Category: Laurie Lufkin Cooking

My Turn To Ask…………Would you please vote for my recipe?

Posted on by laurielufkin

I entered the Pillsbury Monthly Recipe contest and the theme this month was appetizers.  My recipe Tuscan Splendor Spinach Braid was chosen out of hundreds of recipes as one of the top ten finalists vying for $2500.00.

Would you please vote for my recipe every day until December 1st—yes, seven days from now–and I could win $2500.00 for me and Lily!  You do have to register to vote on the Pillsbury site but you do not have to select to receive emails from them.

Here is the link to vote: https://generalmills.promo.eprize.com/bakeoff/?WT.ac=HP_Left_Feature_Picture_MonthlyChallenge

Here is the recipe and a (lousy scanned) photo:

INGREDIENTS
1        can (8 oz) Pillsbury® Crescent Recipe Creations® refrigerated
seamless dough sheet
1/3    cup refrigerated black olive tapénade (from 7 oz container)
1        box (9 oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed to drain
1/2    cup crumbled goat (chèvre) cheese
3/4    cup julienne cut sun dried tomatoes in oil, well drained
1        egg
1        teaspoon water

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Unroll dough. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Press into 12×9-inch rectangle.

2. Spread tapénade in 3-inch wide strip lengthwise down the center of dough leaving 1-inch edge on both ends. Layer spinach evenly over the tapénade. Top with cheese then layer with tomatoes.

3. With scissors or sharp knife, make diagonal cuts 1 inch apart on long sides of dough rectangle to within 1/2 inch of filling. Alternately cross strips diagonally over filling. Turn ends of braid up and press to seal. In small bowl, beat egg with water. Brush over top of braid.

4. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. To serve, cut into slices.

Thank you all for your support and votes!

Do You Make The Best Holiday Cookies Around and Want To Prove It?

Posted on by Sharon

Click the poster above for all the information you’ll need to enter your best cookies!

Prize List-

Just a little sneak peek at the prizes for the 1st Annual Good Morning Gloucester Holiday Cookie Contest.

This is NOT a complete list and the items will be gathered into baskets for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners, and then a basket for the child/family entry:

a fabulous goodmorninggloucester beer stein

a bottle of vodka & rum from Ryan & Wood ( you must be 21 or older to accept this part of the prize)

6 cookbooks personally selected by me

baking/candy making items

adorable little note cards and mini journals

3 Books about the building of the Schooner Lannon, one for each basket

1 music CD from Captain Stan and Daisy Nell

a cruise for two gift certificate from Essex River Cruises,

tee shirts from Essex Marina and Click Marketing Tools (me)

cookbooks from Chronicle (from Michelle Curreri) & Rockport publishing

lots of baking supplies and festive holiday decorating stuff

AND MORE IS STILL COMING IN!
family/youth basket that contains the following so far. Most of this basket was assembled by one of the judges, Jannine Fisk because she is a nice person!:

Cookie press

1 book about the building of the Schooner Lannon

2 Cookie cutters: Christmas tree, candy cane, gingerbread boy (Wilton comfort grip)

Brown sugar

Flour

Unsweetened cocoa powder

Baking powder

Mint baking chips

Milk chocolate chips

Toffee chips

Two small hardbound cookie cookbooks

Foil baking cups, sweetened condensed milk

Small deck of Kids Magic Trick cards

Gift certificates for a family meal/activity on Cape Ann-from Sharon Lowe

Please come on down on Thursday to Brown’s Mall and enter! Remember, your entry fee of $5.00 and two non perishable food items goes directly to The Open Door!

1st Annual Good Morning Gloucester Holiday Cookie Contest!

Posted on by laurielufkin

Do You Make The Best Holiday Cookies Around and Want To Prove It?

Here’s your chance!

1ST ANNUAL GOOD MORNING GLOUCESTER HOLIDAY COOKIE CONTEST

When:  Thursday, December 3rd (Ladies Shopping Night in Gloucester).  Entry turn in 4-5:30 pm, judging begins at 6:00.  No prior registration necessary

Where:  Brown’s Mall, 186 Main Street, Gloucester

Why:  Because we want to find the best cookies around, support the Open Door Food Pantry this holiday season and have fun with food at the same time in a contest that does not involve giant burgers or fiery foods for a change.

Entry fee: $5.00 and two non perishable food items to be donated to the Open Door.

Your entries will be judged on the following criteria by qualified food professionals and local notables, all with excellent taste buds:

Taste 40%

Appearance (of cookies and overall presentation) 20%

Texture 20%

Overall Appeal of cookies 20%

Prizes will be awarded as follows:

1st place, individual entry

2nd place, individual entry

3rd place, individual entry

One 1st place prize for a youth/family entry.

The prizes will be fabulous and available for viewing when you drop off your entry the night of the event–trust us on this one–and the bragging rights are just an extra!

And now, the particulars:

You may decorate and garnish your entries with holiday flair as desired, 12 cookies per plate please.

You may enter as many different cookie submissions as you wish but you must pay an additional $5.00 and two more non perishable food items for The Open Door per entry.

No professional bakers/chefs allowed to enter please.

No mixes allowed.  All entries must be from scratch.

Three legible copies of recipe must accompany all entries. Please include name, address and telephone number on the back of each sheet.  Recipes become the property of www.goodmorningloucester.com and may be reproduced.  If your recipe is not original (your personal creation), please attribute its origin.

Judging will begin promptly at 6:00 and will conclude when all entries have been judged

You do not have to be present for announcement of the winners, but it will be more fun if you are.

The decisions of the judges are final.

All cookie entries will be packaged and donated to The Open Door the night of the event.

