THUMBPRINT COOKIES

(One and a Half Recipes Makes about 45 Small Ones)

I was given this recipe in the 4^th grade (1954) and have been using it, with no changes, ever since.  I have tried to fill the thumbprint with Nestles chocolate or with M&Ms but it never seems just right.  The best chocolate is the Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chips which, when warm (after baking), can be flattened with a spoon.  My favorite filing is apricot preserves.  The preserves must be thick, not runny.

See this before you cook to get into the mood.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye8mB6VsUHw&feature=youtu.be

I usually make 1½ recipes.

2 sticks   Butter (at room temperature)

3            Egg yolks

¾ cup     Sugar, granulated

¼ tsp     Salt

2¾ cup   Flour   (sift after measuring)

1 tsp      Vanilla

Preserves (strawberry, raspberry or apricot).  Don’t use anything too “liquidy.”

You could use a chocolate that re-hardens.  Or M&Ms.

*

Cream butter. NOTE: I use my normal, salted butter.  If you choose to use unsalted butter, add another ¼ tsp of salt.

1. Beat in the sugar until it is totally absorbed by the butter.
2. Beat in the yolks, salt and vanilla (find something useful for the whites).
3. Slowly beat in the flour. The last flour may be hard to add, as the mixture gets crumbly. If you beat the flour too quickly there will be flour all over the kitchen.
4. Roll the batter into balls, about 1″ in diameter, flatten slightly, and place on un-greased cookie pan, separated by about 2″. They will enlarge when baked.  The easiest way to do this is to take a spoonful and roll it in your hands.  24 will fit in a pan (4×6).  There is a lot of butter in the recipe so you do not need to grease the pan
5. Flatten each cookie a bit and put a thumbprint in the middle. The thumbprint must be deep enough to hold the preserve.  The sides of the cookie may crack a bit as you push down but you can hold them together with your left hand when making the thumbprint with the right.
6. Fill the thumbprint with preserve. An alternative to the preserve is a chocolate Candy Kiss or other chocolate.
7. Cook at 375ofor 12 to 15 minutes.  DON’T overcook.  Undercook slightly as they continue to cook when removed from the pan.  DO NOT USE A DARK COLORED PAN, they cook too fast and burn on the bottom.  Under-cooking is fine.
8. Remove the pan from the oven when the tops of the cookies are just beginning to get brown. It may look too early but it is not.  They will harden as they cool; otherwise they are overcooked and hard.  You can also check the underside for browning.  Note that when cooking two pans simultaneously, they bake at different rates even if they are on the same level.  When you have one pan on top of the other the air flow in the oven is disrupted
9. Remove cookies immediately to wire racks to cool, and they then can be stored in a tin. If they are at all warm when they are put in the tin the steam will turn to water and you will be unhappy.
10. Cookies can be made in advance and frozen (and I like them when they are frozen).
11. As I said earlier I started making these cookies in the 4^th grade.This is the perfect first cookie recipe to teach the grandkids.

John says that it was his mother who inspired his love of cooking and baking at an early age.  (She cooked vegetables in boil-able packages.) John also provides our monthly “BOLLI Matters Tech Talk” feature.  

STUFFED CABBAGE – GERMAN STYLE

There are many recipes for stuffed cabbage.  This is the Rudy-version.  This recipe came from my mother-in-law, Lillian Weil, and probably came from a previous generation.  The details of the recipe were never written down and so what is here is “best recollection” plus the result of some experimentation.  Since everyone likes it, apparently the experimentation worked!  It makes enough for at least 10 servings and I usually split it up into ½ gallon plastic containers and freeze the ones that will not be immediately eaten.

No quantity in this recipe is exact; all should be played with to get the taste that you like.  More rice?  More meat?  More sauce? Go for it!

1               Cabbage (medium size)

1½ lbs    85% Hamburger.  Don’t use too lean, it loses taste

1             Large onion, diced

¾ cup     Spaghetti sauce (has more flavor than plain tomato  sauce)

¾ cup     Rice.  Not Minute Rice. Measure after cooking.

¾ cup     Spaghetti sauce (this is not an error)

24 oz      Stewed tomatoes, diced (could use more; like 2 large cans)

2 cans     Sauerkraut, large cans or 4 medium cans.  DO NOT DRAIN.

1 cup      Spaghetti sauce  (this is not an error either)

1½ Tbs   Brown sugar

1½ Tbs   Granulated sugar

Cut the center out of the cabbage and pull off some of the outer leaves if they are not crisp. Boil the cabbage at least 60 minutes (longer if really large) until the leaves pull off fairly easily.  But don’t cook so long that it is mushy.  Let it cool by soaking in cold water. Note:  if it is not cooked enough, the leaves break when you try to wrap the meat.

1. Cook the rice.
2. Sauté the onions. Slightly under-cook.
3. Mix the raw hamburger, rice, onions and ¾ cup of the sauce. This will become the filling of the cabbage
4. Gently remove the leaves from the cabbage. It will not be easy to do, and some of the leaves are very large.  You may have to recut the hole in the cabbage.
5. Combine the sauerkraut, another ¾ cup of the sauce, sugars, and stewed tomatoes in the bottom of a large pot. Mix together.  This will provide the base to the stuffed leaves.
6. Put the meat mix into the leaves, fold over, and place on top of the sauerkraut mixture, open side down. The amount you use depends on the size of the leaf.  As you make them, lay them on top of the sauerkraut base.
7. Pour the last cup of sauce on top of the filled leaves, along with leftover cabbage.
8. Here is where you have two options, and my preference is to use the oven. (1) Bring the pot SLOWLY to a boil (be careful; you may have to add some water so that it doesn’t burn), and then let it simmer for 45 minutes.  (2) Alternatively, it can be put in the oven, covered, at 350^o to 375^o for about an hour.  The problem with the first option is that it is really easy to burn the bottom of the pan.
9. This makes a lot. It can be separated and frozen, even in plastic bags.
10. OPTIONAL: cook up another pound of hamburger and add sauce. This can be added to the top of the cabbage mixture to give it even more protein.
11. NOTE: everything is cooked before being put in the oven, so the baking period is really for everything to mix together.

