Thursday, February 28, 2008
Bloomingfoods for dinner with Suz. Yum! Suz wanted me to tell everyone a trick I learned: if you have a stained pot, just put a couple tablespoons of baking powder in a pot with a couple inches of water, then simmer for 15 min and then wash with soap and rinse. Should come right up! They didn't have the sandwich I wanted there, but they did have one with a grilled artichoke spread. I must learn how to make that.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Cooking Light has an article this month about culinary vacations, where you go to exotic locales and take cooking classes. They had a "See More" link listed, and I ripped that out of the magazine. I salivated over these for about an hour last night, looking longingly at the photos and the descriptions before hastily crumpling the paper and throwing it away to save my sanity. Or I thought I had. Turns out I just crumbled it. And now I'll list the link in my blog, having it there forever to taunt me. Ah, Marrakech....
http://www.gourmetontour.com/
http://www.gourmetontour.com/
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Friendship Bread
After 10 long days of waiting, I finally have some friendship bread. What, you ask, is friendship bread? Well, it's a quick bread made from a starter that has to sour for 10 days on your countertop. You can give that starter away to other people (ie, friends) to make their own bread! I got this recipe off the internet, but there's tons of variations out there. According to Kathy and Jan, some have yeast in the starter, some don't. This one does.
The Starter:
Dissolve 1 package of active dry yeast in 1/4 c warm water (about 110 degrees F). Let sit for 10 min.
In a non-metal bowl, mix together 1 cup EACH of flour & sugar. Mix totally. Slowly stir in (with a nonmetal spoon) 1 cup milk and yeast mixture. Cover bowl loosely with a towel and leave out (or, I think you can try putting it in a gallon sized ziplock bag, just make sure to let the gas out every day). This is DAY 1.
Day 2-4, stir with nonmetal spoon, or mush bag around.
Day 5, stir in 1 cup EACH flour, sugar and milk.
Day 6-9, stir or mush.
Day 10, stir in 1 cup EACH flour, sugar and milk. Take out 3 cups and place 1 cup each in separate baggies or containers. Give to friends with a copy of the recipe below and save one for yourself (or you can freeze them separately and keep them all, waahahahaha).
The Recipe:
Again, no metal. Add to the balance of the starter (a little over a cup):
1 c oil (Canola would be best, I think)
1/2 c milk
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients:
2 c flour
1 c sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 large box instant vanilla OR banana pudding (about 5.1 oz)
1/2 tsp salt
1 c nuts (optional, of course).
add dry to wet ingredients, mix until combined, and pour into two large well greased and sugared bread pans. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.
Results: Delicious. Sweet and moist. I told Chris I was bringing one of the two loaves into work, and I think he almost mutinied. When I sugar the pans, I use cinnamon sugar. Also, I tried it with the walnuts, mostly because I have a lot of them left over from the maple pudding, but also because I like the smell of them roasting, so I roasted them first. Chris didn't care for the walnuts, and people at work didn't notice them, so I think you can skip them. I also replaced about half of the white flour with whole wheat, and an informal poll at work revealed that you couldn't really taste the whole wheatyness, but that people liked the chewy, al dente-ness that the whole wheat added, so I think I'll try it again. Those are the scientific terms, by the way. I ended up having to keep it in the oven about 5 minutes longer than 1 hour.
Casualties: None! My sous chef (Harper) did end up covered in flour and sugar, but I think she liked it.
The Starter:
Dissolve 1 package of active dry yeast in 1/4 c warm water (about 110 degrees F). Let sit for 10 min.
In a non-metal bowl, mix together 1 cup EACH of flour & sugar. Mix totally. Slowly stir in (with a nonmetal spoon) 1 cup milk and yeast mixture. Cover bowl loosely with a towel and leave out (or, I think you can try putting it in a gallon sized ziplock bag, just make sure to let the gas out every day). This is DAY 1.
Day 2-4, stir with nonmetal spoon, or mush bag around.
Day 5, stir in 1 cup EACH flour, sugar and milk.
Day 6-9, stir or mush.
Day 10, stir in 1 cup EACH flour, sugar and milk. Take out 3 cups and place 1 cup each in separate baggies or containers. Give to friends with a copy of the recipe below and save one for yourself (or you can freeze them separately and keep them all, waahahahaha).
