The most popular cookies I have ever made

Hi all- I should preface this by saying that I bake almost daily for all the fellow UNC music students. They tend to like me more now. I make a ton of cookies and experiment some, (one day I will post my recent maple syrup and sausage muffins). This is, though, the most popular cookie I have ever made, and it is incredibly easy:
White Chocolate dream cookies:
2 1/4 cups, (300 grams) flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 sticks butter
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 bag white chocolate chips
zest of one orange, (this is crucial! the secret ingredient you might say)
2-3 oz white and unsweetened/bittersweet chocolate

Preheat to 375
Beat egg with vanilla and set aside. Pulse flour, baking powder and soda, and salt in a food processor for 5 seconds
Cream butter in bowl of stand mixer for a few minutes or until larger in volume and lighter in color
Add sugar and increase speed. Beat for a few more minutes until light and bigger in volume
Add egg mixture, and increase speed if necessary to incorporate
Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in three installments. Add orange zest at this time.
Add white chocolate chips.
Drop on preferably parchment covered baking sheets and bake until slightly golden, (these will not get very browned even though they will be done), or 8 or so minutes. You don't want them to get too dark because they generally become a crunchier cookie anyway, you don't want them to be crumbly.
Remove cookies. Let sit for a minute or two then transfer to racks. If you used parchment paper, make sure to put the paper underneath the racks, (you'll see why in a second)
Melt the white and dark chocolates separately in the microwave or over hot water if you really want.
Using a spoon/fork, dip in one of the chocolates and kind of fling chocolate over the cookie. You can try to drizzle beautifully if you want, but if you just aim for a Pollock-like finished product I promise people will still think you spent hours on it. After applying one chocolate this way, apply the other chocolate in the same way and let cookies sit until chocolate is set. Keep in an airtight container. (These freeze REALLY well. if you want to freeze them put them in the freezer on a cookie sheet until hard and chocolate is totally set. Then put in ziploc bags)
-Ashley/Muffin

Carbo loading part deux

OK here's the second recipe I have: an incredibly simple, easy, delicious and adaptable cobbler

Cobbler:

1 stick unsalted butter

2 cups self-rising flour, (if you only have AP you can easily look up how to add leavening to make it self-rising)

2 cups sugar

2 cups milk

3 1/2 cups add-ins, (the first time I did this I did blackberry raspberry blueberry strawberry and it was really good. yesterday I used 1 1/2 cups mixed cherries and 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, also very good. Go nuts basically)

-Preheat to 350

-Melt butter in the bottom of a 9 by 13 inch pan. The easiest way is just to stick a stick of butter in the pan in the oven and mix your batter

-Mix flour sugar and milk together; mixture WILL be lumpy and it should be! (I like to mix for 10 seconds/until just incorporated and then "walk away" no matter what it looks like)

-Pour batter over the melted butter in the pan

-Drop your fruit/chocolate/cheese/whatever onto the batter. Make sure to put it around the edges, too!

-Bake for 45 minutes-1 hour, until golden brown or until a knife comes out clean. 

Delicious!

Carbo loading

I have two recipes today. The first is something I saw on the amazing FoodGawker.com, and is an easy, and really good recipe for bagels: 

Bagels, (plain but easily amended)

You will need:

1 heaping tsp yeast, you can use active dry or instant like I did (about a half a packet)

2 cups warm water

1 (i think..) tbsp sugar

-Combine the above in the bowl of your stand mixer. If you are not using instant yeast you will need to let the yeast "bloom" for a few minutes at this stage. Otherwise you don't have to wait.

-Using the paddle attachment of your mixer, add up to 6 cups of bread flour, (AP will work) along with 1-2 tsp salt. 

-You can add 3 or 4 to begin with but mix on low so that you don't have flour flying around everywhere

-Once the flour is incorporated, remove the paddle attachment and attach your dough hook, (or do this by  hand- but it will be tiring). (If you want to experiment with adding anything into your bagel now's the time)

-Let the dough hook knead the dough on the lowest setting above "stir" for 15-20 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic. You may need to add flour along the way.

-This dough will be VERY stiff after it has been worked for 10 or so minutes. Work it for a few minutes and it will soften a little bit

-Put dough in an oiled bowl, cover with a towel and let rest for 1 hr.

-Divide dough into thirds, and roll each third into a long rope.

-Divide each of these ropes into fourths. Roll each fourth between your palms until it is slightly longer than the width of your palm. Wrap the roll of dough around your fingers and roll the ends together against your other palm so that the ends seal together. You may want to use a little water to help the ends seal

-Place these on a non-stick, lightly oiled, or parchment-covered baking sheet, cover and let rest for 20 minutes.

Bagels are boiled prior to baking. Fill a 3-4 quart saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Also preheat your oven to 500 (yes, 500). Place bagels into the boiling water 3 or so at a time. They will probably sink. If they don't sink it simply means they rose a second time for too long, (but it doesn't matter). 

