, moist and plump. If they are the least bit hard, toss them into a small pan of boiling water and steep for a minute, then drain and pat dry. If the figs are large (bigger than a bite), snip them in half.

Whisk the polenta, flour, baking powder, and salt together.

Working with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the ricotta and water together on low speed until very smooth. With the mixer at medium speed, add the sugar, honey, and lemon zest and beat until light. Beat in the melted butter, then add the eggs one at a time, beating until the mixture is smooth. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they are fully incorporated. You’ll have a sleek, smooth, pourable batter.

Pour about one third of the batter into the pan and scatter over the figs. Pour in the rest of the batter, smooth the top with a rubber spatula, if necessary, and dot the batter evenly with the chilled bits of butter.



Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. The cake should be honey brown and pulling away just a little from the sides of the panm, and the butter will have left light-colored circles in the top. Transfer the cake to a rack and remove the sides of the pan after about 5 minutes. Cool to warm, or cool completely.

Blueberry-Filled Pancakes

I've been on a bit of a blueberry kick lately and am following my blueberry pie up with some blueberry-filled pancakes. I found myself surfing Williams-Sonoma recipes at work last week and decided I needed to make these filled pancakes. They just looked so cute and tasty! I grabbed the pan at Williams-Sonoma on Saturday and set out to make these on Sunday morning. It took me a little while to get the hang of it, but once I got it down, these were fun to make! They were also just as good as I'd hoped they'd be! I made a full batch of them and stuck most of them in the freezer. Hopefully they'll be good reheated in the oven next weekend!



Blueberry-Filled Pancakes
from Williams-Sonoma

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 Tbs. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
3 eggs, separated
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 pint fresh blueberries
Confectioners' sugar for dusting
Maple syrup for serving



In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, granulated sugar and salt.

In a small bowl, lightly whisk together the egg yolks and buttermilk. Whisk the yolk mixture into the flour mixture until well combined; the batter will be lumpy.

In another bowl, using an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff but not dry peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the whites into the batter in two additions.

Put 1/2 tsp. butter in each well of a filled-pancake pan. Place over medium heat and heat until the butter begins to bubble. Pour 1 Tbs. batter into each well and cook until the bottoms are golden brown and crispy, 3 to 5 minutes. Put 5 or 6 blueberries in the center of each pancake and top with 1 Tbs. batter. Using 2 wooden skewers, flip the pancakes over and cook until golden and crispy, about 3 minutes more. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with the remaining batter and blueberries.



Dust the pancakes with confectioners' sugar and serve warm with maple syrup.

Makes about 40.

First Time for Everything

When we first moved into our house last summer, our wonderful neighbors Pete and Tori brought us a blueberry pie. I don't recall being a huge fan of blueberry pie before that, but this pie was so amazingly good that it hooked me! I haven't had any blueberry pie since then but I've been thinking about making one ever since I started baking more. I have made several attempts at pie crust in the past few months, but none of them have been successful (and therefore haven't made it onto the blog). Since I pulled this blueberry pie recipe up on Williams-Sonoma, I decided to give their pie crust recipe a shot.....and it worked!! I was so excited that I finally successfully made pie crust! I did have one Pillsbury pie crust in the freezer so I decided not to press my luck and used that crust for the top of the pie. Well, as luck would have it, that was the crust that caused me a problem! As you'll see in the pictures, my pie looks sick. I don't know what happened with the top crust, but it's not pretty. I guess what really matters is that the pie still tastes fantastic! (So good in fact that I had a piece for breakfast on Friday...oops.) I definitely recommend both the pie crust recipe and the blueberry pie recipe and I'm sure I'll be making them again this summer!!



Blueberry Pie
from Williams-Sonoma



2 rolled-out rounds of basic pie dough (see recipe below)



4 cups blueberries
1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice, strained
3/4 cup sugar
3 Tbs. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 Tbs. cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Fold 1 dough round in half and carefully transfer to a 9-inch pie dish. Unfold and ease the round into the pan, without stretching it, and pat it firmly into the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Using kitchen scissors, trim the edge of the dough, leaving 3¿4 inch of overhang. Set the dough-lined pan aside, along with the other dough round, in a cool place until ready to use.

