Ginger-Lemon Bars...

Fresh ginger, ground ginger and crystallized ginger - you'll always find these three lurking somewhere in our house, be it in the freezer, the pantry or spice drawer. We're crazy about its zippy bite, used either in savory or sweet dishes - most especially though in that addictive Gingerbread Popcorn. For this week's Wednesday Treat Day, two of those ingredients found a home into these Ginger-Lemon Bars I made today.

The whole process of making these bars is rather intriguing and on the bonus side, you don't even have to haul out the mixer if you don't like (I didn't!). The dough can be prepared using one bowl and a sturdy wooden spoon. Rather than using the traditional method of creaming together softened butter and sugar, you'll be combining all of the dry ingredients (flour, granulated sugar, two full tablespoons of aromatic ground ginger and a bit of baking powder) together, then mixing in a couple sticks worth of melted butter. Once that golden slick is worked in, an egg, a generous scoop of finely chopped crystallized ginger, sticky honey and tiny bits of brilliant lemon zest complete

Kind of an odd order, but it does come together! Do note that once you start patting the dough into the pan, you'll start to notice glistening butter oozing out - this is to be expected and will not be a problem. Rest assured, the butter will reabsorb as the bars bake. When the top is golden, the sheet of dough is firm to the touch and your nose perks up as the distinct ginger-y scent seeps from the oven, it's time to pull the pan out from the oven.

Be prepared to work with these right away as they get their shiny, tart topping not when they have cooled, but when they are pipping hot fresh out of the oven! Being very careful, you'll be turning the flat of bars out onto a board, then smearing on a thick, yet runny, glaze made from confectioners' sugar and enough fresh lemon juice to thin. If you are at all worried about the bars sticking, feel free to line the baking pan with parchment paper or foil (and of course, coating with either nonstick spray or butter).

These scream to be stacked on a holiday cookie platter - Jeff said they are a strong contender to make the list for our annual Holiday Baking Spree! I think the best way to describe these bars is that they are like a cross between shortbread and thin ginger blondie (minus the brown sugar, of course) - dense and chewy, with this addictive light crispness to them that got my attention. The ginger is definitely up front and center, but both the lemon and the added sweetness balance its spicy, sharp bite. As I mentioned, the bars can be stacked when serving as the icing sets to a firm shell - however, if you are storing them for a length of time stacked, lay sheets of parchment or wax paper between the layers to separate them.

Recipes
Ginger-Lemon Bars

S'Mores Popcorn Balls...

I know we just did a S'mores-like work treat with those snazzy cookies back in May, but I couldn't help myself when I came across these S'Mores Popcorn Balls. I can't remember the last time I made (let alone eaten!) a popcorn ball, which was more than enough of an excuse to make these now instead of waiting a few more weeks. Already prepared packaged ones never really did it for me - they are usually a bit stale and rough, but fresh on the other hand is a whole other story! I'm sure Jeff's co-workers won't mind when we bring them in tomorrow for the Weekly Wednesday Treat Day!

You'll need 10 cups of popped popcorn to make these, which we got from using roughly 1/2 cup kernels, popping them the good 'ol fashioned way on the stove. How much oil you use is up to you - I drizzled in about 2 tablespoons, but you could get away with as little as one. You could also use more, but this is what worked for us.

Into those airy bites, we tossed in a handful of squishy miniature marshmallows and heaps of broken graham crackers. To be able to keep everything cohesive, make sure the crackers are not too large - think slightly smaller or the same size as the popcorn, about 1/2" in size. Either use a knife and hack away at the sheets (it will take about 8 to 10 rectangles for the amount needed) or use your hands to snap off small chunks. Rather than a bowl, combine the trio of ingredients in a large roasting pan if you have one - this will give you ample room to stir.

