My Madison Bistro

In my quest to perfect this recipe for Millionaire’s Shortbread, I made a few of changes. One I will keep, one I will toss, and the other will entirely depend on how hot (or cold) it is outside.

I mentioned before that I was unhappy with the shortbread in the original recipe, so I switched to a shortbread recipe that I like very much. This is the change that I will keep. I think the bars taste so much better with this shortbread; they’re really the taste and texture I was hoping for the first time around.

Continue reading “Millionaire’s Shortbread, revisited”

Tags: chocolate, dulce de leche, shortbread

Over the past two years, the New York Times’ Chocolate Chip Cookie has taken the food blogging world by storm. I kept intending to try this recipe, but life kept getting in the way.

Well, last week it seemed that fate wanted me to make these cookies. If I cut the recipe in half, I had just enough bread flour and cake flour. I didn’t have the 60% cacao chocolate disks required, but I don’t like chocolate chip cookies with that dark of chocolate – it’s only semi-sweet chocolate for me.

The original instructions said the dough balls should be the size of “generous golf balls.” Well, I’ve only seen golf balls one size, so I made dough balls slightly larger. I looked at the size of the dough, looked at the 18 minute baking time, and thought, “You have to be kidding me.”

“Continue reading “NY Times Chocolate Chip Cookies”

Tags: chocolate, comfort food, cookies

I must be a masochist. I’ve only made macarons a few times now, but I always seem to make them in the summer, during the height of humidity. And this particular summer has been more humid (and much warmer) than any I can recall. In fact, did you know that in the US, June 2010 was the hottest on record? Thanks, global warming!

And yet, I decided to make macarons, simply because I wanted to do a raspberry-cream cheese frosting combination. What can I say? It sounded good, and well, summery.

What I like best about this flavor combination is that I can only eat one at a time. I love the frosting, I love the raspberry punch that these macarons have…but after one macaron, I’m satisfied. Built-in portion control is always a good thing.

Continue reading “Raspberry Macarons”

Tags: cream cheese, macarons, raspberries

It’s zucchini season for me, courtesy of my mom’s garden.

For my first “large” zucchini of the year, I just had to make zucchini muffins. They freeze wonderfully for several months, so when the temperature has dropped and you are missing summer so much it hurts, you can always pull a muffin out of the freezer. I think they taste best if you let them thaw at room temperature, but if you’re in a hurry, there’s always the microwave…

Continue reading “Zucchini Muffins”

Tags: comfort food, muffins, Vegetables, zucchini