A Tribute to our Bubby Lucy and her Legendary Cookies

Sherri and I both agreed that it was time that Braude’s Bites was a representation of both the Braude Sister’s culinary skills (even if one of us now goes by the married name Sparaga) . I couldn’t be more honored to have my first post be a tribute to our Bubby Lucy who passed away this month at the age of 93. Our Bubby was known for her love of traveling, her sewing and mending skills, her sense of style, her beauty, her sweet tooth and best known worldwide by her famous White Meringue Chocolate Chip cookies that we referred to as “Bubby Lucy’s Cookies”.

Although these cookies have been a staple in our household for years, it was only a few weeks ago that I made my first batch. This recipe only has four ingredients and takes very little preparation time, but I caution all bakers that this particular cookie recipe needs to be followed exactly in order to achieve the right coloring and shape.

Bubby Lucy’s Cookies
Yields approximatley 22 cookies

2 Egg Whites

½ cup of Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla

1 cup of Chocolate Chips

1. Preheat the oven for 260 F.

2. Separate Egg Whites and leave them out so that they attain room temperature. Using a mix master (small bowel), Beat the eggs on high.

3. As the egg whites become frothy you gradually add the sugar and then the vanilla. You beat it for approximately 5-7 minutes, until you obtain peaks. The batter is ready when the peaks hold their form.

4. Fold the chocolate chips in by hand.

5. Using two cookie sheets, cover them both with parchment paper and drop cookies with a regular spoon.

6. Bake the cookies for 40 minutes at 265 F. Turn off the oven and leave the cookies in the oven for an hour, so that they become dry.

I highly recommend sampling a cookie as soon as they come out of the oven! These cookies have a great shelf life in the pantry, our mother always has these on hand for guest (that’s if our father doesn’t discover them before the guests arrive). It should also be noted that they are also low fat in comparison to other traditional cookies.

We’ll miss our bubby, but her legacy will live on with this recipe.

Cara

Photo taken on January 12th, 2008

Cauliflower & Curry

Recently my mom bought me Norene's Healthy Kitchen, a cookbook written by Norene Gilletz, who is a culinary goddess amongst the Canadian crowd and now a subscriber to Braude's Bites! I was looking through it for new ideas on vegetables and ended up finding delicious recipes for both roasted broccoli and roasted cauliflower that I have made frequently over the past few months. I will never steam either of those vegetables again, they lose their flavor and are never beyond average. Both Norene's roasted veggie dishes are tasty, easy and healthy. Even better, they are company quality- not just for your everyday.

Curry Roasted Cauliflower
Norene's Healthy Kitchen
Yields 4-6 servings

1 large cauliflower
1 red pepper, seeded and cut into long, narrow strips (I always leave it out for some reason)
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup fresh chives or scallions for garnish (I also leave it out)

Preheat the oven to 400. Wash the cauliflower well and cut into florets. Place in pan with red pepper strips, drizzle with olive oil, curry powder and salt. Spread on a single layer on the baking sheet. Roast, uncovered, for 40-45 minutes until golden and crispy; halfway through, toss them to get them all! They taste really good when they are a bit blackened. Remove from oven and sprinkle with onions or chives.

It turns out cauliflower and curry are a delicious combo and the cauliflower has a really buttery taste. A few weeks after rediscoverin cauliflower, I was at Wichcraft, my favorite sandwich chain and they were not serving my spicy carrot soup with vanilla oil, so my friend, Corryn, convinced me to try the cauliflower soup. It was my first time having cauliflower soup. I enjoyed it so much, I made this recipe from Epicurious.com last night and really enjoyed it!

Quick curried cauliflower soup
Adapted from Bon Appétit January 2003
Makes 8 to 10 servings.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons curry powder
8 cups cauliflower florets (from 1 large head), chopped
10 ounces Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, diced into 1/2-inch cubes (about 1 1/4 cups)
7 cups low-salt chicken broth
1/2 tsp crushed red peppers
Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until translucent, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Add sugar and curry powder; stir 1 minute. Add cauliflower and potatoes; stir 1 minute. Add broth and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 35 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and crushed red peppers. Let cool and puree soup with a hand blender.

Note: The original version was bland, by adding spices to taste you will get a great velvety soup with a bit of kick! It's very quick and makes your house smell delightful!

Enjoy!

Orange Season

It must be the festive season that's put me in a citrus mood. And it can't be helped, really, since everywhere you turn there are kumquats and mandarins, satsumas and oranges galore. So for dessert over many festive dinners, our table has been laden with all things orange.

At one dinner was crepes with kumquat compote and vanilla ice cream; at another was our nostalgic orange trifle which my brother and I nearly finished all by ourselves when the guests weren't looking. There was honey kumquat sorbet; orange cupcakes with earl grey tea-infused chocolate ganache frosting topped with candied orange peel. And now that the eating frenzy has passed, we're munching on sweet juicy mandarin orange wedges straight from the fridge.

Of all the orange desserts, the easiest has to be this simple and homely orange cake that's a cinch to make. Like the Lemon Poppy Seed cake in my last post, this one is easy to dress up. Made into cupcakes, they are delicious topped with fresh whipped cream infused with a teaspoon of orange blossom water and strewn with finely chopped pistachios. It also makes for a great teatime treat topped with candied oranges and a trickle of orange syrup.



Orange Butter Cake

250g butter, softened at room temperature
1 1/4cups sugar
4 eggs, at room temperature
2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
2 tsp orange zest
100ml fresh orange juice

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees C.
2. Cream butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy.
3. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition.
4. Fold the flour into the batter.
5. Add the zest and juice and mix only until the batter is well incorporated.
6. Pour batter into a moulded tin, like a bundt tin, and bake for 40–60 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.