Recipes: Desserts

Alright, now we come to the final recipe that I contributed to Greek Night. I waited to make these until I had arrived at the EU kitchen of the evening.

Here is the second tray waiting to go into the oven.

I wanted to make this recipe version as it has the absolute best-looking cookies of any of the recipes that I looked at, also Tele loved the name of the chef that made it, "Yiayia". Editor's Note: Haha. Yiayia. It still cracks me up.

However, it requires cinnamon oil and for some reason that seems to be about impossible to find in the entire Greater Las Vegas Valley. Luckily, I am the queen of procrastination, so if I had thought of finding this ingredient earlier (I have known since July 11th that I was making these!) then I would have known how hard it was to locate and would have ordered it online from Amazon. Unfortunately, I wasn't thinking that far ahead. Anyhow, I will be trying this version as soon as I get a hold of the cinnamon oil.

That being said I went with a different version of the recipe that I had located on my original recipe search. It has some variations and doesn't include the cinnamon oil, which for now is a good thing. So we were off to making Greek Butter Cookies.

This cookie is easy enough to make. It follows the basics of all cookie making and can be whipped out in about 20 minutes total. I did learn not to skimp on the flour though. This dough does need to be pretty stiff to hold it's shape. I didn't add in the last 3/4 cups of flour and I should have as my cookies sort of mushed down rather than holding the pretty shape of the cinnamon oil recipe's pics. But hey that is what this site is about, what did we learn while we made these recipes and how can we help you to have success with the same/similar recipe.

I was satisfied with the outcome of these cookies, but something tells me that Yiayia's cookies are probably better. Also I think I made them a bit large, but they were yummy and that is all that matters.

So yet again the EU crew chose a food category that I really have no experience with. Baklava and eating at the Mad Greek in Baker, CA once is the extent of my Greek food influence. So, I immediately began searching out desserts... this is my specialty, after all. I had about five different ones that I was tempted to try, but I narrowed it down to three. I chose two cookies and one milk pie. Let's start with the first cookie that I tackled: on Friday, with 4 kids running around, I began the process of making powdered sugar dome cookies, otherwise known as Kourabiethes.

These cookies were super easy to make. A little expensive, if you don't have a cognac drinker in the house as a bottle of Hennessy is $24 and you only need 1 1/2 tablespoons. As luck has it, Tele likes to drink a little Hennessy on occasion, so it all worked out. Now, it seems to me that most Greek recipes were designed to feed an entire army, so I had to halve this recipe. If I knew how to split an egg in half I would have sized it down further, but since I don't have a laser egg yolk/white splitter, I stuck to just half the recipe, which still produced 30 large Kourabiethes.

Apart from sizing the recipe down I did not make any other changes to the recipe except omitting the rose water as it was optional anyhow.

Now a photo journey of the process of making Kourabiethes.

Creamed butter and sugar.

1 1/2 tablespoons Hennessy.

Here is the Hennessy after the baking powder was added.

I had sliced almonds in the fridge so I just chopped them up and roasted them in the oven on 350 degrees until they just started to darken in color.

The almonds have been added into the creamed butter and sugar along with the cognac/baking powder mixture, eggs and vanilla.

The dough after about 1/2 of the flour has been mixed in and another bit has been added.

One more addition of flour to go.

The dough is now ready to be formed into little domes.

Start by scooping out a small mound of dough, such as this.

Then begin pressing the dough together into a ball.

Now use your palm to form the top into a dome shape and flatten the bottom of the cookie.

I found that for me the base of the cookie need to be about the size of the middle of my palm.

And that 2 of my fingers was about 3/4 of an inch tall so I used my fingers as a guide to get the proper dome height.

The cookies waiting to go into the oven.

Now that the cookies have come out of the oven, it is time to start coating them in powdered sugar. Up till this point the kids have only helped me out by being my photographer (and they did a great job of that, if I do say so myself), but now they are ready to get busy.

LittleRoq is the first one to jump on the chair and start the sugar coating process (this was of course after he thoroughly washed his hands. I am quite a stickler about this important kitchen rule. CLEAN HANDS always!).

Now it was time for JoieGirl to get in on the action. She ended up putting the first coating of powdered sugar on almost all the cookies. Such great cooking assistants!

And finally we have all 30 cookies coated in powdered sugar twice and put away in a container waiting for Greek Night.

These went over really well. They were super easy to make and are great for a party because you can make them ahead of time. Being that I don't eat chocolate, I experimented with a few of them using carob in place of the chocolate. I am used to the bittersweet taste of the carob and felt that it worked nicely, but Savory's wife didn't find them as yummy being that she is not accustomed to the flavor. However, she was all over the chocolate ones.

8 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped,
3/4 cup chopped and toasted pecans
20 sheets phyllo dough (14 in by 9 in)

Melt chocolate in the microwave. Stir in pecans.

