Cook Like Mad

Remember how unenthused I was on Sunday aboutbaking another cake after just having had my fill? Well, here’s the very satisfying, vibrant and rich reason: Red Velvet Cake. After having tasted Two Little Red Hen’s red velvet cupcakes in NYC last year, and experiencing the glorious, moist, and delectable cake that found itself inside my cupcake wrapper, I knew I had to try my hand at recreating this cake. Not only is the batter bright, bright red when it goes into the oven (thanks to a full tablespoon of red food coloring(!)…more on that later…), it’s just as bright when it comes out- something I didn’t expect since cakes tend to slightly brown in the oven and I didn’t want to slice into something the color of that Chinese creation, fruity beef jerky (think: beef jerky glazed with red jam). I didn’t want reddish-brown velvet cake, I wanted red velvet cake. And luckily, that’s exactly what I got. Mixed with the cream cheese icing, this cake, with its hint of cocoa powder, Christmas red color (sorry, Rabbi, it’s what popped into my head…), and strawberries inside that melt into the second cake layer, D and I were in sugar heaven.

Since this was my first (but not last!) foray into red velvet cake baking, I used a highly starred recipe on Epicurious.com, found here. Since I don’t like just copying and pasting recipes, please click the link for the recipe in full. That way you can read some of the comments and see if you’re interested in taking some of the advice some commenters offer. There is a theme of them saying the cake needs more oil and cocoa, but I found the cake perfectly moist after using the original recipe. But it’s your choice- if you want to add extra cocoa (which will result in a less vibrant red color), then you must add more oil, since the addition of cocoa powder will dry out your batter. Also, if you want to make cupcakes, go ahead! Just be sure to raise the oven temp 10 degrees and check them after 15 minutes (they’ll take longer, but check anyway).

out of the oven and looking quite red still… hey- do my cakes match my kitchen towel? Never thought I’d see that happen!

mmm…innards! : )

So the only caveat I have for this whole recipe involves the red food coloring itself. Please, please, please, don’t use that gross food coloring you make sugar cookie icing with. It will tear your stomach apart. I have a weak stomach, D has a strong one, and after eating this cake with the regular food color added, we both felt pretty funky. Not like, violently ill, but off, you know? Yeah, so splurge on the natural, beet colored, food coloring and save yourself from any bodily harm. the only feeling you should get after eating this cake is happy. Enjoy!

Once again, the recipe is here. : )

p.s. I used strawberries instead of the other berries in the original recipe since that’s what looked good at the supermarket. It was a great combination, and next time, I would even add more strawberries by cutting each layer in two, creating four cake layers, and hence, three more places to hide strawberry slices in the cake- yum!

-M : )

This month’s Daring Baker’s challenge involves making Dorie Greenspan’s Perfect Party Cake, from her outstanding cookbook, Baking: From My Home to Yours. This is my first Daring Baker’s challenge, and having just made Red Velvet Cake (recipe coming soon) for D’s birthday, I was less than enthusiastic about my debut revolving around another cake. I wanted something I could really get excited about, but after eating cake all of last week (and a heavy cake at that) I was putting off making this cake until the last possible day- yesterday. Evening. I swear I wasn’t procrastinating. It’s not like baking a cake is a daunting task or anything, I just couldn’t bare the thought of more cake. Frankly, neither could D.

Those were my thoughts before I started mixing the cake batter. During the mixing process, my thoughts went gradually from “mmm..this lemon zest smells good, maybe this won’t be so bad,” to “wow, this is a really nice cake batter,” to “god, I love the smell of cake baking in the oven,” to finally D and I scarfing down slices of cake thinking, “this is some of the best cake we’ve ever had!”

What makes this cake excellent is that the batter is flawless, easy, and well-balanced (i.e. not too sweet, not too heavy) and the filling and frosting can be varied in innumerable ways. The original recipe calls for raspberry preserves inside and shredded coconut to be pressed up to a buttercream frosting on the outside of the finished cake, but I had fresh strawberry jam in the fridge, D doesn’t like coconut, and we were not in the mood for such a rich frosting as buttercream, so I made those substitutions. I suppose I could have decorated my cake a little better, garnished it with some fresh strawberries or the like, but my original indifference to the outcome of this cake told me not to buy those “extras” while buying the ingredients I needed at the supermarket. So be it. When I serve the cake I can always add extra berries at that time, but frankly, this cake needs nothing more than a fork to get it into your drooling mouth. This is the first recipe I’ve tested from this cookbook of Dorie’s, but it certainly won’t be the last. Enjoy! : )

mmm…cake innards!

