Wish Upon A Chef

Sweet potatoes are something that I've had to learn to like through the years.  Held in a higher regard and deemed healthier than white potatoes,* I used to only enjoy sweet potatoes when baked and slathered with mounds of butter and honey (and no Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner is complete without a sweet potato casserole piled high with melted gooey marshmallows, am I right?)  But surely all of the added fat, sweetness and calories cancels out anything remotely healthy about the tubular root. 

Up until a few weeks ago, I would've described my feelings for sweet potatoes as "Take 'em or leave 'em.  I just eat them because they say I should."  But then I started ordering organic produce from Backyard Produce and having it delivered right to my door.  I included something called garnet sweet potatoes in one of my orders and fully expected a bunch of impressive looking gourmet ruby-colored potatoes to show up on my doorstep.  Instead, they were your Average Joe regular looking sweet potatoes.  But as I sat down to enjoy my dinner that evening, I realized they were far from just an average sweet potato that had done nothing much to win my affections before. 

A garnet sweet potato, I learned after a bit of research, gets its name not because of its flesh color but instead its skin has a more reddish hue than other varieties of potatoes.  And let's just say that I was blown away by the amount of flavor packed into these spuds.  Organic foods have more flavor than non-organic or genetically modified items because they aren't pumped full of the equivalent of steroids to make their production larger and bulkier. When you interfere with the natural process, you essentially grow any flavor right out.  These potatoes had the perfect amount of  sweetness and flavor and I chose to roast them with fresh rosemary and a drizzle of olive oil which concentrated the flavors even more. 

Thank you Backyard Produce for delivering right to my door and for introducing me to how sweet sweet potato love can be!  To find out more about Backyard Produce's delivery service and see if you are in one of their many delivery zones, check out their website and get signed up today. 


Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Fresh Rosemary

Printable Recipe

Sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into medium-sized chunks
Olive oil for drizzling
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Fresh rosemary, leaves removed from stem and chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Drizzle potatoes with olive oil (about 2 or 3 tablespoons, depending on how many potatoes you use.  You just want a light coating of oil) and sprinkle generously with salt, pepper and fresh rosemary.  Toss potatoes to coat and spread them on a baking sheet in a single layer. 

Roast for about 15-20 minutes, stirring once, or until potatoes start turning golden brown.  Season with more salt and pepper, if desired. 


*When the health benefits of a sweet potato versus a white potato are studied a bit closer, it seems that both have benefits in their own right and one isn't necessarily more healthy than the other.  There is not alot of difference between the spuds nutritionally - calorie, fat and protein counts are relatively similar.  Sweet potatoes contain anti-oxidants, beta-carotene and Vitamin C whereas white potatoes contain folate and have more dietary fiber.  The glycemic index of both depend on how it's prepared for consumption.  I may not be a doctor and I've certainly never played on on TV, but I'm prescribing my theory of "all things in moderation" when it comes to incorporating either sweet or white potatoes into my diet. 

I cannot stress how much I LOVE summer produce.  Meats become pretty much non-existent in my summertime meals because I prefer to feast mainly on the bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables available from farmers markets and from my Backyard Produce delivery service. 

Eggplant Caprese may be considered just a snack or appetizer for some folks but combined with some freshly baked hearty bread, it makes an entire meal for me.  Choose the best quality ingredients you can find because the sum of this dish is only as good as its individual components.  Pull out your best EVOO, choose the ripest heirloom tomato and the freshest Mozzarella and savor the flavors of summer!

I'm sharing my quick trick for turning a not-so-expensive balsamic vinegar into an expensive tasting one and it only takes about 5 minutes of your time.  It takes this fresh combination of flavors totally over the top!



Eggplant Caprese

Printable Recipe

Ingredients: 
1 small-medium eggplant
1 large ripe tomato
1 ball of fresh Mozzarella
1 to 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
Chopped fresh basil
Balsamic vinegar*

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees (or use the "broil" setting).

Wash the eggplant and cut it into 1/2" inch thick slices.  Slice the tomato and Mozzarella in slices as well.

