My meager pot of tomato plants has finished producing and been cut back to a few stalks jutting from the dark soil they’ve been planted in since May, waiting for me to pull them up.  But I’m lucky to have friends whose plants are still producing and thankfully willing to share.  The challenge for me at times is knowing what to do with them because my own plants have rarely produced more than what we can eat in a salad.  Often my timing is bad in being able to enjoy the lot — just how many tomatoes can two people eat at one sitting, right?  Especially when my husband forgets to bring them home right away and they’re, well, soft.

Into the freezer they go — stems and all.  I put them on a metal tray until they’re hard as rocks, then pour them into a plastic bag for later use.  Last year I managed to save a bag until mid-February when it was a welcome addition to a hearty tomato squash soup.  This year, I’ve already used one frozen bag, but still have two more in the freezer and will enjoy deciding what to make with them.

I’ll have to blame my need to use some of my frozen homegrown tomato stash on this Irish Blue Cheese and Tomato Soup recipe from Soup Chick.   I’m a pushover to begin with because I love tomato soup, but I’ve never had it with blue cheese — let alone bacon.  I was completely intrigued, so of course I had to try it.  I had the tomatoes, but the recipe requires that they are roasted.  Roasting isn’t a problem because I’ve roasted tomatoes several different ways and truly enjoy the flavor.  However I’d never roasted thawed, frozen tomatoes.

I love a good food experiment, don’t you?  Especially when the result is such a satisfyingly, tasty soup.

Roasted Tomato Soup with Bacon, Cheese, & Orzo Recipe

Ingredients

8 large roasted tomatoes, plus juice
olive oil
3 large cloves garlic
3 strips bacon, chopped
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
1 large stalk of celery, roughly chopped
1 orange bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups vegetable broth, heated
4 oz blue cheese
2/3 cup whole milk
1 cup cooked whole wheat orzo, optional
salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. Place whole tomatoes on a rimmed baking sheet covered with parchment and drizzle olive oil over.  Smash the cloves of garlic with the side of a large knife, peel them and add them to the tomatoes.  Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper.
2. Roast at 425 degrees F for 25-30 minutes.
3. While the tomatoes are roasting, if you plan to add the orzo to the soup, prepare that now according to package directions — al dente.
4. Remove from the oven and allow to cool enough to touch.  If time is short, pour the tomatoes and their juice into a wide shallow bowl to quicken the cooling process.
5. When the tomatoes are cool, remove stems and skin and discard.
6. In a large pot, add the bacon and cook over medium high heat until the fat is rendered and the bacon is just beginning to brown around the edges.  Remove the bacon pieces and place them in a small bowl to reserve.
7. Reduce the heat to medium low and add the onion, celery, and bell pepper.  Allow to cook, stirring occasionally, just until softened, about 5 minutes.
8. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables, stirring to incorporate, and allow to cook 1-2 minutes.
9. Stir the heated vegetable broth over the vegetables, stirring to scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan.  Allow to cook just until it begins to thicken, about 5 minutes.
10. Add the tomatoes and their juices, continuing to cook until the soup reaches a simmer.
11. Crumble the blue cheese over the soup and stir until melted.
12. If desired, use an immersion blender, blender, or food processor to puree the soup.
13. Pour in the milk and allow it to heat briefly, about 1 minute.
14. Stir in the the cooked orzo if including it in the recipe, then add the bacon pieces, reserving a few to garnish.

Recipe Notes:

