Chemists' favorite cookie

Among the cookie problems bakers face is that the cookies can emerge from the oven soft and intact, but when the cookies travel, they may turn into a box of crumbs.

To beat this problem, Corriher suggests adding a tablespoon of water to a cup of flour that's going to be used in the cookies. The two proteins in flour — glutenin and gliadin — grip water, Corriher tells NPR's Melissa Block, and make "springy stretchy, strong elastic sheets of gluten." The gluten will hold the cookies together, she says.

Another baker's dilemma is that chocolate chip cookies can turn out flat. Corriher suggests using an unbleached flour or a bread flour because they're higher in protein. More protein sucks in more water when they join together to make gluten, she says.

Corriher also suggests making cookie batter the night before, a method adopted for the original Toll House recipe. Overnight, the proteins and the starch soak in liquid, the enzymes break the starches into sugar and big sugar breaks down into smaller sugar. Small sugars brown well, she says.

When asked her favorite recipe, Corriher picked the chocolate crinkle cookie.

"My secret weapon is I roll the dough balls in plain table sugar first," she says. "Then I roll them heavily in powdered sugar, so it stays snow white and really dramatic against the black cookie dough. When you bite in, they're crisp on the surface and gooey and doughy inside."
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Correction: In a previous version of this recipe, the amount of canola oil required was incorrectly stated. The correct amount is 1/3 cup as stated below. We regret the error.

By rolling the dough balls in plain sugar first, the confections' sugar does not soak in so much and stays on the surface better. Corn syrup in the dough helps prevent crystallization to produce the soft chocolate center. Oil greases flour proteins to produce a tender to the point of gooey chocolate center.

Makes 3 to 5 dozen, depending on size

1 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8.2 oz/232 g) spooned and leveled bleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons (7 g) baking powder
½ teaspoon (3 g) salt
8 ounces (227 g) semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 3/4 cups (19.3 oz/547 g) sugar, divided
1/3 cup (79 ml) canola oil
2 tablespoons (30 ml) light corn syrup
2 large eggs (3.5 oz/99 g)
1 large egg yolk (0.65 oz/18 g)
2 teaspoons (10 ml) pure vanilla extract
1 cup (4 oz/120 g) confectioners' sugar

In a medium bowl, beat together well the flour, baking powder, and salt, and set aside.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave on 50 percent power for 1 minute, stir, and microwave for 15 seconds more and stir.

In a mixer with the paddle attachment, beat together 2 1/2 cups (17.5 oz/496 g) of the sugar, the oil, and corn syrup to blend. Beat in the eggs, egg yolk and vanilla. Then on low, beat in the melted chocolate. Add the flour mixture and beat in on low speed.

Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

About 30 minutes before you are ready to bake, arrange a shelf in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F/163 degrees C. Line a baking sheet with Release foil (nonstick side up).

Take out about one-quarter of the dough at a time to shape. Roll the dough into 1 1/2 to 2-inch (3.8 to 5 cm) balls. Pour the remaining 1/4 cup (1.8 oz/51 g) granulated sugar into one bowl and the confectioners' sugar in another bowl. Roll each cookie dough ball lightly in granulated sugar first, then very heavily in confectioners' sugar. (By rolling in plain sugar first, the confectioners' sugar does not soak in so much and stays on the surface better.)

Arrange cookies 2 inches (5 cm) apart on the foil. For crisp cookies, bake 12 to 14 minutes. You can have several sheets of foil covered with cookies ready.

When one sheet is done, you can pull off the foil and move cookies to a cooling rack. Rinse the baking sheet with cold water to cool and then slip the sheet under another sheet of foil with cookies on it and get it right back into the oven. Allow the cookies to cool for 2 minutes, then remove to a rack to cool completely.

Lemon Blueberry Yogurt cake

Hedda Elizabeth ""Betsy"" picked me up at the Loyola red line stop this morning. Late. But though I was tired and cold and hungry, she had fixed me a bag with fruit, and this cake, to tide me over before we went to Target and bought things, and then went to lunch with Diana. Her baby was due to be born yesterday. We await still.

