1. Make the Sugar Cookie [...]]]> what happens when a sugar biscuit meets a peach:
Sugar Cookie Peach Cobbler
Today’s Class Notes:
How To Make Sugar Cookie Peach Cobbler:
(Makes 1 9×13 pan of goodness)
PLACE TWO LARGE MIXING BOWLS ON THE COUNTER. ONE FOR THE DOUGH;ONE FOR THE PEACHES.

1. Make the Sugar Cookie Dough.
Dump the following ingredients into the first large bowl–
½ cup sugar
¼ cup butter
1 egg
¼ cup sour cream (or vanilla or plain yogurt)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
dash or pinch of salt

There’s no rhyme or reason to this. Just dump everything into a bowl and mix with a hand mixer (or a wooden spoon–my favorite method). Once ingredients are totally combined, cover the bowl in saran wrap and put it in the fridge. It can chill while you prepare the peaches.
2. Prepare the Peaches.
Choose 4-5 fairly ripe (meaning a little bit soft) peaches. Peel the peaches using a plastic knife (you know, the way you learned in Cooking School). Slice peaches around the pit, then put slices in second mixing bowl. Add ¼ cup flour, 1 Tablespoon sugar. 1 tsp. cinnamon. Mix together and dump in the bottom of a 9×13 baking pan.
3. Take cookie dough out of the fridge.
Using a regular old spoon, scoop the cookie dough out and place the spoonfuls about 1 inch apart on top of the peaches.
4. Bake the cobbler at 350°for 30-40 minutes or until the cookie dough is golden and you can see the peaches bubbling. Serve it while it’s hot, and serve it with vanilla ice cream, fresh cream drizzled on it, or ice cold milk. YUMMY.

This is the best stuffing you will ever taste. No frills, nothing ridiculous. Just straight up comfort stuffing.
Ingredients:
8 cups coarse fresh bread crumbs (from a 1-lb white loaf with crust removed)
4 cups coarsely crumbled corn bread (recipe below)
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf [...]]]> Cooking School/ Basic Stuffing

This is the best stuffing you will ever taste. No frills, nothing ridiculous. Just straight up comfort stuffing.
Ingredients:
8 cups coarse fresh bread crumbs (from a 1-lb white loaf with crust removed)
4 cups coarsely crumbled corn bread (recipe below)
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
2 medium onions, finely chopped (1 1/2 cups)
1 cup finely chopped celery
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup turkey or chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325°F.
Spread all bread crumbs in 2 shallow baking pans and bake in upper and lower thirds of oven until dry, about 15 minutes total. Cool crumbs in pans on racks, then transfer to a large bowl and stir in parsley, sage, salt, and pepper.
Melt butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, then add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Add celery and cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Transfer to bowl with crumbs and toss well. Add eggs, stock, and cream and toss well.
Transfer stuffing to a buttered 2 1/2- to 3-quart shallow baking dish. Bake, covered, in middle of oven 30 minutes, then uncover and bake until browned, about 30 minutes more.
Cornbread:
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups buttermilk
2 cups flour
1 cup cornmeal
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
½ cup vegetable oil
Mix eggs, sugar, and buttermilk together. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Bake in a 9X13 at 400 for 15-25 minutes.

Roasted vegetables are easy, fancy, and healthy. No matter what you make for dinner, a plate of roasted vegetables is always a good addition.

How to Roast Vegetables

Preheat your oven to the vegetable’s desired temperature (see table below).

Rinse and pat dry your favorite vegetable. Slice or chop your vegetable [...]]]> Cooking School/ Roasted Vegetables

Roasted vegetables are easy, fancy, and healthy. No matter what you make for dinner, a plate of roasted vegetables is always a good addition.

How to Roast Vegetables

Preheat your oven to the vegetable’s desired temperature (see table below).

Rinse and pat dry your favorite vegetable. Slice or chop your vegetable into manageable pieces (no bigger than an egg, no smaller than a grape).

Lightly drizzle pan of vegetables with high quality olive oil. Bake at recommended temperature for 10-15 minutes, depending on how crisp you like your vegetables.

Asparagus is roasted at 400 and goes well with
*Becca’s Roasted Veggie Sauce
*Shredded Parmesan cheese
*Lemon Juice, Olive Oil

Broccoli is roasted at 425 and goes well with
*Becca’s Roasted Veggie Sauce
*Cheddar Cheese Sauce

Brussel Sprouts go in at 400 and are yummy with
*Becca’s Roasted Veggie Sauce
*Pure Maple Syrup

Butternut Squash cooks at 400 and is delightful with
*Pure Maple Syrup
*Alfredo Sauce

Cauliflower likes to cook at 450 and can be bathed in
*Cheddar Cheese Sauce

Sweet Potatoes want to be baked at 375 and like
*Pure Maple Syrup

Tomatoes (cherry) are roasted at 400 and are paired well with
*Becca’s Roasted Veggie Sauce
*Fresh Mozarella and Basil

Zucchini is roasted at 450 and can be dunked in
*Tomato Sauce
*Alfredo Sauce
*Basic Vinaigrette

Becca’s Roasted Veggie Dipping Sauce
1 cup mayonaisse
fresh lemon juice
¼ tsp minced garlic
dash of salt

Peel garlic clove and cut the garlic into teeny tiny pieces. Set aside.
In mixing bowl, combine mayonnaise, lemon juice (just squeeze as much lemon juice as you can out of any ‘ole lemon), minced garlic and salt. Mix until thoroughly combined. Put in a pretty bowl for people to dip their veggies in!

