April 2014 – Bucket of Yum

Brown Sugar Walnut Pecan Cookies

Does this thought cross your mind ever when you eat chocolate chip cookies with nuts, “God, this would be so good with no chocolate chips?” I found this awesome recipe online, and it was quite the hit.

The folks at the office gobbled these up and sang their praises. It’s time for treatses, mofos. Let’s do this!

Oh, yeah, baby. Give me some of that.

Walnut Pecan Brown Sugar Cookies

2014-04-22 21:48:15

Yields 20

Seriously amazing cookie: nutty, salty, not too sweet. YUM!

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Prep Time

20 min

Cook Time

13 min

Prep Time

20 min

Cook Time

13 min

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size

64g

Yields

Amount Per Serving

Calories 311

Calories from Fat 176

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 21g

32%

Saturated Fat 7g

35%

Trans Fat 0g

Polyunsaturated Fat 4g

Monounsaturated Fat 9g

Cholesterol 43mg

14%

Sodium 157mg

Total Carbohydrates 30g

10%

Dietary Fiber 2g

Sugars 17g

Protein 4g

Vitamin A

Vitamin C

Calcium

Iron

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

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Ingredients

For the Cookies
½ lb unsalted butter (2 sticks), room temp.
1½ cups dark brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
¾ tsp baking soda
¾ tsp salt (table salt, not Kosher salt)
2½ cups all-purpose flour, sifted
3 cups total chopped walnuts & pecans

For the topping

Flaked Kosher salt

Instructions

Heat the oven to 360* (or 375* convection). Get out your cookie pans and parchment paper, and your 2 oz. scoop.
Toast the nuts. For reals. Don't skip this part, you will be very sorry. (Just plop them on the paper lined pan and toss 'em in the oven for five minutes once it's heated. Trust me.)
Cream the butter. Add the brown sugar and vanilla and cream it until it goes a shade lighter. Do this for longer than you think you need to. Add both the eggs, and cream it some more - seriously, like two minutes. Until it is a fluffy dream.
While that's going, sift the flour, salt and soda. Dump in the wet, mix til combined. Dump in the nuts. Mix til combined.
Scoop 6 to a tray lined with parchment using the 2 oz scoop. Sprinkle with the kosher flake salt.
Bake 13 minutes.
They should be puffy and browned around the edges.

Notes

These are mondo sized-cookies. You'll get about three dozen if you make them normal sized. Just use a 1oz scoop, or a pair of tablespoons.

Adapted from From About.com's Culinary Arts section

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calories

311

fat

21g

protein

carbs

30g

Adapted from From About.com's Culinary Arts section

Bucket of Yum http://bucketofyum.com/

Swiss Chard Polenta Tourte

Creamy, sweet, chewy, nutty. The best of everything.

I am obsessed with cashew cream. Having been dairy-deprived for so long, the ability to have creamy sauces with that rich mouth feel makes me so fucking happy I could danse. So, I saw this lovely spinach polenta tart on Tastespotting or Foodgawker, and really wanted to try it. Then, when we went provisioning and Sprouts had this gorgeous rainbow chard, I knew it was a done deal.

This is recipe isn’t hard, but it does have a couple steps. I made it on a Monday night, but it totally lends itself to doing part one night (the polenta and the onions for example), and then finishing it the next.

Bon appetit – and by the way, just the chard was fantastic on its own. I could have eaten the whole damn pan. By myself.

A couple stages, but sooooo tasty.

Chard3Bmed

Swiss Chard Polenta Tourte

2014-04-15 22:02:19

Serves 4

Sweet and creamy chard and buttery sherry onions atop seared mushrooms and a polenta base, with toasty pine nuts. This is heaven in a pie.

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Prep Time

1 hr

Cook Time

30 min

Prep Time

1 hr

Cook Time

30 min

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size

398g

Servings

Amount Per Serving

Calories 353

Calories from Fat 178

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 21g

32%

Saturated Fat 5g

26%

Trans Fat 0g

Polyunsaturated Fat 3g

Monounsaturated Fat 11g

Cholesterol 12mg

Sodium 441mg

18%

Total Carbohydrates 29g

10%

Dietary Fiber 5g

19%

Sugars 4g

Protein 13g

Vitamin A

91%

Vitamin C

42%

Calcium

Iron

19%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

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For the base

½ c. polenta
2 c. stock
1 tsp. butter
½ tsp. TJ’s 21 Seasoning Salute

For the cream sauce

1/3 c. cashews, soaked overnight or simmered for 15 minutes
1 c. stock
½ tsp. nutritional yeast
1 tsp. corn starch

For the topping

8 oz sliced white mushrooms
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 bunch swiss chard, cleaned and coarsely chopped
1 medium white onion, cut in to rings
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/3 c. Amontillado dry sherry
1/3 c. raw pignon nuts.

