Here it is, the last day of the year, a time for reflection on the year past and thoughts about the year ahead.
I have been writing this column for just about a year, and one thing I have learned during a year of trying recipes for publication is that reality doesn’t care what it says in the recipe.
For example, the topic that received the most reader response was my quest for a truly puffy snickerdoodle. None of the recipes I tried produced snickerdoodles that had the loft of those I was trying to duplicate. This is one quest that will definitely continue into the new year.
Reality also struck my attempts to create glossy, glamorous iced Christmas cookies. If you tried the recipe I gave a few weeks ago, which I am sure I had baked successfully before, you may have noticed that the dough, even after refrigeration, was softer and stickier than I expected. I was using only a big star-shaped cookie cutter, and my floppy stars looked more like starfish than celestial bodies.
When it came time to ice them, the confectioners’ sugar and milk recipe I always used seemed fine – until I tried to pipe elegant borders on my cookies. It was then obvious that the icing was too runny, so it produced dribbly, Jackson Pollock-style decorations. And the icing sugar I had bought, in elegant silver, gold and white, all but disappeared into the icing.
My nephews didn’t have any aesthetic objections to the cookies, however, and they are now a memory.
On Christmas Day, we decided to have roasted lamb instead of one of the more traditional meats and found a boneless leg of lamb that seemed just the right size. However, cooking methods for a boneless roast were hard to find, so I used a recipe for a regular bone-in roast. About 15 minutes before the time I calculated the roast should be done, it was still only 85 degrees, according to my quick-read thermometer. Do boneless roasts take longer? Was it too cold to start with? Further research will follow.
It finally was done about an hour late, and while the rest of the meal was none the worse for waiting, the cooks had a few nerve-wracking moments.
Yes, cooking definitely happens in the real world.
Of course, sometimes surprises turn out for the better. For example, last night my sister was making latkes (potato pancakes) for the third day of Hanukkah. Her recipe calls for bread crumbs, so she used what was available, some Japanese-style “panko” or extra crispy crumbs, that I had bought for a future experiment. They seemed to make the latkes more delicate, lighter and more crunchy than the usual bread crumbs.
So, in search of further kitchen surprises, good and bad, as we approach the new year, I’ve come up with a few resolutions … or at least ideas:
1. Try snickerdoodles yet again. I recently received another recipe from a customer, a modification of a Sunset magazine method, which has some intriguing modifications.
2. Use my panko breadcrumbs to bread and “oven fry” chicken or fish.
3. Learn how to prepare a few of the Indian dishes I’ve enjoyed as take-out food. Not only are they delicious, but I’ve noticed the spices help keep my head clear.
4.Use some of the interesting mushroom varieties, such as shiitake, cremini and porcini, as well as the dependable white button and portobellos.
In general, I want to be more adventurous, to cook a little bit more out of my comfort zone, not to try things just because they’re weird, but to try new combinations, new products, new flavors.
That’s my resolution for next year. In the meantime, it’s the last day of this year. If you are preparing for a party tonight, with elegant hors d’oeuvres, champagne and the traditional New Year’s Eve festivities, have fun and be sure to designate a driver.
For me, though, it’s a time to be cozy, enjoy looking out at the bare trees and cold sky, and listen to other peoples’ fireworks. I think I will plan on baking my family some scones. I’ve already offered this recipe to serve with tea, but it has other uses: It’s great for making with bored kids because they can slap the dough around; scones are great warm from the oven with butter and jam, and they’re equally great the next morning with a cup of coffee, whether you have a Jan. 1 headache or not.
Tea Scones
(adapted from the 1961 edition of the New York Times Cookbook).
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 Tbs. sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cups chilled butter
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk, approximately
Step 1: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Step 2: Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Step 3: Chop in the butter with a pastry blender, a fork or your fingers, until the flour-coated particles of butter are the size of coarse cornmeal.
Step 4: Add the egg and about 3/4 of the milk, stirring quickly and lightly only until no dry flour shows.
Step 5: Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead gently about 15 times.
Step 6: Divide the dough into two portions and flatten each into a round about a 1/2-inch thick.
Step 7: Cut each round into eight wedges, like a pie.
Step 8: Place wedges on a greased cookie sheet without allowing sides to touch. Bake about 20 minutes or until deep golden brown.
As I brush the scone crumbs from my keyboard, I wish you and yours a happy, safe and prosperous New Year.
