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What I’ve enjoyed recently …
In Bloom, Saint Paul sports
the largest open hearth in North
America. Everything is cooked
in the hearth or wood-fired oven.
Order the venison tartar and
pheasant boudin blanc. Cocktails
are amazing.
928 7th St W
Saint Paul MN 55102Favorite Places, Barcelona
Favorite Places, Bourgogne
Favorite Places, California
Favorite Places, New York
Favorite Places, Paris
- 142 Crêperie Contemporaine
- Ambassade d'Auvergne
- Aux Merveilleux de Fred
- Benoit
- Bread and Roses
- Breizh Café
- Café Constant
- Chez Janou
- Chez Loulou
- Chocolate Directory, Paris
- Christian Constant
- Du Pain et Des Idées
- Jean-Charles Rochoux
- Jean-Paul Hevin
- La La Pâisserie by Cyril Lignac
- La Maison du Chocolat
- La Tuile a Loup
- Le Chardenoux
- Le MaZenay
- Paris Flea Markets
- Patrick Roger
- Popelini
- Pozzetto
- Stohrer
- Thiercelin
Favorite Places, Provence
Favorite Places, Twin Cities
Favorite Links
- Alice Medrich
- Andrew Zimmern
- Artisan Bread in Fine Minutes a Day
- B.T. McElrath Chocolatier
- Baking Obsession
- Cannelle et Vanille
- Chocolate & Zucchini
- Cookography
- Curious Cook
- David Lebovitz
- David Schmit Photography
- Dorie Greenspan
- Eat the Love, Sweets for the Mouth and Mind
- Eat Well Guide
- eatwild
- Far North Spirits
- Farmette
- French Food and Cook
- French Word-A-Day
- Gale Gand
- HiP Paris Blog
- Hiroko's Kitchen
- Hunter Angler Gardener Cook
- Julia Usher
- Le Pétrin
- Nick Malgieri
- Not Without Salt
- Olli Salumeria
- On Rue Tatin
- Paris Breakfasts
- Purple Pitchfork
- Raghaven Iyer
- Robin Asbell
- Sake Story
- Slow Food
- Smitten Kitchen
- Steamy Kitchen Modern Asia
- Suvir Saran
- Taste Spotting
- The Daily Meal
- The Paris Kitchen
- The Perennial Plate
- These Peas are Hollow
- Wedge Community Co-op
- White on Rice Couple
- Zoë Bakes
Butter Cookies
This is a recipe that I demonstrated at the Minnesota State Fair years ago. Use the best organic unsalted butter you can get your hands on because after all, it’s a butter cookie. Recipe from The French Cookie Book by Bruce Healy with Paul Bugat.
60 g or ½ cup, confectioner’s sugar
½ cl or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
170 g or 1 cup plus 3 ½ tablespoons, all-purpose flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
50 g or ¼ cup, crystal sugar
Place butter on counter-top and sift sugar over it. Cream butter with the sugar by repeatedly smearing it across the counter-top with the heel of your hand and gathering back together with a bench knife. When smooth, mix in the vanilla with your fingertips. Work quickly so that butter does not melt.
Sift flour over butter mixture. Mix in flour, either by cutting it in with the dough scraper or by stirring and tossing with your fingertips, until a loose, crumbly dough is achieved. Gather the dough together and finish mixing by smearing it across the counter-top, a little at a time, with the heel of your hand. Gather the dough together again, and repeat until smooth.
Form a cylinder between a sheet of parchment paper to 1-inch in diameter. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm or freeze for up to three months.
Prior to baking, preheat oven to 375ºF. While oven is preheating, brush cylinder of dough with beaten egg. Place the crystal sugar on a sheet of parchment paper and roll each cylinder in sugar, coating evenly. Cut each cylinder into slices 3/8-inch thick. Transfer to parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake until bottoms of cookies have browned and edges have begun to brown, 14 – 16 minutes. Cool completely and store for up to one week in an airtight counter.