You have before you all of the instructions you need to make a nice dinner for your family. The recipe below is adjustable according the amount of people you will feed. You will need 12 different ingredients (well, 13 if you want to count salt and pepper as two different [...]]]> Chicken Tenders/Roasted Potatoes/Simple Green Salad

You have before you all of the instructions you need to make a nice dinner for your family. The recipe below is adjustable according the amount of people you will feed. You will need 12 different ingredients (well, 13 if you want to count salt and pepper as two different ingredients). Follow the steps below and you will impressive even the naughtiest person in your family.

What you need to make an impressive dinner for your family:
(If you are at the grocery store, this is what you need!)

1. Chicken Cutlets (or chicken tenders, 1-2 per person)
2. 1 egg
3. milk (just a splash)
4. bread crumbs
5. Spring greens salad (you need about one small handful of leaves per person)
6. olive oil
7. red wine vinegar
8. honey (just one squirt)
9. shallot (2 cloves, also known as “pink garlic”)
10. baby potatoes (3-4 potatoes per person)
11. herbs de provence
12. salt and pepper

Follow these steps in order:

Preheat the oven to 375 (for your chicken and potatoes).

1. THE POTATOES
Place your baby potatoes in a colander and wash them thoroughly. Dry those little babies, then spread them out on a cookie sheet (make sure they don’t sit on top of each other. You want one layer of potatoes). Pour 4 Tablespoons olive oil on your potatoes. With your hands, move those potatoes all around and make sure they are covered in oil. Add 2 Tablespoons of Herbes de Provence. (Herbes de Provence is a mix of dried herbs that is yummy on roasted vegetables, soups, eggs, and lots of other things. You can buy it any any grocery store.)

Put the pan of potatoes on the UPPER rack in the oven immediately, even if the oven isn’t finished preheating. The longer those potatoes have, the better! Set the timer for 15 minutes. Now, the potatoes probably won’t be done in 15 minutes, especially if the oven is still preheating. But, the timer will remind you to check on them.

(turn this page over for the chicken and the salad)

2. THE CHICKEN
Unwrap your chicken tenders, rinse them off in a colander, and pat them dry.

Pound your chicken tenders until they are nice and thin. Put all of them in a flat ziplock bag and pound them down with any can of food you can find. Just pound them until they are a little flatter than they came, but not too flat! If you pound them until they are too flat, the chicken will fall apart. Gross.

Make your egg wash. Crack your egg in a bowl, add a splash of milk, and mix together with a fork until it is well combined..

Put breadcrumbs and a dash of salt and pepper in a ziplock bag. You need about ¼ cup of breadcrumbs per chicken tender.

Bread your chicken tenders by bathing them in the egg wash, then shaking them in the bag of crumbs.

Lay chicken tenders on a baking sheet and place the sheet on the LOWER rack in the oven (because the potatoes are already on the upper rack). Set the timer for 15 minutes. Bake those tenders until they are golden brown.

While your potatoes and chicken are cooking, make your salad.

3. THE SALAD
Peel 3 cloves of shallot and thinly slice them, set aside.

Make the vinaigrette. In a tall glass, combine 2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar, 5 Tablespoons olive oil, dash of salt, a quick squirt of honey, and sliced shallots. Stir around, quickly, with a fork. Set this aside (The shallots will soak up the mixture and people will think you are very fancy pants.)

Place the leaves in a colander and wash them thoroughly. Lightly dry them with a paper towel.

Place the leaves in a pretty bowl but don’t add the dressing yet!

Pull the potatoes out of the oven when they are easily pierced with a fork.

Pull the chicken out of the oven when you can cut through a tender and see NO pink.

Put the potatoes in a pretty bowl. Put the chicken tenders on a serving plate.

Right before everyone sits down, pour your dressing all over the salad and toss the leaves with two forks.

EAT YOUR DINNER!

Ingredients:

2 and 1/2 cups flour (a little more than this is BETTER than a little less)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon corn starch (optional!! It offers your cookies a “soft baked” [...]]]> Basic Cookie Dough:
The recipe below is a combination of a few recipes. Enjoy.

Ingredients:

2 and 1/2 cups flour (a little more than this is BETTER than a little less)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon corn starch (optional!! It offers your cookies a “soft baked” quality)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter (at room temperature)
1/2 cup shortening (butter flavored)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs (if you have time, convert this to 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk)
2 cups (or 2 packages) milk chocolate chips*

1. Place butter and shortening in bowl. Mix until combined.

2. Add brown sugar, white sugar (also referred to as granulated sugar), eggs, and vanilla. Mix until just combined.

3. Add flour. Sprinkle salt, baking soda and baking powder on top of flour. Mix dry ingredients with butter mixture until just combined.