Dorie Greenspan’s Perfect Party Cake (adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours)

Makes one 9-inch layer cake

For the Cake

2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups whole milk or buttermilk (use buttermilk if you want to intensify the lemon flavor)
4 large egg whites
1 ½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ teaspoon pure lemon extract

For the Whipped Cream (double this if you want to cover the whole cake with whipped cream)
1 cup heavy cream, cold
1/8 cup sugar
2 tbsp raw wild flower honey (or another flavorful honey of your choice)

For Finishing
2/3 cup strawberry jam, stirred vigorously to loosen (feel free to use another flavor of jam)

Method

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour two 9 x 2 inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment paper.

2. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

3. Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.

4. Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl whisk until the sugar is moist and fragrant.

5. Add the butter to the lemony sugar mixture and working with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light and fluffy.

6. Beat in the lemon extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed.

7. Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated. Add the rest of the milk-egg mixture, beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients.

8. Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated.

9. Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber or offset spatula.

10. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean. Cool the cakes in the pans for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, take them out of the pans, and peel off the parchment paper. Invert the cakes so they are right side up and cool to room temperature. The cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months.

11. While the cakes are cooling, whip heavy cream to soft peaks, then add sugar, slowly, continuing to whip. Once sugar is incorporated, add honey in a slow stream to the mixture. Make sure the honey gets incorporated by scraping the bottom of your bowl well, as the honey will sink to the bottom. Whip cream to stiff peaks and set in the refrigerator until you’re ready to assemble the cake.

12. Once the cake layers are cool, place one layer on a serving plate. Top that layer with the strawberry jam. On top of the jam, spread 1/3 of the whipped cream. Place the second cake layer on top of the whipped cream and top that with the remaining whipped cream. Enjoy!

-M : )

My second- and hopefully last- post without a picture. This one is on Salmon, again, as promised, but this time with a Thai flair, courtesy of Jamie Oliver and his new book, Cook With Jamie: My Guide To Making You A Better Cook. Let me first say that this new cookbook is not only Jamie’s best, but one of the best cookbooks to come out in the past ten years. It is organized perfectly, the photos are vibrant without looking overly styled (signature J.O.), the dessert section is treated as a legitimate chapter rather than an afterthought (rare in the cookbook world these days), and most of all, the recipes are to die for and they work! What more could a cook, any cook, ask for? Whether its your first day in the kitchen or your thousandth, you will find many new recipes in this book that enlighten your preexisting notions of good food. Without giving away too many goodies, let me entice you with the names of a few of my favorite recipes from this book: Oozy Egg Ravioli, The Nicest Clam Chowder (Essex Girl Style), Sticky Saucepan Carrots, and A Rather Pleasing Carrot Cake with Lime Mascarpone Icing. Wow, yum. If the recipes don’t get you, the fact that he’s donating every penny to his charity, the Fifteen Foundation (named for his four restaurants that bear the same name) should. The foundation’s focus is on teaching young kids from tough backgrounds how to cook, and judging by the number of glowing, smiling faces inside the book’s covers, it’s improving their lives.

So here is a recipe I’ve adapted from this book. Originally the recipe features sea bass, but since I had salmon in the fridge, that’s what I chose as the star of this dish. The marinade for the salmon is great for meat and poultry too, and it keeps very well in the fridge, so you can use any extra you have throughout the rest of the week on steamed rice, tossed with pasta, heck, I’d pour this stuff on my eggs in the morning it tastes so good. Anyway, enjoy!

Seared Salmon with Thai Coconut Rice (adapted from Jamie Oliver’s Cook With Jamie)

Makes 4 Servings

For Marinade:

1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1 1-inch piece fresh ginger, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 small hot pepper, such as jalapeno, serano, or bird, depending on how hot you want it.

