Dinner tonight was just reinvented leftovers from yesterday. I took the extra sausage filling from yesterday’s deep-fried olives and made a sausage patty, topped it with melted blue cheese and turned it into a sandwich. Quick, simple and tasty.
Now onto the more important stuff … I promised Nicholas we’d make some cookies, and did we ever! I finally got a chance to try Barefoot Contessa’s Jam Thumbprint Cookies and are they ever an OMG cookie! Of course, with 3 sticks of butter, this should really come as no surprise. She starts the recipe with Eli Zabar’s shortbread base and goes from there. You definitely taste the shortbready goodness in it, and then the smattering of jam. If you’re not afraid of a bit of butter, do give them a try. And if the teachers at Nicholas’ school are reading this, you guys are in for a real treat!
Tomorrow night, I’m taking a Tapas cooking class, so tune in for some new Tapas recipes. Until then…
Jam Thumbprint Cookies
3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
7 ounces sweetened flaked coconut
Raspberry and/or apricot jam (I used strawberry)
Preheat the oven to 350F. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until they are just combined and then add the vanilla (I just mixed by hand in bowl). Separately, sift together the flour and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the creamed butter and sugar. Mix until the dough starts to come together. Dump on a floured board and roll together into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.
Roll the dough into 1-1/4-inch balls. Dip each ball into the egg wash and then roll it in coconut. Place the balls on an greased cookie sheet and press a light indentation into the top of each with your finger. Drop 1/4 teaspoon of jam into each indentation. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the coconut is a golden brown. Cool and serve.
Recipe yield indicates 32 cookies – I managed to get 39 nice-sized ones out of it
