Tuesdays with Dorie DC: Triscuity Bites
July 2, 2019 at 5:15 pm | Posted in cookies & bars, savory things, snacks, sweet things | 3 CommentsTags: baking, cookies, savory
Triscuity Bites aren’t cookies that resemble Triscuits, they’re savory “cocktail cookies” with Triscuits in them. They’re made from a cream cheese dough with bits of Triscuit crackers mixed in. Actually, they should be made from a cream cheese dough, but someone didn’t read the recipe before she went to the store…got the Triscuits, but no Philly. I took stock of what like items I had in the fridge, and decided that labneh would probably work as a substitute. I think it was fine.
These cookies held a perfect shape in the oven. I was pretty pleased that my squares stayed square. They are nicely salty and have that sort of airy crunch that Triscuits do. More rich than plain, out-of-the-box Triscuits, I ate these on their own. On their own, with wine, I mean.
For the recipe, see Dorie’s Cookies by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie DC: Old Bay Pretzel-and-Cheese Cookies
May 21, 2019 at 12:01 am | Posted in cookies & bars, groups, savory things, snacks, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 4 CommentsTags: baking, cookies, savory
I grew up in Northern Virginia and when I was a kid, my dad and a friend from Maryland co-owned a boat together on the Chesapeake Bay. My mother would wrinkle her nose at this, but Old Bay is a flavor of my childhood, I guess, and one I still like lot today. Now I mostly sprinkle it on corn or oven fries, but here it’s used in savory Old Bay Pretzel-and-Cheese Cookies. With chunks of pretzel rods and bits of cheddar cheese, too, they’re just the thing to have with a beer or a Bloody Mary, or even a bowl of tomato soup.
The dough is like a shortbread and is made in the food processor. I actually had a hard time getting mine to come together, even before adding the pretzel bits, and wound up adding a blob of sour cream for a bit of extra moisture to make it less crumbly. It’s slice-and-bake, so I managed to finagle the dough into a rough log, but then it crumbled again when i sliced it. I wound up having to hand-form my cookie crumbles into little nuggets on the sheet tray. When baked, I’m happy to report that they finally held together! They’re salty and savory and crunchy, and if I find myself going boating again anytime soon, they’ll find their way into my snack bag.
For the recipe, see Dorie’s Cookies by Dorie Greenspan (it’s also here). Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie DC: Honey-Blue Cheese Madeleines
March 5, 2019 at 2:59 pm | Posted in cookies & bars, DC, groups, savory things, snacks, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 8 CommentsTags: baking, cookies
I like the chance to break out my madeleine pan, and here’s an interesting reason– Honey-Blue Cheese Madeleines. A sweet and savory combo, Dorie says she was inspired to create these mads after enjoying blue cheese and honey together on a cheese plate at a wine bar. That in turn inspired me to pair them with some typical cheese plate accompaniments: a few slices of pear (mine were poached) and some dried fruit and nuts. Vin santo, too, although I think they’d go nicely with most wines, or with a dirty martini, if that’s your jam. These are “cocktail cookies,” after all.
For the recipe, see Dorie’s Cookies by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and please join us if you haven’t already.
Everyday Dorie: Roasted Squash Hummus
December 14, 2018 at 10:21 pm | Posted in cook the book fridays, everyday dorie, groups, savory things, snacks, veggies | 14 CommentsTags: everyday dorie, savory, vegetables
You know I’m having an exciting Friday night when I’m writing up a blog post about hummus! At least this Roasted Squash Hummus has a little something different going on. In place of the traditional chickpeas, this hummus gets its body from a roasted squash. Of course there’s tahini and lemon, but also some cool ingredients like za’atar and pomegranate molasses. I used a small carnival squash, and although Dorie just has you mash together the ingredients with a fork, I put everything into my mini food processor and gave it a whiz. I plated it up with a smear of thick yogurt, drizzles of olive oil and more pom molasses and a sprinkling of toasted pumpkin seeds. It’s earthy and creamy with a touch of sweetness. This was more interesting than my normal Sunday football food, and I thought it made a nice dip for veggies and pita chips.