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Season eggplant slices with salt and pepper and place the eggplant slices into the pan.  Drizzle with a little more oil, if needed.  Fry eggplant, turning once, for about 2 minutes or until golden brown, but not too soft.  Remove eggplant from the pan and place in an ovenproof dish. Top each slice with a slice of tomato and a slice of Mozzarella. Season with more salt & pepper. Place dish in the oven for about 2 minutes or until Mozzarella starts melting. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with some chopped basil and a little balsamic vinegar.

*If you're using an inexpensive balsamic vinegar and would like to turn it into a delicious and expensive tasting vinegar, just pour about 4 times as much vinegar as you're going to need into a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil and allow vinegar to simmer for about 2-4 minutes.  Allow it to reduce until it's slightly thinner than what you want because it will continue to reduce after you take it off the heat.   Drizzle over meat, fish, fruits or vegetables. 

I've always heard that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach and Lord knows I travel that route as often as I can for the Boy Toy despite his insinuations that all my cooking is making his "road" more "curvy." My mailbox overflows each month with subscriptions to various cooking magazines to ensure the road to Boy Toy's heart is traveled often, but as a woman I know the stomach isn't the only avenue to a man's heart.

A few months ago I purchased a Groupon that would grant me a year's subscription to Cosmopolitan magazine for a mere $5.  I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing out on any new tricks of the trade for wooing a man by a means other than with my cooking.  The first few editions came and I scanned through pages and pages of information and instruction hoping to find something useful.  I honestly feared most of the tricks Cosmo was touting to woo a man would land me square in the hospital with a dislocated something or other that my insurance copay would not cover.  I felt the folks at Cosmo were more concerned with how to stop a man's heart than how to find your way to it, so I was ready to toss the useless magazines into the recycle bin when I noticed - far back on those last few pages typically reserved for advertisements about psychics and online dating services - a recipe.  I ripped it from the the magazine and realized I should forget about all those other tricks and tips because surely food WAS the way to a man's heart afterall!

A quick online search of the recipe "Crispy Chicken with Rosemary Lemon Salt" shows that Giada De Laurentiis also takes credit for the published recipe in her cookbook "Weeknights with Giada" which probably proves my theory that Cosmopolitan can't come up with any original ideas on their own to win to a man's heart without making you perform like a circus pony or very minorly tweaking someone else's idea - like suggesting the chicken be served with marinara sauce and calling it their own.  I replaced the cornmeal with whole wheat bread crumbs and also had plenty of herbed salt left over so I've been using it for salads and such.  If you are focusing on "real food" for your meals, use a suitable oil such as coconut oil for frying and use organic, free-range chicken. 

In addition to serving these as an entree, these would make a great party appetizer.

Crispy Chicken with Rosemary Lemon Salt
inspired by Giada De Laurentiis/Cosmopolitan July 2012

Printable Recipe

Suitable oil, for frying
1 (6-inch) sprig fresh rosemary
1/4 cup kosher salt plus 3/4 teaspoon
Zest of 1 large lemon, divided
1 pound chicken tenders
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (I whole wheat crumbs from my homemade bread leftovers)

For the salt: Heat 1/4-inch oil in a large, high-sided skillet over medium-high heat (the oil is hot enough when a pinch of breadcrumbs sizzles when added to the pan). Add the rosemary sprig and fry for 30 seconds until crisp. Using tongs, remove the rosemary sprig and drain on paper towels. Remove the leaves and finely chop to yield 1 tablespoon. Place the rosemary, 1/4 cup salt, and half the lemon zest in a small bowl. Mix with a fork until combined. Set aside.

For the chicken: In a medium bowl, mix together the chicken, garlic, rosemary, 3/4 teaspoon salt, other half of the lemon zest, and pepper. Add the breadcrumbs and toss until the chicken is coated. Add 1/2 the chicken to the same skillet used to cook the rosemary and fry until golden and crispy, 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Drain on paper towels. Repeat with the remaining chicken. Sprinkle with the rosemary-lemon salt and serve (with marinara, if you'd like).

