Testing Chocolate Chip Cookies with honey

Cook's Illustrated The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie (made more perfect by me, Mark)

Recipe makes 24 cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

14 tablespoons unsalted butter - softened

1/3 cup honey
1 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 cup mini-semisweet chocolate chips 

1.  Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in bowl.
2.  In separate bowl, add butter, honey, and sugar in a bowl and mix.
3.  Add vanilla, egg and egg yolk and stir.
4.  Slowly stir the flour mix into the sugar mix.
5.  Add chocolate chip cookies and stir.
6.  Bake cookies of 10 minutes.

Instructions:

1.  Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper, then set aside.

2.  Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

3.  Whisk flour and baking soda in medium bowl, then set aside.

4.  Melt 10 tablespoons butter in 10 inch skillet over medium-high heat.

5.  Continue cooking and swirling butter constantly until butter is dark golden brown with nutty aroma (1 to 3 minutes).

6.  Transfer browned butter to large heatproof container.

7.  Add remaining 4 tablespoons butter and stir until completely melted.

8.  Add brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt, and vanilla extract to melted butter.

9.  Whisk until fully incorporated.

10.  Add egg and egg yolk.

11.  Whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining - about 30 seconds.

12.  Let sit for 3 minutes.

13.  Repeat steps 11 and 12 two more times - (whisk for 30 seconds, sit for 3 minutes, whisk for 30 seconds, and sit for 3 minutes).

14.  Mixture should now be thick, smooth, and shiny.

15.  Using a rubber spatula, stir in flour mixture (from step 3) until just combined - about 1 minute.

16.  Stir in chocolate chips (and nuts)

17.  Give dough final stir to ensure there are no flour pockets remaining and ingredients are evenly distributed.

18.  Working with 3 tablespoons of dough at a time, roll into balls and space them about two inches apart on prepared sheets.

19.  Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until golden brown, still puffy, and centers are soft - 10 to 14 minutes.  Rotate sheet halfway through.

20.  Let cookies sit on sheet for five minutes, then transfer to wire rack.

21.  Let cookies cool completely before serving.

22.  Enjoy!

Mark's Notes

1.  I did not use brown sugar.  I used all granulated sugar (Trish is allergic to molasses which is in brown sugar).

2.  I used dark chocolate chips rather than semi-sweet chocolate chips.

3.  I did not use the optional pecans or walnuts.
4.  For a "fluffier" cookie, try this recipe with 2 cups bread flour.

Mark's Story

This turned out to be an exercise in teamwork.  I asked Abby if she wanted to help me and she said yes.  Then Miriam said she wanted to help too and I told her yes as well.  Then Abby tried to back out of it so she wouldn't have to be around the "annoying younger sister".  I made both of them wash their hands and gave both different assignments for stirring and mixing.  So, both kids helped out and the cookies were really really good.

The only mishap that I have to report on this recipe is that I spilled vanilla extract on my Cook's Illustrated magazine recipe.  I go to clean it up and it took some of the ink with it - still readable though. So, now I have their wonderful recipe for Perfect Chocolate Chips posted here and I made it more perfect with the dark chocolate chips.

I highly recommend looking up the actual article "The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies" by Charles Kelsey to read about why this particular process he developed makes the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie.  

Kelsey, Charles. “The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie”
Cook's Illustrated Revolutionary Recipes

http://www.handletheheat.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-chocolate-chip-cookies/

Upside Down Pineapple Muffins

Upside Down Pineapple Muffins

Ingredients:

Upside Down Part:
4 tablespoons reduced fat margarine
1/2 cup brown sugar (see Mark's Notes)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
6 pineapple slices

Cake Part:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
6 tablespoons reduced fat margarine
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 large egg whites
1/2 cup pineapple juice (reserved from can)
1/2 cup low-fat milk

Instructions:

Topping part:
1.  Melt margarine over medium heat.
2.  Add brown sugar and cinnamon
3.  Stir until sugar has melted.
4.  Remove from heat.
5.  Grease muffin pan  - especially the bottom really well.
6.  Cut the pineapple slices into quarters
7.  Place two pineapple quarters at the bottom of each muffin cup.
8.  Pour a tablespoon of brown sugar mix over the pineapples in the muffin cups.

