Mightylicious Cookies

I was gifted a box of Mightylicious cookies and I want to tell you about them. 

I always get excited about gluten free products. I don't have celiac, but I try to avoid gluten because I'm addicted to products made with wheat. I eat them, can't control myself, and get fat(ter). If I avoid gluten, I really don't crave bread, pasta, pastries, cookies, or pizza, and I can lose weight. Honestly. I think about them from time to time, but I don't need them. But if I have one piece of good bread or a cookie, I have to have a second or third or even fourth piece. So it's just best that I avoid products that have gluten in them. It works for me; it might not work for you. 

Back to getting excited about gluten free products. I heard about Mightylicious gluten free cookies when I was planning my trip to the Summer Fancy Food show last year. I wasn't able to attend the show, but the company was kind enough to send me a bag of each variety of their cookies, plus bags of brownie mix and their gluten free flour. It was a real embarrassment of riches, and I am appreciative. 

This post is only about the cookies; the brownies and flour will have their own post sometime in the future. 

The Salted Peanut Butter, Oatmeal Coconut, Oatmeal Raisin, and Brown Butter Shortbread cookies are excellent. I loved the flavor and the texture of each of them. The Salted Peanut Butter was very much like good old-fashioned homemade peanut butter cookies, made with peanut butter, sweetener, and salt. Mightylicious also adds eggs and vanilla, but no flour of any kind. They are crazy rich and were my favorite of the bunch. One cookie was a perfect snack. Both the Oatmeal Cookies also had great flavor and texture--these are somewhere between soft-baked and crispy cookies--and this raisin-hater even enjoyed the Oatmeal Raisin cookies (though I preferred the Oatmeal Coconut). The Shortbread Cookies were little miracles. Smaller in diameter but fatter than the other cookies, these tasted just like gluten-y shortbread. Maybe not as crumbly as the real thing, but damn close. Highly recommended.

Then there were the Chocolate Chip, Brown Butter Chocolate Chip, and Double Dutch Chocolate Chip cookies. They were also that texture somewhere between soft-baked and crisp cookies--they were fairly moist--but they just didn't have the depth of flavor that I'm used to with a home-baked, gluten-flour, chocolate chipper. They just seemed...sweet. However, all three of them made excellent ice cream sandwiches because they were much less-likely to crack when smushed on either side of a blob of ice cream. And they ate well as an ice cream sandwich component as well. They didn't get soggy, nor were they overly crunchy when they came out of the freezer. I preferred the Double Dutch Chocolate Chip variety for this use, but the other two worked just as well.

Would I eat these cookies again? Absolutely, particularly the peanut butter and shortbread varieties. And I would not be averse to double dutch chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches again. In fact, I could go for one right now....

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

Posted on Minxeats.com.

NY Dining, Winter 2025 Edition

I can't believe I just had to type 2025!

And yes, despite the extreme cold that's been hanging around in the mid-Atlantic region, I packed my stuff and headed to my personal Disneyland, my happiest place on Earth--New York City. And I ate some stuff. But not as much as usual. Still, stuff. Allow me to share my musings on my dining experiences.

My first meal of the trip was a Monday lunch. I briefly contemplated two courses at Cafe Carmellini, but decided the handsome amount of money that would involve should go toward a bottle of perfume. My main agenda for the three day excursion revolved around visiting various perfume shops, with the intention of making at least one fragrant purchase. (I made five.)

One of the stops on my list was The Maker Hotel shop on 16th Street, so for the sake of convenience, I ate lunch next door at The Grey Dog Chelsea.

Guacamole toast? They were very generous with the toppings.

The avocado toast sounded good. What I wanted was a nice piece of seeded multigrain toast topped with several slices of perfectly salted avocado and a fried egg. I got the bread, but the avocado was excessively lime-y, rather mashed, and much more like guacamole than I was in the mood for. My over-medium eggs were perfect though, and the side of home fries was tasty enough though completely unnecessary. (I can't put away as much food as I was able to in the past.)

I had popped into Levain Bakery before lunch to grab a gluten-free cookie for later. It was one of their typically behemoth, scone-sized, lumps--which is really quite delicious when made with gluten. And not at all delicious when made with gluten-free flour. It tasted...gluten-free, which can be a rather sad flavor when one is used to the taste of wheat flour. 

