Almond Milk

Just what is almond "milk" anyway? It is creamy and white, and very delicious tasting, but would you believe it's basically just almonds and water? Cringing, after another 8 bucks for a smoothie at my local raw food place, I decided to crack open a couple books on the subject and start experimenting. You'll need a blender and a strainer and a little curiosity. The taste? Way better than what you get in the boxes at the grocery. It's what's on the menu for New Years morning at my place (blended with frozen strawberries and a little agave...nectar, not tequila!)

Almond Milk

makes 6 cups

2 cups organic raw almonds
6 cups filtered water

2 – 4 fresh medjool dates
pinch sea salt

1. Place the almonds in a ceramic bowl or pitcher and cover with fresh water. Place in refrigerator and soak overnight, or for at least 4 hours.

2. Rinse almonds, discarding soaking water. Get your strainer or nut milk bag poised over a clean bowl. Puree the almonds with fresh water in two batches, unless you have a huge blender: place half of the almonds in blender and add 3 cups filtered water, a date or two and a pinch of sea salt. Puree for a minute, then pour into your strainer or nut milk bag placed over a clean bowl or pitcher. Puree second batch, dump in strainer and squeeze or press to extract as much liquid as possible. The liquid is your almond milk. (I’m still working on recipes for the remaining solids…stay tuned. Meanwhile, you can store the solids in your freezer for a project or put in your composter.) Almond milk keeps well, refrigerated, for up to 4 days. (The almond milk will separate from the cream, so shake or stir before serving.)

Kitchen Coach Tips

• Nut milk bags are handy, but not necessary. Improvise with a kitchen strainer or cheesecloth lined colander.
• Almond milk is terrific in smoothies. Just add frozen berries and a touch of agave nectar.

Cookies for Santa

My mom hooked me on this recipe for sugar cookies when I was a girl. I've tried many others over the years, but this one is perfect. Buttery, almond-extracty, tender and lots of fun to cut out and decorate. I hope Santa likes his assortment tonight! (Adapted from "Mary's Sugar Cookies", Betty Crocker cookbook.)

Sugar Cookies
makes 4 dozen cookies

1 cup unsalted organic butter, softened to room temperature
1 ½ cups organic powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
¼ teaspoon kosher salt

1 cage free egg

2 ½ cups unbleached, organic wheat flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda

Icing (optional):

1 ½ cups organic powdered sugar
2 – 3 tablespoons organic cream or milk
2 teaspoons melted organic unsalted butter
¼ teaspoon almond extract

1. Cream butter and powdered sugar in the workbowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment. Add salt and mix. Add egg and vanilla and almond exract and mix. In a separate bowl, whisk flour with the cream of tartar and baking soda. Add flour mixture to creamed butter and sugar and mix to combine.

2. Lay 3 sheets of plastic wrap (about 20 inches each) on a cool work surface (marble or granite cutting board or countertop is ideal) and mound 1/3 of the dough on each of the plastic pieces. Pat each mound of dough into a disk and wrap with the plastic. Chill in the refrigerator until firm, at least 1 hour or up to 3 days.

3. When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 2 cookie sheet pans each with a Silpat or piece of baking parchment. Remove one disk of dough from the refrigerator, remove plastic wrap and place dough on a lightly floured work surface. Let dough warm slightly (about 10 – 15 minutes at room temperature), then roll dough to about ¼ inch thickness using a floured rolling pin. Cut out cookies and transfer cookies to cookie sheet pan (I like to use a bench scraper to do this) and bake 8 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on sheet pans for 5 minutes, then transfer to cooking racks to cool completely. Gather dough scraps, wrap in plastic and re-chill. Repeat rolling, cutting and baking with the remaining dough.

4. Icing. Whisk powdered sugar with the cream (or milk), melted butter and almond extract until you have a smooth, thin icing, adding more milk as necessary. To decorate the cookies, make sure they are cool, then spread a thin layer of icing over each cookie and decorate with sprinkles.


Kitchen Coach Tips

• Dough disks like these keep great in the refrigerator for 3 – 5 days, and in the freezer for few months.
• The tastiest cookies will come from the first one or two rolls of your dough. If you gather and re-roll the scraps more than 2 or 3 times, your cookies will be tough. (If you are baking with children, hand over the scraps for some fragrant play dough!)

Duck Leg Confit with Green Lentils

I love having lentils on hand for salads and holiday comfort food like this duck confit preparation, inspired by a recipe in Gerald Hirigoyen's Bistro. There is no easier, no seemingly more extravagant holiday dinner than this. Don't even try to make the duck confit on your own with the excellent packaged ones by Fabrique Délices and D'Artagnan on the market. Since confit is an ancient method of preserving meat, you can rest assured that a couple packages will be fine for a month (or three!) in your refrigerator.