Remember this nice soup recipe? It’s a Winner Winner Chicken Soup Dinner!

Posted on by laurielufkin

Remember this nice soup recipe from a few weeks ago?  Well, I know it’s not a giant Christmas tree made from lobster pots, but this is pretty exciting to me!  I have posted the recipe again for you but scroll down past the recipe to see what I won!

Pesto Kissed Tuscan Chicken and Olive Stew

3 bone in chicken breasts with skin, trimmed
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup fennel, diced
1 cup sweet onion, diced
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1 teaspoon black pepper, plus more to taste
1 ½ teaspoons thyme
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1-15.5 oz can diced tomatoes in sauce
2 bay leaves
5 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup pitted olives of your choice (not brined) drained and cut in half
1-1lb 13 oz can navy or small white beans, rinsed and drained
8 tablespoons prepared basil pesto

Shredded parmesan cheese (optional)

Heat the oil in a heavy 7 quart Dutch oven over medium heat.  Season chicken breasts on both sides with salt and pepper and place them skin side down in hot oil to brown, turning frequently to prevent scorching.  Brown the skin and remove breast to a plate.

To the pot, add the fennel, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, thyme and rosemary and saute until vegetables are translucent, about 5-minutes. Sprinkle in flour and stir until flour turns slightly brown, about 2 minutes.  Stir in the tomatoes, stock, tomato paste and bay leaves and the browned chicken to the pot.

Bring the mixture to a low boil and then reduce the heat to low.  Allow the chicken to cook, uncovered but submerged, until cooked through, about 25 minutes.  Remove the chicken to a cutting board and allow to cool to a workable temperature.  Remove skin and bones from breast and cut or pull chicken into bite sized pieces.

Remove bay leaves from pot, add beans and olives and allow broth to thicken and reduce slightly.   When broth is thickened, return chicken to the pot, stir and re-season with salt and pepper to taste.  Bring soup back to a simmer. Ladle soup into serving bowls and drizzle with one tablespoon prepared basil pesto and top with shredded cheese.  Serve immediately.

It won me this!

This is an Emile Henry 7 quart Dutch Oven!

Here is the link to my winning recipe and those of my equally as talented cooking pals Sally and Deborah who came in 2nd and 3rd–check them out!

http://www.calolive.org/TheCaliforniaOliveCommitteeCookingCookingArticlesThreeTalentedChefsarePotLucky.aspx

It has been along “dry spell” since I have won anything in any of the many recipecooking contests that I enter so hopefully, this will start another winning streak!  If you make the soup, please let me know what you think and thank you all for your nice comments when I see you out and about.

More recipes to come!

Bonus Recipe! Holiday Fresh Fig and Spiced Apple Pie

Posted on by laurielufkin

Yummm…..pie….

I wanted to share this one with you to offer a bit of an alternative to traditional Thanksgiving pies.  Fresh figs are in the grocery stores right now and this combo of apples, figs and dried cranberries is terrific!

There will be a new episode of Inspired Cooking airing on Cape Ann TV tonight at 8:30–thought it was airing last week but it didn’t so I hope you will tune in.  The recipes for tonight’s show were posted last week and can be found here.  Make sure to check out my adorable prep cook!:

https://goodmorninggloucester.wordpress.com/2009/11/10/what-to-do-with-your-thanksgiving-leftovers/

Holiday Fresh Fig & Spiced Apple Pie

CRUST:
2 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup butter flavored shortening
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
6 to 8 tablespoons ice water

FILLING
1 tablespoon quick cooking tapioca
16-18 fresh figs, stems removed and sliced horizontally into 1/8″ circles
5 tart apples, peeled, cored and sliced
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon fresh orange zest, finely chopped
3 tablespoons heavy cream, divided
½ cup sweetened dried cranberries
2 tablespoons butter, cold and cut into small pieces
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 egg yolk (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Make crust using your favorite method and place one crust into a glass pie pan. Trim any overhanging crust to re-roll later, if desired, to decorate the top of the pie. Sprinkle tapioca on to bottom of crust and spread some of the sliced figs in a single layer covering the bottom of the crust.

In a large bowl, combine apples, flour, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, salt, vanilla extract, orange zest and 2 tablespoons heavy cream and stir gently until apples are coated.

Over the figs, layer ½ of the apples into the pan. Cover apple layer with the dried cranberries. Layer the remaining apples over the figs and top apples with remaining figs. Scatter butter on top of fig layer and top with remaining pie crust. Trim, seal and flute edge.  Cut slits or shapes in several places in top crust. If desired roll out reserved crust and cut decorative shapes to enhance the pies appearance. Use egg yolk as “glue” to adhere decorations to top crust. Brush top crust with remaining heavy cream, sprinkle with granulated sugar and place pie in preheated oven.

Bake 55 to 65 minutes or until apples are tender and crust is golden brown. After 40 minutes of baking time, cover crust edge with strips of foil to prevent excessive browning. Remove from oven and allow to rest for at least ½ hour before slicing. Enjoy with ice cream, whipped cream or just by itself. Enjoy!

OMG Cookies!

Posted on by Sharon

cookies

Laurie posted a recipe a few weeks ago for Fall Fruit Oatmeal Cookies and I was dying to try them. So the opening of our gift shop,“Present”, last night gave me a good reason to make them. I found all the ingredients (including the cinnamon chips), but I decided to use dried apricots instead of the apples. Well I gotta tell you, they are incredible. I was lucky to get them out of the house with 2 guys (and me) sneaking cookies all evening.

Thanks, Laurie!!! Yum!