The cake is good.


The core recipe comes from Ina Garten, and you might recognize it from the grapefruit cake I made last year, but really, I never meant to stop there. Let me now make up for lost time with other ideas for the cake:

* Swapping all of the vegetable oil with olive oil
* Swapping a few tablespoons of the vegetable oil with a nut or coconut oil
* Swapping grapefruit, orange, blood orange or lime for the lemon
* Swapping blackberries or raspberries for the blueberries
* Using 1/3 cup of poppy seeds instead of the blueberries for a lemon-poppy cake
* Adding 1/2 cup of toasted, chopped walnuts or pecans
* Swapping almond extract for the vanilla
* Covering the cake, once completely cooled, with a glaze of 1 cup of powdered sugar whisked with 2 tablespoons lemon juice
* Making an extra and sending it to Alex, who for the first time, ever, did not suggest a baked good could be improved with chocolate
* That said, if you added 1 cup chocolate chips to an orange version, you’d get something reminiscent of this Orange Chocolate Chunk Cake
* This recipe will also yield about 12 standard muffins or 36 miniature muffins, baking time adjusted.
* It could be doubled and baked in a well-greased and floured bundt pan, baking time adjusted.
* This recipe could also be baked in an 8-inch square or 9-inch round, to create a thin cake (approx. 1 1/2 inches tall), baking time adjusted.

yogurt, sugar, zestblueberries in lemon batter

With all of those ideas, I cannot wait to see which combination you choose. If you try a version, do let us know how it came out in the comments and if you post it to Flickr, please consider adding it to the Smitten Kitchen Recipes Pool!

One year ago: Arborio Rice Pudding

Lemon-Blueberry Yogurt Loaf
Adapted from Ina Garten

1 1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (if you’re skipping the fruit, you can also skip the last tablespoon of flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
3 extra-large eggs
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (approximately 2 lemons)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen, thawed and rinsed (miniature wild blueberries are great for this, and pose the least risk of sinking)
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease and flour the pan.

Sift together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt into 1 bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, vanilla and oil. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Mix the blueberries with the remaining tablespoon of flour, and fold them very gently into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 (+) minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Meanwhile, cook the 1/3 cup lemon juice and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.

When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before flipping out onto a cooling rack. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in (a pastry brush works great for this, as does using a toothpick to make tiny holes that draw the syrup in better). Cool.

eggplant parmesan

This is from Kath's Real Food. I found her blog when I was looking for a Mexican casserole recipe - I made her Mexican polenta (altered some, and it's posted here) which was really really good.

She says:

MY gosh this Eggplant Parmesan was so good!!!!

First we cut 2 large eggplants into half-inch slices and sprinkled them with kosher salt over the sink for an hour to remove the bitter flavor. Rinse upon completion. You’ll want to salt them for at least 30 minutes. (See this post for salting method.)Then we grilled the eggplant slices for char on our gas grill.

Then we prepared a homemade tomato sauce on the stove top:

* 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
* 1 can tomato paste
* 2 tbsp capers
* 2 tbsp chopped kalamata olives
* 1 tsp dried oregano
* A generous sprinkle of red pepper flakes
* Splash of balsamic vinegar
* Splash of Sherry (optional)

Once the eggplants were grilled and the sauce was hot, we spread them out on a baking sheet and topped them with the sauce, followed by an 8 oz package of reduced-fat mozzarella and about 6 tablespoons of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. It all went into a 400* oven for about 10 minutes - until the cheese was brown.
Pre-oven -

Post!

We served them over some steamed kale that was doused in aged balsamic vinegar. You might wonder why we have kale so much. Well, the spinach at Harris Teeter, which is what I had planned to serve, was from California, soggy and $2.99 each. The kale was North Carolina grown and $.99 per pound. Kale it was! Actually, I think the kale went nicely because it’s a little tougher than spinach and held up under the eggplant.