Enjoy!

John says that it was his mother who inspired his love of cooking and baking at an early age.  (She cooked vegetables in boil-able packages.)

SLOW-COOKER STROGANOFF/GOULASH

Many years ago, when we were first married, we bought (like all our friends) a crock pot.  The theory was that we would set it up before going to work, and a meal would be ready when we got home.  After a number of abortive attempts and lousy meals, we gave up.  Eventually, we gave away that primitive pot.

Then, last year, we were at my daughter’s, and she made this wonderful meal in her high technology slow-cooker.  It was great, and nothing like our decades-earlier attempts.  So we went out and bought one and have made many dishes.  The key now is adjustable temperature as in our Hamilton Beach Stay or Go.

You can double the recipe for company (or left-overs), and it will still fit in the cooker.

It is also important to understand that not all ingredients go in at the beginning.  Adding, say, string beans, and cooking for 6 hours will result in green paste.

1½ lbs       Beef  (a tougher piece of meat with good marbling.                                        I like chuck)

1 Tbs         Worcestershire Sauce

1                  Onion, chopped

1/4 cup    Water

1 can         Cream of mushroom soup (I only use Campbell’s)

4 oz           Cream cheese

8 oz           Noodles  (or alternative starch)

6 oz           Mushrooms (optional)

1.   Cut meat a bit (not too small).
2.   Put all EXCEPT the cream cheese into the slow cooker on low for   5 hours. If using mushrooms, cook them separately as they will       generate a lot of water.  Add at the end.
3.   Add the cream cheese and mix in. It is not necessary that it be         perfectly mixed.
4.   Serve over noodles, rice, or potato.  My preference is Angel Hair     noodles.
5.   I like this with carrots, but it is tricky to know when to put them    in so that they cook the right amount for your taste. So it is best  to cook them separately and add them near the end.  I also like    large chunks of onion and I add them half-way through so that  they are still somewhat crisp.

Try this one out and let me know how you like it!  Leave comments in the box below, or email me at john.rudy@alum.mit.edu

John says that it was his mother who inspired his love of cooking and baking at an early age.  (She cooked vegetables in boil-able packages.)

APPLE PANCAKES

My parents found this recipe in the early ‘80s when staying at The Edgecombe-Coles House, a B&B in Camden, Maine.  This recipe serves 3.  I usually double the recipe for guests and put it in a 9” x 13” Pyrex which requires about 10 minutes additional cooking.  It is similar to Bickfords’ Apple Pancake, though that one is cooked in an iron pan in the oven (and therefore is round).  Of course you can use any other fruit.  I like it with maple syrup (only the real, 100% kind), but it is also good with powdered sugar.

4                  Eggs

1 cup         Flour

1 cup         Milk

¼ stick      Butter

½ can         Comstock apple pie filling (or equivalent) in heavy sauce,                          not water

Salt (optional)

1. Melt butter in 8” x 8” glass pan in the oven at 425 degrees until the butter begins to blacken.  Turn/twist the pan so that the butter goes up the sides.
2. Blend milk, eggs and flour and pour into the hot pan. As with pancakes, a few lumps are OK.  By the time the cooking is over they are gone.
3. Spoon in ½ can of apple pie filling, and spread it around the pan. Apples can be replaced with cherries, blueberries, etc. but be careful that it doesn’t introduce a significant amount of water.  If it does, add a bit more flour to the mix.  Comstock has two types of apple filling so I always get the one in the heavy syrup.  Note that the recipe does not call for sugar, as that comes from the proper can of fruit.
4. Bake at 425ofor about 30 minutes.  It will be done when the sides are crisp, the eggs are cooked, and the batter is rising out of the pan at the edges.  Cook it over a cookie sheet in case it overflows.  The larger pan (doubled recipe) will take a few minutes more.
5. Can be served alone, with melted butter, powdered sugar, or with maple syrup. I prefer real maple syrup.
6. Serve immediately after removing from the oven, before it falls.
7. This is easy to reheat in the microwave on a low setting. (If you reheat it on High, it becomes rubbery.)

John says that it was his mother who inspired his love of cooking and baking at an early age.  (She cooked vegetables in boil-able packages.)

THE BEST BIG, FAT, CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES EVER

from John Rudy

It is hard to find chocolate chip cookies that have enough chocolate, the right taste (thus the brown sugar), and are chewy-soft.  Do not stint on getting the proper chocolate.  I use Ghirardelli 60% Cacao.  For starters, they must be large because the outer edge will always cook faster, and if the edges are most of the cookie you have a problem.  Second, the cookies continue to cook as long as they are hot and sit on a hot pan.  So they must be removed from the oven when not fully cooked.  My suggestion is to make a small pan first, do what you think is right, and then adjust from there.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter (1½ sticks), melted

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 egg

1 egg yolk

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325°. Grease cookie sheets
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended.  Beat in the vanilla, egg, and extra egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon.
4. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.  They really should be that far apart or as they cook they will merge together.
5. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.
6. It is fine to freeze them for later–and they even taste great when frozen.

John says that it was his mother who inspired his love of cooking and baking at an early age.  (She cooked exclusively vegetables in boilable packages.)

john.rudy@alum.mit.edu (781-861-0402)