For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see how the group liked this one.
Tuesdays with Dorie DC: Cranberry Five-Spice Cookies
November 6, 2018 at 12:01 am | Posted in cookies & bars, DC, groups, savory things, snacks, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 7 CommentsTags: baking, cookies, savory
When these Cranberry Five-Spice Cookies were being floated around in the month’s nominations, I didn’t realize that they are in the “cocktail cookies” section of the book. This is the section where the cookies lean more savory than sweet…nibbles to go with a glass of wine or an aperitif. These ones have the texture of sugar cookies, but they are only very lightly sweetened, and are flavored with tart fresh cranberries, salty peanuts and Chinese five-spice powder, an exotic mixture of ground cloves, cinnamon, fennel seeds, star anise and Szechuan pepper.
A lot of times, I like to cut roll-out cookies like these into squares rather than rounds so I don’t have any waste. I sprinkled these with a little mix of extra sugar, salt and five-spice before baking. Even though they weren’t quite what I had in mind when I cracked open the book to make them, I did like them. I thought a bit of spreadable goat cheese on top went rather nicely.
For the recipe, see Dorie’s Cookies by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Everyday Dorie: My Newest Gougères
October 26, 2018 at 7:37 am | Posted in cook the book fridays, everyday dorie, groups, savory things, snacks | 20 CommentsTags: choux, everydaydorie, savory
In case you can’t tell from the over four hundred posts I’ve written, dedicated to the over four hundred recipes I’ve made from her books, Dorie Greenspan is one of my favorite cookbook authors. Anytime she comes out with a new title, I can’t wait to dive in, and of course that’s the case with her beautiful brand-new Everyday Dorie! I have at least two dozen recipes I need to get down to business with soon, but I’m beginning with what she calls “My Newest Gougères,” and I’m making them along with the Cook the Book Fridays group. They’re starting today to cook their way though Everyday Dorie, and I’ll join in as often as I can.
Gougères are made with choux paste, one of my favorite things to make. This newest version is a cheese puff not only loaded with cheese (of course), but also chopped nuts and a bit of Dijon mustard. You can play around with the cheese and nuts. I went pretty classic with a Gruyère and walnut combo. These make a great salty, cheesy snack to have with a glass of rosè. The nuts give them more substance than other gougères I’ve made. I have some more in the freezer and I think they’ll go really nicely with a bowl of tomato soup, too.
For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan (you can even watch her make them in this video), and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see how the group kicks this one off!
Tuesdays with Dorie DC: Rosemary-Parm Cookies
August 7, 2018 at 12:46 pm | Posted in cookies & bars, DC, groups, savory things, snacks, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 3 CommentsTags: baking, cookies, savory
I like baking savory cookies because it gives me an excuse to open a bottle of wine. Hello apéro! A drink, a snack and a podcast make getting the rest of dinner on the table less of a chore. The Rosemary-Parm Cookies are from the “cocktail cookie” section of the book. They are savory shortbread cookies, delicate and crumbly, and flavored with parmesan, pecans and rosemary. I cut mine into (imperfect) squares rather than rounds so I wouldn’t have any waste, and sprinkled them with a bit of extra grated cheese before baking. They’re salty and cheesy, and I can verify that they go quite nicely with white wine!
For the recipe, see Dorie’s Cookies by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie DC: Bee’s Sneeze Nuggets
February 20, 2018 at 6:49 pm | Posted in cookies & bars, DC, groups, savory things, snacks, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 2 CommentsTags: baking, cookies
I am a big fan of the at-home apéro hour. I like to have just a splash of wine and a little something to nibble on while I’m preparing the rest of dinner. Makes prep time more fun. Usually I’ll go for boxed crackers with my cheese, but when the TWD pick is a “cocktail cookie,” things get a bit more exciting. These Bee’s Sneeze Nuggets are inspired by the flavors of a cocktail that’s a spin on a traditional bee’s knees. They’re flavored with gin, honey and lots of lemon, and lean savory rather than sweet. After I mixed the cookie dough and patted it out, I wasn’t sure how big to cut the nuggets. I made them really small and I love how they held their shape, rising up instead of spreading out. They look like tiny biscuits–so cute! (I’ve gotta add that I think nuggets this small would be great floating in thicker soups, in place of croutons or oyster crackers…mental note.)