Place the blueberries in a large bowl, sprinkle with the lemon juice and toss to coat evenly. In a small bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest, salt and cinnamon. Sprinkle the sugar mixture over the berries and toss to distribute evenly. Immediately transfer to the dough-lined pan. Dot with the butter.





Fold the reserved dough round in half and carefully position it over half of the filled pie. Unfold and trim the edge neatly, leaving 1 inch of overhang, then fold the edge of the top round under the edge of the bottom round and crimp the edges to seal. Using a small, sharp knife, cut an asterisk 4 to 5 inches across in the center of the top to allow steam to escape during baking.

Refrigerate the pie until the dough is firm, 20 to 30 minutes. Meanwhile, position a rack in the lower third of an oven and preheat to 375°F.

Bake the pie until the crust is golden and the filling is thick and bubbling, 50 to 60 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely to set, 1 to 2 hours. Serve at room temperature or rewarm in a 350°F oven for 10 to 15 minutes just before serving. Makes one 9-inch pie; serves 8.

Note: If fresh blueberries are unavailable, use frozen blueberries (without thawing them first) and increase the baking time by 10 to 15 minutes. (I used frozen berries in this recipe without any problem.)

Basic Pie Dough
from Williams-Sonoma

1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 Tbs. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
8 Tbs. (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 4-inch cubes
3 Tbs. very cold water

To make the dough by hand, in a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar and salt. Using a pastry cutter or 2 knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with butter pieces no larger than small peas. Add the water and mix with a fork just until the dough pulls together.

To make the dough in a stand mixer, fit the mixer with the paddle attachment, and stir together the flour, sugar and salt in the mixer bowl. Add the butter and toss with a fork to coat with the flour mixture. Mix on medium-low speed until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with the butter pieces no larger than small peas. Add the water and mix on low speed just until the dough pulls together.

Transfer the dough to a work surface, pat into a ball and flatten into a disk. (Although many dough recipes call for chilling the dough at this point, this dough should be rolled out immediately for the best results.) Lightly flour the work surface, then flatten the disk with 6 to 8 gentle taps of the rolling pin. Lift the dough and give it a quarter turn. Lightly dust the top of the dough or the rolling pin with flour as needed, then roll out into a round at least 12 inches in diameter and about 1/8 inch thick. Makes enough dough for one 9-inch single-crust pie or one 10-inch galette.

Fudge Ball Cupcakes

Yet another entry from my Cupcakes book... I've been baking a ton lately! We're not just eating dessert for dinner, I swear. We've just been eating a lot of our old standbys so nothing new to post. In any event, I chose to make these cupcakes because they were a little different from the others with their fun chocolate shell. I thought they'd be right up Shane's alley and figured he could bring them into work today for his friends.

I really enjoyed making this recipe. It came together quickly and easily for the most part though it does take a little while to melt the chocolate, particularly for me because I don't chop it very finely. Dipping the cupcakes into the melted chocolate for the shell was fun too. I also took this opportunity to toast coconut for the very first time and topped half of the cupcakes with it. I thought these turned out well in terms of appearance and based on what I heard from Shane, his coworkers were big fans!



Fudge Ball Cupcakes
from Cupcakes by Elinor Klivans

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour




For the Coating
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips or chopped semisweet chocolate
3 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil

cocoa powder, coconut, nuts, etc for topping (optional)

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Line 24 mini-muffin cups with mini-paper liners. Spray the paper liners with nonstick spray.

Put the butter and unsweetened chocolate in a heatproof bowl or the top of a double boiler and place it over, but not touching, a saucepan of barely simmering water (or the bottom of a double boiler). Stir the butter and chocolate until melted and smooth. Remove from the water and set aside to cool slightly.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, and salt to blend them thoroughly, about 1 minute. Whisk in the slightly cooled chocolate mixture and vanilla to incorporate them. Whisk in the flour just until no white streaks remain.

Fill each paper liner with about 1 1/2 tablespoons batter, to just below the top of the liner. Bake just until the tops feel firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it, about 24 minutes. Cool the cupcakes for 10 minutes in the pan on a wire rack before transferring the cupcakes themselves to the wire racks to cool.



