Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

B was apparently somewhat disatisfied with the last batch of chocolate chip cookies that I made, and wanted something softer.  So we looked through all of my baking cookbooks, and this recipe seemed the best choice for super-moist chocolate chip cookies.

They were definitely lighter and fluffier than the toll house type. Basically the same recipe (really, how different could it be?) but they upped the brown sugar and downed the granulated.  It still wasn’t quite soft enough for B… he doesn’t seem to want to believe me when I tell him that we’re going to have to use shortening if he wants the kind of cookie you buy at the store!

Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies, from Martha Stewart’s Cookies.  Pg 58.

Mint Butter

I happened upon this intriguing idea while perusing this cookbook a few weeks ago, and it’s been on my mind ever since.  So I decidedto give it a shot: a big batch of flavored butter, stored in a long roll in the freezer, and then I can cut a hunk off whenever needed.

Since the children love peas so, I decided to start with the mint butter.  A lot of mint, some honey, a touch of orange, and two sticks of butter, all pureed in the cuisinart.  And, y’know what?  It works!  Next time I make it, I think I’ll add even more mint: the taste is a bit more delicate than I would have guessed it was.  Overall, a really good idea, too.

Mint Butter, from The Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserves: Over 300 Delicious Recipes to use Year Round, by Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard.  Pg 331

French Onion Soup

This recipe was time consuming and, alas, a little underwhelming.  I had to add a lot of salt, which is not something I normally enjoy doing, before it really had much of a taste.  It’s pictured above in its leftover form, where I made focaccia croutons and put lots of mozzarella cheese on top.

I have an America’s Test Kitchen slow cooker recipe for French Onion soup that I’d like to use, but just haven’t been organized enough to start it in the morning.

French Onion Soup, from The All new All Purpose Joy of Cooking, by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker.  Pg 95.

Lighter Cauliflower Soup

This recipe is “lighter” because it uses half and half instead of heavy cream.  Just in case you were wondering: I kind of was.

I’ve never really heard of cauliflower soup, but it’s apparently a “thing.”  It appears in an awful lot of my cookbooks, at least.  And the magazine talks about it as though it’s a common occurrence.  But I happened to have cauliflower on hand, and when the milkman came last Friday I asked for some half and half at the last minute, and so a dish was born.

And it’s really, really, really good.  I don’t really think of cauliflower as having any taste.  I’m sure it’s healthy for you in some way or another, but I have no clue what to do with it.  Well, now I have this soup.  It’s super garlicy and creamy, but the title is right: it’s still nice and light.  I used my vegetable stock that I made with the vegetable scraps from Sunday’s ham dinner.

Perfect for a freezing cold, snowy evening.  Bibs ate a few spoonfuls, and Bobs ate an awful lot.  Shown above is Bobs’s serving.  He also had some focaccia and half a banana.  And he would have had a chocolate chip cookie for dessert, but he chucked it at his sister instead.

Lighter Cauliflower Soup, from The Best of America’s Test Kitchen: Best Recipes and Reviews 2011.  Pg 14.

Rosemary and Rock Salt Focaccia

I’ve made this recipe before, and it’s turned out MUCH better.  I was not satisfied with this.  The picture’s not great, either.  I think the issue is that I just grabbed a random packet of yeast from the fridge, and I think I got the “Old Fashioned” kind, and the recipe called for the “Rapid Rise” kind.  Because it didn’t really rise all that well.

I love this recipe because it’s so incredibly super simple, but tastes very good and goes with anything you want bread for.  I had it tonight with cauliflower soup, and I’ll probably have it as a snack tomorrow dipped in a little bit of fancy dipping oil.

Rosemary and Rock Salt Focaccia, from Nicola Graimes’ The Best Ever Vegetarian Cookbook.  Pg. 504

Rice Bread

I was intrested in this recipe, because I wanted to know what on earth rice bread was.  Turns out it’s just a savory rice pudding.  An awful lot of savory rice pudding: I put half of it in the freezer because lord knows who’s going to eat it all.  And it doesn’t look quite as unappetizing in real life as in the above photograph: it really does look like a pile of vomit.  Lovely.  It’s colored slightly pink by the addition of a simple homemade tomato sauce.

