Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

Jeanne has a birthday today!

What better way to salute her than to dig out two outre Barbies in their tutus and puffy galore coats, and let them share an exceedingly rich chocolate chip cookie in Jeanne's honor? You're never too old to play with the possibilities. 

I must say I forgot how you have to pull Miss Barbie's arms behind her back to get her coat on. And what's with that thumb, so far apart from the other fingers that I had to pull a few strings to get her hands through. A doll's life. . . 

Jeanne, for your special day, we have a crackling fire going here at Singing Wheat Kitchen and a batch of chocolate chip cookies tinged by the addition of vinegar, which is said to trim the sweetness. It also reacts with the sodium bicarbonate in the leavening to get a shapelier result.

This is one playful cookie.

Cheers, doll.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

When did red velvet cupcakes take over New York City? They seemed all the rage when Jeanne and I were there for a food writers' conference. As we glided down Bleecker Street, we asked locals for directions to a great cupcake. They sent us to a nearby bakery, where the smiling wait staff claimed their best seller is the red velvet cupcake. I expressed deep concern. I thought red velvet was a Southern confection, but stories abound that the Waldorf has a signature version.

At the bakery, we had high hopes as we toasted each other in a bottom's up sort of way. We bit in to the creamy white icing, and to our dismay, it tasted like it had been made with Crisco. It had a slick texture and it wasn't sweet enough. We tossed it and vowed to find a better one.

You can read up on red velvet history in The New York Times, which had this to say on Valentine's Day in 2007:  "More than 20 bakeries now sell red velvet cake or cupcakes, threatening to end the long reign of the city’s traditional favorites, cheese cake and dark chocolate blackout." Oh my goodness, how did it do that? (And what is a dark chocolate blackout?)

The Times article mentions two bakeries, both of which we happened to visit. It's probably not big-hearted of me to say which one had the regrettable icing. Maybe we hit the place on a day when they needed an "extender" to ensure they had enough icing for all their cupcakes. I don't know.

Bethenny Frankel has a tasty version in her new book SkinnyGirl Dish. She uses beet juice in replacement for food coloring, but keep in mind you will not get that fabulous red color without a dye job. I made a batch so I could inform Jeanne of this new discovery in the cupcake quest.

You may have noticed that I placed my cupcake on top of an antique bulldog doorstop. Why, you ask? Are you looking for meaning or for folk art?

Hey, I just make up this life as it comes to me. It happens one delicious moment at a time.

Onion Bialys

When two kitchen ceiling fans are whirling and I am madly swinging one of those big round strainers to help shove the smoke out the window, you know I'm having a fabulous time in Singing Wheat Kitchen. Kosher salt is falling into the stove burner, onions are sweating in the pan and the fire alarm should go off any second, but if nobody sees all this action a la Charlie Chaplin as the baker, then it's not a bad milieu.

If you crank up your oven to 500 degrees, there's a good chance you'll make a roomful of smoke if anything has landed on the bottom of the oven, like tomato sauce or feta cheese that crept over the pizza dough and rolled off the baking stone a while back. These are the incidents that give your kitchen elan.

It was Nell Newman who got me thinking about onion bialys and how she used to get them at Oscar's Deli in Westport. The flavor, the sensation of sweet carmelized onions against the cracked pepper and soft dough, the density of the crumb, sheer heaven.

I had some onions on hand and it looked like snow, so I dug in and started a batch. I used a recipe from the big book "Baking With Julia," but if you don't have that one (and I wish you did), you can check out the online recipe from King Arthur Flour, which is the brand of flour I like to mess with.

I think it cost me a job selling bread at a major fancy market when the head baker did not share my preference. Stuck on tradition if you ask me. That's another story.

If you use the KAF recipe, please don't use dehydrated onions for the top of the bread. Just add about 2 tablespoons of oil to the frying pan, mince at least a cup of fresh onion and then saute it for about 3-5 minutes. There's your topping and it will be better.

You can make great bialys in one day - and notice, I didn't use poppy seeds, owing to not having them on hand and refusing to flee the scene of all that smoke.

Smoke's a flavor enhancer, isn't it?

Snow job

You go, Mama Mia. You put me to shame with your active postings. Will I ever catch up? Daughter Lindsey and beau are coming tonite so just about to brave yet another blizzard to finally get groceries. About 5 inches of snow. More on Sunday.

Last two of my precious homegrown butternut squash will be roasted for an attempt at butternut squash lasagna. Wish me luck. Ground turkey and local Italian sausage plucked from the freezer for chili. Cooking up for hungry family coming home for the weekend. Weather permitting.