What to do with your Thanksgiving Leftovers

Posted on by laurielufkin

The holidays are upon us and who has money to throw away?  Not me!  So here are a few ideas how to save money by recycling some of your leftover holiday foods into fun meals for your family. This episode was conceived  after speaking with Julie LaFontaine the Executive Director of the Open Door Food Pantry (pictured above, with Lily).  We were talking about what I could do to help spread the message of the Open Door and we came up with this show.

I went to the grocery store and bought the items that will be included in the Thanksgiving meals that are being donated to the Open Door.  I went home, cooked a traditional turkey dinner including turkey, potatoes, squash, carrots, stuffing, gravy, onions and cranberry sauce.  Also in the basket is a 5 pound bag of apples so I had all of that to work with.   And this is what I came up with.

These are the recipes for Inspired Cooking that is airing on Cape Ann TV tonight at 8:30 and again Friday at 4:30 and Sunday morning at 11:30.

Because you will be using your leftovers (and I don’t know how much you have) and I used mine, the quantities are not exact.  Taste what you are putting together, add dash of something here and a little more of something there and you will come up with a fun cost effective meal for your family.

Use these recipes as guidelines to making something terrific!

Squash Custard Pie

1 refrigerated pie crust.
5-6 cups leftover squash and carrots–whatever you do not have, make up the difference with a can of pumpkin puree–if veggies are a little chunky, that’s ok as long you are ok with texture in your pie.
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoon melted butter
½-¾ cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Fit crust into deep dish pie plate and crimp edges.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream butter, sugar and extract.  Stir in vegetables and season with cinnamon and nutmeg.

Pour filling in to pie crust and bake pie for 45-55 minutes until filling is set and the blade of a knife, inserted into the center of the pie comes out clean.

Allow to cool before slicing.

Oatmeal topped Apple Crisp–serve with ice cream if you have it!

¼ cup flour
¾ cup brown sugar, divided
2 teaspoons cinnamon, divided
½ teaspoon nutmeg
Pinch salt
5-7 cups peeled apples (whatever you have), peeled, cored and sliced
4 tablespoon melted butter, divided
2 cups old fashioned oats (if you have quick oats, use them!)

Spray an 8” x 8” dish with nonstick spray or coat with butter.  Set aside.

Whisk together flour, ¼ cup brown sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and nutmeg and salt and toss mixture with apples.  Pour apples in to prepared pan.

Whisk together oats, melted butter, remaining brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over apples.  Bake in preheated oven for 45-55 minutes until oatmeal is crisp and apples are soft.  Enjoy

Turkey Dinner in a Stuffing Muffin

Cooked Turkey, cut into small cubes
Leftover gravy
Leftover stuffing
Leftover cranberry sauce
Leftover mashed potatoes

Spray 12 muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

Mix turkey and stuffing in a small bowl.  Press  stuffing into bottom and up sides of cups  to make a crust.  Spoon 2 tablespoons  of the turkey and gravy mixture into the stuffing crust.  Place a small slice or tablespoon of cranberry sauce on top of the turkey  mixture.

Place about ¼ cup mashed potatoes in the palm of your hand and form into a patty.  Place the patty on top of the filled stuffing cup.

Repeat using up the remaining leftovers.

Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes until edges are lightly browned.  Remove pan from oven and  allow cups to cool for about 5 minutes before serving.  Remove from pans and serve with additional gravy if desired.

Pulled Turkey Sliders with CranApple Slaw and Crispy Oven Fries

For the sandwiches you will need:

Leftover or fresh small rolls
Turkey, pulled into small pieces
Barbecue sauce

Mix turkey with bbq sauce.  Heat either slowly on the stovetop or covered in the oven at 350 degrees until hot.  Toast the rolls and slather with additional barbeque sauce if desired.  Place warm turkey on the bun and top with the slaw

For the slaw:

Mayonnaise
Leftover cranberry sauce
1 bag cole slaw mix
Apple chunks
Celery seeds, poppy seeds or other spices, if desired
Salt and pepper to taste

In a medium bowl, mix equal amounts cranberry sauce and mayonnaise.  Add seasonings if desired and pour over apple chunks and slaw mix in a large bowl. Stir to combine and add salt and pepper to taste.

For the oven fries:
Uncooked potatoes, cut into steak fry size
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a large bowl, toss cup potatoes with a few tablespoons olive oil to coat.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Also great with a little garlic powder sprinkled on.

Bake for 35-40 minutes until crisp on one side. Flip fries over and cook for an additional 10 minutes until cooked through.  Enjoy!

And last but not least, Lily in her fabulous hat and chef’s coat.  Let me tell you, this kid can cook!  She came in 4th in an apple pie contest at Brooksby Farm on Sunday–there was no youth category–she competed against the adults!  I am so proud of her!

AND THE WINNER IS……………

Posted on by laurielufkin

CONGRATULATIONS TO:

This is it – the vegan safehouse!

    By: Island Annie on November 8, 2009
    at 9:35 pm

    Mom and I had a big time reading all of the captions and had a hard time choosing the winner!  Congratulations Island Annie.  You can respond to this post or send me an email at laurielufkin@yahoo.com to arrange to get your cookies!

    Open Door Food Pantry–It’s A Good Thing!

    Posted on by laurielufkin

    So yesterday, Lily and I went to the Open Door Food Pantry to shoot an episode of Inspired Cooking which will air next week and probably for a couple of weeks.  The show was about fun and easy ideas to use your holiday leftovers in a cost effective manner because I feel that throwing away food is like flushing money down the drain–and I don’t want to do it!