To make the coating:
Put the chocolate and oil in a heatproof bowl or the top of a double boiler and place it over, but not touching, a saucepan of barely simmering water (or the bottom of the double boiler). Stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Scrape the chocolate coating into a small bowl.

Remove the paper liners from the cooled cupcakes. Holding the top of a cupcake with your fingers, dip all of the cupcake except the top in the chocolate coating. Gently roll it in the chocolate to coat it thoroughly, then hold it over the bowl to let any excess drip off and return the cupcake to the wire rack, uncoated top down. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes; do not let the coated cupcakes touch one another. Let sit until the chocolate coating becomes just sticky to the touch but is no longer liquid.

Use a strainer to dust the tops of the cupcakes with cocoa powder. (Alternatively, you can sprinkle toasted coconut, chocolate sprinkles, pecans or walnuts over the cupcakes.) Let the cupcakes sit at room temperature until the coating is firm, about 1 1/2 hours. Or, to speed the firming of the chocolate, refrigerate the fudge balls on the wire rack for about 10 minutes.

Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Milk Chocolate Glaze

As I continue to bake my way through Dorie's cookbook, I'm also making some headway on my Cupcakes book by Elinor Klivans. I love making cupcakes because they're a lot less work than some other treats and they make great snacks for Shane to bring to work during the week. When I first bought this book and flipped through, these peanut butter cupcakes caught my eye. I've never had peanut butter cupcakes before, but you really can't go wrong with the combination of chocolate and peanut butter!

As I baked last night, it was all I could do not to eat each and every one of these cupcakes when they came out of the oven. The smell of the batter and of the finished cupcakes was intoxicating and truly difficult to resist. I did manage to overcome temptation luckily. Shane, however, had 2 of these cupcakes today and declared them his favorite cupcakes ever! He said they had wonderful peanut butter flavor and were very dense but still moist. Between his review and their scent, I will likely be trying one of these tomorrow night!

Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Milk Chocolate Glaze
from Cupcakes by Elinor Klivans

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter, at room temperature
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk (any fat content)

For the Glaze:
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 cup (about 5 3/4 ounces) chopped milk chocolate or milk chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract



Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line 12 muffin tin cups with paper cupcake liners.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter, peanut butter, and brown sugar until smoothly blended and lightened in color, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. Mix in the egg. Add the vanilla and beat for 1 minute, or until the batter is smooth. On low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 additions and the milk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture and mixing just until the flour is incorporated and the batter looks smooth.

Fill each paper liner with a generous 1/4 cup of batter, to about 1/3 inch below the top of the liner. Bake just until the tops feel firm and are lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 22 minutes. There will be a few small cracks on the top. Cool the cupcakes for 10 minutes in the pan on a wire rack before turning the cupcakes themselves onto the rack to cool completely.

To Make the Glaze



In a medium saucepan, heat the cream and butter over low heat until the cream is hot and the butter has melted. The mixture should form tiny bubbles and measure about 175 F on a thermometer; do not let it boil. Remove the pan from the heat, add the milk chocolate, and let it sit in the hot cream for about 30 seconds to soften. Add the vanilla and whisk the glaze until it is smooth and all of the chocolate has melted. (Return the glaze to low heat if necessary to melt the chocolate completely, whisking constantly.) The glaze should be thick enough to hold its shape when spread over the cupcakes. If it is too liquid to spread, let sit at room temperature for 5 to 15 minutes, depending on the temperature of your kitchen.

Using a small spatula, spread 1 tablespoon of the glaze over the top of each cupcake.

Makes 12 cupcakes.

Tuesdays with Dorie!!

As we all know by now, I love my Dorie cookbook. I also love reading other food blogs and looking at the accompanying pictures. So about a month ago, I noticed that many of the food blogs I was regularly reading were joining a group called Tuesdays with Dorie ("TWD"). TWD is a group of bakers who make one recipe a week from Dorie's cookbook (a different person chooses the recipe each week) and all post their results on their food blogs on, you guessed it, Tuesday! As I said, I've been intrigued for a while now but finally just decided to take the plunge and join the group myself last week. I'm very excited to be a part of the group and to make my way through Dorie's cookbook!! Be sure to check out some of the other bakers at TWD - there are some really amazing blogs!!

