I’m on Martha Stewart’s “daily cookies” mailing list and that probably explains why I make cookies several times a month (sometimes even more than once a week!). I end up bringing the majority of every batch into work with me to avoid eating them all myself, and luckily I have coworkers who not only love cookies but who aren’t watching their weight too much . . . and therefore are still happy to have me bring in fattening snacks at 8:30 am on a Monday.

For this batch of cookies I needed a recipe that didn’t call for eggs because, as mentioned in my last post, I somehow managed to run out of eggs and repeatedly forget to buy some. In fact, here it is two weeks later and I’m still out! I’m not sure I’ve ever gone two weeks without eating eggs . . . but I digress. No-egg cookie = shortbread to me, and I had pecans in the cabinet so these Pecan Shortbread cookies from Martha were the perfect solution. They actually taste better a day later so they’re perfect for bringing along to work or a party!

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Read the rest of Pecan Shortbread Cookies (140 words)

© Ivete for A Chef's Daughter, 2010. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: baking, cookies, pecans, shortbread

I realize it’s been a month since I posted and I admit that’s pretty shameful. That said, I’m sure it’s obvious to anyone reading this blog over the last 6 months or so that I’ve been going through some gigantic life changes. I think I’m on the other side now and intend to GET BACK TO BLOGGING! The last month has been full of “tying up loose ends” and getting settled into my new place, and I’m happy to say that I’ve been cooking again. This month’s issues of Martha Stewart Living and Bon Appetit had inspiring recipes in them that lit a fire under my ass . . . hopefully some of you are still reading this and will enjoy!

What you see above is the very last cookie out of this batch of Blueberry “Scone” Cookies. I absolutely adore this recipe and literally every single person who’s tried them has taken a bite and then immediately looked up and said “what’s IN these!?!” (and yes, in a good way). They’re super easy to make and the fact that there’s fruit in there instead of, say, butterscotch, makes you feel less guilty eating way too many of these (which you totally will). Keep in mind that these take longer than regular cookies to bake so if you’re making them last-minute plan ahead. Click to the “continue reading” link for the recipe . . . and stay tuned for carnitas in the next post!

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Read the rest of Blueberry “Scone” Cookies (155 words)

© Ivete for A Chef's Daughter, 2010. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: baking, blueberries, cookies

I happened to be in Brazil for my dad’s birthday and I wanted to make him a cake, but there was one big problem: he doesn’t really like cake. I wracked my brain for a cake that he’d actually get excited to eat and that’s when I thought of cheesecake, which literally doesn’t exist in Brazil. When I proposed it to my dad his eyes widened and his face lit right up! I knew I’d come up with the perfect cake for the occasion. Only problem was, I’d never made one before . . . and for some reason I was under the impression that cheesecake is hard to make. Add that to using foreign ingredients, in the metric system, in someone else’s kitchen, and you’ll probably get how nervous I was to try this. But I’m here to tell you it was totally easy and incredibly delicious! Read on for the recipe for this Simple Cheesecake and make it next time you want to wow someone.

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Read the rest of Super-Simple Cheesecake (520 words)

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Have I mentioned before how much I love puff pastry? So far I’ve only used the stuff that comes frozen in a box and the results are so consistently good that I about faint thinking about how much better these things will taste when I make the pastry from scratch . . . something I forgot to put in my Cooking Goals for 2010 post but which has been on my list ever since I got the Michael Roux Pastry book. But anyway, that’s neither here nor there, I’m supposed to be talking about the dessert my friend Shana and I made on Saturday night!

This Spiced Stewed Apples in Puff Pastry recipe comes from the Spanish home cooking book La Cocina de Mama, a book I’ve posted from before when I made Cinnamon and Lemon Scented Cookies. The success of both these recipes is making me think I’ll be cooking through this entire book and loving every minute!

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Read the rest of Spiced Stewed Apples in Puff Pastry (571 words)

© Ivete for A Chef's Daughter, 2010. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: apples, baking, cinnamon, dessert, puff pastry

One of the birthday gifts I received this year was a lovely collection of spices from Penzeys Spices. Inside the package I was happy to find several recipes for the included spices! One of the packs was the “Baker’s Collection” and includes things like minced lemon peel, two kids of cinnamon, whole nutmeg, etc. These lemon poppy muffins were in the packet and the recipe features the lemon peel as well as the Dutch blue poppy seeds . . . they’re super easy to make and come out subtle-yet-delicious. My coworkers enjoyed the loot and I hope you enjoy them, too!