-Let each bagel boil for 1 minute on either side or until they begin to rise to the top of the pot

-If you want a topping for your bagel, (poppyseed, seasame seed, etc.) have it in a dish and place the bagel face down in the dish. Flip over if desired

-Place back on baking sheet.

-Remove 3 cups of the boiling water and place in an ovenproof baking dish, and place on the bottom or bottom rack of the oven.

-Bake for 15-20 minutes, (watch carefully, mine only baked for 10), until bagels are browned on either side.

A Couple Links

Food Gawker and TasteSpotting

A smattering of food porn from different blogs with recipes behind every pic.

This is why you're fat

Indescribable.

4chan/ck

Food & Cooking board of 4chan.  Anonymous picture/message board, visited by basement-dwellers and chefs alike.  

Note, even though this board is marked as "safe for work", 4chan is not safe for work.  Ever.

Grow your own Food?

Anyone here on the Front Range who wants some veggie plants, let me know! I'm starting my seeds now, and I LOVE to find good homes for good plants! Free healthy plants, no commitment needed: If they don't look good or you can't take them come May, I won't be offended if you don't want any! But I started WAY too many tomatoes last year and then struggled to place them all, so I'm not going to grow extras unless people want me to!

Short list:
Cherokee Purple and Old German heirloom tomatoes
Windowbox Roma hybrid tomatoes
Japanese and "Twinkle" small-sized eggplants
Poblanos/Anchos and mild Jalapeno peppers
Broccoli

Some winter squashes and melons will be started in compost "pots" later on, to help lengthen our short season.

I also have a lot of strawberry plants, a local variety originally from a farmer's market that I've been growing in large pots for 3 years now. Seriously, I have 8 planters full, and at least 3 of them need to be emptied so I'd like to see them planted elsewhere!

Cheers!

Tea and Cakes for a Rainy Day

It's a rare cloudy day here in Colorado, so I thought I'd share my recipes for Chai tea and lemon bars. I've seen some key limes in the stores lately, and for 10 for $1 it's a great excuse to make something tasty! They are a pain in the ass to juice, but well worth it! Look for limes with thin skins that give when you squeeze them to maximize your juice yield.

Enjoy!

Marcie’s Yogi Tea (Chai)

1 Tbs Ground Cardamom
1 tsp Ground Cloves
1 or 2 inches of Cinnamon Stick
1 Tbs Fennel Seed
1 Tbs Fresh Ginger (peeled and grated)
Sugar or honey to taste (I use about ¼ C sugar, but I know others use upwards of a cup so really, to taste!)
2 Tbs Loose tea or about 6 tea bags (I use a Ceylon mix, so black)
2 Cups Milk (2%, or whatever you have)
1 Cup Water

Boil Everything together in a pot, simmering for about 5 minutes. Strain and pour into cups. Serves about 4, and will store well in the fridge for about a week- morning iced chai!


Grampa’s Lemon Bars

For Crust:
1 C Butter
½ C Powdered Sugar
½ tsp Salt
2 C Flour

For Filling:
4 Eggs
1 ¾ C Sugar
½ tsp Baking Powder
¼ C Flour
¼ C Lemon or Key Lime juice (some pulp okay)
Finely chopped/ grated zest from 1 lemon (~ 1 Tbs)

Preheat oven to 350

Cream the butter, powdered sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the flour and mix until combined. Press the dough into a 9”x13” brownie pan and poke holes all over it with a fork. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until just starting to get golden.

While the crust bakes, beat the eggs with a fork or a whisk, then add in the sugar, baking powder, flour, lemon, and lemon zest.

Pour the filling over the lightly golden crust and bake for another 20-25 minutes, until the topping is just firm.

Sift some powdered sugar on top and enjoy!

Green Noodles

The recipe for "Green Noodles" was passed down to me from my mom. I realize my name for this meal is not exactly appetizing so if you want to call them something different like "Pasta with Poblano Sauce" then go for it. Around here though, we call them "Green Noodles" and we love this quick and easy meal.

Ingredients:
*3 poblano peppers
*12 oz. pasta
*1/2 cup evaporated milk
*1/2 cup chicken stock
*4 oz. cheese (I like pepper jack or monterey jack best)
*2 tbs. butter

Step 1: Broil the poblanos (either in an oven or a toaster oven) until the skins are loose and the peppers are starting to get brown/black. Meanwhile, cook the pasta.

Step 2: Steam the poblanos (put them in a bag for about 5 minutes).

Step 3: Peel the skin off of the poblanos. Also, de-seed and de-vein them. You can keep the seeds and veins if you want to depending on just how brave you are. The dish will be very spicy with them and possibly even without them. Oh, don't forget to take the stems off- nobody wants a crunchy sauce.

Step 4: Put the poblanos, chicken stock, and evaporated milk in the blender and blend until smooth.

Step 5: By now the noodles should be done. Drain them and put them in a greased casserole dish. Put the cut up cheese and butter on top and then pour the sauce on.

Step 6: Cover and bake for 30 minutes.

That's it! See? Easy. Just remember that poblanos can be very spicy, mild, or somewhere in between. So you will be taking a slight chance every time you make this that it may get turn out too hot for some.