That evening, I had dinner at the bar at Zaytinya. One of Jose Andres' original DC concepts, there is now a location not far from my usual hotel. Since I had passed on a spendy lunch and was disappointed with what I did eat, I thought I'd splurge on something that was bound to be delicious. After all, one of my favorite meals in NY is pretty much anything at his Hudson Yards food hall, Little Spain. Especially the eggs with morcilla (blood sausage). Incredibly, I found everything at Zaytinya to be...meh. The za'atar margarita seemed a little saltier than a normal marg, but it didn't scream of za'atar. The scallops were a relative bargain at $23 for four fat ones, but the rather flavorless apple cacik (the Turkish version of tzatziki) really didn't work for me, and the promised "sesame rose spice" was undetectable. I hoped the smoked beet salata would remind me of the incredible beet and pistachio salad I had eaten last summer at a local French restaurant. It did not. There was too much arugula and the honeycrisp apple chunks had zero flavor (and was probably the same kind of apple included in the scallops' sauce). The beets themselves were fine, though I'd have preferred more of them. Finally, though I didn't need a third dish, I ordered the brussels sprouts because the waiter was still looking at me expectantly. I requested the garlic yogurt to be served on the side (and should have done so with the cacik) as I am lactose-intolerant. The sprouts were nicely crispy, but were otherwise rather boring. A disappointment.

My palate fared much better on day two, which I started at Dominique Ansel Workshop. A perfectly fluffy and tender French omelette filled with Boursin cheese and nestled into a crisp croissant made a perfect breakfast, especially paired with a big cup of La Colombe cafe au lait d'avoine (oatmilk). 

scallop toast

Later, I met up with my friend Daisy, whose company makes even the most delicious meal that much better than it would be without her. We dined at Chinese Tuxedo, a contemporary Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. Among the dishes we sampled were the braised black pepper oxtail bun, crystal shrimp spring roll, and scallop toast from the dim sum menu (all fantastic)...

...and the Johny fried rice with shrimp, char siu, and pork floss, the stir fried Snake River beef sirloin with kampot pepper, and the stir fried iceberg lettuce. Again, all fantastic. I'd eat there again.

Mealtime with Daisy usually means multiple stops, so after walking a bit, we took a cab up to Koreatown and had a few super crispy wings at Turntable on 33rd Street. The flavors were bright and the texture appealing. In retrospect, these wings were the culinary highlight of my entire trip.

The next morning, I had a nice breakfast at The Harold, which is conveniently located near my hotel. I ordered the wild mushroom scramble, which was had to include 3-4 eggs and a good half pound of mushrooms. I knew there'd be toast, but not the rosemary potatoes. They're delicious, but made for far too much to eat in one sitting. Next time, I'll ask them to omit the 'taters. 

For a snack, I enjoyed a Midnight Dream (black sesame, espresso, oatmilk) at Elorea, a cute Korean perfume shop with a coffee bar at the back. (I will be going back someday to make a fragrance purchase.)

Finally, I had an early dinner/late lunch at Parm. This is their eggplant parmesan on a sesame seed roll. My server said it was his favorite thing on the menu, and suggested I get the hoagie-sized version so I could take half home for later. I stuck with the small. It was good, but lacking in textures other than soft. I've mentioned this in the past, but I really miss my mother's fried eggplant. But maybe I'm just obsessed with the memory of the flavor of Progresso Italian Bread Crumbs?

The Grey Dog

242 W 16th St, New York, NY 10011

thegreydog.com

Levain Bakery

2 W 18th St, New York, NY 10011

levainbakery.com

Zaytinya

1185 Broadway, New York, NY 10001

zaytinya.com

Dominique Ansel Workshop

17 E 27th St, New York, NY 10016

dominiqueanselworkshop.com

Chinese Tuxedo

5 Doyers St, New York, NY 10013

chinesetuxedo.com

Turntable

20 W 33rd St, New York, NY 10001

turntablenyc.com

The Harold

1271 Broadway, New York, NY 10001

theharoldnyc.com

Elorea

41 Spring St, New York, NY 10012

elorea.com

Parm

248 Mulberry St, New York, NY 10012

parmitalian.com

* Sponsored post. Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy! 

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Holiday Gift Guide, 2022, Part 2

I'm thinking that I should have made this food gift guide part 1 and the appliances part 2, just so I could title this post Gift Guide Part 2: Electric Boogaloo. And if you don't get that reference, you're probably not as old and decrepit as we are.

Sigh.

Anyhoo...let us proceed, shall we? 

I discovered a while back that a good gift for the person "who has everything" is food. We all need to eat. Some of us have dietary restrictions and need special products. Others of us are snackaholics. Still others are just weirdos. I'd give my Dad a half dozen jars of jams and preserves for Christmas because he was fond of eating them straight from the jar with a spoon. I enjoy receiving food gifts because once they're consumed, I can just recycle the jar or wrapper and there's nothing left to clutter the house--unlike books (which we have stacked in piles here and there), "collectibles" (ahem, Neal's action figure collection), mountains of craft supplies, and tchotchkes like candles, photo frames, and single-function kitchen gadgets like quesadilla makers (an actual thing that we actually received from an actual friend). Want to give me a gift that will make me smile? Send me a box of See's caramels. 