    Anyway, Julie LaFontaine, the Executive Director of the Open Door, Lily and I had a great time doing the show, the food came out delicious and a good time was had by all.  The point of this is that there are lots of families on Cape Ann that need our help.  Families have been hit hard in this economy and donating a holiday dinner to a needy family is the right thing to do if you can afford to help out.

    This is what your $30.00 will buy for a family in need:

    Holiday Meal Basket Donation Form

    Each basket contains all the fixings a family of four will need to prepare a festive holiday meal.  Just click on the link and everything you need to know is right there.

    Baskets include:

    • Turkey (14-16 pounds)
    • Stuffing Mix
    • Potatoes
    • Carrots*
    • Butternut squash
    • Apples
    • Cranberry Sauce
    • Dinner Rolls*
    • Gravy

    Please help out our neighbors who might be struggling right now.  According to Julie, those who are using the pantry are mostly working families who just can’t make ends meet.  People are suffering everywhere and if you can help, please do.  Here is the information below.

    And if I can nominate a good egg, that would be Julie LaFontaine!

    Hearty Chicken and Olive Stew with Bacon Fennel Cornbread

    Posted on by laurielufkin

    So here are the recipes to go with this weeks “Inspired Cooking.”  My show airs tonight on Cape Ann TV, channel 12 at 8:30.  The same episode aires again Friday afternoon at 4:30 and again Sunday morning at 11:30.  Hope you will tune in!

    This week, with Fall upon us, I decided to make something good and hearty to keep us warm.  I wanted to use similar ingredients in two of the dishes, onions and fennel, and come up with totally different results.  I thought it might be fun if I took some pictures of what my kitchen looks like when I am getting ready to shoot  the show–you will see how tiny it is but strangely enough, works great for TV!

    This is a pic of the corner of my kitchen, next to the stove.  The bacon is frying up for the cornbread.   I measure out the ingredients twice, once to make right away for the test batch and then one set in matching bowls on trays so that I have everything ready for the show.

    I always make everything at least once beforehand so that if it doesn’t work or needs some adjustments, I can do that before we start taping.  The only exception to this rule is if I have made something hundreds of times, like my lemon squares, for instance.

    This is what the kitchen looks like from where Rob, my fantastic camera man stands (he is great–takes care of everything but the shopping, cooking and cleaning and I “pay” him in food from the show!)  Sometimes he stands on a milk crate to get overhead shots of whats in the pan.  The only thing that would make this set up better is if the stove where on the other side of the kitchen.  Luckily, I have my nice little induction burner and it all works out pretty well.

    And this is what it looks like after we are done taping–food all plated, kitchen clean (wonder if those Food Network celebs have to do their own shopping/prep/dishes/cleanup–NOT) and then we take the still shots of the final dishes.

    I have to tell you, it is a ton of work but I LOVE every second of it!

    And finally,  here are the recipes from the show:

     

    Fontina Cornbread with Fennel and Bacon

    4 strips bacon, chopped
    2 cups diced fennel
    1 cup diced onion
    1 teaspoon dried thyme
    Salt and pepper to taste
    1 cup all purpose flour
    1 cup yellow cornmeal
    2 teaspoons baking powder
    ½ teaspoon salt
    4 large eggs
    ½ cup vegetable oil
    1 cup sour cream
    12 oz shredded fontina cheese
    1-15 oz can creamed corn

    In a large saucepan, render bacon over medium low heat until meat is browned and crispy.  Remove meat from pan with a slotted spoon to a paper towel covered dish, and fennel, onion, butter and thyme and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Cook over medium low heat until vegetables are soft and caramelized.  Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly, re-seasoning with salt and pepper if desired.

    Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 9 x 13 baking dish and set aside.

    In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

    In a large bowl, whisk the eggs.  Add the sour cream, vegetable oil, creamed corn and all but ½ cup of the fontina and stir until well blended.  Add the dry ingredients and stir again until just blended.  Fold in vegetable mixture and reserved bacon and pour in to prepared pan.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes or until tester comes out clean.
    Enjoy!

    Hearty Chicken, White Bean and Olive Stew

    3 bone in chicken breasts with skin, trimmed
    4 tablespoons olive oil
    1 cup fennel, diced
    1 cup sweet onion, diced
    1 clove garlic, chopped
    1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
    1 teaspoon black pepper, plus more to taste
    1 ½ teaspoons thyme
    1 teaspoon dried rosemary
    3 tablespoons all purpose flour
    1-15.5 oz can diced tomatoes in sauce
    2 bay leaves
    5 cups chicken broth
    2 tablespoons tomato paste
    1 cup pitted olives of your choice (not brined) drained and cut in half
    1-1lb 13 oz can navy or small white beans, rinsed and drained
    8 tablespoons prepared basil pesto

    Heat the oil in a heavy 7 quart Dutch oven over medium heat.  Season chicken breasts on both sides with salt and pepper and place them skin side down in hot oil to brown, turning frequently to prevent scorching.  Brown the skin and remove breast to a plate.

    To the pot, add the fennel, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, thyme and rosemary and saute until vegetables are translucent, about 5-minutes. Sprinkle in flour and stir until flour turns slightly brown, about 2 minutes.  Stir in the tomatoes, stock, tomato paste and bay leaves and the browned chicken to the pot.

    Bring the mixture to a low boil and then reduce the heat to low.  Allow the chicken to cook, uncovered but submerged, until cooked through, about 25 minutes.  Remove the chicken to a cutting board and allow to cool to a workable temperature.  Remove skin and bones from breast and cut or pull chicken into bite sized pieces.

    Remove bay leaves from pot, add beans and olives and allow broth to thicken and reduce slightly.   When broth is thickened, return chicken to the pot, stir and re-season with salt and pepper to taste.  Bring soup back to a simmer. Ladle soup into serving bowls and drizzle with one tablespoon prepared basil pesto.  Serve immediately.

