Category Archives: Vegetarian

OWL COOKIES

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For several months this winter, we had the cutest screech owl living in a tree on my block.  He would sit there for hours during the day, not moving, occasionally blinking, and just kind of watching over the block.  We were all smitten with the little bird.

He’s been gone for a few weeks now, but we’re all hoping he’ll be back next fall.

We had our annual block party last weekend, and in honor of our feathered friend, I made owl cookies.   This is an old Pillsbury recipe — in 1956, a young girl from Washington won $5000 for this cute recipe.  Hoot hoot!

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OWL COOKIES
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Recipe type: Cookies
 
Ingredients
  • ¾ cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 egg
  • 2-1/4 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1-1/2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • Chocolate chips for garnish (about ⅓ cup)
  • Whole cashews, for garnish (about ⅔/ cup)
Instructions
  1. Place butter and brown sugar in a large bowl, and using an electric mixer, beat until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg and beat to combine. Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt until thoroughly combined (if dough is very crumbly and dry, and 1-2 tablespoons milk). Place 1 cup of the dough in a small bowl, add melted chocolate and baking soda, and mix until thoroughly combined.
  2. On a lightly floured surface, roll out half of the light dough to a 10" x 14" rectangle. Using your hands, shape half of the chocolate dough into a roll 10" long. Place the chocolate roll in the center of the rectangle of light dough, and mold the light dough around the chocolate dough. Wrap the log in plastic wrap. Repeat with remaining dough. Refrigerate 1 to 2 hours.
  3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the logs into slices approximately ⅛" to ¼" thick. Place two slices side by side with sides touching on a cookie sheet to look like owl faces. Pinch a corner of each slice to form the owl's "horns" or "ears" (in reality, they are neither). Place a chocolate chip, pointy side up, in the center of each slice for eyes, and a press a cashew in between the slices, curved side up, for the beak.
  4. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until edges are light golden brown. Allows to cool briefly on cookie sheets, then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

“Hoo’s ready for cookies?”

What a hoot!

 

 

RED CHERMOULA SAUCE

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Chermoula is a strongly-flavored Moroccan herb sauce.  I’ve only had it once, at one of Monica Pope’s former restaurants, and I was fascinated with the intense, dark red sauce.  I scoured the internet for a recipe, but there are a ton of different chermoula recipes, most of them are for green chermoula, and none were as good as Monica’s.  To my delight, I found her chermoula recipe in Green Beans and Guacamole, a collection of recipes from Houston’s top chefs.

The recipe makes quite a bit, and it keeps in the refrigerator for months.  I’m posting the slightly modified recipe for the chermoula, and the next two posts will be recipes for our favorite ways to use it — as a component of an appetizer, and with fish.  The sauce alone is not terribly photogenic, but I’m including a photo of a smear of it so that you can see the color and texture.

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RED CHERMOULA
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Recipe type: Sauce
 
Ingredients
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons chopped garlic
  • 1 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped
  • 1 cup parsley, coarsely chopped
  • ½ cup paprika
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground cayenne
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • ½ cup olive oil
  • ¼ cup freshly-squeezed lime juice
  • 1-2 tablespoons water, as needed to thin to desired consistency
Instructions
  1. Place garlic, cilantro, parsley, paprika, cumin, cayenne, salt, and pepper in a food processor, and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add olive oil and lime juice, and process until a coarse paste forms. Add 1-2 tablespoons of water, as needed, to thin to a thick sauce consistency. Transfer to a jar and store in refrigerator until ready to use.

 

Great things await this intense sauce