• The smaller yellow and orange tomatoes weren’t used in this recipe, but they could have been.  I just wanted to show you how I do just pop them in the freezer.  The first photo was taken earlier this past summer after I returned home from picking my dear friend’s tomatoes while she was on vacation.  Lucky me!  The second two were the last of my crop from last year which I gathered in mid-October right before we went on vacation.  Amazing how my growing season was so much longer last year!
• As usual when I’m inspired by a great recipe, I often don’t have exactly the same ingredients on hand.  In the case of this soup, I was lacking the carrots, but had the bell pepper, and although they’re both orange, of course that’s not why I made the substitution.  Both add a sweetness to the mix and if you consider the holy trinity of gumbo bases (onion, celery, and bell pepper), I knew I would be in the ball park.  I had milk but not cream, found I was out of chicken broth so used veggie, and then only a partial package of blue cheese — about half the required quantity.  And you know the story about the tomatoes from what I mentioned above.
• About those tomatoes:  My goodness they released quite a bit of water during the roasting — definitely more than what I’ve noticed when roasting fresh tomatoes.  They end up being quite soft, but the good thing is, the skins are completely separated from the flesh, so you can pull them right out of the mix simply by using a fork to poke around in it.  There’s no need to chop them, because they’re already so soft.
• We truly enjoyed the flavors in this soup, and because we’re blue-veined cheese lovers, I have to make it again using the required amount of cheese.  I used a mild blue-veined Brie for this recipe and it was a perfect choice.  Nice an creamy.
• Why the whole wheat orzo?  I had it on hand for another meal and decided to add it the next day when I was enjoying a bowl of left-over soup for lunch.  I was remembering a favorite tomato rice soup recipe and thought it might be similar.  It was a great addition, but the soup is excellent without it as well.
• Many thanks to Lydia who also writes The Perfect Pantry, for sharing such a great recipe.

More Tomato Soup Recipes:

What We’re Eating — Roasted Tomato Soup (and some incredible cheese bread!)

Sprouted Kitchen – Roasted Tomato Soup

Joylicious — Roasted Tomato Soup

Our Life in the Kitchen — Tomato Soup

Sassy Radish — Tomato Soup

You’ve had one of those classic ice cream sandwiches.

The rectangular shaped, paper wrapped treats of vanilla ice cream encased in a pair of soft, pock marked chocolate cookies?  The damp wrapper is slowly pulled away, leaving bits of cookie and ice cream stuck to it and you can decide whether you want to lick those away before rewrapping a portion of it to keep the cookie from sticking to your fingers as you eat it.  But I never did that.  It interfered with being able to enjoy the quickly softening ice cream first, running my tongue up one side and down the other before taking my first bite.  Sticky finger clean-up followed.

Every day during my first summer after high school, I had one of those soggy frozen treats straight from the vending machine outside a Cultural Geography class my then boyfriend cajoled me into taking so I’d get three units out of the way before beginning my freshman year in college.  The ice cream sandwiches were his idea as was the everyday habit.  He was thin by nature, and I because I never seemed to eat anything in those days, so eating vending machine junk food at 10 am during our daily break seemed just fine.  That was then.

I’ve had ice cream sandwiches since then, but sadly, they’re more soggy than I remember, much smaller, and the bits and pieces clinging to my fingers not so charming.  So what’s an ice cream sandwich lover to do?

Make her own.

No sogginess. Creamy ice cream to lick along the sides.  No sticky fingers to clean up.

The oatmeal and raisins keeps them from being junk food, right?

Oatmeal Cookie Honey Vanilla Ice Cream Manwiches

I enjoy this oatmeal cookie recipe because it’s the perfect mix of chewy and crunchy.  I decided to use it for the ice cream sandwiches with the following ingredient substitutions and/or choices:

• butter instead of shortening
• allspice instead of nutmeg (because I love it!) but cardamom is also good
• red flame raisins (they’re huge, moist red raisins made from red flame grapes)
• no nuts (even though I love them as well)

I used this homemade ice cream recipe to fill the sandwiches with the following ingredient substitutions and/or choices:

• 3 vanilla beans (instead of 2)
• 4 tablespoons of cream cheese added (because I wanted a tiny bit of tartness)
• wildflower honey from Texas (a gift from a friend)

Directions

1. Make the ice cream first because the milk mixture needs to steep for an hour, then cool before processing and allowing to set in the freezer.
2. When you make the ice cream, follow the directions in the link above.  If you’d like to include the cream cheese, make sure it’s softened and add the cream to it gradually, stirring until it’s well mixed.  Then proceed with the recipe.
3. While the ice cream is in one of its production stages, make the cookies and allow them to completely cool on wire racks.
4. When the ice cream is finished processing, scrape it into a container to sit in the freezer at least 1 hour before constructing the cookies
5. To build the cookies, divide the ice cream evenly and fill one cookie, topping with a second and pressing very lightly.  Place on a metal tray and return to the freezer to until ready to serve.
6. After the cookies have set, if not serving then, package each in a plastic baggie and seal well.