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

6 tablespoons soy sauce

1 lemon, juiced and zested

1 12 oz can coconut milk

Method:

1. Blitz all ingredients listed above (including both the juice and the zest fo the lemon) in a food processor until smooth. Transfer 1 cup of the mixture to a shallow dish and set aside. Place the rest of the mixture in a storage container and set in the fridge.

For Salmon:

4 Salmon fillets, (skinned if you prefer)

1 cup reserved marinade

Method:

1. Place salmon fillets in the shallow dish you reserved the cup of marinade in and set in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

For Assembly:

1 1/2 cups long grain rice

3 cups water

the rest of the reserved marinade

1 lb green beans, steamed, to serve

2 tbsp vegetable oil, such as canola

salt, to taste

Method :

1. Place the 3 cups of water in a medium size pot, cover, and bring to a boil. Add 1 tsp salt and add 1 1/2 cups rice. Cover and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes. Turn the heat off, pour in 1 cup reserved marinade, place the lid back on, and steam for 3 minutes to finish cooking. After 3 minutes is up, fluff the rice gently with a fork and pour another 1/2 cup of marinade over the rice. Since the marinade is cold, it will stop the rice from cooking. Taste the rice for salt, and adjust seasoning if necessary. Leave the rice in the pot, with the lid ajar, until serving time.

2. Heat the oil in a large saute pan (or in two smaller saute pans) over medium high heat. Remove the salmon from the marinade, season each side with salt, and place fillets in the hot pan, facing down the side of the fillet that looks more attractive (i.e. the “presentation side” goes down in the pan first). Cook for 3 minutes on the first side, flip, then cook for 2 minutes on the other side, until medium rare in the center. If you prefer your fish cooked more thoroughly, cook another minute on each side.

3. Spoon 1 portion of rice in the center of each of the four plates, and lay 1 cooked fillet over the top. Place a portion of steamed green beans alonside the salmon, then serve. Enjoy!

-M : )

So I was pretty upset when I realized I accidentally deleted the pictures that correspond with my next two posts, but then I thought about the importance of pictures in the first place. Sure I realize that aesthetics are important and appealing photos are meant to convey tastiness, but don’t you already know what Salmon tastes like? Don’t you already have a pretty good idea of what flavors the Strawberry Shortcake, Braised Short Ribs, and Chicken Piccata recipes will yield, without staring at their accompanying pictures? Can’t you trust a recipe without food porn staring you in the face? Why are we taught to think that the quality of a person’s camera is directly related to the quality of his/her food?

While I think we all realize (or at least those of us who actually cook), that photos of food in magazines and on the Food Network rarely resemble the food we turn out for our loved one’s dinners every night, there is a value to these images. We are supposed to think, big budget = nice cameras + well trained staff + many hours of recipe testing = good recipe = tasty food. However, on a cooking show such as PBS, it lends humility to chef, as most programs are clearly not shot with super high end HD cameras. This brings the chef down to earth a bit in the viewers eyes, and shows us that their food looks surprisingly just like ours. I think it makes their recipes seem more accessible and honest.

In terms of food advertisements and magazine photography, it’s another story. I can’t get my food to look like the food shown next to it’s recipe in Gourmet magazine if my life depended on it. I’m not exaggerating. I don’t make my plate up with inedible components, and part of the trickery involved in making food photography look tasty, is using non-food products in pictures. For example, that milk on the cereal box is made to look super white and glossy by substituting the real thing with thinned glue. Sorry readers, I’m not buying and thinning glue for your your drooling pleasure. For most of us food bloggers, photography is meant to add a bit of temptation, a pinch of humility (my pictures are far from professional looking), and in my mind, most importantly, a heaping dose of honesty (proof that we actually made the recipe!).

