In Search of the Rustica Bittersweet Cookie: Round 2

We are definitely getting closer. If you want to replicate your favorite cookie recruit Neighbor Sherry to help you. She found this version in The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook recently and we each gave it a go. I chose to go with bittersweet chocolate from Trader Joe's for melting and Ghirardelli bittersweet chips. The trouble with this cookie is that it easily trips my rich trigger, which is becoming more sensitive with each week.

Thick and Chewy Triple Chocolate Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons instant coffee
10 tablespoons (1 ¼ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 ½ cups packed light brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
16 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled
1 (12 ounce bag semisweet chocolate chips (2 cups)

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Whisk the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, vanilla, and instant coffee together until the coffee is dissolved.

Beat the butter and sugars together in a large bowl using an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 6 minutes. Beat in the egg mixture until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Beat in the melted chocolate, about 30 seconds, scraping down the bowl and beaters as needed.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly mix in the flour mixture until combined, about 30 seconds. Stir in the chips until incorporated. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until the consistency is scoop-able and fudge-like, about 30 minutes.

Working with 3 tablespoons of dough at a time, scoop the dough into balls, dip the top in granulated sugar and lay on three parchment-lined baking sheets, spaced about 2 inches apart. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time until the edges are set and the tops are cracked but the centers are still soft and underdone (peek through the cracks to check the centers), 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through baking.

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then serve warm or transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

The America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

My Thanksgiving Contribution

I love cheesecake. A few years ago I offered to bring pumpkin cheesecake to my sister-in-law's Thanksgiving gathering after my sister raved about this recipe. A few guests accepted a polite sliver while others questioned why pumpkin cheesecake? Why disrupt tradition and pumpkin pie? Most of it came back home with me. The next year two guests sidled up to me and asked, "Did you bring the pumpkin cheesecake again?" and a few more guests accepted a polite sliver of a slice. There was only half of a cheesecake to bring home. Last year I was met at the car with, "You brought the pumpkin cheesecake right?" There were no leftovers.

This year our Thanksgiving plans will bring us elsewhere but I have enough whipping cream and cream cheese to bring one with me and to drop another one off at my sister-in-law's because why disrupt tradition and pumpkin cheesecake?

Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake

This needs to chill overnight, so plan accordingly.

Crust
9 whole Graeme crackers (about 4 ounces), broken
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted

Filling
4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin
1 cup whipping cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

For crust:
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Wrap a double layer of heavy-duty foil around outside of 10-inch-diameter springform pan. Combine Graeme crackers, sugar, and cinnamon in processor. Blend until graham crackers are very finely ground. Drizzle butter over. Using on/off turns, blend until crumbs begin to stick together. Press crumbs onto bottom (not sides) of springform pan. Bake until crust is slightly golden, about 10 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool while preparing filling. Maintain oven temperature.


For filling:
Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until smooth and fluffy. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Add pumpkin and remaining 7 ingredients. Beat just until blended. Pour filling into prepared crust. Place springform pan in large roasting pan. Add enough water to come halfway up sides of springform pan. Bake cheesecake until slightly puffed and softly set and top is golden, about 1 1/2 hours. Transfer springform pan to rack and cool. Cover and refrigerate cake overnight. Using knife, cut around sides of pan to loosen cake. Release pan sides. Cut cheesecake into wedges and serve.

Makes 12 to 16 servings.
Bon Appétit October 2002

In Search of the Rustica Bittersweet Cookie

I am a baker on a mission to recreate the Rustica Bittersweet Chocolate Cookie. I first had one last winter when I was suffering from some sort of malady that was not as bad as the full blown flu but sick enough that I had lost my will to live. I snuck in through the back door to drop something off at Yarn! Yarn! Yarn! and there was the cookie. What I tasted through my fever and chills made me want to live to see another day or at least a trip to South Minneapolis for more.

This was my first attempt at recreating that life renewing cookie. I would have to say that it is close, and this cookie is worth making, but my quest will continue. I hate orange in my chocolate so I chickened out and only put in 1 teaspoon grated orange zest. I could not even taste the orange last night but it was the first thing I tasted in my morning cookie. The Rustic cookie is nearly black with chocolate so does that mean I should figure out a way to increase the melted chocolate and omit the cocoa? The bakery cookie is also larger but I could address that issue by making them bigger and baking them longer.