Seconds! We each had a tiny piece left for seconds that wouldn’t fit the first round.

Believe it or not, this whole dinner - 4 slices of cheesy eggplant with cheese, sauce and kale - was only 400 calories. And about 15 grams fiber and 28 grams protein. This WILL be a repeat dinner!

Triple Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

Yesterday I was going to make some hazelnut chocolate crinkle cookies, per Smitten Kitchen. Actually, I was going to make them as a love offering for a husb who did such a fabulous job of scrubbing down our kitchen that needed it desperately (really! it's been bad since Thanksgiving). However, as I was showing him the link, and asking if these cookies would be what he prefers... He said they looked 'fine' but why couldn't I make REGULAR cookies?

Hmmpfh! I said. Regular cookies? What, pray tell is a REGULAR cookie? He then reminded me that his favorite are oatmeal, and why couldn't I make those ones I make every year, the ones with cranberries? Daniel has a thing for cranberries, especially cranberry pancakes... but that's another post!

A couple things about these cookies... Unless it's an emergency, you must use fresh cranberries, not dried ones. Also, please please please do use some good quality chocolate. Callebut, scharfenberger, valrhona... whatever you do, skip the mass produced supermarket brands. They make especially heinous white chocolates.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh or frozen cranberries

• 2 ounces milk chocolate or white chocolate, chopped (for drizzling)

Preparation:

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars in large bowl until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour mixture and oats and stir until blended. Stir in all chocolate chips and cranberries.

Drop batter by rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until edges are light brown, about 16 minutes. Cool on sheets 5 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool completely.

Stir chopped milk chocolate in top of double boiler until melted and smooth. Using small spoon, drizzle melted chocolate over cookies in zigzag pattern. Let stand until milk chocolate sets, about 1 hour. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.)

C & D

Elizabeth has been making smitten kitchen's chicken & dumplings recipe for at least a year and i'm resolved to making it today. despite the fact that i have the aforeposted chicken thighs marinating for dinner today. because i LOVE chicken and dumplings, and not the kind with flat dough. THIS kind. and i can freeze some for dv while i'm gone to chi town.

oh, E says that adding carrots and celery make it prettier and tastier. Not to mention it stretches the recipe just a little bit farther.

Post Script: this was hugely successful. Donna had it for lunch with us and she mused that this could be her favorite dish ever. Homey, and healthy.

chocolate bourbon cake

i think i may try this one day.


* 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, more for greasing pan
* 2 cups all-purpose flour, more for dusting pan
* 5 ounces high quality, unsweetened dark chocolate
* 1/4 cup instant espresso (can use instant coffee)
* 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1 cup bourbon whiskey (can use 1/2 cup), more for sprinkling
* 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
* 2 cups granulated sugar
* 3 large eggs
* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar (powdered sugar), for sprinkling

Method

1 . Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease and flour a large bundt pan (10 cup capacity), or two 8- or 9-inch loaf pans. Melt chocolate in a microwave oven or in a double boiler over simmering water. Let cool.

2 Put instant espresso and cocoa powder in a 2-cup (or larger) glass measuring cup. Add enough boiling water to come up to the 1 cup measuring line. Mix until powders dissolve. Stir in whiskey and salt; let cool.

3 Beat softened butter until fluffy (2-3 minutes on high). Add sugar and beat until well combined. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract, baking soda and melted chocolate, scraping down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula.

4 With the mixer on low speed, beat in a third of the whiskey espresso cocoa mixture. When liquid is absorbed, beat in 1 cup flour. Repeat additions, ending with whiskey mixture. Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth top. Bake until a cake tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes for Bundt pan (loaf pans will take less time, start checking them after 55 minutes).

