Salmon. And Granola.

Being the recent recipients of TEN POUNDS of salmon, I figured we should get to eating some of it. Admittedly, I have have some issues with salmon in the past - there was a fateful weekend in Oregon many summers ago where my mom and sisters and I swore we were fed so much salmon we were ready to start swimming upstream. Fortunately, I have spent a good amount of time in Northern Washington and Alaska in the last several years, and I have grown to appreciate what delicious salmon can taste like. Still not my favorite thing to eat mind you - but it can be good.

In addition, salmon gets a TON of good press about being so healthy for you (wild, not farmed) and especially if you are pregnant. The salmon that we were the proud recipients of is none other than the acclaimed Copper River Red salmon - 'fishable' for only a small window of each year and coming to us FRESH from the very waters it was caught in. Of course, we had to freeze most of it - one can only consume so much salmon at a go. But here is my favorite recipe for preparing it - pretty easy, pretty healthy, and pretty tasty. As a bonus, the glaze/herb mixture has so much flavor that it can mask the taste of lesser salmon, or disguise it completely for any non-salmon fans out there. Of course, if you have salmon this good, go sparing with the glaze so you can actually taste the fish.

Of course, after frying/roasting salmon in my house, I could not stand the smell. That's were the granola came from. Incidentally, the granola recipe is ALSO from Northern Washington. Coincidence? Yes, probably.

SEAR ROASTED SALMON with GINGER LIME SAUCE
feeds 8 but can easily be halved

This recipe comes from a fantastic woman that I used to work with in San Francisco - she runs an incredible company called Parties That Cook (partiesthatcook.com). The recipe is a little bit of effort, but it is really good and looks restaurant worthy!

Salmon:
3 1/2 lbs. filet of salmon, skin removed
Kosher salt and pepper

Glaze Mixture:
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (can substitute lemon juice)
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup light soy sauce
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup peanut oil
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt

Herb Mixture:
3 Tablespoons grated ginger
2 Tablespoons finely minced garlic
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup green onions, sliced
1/4 cup chopped mint
3 red jalapeños, seeded and finely chopped
1 cup peanuts, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup peanut oil for pan-frying salmon

Methods/Steps:
Preheat the oven to 425°F

Salmon: Remove the pin bones from the salmon. Cut the salmon into six-ounce filets (either by slicing narrow pieces across the whole filet, or cutting the filet in half lengthwise first and then slicing square pieces). Set aside until ready to fry. Just before cooking, season generously with salt and pepper.

Glaze: In a medium non-reactive bowl, combine the rice vinegar, soy sauce, corn syrup, lime juice, salt and brown sugar. Stir to mix and dissolve sugar and salt. Add peanut oil.

Herb Mixture: In another bowl, combine the grated ginger, minced garlic, chopped cilantro, chopped green onions, chopped mint, chopped jalapeno and the coarsely chopped peanuts.

Sear Salmon: Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add 3-4 Tablespoons of peanut oil. (Oil should be about 1/8-inch high in the pan). Heat the oil over high heat until it is very hot. Presentation side down, add the 3-4 salmon filets to the pan (do not crowd the pan), and pan-fry until golden brown and crisp (about 3 minutes). Do not move the salmon around in the pan or the crust will not form. When an opaque pink rim about 1/2-inch-thick forms around the bottom edge of the salmon, gently transfer it to a sheet pan with the browned side up. Finish browning the remaining salmon filets.

Roast Salmon: Transfer sheet pan(s) with the seared salmon to the oven and finish cooking, about 8-10 minutes or until the white proteins begin to emerge from the fish. Salmon should still be rare (dark pink) in the center. Remove from the oven and cover loosely with foil to keep warm.

To Serve: Combine the herb and glaze mixtures right before ready to serve. Serve each piece of salmon with a generous spoonful (about 2 ounces) of sauce. Garnish with a sprig of cilantro.

RICE with JADE SAUCE

I like to serve this salmon with rice (white or brown) mixed with this jade sauce. Makes a pretty presentation and gives you more green in your diet! Just prepare the rice as you normally would, then add this sauce and mix well before serving.

