Baking with the Boys

Susie over at She’s Becoming Doughmesstic has tagged me for a new meme circulating through the blog world.  I love her blog.  If you haven’t checked it out, do!  Based on her recipes, etc., if she is only becoming domestic, I will never get there. 

So, here are the Rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on the blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Random thoughts:

1.  Completing this meme is a huge step forward for me.  I have broken every chain letter (remember when we only had paper?), email, etc ever forwarded to me.  So, if you didn’t get your 300 postcards from around the world, box of recipes, lottery tickets, etc, you can blame me.  PS  Please don’t send any more.  I still feel incredibly guilty about the lottery ticket one.  It was from my mother-in-law and I have been waiting years for her to bring it up…

2.  Kelly is my mother’s maiden name.  I love that and always thought that, if I had a girl, I would put Kelly in her name somewhere to keep it going.  Alas, we had boys and other family names already promised to them.  My aunt tried to name her dog Kelly.  I, frankly, found that annoying and did not see it as the show of family pride she intended.

3.  I am obsessed - OBSESSED - with the olympics.  I have been for years.   My first life plan was to be the next Nadia Comenici (save for the hard work, talent and communism).  I do not care if they aren’t “real” amateurs anymore.  I am not even sure I care that much about drug testing.  And those personal stories?  Love em!  How else I am supposed to know who to root for in double scull and coxless pair?

4.  I wanted Carrie from Sex in the City to end up with Mikhail Barishnikov at the end of the series.  Because I love him.  I have loved him for years.  So much so that I saw White Nights in the theatre.  More than once.

5.  If I lived alone, I might eat chocolate malts and popcorn for dinner.  a lot.  I once gave up only those two things for lent and it was a looonnnggg forty days.

6.  I met my husband on a political campaign.  I was a staffer and he came into volunteer.  For some reason, this always elicits an “ahhhh…that is so cute” reaction.  I guess it beats blind date, frat party, cubemate…The campaign was unsuccessful but it did produce two marriages of ten plus years.  For the record, the husband is even cuter today.

Here are my taggees:

Apple pie is often cited as the quintessential American dessert.  I guess the imagery works, but we all know that chocolate chip cookies are really the most popular.  We eat them from childhood through adulthood and I would be willing to wager that a lot of people who would never consider themselves bakers (expert, amateur or otherwise) have attempted a chocolate chip cookie.  If I was on the proverbial desert island and allowed only one dessert it would be a toss-up between a chocolate malt and chocolate chip cookies.

I grew up on Toll House which my mom made really well.  But I have tried lots of different recipes.  I am always looking for the perfect one.  Well, the New York Times had an article on the ultimate chocolate chip cookie recipe last week.  Apparently, one of the big secrets to a fabulous cookie is to let the dough rest in the fridge.  For a long time.  Yeah, right.  Cuz I always plan ahead for chocolate chip cookies.  Please.  it’s a victory if I don’t burn my mouth on a hot chip.

But I was curious.  I really wanted to try the recipe from the paper which is the culmination of their “research.”  Unfortunately, I didn’t have any cake flour and bread flour on hand and the recipe calls for both.  Next weekend!  I decided to test the resting theory with a recipe (below) I use fairly often.  For their research they tested the dough immediately, at 12 hours, 24 hours and 36 hours and, sure enough, 36 hours was the best.  For the particulars about the resting period check out the article.

I don’t have time (or the available calories) for quite so much testing.  So, the kids and I tested immediately.  Duh.  If your kids see you making chocolate chip cookie dough, you had best be ready to get some in the oven.

The first batch.  One of the other tips was to make them big.

They were good.  You can’t go wrong with a warm cookie from the oven.

We tried the second batch about 30 hours later.  I couldn’t time it exactly right for 36.  I am in bed at 1:00am.  The dough was much drier out of the fridge.  But…

yum!  I don’t know if it was the power of suggestion but the cookies did seem to taste better.  Moister even.  I can’t wait to try with the other recipe next week!

The cookies side by side.  The one on the right is the later batch.  It is more crinkly and a little darker…which is completely unnoticeable in this fine picture.

Chocolate Chip Cookies - I have seen this recipe in many different places and wouldn’t know who to credit…

1 cup butter 
2 cups flour 
1 tsp. baking soda 
1 cup granulated sugar 
1 cup brown sugar
2.5 cups blended oatmeal (measure oatmeal and blend in blender to a fine powder) 
12 oz. chocolate chips
1 tsp. salt
4 oz. grated milk chocolate bar 
2 eggs 
1 tsp. baking powder 
1 tsp. vanilla
Cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla; mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda. Add chocolate chips and milk chocolate. Roll into almost golf ball size balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet.  Bake for 14-16 minutes at 350 degrees.

My mom celebrated her birthday on Sunday and she has an amazing - legendary, really - sweet tooth.  The richer, thicker, sweeter the BETTER.  Since it was her birthday dessert was definitely her choice.  She wanted a chocolate cake with whipped cream icing. 