The Recipe:
Again, no metal. Add to the balance of the starter (a little over a cup):
1 c oil (Canola would be best, I think)
1/2 c milk
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients:
2 c flour
1 c sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 large box instant vanilla OR banana pudding (about 5.1 oz)
1/2 tsp salt
1 c nuts (optional, of course).
add dry to wet ingredients, mix until combined, and pour into two large well greased and sugared bread pans. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.
Results: Delicious. Sweet and moist. I told Chris I was bringing one of the two loaves into work, and I think he almost mutinied. When I sugar the pans, I use cinnamon sugar. Also, I tried it with the walnuts, mostly because I have a lot of them left over from the maple pudding, but also because I like the smell of them roasting, so I roasted them first. Chris didn't care for the walnuts, and people at work didn't notice them, so I think you can skip them. I also replaced about half of the white flour with whole wheat, and an informal poll at work revealed that you couldn't really taste the whole wheatyness, but that people liked the chewy, al dente-ness that the whole wheat added, so I think I'll try it again. Those are the scientific terms, by the way. I ended up having to keep it in the oven about 5 minutes longer than 1 hour.
Casualties: None! My sous chef (Harper) did end up covered in flour and sugar, but I think she liked it.
Monday, February 25, 2008
miso alterations
I've been thinking around this miso salad dressing thing. the recipe calls for 3 Tbs of sugar, which is, I think, a hugely huge amount. I suggested reducing that to 2 Tbs. Part of the reason I said this was because it was so gritty with the sugar at first, but all that sugar did end up dissolving overnight. Regardless, that's still a lot of refined sugar for what is generally considered a healthy meal: salad.
I was reading this month's cooking light magazine and it was talking about balancing flavors, the four (now five) tastes on your tongue, which got me thinking, maybe the dressing has all that sugar to try to balance out the Salt of the miso and the soy sauce? The recipe calls for sugar, so that's Sweet. Miso and soy sauce aren't just Salty, they're also something new called Umami. I don't really understand Umami, but it's found in things like tomatoes, hard cheeses, mushrooms.... read the article if interested. Anyway, those are the three main flavors going on. I guess if you eat it with a lettuce like radicchio or endive or cabbage, that would give you Bitter (although it's unlikely I personally would ever eat those in a salad). And you do add vinegar to the dressing, but mirin is really more sweet than anything else; it's not your classic Sour.
So that got me thinking, the main problem here is the salad dressing is way Salty. What if we reduce the amount of the soy sauce, and add some "real" vinegar instead, like, I don't know, white wine vinegar. That might cut the salt enough to allow us to reduce the sugar without the dressing being nothing but salty and umami, whatever that is. I'll try it once I run out of this batch of dressing and keep you posted.
By the way, this article also explained that this is why you need to add some sugar to a vinaigrette that has more vinegar than oil, as these new low fat vinaigrettes have.
I was reading this month's cooking light magazine and it was talking about balancing flavors, the four (now five) tastes on your tongue, which got me thinking, maybe the dressing has all that sugar to try to balance out the Salt of the miso and the soy sauce? The recipe calls for sugar, so that's Sweet. Miso and soy sauce aren't just Salty, they're also something new called Umami. I don't really understand Umami, but it's found in things like tomatoes, hard cheeses, mushrooms.... read the article if interested. Anyway, those are the three main flavors going on. I guess if you eat it with a lettuce like radicchio or endive or cabbage, that would give you Bitter (although it's unlikely I personally would ever eat those in a salad). And you do add vinegar to the dressing, but mirin is really more sweet than anything else; it's not your classic Sour.
So that got me thinking, the main problem here is the salad dressing is way Salty. What if we reduce the amount of the soy sauce, and add some "real" vinegar instead, like, I don't know, white wine vinegar. That might cut the salt enough to allow us to reduce the sugar without the dressing being nothing but salty and umami, whatever that is. I'll try it once I run out of this batch of dressing and keep you posted.
By the way, this article also explained that this is why you need to add some sugar to a vinaigrette that has more vinegar than oil, as these new low fat vinaigrettes have.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Yogurt Cheese
This one's for Bethie, who's living a sad life without cheese, but she can eat yogurt.
1) line a fine-mesh sieve with a coffee filter or paper towel; rest sieve over a large glass measuring cup or a deep bowl.
