Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

Last month, John and I spent a relaxing weekend in Lancaster County, PA (also known as "Amish Country"). In addition to horse-drawn buggies, bonnets, and towns with oddly suggestive names (Intercourse and Blue Ball.... haha), Lancaster County is also home to the Wilbur Chocolate Factory. It was at this wonderful place that I picked up two beautiful bags of chocolate chips. One bag of chips ended up in my Samoa Bars, and the other sat in the pantry, waiting for their higher calling. That calling came on Saturday when I clicked over to the Cook's Illustrated website, where these Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies were a featured recipe.

The cool thing about this recipe is that you melt the butter, so you don't have to wait around for your butter to come to room temperature like with most cookie recipes. You actually have to melt it and cook it until it's just brown... then you whisk it with sugar to form a delightful caramel-y base for your cookies. 

 While calling them "perfect" might be overstating things a bit (I still have yet to find the "perfect" chocolate chip cookie), I would say that these cookies are pretty fantastic. Thick, chewy, and a little crispy around the edges... how can you go wrong?

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

from Cook's Illustrated

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (8 3/4 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
14  tablespoons unsalted butter (1 3/4 sticks)
1/2 cup granulated sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
3/4 cups packed dark brown sugar (5 1/4 ounces)

1 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips or chunks

3/4 cup chopped pecan or walnuts, toasted (optional)

Instructions 

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large (18- by 12-inch) baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.

2. Heat 10 tablespoons butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and, using heatproof spatula, transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl. Stir remaining 4 tablespoons butter into hot butter until completely melted.
   

3. Add both sugars, salt, and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add egg and yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth, and shiny. Using rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if using), giving dough final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.
 
4. Divide dough into 16 portions, each about 3 tablespoons (or use #24 cookie scoop). Arrange 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets, 8 dough balls per sheet. (Smaller baking sheets can be used, but will require 3 batches.)

5. Bake cookies 1 tray at a time until cookies are golden brown and still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 10 to 14 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack; cool cookies completely before serving.

Makes 16 Cookies.

Download a printable recipe.

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Chipotle Bean Burritos

John and I have been enjoying a lot of recipes from my Cooking Light subscription lately (and our pants are fitting better for it, I'm happy to say). While perhaps not as exciting as, say, tiramisu, these burritos have a lot of other admirable qualities: they are tasty, healthy, and easy to make. Plus, it's hard to come by a cheaper protein source than beans (and John says he didn't miss the meat). We stuck to the recipe, but you could definitely add additional spices or toppings (I was a little disappointed that I didn't have an avocado on hand to roll up in these). We used regular tortillas, rather than the low-fat ones called for in the recipe, but I doubt it made too much of a difference in the calorie count (with the low-fat tortillas, you're looking at 360 calories per burrito). And the regular tortillas probably taste better... just sayin'.

Chipotle Bean Burritos
from Cooking Light (Jan/Feb 2010)

Ingredients:
1  tablespoon  canola oil
1  garlic clove, minced
1/2  teaspoon  chipotle chile powder (or 1/2 teaspoon regular chile powder and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper)
1/4  teaspoon  salt
1/3  cup  water
1  (15-ounce) can organic black beans, drained
1  (15-ounce) can organic kidney beans, drained
3  tablespoons  refrigerated fresh salsa
6  (10-inch) tortillas
1  cup  (4 ounces) preshredded reduced-fat 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese
1 1/2  cups  chopped plum tomato (about 3)
1 1/2  cups  shredded romaine lettuce
6  tablespoons  thinly sliced green onions
6  tablespoons  light sour cream

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add garlic to pan; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Stir in chile powder and salt; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Stir in 1/3 cup water and beans; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in salsa. Partially mash bean mixture with a fork.

2. Warm tortillas according to package directions. Spoon about 1/3 cup bean mixture into center of each tortilla. Top each serving with about 2 1/2 tablespoons cheese, 1/4 cup tomato, 1/4 cup lettuce, 1 tablespoon onions, and 1 tablespoon sour cream; roll up.

Makes 6 burritos.

