Matcha Green Tea Shortbread

A few years ago, while in Brooklyn, my husband and I ducked into a really beautiful café to get out of the cold and grab a cup of coffee. It was in this café that I had the single best shortbread cookie I ever had. Truth be told I am still trying to figure out the recipe.  It was incredible.  I have never had anything quite like it.  My family really does enjoy the Lavender Shortbread I do make along with a Scottish one I make in my Celtic shortbread pan.  But I was looking to do something different recently and stumbled upon a recipe for Matcha Green Tea Shortbread over at Bob’s Red Mill. I am going to say if you are vegan and looking for something gluten free that would be where to head next.  The following recipe is neither vegan nor gluten free.  Sorry.

No, this recipe gives you the buttery goodness of a shortbread with a nice taste of green tea.  While I chose to decorate them with sesame seeds, I think this would be equally good with a little coconut shaving sprinkled on the chocolate dip. Or skip the chocolate dip all together and just enjoy this spring-colored shortbread as is.

Matcha Green Tea Shortbread

• ¾ cup of all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbls of matcha green tea powder
• ¼ tsp of salt
• ½ cup of confectionary sugar
• 1 stick of butter, softened
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• ½ cup of chocolate chip
• Granulated sugar for decorating 
• Sesame seeds and/or shredded coconut flakes 

Directions:

1. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, matcha and salt. Set aside
2. In a stand mixer, place your butter, confectionary sugar and vanilla and mix until the butter is light and creamy. Scrape down the bowl
3. Next slowly add the flour mixture. Mix until it starts to come together. It’s going to look a bit flakey and dry, but this is ok
4. When it starts to come together turn the mixer off and work the dough with your hands. It should come together to where you will be able to shape the dough.
5. When the dough comes together, shape the dough into a cylinder about an inch and half to two inches in diameter. Wrap in the dough in plastic wrap and pop in the fridge for at least an hour. 
6. Preheat oven to 375, set a small bowl out with a few good tablespoons of granulated sugar to dip the cookies in. 
7. Once the dough has chilled for at least 1 hour, take it out and slice into 1/3-inch rounds. Dip each round into the sugar and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle the cookies with some sesame seeds now if you are using them. 
8. Bake in the oven for about 8-10 mins or until the edges turn just a light brown. Place on a cooling rack when finished.
9. While the cookies are cooling, melt your chocolate chips in a double boiler. I honestly use a metal mixing bowl that fits one of my saucepans.  When the chocolate is melted, dip each cooled cookie into the chocolate and place on a parchment paper to allow the chocolate to cool. At this point you could sprinkle some coconut flakes if you were using them instead of the sesame seeds. 

Spicy Korean Meatballs-or not meatballs

I really like meals that you can change up a little. This is one of those. I’ve made these with beef, and they were good. I had some impossible ground meat substitute and did it with that and they were really good. Did them with pork and that was when my husband asked if they were real meat as he has gotten use to me slipping meat substitutes. I had sent my son home with a plate to enjoy, and I got a text saying he loved it.  I can imagine this would go well with ground chicken too. Use what you got or like.

The original recipe is from fox and briar.  I changed it slightly. 

I use parchment paper because you don’t have to use oil to make sure they don’t stick to the foil. Also, because when I cook, hubby washes, I am being kind to him.  I used to work professionally in a kitchen, and I hated making a mess for the porter to clean.

This is seriously quick and easy and flavorful.  Serve with a salad or with rice or just some veggies. Pop them in a grain bowl. Whatever you want. Like I said you can use these to change things up. 

Spicy Korean Meatballs

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. of ground meat (pork, beef, chicken) OR 1lb of impossible ground “meat”
• 2 green onions, sliced
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 egg, beaten OR 1 flax egg
• ½ cu of breadcrumbs
• 2 ½ tbsp of Gochujang
• 1 tbs of fresh ginger, grated
• 1 tbsp of tamari or low sodium soy sauce 

For the glaze:

In a small pan mix together the following and cook over a low heat while the meatballs are cooking. 

