i like lemons

It’s about time this blog lived up to its name and had another lemon recipe. These cookies are delicate, but pack a big lemony punch. The cookies themselves have good lemon flavor, but it’s the icing/glaze that delivers the knockout.

Lemon Tea Cookies

Cookies:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
4 teaspoons grated lemon zest
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt

Icing/glaze:
2 cups confectioners sugar
4-5 tablespoons lemon juice
a dash of salt

To make cookies:
Preheat oven to 350F. Cream butter, 1/2 cup confectioners sugar, lemon zest and juice. Sift together flour, cornstarch and salt. Mix flour mixture into butter mixture. Allow dough to sit for 10 minutes, then shape into 1-inch balls (or use a sz 70 cookie scoop). Place dough balls 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 15-18 minutes. Cookies will look pale on top, but bottoms should be a light golden brown. Cool on cookie sheet for about 10 minutes then transfer to wire wracks and cool completely before icing.

To make icing/glaze:
Mix confectioners sugar, salt and 3 tablespoons of lemon juice together until a smooth. Adjust thickness by adding more lemon juice. Spoon icing/glaze over cooled cookies and allow to harden before storing in an airtight container.

Makes ~45 cookies

Substitute the lemon zest and juice with lime, orange and even grapefruit.

For a sturdier cookie, you can substitute granulated sugar for the confectioners sugar.

Switch out the lemon flavoring with…
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract, then roll the cooled cookies in confectioners sugar mixed with cinnamon. (akin to Mexican Wedding Cookies)
-1 teaspoon rum extract and add scant 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg, ice/glaze with confectioners sugar and rum. (Egg Nog Cookies)
-1 teaspoon maple extract and add 1/2 cup of finely chopped walnuts, ice/glaze with confectioners sugar and maple syrup. (Maple Walnut Cookies)
-1 teaspoon mint extract and substitute 1/2 cup cocoa powder for 1/4 cup of cornstarch and 1/4 cup flour, drizzle cooled cookies with melted chocolate. Or substitute 2 tablespoons of fresh, finely chopped mint for the extract. (Mint Chocolate Cookies)

Size 70 scoop is the equivalent of 1 tablespoon.

There was a time in my life when I pretty much survived on pizza. Rarely was it good pizza. Most of the time it was pretty bad, but it was very cheap. One time it was practically poisonous. Let me tell you, getting food poisoning from pizza on the same night you see Silence of the Lambs and have the cover art from Front 242’s Tyranny (For You) album stuck in your head, well, it just doesn’t make for a restful night’s sleep.

Thankfully, I can make my own pizza now. This pizza dough recipe makes a crust that is chewy on the inside and slightly crisp on the outside, just the way I like it. While you could probably make/knead the dough in a standing mixer, I like to do mine by hand (I don’t even own a mixer). Ten minutes of kneading dough by hand makes me feel less guilty about the subsequent pizza feasting.

Pizza Dough

1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup warm water (110F)
1 package active dry yeast
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt
~3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon olive oil

In large glass bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water. Sprinkle yeast over sugar water and allow to sit for 5 minutes, or until yeast is foamy. With a wooden spoon, stir in 1 cup of flour and mix very well. Allow to sit for 5 minutes so that the flour can absorb the water. Stir in 2 teaspoons olive oil, salt and another 1/2 cup of flour and beat the dough with the spoon until the dough is very elastic. Add another 1 cup of flour. Transfer dough to floured surface and knead for 8-10 minutes, adding the remaining 1/2 cup of flour only if dough is too sticky.

Grease a clean bowl with 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Place dough in bowl, turning to coat surface with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled, around 1 1/2 hours.

Turn risen dough out onto floured surface and knead for about a minute to remove air bubbles. Form dough into a ball and allow to rest, covered, for 15 minutes. Place oven rack to lowest position and preheat oven to 500F.

Divide dough into quarters and flatten each ball into an 8-inch circle or square, leaving the edges a bit thicker to form a lip for your crust. Place dough round on an ungreased baking sheet. Prick the surface with the tines of a fork to help prevent air bubbles from forming while baking. Top pizzas with your favorite sauce, cheese, etc. Bake for 10 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

Makes 4 ~8-inch diameter pizzas.

