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Best Chocolate Chip Cookies…Ever…Seriously 1024 768 Mari Bickmore

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies…Ever…Seriously

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I can’t believe it is December already!  I mean I just got used to using 2014 and soon it will be 2015.  The years have started on a downhill run and are just zipping by me. But it’s Christmastime!  well close.  Growing up, my mother’s favorite time of year was Christmas.  She put up like a million lights.  That might be somewhat of an exaggeration, but not  by much.  She made Christmas such a magical time for me as child, that nothing I do ever seems to quite live up to my own expectations.  This recipe certainly isn’t a “Christmas cookie”, but I needed to make cookies for a Church Christmas public open house and I wanted a great cookie.  If you want everyone to say your cookie is the best one at the party, this is the one. It is the  New York Times cookie with my slight variations.  I have made a lot of chocolate chip cookies in my life, and played with several recipes.  This is absolutely the best cookie I have ever made.  It does have the slight drawback that the dough has to chill at least 18 hours (they say 24, but I wonder if 12 wouldn’t do it).

It is best to always let your butter and eggs come to room temperature before starting your cookies.  Your butter is not going to blend and get light and fluffy if it is cold.  As always, the better ingredients you use, the better the end result.  I use better quality chocolate, like a Ghirardelli.  Remember, chocolate comes from a bean, so isn’t it technically a health food?

Fabulous Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

2 ½ sticks unsalted butter

1-1/4 cups light brown sugar

1 cup plus 2 tbs sugar

2 cups minus 2 tbs cake flour

1-2/3 cup bread flour

1-¼ tsp baking soda

1-½ tsp baking powder

1-½ tsp coarse salt

2 eggs

2 tsp vanlila

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, grated

10 ounces bittersweet choc chips

sea salt

Instructions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2.  Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

3.  With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes.

4.  Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

5.  Stir in the vanilla.

6.  Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients, about 1/2 cup at a time, and then mix until just combined.

7.  Stir all chocolate into dough using a spoon.

At this juncture I took a fairly small bowl of dough out (for about a dozen cookies) and added about 1/2 cup of coconut into it.  I highly approve of the outcome.  Next time I am going to do that again but add some rolled oats (never use steel cut or instant oats when you do this).

8.  Press plastic wrap against dough, tucked in well to keep it from drying out, and refrigerate for 18 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.  I also put a moistened kitchen towel over the bowl.

9.  When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350º degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Scoop dough with a 1-1/2 Tbsp cookied scooper (for larger cookies use a small ice cream scoop) onto the prepared cookie sheet, then sprinkle lightly with sea salt (optional) and bake until golden brown, but still soft, 10-12 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack to cool.  I always use parchment paper on cookie sheets, it makes for quick and easy clean-up, but you can lightly grease cookie sheets also.

Really, you will love these.  I haven’t tried using my new gluten-free flour, but it has worked on everything else.  I will try it and post later how they turn out. I am concerned about it though, since using these two different types of flour makes the perfect consistency.  As always, I hope you love this recipe and, if you do, let me know!

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Great Greek Pastitsio 1024 768 Mari Bickmore

Great Greek Pastitsio

As far as I’m concerned, this is the Greek version of a lasagna and it gives the same comfort you would get from that.  I probably like it better.

pastitsio 1

One of my sons has recently been traveling.  He has now been gone since September 2 and has visited many friends and places all over Europe.  He just left Athens yesterday to work for a couple of weeks in Japan.  Athens was his longest stay, probably almost a month, the last two weeks of which he spent with a family he met there, so he got a good slice of life.  I have a few stories to share as soon as I can pin him down for more details.  He recently told me about the pastitsio that he ate at a nice local restaurant and that made me crave it.  I pulled out this recipe I had made a few years ago, which I knew made a quite tasty pastitsio.  I hope the leftovers last a couple of days!  It made me wish I was sitting in a cheap little taverna somewhere in Greece with friends, probably overlooking the Mediterranean.  Breezy with blue skies, a plate of olives, and some fresh blood orange juice, thinking about visiting some ruins tomorrow…or the next day.

This is not a quick make, but it is not difficult either.  I would start it about three hours before you want to serve, just to give yourself some time.  It would be nice to have an antipasto to serve along with it…I did not for the first day, but think I will run out and get some for tonight!  Don’t forget,  you can make this gluten-free by substituting the all-purpose flour with gluten-free flour and the pasta with a brown-rice or other gluten free pasta, but no matter how gluten-free you make it, you can’t seem to take out those calories.  But now fat is good for you! so hey.