2) Fill lined sieve with 2 cups (or however much you want, just be sure to adjust the amount of the mix-ins) whole or low-fat plain yogurt (NO nonfat yogurt!!). Cover measuring cup with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
3) Discard liquid that has collected in the measuring cup. Transfer yogurt cheese to a bowl. Stir in 1/2 tps coarse salt. Flavor as desired (see below). Makes 1.25 cups.
Mix-in suggestions:
Garlic and Chives-- cook 1 garlic clove in boiling water for 1 min. remove garlic and chop finely. stir garlic and 3 Tbls finely chopped fresh chives into yogurt cheese.
Black Pepper-- Stir in 1/2 tps coarsely ground black pepper.
Results: Pretty good. It's velvety smooth and tangy like yogurt, but it's more like soft cream cheese in consistency. I tried it with the black pepper on a peach. It was just ok, but that was the peach's fault. I think when the peaches start improving I'll try grilling the peach first and then adding the cheese. The recipe says you can have this with baken potatoes, crackers, bread, or as a dip for chips and veggies. I think it would also be good with bagels or English muffins, which is what I'll try next. I wonder if you let it sit in the fridge for longer before eating, like a day and a half or two days, if it would be more solid....
1) line a fine-mesh sieve with a coffee filter or paper towel; rest sieve over a large glass measuring cup or a deep bowl.
2) Fill lined sieve with 2 cups (or however much you want, just be sure to adjust the amount of the mix-ins) whole or low-fat plain yogurt (NO nonfat yogurt!!). Cover measuring cup with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
3) Discard liquid that has collected in the measuring cup. Transfer yogurt cheese to a bowl. Stir in 1/2 tps coarse salt. Flavor as desired (see below). Makes 1.25 cups.
Mix-in suggestions:
Garlic and Chives-- cook 1 garlic clove in boiling water for 1 min. remove garlic and chop finely. stir garlic and 3 Tbls finely chopped fresh chives into yogurt cheese.
Black Pepper-- Stir in 1/2 tps coarsely ground black pepper.
Results: Pretty good. It's velvety smooth and tangy like yogurt, but it's more like soft cream cheese in consistency. I tried it with the black pepper on a peach. It was just ok, but that was the peach's fault. I think when the peaches start improving I'll try grilling the peach first and then adding the cheese. The recipe says you can have this with baken potatoes, crackers, bread, or as a dip for chips and veggies. I think it would also be good with bagels or English muffins, which is what I'll try next. I wonder if you let it sit in the fridge for longer before eating, like a day and a half or two days, if it would be more solid....
maple-walnut pudding
Every workday in Japan, the lunch ladies would wheel this cart into the staff room at 10:30. If I didn't have a class that period, I would invariable plunk down some yen for what can only be compared to ambrosia. It was this custard that came in a little Jello cup. It was maple-flavored and on the bottom of the cup was a collection of maple syrupy goodness that you could gradually scoop at as you ate the cup, which I made sure to do very very slowly to stave off boredom and savor the custard. I've been searching since I came home for the maple custard, like Fivel looking for his dad in An American Tale. I came across a recipe for maple-walnut pudding and thought I hit jackpot. It's basically egg yolks, cornstarch, milk, maple syrup and a little salt. You have to boil all that together for a minute to activate the cornstarch, but there's also a danger of scrambling the eggs and clumping the milk, which is what happened when I made eggnog this year and had to strain it. After whisking, you add some butter and stir, then refrigerate.
Results: I was very happy that I managed to avoid clumping with the pudding -- my whisking must be getting better -- but the dish itself couldn't hold up to my very high expectations. I think part of the problem is that it's a pudding, not a custard, so the texture wasn't the same, but I also don't think it tasted right. Sigh! the search continues.
Casualties: 1) three egg whites that I'll probably forget about before I get around to using them. 2) my heart, which has broken. 3) the $6 that I plunked down for all that maple syrup.
On the postive side, I found out something great. The pudding calls for a maple-walnut sauce to go on top. You have to toast some walnuts in the oven at 350 for about 10 minutes, or until they're fragrant. Never having toasted nuts before, I wasn't sure what this fragrance would be. Well, let me tell you, it was wonderful! Toasting made the walnuts smell like really rich popcorn, and they because crispy. I'll definitely have to try this with other nuts. I love mixed nuts, but not as much all the salt that they come with when you buy them already roasted, and I've been looking for ways to make them taste more interesting without all that sodium. I'll keep you posted.