This week's recipe was chosen by Amanda of Slow Like Honey: Big Bill's Carrot Cake! I was excited that this would be my first recipe as part of TWD. I've made layer cakes before and while I certainly need to improve, at least it wasn't completely foreign to me. I ran into a problem with one of my layers and it broke when I took it out of the pan. That in turn resulted in my cake looking like the leaning tower... Next time, I would also make additional frosting. While I (barely) had enough to frost between the layers and on the top (like the picture in the book), I definitely didn't have enough to do the sides. I wasn't originally planning to frost the sides, but after I saw how lopsided my cake was, it would have been nice to have the option. In any event, I didn't try any of this cake, but everyone who did has really enjoyed it! So much in fact, that I'm feeling some remorse at not having tried it. Oh well....guess that just gives me an excuse to make it again sometime! (Since I didn't try the cake and gave it away, I don't have pictures of the inside of the cake but there are plenty of them over on the blogs at TWD...)



Big Bill's Carrot Cake
from Baking: From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan

For the cake:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon salt
3 cups grated carrots (about 9 carrots, you can grate them in food processor fitted w/ a shredding a blade or use a box grater)
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans (I skipped these)
1 cup shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
½ cup moist, plump raisins (dark or golden) or dried cranberries
2 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
4 large eggs

For the frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 stick ( 8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 pound or 3 and ¾ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice or ½ teaspoon pure lemon extract
½ cup shredded coconut (optional)
Finely chopped toasted nuts and/or toasted shredded coconut (optional)

Getting ready:
Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 325 F. Butter three 9-x-2-inch round cake pans, flour the insides, and tap out the excess. Put two pans on one baking sheet and one on another.

To make the cake:
Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In another bowl, stir together the carrots, chopped nuts, coconut, and raisins.
Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the sugar and oil together on a medium speed until smooth. Add the eggs one by one and continue to beat until the batter is even smoother. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture, mixing only until the dry ingredients disappear. Gently mix the chunky ingredients. Divide the batter among the baking pans.
Bake for 40-50 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point, until a thin knife inserted into the centers comes out clean. The cakes will have just started to come away from the sides of the pans. Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes and unmold them. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up.
The cakes can be wrapped airtight and kept at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to 2 months.

To make the frosting:
Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the sugar and continue to beat until the frosting is velvety smooth. Beat in the lemon juice or extract.
If you’d like coconut in the filling, scoop about half of the frosting and stir the coconut into this position.

To assemble the cake:
Put one layer top side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper. If you added the coconut to the frosting, use half of the coconut frosting to generously cover the first layer (or generously cover with plain frosting). Use an offset spatula or a spoon to smooth the frosting all the way to the edges of the layer. Top with the second layer, this time placing the cake stop side down, and frost with the remainder of the coconut frosting or plain frosting. Top with the last layer, right side up, and frost the top- and the sides- of the cake. Finish the top with swirls of frosting. If you want to top the cake with toasted nuts or coconut, sprinkle them on now while the frosting is soft. Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes, just to set the frosting before serving.

Glazed Lemon Cookies

I don't even really like lemon or lemon cookies, but when I saw this recipe and the accompanying pictures, I immediately wanted to make these cookies. The blog I found these on has the most amazing pictures! As an added bonus, the recipe suggests making the cookie dough in a food processor and I'm always looking for an excuse to use mine.

The dough came together easily and quickly in the food processor and I loved that I didn't have to make the glaze with my mixer. As much as I love the mixer, I'd already washed that bowl twice yesterday and really didn't want to have to wash it a third time... I tried a cookie and the lemon flavor was too strong for me, but that wasn't terribly surprising as I didn't expect to like them too much. However, I brought the cookies to work today and people couldn't stop raving about them. In fact, someone even asked for the recipe! I would definitely make these again to bring to work or to another function!

