Car Cookies

'Tis the season for buying textbooks, rounding up school supplies, and trying to find a place to live while you're between housing contracts. Many college students opt to simply live in their cars. Snug and cozy, a car offers all the modern conveniences of home: air conditioning, radio, comfy leather seats...the list goes on. The one thing missing, though, is an oven. I recently found a solution to this problem: your car is an oven. Now freshly baked cookies are literally at your fingertips, transforming your car into a warm and welcoming student haven. You could even entertain house guests.

Because of the lower temperature, the cookies take much longer to bake in a car than in a normal oven. The texture was slightly different--more dense--and tops didn't brown, but all in all they weren't bad. I made them small so as to somewhat decrease the long cooking time, but it still took three hours. It probably would have been better to have started earlier on in the day. These were a fun little experiment and I may try to car-bake other things some day, but I really don't know what that would do. So let's just start with what we have.

1 Batch Cookie Dough--any kind will do. I used Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Dough

1. Roll dough into small balls and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Place sheet on an oven mitt on the dashboard of your car.

2. Making sure your car is parked in the sun and all the windows are up, close the doors and wait for 2 hours. To check if the cookies are done, lift the edge of one of the cookies. If it releases easily from the parchment, they're done. Also gently test the middle for done-ness. If they're not done, you may have to wait 30 more minutes, rather than just adding an extra 3-5.

3. Remove baking sheet with an oven mitt. Serve warm cookies immediately.

Mahlzeit!

-Coriaunty

Brown Butter Summer Squash and Cucumber Linguine

I've had a summer squash and a cucumber sitting in my fridge for a fair amount of time. The reason they've been chillin' there is because I couldn't decide just what I should do with them. Bread? No. Salad? Meh, too boring. Cookies? Tempting, but no. Unfortunately, when I began searching for other kinds of recipes, bread, salad, and cookies were the only things that showed up. Until! By complete chance I came across this recipe, which looked promising. It turned out exactly as I hoped it would. Because of the short cooking time, the julienned pieces stayed crunchy and hot rather than turning into limp, soggy squash/cucumber mush...yuck. The browned butter and cashews gave it a rich nutty flavor, while the lemon juice kept it zesty and fresh. Quick and light, it was a perfect meal for me, but you could also use it as a side dish.

1 Medium Summer (Yellow) Squash
1 Medium Cucumber
2 T Unsalted Butter
2 T Chopped Cashews
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Dried Parsley
1 tsp Lemon Juice

1. Trim the ends off the squash and cucumber. Julienne the them lengthwise until you reach the seed core. Discard the core. Separate any strips that are sticking together.

2. In a 10-inch saute pan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the almonds and swirl the butter around in the pan. Cook the butter until it reaches a nutty brown color, about 2 minutes. Immediately add the squash and salt and toss with tongs until squash is coated with butter. Cook until slightly limp, about 1 minute.

3. Remove pan from heat and stir in parsley and lemon juice and toss to mix. Taste and add more lemon, if desired. Transfer to serving dish or plates and garnish with a little parsley.

Mahlzeit!
-Coriaunty

How To Julienne Summer Squash

How to do what to a summer squash? Julienne! To julienne (joo-lee-ehn) something is merely to cut it into very thin matchstick strips. Also referred to as "shoe string" (like shoe string fries), this cut can be done to just about any type of fruit or vegetable. Although it is sometimes used for main dishes, julienne is used most often as a garnish.

1. Begin by washing the squash.

2. Cut the ends off.

3. Cutting straight down, slice the skin off, making the squash into a rectangle.

4. Cut the whole squash into 1/16 - 1/8 inch slices.

5. Stack the slices on top of each other. Turn so slices edges face out.

6. Slice the stack into 1/16 - 1/8 inch slices.

7. Separate any pieces that stick together.

Mahlzeit!

-Coriaunty

Tomato Salad with Zesty Garlic Croutons

Tomato: fruit or veggie? Since I love both fruits and vegetables, it seems that for me the answer to that question is irrelevant. I'm an equal opportunity eater, which means I definitely don't discriminate. Today I wanted something really fresh and light to eat, so I took a step outside. Now, normally a step outside would only offer concrete and grass; however, I currently have access to a garden! In my wanderings through said garden I picked up one of my very favorite vegetables. Fruit. Whichever. Ripe and juicy, the tomatoes begged me to pick them and eat them [almost] completely unadulterated. So I brought them in, thew some croutons on them and ate them up. Simple. Delicious.