It's hard to believe that it's been three years now since I hosted a holiday cookie exchange with my friends...my how time flies!  I have to make a confession about that party -  a dark secret I've been holding on to for all this time.  The day before the party, several of my friends called to say they weren't able to come because they didn't have time to bake their cookies and didn't want to show up empty-handed.  This was pretty much going to wipe out most of my guest list because it was a small affair and I was faced with having to cancel the party.  It really wasn't so much about them bringing cookies or not, I really just wanted to spend time with my friends during the holidays so I decided to bake all the cookies if they would still promise to come. 

Yes, that's right.  I bribed all of my friends to come to my cookie exchange party by agreeing to bake all of the cookies myself.  I'll probably have to tie a pork chop around my neck next just to get the dog to play with me.  

The party went off without a hitch, everyone took home delicious treats and I got to enjoy the holiday baking season and share with my friends.  That's what it's all about for me. 

These Rosemary Caramel cookies are still, to this day, one of my favorite cookie recipes.  It's a delicious combination of shortbread cookies sandwiched together with rosemary infused caramel.  Unfortunately the only photos I have of them are this pre-I-want-to-learn-how-to-take-decent-food-photos blurry photo and the quick glimpse of them on the top right of the table at my cookie exchange, but don't let that discourage you from trying them.  Click the photo to be directed to the recipe and I promise you won't be disappointed!

Rosemary Caramel Cookies, compliments of Bon Appetit

I normally have a hard time growing healthy, lush basil but this year I've had more than my fair share of success. The stuff is literally growing overnight and reaching out to grab me by the leg as I walk by on the patio.  I've already harvested twice and made two batches of basil pesto for the freezer so I really didn't want anymore of that, so that left me wondering what to do with the bounty from my third harvest.  I decided to dry this round so I'd have it to use long after my plants have died down. 

It's best to harvest your herbs during the early or mid-morning hours before the hot sun starts beating down on them.  Wash them and dry them off really, really well (especially if you plan to hang them to dry because you don't want to risk having the leaves mold from the moisture).    If you do plan to hang them to dry, that process is pretty simple but it takes a bit of time.  Just gather your stems in bunches, tie them with kitchen twine and hang them in a cool, dark and dry place to dry.  I really didn't want basil hanging in my closet because I can barely get all of my clothes in there as it is, so I decided to use the oven to dry mine.


Turn your oven on the lowest temperature setting - mine is 200 degrees and that worked just fine.  Line a baking pan with either aluminum foil or parchment paper as the leaves have a tendency to stick to your pan.  The leaves will begin to shrink in size as they dry, so go ahead and put a big pile on your pan but spread them as best you can into a single layer.  I dried about three batches and the leaves took anywhere from 15-20 minutes to dry and even then some of the batch wasn't completely dry.  So as they cooled, I crumbled the leaves and poured it all back onto the parchment paper and let it continue to dry with the residual heat after I turned off the oven. 

Three large batches of fresh leaves yielded about 3/4 cup of dried leaves.  Keep the basil sealed in a freezer bag or jar and use it to season anything from vegetables to sauces to soups.  I even added a few generous pinches to my bread machine pizza dough earlier in the week.  I've included the recipe that I use in my Oster Expressbake breadmaker - I know pizza dough is simple to make with your own two hands, but I'd rather spend five minutes throwing the ingredients in the machine and let it do all the work while I'm busy doing something else, like drying basil.  I'm a huge multi-tasker like that. 




Pizza Dough for Bread Machine
Makes 1.5 lb.

1/2 tsp. salt
3 cups all-purpose flour (sometimes I use half all-purp and half whole wheat)
1-1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
1 cup water
2 Tbls. olive oil or vegetable oil

If you'd like to add your favorite dried herbs to the bread pan along with the other dry ingredients, feel free to do so.  I used about a tablespoon of dried basil.  Or if you prefer, you could sprinkle it on the pizza sauce before you add your toppings. 

Combine all ingredients into bread pan. 