Unfortunately, the cooking time was off.  Maybe it was because I used my fancy ceramic mold, but that shouldn’t really add all that much time.  The puddings (because we used two molds) were in there for over an hour.  Which meant that we did not eat them with dinner, so I guess we’ll be having them tomorrow night.  With something or other.  I nibbled a bit at one, and it tasted quite good.

I have to say that although I really like the recipes in this cookbook, they are remarkably vague.  For instance, this one just said to “slice the tomatoes.”  Reading between the lines, I think it actually wanted me to dice them.

Rice Bread, from This Good Food: Contemporary French Vegetarian Recipes from a Monastery Kitchen, by Brother Victor-Antoine d’Avila-Latourrette.  Pg 37.

Ham with (Pomegranate)-Orange Glaze

This was the Christmas dinner that we never got around to making because we were so full from breakfast.  The ham went into the freezer, and we pulled it out the other day to make as our Sunday Dinner.

It was a pre-cooked ham, so we really just used the glaze from this recipe.  It called for a cup of marmalade, and we used the pomegranate-orange marmalade I made last month.  I didn’t partake in any, but I have to say that it looked amazing, and B and the kids said it tasted amazing.  Definitely a glaze to make again next time we happen to have a ham lying around!

Ham with Orange Glaze, from Williams Sonoma Roasting. pg 66.

Mashed Turnips and Apples

Oops.  I halved the recipe, because I knew no one but me would eat this.  But I forgot to halve the wine.  As a result, the taste of alcohol was way overpowering.  B said it was delicious, but I would have preferred a little less booze.

Mashed Turnips and Apples, from This Good Food: Contemporary French Vegetarian Recipes from a Monastery Kitchen, by Brother Victor-Antoine d’Avila-Latourrette.  Pg 48.

Shaker Lemon Pie

The only America’s Test Kitchen recipe that’s been a total dud!  It was my fault, but I think the instructions should have been more clear.  It said to slice the lemons thinly, but did not elaborate on what “thinly” meant.  I totally missed the mark, and think I cut them thickly.

When you pick out the giant chunks of lemons, what’s left is pretty good.  Basically, it’s a crust with some lemon cream.  The lemon cream is very good, and I bet a pie full of it would have been excellent.

Shaker Lemon Pie, from Cook’s Country Best Country Recipes: Every Recipe, Testing, and Tasting from the Third Season of Cook’s County from America’s Test Kitchen.  Pg. 2.

Sausage and Mushroom Crepes

I had leftover sausages from last night (we had bangers and mash), plus some mushrooms I wasn’t quite sure what to do with, so this recipe turned out very well indeed.  I like making crepes for dinner, and it works perfectly with young children: I can prepare them earlier in the day (during naptime, for example) and then just pop them in the oven in time for dinner.  Alas, the young people around here don’t actually eat them, so it’s not a foolproof plan.  But I thought they were good!

Mine, of course, were without the sausage: since you add that to the filling mixture last, I just reserved a bit of filling and then added the sausage.  B said that the texture of the sausage and the mushrooms were similar, so they blended nicely.

Sausage and Mushroom Crepes: from Sweet and Savory Recipes for the Home Cook, by Lou Seibert Pappas.  Pg 74

Basil Pesto

The basil I bought last week for some other recipes was starting to go south, so I decided to turn it into a pesto to freeze until it’s needed.  This was a VERY simple recipe: just basil, garlic, oil, and salt.  Every other recipe I’ve made has included nuts and parmesan.  But the simplicity worked, and it really let the flavors of the garlic and the basil shine through.  I’ll have to report back when I actually use it.

Basil Pesto, from The New Basics Cookbook, by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins.  Pg 12.

Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies

What can you really say about Toll House chocolate chip cookies?  If you’ve never had them, you’re probably not from the United States.  They’re the simplest and best chocolate chip recipe out there: even Joanne Chang says so in her Flour cookbook!  They turned out as they always do: just the right amount of chewy inside, with just the right amount of crunchy edges, and tasting delicious.

Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies, from the back of the bag of Toll House brand chocolate chips.

Ricotta

Turns out a gallon of milk can actually make two cheeses, making it considerably more cost-effective.  The above ain’t pretty, but it sure tstes good.  Well, in that semi-tasteless way that ricitta tastes.  Just fresher and better.

It’s made from the whey of the Gouda cheese I also made today.  That has to age, so check back in 3-6 months for my review of that.  A second heating produces a whole new set of curds, and you strain those and get, well, this!

Cheesemaking is very, very cool.  Who knew?  Now I have to think of something really fun to do with this: any suggestions?

Ricotta Cheese, from the 30 Minute Mozzarella & Ricotta Kit, supplied by the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company.

Buckwheat Flapjacks

The cookbook says that these are buckwheat pancakes for people who hate buckwheat.  I have no clue if I like or if I hate buckwheat, but I do know that I’m feeling a bit of an all-purpose flour overload after all the baking I’ve been doing since starting this blog.  So I decided to give buckwheat pancakes a try, and this was the only recipe I had handy that didn’t require the batter to sit for 1-24 hours.  Hungry kiddos need feeding NOW!

The buckwheat flavor is tempered by a bit of cocoa powder, making these, technically, chocolate buckwheat pancakes.  I thought that they were pretty good, though the cocoa powder that I use is very strong so the unsweetened chocolate flavor was a bit much.  But it would work for people who like savory breakfasts: like my husband, who actually hasn’t tried them yet.

The batter was a perfect consistency to give the light, thin sort of pancakes that I prefer, and the grainy texture of the buckwheat gave them some heft.  I liked them, and now I’m curious if I’ll like regular buckwheat pancakes.  I’ll have to plan things out a bit better next time, so I can make the kind that have to sit around for a while.

Buckwheat Flapjacks, Country Breakfasts: Four Seasons of Cozy Morning Meals, by Ken Haedrich.  Pg 11

Leek Tart

Not quite a tart, not quite a quiche… almost a custard, maybe?  A savory leek custard?  Sounds strange, but the results were delicious.  The interior was very creamy, though perhaps the flavor could have been a bit more intense.  The crust had an egg in it plus a lot of water (5tbs… most crust recipes have 3).

I even tricked Bibs into eating some.  She asked what it was, and I said pie.  She ate quite a few bites before figuring out that it was an onion pie.  She took it gracefully, though.  She ate the crust… that counts for something, right?

This would make a nice brunch dish.  But I might add something else, to give it a deeper flavor.  The creamy texture was nice, but the flavor lacked something.  Still, it was good.

Leek Tart, from This Good Food: Contemporary French Vegetarian Recipes from a Monastery Kitchen, by Brother Victor-Antoine d’Avila-Latourrette.  Pg 36.

Carrot and Spinach Butter Mash

This was so good… so very, very good.  I ate the entire recipe.  I must have been craving one or the other ingredients, because it was one of those things where I just couldn’t get enough.  The leek tart I also made tonight took so long that I had eaten 1/2 the pot of this before I had even served dinner.

It was very very easy to make, too.  Boil carrots until soft, drain very well (the recipe suggests cooking them a bit longer without water in the pan), then mash with some butter, throw in the spinach, and let that wilt a bit.  I used frozen spinach, because that’s what I had on hand.

I’ll absolutely be making this again.

Carrot and Spinach Butter Mash, from Easy Vegetarian: Simple Recipes for Brunch, Lunch and Dinner, edited by Sharon Ashman.  Pg 116.

Blueberry Pancakes

When Bibs asked for pancakes for lunch today, I told her not to be silly.  But then I thought “what’s wrong with silly?”  So we had blueberry pancakes for lunch.

This recipe was excellent.  The pancakes are leavened with lots of baking soda and baking powder, which also gives them a nice little tangy edge.  There’s no buttermilk, just milk.  The recipe made a lot, too: I think I have 8 leftover in the fridge that the kids can toast for breakfast or snacks.  They’re nice and sturdy and fairly thick, so they should toast well.

