Mushroom and Thyme Goat Cheese Crostini

Here is one of the recent recipes I created for Trinitas Cellars' Holiday Newsletter.  This is a super easy and delicious appetizer that pairs beautifully with an earthy Cabernet - or even bubbles!

Cheers, and Happy New Year to all!

Ingredients:

·      4 oz goat cheese, room temperature

·      1-2 T fresh thyme, leaves only plus more for garnish

·      6 ounces Crimini mushrooms, diced to ¼ inch pieces

·      ½ Tablespoon butter

·      1 teaspoon salt

·      1 shallot, finely diced

·      ¼ cup white wine

Instructions:

·      Use a mortar and pestle to pound the thyme leaves, releasing their oils

1.    If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, you can finely mince the leaves to break them open

·      Mix the thyme with the goat cheese so that it’s evenly distributed – but take care not to overmix. Set aside.

·       Heat a sauté pan over medium heat and add the butter and salt

·      Add the shallot and cook briefly to soften, about 2 minutes

·      Pour the wine into pan to deglaze.  Scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon and simmer for 1 minute.

·      Add the mushrooms and sauté until they are soft and saturated, about 5 minutes

To serve, spread about a Tablespoon of the goat cheese over a slice of lightly toasted sourdough baguette.  Top with a rounded Tablespoon of the mushroom mixture and garnish with the tip of a sprig of Thyme.

Makes about 2 dozen canapés

Simple Almond Sugar Cookies

My mom and I are almond fanatics.  Almond flavored desserts, almond scented soaps, jordan almond candy ~  you name it, we've purchased it!

This is my go-to sugar cookie recipe in which I usually use vanilla extract, but I decided to go for something a little different this time and use almond extract.  The result was heavenly.

These cookies are great for holiday gifts because they are elegant and festive, and they don't need to be iced in order for them to taste delicious.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1.5 cups cane sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 T almond extract
• 2 T cream
• 2.5 c flour
• 1/2 t baking powder
• 1/2 t salt

Instructions:

• Cream the butter with a paddle attachment for 2 mintues to soften.
• Add the sugar and continue to cream on medium high speed for 4-5 minutes, until LIGHT, WHITE & FLUFFY ~ aka the three key words for effective creaming.
• While the sugar and butter are creaming, combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl and sift together with a whisk.  Set aside.
• Scrape down the sides of the bowl with the sugar and butter.
• Add the eggs, fully incorporating the first before adding the second - scrape the sides of the bowl.
• Add the almond extract and cream and mix until fully incorporated - scrape the bowl.
• Set the mixer to low, and spoon in the flour mixture in 3 separate additions, scraping the bowl between additions.  Mix until JUST COMBINED, as too much mixing will make for a tough sugar cookie.
• Shape the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator at least 1 hour.  Can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.

I bought gold sanding sugar and white luster pearls
from Williams Sonoma to decorate my cookies

When you're ready to roll or cut out your cookies, grease your cookie sheets with butter or line with silicone mats ( I got my Silpats at Sur La Table - they are such a worthwhile investment, as the cookie bottoms almost always come out beautifully golden and crisp)

For this batch, I rolled my chilled dough into 1.5 Tablespoon sized balls, and put 2 inches of space between them on the cookie racks. These cookies do not spread too much, but it's always a good idea to avoid overcrowding your cookie sheet.

If you would prefer to cut your sugar cookies into shapes, roll the dough to 1/8-1/4 thick on amoderately floured surface.  Be sure to flour your rolling pin as well.

You can re-roll your dough once, but after that the dough will be too tough and the cookies will lose their sweet almond flavor.

Bake your cookies in a 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges take on a light golden color.


Let them set for one minute on the cookie sheet and then transfer them to a cooling rack.


Merry Christmas!

Candy Cane Joe-Joe's Brownie Bites

I ran to T-Joes to pick something up the other day and spotted a special cookie they have on their shelves in honor of the holiday season: Candy Cane Joe-Joes!  I immediately thought of trying to incorporate them into a batch of brownie bites I had been wanting to bake.  I took inspiration from a recipe I saw Michael Recchuiti demo at The Cooking School and baked up a batch for some holiday parties I'm attending this weekend.  These are pretty fantastic!  I used Ghiradelli unsweetened chocolate in my batch.  The only thing I think I would change for next time is maybe add 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract, just to punch up the minty flavor a bit.  


Now go grab a box of Candy Cane Joe-Joe's and give this recipe a try before Christmas passes you by!

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 20 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed
• 1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 6 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 2/3 cups granulated cane sugar
• 1 package of Trader Joes Candy Cane Joe-Joe's, crushed into chunks with your hands

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 325. Line the bottom of a standard jelly roll baking sheet with parchment paper and grease liberally with butter. 








Put the chopped chocolate and the butter in a large stainless-steel or glass bowl and set over a pot of simmering water. Melt the chocolate and butter, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is smooth. Remove the bowl from the pot and set aside.




Sift together the flour and salt in one bowl.  

In another bowl whisk together the eggs and vanilla extract. Whisk in the sugar.

Add 1/4 cup of the melted chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and combine.  Add another 1/2 cup of the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and combine.  Then add the rest of the chocolate to the egg mixture and whisk to combine thoroughly.   

Add the flour using a rubber spatula, mix well. 

Then mix in all but 1 cup of the crushed cookies and blend.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Spread it evenly with the rubber spatula, making sure to bring the batter to all edges of the pan.

Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of crushed brownies over the prepared batter.




Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the brownies comes out clean.


Allow the brownies to cool completely in the pan, on top of a cooling rack (I covered them in plastic wrap overnight).  Cut the brownies into 1 inch bite-sized pieces when you are ready to serve.

The recipe to which I referred when creating this recipe can be found here: http://www.recchiuti.com/recipe_detail.html?recipe=04

Christmas Shines in New York City

 I got to spend a very quick three days in NYC over the weekend celebrating my cousin's wedding.  This was my first time experiencing the city in all of its Christmas glory, and it was simply dazzling.  Here are some snapshots of a city that is covered in glitter - aka heaven!

Blue Hill Farm 

Blue Hill Farm

Blue Hill Farm

Blue Hill Farm

Liz's something borrowed - my late Grandma's tennis bracelet

I die for these shoes!

Magnolia Bakery Cupcake

Chandelier at Radio City Music Hall

Radio City Music Hall

Radio City Music Hall

Pop-Up DKNY Shop in Columbus Circle

Mandarin Oriental

5th Avenue Intersection

Display Outside Tiffany

Display Outside Tiffany

Display Outside Tiffany

Henri Bendel

Henri Bendel

Cartier

Rockafeller Center

Rockafeller Center

Saks

Saks

Saks

Saks

Luis Vuitton

Luis Vuitton

The Palace

I love gold.