Cake batter:
9.  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
10.  In a large bowl, sift flour and baking soda.
11.  Set the flour/baking soda mix aside.
12.  In a medium bowl, beat margarine and sugar until light and fluffy - 30 seconds to 1 minute on low speed.
13.  Stir vanilla into the margarine/sugar mix.
14.  Add the egg whites to the margarine/sugar mix and beat well - 1 minute on medium speed.
15.  In a small bowl, combine the pineapple juice and milk.
16.  At this point, you will have the large bowl with the dry ingredients, then a medium bowl with the margarine/sugar mix, and a small bowl with the pineapple juice/milk mix.
17.  Fold in 1/3 of the margarine/sugar mix into the dry ingredients.
18.  Fold in 1/3 of the pineapple juice/milk mix into the dry ingredients bowl.
19.  Repeat steps 17 and 18, folding in the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
20.  Stir it all together until just combined.
21.  Pour batter into muffin tin over topping mix.
22.  Bake for 20 minutes or until muffins are done and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
23.  Let cool for 10 minutes.
24.  Using a icing knife, cut along the edges of each muffin to loosen all of them.
25.  On a large flat pan, flip the muffin tin over onto this, and the muffins should come out.
26.  The pineapples should be on top now.
27.  Enjoy.
28.  Remember that Jesus loves you!!

Here is the link to the original recipe:

http://www.food.com/recipe/pineapple-upside-down-muffins-321665

Mark's Notes - 
Abby was looking for a 4-H project.  She wanted to come up with a unique idea for muffins.  She likes Upside Down Pineapple Cake and she likes pineapples, and so we suggested Upside Down Pineapple Muffins.  I did some research and I found the above recipe.

Normally, we do not bake with brown sugar; however, these were being submitted for a formal competition and so we used the brown sugar.

Abby made a practice batch Thursday night.  The original instructions say that you only need 1 8 ounce can of pineapple slices.  I believe that that is incorrect as there were not enough pineapple slices for all 12 muffin cups in the muffin pan.  This is why in this ingredient list I stated that you need 6 pineapple slices.

So, Abby's first batch only made 8 muffins due to the lack of the pineapples.  They were delicious.  For the final batch that she made on Friday, we made sure she had enough pineapples.

The 4-H judges really liked it.  They gave her a Blue Ribbon and an Honors Ribbon.


Unfortunately, Abby was eating like one of these every morning.  Later in the day, she was complaining about a stomach ache.  We learned from this experience that Abby has Trisha's intolerance to brown sugar. 



Next time when I make these, I won't use brown sugar.  For the topping that goes over the pineapples, I was going to try using honey.  I will let everyone know how that turns out.

Also, this recipe uses margarine.  Based on everything I've read, you really shouldn't bake with margarine and use real butter for baking.  This turned out well enough.  Maybe I will try it with butter as well next time.

While working on this recipe, we got into a discussion on what was the difference between a cupcake and a muffin.  I did some quick Google searches and it appears that a cupcake uses a cake batter and a muffin uses some type of bread batter - either a quick bread batter or a yeast batter.  The cupcakes should be light and fluffy like a cake and the muffins should be more dense.  So, knowing that, honestly, this recipe reads more like a cake recipe than a muffin recipe.  The title uses the word "Muffin"; however, in the original instructions, it refers to the batter as a "Cake" batter.  Either way, it was delicious.

So, hope you enjoy reading my blog, trying these recipes, learning a few things as I am.  Most importantly, enjoy this yummy treats, and remember that Jesus loves you - always.