Blueberry Pancakes, from Williams-Sonoma Breakfast.  pg 30.

Cornmeal Biscuits

After my sort of “meh” cornmeal biscuits last week (which did have potential… they just weren’t quite there) I wanted to give this recipe a go.  After all, has a Cook’s Country/Cook’s Illustrated recipe ever failed anyone?  I think not.  And, not surprisingly, this recipe was everything a cornmeal muffin should be.  Light and flaky, but also with a satisfying crunch when you bite into it, and the somewhat gritty texture you’d want from a corn muffin.  “Gritty” may not sound like the greatest praise for your baked goods, but I really liked the texture.  The grit worked, if you will.

This is definitely a recipe to make again.  I’d like to combine it with the Ken Haedrich recipe I used last week: a bit of parmesan and dried basil mixed in, caramelized onions on top.  In the words of Bibs: “yuh-um.  Dee-lish!”

Cornmeal Biscuits, from Cook’s Country Best Country Recipes: Every Recipe Testing, and Tasting from the Third Season of Cook’s Country from America’s Test Kitchen, Pg 62

Cream of Tomato Soup

Last time I made this, the kids couldn’t get enough.  So I made a double batch this time, ensuring plenty left over to freeze.  If you have, or have ever had, toddlers, then you can see where this story is going.  I’ll cut to the chase:  Well, I for one liked it.

The addition of some carrots adds some extra sweetness and a little bit of flavor depth, which is very nice.  It’s really a terribly simple soup, with simple enough flavors that you could play with the recipe and add other things as needed.

Cream of Tomato Soup, from Annabel Karmel’s First Meals: Fast, Healthy and Fun Foods to Tempt Infants and Toddlers.  Pg 106

Light Waffles

Not a great recipe, but really good waffles.  How on earth are you supposed to “gently fold” beaten egg whites and whipped cream into a very thick, heavy, yeasted dough?  I had to take the electric mixer again and beat the bejeezus out of it to get it somewhat incorporated.

It was the first time I’ve made yeasted waffles.  They were a bit heavier and more substantial that most of the waffles I’ve ever made.  They were good, but I’m not sure I’m in love with them.  They were very rich, and that was definitely good.  But I tend to like lighter breakfast fare.  The kids seemed to love them, though.  The recipe didn’t make all that many, either: I got 8 plus a tiny little spare one.  I’m looking to make more than that, so I can keep them in the fridge and give them to the kids as snacks.

Thinking about it, I bet they would be really good as waffle sundaes, with ice cream and some hot fudge sauce.  I don’t think they’d get soggy and mushy right away, like a fluffier waffle recipe would.

Light Waffles, from This Good Food: Contemporary French Vegetarian Recipes from a Monastery Kitchen, by Brother Victor-Antoine d’Avila-Latourrette.  Pg. 66

Gail’s Baked Apple Pancake

I was looking for a baked apple dutch pancake recipe when I came across this one, which isn’t quite.  It’s much lighter, with a crispy cinnamon sugar top, and an interior so fluffy it’s basically creamy (and, yes, it was cooked all the way through!).  I really liked it, the kids were ambivalent.  I’d probably make it for myself again, though it was a bit labor intensive what with separating the eggs and beating the white and the yolks separately.

Gail’s Baked Apple Pancake, from Ken Haedrich’s Country Breakfasts: Four Seasons of Cozy Morning Meals.  Pg 19.

Chocolate Cream Cupcakes

When my mother was visiting, she came home from the bookstore with this issue of Cooks Country, and I sent her back to buy me a copy.  Largely for this recipe.  Make your own Hostess cupcakes?  How could anyone resist?

They are AMAZING.  The cupcakes are ridiculously light and airy, barely anything at all.  And the cream filling is a mixture of marshmallow fluff and butter and gelatin and water and vanilla, so it has a light and fluffy texture, too.  There’s also a chocolate icing made from bittersweet chocolate chips, which adds a bit of not-quite-so-sweet contrast.