* 1/2 c Spinach leaves; firmly
* 1 ts Grated orange peel
* 1/4 c Fresh mint leaves
* 1/2 c Fresh cilantro leaves
* 12 lg Fresh basil leaves
* 2 Green onions; chopped
* 2 tb Dry sherry
* 2 tb White vinegar
* 2 tb Dark sesame oil
* 1 tb Soy sauce
* 2 ts Hoisin sauce
* 2 ts Sugar
* 1/2 ts Chili sauce; Asian
* 1/2 ts Salt

Place ingredients in a blender or food processor container. Blend until pureed. Refrigerate.

EASY GRANOLA

And finally, when you are done smelling up your house with salmon, whip up a batch of this granola - it will make your house smell delicious. And as a bonus, it tastes pretty good too.

4 cups oats (not instant or steel cut)
1/2 cup oil (canola, vegetable, saffron, whatever)
1/4 cup maple syrup (the REAL kind, not Mrs. Buttersworths)
1/4 cup honey
1/8 cup water
2 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Nuts, flaxseed, dried fruits, etc (optional)

Pour oats into a bowl (I add some flaxseed as well). Mix remaining ingredients (except for nuts and dried fruits) in a saucepan on the stove and heat until JUST coming to a boil. Pour over oats and mix well. Spread out on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake in a 325 degree oven for approximately 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so, until the granola is lightly browned. If you are adding nuts, you may want to add them in the last ten minutes or so. Remove from oven and let cool on cookie sheet. Once cool, add dried fruits (apricots and cranberries work well) and mix together. Store in a airtight container and enjoy! Keeps for about two weeks.

Green Curry, Zucchini Bread, Waffles, and John Denver

What do these things have in common, you ask? Well - nothing really. Except that JD is who I was listening to a I made all three of these things tonight. The curry turned out good (though not very spicy - I was running out of curry paste). The waffles are a new recipe I am trying out (more on that, later) for Overnight Yeasted Waffles. I plan on eating them with honeyed yogurt and berries and mango. MMM....almost healthy.

The zucchini bread however....oh so sad. I have been struggling with this particular recipe for a while now. It is one of my FAVORITE things that my mom used to make and it is generally a foolproof, easy recipe.

Until you get to high altitude.

I have been living at altitude (usually around 6500 feet) for the last few winters, and I have gotten pretty good and adapting recipes. But no matter what I try with this one, I never seem to get it to turn out right. I have tried decreasing the sugar, adding an egg, adding flour, decreasing baking soda and powder and even playing with oven temperatures, but it ALWAYS seems to fall. It still tastes pretty good - it just doesn't have the right texture. Although it DOES still have the crunchy delicious sugary part on the top (which is the best part anyway!)

So although I am not taking it out for any fancy dress parties, I will eat my zucchini bread happily, still wondering where I went wrong.

Zucchini Bread
my mom's recipe

*Note, despite its name, this is NOt a healthy recipe. ALthough I guess you could theoretically substitute some applesauce or yogurt for some of the oil and sugar. I guess. But, really, why would you?

Beat 3 eggs, then add in order:
3/4 cup of oil
2 1/4 cup of sugar
2 cups grated zucchini (squeeze out the excess water)
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp allspice
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Beat all ingredients together, making sure to mix well. Bake at 325 degrees for about 1 hour in a greased and floured pan - 1 bundt pan or two loaf pans.

Banana Bread it is!

Well, I caved and even though I have a number of chocolate cookies leftover as well as a growing supply of Valentine's Day chocolates (the BEST Valentine present ever) I caved and made banana bread. But to be fair - it isn't for me.

Matt has some ski clients coming into town and they and their kids seem to really like banana bread - no nuts, no chocolate - JUST plain banana bread. At least, I think they like it. I don't like it that much anyway, so I am giving it to them.

Banana bread has never been one of my favorites - mostly it just tastes like overripe bananas and since I prefer green bananas anyway it isn't really up my alley. But with a few spices added in and a brown sugar/cinnamon crumble (coffee cake style) on top - it isn't bad! Especially if you slice it thick and paint it with a layer of melted chocolate chips....mmm....

BANANA BREAD
(adapted from America's Test Home Kitchen Family Baking Book)

2 cups of flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large very ripe bananas (about 1 1/2 cups) mashed well
6 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
1/4 cup whole or low fat plain yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup walnuts (optional - I leave these out)

Heat oven to 350 degrees and grease a bread pan (about 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 inch loaf pan).