So, forgive my error in erasing the photos of the recipes that illustrate the tastiness of my next two posts, and try them based on my word alone. I dare you. I don’t have hours to test recipes, nor a great camera, but I can assure you both of these recipes are as delicious as any you’ll find within the pages of Gourmet, Bon Appetit, or Saveur. Both are based on Salmon (great for raising HDL cholesterol, softening skin, and increasing blood circulation), with the first less refined, but equally as delicious as the second. If you trust me and cook one or both of these recipes, and they turn out well, as always, please let me know. Inevitably, if you like a recipe, mine or anyone’s, you’re going to make it again because it tasted good, not because it looked good on the plate. The latter is an added bonus, but not the be all and end all of good food. To you bloggers, who like me, can’t afford a fancy camera (or simply don’t care about buying one), don’t be intimidated by those who can. Let your food speak for itself. Enjoy : )

Salmon Burgers with Orange and Beet Salad

For Salmon Burgers:

2 small cans Pink Salmon (or 1 large one, if you wish), drained (skin removed, if included; bones mashed, if included)

2 tbsp dijon mustard

1 tsp dried dill

dash Worcestershire sauce

salt and pepper to taste

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 tbsp vegetable oil, like canola

2 burger buns, or 4 slices of bread, your choice

1/4 lb smoked gouda, sliced

lettuce, tomato, red onion, and/or cooked bacon, to top your burgers with (optional)

Method:

1. Mash together the salmon, mustard, dill, worchestershire, salt, and pepper, in a small bowl. Taste for seasoning, readjust, then incorporate the egg into the mixture. Chill for 30 minutes.

2. Form two patties out of the salmon mixture and heat the oil in a saute pan over medium high heat. Place salmon patties into the pan, and cook for 3 minutes on the first side to get a nice dark brown sear on them. Flip, then cook for 1 minute on the second side.

3. Meanwhile, toast your burger buns or bread, and slice your burger garnishes.

4. Once the salmon burgers have been flipped, top them with 2-3 slices of smoked gouda and place the pan under the broiler in your oven until the cheese is melted. Alternatively, you can place a lid on your pan and steam the cheese until it melts. Place the Salmon Burgers on the buns/toast and serve with garnishes and the Orange and Beet Salad.

For Orange and Beet Salad:

2 beets, golden or red

1 seedless orange, like Cara Cara, peeled and sliced into segments

1 tbsp pomegranate molasses (found in the baking aisle of certain grocery stores, like Whole Foods)

1 tsp honey

1 lime, juiced

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

salt, to taste

Method:

1. Place beets in a small pot and cover with cold water, bring to a boil over high heat and boil covered, until you can poke the tip of a paring knife into the center and it comes out without resistance, about 45 minutes.

2. Cool beets by submerging them in cold water and peel the skin off with a paring knife, or by pushing the skin off with your fingers. It will be very easy to remove the skin if the beets are cooked through.

3. Slice beets in segments similar to the size of your orange segments, at most about 1/2 inch thick. Toss beet segments with oranges, and the rest of the ingredients in a small bowl, and let marinate, covered, in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

4. Serve alongside Salmon Burgers, in a separate dish, since the salad will be very moist. Keeps for up to 3 days in the fridge.

Enjoy!

-M

I don’t know when or where I ate my first molasses cookie, but for as long as I can remember, I’ve loved them. I am forever on the quest for that perfect recipe which yields the chewy, moist, intense cookies I’ve come to crave. Most recipes I’ve tried call for either very little molasses, too much sugar, or too fluffy a batter, yielding hard, dry, and cloying cookies, but this one is the best I’ve found yet. I still believe there is a chewier recipe out there (I have this love for very chewy foods…taffy, caramel, bagels (especially Murray’s near Union Square!)…you name it), but this one has a great balance between depth of flavor and delicateness that makes you crave them more, rather than giving you a stomachache after one.

There was a recommendation on allrecipes.com, where this recipe originated, to dunk these in pumpkin dip, a recipe also found on that site. I’m guessing you don’t really need a recipe for that though, since it’s probably just a combination of pumpkin mash and marshmallow fluff, but search around if you want precise measurements. To me, the combination sounds scrumptious, and is eerily reminiscent of this recipe I posted a while back. No wonder it sounds good to me! Anyway, if you’re as big a fan as I am of these treats, you’ll be delighted to find such a foolproof, fast, and satisfying recipe as the one I’ve posted below. Feel free to experiment with oil instead of butter, all molasses instead of part molasses and part sugar, and a different combination of spices. All I ask is that if it turns out well, you let me know the changes you made so I can continue on my quest for the perfect recipe. Enjoy!