4. Add chocolate chips and mix until combined.

5. Chill the dough for 2 hours (at least). If you are DYING to have cookies right now, go ahead and bake the fresh dough. It won’t hurt anybody.

6. Using a large spoon, scoop dough out, shape into balls, and bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes.

*If you are adding other mix-ins, add 2 cups total of any combination of mix-ins you choose.

(If you want the spreadsheet that lists the many chocolate chip cookie recipes, email me or leave a comment below.)

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon dry yeast
1 cup warm water
½ Tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour

oil
cornmeal
melted butter

1. Place yeast, water, sugar, and salt in warm bowl and stir until dissolved.

2. Add flour and stir with a wooden [...]]]> Cooking School/ French Peasant Bread

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon dry yeast
1 cup warm water
½ Tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour

oil
cornmeal
melted butter

1. Place yeast, water, sugar, and salt in warm bowl and stir until dissolved.

2. Add flour and stir with a wooden spoon until blended.

3. Cover and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.

4. Spread a good amount of vegetable oil on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle the oiled cookie sheet with cornmeal.

5. Flour hands really well, remove dough from the bowl and place in 1 round on your prepared cookie sheet.

6. Let your beautiful round of dough rise 1 more hour. (But 45 minutes into this hour, preheat your oven!)

7. Preheat your oven for 425.

8. Brush top of dough round with melted butter.

9. Bake your beautiful round of dough for 10 MINUTES at 425 THEN TURN THE OVEN DOWN!!!!! Turn the oven down to 375 and cook an additional 15 minutes. Doing this one simple step will give your bread a crusty crust…and everyone will think you bought that beautiful round in France!

10. When golden brown on top, remove round from oven and brush again with butter. Serve warm.

Ingredients:
For the Crust:
1 ½ Tablespoons sour cream
3 Tablespoons ice water
½ cup flour
2 Tablespoons yellow cornmeal
pinch of salt
4 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
For the Filling:
3-4 ripe peaches
1 Tablespoon [...]]]> Cooking School/ The Peach Galette

Ingredients:
For the Crust:
1 ½ Tablespoons sour cream
3 Tablespoons ice water
½ cup flour
2 Tablespoons yellow cornmeal
pinch of salt
4 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
For the Filling:
3-4 ripe peaches
1 Tablespoon honey- to toss with peaches
1 Tablespoon honey- to drizzle over galette
1Tablespoon cold unsalted butter (to be used after you assemble the galette)

Directions:

1. Stir 1 ½ Tablespoons of sour cream and 3 Tablespoons of ice water together in a small bowl and set aside.
2. Make sure your cold 4 Tablespoons of butter is cut into 4 pieces.
3. Put ½ cup flour, 2 Tablespoons cornmeal, and pinch of salt in a large bowl. Stir with a fork to mix.
4. Drop the butter pieces into the bowl, tossing them once or twice just to coat them with flour. With a large fork, work the butter into the flour, aiming for pieces of butter that range in size from breadcrumbs to small peas. The smaller pieces will make the dough tender. The larger will make it flake.
5. Sprinkle the cold sour cream mixture over the dough, 1 Tablespoon at a time, tossing with a fork to evenly distribute it.
After you’ve added all of the sour cream mixture, the dough should be moist enough to stick together when pressed; if it’s not, add additional cold water, 1 teaspoon at a time.
6. With your hands, gather the curds of dough together. You’ll have a soft, malleable dough, the kind you might want to overwork—BUT DON’T!.)
7. Turn the dough out of the bowl. Press each piece of dough into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate while you prepare the peaches.
8. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
9. Peal and section 3-4 ripe peaches. Toss with 1 Tablespoon honey and set aside.

10. Put the dough on a lightly floured work surface and roll it into an 11-inch circle that’s about 1/8 inch thick. Use a regular piece of paper to measure the circle. Since the dough is soft, you’ll need to lift it now and then and toss some for flour under it and over the top.
11. Roll up the dough around your rolling pin and transfer it to the prepared baking sheet.
12. Spread the peaches over the dough in a fan shape. Make it look pretty.
13. Fold the uncovered border of the dough up over the filling, allowing the dough to pleat as you lift it up and work your way around the galette. Because you’re folding a wide edge of dough onto a smaller part of the circle, it will pleat naturally—just go with it.
14. Using a pastry brush or your fingers and a bit of water, very lightly paint the edges of the crust.
15. Drizzle the entire galette with 1 Tablespoon honey.
16. Bake the galette for 35 to 40 minutes or until the pastry is golden and crisp.
17. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooking rack and let the galette rest on the sheet for 10 minutes. Slip a wide spatula or a small baking sheet under the galette and slide in onto the cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature, cutting the tart with a pizza wheel or sharp knife.

*Adapted from the recipe by Julia Child in “Baking with Julia”
**This makes a small galette that serves 4 people at the most. You may want to double the recipe. Be honest with yourself.