They were also a lot less labor intensive than they looked.  You just cut off the top of the cupcakes, and then I used a melon baller to empty out the cupcakes a bit.  The icing on top covers the seam, and then if you want to be super fancy you pipe the swirls across the top.  I found that a rubber-coated baby spoon was the best icing spreader: two spoonfuls of icing, and then it was just the right size to very neatly push the icing to the edge of each cupcake.  I probably should have used a smaller icing bag tip for prettier curls, but that’s overthinking.

Awesome recipe, and they look really impressive.  This would be fun to make for a children’s party.

Chocolate Cream Cupcakes, from Cook’s Country Best Country Recipes: Every Recipe Testing, and Tasting from the Third Season of Cook’s Country from America’s Test Kitchen, pg 24.

onion-flecked parmesan biscuits

“What does onion-flecked even mean?” B asked when I told him the name of this recipe.  Um, topped with apparently?

I liked the idea of these, but they weren’t quite there.  They needed more lift.  As you can see in the photo, they’re pretty flat.  They have some cornmeal, which gives them an interesting texture, but they need to be a bit lighter.  I did like the flavor: the parmesan, dried basil, and cornmeal gives them a rich and unique flavor.  I’d like to try experimenting with the ingredients and a slightly different biscuit recipe: maybe a simple buttermilk one.  The last Cook’s Country has a cornmeal biscuit: maybe that would be worth tweaking.

It didn’t help that we had them with my disastrous egg drop soup, and that we had had a huge, rich pancake lunch two hours earlier, but no-one really ate these.  We had a snow day today, so our eating schedule was way off: a late breakfast, due to the power cut, then 2nd breakfast at 10:30ish, then pancake lunch at 3ish, and I couldn’t put the kids to bed without any dinner, so we had soup and biscuits and cupcakes for dessert at about 5:30.

Onion-Flecked Parmesan Biscuits.  From Ken Haedrich’s Country Baking: Simple Home Baking with Wholesome Grains and the Pick of the Harvest.  Pg 31.

banana chocolate chip pancakes

If there’s one thing I learned during my stint in the Junior League (you didn’t know that about me, didja?), it’s how to crash fancy balls it’s that you only need to change 3 ingredients before you can call a recipe your own and publish it in a charity cookbook so that you can have more fancy balls you can support your surprisingly impressive philanthropic efforts.  I ended up tweaking the recipe even more than that, but I still must give credit where credit is due and mention that the starting point was Ken Haedrrich’s Blueberry Banana pancakes.

The batter is very thick, an although as a general rule I don’t love thick pancakes, they are necessary for chocolate chip pancakes or else the chocolate makes a mess and everything falls apart.  If you want to try them a little thinner, add more milk.

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 ripe bananas
• 1 cup yogurt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Mix the flour, baking pwder, cinnamon, and sugar in a large bowl.  In another bowl, mash up the bananas really well, and then mix in the yogurt, milk, and eggs.  You can also do this in a cuisinart to simplify things.  Whisk until it’s a consistent liquid.  Stir the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients until just blended.  Add the butter, and mix.  Gently fold in the chocolate chips.

Cook on a griddle over medium heat.  Since they’re thick, you’ll want to cook them fairly slowly.

Rice and Summer Squash Gratin

I pretty much suck as a vegetarian, because I’m not really a huge fan of this cookbook, which is basically the Bible for most vegetarians.  It’s the one that I ALWAYS see recommended for vegetarians or people who want vegetarian recipes.  But, I have to say that most everything I’ve cooked from it has been something of a dud.

This recipe, however, was AMAZING.  It was a bit labor intensive, with separate steps for making the béchamel sauce and then you saute the zucchini and then you mix it all with herbs and cheeses and then you bake it, but it really was pleasantly rich and creamy.  I used the rest of my homemade mozzarella.

The kids, obviously, wouldn’t touch it.  So I ate their portions too.  But I’d definitely make it again.

Rice and Summer Squash Gratin, from Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.  Pg 547