Ratatouille Chicken - slow cooker style

Ratatouille Chicken or Ratatouille Chicken Chili - for the slow cooker/crockpot

Ingredients (from the original recipe):

2-3 pounds of chicken breast

1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)

1/2 teaspoon black pepper (optional)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoon minced garlic

1 cup minced yellow onion

2 1/4 cup crushed tomatoes

2 cups all natural chicken broth

1 tablespoon honey

1 small green pepper chopped

8 ounces of chopped carrots

2 yellow squash, sliced

2 tablespoons flour

Mark's Notes:
Over time, my family has modified the ingredients to the following:

2-3 pounds of chicken breast

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoon minced garlic

1 cup minced yellow onion

2 large cans of crushed tomatoes

2 cups all natural chicken broth (I've used 2 cups water if I don't have chicken broth readily available).

1 tablespoon honey

1 green pepper, 1 red pepper, and 1 yellow pepper -  chopped

2 bags of frozen squash

2 tablespoons flour (I've forgotten this ingredient numerous times)

This is a very versatile recipe.  You can add in or take out whatever vegetable you like or don't like.  Ratatouille by itself is a vegetable dish that is best for a lunch and/or served with a sandwich.  Adding the chicken makes it a substantial dinner dish.

Below are the optional ingredients to give it a chili flavor to it.  I don't usually add these ingredients as I don't like it spicy.  When I've added these, I've cut the amount in half so it has some spice but not by any means overwhelming.  The original recipe with the onion, garlic, pepper adds quite a bit of flavor on its own.

Optional Ingredients for Ratatouille Chicken Chili

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon cumin

For less spicy chili, cut these ingredients in half.

Optional Toppings:

Avocado

Cheese

Crackers

Instructions:

1.  Place chicken breast in slow cooker/crockpot

2.  Optional - For the Chili - sprinkle all the optional ingredients for Ratatouille Chicken Chili over the chicken.

3.  Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat in a large frying pan.

4.  Place the minced onions and minced garlic in frying pan.

5.  Let the onion and garlic cook for three minutes.

6.  After three minutes, dump the onion and garlic over the chicken in the slow cooker.

7.  Pour the crushed tomatoes over the chicken.
8.  Pour in the 2 cups of chicken broth.

9.  Pour 1 tablespoon of honey into the chicken tomato mix.

10.  With a spatula, carefully, mix everything together.

11.  Top everything off with the peppers, squash, and carrots, and/or whatever other vegetables you may be using.

12. Leave the veggies on the top.

13.  Set the slow cooker/crockpot to low and let cook for 7-8 hours.

14.  When the 7-8 hours is done, remove the chicken and shred.

15.  Before putting the chicken back in, pour in the 2 tablespoons of flour and stir.

16.  Place the shredded chicken back into the slow cooker.

17.  You can top off the ratatouille with cheese, avocados, crackers, or just leave it as is.

Mark's Story:

For awhile, I've been making Ratatouille.  However, as a vegetable dish, it makes either a nice side or a light lunch.  To make the meal more substantial, I had been cooking turkey meat and then adding that to the Ratatouille vegetable mix.  Then one day, where I work at, we had a Chili day.  Everyone brings in their own Chili dish to share.  I wanted to make a Ratatouille Chili.  So, I started doing some Google searches and I found this Ratatouille Chicken Chili.  Everyone seemed to like it.  After I made it for work, I made another batch for dinner at home - except that batch for at home did not have any of the Chili seasonings.  My wife thought it was too bland.  I thought it was fine.  She mixed up the chili ingredients herself and sprinkled some over her bowl.  She really liked that. 

Mark's Suggestions:

You can add as much vegetables as you want to this dish.  You can easily double the amount of carrots and/or squash going into this.  You can use a red pepper instead of a green pepper or use both a red pepper and a green pepper.  For the chili spices, you can use the recommended amount, cut them in half, or not use any at all to make a very simple Ratatouille Chicken dish.  This could be really good if you want a healthy meal without a lot of spices that could upset one's stomach.  This recipe is extremely versatile.

