Royal Icing

• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar (1 pound)
• 4 large egg whites, about 1/2 cup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Add vanilla to egg whites. 

 

Add in your powdered sugar.

Mix well. When everything is wet, increase speed and whip until stiff and glossy. 

Use to decorate your favorite cookies with solid frosting. Color as you'd like. 

Basic Cookie Baking Procedures

Throughout Christmas Cookie installments, 

you can return to this page to view the basics. 

We start with room temperature butter. Whip it up well. Light and fluffy is the name of the game. It isn't written into the recipe, but air is a big part in any baking good recipe. You want airy and light baked goods. Whipping air in is important.

    

           Adding sugars. Whip... This is after sugars have both been added and whipped up. See how the mixer has pushed some up the sides? Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and whip a bit more. Get everything incorporated well. Also, do not try to push the stuff down the sides with the mixer running. You could ruin your mixer, your spoon and your face if it through the spoon up into your eyes. It's not worth it. Just turn it off.

All whipped and beautiful! Now add dry ingredients (except flour), mix well. I like to mix dry and wet separately so that everything is well incorporated. No one wants a clump of salt or spice in their dough. 

 

We often need egg yolks. There are fancy gadgets out there to separate egg whites from yolks, but honestly, the egg shell is the best tool. Back and forth between the shell halves and the white falls into a bowl. Yes, I save the whites. I have other recipes that call for whites. Royal Icing also is made from whites. Egg white can even be frozen for use later. Add the yolk to the mixer and blend well.

After the wet ingredients, all that's left is the flour. Add flour slowly so it doesn't fling out of the mixer. Here's the finished dough.

After it's done, I put it into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and into the fridge to chill. :) The chilling is a necessary step. If you dipped out spoonfuls now, the cookies would spread farther and maybe burn, but surely have less loft and would not hold their shape. There are only a few cookies that need to be used with room temperature dough. They are clearly stated as such. Basic chocolate chip cookies can be done immediately. I'll show the difference in my white chocolate chip cookies in a later installment. 

Flounder à la Meunière with Capers

Much simpler than it sounds

Flounder Fillets

milk to dip

flour to dip

one stick butter

1/3 cup capers

lime juice

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In a small pan, melt butter and add capers, cooking over medium heat. The butter will need to brown and the capers will pop open. I always start this first.

Dip fish fillets in milk, then flour, and pan fry in hot oil until nicely browned.

To serve, sprinkle fish with lime juice and spoon over a bit of the caper and butter sauce.

I usually serve this with broccoli, as I like the caper butter on the broccoli as well. :)

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I was unable to find flounder this day, so I chose a thin white fish.

This is not as thin as flounder, but I would not want to go any thicker than this. 

Get your coating ingredients ready. 

Sauce ingredients at the ready. 

A small pan with capers and butter, set on low heat. You don't want to burn the butter. I start the butter and capers before starting the fish. 

Dip fish into milk and then coat with flour.

Then coat with egg wash. 

Then into bread crumbs. 

Place in hot pan in a single layer.

Butter is melted and capers are heating. Butter is starting to bubble. Low heat, don't burn the butter. Keep an eye on it.

I used Panko crumbs here, it's what I had on hand. Standard bread crumbs are just fine.

Sorry this is out of focus, checking the capers, they are not popping yet, keep going...

Check them frequently. 

Butter is browning, can you see? 

I remove the fish as it is finished. 

Keep peeking at the capers. 

Ah, here we go. The capers are popping and browning. That is when they are finished!

The butter is nicely browned, the capers are popped and crispy. It smells so good!

I lightly sprinkle the fish fillets with lime juice. 

Spoon the caper sauce over the top. I like the sauce on the broccoli as well. A nice touch! 

A very tasty dinner that everyone loves! 

One last thing... Cooking fish can stink up the house for days. Put on a small pan with water and cinnamon. Simmer it slowly and the cinnamon will counteract the fish smell in the house. I start this as I finish the fish and let it simmer while we eat. 

Pork Medallions with Sage and Balsamic Vinegar Sauce

A family favorite

1.5 lb. Pork Tenderloin

Flour

Salt

Pepper

2 Tablespoon butter

2 Tablespoon oil

2/3 cup Balsamic Vinegar

1/4 cup chicken stock

1 tablespoon fresh or 1 teaspoon dried Sage

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Dredge pork slices in seasoned flour. Brown in hot butter and oil mixture. It may take a couple of batches to get it all browned. Don't overload the pan, they won't brown. As they brown, remove to plate. When all meat is browned, pour off excess fat. Add vinegar to pan, scraping brown bits into liquid. Reduce to 1/2. Add stock and juice from plate. Boil until reduced to a dark, shiny sauce, about a minute or so. Add Sage. You can pour over pork and serve, or quickly add pork back to pan to warm up.

Serve over hot noodles.

Enjoy!

Gather ingredients

Dredge pork in seasoned flour.

Add to hot pan, with room to breathe.

If you crowd them, they won't brown nicely. 

Turn them as they brown on one side. 

Once they are browned nicely on both sides, remove them from the pan to rest while you make the sauce.

Cover them with foil to keep them warm. 

Add in the broth and vinegar to pan.

Boil the vinegar until it reduces to about half. 

That looks to be about half. Turn off the heat. 

Any juices on the plate can be put back into the vinegar sauce. 

Add the sage to the sauce. Mix well, and it's finished! 

Arrange your pork in an attractive presentation. 

Spoon the sauce over the pork and noodles.

Delicious and tender! A little tangy and just a touch sweet from the vinegar.