Gifts for People Who Drink

I don't mean boozers, necessarily, but people who like to drink all sorts of drinks. But yes, booze, too. 

ROOT 23 makes tasty simple syrups that can be used in cocktails, of course, but also poured on ice cream or in coffee or combined with a little seltzer to create a homemade soda. I'm partial to the Yuzu Citrus flavor, but Pear Rosemary is also nice.

 

Beetology, Wonder Melon, and Wonder Lemon are tasty juices that are certainly drinkable on their own, but also make fine cocktail mixers. The cucumber version of Wonder Melon also makes a tasty gazpacho when added to a blender full of cucumbers and roasted red bell peppers seasoned with sherry vinegar and salt. You can get packs of 9 bottles at Amazon, but if you just want to try one or two, I've seen them at Giant supermarkets.

Fancy fizzy water subscriptions might be a nice gift, too. I like Aura Bora.

And yes, fine, your favorite liquor emporium might offer up a ton of gifts for family members. I could use a bottle of Amaretto d'Amore, and would love anything from Eden Ciders.

Gifts for People Who Like Hot Stuff

My friend Laurie gave me a bottle of TRUFF hot sauce a couple years ago. She's a fan of hot sauce in general, and a fan of this stuff in particular. I like hot stuff, too. Now, I'm going to say that the black label TRUFF isn't super hot. But if you like a gentle warmth, and the flavor of truffle oil, you might enjoy it. There is a red label version that is hotter, though I haven't tried that one. 

This sauce is a littler thicker and sweeter than most hot sauces, so to me, it's like the best kind of ketchup. I like putting it on my scrambled eggs, and it's fantastic on french fries and burgers and anything else you might put ketchup on. Also, it's a perfect sauce for buffalo wings. Man, I'm drooling at the thought of that. (I haven't eaten dinner yet and I am hungry. Not the best time to write food blog posts.)

Don't discount Old Bay Hot Sauce, which might be inexpensive at ~$4 per bottle. The stuff flew off the shelves when it was introduced a couple years ago, and with good reason. It tastes like Old Bay, the beloved seafood seasoning of the Mid-Atlantic region. 

Then there's the world of chili crisp/chili crunch, which I plan to cover in an upcoming post. One of my favorites is made by a newish brand called Oomame, which makes the increasingly popular, originally Chinese, condiment with flavors from other lands, like Morocco, India, and Mexico. China too, but Mexico's the best one. Dave Chang's Momofuku restaurant/tv/cookbook empire now includes food products like soy sauce and dry noodles, but they also have multiple versions of chili crunch, including extra hot and truffle.

Mighty Sesame produces various tahini-based products, including a spicy tahini that is no joke. It makes a mighty fine spicy hummus but can also add needed oomph to avocado toast.

Gifts for People Who Avoid Gluten

Absolutely! gluten free crackers and snacks are not only gluten free, but also grain free. But rather than using almond flour, Absolutely! uses potato and tapioca starches, so their crackers are light and crispy and low in calories. Their snacks include coconut macaroons, coconut chews, stacked potato crisps (think Pringles, but gluten free), and even cauliflower crust pizzas. We are a cheese-loving household, so I'm always thrilled to find yet another brand of tasty gf crackers to go with.

Tate's Bake Shop makes the best gluten-free chocolate chip cookies. Honestly, they taste pretty close to homemade toll house cookies, without the gluten. I love them, and even before I started avoiding gluten, I preferred Tate's gf version to other commercial cookies. They have a variety pack that is calling my name.

Another favorite gluten-free snack that also comes in non-gf flavors is Sheila G's Gluten Free Brownie Brittle. So yummy! The thin cracker-like cookies remind me of the crispy sides of a pan of homemade brownies. I've tried all the flavors, thanks to the annual Summer Fancy Food Show, and to be very honest, the gluten free ones are my absolute faves. I finished off a bag of the dark chocolate sea salt flavor as I was typing this post. ::::brushes away chocolate crumbs from mousepad::::

I also love the gf crackers from Hungry Bird Eats.

General Savory Gift Items

Oryx Desert Salt is an unrefined salt from the Kalahari Desert region that has no additives or non-caking agents. It's harvested from a 55-million-ton underground salt lake and has a clean salt flavor. The glass container with ceramic grinder is refillable 10 or more times, making it more environmentally friendly than the typical supermarket salt grinders. They have pepper, too, and both have become fixtures on our dining table. 

I hope I don't have to remind you that Nuts.com has tons of fine snacky items and nuts. My favorite snack is the plaintain chips, and I'm partial to their gluten free brownie mix. Buy a basket, fill it with bags of nuts, and put a bow on it.

