Cooking with Shira!

 

Shira and Heather with our freshly made Maple Pecan Sandwich Cookies.

Our 13 year old granddaughter Shira took the train up to Rutland from NYC for a all too short visit. It's a treat to have one of our grandchildren on their own. We really had time to get to know each other better. One thing we know of her is that she loves to cook, Heather and she love the Great British Bakeoff series!  So we did a lot of cooking/baking together. We made Maple Pecan Sandwich Cookies first - Yum! It's from the All-American Cookie Cookbook by Nancy Baggett so I've included the recipe at the end here. 

Enjoying our Lumpia our on the deck..

Then we made Fresh Veggie Lumpia for lunch. It was a modified recipe from several on line as we wanted to work with tofu for a change. That recipe is here as well but really you can put most anything inside the wrappers! The traditional Filipino brown sauce recipe was mostly followed  Lumpia or Lumpiang are Filipino Fresh Spring Rolls. Heather was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines from 1966 - 68. This year she is running two Cooking Classes to benefit Pierce's Store here in Shrewsbury (for the past 8 years she's been doing this once a year). The first one in July will feature Philippine dishes. Shira plans to make these for her siblings at home as everyone can make their own lumpia, choosing the ingredients that they like! 

Lumpia with Tofu and Veggies

That afternoon Scott and Shira made Focaccia with fresh rosemary: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/big-and-bubbly-focaccia-recipe. This is a easy recipe although you need to be around the kitchen for a half day as there are many steps at intervals. As this was a rainy afternoon, it was a perfect time. It was amazing!

Blueberry Cheese Danish and 
scrambled eggs for breakfast!

The following morning she and Heather made Blueberry Cheese Danish for breakfast.  Here is the basic recipe: https://homemadehome.com/20-minute-blueberry-cream-cheese-danishes/#tasty-recipes-27883, We made several modifications - no almond flavoring, and a large teaspoon on blueberry jam over the cream cheese and under the fresh blueberries. Also brush the egg mixture on the edges before filling the centers - much easier.  I highly recommend buying Dufour puff pastry if it's available - it uses butter (although they do make a non dairy one as well). 

And here it is when it came out!

Scott and Shira pose before the focaccia goes
in the oven.

Shira also helped me with my latest painting. My small studio is in the local Maker Space, called The Mint. We spent a morning working on it together and she really helped me work out a bunch of problems! It's the second of two big paintings for my 2 year old grandson that include favorite children's and young adult's (and old folks) characters in an imaginary landscape. 

We hated to say good-bye! But Shira had to go back for final exams. She graduates from 8th grade this year and has been chosen for the Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan next year - a real triumph!

Maple Pecan Sandwich Cookies

(from The All-American Cookie Book by Nancy Baggett)

1 cup (4 ounces) chopped pecans

2 ¼ cup all-purpose flour

½ tsp baking soda

Generous ¼ tsp salt (ordinary kind)

¼ cup packed brown sugar

¾ cup unsalted butter (1 and ½ sticks), slightly softened

⅔ cup powdered sugar

3 and  ½ T pure maple syrup

1 large egg yolk

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 T finely chopped pecans (not toasted) for topping

Maple Buttercream filling:

⅓ cup pure maple syrup

1 cup powdered sugar

6 ½ T cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks

⅛ tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Spread the pecans on a cookie sheet and toast in the oven, stirring frequently, for 6 to 8 minutes until lightly browned. Be careful not to burn - it’s easy! Immediately turn out into a small bowl and cool, set aside.

In a medium bowl thoroughly whisk together the flour, soda and salt, set aside.

In a food processor, process the toasted pecans and brown sugar continuously until the pecans are completely pureed and form a paste, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down the processor sides and bottom several times. Add the butter and process until well blended. Add the powdered sugar, egg, vanilla and maple syrup and process until very well blended and smooth. Add the flour mixture and process in on/off pulses just until evenly incorporated.

Turn the dough out on a clean surface and knead together briefly into one piece, then divide into thirds. Place each portion between large sheets of waxed paper (parchment paper would work too) and roll out a generous ⅛ inch thick. Check the underside of the paper and smooth out any wrinkles that form. Stack these layered sheets on a baking sheet and freeze for 30 minutes (or chill in the refrigerator for a few hours) until chilled and firm. These can also be frozen for up to 24 hours, let thaw before using. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease several baking sheets or coat with nonstick spray. Working with one portion at a time and leaving the remaining dough chilled, gently peel away and then put back one sheet of paper. Flip the dough over, then peel off and put aside (sometimes the original sheet tears during the cutting process so I use the discarded sheet to reroll).  Using a 1 and ½ or 1 and ¾ inch cookie cutter (fluted or scalloped makes it prettier), cut out the cookies and transfer to a baking sheet, 1 and ½ inches apart. Reroll any scraps. If the dough gets too soft, chill until it’s usable. Sprinkle half the cookies with a small amount of finely chopped pecans and press down into the dough. These will be the tops of the sandwich.

Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time in the upper third of the oven for 6 to 8 minutes, reversing the sheet halfway to ensure even browning. Transfer the sheet to a wire rack and cool to firm up about 2 minutes before transferring the cookies to another wire rack with a spatula. Let cool completely.

Buttercream

In a small heavy saucepan, bring the maple syrup to a simmer on the stove over med high heat. Simmer briskly for 2 minutes, remove from the heat and cool slightly. Then pour into the food processor. Let stand until barely warm. Add the powdered sugar, butter and vanilla and process until well blended a smooth.

Spread a generous amount over the underside of the undecorated cookie and top with a pecan sprinkled cookie. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week or freeze for one month.

Fresh Filipino Lumpia (very modified from: https://panlasangpinoy.com/asian-vegetable-dish-fresh-spring-roll-lumpiang-sariwa-recipe/), We cooked onions, peppers, garlic and carrots together (as everyone liked all of these), Then another dish or stir fried mung beansprouts and cabbage. Then we fried crisp the extra firm tofu. Everyone helped them selves to these, added a fresh romaine leaf and peanuts and added them to the softened rice wrapper. The sauce was the same except for no beef powder but several spoonfuls of peanut butter and more soy sauce, I'll make the homemade lumpia wrappers next time.