What holds the popcorn balls together? Instead of a boiled sugar syrup that you may be more accustomed to, these are made just like Rice Krispie Bars! Butter, marshmallows and a couple pinches of salt, all melted together, are first spiked with vanilla, then poured all over the popcorn concoction. Stirred to coat, leave the mixture be for a couple minutes so you don't burn your fingerprints off. As soon as it was comfortable, scoops of the popcorn were formed into tidy spheres - just be sure to keep your hands coated with cooking spray (or even better, a smear of butter!) to keep any stickiness to a minimum.

To fulfill the S'mores aspect, chocolate needs to make an appearance, right? Instead of working chunks or chips of chocolate into the mixture, each crunchy, yet easy-to-eat ball, is showered in a drizzle of melted bittersweet chocolate. If your kitchen is cool enough, you can keep these stored at room temperature for a day or so before they start to loose their crunch. I, however, don't have that ability today - not only is it a scorcher outside today (hurray for a recipe that doesn't heat up the oven!), inside the house isn't much cooler.

We are having work done on the master bathroom (which means the doors are being left open as they go in and out all day!), so I'll most likely need to keep the balls in the refrigerator to keep the chocolate firm. I also plan on wrapping each individually in either plastic wrap or dropping them into a cellophane bag.

Recipes
S'Mores Popcorn Balls

Lavender and Cherry Cornmeal Cookies...

Garden update time! The plants have been doing pretty well, save for a large aphid attack - those darn tiny green monsters almost got the best of us. We thought about purchasing a sack of ladybugs to see if they would help, but just never got around to it - a good spray with water knocked most of them off, but that didn't do much to stop them from coming back (we're trying to not use any repellents or sprays - even the natural ones can kill good bugs!). Here are a few snaps of our bounty.

Our carrots have done quite well - we've been pulling them out for a couple weeks now and still have a good couple dozen brewing in the ground.

Kale was a slow start for us for whatever reason, but has actually gone a little bonkers! Here's a bowlful before we used it in a recipe a few days ago.

We just dug this potato out from the bed the other day - our first one! I haven't actually pulled the plants out yet, but we carefully shifted the dirt away to see what was happening underneath and found this guy.

Finally we have a bounty of Swiss Chard to show you - here's about 6 pounds worth, with plenty still left behind on the plants. I have plans to do a repeat recipe (that Tortilla Lasagna with Swiss Chard) with some of the stalks, and Jeff brought in a big bagful into work to share today - not sure what we'll do with the rest yet.

I do also have a new recipe to share with you today - a fun cookie! Let's get to it.

Coarse cornmeal can be used for more than just polenta or cornbread... have you ever thought of using the crunchy bits in cookies? In fact, I could have sworn we had already done just that, but for the life of me I couldn't remember exactly what they were. After going searching through our archives on the site, I finally managed to find that post - it was those Italian Polenta Cookies we made all the way back in '08!

These Lavender and Cherry Cornmeal Cookies are quite different, however, in not only taste and texture, but shape too! I came across the original recipe from one of my favorite blog writers and cookbook authors, David Lebovitz, who in turn adapted it from one of Carol Field’s brilliant books (which, incidentally, looks like it is being revised and printed again with a holiday release date). I didn't make many changes at all to David's version - just two, one being a few drops of extra vanilla and the tiny dried lavender blossoms.

For creating the stiff dough, you'll see I have listed coarse polenta in the ingredients - I went that route as I love the robust crunch the tiny golden pearls add. If you wish for a more sandy (or less gritty for lack of a better word) texture, look for finer dry polenta (think instant) or even regular cornmeal if that's all you have. The dried lavender blossoms can be fairly potent, so I wouldn't suggest using too much - I kept the amount to two teaspoons, which left us with a definite presence, without tasting perfume-y.

As David suggested, you can use any sort of dried fruit that you think you'd like in these cookies - I kept with the theme and went with dried cherries. Unless you decide on a tiny dried fruit like currants, finely chop the pieces - if they are too chunky, the dough can become difficult to slice.

