Monthly Archives: February 2015

marmalade cookies

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Michael made his very first batch of marmalade.  He wasn’t prepared for how much marmalade comes out of just a few Seville oranges.  Half of the marmalade was refrigerated for 24 hours before being canned, the other half was refrigerated for 48 hours.  The 48-hour marmalade has a lot more depth of flavor and more bitterness than the 24-hour marmalade.  I started looking for marmalade recipes for our sudden abundance of marmalade, and came across one for marmalade cookies.  I skipped the icing. The cookies are more cake-y than I usually like, but it works with the bite of the marmalade.

Ingredients

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup orange marmalade
  • 1 tbsp lemon or orange liqueur (optional)

Preheat oven to 300°F.

In a medium bowl, Whisk together the dry ingredients.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add in the eggs one at a time, stirring after each to incorporate.  Add half of the dry ingredients, then the marmalade, and then the final half of the dry ingredients, stirring after each to incorporate.  Refrigerate the dough for about 30 minutes.

On a parchment-lined cookie sheet, drop a scant teaspoonful of cookie dough.  Bake for approximately 20 minutes per cookie sheet, turning the cookie sheet halfway through the baking.

Makes approximately 4 dozen cookies.

Experiments

13 Sept 2015: I wanted more marmalade flavor, so I tried doubling the marmalade.  They taste good, but they flattened as they cooled.  I think I’ll try again, but replacing half the butter with shortening.  There’s also some great thoughts in this thread for more ideas.

26 Feb 2018: I tried this with strawberry jam (6 3-ounce jars), and with the shortening/butter ratio that I listed in Sept 2015. This worked out really well: the cookies didn’t spread.  However, the cookies also turned out really sweet.  Cut back on the sugar to 3/4 cup next time.

29 Jan 2019: I tried out bar cookies based on this.  I doubled the marmalade, replaced half the butter with shortening, and added 2 cups of chocolate chips.  It baked in a 13×9 pan at 300 for about 45 minutes (more or less, honestly I wasn’t keeping track).  This was a great variation, and tasted even better the next day, so deserves some more time playing with it to get it right.

shepherd’s pie

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Shepherd’s pie is a good weekend dinner during the winter (at least, as much winter as we get in Northern California). It’s a bit too involved and time-consuming for a weeknight dinner, but it’s got a lot of time built in where you can do other things like tidy up the kitchen or whip up a batch of banana bread or marmalade cookies. (Or, all of the above.) It leaves enough leftovers for dinner another night, and I usually end up with a couple of lunch-sized portions too (which fit perfectly in the freezer). I adapted this from The Dean & Deluca Cookbook by David Rosengarten by adding more vegetables and broth.  I keep on meaning to try an all-vegetable version of this, but haven’t quite gotten around to it yet.

Ingredients

  • 2 large baking potatoes (about 1 pound), peeled
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/2 stick butter, divided
  • 1-1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 pound ground lamb or beef
  • 1 cup chopped mushrooms
  • 1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary
  • 1-1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 4 teaspoons flour, divided
  • 1 cup minced onion
  • 1 cup diced carrot
  • 4 cups beef stock
  • 1 cup frozen corn kernels
  • 1 cup frozen peas

Make the mashed potatoes

Put potatoes in a large saucepan, cover them with water. Bring to a boil and cook for about 40 minutes, until potatoes are cooked through. Drain potatoes and place in bowl. Mash them with the milk and 2 tablespoons of the butter. Season with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt. Set aside.

(This makes about 3 cups of mashed potatoes. If you were planning ahead, you could make the mashed potatoes in advance.)

Brown the meat

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over moderate heat. Add the garlic, ground meat, and mushrooms.  Cook, stirring frequently, for 5-7 minutes until the meat is well-browned. Season with the rosemary, Worcestershire sauce, and the remaining 1 teaspoon salt. Stir well and then sprinkle mixture with 2 teaspoons of the flour. Stir again and cook for an additional five minutes. Remove meat with a slotted spoon and set aside. Pour excess grease out of the pan.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Prepare the vegetables

Add the onion and carrot to the pan and cook over moderate heat for 5-7 minutes, until onion is translucent. Sprinkle with the remaining 2 teaspoons of flour and stir. Increase heat slightly, and add the beef stock, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to release any caramelized bits. Cook for another 7-10 minutes, or until the liquid is reduced by half.

Combine the casserole ingredients

Add meat mixture, corn, and peas. Stir well and cook another 3-4 minutes. Enough of the liquid should have evaporated so that the mixture is held together by a nice thick gravy.

Bake

Butter a 9″ square casserole dish well and spread the meat mixture over the bottom. Cover the meat with the mashed potatoes and smooth the top. Bake casserole, uncovered, in the oven for 40 minutes, until heated through.