Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 45 min
Makes about 150 (1 1/2-inch) cookies.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 1/4sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
- 2/3cup packed light brown sugar
- 1large egg
- 1/2teaspoon vanilla
- 1cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4cups semisweetchocolate chips (7 1/2 oz)
DIRECTIONS Preheat oven to 400°F.
Beat together butter, sugar, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy, then beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour and mix at low speed until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
Drop barely rounded 1/2 teaspoons of dough about 1 1/2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets and bake in batches in middle of oven until golden brown, 6 to 7 minutes. Transfer cookies as baked to a rack to cool.
Tossing the peaches in lemon juice brightens their flavor.
Makes about 2 quarts to serve 16.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 pounds ripe peaches
-
1 tablespoon lemon juice
-
3/4 cup sugar
-
1 cup milk and 3 cups heavy cream
-
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
-
4 large egg yolks
DIRECTIONS 1. Peel, pit and slice peaches, reserving peels and pits. Combine the peach slices, lemon juice and 1/4 cup sugar, then set aside.
2. In a saucepan, combine the milk, cream, remaining sugar, vanilla and peach peels and pits; cook, stirring, over medium heat for 10 minutes. Do not boil. Remove from heat.
3. Place yolks in a bowl and, whisking constantly, pour in 1 cup of the hot-milk mixture; continue whisking until smooth.
4. Slowly pour the egg mixture back into the hot-milk mixture in the saucepan, whisking constantly until smooth. Place the saucepan over medium heat and stir the mixture constantly until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (6 to 8 minutes). The mixture should never boil.
5. Cool to room temperature and then strain into a bowl.
6. Puree the reserved peaches in a food processor until smooth. Stir into the milk mixture and freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Makes 4 servings.
INGREDIENTS
- 1large english hothouse cucumber, peeled, diced (about 2 1/2 cups)
- 2 1/2cups low-fat (1%) buttermilk
- 1avocado, quartered, pitted, peeled
- 4tablespoons chopped red onion
- 2tablespoons chopped fresh basil1/2cup seeded chopped tomato
- 2teaspoons fresh lime juice
- 4tablespoons plain nonfat yogurt
-
DIRECTIONS Combine cucumber and buttermilk in blender. Chop 1/4 of avocado; set aside for salad. Cut remaining avocado into chunks. Add avocado to blender; then add 2 tablespoons red onion and 1 tablespoon basil. Blend until very smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Cover; refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.
Mix reserved avocado, remaining 2 tablespoons onion and 1 tablespoon basil, tomato and lime juice in small bowl. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover soup and tomato salad separately and refrigerate.) Ladle cucumber soup into 4 bowls. Dollop each with 1 tablespoon yogurt; top with tomato salad and serve.
While this recipe makes more pasta that the four rectangles you’ll need for the Pumpkin Cannelloni with Clams and Sage Brown Butter, Jody Adams recommends rolling out all of the pasta and cutting the extra into tagliatelle, which, when tossed with butter and cheese, makes a wonderful dinner later in the week. For rolling and cutting, she likes to use the pasta-maker attachment for the KitchenAid standing mixer.
Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 40 min
Makes about 1/2 lb pasta.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 2/3 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour plus additional
-
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
-
semolina flour for dustingspecial equipment: a pasta machine or a kitchenaid standing mixer fitted with pasta-maker attachment
DIRECTIONS Make dough:
Blend all-purpose flour and eggs in a food processor until mixture just begins to form a ball. (Dough should come together but still be somewhat sticky.) If dough is too loose, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, until dough comes together. Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let stand at room temperature 20 minutes.
Roll out dough:
Set smooth rollers of pasta machine at widest setting. Cut dough into 3 pieces and keep 2 pieces and keep 2 pieces wrapped in plastic wrap. Flatten unwrapped piece of dough into a rectangle and dust with all-purpose flour, then feed through rollers.Fold rectangle in halfand feed through rollers 4 more times, folding in half each time and dusting with flour as necessary to prevent sticking.