Speaking of slicing, these cookies are cut off well-chilled bricks of dough, making portioning them out a snap. Our method gives you rectangular cookies, but if you'd like round ones, just shape the halved dough into two cylinders instead. Dividing the dough in half first not only makes for more manageable-sized pieces, but it also allows you the freedom to toss one half in the freezer for freshly baked cookies whenever the impulse arises. If you find that the dough starts to crumble at all when slicing it right from the freezer, give it a few minutes at room temperature to soften slightly. We quite enjoyed these as is, but if I were to make any other changes, I think I'd add the zest of a lemon for an extra burst of brightness.

Recipes
Lavender and Cherry Cornmeal Cookies

Asian Turkey Meatballs with Carrot Rice

You might be wondering where the Wednesday Treat Day post is - we had to skip it this week as Jeff had another surgery on Tuesday. Not nearly as major as his neck surgery last December, but he had a rotator cuff tear that needed to be repaired, along with a large bone spur (which caused the tear!) that needed to be cleaned away. He is doing well and the surgery went as expected, but he is in a fair amount of pain... and we haven't started the physical therapy yet (tomorrow!).

While Jeff was napping and I was in between training sessions with Dora, I did manage to sit down and write about this Asian Turkey Meatballs with Carrot Rice recipe we made for dinner recently.

You'll need a pound and a half of ground turkey for the meatballs - I suggest using a combination of breast and dark meats as we've found that to be a good balance. Meaning, the result will have lightness to it, yet still packs a punch in flavor and moisture. Could you simply just use either one? Sure - you could also use ground pork if you groove on that more than turkey, it just depends on what you like!

To push in as much oomph into the meatballs as possible, the meat was gently combined (go easy - think meatloaf... try not to handle the mixture too much!) with the whites of a few scallions, fresh cilantro, pungent fish sauce, a few squirts of rooster sauce (Sriracha, that is), a bit of sugar to balance, and a clove or two or minced garlic. Scooped out and rolled into balls, the meaty spheres are cooked in a heated skillet to give them a crusty, golden exterior, then placed into the oven to finish baking through.

You can use white rice as the bed of this dish, but we opted to go the brown rice route and augmented the directions using our favorite no-fuss method. If you'd like to do that, use the same amount of rice to roughly 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups of broth (or water if you are so inclined) and cook the rice using the same manner as usually do. When the rice is tender, remove the cooking vessel from the heat, scatter the shredded carrots on top and let the mixture sit, covered, for an additional 5 minutes before fluffing and serving.

With the tender meatballs tossed on top of the colorful, orange-flecked rice, be sure to serve this dish with a wedge taken from a juicy lime to squeeze on top of each plate. It most likely would have been ok without it, but the extra acidity lifted and complimented the more complex flavors with a fresh brightness that I would have missed if it was left off. If you'd like to take out some of the prep time to make it a snap to prepare on a busy work night, you could knock out the raw meatballs the day or night before. Keep them covered in the refrigerator until you're ready to cook them - be aware that they may take an extra couple of minutes to bake through.

Recipes
Asian Turkey Meatballs with Carrot Rice

Savory Chicken Pocket Pies...

I can't believe how fast time seems to by slipping through my fingers this spring! Between the new pup, the garden outside and all the other daily happenings around here, I'm ready to hit the sack long before I used to. While I'm still making plenty of new recipes, I'm finding myself less and less inclined to set aside time for pictures and whatnot - there are just too many other things I need to be doing! I did make an exception for these swanky Savory Chicken Pocket Pies we made recently though.

You'll want to prepare the dough for these hand pies ahead of time if you can as it needs to rest in the ice box - a couple hours would be ideal, but you could get away with as little as thirty minutes. The dough definitely isn't your ordinary pastry - butter is cut with tangy cream cheese, and both are used with a softened consistency rather than right-out-of-the-fridge cold. Instead of freezing cold water as the liquid to bring the dough into a cohesive mixture, you'll be mixing in a few tablespoons of heavy cream.