Mark's Mistakes (very minor mistakes this time):

The second time that I made this for dinner at home, I forgot the 2 cups chicken broth.  That got added after it had been cooking for a few hours.  I also forgot the honey and the flour.  It still turned out really well.  As I just mentioned previously, extremely versatile recipe.

Enjoy.  Remember - Jesus loves you!!

Here is a link to the original recipe:
http://www.perchancetocook.com/2014/10/13/shredded-chicken-ratatouille-chili-paleo-gf/

Big Breakfast Pancake Time Saver

Dry Pancake Mix

Ingredients for pancake dry mix:

6 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cups flour bread flour 
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Instructions:
1.  In a very large bowl, mix all the ingredients together very thoroughly.
2.  Pour into a large glass canister.
3.  Store until ready to use.

When making pancakes:

Ingredients:
2 cups of the dry pancake mix
1 medium egg
1 1/2 cups milk
3 tablespoons olive oil

1.  In a large bowl, add two cups of the pancake dry mix.
2.  In a separate medium sized bowl, whisk 1 egg.
3.  Add 1 1/2 cup milk to the bowl with egg.
4.  Add 3 tablespoons olive oil to milk and eggs.
5.  Whisk thoroughly.
6.  Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the pancake dry mix.
7.  Stir until just incorporated.
8.  Spoon batter into frying pan to make pancakes.

Mark's Story - 
Every Saturday morning, I wake up and make a big breakfast for the family.  It involves pancakes (sometimes I add blueberries to the pancake batter), turkey sausage, turkey bacon, and scrambled eggs.  So, every Saturday morning, I would mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt.  Then one day I realized, hey, why not mix all the dry ingredients together beforehand. I quadrupled the existing recipe that I had.  Made a few minor adjustments so that it would come out to two cups - extremely minor adjustments.  Now every Saturday morning, making the pancakes goes a little quicker.  The trick is to mix it thoroughly when putting it all together and then to shake the canister around just a little before each use.

Mark's Notes - 
I got the glass canister from Meijer.

This mix will hold 8 cups of dry pancake mix.  Every Saturday morning, I use 2 cups, and it makes 12 pancakes.  If you don't need that many pancakes for breakfast, then feel free to cut the recipe in half.  This batter basically lasts our family a month.  Maybe a little less if I ever do a breakfast for dinner.

Sand Dollar Fougasse Bread

Sand Dollar Fougasse Bread

Ingredients:
1/4 cup whole-wheat flour
3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast
1 1/2 cups water
Cornmeal
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil


Instructions:
1.  Sift whole-wheat flour through fine-mesh strainer into bowl (bowl of stand mixer if you own one).
2.  Add all purpose flour, 1 1/2 teaspoon salt, and yeast.
3.  Add water.
4.  If you are using a stand mixer, fit stand with dough hook, knead on low speed until dough forms - 5-7 minutes.

