Sunday, September 9, 2007

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies


adapted from "Barefoot Contessa Parties" by Ina Garten

For 90 small cookies

Butter, room temperature - 170 g
Brown sugar, packed - 1 1/2 cups
Granulated sugar - 3/4 cups
Eggs, room temperature - 2 large
Vanilla extract - 2 teaspoons
Smoothe peanut butter - 1 cup
Flour - 2 cups + maybe 1/2 cup
Baking powder - 1 teaspoon
Salt - 1 teaspoon
Chocolate chips - about 2 cups (300 g) or to taste

- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Cream the butter and two sugars until light and fluffy.
- Add the vanilla, then the eggs, one at a time, and mix well.
- Add the peanut butter and mix.
- Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt and add to the butter. Mixing only until combined.
- Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Frop the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper abour 3-4 cm apart.
- Dampen your hands and flatten the dough slightly.
- Bake for about 17 minutes for small cookies or 15 minutes for big cookies. The cookies will seem underdone.
- Remove from the oven, transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Comments:
- Original recipe called for 226 g of butter and 2 1/2 cups of flour. I reduced the butter to 170 g, but forgot to reduce the flour and put all 2 1/2 cups in. The dough was quite stiff, but it tasted great. I think that the flour can be reduced to about 2 cups safely, with maybe more if the fough is too thin.
- I used a really small ice cream scoop and got 90 cookies out of it.

Maple-Roasted Bacon


adapted from "Barefoot Contessa at Home" by Ina Garten

Bacon
Maple Syrup

- Preheat the oven to 400F(200C).
- Place a rack onto a baking sheet.
- Put the bacon slices onto the rack and bake for 15-20 minutes, until the bacon slices start to brown.
- Get the rack out of the oven and brush the bacon slices with some Maple Syrup.
- Return the bacon back into the oven and bake for another 5 minutes.
- Serve warm.

Comments:
- This is an AMAZING recipe!!
- After we tried it for the first time, we had 3(!) times in 24 hours, it's that good and addictive!

Broccoli with Cheese Sauce



I don't have the exact measurings for this recipe, but I don't think you need them.

For 2 portions

Broccoli - enough for 2 people
Sour Cream - 2-4 tablespoons
Mustard - 2-4 teaspoons
Milk - 1-2 tablespoons
Cheese, grated - 80-100 grams + more for the top
Salt, pepper

- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Boil the broccoli for 2-3 minutes in salted water, until it's tender but still crisp.
- In a separate bowl make the sauce: combine the sour cream, mustard and cheese. If the mixture is too thick, add some milk. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Put the boiled broccoli into a baking dish, pour the sauce over it, sprinkle with more cheese.
- Bake for about 10-13 minutes until the sauce is thick and the cheese on top melted and started to brown.

Comments:
- The sauce is the same as in Fish baked with Tomatoes in Cheese Sauce, but the dish is completely different.
- It's really easy to make and tastes great!

Fish baked with Tomatoes in Cheese Sauce


adapted from http://www.carina-forum.com/carina/

For 2 portions

Filet of Sole (or any other light white fish) - 2 pieces
Tomatoes, sliced - 2 medium
Sour Cream - 2-4 tablespoons
Mustard - 2-4 teaspoons
Milk - 1-2 tablespoons
Cheese - 80-100 grams
Salt, pepper

- Preheat the oven to 426F (220C).
- Put the filets in a baking dish, salt and pepper to taste.
- Put the tomato slices on the fish.
- In a separate bowl make the sauce: combine sour cream, mustard and cheese. If the mixture is too thick, add some milk.
- Pour the sauce over tomatoes.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the fish is ready.

Comments:
- I taste the sauce, if it's too plain, I add more mustard, if it's too spicy, I add more sour cream. So, number of spoons in the ingredients list is only a guidline.
- I also grate some cheese over the sauce.
- It's a really easy and tasty dish, very helpful on busy nights!