Turn dial to next (narrower) setting and feed dough through without folding. Continue to feed dough through without folding, making space between rollers narrower each time, until second-to-last setting is used. Cut sheet into 4 (6- by 4-inch) rectangles.
Transfer to a wax-paper-lined baking sheet dusted with semolina flour and cover with plastic wrap. Roll out and cut remaining dough into noodles for another use.
Tuscan sweets tend to be simple and rustic, like this deliciously buttery, moist cake, similar in texture to marzipan. What to drink: Tuscany’s famous Vin Santo, a dessert wine made from raisined grapes.
Makes 6 to 8 servings.
INGREDIENTS
- fruit
- 3cups water
- 1cup imported sweet marsala
- 1/4cup sugar
- 1cinnamon stick
- 14-inch-long strip lemon peel (yellow part only)
- 2cups pitted prunes
- 2cups dried apricotscake
- 3large egg yolks
- 1large egg
- 1 1/2teaspoons (packed) grated lemon peel
- 1teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4teaspoon salt
- 10tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1cup sugar
- 1 1/2cups unbleached all purpose flour
- 3/4cup pine nuts (about 3 1/2 ounces) powdered sugar
DIRECTIONS For fruit:
Combine 3 cups water, Marsala, sugar, cinnamon stick, and lemon peel in heavy large saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add prunes and apricots. Reduce heat to medium; simmer until fruit isjust soft but not mushy, stirring frequently, about 25 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer fruit to medium bowl. Boil liquid until syrupy, about 5 minutes. Pour syrup over fruit. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover; chill. Bring to room temperature before serving.)
For cake:
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Butter and flour 10-inch-diameter springform pan. Whisk egg yolks, egg, lemon peel, vanilla, and salt in small bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat butter and 1 cup sugar in medium bowl until pale and creamy. Gradually add flour, beating until mixture resembles coarse meal. Using rubber spatula, gently stir egg mixture into butter mixture (batter will be thick). Spoon batter into prepared pan; smooth top (cake will be thin). Sprinkle pine nutsover top; press lightly to adhere.
Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Transfer cake to rack. Run small knife around cake edges to loosen. Remove pan sides. Cool cake completely. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and store at room temperature.)
Sprinkle cake with powdered sugar.Serve with poached fruit.
Active time: 35 min Start to finish: 35 min
Makes 4 to 6 servings.
INGREDIENTS
- 4cups cubed (1/2 inch) cooked chicken (about 1 3/4 lb)
- 1cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
- 1celery rib, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices (1 cup)
- 2tablespoons finely chopped shallot
- 2cups halved seedless red grapes
- 3/4cup mayonnaise
- 3tablespoons tarragon vinegar
- 2tablespoons finely chopped fresh tarragon
- 1/2teaspoon salt
- 1/2teaspoon black pepper
DIRECTIONS Toss together all ingredients in a large bowl until combined well.
Cayenne pepper in the batter gives these muffins a nice little kick.
Makes about 10 standard muffins or 30 mini-muffins.
INGREDIENTS
- nonstick vegetable oil spray
- 1cup all purpose flour
- 1cup yellow cornmeal
- 1tablespoon sugar
- 2teaspoons baking powder
- 1teaspoon salt
- 1/2teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/4cup chopped fresh chives
- 1 1/2cups plain yogurt
- 2large eggs
- 3tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
DIRECTIONS Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 425°F. Spray 10 standard muffin cups (each about 1/3-cup capacity) or 30 mini-muffin cups with nonstick spray. Whisk flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and cayenne pepper in medium bowl. Stir in chives. In another medium bowl whisk yogurt, eggs, and melted butter. Add yogurt mixture to dry ingredients and stir just until blended. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups, using about 1/3 cup batter for each standard muffin cup or about 1 generous tablespoon for each mini-muffin cup.
Bake until muffins are puffed and golden and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 20 minutes for standard muffins and 14 minutes for mini-muffins. Transfer pans to rack and let muffins cool in pans. (Can be prepared 4 hours ahead. Leave muffins in pans; let stand at room temperature. Rewarm in 350°F oven just until warm, about 5 minutes.) Remove from pans and serve.
