Food for a cold winter’s night
Storm bearing down and we’d rather hang out than cook a lot (maybe tomorrow), but we were in dire need of a gluten-free sweet so that’s where we focused our energy. There’s not much I can do to improve on Ina Garten’s Coconut Macaroons so just follow that link – but I do think they could use a touch more salt than the recipe calls for (maybe more vanilla, too), and make sure that you let them get very toasty and brown in the oven (closer to 30 minutes). Winter is a good time to make these because the egg whites whip up very nicely in the cooler temperatures. These are not the very soft kind of macaroons – they are crunchy and chewy and lovely.
Whip those egg whites
Cookies made and cooled, time to bring out the panini press, the sourdough bread (Nashoba Brook Bakery if you live in Massachusetts), a tangy cheese (American, fontina, cheddar) and Stonewall Kitchen’s Red Pepper Jelly. Put a little jelly on one slice of bread (or two) before putting on the cheese, then butter the bread (garlic butter is a plus but not required) on the outside and toast. Add a green salad and a cocktail (Limonata cocktail shown) and you are ready to settle in by the fire and put on a movie.
Let it snow.
Note: Obviously the sourdough bread is not gluten free – you can make this with Udi’s Gluten Free Sandwich Bread, though.
Parsenip 