Mark Bittman's Quick and Easy Recipes from the New York Times (45 page)

Make these with more flour and they’re cakey; use more butter and they’re delicate, with better flavor; here, I go for the second option.

1.
Preheat the oven to 375°F.

2.
Combine the flour, cornstarch, sugar, and salt in a food processor and pulse once or twice. (It’s important to process the ingredients gently, letting the machine run no longer than necessary at each stage so as not to toughen the batter.) Add the butter and pulse 10 or 20 times, until the butter and flour are well combined. Add the vanilla and the egg and pulse 3 or 4 times. Add about half the milk and pulse 2 or 3 times. Add the remaining milk a little at a time, pulsing once or twice after each addition, until the dough holds together in a sticky mass. (You can, of course, also make this batter in a standing mixer or by hand. In either case, cream together the butter and sugar first, then add the mixed dry ingredients.)

3.
Drop rounded teaspoons of dough (you can make the cookies larger or smaller if you like) onto a nonstick baking sheet, a sheet lined with parchment paper, or a lightly buttered baking sheet. If you want flat cookies, press the balls down a bit with your fingers or the back of a spatula or wooden spoon. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, checking every minute or so after 8 minutes since most oven temperatures are slightly inaccurate, or until the cookies are done as you like them. Cool on a rack, then serve or store in a covered container for up to 3 days.

VARIATIONS

Bake at 350°F for a minute or two longer. The cookies won’t brown on the edges as they will at 375°F, but they will be crisp. Or bake for an extra minute or two at 375°F for browned
and
crisp cookies.

Eight Cookies Using Butter Cookie Dough

Butterscotch Cookies

Substitute half or more brown sugar for the white sugar or simply add 1 tablespoon molasses along with the egg.

Citrus Cookies

Do not use the vanilla; add 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice and 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest along with the egg. The same can be done with orange juice and zest. A couple tablespoons of poppy seeds go well here also.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Stir about 1 cup chocolate chips into the finished batter. (The butterscotch batter variation is good here.)

Spice Cookies

Add 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon each ground allspice and ground ginger, and 1 pinch ground cloves and mace or nutmeg to the dry ingredients.

Ginger Cookies

Add 1 tablespoon ground ginger to the dry ingredients. For even better flavor, add ¼ cup minced crystallized ginger to the batter by hand (this works well in addition to or in place of the ground ginger).

Chunky Cookies

To the finished batter, add about 1 cup M&Ms (or other similar candy) or roughly chopped walnuts, pecans, or cashews; slivered almonds; raisins; coconut; dried cherries; and so on. Or combine any chunky ingredients you like.

Rolled Cookies

Freeze the dough for 15 minutes or refrigerate it for about 1 hour (or longer). Work half the batter at a time and roll it on a lightly floured surface; it will absorb some flour at first but will soon become less sticky. Do not add more flour than necessary. Roll about ¼ inch thick and cut with any cookie cutter; decorate as you like. Bake as directed, reducing the cooking time to 8 to 10 minutes.

Puffy Cookies

The basic cookies are flat. For airier cookies, add ½ teaspoon baking powder to the dry ingredients.

MAKES ABOUT 4 DOZEN

TIME: 30 MINUTES

YOU NEED NOT
use your best olive oil for these cookies, but extra virgin olive oil will make them more interesting than “pure” or “light” olive oil.

1.
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Combine the dry ingredients. Beat the eggs with the olive oil and wine. Use a rubber spatula to stir the liquid mix into the dry one, just until well combined; if the mixture is stiff, add a little more wine.

2.
Drop by rounded teaspoons onto a lightly oiled cookie sheet and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool for a couple of minutes, then transfer the cookies to a rack to cool further. Store in a covered tin for up to 3 days.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

TIME: ABOUT 1 HOUR

IN PLACE OF APPLES,
you can use pears here or a mixture. In fact, this is a universal crisp recipe and will work with just about any fruit. Almost needless to say, it’s great with vanilla ice cream.

1.
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Toss the fruit with half the cinnamon, the lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon of the sugar and spread it in a lightly buttered 8-inch square or 9-inch round baking pan.

2.
Combine all the other ingredients, including the remaining cinnamon and sugar, in a food processor and pulse a few times, then process for a few seconds more, until everything is well incorporated but not uniform. (To mix the ingredients by hand, soften the butter slightly, toss together the dry ingredients, and then work in the butter with your fingertips, a pastry blender, or a fork.)