Glazed Lemon Cookies
From Cafe Johnsonia (originally from Cooks Illustrated)

Lemon Cookies
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. grated zest plus 2 Tbsp. juice from two lemons
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. baking powder
12 Tbsp. ( 1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½” cubes
1 lg. egg yolk
½ tsp. vanilla extract



Lemon Glaze
1 Tbsp. softened cream cheese
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 ½ cups powdered sugar

For the cookies: Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions; heat oven to 375 F.

In the bowl of food processor, process granulated sugar and zest until it looks damp and zest is thoroughly incorporated, about 30 seconds. Add flour, salt, and baking powder; pulse to combine, about 10 one-second pulses. Scatter butter chunks over. Pulse until mixture resembles fine cornmeal, about 15 one-second pulses.In a measuring cup or small bowl, beat lemon juice, yolk, and vanilla until combined.With machine running, add juice/yolk mixture in slow, steady stream (process should take about 10 seconds); continue processing until dough begins to form ball, 10 to 15 seconds longer.

Turn dough and any dry bits out onto counter (or board); working quickly, gently knead the dough together to ensure no dry bits remain and dough is homogeneous.Roll dough into cylinder approximately 10 inches long and 2 inches in diameter.Center dough on piece of parchment (waxed paper or plastic wrap will work in a pinch ). Fold paper over dough.Grasp one end of parchment. With other hand, use bench scarper to firmly press parchment against dough to form uniform cylinder.Roll parchment and twist ends together to form tight seal. Chill dough until firm and cold, about 45 minutes in freezer or 2 hours in refrigerator.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove dough log from wrapping and, using a sharp chef's knife, slice dough into rounds 3/8-inch thick. Place on prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 1 inch apart.

Bake until centers of cookies just begin to color and edges are golden brown, 14 to 16 minutes, rotating baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through baking time.
Cool cookies on baking sheet about 5 minutes, using wide metal spatula, transfer cookies to wire rack and cool to room temperature before glazing.

Lemon Glaze:

1. Whisk cream cheese and lemon juice in a medium nonreactive bowl until no lumps remain. Add powdered sugar and whisk until smooth.

2. When cookies have cooled, working one at a time, spoon scant teaspoon glaze onto each cookie and spread evenly with the back of spoon.

Let cookies stand on a wire rack until glaze is set and dry, about 1 hour.



Makes about 30 cookies.

Barbecue Pork

We decided to try another Weight Watchers recipe tonight for dinner. This pork tenderloin was delicious! The spice rub actually packs too much kick for me, but with the sweet sauce, it was the perfect combination. Pork tenderloin always seems to come out so tender, and this recipe was no exception. One disclaimer about this recipe: We did not cook this on the grill so I can't say how it would have been had we done that. I seared the tenderloin in my dutch oven and then stuck it in the oven at 375 F until the thermometer registered 160 F.




Barbecue Pork with Mop Sauce
from Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook

2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 pork tenderloins (1 1/2 pounds), trimmed of all visible fat
1/3 cup ketchup
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons molasses
2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce



Spray the grill rack with nonstick spray; prepare the grill for indirect heating.

To prepare the spice rub, combine the brown sugar, paprika, chili powder, cumin, salt, cayenne, and pepper in a bowl. Rub half of the mixture all over the pork and let stand 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, to prepare the sauce, combine the ketchup, vinegar, molasses and worcestershire sauce in a bowl.

Rub the pork with the remaining spice rub. Place over the indirect heat section of the grill. Grille 15 minutes. Turn the pork and grill until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the meat registers 160 F, 12-15 minutes longer. Remove from the grill, cover loosely with foil, and let stand 10 minutes before cutting each tenderloin into 12 slices. Serve with the sauce.

Points per serving (4 slices pork with about 2 tablespoons sauce): 4

Bundt Cake

I'd like to point out the obvious... I'm slightly obsessed with my Dorie cookbook. I can't stop baking things from it's beautiful pages. I bring it to work and browse through during lunch planning what I'll make next. Fortunately, I've been able to give away a majority of the things I make or I'd probably have gained 20 pounds by now. I do try just about everything I make from her cookbook but I've learned to stop after a bite or two. :-)

I really don't have too much to say about this recipe. It's pretty straight-forward and didn't present many problems. I did have a little trouble incorporating the second half of the swirl mixture at the end but I don't think it made a difference in the end. I had a few bites of the cake once it had cooled some and I can safely say I thought this was one of the most tasty Dorie recipes I've tried. I could have eaten much, much more!