Note: I love these cookies with chocolate chunks, nuts, and other add-ins incorporated to the cookie dough. In this batch alone I was able to try out white chocolate chunks, dark chocolate chips, coconut flakes, and coarse sugar for rolling them in, and each turned out great, with it’s own unique personality. All I’m saying is, go wild; these cookies can handle the challenge as they accept a wide variety of additional flavors very well.

Molasses Cookies (adapted from this allrecipes.com recipe)

Makes 60 small cookies

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil, such as canola
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 cup white sugar, for rolling

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or a silpat.

2. Combine butter, oil, and brown sugar in a mixing bowl and using beaters, a whisk or a stand mixer, mix ingredients for 5 minutes, until mixture lightens in color.

3. Add egg, mix until combined, then add molasses. Mix flour, baking soda, salt and spices in a separate small bowl and add slowly to wet mixture until fully incorporated. Place mixture in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up.

4. Place 1/2 cup white sugar in a small shallow bowl and using a tablespoon or cookie scoop, gather about a tablespoon of dough in your hands, roll in a ball, and toss in the sugar to coat. Place on lined baking sheet, and repeat with the rest of the dough. Place cookies about 1 inch apar, as they spread quite a bit. Press down on cookies with a flat bottomed drinking glass, so they are about 1/4 inch thick. Bake for 6-8 minutes until slightly firmer but still a little soft. There should be little change in their color, so you don’t really want them to brown. Store in an airtight container for 1 week or in the freezer, up to 3 months. Enjoy!

-M : )

There are some recipes that sound great, taste great, but look a bit unappetizing. I generally find the problem is one of color, where the recipe calls for ingredients, that when combined, turn into something brown or gray. Sometimes the dullness is due to a main ingredient’s color, such as is the case in eggplant dips, and in others the color is due to the sheer number of ingredients being combined. In the case of this blue cheese mousse, the culprit is the blue cheese itself. Depending on the amount of blue in your blue cheese, your mousse could turn out off-white, dark blue-gray, or anything in between. Since I chose Valdeon, a rich and creamy cow’s and goat’s milk cheese wrapped in Sycamore leaves, my mousse was on the darker side, honestly reflecting its strong, earthy, salty flavor.

DUN DUN DUN…the dark, heady, and vivacious Valdeon

In a blind taste test, 100% of testers would tell you they love this appetizer, but in a setting where the color is easily seen, I am willing to bet there would be more than a few people whose eyes prevent them from trying this tasty dish. The point of me harping on this point is this: serve this to fans of blue cheese, adventurous eaters, and perhaps an older crowd and leave it out of the menu for your 12 yr old daughter’s party at Lasertron.

If you choose to use a stinky, hearty blue cheese, I think it should only be served piped on a cracker, slice of pear, or other vessel, since its appearance in a bowl, surrounded by dipping vegetables and fruits, resembles wet cement. Not joking, nor trying to discourage you from making this. It’s just a fair warning.

If you choose to use a mild blue cheese, like Saga or even Gorgonzola Dolce, the recipe will be more much appealing (read: lighter in color), but I still think taking the time to pipe it onto crackers is worth it. If you can decorate it with a slice or grape, pear, or even chopped chives, it will be much more inviting, as I hope the above picture illustrates.

Plenty of foods we love aren’t vibrant, many are in fact brown (meat, cake, cookies, muffins, you name it), but rarely are they blue-gray. You’ll be proud of yourself for serving this adventuresome dish at your next party, and at the very least, it will be a conversation piece. Get rid of the dull cheese plate, and put this out instead. Our tastes are changing, and people are becoming more open to new foods, and old foods presented in new ways. For the right crowd, this dish will be a huge success. Enjoy!

Blue Cheese Mousse (from Garde Manger: the Art and Craft of the Cold Kitchen, by the C.I.A.)

Makes 3 cups

20 oz. blue cheese (I used Valdeon, but pick your favorite, just remember the flavor will be diluted by the cream cheese)

12 oz cream cheese (not the whipped variety)

1 tbsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

4 fl oz heavy cream

red grapes, to garnish, sliced into 1/8 in. thick slices (like coins).

table water crackers

Method

1. Using electric beaters, a food processor, or small stand mixer, whip the cream cheese for 1 minute to soften it.

2. Add blue cheese, salt, and black pepper to the cream cheese and continue mixing to fully incorporate. Place in a large bowl.