Recipe Notes:

• Many thanks to Elise of Simply Recipes for such a great oatmeal cookie recipe and to Heidi of 101 Cookbooks for sharing this fabulous vanilla ice cream recipe.  Interestingly enough, both are from way back in the archives. I spend quite a bit of time looking at recipes in cookbooks I own and searching through archives on-line to try new things, and it really paid off this time!
• I made these ice cream sandwiches for a dinner party where they received rave reviews.  They were large enough to half and share.
• The cookie holds up wonderfully with the ice cream.  Each bite is perfect with no ice cream squishing out the sides.  They had about two hours in the freezer before we at them, so that helped.
• I made fairly large cookies — about 4″ in diameter — and baked them about 12-13 minutes, switching trays in the oven halfway through the baking time.
• 1 batch makes about 11 sandwiches with maybe a cookie or two for sampling left over.
• I’ve tried many, many ice cream, gelato, frozen yogurt, sherbet recipes over the years and most often try to keep the fat at a minimum.  What I notice in the process is that although I may enjoy the product, it doesn’t always work well as an accompaniment — say for something like ice cream sandwiches.  This recipe is perfect for these and is far easier considering no custard is made.  Plus, if you’re not one to like an egg-based ice cream, then this one is for you. The ice cream is beautifully textured, it absolutely tastes like honey, and is sturdy enough to hold its shape in these sandwiches.  Really fabulous.
• Originally I was going to dip half the sandwich in chocolate, but am glad I didn’t.  I think the chocolate would over power the wonderful honey flavor in the ice cream.
• Many thanks to my wonderful husband (he really is) for always helping me when I need it.  He ran each one of these sandwiches down to the extra freezer as I made them to make sure they wouldn’t melt.  Nice man.  Very.

It’s only a matter of time once the hint of Fall teases me with cool afternoons that I start thinking of soup.  I’m not partial to any kind of soup in particular as long as it’s warm and satisfying.  Sometimes I long for a clear broth and others something silky and smooth.  This time, I was in the mood for something chunky with a bit of richness — like clam chowder — except I didn’t have clams.  Seafood chowder sounded excellent too, but I wasn’t sure the tilapia I had in the freezer would be the right kind of fish for that.  No, I’d have to settle for the plump pieces of shrimp I had and the sweet corn and potatoes that needed to be used instead.  I just needed to find  a recipe that wouldn’t take up an  afternoon to prepare.

I enjoy my recipe searches because in the process I compare and contrast general quantities of ingredients, consider the variety of spices used and admire an unusual spin here and there.  It’s always nice to find a version that is healthy without taking away the satisfying aspect of the dish, too.   Every once in a while, I find a recipe that stuns me.  In my search for Shrimp and Corn Chowder, I found a recipe that seems to be making its rounds, finding it posted at several different sites.  Serving six, it calls for one quart of half-and-half, one quart of heavy cream, and one-half cup of margerine. Seriously.  I just about fell out of my chair wondering why on Earth it was necessary to put that much fat into a recipe that could easily do with much lighter ingredients and avoid classifying it as diet food.

Thankfully, I found a great recipe at Nook & Pantry, and although I didn’t follow it exactly as written, my version is not too far off.  Shrimp & Corn Chowder anyone?

Shrimp & Corn Chowder

4 ears sweet corn, kernels removed

6 oz. bacon

1 lg. shallot, chopped

3 lg. cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 yellow bell pepper, diced

1 carrot, peeled and diced

2 celery ribs, trimmed and diced

3 T flour

1/4 tsp.  hot paprika

2 dashes cayenne

4 c. good vegetable stock

2 c. milk, 2%

1 lb. fingerlings, cubed, peelings on

1 lb. lg. shrimp, shells & tails removed

Cut the bacon into small pieces and fry in the bottom of a medium soup pot until brown, but not yet crispy.  Remove the bacon to some paper towels to drain and pour off all but 1 T of the bacon fat.  Add all the vegetables, stirring over medium heat, cooking until softened but not browned, about 8 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook for another minute stirring occasionally.

Stir in the flour and paprika, coating the vegetables with it and allowing it to cook for a minute or two.

