Summer Cooking I

So I had a burst of industry today. Surveyed our pantry, looked up some recipes, and went to the grocery store and came home with all kinds of fresh food for the week. I do love summer produce! Bought blueberries, mango, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, potatoes, bananas (both green and ripe - some for eating, some for baking), plums, green onions, peaches, plus some tilapia, ham, and sausage. My goals this week are to use up the following from the pantry:

macadamia nuts

beans (we have a ridiculous number of beans, canned and dried, right now)

white chocolate chips

double cream and apricot jam

popcorn

couscous

Well, the mac nuts and white chocolate chips simply begged for cookies. I also ran across a mac-nut-crusted tilapia recipe I hadn't had in a while - so that was put on the dinner list. When I opened the freezer, however, to pull out the mac nuts, I found I barely had enough to use for the fish, much less the cookies. Fail. But, I have a huge bag of walnuts in the freezer, so I quickly fast-tracked them to the list. I've hardly ever used walnuts for anything, really - this is perhaps the first time I'd ever purchased them, for a Lebanese pastry with orange-flower-water called ma'amoul. So I substituted walnuts for macadamias in my usual cookie recipe, and the results seem favorable!

White-Chocolate Walnut Cookies

(adapted from this)

1/2 c. butter, softened

1/2 c. shortening

3/4 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. white sugar

2 eggs

1/2 t. vanilla

1/2 t. almond extract

2 1/2 c. flour

1 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

2 c. chopped walnuts (or macadamias, if you're a purist!)

2 c. white chocolate chips

Cream together butter, shortening, and sugars. Beat in eggs. Add vanilla and almond extracts. Combine flour with baking soda and salt, then stir into butter mixture. Add nuts and chips. Drop by 2 tablespoons [the original recipe calls for making cookies by the teaspoon. Get serious, people! A chocolate chip takes up most of a teaspoon. I used my 2-tablespoon scoop, thankyouverymuch.] onto parchment-lined cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degF for about 12-14 min until tops are tanned.

I often can justify popcorn as dinner (with some Dr. Pepper to chase it down - mmmm!), but I wanted to use up some for more legitimate reasons. I happened across this recipe in my allrecipes.com box, and decided to give it a go. SO. INCREDIBLY. GOOD. Crunchy, not sticky (even in FL humidity, though I'll be honest, it hasn't lingered too long...), and the possibilities for modification (e.g. add nuts, tweak the extracts, etc etc) abound. Will definitely be making more of this stuff this summer.

Caramel Corn

(adapted from this)

1/3 c. popcorn

2 T. popcorn oil (you can use any vegetable oil, but I like the faux-buttery flavor of the bright-yellow stuff)

Pop popcorn(1), pick out any unpopped kernels, and set aside in a large microwave-safe bowl. I sprinkle mine with a little popcorn salt, to give more of the salty-sweet dichotomy we all know I love.

In a smaller microwave-safe bowl (but not too small), combine 1/2 c. brown sugar, 1/4 c. butter, 2 T. corn syrup, and 1/4 t. salt. Microwave for 1 min. Stir, and microwave an additional 1.5 min. Add 1/2 t. vanilla and 1/4 t. baking soda.

Pour caramel mixture over corn in larger bowl and stir. Microwave 1 minute, stir. Microwave 1 minute, stir. If you have a large-wattage microwave, it'll probably be done at this point. If you have a smaller-wattage microwave, cook up to a minute more. Pour out onto parchment or a nonstick baking sheet to cool.

Note: be careful with this stuff. That sugar/butter mixture is napalm-hot, no joke. You'll see when you add the vanilla that it's hot enough for the extract to boil. Plus, it's sticky, and even a little drop on your fingers is going to hurt. Use a big spoon to stir the popcorn - you'll be glad you did.

Next up: Maple-pecan popcorn with maple syrup and toasted pecans; almond popcorn with almond extract and toasted almonds.

(1) Look, you can use microwave popcorn, but it's not going to be the same. Ditch the microwave bags and buy kernels. You won't spend that much more time on it, and stovetop-popped corn tastes way better. In a large covered pot, heat 2 T. oil on medium heat and add 3 kernels. Cover, and wait until you hear those test kernels pop. Add the remaining 1/3 c. kernels, and cook, shaking occasionally, until popping slows. Remove from heat, add salt, and never go back to microwave popcorn ever again.

I also needed to use some double cream that's been waiting patiently in my refrigerator. A lovely breakfast is some yogurt, some fresh fruit, and a scone topped with cream and apricot jam. So I needed some scones. I made some from a mix, but they came out flatter than roofing tiles. Back to my usual recipe:

Scones

(adapted from this)

1 c. sour cream

1 t. baking soda

4 c. flour

2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. cream of tartar

1 t. salt

1 c. butter

1 c. sugar

1 egg

Mix sour cream and baking soda in a bowl and set aside.

Mix flour, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt in another bowl and set aside.

Cream together butter and sugar. Add sour cream mixture and egg and blend thoroughly. Fold into flour mixture, taking care not to overmix. Turn onto a floured surface and knead lightly. Roll into a rectangle and cut 12 triangle wedges from it, or else make 12 rounds. Bake at 350 degF for 12-15 minutes on parchment, or until edges begin to tan.

Not my favorite scones, but they're serviceable.

Quite the output for an afternoon. And it's not even time to start dinner yet!