Toasted Coconut Thumbprint Cookies with Salted Caramel

I cannot tell a lie.  This recipe comes from the queen, Martha Stewart.  It has been floating around on pinterest for a while now and I’ve always looked at it and thought, “hmmm, maybe I’ll try those.”  Then one day, my fabulous friend, Stacey, showed up at my door with a plate full of these in her hands!  They are so yummy.  And so worth the little bit of extra effort it take s to make them.  I served them at an event my mom and I catered in San Francisco the other night and they were a huge hit!

Toasted coconut Thumbprint Cookies with Salted Caramel

• 3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• Table salt
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 12 ounces sweetened flaked coconut
• 44 small soft caramel candies (12 ounces), such as Kraft
• 6 tablespoons heavy cream
• Large, flaky sea salt, such as Maldon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat together butter and sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla. With mixer on low, gradually add flour and 1/2 teaspoon table salt, and beat to combine.Press dough together in plastic wrap, then roll into 1 1/4-inch balls.

   ( I skipped that last part and just used my small cookie scoop to create the dough balls, straight out of the mixing bowl, it worked just fine.  I’m all about finding an easier way.  I also scooped all my balls into a separate mixing bowl so that once the dipping began, I wouldn’t have to be trying to scoop balls again.  See picture below)

   Dip each ball in beaten egg, and roll in coconut.

   Place balls on parchment-lined baking sheets, and press an indentation into each with your thumb.

   Bake for 10 minutes, then remove sheets from oven, and re-press indentations.

   Bake cookies until golden, 9 to 10 minutes more. Let cool on wire racks.

   

2. Place caramels and heavy cream in a small saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until the caramels are melted and mixture is smooth, 4 to 6 minutes.Spoon into indentations in cookies, and sprinkle with sea salt.

   Rewarm caramel if it hardens before all cookies are filled.

   ENJOY!

Fall Off The Bone Barbequed Baby Back Ribs

Before I came up with this delicious recipe, I wasn’t a big fan of ribs.  They always seemed to be so chewy, and sloppy.   But I live in a house with 4 boys , 3 children and 1 husband, and you know boys, they LOVE all things BBQ and especially ribs.  So, I came up with a way to prepare the ribs so they literally fall off the bone.  The meat is so tender and juicy.  I actually find myself craving these…  you will too!

These are little time consuming to make, (what good BBQ isn’t?).  But they are super easy… it’s just that you have to slow bake them for a few hours to soften them up.  So, don’t go into this thinking you’ll whip them out in half an hour.  Just be prepared for the time it takes.  It’s totally worth it!!!

Fall Off the Bone barbequed Baby Back Ribs

• 2 slabs baby back ribs (you can use any type of rib, but baby back are really tender)
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 8 cloves garlic, whole
• 1 cup your favorite barbeque sauce

Line a jelly roll pan with aluminum foil.  Place ribs on foil, bone side down (meaty side up).  Drizzle the ribs with the olive oil then scatter the garlic cloves over the top of the ribs.  Then use more aluminum foil to completely cover the pan and seal it up.  Put in a 325 degree oven for 3 hours.

Remove from the oven.  Prepare your BBQ or grill.   I use a gas grill so it just takes a couple minutes to warm up.  I put mine at about 4oo degrees.  Remove foil from top of rib pan, discard garlic cloves.  Slather the tops of the ribs with BBQ sauce.

Place ribs, bone side down, on your grill.  Be prepared for some flare ups, as the ribs are fatty and the olive oil drips.  That’s why the bone side is down, so the meat doesn’t burn.  Close the cover of the grill and let cook for about 7-10 minutes, until the sauce has thickened and adhered to the meat.

Remove from grill and slice between each bone to serve.  Serve with additional BBQ sauce on the side for people to add to taste.

Semi-Homemade Pizza Braid

We all need short cuts once in a while, right?  As I’ve mentioned before, I actually do a lot of semi-homemade cooking.  If there is a product that is just as good as something I can make at home, but it’s already made and probably less expensive to buy when you add up all the ingredients I would have to buy to make it, I totally take advantage and use that product!  In my book, there’s nothing wrong with that.  Work smarter, not harder, right?

I have access to some great restaurants, farmers markets and specialty grocery stores where I live, so I’d be a fool not to take advantage of that.  One of my favorite speciality grocery stores in Trader Joe’s.  They have store throughout the nation, so hopefully you have one near you as well.  If you don’t, let me just say, I’m sorry.  You’re missing out!

Even though we are blessed to have access to a Trader Joe’s right here in town, I’ve had so many people ask me why it’s so great.  They all want to know what I buy there.  EVERYTHING!  Every single thing they make is great, but here’s a recipe using a couple of pre-made TJ’s shortcuts.