Add the vegetable broth, stirring any flour bits from the bottom of the pot as you pour.  Add the milk, corn, and potatoes and cook until the potatoes are fork tender, about 25 minutes.  Add the shrimp and cook just until they turn pink and are cooked through.  Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Notes:

• This is a hearty chowder with bits and chunks of vegetables or shrimp in every bite.
• The hot paprika is such a wonderful addition to this.  A little bit goes a long way, but if you’re someone who isn’t fond of heat don’t worry.  You’ll have just the slightest hint of warmth at the back of your throat and its quite pleasant.  The pimenton picante or hot paprika I use is made by Chiquilin and is a product of Spain.  If you can’t find it at your market, La Tienda is a great source for Spanish products like paprika and they sell quite a few varieties.
• This recipe makes enough for six good servings and since there are only three of us, we enjoyed it left over even though I worried about the texture of the shrimp with reheating.  Reheat low and slow and the shrimp manages just fine.
• In case you’re wondering about the recipe I mentioned at the beginning of this post, just the heavy cream and half-and-half alone in that recipe racks up almost 6,000 calories of saturated fat.  I’m still amazed!
• I’m thinking I’d like to put a southwest spin on this next time adding a few roasted poblanos and a bit of cilantro.

There’s a Greek bistro not too far from where I live called Apollonia.  It rates as one of the casual places I’ve enjoyed locally whose food has had me thinking about it long after I’ve eaten there.  Maybe it’s because I don’t eat Greek food very often, and so my weary taste buds long for something unique.  Or, it could be that the food is just plain delicious.

Valentine’s week (and I have to call it that since my husband treated me to days of lovely surprises) one of my gifts was dinner at Apollonia.  Ohhh, the hummos and the dolmathakia.  The spanakopita and tyropita.  The souvlaki.

Sheer heaven.

Clearly, there was a Greek dinner in the works for us at home after this, and I decided that since the Academy Awards was rapidly approaching, I’d spend the day in the kitchen cooking and watching what my husband calls my “pre-game show” of all things Oscars:  gowns and botox lips, padded rumps and tatooed eyeliner.  You’ve got to love Hollywood at least once a year.

No sooner had I begun the prepping than my oldest son called to ask what we were doing.
“Watching the Oscars and eating Greek food.  Why?”  I asked.
“Because I’m coming over,” he told me and with a quick “See Yah,” he hung up leaving me with my list of what to chop when and Mama Mia running through my mind.  Not the movie — the song.  Well, actually, both.

The connection?  My son is a huge ABBA fan and my husband and I are pretty sappy over the movie, too.  I know.  You can think what you will, but since I was actually around when ABBA’s songs routinely blasted from my car radio, I can be sappy about them if I want.  Besides, who can resist the amazing cerulean water in the film and seriously hunky Pierce Brosnan belting out, “So when you’re near me, darling can’t you hear me…SOS…The love you gave me nothing else can save me SOS!” to an I want to look like that when I’m 60 Meryl Streep.

Ahhhh….

I see a Greek island vacation in my future.

But in the meantime, I’ll settle for homemade hummus, Briami, and Chicken Souvlaki from Peter of Kalofagas.  With ABBA, of course, and this does involve a bit of dancing barefoot without warning.

I’ve been singing ABBA tunes all day every day for weeks.  In the car, at the grocery store…

Mama Mia.  Here we go again…

I just need a sailboat.

Hummus

1 – 15-oz. can chickpeas, reserving 1/3 c. canning liquid
1/4 c. fresh lemon juice
3 T tahini (Middle Eastern sesame paste)
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
Salt
Extra Virgin Olive oil
Paprika
Warm pita bread

Drain chickpeas, reserving liquid. Put chickpeas into
a blender or food processor, add the reserved liquid and if necessary, a small amount of water, cover, and blend to a semismooth paste.

With
motor still running, add lemon juice, tahini, garlic, and salt to taste and purée
until very smooth, about 2 minutes. Adjust seasonings.

Garnish hummus with some olive oil and paprika. Serve with wedges of warm pita bread.

Notes:

This is a Saveur recipe I first made at one of those involved dinner parties my friends and I occasionally enjoy.  Nothing could be easier than making your own hummus and although I do buy it at the store occasionally, it tastes better from home.  It doesn’t quite match the flavor of the hummos at Apollonia, but still. You can make it more challenging by cooking your own garbanzo beans if you’d like, but I usually don’t.  This comes together very quickly if you have a food processor, but make sure to let it run to smooth the mixure out.  I like this recipe because it’s very citrusy.  I didn’t make my own pita this time since I’ve been making other types of bread, but I have in the past and it’s quite easy.  Better tasting that what comes from the store, too.