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk the mashed bananas, melted butter, eggs, yogurt, and vanilla together. gently fold the banana mixture into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula until just combined. The batter will look thick and chunky.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top (this is where I add a mixture of sugar, cinnamon and brown sugar to sprinkle on top). Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached - about 55 minutes. Rotate the pan halfway through the baking time.

Let the loaf cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and let cool for one hour before serving.

Then, I suggest slicing it and spreading it with melted chocolate...mmm...everything is better with chocolate...

Of Steaks and Superbowls

Well, I wasn't exactly invested in the Superbowl (but then again, I never am) but I do like it as an excuse to make fatty foods. So even though we only had one guest over, we had three kinds of dip, three kinds of things TO dip (potato chips, carrots, and pita chips), potato salad (deliciously prepared by Bill) watermelon - yes I know it's February - steak sandwiches with corn mayonnaise, caramelized onions, lots of gooey cheese, tomato and avocado...and of course, cupcakes.

Chocolate cupcakes. With salty peanut butter frosting. And chocolate ganache swirls (I still had some ganache leftover).

Sadly, I am currently too full to eat the cupcakes. But there is time.

The cupcake recipe comes from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa at Home, as does the peanut butter frosting recipe (which she attributes to Kathleen King of Tate's Bakeshop. I did make some substitutions, however. For the cupcakes, I substituted powdered buttermilk for fresh and drained whole milk yogurt for the sour cream. I also used dark cocoa powder since it was what I had. They turned out just as delicious as when made according to recipe. One thing to watch out for, though, is that these cupcake will dry out fast. They are not a boxed mix and so do not have the chemicals and preservatives that keep them fluffy and soft for a few days - eat them within a day or two of being made.

For the frosting, I added a little sour cream, extra salt (I like the frosting to be a little salty) and also used 1% milk instead of cream - since it is what we had. I halved both recipes and easily made and frosted 12 cupcakes - perfect for a Superbowl party of three!

Chocolate Cupcakes
from Barefoot Contessa at Home

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, shaken, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
2 tablespoons brewed coffee
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup good cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and 2 sugars on high speed until light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes. Lower the speed to medium, add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla and mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, and coffee. In another bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. On low speed, add the buttermilk mixture and the flour mixture alternately in thirds to the mixer bowl, beginning with the buttermilk mixture and ending with the flour mixture. Mix only until blended. Fold the batter with a rubber spatula to be sure it's completely blended.

Divide the batter among the cupcake pans (1 rounded standard ice cream scoop per cup is the right amount). Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, remove from the pans, and allow to cool completely before frosting.


Peanut Butter Frosting
Tate's Bakeshop

* 1 cup confectioners' sugar
* 1 cup creamy peanut butter
* 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
* 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
* 1/3 cup heavy cream

Place the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

Too early for Valentine's Day?

I had some cream burning a hole in my fridge (is that even possible?) and decided that I should make a chocolate ganache with it - what better use? A ganache is just a simple mixture of cream and chocolate (which I pretty much always have around). Then the only question was, what to do with the ganache?

I had made this recipe for TKO's before (Thomas Keller Oreos, from his Bouchon Bakery in Napa, CA) and they are heavenly delicious. Really chocolate-y, easy to make and very adaptable. To make them more 'oreo-style' the filling called for is a white chocolate ganache. Normally, I am not a fan of white chocolate, but these are so darn good I break the rules. Even so, I though they might be better with chocolate ganache.

I was right.

Not for the faint of heart or less than die-hard chocolate fan, these are like a turbo-charged double fudge cookie - you know the kind Mother's makes (the brand, not your relative - unless she also packages things in pink and white and displays them prominently on your grocer's shelves).

I highly recommend this recipe in any form...to substitute the chocolate ganache, just swap out the white chocolate with equal amounts of dark or semi-sweet (you could probably use milk chocolate too - just not my favorite) and add a pinch or two of instant coffee or espresso.

