Sometimes the things that should be so easy end up being so very very hard, comparatively. Like making crusty baguette-style dinner rolls (or sandwich rolls, or whatnot). I’ve experimented with various versions and finally — FINALLY — These might just be perfect. It’s another one of those very-little-knead (“no knead”) bake in cast-iron recipes. It takes a while — there is an overnight rise in the fridge involved — but these are really out of this world good. Definitely recommended. I am going to try whole wheat / multigrain versions of these as well, so stay tuned.
I was lucky enough to be given some lovely local honey the other day. I love honey, and any time it is local, all the better. So, with a bit of said honey, I decided to make these Honey Oatmeal Scotchies — oatmeal cookies sweetened with honey and butterscotch chips. Very nice snack — or maybe to go into lunch boxes if kids are going back to school (big IF there, right?)
Mirabelle plums are one of my favorite fruits, but they are actually quite difficult to come by in the US. They are very small (in some cases, not much larger than a cherry) and have a fairly short shelf life. They are also a trademark yellow. I made do this time by finding similar small plum (a little smaller than a golf ball) but I had some mirabelle jam, which I put under the fresh plums on these crumble bars. They are quite juicy, a little tart and very yummy.
I am calling this creation a “Olive Oil, Almond and Sweet Plum Cake” but what it actually is is what happens when you take two of Joanne Chang’s Recipes from Flour Love — the Plum Frangipane Tart (page 230) and the Olive Oil Cake with Fresh Grapes (page 297) and combine them. Turns out, it’s pretty spectacular as a combination — it’s mostly the Olive Oil Cake recipes, but instead of grapes, I used tiny sweet plums. I’m guessing it would also work really well with cherries (pitted) or gooseberries as well. At any rate, glorious inspiration for an otherwise unforgettable Monday.
So, these cookies are a little out of character for me: for starters, they are bigger, like the size of my hand. That is unusual for me as I prefer smaller cookies. And second, they use artificial colors in the sugar, which I do once in a blue moon. But back in late June, i made some fantastic strawberry jam, and then in mid-July, I found a strawberry shaped cookie cutter, so I knew that these cookies needed to me. They are actually quite yummy, with just a hint of almond in the cookie itself. And the homemade jam is great too.