Download a printable recipe.
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Eggplant Rollatini

Sometime within the last year or two I realized that I actually really like eggplant.  That's as long as it's prepared and cooked properly.  I was afraid of it as a kid, as I'm sure most kids are, and never thought to try it again until recently.  I'm not sure where I saw or read how to prepare eggplant, but I thought I'd give it a try a couple weeks ago and decided on eggplant rollatini.  I didn't follow a recipe, just an idea I had of what I wanted it to be, and like most foods I love, it involves tomato sauce and ricotta cheese!  I used my tomato sauce recipe and the ravioli filling recipe for these, the rest is made up by yours truly.  Not exactly rocket science here, just a little common sense and a little suggestion from Bec to bake the eggplant instead of fry it.  Good idea my dear.  This is a great recipe to use up the leftover ravioli filling and extra tomato sauce from your last Italian feast!


Ingredients:

Tomato sauce
Ravioli filling
1 Eggplant
Italian-seasoned Bread Crumbs  (about 1 1/2 cups)
2-3 eggs
fresh mozzarella cheese
salt
fresh basil (optional)

Directions:

Cut off the two ends of the eggplant and peel with a vegetable peeler.  Next bust out your mandolin and play a tune, uhh, oh, wrong mandolin.  Set the mandolin for 3/16" setting and cut up the entire eggplant into slices.  If you don't have a mandolin, you can use a banjo instead. I mean you can just use your big knife and try to cut thin strips about 3/16" thick.  Now lay out all the slices on a wire rack and sprinkle both sides liberally with table salt.  This step is necessary to remove the bitterness and some of the moisture from the eggplant.  Let them sit for 15 minutes while you pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Now rinse the eggplant with running water removing the salt and pat dry.

Next in a couple big bowls or plates, add the bread crumbs to one and the eggs to the other and beat them well.  Now dip each strip of eggplant in the egg and then the bread crumbs, coating evenly, and lay them on a baking sheet.  Bake for about 10 minutes until they just start to turn golden brown.  Check the underside to make sure they are not burning.  You can flip them after 5 minutes if they are starting to brown on the bottom.

Add enough tomato sauce to cover the bottom of a 13 x 9 baking dish.  Once the strips are cooled for a couple minutes you can now work with them.  Take a big tablespoon of ricotta filling and place it on one end of the eggplant, then roll them up and add them to the baking dish.
 

 

Add tomato sauce to the top of the rollatini's, just enough to cover most of them.  Then place some mozzarella strips on top covering each one.

Bake for about 20 minutes until the cheese starts to melt quite a bit, then put under the broiler for a few minutes just until the cheese starts to brown nicely.  Keep your eye on it and don't walk away, this happens very quickly.  Sprinkle with a chiffonade of basil and let cool for a few minutes so it's not too runny, or just dig right in, your call.  Serves 4.

Download a printable recipe here!
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Roasted Garlic Hummus

This hummus contains a triple punch of garlic: there's roasted garlic, garlic-infused olive oil, and a garlic chip topping. The recipe requires two (!) whole heads of garlic. And the longer you let it sit in the refrigerator, the more garlicky it becomes. Don't be scared... this is really, really good. We didn't find the garlic flavor to be overpowering at all.

If you've never made your own hummus, you should give this a try. I think it's a lot smoother, creamier, and more flavorful than the pre-packaged stuff. Plus, squeezing the roasted garlic out of its skin is delightfully therapeutic.

Serve this with pita wedges or fresh veggies. And, um, maybe some mints.

Roasted Garlic Hummus
from Cook's Illustrated

Ingredients:
2 heads garlic
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil , plus extra for drizzling
2 thinly sliced garlic cloves
3 tablespoons juice from 1 to 2 lemons
1/4 cup water
6 tablespoons tahini , stirred well
1 (14-ounce) can chickpeas , drained and rinsed
1/2 teaspoon table salt
Pinch cayenne
2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley

Instructions:
1. Remove outer papery skins from garlic; cut top quarters off heads and discard. Wrap garlic in foil and roast in 350-degree oven until browned and very tender, about 1 hour. Meanwhile, heat olive oil and 2 thinly sliced garlic cloves in small skillet over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer garlic slices to paper towel-lined plate and set aside; reserve oil. Once roasted garlic is cool, squeeze cloves from their skins (you should have about 1/4 cup). 

