Chocolate Hazelnut Melting Moments

As promised from last time, here are the Chocolate Hazelnut Melting Moments.  Chocolate-hazelnut cookies sandwich a creamy chocolate-hazelnut filling.  I'm not sure how these are hazelnut variations of Melting Moments, which I made previously.  The recipes aren't similar, and this hazelnut recipe lacks the cornstarch or Bird's custard powder that you often see in Melting Moments recipes.  The taste and consistency are different, though wonderful in their own way.  They're chocolate and hazelnut, so how could they not be?  They just deserve their own name.

The dough can be a little fussy to work with.  Once the dough starts to get melty and tear, and the rounds don't hold their shape when handled, toss the remaining dough into the freezer, parchment sheets and all, to firm up before cutting again.  It's a little labor intensive, but they are well worth it.

Melting Moments tea cookies

Melting Moments: The name is corny, but the sandwiched cookie is divine.  When my friend Bryanna was clearing her apartment for her big move to New York, she offered me a book of afternoon tea recipes.  Everything looked good, but the Melting Moments caught my attention immediately.  They're crisp yet light-textured cookies filled with buttercream.  I had made them months ago with another recipe, which used Bird's custard powder and added jam on top of the buttercream.  I like this recipe better, which uses cornstarch and vanilla instead so there wasn't the subtle chalky taste or texture I got from the Bird's.  I made some other minor tweaks and added the jam to this version also. Trust me, jam plus buttercream induces satisfied groans.  Thanks, Bry!  Maybe I'll make these next time you're in town.

Also, if you're a fan of chocolate and hazelnut together, check back here in a few days for the Hazelnut Melting Moments I also made from this book!

I'm catching up on following all your posts.  It's been a busy summer, especially with the visit of family.  I had fun grilling and chilling with my dad, even if we disagree on how long it takes to cook meat on the grill and how harmful char is.  It's all good -- by a certain age and with living in different states, you overlook the little stuff and enjoy your time together.  And Sis and I had been waiting all summer for a beach outing together.  She brought her little one, who would run around yelling, "Auntie, where arrre yoou?  A-yi, where arrre yoou?"  In these pictures Audrey is hanging with Grandpa, her best friend.  In the one on the left, she's using one of her favorite expressions, "Wooo-ooow!" while she watches the waves.

And my garden has been rewarding me with tomatoes!  There's loads of these little Sun Sugar tomatoes, some big heirloom Brandywine tomatoes, cherry peppers, and the occasional strawberry.  On the right is a sauce I made from the yellow tomatoes, and a salsa behind it from the Brandywines and cherry peppers.  I've been hitting up the farmers market for blueberries, summer squash, and fragrant peaches with the fuzz still on them.  I'm trying, as usual, to milk every moment out of summer before it gets too cold for my favorite produce, beaches, and barbeques.

Boston Globe Reviews: The Farmer's Daughter and Molly Moo's

The Nicoise salad. Pardon the cellphone photo.

I might bundle reviews like this from here on out.  See, all my reviews have gone behind a subscriber paywall except for a short summary, and since most of you don't live in Greater Boston I'm sure you don't subscribe.  What can I say?  Subscriptions help keep me employed.  But if you live outside the area and have a hankering to read about a certain place, shoot me an e-mail and I'll send the text over to you.

Anyway, the review in today's paper is for The Farmer's Daughter, a farm-to-table breakfast and lunch place in Easton.  It's been eagerly anticipated in the town, as my friend Isabelle told me when we went for brunch.  It's fresher and more imaginative than the standard regional diner with eggs and greasy breakfast meats.  And all the produce comes from a farm just up the street.  Read the review at http://b.globe.com/14MBUf4

And in July I wrote about Molly Moo's, an ice cream parlor in Quincy where the owner likes to play with his food.  There you'll find ice cream sandwiches, ice cream cannoli, and ice cream cake pops.

Read the review at http://b.globe.com/1330Eim

Blueberry Cornmeal Buckle

On a recent visit to the farmers market I got beautiful blueberries, and was wondering what to do with them (besides popping them in my mouth) when I remembered I wanted to try making this buckle.  Upon tasting it, my baker friend at work called this "the best blueberry buckle I've ever had."

The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook calls it a blueberry cornmeal butter cake, and describes it as the place where a blueberry buckle meets Southern cornbread.  If you don't like cornbread, don't be put off.  I'm not a fan of the squidgy, gritty squares that come on the side of plates in restaurants either, but this is different.  The texture is more of a background note, and lends itself well to wonderfully crisp edges.  The buckle is moist and lightly sweet, and the blueberries picked the morning of the market gave it a wonderful, summery flavor.  Make it soon while blueberries are in season, and before summer slips away.

