Dinner of Shapes

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The Chocolate Chip Cookie

This is the chocolate chip cookie in my life, the ones Mom made (makes), the cookie I judge all others by. One whiff of the batter and I'm five years old again, licking the mixer attachment and scraping down the bowl.

These are different than your chocolate chip cookie; does your recipe contain molasses and coffee? These ingredients weren't a secret to us kids, just components in a delicious finished product. We loved them. It was the nuts that I wasn't so hot on back then; batches were 1/2 with, 1/2 without nuts until recently. The original recipe uses walnuts, but I like to swap out pecans or use a combination now.

They are called Brian's Chocolate Chip Cookies, from The Tassajara Cookbook. I have no idea who Brian is. I don't need to know. He makes a yummy cookie.

Brian's Chocolate Chip Cookies

from The Tassajara Cookbook, makes 4 dozen

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

2/3 cup light brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp molasses

1 tsp instant coffee

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

14 oz semisweet chocolate chips

2 cups walnuts or pecans, chopped (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a small bowl, mix the dry ingredients together. Set aside.

In a stand mixer, cream the butter until smooth, then add the brown sugar. Scrape down the sides and cream until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla, molasses and coffee. Beat well. Add the dry ingredients slowly and mix in, scraping down the sides as needed. Add the chocolate chips and the nuts and mix just to combine.

Using two teaspoons, drop small balls of the cookie batter on to a baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes total, switching levels in the oven halfway through. Allow to cool, then store in an airtight container.

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These cookies are so yummy by themselves and I've never had them any other way.

Today, however, I had a brainwave.

Standing in front of the freezer section at Target, I saw new ice cream cookie sandwiches right next to a pint of Haagen Daaz vanilla bean. I bought the pint and slicked some between two cookies at home.

I wrapped three sandwiches in plastic wrap and stashed them in the freezer to harden. My better half has a soft spot for the ice cream cookie sandwich, but I doubt he's ever had one homemade. . .

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Easy as Pie Pomegranate Sauce

A scrumptious sauce, I was shocked at how delicious it actually turned out!

(If you can manage to save some pomegranate sauce from the tea bread or your husband's thirsty reach.)

Pomegranate Sauce


2 cups 100% pomegranate juice
2 Tbs low sodium soy sauce


Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and put over medium high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is reduced by half. Serve warm over chicken or fish, noodles, or vegetables.

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Pomegranate Tea Bread

With the texture of a banana bread and the decadent topping of a cake, this tea bread turned out delicious!

My head was spinning with ideas to use a nice quantity of POM Wonderful pomegranate juice. It's delicious to drink, but the opportunity to experiment is too tantalizing to pass up. I surfed through many recipes for inspiration, but came up with mostly those that called for pomegranate seeds so I needed to fend for myself and hope I could come up with something decent.

I used the pomegranate juice in place of other ingredients. Without it I would have added more milk to the batter, and a bit more butter to the topping. The pomegranate flavor is not super strong (a result I was prepared for), but it lends a little special something to it that you can't quite put your finger on. I cut small square servings, but you can certainly make them larger if you want to.

Pomegranate Tea Bread
makes about 24 small servings

topping:

1/4 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup chopped dried cherries
2 Tbs melted unsalted butter
2 Tbs pomegranate juice (POM Wonderful 100% is perfect)

batter:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbs baking powder
1 Tbs baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
6 Tbs melted unsalted butter
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup pomegranate juice
1 cup plain nonfat yogurt
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly butter and flour a 9x13 baking dish.

In a small bowl, combine the topping ingredients: 1/4 cup brown sugar, nuts, dried cherries, cinnamon, 2 Tbs each butter and pomegranate juice. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, baking soda and powder, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk the yogurt, milk, pomegranate juice, eggs, and vanilla extract. Gently stir the wet ingredients into the dry until just combined. The mixture will be light and riddled with air bubbles.



Scrape into the baking dish and bake for about 40 minutes. Remove and add the topping mixture. Bake for another 10-15 minutes. Allow to cool before slicing and serving.

