Once again I have fallen of the blogging train. Yes, I am fully aware it has been almost a month since my last post. But good readers, I have a very good excuse. I got engaged a couple of weeks ago to the bf and it has been a whirlwind of visiting venues and wedding cakes and sugar plums and dancing fairies and rainbows and unicorns. Err, maybe not exactly like that but we've been busy planning the wedding of our dreams! Very exciting, very stressful, very unproductive for this little blog of mine.
I decided to no longer neglect my blog when a friend of mine asked for an easy cookie recipe to share with friends. I have a few recipes that I think are really good, and when he said he was looking for oatmeal or chocolate chip cookes I thought of a recipe that was given to me by my grandmother. My grandfather's favorite cookies are oatmeal. Not just oatmeal cookies, BURNT oatmeal cookies. He can't get enough of them. Or maybe he likes 'em burnt just so he doesn't have to share....When my grandma decided to change it up and use a different recipe (not sure where it came from), I asked her to leave some normal ones for us to try. They were fantastic!! I couldn't get enough. The cool thing with these is you can mix in pretty much any kind of "whatever" you want to throw in there. (See suggestions at the bottom) So we'll call them "Everything Cookies". Yes, it's kind of a lot of ingredients, but you throw it all together in three parts, anyone can handle it, I promise! It always helps when you have a willing party to measure everything out for you, too. (And someone to do the dishes!)
As for beer pairing, these would be PHENOMENAL with a stout, I would highly recommend Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout. I don't think I could recommend a better pairing. I know it's only 7am, but if you put a pint of Samuel Smith's Oatmeal stout and a plate of these cookies in front of me right now, I simply would not be able to stop myself!! Without further ado, the recipe:
"Everything Cookies"
(NOTE: 1T = 1 Tablespoon, 1t = 1 teaspoon!)
*"Wet" ingredients*
1/2 c vegetable shortening (like Crisco) 1/2 c butter, room temperature
1 c sugar 1 c brown sugar
1 T vanilla 2 eggs
*Cream these 6 ingredients together until pale in color
*Dry ingredients*
1 t baking soda 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt 2 c flour
*Mix the next 4 ingredients in a bowl separate from the mixture above. Gradually add to the "wet" mixture above until combined.
1 c coconut (optional) 2 c crispy rice cereal
2 c oatmeal 2 c chocolate chips (optional)
Mix in the cereal and oatmeal. The coconut and chocolate chips are optional.
Using a spoon sized amount of dough, place on a slightly greased cookie sheet (hello cooking spray, you are my friend). Bake in a 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. Happy eating!
***Mix-in Suggestions***
Raisins
Dried fruit (I like apples particularly)
A dash of cinnamon and nutmeg or apple pie spice to make a more traditional oatmeal cookie
Nuts
White chocolate
Orange or lemon zest
OR you could add a glaze (which I haven't done but I think it would be awesome):
Maple
Maple cinnamon
Vanilla... The possibilities are endless!
Sharing my inspirations and passions for good food and good finds!
Showing posts with label cookies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cookies. Show all posts
Friday, May 6, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
Beer Cuisine, Part Deux
Ohhhhh kay, I just got word of what my friend has planned for the tasting party. He was definitely busy, he's got 5 (count 'em, FIVE!) brews to be sampled. He sent me a description of each one, which I shall paraphrase. Aaaaand the ideas are rollin'! These are all PRELIMINARY ideas!! No passing judgments on my brainstorm session!
1. English Mild Ale -- ~3.5% ABV, dark english ale
Light-bodied, light to medium brown in color, lower carbonation
Very low hop flavor, but should be spicy and earthy hops with slight fruitiness. Very subtle chocolately/nutty taste, slight molasses flavor from brown sugar. Expected to be a very light fruity ale with enough dark malt backbone to make it interesting.
MY THOUGHTS: When I read spicy/earthy my mind immediately ventured into the cinnamon (spice) and oatmeal (earth) realm of desserts. The fruitiness kinda throws me off right now. When I hear fruitiness I usually think citrus but it doesn't sound like that's the case here. The molasses and nutty tones still make me think something simple (yet delicious) with oatmeal (maybe with a dash of cocoa infused in the dough/batter, etc.) may complement this brew. I still need to think about this some more, as I think even the texture of the cookie should contribute to the tasting experience.
2. German 'Altbier' Ale -- ~5% ABV
Color is copper to very light brown, with some red hues, high carbonation
Clean finish, 'grainy' German malts, spicy hop bitterness, lighter body with a very dry finish. Like a refreshing light German lager, but with a bit more color and flavor. Flavor is slight bready and toasty, fine spicy/floral aroma.
MY THOUGHTS: Bready and toasty popped out at me, initial thoughts are of a sweet bread of some sort to bring those flavors out. Maybe something with toasted almonds or pecans... The spicy and floral can be added with some creativity... Maybe eclairs with a filling infused with toasted nuts... I'll need to ask what kind of floral tones we're dealing with...
3. English Extra Special Bitter (ESB) -- ~5.5% ABV
Clear orange/copper appearance with minimal head
Bready-tasting malts, and earthy hops, moderate fruitiness. Slightly caramel-sweet finish, but not overly sweet. Similar to #1, but higher alcohol content, more earthy hoppiness, lighter color and flavor. Bready, biscuity flavor on the finish.