Thomas Keller Oreos
adapted from Bouchon cookbook

1 1/2 cups plus 3 Tbsp all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
15 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 3/4" cubes, at room temperature

1/2 cup heavy cream
8 oz. white chocolate, chopped

1. For the Filling: In a small pan, bring the cream to a boil. Remove from heat and add the chocolate. Let stand for 1 minute, then whisk to melt the chocolate until smooth. Transfer to a small bowl, and let stand for 6 hours to thicken up.

2. For the Cookies: In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt, and mix on low speed. With the mixer running, add the butter, a piece at a time. The mixture will be dry and sandy at first, but over 2 minutes, will form pebble-sie pieces that start to cling together. Stop the mixer and transfer the dough to your board.

3. Preheat oven to 350F. Seperate dough into 2 pieces. Roll each piece of dough between 2 pieces of plastic wrap or parchment paper to 1/8" inch thick. Using a fluted cutter, cut into rounds. Scraps can be pieced together and rolled out again. Place 1/2" apart on baking sheets lined with Silpat liners or parchment paper.

4. Bake for 12-15 minutes, rotating halfway through baking. Remove and cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to a cooling rack. Cool completely.

5. To Assemble: Lightly whip the white chocolate cream to aerate and fluff up. Transfer filling to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4" plain tip. Pipe about 1 1/2 tsp in the center of half the cookies. Top with another cookie to sandwich. Gently press down until the cream comes to the edges.

6. Cookies can be stored in a container for up to 3 days. Loosely cover. (They also freeze really well...)

More Cake! Okay, really PANcakes.

Seeings as it is National Cake Month, I thought we should have more posts about, well, CAKE. These particular cakes were made for my niece's first birthday party. Raspberry Lemon on the right, and an applesauce cake with sweetened whipped cream on the left. My niece really only wanted to eat the raspberries, and everyone else just wanted to see her make a mess.

But the point is still CAKE MONTH. And I am not making this up. Well, originally I was, but then I googled "National Cake Month" and found this site:

http://www.gone-ta-pott.com/national_cake_holidays.html

Which confirms that February is, IN FACT, the month of glorious celebration. Of course, it's also National Pancake Month. I haven't made any pancakes this month, but did manage to make some at the tail end of last month. I had some friends in town visiting for the Sundance Film Festival, and a recipe for Gingerbread pancakes that I had been itching to try. Now, since my husband only likes straight-from-the-Bisquik-Box recipe pancakes, I had to use this opportunity to try out something new.

The recipe came from someone's request to Gourmet magazine for the Gingerbread pancake recipe served at La Note cafe in Berkeley. Now, this happens to be one of my favorite breakfast spots in the whole world, so of course I would try it. At the restaurant they serve these pancakes with poached pears, but I wasn't going to go that over the top.

So I served mine with strawberry pomegranate compote. And bacon. And maple syrup of course. Which really just led to a five person debate over the various merits of real versus artificial maple syrup. So we taste tested. Because, of course with the husband only liking Bisquik pancakes, naturally we had his preference - Mrs. Butterworth's syrup - close at hand. A man of discerning tastes, obviously.

Back to the pancakes - they were delicious. I am sure that in a debate there would be those to argue its claim to actually be 'gingerbread' seeings as it contained modest amounts of powdered ginger and no molasses. But they were sweet and spicy and just a little airy. The recipe made a ton, so I halved it and it still comfortably fed five of us. I should say that I halved it except for the coffee and water amounts, as well as the spices. What can I say, I am a sucker for cinnamon...

Gingerbread Pancakes (original recipe)
straight from the pages of Gourmet

(remember, I halved most of the ingredients...also, i found the batter to be pretty stiff, so I had to spread it when I poured it into the frying pan)

* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
* 1 tablespoon baking powder
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
* 1/2 cup water
* 1/2 cup brewed coffee, cold or at room temperature
* 4 large eggs
* 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
* 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
* Vegetable oil for brushing griddle

Whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices in a bowl. Whisk together water, coffee, eggs, butter, and lemon juice in a large bowl. Add flour mixture and whisk until just combined. Let stand 15 minutes (batter will thicken).

Brush a griddle or 12-inch nonstick skillet with oil and heat over moderate heat until hot but not smoking.

Working in batches of 3 or 4, pour 1/4 cup batter per pancake onto hot griddle and cook until bubbles appear on surface and undersides are lightly browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Flip pancakes with a spatula and cook until cooked through and edges are lightly browned, 1 to 2 minutes more. Transfer to a platter and loosely cover with foil to keep warm. Brush griddle with oil between batches.

