The Void and Neztra

I've never made shortbread in my life. I've never even heard of Scottish Sharp Cheddar Shortbread. When I located this recipe on epicurious.com it was so different a concept that I just had to try it.

Remember last week when I said I love chocolate? Well, cheese is in the same category for me. Not only are there so many varieties of delicious cheese in the world that I have probably only scratched the surface as far as the flavors I have personally tried, but cheese is such a versatile ingredient in baked food that one could dedicate a lifetime to understanding the potential goodness of each style of cheese.

I personal favorites are Gruyere, Aged Swiss, and Asiago - the harder, sharp cheeses that seem to dance on the pallet like fine wine. I've made some of the best fondues with a mixture of Gruyere and Swiss, but that is another story for another day.

This Scottish Sharp-Cheddar Shortbread recipe was so easy that I would even recommend it as something to bake with your kids. The ingredients are simple and the steps are few and fun.

I did stray from the recipe slightly. I added a little more cayenne than recommended to bring out the sharpness of the cheese and ended up not finding as dry a cheddar as I would have liked. I also cut the shortbread into squares instead of circles to avoid wasting dough and having to reroll it out, which, as the recipe states, makes the resulting shortbread a bit stiffer and not as delicate.

The resulting flavor was similar to popular White Cheddar cheese crackers, but the flavor was much more complex and the texture was, as the recipe title suggests, similar to a regular shortbread cookie.

These treats were a perfect compliment to the Creamy Tomato Basil Soup I made the same night and a glass of Gewurztraminer - A perfect trio for a February night.

Scottish Sharp-Cheddar Shortbread
Courtesy of Epicurious.com

Ingredients
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* Pinch of cayenne pepper
* 8 ounces extra-sharp white Cheddar cheese, finely shredded
* 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

Using electric mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat together butter, salt, black pepper, and cayenne at low speed just until blended. Add Cheddar and flour and mix at low speed just until smooth (do not over mix). Shape dough into disk, wrap in plastic wrap or waxed paper, and chill 30 minutes.

Arrange racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat to 350°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

On lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4- to 1/8-inch-thick round. Using 1 1/2- to 2-inch round cutter, cut out rounds and arrange 1 1/2 inches apart on baking sheets. Reroll scraps if desired (rerolled scraps will be tougher).

Bake shortbread until lightly golden and beginning to brown on edges, about 13 to 15 minutes. Cool on sheets 5 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

Cook's Notes:

•Look for a sharp, white Cheddar that is on the dry side, such as English Wensleydale Farmhouse Truckle or Extra Old Black Diamond Cheddar.
•It's important not to whip air into the dough — simply mix until blended.

I love chocolate. Let me say that one more time. I love chocolate. White chocolate, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, flavored chocolate - you name it. By the way, if you are every feeling adventurous and want to try some truly delicious and unique chocolate, find yourself a bar of Belgium-made Dolfin Milk Chocolate with Hot Masala (you can order it online at World Wide Chocolate).

I have been on the hunt for the perfect brownie recipe for years. I am pretty picky about my brownies. They have to be the perfect balance of richness, heady chocolaty goodness and chewy texture. So when HP Sauce and I were trying to decide what to bake this week, it was an easy decision to make brownies our next endeavour.

We decided to try Nigella Lawson's Triple Chocolate Brownie recipe this time. It was so significantly different from any brownie recipe that I had ever made that I thought maybe, just maybe, Nigella knew something I didn't about the perfect brownie recipe. Six eggs... six eggs??? Three sticks of butter? Wow. I would either love them or die of hardening of the arteries just gazing at their buttery goodness. Alas, I did survive both the mixing, baking and taste testing of these rich brownies and have to say that, although they are not my ideal vision of a brownie, they are quite good heated in the microwave for a bit and served piping hot with a scoop of french vanilla ice cream melting on top. The richness of the brownie is like eating an almost souffle-like fudge. I don't know any other way of describing them. So if that sounds good to you, then I highly recommend this recipe.

One warning - HP Sauce and I ran into the same problem with this recipe. Twenty-five minutes in the oven simply didn't do the trick. HP figured this out too late, but after a quick consultation with her, I decided to leave mine in a bit longer. So I checked them at the 30 minute mark. Not done. 35 minutes, still goo in the middle. At forty, they were starting to look good and I decided to heed Nigella's warning to not cook the life out of them. Even so, these brownies are still on the under-done side in the very center. So if you have any solutions when you try this recipe, hit me up - I'd love to know your fix.

Triple Chocolate Brownies
Recipe courtesy of Nigella Lawson and Food Network.com

Ingredients
3 sticks plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
12 ounces best-quality bittersweet chocolate
6 eggs
1 3/4 cups superfine sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white chocolate buttons, chips, or morsels
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate buttons, chips or morsels
Approximately 2 teaspoons confectioners' sugar, for garnish

Special equipment: Baking tin (approximately 11 1/4 inches by 9 inches by 2 inches), sides and base lined with baking parchment.
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt the butter and dark chocolate together in a large heavy based pan over a low heat.

In a bowl or large measuring jug, beat the eggs together with the superfine sugar and vanilla extract.

Allow the chocolate mixture to cool a little, then add the egg and sugar mixture and beat well. Fold in the flour and salt. Then stir in the white chocolate buttons or chips, and the semisweet chocolate buttons or chips. Beat to combine then scrape and pour the brownie mixture into the prepared tin.

