The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

I made, hands down the Best chocolate chip cookies ever, yesterday! The recipe comes from one of my favorite baking cook books called "Baked". The book was written by two guys who grew up in the south but they moved to Brooklyn and opened the best bakery in Red Hook, Brooklyn. So, all the recipes in their book are all very home made with a southern flair to them. They are all the classic desserts you grew up with but 100 times better! The chocolate chip cookie recipe I had made once before, but I had failed to read the recipe all the way through before I started and realized that I was supposed to refrigerate the cookie dough for 6 hours before baking! So, the first time I made these they tasted great but they were very flat and crunchy, which is not a bad thing, they just weren't how the "Baked" guys described them to be. They were supposed to be a little crisp on the outside and soft in the centers. Which is how I love my cookies. After the somewhat failed attempt the first go around, I decided to try them again yesterday since we had a BBQ to attend and my job was to bring the dessert. This time I let the dough sit in the refrigerator for about 3 1/2 hours, which definitely made a huge difference. Although there was a little bit of a mishap with the baking, the recipe says to place the dough balls on the cookie sheet 1 inch apart, which I did, but when they were baking they all started to melt into each other to form one large cookie! So, needless to say some of the edges didn't get crisp, and they made for a very interesting shape cookie! But they tasted phenomenal and were a big hit at the BBQ. So, here is the recipe:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened (I know what your thinking this is a lot of butter but this recipe does make a lot of cookies and the butter is what makes these cookies so soft and gooey)
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 2/3 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I like to use bitter sweet chips and I don't use all 2 2/3 cups, I find that about 2 1/3 cups is just enough chocolate otherwise it gets a little too chocolaty)
In a large bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and baking soda together and set aside.
In another large bowl, beat the butter and sugars together until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated. The mixture will look light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and beat for 5 seconds.
Add half the flour mixture and mix for 15 seconds. Add the remaining flour mixture and beat until just incorporated.
Using a spatula or wooden spoon, fold in the chocolate chips. Cover the bowl tightly and put in the refrigerator for 6 hours (I only did it for 3 1/2 hours).
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a tablespoon scoop out the dough and form into a ball with your hands and place on the prepared baking sheets. Space them 2 inches apart or they will melt into each other if they are too close. Bake for 12-14 minutes, rotating the pans once during the cooking time, until the edges of the cookies are golden brown and the tops just start to darken.
Remove the pan from the oven and cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Use a spatula to remove the cookies and place on the wire rack to finish cooling.
*The note in the cookbook says that you can make the dough and leave it in the fridge for up to 5 days and bake it off in small batches anytime you want warm, fresh from the oven cookies!

Beef Soft Tacos

Ever since my husband and I moved to Austin, we seem to have taco night at least once a week. We never did this when we lived in Brooklyn, I guess its because you can't get good tortillas in Brooklyn and we didn't have a grill. I think the key to good beef tacos is grilling your meat. It gives the meat a nice crust and the flavor is just so much more intense. But you can certainly make this dish if you don't have a grill. We have done it before..just heat the meat in a hot skillet and brown it on all sides and then put it in the oven at 400 degrees to finish cooking.
We like to build our tacos with home made flour tortillas from (Central Market or HEB) guacamole, fresh tomatoes, shredded green cabbage, and salsa Verde from (Central Market).
For the meat:
1 skirt steak or flank steak (we prefer the skirt steak cause it has more fat on it, therefore is a little more tender and has more flavor)
Dry Rub: we use a prepackaged product called John Henry's East Texas Apple Chipotle seasoning. It is great! But if you don't have this you can make your own dry rub with
equal parts salt, brown sugar,paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper and cumin. Mix it all together and rub into the meat very generously.
Cook on a hot grill until done about 20 minutes.
For the Guacamole:
2 ripe avocado's, mashed
1 lime, juiced
1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
1 jalapeno, finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
Mix everything together.

Slice your meat and build your tacos! Enjoy!

Shakshuka

We were introduced to this North African dish by our good friends Kasey and Scott. The first time we ate it was at a Middle Eastern restaurant in Brooklyn. From that point on we fell in love with this tomato and egg dish. This dish was brought to Israel mainly by the Tunisian Jews after the Jewish exodus from the Arab lands. It is a great dish for brunch and we even love to eat it for a quick dinner. There are many variations to this dish, but here is the recipe that we used:
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4-1/2 onion, chopped (depends on how oniony you want it)
1 tablespoon olive oil plus more for drizzling
1/2 cup crushed tomatoes
1 fresh tomato chopped
1/2 teaspoon of harissa (this is a little hard to find in the grocery store, you will find it at Whole Foods, but if you can't find it, I would just use your favorite hot sauce)
4 eggs
coarse salt and pepper to taste
serve with a nice warm bread (pita or crusty loaf)

In a skillet saute the garlic and onion in the olive oil, until onions are fragrant and translucent. Add crushed tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, Harissa, and cook the sauce down on medium low heat for about 10 minutes. Add the eggs cracked directly into the pan. Drizzle olive oil lightly over them and add salt and pepper. Cover and cook for 5-7 minutes until egg whites are opaque.
This recipe serves 2.

Lemon Bars

I grew up eating lemon bars that my grandma made and they were one of my favorite desserts. Once I found out that I was lactose intolerant I thought they were out of the picture for me. But I found a recipe from one of my fellow blogger's sweetcakesbakeshop.blogspot.com/, so we tried it out last night. They are so tart and buttery, my mouth starts to water just writing this. Oh, and I forgot to mention they are the easiest dessert to make!
Here is the recipe:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup and 3 tablespoons confectioner's sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup fresh lemon juice
confectioner's sugar for dusting
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and 8x8 inch baking pan.
Combine the flour, confectioner's sugar, and butter. Pat dough into prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes, until slightly golden. While the crust is baking, whisk together eggs, granulated sugar, flour, and lemon juice until frothy. Pour this lemon mixture over the hot crust.
Return to the oven and bake for another 20 minutes, or until light golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Dust the top with confectioner's sugar. Cut into squares.