If you do not have a stand mixer, use a regular mixer and beat on low speed for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
5.  Lightly oil a large bowl.
6.  Transfer dough to large oiled bowl.
7.  Cover with plastic wrap.
8.  Let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
9.  Holding edge of dough with fingers, fold dough over itself.  Gently lift up from the edge and fold edge of dough towards center.
10.  Turn bowl 45 degrees and fold again.
11.  Turn bowl 45 degrees and fold again 6 more times.  Dough will be folded over itself for a total of eight times.  1st set of folding and turning.
12.  Cover with plastic wrap.
13.  Let rise for 30 minutes.
14.  Fold and turn dough 8x - 2nd set of fold and turn.
15.  Cover with plastic wrap.
16.  Let rise for 30 minutes.
17.  Fold and turn dough 8x - 3rd set of fold and turn
18.  Cover with plastic wrap.
19.  Let rise for 30 minutes.
20.  Fold and turn dough 8x - 4th set of fold and turn.
21.  Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap.
22.  Refrigerate for 16 to 48 hours.  
23.  Do not deflate dough.
24.  Transfer dough to lightly floured counter, stretch gently to 8-inch round  - do not deflate.
25.  Divide in half.
26.  Working with one half, form to 8 inch disk.
27.  Lightly flour a rimmed baking sheet.
28.  Place dough circle on lightly floured baking sheet.
29.  Do the same for the second half - form to 8 inch disk and place on the same rimmed baking sheet.
30.  Spray plastic wrap with oil, and cover the dough.
31.  Let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
32.  Place baking stone on lower-middle rack and heat oven to 450 degrees.
33.  Take two rimmed baking sheets and turn them upside down.
34.  Line upside down rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
35.  Sprinkle cornmeal on each piece of parchment paper.
36.  Transfer one piece of dough to lightly floured counter.
37.  Using a rolling pin, gently shape into 8 inch round disk.
38.  Transfer dough to parchment paper on upside down rimmed baking sheet.
39.  Using a pizza cutter, cut a total of five 2-inch elongated ovals - about 1 inch to 1 1/2 inches from edge.  Make sure the 5 cuts are evenly spaced to make a star shaped pattern.
40.  Gently stretch dough out to a 10-inch circle.
41.  While stretching dough out, also stretch out the cuts to emphasize and widen the cuts into elongated ovals..
42.  You should now have a 10-inch circle with 5 cuts that make a star shaped pattern.
43.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with oil.
44.  Let sit for 30 to 45 minutes or until double in size.
45.  After 20 minutes, begin working on the second loaf, following steps 36-44.
46.  After loaf has set for 30-45 minutes and doubled in size, brush top of loaf with 2 teaspoons olive oil.
47.  Transfer loaf with parchment paper onto baking stone.
48.  Bake until golden brown - 18 to 22 minutes.
49.  Transfer to wire rack and let cool 10-15 minutes.
50.  Enjoy!!
51.  This is really good bread, but don't forget that Jesus is the Bread of Life!!

Mark's Story - 
Captiva, Florida was a favorite place for our family to vacation when I was a kid.  I had never seen a sand dollar before.  I thought the sand dollars were super cool.  On Sanibel and Captiva, they are fairly easy to find.  So, when I saw this recipe, at first, I was thinking that I didn't want to try to make a Fougasse bread.  It's quite complicated and involved and takes several days.  There are other simpler bread recipes that I can make.  Then I turned the page and saw the fougasse bread shaped into a sand dollar.  I had a Ratatouille moment - you know that moment in the movie Ratatouille when the food critic is served Ratatouille for his dinner, he has a flashback as a kid and eating Ratatouille.  Yeah, I had one of those moments when I saw the Sand Dollar Fougasse Bread and I decided that I had to try to make this.  So, just recently, my parents were vacationing down there and I practiced making this bread while they were there, so that I could make a second batch when they got back.

Mark's Notes - 
The original recipe also calls for 2 tablespoons of fresh cut rosemary and an additional 1 teapsoon sea salt.  These two extra items would be added in step 46 after brushing with olive oil.  

I watched several youtube videos on how to make Fougasse Bread just to hear the correct pronunciation.  From what I could tell, it is pronounced Foo-guess.

Double Chocolate Cookies - from 21 Day Fix

Double Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:

Nonstick cooking spray
1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup canned lite coconut milk
1/3 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour (or 1/3 cup brown rice flour for gluten free recipe)
1/2 cup all-natural cocoa powder
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate morsels (or slivered raw almonds, chopped pecans, dried cherries, or raisins)

Instructions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2.  Lightly coat baking sheet with spray - set aside
3.  Combine coconut milk, applesauce, maple syrup, and coconut milk in a medium bowl; mix well.
4.  Add flour mixture to applesauce mixture; mix until well blended.
5.  Add morsels; mix until blended.
7.  Drop by heaping a tablespoon scoop from batter onto prepared baking sheet.
8.  Bake for 12 minutes or until firm.
9.  Enjoy!!