I did have one issue with the recipe, and that was the weight measurements.  Given the choice between volume and weights, I always pick the latter.  Using a scale is more precise, I never lose count of cups or tablespoons, and I don't have to break out said cups.  But the buckle was still very liquid in the middle after 35 minutes.  A few minutes more didn't help, and it was still not fully set after sitting in the oven with the heat turned off.  On my second try I used only volume measurements, but also weighed them as I went, out of curiosity -- some of the grams were way off from what the recipe stated.  So, lesson learned: use only volume measurements for this recipe, and I've given only those below.

On a minor note, the streusel topping came out dry and sandy.  I wanted nice, big, buttery pebbles that have more crunch and stay on the top like this crumble, so I increased the butter and tweaked the method.

Looking for additional blueberry goodness?  Check out my Blueberry Roulade.

Chinese Glass Noodles with Shrimp, and Guest Posting at Ang Sarap

Have you ever tried fen si, or Chinese glass noodles?  They're not to be mistaken for the more common rice vermicelli, or mei fun.  I'm guest-posting today at Ang Sarap, and chose this childhood favorite when Raymund invited me over.  Can I say how thrilled I was at his invitation?  I'm constantly impressed by the range of cuisines Raymund makes and posts, not to mention the volume of them.  Too often I see Asian recipes lumped in one category, their distinctive characteristics muddled together.  But Raymund brings us his native Filipino dishes, along with Vietnamese and Japanese recipes, and cuisines beyond Asia.  Ever wondered about Kiwi cuisine?  Raymund's got a recipe.

To find out the difference between fen si and mei fun, and to get the recipe for Chinese Glass Noodles with Shrimp, visit Ang Sarap.  You'll probably wind up staying there for a while, checking out all Raymund's cooking.

Irish Bread & Butter Pudding with Whiskey Cream

I've made a couple discoveries: 1) I don't like whiskey.  2) Whiskey-spiked whipped cream is the bomb.

I adapted Joe's grandmother's Irish Bread & Butter Pudding for my book club's Irish tea-themed event last week.  I'd had it many times made by his mom, and it's the ultimate comfort food.  Perhaps the main way Irish Bread & Butter Pudding differs from other bread puddings is that the bread is buttered before being soaked with the custard and baked.  But I wanted to update the recipe a little.  For a fancier teatime look I made the pudding in this quiche dish instead of the ordinary 9x13-inch pan.  I also lightened up quantities of butter and eggs, and both endeavors called for messing with all the proportions.  I used my co-workers as guinea pigs for the first batch, which I can now admit was a bit soggy.  I don't think they noticed, though, because it was the whiskey-spiked whipped cream that got all the attention.  "Did you say whiskey??"  Yes, and go light on the whipped cream, at least until deadline.

That was my other update: I soaked the raisins in whiskey, and then spiked the whipped cream with some.  I love how the cream smooths out the edges of the hard stuff.  This is not your grandma's bread pudding.  Or at least not Grandma O'Neil's, though her whiskey-free original is still awesome.  I also brush some apricot jam on at the end for added sweetness and color.  And the proportions of round two worked out with the approval of Joe, who said it tasted authentic, in the family sense.

The gracious hosting and gorgeous decor were courtesy of Rebecca of A Love Letter to Rome. The amazing Mrs. Hot Potato baked the lower two tiers of Lemon; Chocolate, Almond & Toffee; and Parmesan Thyme Cheddar Chive Shortbread.

I got compliments on the pudding at book club, and my friends shared my co-workers' enthusiasm for the whiskey cream.  They even dolloped it on top of scones.  Add some Irish tea, beer, colcannon, haddock chowder, soda bread, shortbread, and Irish fiddling, and we had the makings of a lovely afternoon.

Boston Globe Review: Peruvian Place, plus other stuff

I was excited to find a Peruvian restaurant south of Boston!  Read the review to find out what I thought.  And pardon the photos -- the photographer assignment fell through, so they fell back on my cellphone photos.

Read the review: http://b.globe.com/11s4ptE

It has also been a good eats week, since my girlfriends came up for a visit, one of them all the way from Germany.  They asked to visit The Bloomy Rind, the cheese shop I reviewed last year, and we took the food to the beach for a picnic.

Clockwise from top-left: The Cherry & White Tea Preserves were divine with the Crema Kasa. Kale & chorizo salad. Gouda and Crema Kasa in front, and goat cheese with blueberries, and goat cheese with fennel & lavender pollen behind. Cubano sandwich with farro salad. Beef jerky bar I wasn't brave enough to get.

It was like an eating adventure: we got kale & chorizo salad, and farro salad, and sampled other delicious fare like fresh pea guacamole and a romesco.  Our sandwiches included a bacon & brie, Mediterranean vegetables with hummus and feta, and a Cubano.  We got several cheeses, and finished with Vermont goat milk caramels.  Other good eats of the week included getting Indian with my friends, and an Irish-themed party with a different set of friends (I'll save that for another post).

Of course all the food we've eaten together over the years hasn't been so refined as that from the cheese shop.  We did go to college together -- 'nuff said, right?  What do you eat when you get together with old friends?