The Chocolate Chip Cookie Debates

For a little chocolate chip introduced in 1939, there sure is a lot of activity around it, even after all these years.  And why not?  They are the icon of American cookies.  Over the years, everyone has made their own variation on the recipe and they all proclaim to be the best.  Really.  And truly, is there anything quite like that original recipe and those original chips in the iconic yellow bag?  I'll be the first to admit that I love the Ghiradelli Bittersweet Chips.  They are a little bigger and melt so smooth. And years of experimenting have told me that the milk chips and any addition of butterscotch is a bad idea.  I made a browned butter version for Secret Recipe Club once, as a giant cookie, the picture is below.  It was delicious, but not the "best".  I am always adding whole wheat flour and oatmeal to up the nutrition factor, but they aren't really a Tollhouse.

Back in the 80's, I worked for Procter & Gamble, and sold Crisco.  At one time it was the #1 selling item in the American grocery store.  Hard to believe right?  Especially at a time when obesity was not an epidemic.  I think it represents a time when the American housewife cooked dinner for her family every night.  No super-size fries, no liters of soda, no convenience size everything.  But, I digress.  The Crisco version of chocolate chip cookie produces a very soft and fluffy cookie.  Tasteless, however.  Nothing tastes like real butter.

So over the holiday break, Nic made chocolate chip cookies.  They were so fluffy, and didn't taste like a traditional Tollhouse.  He followed the recipe, and everyone wondered how this happened.  Where were those flat and crispy/chewy cookies?  I have decided that he must have overbeat the dough after adding the eggs.  An easy mistake when you use a stand mixer.  So of course I had to remake them and show him how it's done!

I decided to make Spago's recipe for Chocolate Chunk Cookies.  It makes more, has a little higher ratio of brown sugar, more butter, but the chip amount is the same.  Just 12 oz.  That wouldn't work at all.  I just happened to have a small amount of unsweetened chips from Guittard.  Now before you go "eww", let it be known, these chips are amazing.  They have no sugar, but are edible just the way they are.  They taste like CHOCOLATE!  And then I decided to swap out the brown sugar for muscovado sugar at the suggestion of a customer.  That I probably won't do again, it just doesn't taste like brown sugar.  But let me tell you, these cookies were fantastic!  I believe it was the higher ratio of butter to flour, more brown sugar than white, and definitely the addition of the unsweetened chips.  Here's the recipe as I made them:

Chocolate Chip Cookies 
adapted from Spago Chocolate

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
1 cup Muscovado sugar (use light brown sugar)
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
12 ounces Giradelli Chips (semisweet or bittersweet)
6 ounces Guittard unsweetened chips

Cream butter and sugars until fluffy.  Add vanilla and incorporate well.  Add eggs and mix until blended.  Add flour, soda and salt and mix until just combined.  Fold in chips.

Bake at 350 on parchment paper for about 9 minutes.  Move trays around halfway through baking to ensure they are evenly baked.  Cool on rack.  YUM!  So, what are you waiting for?  Get in there and bake!

Pasta E Fagioli

Here we are.  January.  I have stripped the house of Christmas, except the nativity, which will get packed up today.  I can't put it back in the attic until Epiphany, it just doesn't seem right.  It also reminds me of Slava, which is the Serbian feast day and we celebrated this weekend as well.  Nothing too exciting, roast chicken and pita.  Serbian Pita, not pita bread! Delicious.  But so is soup when the temp dips into the 20's.

One of my favorite cook books of all time is Classic Home Desserts by Richard Sax.  After I started stalking his work, I was saddened to learn that he passed away a very young man.  So then my mission was to get all of his cookbooks.  Get In There And Cook is one of those books.  Published in 1997, it is a great book with little cooking lessons in each recipe, and was his last book.  He passed in 1995, and his dear friend finished the project for him.

The Pasta E Fagioli recipe is pretty straightforward and simple, but I went ahead and changed all those little things I do.  Like Pancetta for the Prosciutto, fire roasted tomatoes for the whole, change up the order a bit, and add some super healthy kale to finish.  I think Richard would approve.  He was a teacher, and his recipe is a perfect starting point to run away with a great dish.  Here's how mine went.

Pasta E Fagioli

2 T olive oil
1/3# thick sliced pancetta
2 yellow onions thickly sliced
1/2 red and 1/2 yellow bell pepper sliced in thin strips
2 carrots, cleaned and sliced thin
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup shredded basil leaves (fresh only)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Pinch dried red pepper flakes
2, 14.5oz cans of diced, fire-roasted tomatoes
2 cans canellini beans, rinsed
7 cups chicken stock (low salt is best)
2 1/2 cups dried pasta (short is best)
salt and pepper to taste
2 scallions thinly sliced on the diagonal
fresh grated parmesan cheese, for serving

In a large pot, heat oil and cook pancetta to desired state of crispy.  Add onions, carrots, peppers and saute until they begin to soften.  Add garlic, half of the basil, oregano and dried red pepper and stir occasionally to keep everything cooking evenly.  When the liquid is dried up in the pan, add the tomatoes the beans, and the chicken stock. When it boils, turn heat down to a simmer and let it go.  I let mine simmer for a few hours.  If the liquid is disappearing, add a little water and cover the pot.  It can be made to this point and chilled.

To serve, bring back to a boil, adding more liquid if necessary, and add the dried pasta.  Cook just to al dente.  Season with salt and pepper, add the rest of the basil, and ladle into bowls with a garnish of scallions and parmesan.  I also topped it with a little roasted kale. A drizzle of olive oil is good too!  Buon Appetito!

Happy New Year!

So here come the resolutions....
I am going to race walk in a sanctioned event every month this year.  Not sure what is offered in chilly January, but this is my goal.  Fitness and causes all in one long walk!  No running on this bad meniscus  but I can hoof it pretty fast.

I quit the Secret Recipe Club, but I miss having to try out other recipes every month.  It was the posting on time and then praying someone would stop by that killed me.  So I am going to make a conscious effort to try out at least one new recipe from a random blog every month.  I am also going to blog a new cookbook recipe every month and an old family recipe as well!

I will still be baking sugar cookies, that is a given, as long as my friends have my phone number!  But I am a writer by nature, a foodie and then a cookie decorator.  I love royal icing as my medium, but I have other loves as well.

We are dusting off the sewing machine.  My sister and I are loading up the Etsy store, so stay tuned for cool stuff!

And finally, I am determined to get one of my plays produced.  I am just writing away....hopefully my underpaid manager is submitting them with lovingly worded letters so my work will be on stage.  Look out Hollywood, I have big plans....

Happy New Year.  I hope you find success, health and happiness in the next 365 days....