Cake Month!

Here it is the third day of February and I am JUST now getting around to spreading the word about National Cake Month. I know February isn't normally associated with pastries (oh wait, there IS Valentine's Day) but it is indelibly sealed in my mind as being Cake Month.

Several years ago I was staying with two lovely ladies (Sarah and Laura) at their apartment in California. Sarah, having an ever-so-cool mom, was the recipient of a glass cake dome. The very same kind of dome associated with day old donuts or day-glo cherry pie at those retro diners in movies and throwback-chic TV series. I don't remember exactly how we decided that the cake dome should be filled with, well, cake, but it seems pretty obvious.

So we did.

Boxed mix yellow cake to be precise. And it was frosted with canned chocolate frosting. While it was still warm. There was really only half a cake to put in the cake dome when all was said and done.

And about two days later, we made another one. And so February was designated National Cake Month.

I am still trying to find a homemade cake recipe that can convert my husband from the boxed yellow cake version, but I am proud to say that not a February has passed that I have not made at least one cake. The most recent was another yellow cake with chocolate frosting (see recipe here: http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/07/best-birthday-cake/) and it was pretty good. But I like the pictures from this cake better.

This cake was made for Courtney's wedding shower, and in honor of our love for Dolly Parton and the movie "Steel Magnolias." It is, in fact, a "bleeding armadillo groom's cake." The closest I could get was to bake a Red Velvet cake in a football shaped pan and then add some bread baked in shapes of head and feet. Frosted the whole thing with cream cheese frosting dyed a lovely grey (courtesy of some black food coloring) and called it good.

Happy Cake Month!

The Dolly Chronicles Part One: Dollies in Vietnam

(This post was originally written in February 2004)
When last we left The Dollies they were wearing HUGE unsightly hats and driving off to the strains of Louis Armstrong, somewhere in Savannah,Georgia. We meet up again in the southern coast of Vietnam. We take you now to a tour already in progress...We left early from Saigon (Ashley had been there 6 days by herself and was ready to get out of the heat) - 7:15 in the morning to catch a 5 hour bus to Phan Thiet, where we met up with Matt (Allen) and Alice (Byers) and their biking trip, already in progress. When we got on the bus there were only two seats left, and one was in the middle of the very last row.

Joy.

Rapture.

But the guy who Courtney ended up sitting next to was very nice and ended up switching with Ashley so that the Dollies could sit next to each other and gaze out at the lovely Vietnam landscape (moped crashes, trash in the street, abandoned houses, random roadside rest stops without any walls, rice paddies, the normal stuff).

Arrived in Phan Thiet at about 1pm and promptly signed up for a massage. Had lunch and laid out by the pool, got the massage and met up with Matt and Alice. The Vietnamese Tour Guide and Drivers were really happy to see us and meet Courtney and they ended up taking us to dinner at this local place. Had pretty good food, but don't really remember what it was as there appeared a giant bottle of Johnny Walker Red Label on the table as soon as we were seated. The guides had brought it. They poured food into our bowls and booze into our glasses and we tried our best to make conversation
despite the extremely loud singing emanating from a horrible woman in a black evening gown who kept asking her band to turn up the volume.

The next day, we got up, snuck out and commandeered some bicycles to ride out to Mui Ne beach. arrived and immediately settled ourselves into the sand with some cold Tiger Beers. Swam in the South China Sea. Got sunburnt. Went home smelling like the ambient air (which in Phant Thiet means smelling like nuoc mam - fish sauce).

Got up the NEXT day and had a leisurely breakfast. Decided to skip the "local trolley by the cow" also known as the "beef trolley." Picture a hay ride, but no hay, and a cow instead of a horse. And also, its on the beach. We had signed up for a tourist minibus to Nha Trang ($5 a person) that was supposed to pick us up at 1pm. At 2:15, our bus pulled away and we were headed north. 500 honks, 300 potholes, and one restroom break (squat pot) later, we arrived tired and famished in Nha Trang. We decided to take the train the rest of the way to the central coast. At $20 a person for an overnight on a soft sleeper, it beat the $6 13-hour bus ride that was our
alternative.