Ingredients

Meat Sauce:

3 Tbps olive oil

1 large yellow onion, chopped (about 1-1/2 cups)

1 pound ground beef

1 pound ground lamb

3/4 cup dry red wine

4 medium to large garlic cloves

1 Tbsp ground cinnamon

1-1/2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp fresh thyme leaves (or dried)

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 can crushed tomatoes in puree, 28 oz.

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Bechamel:

1 1/2 cups whole milk (not 2%, not skim)

1 cup heavy cream

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 3/4 cups freshly grated Parmesan (you can grate in your food processor, but I typically buy the good freshly grated Parmesan in the better cheeses area)

2 large eggs, beaten

1/2 cup Greek-style yogurt, plain

3/4 pound small shells

Directions

Sauce:

1.  Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large pot.  Add the onion and saute for 5 minutes.

2.  Add the ground beef and lamb.  Saute with the onions on medium for 8-10 minutes, until it’s no longer pink, crumbling it with the back of wooden spoon until there are no chunks left. Drain off any excess liquid.

3.  Add wine and cook for about two more minutes.

4.  Add the garlic, cinnamon, oregano, thyme, and cayenne, and continue cooking on medium for five  minutes.

5.  Add the tomatoes, 1-1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 40 to 45 minutes. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Bechamel:

1.  Heat the milk and cream together in a medium bowl in the micro about 2-1/2 minutes until it is warm.

2.  In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Add the flour and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly for 2 minutes.

3.  Pour the warm milk and cream mixture into the butter and flour mixture, about a half cup at a time, whisking constantly and blending completely with each addition of milk.  Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes, until smooth and thick.

4.  Add the nutmeg, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon of pepper.

5.  Stir in 3/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup of the tomato and meat sauce.  Turn off the heat and set aside to cool for 8-10 minutes.  Stir occasionally to release the heat.

6.  Stir in the eggs and yogurt.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling water until al dente. Don’t over-cook because the pasta will later be baked. Drain and set aside.

Stir the pasta into the meat and tomato sauce mixture, then pour the mixture into a baking dish (needs to be larger than a 10×12 casserole dish.  I use a 10 x 16 pan).  pastitsio 2

Pour the bechamel over the meat mixture and spread evenly to completely cover the pasta.  Then sprinkle the remaining 1 cup Parmesan cheese over the bechamel evenly. pastitsio 3

Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, until golden brown and bubbly. Set aside for 10 minutes and serve hot.

pastitsio 4

I know you will love this dish!  Please subscribe to my blog if you do.  I promise to add more good recipes and hopefully some stories to amuse, if even for a short time.

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Milano Chicken 1024 768 Mari Bickmore

Milano Chicken

crunchy chicken 2

So Thanksgiving is over and my children and grandchildren have left the premises.  It is soooo quiet, but it is clean.  I could do without the clean to have my granddaughters back!  They did wear us out.  I had forgotten just how much energy the little ones have.  We had to take them in shifts.  I think my husband only lasted about five minutes at a time.  They wanted to play hide-and-seek constantly, sometimes stopping for a Lego break.  Most of the activities in the area for their age were closed for the season.  That was a bad surprise.akina haruka pancakesI will forever complain that they live too far away…but it does give me a place to go when the winter here is too much to bear!  Plus, I can’t complain too much as we will see them soon.  Hoping for warm, sunny weather for Christmastime.

We are finally done with the leftovers.  I was looking for something that wasn’t too heavy and, while it isn’t a salad with lemon juice or steamed veggies, it certainly seemed to fit the bill.  I am going to call it healthy.  It may not meet Cooking Lite criteria, but, hey, there are veggies on top!  I do love a light crunch, so this will remain a staple in my recipe book.  Crunch, along with a nice light sauce and that tart mustard on the side.  If you don’t like mustard, you could definitely leave that off.  I hope you love this dish.  Let me know if you do!

Milano Chicken

Serves 4

6 small to medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1″ pieces.  You could use real baby carrots which would make a lovely presentation (not the fake one’s they form – oh, I guess you could if you really wanted).