MY THOUGHTS: Biscuity flavor draws my mind to shortbread cookies or biscotti, not a lot of sweetness to those cookies, which would complement the beer. If I were to make the cookies out of brown sugar vice white sugar it may bring out more of the caramel tones in the beer.
4. American Brown Ale -- ~5.5%
Dark Brown color, Medium body and medium to high carbonation
Nutty/chocolately, caramel malts, flavor typical of brown ales. Fair amount of citrus, tastes a bit like a dark, more-richly flavored Pale Ale.
MY THOUGHTS: Chocolate and orange. Somehow. But not a strong, uber sweet chocolate, maybe bittersweet chocolate at most.
5. Strong American Amber with Honey and Spruce -- ~8%
Very deep red color, Medium to full body, high carbonation, big creamy lasting head.
Strong hoppy red ale with piney/sprucey/honey flavor, balanced by loads of sweet caramel malts. Could be a wild card.
MY THOUGHTS: Honey and caramel, check. The pine... Hmmm. I am very intrigued and I think he's right that this could definitely turn out to be a wild card. It's a bold pairing but I like the sense of adventure. Something with pine nuts maybe? There's a bacon-y smokiness about pine nuts, which stimulates my imagination as to how it'd taste when mixed with caramel or molasses flavors. I think my dessert will be just as adventuresome as this brew.
Initial thoughts aside, I don't want to just whip up a batch of cookies for each beer. I'd like to think along the lines of cookies, bread, pastries, ice cream, maybe even a tiramisu type dish if I could get the flavor combinations right. I want to find balances of texture as well as flavor, I don't want the same cookie-cutter (pun intended) line up. So for this I will need to brainstorm more. And that quite possibly may entail experimentation. I can't wait.
1. English Mild Ale -- ~3.5% ABV, dark english ale
Light-bodied, light to medium brown in color, lower carbonation
Very low hop flavor, but should be spicy and earthy hops with slight fruitiness. Very subtle chocolately/nutty taste, slight molasses flavor from brown sugar. Expected to be a very light fruity ale with enough dark malt backbone to make it interesting.
MY THOUGHTS: When I read spicy/earthy my mind immediately ventured into the cinnamon (spice) and oatmeal (earth) realm of desserts. The fruitiness kinda throws me off right now. When I hear fruitiness I usually think citrus but it doesn't sound like that's the case here. The molasses and nutty tones still make me think something simple (yet delicious) with oatmeal (maybe with a dash of cocoa infused in the dough/batter, etc.) may complement this brew. I still need to think about this some more, as I think even the texture of the cookie should contribute to the tasting experience.
2. German 'Altbier' Ale -- ~5% ABV
Color is copper to very light brown, with some red hues, high carbonation
Clean finish, 'grainy' German malts, spicy hop bitterness, lighter body with a very dry finish. Like a refreshing light German lager, but with a bit more color and flavor. Flavor is slight bready and toasty, fine spicy/floral aroma.
MY THOUGHTS: Bready and toasty popped out at me, initial thoughts are of a sweet bread of some sort to bring those flavors out. Maybe something with toasted almonds or pecans... The spicy and floral can be added with some creativity... Maybe eclairs with a filling infused with toasted nuts... I'll need to ask what kind of floral tones we're dealing with...
3. English Extra Special Bitter (ESB) -- ~5.5% ABV
Clear orange/copper appearance with minimal head
Bready-tasting malts, and earthy hops, moderate fruitiness. Slightly caramel-sweet finish, but not overly sweet. Similar to #1, but higher alcohol content, more earthy hoppiness, lighter color and flavor. Bready, biscuity flavor on the finish.
MY THOUGHTS: Biscuity flavor draws my mind to shortbread cookies or biscotti, not a lot of sweetness to those cookies, which would complement the beer. If I were to make the cookies out of brown sugar vice white sugar it may bring out more of the caramel tones in the beer.
4. American Brown Ale -- ~5.5%
Dark Brown color, Medium body and medium to high carbonation
Nutty/chocolately, caramel malts, flavor typical of brown ales. Fair amount of citrus, tastes a bit like a dark, more-richly flavored Pale Ale.
MY THOUGHTS: Chocolate and orange. Somehow. But not a strong, uber sweet chocolate, maybe bittersweet chocolate at most.
5. Strong American Amber with Honey and Spruce -- ~8%
Very deep red color, Medium to full body, high carbonation, big creamy lasting head.
Strong hoppy red ale with piney/sprucey/honey flavor, balanced by loads of sweet caramel malts. Could be a wild card.
MY THOUGHTS: Honey and caramel, check. The pine... Hmmm. I am very intrigued and I think he's right that this could definitely turn out to be a wild card. It's a bold pairing but I like the sense of adventure. Something with pine nuts maybe? There's a bacon-y smokiness about pine nuts, which stimulates my imagination as to how it'd taste when mixed with caramel or molasses flavors. I think my dessert will be just as adventuresome as this brew.
Initial thoughts aside, I don't want to just whip up a batch of cookies for each beer. I'd like to think along the lines of cookies, bread, pastries, ice cream, maybe even a tiramisu type dish if I could get the flavor combinations right. I want to find balances of texture as well as flavor, I don't want the same cookie-cutter (pun intended) line up. So for this I will need to brainstorm more. And that quite possibly may entail experimentation. I can't wait.
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