Yesterday we hired some of our strapping young friends to help us with the ultra yucky job of purging our garage of 15 years of stuff. We knew it would be a huge, dusty task. They worked along side Larr and Ethan to organize it all in the back yard. We then went through to decide what went back in, what got donated and what got thrown away. Part of my task was the feed them. I made calzones and cookies for lunch and cheeseburger soup for dinner.
I actually made 12 calzones. Some for those cleaning out the garage and some for the folks over at Schwab Cycles. I wanted to make a nice lunch for them as a token of thanks for always treating my kids like royalty and for saving me money. They are always happy to see us, give us amazing deals on work that needs to be done on the bikes and discounts on things we need. I had intended to make them cookies over the Christmas break, but they had been given enough sugary treats so I opted to wait until. They were very happy to have a nice, hot lunch. (The calzones are always popular. I used to make them for Larr for his lunch when he worked in public ed. His colleagues would smell them as they warmed in the oven. People bought them or traded stuff for calzones. He traded two calzones for an awesome office chair.)
I also took them cookies. We are hosting a big dinner party next week and the guest of honor requested sugar cookies when I asked what his favorite dessert was. I was a bit surprised to get such a humble request since I usually end up making something fancy for these dinner parties. That sent me on a quest to find the best sugar cookie recipe. I scoured the internet and my cookbooks. I found that there are really two camps of thought when it comes to sugar cookies. There are those who like the very traditional, hardy, crispy sugar cookie of old. I tend to shy away from those as they have shortening (or lard, originally). However, that camp has such staying power that I thought I'd have to give it a try. The other camp of the sugar cookie likes a tender crumb that sort of crumbles in the mouth and has several layers of flavor. I fall into this camp. I love the complex foods that offer a reward to those who eat with careful attention to the flavors. King Arthur Flour Company came through as they always do. (If I have need a go-to recipe that I don't have to test first, they will have one in the categories that they supply. Their recipes are of the same high quality as their products!) Since I was feeding so many people I decided that it would be the perfect opportunity to do a cook off. I made two different batches of cookies and had each person give me feedback on crumb, texture and flavor. The result were unexpected. It was about half and half, with some folks not even being able to make a choice.
I then spent hours sorting stuff, being very good about purging. I rounded out the day with Cheeseburger soup. This is always a very popular recipe that I seem to forget from time to time. I made a huge batch and only had one serving left. The hungry fellows ate several bowls each.
Traditional Sugar Cookies
Old style cookies with a recipe from Allrecipes.com
Ingredients
* 1/2 cup butter
* 1/2 cup shortening
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 egg
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* Additional sugar
Directions
1. In a mixing bowl, cream butter, shortening and sugar. Add egg and vanilla; mix well. Combine flour, baking powder and baking soda; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Shape into 1-in. balls. Roll in sugar. Place on greased baking sheet; flatten with a glass. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10-12 minutes.
(These have a very nice, crispy texture and nice flavor. About half of the folks picked this as the favorite. It clearly reminded people of my generation of the cookies their grandmothers made for them.)
Sugar Cookies - Gourmet Version
Dough
* 3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
* 1 1/4 cups sugar
* 1/4 cup cream cheese
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/4 teaspoon almond extract (lemon works nicely, too)
* 1 large egg
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease two baking sheets, or line with parchment.
1) In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
2) In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, and cream cheese until light and fluffy.
3) Beat in the vanilla and almond extracts, and the egg; scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
4) Add the flour mixture, and mix at low to medium speed until the mixture is evenly moistened.
5) Place the 3/4 cup sugar in a large plastic bag, or in a shallow pan. Scoop the dough by tablespoonfuls into the sugar, rolling them in the pan or gently shaking them in the bag to coat them with the sugar.
6) Place on the prepared baking sheets, leaving 2" between them.
7) Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. The edges of the cookies will just barely begin to brown.
8) Remove from the oven and cool on the pan for 5 minutes, before transferring to a rack to finish cooling completely.
(Note from the King Arthur Recipe: Simple, sweet, comforting and familiar, a good sugar cookie has it all: a little crunch, a tender center, and a familiar undertone of vanilla. This cookie can be customized in many ways to suit your taste. A touch of almond extract, some lemon zest, or a hint of nutmeg are all perfectly at home in this dough. Want a snickerdoodle? Roll the unbaked cookies in cinnamon sugar before baking. Want a cookie that's crisp through and through? Press them flat before you put them in the oven. )
These cookies had a more delicate crumb with a tender, soft middle. People liked the complex flavors this cookie offered. About half of the people picked this as their favorite cookie.)
Calzones - Bread Machine Style
serves 4 generously
Bread Dough - (You can used purchased dough, if you do not want to make your own dough)
1 1/4 cup Water, warm
2 1/4 tea. Instant Yeast
1 1/2 tea. Sugar
1 tea. Salt
1 tea. Dried Milk Powder (optional - makes it brown nicely)
3 cups Bread Flour
Put the ingredients into the bread machine in the order they are listed and turn it onto the dough setting.
Filling -
4 Italian Sausages
Black Olives (you decide how many you like. I use 1 large can per 4 calzones)
Mozzarella Cheese, shredded (I think I use about 1/4 cup per calzone)
1 cup Spaghetti Sauce (Use good stuff)
Assembly -
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Divide your dough into 4 balls. Roll each one out into a biggish rectangle. Place the Italian Sausage in the middle of the dough. It should form a line or roll. Top this with the olives, then the cheese and the spaghetti sauce. Pull the sides up to cover it and pinch them together. Then pull up the ends, pinching them to seal the calzone. At this point these can be frozen. To cook them place them on a jelly roll pan or a cookie pan with sides (in the event that the sauce leaks out, you'll have less of a mess). If time allows, you can cover them with a non-fuzzy dishtowel and allow them dough to rise a bit. You can skip this step, if needed. Bake a 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown. Right after you pull them out of the oven brush them with butter.
Cheeseburger Soup
1 tea. Butter
1 pound Ground Sirloin or Hamburger
1 cup Onion, diced
¾ cup Celery, diced
½ cup Carrots, diced
1 tea. Garlic, minced
3 cups Chicken Broth
2 cups Russet Potatoes, peeled & diced
1 tea. Basil
3 TBL. Butter
¼ cup Flour
1½ cup Milk
2 cup Cheddar, shredded
¼ cup Ketcup
2 TBL. Yellow Mustard
Salt & Pepper to taste
Shoestring Potatoes (optional)
Croutons (Optional)
1. In a large pan, brown the butter, meat, onion, celery, carrots and garlic.
2. Stir in the broth, potatoes and basil. Cook until the potatoes are tender.
3. In a separate pan, make a roux with the butter, flour and milk.(To make a roux - melt the butter. Add the flour and stir around with the back of a spoon or spatula until the flour absorbs the melted butter.Next, add the milk and stir gently until the roux lumps are gone and the milk is thickened.) Add this to the soup.
4. At the last moment add in the cheddar cheese, ketchup, mustard and salt & pepper. Stir into soup and serve. Top each bowl with a little extra cheese. It can be fun to also top with shoestring potatoes and/or croutons.
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