1 lb Tomatoes, sliced
2 tsp Olive Oil
2 tsp Balsamic Vinegar
1/8 tsp Salt
Pinch of Sugar
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1 Handful Fresh Croutons

Wash and slice the tomatoes and place on plate. In a small bowl mix oil, vinegar, salt, sugar, and pepper. Pour over sliced tomatoes. Sprinkle with croutons and enjoy!

Mahlzeit!
-Coriaunty

Zesty Garlic Croutons

Croutons are a "take it or leave it" type thing for me, so pretty much the only reason I made them was because I had a huge loaf of french bread I didn't want to throw away. Waste not, want not. I didn't want them drenched in butter (hence the lemon juice) but still wanted some sort of flavor; not just dry bread with herb sprinkles. They didn't turn out too badly, and I ended up snacking on them when they were fresh out of the oven. Be careful, though, because they burn easily. Half my batch got a wee bit toasty.

1 Large Loaf Very Very Dry French Bread
1/4 C Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 T  Italian Seasoning
2 tsp Parsley
2 tsp Granulated Garlic
1 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Salt
10 T Butter
3/4 C Lemon Juice

1. Slice loaf of bread into 1/2 inch thick slices. Cut each of those slices into small cubes and place in a large (4 L) bowl.

2. In a small bowl combine parmesan cheese, italian seasoning, parsley, garlic, pepper, and salt.

3. Microwave butter and lemon juice until butter is melted.

4. Slowly pour butter/lemon juice mix over bread cubes, mixing to make sure all cubes are coated. Then pour seasoning over saturated crumbs, again mixing until everything is coated.

5. Pour bread cubes onto two jellyroll pans. Sprinkle with extra garlic and salt, if needed. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. Watch them carefully so they do not burn. If the croutons are still moist, lower the temperature to 200 and bake until they're dry.

Mahlzeit!
-Coriaunty

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Fudge

I made this quick and easy recipe today on the spur of the moment.  Here I have my eggless cookie dough bites in the freezer just calling my name, so being a genius, instead of just eating it, I'll make something with them.  And how exactly does that make sense?  I'll eat them anyway!  It's just that now, they are enrobed in luscious fudgy chocolate.  Sometimes my thought process gets a little off.  Oh well.

This fudge is very fast and easy to make with ingredients that you have on hand already.  You can use as much or as little cookie dough as you like.  I used about 1/3 to 1/2 a batch of the same cookie dough used in the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Rice Krispies Treats - Redux.  For the fudge, I kind of see it as a "cheater" fudge, as you simply melt chocolate chips with sweetened condensed milk.  However, who am I to knock the chocolate?  And cookie dough to boot?  A fast and fun candy treat.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Fudge

1/2 batch Eggless cookie dough, rolled into marble size balls and frozen

2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

1 cup milk chocolate chips

1 (15 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

Line an 8x8 inch square pan with tin foil, and grease the foil.  

In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk, stirring continuously until smooth.  When the chocolate is completely melted, remove from heat and carefully fold the cookie dough bites into the fudge (the fudge may be stiff at this point).  Immediately spread the fudge in the prepared pan and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before cutting.  Cut into squares and serve.  Makes about 36 pieces of fudge.

Enjoy!  -Cardamommy

White Chocolate Coconut Cookies

I wanted to whip up something quick last night to share with our neighbors.  These cookies were next up on my list and looked irresistible.  I was so correct about their irresistibility, that I almost changed my mind and kept them all for myself my family.  These cookies are nice and chewy, and studded with white chocolate chips.  The coconut is not the leading flavor, but works well with the white chocolate.  For a more pronounced coconut flavor, you could toast the coconut before adding to the cookies.

White Chocolate Coconut Cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 Tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 3/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 cup coconut

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.  Add the egg, milk, and vanilla and beat for 2 minutes.  In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and beat until just combined.  Stir in the white chocolate chips and coconut.

Scoop the dough by large rounded tablespoonfuls and place on the prepared baking sheet.  Flatten the dough balls just slightly, then place in the oven and bake for about 11 minutes, or until the cookies are just set in the center and are just starting to crack.  Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a couple of minutes before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.  Makes about 18 cookies.

Enjoy!  -Cardamommy