Chef Pichet Ong sent me this recipe today.
I think it would be perfect for Mother’s Day. But, if you don’t feel like making them you can try them at Coppelia (http://www.ybandco.com/media/coppelia.html) one of my favorite 24 hour restaurants in NYC.
DOUBLE ALMOND & JAM COOKIES
3 dozen cookies
Time: 55 minutes, Plus 4 hours for Resting
Cookie Base:
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
2 yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
¾ cup AP flour
1 cup cornstarch
½ cup almond flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
- In bowl of mixer, paddle together salt, butter, sugar, yolks, vanilla, and almond extract until combined.
- In the meantime, whisk together all dry ingredients.
- Add flour mixture to butter mixture on low speed until combined. Remove dough from bowl onto a clean work surface and form dough into 2 pieces. Wrap each piece with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
-
Almond Ring:
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
3/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
2+3/4 cups almond flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 ounces egg whites (from about 4 medium eggs)
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together sugars, almond flour, salt.
- Gradually whisk in egg white until smooth paste.
- Transfer mixture into a piping bag with a medium star tip and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Assembly
1 cup of fruit jam of choice (strawberry, peach, or blueberry are good)
½ cup sliced almonds
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- On a lightly floured work surface, roll cold pastry pieces out to about 1/8” thick pieces. Use 2” round cookie cutters to cut cookies. Arrange pieces on sheet pans, leaving an inch in between pieces.
- Working quickly, pipe almond ring mixture around each circle going all to the way to the edge, and leaving about ¾” inch of circle middle for the jam filling. Fill each cookie with jam and sprinkle top of each with almond slices, pressing down slightly so they stick to the almond ring. Keep remaining almond ring mixture for next use, along with the scraps from the cookie cut down.
- Bake cookies in oven for 14 minutes total, rotating half way through if necessary, until crust is golden brown,.
- Let cookies cool to room temperature completely before serving.
It’s been below freezing for several days here in NYC so I decided to make some chicken stew to warm up.
Farm to table restaurants are popping up like Starbucks all over New York City these days and last Saturday I had the pleasure of dining at David Burke’s take on farm to table dining at his SoHo restaurant, David Burke Kitchen in the basement of The James Hotel.
charcuterie
To start, my party and I had the charcuterie plate. It is a delightful mix of fresh sopressata and other meats with a mix of vegetables and fried herbs. The mustard seeds and cornichons really cut the saltiness of the cured meat very well. The salmon sticks and market salad were also delicious, but the charcuterie was definitely the standout.
salmon pretzel sticks
The main reason for my visit, however, was to try Zac Young’s Desserts. I’m sure many of you are aware of my sweet tooth and Young’s desserts did not disappoint. We started out with his bacon caramel popcorn, which he told us is his favorite snack food. It definitely does beat Cracker Jack any day. I’d love to see this on Trader Joes’ aisles.
bacon caramel popcorn
Young’s tree of donuts were perfectly crisp and doughy. The caramel and eggnog dipping sauces also brought me out of my post-holiday blues. I loved the booziness of the eggnog sauce and would have downed it if I wasn’t so modest.
donuts
My other favorite desserts were the deconstructed molten carrot cake and the bacon pecan brioche sticky buns. I recommend eating the carrot cake with everything on the plate all together in one bite to achieve the intended effect. The sticky buns have a nice salty sweet combination and would pair well with coffee.
carrot cake
The crème brûlée was the perfect ending to the meal. It is simply a work of art especially the way a piece of white chocolate was so delicately balanced on top of the caramel ice cream. The combination of coconut and salted caramel was also pretty unique.
I really can’t wait to go back and try more of David Burke and Zac Young’s creations. I’ve been told that they are working on a quail pie, which sounds really intriguing.
crème brûlée