Briami

This is a simple vegetable casserole that I’ve tried several versions of in the past couple of years.  This one is the best so far although I enjoyed the addition of Feta the last time I made it.  Essentially, it’s somewhat like a French ratatouille and usually contains eggplant (which I have tried before…) but I decided to try it without this time.  This version contains potatoes.

3 medium tomatoes, peeled, cut into thin slices
2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, very thinly sliced
1/2 medium red onion, very thinly sliced
2 medium zucchinis, sliced
3 artichoke bottoms, canned, cut into quarters
1/2 bell pepper, chopped
2 T parsley, chopped
2 T dill, chopped
2 T basil, chopped
2 T mint, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/3 c. olive oil
fresh lemon wedges

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Lightly oil a baking dish and spread half the tomato slices over the bottom.  Top with
potatoes, onions, zucchini, peppers, artichokes and and herbs.  Salt and pepper the layers as you proceed.  Finish with a top layer of tomatoes and drizzle over the olive oil.

Remove when bubbling and golden brown.  Cover if not serving right away.  Enjoy with a squirt of fresh lemon.  It’s delicious over rice!

Notes:

The problems I’ve had in the past with this have been related to the potatoes.  Either they’re too thick, or the dish is too deep.  There’s no moisture, or there’s too much moisture.  You name it and it’s happened. All in all, you’d think this dish would have amazing flavor, but it can and has fallen quite flat — and adjusting salt and pepper doesn’t cut it.  This version is pleasant, the potatoes finally cooked (shallow dish and sliced thin enough…) and the tomatoes on the top and bottom seem to have provided a good amount of flavor and moisture during cooking.  The squirt of lemon is a must, otherwise, I’m thinking it still doesn’t have a flavor where everything comes together as I imagine it should.  Honestly, the flavor was much improved the next day when I had it over rice with that squirt of lemon.  Very, very nice.  I’d try this again, but make it the day before so it can sit in the lovely flavored olive oil and juices, then heat it up.

Kalofagas’ Chicken Souvlaki with Tzatziki

I pkg. chicken breast tenders
2 T red wine vinegar
4 T olive oil
4 lg. bay leaves
1 scallion, finely chopped
2 sprigs thyme
1 T honey
1 shot of Cinzano
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp sea salt

Thread bite-sized pieces of the chicken breast on 6-8 skewers and set aside.  Mix the remaining ingredients and pour over the skewered chicken in a container shallow enough to allow skewers to sit in a single layer.  Alternatively, place in a plastic bag.  Allow to marinate, turning occasionally, at least two hours.  Before cooking, allow to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.  Cook under the broiler about 6″ from the heating source, turning as the chicken browns.

Notes: I had the breast tenders on hand so used those, cutting each into 2 or 3 pieces.  Peter’s recipe calls for lemon thyme and ouzo, but I had neither, unfortunately.  I doubt that Cinzano is a good substitute for ouzo, but it worked and the souvlaki was extremely tender and moist.  I use California bay leaves which are more strong than Turkish bay leaves, so I reduced the quantity in half. His recipe also calls for Halloumi, a Greek cheese that can be fried. It’s a challenge to find it, and sadly, I didn’t have it for this recipe.  I’ve located a brick since, however, and it’s now in my cheese drawer.  It’s very expense at $16.99/lb. so I’m going to treat it with much love when I finally use it.  In San Diego, halloumi can be found at Baron’s Market in Point Loma.

To make the Tzatziki…

1 lg. container 0% Fage Greek yogurt (17.5 oz.)
2 lg. cloves garlic, minced
1/2 English cucumber, seeded and grated
2 T fresh dill, minced
squirt of lemon
salt
extra virgin olive oil

Slice the cucumber in half lenthwise and with a spoon, scrape out the seeds before grating the pieces.  Sprinkle it with salt and allow it to sit in a strainer for at least 30 minutes, then squeeze to remove any remaining liquid.  Add to the Greek yogurt and mix in the remaining ingredients.  Serve with the souvlaki and warm pita.

Notes: Greek yogurt is so thick and creamy (it’s on the left in the 1st photo…) I usually get the 0% fat variety and I happened to have it on hand, so used it.  I also have regular yogurt which is much less creamy.  If you plan to use regular yogurt, allow it to sit overnight in a strainer to drain it.  That will make it more creamy for use in tzatziki.

Thanks Peter, for the terrific recipe!  I just happen to have a jar of grape leaves in my pantry for my next Greek cooking fest.

