Pomegranate and Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies:
Well, I did it … I de-pipped a POMEGRANATE and figured out how to use it in a cooked dish. If you can call cookies a “dish”.
Ingredients:
- 1 1/3 cup flour
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (I used Ghee because the butter was frozen and I didn’t want to wait … probably a bad choice)
- 1 cup light brown sugar (didn’t have it … used white sugar left over from feeding the humming birds … probably adding to the bad choice list)
- 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds (link takes to you a description of how to de-seed — piece of cake and no mess after the first cut)
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder (is there an expiration date on this stuff?)
- 6 oz (3/4 cup) semisweet chocolate chips
Well – I probably had more than 1/2 cup of seeds and probably hit the 3/4 cup chocolate. I am probably not cut out to bake because I am not a precise measure-er and, well, there are those choices noted above.
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350. Line 3 cookie sheets with parchment paper. In a medium sized bowl combine flour, salt, and baking powder. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and FLUFFY. (what does that mean? — I used the Kitchenaid and went until I thought “I guess that’s fluffy…”) Add the egg and vanilla and combine thoroughly. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the sweetened butter and mix until a very thick dough forms. (Think the consistency of refridgerator dough but a bit drier).
Use a spoon to fold in the chunks then the pomegranates and distributing both evenly. (ok, again i used the Kitchenaid for the chocolate – but just a spoon for the delicate pips) Form cookies by dropping 1 heaping teaspoon of dough on the sheet two inches apart. (What size is “HEAPING” Golf ball is too big, see below) Flatten slightly then bake until light brown, about 12 minutes. Let cool on wire racks (if you can wait that long) then serve with plenty of cold milk.
Well, I made mini frisbees. A little too flat and a little too greasy, but taste great. Hoping there will be one or two for SO when he gets home tomorrow. that was the plan any way.
OX-TAIL SOUP PART DEUX:
Followed the previous start, 2 cans of stout, 3 cups of water, onions and celery, oxtail — all in the pot for 35 minutes under pressure. While that was cooking, I coarsely chopped carrots and orange/yellow bell peppers. Thinly sliced some hot peppers. Added a hand full of baby spinach leaves, also cut into smaller pieces. Let the stock release pressure naturally. (I went to the bird food store and bank in this intermission.)
Strain the vegetables from the ox-tail broth. Remove the tail pieces and let cool enough to get the meat off the bone. (Better this time). Put a can of diced tomatoes along with the above noted vegetables into the stew pot; return the broth to the pot; add the meat from the bones. Recover the pot and return to pressure. Cook for 4 minutes under pressure. Natural release again. I’ll let you know how it turned out later.
LizzardLaw 