This recipe is from Fine Cooking magazine December, 2007 issue 89. As I have said before I love Fine Cooking magazine. This not a cheap subscription, $29.99 for a seven issue year but it does have some advertising unlike Cook's Illustrated (26.95 for six issues). Here is where I get crabby. Fine Cooking wants subscribers to pay a separate subscription for their website. $9.95 a year to have full access to their archives, it is more for non-subscribers. I know that the internet is a threat to print media and that we are coming to expect them to give away everything for free but really my mother has already paid the hefty subscription price let me access the Dark Chocolate Crackles online if I want to, so that I can forward it to my sister whose subscription expired, especially since that recipe fell within my subscription period. Enough crabbing, I better have another cookie.



Dark Chocolate Crackles

Yields about 5 dozen cookies



11 1/4 oz. (2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon table salt

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

2 oz. 2/3 cup natural, unsweetened cocoa, sifted if lumpy

2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 large eggs

8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled until barely warm

3/4 cup (4 oz.) chopped chocolate (white, bittersweet, or semisweet)

1/3 cup granulated sugar; more as needed



Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350 F. Line three large cookie sheets with parchment or nonstick baking liner.



In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl with a hand mixer), beat the butter, brown sugar, cocoa, orange zest and vanilla on medium speed until well combined, about 4 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating briefly between additions. Add the cooled chocolate and mix until blended, about 1 minute. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until almost completely blended, about 1 minute. Add the chopped chocolate and mix until blended, about 15 seconds.



Shape the dough in 1 1/4-inch balls with a small ice-cream scoop or two tablespoons. (The balls of dough can be frozen for 1 month. Thaw them overnight in the refrigerator before proceeding with the recipe.)



Pour the granulated sugar in to a shallow dish. Dip the top of each ball in the sugar and set the balls sugar side up about 1 1/2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Bake one sheet at a time until the cookies are puffed and cracked on top, 11 to 12 minutes. These cookies are fragile when hot, so be sure to let them cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes.

Winter Storm Warning = Beef and Barley Soup for Dinner

When the first winter storm advisory went out for our area on Tuesday morning I became determined to make this recipe. Even if it meant waiting in my car outside of the local liquor store at 8:50 am.

The recipe comes from The Best Make Ahead Recipe from the editors of Cook's Illustrated, another cookbook that I frequently check out of the library but never get around to making anything from. I cooked my soup on high for about 5 1/2 hours and it was perfect. My only regret is that I spent up and bought the chuck steak when I should have just bought the chuck roast for a dollar a pound less. I just am not very confident in my meat substitutions. Kind of like my yarn substitutions, right Sarah?

Beef and Barley Soup in the Crock Pot

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 medium onions, minced
2 carrots, chopped medium
1/4 cup tomato paste
Salt
1/2 cup dry red wine
2 pounds blade steak, aka as chuck state in these parts, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes, pureed with their juice until smooth in a blender for food processor
2 cups low-sodium beef broth
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup pearled barley
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dried
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley leaves
Ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering but not smoking. Add the onions, carrots, tomato paste and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook until the vegetables are softened and lightly browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the wine, scraping up any browned bits.

Transfer the vegetable mixture into the slow cooker insert and stir in the meat, pureed tomatoes, broths, soy sauce, barley and thyme until evenly combined. Cover and cook on low until the meat is tender, 9 to 11 hours. (Alternatively, cover and cook on high for 5 to 7 hours.)

Gently tilt the slow cooker insert and degrease as much fat as possible off the surface of the soup using a large flat spoon. Stir in the parsley, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

Upon Request: Island Pork Tenderloin

Last week Ms. Meghan asked a a student to assist her in an "illegal act", getting past the school's blog blocking softwear to access A Dish To Pass (On) for the Island Pork Tenderloin recipe. The student was able to unblock the site but then I did not even have this favorite posted. So here it is. It is easy, quick ,very good and very popular. It was was in the epicurious.com Buzz Box for years. When I prepare it I tend to skip their salad and make my own spinach salad.