Results: I was very happy that I managed to avoid clumping with the pudding -- my whisking must be getting better -- but the dish itself couldn't hold up to my very high expectations. I think part of the problem is that it's a pudding, not a custard, so the texture wasn't the same, but I also don't think it tasted right. Sigh! the search continues.
Casualties: 1) three egg whites that I'll probably forget about before I get around to using them. 2) my heart, which has broken. 3) the $6 that I plunked down for all that maple syrup.
On the postive side, I found out something great. The pudding calls for a maple-walnut sauce to go on top. You have to toast some walnuts in the oven at 350 for about 10 minutes, or until they're fragrant. Never having toasted nuts before, I wasn't sure what this fragrance would be. Well, let me tell you, it was wonderful! Toasting made the walnuts smell like really rich popcorn, and they because crispy. I'll definitely have to try this with other nuts. I love mixed nuts, but not as much all the salt that they come with when you buy them already roasted, and I've been looking for ways to make them taste more interesting without all that sodium. I'll keep you posted.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Baked pasta
Baked spaghetti, penne, whatever you want was pretty easy and not that adventurous, but we had it last night (delicious!) and I thought I'd include a summary for people like my little brother who is, apparently, still eating cardboard.
Cook 1lb of pasta in a pot of salted water. Aim to cook it for ~2min less than the box says for al dente because it'll finish cooking in the oven. If you want to use raviolli, use 2lbs and cook until they float to the surface.
Make up a basic marinara sauce with onions, garlic, olive oil, 2 cans of tomatoes (perhaps, one crushed, one diced), salt & pepper and the italian herbs of your choice. Last night I used thyme and oregano, and threw in a dash of red pepper flakes. The sauce should be runnier than normal. Simmer for about 25 min until it's about 5.5 cups. Not important to be precise.
Throw everything together in a 9x13 baking dish, sprinkle with parm and mozz cheese and toss in a 425 degree oven for, oh, 15-25 min, until cheese gets nice and brown.
Ta-DA!
If I hadn't been so darn hungry, I might have tried adding some sauteed artichoke hearts, thrown in with the pasta and marinara before baking. Chris and I have recently discovered that sauteed artichoke hearts, so they're good and brown, go very very well with cheese.
If the roads don't resemble a skating rink (we got about 1/2in of sleet and freezing rain yesterday), I'm going to the winter farmer's market and then to the grocery store, so hopefully I'll get to try some more new things this week. I'm really looking forward to the end of winter and the beginning of my daffodils; I just hope this spring won't be like last year's, where it warmed up a little, but stayed really rather cold to June and all the spring produce at the farmer's market was weird. It was so disappointing!
Cook 1lb of pasta in a pot of salted water. Aim to cook it for ~2min less than the box says for al dente because it'll finish cooking in the oven. If you want to use raviolli, use 2lbs and cook until they float to the surface.
Make up a basic marinara sauce with onions, garlic, olive oil, 2 cans of tomatoes (perhaps, one crushed, one diced), salt & pepper and the italian herbs of your choice. Last night I used thyme and oregano, and threw in a dash of red pepper flakes. The sauce should be runnier than normal. Simmer for about 25 min until it's about 5.5 cups. Not important to be precise.
Throw everything together in a 9x13 baking dish, sprinkle with parm and mozz cheese and toss in a 425 degree oven for, oh, 15-25 min, until cheese gets nice and brown.
Ta-DA!
If I hadn't been so darn hungry, I might have tried adding some sauteed artichoke hearts, thrown in with the pasta and marinara before baking. Chris and I have recently discovered that sauteed artichoke hearts, so they're good and brown, go very very well with cheese.
If the roads don't resemble a skating rink (we got about 1/2in of sleet and freezing rain yesterday), I'm going to the winter farmer's market and then to the grocery store, so hopefully I'll get to try some more new things this week. I'm really looking forward to the end of winter and the beginning of my daffodils; I just hope this spring won't be like last year's, where it warmed up a little, but stayed really rather cold to June and all the spring produce at the farmer's market was weird. It was so disappointing!
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Japanese Miso dressing
Suz and Brad came over two weekends ago to make sushi and miso soup. I had a TON of miso left over, so I found a recipe for miso dressing. It's the closest I've been able to find to that yummy dressing they give you at Japanese Steak Houses.
The recipe says it yields 1 cup, but I think it must yield more.