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Read the rest of Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins (157 words)

© Ivete for A Chef's Daughter, 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: baking, lemon, muffins, poppy seed

I’m so sorry I’ve been MIA folks! There has been a lot going on in my life and I haven’t even had the desire to cook in the last few months, let alone take photos and write up a proper blog post. This past Saturday was the first time in a while that I felt like baking something, so maybe that’s a good sign. I came across this biscotti recipe in the current issue of Real Simple magazine and immediately ripped the page out and ran out to buy the ingredients! I’m so glad I did, too: baking cheered me up immediately and having a big stack of delicious biscotti didn’t hurt, either. My coworkers appreciated the bounty, too!

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Read the rest of Amaretto Biscotti with Cranberries and Pistachio (551 words)

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Post tags: amaretto, baking, biscotti, cookies, cranberries, pistachio

This pie recipe from September’s issue of Gourmet Magazine caught my eye immediately. I’d never heard of a pear pie before but it sounded like a great idea! Pears and apples are pretty similar so it seemed reasonable to swap pears in for the expected apples. And the idea of butterscotch pie just made it all that much better!

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Read the rest of Butterscotch Pear Pie (1,013 words)

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Post tags: Desserts, Gourmet recipes, pear pie, pie

These shortbread-like cookies are very easy to make and completely delicious! The recipe is from one of my newest cookbooks, La Cocina de Mama by Penelope Casas, which I only just picked up a few weeks ago and hadn’t had a chance to cook from yet. When I needed a cookie recipe on Sunday and found this one in the book I knew it was going to turn out amazing just from the description!

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Read the rest of Cinnamon and Lemon Scented Cookies (296 words)

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Post tags: cinnamon, cookies, dessert, lemon

I’m starting to do cookbook and product reviews on this blog for products I like or am trying for the first time. More and I more I find that I rely on online reviews before doing or buying anything, and I decided I should contribute to the online review community since I get so much out of it. I’ve been reviewing things on Yelp more often, especially new restaurants we try or stores I’ve visited, and then it occurred to me: I should put reviews on the blog! I do it in my knitting blog for yarns and patterns I like, why not this one?

So first up is a book I’ve been meaning to buy forever but only just got a few weeks ago: David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop. I read David’s blog all the time and I think you’ll enjoy it, too! It’s filled with cooking, baking, and ice cream (of course!), but also with stories of an American living in Paris. I especially like when he muses on the differences between living in France vs. the US, particularly when he’s talking about food differences . . . which is almost always, as you probably would expect!

But anyway, this is supposed to be a review of his book The Perfect Scoop, not his awesome blog. Read on for the review and a recipe for Chocolate Chocolate French-style Ice Cream.

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Read the rest of The Perfect Scoop: An amazing book! (932 words)

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Post tags: chocolate ice cream, Cookbook review, ice cream, lebovitz, recipes

It’s really random that Elissa ended up making cinnamon rolls when I was supposed to be making them for the BBA Challenge . . . but it means two posts about almost the same thing, very close to eachother! I thought we could do a compare and contrast between the two recipes, but it turns out they barely resemble each other at all. Who knew you could make cinnamon rolls in so many different ways?

As far as I know/remember, I’ve never actually eaten homemade cinnamon rolls before I made these. Growing up, cinnamon rolls were a too-sweet thing you purchased at Cinnabon in a mall food court (hey I grew up in Jersey, where malls are king!), and which my sister and mother loved but that my dad and I couldn’t eat more than a few bites of before feeling nauseous. Fast-forward to this crazy challenge of ours and I found myself wondering just what a homemade version of those things would be like. I’m happy to say there were delicious, not too hard to make, and wonderfully received by my coworkers!

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Read the rest of BBA Challenge Bread #8: Cinnamon Rolls! (920 words)

© Ivete for A Chef's Daughter, 2009. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: BBA Challenge, bread, cinnamon rolls, pastry