While adding richness, the cream plus the cream cheese will make for a forgiving crust to work with - meaning, a snap to roll out, while still having a tender and flaky quality. Great for beginners to the world of pastry dough!

A cup of shredded chicken is needed for the filling, taken from cooked chicken you've either made yourself or a snazzy rotisserie bird from the market, which is mixed into a light sauce filled with softened vegetables and seasoned with a fresh grating of salty Parmesan cheese. You can't work with this mixture right out of the skillet because it will warm your pastry and make it a mess to work with. However, if you've already made the pastry dough and are ready to move on with assembly, you can speed up this process by moving it into a bowl and setting it in the refrigerator.

With the dough rolled out, we used one of our bowls that we usually fill with snacks to cut out the circles needed for the pies - use a bowl that is about five inches across on top. Don't have a bowl that size? Use a knife and go to town with free-formed rounds! A scoop of the cooled filling, which was done by either leaving it at room temperature or hurried in the refrigerator (we opted for the latter), is dropped slightly off-center on top of each circle. Enclosed by folding the naked side of the dough over the filling, the half-moons are sealed shut with the tines of a fork.

With all this manhandling, the pies will need a quick chill once more to firm up the fat in the dough, giving them the best texture after being baked. Just before they go into the oven, we did brush each down with a light egg wash to reinforce a golden brown crust on the outside.

If you have extra time one day, you could definitely assemble these ahead of time when you need a dinner-in-a-flash kind of night later in the week. Prepare them up to the point where they are sealed shut, then, instead of chilling them, arrange the pies in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet and stick them in the freezer until they are firm. After the stint in the freezer, slide the savory pastries right into a ziploc-type bag for longer storage - you will bake them straight from the freezer, after brushing them with an egg wash, adding just a few extra minutes to the total time in the oven.

We did have leftover dough after all was said and done, but rather than toss it in the trash, we sliced the remainder into scraggly strips, showered them with vanilla sugar and baked them into sweet, pie crust-like cookie treats!

Recipes

Savory Chicken Pocket Pies

Black Forest Cookies...

I was very tempted to scrap the treat day baking when I realized just how hot it was going to get outside today. The average temperature is supposed to be around 80 degrees, but we shot right past that and ended up just under 100. I guess that shouldn't be completely awful, especially after our stint in Phoenix, but it is as thick as mud out there with humidity... it felt like I was opening a heated oven when I let the pups out into the backyard! I decided to keep with tradition though and just put the AC to work to crank out these Black Forest Cookies.

The dough for these cookies is decidedly decadent, with a triple threat of chocolate using melted bittersweet, cocoa powder and stocky pieces of semisweet. The recipe didn't call for any, but I did add a splash of vanilla to the dough while mixing - it also didn't specify sweet or tart cherries. We went tart since that's what we have - I'd suggest the same if you make them, although I don't think it would be that big of a deal if you went sweet.

You should note in the recipe that I don't suggest preheating the oven before you begin the process - once the dough is combined, it will need a good half hour or more rest in the refrigerator to firm up, leaving you plenty of time to warm the oven. There's no point in having it blasting away when it won't be working (especially when its already way over 90 degrees outside!).

When you pull the cookies out from the oven, don't try to transfer them off the baking sheet for at least 4 or 5 minutes as they are delicate when they are hot. The directions did state to move them after a minute or two, which I did, only to see the sad cookie fall apart through the cooling rack! After leaving the rest to sit for a good 5 minutes before going near them, they held together as one would expect.

Close to brownie-like, these thick cookies are dense, moist and chewy, with chunky pieces of tart cherries and an abundance of those semisweet chocolate drops in each one. The baking time is important since you won't want to over-bake these for the best texture (moist vs dried out) - if you're not comfortable with the "until the edges are firm" is as far as doneness, let me suggest baking a test cookie or two to nail down the time before loading up a full tray.

