Eat First

Time to make the cookies!

A classic Dunkin’ Donuts commercial shows Fred the Baker rolling out of bed and trudging to work, sleepy-eyed, in pre-dawn darkness.  “Time to make the donuts, time to make the donuts,’’ he mumbles as he suits up for the day.

It’s been like that for the few weeks here, except the baked goods in question are cookies – Christmas cookies of all shapes, sizes and persuasions. Cookies that keep us up late at night and get us up early in the morning.

We say “Time to make the cookies’’ with enthusiasm -- most of the time. Making cookies isn’t a chore, unless you erroneously add an extra stick of butter to a recipe and have to make the cookies all over again.

Or the cookies don’t come out quite as you imagined they would, and you start questioning your baking skills and whether you should share said cookies. 

But I digress.

I received a copy of “The Gourmet Cookie Book: The Single Best Cookie Recipe Each Year, 1941-2009,’’ from my sister, Anne, for Christmas last year, and that little book has been my constant companion this baking season.

I’ve read it front to back, like a novel, and made several recipes from it for gift-giving, interspersed with a couple of old favorites.

These are Kourambiedes, a Greek butter cookie made with (gulp!) an entire pound of butter.

I would make them again, adding more ground nuts (almonds), more booze (Grand Marnier), a splash of almond extract and more powdered sugar on top. The cookies themselves contain just a half-cup of powdered sugar.

They’re pretty Plain Jane, a cookie to be savored with coffee or tea. Prepare to brush powdered sugar off your clothes as you bite into them.

These are Speculaas (Saint Nicholas Cookies), a traditional Dutch cookie loaded with spices – ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ground anise seed – with slivered almonds pressed into their tops before baking. I cut them in rectangles, as prescribed in the recipe, but you can use any small cutter. A robust ginger cookie is a must-have at Christmastime, and these are a keeper.

These are Anise-Scented Fig and Date Swirls.  They’re a little bit fussy to make, but the return on investment is that they are a refrigerator cookie: Roll up the dough smeared with luscious, fragrant fruit into a big, fat log and refrigerate it until you a ready to slice and bake. The triple-wrapped dough cylinder was in the freezer for more than three weeks and suffered no ill consequences. I’m delighted with the final product and know I will be making this recipe again – and again.

As for the Classics: It wouldn’t be Christmas without All-Occasion Cut-Outs (recipe here) and World Peace Cookies (recipe here).

Gotta go now. Time to make the cookies!

 

Home for the holidays: Two CNY book signings for Chef Anne Burrell

Celebrity chef Anne Burrell, host of Food Network’s “Secrets of a Restaurant Chef’’ and “Worst Cooks in America,’’ will be in her native Central New York this week to sign copies of her new book, “Cook Like a Rock Star.’’

First stop is the DeWitt Wegmans, on East Genesee Street, for a book signing at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 21.

On Thursday, she'll be at a place close to her heart, Flowers on Main Street in Cazenovia, for a second book signing (6 to 7:30 p.m.). The shop is owned by Anne’s mother, Marlene Burrell.

The Cazenovia book signing will be followed by a “meet and greet’’ reception with the chef and author at Circa, a restaurant and local food market at 76 Albany St.

Circa chef-owner Alicyn Hart and chef Burrell will serve Prosecco cocktails and appetizers and small plates from “Cook Like a Rock Star.’’

“The book is dedicated to her mother,’’ says Hart, a friend of Anne Burrell and her family. “So it’s a special signing, I would say.’’

Admission to the reception is $40 per person, with 10 percent of proceeds to benefit CazCares, a food pantry and clothing closet serving low-income residents of Cazenovia and Madison County. For more information on the book signing and reception, call Circa at 315-655-8768.

Burrell will also participate in the Iron Fork Syracuse fundraiser for the Rescue Mission on Jan. 29, 2012. For more information on that event, click here.

Guinness Stout Ginger Cake: the second time’s the charm

Every Christmas season has its misadventures: the gift thoughtfully purchased in July that can’t be located when you're ready to wrap it. The string of bulbs that worked when you tested them but won’t light on the tree. The cookies that crumble as you’re lifting them from the baking sheet.

The Guinness Stout Ginger Cake that fails to rise properly. Ah, yes. Robert was excited to make this dessert for Christmas dinner last year, but inadvertently omitted the baking powder when assembling the cake’s dry ingredients. The result was a short Stout cake rather than a tall one.

He re-baked it in the wee small hours of Christmas morning, bless his heart. But not before a shopping expedition for Guinness Stout in Bridgeport, NY – a one-stoplight and three-convenience store village -- on Christmas Eve.

Guinness Stout Ginger Cake is a grand dessert, as memorable for its flavor and presentation as it is for the story behind it. It’s full-bodied in texture and a little outspoken in taste, thanks to molasses, fresh ginger, ground ginger, cloves and cardamom.