Trish is doing the 21 day Fix.  She got a recipe book.  She got all the ingredients at the store for this recipe.  She asked me if I could make this.  So, I made it.

Breaded Cod

Breaded Cod

Ingredients:

4 slices of hearty white sandwich bread - torn into 1 inch pieces
2 tablespoons unsalted butter - melted
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 to 1/2 cup all purpose flour (step 7) plus 5 tablespoons all purpose flour (step 9)
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons mayo
1/2 teaspoon paprika (optional)
2 teaspoons prepared horseradish (optional)
1 small shallot, minced (optional)
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley (or 2 teaspoons dried parsley)
1 1/4 pounds cod - cut into four pieces

Instructions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2.  In food processor, add bread, butter, salt, and pepper.
3.  Pulse bread and butter mix until bread is coarsely ground
4.  Transfer crumbs to a rimmed baking sheet
5.  Bake about 15 minutes - stir occasionally
6.  Let crumbs cool.  (Crumbs can be stored at room temperature up to three days)
7.  In a shallow dish, spread 1/4 cup flour.
8.  In a second shallow dish, whisk together the eggs, mayo, along with the optional paprika and horseradish.
9.  Whisk in the 5 tablespoons flour in with the egg and mayo mix.
10.  In a third shallow dish, mix together the bread crumbs, the parsley, and the optional shallot.

At this point, you should have three bowls.
Bowl 1 - the flour mix
Bowl 2 - the egg mix
Bowl 3 - the bread mix

Putting it all together
11.  Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees.
12.  Place a wire rack in a rimmed baking sheet.
13.  Pat the cod dry with paper towels.
14.  Take 1 fillet of fish at a time
15.  Dredge the fillet in the flour mix (cover it completely with flour).
16.  Dip the flour-covered fillet in the egg mix.
17.  Coat with the fillet with the bread crumbs - pressing gently to adhere.
18.  Place the fillet on the wire rack.
19.  Repeat steps 13-18 for each piece of cod.
20.  Bake for 18-25 minutes or until fish reaches a temperature of 140 degrees.
21.  Transfer fillets to plates and enjoy!!
22.  Remember to give thanks to God before you eat as well!!  =).

Mark's Notes
The original recipe only lists horseradish as optional.  I didn't have horseradish, paprika, or shallot so I made it without those.  I'm quite certain it would have more flavor with those added.

The only mistake I made was I added the parsley to the egg mix rather than to the bread crumbs.  Didn't make a huge difference.

The original recipe says to use 1/4 cup flour for coating the cod.  When I got done, I was adding a bit more flour to thoroughly coat the cod with flour.  That is why I added the note in the ingredients that it can be 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup flour.

Mark's Story
We were at a restaurant (don't remember which one), and Abby places her order and says she wants the cod.  I looked at her and asked her if she liked cod.  She told me she liked the breaded cod.  She discovered she liked breaded cod at a Chinese buffet.  She liked it.  (she actually thought she was getting chicken but she learned it was cod and decided she liked it).  So, I decided to make breaded cod for her.  I went diving into my cookbooks and found a recipe.  This recipe comes from America's Test Kitchen  - The New Family Cookbook.

I've never breaded any food before.  So, while making the cod, I learned how to bread just about anything now.  Cover it in flour, dip it in an egg mix, then coat with the breading.

Trish says it was awesome.  Abby really liked it and it is now one of her favorite dinners.  Miriam said she liked it but she only took 2 or 3 bites and only ate the breading.  We'll be having this for dinner again.

No, I don't have a picture.  By the time I'm done preparing the food, we are hungry and ready to eat and I forget to take so much as a few seconds and take a picture.  I'll have to remember to get a picture next time I make this.

from America's Test Kitchen - The New Family Cookbook. Crunchy Oven-Fried Fish, pp. 252-253.