5 Transfer cake to a rack. Unmold after 15 minutes and sprinkle warm cake with more whiskey. Let cool. Sprinkle powdered sugar through a mesh sieve over the cake before serving.

orange chicken

* 3 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs (4 pounds if buying bone-in)
* 6 oranges, peeled and seeded, coarsely chopped (or 2-3 cups fresh squeezed orange juice)
* 1 onion, chopped
* 1/2 of a 7-ounce-can of chipotle chili peppers in adobo
* 3 cloves garlic, chopped
* 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
* 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary leaves, chopped (or 1 teaspoon dried)
* 1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried)
* 1 Tbsp fresh marjoram leaves (or oregano, or 1 teaspoon dried of either)
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 Tbsp olive oil
* Chopped fresh parsley and orange slices for garnish

Method

1 In a blender or food processor, combine the chopped oranges, onion, chipotle in adobo, garlic, cilantro, rosemary, thyme, marjoram, and salt. Pulse a few times to make a coarse purée.

2 Put boneless chicken thighs between two sheets of wax paper and pound with a meat hammer until an even thickness of about 1/2-inch. Combine the chicken pieces and the orange marinade together either in a bowl or in a ziplock freezer bag. Refrigerate overnight.

3 Heat olive oil in a large cast iron pan on medium high heat. Remove chicken pieces from the marinade, wiping off excess (but not all) marinade. Working in batches, cook the chicken pieces for 5 minutes on each side.

Serve over rice or Spanish rice.

feta salsa

I made a grocery list and perused ideas for dinners and such next week. So I made this because I had the ingredients. We tried it with blue corn tortilla chips and decided to have some on toast rounds with a glass of white wine before dinner. It would be great over greens for a simple dinner salad, or on pasta.

Recipe is great and it works as is but is infinitely flexible should you want to use different herbs or add capers or skip something or other.

1/2 lb. feta (cow’s milk)
2/3 cup sundried tomatoes in oil
1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives
2 tablespoons fresh dill
3 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley
2 scallions
1/4 cup olive oil

Crumble the feta into a bowl. Chop the tomatoes and olives, dill and parsley and thinly slice the scallions. Gently mix the ingredients together and drizzle with a few tablespoons of olive oi, or to taste.

brown rice with nuts

Even brown-rice skeptics will enjoy this textural dish full of butter-browned nuts.
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Ingredients

* 4 cups water
* 1 1/2 cups short-grain brown rice
* 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
* 1 1/4 cups mixed nuts, chopped
* 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg

Preparation

Bring water to a boil in a heavy medium saucepan. Add rice and 1/4 teaspoon salt, then reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until rice is tender, about 40 minutes. Drain in a sieve.

Heat butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat until foam subsides. Add nuts and cook, stirring, until butter and nuts are golden brown, about 4 minutes.

Add rice and nutmeg to skillet and toss to coat.

Poached Eggs Over Sauteed Greens

For only 130 calories, this great way of serving eggs in the morning provides an excellent, very good or good source of over 15 nutrients including 719% of the daily value (DV) for vitamin K, 147% DV for vitamin C and 126% DV for vitamin A. Enjoy!
Poached Eggs Over Sauteed Greens Prep and Cook Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

* 4 eggs, preferably organic
* 1 tsp light vinegar (rice, apple cider, or white wine)
* about 4 cups water
* 1 cup thinly sliced leeks, about 1 large leek, white part only
* 6 medium cloves garlic, sliced
* 4 cups chopped kale
* 3 +1 TBS chicken broth
* 2 TBS fresh lemon juice
* salt and black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Slice leeks and garlic and let sit for at least 5 minutes to bring out their health-promotiing properties.
2. Bring water and vinegar to a fast simmer in a skillet large enough to fit eggs. Make sure there is enough water to cover eggs.
3. While water is coming to a simmer, heat 1 TBS broth in a separate stainless steel 10-12 inch skillet. Healthy Saute sliced leeks in broth over medium heat for about 3 minutes. Add garlic slices and continue to saute stirring constantly for another minute.
4. Add kale, broth, and lemon juice, and simmer covered on medium low heat for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally.
5. When done season with salt and pepper.
6. Poach eggs until desired doneness. This will take about 5 minutes, or just until the white is set and the yolk has filmed over. Remove from vinegar water with a slotted spoon and place on top of greens.