1 T white wine vinegar

4 eggs

1 small bunch tarragon, leaves picked

½ cup Dijon mustard

2  large boneless chicken breasts (I haven’t tried it, but I am sure you could substitute turkey or veal for the chicken)

1 cup blanched sliced almonds

1-1/2 cups Rice Krispies (or gluten-free Rice Krispies)

1/2 cup flour (or rice flour or gluten-free flour)

2 T olive oil, plus more for frying

4 T butter, plus more for frying

4 oz. cremini mushrooms, trimmed and halved

½ cup scallions, trimmed, white stems cut into 1″ pieces, and greens thinly sliced

¼ cup dry white wine

2 T capers

Juice of 1 lemon or about 3 Tbsp reconstituted lemon juice.

Salt and freshly ground white pepper

1.  Place the Dijon into a small bowl.  Chop half the tarragon leaves, around 3 Tbsp, and add to the mustard and set aside.

2.  In a medium saucepan bring salted water to a boil, add carrots and simmer until tender, about 3 minutes. Remove the carrots and reserve in a bowl.

3.  Return the water to a boil, add vinegar and place 2 whole eggs in their shell into the pan. Simmer for 8-9 minutes, then drain and peel the eggs under cold running water. Slice into quarters lengthwise.

4.  Cut the chicken breasts in half lengthwise. Place each piece between two sheets of plastic wrap. Using the smooth side of a meat mallet, pound them until they are 1/8 to 1/4-inch thick. Season both sides with salt and pepper.

5.  Crack the remaining 2 eggs into a small bowl, and beat until smooth.

6.  In a food processor, chop the almonds into a fine meal (do not overchop, or they will clump).  My food processor was broken, so I used a pie roller and crushed them (same with the Rice Krispies)  Add the Rice Krispies, and pulse a few times until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs.

7.  Place the flour, beaten eggs, and almond/Rice Krispie mixture  into separate shallow dishes, and season each with salt and pepper.  Working with one piece at a time, dredge the chicken in the flour.  Then dredge it in the egg, and  then dredge in the almond mixture, pressing slgihtly to make sure it sticks to the chicken.

8.  Heat a thin layer of olive oil in a large nonstick sauté pan over medium-high heat, and add two to three pieces of chicken in a single layer. Cook for 3 minutes, or until golden-brown. Turn the chicken over, add 1 T butter, and continue cooking for another 3 minutes, basting the chicken with the butter in the pan. Repeat with the remaining chicken pieces, adding more oil and butter as needed.  Drain off any darkened fat between batches.  Place the chicken on a paper-towel-lined platter and keep warm.

9.  In a medium sauté pan, heat 2 T olive oil over high heat, then add the mushrooms and scallion whites. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and sauté until browned, about 2 minutes. Add the wine, and reduce until almost dry. Reduce the heat to medium, add 3 T butter, and heat until it browns. Add the reserved carrots, the capers, and lemon juice, and swirl to combine.

On your plate, place one piece of chicken and top with some sautéed mushrooms, carrots, and scallion whites. Spoon the pan sauce over and around the chicken. Garnish with two quarters of boiled egg, a few tarragon leaves, and some sliced scallion greens. Serve with the tarragon mustard.

crunchy chicken

PERFECT PUMPKIN SPICE PANCAKES AND PEACH BUTTER 1024 621 Mari Bickmore

PERFECT PUMPKIN SPICE PANCAKES AND PEACH BUTTER

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Happy Thanksgiving!!! I am up early before anyone else has risen. My son and his wife with my angelic granddaughters, my daughter and her husband, my two cats and my husband. I adore all of them being here, but I love being up in the peaceful morning also. Yesterday when I got up I prepared these pancakes, that everyone loved. However, I had bought a new food processor, since parts of my old one had gotten lost in the move. A series of moves really. In any event, when I was unpacking it I somehow sliced into my thumb. Who knew the thumb was such a bleeder! So my first “thanks” for the day should be that it finally quit bleeding. As Americans we still have so much to be thankful for, so it shouldn’t be hard for me to have a lot more things to give thanks for all day long. That I have a family here and each one is responsible for a dish so I don’t have to do it all, like back in the day, is a big one!

Anyway, I substituted my new Gluten-free flour that I am in love with, and these pancakes turned out beautifully. I divided this and added the chocolate chips to part and none in part, as my guests had differing requests. They are great either way. Hope you love them too. I made about eight (8) 6- to 8-inch pancakes with this recipe and still had some left over, which I refrigerated. My daughter had tried this recipe and said it lasts for a week. These are more of a dense cake, not extremely fluffy, which is the way I like them.