You can use this dough to make calzones. Form into a 8-inch circle and place fillings on one half of the circle, avoiding the edges. Fold bare half of dough over the fillings and pinch and crimp the edges to seal. Bake on middle rack in 400F oven for around 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.

The dough makes good breadsticks too. Divide dough into 8 pieces and roll into 10-inch long snakes. Place on ungreased baking sheet and brush with olive oil or melted butter. Sprinkle with salt and herbs for savory or cinnamon sugar for something sweet. Bake on middle rack in 450F oven for around 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.

The unbaked dough can be frozen. After allowing to rise and kneading to get air bubbles out, form dough into ball and wrap tightly in plastic wrap (get as much air out as you can) and place the wrapped dough in a freezer storage bag. To thaw: transfer from freezer to refrigerator and allow to thaw for 24 hours. Leave dough on countertop, covered, for an hour before forming pizzas.

Clockwise from upper left, the pictured pizzas are:

Lasagna - Jarred marinara sauce, creamed spinach and turkey lasagna filling, carmelized onions and pre-packaged four-cheese blend.

Quattro Formaggio - Jarred marinara sauce with pre-packaged four-cheese blend. A grinding of fine black pepper on top.

Carmelized Onion & Cheese - Pre-packaged four-cheese blend topped with carmelized onions. A grinding of fine black pepper on top.

Curry, Peas and Yogurt - Curry sauce, with the peas and yogurt added after baking.

Just an “omgsogood” tip. Make your favorite shortbread recipe, adding a couple pinches of cinnamon to the dough. Ten minutes before the shortbread is finished baking, spread on some apricot jam and continue baking. Cut into wedges while still warm. Really wonderful with a cup of tea.

Could it be?! Will I actually knit my first non-accessory, wearable item this year? I added the Lelah Top (website seems to be down - try the Wayback Machine) to my Ravelry queue. I’ve been looking through the projects and reading the notes of what modifications people have made. I intend to give the pattern a try using some Caron Simply Soft before I decide to throw down some $$$ for cotton yarn. I’m a little concerned about the lace pattern. I don’t like it when you can see skin and then jeans/skirt/pants through eyelets or sheer tops. I’m going to be trying to get away with using the 29-inch circulars (10.5s and 7s) I bought 5 years ago and haven’t yet used. Hopefully the 7s will create a denser fabric, to avoid “show through” in the chest area (go double thick for the bust?). Maybe just line the whole thing.

New toy pattern coming within the next month or so. The concept is pretty well set and I’ve written the first draft of the pattern, so I should be able to test knit this weekend. I’m keeping what it is under wraps for now, but I will say that it’s food related and it will, as usual, be a free pattern.

As much as I like to cook and bake, I must confess that I tend to keep an ill-stocked refrigerator and pantry. I do, however, always seem to have yogurt in the fridge and I keep flour and a couple packages of yeast in the pantry. Salt is a staple for me, as is honey. With those ingredients, I have what I need to make Honey Yogurt Bread.

I came up with this recipe when I was craving a soft-crusted bread to eat with some butter and jam, and didn’t have any milk or eggs to make brioche. It isn’t as buttery and light as brioche, but it does have some richness to it because of the yogurt. It also has a sweetness from the honey, but the tang from the yogurt keeps it from being overpowering. The texture of the crust and interior is soft, with a bit of “chew”, but it is not cottony like some store-bought sandwich breads tend to be. Great for sandwiches, french toast or just buttered, and enjoyed with some fruit preserves.

Honey Yogurt Bread

3 tablespoons honey
1 cup warm water (110F)
1 package active dry yeast
1 cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoon kosher salt
~6 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
vegetable oil

In a large glass bowl, combine warm water and 1 tablespoon of honey. Sprinkle yeast over the honey water and allow to sit for 5 minutes, or until yeast is foamy. With a wooden spoon, stir in 2 cups of flour and mix very well. Allow to sit for 5 minutes so that the flour can absorb the liquid. Stir in remaining 2 tablespoons honey, yogurt, salt and another 2 cups of flour and beat the dough with the spoon for a couple of minutes. Add another 1 1/2 cups of flour. Transfer dough to floured surface and knead for 10-12 minutes, adding the remaining 1/2 cup of flour only if dough is too sticky.