     

    Another helpful piece of information about baking cookies

    Posted on by laurielufkin

    I just came across this and though it might be helpful now that we are running in to the holiday baking season.  This is from http://www.cooksillustrated.com:

    We think most cookies are best when they are chewy. This means taking them out of the oven when they are slightly underdone—in fact, the cookies are often so soft they will droop over the end of a spatula. Bake cookies on parchment and cool on baking sheet for a few minutes; after they have set up slightly, slide the parchment onto a cooling rack. if the cookies have crevices, the crevices should appear moist. When baking smooth cookies, look at the edges, which should be lightly browned; the center should be set but not fully dry.

    I  also find that when you can smell them, time to check the oven as they are done or just about done.

    Chocolate Chip Cookies The Way I Like Them

    Posted on by laurielufkin

    I wanted to share with you my chocolate chip cookie recipe.  This recipe makes these traditional cookies just the way I like them, soft in the middle, crispy on the edge and not terribly sweet.  You can use this recipe, minus the chips, as a great base cookie recipe and add in your own favorites–nuts, dried fruit, chips or whatever you like –and perhaps the best idea for the day after Halloween–chopped up leftover Halloween Candy!  Make these today-they are simple, delicious and if you take them to work with you tomorrow your coworkers who might NOT eat more candy will probably eat some cookies!

    Chocolate Chip Cookies The Way I Like Them

    4 cups all purpose flour
    2 teaspoon kosher salt*
    1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
    1 cup shortening (butter flavored or traditional)
    ½ cup salted butter
    2 ½ cups light brown sugar
    1 tablespoon vanilla extract
    2 eggs
    3 cups chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet)**

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cover 4 large baking sheets with parchment paper, silicone baking mats or spray with nonstick cooking spray.  Set aside.

    In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, kosher salt* and baking soda and set aside.

    In a large bowl, beat together shortening, butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.   This is what “light and fluffy” looks like:

    On high speed, add eggs, one at a time and vanilla until well incorporated.  Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in flour mixture.  When incorporated, add chocolate chips and beat until combined.

    Using a small ice cream scoop, dish out cookie dough on to prepared pan, 12 to a sheet.

    Place sheets in oven, two at a time, and bake for 5 minutes.  After 5 minutes, turn cookie sheets around, front to back and move top sheet to bottom and vice versa.  Bake for another 5 minutes until brown around the edges and puffed in the center.  Allow to cool on sheet for 5 minutes and remove to a rack to cool.

    *I use kosher for baking because I like that hit of salt in my cookies.  Use table salt if desired.
    **I used semisweet in this recipe but try out different mix ins.  You could use 1 cup white chocolate chips, one cup dried cranberries and one cup chopped pecans.  This is a great base recipe so use your imagination to make it your own.

    This recipe makes 9 dozen cookies.  It can easily be halved.

    Cinnamon Orange Cranberry Swirl Coffee Cake

    Posted on by laurielufkin

    This recipe is a take off on my Mom’s Cranberry Swirl Coffee Cake–a Sue Lufkin classic recipe!

    You can add nuts if you want to the filling and sprinkle some on top but I have too many nut allergy people in my life to do this.    If you don’t feel like making the candied orange zest, then don’t.  Replace the orange zest with toasted walnuts, change the name and presto–new cake!

    I baked the cake in the photo in a Nordic Ware Fleur De Lis bundt cake pan but any 8″ tube pan will work.  I also only did one layer of the cranberry/orange mixture as you will see in the photo at the end of the recipe.   Enjoy!

    Yummy—Cinnamon Orange Cranberry Swirl Coffee Cake

    For the cake:
    2 cups all purpose flour
    1 teaspoon baking powder
    1 ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
    ½ teaspoon nutmeg
    ¾ teaspoon salt
    ½ cup butter, at room temperature
    1 cup granulated sugar
    2 large eggs, at room temperature
    1 tablespoons fresh orange zest
    1 cup sour cream
    1 cup whole berry cranberry sauce, stirred
    1/3 cup candied orange peel  (directions to follow)
    ¼ cup sweetened dried cranberries

    For the glaze:

    ¾ cup confectioners’ sugar
    1-2 tablespoons orange juice

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees,  Grease and flour an 8” tube pan or a 9-12 cup bundt pan.

    In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and set aside.

    In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs, one at a time.  Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in dry ingredients a little at a time, alternating with the sour cream.

    Stir together  all but 1 tablespoon orange zest with the cranberry sauce and set aside.

    Place 1/3  of the batter in the prepared pan.  Spread half of the cranberry and orange mixture over the batter and swirl with knife.  Reepeat with remaining batter and  cranberry mixture, ending with the batter.  Smooth top of the cake and bake in preheated oven for 45-55 minutes until cake tester comes out clean.

    Cool cake in pan 10 minutes and turn out on to serving plate t cool completely.  When cake is cool, whisk together confectioners’ sugar and orange juice.  Drizzle over cake and sprinkle cake with remaining chopped candied orange zest and dried cranberries.

    For the zest:

    *you can make less of this if you want to but you might as well make a bunch of it all at once.  Keeps for months in the sugar and is great on and in baked goods .  Also fun on the edge of a martini glass.

    4 cups granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling
    2 ½ cups water
    3 oranges, peeled, and as much pith removed from the peel as possible, cut into ¼” strips

    In a small sauce pan, bring the sugar and water to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.  Remove from heat.