Spaghetti for Popeye

I was reclining in the back seat of a cab in New York City, staring at the small TV screen with the canned content. We weren't taking the nostalgic route that goes by the UN, so rather than look at the architecture, I just let the drone of the message pull me in. The subject was: You can cook meals at home by pulling things out of your fridge, freezer or pantry. It's a journey of discovery.

Um, really? Isn't that how it gets done in much of the country?  

At my house, you open the fridge, see that you have some baby spinach and go from there. Grab some leftover basil leaves, some garlic, a little Parmesan, tomatoes, olive oil, and you're en route to spaghetti sauce. 

Inspired by an early Moosewood Restaurant recipe called "Mondo Bizarro Sauce," I arrived  at this version:

Popeye's Spaghetti Sauce

In a blender, puree the following:

5 cloves garlic
10 leaves fresh basil or 2 Tablespoons dried basil
2 cups tomato puree
1/2 pound fresh baby spinach, stems removed
1/2 cup fresh parsley, stems removed
1/3 cup olive oil
3/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan or Romano
1/2 can tomato paste
salt and pepper to taste

After mixture has been blended, heat gently, then toss with hot pasta.

The green color from the spinach and red from the tomatoes make a muddy color for the sauce, but when you're hungry and in no mood for mincing around, this sauce goes together quicker than a cab ride from the UN to the Waldorf.

What to Read When Hungry (and need a recipe)

There's a book coming out in April called Spoon Fed: How Eight Cooks Saved My Life by New York Times food writer Kim Severson.

She has her cooks; I have my Bon Appetit magazines, more than eight of them, tilting toward the sun on a  surface just above the ancient General Electric double-sided oven in Singing Wheat Kitchen.

Severson got me thinking about why this magazine has a natural place in my soul.

Take my all-time favorite issue (see above). I bought it off the rack because it had a great cover - the cheerful image of Archie and Betty, a sizzling hamburger, a simple headline, "The Good Old Summertime." Ever notice how many magazines are peppered with blurbs so thick you can't see a glimmer of trout through all that type?

Inside this issue, you find a piece on swizzle sticks. It's wonderful and nostalgic, especially since we rarely see a good stick anymore. Next page, there's a story on ice cream parlors, not just any story but a reference guide on where to find them from Hollywood to Houston.

I like the olive-basil sauce in the column "Honey, I Forgot the Guests." This is the sauce that goes on my pain l'ancienne.

In the "Desserts for Summer" spread is one of the best pies I've ever enjoyed making and finishing off, a raspberry pie. I'm also a repeat offender on the Sweet-and-Sour Pork, Wyoming Style, the Chocolate Caramel Oat Squares (which I've mentioned before) and the Baked Chili Cheese Corn from the "Rollin' on the River" spread.

You'll find flour, cumin, garlicky papers and oily finger marks all over the Cooking Class pages that describe how to make Spicy Fried Chicken - which is now the only way I make it in Singing Wheat Kitchen.

In fact, my "Summertime" issue is so caked with traces of ingredients, so dog-eared, so tattered, it should be hidden where I keep Daisy's card table linens with the embroidered Oriental lanterns. But that's the hitch, isn't it? I use it too much to hide it. I have a similar affection for the December 1999 issue with the gorgeous cranberry tart on the cover, the September 1999 issue on "The American Century in Food" and the March "Comfort Food 2000" issues with the chocolate-toffee cookies. Oh, Bon Appetit has my number, they really do. And just perhaps, here's why.

Barbara Fairchild, the Editor in Chief, explained the magazine's raison d'etre at the Roger Smith Food Writers' Conference over Valentine's Day Weekend in New York.

The magazine's credo? Classic recipes with a sophisticated twist and "approachable, approachable, approachable," accessibility, she told her audience. That means there are recipes you can handle while learning, seeing and maybe trying something new, expanding your tasteful horizons. You'll never see a recipe that's two or more pages; you will see recipes that, well let me just say, I'm staring at the chocolate-toffee cookies right now and feeling transported, just by the sight of these fudgey clusters. I can smell them baking without even trying, I think I may need to exit here and go make a batch.

At no other point in our U.S. history has food, especially good food, been so much a part of the cultural conversation as much as it is in France, Italy, Spain and Asia, Fairchild says. Many more Americans are engaged with food at all different levels, whether it's worrying about childhood obesity, getting a healthful and delicious meal on the table every night or deciding what to make when your friends gather.

This magazine provides escape and entertainment as rich as Betty's milkshake.

And from where I stir, the ingredients for a tasteful life.

