So, I might have gone a little bit over the top with my Christmas cookies this year. I have three different kinds to post here today, almond and chocolate checkerboard and swirl sables, glazed butter cookies, and cornmeal thumbprint cookies.

Almond And Chocolate Checkerboard and Swirl Sables
Adapted from Cooks Illustrated

I'm not going to lie, these cookies were extremely difficult to make. If you want to do these fun patterns (instead of just plain cookie discs) I don't recommend you use the ground almonds in the dough, it made the dough very hard to work with and very crumbly. So either make checkerboard or swirls with regular vanilla dough, or don't try these patterns. Don't say I didn't warn you!!  Also, a note: this recipe has a hard-boiled egg yolk in them. Don't question it, just do it. Trust me.


Ingredients
2 large eggs

Almond/Vanilla Dough
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter , softened
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar (2 3/4 ounces)
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (7 1/2 ounces)
1/3 cup finely ground sliced almonds (leave this out if you are making a patterned dough!)

Chocolate Dough
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter , softened
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar (2¾ ounces)
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (6 2/3 ounces)
1/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa (1 ounce)


Instructions
1. Place eggs in small saucepan, cover with 1 inch of water, and bring to boil over high heat. Remove pan from heat, cover, and let sit for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, fill small bowl with ice water (or snow, which I did). Using slotted spoon, transfer eggs to ice water bath and let stand 5 minutes. Separate yolks from whites; discard whites. Press 1 yolk through fine-mesh strainer into small bowl; set aside. Repeat with remaining yolk, pressing into separate small bowl (keep yolks separate).

2. For Vanilla Dough: In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter, granulated sugar, salt, and 1 cooked egg yolk on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl and beater with rubber spatula as needed. Turn mixer to low, add almond extract, and mix until incorporated. Stop mixer; add flour and ground almonds and mix on low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds. Using rubber spatula, press dough into cohesive mass. Transfer dough to large plate and set aside while preparing chocolate dough.


3. For Chocolate Dough: In now-empty bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter, granulated sugar, salt, and remaining 1 cooked egg yolk on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl and beater with rubber spatula as needed. Turn mixer to low, add vanilla, and mix until incorporated. Stop mixer; add flour and cocoa; mix on low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds. Using rubber spatula, press dough into cohesive mass.


4. To form Checkerboards: Divide vanilla and chocolate doughs in half. Roll each portion (4 pieces total) into 3- by 5-inch rectangle. Place sheets of vanilla dough on top of sheets chocolate dough and gently press to seal. (You should have 2 sandwiched masses of dough.) Chill dough for 30 minutes.

5. To Form Spiral Cookies: 3. Halve each batch of dough. Roll out each portion on parchment paper into 6- by 8-inch rectangle, 1/4 inch thick. Briefly chill dough until firm enough to handle. Using bench scraper, place 1 plain cookie dough rectangle on top of 1 chocolate dough rectangle. Repeat to make 2 double rectangles. Roll out each double rectangle on parchment into 6- by 9-inch rectangle (if too firm, let rest until malleable). Starting at long end, roll each into tight log. Twist ends of parchment to seal and chill logs 1 hour.

6. Slice each sandwiched dough lengthwise into 4 equal strips. Turn one strip onto its side, so vanilla and chocolate is side by side. Turn second strip over and place on top of first strip, creating a checkerboard pattern; press gently to adhere. Wrap gently in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour. Repeat with remaining strips (you should have 4 logs total).


7. Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Using sharp chef’s knife, cut 2 dough logs into ¼-inch thick slices, rotating dough so it won’t become misshapen from weight of knife. Place cookies 1 inch apart on baking sheets.

8. Bake until center of cookies are pale golden brown, with edges slightly darker, about 15 minutes, rotating baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through baking. Cool cookies on baking sheet 5 minutes; using wide metal spatula, transfer cookies to wire rack and cool to room temperature. Repeat steps 6 and 7 with remaining 2 logs of dough. Store cooled cookies between sheets of parchment or wax paper in airtight container for up to 1 week


Cornmeal Thumbprint Cookies
Adapted from Epicurious

Ingredients
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg yolk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
Jams or craisins for filling


Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine all purpose flour, cornmeal, ground cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat unsalted butter and brown sugar in large bowl until fluffy. Mix in egg yolk and vanilla extract. Mix in dry ingredients.