Select Dough setting and let it do its thing.  Mine takes about 1-1/2 hours.  When it's finished, pat dough out into 12x15 jelly roll pan or greased 12" round pizza pan.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Top dough with pizza sauce and your favorite toppings.

Bake 15-20 minutes or until crust is golden brown. 

Talk about role reversal! Last year my vegetable garden flourished and nearly buried me alive with produce while my herb garden waned and struggled.  Now this year, my vegetable garden is dying a slow and painful death and my herbs are crowding and spilling over from their allotted space into the flower garden that borders them.  I guess it's too much to ask to have two green thumbs at once. 

I've already harvested once from my basil plant and not even two weeks later, it's time to harvest again.  The most obvious thing to make with fresh basil, of course, is pesto.  Quick and easy with only a few quality ingredients, pesto can be made ahead and frozen so it's a great way to get that burst of fresh summertime flavor long after the season has passed. 

I purchased a couple of plastic ice cube trays from Dollar Tree which made perfect portion sizes for the pesto.  Once they are frozen, the pesto cubes pop right out of the trays and can be transferred to a freezer storage bag.


Fresh Basil Pesto Recipe
Yield: Approximately 1 cup.


2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts (I used walnuts and toasted them just a bit)
3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.

Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula.

Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

At this point, you can portion the pesto into desired containers and freeze. 

 

With the temperatures in the Queen City reaching all-time record highs of 100+ degrees these past couple of weeks, my summertime meals have become more of a nosh than an actual meal.  The heat just seems to completely zap my appetite and who wants to heat up an already blazing hot kitchen with an oven and long cooking times?

This quick and easy recipe from Southern Living featuring two of my favorite things: cherries and bleu cheese certainly fits the bill for something light yet satisfying on a hot summer day.  The combination of the sweet cherries and honey, the salty bleu cheese and the savory rosemary and arugula sends the taste buds into deliciousness overload. 

This is meant to be an appetizer and the kind where you can set out all the individual components and allow your guests to assemble their own crostini or you can assemble and plate in advance.  The cherry compote also keeps for at least a week in the refrigerator.  The only change that I would make from the original recipe next time is to coarsely chop the cherries and possibly even the arugula as leaving them whole made for a pretty hefty crostini and it was awkward to bite into and maintain a lady-like appearance. 

Stay cool but don't stay out of the kitchen!

Honey-Rosemary Cherries & Bleu Cheese Crostini
Southern Living, December 2011

printable recipe

1 shallot, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 (12-oz.) package frozen dark, sweet pitted cherries, thawed
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 cups loosely packed arugula
16 (1/4-inch-thick) ciabatta bread slices, toasted
1 (8-oz.) wedge bleu cheese, thinly sliced*


1. Drain cherries and coarsely chop, reserving the juice.  Sauté shallot in hot oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat 2 to 3 minutes or until tender. Add cherries (and reserved liquid) and next 5 ingredients. Cook, stirring occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes or until thickened. Let stand 10 minutes.

2. Divide arugula among toasted bread slices (you may want to coarsely chop this as well if your leaves are large). Top each with cherry mixture and 1 bleu cheese slice.

*Manchego or goat cheese may be substituted.

So easy. So elegant. So good.

Crème brulée, also known as burnt cream, is very often an understated dessert. Its silky smooth custard base is made with cream, sugar, vanilla and egg yolks ~ ingredients that you no doubt already have on hand, and it can be pulled together quickly and just needs enough time to chill in the refrigerator before serving. A top layer of crunchy, carmelized sugar adds to its rich and creamy decadence.  Most recipes call for using a butane kitchen torch to burn the sugar, but it can also be done under an oven broiler.  There's no need to buy special equipment. 

I splurged on a tin of dried lavender flowers for this cocktail recipe and happened to remember a recipe I'd seen years ago on a now defunct blog called "Fresh Approach Cooking" for this lovely lavender infused crème brulée. It's simply amazing at how a bit of lavender infused in warm cream for just a few minutes can evoke a feeling and image of frolicking in a field of purple lavender blooms somewhere in the south of France, the air heavy with floral perfume.    

