Art Brainfood - Recipes for a Creative Mind
Nothing feeds a creative frenzy like...
Whoopie Pies
These are luscious! And so right for the holidays!
- 1 1/2 sticks of butter (1cup melted, 1/2 softened)
1 cup packed brown sugar, I use dark brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature and lightly beaten
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice, I make my own using mostly cinnamon, a little ground cloves, freshly grated nutmeg and grated fresh ginger.
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 2/3 cups white whole wheat flour
4 ounces cream cheese, chilled
1 cup confectioners sugar
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350. Beat melted butter and brown sugar until almost smooth. Beat in the eggs, pumpkin, spices, 1 teaspoon vanilla, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Fold in flour. Onto 2 large cookie sheets, scoop out 24 mounds of batter. Bake until they are springy, about 10 minutes. Let them cool while you are making the filling.
- 2. With an electric mixer, cream the soft butter and cream cheese. Add the remaining vanilla and slowly add the powdered sugar. Mix on low until it's all blended, then mix on medium or high until fluffy.
- 3. Liberally spread the filling on 12 of the soft cookie halves and cover with the other half.
- Yum! These last for several days if you keep them covered. We like them at room temperature, but they are also good refrigerated.
Katong Tong
This is named "Katong Tong" because my honey and I used to get a similar dish with that name from a long-lost Thai restaurant.
- 18 won ton wrappers
2 stalks celery, diced
1/2 apple, diced. (Pacific Rose is best but Red Delicious will do)
1/2 mango, diced
1 chicken breast, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons olive oil - garlic, minced or granulated garlic, to taste
red pepper flakes, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350. In a muffin tin, tuck one won ton wrapper into each opening, gently smooth it to the sides of the tin so the cup won't fall in. Bake 6-7 minutes. Won ton cups with harden and brown slightly.
- 2. Dice the mango, apple and celery, set aside.
- 3. Heat a saute pan on stovetop. Add the chicken and garlic, season with salt and pepper. When cooked through, remove from heat but leave in the warm pan.
- 4. In a small mixing bowl, whisk to combine the lime juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes (I use about 1/4 of a teaspoon).
- 5. Add the apple/mango/celery mix and the lime juice mixture to the warm chicken, give it a stir to mix the flavors.
- To serve: Spoon the mixture into the wonton cups.
- This light, crunchy meal tastes like summer!
Spicy Peanut Soup
Heartwarming and delicious!
- 1 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon mild ground cayenne pepper (more or less, to taste)
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 1/2 cups diced carrots
1 1/2 cups diced potatoes
3 celery stalks, diced
4-5 cups chicken stock
6 or 7 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter
2/3 cup whole corn kernels
salt and pepper
roughly chopped roasted peanuts to garnish
about 4 servings of cooked jasmine rice
- 1. Cook jasmine rice according to package directions. Cut up all vegetables so they'll be ready to use.
- 2. Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the onion and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the cayenne pepper and cook for 1 minute longer.
- 3. Add the yellow pepper, carrots, potatoes and celery. Stir well and cook for 4 minutes longer, stirring occasionally.
- 4. Add the chicken stock, peanut butter and corn kernels, stirring until thoroughly combined.
- 5. Season well and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes until all the vegetables are tender.
- To serve: Adjust the seasoning, put a mound of rice in middle of bowl, ladle soup around rice and then sprinkle with chopped nuts.
This was adapted from a recipe in The Soup Bible. The photo is from the same book, I will replace it next time I make this glorious soup!
The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie!
You know the first one had to be good! When first out of the oven they are slightly crispy on the outside but warm and soft on the inside.
- 3 2/3 cups minus 2 tablespoons bread flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse sea salt
- 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
- 1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
- Milk and bittersweet chocolate chips, a couple of handfuls, I eyeball it.
- Pecans, crushed, use enough to make you happy
- Sea salt, for sprinkling
- 1. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl.
- 2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each, then the vanilla. Add dry ingredients in a couple of batches, mix until just combined, as little as possible. With a spoon, stir in chocolate chips. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes.
- 3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. (Actually, I don't always do this, nor do I grease the pan, they don't stick!)
- 4. Scoop 6 golf ball sized mounds of dough onto baking sheet. Sprinkle (very) lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 14 to 16 minutes. Let them sit on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes, then slip cookies into a ziplock so they don't dry out while they cool a little more. I bake some the first day, then separate them into individual cookies and freeze them.
- Makes about 1 1/2 dozen 3-inch cookies.
I'm a whole wheat flour gal so you know they must be worth it if I've continued to buy white flour. Last time I made them I used about 1/2 cup whole wheat flour and couldn't tell the difference. I'm going to continue to sneak that amount up until I notice a difference. This is a somewhat low brow version of the original that I found in the New York Times.