ISLAND PORK TENDERLOIN SALAD
Gourmet May 2003
Yield: Makes 6 to 8 main-course servings

For pork:
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 pork tenderloins (2 1/4 to 2 1/2 pounds total)
2 tablespoons olive oil

For glaze:
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
1 tablespoon Tabasco

For vinaigrette:
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon curry powder, toasted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup olive oil

For salad:
3 navel oranges
5 ounces baby spinach, trimmed (6 cups leaves)
4 cups thinly sliced Napa cabbage (from 1 medium head)
1 red bell pepper, cut lengthwise into thin strips
1/2 cup golden raisins
2 firm-ripe California avocados

Special equipment: an instant-read thermometer

Prepare pork:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Stir together salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, and cinnamon, then coat pork with spice rub.
Heat oil in an ovenproof 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until just beginning to smoke, then brown pork, turning, about 4 minutes total. Leave pork in skillet.

Make glaze and roast pork:

Stir together brown sugar, garlic, and Tabasco and pat onto top of each tenderloin. Roast in middle of oven until thermometer inserted diagonally in center of each tenderloin registers 140°F, about 20 minutes. Let pork stand in skillet at room temperature 10 minutes. (Temperature will rise to about 155°F while standing.)

Make vinaigrette while pork roasts:

Whisk together juices, mustard, curry powder, salt, and pepper, then add oil in a stream, whisking until emulsified.

Prepare salad ingredients while pork stands:

Cut peel, including white pith, from oranges with a sharp knife, then cut oranges crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Toss spinach, cabbage, bell pepper, and raisins in a large bowl with about 1/4 cup vinaigrette. Halve, pit, and peel avocados, then cut diagonally into 1/4-inch-thick slices.

Assemble salad:

Cut pork at a 45-degree angle into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Line a large platter with dressed salad and arrange sliced pork, oranges, and avocados in rows on top. Drizzle some vinaigrette over avocados and oranges. Pour any juices from skillet over pork.

I love Pam Anderson.

No not the one you are thinking of, this one.

Pam Anderson is a food writer, cookbook author and columnist for USA Weekend and incredibly hard to google on account of the other Pam Anderson. A few years ago my mother gave me her Cook Smart cookbook for Christmas and it was then that I noticed that all of her recipes are great and that my favorite recipes from Fine Cooking magazine were also developed by her. She uses basic ingredients, explains things well and the food is wonderful. She is a big believer in teaching people how to adapt recipes so there are always numerous variations provided.

Her most recent book The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight and Eating Great is my new checkout, renew, renew favorite at the library. (The Saint Paul library system will let you renew twice for a total of seven weeks if there are no other holds on a book.)I really like the Multigrain Pancakes and I usually am a waffle person and last night I made Creamy Light Pasta. Everyone liked it, the F even had seconds, and there were no leftovers. Now I will just have to make one of her fabulous salads for lunch.

Creamy Light Pasta

1 Tb. salt for pasta water
1 pound dried fettuccine or other pasta

1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1 cup 2% evaporated milk

2 large garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 Tbs. butter

3 Tbs. all-purpose flour

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, preferably Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus extra for sprinkling

Salt and black pepper, to taste

Bring 2 quarts water and 1 Tb. salt to a boil in a large soup kettle. Add pasta and, using the time given on the package as a guide, cook partially covered, stirring frequently at first to prevent sticking, until just tender.

Meanwhile, microwave broth, milk and garlic in a 1-quart Pyrex measuring cup or small microwave-safe bowl until steamy hot, 3 to 4 minutes; let stand for a couple of minutes.

Place butter in a Dutch oven or large saucepan over low heat. When butter melts, whisk in flour, then hot milk mixture all at once, whisking constantly until sauce thickens, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in Parmesan. Add salt and pepper to taste, and simmer to blend flavors, about 5 minutes.

Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking liquid. Return pasta to pot.