• ¼ cup of brown sugar
• 1 tbsp of tamari or soy sauce
• 1 tbsp of rice wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp of gochujang paste (more if you like it hot)

For the topping:

• 2 sliced green onions
• 2 tbsp of sesame seeds

What to do:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line cookie sheet with tin foil and parchment paper
2. Mix together the meatball ingredients in a bowl. Then form into meatballs using about heaping tablespoon or a cookie scoop. You should get about 24. Place the balls on a cookie sheet. 
3. Bake in an oven for 10-15 mins. Check with a meat thermometer to make sure they have reached 160 degrees.
4. Now would be the time to mix the glaze together and get that nice and warm.
5. About 3 mins before the meatballs are done, brush the glaze on and stick back in the oven.
6. When done, sprinkle the balls with sesame seeds and green onion.

I like this to serve this over rice with sliced cucumber and steamed edamame. Some blacked shishito peppers on the side are nice too. 

Snickering Snickerdoodle

I love cookies.  Really if I was honest, cookies would be my favorite food and I would figure a way to make them a healthy food group, so it was ok to eat them all the time. 

Yeah, I know. Not the healthiest of things to say. Oh well. It’s a fact. So much so, I would happily tell you that cookies are my drug of choice. Sometimes I think I should just start a cookie blog and be done with it. Cook my way through a bunch of cookie cookbooks and eat my way to my own personal nirvana.

I am telling you this because, well, this makes two cookie posts in a row. Maybe I am trying to sell myself on why there are two cookie posts in a row.

So, the other day, I knew we were ordering out and I was feeling sort of meh.  I had been good when I made a run through our local grocery store and managed to pass up all the baked goodies. I looked, I smelled, and I imagined a hot cup of a coffee and one of the lovely bakery goods, but I kept going. I even debating stopping at one of my favorite bakeries for some mini cupcakes on my way home but decided to be good. Being good stopped in the afternoon when I hit a wall with an art project, was having a good bit of anxiety hit me and decided cooking always gets me about of a funk. 

Heading into the kitchen I stopped and thought what did I really want to make? I had been talking with a friend about how I have a zillion cookbooks, but I tend to try things I get in emails, other blogs and what not. That’s when I saw my small collection of Nigella Lawson cookbooks and realized just flipping through the books would make me happy. Sometime later, I don’t really know when, my husband came out of his office and there I was on the kitchen floor, cookbooks open, a cup of coffee and eating one of the last chocolate chip cookies I had baked earlier in the week. My icky meh feeling had passed, and I was thinking about what to cook, what I wanted to try and why the hell didn’t I buy that madeleine pan I saw on sale.

I settled on make one of Nigella Lawson’s cookies and making a little change. It’s election time here in the states and well what better time to add a little bourbon to a cookie. It cooks out and makes a great substitute for vanilla (as does real maple syrup).  Just the idea of putting the bourbon in, no matter how smile made me snicker.  Hence, the snickering snickerdoodle.

Snickering Snickerdoodle cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• ¾ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ cup of butter, room temperature
• 1/3 cup of sugar, plus 2 Tbls sugar off to the side
• 1 large egg 
• 1 ½ tsp of bourbon (use vanilla if you don’t want bourbon but it bakes off)
• 1 Tbls cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350^0. Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl, mix together the flour, nutmeg, baking powder and salt.
3. In a large bowl or mixer bowl, cream the butter and the 1/3 cup of sugar until it’s light and fluffy.
4. Add dry ingredients to creamed butter and sugar until it’s well blended.
5. On a plate or a small bowl mix the 2 tablespoons of sugar with the cinnamon. 
6. Take bits of the cookie dough, roughly about 2 inches and roll into balls. Then roll the ball in the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Place on the cookie sheet.
7. Bake for 15 minutes when they are turning golden brown.  
8. Allow to cool on cookie sheet for 1 min before moving to a cooling rack.