Ginger Cookies

I came across this recipe (and minimally adapted it) in Alton Brown's excellent book 'I'm Just Here for More Food'. Faced with a craving for cookies and a lack of white sugar, these fit the bill nicely.

These are icebox cookies, meaning that you make the dough the day before and chill it in the refrigerator overnight, so plan accordingly.

Start by softening 4 oz (1 stick) butter by leaving it at room temperature for at least an hour. Put it in a mixer and beat with the paddle until smooth. Add 8 oz brown sugar and 1 tbsp molasses, and cream (beat) together until smooth again. Slow the mixer down to stir and add 1 egg. Once incorporated, add 9.5 oz flour, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 2 tsp ground ginger and 1/4 tsp salt. Mix just until combined. Lay out 2 pieces of parchment paper. Drop half of your dough onto each piece of paper and roll up into two 2 inch diameter logs. Twist the paper at the ends to 'seal' and set in the refrigerator overnight to chill.

The next day, preheat the oven to 375 F, and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Slice each log into 1/4 inch slices, and lay out on the cookie sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes, switching the positions of the sheets halfway through. They are ready to remove when the centers have set but they are still soft. Remove the cookies from the sheet (keep them on the paper - just slide it off the sheet) to a cooling rack, and leave to cool. Enjoy!

Note 1 - For UK readers, molasses = treacle, and baking soda = bicarbonate of soda.

Note 2 - These cookies are halfway between chewy and crispy. The longer you leave them in the oven, the crispier they will become.

Note 3 - Metric Info: 4 oz = 110g; 9.5 oz = 270g; 2 inches = 5 cm; 375 F = 190 C; 1/4 inch = 6 mm.

Butter Pecan Ice Cream

It was time to make ice cream again, so I asked my significant other for a suggestion. She decided on this one - butter pecan. This was the first ice cream I have made with stir-ins (not that they were difficult, but...).

Start by getting together 7 oz brown sugar. Split roughly in half so that you have 2 batches.

Take 2 oz (1/2 stick) butter and melt it in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Continue to heat over medium heat until it turns golden brown (do not allow it to get dark brown!). Turn down the heat a little and stir in 1 batch of brown sugar. Next, add 2 cups of half-and-half, stirring to make sure the sugar is dissolved. Continue to heat, but keep an eye on it, and do not allow it to boil.

Meanwhile, whisk the other batch of brown sugar with 5 egg yolks in a medium bowl. Set up another medium-large bowl on ice, with a strainer sitting on top of it. Once the half-and-half mixture is close to a boil (you can see tiny bubbles forming around the edges of the pan), ladle some of this mixture onto the yolks and whisk in. Tip the entire contents of the yolk bowl back into the saucepan, and stir constantly with a wooden spoon, continuing to heat the mixture, until it coats the back of your spoon (a line drawn in the mixture on the back of the spoon does not fill in). Once you reach this point, immediately pour the mixture through the strainer into the chilled bowl. Stir it a little to help it cool down. Transfer to the refrigerator to chill once it has cooled a little.

While your 'base' is cooling, toast 1/2 cup of pecans (I prefer to buy whole pecans, but you can use pieces - just check them sooner in the oven). Spread the nuts on a baking sheet and bake at 350 F for about 7 minutes, until lightly browned. Allow to cool completely, and cut into bite-sized pieces.

Once the 'base' is chilled, pour into an ice cream maker and churn. Once almost solid (or as close to this as your ice cream maker gets), transfer into a bowl. Stir in the nuts, trying to distribute them evenly through the ice cream. Transfer your ice cream back into a freezer-suitable container (I use plastic quart size yogurt containers) and freeze until hardened. Enjoy!

Note 1 - For those outside North America, half-and-half is half milk, half cream.

Note 2 - Be careful not to let your half-and-half mixture boil, even before adding the yolks. Mine did the first time, and it curdled, so I had to throw it out and start over.

Note 3 - Metric Info: 7 oz = 200g; 2 oz = 55g; 2 cups = 475 ml; 1/2 cup = 120 ml; 350 F = 175 C.