Ham and Cheese Scones

I found this Associated Press recipe in my local newspaper. You can make it in advance and cook it when you want to eat it. My wife thought it reminded her of quiche (although it has no eggs). I think it is good enough to order in a restaurant (which is the goal of recipes on this blog).

Skillingsboller (Norwegian Cinnamon Buns)

Be careful. These Norwegian cousins of the American cinnamon roll are very addictive (and not low calorie). This recipe received a first place ribbon at the San Diego County Fair. It is adapted from a recipe in Serious Eats.

Makes approximately 2 dozen.

Chocolate-Caramel Sandwich Cookies

Of course, you can make these as unfilled cookies and get twice as many. If you do that you may want to cut back a bit on the salt (the salt balances out the sweetness of the caramel filling). I user a #40 disher to portion the cookies. Finally, you will need to make some caramel sauce before you make the filling.

This recipe was adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe.

Orange-Almond Shortbread Cookies

Orange zest gives these cookies their subtle orange flavor. Make sure you have lots of milk available when you serve them. This recipe is adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe. It received a second place ribbon at the San Diego County Fair.

Macadamia Crusted Mahi Mahi

My wife and I are always disappointed when we order Macadamia Crusted Mahi Mahi (the fish so nice they named it twice). It just never seems to taste like macadamia nuts. We even tried it at Sam Choy’s restaurant on Oahu and weren’t satisfied. I decided to see if we could overcome this problem by making it at home using a recipe by Alton Brown. The results were amazing. This is the fish we had been looking for and never found.

Egg Pasta

I love making my own noodles for lasagna. I can cut them to the exact length of the pan and because they are thin and fresh, you don’t need to boil them. However, you do need a pasta machine for this recipe. This makes more than we need for lasagna so I make the excess into spaghetti.

Dark Chococolate Mocha Cookies

These cookies are based on the Marta Stewart recipe for Dark-Chocolate Espresso Cookies. They are crunchy on top and soft on the bottom and middle.  The salt along with the espresso powder adds a bit of complexity to the recipe.

Chocolate Orange Espresso Thin Cookies

Another recipe from Martha Stewart. The secret to these cookies is to cut the dough to the same consistently thin size. Also,I sift the dry ingredients onto a flexible cutting mat. This makes it easier to add to the other ingredients in the mixer.

These cookies are made for coffee.

Chocolate Blackout Cookies

This recipe is based on Martha Stewart’s Double Chocolate Cookies using Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips (60% cacao). You can sometimes get a large bag at Costco for a good price.I tripled the recipe and used a convection oven to cook 18 cookies at a time.

My wife tasted them and said they were better than the Blue Chip Cookie Triple Chocolate cookies.

Double Chocolate Shorties

These shortbread style cookies definitely need a glass of milk to go along with them.

Makes two dozen cookies.