Instructions

Cook polenta according to package directions.
Grease a 10” quiche pan or pie pan or springform pan and spread the cooked polenta evenly. (I did this the night before.)
Preheat your oven to 375*
In a medium nonstick skillet, sweat the onions, until they are translucent and just beginning to turn golden and caramelize.
Remove the lid and add the sherry and let the liquid cook off.
While they are cooking, get the olive oil very hot in a large sauté pan, and sear the mushrooms for a good brown sear.
Lower the heat to medium low and spread the mushrooms on top of the polenta base.
To the still-hot skillet, add the stems of the chard, a layer of salt and pepper, then the leafy bits with another layer of S&P. Cover tightly.
While the chard is cooking, make the cashew cream sauce.
In a good blender or food processor, add the drained soaked cashews, the stock, yeast, corn starch, and a couple of the rings of cooked onion.
Purify for (seriously) 1 ½ to 2 minutes, until the mixture is silky in texture and no longer grainy.
Check the chard – it should be tender and deep green. Raise the heat to medium, stir in the cashew cream and cook for a minute or two until the sauce is thickened. It should look like creamed spinach. Spread this on the mushrooms.
Turn off the onion pans, and spread the onions on top.
Sprinkle with the pignon nuts.
Bake for 30 minutes, until the chard is bubbly and the nuts are browned.
Let sit for 10 minutes before slicing. Or, make the night before and then slice while cold and reheat or serve at room temperature.

Notes

Serve with a nice big salad.
Serves 4 for dinner, or 6 as a starter course.

By Karen Maginnis

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calories

353

fat

21g

protein

13g

carbs

29g

Bucket of Yum http://bucketofyum.com/

Cucumber, Carrot & Jicama Salad

Do you go through phases where you just want to eat the same thing all the time? This may surprise you, but I am currently fixated on carrots. Specifically shredded carrots. My friend Karen introduced me to this one fantastic Lao/Thai dish a long time ago – green papaya salad. It is scrumptious, and was the inspiration for Carrot Salad #2.

This was quick and easy. Now I just wish I had some sticky rice.

For the carrots and the jicama, I used that blue doodad in the pic above – I got it for a couple bucks at the asian market. It shreds – but the shreds are triangular in the cross section, and you can make them as long as you want – a longer carrot or stroke of the tool makes a longer shred. It’s pretty cool – I was totally stoked when Karen told me about that puppy. Oh, and this recipe has fish sauce. You could leave it out, but you’ll be sad. You don’t taste the fish, promise, unless you’re like a super sniffer or pregnant or otherwise olfactorily enhanced. And, I totally cheated on the dressing and just used some sweet chili sauce with the lime juice and fish sauce.

Shredded Carrot, Cucumber & Jicama Salad

2014-04-05 17:44:58

Serves 2

Crunchy and fast - delicious with grilled chicken kebabs.

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Prep Time

20 min

Total Time

20 min

Prep Time

20 min

Total Time

20 min

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size

192g

Servings

Amount Per Serving

Calories 96

Calories from Fat 23

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 3g

Saturated Fat 0g

Trans Fat 0g

Polyunsaturated Fat 1g

Monounsaturated Fat 1g

Cholesterol 0mg

Sodium 504mg

21%

Total Carbohydrates 17g

Dietary Fiber 4g

17%

Sugars 8g

Protein 2g

Vitamin A

213%

Vitamin C

22%

Calcium

Iron

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

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Ingredients

1/2 english cucumber, seeded and cut in to matchsticks
1/2" slice of jicama, shredded
2 carrots, peeled and shredded*
2 Tbps. thin slices of shallot or purple onion
1/4 c. chopped cilantro
1/4 c. sweet chili sauce
8 drops fish sauce
2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
(1 tsp. toasted sesame oil)

Instructions

Mix it. Eat it.

Notes

The sesame oil is optional - I just really like the taste.

By Karen Maginnis

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calories

fat

protein

carbs

17g

Bucket of Yum http://bucketofyum.com/

Cupcakes. Chocolate, of course.

Do you dream of chocolate? I do. I love Ina’s chocolate cake recipe, but it just never works as cupcakes for me. The palette is too small for the bold, airy structure of that cake. So this necessitated a quest for a good chocolate cupcake. These were tasty. My only complaint is the glaze is too hard, and slicing in to it smooshes the cake. But hey, if that’s ya got to complain about…..
Bon apétit, tout le monde.

Other than a different-sized cupcake liner a little sliced strawberry garnish, these are just a food network recipe. But honestly, they stayed moist for days. And the glaze is a double batch of this.

Give ’em a shot – pretty tasty stuff.