If you touch the edge of the cookie it should be firm, but it shouldn't look like it is darkening more than the rest. The tops will be shiny and look set, but if you were to stick a toothpick in the center, it will look damp and underdone - this is what you want! As noted above, the cookies will finish cooking through the residual heat of the pan before moving them to the wire rack to cool.

Recipes
Black Forest Cookies

Sticky-Fingers Bars...

Yikes! A week has raced by already since our last post... I miss being able to spend the time writing up the dinners and treats we make each day. Such is life these days, especially with the extra time we're having to pay towards Dora.

She's a great pup, but has become a bit protective of us around strangers and other dogs (to the point of being aggressive sometimes!) - since we have no idea about her history before we rescued her, we figured it would be best to nip this in the bud as quickly as possible. We've been working with an excellent and innovative trainer we found in our area and Dora seems to be taking to the teachings quite well - she is one smart cookie!

Since it is Tuesday after all, you can bet I did get a goodie made for the Weekly Wednesday Treat Day we do for Jeff's co-workers. This one is a real doozy that I found while browsing foodgawker looking for inspiration and with a title of Sticky-Fingers Bars, how could I dare say no? Especially since you know of my infatuation with chocolate and peanut butter!

To get these dangerous treats going, the base was concocted by simply smashing together butter, sugar and plenty of sweet vanilla with a couple scoops of flour and chopped salted peanuts. The consistency should be a little tacky, but not sticky - it should also not be dry and crumbly either. I was able to press the dough into the baking pan without it grabbing hold of my fingers or peeling out of the pan - if you do find yourself struggling with this, lay a piece of plastic wrap on top of the dough and let that barrier help you smooth it to an even layer.

To ensure the shortbread crust bakes through, it will need to be pre-baked before topping it - slip it into the oven and let it go just until the top begins to turn golden brown. Once pulled out and left to rest for a few minutes, the crust is littered with a surprise ingredient - thinly sliced Snickers Bars! Not one bar, not two or even three - you'll need four full bars (though if you're anything like me, have a fifth bar around as a few slices may have accidentally ended up in my belly while cutting them!) to cover the top.

Rather than dirty another bowl, I did use the same mixing bowl that we made the crust in to prepare the rich filling that covers the candy bars - less dish washing is always a plus! Consisting of eggs, granulated sugar, caramel-y Golden Syrup, a couple tablespoons of melted butter and a heavy glug of vanilla, the thick mixture is poured over the sliced snickers and baked until completely set. As in, the filling shouldn't have a loose jiggle when you take the pan out of the oven. If you'd rather not purchase the syrup (it can be pricey, but it is spoon-worthy good), swap it out for light corn syrup.

If that already was not enough, there is one more step to take these bars out of the galaxy - a smearing of slick creamy peanut butter, more of those crunchy peanuts and a psycho drizzle of melted bittersweet chocolate to finish them off.

Now, I won't lie - these are diet busters. However, let me assure you they are worth every. single. lick-your-fingers-clean. calories they might have.

Recipes

Sticky-Fingers Bars

S'mores Cookies...

It's getting to be that time of the year when marshmallows, graham crackers and chocolate bars go on sale as everyone becomes a kid again and sets out to make those gooey layered treats over a campfire, or even over your stove if so inclined! Seeing as that would be fairly hard to replicate at an office (although I guess a microwave could work in a pinch!), we decided to go with that theme in mind for the Weekly Wednesday Treat Day, making these S'mores Cookies.

While there are no actual graham crackers used in the dough, the recipe does do a little magic to try and impart a similar profile, using ground rolled oats (done in the food processor), along with whole-wheat and all-purpose flours. If I had any, I would have probably swapped out the whole-wheat flour for graham flour, but alas our freezer was bare - we used the last of it making yet another batch of those Homemade Graham Crackers a few weeks ago.