You can dip them in some extra honey on the side, but to help control stickiness, I glazed each nugget with a dab of honey while they were still warm. Then I ate them with olives and cheese. A proper bee’s knees cocktail would probably be an appropriate drink choice, but due to an incident years ago (I will spare you the details), I am not a big gin drinker, so I went with red wine.
For the recipe, see Dorie’s Cookies by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and please join us if you haven’t already!
Tuesdays with Dorie DC: Goat Cheese and Chive Cookies
May 16, 2017 at 8:05 pm | Posted in cookies & bars, DC, groups, savory things, snacks, tuesdays with dorie | 8 CommentsTags: baking, cookies, savory
These Goat Cheese and Chive Cookies are part of Dorie’s special “cocktail cookies” collection…little savory bites to pair with drinks. I went with white wine, but Dorie says they are great with Prosecco. Maybe I’ll give that a try with the rest of the dough still in the freezer. These are roll-out cookies, and I definitely rolled mine a little thinner than I should have, but you can see that they have flaky-biscuit like layers. They aren’t super-crisp cookies, but that means you can hold a glass of wine in one hand and a cookie in the other and not have them crumble all over your shirt while you snack and mingle (and maybe dance around the backyard like a dork!).
For the recipe, see Dorie’s Cookies by Dorie Greenspan. It is also Dorie’s #cookiesandkindness selection for the month of May, so you can find the recipe on her site, too. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and please join us if you haven’t already!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWJ: Camembert in Brioche
December 1, 2015 at 12:01 am | Posted in BWJ, groups, savory things, snacks, tuesdays with dorie, yeast breads | 8 CommentsTags: appetizers, baking, bread
The idea of chesse en croute kind of makes me giggle….seems like something from another dinner party era to me. I do love a good retro treat though, so I was pretty excited to make Lora Brody’s Camembert (or Brie) in Brioche for Thanksgivng pre-dinner snacks.
The recipe in the book calls for making the brioche dough in a bread machine and caramelizing the onions in a slow cooker, but despite my ever-growing collection of gadgets and small appliances, I don’t have either of those in my kitchen arsenal. I made the dough in my stand mixer instead (subbing warmed lowfat milk for the milk powder and water), with no problem, and followed the instructions to chill it immediately (without letting it rise first) before shaping. I caramelized the onions in the oven with some thyme…even though I used small Cipollini onions, they did take a couple of hours, and next time I’ll probably just caramelize regular sliced onions on the stovetop.
I didn’t think we could take down the 9-inch wheel of brie the recipe uses, but I wanted a whole wheel rather than just a wedge, so I found a little 4-inch round of camembert and used that. I only needed to make 1/3 of the brioche dough and use a few Cipollinis to cover it. My 6-inch cake pans seemed too big to bake the cheese in, so I did it free-form, rolling the dough out into one round parcel that wrapped up the cheese, and making a little decorative twist out of some trim scrap. Everything held shape very nicely in the oven, I’m happy to report. Letting it rest for half an hour or so out of the oven keeps the cheese from being too runny and just spilling out of the crust.
Maybe this isn’t so much something from a bygone era as it is a classic. Gooey, salty baked cheese, sweet onions and buttery brioche…it’s really so very good. And quite stunning, too…a perfect holiday appetizer for a crowd. I even reheated a leftover hunk on Friday, wrapped in foil in a low oven, and it was still just the thing with a glass of wine.
For the recipe, see Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan. I do think this is the final recipe in the “Savory Pastries” section of the book….wow! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll.
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