A Pretty Darn Good Vegan Cookie - February 23, 2014

Thanks to John Johnson of the Wine Market, we had a fabulous Saturday evening with a dozen great friends.  John donated a wine tasting to a Clifton Center auction which we won last Summer. I made a four course French meal that John paired with six FABULOUS wines.  I don't know which wine I liked the most but the most surprising pairing was an Italian sparkling red jewel, Rosa Regale, that was paired with our dessert of chocolate mousse and olive oil cookies. The cookies were a second thought because our vegan friend Curtis came and we wanted to make sure he could enjoy all four courses.  I figured I'd be lucky to get even Curtis to eat the cookies, but they actually turned out to be a big hit.

I actually made the cookies in two batches and decided after the first batch that I thought they'd be even better with a sprinkling of sugar before baking.  So, that is how I include the recipe below, but you can make it without the sugar if you prefer.  I think these cookies would be even better paired with coffee or ice cream.

Olive Oil Cookies

2 1/2 c. flour

1 c. (+ more for sprinkling) sugar

1 pinch salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 c. olive oil

2 eggs (or you can use any egg substitute like I did)

Combine dry ingredients (except sprinkling sugar).  Add in oil and egg substitute.  Mix and roll into Tbsp. size balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet.  Using a spoon, press each ball to flatten and sprinkle with sugar.  Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.  Cool and enjoy.

Easy Biscuits – February 7, 2014

I had dinner with my friend Virginia the other night and she told me about this crazy idea – biscuits made with three ingredients.  And, even more interesting, one of these ingredients is mayonnaise.  Well, it just so happened we had three jars of mayo in the fridge from various events.  And, although we aren’t big biscuit eaters, I thought the idea of using up some mayo and having a special Sunday breakfast sounded great.

These biscuits do require that you have self rising flour (or you have to supplement your all-purpose flour making it more than three ingredients).  You can also do as I did and replace the milk with buttermilk.  The dough is very sticky and more a drop biscuit than something you can roll out, but they were very easy and quite delicious.  They also kept in the fridge and warmed well in the toaster through the week with butter and jam.

Three Ingredient Biscuits

2 c. self-rising flour

6 T. mayo

1 c. milk

Mix all ingredients just until blended.  Heat an iron skillet in oven at 400 degrees.  Remove and drop biscuits on skillet (makes about seven or eight).  Cook approximately 20 minutes until lightly browned.

Well, it just so happens that after I made these for breakfast, we listened to Natalie Dupree on The Splendid Table share her recipe for TWO INGEDIENT biscuits.  These don’t use up any mayo, but help if you have extra whipping cream.  They also require you to fold them out, but they were really delicious!!!!

Two Ingredient Biscuits

2 ¼ c. self-rising flour

1 ¼ c. heavy cream

Preheat oven to 450 degrees and spray iron skillet with oil.  Whisk 2 c. flour in bowl and make well in center.  Slowly add 1 c. cream mixing until just together.  Use flour to flour surface and drop dough on top.  Flour dough and fold in half.  Flour again and fold again.  Add more flour or cream as needed.  Press dough out ½ - ¾ inch thick and cut biscuits.  Place in skillet touching each other.  Bake 10-14 minutes on top rack, rotating if needed.

I don’t know how it is where you are this weekend, but we have more cold and snow – the perfect weather to stay at home with biscuits, ham or jam.  Enjoy and have a great weekend

One year ago – Smoked Salmon and Smoked Salmon Pasta