Lightly grease a clean bowl with oil. Place dough in bowl, turning to coat surface with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled, around 1 1/2 - 2 hours.

Turn risen dough out onto floured surface and knead for about a minute to remove air bubbles. Form dough into a ball and allow to rest, covered, for 15 minutes. Grease two 9″x5″ loaf pans (or four mini 6″x3″ pans).

Divide dough in half (quarters for mini loaves) and roll or pat each piece into about a 12″x10″ rectangle (9″x7″ for mini loaves). Starting at the shorter edge, tightly roll dough up, jelly roll style, pressing the seam and the ends well to seal. Place loaves seam side down in the prepared pans. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled, about 1 - 1 1/2 hours.

Place oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 400F. Slash the top of each loaf lengthwise. Bake for 25 - 35 minutes (depends on size of loaves), until loaves are golden brown. Remove from pans and allow to cool on wire racks.

Makes 2 regular loaves or 4 mini loaves.

You can freeze the baked loaves. Wrap cooled loaves tightly in plastic wrap, and then in aluminum foil before placing in freezer. Thaw loaves in refrigerator.

I like to eat this bread with “Trader Joe’s Cherry Preserves made with Fresh Cherries” (the apricot version is quite good too). Also, the bread makes really good curried chicken salad sandwiches.

Oh! I don’t usually eat my bread with *that* much butter on it. For photographical purposes only!

I have fond memories of making bread with my mother when I was a little girl. She would place a step-up stool next to the counter so I could reach the big, wooden baking board and let me sprinkle the yeast over the warm water. I would exclaim that it smelled stinky!

I suspect that I caused more trouble than good, getting flour everywhere and slowing down the whole baking process. Mom would let me punch at the dough like a prize-fighter since my little hands couldn’t properly knead the dough. No electric mixers or bread machines for us! White bread in loaf pans, brown bread in coffee cans, go down for a nap and wake up to the bread miraculously done, ready to be eaten.

This recipe makes a very dense, hearty bread. Pair it with stew or think “slather” when considering topping it with any spreads.

Hearty Homemade Bread

Sponge:
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water (110F)
1 package active dry yeast
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Dough:
1 cup warm water (110F)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons kosher salt
~3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon olive oil

To make sponge:
In large glass bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water. Sprinkle yeast over sugar water and allow to sit for 5 minutes, or until yeast is foamy. Stir in flour until a smooth, stiff batter forms. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to proof for 6-8 hours at room temperature (70F) or place in refrigerator for 12-14 hours.

To make dough:
Add water, 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt and 3 cups of flour to sponge and stir until the flour has been absorbed. Transfer dough to floured surface and knead for 15 minutes, adding additional flour only if dough is too sticky. The dough will want to stick to your hand but it should pull away towards itself instead.

Grease clean bowl with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Place dough in bowl, turning to coat surface with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap or a damp towel and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled, around 2 hours.

Turn risen dough out onto floured surface and knead for about a minute. Divide dough in half and form each half into a round loaf. Place loaves on an ungreased baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap or damp towel and allow to rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425F. Remove plastic wrap/towel and make a few slashes with a knife on the tops of the loaves. Bake loaves for 30-40 minutes, or until loaves are golden brown and make a hollow sound when gently tapped on the bottom. Remove to wire racks and allow to cool before slicing.

Makes 2 ~8-inch diameter loaves.

If you want a darker crust, brush the loaves with milk or an egg wash (one egg beaten with a tablespoon of water, milk or cream) before baking.

You may freeze one of the loaves if you like. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and then in aluminum foil. To thaw the loaf, unwrap and allow to thaw on the counter. Or wrap loaf in aluminum foil and heat in a 325F oven for 15 minutes, remove foil and leave in oven for 5 more minutes.

Feel free to add herbs (rosemary, thyme, chives, etc.), olives, carmelized onions, pancetta, etc. If using dried herbs, add them at the same time as the oil and salt. Other add-ins can be incorporated after the 2-hour rise and before forming the loaves.