Duck Confit with Lentils
serves 4
(if you’re only cooking for 2 (or 1), cook fewer duck legs but make the same amount of lentils, they are great left over)

4 packaged duck confit legs (Fabrique Délices and D’Artagnan both make great ones)

Lentils:
1 ½ cups dried green lentils
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
if you have them in the kitchen: 1 bay leaf, 1 fresh thyme sprig, 1 fresh parsley sprig
stock or water

1. Rinse the lentils with water until water is no longer cloudy. Put lentils in a large saucepan and cover with water (or stock, or some of each) by 2 – 3 inches. Simmer gently until tender, about 20 minutes. (Adding more water if necessary.) Drain off any excess water.

Vinaigrette :

¼ cup olive oil, good quality extra virgin (I like to use Bariani; it is made here in California and has a nice green color and peppery finish)
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
¼ teaspoon Dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon salt
a few grinds of fresh black pepper

1. Whisk together vinegar, a dab of Dijon mustard and salt.

2. While whisking, slowly drizzle in the olive oil.

Cooking & Assembling Duck Confit with Lentils:

1. Bring the duck legs to room temperature while you preheat the oven to 450 degrees F and make the lentils and vinaigrette. Combine as much vinaigrette as you prefer with the lentils to dress them, saving any remaining vinaigrette for another use. Set the dressed lentils aside while you cook the duck.

2. Cook the duck legs. Place the duck legs, skin side down, in a roasting pan and bake for 20 minutes until meat is hot throughout and starts to get crispy.

3. Place a couple spoons of lentils onto each plate and top with a duck leg. Pass the Châteauneuf du Pape!


Kitchen Coach Tips

• Make the lentils up to 2 days ahead, store in refrigerator. You can also make the vinaigrette ahead and dress the lentils or not. Your call. Store vinaigrette in the refrigerator as well. (Always good to have a nice salad dressing on hand.)
• Any extra lentils can be stirred into a rice or quinoa salad or eaten alone as a salad.
• Duck confit is an ancient method of preserving duck, so go ahead and buy a couple packages and keep them in your fridge – they will last months. You’ll thank me when you have them on hand for an impromptu, but seemingly extravagant, dinner.

Blackstrap Gingerbread Cookies

Get ready to have some fun baking your holiday cookies! These cookies are dark and beautiful with a soft texture and spicy, just-sweet-enough flavor. Don't try to get the icing perfect -- just lay your cookies out on sheets of wax paper and have fun piping clothes and other designs. (Or just leave the cookies plain -- did I mention that they are delicious?) I remember having especially good decorating karma the year I was able to make Christopher his own gingerbread man, complete with turtleneck, corduroy pants and cap. (He loved it!)

Blackstrap Gingerbread Cookies
makes 3 – 4 dozen cookies

1 ½ cups unsalted organic butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup organic blackstrap molasses
1 cup organic dark brown sugar
½ teaspoon kosher salt

2 cage free eggs

4 2/3 cups unbleached, organic wheat flour
4 teaspoons ground ginger
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cloves

Icing (optional):

1 ½ cups organic powdered sugar
2 tablespoons organic cream or milk

1. Cream butter, molasses and brown sugar in the workbowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment. Add salt and mix. Add eggs, one at a time and mix. In a separate bowl, whisk flour with the spices and baking soda. Add flour mixture to creamed butter and sugar and mix to combine.

2. Lay 3 sheets of plastic wrap (about 20 inches each) on a cool work surface (marble or granite cutting board or countertop is ideal) and mound 1/3 of the dough on each of the plastic pieces (dough will be very soft – don’t worry!). Pat each mound of dough into a disk and wrap with the plastic. Chill in the refrigerator until firm, at least 1 hour or up to 3 days.

3. When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 2 cookie sheet pans each with a Silpat or piece of baking parchment. Remove one disk of dough from the refrigerator, remove plastic wrap and place dough on a lightly floured work surface. Let dough warm slightly (about 10 – 15 minutes at room temperature), then roll dough to about ¼ inch thickness using a floured rolling pin. Cut out gingerbread men (yes, they can be women too) or other shapes and transfer cookies to cookie sheet pan (I like to use a bench scraper to do this) and bake 8 – 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on sheet pans for 5 minutes, then transfer to cooking racks to cool completely. Gather dough scraps, wrap in plastic and re-chill. Repeat rolling, cutting and baking with the remaining dough.