General Sweet Gift Items

I've been buying this particular brand of Pumpkin Panettone as a birthday gift to myself for the last couple of years. It's super moist, and the pumpkin filling only adds to the moisture. It's become our traditional Thanksgiving day breakfast. Ordinarily, I make french toast with leftover panettone, but this has far too much filling for that sort of thing. It doesn't get stale fast, so it doesn't matter if it takes a week to finish.

Who wouldn't love a 2.2 lb jar of Nutella? 

If you've never baked your own gingerbread house because you don't like gingerbread cookies, you may like making one with chocolate Oreos instead. This Oreo gingerbread house kit looks like it might be a lot of fun for the kiddos.

Also, I can't say enough good things about Yummy Bazaar, a mail order food company based in South Jersey. They have a wide variety of international foods all year 'round, but right now they are offering Italian and German holiday breads like Panettone and Stollen in many flavors. And they have all the flavors of Milka and Ritter Sport candy bars!

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Limoncello Balls

When I was approached by Fabrizia Spirits to promote their limoncello products, I jumped at the chance. For one thing, I love limoncello. For another, booze! And while limoncello is a fine drink all on its own (particularly after dinner, in place of dessert), it's also an excellent spirit for cooking. And for drinking while cooking.

I've tried many limoncellos in my day, and Fabrizia is among the very best. It's light, not super sweet, and very smooth. Their limoncello cream, too, is excellent, as is their blood orange limoncello. Mr Minx and I had fun tasting and re-tasting each spirit, which inspired us to create some recipes for each.

The first, using the regular limoncello, is a riff on a bourbon (or rum) ball. For the uninitiated, they are somewhat like tiny adult cakepops, minus the stick and icing. Bourbon balls can pack a real boozy wallop, but a lower-alcohol drink like the Fabrizia limoncello (27% abv) makes the end product a lot milder. And easier to eat!

Limoncello Balls
Folks who like lemon bars will love these tiny treats!

12 ounces vanilla wafers, finely crushed
1 cup ground almonds
3/4 cup powdered sugar
Scant 1/2 cup Fabrizia limoncello
2 1/2 tablespoons light corn syrup
Finely ground zest of 1 lemon
1 cup powdered sugar, for dredging

Combine the cookie crumbs, almonds, and 3/4 cup powdered sugar in a bowl. Add the limoncello, corn syrup, and zest and stir well. Allow the mixture to sit for about an hour to allow the cookie crumbs to soften.

Place 1 cup of powdered sugar in a bowl.

Knead the crumb mixture a bit with your hands to ensure all ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Form small balls and roll in the bowl of powdered sugar to coat evenly.

Store completed balls in a covered container in the fridge.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. This is a paid promotion, however, all opinions are my own.

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Turmeric Cheesecake

I've been a fan of The Ginger People for a while now. I try to always have a bag of their chewy ginger candy--Gin Gins--in the house. They've recently moved into the turmeric market, which makes sense as turmeric is also a rhizome in the Zingiberaceae family. Turmeric is full of curcumin, which is thought to have anti-inflammatory properties and has long been used in Ayurvedic medicine. It's also delicious.

Among The Ginger People's new turmeric products are the Wild Turmeric Rescue Ginger Shot, a tiny bottle of concentrated goodness with 30% ginger juice, their Ginger Soother with Turmeric (a great tummy soother), and Turmeric Latte Mix, a zingy combo of palm sugar with turmeric and ginger extracts. I thought the latte mix would be good in other things, like ice cream and cheesecake. There was no room in the freezer to fit the capsule for our ice cream maker, so I decided to try cheesecake instead.

More like a cheese pie, since it's not that tall, this golden beauty is creamy and delicious.

Turmeric Cheesecake

For the crust:
1 1/2 cups crushed Lorna Doones or other shortbread cookie
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 stick butter, melted

For the filling:
2 8-oz packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
3 packs The Ginger People Turmeric Latte mix
3 large eggs at room temperature

To make the crust: Preheat oven to 350°F. Place a 9" or 10" springform pan on a piece of aluminum foil that is about 4" larger than the pan on both sides. Wrap the bottom of the pan tightly to prevent the butter leaking out of the crust into the oven. Put the pan on a baking sheet as an extra precaution.

Combine all the crust ingredients in a bowl. Stir well with a fork to coat every crumb with the butter. Pour the crumbs into the prepared pan and pat them down firmly to cover the bottom and slightly up the sides of the pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool before filling.

To make the filling: Combine the cream cheese, sugar, latte mix, and eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until smooth. Pour into the prepared crust and bake for 50 - 60 minutes, until the filling is mostly set but the middle jiggles just a bit. Remove to a rack to cool for at least three hours before serving. It's actually best refrigerated.

Gently remove the sides of the pan. Cut cheesecake into slices and serve with whipped cream.

