Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

First of all, I have to give props to Ina Gartner. This recipe is hers. But I just changed it a bit. Her recipe involves raisins and pecans. And when I made them with those, I was the only one eating them. Not good. So I substituted chocolate chips for the two. And they were MUCH more popular.

Ingredients

nocoupons

• 1 1/2 cups pecans
• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
• 1 1/2 cups raisins

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the pecans on a sheet pan and bake for 5 minutes, until crisp. Set aside to cool. Chop very coarsely.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, add the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla.

Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt together into a medium bowl. With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Add the oats, raisins, and pecans and mix just until combined.

Using a small ice-cream scoop or a tablespoon, drop 2-inch mounds of dough onto sheet pans lined with parchment paper. Flatten slightly with a damp hand. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer the cookies to a baking rack and cool completely.

Where I DV8: Delete the pecans and raisins. Put in 1 12 oz. package semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Hug Who?

This ain't your mama's pasta salad. Unless your mom has impeccable taste (like mine). This is a "cheater" recipe. A very good friend of mine (Lori) introduced me to this pasta salad a mere 12 years ago. This delectable pasta salad was being served at a small cafe called Hug Hess in Ogden, UT. I had not had it for at least 12 years, and it is so remarkable that when I was recently working in Ogden I had to hunt it down. I miraculously found the cafe, and the employees were so nice to let me sample the pasta salads they had because I didn't know the name of what I was looking for. Found it. Pasta Salad Supreme. And let me tell you; supreme, it is.

Now, this is another recipe that I do not really call a "recipe". It is a list of ingredients. Figure out the balance/ratio yourself. You can do it!

Cooked Chicken Breast - cubed. (They roast theirs, but I think I'll try grilled next time.)
Crumbled Blue Cheese (it's worth getting a good quality)
Cooked Bowtie Pasta
Cooked Spiral Pasta (they use the tri-color variety)
Raw Broccoli - mostly crowns, but some stalks are good, too.
Bacon - cooked so VERY crispy, otherwise it gets soggy and floppy. Ew.
Diced Tomatoes
Chopped White Onions
Carrots cut into discs
Kidney Beans - be sure to rinse them when using canned
Poppy Seed Dressing (recipe to follow)

Yep. Just mix it all in together, pretty much. It's really not rocket science. A good pointer: Add the dressing a little bit at a time. You don't want too much of a good thing. Also, if you have some left over (I would be amazed) store it in an airtight container - it should be good for a few days. It's also good to have some extra dressing as it gets absorbed over time.

Poppy Seed Dressing:

2 parts vegetable oil
1 part red wine vinegar
1 part granulated sugar
poppy seeds

Add ingredients into a food processor. Pulverize! Then enjoy.

...Now I'm hungry.

...run, run, as fast as you can...

Ok, you got me. There aren't any gingerbread men. But gingerbread snowflakes are just as sweet. I have to inform you that I will NOT be posting the recipe for this gingerbread. It was a PAIN to make. And, to tell you the truth, it really didn't taste that great. Maybe I'm just not a fan. Anyway, I DID want to post the finished product because the cookies, my dear, just look so good. I WILL post the recipe for the icing because it worked so well, and I am sure I will use it again. (And for the record, my dear friends and I were just as successful in using a sandwich bag with the corner snipped off as a professional pastry bag with the tip.)

Royal Icing:

• 1 box confectioners' sugar (1 pound)
• 5 tablespoons meringue powder, or 2 large egg whites

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine sugar and meringue powder. Mixing on low speed, add a scant 1/2 cup water. For a thinner consistency, usually used for flooding, add more water. A thicker consistency is generally used for outlining and adding details. Mix until icing holds a ribbonlike trail on the surface of the mixture for 5 seconds when you raise the paddle.
(Makes 2 1/3 cups)

P.S. A big shout out to Rey and David for their help with these. Ok. They pretty much did the decorating.

Pancetta and Pasta

Okay, so here is a prime example where you just throw ingredients together and you suddenly have dinner. I usually don't use recipes for pasta dishes. A list of ingredients is all you need. The measurements are to taste, and also left to common sense.

Ingredients:

Pasta (I like penne or rigatoni)
Pancetta (slpurge and get the real thing at an import deli - I recommend Caputos)
Parmesan cheese
Heavy Cream
Butter
Dried Oregano
Garlic

Directions:

Cook the pasta until al dente. Nothing spoils a good pasta dish like overcooked pasta. While the pasta is boiling, cut your pancetta (ususally bought in a big inch-thick slice) into cubes. Fry pancetta until crisp. You may want to drain the grease half way through. While it crisps, mince your garlic. Melt butter into a small pot. When melted, add heavy cream and garlic, and let come to a strong simmer. Raise heat and bring to a rolling boil, but be sure to stir or you could burn the bottom. After it starts to boil, add the parmesan cheese and oregano and stir well. Turn heat down and let it come to a light simmer. This will help thicken the sauce.