Pour cream sauce over pasta, adding enough reserved cooking liquid to moisten. Toss and serve immediately with a light sprinkling of Parmesan.

If you have any leftover pasta, pour it onto a baking sheet to cool quickly, then refrigerate. Save any remaining pasta cooking liquid to toss with pasta when reheating. (Leftover pasta can be refrigerated, covered, for up to 4 days. To reheat, microwave on high or warm over low heat, stirring in enough water or reserved pasta cooking liquid to make the dish creamy again.)

Serves 6

Per serving: 376 calories, 15g protein, 65g carbohydrates, 6g fat (3g saturated), 14mg cholesterol, 2g fiber, 716g sodium

The Dietian's Referral-Italian Meatloaf

My sister the dietitian/nutritionist/diabetes educator is a much more experimental cook than I. She is constantly making something new or more complicated for her family while we tend to have the same few things. This week she suggested Italian Meatloaf which she found on foodnetwork.com. Her family loved it Tuesday night, my family loved it Wednesday night. I made a batch and half and substituted ground turkey and ground pork for the beef. With all of the filler that is added I probably could have gotten away with just the basic batch as I foresee myself having Italian meatloaf for lunch the next several days.

Maggie has also been having luck with the recipes in the We Energies (the Wisconsin Electric of my Milwaukee youth) 2007 Cookie Book which our mother gave both of us last Christmas. She is wildly addicted to the Buried Cherry Cookies that I have yet to try but. With that in mind I tried the Cranberry Hootycreek Cookies to use down the Costco sized bag of Craisins I bought before the hike in Scotland. They were very good and I think I will be adding Craisins to my Costco shopping list as I will be baking Hootycreek's (bad name) with them often.

Italian Meatloaf


2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 red pepper, seeded, small diced
1 onion, diced
2 teaspoons (about 3 cloves) chopped garlic
1 pound ground beef
2 eggs
3/4 cup bread crumbs
1 cup grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped basil leaves
1 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup marinara sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat and add the peppers, onions and garlic. Saute until just soft, remove to a plate and cool.

When the peppers and onions are cool, combine all of the remaining ingredients together except for the marinara. Pack the meat mixture into an oiled loaf pan, if you do not have a loaf pan, form the meat mixture into a loaf shape on an oiled oven tray or baking dish. Top with the marinara making sure to spread evenly over the top.

Bake for approximately 50 to 60 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer registers 160 degrees F in the middle of the meatloaf. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Slice and serve.

Recipes from Michael Chiarello of Food Network

Cranberry Hootycreek Cookies

I think the white chocolate chips actually make the cookie too sweet, what can I say, I am 41 now and I suddenly have a rich trigger. The next time I make them I think I will just drizzle the white chocolate on top. I also think that the order in which they have you mix in the ingredients together if off but perhaps that is just the way things are done in the Fossil Operations department at We Energies. One last thing we don't drop anything in teaspoonfuls around here except for the F's Zyrtec so I made mine in tablespoonfuls and that made about 1 1/2 dozen.

October 29th Update: I made these cookies again and I did it in my preferred order. Cream the butter and sugars, add the egg and vanilla, mix in dry ingredients etc and you know what? It did make a difference in the finished product and not in a good a way. The cookies were taller and more dense. When I followed the recipe as written the first time the cookie was flatter and crispier and tasted more buttery. So my advice do it the Fossil Operations way.

½ butter or margarine, softened
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
½ cup uncooked oats (old-fashioned or quick)
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup white chocolate chips
½ cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream butter; beat in egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine flour, oats, baking soda, salt and sugars; gradually blend into butter mixture. Stir in cranberries, chips and pecans. Drop into heaping teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 for 8 to 10 minutes, or until edges start to brown. Cool on wire racks. Makes 2 ½ dozen cookies.

Drizzle (optional):
1 cup white chocolate chips, melted
Microwave white chocolate chips on high for 30 seconds; stir. Microwave for 30 to 40 seconds more; stir until smooth. Pour into zip-top bag; snip off small corner of bag. Drizzle on cookies; let harden before storing.

Contributed by John K, Fossil Operations
We Energies 2007 Cookie Book