    In another pan, place zest and cover with additional water.  Bring to a boil, strain and repeat two more times.  Dry the pan, pour the sugar syrup over the blanched zest and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer and allow to cook until the zest is tender and translucent.  Allow to cool slightly and remove to a cooling rack. When cool, toss in additional sugar.  Put some of the sugar in an airtight container and store in a cool dry place till ready to use.

    *Keep the drained syrup and store in the refrigerator–it is orange spiked at this point and excellent to sweeten cocktails or brush on layers of cake to keep them moist before frosting.

    As always, feel free to ask my any questions you might have about this or any of my recipes.

    So Lily and I didn’t win the Parent-Child Cookie Contest at the Topsfield Fair…………but these are darn good!

    Posted on by laurielufkin

    We really did try!  Here is the cookie recipe that I gave you a couple of weeks ago but with a filling added to make it a sandwich cookie!  They are so good but didn’t bring home a ribbon.  Oh well….Like I tell Lily, you win some, you lose more but you will never win if you don’t try!  I hope you enjoy these and please let me know what you think.

    This was our presentation plate for the judges:

    Fruity Fall Flavors Cinnamon Sandwich Cookies

    For the filling:

    4 tablespoons cinnamon chips
    ½ teaspoon vegetable shortening
    4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
    3 tablespoons dulce de leche*

    In a small microwave safe bowl, combine chips and shortening.  Microwave on high power for one minute and stir until smooth.  In a medium bowl beat together cream cheese and dulce de leche until blended.  Beat in melted cinnamon chips until smooth.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

    For the cookies:

    1 cup all purpose flour
    ½ teaspoon baking powder
    ¾ teaspoon baking soda
    ¾ teaspoon salt
    1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
    7 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature
    7 tablespoons butter flavored shortening (you can use all butter but the cookies will be flatter and that’s 0k)
    1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
    1 large egg
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    ½ cup sweetened dried cranberries
    ½ cup dried apples, diced
    2/3 cup cinnamon chips**
    2 ½ cups old fashioned oats

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 4 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

    In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg and set aside.

    In another bowl, beat together butter, shortening and brown sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg and vanilla extract until well combined.  With mixer running on low speed, slowly incorporate flour mixture.  Mix in cranberries, apples, cinnamon chips and oats and beat again until just combined.

    Scoop by rounded tablespoonfuls (use a tiny ice cream scoop if you have one so they call come out round and the same size and cook at the same time) on to prepared baking sheet, 12 to a sheet. Bake for 9 minutes cookies are slightly browned on the bottom.   Remove from oven and allow to cool on parchment.

    To assemble, spread two teaspoons prepared filling on the bottom side of one cookie.  Top with another cookie, bottom side down.  Repeat with remaining cookies and enjoy!

    *this can be found in a small can in the international food section with the other milk products, it is made by Nestle and is called “La Lechera.”  Look at the photo below.  The cans on the left side are sweetened condensed milk, the cans on the right side are what you want.  It is a very thick brown caramel in a can about the size of sweetened condensed milk.  I found it in the new Market Basket in Gloucester in the section with the Goya foods.   This is what it looks like:

    **They still don’t have these in at the new Market Basket–ask the manager to get them next time you are there–if we all keep asking, I bet they will stock them.  In a pinch, you can use butterscotch chips and add some cinnamon, about a teaspoon, to the dry ingredients

    Autumn Harvest Cranberry Filled New England Bundt Cake

    Posted on by laurielufkin

    If you are feeling like you want to stretch your baking muscles this lovely fall day, try this recipe.  In 2008 I competed in NECN new’s TV Diner Bake Off and this was the winning recipe.  Other than the Topsfield Fair, this was my first head to head competition and after I won, I realized I was totally hooked on contesting!

    Here’s the link to the judging portion of the show:

    http://www.necn.com/tvdiner/3rd-Annual-TV-Diner-Bakeoff-cookies-and-bundt-cake/1205596656.html

    This is a filled bundt cake with a glaze.  There is a lot of batter and this recipe requires a large bundt pan (like the Nordic Ware original pan) that can hold 10-15 cups of batter plus the filling.  If you have a basic tube cake pan it will work as well.   Check your pan and often times they are marked with the measurement.  If all else fails, fill a one cup measuring cup with water and see how many cups your pan holds.    Make sure to grease your pan well.  I use a canola oil baking spray and go over it twice.   As always, you can email me with any questions about the cake (or any recipe I have) before you get started.  This one is worth the effort, believe me!

    Taste of New England Harvest Bundt Cake

    For the Filling

    8 oz cream cheese, softened
    1 egg yolk
    2 tablespoon cornstarch
    1/4 cup Vermont maple syrup
    1/4 cup brown sugar
    2 tablespoons butter, softened
    1/4 teaspoon salt
    1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
    2 tablespoons Cape Cod whole berry cranberry sauce
    1/3 cup dried Cape Cod cranberries, chopped

    For the Cake:

    3 cups all purpose flour
    2 teaspoon baking soda
    2 teaspoons cinnamon
    3/4 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
    3/4 teaspoon powdered ginger
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    1 cup granulated sugar
    1 cup brown sugar
    1 cup butter, softened
    4 eggs
    1 cup butternut squash or pumpkin puree (canned is fine)
    1 cup sour cream
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract

    For the Topping

    1/2 cup Macintosh, Granny Smith or other tart New England apple sauce
    1 cup confectioners sugar
    1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
    2 tablespoons apple brandy
    2 tablespoons heavy cream
    1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
    1/4 cup New England hazelnuts, toasted and chopped ( may substitute walnuts)
    1/4 cup sweetened dried Cape Cod cranberries chopped

    In a medium bowl prepare the filling. Beat together cream cheese, egg, cornstarch and maple syrup.  Add brown sugar, butter, salt and cinnamon, cranberries and cranberry sauce until combined.  Refrigerate until ready to use but for at least one hour.

