Since you are probably getting your chocolate fix in another form this particular holiday, these are, officially, the most perfect Valentine's cookie. Not only are these Linzer hearts gorgeous with their deep red raspberry jam set against snow white confectioner's sugar, they taste like a dream. Super buttery with a lemony bite and a nutty background, these cookies melt on your tongue.

I can't lie to you: these are not easy to make. Rolling out the dough was a struggle, and the frequent trips it had to take back to the freezer tried my patience. Also, I still haven't coughed up the cash for the electric mixer some lucky people have, so there was extra bicep work trying to make the butter and sugar "light and fluffy." In fact, it never got light or fluffy.

But there seemed to be no dire consequences for lack of fluff. In the end, my Linzer hearts looked great and tasted even better, and my infinite Valentine's joy was spread with raspberry jam sandwich cookies.

Valentine Linzer Hearts

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup nuts (I used pinenuts and they were positively heavenly, but almonds, hazlenuts, pecans or walnuts would all be great)
2 sticks unsalted butter
2/3 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
raspberry jam
confectioner's sugar
2 heart-shaped cookie cutters, one large and one small

In a medium bowl, stir flour, baking power, and salt together. Then, in a food processor, pulse your nuts until they are finely ground. Stir the nuts into the flour mixture and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, preferably (though nothing bad will happen if you just kind of ferociously mix 'em together by hand, like I did). Add the egg yolks, vanilla and lemon zest, and beat to combine. Then stir your dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined.

Put down a piece of parchment paper and lightly flour it. Turn the dough out onto the paper, divide in half, and shape into flattened disks. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Eat dinner or read fashion magazines.

Remove one disk from the fridge and let it stand until slightly softened. Then, on your floured parchment, roll out the dough to 1/8" thickness. Transfer the parchment and dough to a baking sheet and store in the freezer until firm, about 15 minutes. Repeat with the second disk of dough, and then preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

Remove one sheet of rolled out dough from the freezer and cut out large heart shapes with a cookie cutter. Cut a small heart shape out of half of the big hearts. Keep the little hearts and dust them with confectioner's sugar -- they're divine! Now, put a new piece of parchment paper on the cookie sheet and put the cut-outs directly on the cookie sheet and back into the freezer for another 15 minutes. Repeat with the rest of the dough.

Remove the cookie trays from the freezer and into the oven to bake for 15 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through so the cookies bake evenly. Let them cool. Then dust the big hearts center cut outs with confectioner's sugar. Spread the solid hearts with raspberry and sandwich away! Phew!

Posted by sarah at 11:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

I am in full hibernation mode, are you? Shortly after nightfall, I'm under the covers with the lights out and getting up in the morning feels downright unnatural. All I want is to nest in my apartment with travelogues, a towering stack of cookbooks, and my Julia and Jacques dvds. Groceries will be delivered to my door, and I will send notice to my friends and employer that, regrettably, I will be unavailable until the magnolia trees bloom.

This breakfast will either help you brave the blustery cold or send you right back to bed, sleepy and slowed-down. Your post-meal energy level is a coin-toss, but the food itself is undebatably delicous. I have a feeling the young ones will love this, too.

Eggs In A Hole
Serves 2

2 slices bacon (I'm in love with extra-thick cut slab bacon right now)
2 slices toast
2 eggs

Fry up the bacon over medium-low heat. Meanwhile, using a cookie cutter or the rim of a glass, cut round circles out of each piece of bread. When the bacon is crisp, remove from the pan and drain on papertowels. Place bread and bread rounds in the bacon grease and crack one egg into each bread hole. When the whites of the eggs are set and the bread slices are getting nice and brown, flip. Flip your little bread circles, too. Aren't they cute? After another minute or so, scoop up each piece of bread and its egg with a spatula, top with its little sister piece of bread and serve with bacon.

Posted by sarah at 10:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (18) | TrackBacks (0)

I really don't care much for football, but since I caught 20 minutes of a game a couple of weeks ago, I've been craving chili and cornbread. It must be Pavlovian or something. This meal is hearty and wholesome in a nice country way, and it'll have non-game fans smiling. Then again, I ate this while watching Antonia's Line, so what do I know?

Chili
Serves 8

This chili is pretty mild (according to my Texas taste buds), so I would serve it with diced jalapenos for people who want to spice it up, as well as grated cheddar cheese, scallions, and sliced avocado.

2 pounds lean ground beef
1 large yellow onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 14.5 oz can beef broth
1/3 cup chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes (the ones with jalapenos would be good here!)
2 15.5 oz cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
brown rice, to serve

In a large soup pot or Dutch oven over moderate heat, cook ground beef, breaking up large pieces with a spoon, until it's no longer pink. Add the onion and cook until it is translucent. Throw in the garlic and cook for a minute or so. Stir in the broth, scrapping up any brown bits on the bottom of your pot. Stir in the chili powder, cumin, and tomatoes with their their lovely juices. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to medium-low and cover, simmering for about 10 minutes. Add the beans and salt. Simmer, uncovered, for another 10 minutes. Serve over brown rice with all the aforementioned fixins.

Cornbread
Serves 8

This cornbread isn't particularly sweet, so you could add more sugar if that's how you like yours, but made this way it really comes to life with sweet cream butter and clover honey.

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup milk (I made mine with 2% and you never would have known)
2 large eggs

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Grease an 8" square baking pan. In a medium bowl, stir flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, and baking powder until combined. Then, in a small bowl, whisk together milk and eggs until they're frothy. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients, and mix until just combined. The batter will be lumpy, and that's exactly as it should be. Pour the mixture into your pan and bake until the top is golden brown, about 20 or 25 minutes. Eat with chili. Cheer!

Posted by sarah at 6:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)