After pasta is cooked, pancetta is crisp, and sauce has thickened (a little - it won't be THICK, but will thicken even more as it cools and when it mixes with the starch in the pasta.) Dish pasta into bowl, pour sauce over the top and sprinkle generously with pancetta.

Serve immediately and enjoy!

Baked Jalapeno Poppers

Seriously. Bacon, cream cheese, and jalapenos? Have I died and gone to heaven? Well, if I haven't died, these will certainly do me in.

Ingredients:

Bacon
Fresh Jalapenos
Cream Cheese (don't do the low fat)

Directions:

Take cream cheese out of the fridge to let soften at room temperature while you prepare the peppers. Cut the top off of the jalapenos and then in half lengthwise. Cut out all seeds and innards until you have a cute little "boat". Be sure not to touch your eyes until you have washed your hands. Yeah. Be sure. Preheat oven to 425'.

Take softened cream cheese and fill jalapeno boats generously. Do not overfill, because the cheese would leak out in the baking and broiling steps. Wrap 1/2 strip of raw bacon around each pepper. Try to wrap it so the end of the bacon is on the underside of the jalapeno.

Set poppers in a baking dish (casserole works best) and bake for 15-20 minutes uncovered until bacon is just starting to brown. Then turn poppers over to get the underside a little crisp, too. You will notice you have a lot of grease. Try to not think of this grease when eating to your hearts desire later. Cook the undersides for another 15-20, until bacon is starting to crisp. Then turn over again to brown the tops - being careful to keep the cream cheese in the peppers. Some of it wants to leak out. Turning over with two spoons keeps a great tool in-hand to save the precious semi-liquid.

Broil on high for approximately 3 minutes, keeping a CLOSE eye on them. It's best to not leave the room. They will turn nice and crispy, and the peppers may start to blacken. This means they're done. This means you eat.

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmm....bacon...."
- Homer Simpson

Mini Italian Club Sandwiches

These mini clubs are BEGGING you to eat them. It almost looks like they're smiling at you. "Go ahead, bite me." This isn't so much a recipe, but a how-to post. Really, quite simple, but looks impressive, nonetheless.

Ingredients:

Ciabatta Rolls
Basil Pesto
Thick Sliced Bacon
Oven Roaste Deli Cut Chicken (or turkey)
Aged Provolone
Olive Oil

Directions:

Cook all the bacon you will need first. This is the step that takes the longest. After slicing the ciabattas open, I lightly brushed them with olive oil and toasted them slightly under the broiler. Then, spread pesto on both the top and bottom of rolls. Don't be stingy. This gives the sandwich moisture and extra flavor. Then take your bacon, chicken, provolone (I used 14 month aged from Italy - get at Caputo's!). Don't put too much chicken (or turkey) - you want to keep it thin or the tiny sandwich gets too thick and too tricky to bite.

I then put a toothpick in each quadrant of the roll before I sliced it in fourths. (This will make the mini clubs sit up straight in their chair for the entire party.) Then pile them on a plate, tray, or bowl, and eat! Enjoy!

Ode to the Lunch Ladies...

Okay. So you know those ladies behind the big glass window at lunchtime from your childhood ages of 5 through 17? They are such an enigma. Wearing the hairnets just so. The coordination of the polyester pants with the pink pinstripe aprons (that's what color they were at my elementary school). Creating the good and evil of school lunches around the country every day in the trenches of a smoltering kitchen without air conditioning. Those times have changed, my friend.

I briefly worked at an elementary school and encountered what they call school lunch. I was in shock. Nothing is cooked anymore. Everything is pre-packaged and processed beyond recognition. They slap a "salad bar" in the middle of the floor after you pick up your preservatives (which they call food). They leave it up to the 6-11 year olds to dish up their own vegetables. Yeah. Those wilted scraps weren't going anywhere. Most of the meals I saw entering the mouths (and minds) of our beloved future were thawed versions of Smuckers Uncrustables. (Yeah, because we don't want to even offer our kids the inconvenience of crust.) Virtually nothing is cooked anymore. Just taken out of boxes and thrown on a styrofoam plate. Literally. No cooking. No joy. No mystery.

In homage to those days lost, here is an actual school recipe for cookies. Chocolate chip. Real chocolate. Real eggs. Real sugar. Real yum.

Ingredients:

1.5 cups vegetable shortening (Crisco)
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups granulated sugar
5 eggs
4.5 cups flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
4 teaspoons vanilla
1 12 ounce bag semi sweet chocolate chips (I like to add a little extra, to make them more chocolately.)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350'. Cream shortening and sugars together. (This is where I really enjoy my Kitchenaid mixer.) Add vanilla and eggs and mix thoroughly. Sift flour, salt, and baking soda in medium bowl. Gradually mix in flour mixture until blended. Add chocolate chips.

Make small balls the size of walnuts and place sparaingly on cookie sheet. (I fit one dozen per sheet. I also use my small ice cream scooper to keep them uniform.) Bake at 350' for 14-16 minutes, depending on how dark you like them. Enjoy!

CAUTION: YEILDS 5 DOZ! (proof that this really is a school lunch recipe.)