3/4 c Red Miso (aka akamiso)*
3 Tbls sugar
3 Tbls mirin (Japanese rice wine vinegar)
2 Tbls hot water
2 tps light soy sauce
1/4 tps sesame oil
1 Tbls toasted sesame seeds#
In a small bowl, combine miso and sugar. Add mirin, water, soy sauce, sesame oil, and sesame seeds. Stir until well blended. Serve over iceberg lettuce and carrot slices. Toss to combine.
* there are different kinds of miso, and when they mean red, they mean red, not white or mild or other varieties. It's the brownist miso, and it's also the most flavorful. A little goes a long way! conveniently, the same miso used in miso soup!
# toasting sesame seeds makes them taste delicious, but it's dangerous. They take a really long time to start toasting, and then you have about 30 seconds before they burn. I put them in a (non-stick) skillet and put the heat on medium, tossing the pan and stirring the seeds every minute or so, and prepare the rest of the dressing right next to the stove where I can keep an eye on it. Once you start to smell toastyness and they start to turn brown. You can play chicken with the seeds if you want, and try to get them even more toasted, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.
Results: I think this recipe calls for WAY too much sugar. Next time I'm going to only put 2 Tbls in it. Also, it's really thick, so I add more water. And a little goes a loooong way. I wouldn't pour this dressing on your salad, I'd spoon it on a little at a time and toss it as you go. When I say "toss," I mean put it in a bowl with a lid or a plate on top and really shake it. This is definitely a shaken, not stirred salad dressing. That said, because the dressing is so complex and rich, I'm perfectly happy eating it with nothing but lettuce, which would be really boring with ordinary ranch or italian. I would definitly make this again! I had to buy the sesame oil to make it, and I think I'll enjoy putting that to use, too.
The recipe says it yields 1 cup, but I think it must yield more.
3/4 c Red Miso (aka akamiso)*
3 Tbls sugar
3 Tbls mirin (Japanese rice wine vinegar)
2 Tbls hot water
2 tps light soy sauce
1/4 tps sesame oil
1 Tbls toasted sesame seeds#
In a small bowl, combine miso and sugar. Add mirin, water, soy sauce, sesame oil, and sesame seeds. Stir until well blended. Serve over iceberg lettuce and carrot slices. Toss to combine.
* there are different kinds of miso, and when they mean red, they mean red, not white or mild or other varieties. It's the brownist miso, and it's also the most flavorful. A little goes a long way! conveniently, the same miso used in miso soup!
# toasting sesame seeds makes them taste delicious, but it's dangerous. They take a really long time to start toasting, and then you have about 30 seconds before they burn. I put them in a (non-stick) skillet and put the heat on medium, tossing the pan and stirring the seeds every minute or so, and prepare the rest of the dressing right next to the stove where I can keep an eye on it. Once you start to smell toastyness and they start to turn brown. You can play chicken with the seeds if you want, and try to get them even more toasted, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.
Results: I think this recipe calls for WAY too much sugar. Next time I'm going to only put 2 Tbls in it. Also, it's really thick, so I add more water. And a little goes a loooong way. I wouldn't pour this dressing on your salad, I'd spoon it on a little at a time and toss it as you go. When I say "toss," I mean put it in a bowl with a lid or a plate on top and really shake it. This is definitely a shaken, not stirred salad dressing. That said, because the dressing is so complex and rich, I'm perfectly happy eating it with nothing but lettuce, which would be really boring with ordinary ranch or italian. I would definitly make this again! I had to buy the sesame oil to make it, and I think I'll enjoy putting that to use, too.
Dela-WHERE?
I made the startling, nay, astonishing discovery today that the average WELL EDUCATED midwesterner, when asked, thinks that Delaware is somewhere up by Vermont, if not immediately adjacent to it (although they correctly know where Vermont it). Knowledge base is limited to the brief mention of Delaware in Wayne's World. The average midwesterner also doesn't know that there are beaches in Delaware. When I said that the DE beaches are where people from DC go to for vacation, the immediate assumption was a beach full of senators and congressmen, which also tells me that the average midwesterner believes that the only people living in and around DC are senators and congressmen. Sample size: 4 (natives of TX, KY, WI and IN).