Serve this as an elegant end to any meal and I promise you won't be disappointed.


Lavender Infused Crème Brulée
by Rachael of Fresh Approach Cooking

4 ½ cups heavy cream
3 Tbsp dried lavender flower, or 4 tablespoons fresh
6 egg yolks
1/3 cup granulated white sugar
Additonal sugar to top


Heat your oven to 300F.

In a large saucepan, combine the cream and lavender and bring to a gentle boil. Remove from the heat and let the lavender infuse with the cream for 5 minutes.

Whisk the egg yolks and 1/3 cup sugar until light and creamy. Strain the lavender buds from the cream. Slowly pour the cream into the egg and sugar mixture, blending well.

Divide the cream between 6 ramekins. Put into a pan and carefully fill the pan with warm water, until it reaches halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

Bake custards until set around the edges, but still loose in the center, about 40 to 50 minutes. Remove from oven and leave in the water bath until cooled. Remove the ramekins and chill for at least 1 hour, or up to 2 days.

To serve, sprinkle one teaspoon of sugar over each custard. Melt the sugar with a blow-torch or place under broiler. It's a good idea to re-chill custards for a few minutes before serving.

Nothing good ever comes of an addiction. Cigarettes make you cough up a lung. Alcohol rots your liver. Porn scorches your eyes. And snacks...well, snacks make your jeans shrink up real tight. They make the scale tip way too far in the wrong direction. Extra pounds appear seemingly overnight. Yet despite the horrible side effects, we think nothing of bending our elbow toward our mouth for another hit from the snack crack pipe.

My latest snack addiction is these Sensible Portions Pita Bites. You'd think they'd be all good-for-you healthy and stuff and they probably are, but the words sensible and portions should be a clue that CONTROL is key to proper addiction management. When my beloved Harris Teeter advertises these little bites of cracker meth for BOGO, you can bet my pantry is stocked for just those occasions when I'm in desperate need of a hit.

So what do you think happened the one night that I rounded the kitchen corner, peered into the pantry and suddenly realized I was facing an empty shelf? I got an adrenaline rush, my heart raced, my blood pressure sky-rocketed, I shook like a leaf, my pupils dilated as large as saucers, my hairs stood on end, and I broke into a cold sweat. Classic symptoms of the DTs.

Thank heavens for Smitten Kitchen's rendition of Gourmet magazine's Crisp Rosemary Flatbreads. Now I can feed the addiction any time I damn well please. If you're a straight shooter like me, you'll enjoy these on their own but they're also perfect with cheeses and any dip or spread that you can conjure up.

Pass the pipe over this way, would ya? And get me some bigger jeans while you're at it.



Crisp Rosemary Flatbread
Adapted from Gourmet, July 2008
Stolen shamelessly from Smitten Kitchen. (All notes are those of SK's)

Nothing could be easier than making this cracker, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t tell people you slaved all day over it because they’re going to be impressed, really impressed, and I see no reason not to milk it.

I think you could easily swap the rosemary for other herbs, such as thyme or tarragon, or punch it up with black pepper or other spices, but personally, I like it just the way it is here.

1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary plus 2 (6-inch) sprigs
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup olive oil plus more for brushing
Flaky sea salt such as Maldon

Preheat oven to 450°F with a heavy baking sheet on rack in middle.

Stir together flour, chopped rosemary, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Make a well in center, then add water and oil and gradually stir into flour with a wooden spoon until a dough forms. Knead dough gently on a work surface 4 or 5 times.

Divide dough into 3 pieces and roll out 1 piece (keep remaining pieces covered with plastic wrap) on a sheet of parchment paper into a 10-inch round (shape can be rustic; dough should be thin).

Lightly brush top with additional oil and scatter small clusters of rosemary leaves on top, pressing in slightly. Sprinkle with sea salt. Slide round (still on parchment) onto preheated baking sheet and bake until pale golden and browned in spots, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer flatbread (discard parchment) to a rack to cool, then make 2 more rounds (1 at a time) on fresh parchment (do not oil or salt until just before baking). Break into pieces.