3. In another clean bowl, whip the heavy cream to soft peaks, making sure not to go past this point, or your mousse will not be light and airy. Fold whipped cream into blue cheese mixture and refrigerate at least 1 hour. Using a plastic piping bag and star tip, pipe about 1-2 tbsp of the mixture onto each cracker. Garnish with 1 or two grape slices, according to your preference. Mouse keeps for up to 5 days in the fridge, and tastes better when allowed to age for one day. Enjoy!

-M : )

Scallop Ceviche

Now that D and I are back from our trip down south, we are taking a break from heavy foods by dining on salads, soups, and sandwiches for dinner. We had our fill of yeast rolls and sweet potatoes at Mary Mac’s in Atlanta, cheddar biscuits and fried chicken at The Lady & Sons in Savannah, and whole hog pork barbecue and banana pudding at Sweatman’s, about a hour north of Charleston. Most of the food we had was incredible, but also incredibly heavy. All I wanted once we got back to D.C. was a big salad and some broiled fish. While a lot of the food we had down south was simple, country food, it didn’t feel pure, if you know what I mean. Sure the green beans, butter beans, black eyed peas, and sweet potatoes were cooked with few ingredients, but food that’s cooked for hours on the stove rarely tastes as fresh and healthy as it does in its raw state. Not to mention it all looks brown to me after a while, which is less than appetizing.

So since our meals have been “pure” (read: less than exciting) the past few days (for example, nicoise salads are the most complicated thing I have made since coming home), I am sharing some of my catering recipes I promised not too long ago, instead. The blue cheese and pecan crackers have a delicate, shortbread biscuit-like texture and are wonderful eaten on their own. The scallop ceviche in cucumber cups is always chic, impressive, and easy to make ahead. Both of these recipes will be among your new favorites in your entertaining arsenal. Enjoy!

Blue Cheese and Pecan Crackers (from Garde Manger, by the Culinary Institute of America)

Makes 3 dozen

1/2 cup butter, diced, cold

8 oz crumbled blue cheese (or block blue cheese, like Valdeon)

1 cup flour, plus more for dusting

1 tsp salt

2 oz pecans, finely chopped

Method

1. Add salt to flour. Cut butter into flour with your hands or a pastry cutter, then incorporate blue cheese. Stir in pecans. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and set in fridge for 30 minutes.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with silpats or parchment paper. Roll chilled dough out on a lightly floured surface to no more than 1/4 inch, and no less than 1/8 inch, thickness. Cut with a 2 inch round cookie cutter, or in another desired small shape and place shapes an inch apart on the lined baking sheets. Re-roll scraps from cutting and cut out more shapes. Repeat until dough is used up. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until lightly golden and slightly firm. Remove from baking sheets and cool on parchment paper. Store in a tightly-sealed container for up to 1 month. Enjoy!

Scallop Ceviche in Cucumber Cups

Makes about 60 pieces

4 large english cucumbers, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch slices, crosswise

10 large scallops

1 large firm tomato, seeded and diced finely

2 bell peppers, in different colors, diced finely (I like orange and red, since the cucumbers are green)

2 jalapenos, seeds removed, diced finely

3 limes, juiced

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped finely

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

salt, to taste (you can add pepper, but I just don’t like to see the black specs in my ceviche)

Method

1. Remove tough muscle on the side of the scallops. Slice scallops across so you get three discs each, then slice into strips. Cut strips into small dice so pieces are about 1/4 inch x 1/4 inch. Place diced scallops into a large bowl and add lime juice, tomatoes, peppers, jalapenos, cilantro, olive oil, and salt. Mix well, cover bowl with lid or plastic wrap and set in the fridge overnight.

2. The next day, before serving, use a small melon baller to make the “cup” in one side of the cucumber slices. Make sure not to punch all the way through! When it’s time to serve, spoon 1/2 tsp of ceviche into each cup. Enjoy!

-M : )