When hot weather hit the Fraser Valley a few weeks ago, I hit the freezer section of our grocery store looking for cold treats for my teenager to enjoy. The problem with having food allergies is that he couldn't eat even one kind of packaged ice cream sandwich, because every single on of them contained soy.
What's a mom to do? Make your own, of course! Now the real beauty of this is that you can, if you wish, make your own cookies, or you can buy some smallish-sized, chocolate chip packaged cookies that you enjoy. Sandwich them with some of your favourite ice cream, and you've got a delicious summer snack in under five minutes.
These cookies bake up soft with little M&Ms sprinkled throughout. I like them small so that they are great for little hands, but you can make them bigger if you wish. You can also add nuts, but since many schools want things nut-free, I left them out. If you can't find a bag of M&M mini baking bits in your baking aisle at the grocery store, mini chocolate chips make a good substitute. Filling the cookies within a day of making them is best, as the cookies become a little harder as they sit.
Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1 package (1 1/2 cups) M&M baking minis
a carton of your favourite ice cream (chocolate, vanilla, or swirl works well here)
chocolate sprinkles
Pre-heat oven to 350 F
In a bowl with an electric mixer, cream the butter with the sugars until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix in the egg and vanilla until well blended.
Stir the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a separate bowl. Add to the butter mixture and mix until just combined. Stir in the mini M&Ms.
Spoon out the dough by heaping teaspoonfuls and roll the dough into 1 inch sized balls. Place them about 1 1/2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. With the heel of your hand, flatten the balls of dough slightly.
Bake the cookies about 10-12 minutes until the tops are just set and they are golden. Remove from the oven to a rack and let cool completely.
About 30 minutes before you want to serve ice cream sandwiches, spoon about 1 tbsp of ice cream in the middle of a cookie, bottom side up. Press another cookie, bottom side down, on top. Quickly roll it in the sprinkles. Place sandwich on a baking sheet or plate in the freezer immediately. You have to work quickly, because the ice cream tends to melt fairly fast. Make as many as you'll need and let them set up in the freezer for about 30 minutes. Wrap any leftovers ice cream sandwiches in cling wrap and keep them in the freezer for about another day or two.
Makes about 3 dozen cookies, or around 18 small ice cream sandwiches
Adapted from M&Ms
Well, you'd think this would be easy but honestly, there is a proper way to cut an onion. Huh. Imagine that. All these years I chopped my onions a particular way and would you believe, I was doing it wrong all this time? Of course I was but now I know the chef secret, which I am going to pass on to you.
Trust me, this is so easy you'll wonder why you haven't always chopped onions this way.
1. Get yourself a good knife and a cutting board. Wooden cutting boards are best. See that end of the onion with all the scraggly bits hanging off of it? That is the root. Remember this, it's important. I often cut a bit off the other end first.
2. Cut the onion in half through the root end. Peel all the papery layers off and throw them away, but keep the root end intact. You might want to pull off all those gnarly bits that I left on my onion.
3. Cut the onion almost to, but not through, the root. You want the root intact so that it helps keep the onion together instead of bits falling out and all over the place as you slice.
4. Chop the onion! Of course when you get to the root part, just throw it out. You'll end up with perfectly chopped onion every time.
See? Easy peasy.
When Gordon Ramsay’s new book “Home Cooking” arrived in my mailbox, I’ll admit that at first I didn’t want to like it. My memories of Mr. Ramsay come from watching “Hell’s Kitchen” where the images of a screaming, angry chef calling people a “cow” or “stupid.” In fact, those impressions have stayed with me so strongly over the years that I have avoided buying any of Mr. Ramsay’s cookbooks or watching any of his shows because all I could see in my head was this horrible, bitter, angry person and I couldn’t support him.
Until I read his new cookbook, which was sent to me by the publisher.
I love this book. In fact, I love it so much that I’ve been reading and cooking from it all week and can’t stop myself from going back, reading more, and marking more pages to cook from. The food is tasty, easy to make, and really do-able home cooking.
Home Cooking is bursting with practical, genuinely helpful advice on how to not just cook, but purchase and maintain your equipment, such as sharpening knives or seasoning a fry pan. Sprinkled throughout are basic tips, such as how to cook a sirloin steak, slice peppers, chop onions, secure your cutting board, and prepare shrimp. I have already learned many things from reading the book that have truly made me a better cook.
The book is divided into ten sections, including a few of the obvious such as meat and fish, but it’s a bit unusual in that there are also sections on cooking for one or two people, basic skills, and good food for less. Recipes cover the very simple to more advanced so that while it’s perfect for beginners, cooks with more skill won’t be bored, either. The recipes are well written and easy to follow, with ingredients that are common and not difficult to find. One thing that I especially love is that I don’t have to decipher any European ingredients to their Canadian counterparts, which I find can be a problem with cookbooks written by European chefs.
As for the food, everything I have made so far has turned out beautifully and been devoured by my family. From a shrimp fritatta to coconut pancakes, spiced chicken wraps and good old familiar blondies, there is a lot of variety to please anyone who likes really great food that is more than the usual boring Monday to Friday meal.
Overall, I’d highly recommend this book. Mr. Ramsay’s food and writing has, without question, completely won me over. I find myself returning to it again and again, bookmarking more recipes that I cannot wait to try. If anyone is like me and avoiding his books because of the television persona let me assure you, there is no screaming, angry chef in its pages. There’s only good, quality, straightforward cooking advice that tells you yes, you can cook, it’s just all in the desire and practice.
With this book, you’ll not only learn how to cook better, you’ll love the food you make while doing it.
Want to try some of Gordon Ramsay’s recipes? Whip up some coconut mango pancakes with lime syrup or a shrimp and feta omelet.
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