4. Icing. Whisk powdered sugar with the cream (or milk) until you have a smooth icing that holds its shape when piped onto cookies. (Add more powdered sugar or more milk to achieve desired consistency.) To decorate the cookies, make sure they are cool, then use a pastry bag with a basic round writing tip or simply put the icing in a baggie and snip off a tiny corner of the bag so that the icing can flow out when you squeeze the bag.

Amy's Kitchen Coach Tips

- Dough disks like these keep great in the refrigerator for 3 – 5 days, and in the freezer for few months.

- The tastiest cookies will come from the first one or two rolls of your dough. If you gather and re-roll the scraps more than 2 or 3 times, your cookies will be tough. (If you are baking with children, hand over the scraps for some fragrant play dough!)

- Keep the icing simple so that sugar just compliments, doesn’t compete with the spiciness of the cookies.

- For added color and decoration, press cinnamon red hot candies into the dough before baking. These are great for coat and shoe buttons, eyes and holly leaf berries.

Checkerboard Shortbread

When my brother lived in Seattle, I frequented Cafe Besalu on every trip. Many of their scrumptious specialties are worth airfare from just about anywhere, but alas, when Greg moved to Bend, I was forced to try to knock off my favorites. The two most critical elements to success with this cookie are 1) great tasting shortbread and 2) some simple instructions to get the checkerboard design.

My first attempt was a verbatim run at an old Food & Wine icebox cookie recipe (texture: not what I was hoping for, taste: my 5 year old wouldn't eat it (...enough said)). I knew I wanted a firm textured, buttery shortbread, so I returned to a classic sable recipe I learned in France. Bingo. Those French know their bakery products.

Checkerboard Shortbread Cookies
makes 30 cookies

1 cup unsalted organic butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup organic powdered sugar
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ½ cups unbleached, organic wheat flour
½ cup cornstarch
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (reserved for ½ of the dough)

1. Cream butter and powdered sugar in the workbowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment. Add salt and vanilla and mix. In a separate bowl, whisk flour and cornstarch. Add flour mixture to creamed butter and sugar and mix to combine. Remove approximately half of the dough to a separate bowl then add the cocoa powder to the dough remaining in the mixer, and mix to combine.

2. Get out a piece of plastic wrap and place in on a cool work surface (marble or granite cutting board or countertop is ideal). Divide each dough in half so you have 2 lumps of cocoa dough and 2 lumps of plain dough. Pat each lump of dough into a 8 inch x 2 inch rectangle then stack them, alternating cocoa, plain, cocoa, plain. Wrap the plastic around the rectangle log and chill the dough at least 1 hour in the refrigerator.

3. Remove dough log from refrigerator and slice lengthwise into 4 long strips. Turn the strip-slabs on their sides and stack them, alternating the edge colors (cocoa, plain, cocoa, plain) so you have a checkerboard pattern when you look at the end of the log. Re-wrap the dough log in the plastic and press together to get all the slabs to stick together. Chill the dough again for at least 15 minutes before slicing and baking the cookies.

4. When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 cookie sheet pans each with a Silpat or piece of baking parchment. Slice dough log into ¼ inch cookies, place them on the lined pans and bake 22 minutes. (They will not brown.)

Kitchen Coach Tips

- Dough logs like these keep great in the refrigerator for 3 – 5 days, and in the freezer for a few months.

- Variations: Spice up the flavor in the cocoa dough with a little ground cayenne, black pepper or espresso.

- These cookies make great gifts. I like to wrap snack-sized portions for surprising friends with a little something.

Gingerbread House

We just completed the third annual gingerbread house making project at our house. I won't tell you it's easy, but if you break it up over a couple of days, it is not only do-able, but actually fun. (And look at that sense of accomplishment you too can feel!)

The keys to simplicity are:

• Make the pattern once and save it for next year
• Make the dough then cut out and bake it anytime over the next 3 days
• Make the icing "glue", assemble the house, and let it stand for at least 4 hours before decorating
  

Gingerbread House from The Joy of Cooking
(pp. 842-844 of 1997 edition)
This is a trustworthy set of instructions -- I highly recommend it.

Amy's Royal Icing "Glue"
makes enough for assembling and decorating one gingerbread house


4 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons powdered egg white
6 tablespoons water
1. Combine all ingredients in workbowl of electric stand mixer and beat until stiff peaks form. (You want a stiff icing to "glue" your house together so go easy on the water. I like to add it a little at a time.)
2. To decorate: Put icing in a pastry bag fitted with a small round holed tip or substitute a large baggie with a tiny snip taken off one of the corners.

Icing can keep, stored airtight, for several days.