Form dough into 1-inch balls. Arrange on ungreased baking sheet, spacing 1 1/2 inches apart. Make depression in center of each using thumb or handle of wooden spoon. Fill depressions with jelly. I tried apricot jam, raspberry jam, maraschino cherries, and craisins. The apricot jam ones were by far the best, even though that is my least favorite jam. The craisins were also very good. I don't recommend the cherries, they were way too sweet.

Continue baking until bottoms of cookies are brown, about 10 minutes. Cool on rack. (Can be prepared 1 week ahead. Refrigerate in airtight container.)

Glazed Butter Cookies
from Cooks Illustrated

I'm not going to repeat the recipe here because I really didn't change it, and Cooks is giving it away for free right now. Honestly, I was skeptical of these cookies, but I read Chris Kimball's long article about his quest for the perfect cookie, so I tried it. And they were really delicious... but.... I chose to go back to my old standby Joan Nathan recipe from the Jewish The Children's Jewish Holiday Kitchen cookbook that I have been using forever (literally, I got it as a gift when I was 8). The main reason? I couldn't find super-fine sugar at the supermarket and I didn't feel like pulsing regular sugar in the Cuisinart. I also thought they were slightly  harder to roll out, although they were definitely less brittle and didn't break as easily.

However, I made another batch of the Joan Nathan recipe today for Christmas cookies this time, but I substituted one tablespoon of butter for a tablespoon of cream cheese, so we'll see how that turns out!

Labels: The Chef de Plunge

Labels: The Chef de Plunge

Ingredients
* 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
* 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
* 1 whole canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, chopped
* 1 teaspoon adobo sauce from can of peppers
* 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions
Put cubed potatoes into steamer basket and place steamer into a large pot of simmering water that is no closer than 2 inches from the bottom of basket. Allow to steam for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender. Add butter to potatoes and mash with potato masher. Add peppers, sauce, and salt and continue mashing to combine. Serve immediately.

Labels: The Chef de Plunge

Labels: The Chef de Plunge

I'm really picky about my apple pie. I don't like it to be too sweet, or the apples to be too mushy. I also really love the flavor combination of salty and sweet, so that is why this not-too sweet apple pie with a cheddar cheese crust is perfect! And, if you use the right kind of apples, they won't get mushy.

Apple Pie with Cheddar Crust
Adapted from Epicurious


For pastry:
 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 pound extra-sharp Cheddar (preferably white), coarsely grated (2 1/2 cups)
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 cup cold vegetable shortening (trans-fat-free), cut into 1/2-inch pieces
4 tablespoons ice water
2 tablespoons cold vodka
1 tablespoon milk

For filling:
1 1/2 pound Gala apples (3 medium)
1 1/2 pound Granny Smith apples (3 medium)
2/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter

Make pastry dough:
Stir together flour, salt, and cheese in a large bowl (or pulse in a food processor). Add butter and shortening and blend with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse) just until mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size butter lumps. Drizzle ice water and vodka evenly over mixture and gently stir with a fork (or pulse) until incorporated.

Squeeze a small handful: If dough doesn't hold together, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) until incorporated. Do not overwork dough or pastry will be tough.

Turn out dough onto a work surface and divide in half, then form each half into a 5-inch disk. Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.

Make filling and bake pie:
Put a foil-lined large baking sheet in middle of oven and preheat oven to 450°F.

Peel and core apples, then slice 1/4 inch thick. (I used an apple corer/peeler/slicer, very useful!) Toss apples with sugar, flour, lemon juice, and salt until evenly coated.

Roll out 1 piece of dough (keep remaining disk chilled) on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 13-inch round. Fit into a 9-inch pie plate. Roll out remaining piece of dough into an 11-inch round.

Transfer filling to shell. Dot with butter, then cover with pastry round. Trim edges, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang. Press edges together to seal, then fold under. Lightly brush top crust with milk, then cut 5 (1-inch-long) vents.

Bake on hot baking sheet 20 minutes. Reduce oven to 375°F and bake until crust is golden-brown and filling is bubbling, about 40 minutes more. Cool to warm or room temperature, 2 to 3 hours.

Labels: The Chef de Plunge

Labels: The Chef de Plunge

So, I decided to make a separate blog for my recipes and cooking posts! I've come up with the witty title of The Chef de Plunge, which is a humorous name for a dishwasher or kitchen scullery because, let's face it, that is my main role in the kitchen. That, and searching for recipes, sometimes chopping things, and blogging the results And tasting.

Anyhow, I'll keep posting my recipes here, but I'll also post them on my new blog. So if you only want the recipes and not the random other crap I post here, you can subscribe separately here. You can also follow the blog on twitter @TheChefdePlunge

Labels: The Chef de Plunge