2. Combine lemon juice and water in small bowl or measuring cup. Whisk together tahini and garlic cooking oil in second small bowl or measuring cup. 

3. Process chickpeas, roasted garlic puree, salt, and cayenne in food processor until almost fully ground, about 15 seconds. Scrape down bowl with rubber spatula. With machine running, add lemon juice-water mixture in steady stream through feed tube. Scrape down bowl and continue to process for 1 minute. With machine running, add oil-tahini mixture in steady stream through feed tube; continue to process until hummus is smooth and creamy, about 15 seconds, scraping down bowl as needed. 

4. Transfer hummus to serving bowl, sprinkle toasted garlic slices and parsley over surface, cover with plastic wrap, and let stand until flavors meld, at least 30 minutes. Drizzle with olive oil and serve.

Makes about 2 cups.

Download a printable recipe.
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Pear, Walnut, and Feta Salad

Salad is not normally something I get too excited about... I like it, sure, but I usually throw one together as an afterthought when I realize I should have something green with my meal. This, however, is one crave-able salad. My friend Martha made this for a dinner party a few weeks ago. The original recipe called for blue cheese, but Martha made a brilliant swap-out for feta. The dressing is really bright, and all of the textures and flavors are well balanced. This has become my go-to salad for company. People actually ask for seconds of this! Even people who aren't really "salad people". Give it a try, and don't skimp on the feta...

Pear, Walnut, and Feta Salad
adapted from epicurious

Dressing:
3 tbs. fresh lemon juice
1 tbs. Dijon mustard
1 tbs. shallot, minced fine
1 1/2 tsp. fresh thyme (or 1 tsp. dried thyme)
1/2 cup olive oil
salt and pepper


Salad:
1 bag mixed baby greens
1 large ripe pear, halved, cored, and thinly sliced
1/2 cup crumbled feta
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

Directions:
Whisk first four salad dressing ingredients together in a small bowl. Gradually whisk in oil, then season to taste with salt and pepper.

Toss greens with just enough dressing to coat, then top with pear, feta, and walnuts. Divide into bowls and serve with remaining dressing.

Makes about 4 servings.

Download a printable recipe.
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Pasta with Asparagus, Pancetta, and Pine Nuts

 

As you may have noticed, we've been eating a lot of desserts around here lately. So, in the interest of balance, here's another recipe from the Cooking Light files.  This is from the current issue and it has all kinds of good things in it... pasta, pine nuts, and pork products. The one thing I found weird about the recipe was that it has you toast the pine nuts and cook the pancetta in the oven (these are things I'd normally think to do on the stove).  However, we followed the recipe and it came out great (but I still think you don't really need to turn on your oven for this). Final verdict? This is a satisfying dish that's easy to prepare, and it's only 385 calories per serving, so eat up!

Pasta with Asparagus, Pancetta, and Pine Nuts

from Cooking Light

Ingredients:
8 oz uncooked cavatappi pasta
1 lb asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
1 tsp. minced garlic
3 tbs. pine nuts
2 oz diced pancetta
2 tbs. fresh lemon juice
2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup crumbled Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cook pasta according to package directions; add asparagus to pan during last 3 minutes of cooking. Drain. Sprinkle pasta mixture with garlic; return to pan, toss well.

While pasta is cooking, arrange pine nuts in a single layer on a jelly roll pan. Bake for 3 minutes or until golden and fragrant, stirring occasionally. Place in a small bowl.

Increase oven temperature to 475 degrees.

Arrange pancetta on jelly-roll pan. Bake for 6 minutes or until crisp. Drain on paper towels.

Combine lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper, stirring with a whisk. Drizzle over pasta mixture; toss well to coat. Sprinkle with pine nuts, pancetta, and cheese.

Makes 4 servings.


Download a printable recipe.
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