Serves 4

Healthy Cooking Tips:

Make sure you do not add any salt to the poaching water for the eggs. The salt has a tendency to dissolve the egg whites. By making sure there is enough water in the poaching pan to cover eggs, you avoid the eggs sticking to the bottom of the pan. You want the eggs to float while they cook. This also avoids breaking the eggs when you remove them with the slotted spoon. You may want to lay the spoon with the egg on a towel briefly after removing egg from water. This allows the towel to absorb some of the poaching water, and it won't dilute the flavor of your greens.

Nutritional Profile

Jesus is just all right with me

that song is reverberating in my pea brain.

Jesus is just alright with me, Jesus is just alright oh yeah, Jesus is just alright, Jesus is just alright.

Mushroom casserole that rocks

this is in the oven and smells great. I didn't have any fresh tarragon but had roasted some peppers last night and subbed them. i can imagine throwing in greens and having a main dish of this.

Mushroom Casserole Recipe

Use any cooked grain you like. Feel free to use low-fat cottage cheese or sour cream if you prefer.

1/2 pound (8 ounces) brown mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
1 large onion, well chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 cups cooked brown rice, room temperature
2 large eggs
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
a bit of fresh tarragon, chopped

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Rub a medium-large baking dish with a bit of olive oil or butter and set aside. The pan I use is slightly smaller than a classic 9x13 baking dish - just grab for something in this ballpark.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat saute the mushrooms in a glug of olive oil sprinkled with a couple pinches of salt. Stir every minute or so until the mushrooms have released their liquid and have browned a bit. Add the onions and cook for another 4 or 5 minutes or until they are translucent. Stir in the garlic, cook for another minute and remove from heat. Add the rice to the skillet and stir until combined.

In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs, cottage cheese, sour cream, and salt.

Combine the rice mixture and cottage cheese mixture in a large bowl, stir until well combined and then turn out into your prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with 2/3 of the Parmesan cheese, cover with foil and place in oven for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 20 or 30 minutes more or hot throughout and golden along the edges. Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan and enjoy.

Serves about 8.

smoked turkey soup

Make stock with smoked turkey carcass, celery, carrot, onion, parsley, salt and pepper for several hours.

Strain the broth, remove turkey meat, add to the broth with orzo, and cook a few minutes. Add fresh spinach, fresh herbs as you wish, and sliced mushrooms.

This is seriously good. i added some fresh tomatoes and that, also, was a fine addition. i made it sans tomatoes for larry, who broke eleven ribs in a fall this summer and had a fall a few weeks ago, and he called today to thank david for bringing it, which i hope is an endorsement. sorta.

cookies, not pretty. sound yum.

Makes about 32 cookies

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar (preferably dark)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt (flaky salt would be great in these)
Demerara sugar (Sugar in the Raw) or sanding sugar for rolling (optional)

Cut butter into four or five pieces and cook butter in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently, until it has a nutty fragrance and flecks on bottom of pan turn a light brown, anywhere from 4 to 7 minutes. It helps to frequently scrape the solids off the bottom of the pan in the last couple minutes to ensure even browning. Transfer butter to a bowl and chill until just firm, about 1 hour.

Beat together butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Beat in vanilla, then mix in flour and salt at low speed until just combined. Transfer dough to a sheet of wax paper or parchment and form into a 12-inch log, 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Chill, wrapped in wax paper, until firm, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Unwrap dough and roll it in coarse sugar, if using, and press the granules in with the paper you’d be using to wrap it. Slice dough into 1/4-inch-thick rounds, arranging 1 1/2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake until surface is dry and edges are slightly darker, 10 to 12 minutes. Let sit on sheet for a minute before transferring to a rack to cool. (Cookies will quite fragile at first, but will firm up as they cool.)

Dough keeps, chilled, up to 1 week, or in the freezer, up to one month. Cookies keep in an airtight container at room temperature 1 week.