Flatbread can be made 2 days ahead and cooled completely, then kept in an airtight container at room temperature.

Will you please allow me one more summer-inspired rambling post before you tell me to move on to more seasonally appropriate topics?

I realize mid-September should be all about Fall, football, pumpkins and hoodies, but my land of goodness our temps are still in the 90s! I can't even think about snow boots and parkas without breaking out in a sweat! I promise you won't be sorry that I managed to squeeze this little goodie in just before things cool off.....

My friends and I hosted a cocktail and food pairing social for Goodeats and Meets! Charlotte earlier in the summer and during the menu planning stage we decided to make double duty of one of the cocktails by turning it into a palate cleanser.

Palate cleansers are commonly found in French cuisine and used to cleanse the mouth from lingering tastes and flavors of previous courses so that the next may be enjoyed with a fresh perspective. You'll find lemon, lime or mint sorbets on the list of traditional cleansers but since there are no hard and fast rules as to what should be used, sparkling water with citrus, a spring of fresh parsley or lightly brewed green, mint or black tea may also be served.

By the time I monkeyed around with the standard lime sorbet recipe that I had, I wound up with a lovely combination of rosemary infused lime sorbet with Cruzan Coconut Rum. It's not very often that I'm totally bowled over by one of my wingnut creations but this was THE. BOMB. We almost didn't have enough to serve to the 25 party guests because I kept sneaking off to the freezer for another quality control sample.

The end result was fresh, crisp, tropical and refreshing. In retrospect, I should have garnished it with toasted coconut and a fresh rosemary sprig but when you have hungry guests waiting, you do the best that you can. Keep in mind that alcohol will not freeze solid so don't feel compelled to add more as your sorbet will not freeze to proper consistency. Chilly temperatures or not, this goodness will be coming out of my ice cream maker again very, very soon.


Rosemary-Lime Sorbet with Cruzan Coconut Rum

Ingredients

3/4 cup sugar
3 cups half-and-half
4 fresh rosemary spears, about 3" long
1/4 cup light corn syrup
Juice of 3 limes
1/3 cup Cruzan Coconut Rum
toasted coconut, for garnish

Preparation

1. Between two pieces of wax paper, lightly crush rosemary with a meat mallet (if you don't have a mallet, use a small saucepan, or the bottom of a glass. This will release the fragrant oils of the herb.

2.In a large saucepan, combine sugar, half-and-half, rosemary spears and corn syrup. Whisk lightly and bring to a boil, making sure mixture does not boil over, then strain into a bowl. Let cool, then chill in refrigerator. (If you want a more intense rosemary flavor, strain AFTER it is cool.) Remove from refrigerator and slowly whisk in lime juice and rum. If mixture shows signs of curdling, whisk harder or transfer to a blender.

3.Pour mixture into an ice cream maker and follow manufacturer's instructions.

Serve garnished with toasted coconut.

Yields about 1 quart

How many times do you flip through a cooking magazine, see a recipe that you think you want to try, dog-ear the page and lay the magazine in a (already mile high) stack and never get back to it? Or worse yet, actually want to go back to the recipe but can’t remember which magazine (in the ever growing pile) it was? As a long time sufferer of this problem, I finally wised up and decided to just rip the page right out of the magazine and keep the pages versus the whole magazine. I’ve found that I actually make it a point to work my way through the stack of pages and I've tried more new recipes than I would have otherwise. I ripped this little jewel out of a November or December 2007 issue of Bon Appetit but instead of being an actual BA recipe, it was part of an advertisement for butter. It's not very often that I'm totally bowled over by all aspects of a recipe, but let me tell ya....these cookies kick some major BOOTY! And since this post falls into the theme of "Bookmarked Recipes", a blog event hosted by Ruth over at Ruth's Kitchen, I've decided to submit it for next week's event.