Makes 8 servings.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

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Best Ever Rolled Sugar Cookies

Sugar cookies seem pretty simple, right? Just flour, sugar, butter, vanilla, and eggs. The ingredients might not vary much from recipe to recipe, but the proportions sure do. I've seen recipes that involve 2 cups of sugar, 5 cups of flour, and only 1 1/2 cups of butter. Also ones with less sugar and flour but also less butter. And none of them seem to have very much vanilla, which should be the main flavor component.

Personally, I'm not a fan of making rolled cookies. Too much work. I'm a drop-by-spoonfuls kinda gal. But Mr Minx had a hankering to make rolled cookies. He even went out and bought a rolling pin. If he was going to do all the heavy lifting (or rolling), then I was willing to go along with it. I even had a recipe at the ready.

Years ago, I had a group of friends that got together at the holidays. One of these friends is no longer a friend because he's a big jerk, but at the time he had a girlfriend who liked to bake. Her contribution to the party that year was sugar cookies...the best damn sugar cookies I have ever eaten. Though I would probably not make them myself due to my aversion to rolling pins and hard work, I asked her for the recipe. It has moderate amounts of sugar and flour, a cup of butter, and a whole tablespoon of vanilla. I think that's the secret right there. They are sugar cookies with actual flavor.

The dough needs to be refrigerated before baking, otherwise it's too soft to roll and cut. But once chilled, it cuts like a dream (especially with sharp, brand-new, cookie cutters like ours) and bakes up into lovely crisp and buttery cookies redolent of vanilla that can be iced or, if you're lazy like us, sprinkled with festive sugars.

Laura's Sugar Cookies

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs

Sift together flour, salt, and baking soda (or dump it in a bowl and stir thoroughly with a fork). Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine butter and sugar. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 minutes or so. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, then add the vanilla and eggs. Beat until combined, another half minute or so. Turn the mixer off and add the flour mixture all at once. Beat at low speed until all the flour is incorporated, another minute or so, scraping the sides of the bowl once or twice. If the dough seems too stiff for your mixer, use a wooden spoon and combine by hand.

Cover the bowl and refrigerate dough about 2 hours, until firm. If it's in the fridge for longer and becomes rock hard, allow to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before rolling.

Preheat oven to 375°F.

On a floured surface, roll the dough to a thickness of about 1/8-inch. Sprinkle with flour as necessary to keep the rolling pin from sticking. Cut dough with cookie cutters and carefully transfer each to a parchment-lined baking sheet (use a spatula). Sprinkle with colored sugars.

Bake for 6-8 minutes, until firm and only vaguely golden (they should not brown very much). Use a spatula to transfer cookies to a cooling rack.

Makes about 6 dozen cookies.



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Gingerbread Linzer Tart

I made the original variation on this tart (with chocolate cookies and raspberry jam) 20+ years ago. I have no idea where I got the recipe, but every once in a while I pull it out and make it for dessert. It's pretty simple, and the results are delicious. Last year, I decided to tinker with the flavoring a bit. Rather than chocolate cookies and cocoa powder, I opted to use gingerbread cookies and spices. I almost made a cranberry curd for the filling, but I was stressed out and feeling lazy, so I used a jar of Polaner seedless blackberry All-Fruit. Everyone seemed to like the variation, so I thought I'd share it with you here.

A baking note: The butter tends to ooze out of the bottom of the pan, so it's a good idea to bake this on a foil-lined baking sheet. If you use a tart pan or baking dish without a removable bottom, you won't have this issue, but it will also be a little harder to cut into wedges and serve.

Gingerbread Linzer Tart

1 1/2 cups almond flour
1 1/3 cups gingerbread cookie crumbs (I used Pepperidge Farm Ginger Family cookies)
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into bits
1 whole egg
1 jar Polaner All-Fruit seedless blackberry jam, or your favorite blackberry jam
1/4 cup sliced almonds

Place ground almonds, cookie crumbs, flour, sugar, ginger, and cloves into a large bowl and mix well. Distribute the butter over the mixture and add the egg. Work the dough with your fingertips, rubbing in the butter and making a smooth dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to two hours.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Pat about 3/4 of the dough into the bottom and up the sides of the a 9" tart pan with removable bottom. Spread the jam thickly over the crust but not quite to the edges. Roll pieces of the remaining dough into strips and arrange on jam in a lattice pattern. Sprinkle on the chopped almonds.

Bake for 35 minutes. Let the pastry cool completely in the pan.

Carefully remove the sides of the pan. The crust is fairly sturdy, so this shouldn't be a problem. You can use a knife to coax the bottom off the tart, but I usually just leave it there. Place the tart on a serving plate and cut into wedges.

Serves 12.