This is interesting considering that most east coasters that I've talked to who haven't really traveled beyond WV can more or less tell you where the states are in relation to one another, but the have a skewed sense of distance in the midwest, myself included a few years ago. For example, Beth came to visit me and Chris a few years ago in Indiana and asked that we "drop her off" in Chicago. She thought Chicago was only an hour away! I explained that, in fact, the airport where I would be picking her up was an hour away, but Chicago (and especially Northwestern, where she was going) was really more like 5 hours away. Example 2: Ian's friend from Texas has a conference in Iowa and asked to stay with him while she was going to this conference. He explained she was welcome to stay, but she might have to get up earlier in the morning than she thought she would to make it there on time.
This is interesting considering that most east coasters that I've talked to who haven't really traveled beyond WV can more or less tell you where the states are in relation to one another, but the have a skewed sense of distance in the midwest, myself included a few years ago. For example, Beth came to visit me and Chris a few years ago in Indiana and asked that we "drop her off" in Chicago. She thought Chicago was only an hour away! I explained that, in fact, the airport where I would be picking her up was an hour away, but Chicago (and especially Northwestern, where she was going) was really more like 5 hours away. Example 2: Ian's friend from Texas has a conference in Iowa and asked to stay with him while she was going to this conference. He explained she was welcome to stay, but she might have to get up earlier in the morning than she thought she would to make it there on time.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Outrageous Chocolate Cookies
Today's experiment comes from Martha Stewart:
8 oz semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped (I used chocolate chips)
4 Tbs unsalted butter
2/3 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tps baking powder
1/2 tps salt
2 large eggs
3/4 c packed light-brown sugar (I have also used dark brown sugar and it's still delicious)
1 tps vanilla extract
1 package (12-oz) semisweet chocolate chunks (I used milk chocolate chips)
Preheat oven to 350.
Heat chopped chocolate (the 8oz of chocolate) and butter in microwave at 20-second intervals, stirring between each, until almost melted. Do NOT overheat. In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.
In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla on high speed until light and fluffy (I beat it for about 5 min). Reduce speed to low: beat in melted chocolate. Mix in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in chocolate chunks.
Drop heaping teaspoons of dough 2 to 3 in. apart on baking sheet. Batter should be thin, more like brownie batter than cookie dough. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are shiny and crackly yet soft in centers, 12 to 15 min. DON'T BAKE UNTIL CRISP: cookies are meant to be crispy. Cool on sheets for 10 mins, transfer to racks to cool completely with a metal spatula.
Results: These turned out pretty good. They make you VERY thirsty, so make sure you'd stocked up on milk before making them. Also, I found that the cookies really stuck to the sheet, more so than usual cookies. You definitely need elbow grease. Makes a little more than two dozen.
Casualties: one metal spatula, snapped.
8 oz semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped (I used chocolate chips)
4 Tbs unsalted butter
2/3 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tps baking powder
1/2 tps salt
2 large eggs
3/4 c packed light-brown sugar (I have also used dark brown sugar and it's still delicious)
1 tps vanilla extract
1 package (12-oz) semisweet chocolate chunks (I used milk chocolate chips)
Preheat oven to 350.
Heat chopped chocolate (the 8oz of chocolate) and butter in microwave at 20-second intervals, stirring between each, until almost melted. Do NOT overheat. In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.
In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla on high speed until light and fluffy (I beat it for about 5 min). Reduce speed to low: beat in melted chocolate. Mix in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in chocolate chunks.
Drop heaping teaspoons of dough 2 to 3 in. apart on baking sheet. Batter should be thin, more like brownie batter than cookie dough. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are shiny and crackly yet soft in centers, 12 to 15 min. DON'T BAKE UNTIL CRISP: cookies are meant to be crispy. Cool on sheets for 10 mins, transfer to racks to cool completely with a metal spatula.
Results: These turned out pretty good. They make you VERY thirsty, so make sure you'd stocked up on milk before making them. Also, I found that the cookies really stuck to the sheet, more so than usual cookies. You definitely need elbow grease. Makes a little more than two dozen.
Casualties: one metal spatula, snapped.
Adventures in Gastronomy
Chris has been trying to get me for years to start a blog again, but I couldn't imagine what I'd write about. Well, thanks to a great cookbook I got from brother Chris last Christmas, I've really started getting into experimenting with cooking, and I figure, husband Chris shouldn't have to suffer alone:
"There is one thing more exasperating than a wife who can cook and won't, and that's a wife who can't cook and will." ~Robert Frost
"There is one thing more exasperating than a wife who can cook and won't, and that's a wife who can't cook and will." ~Robert Frost
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