Nutty, Chocolaty, Swirly Sour Cream Bundt Cake
from Baking: From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan



For the Swirl
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped, or 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips
1/3 cup plump, moist raisins (dark or golden) or dried currants
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of salt

For the Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups sugar
Grated zest of 1 orange
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream



Confectioners' sugar, for dusting (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter a 9-to-10 inch Bundt pan, dust the interior with flour and tap out the excess. Do not place the Bundt pan on a baking sheet - you want the oven's heat to circulate freely through the Bundt's inner tube

To make the swirl: Put all the ingredients in a bowl and stir to mix.

To make the cake: Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Working in the bowl of a stand mixer or in another large bowl, rub the sugar and zest together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and aromatic. Add the butter. With the paddle or whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat on medium speed for 4 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each egg goes in. Beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the sour cream. Still working on low, add the dry ingredients and mix only until they disappear into the batter.

Give the batter a last stir or two with a rubber spatula (just to make sure all the dry ingredients are properly incorporated), then scoop about one third of the batter into the Bundt pan. Evenly sprinkle on half of the swirl mixture, then spoon in the rest of the batter. Make a shallow indentation with the back of the spoon in the center of the ring of batter and fill it with the remaining swirl mixture, then cover the mixture lightly with the batter on the sides of the indentation - the batter probably won't cover the mixture completely, and that's fine.

Bake for 60 to 65 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted deep into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and let the cake rest for 10 minutes before unmolding it onto the rack to cool to room temperature.

Just before serving, dust the cake with confectioners' sugar, if desired.

Honey-Wheat Crescent Rolls

Last night I really wanted to make one of the bread recipes I'd seen in my Weight Watchers cookbook. It's been a while since I've made bread (well, except for my focaccia disaster a few weeks ago) plus I needed a change from baking sweet things. I ended up deciding I didn't want a loaf of bread so I went with these crescent rolls. The recipe called for use of a food processor to pull the dough together which was new for me. I've always used my stand mixer for bread recipes in the past. Using the food processor was fantastic! It was so quick and easy! Also, I haven't used the food processor much since I got it a few weeks ago and therefore it's still a fun novelty item in the kitchen.

I loved this recipe all around. Unlike some bread recipes I've made in the past, the dough was easy to work with and I really didn't have any problems rolling it out or cutting the wedges. The rolls were very tasty (even Shane liked them, though when he sees this post and finds out there was whole wheat flour involved, I'm sure he won't be so keen on them...) I stuck most of these in the freezer and am looking forward to having them to pop in the oven for a few minutes to go with dinner occasionally!



Honey-Wheat Crescent Rolls
from Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook

1 cup warm (105-115 F) water
2 tablespoons honey
1 package active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

In a 2-cup measuring cup, combine the water and honey; sprinkle in the yeast and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.

In a food processor, combine the all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour and salt. With the machine running, pour the yeast mixture through the feed tube; pulse until the dough forms a ball, about 1 minute. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times until smooth.

Spray a large bowl with nonstick spray and put the dough in the bowl. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in volume, about 35 minutes.

Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray. Punch down the dough. Sprinkle a work surface lightly with flour. Turn the dough onto the surface; cut in half. Roll each half into a 10-inch circle. Cut each circle into 6 wedges. Roll each wedge, from the wide side, and form into a crescent. Place, pointed-end down, on the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough, arranging the rolls 1 inch apart. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until they double in size, about 35 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Bake the rolls until they are golden brown and sound hollow when lightly tapped, about 15 minutes. Remove the rolls from the baking sheet and cool on a rack.

Makes 12 rolls.