Semi-Homemade Pizza Braid

• 1 bag Trader Joe’s premade pizza dough (found in refrigerated section)
• 1 container Trader Joe’s Pizza sauce (found by the dough in the refrigerated section)
• 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese (I buy this at TJ’s as well)
• your favorite pizza toppings
• 1/2 stick butter
• 2 teaspoons garlic salt
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Turn out pizza dough onto a floured board and let rest for 20 minutes.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Then roll out in the shape of a rectangle.  In your mind, divide the rolled out dough into 3 vertical sections.  Put sauce (to taste), mozzarella cheese and desired toppings in the center section.  On each of the outer sections, slice the dough diagonally into strips (leaving in inside of the strip attached to the center of the dough).  See photo below

Starting at the bottom wrap the dough pieces over each other, working side to side.  At the top, tuck the edge pf the last piece under the previous piece.  Place on a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick spray.  (I use a jelly roll pan and can fit 3 braids on one pan.)  In a small bowl microwave safe bowl, melt the butter.  Add garlic salt.  Brush mixture over the top of the braid.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Bake at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until top is golden brown and bottom is cooked through.  Remove from oven and cool 5 minutes before slicing.

Mustard Roasted Potatoes

My kitchen is ALMOST done.  For any of you who have been through this process, you know that the last few weeks are TORTURE!  Everything looks to be in place and functional, but it’s really not, because all the finishing touches take so long to complete.  Grouting the tile on the backsplash, getting all the electrical and lighting switches up and running, installing the accent lighting, touching up the paint, etc.  I hope that my kitchen will be officially complete by the end of this week… if not, then surely next week.  Stay tuned for the big reveal…

So, even though it’s not totally complete, I am semi-functional and so I am ready to start posting more delicious food on LJB.  Last week was my middle son’s 14th birthday.  When my kids have a birthday they get to pick to go out to their favorite restaurant or have Mom cook their favorite meal.  He wanted me to cook Flank Steak, Skip’s salad, and these mustard roasted potatoes.  It was the first meal I cooked in the new kitchen, and it was SO GOOD to have homemade fresh hot food again.

These bite sized flavorful potatoes are the perfect complement to steak, chicken, or pork.  You find you make these over and over again, because they just go so well with everything, and yet are so simple to make.  Roasting them at high heat makes them crisp on the outside and tender inside.

Bite Sized Mustard Roasted Potatoes

2 ½ pounds baby red or gold potatoes

2 medium yellow onions

3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 Tablespoons whole grain mustard

Course Sea Salt, to taste

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Wash and thoroughly dry the potatoes.  Cut the potatoes into halves or quarters, depending on the size, and place them on a sheet pan (jelly roll pan).

Quarter the onions and slice about ¼ inch thick to create ½ moon slices of onion.  Toss the onions and potatoes together on the sheet pan.

In a small bowl, stir together the olive oil, mustard, 2 teaspoons salt and pepper.

Bake for 50 minutes to an hour until potatoes are lightly browned on the outside and tender on the inside.  Toss the potatoes from time to time with a metal spatula to ensure even browning.

Remove from oven and sprinkle with more sea salt, to taste, and the parsley.

No Need to Knead Bread

I love when my house smells like bread. It makes me feel like I am doing something right. This bread is amazingly delicious and has that sweet of aroma of a bakers kitchen! And yes, it’s true, you don’t have to knead it. But let’s get down to the truth of the matter. This bread takes some serious planning to make. Is it worth it? I declare YES! Because there is no kneading there is almost no work. Just simply babysitting and prepping the dough. And then you get this beautiful, crusty, warm and soft inside, fluffy bread!

No Need to Knead Bread

• 1 2/3 cups luke warm water
• 3 cups all purpose flour, + some for dusting
• 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
• 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Cornmeal

In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 2/3 cups water, and stir until blended. Dough will be very sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rest for 12-18 hours, in a warm room (about 70 degrees).

Dough is ready when the surface is dotted with small bubbles. Lightly flour a surface and place dough on it. Sprinkle with a little more flour and fold dough over on itself two times. Then cover dough loosely with plastic wrap and let rest 15 minutes.

Using enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape the dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel with flour and put the dough seam down on the towel. Then sprinkle cornmeal on the top of the dough and cover with another cotton towel and let rise for 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

At least half an hour before dough is ready, heat the oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6 to 8 quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex, or ceramic) in the oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from the oven. SLide your hand under the cotton towel and turn the dough over into the pot. It may look messy, but this is ok. Shake the pan once or twice to even out and then the rest will take care of itself during the baking. Cover with lid and bake for 30 minutes. Then remove lid and bake an additional 12-18 minutes, or until loaf is browned. Cool on a rack.

 

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