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Hu Kitchen Chocolate

Chocolate is life, right? And because I love chocolate so much, I was excited to be asked to promote Hu Kitchen's chocolate bars. The 70% stone ground dark chocolate hits all the right notes with me: it's made from organic, fair-trade cacao beans and contains no GMOs, emulsifiers, or soy lecithin. It's also vegan, gluten-free, and contains no dairy or refined sugar. There are bars stuffed with hazelnut, cashew, or almond butters, made crispy with quinoa and crunchy with cacao nibs, but also plain and salted bars. My favorite to eat out of hand is the almond butter + puffed quinoa bar, but I knew if the chocolate was that good for snacking on its own, it would be terrific for baking.

So I made chocolate chip cookies. Giant ones. I usually don't make them that large, but I really wanted the chocolate to stand out.

I think it does, don't you?

This recipe makes 6 large cookies, but you can make smaller ones if you so desire, just break the chocolate into smaller bits. Definitely don't omit the sea salt.

Giant Chocolate Chunk Cookies

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 2.1oz Hu Kitchen chocolate bars, salty or simple or one of each
Handful of chopped nuts (optional, I used almonds)
Maldon sea salt

Put the melted butter and sugars in a large bowl and stir with a wooden spoon to combine. Add the vanilla and egg and stir again. Dump in the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix well until all of the flour is incorporated.

Break 1 of the chocolate bars into small pieces and stir into the batter along with the nuts, if using. Refrigerate this mixture for at least one hour, until firm.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Divide dough into six evenly sized balls and place on parchment lined cookie sheets at least 4 inches apart. (I put four cookies on a standard sheet and two more on a smaller pan.) Take the other chocolate bar and break apart the segments, then cut each segment into two pieces. Press about half of the chocolate into the balls of dough. Reserve the rest for later.

Bake the cookies for 14-16 minutes, until golden brown. If using two baking sheets, about halfway through, rotate the pans and move the top sheet to the lower rack and vice versa.

Remove the cookies on the parchment to cooling racks. Press the remaining chocolate pieces into the cookies while they are still warm. Sprinkle each with a generous pinch of the sea salt.

Allow to cool completely before eating.

Makes six large cookies.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

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Maple Walnut Biscotti

In my family, one either likes biscotti or they don't. My Dad and I have always been fans of the Italian cookies, the crunchier the better. (So much nicer to dip into coffee or tea if they don't immediately fall apart!) I have made them now and again, and he and I are pretty much the only consumers. Mr Minx has always contended that he does not care for the cookie. Until now.

I wanted to get a head start on making biscotti for Christmas, along with all the other various cookies we always bake, and thought I'd try a new recipe. I found one from King Arthur Flour that sounded great--maple walnut. I love both flavors, and we happened to have both ingredients on hand. I still had some of the little sample bottles of Runamok Maple syrup that I picked up at the Summer Fancy Food Show last year, each containing about 1/4 cup. The recipe called for 1/4 cup of syrup, so it seemed like kismet. But the only flavor we had a full bottle of was the Rye Barrel Infused one. Which of course tastes and smells like rye whiskey. So I sloshed in a wee bit of Old Overholt, too.

These biscotti are super crunchy, with a subtle maple flavor and a hint of something-something from the rye. Mr Minx ate several without my prompting, proclaiming them "very good." Perhaps he is coming around to enjoying super crunchy cookies and won't turn up his nose at them in the future. Or maybe I just got these exactly right for his tastes. In any case, they're certainly something I plan on baking again. Dad, of course, loved them too.

Maple Walnut Biscotti (adapted from King Arthur Flour)

1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped, toasted
2 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup Runamok Rye-barrel infused maple syrup
1 tablespoon rye whiskey
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 1/2 cups AP Flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Coarse sea salt, preferably Maldon

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Line two baking sheets with parchment. Spread the walnuts on one sheet in a single layer and toast for 8-10 minutes in the preheated oven, until they're light brown and fragrant. Allow nuts to cool. Reserve baking sheet and parchment.

In a bowl, beat the eggs, sugars, maple syrup, and rye whiskey. Add the butter, beating well to combine. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the nuts.

With floured hands, pat the dough into two rectangles each about 10" long x 4" wide and 1/2" thick on the parchment-covered baking sheet. Wet your fingers and smooth the tops. Sprinkle with sea salt.

Bake dough for 30 minutes. Remove baking tray from oven and let cool for about ten minutes.

With a serrated knife, slice the loaves into 1/2" thick slices. Place the slices, standing upright, if possible, in a single layer on the second parchment-lined baking sheet. If you need more room, use the sheet that the dough was baked on as well.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, turning once if biscotti are on their sides, not at all if you were able to get them to balance upright.

Allow cookies to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Flashback Friday - Madeleines and Remembrance

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on May 17, 2011.

We tried madeleines for the first time in Paris in the mid-70s. My mother fell in love with the rather plain, buttery, cakes instantly. Back in Baltimore, where the most exotic cake around was a butterscotch Krimpet, madeleines remained a memory. That is, until I bought a madeleine pan and made them at home.

