About Carrie Zinnecker

Posts by Carrie Zinnecker:

Lemon Zucchini Cornmeal Cookies

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More zucchini calls for more zucchini recipes. This time I thought something sweet was in order. I got this recipe in my daily cookie email from Martha Stewart. She sends them to me personally…ok, not personally. I had everything on the ingredient list, so not having to go to the grocery store was an appealing thing to me about this cookie.

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I liked the crunch that the cornmeal provides, the clean flavor of the lemon and the moistness that the zucchini adds.  You can’t really taste the zucchini, so don’t let that deter you.  The cookie isn’t too sweet.  It would be nice with a cup of coffee or tea.  A nice afternoon treat!  Enjoy!

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Piranha Sushi

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This weekend we traveled to Fort Worth to spend the weekend with some college friends.  Texas A&M played Arkansas at the new Dallas Cowboys stadium, so they guys in our group went to the game on Saturday night.  We brought our dog who enjoyed the company of Kolby and Candace’s baby, Samson.

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While the boys were at the football game, the ladies got a babysitter for Scott and Jennifer’s sweet baby girl and went out to dinner.  Jennifer suggested a sushi place she’d been wanting to try; Piranha Killer Sushi.

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A friend in high school took me out to sushi one summer when we were both home from college.  He did all the ordering.  His dad lived in Japan for a while and my friend had gone to visit a few times.  So he was pretty educated in the ways of sushi.  I just sat back and enjoyed it…and let him pay.  Since that time I have not eaten sushi mostly due to my inexperience and lack of knowledge about it.

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Nutty Cookies

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If you are anything like me, you collect recipes and put sticky notes in cookbooks as “Recipes to Try” but somehow, in the business of life, they just do not get the attention they deserve.  This is one of those recipes.  Neglected for over a year…a sad tale.

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I have mentioned Rebecca Rather on my site more than once.  I’ve been to the bakery in Fredericksburg a few times, and have her cookbook.  I’ve made quite a few of the recipes in the book, and this one has always sounded delicious, but I’ve just never gotten around to making these  cookies.  Why, you ask?  How could someone resist this lovely combination of four, yes four, kinds of nuts in one cookie?  Well, believe it or not, some people do not like nuts.  I know, this is the epitome of crazy.  But it is true.  So, I haven’t made this cookie before because I worry that someone in the group of cookie recipients may not be a nut fan and therefore shun this cookie.  I just wasn’t sure if I could handle the disappointment of someone rejecting something I have put love, sweat and tears into!  OK, so no sweat and tears in this cookie…but there is love.

nutcookie5I have overcome this fear of rejection and today decided to bake half a batch of these cookies and bring them to some friends we are visiting this weekend in Fort Worth.  Are they nut lovers?  I don’t know for sure…but if they are then that just means more for me.

This cookie dough is easy and simple.  Toasting the nuts before mixing the dough is the biggest effort you have to make, and it’s worth it.  Toasted nuts provide a more complex flavor than their un-toasted counterparts.  The end product is soft, nutty and delicious.  A must make for a nut lover.

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Chock-Full-o-Nuts Cookies

Courtesy of Rebecca Rather, The Pastry Queen

  • 1 1/2 cups pecans
  • 3/4 cup walnuts
  • 3/4 cup macadamia nuts
  • 3/4 cup blanched almonds
  • 1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
  • 2 eggs
  • 3/4 cup white sugar
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 tablespoon vanilla
  • 1/2 tablespoon almond extract
  • 1 3/4 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
  2. Toast the nuts on a baking sheet for 8-10 minutes.  Cool for 5 minutes, then coarsely chop the nuts.  Set aside.
  3. Cream butter and sugars on medium speed until creamy and well combined.
  4. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat well.  Add vanilla and almond extracts.
  5. Stir in flour and salt until combined.
  6. Mix in nuts.
  7. Scoop by heaping tablespoons (or a 1 3/4 inch cookie scoop) onto a baking sheet.
  8. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350°F until golden on the edges.

Jalapeño Blue Cheese Burgers

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Sweet fancy Moses!  These burgers were my favorite out of all the burgers in the Zinnecker Burger Marathon.  The burgers were moist, juicy, flavorful, delectable, mouthwatering…crazy good.

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I baked a bag of sweet potato fries served with spicy aioli (courtesy of Carrie Hartman) to accompany these burgers and they were the perfect match.

I adapted this recipe from an allrecipes.com burger recipe of the same name.  Here is my adapted recipe and the recipe for the aioli which I also used on the burgers.

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Palmiers

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Have you found yourself with some leftover puff pastry and asked yourself, “What am I to do with left over puff pastry?”  The answer is…make palmiers!  I love getting the huge ones at bakeries that I always knew as elephant ears.  My sister thinks they are a waste of calories, but my mom and I love them.  Crunchy, sweet, rich, and buttery.  Perfection.