Give give this a try- if you can stop yourself from drinking all the juice straight from the bottle. I had to confiscate it from Ray to get this made!

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Grilled Tuna and Asparagus

Easy, fast, and delicious. Three of my favorite things.

These tuna steaks are from Trader Joe's, frozen and marinated in cilantro, garlic, and a few other yummy things. Along with some fresh asparagus and yukon potatoes.

I par-cooked the potatoes before slicing them in half, drizzling with macadamia nut oil, salt & pepper, and threading on skewers.

The asparagus gets a good drizzle of macadamia oil and rubbed in (good for dry hands) and a very generous amount of salt and pepper.

Everything goes on the grill for 2-3 minutes per side.

I've always liked Mendocino Mustard's Hot & Sweet on seared tuna. I recommend it if you can find it in your grocery store. Plus a bit of parm and lemon juice for the vegetables.

This Dona Paula Malbec, a BevMo purchase, is delicious and went really well with the meal.

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Strawberry Huddle

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Flying to the East

What are your plans this Memorial Day weekend?

I'm flying to the East Coast (Allentown, PA by way of Newark) for a family wedding. My cousin M. is marrying her fiance on Saturday afternoon. This is Mom's side of the family, and there are A LOT of us. We all know how to eat, drink, dance, and celebrate- it's going to be great!

See you next week!

Semolina Pizza Dough

I made Broccoli Calzones this weekend, and realized that I have never posted the dough I use most often for pizza and calzones. It comes out great every time, with a nice texture and flavor. Since there's only two of us I usually halve the recipe. It makes the right amount for two with a little pizza/calzone left over. I've provided the calculations for both, saving you a bit of time ;-)

Semolina Pizza Dough

(full recipe, feeds two couples as a main course on a Friday night)

1 1/2 cups warm water

3 Tbs extra virgin olive oil (I like to use toasted walnut oil, the flavor is amazing. Any nut oil or regular extra virgin will do)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour

2/3 cup semolina flour (aka durum flour or pasta flour)

1 Tbs sugar

2 tsp salt

2 tsp SAF yeast

Semolina Pizza Dough

(half recipe, feeds one couple with a bit of leftovers)

3/4 cup warm water

1 1/2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

1 cup all-purpose flour

2/3 cup+ 1 Tbs+ 1/2 tsp whole wheat flour

5 Tbs+ 1 tsp semolina flour

1/2 Tbs sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp SAF yeast

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Suite Apple Granola, Version 5.09

In January 2008, I posted one of the first recipes I crafted myself: Suite Apple Granola.

About a year ago, I posted an update to that recipe.

I make (and consume) it a lot, so it's in a constant state of evolution.

Time for another revision!

This is the best one yet.

I stay true to the original with little tweaks; the biggest changes are the addition of pecans and the substitution of applesauce for the oil. The applesauce makes a very wet mixture which browns up nice and crisp, and decreases the fat content of the final recipe. I really prefer it this way. I had to use oil again for my last batch because I was out of applesauce and I was disappointed with the results. Applesauce is here to stay!

Granola, version 5.09
A note on the extracts: I've never played with flavored extracts before this, but I like the extra flavor as a result of a tiny bit of these artificial liquids. I love the coconut-almond combination, but try anything you like. I used to use a maple extract, that was good too.

2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 single-serve container (4 oz) plain unsweetened applesauce
2 Tbs honey (or maple syrup)
a few dashes of cinnamon
a splash of coconut extract
a splash of almond extract

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, add the dry ingredients and toss with your hands to combine. Add the cinammon and stir gently with a spatula. Add the applesauce and honey, folding together until evenly coated. Add the coconut and almond extracts to taste (just a tiny bit) and mix gently. Dump out on to a baking pan and smooth out.

Bake for 90 minutes, tossing twice. Let cool completely before storing an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

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Pie for Mama

I love my mom so much.