Looking for a festive finish to a holiday dinner party? This is it. Don't forget the baking powder!

While the cake bakes, prepare a big bowl of lightly sweetened whipped cream.

Grammercy Tavern Guinness Stout Ginger Cake

You will need:

1 cup Guinness Stout

1 cup molasses

½ teaspoon baking soda

3 large eggs

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

¾ cup vegetable oil

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons ground ginger

1½ teaspoons baking powder

¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground cardamom

1 tablespoon grated, peeled fresh gingerroot

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 6-cup Bundt pan.

In a large saucepan over high heat, combine the stout and molasses and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and add the baking soda. Allow to sit until the foam dissipates.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk together the eggs and both sugars. Whisk in the oil.

In a separate bowl, which together the flour, ground ginger, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and cardamom.

Combine the stout mixture with the egg mixture, then whisk the liquid into the flour mixture, half at a time. Add the fresh ginger and stir to combine.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 1 hour, or until the top springs back when gently pressed. Do not open the oven until the gingerbread is almost done or the center will fall slightly. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

Serve with sweetened whipped cream. Makes 12 servings.

 

CNY loses a great chef: RIP, Brian Shore

I will remember Brian Shore for his Chocolate Tower, a dessert he made famous at the Arad Evans Inn, in Fayetteville: Hand-made from with dark chocolate, filled with chocolate mousse, garnished with spun sugar… What a grand, over-the-top, finale for a meal!

I will also remember Brian for one of his signature salads: spring greens, red grapes and candied walnuts, tossed with balsamic vinaigrette and sprinkled with Gorgonzola cheese. We make a copycat version often, but it somehow lacks the flair that came to Brian so naturally.

Brian was found dead at his home Dec. 1, the result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Syracuse police said. He was 50.

His loss is a huge one for the culinary community in Central New York: purveyors, chefs, students and diners.

Brian worked as a chef at several of Central New York’s finest restaurants, including the Brewster Inn in Cazenovia and Sherwood Inn in Skaneateles, and most notably at the Arad Evans Inn. He worked there for three years, before turning his sights south of Syracuse and opening his own restaurant, Kettle Lakes, in Tully, in 1999.

Brian poured his heart and soul into Kettle Lakes for more than six years, wowing diners with his seafood creations, nightly specials and locally sourced and seasonally inspired fare like free-range chicken and butternut squash bisque topped with tiny gingerbread man croutons.

Despite glowing reviews the restaurant struggled financially, and it was with a heavy heart that Shore closed it in early 2006, returning, eventually, to the Arad Evans. When I interviewed him for a story for The Good Life Central New York Magazine that spring, he nearly wept as he discussed his decision to close the restaurant.

Our paths crossed several times over the years, when I was food editor at The Post-Standard. No matter how busy he was, he never said no to requests for interviews, photos and recipes. For one story, a feature on “Salt City chefs” and their salt preferences, Brian arrived at the newspaper dragging a wagon loaded with Diamond Crystal kosher salt, coarse-grain salts and fancy fleur de sel (sea salts in a range of colors) from France.

I immediately converted to kosher salt, exclusively, in food and on food. With a ringing endorsement like that, wouldn’t you?

Dessert sampler plate by Chef Brian Shore; photos courtesy of his Facebook page

Despite the challenges of running a restaurant, Brian devoted considerable time and energy to the Syracuse chapter of the American Culinary Federation and its premier event, the Great Chefs Dinner, an annual fundraiser/gala to benefit the American Red Cross.

His passion for food and commitment to local produce and ingredients was contagious. In the bustling kitchen at Skaneateles Country Club, a few hours before the start of the 2004 edition of the Great Chefs Dinner, he took a few minutes to sing the praises of the owner/growers of Fresh Herbs of Fabius – and encourage his fellow chefs to call on them, as well.

The last time I saw Brian was in April, at Savor Syracuse, a food-tasting event to benefit the Food Bank of Central New York.

He introduced his fiancee, Katie, and spoke excitedly of the possibility of running the kitchen at The Krebs, a landmark restaurant in Skaneateles purchased by Skaneateles resident Adam Weitsman, with plans to renovate and donate restaurant proceeds to charity.

A few months later, he was hired as executive chef at the LaFayette Country Club – a project that never got off the ground.

Brian has been described as a talented and troubled soul. I can only speak for his talents and creativity and his deep appreciation for and connection to food – from those who grow it, to those who work magic with it in restaurant kitchens to those who ultimately eat it.

If there is a heaven, it surely must have an herb garden and fully-stocked kitchen. And someone is sitting down to an amazing meal prepared by Brian, using what’s seasonal, local and at hand.

RIP.