The kids LOVE grandma.  A lot.  They love cake.  Only slightly less than grandma.  So, they were thrilled to help in the kitchen.  I usually make a version of a wacky cake but decided to try a different recipe this time.  The cake came together easily.  I originally tried to fill it with some homemade ganache, but I was having issues in that kitchen that day.  It never set up so I finally resorted to some chocolate mint ganache from Crate and Barrel.  I topped it with whipped cream and served with homemade chocolate chip ice cream.

After dessert, we high fived to gluttony. 

Happy Birthday Mom!

Dark Chocolate Cake (adapted from allrecipes.com)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 3 - 9 inch round cake pans. In medium bowl, pour boiling water over cocoa, and whisk until smooth. Let mixture cool. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at time, then stir in vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the cocoa mixture. Spread batter evenly between the 3 prepared pans.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Allow to cool.

Cobbler was definitely a dessert of the moment.  Our Tuesdays with Dorie selection this week was Mixed Berry Cobbler, chosen by Beth of Our Sweet Life.  Berry cobbler screams summer and all that goes with it (the pool, sunscreen, lemonade, cut grass). 

We enjoyed our Mixed Berry Cobbler on a warm Saturday evening after a typical summer day.   Dorie says that you can substitute frozen berries and I suppose you could.  I have no idea.  It has never once occurred to me to make any kind of cobbler when the chosen fruit is out of season.  I only want a cobbler, crisp or similar when the fruit is so abundant and pervasive I can’t avoid thinking about it.  Chocolate chip cookies?  Anytime.  Anyplace.  Berry desserts?  Only in season and only after a great relaxed summer meal.  So, I won’t be eating cobbler after chili or pizza delivery.  We had pasta with roasted tomatoes and corn.  Perfect.

I had cherries, blackberries, raspberries and strawberries on hand.  I could seriously eat bowls of this all day long, especially cherries.  I know I can’t have them all the time so I eat them compulsively for a few weeks.  I am in the middle of my cherry feast now and loving every minute of it.  [Note: had to grab a few while writing this post]. 

I read the comments before making the cobbler and there was some discussion about the cobbler dough lacking flavor.  I added a little cinnamon and vanilla and thought it was great.  I will admit that, while I truly enjoy cobbler, I am certainly not wedded to any particular topping.  I didn’t really grow up eating a lot of cobbler dishes and have no strong feelings either way.  Everyone enjoyed it so there you go.  Well, everyone except Colin who eats nothing that has the slightest hint of appearing in nature.  Cobbler = fruit; not for Colin. 

This is a silly picture of Will but he loved the cobbler and the “pool hair” is the perfect accessory to cobbler!

Check out the other cobblers here.  Next week: Apple Cheddar Scones.  A first for me.

The barefoot bloggers are cooking and baking our way through Ina Garten’s repertoire.  We will be posting our results on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month.  Our first “official” challenge was Pasta, Pesto and Peas from Barefoot Contessa Parties!

Lesson #1: When you agree to blog about something you have cooked, write the blog somewhere in the time vicinity of when you prepared the dish.  There is that convenient “Save” v. “Publish” option. 

I really liked this dish but I made it almost two weeks ago.  In my addled mind, I have lost most of what I probably had to say about it.  I do recall, however, that I reduced the recipe by a 1/3 and it was still plenty to feed four (with leftovers). 

I also greatly reduced the “mayonnaise.”  We actually use Vegenaise instead.  I am not a big fan of mayo based dishes.  OK.  I take great pains to avoid them on most occasions.  I would eat this w/o the mayo at all but, if I am being truthful, the mayo did reduce the saltiness of the pesto and parmesan combo.  Also, spinach was at the farmers’ market so I couldn’t justify using frozen. 

I would absolutely make this dish again.  It is perfect for summer.  It doesn’t require a lot of cooking and it is served at room temperature.

Lesson #2:  Learn how to take better pictures!!  I didn’t get a lot of photos of this dish and none of them make it appear the least bit appetizing.  Good thing I am in no way financially dependent on my photography skills.

To see how everyone else fared checkout the “Whose Turn Is It?” on the Barefoot Bloggers page.

I love ice cream.  My kids looovvvee ice cream.  We own an ice cream maker.  We haven’t used it since we had kids.  I know.  Go figure.  It finally occurred to me that this is has been a major oversight in our kitchen adventures.  So, I promised the kids we would make homemade ice cream over the weekend.  Of course, that was before I ate my way through a polenta and ricotta cake. 

I had planned to dust off an old cookbook devoted solely to ice cream when I ran across the Chocolate Sorbet recipe in “Baking from my Home to Yours.”  I thought I would give that book a rest over the weekend but the (relative) lightness of the ingredients was intriguing.  I usually do not consider sorbet a substitute for ice cream.  You either want one or the other.   And I don’t usually want sorbet.  BUT after 26 pieces of polenta cake I was game.

Consider me converted.  The sorbet was super easy to make and was fantastic.  I am still a fan of the super creamy rich ice cream but I am also a fan of this chocolate sorbet.  The base reminded me of making pudding and the house smelled fantastic.  It will become a “go to” recipe this summer.  I am already planning some future alterations.