She is the most wonderful woman I know, the personification of everything I want to be. I never called her 'Mama' as a child, but as an adult it slips in from time to time as a term of adoration. For Mother's Day this year, I wanted to both serve and impress her with something sweet for her special tea on Sunday.

My dad orchestrated an amazing brunch with french toast, cheese eggs, and fresh fruit (and he doesn't cook), and I said I would bring the baked sweet for our regular afternoon repast. I made my choice early in the week but kept it a surprise. I tell Mom everything, so it's always tough to keep something a secret for any amount of time. There is a certain amount of anxiety too, because she is the best baker I know- to offer something blah is not acceptable to me. The family wouldn't mind, but I would.

My choice? This lovely blueberry pie. It was perfect- delicious and beautiful, worthy of gracing my family's tea table.

I was filled with pride, as if my own child had performed well for her. The pie crust was flaky and buttery, the filling luscious and sweet. I am finally starting to overcome my fear of pie-making; they really are not difficult to make well. Please don't buy your pie crust ready-made, try this first. Trust me! Bought crust will seem grotesque in comparison.

I used frozen blueberries for the pie and I'm so glad I did. The end result is the same, and fresh blueberries are too precious to do anything but eat out of hand. Please pay attention to the notes for having the dough ingredients very cold. This is the secret to a delicious crust- plus that last secret ingredient :-)

Blueberry Pie
adapted from Cook's Illustrated, makes one 9-inch pie

Pie Dough
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 Tbs sugar
12 Tbs very cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1/2 cup very cold vegetable shortening, cut into pieces
1/4 cup very cold water
1/4 cup very cold vodka

Filling
30 oz frozen blueberries (about 3 cups)
1 tart apple, peeled and grated
2 tsp grated lemon zest
2 tsp lemon juice
3/4 cup baker's sugar
2 Tbs minute tapioca, ground with a mortar and pestle
pinch of table salt

1 large egg, beaten with a drop of water

For the dough:
Using a food processor, mix 1 1/2 cups of the flour, salt, and sugar with 2 quick pulses. Add the butter and shortening and process until uneven clumps form, about 20 seconds. Scrape down the bowl with a spatula and add the remaining cup of flour. After 4 to 6 quick pulses to combine, empty the mixture into a big bowl. Drizzle the vodka and water on top and fold to combine with the spatula. The dough will be slightly tacky and incorporated. Divide the dough into 2 even balls and flatten into a disk shape. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes.

When you are ready, roll out one disk into a 12-inch circle on a lightly floured work surface. With delicate fingers, fold the dough in half and then in quarters and quickly move to your pie dish. Unfold and gently mold the dough to the pie plate; there should be a bit of overhang on the sides. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes while making the blueberry filling.



Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to the lowest position and preheat to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

For the filling:
Place half of the frozen blueberries in a saucepan over medium heat. Mash the berries with a potato masher to release the juices. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 8 minutes until the mixture has reduced and thickened.

Meanwhile, place the grated apple in a clean towel and wring dry. Transfer the apple to a bowl and add the rest of the frozen berries, lemon zest and juice, sugar, tapioca and salt. Add the cooked berries and stir to combine. The hot mixture will thaw the frozen berries. Pour the mixture into the dough-lined pie plate and smooth the top.

To bake:
Roll out the second dough disk on a floured work surface, to about 11 inches or so. Using an apple corer or tiny cookie cutter, cut 5 small holes in the middle of the circle.

With a gentle hand, transfer the dough to the berry filling. Trim the overhang of dough and fold the dough under itself so that the fold is flush with the outer rim of the pie plate. Press the edges to seal. Brush the exposed dough with the egg wash.

Bake for 30 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350 and bake 30-40 minutes more. Monitor the pie; if it starts looking too brown, cover with aluminum foil so it stops browning but the filling continues to cook.



Transfer to a wire rack to cool, at least 2 hours. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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This pie served nice slices to the seven of us at tea, leaving about three slices left to be enjoyed the following day. I'm so proud that I was able to give this delicious pie treat to my mom and my family. I'm excited to make this pie for my in-law family on the Fourth of July.

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