Homemade Oreos

This weekend, Amelia and Sam went out on a play-date and, as they say, “while the cat’s away the mouse will play.” My love of cookies and my disdain for high-fructose corn syrup got together and out popped these homemade oreos. In my opinion these are better than the real thing and I’ll definitely be making them again. I had one pan of the cookies turn out really well; very crumbly cookies that puffed the right amount and are crisp-tender while the other pan completely flattened out into crouton-like chocolate cookies. Needless to say I’ll have to play with this recipe a little more to figure out just what when wrong with that second pan. Regardless, here’s the recipe, taken from a blog called “My Baking Addiction“:

Ingredients:

For the chocolate wafers:

• 1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 c. unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. plus 2 tbsp. room-temperature, unsalted butter
• 1 large egg

For the filling:

• 1/4 c. room-temperature, unsalted butter
• 1/4 c. vegetable shortening
• 2 c. sifted confectioner’s sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Method

1. Set two racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375 degrees F.
2. In a food processor, or bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. While pulsing, or on low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Continue processing or mixing until dough comes together in a mass.
3. Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately two inches apart. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. Bake for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.
4. To make the cream, place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.
5. To assemble the cookies, in a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch, round tip, pipe teaspoon-size blobs of cream into the center of one cookie. Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. Lightly press to work the filling evenly to the outside of the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream. Dunk generously in a large glass of milk and enjoy.

Jerk Tofu with Coconut Rice and Sautéed Veggies

Dinner on Friday took a tropical twist with this dish. I used recipes from Vegetarian Times, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, and my own kitchen know-how to make this meal. Though the dish is somewhat complex, using the right method will enable you to cook this all in about an hour.

The foundation of this meal is the Jerk Seasoning. It is used on the Tofu and the veggies, and you’ll greatly benefit both in flavor and in cost savings by making your own. Blending spices takes all of five minutes and it’s likely you have all these spices on hand. If not, pick a place that will sell spices in bulk so you can buy just as much as you want without having to fork over 1/3 of your grocery budget on bottled spices. The recipe for this blend comes from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. Also, buy a spice grinder, because spending $30 to get better flavors from your spices since you’ll be starting from whole spices is worth every penny.

Jerk Seasoning

• 1 tbsp. allspice berries
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg pieces
• 1 tsp. black peppercorns
• 2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 tsp. cayenne, or to taste
• 1 tbsp. paprika
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 2 tbsp. salt
• 2 tsp. minced garlic
• 2 tsp. peeled and minced fresh ginger or 2 tsp. ground

1. Put the allspice, nutmeg, peppercorns, and thyme in a spice grinder and grind to a fine powder.
2. Mix in the remaining ingredients and use immediately or store in a tightly covered container for up to several weeks and add the garlic and ginger as you use the seasoning.

Now that you have the Jerk Seasoning, you can move on to the rest of the dish. First, prepare your tofu for baking, because you’ll make the other two components (the coconut rice and sautéed veggies) while the tofu bakes.

Jerk-Rubbed Baked Tofu

• 1 pkg. Firm Tofu, well drained
• Peanut Oil
• Jerk Seasoning

1. Line a baking dish with aluminum foil and pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cut the tofu into 4 even cutlets.
3. Place tofu in baking dish
4. Liberally coat tofu with Peanut oil
5. Place about 1tsp. Jerk Seasoning on each tofu cutlet and rub spice mix on surface. Flip tofu and repeat until all sides are evenly coated with peanut oil and spice blend.
6. Bake at 350F for one hour.

With the tofu in the oven, it’s time to prep the veggies and coconut rice ingredients. I used Zucchini, Red Peppers, Red Onion, and Garlic for my vegetable mix but feel free to use whichever veggie mix suits your taste. Because the rice takes a little longer than the veggies (about 30 minutes total) you’ll want to get that started before the vegetables.

Coconut Rice (from Vegetarian Times)

• 1 tbsp. Unsalted Butter
• 2 tsp. minced fresh ginger
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1, 3-inch stick cinnamon
• 1 c. jasmine rice (or plain white rice), rinsed and drained
• 3/4 c. light coconut milk
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp. grated lime zest
• 1/8 tsp. white pepper
• 1/4 c. shredded coconut, toasted (optional)

1. Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add ginger, garlic, and cinnamon stick, and sauté 1 minute, or until fragrant
3. Stir in rice, and sauté 2 minutes, or until grains are opaque.
4. Add coconut milk, sugar, salt, lime zest, white pepper, and 3/4 c. water.
5. Bring contents to a simmer. Stir well, cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 15 minutes or until most liquid is absorbed and rice is cooked.
6. Fluff rice with a fork, cover, and let rest 5 minutes.
7. Garnish with toasted coconut, if using.

Jerk-Seasoned Sautéed Vegetables

• 1 medium red onion, cut in half then thinly sliced
• 3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 medium zucchini, cut into “half-moons”
• 2 medium red peppers, thinly sliced
• Jerk seasoning (to taste)
• 2 tbsp. Peanut Oil

1. Prep vegetables
2. Heat Peanut oil in large skillet
3. Sauté vegetables, adding Jerk Seasoning after the onions begin to turn translucent, until all are crisp-tender.

Now all that’s left is to pull the tofu out of the oven, plate your dinner, and garnish it with chopped cilantro if you like. Hopefully I’ve shown a good method to preparing this dish and, as I said before, this meal should take about an hour from start to finish. If you make this meal and come up with any other shortcuts, or just want to comment about what you thought of the dish, please let me know in the comments. Bon appétit.