Grilled Teriyaki Shrimp

We took advantage of the nice weather this past weekend to grill more than once. We had this meal for dinner on Sunday night. By that point, it was definitely a little too chilly out to be grilling, but we braved the cold to get it done. It was our first time grilling shrimp and we think we overcooked them a little, but this was still a really delicious meal! The marinade really imparted a nice flavor to the shrimp without overwhelming them.

I've posted the original recipe below, but I made several adaptations to it. I didn't use any bell peppers since I don't really like them. Instead, I threaded some cherry tomatoes onto the skewers. I also threaded some shallots on the skewers as well for a little more variety. Finally, I just ate the skewers by themselves, without any rice, though I do think the shrimp and veggies would be amazing atop some rice. Perhaps next time...



Grilled Teriyaki Shrimp
from Weight Watchers Complete Cookbook, by Weight Watchers

1 1/4 pounds large shrimp, peeled (tails left on) and deveined
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce/marinade (recipe below)
1/2 medium fresh pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 red bell peppers, seeded and finely chopped
4 cups cooked white rice
4 scallions, sliced on the diagonal

Teriyaki Sauce/Marinade



1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
3 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoon packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger

In a small jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine all the ingredients. Cover and shake well.

Place the shrimp in a large zip-close plastic bag and pour in 1/4 cup of the marinade. Seal the bag, squeezing out the air; turn to coat the shrimp. Refrigerate, turning the bag occasionally, at least 2 hours.

Spray the grill rack with nonstick spray. If using wooden skewers, soak 8 (12-inch) skewers in cold water. Preheat the grill.

Drain and discard the marinade. Alternately thread the shrimp, pineapple and bell peppers on 8 wooden or metal skewers. Grill the kebabs 5 inches from the heat, turning frequently, until the shrimp are cooked through, 12-15 minutes. Serve over the rice, sprinkled with the remaining 2 tablespoons teriyaki marinade and the scallions.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

So I had a giftcard for Williams-Sonoma and went on a bit of a shopping spree the past few weeks. One of the things I got was a new cookbook containing only cupcake recipes. I like making cupcakes because they're portable and easier to frost than an entire cake. I also feel like they're less likely to go to waste at our house than a whole cake.

I let Shane choose the first recipe he wanted me to make from the book since he would be taking these cupcakes to work this week for a snack. He chose these basic chocolate cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting. I haven't tried them, but Shane loves them! I believe what he said was "moist and chocolately cupcakes with a really light and fluffy frosting." I will say that the recipe produced far more frosting than I needed so I think next time I would make 3/4 of the recipe.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
from Cupcakes! by Elinor Klivans

Cupcakes (makes 18 regular cupcakes)

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 18 muffin tin cups with paper cupcake liners.

Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl or the top of a double boiler and place it over, but not touching, a saucepan of barely simmering water (or the bottom of the double boiler). Stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from the water and set aside to cool slightly.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and sugar until smoothly blended and creamy, about 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. On low speed, mix in the melted chocolate. On medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, mixing until each is blended into the batter. Add the vanilla and beat until the mixture looks creamy and the color has lightened slightly, about 1 minute. Mix in the sour cream until no white streaks remain. On low speed, add half of the flour mixture, mixing just to incorporate it. Mix in the water. Mix in the remaining flour mixture until it is incorporated and the batter looks smooth.

Fill each paper liner with a generous 1/4 cup of batter, to about 1/3 inch from the top of the liner. Bake just until the tops feel firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool the cupcakes for 10 minutes in the pans on wire racks then remove the cupcakes from the pan to cool completely on the wire racks.



Frosting

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, at room temperature

Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl or the top of a double boiler and place it over, but not touching, a saucepan of barely simmering water (or the bottom of the double boiler). Stir the chocolate until it is melted and smooth. Remove from the water and set aside to cool slightly.

Sift the powdered sugar and cocoa powder into a large bowl. Add the butter, and using an electric mixer on low speed, beat until smoothly blended, about 2 minutes. At first the mixture will look crumbly, but then it will form a smooth mass. Beat in the melted chocolate. Add the vanilla and cream, mixing to incorporate. On medium speed, beat the frosting for at least 3 minutes, until it looks smooth and creamy and the color lightens.