We made some peach butter, and though you are thinking “peach butter with pumpkin pancakes?” you are wrong. It added a nice dimension of flavors…along with a good maple syrup. All I can say is to try it…it is so easy to make. (You won’t get the same results if you substitute for the butter or the whole milk.)

PUMPKIN SPICE PANCAKES
Ingredients:

3 cups Namaste GLUTEN FREE Perfect Flour Blend (or all-purpose flour)
3 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)
1 regular can of pumpkin puree (or equivalent fresh if you prefer)
1/2 cup plus 1 Tbs light or dark brown sugar
2 eggs
4 Tbsp canola or vegetable oil
2-1/2 cups whole milk*

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and chocolate chips (optional) then stir lightly until combined. Set aside.
2. In another bowl add the pumpkin, brown sugar, egg, oil, and WHOLE milk and blend with using a hand mixer ( or in a blender). I used the whisk attachment on my mixer. Incorporate the ingredients very well.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk by hand gently to combine the ingredients. The batter is extremely thick. Do not thin it out. Whisk until *just* combined, no more. A few lumps may remain. Taste the batter. If you want to add more spices, go ahead. There is always room with spices to make it your own. Well, not always, but in this case. I really didn’t believe that a batter this thick would work, but I thought I would give it a try. It is truly very thick and I put a very large dollop in the pan, let it cook until I knew I could flip it over. Then, using a large, greased spatula I flattened the pancake. Hence, I had to let it cook on that side and then flip it again. Sounds worse than it is…and worth it. It is to be noted that these do not make beautiful, perfectly round pancakes. We’ll call them rustic.
4. Heat a griddle or skillet over medium heat. Coat generously with butter. Once hot, drop about 1/4 cup of batter on the griddle if you want a small pancake. Since we like ours large, I put more like 3/4 cup. Cook until the edges look dry and bubbles begin to form on the sides, about 1 minute. This recipe doesn’t bubble in the middle like typical batter. Flip and cook on the other side until cooked through. Coat griddle/skillet again with butter for each pancake or batch of pancakes.
5. If you need to, keep pancakes warm in a preheated 200F degree oven until all pancakes are cooked or serve them staggered. Pancakes taste best right after they are made. Pancakes freeze well also, maybe up to two months.

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PEACH BUTTER

1 stick of butter, at room temp
1-1/2 cups fresh or frozen peaches diced fine
3 tsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 TBSP peach nectar

Pulse until combined well in a food processor (be careful with your thumb!). There should still be bits of peaches visible. This will store well in the refrigerator.

Enjoy! and have a blessed Thanksgiving Day.

PUMPKIN CRANBERRY SCONES 1024 898 Mari Bickmore

PUMPKIN CRANBERRY SCONES

SCONES

My son and his wife came in from Redondo Beach (to the cold Midwest) for Thanksgiving and brought my darling granddaughters with them! I am so thrilled to have those little girls here with me. They live far too far away. Since we no longer have a minivan to cart everyone around in (thank the heavens!), my husband had to pick them up from the airport alone (and, oops, my son forgot to tell him that they were coming in an hour later than the email said so he had to sit there forEVER waiting). But that’s another story. Anyway, I wanted them to come home to the smell of baked goods and cocoa, and I wanted to try these scones. They certainly fit the bill, with that pumpkin and cinnamon aroma that is the embodiment of fall. I used a new gluten-free flour that I found at Costco that is cup for cup exchange for regular flour. I hadn’t tried it before, and frankly I had tried some that failed miserably, so I was taking a big chance for catastrophe, but this one is fabulous. I am sure that if you had scones made with regular  flour side by side with the gluten-free ones there might be a difference, but these were great. I will try more types of baking with this flour and see how it turns out, but for now I am sold.

NAMASTE FLOUR

These were really yummy and with the cinnamon butter on the side… I also served these with eggs and sausage, but they could stand alone at breakfast or high tea!

