a whisk and a spoon

Tuesdays with Dorie DC: Chocolate-Olive Cookies

Chocolate-Olive Cookies…I know what you’re thinking. Sounds strange, right? I think so, too, and having made them, I can confirm that is indeed the case. A barely sweet cocoa shortbread-style cookie with chopped cured black olive bits mixed through, this is the last “cocktail cookie” recipe we had left to tick off the list. You get the bitterness from the cocoa and a salty funkiness from the olives, and while they weren’t bad alongside the red wine Dorie recommends to go with, I don’t think I’ll make them again.

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: Cocoa-Cayenne Cookies

We find ourselves today in the Cocktail Cookies section of the book. We only have one savory cookie left after this! Dorie created these Cocoa-Cayenne Cookies to go with red wine. They are barely sweet, have a bit of a kick and a very tender crumb. I think I rolled mine a tad too thin, as a couple of them crumbled to bits when I moved them around. That’s our secret because I ate the bits. It’s almost a mind trick to bite into one of these cookies and get the spice of chili powder and the bitterness of cocoa, rather than the chocolatey sweetness you’d expect by looking at them. They do, in fact, go well with red wine, so maybe the real trick is to just pour another glass.

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 and please join us anytime!

Tuesdays with Dorie DC: Hot-and-Spicy Togarashi Meringues

It’s been a while since we’ve done a savory “cocktail cookie,” and these Hot-and-Spicy Togarashi Meringues sound like just the thing to pair with a frosty beer or cup of sake on ramen night. A little sweet and a little spicy, these meringues are flavored with shichimi togarashi, a ground chili pepper sprinkle mix that also includes sesame seeds, orange peel and seaweed. I have a little jar of straight-up togarashi powder, meaning it’s not the blend, just the ground chili pepper. It packs a pretty big heat punch, but I’m still on condiment lock-down at home and far too lazy to get out my spice grinder to pulverize the missing ingredients myself, so I just went with it.

I had a vision of making my meringues into Ottolenghi-like swoopy poofs, so I scooped them nice and big, rather than piping out small kisses. They totally went flat in the oven! I don’t know what that was all about, although I have to say, I think the ones in the book photo also look a bit “settled.” Although they tasted fine, dissolving away while leaving a burn, I was pretty disappointed in their looks. I still used them as part of a little snack spread for a Japanese-themed happy hour at home, and that was fun, but I’m not sure I’d make these again. If I do, I’ll try using a Swiss or Italian meringue and see if I get a puffier baked result.

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 and please join us anytime!

Tuesdays with Dorie DC: Sour Cream Everything Seed Knots

As soon as I heard the news that today would be 93° with a heat index of 100, I decided it would be perfect weather to make a rough puff-style dough to bake off these Sour Cream Everything Seed Knots. I plan so well. As it turns out, even without A/C, I didn’t have any issues making the yeasted sour cream dough in the food processor, or completing the set of folds and turns that created the flaky layers and worked in the everything seed blend I stirred together. I think it helped that I made a super small batch, and each step took me only about twenty seconds, so my dough didn’t have the chance to warm up too much. The trickiest part came with forming these knots. I think I did ok, but I don’t have much decorative bread or dough forming experience, so I had to read the instructions like fifty times. Anyway, I had one of these knots along with my lunch salad, and it was a delicious, salty, seedy, garlicky treat. Kind of like a flaky breadstick, I also think they’ll go well with a glass of wine and a piece of cheese for sundown snacks.

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 anytime!