3.
Spread the topping over the apples and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the topping is browned and the apples are tender. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

TIME: 20 TO 30 MINUTES, PLUS TIME TO CHILL

THE RICHEST,
most elegant dessert you can make with so little work.

1.
In a double boiler, a small saucepan over low heat, or the microwave, melt the butter and chocolate together. Just before the chocolate finishes melting, remove it from the heat and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth.

2.
Transfer the chocolate mixture to a bowl and beat in the egg yolks with a whisk. Put the bowl in the refrigerator.

3.
Beat the egg whites with half the sugar until they hold stiff peaks but are not dry. Set aside. Beat the cream with the remaining sugar and vanilla until it holds soft peaks.

4.
Stir a couple of spoonfuls of the whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it a bit, then fold in the remaining whites thoroughly but gently. Fold in the cream and refrigerate until chilled. If you are in a hurry, divide the mousse among 4 to 6 serving cups; it will chill much faster. Serve within a day of making.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

TIME: ABOUT 45 MINUTES

IF YOU USE
vanilla in place of the cinnamon and omit the caramel (step 2), you can call these
pots de crème.
No matter how you make them, though, be careful not to overcook, or the eggs will curdle instead of becoming silky and creamy.

1.
Preheat the oven to 300°F and put a kettle of water on to boil. Put the milk in a small saucepan with the cinnamon; turn the heat to medium. Cook just until it begins to steam, then cool a bit.

2.
Meanwhile, combine ½ cup of the sugar with ¼ cup of water in a small, heavy saucepan. Turn the heat to low and cook, shaking the
pan occasionally (it’s best not to stir), until the sugar liquefies, turns clear, then golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and immediately pour the caramel into the bottom of a large heatproof bowl or 4 ramekins.

3.
Beat the eggs and yolks with the salt and remaining ½ cup sugar until pale yellow and fairly thick. Remove the cinnamon stick (if you used it) from the milk and add the milk gradually to the egg mixture, stirring constantly. Pour the mixture into the prepared bowl or ramekins and put it/them in a baking pan, adding hot water to within about 1 inch of the top.

4.
Bake for about 30 (for the ramekins) to 40 (for the bowl) minutes, or until the center is barely set. (Start checking after 20 minutes or so and remember that cream will set faster than milk.) Serve warm or at room temperature or cover and refrigerate for a day or so.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

TIME: ABOUT 1 HOUR

POTS DE CRÈME
are always great, but flavored with ginger they become exotic—yet there’s nothing to it.

1.
Preheat the oven to 300°F. Combine the cream and fresh ginger in a small saucepan and heat over medium-low heat until steam rises. Cover the pan, turn off the heat, and steep for 10 to 15 minutes.

2.
Beat the yolks and sugar together until light. Remove the ginger slices from the cream and pour about a quarter of the cream into the egg mixture, then pour the sugar-egg mixture into the cream and stir.
If you’re using the candied ginger, add it now. Pour into fo ur 6-ounce ramekins and put the ramekins in a baking dish; pour water into the dish to come halfway up the side of the ramekins and cover with foil.

3.
Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, or until the center is barely set. (Heavy cream sets fastest, half-and-half more slowly.) Cool or chill, then serve.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

TIME: 1 HOUR

THE CLAFOUTI IS
essentially a fruit-laden baked pancake. I love this Americanized version, which is crunchy and sweet.

1.
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Butter a deep 9- or 10-inch pie plate, round porcelain dish, or gratin dish of similar size. Sprinkle it with a tablespoon or so of the sugar, then swirl the dish to coat evenly with sugar; invert to remove the excess.

2.
Beat the egg well, then add the remaining sugar; beat until smooth. Add the flour and beat again until smooth. Add the half-and-half and salt and whisk once more until smooth.

3.
Coarsely chop the cranberries and walnuts; you can do this in a food processor if you like (it’s very fast), but be careful not to overprocess—you want to break up the cranberries, not mince them. Put the cranberry mixture in the bottom of the dish and pour the batter over it.

4.
Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the clafouti is nicely browned on top and a knife inserted into it comes out clean. Sift some confectioners’ sugar over it and serve warm or at room temperature.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

TIME: ABOUT 1 HOUR, LARGELY UNATTENDED

USE GOOD WHITE READ
for this, and don’t bother to remove the crusts; the different textures make it more interesting.

1.
Butter a 10-or 12-inch soufflé or baking dish and put the bread in it. Cut the remaining butter into bits and combine it with all the other ingredients; pour over the bread. Submerge the bread with a weighted plate and turn the oven to 350°F.