Somehow they didn't taste the same, but I think Mom mostly loved their shape and size.

I made a double batch for her on what proved to be her last Christmas, and she insisted on feeding them to my parakeet, Cuervo, rather than eating them herself. Without me in the house to remind her to eat them, they got stale and eventually had to be thrown away. It still saddens me that she did not enjoy them all.

I use the madeleine pan now more for cornbread than anything. But recently I was looking through my copy of Martha Stewart's Cookies for simple recipes that I might alter with a dose of one of the two non-sugar sweeteners I have for baking experimentation. Madeleines use relatively small amounts of butter and flour, both of which were in short supply, so they became the cookie of choice.

While I used Xylitol in a hot fudge sauce recipe last week, this time I decided to try Erythritol. Like Xylitol, it's is a sugar alcohol, in this case actually made from sugar; however it's only 70% as sweet as sugar. It has only 0.2 calories per gram, and a glycemic score of 0, making it safe for diabetics.

I thought they turned out great - light, cakey, lightly-sweet, with a nice orange-y flavor. I used a non-stick pan and a lot of release spray, but still they stuck a bit. Not sure if that was a result of the sweetener, or maybe of the bumps of pecans.

Erythritol apparently caused baked goods to become hard if they're exposed to air for long periods of time, so make sure to store your madeleines in an air-tight container as soon as they're cool.

Pecan Orange Madeleines (adapted from Martha Stewart)

4 1/2 tablespoons butter, plus extra for greasing the pan
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup Erythritol (or 1/4 cup sugar)
2 large eggs
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1 tablespoon grated orange rind

Preheat oven to 325F.

Brush the molds of a madeleine pan with butter (I like using the wrapper) or spray well with release spray.

In a microwavable bowl, melt butter on high for 1 minute. Stir in honey and vanilla and set aside until cool.

Place flour, baking powder and Erythritol or sugar in a large bowl. Stir in eggs and butter mixture until well combined, then add pecans and orange rind. Spoon batter into prepared molds, about halfway, and smooth with the back of a spoon (batter is stiff).

Bake until bottoms of cookies are golden and tops are springy, about 8-9 minutes. Remove pan to a wire rack, and after cooling for a few minutes, remove cookies from pan onto another rack. Allow to cool completely.

Store in a covered container. Makes 2 dozen.



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In Bloom

In November of 2012, Chef Kevin Perry and his wife Cecilia Benalcazar opened Liv2Eat to high praise from local foodies and restaurant critics, even winning the 2013 “Best New Restaurant” award from the Baltimore City Paper. In just a few short years, Perry and Benalcazar shuttered their restaurant....but only briefly. They opened a few weeks later, in August 2017, as In Bloom, a joint effort with new partners Chef Cyrus Keefer and Angela Keefer. Chefs Perry and Keefer had worked together at Sotto Sopra, a popular Italian restaurant north of downtown in an area known as Cathedral Hill. Keefer had been looking to open his own place for a few years now, and thought the partnership with Perry made sense for both of them. Though the adage “too many cooks spoil the soup” comes to mind, it certainly will not be true at In Bloom, where Keefer and Perry will essentially be cooking every meal themselves.

The restaurant itself got a bit of a face-lift--not that it especially needed it--in the form of fresh paint and new lights for the patio. I’ve always thought it was a pretty space, not fussy, with nice details like the inlaid pebbles on the bar and the aluminum chairs, both of which are still around.

When the restaurant was known as Liv2Eat, the menu was short and to the point. At In Bloom, it still has a welcome brevity, but incorporates more of a melting pot sensibility to go with its established seasonal focus. On a recent visit, the menu showed the influence of both chefs. Chef Perry’s fabulous risotto fritters, wee crispy clouds of creamy rice served with lemon chive creme fraiche and shavings of Parmesan, were a highlight of our meal.

We also tried the gem lettuce Caesar with caramelized lemon and toasted bits of torn bread. The dressing was presented on the bottom of the plate so diners can use as much or as little of it as they like.

The roasted bone marrow is a rich concoction involving frizzled mushrooms and artichokes and a slick of aioli. The accompanying toasts are not only for topping with marrow, but also for mopping up the luscious fat that has dribbled all over the plate.

Chef Keefer makes some of the most tender calamari you’ll ever eat, and we’ve enjoyed it at various of his other gigs. Currently at In Bloom, it’s served with Thai basil, chili, and pinenuts; doubtless that combo will change with the seasons. Both chefs’ enjoyment of rustic Italian food shows in dishes like the ultra-light potato gnocchi in a rich gorgonzola cream sauce with hazelnuts (inspired by a recent trip to Italy), and the eggplant caponata.