Scented with cinnamon and laced with brown sugar and plenty of butter, the cookie dough is scooped out onto lined baking sheets, then each ball is adorned with a solid, chunky block of bittersweet chocolate. Use a good-quality bar of chocolate for this - bittersweet if you can, which will help cut through some of the sweetness. However, if bittersweet is too strong for you, knock it down a notch by using semi-sweet. I wouldn't go with milk chocolate though - that may make the cookies a bit on the cloying side and not as enjoyable. You still want to be able to taste the wheat-y goodness of the cookie without being overwhelmed by sugar.

So how does the classic marshmallow ingredient that goes into S'mores come in? Once the cookies have baked, each is given a hat by laying a halved large mallow right over the dark pool of chocolate in the center. To give the pillowy topping a toasty element, the cookies are lined up like little soldiers and blasted under the heat of the broiler for just a few seconds. I do have one important note - be sure you don't take your peepers off these for a second when they go back in as the marshmallow can go from golden to blackened in the blink of an eye! If you happen to have one of those hand-held kitchen torches, use that instead and go to town!

I do realize that these fun treats probably won't have the same oomph as they did when they came fresh out of the oven, but by the time we got to trying them they were completely at room temperature and we still found them crazy good. I may, however, have Jeff send a suggestion out with his e-mail that if they want the true experience, to nuke them for just a few seconds to remelt their chocolate centers and give the marshmallow a little puff.

Recipes
S'mores Cookies

Apricot Cheesecake Bars...

With a few packs of cream cheese staring at me every time I open the refrigerator door (hello sale plus coupons!), I've been meaning to dive in and start using them. While they do last for some time unopened, we haven't made a dessert just-for-us in awhile and I figured finding a recipe that used cream cheese would be a good start. Of course cheesecake came to mind, but I wanted one a bit different... like these Apricot Cheesecake Bars!

A traditional graham cracker crust as the base was what the recipe called for, which sounded like a good match as is, but I had to go and put a slight spin on it. Instead of heating the butter only to melt it, we took it a step further, letting it turn golden brown and intensely nutty. Do this on the stove slowly as it can go from nicely toasted to an unpleasant bitterness in short order - I prefer to use a stainless skillet for this as its not as easy to track in a dark nonstick skillet. I wouldn't say that you have to do this, but it did lend a welcomed complexity.

When you add the crumbs into the baking pan to line the bottom for the crust, you could use your fingers to press it together. However, if you use the flat bottom of a smaller measuring cup, it will be less messy, move a little quicker and tend to be more level. The crust does need to be pre-baked at this point, so be sure to plan in enough time for it to set and cool

Before the cheesecake filling is made, there is another step to these bars - a quick homemade apricot jam! Sliced fresh apricots, granulated sugar and a dash of salt are brought to a bubble, then left to simmer until the apricots begin to melt down and the juices turn notably shiny. To give the jam a smooth texture, the mixture is poured into a food processor and pureed with a splash of lemon juice and water. The latter is used not only as an acidic brightness, but the apricots needed a little help to buzz around in the processor.

For a tangier bite to the softened cream cheese, it was whipped together with a generous scoop of sour cream before being blended with the remaining filling ingredients - sugar, vanilla and a couple room-temperature eggs. You will want to be sure that the sides and bottom of the bowl are scraped down once or twice while blending to ensure the filling will be silky smooth. Spread over the crust, small dollops of the apricot jam are dropped over the top, then swirled in for a marbled effect. You will need to use your judgment on the jam - I held back a little as it looked like the amount would be too much, but you could certainly use every last drop.