These were originally from Bon Appetit, now with my slight variations.
PREHEAT OVEN TO 400
INGREDIENTS
CINNAMON BUTTER
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 teaspoon pure maple syrup
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

SCONES
½ cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon baking soda
2 cups Namaste gluten-free flour (or all-purpose flour)
¾ cup (1½ sticks) chilled unsalted butter
½ cup chopped fresh (or frozen, thawed) cranberries (I used fresh)
1 large egg
½ cup canned pure pumpkin
¼ cup buttermilk, plus more for brushing
2 tablespoons raw sugar

CINNAMON BUTTER
Mix butter, maple syrup, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl.
Cinnamon butter can be made 4 days ahead. Cover and chill.

SCONES
1. Whisk granulated sugar, baking powder, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, cloves, baking soda, and 2 cups flour in a large bowl.
2. Using the large holes on a box grater, grate in butter, tossing to coat in dry ingredients as you go; toss in cranberries. Mix in egg, pumpkin, and ¼ cup buttermilk.
3. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and pat into a 1½”-thick disk. Cut into 8 wedges.
SCONES DISK

4. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Freeze until firm, 25–30 minutes.
5. Brush scones with buttermilk and sprinkle with raw sugar. Bake until golden brown, 25–30 minutes. Serve with cinnamon butter.

Sorry, but several of my pictures disappeared! Hope you like this! If you do drop back in!

YUMMY, SPICY MOLTEN LAVA CAKES 1024 989 Mari Bickmore

YUMMY, SPICY MOLTEN LAVA CAKES

lavacakes 01

Lava cakes are the ultimate comfort dessert. You just cannot beat warm, chocolate, gooey….all those textures. That being said, I like a little kick in the mix, so I played with it. I really didn’t need to eat these right now. I had foot surgery in late September and haven’ been so active, and well let’s just say I started my Holiday 5-pound weight gain already, and we are just coming into the Holidays. But then that’s why they call it comfort food. I will make some New Year’s resolutions later.

In any recipe I start by getting all my ingredients together, which makes it so much easier throughout the process. I highly recommend that…plus reading the recipe all the way through. You don’t want to get into a recipe and then find out that you have to marinate it for 24 hours…and you were going to serve it in four. But I digress, for this recipe I just found out, after the fact, some very interesting cinnamon info that you will definitely want to know. I will be throwing out all my old cinnamon and only buying Ceylon cinnamon from now on (link on the sidebar).

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These yummy cakes are sooooo easy and everyone will think you are a cooking genius, and don’t tell them any different. I used the 6-ounce glass ramekins that I had on hand, but I think they would look better in a souffle dish. However, the souffle’s I had were 4.5 ounce, so whatever. I made some whipped cream on the side, and my husband complained because we didn’t have vanilla ice cream. So no souffle’s and no ice cream but whatever you have is great, or even just some powdered sugar if you like…or nothing. It really could be all by itself and no one would care. Let me know if someone you serve it to doesn’t love it!

Ingredients

1/2 cup Dark chocolate chips (or 4 oz dark baking chocolate)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 Tbs. red wine (any type)
1 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract
1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted (keeps you from having lumps when you stir in/measure prior to sifting)
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
6 Tbs. flour
1/2 tsp. ground Ceylon Cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. cayenne
1/8 tsp. ground cloves (optional)

Preheat your oven to 425°F. Then butter (or using baking spray) four 6-oz. ramekins or soufflé dishes and place on a baking sheet.

In a large glass (or microwaveable bowl) place the chocolate and butter and cook on high 1 minute or until butter is melted. Stir with wire whisk until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in wine, vanilla and confectioners’ sugar until well blended. Stir in two eggs and one yolk. Stir in flour, cinnamon, ginger, cayenne, and cloves (optional). Pour batter evenly into ramekins.

Bake 13 to 15 minutes or until sides are firm but centers are soft. Do not overcook or you will not have “lava.” Let stand for 1 minute. Loosen the edges with a small knife by carefully inserting in an edge and working all the way around.
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Invert cakes onto serving plates. The easiest way to do this is to place the plate onto the top of the cake, centered, and then flip it over. It will drop onto the plate easily. Sprinkle with additional confectioners’ sugar, ice cream or whipped cream. Serve immediately.

Tips: Don’t substitute inferior ingredients, i.e. margarine for the butter. The better chocolate you use, the better the chocolate taste in the cake.
You can make the batter a day ahead, pour into ramekins, cover and refrigerate. Make sure that you leave them out long enough to be room temperature before you bake.
This was modified from the McCormick lava cake recipe.