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I made a sweet and a savory palmier.  These are so easy.  Roll out your puff pastry to 1/8 inch thickness.  Sprinkle your goodies on the dough and roll both ends evenly to marry in the middle.  Chill the rolled dough for 30 minutes.  Err on the side of longer chilling time to make the slicing easier.  After the dough is chilled, slice 1/4 inch pieces and place flat on a baking sheet covered in parchment or a silpat.  Bake for 10-15 minutes in a 400 degree oven.  Cool for 5 minutes or so…then enjoy.

palmier1I think that maybe I didn’t use enough pastry, or maybe I did not roll it out thin enough.  I was hoping for more layers, and that just didn’t happen.  They still tasted divine, but not as filled with goodness as I was hoping.  I will definitely try them again, especially the savory ones.  I loved the flavor of the parmesan with the pastry and tomatoes.  They are such an impressive appetizer, and with store bought puff pastry, would be incredibly easy.  Check out this how-to if you need more detailed instructions.  I actually wish I’d watched this before I made mine!  It seems easier than rolling the dough and produces a nice crunchy cookie.  Mine were sweet and lovely, but more flaky than crunchy and caramelized like these.  Oh well.  There’s always next time!

Parmesan and Sun-dried Tomato Palmiers

  • puff pastry
  • grated parmesan cheese
  • finely chopped sun dried tomatoes packed in oil, drained

Cinnamon Sugar Palmiers

  • puff pastry
  • cinnamon sugar

Follow the instructions above for forming and baking.

Daring Bakers: Puff Pastry

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Once again I waited until the very last minute to complete this month’s challenge.  What kind of crazy person decides to attempt puff pastry from scratch for the first time with a time constraint?  This crazy person, that’s who.

The September 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

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I printed out the recipe and read through it and the instructions for the puff pastry vols-au-vent many times to mentally prepare myself for making this daunting pastry.  I watched the episode of Baking with Julia where Michel Richard demonstrates making the pastry.  Ben and I both watched in awe.  It’s as if he could produce a smooth and beautiful puff pastry dough with his eyes closed and both hands tied behind his back while balancing some spinning plates on his head.  Really, he makes it look that easy.

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Thai Coconut Soup

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My parents came up from Round Rock to visit for a day on their way to Oklahoma City.  They also came to drop off my amazing Swedish truck!  I am not quite sure where to put it yet.  It’s one of the biggest pieces in our house other than our bed and the couch which makes the options for placement a bit limited.

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There is no rhyme or reason to our house.  I have some modern, some traditional, and some antique furniture and decor.  The problem is that I love certain things about all those styles.  While I dream of a house that would embarrass the homes in Dwell, I know that day will never come.  I am OK with that.  A lot of what we have has been given to me from my mom or Ben’s mom, and I can’t imagine replacing it with anything.  So, welcome to my hodge podge home.

While my mom was here we got pedicures and then went to the store to get ingredients for dinner.  One of the other things my mom brought to me was a wok that I’d bought for $7.99 at IKEA last weekend.  It’s not the best quality piece of cookware I own, but I still wanted to use it.  I decided to make a chicken stir fry and coconut soup.

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Brown Butter and Chive Mashed Potatoes

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I saw Julie and Julia a few weeks ago and thought it was great.  I loved the past and present switches and how their lives seemed to intertwine across decades.  Seeing this movie also increased my passion for cooking.  I love to cook.  I love to cook things I’ve never cooked before and I love to share food with people.  After Ben and I left the theater I was inspired and demanded that we go to the grocery store and get something to make for dinner.  There was just no way that a frozen pizza was going to do it for me that night.

Since it was after 6 when the movie got out, we decided to grill steaks and make some quick side dishes.  Thank God for the iPhone!  Without it I wouldn’t have been able to find this yummy mashed potato recipe on Epi.  Salad would have been another easy side, but I opted to make something a little more exciting; sautéed green beans with toasted walnuts.

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Wedding Weekend with the Sundbecks

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My cousin Keelah got married this past Saturday in San Antonio.  Her husband is adorable, and they make a beautiful couple!  The wedding ceremony was lovely and the reception was relaxed and really fun.  My dad’s side of the family is huge, so it was fun to see so many of my relatives.

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I also got to spend some time with my sister Lindsey, my brother-in-law Scott and my ridiculously adorable nephew Beckett.

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Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

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The success of the peanut butter M&M cookie last week inspired me to try the cookie again, but this time with chocolate chips.  I changed the amount of sugars in this cookie.  I wish I could claim that I was being purposefully experimental and had some great reason for changing the ratio of white to brown sugar.  The truth is that I didn’t have enough brown sugar left.

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So I used 3/4 cup brown sugar and 3/4 cup white sugar.  All the rest of the ingredients remained the same.  I used 1 cup of milk chocolate chips and 1 cup chopped 60% cacao Callebaut from a block that I had left over from another recipe.

I think this cookie may be my new favorite.  I love the texture and flavor.  Even with the change in the sugar ratio they were delicious.  I did find them a bit less moist than the cookie with more brown sugar, but not enough to make them less tasty.

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