The cookie dough was of the basic shortbread variety but I was mostly intrigued by the infusion of rosemary into the caramel and it is definitely a combination that I will use again. When I made the caramel, evidently my "medium heat" was a little too high and these little black clumps started to appear and I was so sure that I had scorched it.



Luckily, it wasn't scorched and the caramel came together nicely. I ate almost all of these cookies myself, so in addition to kicking booty, they also enlarged my booty! I was a little disappointed that my photo turned out blurry so I guess I'll have to make another batch to re-photograph! :)

Head on over to Ruth's blog to check out the other great entries!

* Exported from MasterCook *

Rosemary Caramel Sandwich Cookies

Categories : Cookies

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 c. butter , divided
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
FOR THE CARAMEL :
1/2 c. butter
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. corn syrup
1 c. sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

To Make Cookies :

Melt 1/2 c. butter in a sauce pan until browned, do not burn. Cool.

Cream together 1/2 c. butter and and sugar until light and fluffy. Add browned butter and mix well. Add egg and vanilla; beat until blended. Add flour and baking powder, blend. Flatten dough into a disk and chill 1 hr. in plastic wrap.

Preheat oven to 350.

Roll out dough and cut into 2 in. scalloped rounds and bake 8 - 10 min.

FOR ROSEMARY CARAMEL :

Flatten rosemary between 2 sheets of wax paper. Melt butter in sauce pan and add herbs..Cook over low heat for 10 min. then discard rosemary.Add remaining ingredients, mix well. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently then reduce to a medium heat and continue to stir. Using a candy thermometer, bring temp to 242 degrees, stirring frequently and remove from heat. Use caramel and cookies to make sandwiches...these keep at room temp for a week.

Source:
"Bon Appetit 2007 (November or December)"
Yield:
"3 dozen"

A few weeks ago, the sky opened up and blessed us with several beautiful, warm and sunny days in a row. Spring was finally here! The trees and flowers budded, bloomed, and spewed forth enough pollen to coat the world yellow. After a few days of wallowing in a stuffed up, swollen, pollen-induced coma, I hacked and sneezed my way to the pharmacy for my annual purchase of Claritin D. Once the yellow haze started to disappear, I could think a little clearer and remember what it is that I love about Spring....

One of my favorite things to do this time of year is revitalize my herb garden. I manage to keep some of my herbs growing outdoors year round thanks to the somewhat warm climate here in the Land of Nowhere but I always delight in digging in the dirt when the weather turns warm and depositing some new, tender plants. I usually reserve planting for a day when I'm most stressed about something because I work out alot of my aggressions while digging. It's just one of those things that I find soothing and peaceful. My rosemary, chives, garlic, and parsley have been with me for several years now and this year my new additions include peppermint, lemon balm, purple ruffled basil, sage, sweet basil, thyme, oregano and cilantro.


Herb gardening is fun because it's not overly complicated nor does it require alot of space. Even though I live on about 2 acres of land, my herb garden exists on a small patch of grass right outside my patio door. Most people cultivate herbs in pots, and quite frankly that's the only way I've had luck growing them too. One year after we first moved here, I scratched out a nice patch of dirt and deposited my sweet little herb babies straight in the ground. What the squirrels didn't demolish was left to shrivel up in the rock hard Arkansas clay. Herbs like direct sunlight and they like to be abused just a bit. I don't mean that you need to go out in the yard and yell or swat at them a couple of times a day, but instead they like to be crowded, neglected, and watered very little. The perfect garden for a busy person such as myself! I had some old galvanized tubs left over from a long ago catering gig that I drilled some holes in the bottom of so the soil could drain well and they worked perfectly.

It will only take a couple of weeks before you start the reap the benefits of growing your own fresh herbs - just tonight I snipped some fresh parsley and basil to garnish my chicken Parmesan and very soon you'll be reaping the benefits of some great recipes featuring my home-grown bounty, so stay tuned. In the meantime, this website offers some great tips on planting, identifying, and harvesting herbs and I suggest you check it out and derive your own stress-relieving pleasure from digging in the dirt!