As far as baking is concerned, let this stay in the oven until the edges have puffed slightly and the center looks set, yet still has a gentle wobble to it when the pan is given a couple taps. It may feel underdone, but by the time it has sat to cool completely, with an additional couple of hours in the refrigerator, it will come out just right. What is "just right"? For me, the bars should be firm enough to slice, yet yield with gentle pressure from a fork - soft and luscious. The colorful smears of jewel-toned jam on top are a bit sweet, but not so much it takes away from the apricot's fresh fruitiness. You could let these hang out in the refrigerator for a couple days or stash them (cut into bars) in the freezer if you need longer storage - we did the latter and thawed two a few days later. They were just as good, though the crust did come out softer.

Recipes
Apricot Cheesecake Bars

Pork Tenderloin Roulade...

With a few extra minutes this morning before I went out to enjoy the day, I decided to assemble the protein that was going to go with tonight's dinner. Certainly you can prepare this Pork Tenderloin Roulade right before you'd like to make it, but we were going to be home a little later than I had originally intended and I didn't want to feel rushed later this evening.

To allow all the fillings we were going to stuff into the tenderloin to fit, it needed to be reshaped into a big flat canvas. The easiest way to do this is to simply slice the pork in half, lengthwise, but stop short of cutting it in half. Once that's done, open the tenderloin up like a book, then use a mallet (or frankly, a heavy skillet would do the job too) to flatten the meat to an even 1/2" thickness. You could also do another method, called double butterflying, where you partially slice into the top and bottom thirds (opposite sides), then open the meat to flatten, but the first works just as well.

Crumbled goat cheese, toasted walnuts, fresh thyme and a couple chopped shallots, softened first in a splash of olive oil, are the ingredients sprinkled over the flattened piece of pork. If you like, use raw shallots for a more potent bite, but Jeff requested them cooked first - just be sure to cool them completely if using them this way. After rolling and tightly securing the pork with butchers twine (spaced around 1" apart or so), it was wrapped tightly and set in the refrigerator to chill while we were gone.

If you would be doing the same, be sure to take the meat out of the fridge for a good twenty minutes or so to take the chill off before cooking. The original recipe calls for pulling the pork when it registers around 155 degrees - which is ok, if that makes you feel more comfortable. However, for our preference, we're perfectly fine taking it out when it reaches 145 degrees and still retains a juicy and robust pink hue. Whichever temperature you do, my one request is that you please let the meat rest for at least 8 to 10 minutes before taking your blade to it - I'm sure you have heard or read this a million times now, but letting those natural juices redistribute into the meat makes all the difference.

The straightforward filling is definitely adaptable to your tastes - use a different cheese, switch up the fresh herbs or think about a different toasted nut for a revamped meal. We were thoroughly pleased though with this combination though - clean and simple, yet enough complexity to keep our taste buds interested after the first bite.

Recipes
Pork Tenderloin Roulade

A trio of fantastic dishes...

I have three recipes to share with you today that have been sitting here, practically begging me to give them the attention they deserve on the blog. They each do deserve a post on their own, but I figured I better get them up before I forgot! We made a couple of these several weeks ago, but time is still slipping through my fingers faster than I care for. The weather outside is partly to blame - when heat of the sun's rays are shining outside, and I know back in Minnesota they just had snow the other day, I find it hard to keep myself holed up inside and not enjoy the warmth!

The first recipe, A Dozen Simple Bagels, came from one of our most trusted recipe sources. We've made a couple other bagel recipes over the years that were a bit more intricate, but this one was pared down in steps and came out just as good, though perhaps with a hare less developed flavor than one that has a refrigerated resting time.

If you don't have the non-diastatic malt powder for the water dunk step, simply replace it with brown sugar. The brown sugar has more sweetness than the robustness in the malt powder, but don't drive yourself bonkers trying to find it. The bagels were wonderfully golden and crisp on their outer shell, while the inside stayed true with a wicked good chew.

The next recipe is a ridiculous trip on brownies. Anna, whose been under the weather lately (we hope you get well soon!), posted these Killer Kahlua Brownies awhile ago and you can believe I eagerly printed them off as soon as saw them.