So we came to Hoi An on the overnight train (Reunification Express) on a sleeper berth that had FILTHY mattresses (luckily, they came around and gave us sheets - Courtney also brought her own sheet and Ashley had two sarongs... - we were in the cabin with two random vietnamese men - one of whom was a TOTAL SNORRY McSNORE PANTS!) we left at 9pm and got in at about 9am this morning. looking our best. this was after declining the complimentary breakfast that was passed out at around 6:30am - a cold pickled chicken salad of some sort...the other interesting component was the bathroom. Squat pots are challenging enough when they AREN'T moving...

So that was interesting...getting off the train, we sort of bonded with 3 Australians who were also going to Hoi An ['cause the train actually let us off at Da Nang), so we split a taxi to a hotel that ended up costing us about $3 apiece for 30 km! he ended up taking us to a pretty nice hotel where we're staying for $15 a night :) not bad, eh? and email here isn't expensive, and you know we are junkies...

So that is the update on our travels...I think we're headed to hue tomorrow for two days, then we'll fly back to Saigon (for $60 a piece, MUCH faster (and safer...) than bus or train).

Oh, and also, we woke up at 6 this morning on the train 'cause the intercom was BLASTING vietnamese music. this continued until 9, when we got off of the train. very funny...especially once we figured out how to turn it off, but it continued to get louder and louder from the other cars...they were bound and determined that we were ALL going to enjoy it.

So anyhow, here we are with a few days to spare and hopefully getting lots of bizarre clothing made for us. Maybe we'll see some pagodas or something too.

But they really ARE the best chocolate chip cookies.

I know that everyone has a favorite chocolate chip cookie. Or at least, FAVORS chocolate chip cookies. In fact, every time I ask my husband for suggestions on what to bake (one has to keep one's cake dome occupied, after all) he generally defaults to this beloved specimen. Of course, he prefers for his to be in the frozen, uncooked form. I swear, he is happiest just gnawing on frozen chunks of dough straight from the freezer. Easy enough.

But I like the dough warmed up...as in, theoretically baked and fresh from the oven, but still really gooey and delicious. Yah, you know what I mean. Just-shy-of-salmonella-ville, that's me. Now, I am pretty happy with the standard back-of-the-yellow-bag recipe. Always works fine by me and quick to mix up, especially since I usually have the ingredients lying around the house (if I haven't eaten all of the chocolate chips straight out of the bag). In fact, this is the recipe I 'passed on' to my younger sister when she wanted to know how to make my "famous" chocolate chip cookies...she wasn't ever actually going to bake anyway.

However, I have found a new recipe. One that involves a few pros and a few cons, to be sure. On the con side, it involves browning butter - a delicious smelling process that results in extra dirty dishes. It also involves the separating of a yolk from a white, and a series of 30 second stirs, followed by 3 minute 'rests' as you let the sugar really integrate with the butter and eggs. On the pro side, it only makes about 16 cookies, but they are REALLY big cookies (you have to make them big to get that proper ration of chewy center and crispy edges). The ther pro is that it makes the most deliciously, caramel-y, butter-y chocolate chip cookies I have ever had. They are great the next day, but they are positively RELIGIOUS just straight out of the oven. Even for my husband, the frozen dough lover. Though he seems to prefer his flavored with Bromide, since he decided the let his rest for a moment on the hot tub chemical container...

So, the next time you want to try a ew cookie, but want the familiarity of an old favorite...give this a try. You probably won;t make the complete conversion to this slightly more labor intensive cookie, but isn't it worth mixing it up every now and then?

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
(straight from Cook's Illustrated - my FAVORITE food magazine, by the way)

Ingredients:
1 ¾ cups flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
14 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 to 1 ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Pre-heat the oven to 375F. Line two large (18- by 12-inch) baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.

Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.

Heat 10 tablespoons of the butter in a 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.

Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, and vanilla to the 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, and 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, giving dough final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.

Divide dough into 16 portions, each about 3 tablespoons (or use a #24 cookie scoop). Arrange 8 balls, two inches apart on prepared baking sheets. (Smaller baking sheets can be used, but will require 3 batches.)

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 12 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Transfer the baking sheet to wire rack; cool cookies completely before serving.