Dear Nick Malgieri,

I saw your Ginger Sandwich Cookies filled with lemon cream in a recent issue of Food & Wine magazine and decided I’d give them a try.  Although gingersnaps have never been and will never be a cookie I find myself craving, the lemon filling did catch my attention and I thought that with the ginger, the flavor could be exceptional.

Although that did not disappoint, the molasses, on the other hand, gave me pause because the last time I made cookies that had molasses in them, the results were less than appealing until I bent them into submission after much trial and error.

Now I know I’m far from perfect on most days, but I have had a modest amount of experience cooking and baking with great success — thankfully more times than not.  I also use excellent equipment and so cannot blame poor result on either of those factors.

What I’m left with is a question, and I’m asking it of you since this is your recipe and the photograph chosen to illustrate the intended results looks far different than mine — especially my first batch.

• When baking cookies with molasses, is there something I just don’t understand?  What causes them to spread so?  I know sugar in general causes that, and when using molasses, a smaller quantity is needed, as in this recipe which calls for only 1/4 cup.  Could it be the brand of molasses?  I use Grandma’s which is just about the only kind I’ve ever used, and the jar I used for this batch was opened recently.
• Although keeping a very close eye on the Ginger Sandwich cookies during the required bake time, I realized I needed to remove them from the oven only half way through the expected 20-minute baking time, and even then, the cookies were far too done.  Actually, burnt.
• I prefer to use convection settings for everything except for recipes with a high quantity of egg, so am used to reducing the heat and cooking time to compensate for that choice. However, because of the previous results, I chose not to use convection heat for this recipe.  On the second batch, again, with only 7 minutes of the baking time elapsed, I had to remove the cookies.

Mr. Malgieri, I know that often, baking is an adventure, and I accept that most of the time.  Because I’m used to reading recipes, I can usually spot one that I think could be problematic, and with this recipe, the cooking time did get my attention.  Cookies rarely bake that long.  Nevertheless, I proceeded like the trusting home cook I am.

I will say your ginger cookies are lovely tasting with a nice bite — chewy, with a pleasant tartness from the lemon cream which blends well with the overall sweetness.  Very, very nice.  I just wish I’d done them justice.  So I’m curious and would enjoy trying these again, but detest wasting food so need some direction.

Did Food & Wine misprint the recipe?  Or am I just someone who should step away from the molasses?

With the utmost respect,
Kelly

p.s.  They stack pretty good though!

Nick Malgieri’s Ginger Sandwich Cookies

For the cookies…
1-1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. +  2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3/4 c. sugar
1 lg. egg, at room temperature
1/4 c. unsulfured molasses

For the filling…

6 T unsalted butter, softened
2 c. powdered sugar
1-1/2 T fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven.  Line baking sheets with parchment or silicone.

In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon and salt. In the bowl of a
standing electric mixer fitted with the paddle, beat the butter and
sugar at medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the egg and
molasses. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed until
incorporated, scraping down the bowl.

Working in 2 batches, drop scant tablespoons of the dough onto the
baking sheets, 3 inches apart. Bake the cookies for 20 minutes, until
risen and fallen and slightly firm; shift the sheets from top to bottom
and front to back halfway through for even baking. Let cool slightly,
then transfer the parchment paper to racks and let the cookies cool
completely.

Bake the remaining cookies.

To make the filling, in the bowl of a
standing electric mixer fitted with the paddle, beat the butter with
the confectioners’ sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy, about
3 minutes then beat in the lemon juice.

Arrange the cookies in pairs on a large work surface. Spoon or pipe
1 rounded tablespoon of the lemon filling onto the flat side of half of
the cookies. Sandwich with the remaining cookies, pressing them
together so the filling spreads to the edge.

Notes:

• Using a tablespoon, I dropped dough less than the 3″ recommended.  I know.  It’s there for all the world to see on the silicone mat.  But that didn’t have anything to do with the cookies being burnt in only half the baking time.
• So the second go round I balled the dough hoping for something that didn’t spread so rapidly.  Standing in front of the oven and watching through the glass, I removed the cookies at 7 minutes with some edges still getting ready to burn.
• As you can see by my results, I desperately need a cookie scooper so that I, too, can have cookies that are EXACTLY the same size.
• If you have knowledge that I am clearly lacking about any of this, by all means, please let me know.  In fact, I encourage you to try this recipe because the taste is definitely excellent.  I guess I just can’t make cookies that are of the “snap” variety.
• I did mail these cookies to Breadchick aka Mary of The Sourdough, however, who lives about 3,000 miles from here, so I guess the good news would be that they travel well.  Maybe.  I haven’t seen a photo of the condition they arrived in!