Moist and fudgy, without being too gooey, the brownies are decidedly decadent with a subtle coffee-like booziness from the Kahlua. I know subtle is fairly subjective, but we both agreed that it is a good way to describe the essence of each bite - there is just enough so you knew it was there, yet you wouldn't feel guilty sharing with a younger eater. We used white chocolate chips for a sharp visual contrast, but if you like nuts in your brownies, swap out those chips for chopped pecans.

The final dish I have to share, Savory Fig and Goat Cheese Tart with Arugula, was a real knock out.

While the toppings are superb for being so simple, what really made this tart was the rich crust, made from ground Marcona almonds, flour, butter and a generous drizzle of golden honey (and what made this even better was the fact it was all done in a single bowl using our trusty food processor!). If you've never had those almonds before, they are a real treat! The nuts have a more rounded shape to them, are not as crunchy and have a pleasant sweetness you don't normally find in the regular "California" variety of almonds) - they are also roasted in olive oil and then salted.

You don't need to have the fancy rectangular tart pan that we used either - a regular 8" or 9" tart pan would be just fine. Jeff was tempted to cut the Arugula out on top of his portion, but I urged him to just give it a try before tossing the salad off. The lightly dressed peppery greens bring a needed bite to cut through the richness, which we both (Jeff too!) appreciated.

Recipes
A Dozen Simple Bagels
Killer Kahlua Brownies
Savory Fig and Goat Cheese Tart with Arugula

Chocolate Chunk Cookies...

Jeff has been and will be in a few intensive meetings this week - he originally thought about skipping the Weekly Treat Day, but I thought bringing in a plateful of cookies might be a nice way to lighten the mood. He agreed - I zeroed in on a recipe I've had marked ever since I picked up that snazzy cookbook I can't keep my nose out of. These Chocolate Chunk Cookies are basically a rift on the classic, well-known Toll House recipe, yet seemingly injected with steroids.

When you have the buttery dough combined (if you have a scale, definitely haul it out for this recipe - I've included both gram and cup measurements), scoop the mass into a separate container or leave it right in the mixing bowl - cover, then as hard as this might be, stash it in the refrigerator and forget about it for a day. Believe me, I know wholeheartedly this is torturous, but trust me with the fact that you will be rewarded for your patience.

Why is this really that important? If you give the dough that aging time, the flour has time to absorb all the liquid-y properties from the butter and eggs, resulting in a well-textured cookie that has practically accelerated its own flavors into another level. Probably a little dramatic on my part, but I could taste the difference.

If you have a few exquisite bars of quality semi or bittersweet and milk chocolate that you've been wanting to use, break them out for these cookies. While I did use a bar of milk chocolate, I decided to use bittersweet chips only because I had a bag of excellent drops already in the pantry. I would suggest using a higher end brand that has at least 60% cocoa content to truly give these cookies that dark chocolate wallop they deserve.

I didn't look for reviews of the cookie before I made the dough, but I noticed how it seemed almost too light and sticky once it was thoroughly mixed. I searched around and found that the author posted the same recipe here, but the measurements for the both flours were a bit different. They ended up being about 1/4 cup off, so I went ahead and stirred the extra in a couple hours after the dough had been chilling out in the refrigerator - the texture definitely seemed better. If you'd like to try and match the dough to exactly what is listed in the cookbook, bring the all-purpose flour down to 140 grams (about a cup) and the bread flour down to 150 grams (again, about one cup). Let me know how they turn out that way!

Now, did this affect the cookie? I think so, but in the positive factor - they had some definite heft in the thickness department, but at the same time they were not too puffy or cake-y. The edges are crispy, while the centers stayed soft with a delightful sweet chew (thanks to the strong bread flour!). I think that if the extra flour would not have been added, the cookies may have spread into thinner, flat rounds - not what I had hoped for. I'm sure they still would have tasted wonderful, but texture can make all the difference!

Recipes
Chocolate Chunk Cookies