Spanish Chicken with Saffron and Almond Sauce

Last night we made this chicken dish that we had never made before. I got the recipe from Elle Magazine and the recipe was written by Tamasin Day-Lewis (Daniel Day-Lewis's sister). She is a cookbook author and I had never heard of her until I saw this article. This recipe we tried was packed with flavor and I would definitely make it again. Although at first glance it seems a little complicated but I have to say it was well worth it. The recipe follows:
Saffron threads
1 cup chicken stock, heated
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
3 sliced garlic cloves
1 thick slice stale bread, crusts removed
1 whole chicken, cut into 8-pieces
2 whole cloves, crushed
Dash nutmeg
1/2 cup Fino sherry
Sprig of bay leaves
Leaves of 4 thyme sprigs
36 whole blanched almonds (the recipe calls for Marcona almonds, but these are very expensive so we opted for plain old almonds) coarsely ground in a blender
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
spritz of lemon juice
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Soak saffron threads in a ladleful of the hot stock. Heat olive oil and garlic in a large skillet. Before it browns, remove garlic and set aside. Fry bread in same oil until browned. Place aside with the garlic. Season chicken with salt and pepper and sprinkle with nutmeg and crushed cloves. Add to skillet with a dash more oil if needed. Brown on all sides (about 20 minutes). Remove, then add remaining stock to skillet with sherry (please make sure to take the pan off the heat before you add the sherry, we almost set the house on fire!) Scrape to deglaze the pan. Let liquids bubble. Return the chicken back to the skillet. Add the finger crushed bay leaves and thyme. Simmer covered for 10 minutes. Meanwhile in a blender put the garlic, bread, stock with saffron, almonds, and parsley and pulse until it forms a sauce. You might have to add a little more chicken stock to get the saucy consistency. Add the sauce to the chicken and stir with juices. Cover and put in the oven for 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked all the way through. Add the spritz of lemon. Serve with Basmati rice.

Sausage and Sundried Tomato Pasta

One of our favorite chefs is Mario Batali, we have been to three of his restaurants in NYC and they are all outstanding! If you've never tried his food before you are definitely missing out. It is authentic Italian cuisine that makes your mouth water just thinking about it. We bought his cookbook Malto Italiano and have tried numerous recipes and they have all been wonderful. One in particular that we like to make is the Pasta with Sausage and Sun dried tomatoes. It is simple and has minimal ingredients and is great for a quick and easy dinner at home. We have adapted the recipe slightly according to what's available in our supermarket. The recipe follows:
6 cloves garlic, sliced
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
1 pound sweet Italian sausage, remove from casings
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
6 sun dried tomatoes, sliced
1/4 to 1/2 cup of white wine
6 tablespoons of tomato paste
1 tablespoon of chopped fresh basil
1 pound wide pasta, we use a pasta that looks like lasagna noodles but about 3/4" wide, but you can use a fettuccine or paparadelle.
In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium high heat, add the garlic and cook until it starts to turn golden brown. Add the sausage meat to the pan and cook until cooked through. Add the salt and pepper to taste. Add the sun dried tomatoes, white wine, and tomato paste and cook until all combined and the wine reduces down. Turn the heat off.
Meanwhile fill a large pot with water and place on high heat with the lid on, until water starts to boil. Salt the water and add your pasta, cook according to package instructions. Reserve about 1/4 cup of the pasta water before you drain the pasta.
Add the drained pasta to the large skillet with the sausage mixture and toss with a little bit of the starchy pasta water. Add the chopped basil and toss one more time. Now its ready to serve!

Grilled Chicken Sandwich

Last night we wanted to do something really simple and light, since we had been eating out for the past couple of days. So, we made grilled chicken breasts and a nice chopped salad and put it all on a yummy ciabatta roll with some herb mayo. I have to say it was pretty delicious!
To make the chicken breast:
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast
1 teaspoon of granulated garlic
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 tablespoon of butter
4 ciabatta sandwich rolls, toasted
Take the chicken breast and slice in half lengthwise, that way you have a thinner piece of meat and you get more bang for your buck! Pound the chicken until about 1/4" thick. Rub the chicken breast on both sides with the spices. Heat the butter and olive oil in a large skillet on medium high heat, until the butter is bubbling. Add the chicken breasts and cook for about 6 min. on one side until it forms a nice browned crust. Turn the chicken over and cook for another 6 minutes.
Set aside to cool. Slice the breast on the bias to get flatter pieces for your sandwich.

For the salad: (we used a similar salad in the Valentine's dinner entry)
1/2 head of red leaf lettuce, chopped
1/2 cup of cherry tomatoes, chopped
1/2 English cucumber, chopped
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon of capers, chopped
For the dressing:
1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
1/2 lemon juiced
2 teaspoons of red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
4 to 5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
In a large salad bowl combine the lettuce,tomatoes, cucumber, parsley, and capers. In a small bowl whisk together the ingredients for the dressing. Pour the dressing over the vegetables and toss the salad until all combined.

For the herb mayo:
1/4 cup of mayo
1/2 lemon juiced
1/2 teaspoon of fresh thyme chopped
1/2 teaspoon of fresh marjoram chopped
1 tablespoon of fresh flat leaf parsley chopped
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.

To put the sandwich together, take the toasted ciabatta rolls and slather the herb mayo on one side. Take the sliced chicken and place on the roll, then top the chicken with the chopped salad. Put the other side of the roll on top and slice in half. And it is ready to eat!