Batch 1 and Batch 2: Dropped as directed, and the second time, rolled and increased quantity.  No.  I have no scientific reason for increasing the quantity in Batch 2.

This is Batch 1:   Fairly uniformly shaped, but at 10 minutes, burnt.  My husband liked them anyway.  Go figure.

This is Batch 2:  They’re larger, but I took them out at 7 minutes so managed to save them.  You can see where the edges were beginning to burn.  These were more chewy and not crisp like the first batch.

With nearly two years writing here, it’s only been recently that I’ve begun to discover other foodies in and around the San Diego area.  Although I’ve found several, it still amazes me when a new one pops up and I add it to my mental list of, I should create a section just for us in my sidebar.  Now, I’m sure there are lots of reasons we add a new link to our sidebars — or in some cases, a special page for links, but for me, it’s more about keeping it where I can see it.  Then it’s easier for me to visit.

You’re laughing, right?  Because I know lots of people use readers, and I have a few myself.  But for some reason, I’ve never gotten into the routine of actually using it and so I find myself flitting from one place to another without a care in the world.

It’s shameful, this gadabout lack of organization, but lovely things do come from it.  I’ll call it serendipitous that I happened onto Food Blogga’s recipe for Clementine Upside Down Cake the other day.  I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to try it since I’ve had a box of “Cuties” for longer than I’d like to admit, thinking they’d end up in marmalade.

Sure, like I’d make marmalade. Well, I thought I might, tempted by all the amazing citrus in the markets right now and a bundle of fresh vanilla beans I purchased not too long ago.

My grandmother used to make pineapple upside down cake in her black cast iron skillet, and it’s been years since I had a taste of that.  But I’ve always been more fond of tangerines than pineapple — especially canned pineapple, so the idea of sweet tangerine flavor soaked into a light cake sounded perfect.

Looks like the marmalade will have to wait a bit longer, because I just had to make this cake.

Upside Down Cutie Cake

1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
5 clementines, peeled, with white stringy pith removed, and sliced crosswise
1 cup flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
3 eggs, separated
1 cup granulated sugar
5 tablespoons fresh clementine juice
2 teaspoons clementine zest
1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Place a rack in the center of the oven, and preheat to 350 degrees F.

Melt the butter in the microwave and pour in into a 9″ heart-shaped baking pan.  Sprinkle the brown
sugar over the butter and arrange the clementine slices in a decorative pattern.

Mix the dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and set aside.

In another bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form.

In a separate bowl beat egg yolks with sugar until creamy.  Add juice, zest, and vanilla extract, and beat well. Add the flour mixture gradually to the creamed mixture, and beat until well combined. Fold in the egg whites with a rubber spatula and pour cake mixture carefully over the fruit.  The pan will be very full.

Place on a baking sheet in the center of the oven and bake about 40-45 minutes, or until cake is golden and a wooden skewer inserted into center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack about 10 minutes before running a blunt knife around edges of the pan to loosen the cake.

To invert, place a plate over the top of the cake and flip.  Carefully lift pan away fro the cake, making sure it is sliding form the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature with a dusting of powdered sugar if you’d like.

Notes:

• First, thanks, Susan for this recipe!  It traveled to a small Friday get together with a few very good friends, then back home where we nibbled and enjoyed the texture and flavor of this very nice cake.
• I decided to forego the Kitchen Aid on this recipe and it’s actually doable.  Yes, I even whipped the egg whites by hand.  Granted, they don’t get as glossy or puffy as they do in the mixer, but it works!
• The measurement for the heart-shaped pan is at it’s widest points, and although it’s extremely full, it didn’t rise over the sides.  I used a knife to disloged the cake from the top of the rim and it came right out of the pan when I inverted it.
• I had trouble slicing my manderines.  They wanted to fall apart (which is what Cuties wants them to do…) so I continues to separate my section pieces and scatter them around.  Works just fine.
• Have some fun with the citrus — blood oranges are out now, too.  That would be beautiful, although more tart.