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heavily grease a 12 cup Bundt pan and set aside.

    In another bowl sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt and set aside.

    In a large bowl beat granulated sugar, brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy. With mixer running, add eggs one at time and mix until blended. Beat in squash, sour cream and vanilla until well combined. Beat in the flour mixture until just combined.

    Spoon one third of the batter into the pan. Spoon filling in a circle on top of batter but do not allow filling to touch the edge of the pan (a tiny ice cream scoop is perfect for this). Top with remaining batter.

    Bake for 55-65 minutes until golden brown and cake tester comes out clean.

    Remove from oven and place on cooling rack for 15 minutes. Turn out on to serving plate to cool completely.

    Before serving, make the glaze.  Whisk together apple sauce, confectioners sugar, cinnamon, brandy, heavy cream and vanilla extract in a small bowl. Drizzle glaze over cake and sprinkle with hazelnuts and cranberries. Enjoy!

    Another Apple Pie Alternative–Pastry Wrapped Cinnamon Baked Apples

    Posted on by laurielufkin

    Pastry Wrapped Apples

    If you have an over abundance of apples from a trip to a local orchard or a good deal at the grocery store or farmstand, try these!  Not too many ingredients, easy to make and the kids will have fun making them too!  Took this photo before I put the toppings on (must have lost my mind for a second) but they are excellent and big enough to share.  Go crazy and put a little ice cream on them too!

    Pastry Wrapped Baked Cinnamon Apples

    2 teaspoons cinnamon
    3 tablespoons granulated sugar
    4 medium Cortland or other baking apples (about 3” diameter), peeled and cored
    ½ cup cinnamon flavored baking chips
    2 tablespoons softened butter
    1-15-oz. box refrigerated pie crust
    2 tablespoons milk
    ½ cup caramel ice cream topping
    ¼ cup chopped pecans

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees.   Line baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

    In a small bowl, combine cinnamon and sugar.  Sprinkle mixture over peeled apples.

    Cut both rolled pie crusts in half to make four portions.  On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion into a 9 to 10 inch circle and place on prepared baking sheet.  Place 1 tablespoon of cinnamon chips in center of dough and seat apple on top of chips.

    Pour one tablespoon of the remaining chips into the center of each apple.  Press ½ tablespoon butter into chips.  Gather crust up around apples and pinch together at the top to seal.   Gently press any loose crust on to the apple.   Brush lightly with milk.

    Bake apples in preheated oven for 45-50 minutes until apple is softened and crust is golden brown.

    Remove apples from oven.  Drizzle with caramel topping.  Sprinkle with nuts and serve immediately.  Enjoy!

    Inspired Cooking With Laurie To Air Tuesday Night

    Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

    These recipe’s will be cooked on Tuesday night’s episode.

    Due to some crazy circumstances about the Seafood Throwdown from September is finally airing tonight! Inspired Cooking airs on Channel 12, Cape Ann TV, on Tuesday evenings at 8:30, Friday afternoons at 4:30 and Sunday mornings at 11:30–I hope you will tune in! Here are the recipes for all of the components of the winning dish.

    Panko Crusted Haddock with Gremolata

    For the fish:

    2 c. panko crumbs

    1 lemon, zested and juiced, zest finely chopped

    2 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped

    3/4 teaspoon garlic powder (for the throw down I used fresh garlic, very finely chopped)

    11/2 teaspoon kosher salt

    1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

    1 large egg

    1/2 cup milk or light cream

    2 tablespoons butter

    2 tablespoons olive oil

    1 pound skinless haddock or cod filet, cut into 3 pieces

    In a medium bowl, whisk together crumbs, zest, juice, parsley, garlic powder. Season with salt and pepper. Pour in to a shallow dish, such as a pie plate and set aside.

    In another shallow dish, whisk together egg and milk. Season with salt and pepper if desired.

    In a large saute pan over medium high heat, combine butter and oil. Dip fish into the egg mixture to cover completely and then press in to crumb mixture. Turn fish over and repeat. Press crumbs into fish if necessary. When butter and oil is melted and hot, cook fish about 5 minutes until crumbs are browned and fish is partially cooked. Flip over and cook second side for an additional 3-4 minutes until cooked through. Cooking times vary with thickness of fish. Remove to serving plate and top with a drizzle of gremolata.

    For the gremolata:

    3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

    1 teaspoon minced garlic

    1 teaspoon grated lemon zest, finely chopped

    Olive oil (traditional gremolata has no olive oil but I wanted it a little looser)

    Salt & pepper to taste

    Combine parsley, garlic and lemon zest in a small bowl and add just enough olive oil to make the mixture liquid enough to drizzle on the fish. Season with salt and pepper to taste. This can be doubled or tripled as needed.

    Grilled Vegetable Napoleon with Goat Cheese

    1 ear corn, silk removed husk left on

    1 tablespoon softened butter

    Salt and pepper to taste

    2 oz crumbled goat cheese

    3 springs rosemary, leaves stripped from stem to within 2″ from the top, leaves finely chopped, stems reserved

    1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic

    1/2 cup olive oil

    3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

    1 whole eggplant (about 4″ in diameter), sliced in 1/2″ in slices

    1 whole summer squash or zucchini, sliced in 1/2″ slices

    2-4″ diameter tomatoes, in 1/4″ slices

    Preheat outdoor grill or indoor grill pan to medium high heat. Pull back husks of corn and rub kernels with butter. Season with salt and pepper. Pull husks back up over kernels and tie top with one of the husks to from a covering over the kernels. Grill corn for 10-15 minutes, turning frequently. Remove from grill and allow to cool. Using a sharp knife, cut kernels from ear and set aside to cool completely. When cool, combine with goat cheese and season with salt and pepper to taste.