One thing that struck me about the food at In Bloom is that while some dishes definitely swing toward the fine dining end of the spectrum, other items, particularly among the entrees, seem far more casual. The bacon burger, made with local Roseda beef, is a riff on a classic fast food burger, stacking two 4-ounce patties with bacon and cheddar and adding a sauce more “fancy” than “special.” Though a beef kabob sandwich with peppers, mushrooms, and garlic sauce sounds like street fare, it’s been elevated to sit-down status with a pillowy pita made from brioche dough, cooked to order.

For those folks more interested in knife-and-fork food, there’s also an elegant airline breast of chicken stuffed with a truffled chicken mousse. Because it’s Baltimore, crab cakes are on the menu from time to time. Currently, they’re Chef Keefer’s creation, a completely gluten-free cake bound with shrimp mousse. (Chef Perry makes some dynamite traditional crab cakes, too, which hopefully will pop up in the future.) . This mix of casual and somewhat more formal dishes should help make In Bloom a neighborhood staple as well as destination dining.

While there is a bar in the space, In Bloom only serves wine and beer. The handful of cocktails they serve are wine-based, like the Bamboo Mule, which gets its kick from sake. But the wine list is so interesting, who needs cocktails? I enjoyed a glass of the bright and sweet Pamplemousse Rose, a rosé with a strong grapefruit aroma and flavor that is all the rage in France. I followed that with a glass of Maui Blanc, a 100% pineapple wine that’s weird and slightly funky and delicious all at the same time. There are flights available for those who can’t make up their minds about which wine to try first.

There are desserts too, my favorite being the plate of warm, fresh-from-the-oven, chocolate chip cookies presented with a ramekin of cream for dunking. The cookies are small, making them the perfect size for the end of a meal.

In Bloom
1444 Light Street
Baltimore, MD 21230
443-440-7129
http://inbloomrestaurant.com/



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Cookies and Pudding

When I get food products to sample and review, I don't really like to talk about the product straight up because I feel like it reads too much like a commercial. And unless the Super Bowl is on, most people don't like commercials. What I prefer to do is concoct some sort of recipe with the product in question and then post that. I feel like I have accomplished something by developing a new recipe, and I can talk about the product, too. But sometimes the products do speak for themselves, especially when they're cookies. Good cookies, that is.

I had this grandiose idea of inventing some sort of new banana pudding, only not using bananas, and with a different flavor of pudding. The La Mere Poulard cookies I was sampling would be the base of the not-banana-pudding, the vanilla wafer replacement. Only they were so tasty, I didn't want to cover them up with other flavors. All three types of cookie I received--sables, shortbread, and caramel biscuits--are buttery and crispy and smell simply wonderful, particularly the caramel ones. Two or three with a cup of tea is a perfect midday pick-me-up.

The cookies come from France--Mont Saint-Michel, to be precise. The story is that Annette Poulard, the local baker's wife, opened an inn on Mont Saint-Michel in 1888. Tourists flocked there for Poulard's cooking and especially her butter biscuits, which she baked for more than 50 years. Today, they're available in the US at stores like Whole Foods (and on the Internet).

Although I no longer wanted to use the cookies in a recipe, I still wanted to make something to go with them. Since I had pudding stuck in my head, I went with it. This recipe is based on the classic Hershey's chocolate pudding recipe, and is so fast and easy I don't know why anyone would ever buy instant pudding. I added peanut butter and rum, just to be different. The result was rich and chocolaty, with a distinct peanut flavor. Eating it with a couple of crispy cookies (the ones in the top photo are the sables) adds a bit of extra texture. You could, if you'd like, crumble some cookies on top of the pudding and pretend you've invented a new dish. Or just skip the pudding and have some of the cookies with a cup of tea.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding

2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 1/4 cup 2% milk
3 tablespoons peanut butter
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Splash dark rum
Handful dry roasted unsalted peanuts
Sea salt
La Mere Poulard cookies

Combine sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and kosher salt in a saucepan. Slowly whisk in the milk, first making a paste of the milk + dry ingredients, then adding the rest of the milk. Cook over medium high heat until it comes to a boil, stirring regularly. Boil for 1 minute, until thickened.

Turn off the heat and stir in the peanut butter and butter until combined. Add the vanilla and a healthy splash of dark rum (a few tablespoons worth) and stir until combined. If the mixture seems too thick while it's still warm, thin out with a few tablespoons of milk. Stir in the peanuts, leaving a few for garnish.

Store in the fridge in a covered container until ready to eat. If you're not a fan of pudding skin, then press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the pudding.

Spoon into bowls and garnish with peanuts and a sprinkle of sea salt. Serve with cookies.

4-6 servings.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!



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Happy Holidays!

We're taking the rest of the year off. Happy holidays to all, and see you in 2017! It has to be better than 2016, right?



Posted on Minxeats.com.