Lightly brush on sheet of phyllo with butter, place another sheet of phyllo on top and brush with butter. Keep remaining phyllo covered with a damp cloth to keep it from drying out. Cut the two layered sheets into three 14 in by 3 in strips.

Place a heaping teaspoonful of chocolate mixture in the lower corner of phyllo strip. Fold dough over filling, forming a triangle. Fold the triangle up, then fold the triangle over, forming another triangle. (Note: if you used to play "football" with a little paper triangle and finger goals you will know exactly how to fold up these little triangles). Repeat with remaining strips of dough and remaining sheets of phyllo.

Place triangles on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-17 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Sprinkle with confectioners sugar. Yield:30 servings.

Hello Edible Unknown and happy new year! Unlike the other contributors here at the EU, I don't cook. I do however bake. Yes, if one could live by desserts alone all would be well, but since one can not I have my own personal chef (aka: Tele, my husband). I will do my best to contribute desserts that are easy and crowd pleasing.

The first recipe I have for you is a family tradition. My aunts got the recipe in 4H club while in elementary school. They require no baking and are great for kids to make. I took the recipe while I was in high school and modified it just a tad. I eat only white chocolate and so I found a way to still enjoy Eskimo cookies. I love these cookies rock hard straight from the fridge, others prefer them softened out on a tray for a while. It's a personal preference thing. Either way everyone will love these and be asking you for the recipe. Enjoy!

Eskimo Cookies

• 4 cups oatmeal (quick cooking oats provide the best consistency)
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 tsp water
• 2 oz Ghiradelli White Chocolate Baking Bar (or Baker's Unsweetened Baking Chocolate, for the chocolate lovers)
• Powdered sugar

Combine oatmeal, sugar, butter, vanilla and water until mixed thoroughly.
Melt the baking chocolate in the microwave.
Pour over the oatmeal mixture and mix until the chocolate has been distributed evenly.
Roll into small balls and then roll in powdered sugar to coat.

Refrigerate for 2 -3 hrs before serving.

(Note: Sticking to the original recipe and making it easier for young children to make and mix you use 6 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder instead of the 2 oz of baking bar.)

Zabaglione. It sounds like a post-modernistic WWII dictator running about the house screaming of Germans and meatballs. (note: I can make fun of Italians, because I am, in fact, Italian) But in reality is an Italian custard that is many times used as an appetizer or a component of many of the fabulous and artery assaulting desserts that make up Italian post meal cuisine. Notably, this is a side component of quite a few Tiramisu and Zuppa Inglese recipes. Although its not the real way you're supposed to make Tiramisu, just a faster way.

My personal favorite is to make this custard in ramekins and top with fresh berries, as a breakfast or dessert concoction. Of course, there are hundreds of ways to bastardize this custard, substituting Auslese or other German Eiswein, Sherries, or Ports for the Marsala. you can let your imagination run wild.

(Dammit. Every time I write an article I try to put as much schtick as I can into it, but it always inevitably falls back down to a hum drum cooking article. I could emulate tourrettes and just stick a random obscene word in the sentences somewhere I guess. Maybe I'll write a filter.)

Anyway, back to the custard at hand.

To make Zabaglione, one needs the following stuff from your local grocer (or, if you live in Vegas, your local 7-11):

• 5 egg yolks
• 1 whole egg
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup Marsala

Easy, no?

1. In a batter bowl, whisk the egg yolks and the egg together with the sugar, beating until it turns a lemony yellow color.
2. Whisk in the Marsala, until fully combined.
3. Microwave (?!) for 30 seconds.
4. Whisk
5. Repeat steps 3-4 until it is desired thickness.

But it has raw eggs! I'll die!

If your eggs aren't pasteurized then you just may. But if you're living somewhere that doesn't have pasteurized eggs, you may want to move. Or at least get checked out for tapeworms.

Microwave?! BLASPHEMY!

True, Microwaves are evil. They are the incarnate of Lazy Americans(tm) everywhere, and they usually botch things up like no tomorrow. However. This prevents you from having to make it the old fashioned way, using a double-boiler (or a glass bowl on top of a boiling pot of water, my favorite). You can still make it that way, just be careful it doesn't cook too fast, otherwise you'll have an omelette. And a nasty omelette at that.

It is dark here!

You and your custard have been eaten by a grue.

That about sums up Q&A. I hope I've enlightened you, the viewer, to a world not unlike that of custards. Perhaps someday we will be privy to a custard takeover and have to bow to custard, and when that day comes, you can say you helped birth the enslavement of the human race. Until then, custard will remain our friend as ...

GOOD EATS

swanky music plays

(GOOD EATS is copyrighted somewhere by Food Network or Alton Brown, and because I love them like family, I hope they don't get mad)