    In the meantime, prepare the marinade for the vegetables. In a large bowl, combine chopped rosemary, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Toss eggplant and summer squash with dressing and grill on preheated grill or grill pan about 5 minutes per side until softened. Remove from heat and set aside. On the serving plate, build your napoleons. Layer grilled vegetables and then one slice tomato, and repeat. Trim the reserved rosemary stems to the height of the napoleon and insert into the center of the stack. Sprinkle the stack with the corn and goat cheese combination and enjoy!

    Sauteed Swiss Chard

    2-3 tablespoon olive oil

    1 tablespoon garlic, finely chopped

    1 tablespoon shallots, finely chopped (for the throw down we used small Walla Walla onions because there were no shallots available)

    1 bunch Swiss chard, chopped into 2″ pieces, stems set aside.

    Salt & Pepper to taste

    In a large saute pan over medium heat, combine olive oil, garlic and shallots. Cook until translucent, about 4-5 minutes.. Add the stems to the pan, toss in the oil and cook for about 5 minutes until slightly softened. Add chopped leaves and cover until wilted, about 4-6 minutes. Toss mixture again to flavor the leaves with the garlic and oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with fish and vegetable napoleons.

    Fantastic Fall Flavors….all in one cookie!

    Posted on by laurielufkin

    Fall Fruit Oatmeal Cookies

    1 cup all purpose flour
    ½ teaspoon baking powder
    ¾ teaspoon baking soda
    ¾ teaspoon salt
    1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
    7 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature
    7 tablespoons butter flavored shortening
    1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
    1 large egg
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    ½ cup sweetened dried cranberries
    ½ cup dried apples, diced*
    2/3 cup cinnamon chips**
    2 ½ cups old fashioned oats

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 4 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

    In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg and set aside.

    In another bowl, beat together butter, shortening and brown sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg and vanilla extract until well combined.  With mixer running on low speed, slowly incorporate flour mixture.  Mix in cranberries, apples, cinnamon chips and oats and beat again until just combined.

    Scoop by rounded tablespoonful on to prepared baking sheet, 12 to a sheet. Bake for 9 minutes cookies are slightly browned on the bottom.   Remove from oven and allow to cool on parchment.

    Makes approximately 48 cookies

    *you can substitute any other dried fruit you wish, just make sure it does not have additional sugar added

    **I have asked the mgr. at the new Market Basket to get these–they are made by Hershey’s) you can omit the chips all together if you wish and increase the fruit.  You could also add 1 tsp of cinnamon to the dry mixture instead.  Or, you can substitute another type of chip if you wish and still add the cinnamon

    GMG Power Rankings #5

    Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

    Laurie Lufkin pulls down the number 5 spot in the GMG Power Rankings.  Laurie is GMG’s resident chef and comes through with her weekly recipe’s and occasional video.

    Laurie is very community oriented and is filling a niche that I obviously couldn’t teh cooking niche.  As much as I love food, cooking or describing how to cook is not one of my strong suits.  She brings  positive energy which is essential if you want to be a contributor on GMG and even when I try to get her to talk smack to hype the Seafood Throwdowns, she refuses because she’s such a good egg, lol.

    I’m hoping to get Laurie to branch out a little more and be our voice from Essex, reporting on happenings in the Essex community.

    Laurie Lufkin
    Good Egg Laurie Lufkin

    Overloaded with Apples but don’t feel like making a pie? Try this!

    Posted on by laurielufkin

    This recipe is the my original creation from the 2008 Hood Holiday Recipe contest–it was the Grand Prize winner so I thought I would share it with you.   This recipe goes together fairly quickly, is delicious and can feed 10-12 people easily.  The dessert separates in to two layers,  moist cakey top and a pudding like custardy bottom in the oven–Use up your apples in a different way.

    Have not made this one on the show yet but I probably should!

    The store bought eggnog should be on store shelves shortly but if you want to make it right away, sweeten some heavy cream with sugar and nutmeg and it should work out just fine.   Or what the heck, make a batch of eggnog to practice for the holidays!

    FESTIVE EGGNOG APPLE PUDDING CAKE

    4 cups apples, cored, peeled and diced
    1 tablespoon lemon juice
    1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
    2 cups all purpose flour
    4 teaspoon baking powder
    1 teaspoon salt
    2 teaspoons freshly ground nutmeg, divided
    1 1/4 cups brown sugar
    2 1/2 cups store bought eggnog, divided
    2 large eggs
    1 stick butter, melted
    2 teaspoons vanilla extract
    1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
    2 tablespoons cornstarch
    1/2 cup water
    Vanilla bean ice cream, if desired
    whipped cream, if desired

    Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

    Butter a 9-inch round casserole dish. In a small bowl, toss apples, lemon juice, and cinnamon until coated and put into bottom of casserole dish. Set aside.

    In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, 1 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg, and brown sugar. Stir in by hand 1 cup eggnog, eggs, vanilla extract, and melted butter until combined. Spread batter over apples. In another bowl, combine granulated sugar and cornstarch. Pour this mixture over the batter and spread out to cover.

    In a saucepan, heat remaining 1 1/2 cup eggnog and water to a boil. Slowly pour hot liquid over sugar mixture in small amounts allowing liquid to soak in a little each time. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg over eggnog mixture and place casserole in the oven. Bake for 55-65 minutes or until top is crisp and brown.

    Serve warm with ice cream and whipped cream and enjoy!