Bake for about 25 minutes. You can see when the brownies are ready because the top dries to a slightly paler brown speckle, while the middle remains dark, dense and gooey. Even with such a big batch you do need to keep checking on it: the difference between gooey brownies and dry ones is only a few minutes. Remember, too, that they will continue to cook as they cool.

To serve, cut into squares while still warm and pile up on a large plate, sprinkling with confectioners' sugar pushed with a teaspoon through a small sieve.

As I have mentioned before, I am a novice baker with aspirations far greater than current abilities allow. But I come from a long line of excellent bakers. My grandmother is perhaps the greatest of them all.

Just so you know, Granny isn't the typical warm and fuzzy, stay at home cooking all day granny. Grandmother Helen likes to drive stick-shift sports cars. At 83 years old, she is still a very successful Avon salesperson. She travels by herself several times a year and made the journey twice to Kenya on her own when I was growing up there. She is adventurous, intelligent and fiercely independent - all of the character traits I hope to embody some day. She is also epically secretive about her trademark recipes - those decadent and devilishly delicious desserts that we moan in ecstasy over during the holidays and other special occasions.

To this day, I don't know what makes her apple pie the best. My mother and I are both very proud of the apple pies we serve and both have been complimented to no end on various occasions, however, in a blind taste test, Granny's pie will win out every time.

As she approaches the middle of her 80's I think Granny is finally starting to get to the point where she is ready to release her iron-fisted grip on her trademark recipes. This past year, I got a little misty-eyed when, for my birthday, she sent me not only her coveted Red Velvet Cake recipe that has been passed down from mother to mother since the beginning of the 20th century, but she also sent me recipes for some 30's, 40's and 50's era recipes, including an incredible recipe for Tomato Soup Cake, which sounds disgusting, but is actually quite nice. She also sent Victorian Lace Cake, Mayonnaise Quick Bread and an assortment of other odd, but delicious recipes.

So be on the lookout for some mid-20th century recipe reviews to come your way over the next few months.

It will be keen, groovy, and above all else, the cats pajamas.

My buddy HP Sauce, aka Hot Pants, aka Eddy and I love baking. She loves it because she happens to be very, very good at it. I love it because I aspire to one day be good at it and it always results in tasty stuff I shouldn't eat.

Eddy is already a seasoned food blogger. She belongs to a bunch of food blogs and is something of an online bloggy celeb in some circles. Me, I just bask in her sunshine.

Eddy and I decided to start our own cooking group. What name would we call it? Why "Two Hot Chicks Baking" of COURSE. Because, well, I think it is obvious.

I love ginger. Ginger is the perfect balance of hot, sweet and exotic and can wear so many personalities that you might think it should be named Sybil. From Thai Coconut Curry to Pickled along side sushi, ginger rounds out some of the most delicious savory dishes in Asia and around the world.

On the home front, ginger takes on a new, more comforting facet as a layer in many, typically holiday traditional desserts. Playing a supporting role in dishes like Pumpkin Pie and Carrot Cake, Ginger is usually relegated to a subtle background role that is some times hard to pinpoint. For a starring role, Ginger shows its true personality when used to make one of my all time favorite cookies, Ginger Snaps. The hot, comforting flavor is the perfect accompaniment to a nice cup of hot cocoa on a cold winter day.

I've never made Ginger Snaps before, but Alton Brown, my personal Culinary Hero recently featured a recipe on his fabulous Food Network show, Good Eats for Ginger Snaps using not one but three forms of ginger; fresh, dried and candied. I had to try it and now, I share the results with you.

I wasn't able to find candied ginger at my local grocery store, but since I am not really a fan of it anyway, it wasn't a big deal to leave it out of the recipe. These snaps were good, except that they were not as "snappy" in texture as I am use to, but the flavor is incredible. I have never had Ginger Snaps like this before. Next time, I will probably increase the brown sugar and decrease the molasses quantity a bit to fix the texture of the resulting cookie, but other than that, these were pure heaven and I recommend them to anyone who loves Ginger.

So, without further ado, Alton Brown's Gingeriest of the Ginger Snaps:

Alton Brown's Ginger Snaps
Source: Food Network

Ingredients

* 9 1/2 ounces all-purpose flour
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1 tablespoon ground ginger
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
* 1/2 teaspoon ground clove
* 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
* 7 ounces dark brown sugar
* 5 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
* 3 ounces molasses, by weight
* 1 large egg, room temperature
* 2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger
* 4 ounces finely chopped candied ginger

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cardamom, clove and salt.

Place the brown sugar and butter into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on low speed until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the molasses, egg and fresh ginger and beat on medium for 1 minute. Add the crystallized ginger and using a rubber spatula, stir to combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until well combined.

With a 2-teaspoon sized scoop, drop the dough onto a parchment lined half sheet pan approximately 2-inches apart. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 12 minutes for slightly chewy cookies or 15 minutes for more crisp cookies. Rotate the pan halfway through cooking.

Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to stay on the sheet pan for 30 seconds before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with all of the dough. Store in an airtight container for up 10 days. If desired, you may scoop and freeze the cookie dough on a sheet pan and once frozen, place in a resealable bag to store. Bake directly from the freezer as above.