What to Read When Hungry

Jeanne and I have just returned from the Roger Smith Food Writers' Conference in New York City with a list for you. The category is "Turning Your Life and Food Into a Best Seller," and if you've already consumed Under the Tuscan Sun and A Year in Provence, here's what successful subject matter experts like Mimi Sheraton, Kathleen Flinn, Betty Fussell and Monica Bhide suggest:

Between Meals: An Appetite for Paris by A.J. Liebling

Letters to a Young Chef (Art of Mentoring) by Daniel Boulud

Mediterranean Summer by David Shalleck

An Embarrassment of Mangoes: A Caribbean Interlude by Ann Vanderhoof

A Pig in Provence: Good Food and Simple Pleasures in the South of France by Georgeanne Brennan

Sheraton, Flinn, Fussell and Bhide also have numerous works to their credit, so follow the links on their names above.

Feed your spirit!

Feeling Coltish About the Saints

 

Super Bowl Forty-Four has a delicious matchup, does it not? The Indy Colts led by N'awlins son Peyton Manning, going up against those "Les Bon Temps Rouler" N'awlins Saints with Drew Brees.

Delicious, I say, because when you can route for either team to get the V, you can focus on other  important game time elements - like what to serve your gathered fans. I'm routing for Peytie because he was QB at my alma mater, Tennessee, and deserved that Heisman Trophy no matter whom you ask. The voters got it wrong. There, I said it.

On the other hand, I'm routing for Drew because I interviewed him once when he was at San Diego, and he had the stuff that dreams are made of. Just by his demeanor, I knew he had great things ahead of him. He seemed so at ease, laughing at my jokes, jawing about SEC football and passing me his football to hold when I stood next to him for a photo. What a good guy. I remember him saying, "I'm a pretty fun-loving guy. I have the personality to get along with just about anybody. Obviously, I love sports. Walking in the park and seeing guys throwing the football around or hitting a baseball, I'll say, 'Hey, mind if I join you?'" 

As it turned out, he joined the Saints.

Drew's had some nutritional issues over the years and is a big believer in identifying any lurking potential food allergies, then making adjustments. Seems appropriate, then, to serve up party dips that make adjustments in fat and calories but still taste like winners.

Bethenny Frankel's new book SkinnyGirl Dish has several dip recipes that I'm trying out for the game, including the Guilt Free Artichoke and Spinach Dip and the Simply Irresistible Blue Cheese Dip.

According to her book, she created the Blue Cheese Dip, a Lemon Basil Hummus and a Spicy Chipotle Dip  as healthful, low-fat options for the Pepperidge Farm Baked Naturals' line of crackers. Frankel is a big believer in taste, so don't expect bowls of glop that make your spirits soggy. Super Bowl Sunday is all about creating and sustaining excitement - the food should do the same, without the downside.

Just spread a table with crackers, chips, bread and raw veggies, along with the dips, and victory is yours.

Allons danser!

Going By the Manual

 

Is this a time machine or what? Know what it is? It's a 1920s Remington manual typewriter, completely restored to its original form and function, thanks to the caring hands of the Mr. Wizard's Electronics company in Austin, Texas. Here's how the typewriter ended up in my hands. 

My grandfather Curtis Morris was a lobbyist for the natural gas industry. His assignments took him from Longview, Texas, to Austin, where he lived at The Driskill Hotel when visiting the Capitol nearby. Then it was on to Washington, D.C. during the Truman administration. We have handwritten letters from him to my grandmother, Daisy, describing his need for a typewriter to improve the flow of correspondences with politicians of the day. His office sent him the one you see here, so it was a used model even when he got it.

A sidebar here: One of my favorite stories from the early days was that Curtis taught school at San Marcos State Teachers College. At the school was a tall young man who did the janitorial work. His name was Lyndon Johnson. "After that, Curtis always said, 'You better be nice to the boy who sweeps out. He may grow up to be president,'" Daisy told us.

Back on topic: We also have many of the typed letters that followed after he got the typewriter. There's history here that he played a role in, but if I get into the Tidelands controversy and Texas' right to offshore lands as properties of Texas, not the U.S. government, your eyes may glass over. It's enough to say that he really did need a typewriter, and this is the one he had. 

Using this typewriter, my grandfather described his impressions of the hippie demonstrations going on outside their apartment windows on Connecticut Avenue, the reaction to Kennedy's assassination, as well as Martin Luther King's and the rioting that followed. "We were under martial law," Daisy remembers. "There were Jeeps with soldiers and pointed guns. I don't ever want to do that again."

After Daisy departed this earth at the age of 103, I found the manual on a shelf in her office. I was immediately attracted to the typewriter's size - a real portable, no cords or electronics - a yellowish look of the keys that I imagine Hemingway would have poured over in similar fashion, very 1920s. A true time machine.

I thought I could just dust it off and start writing, but it was more complicated than that. I didn't even know how to engage the keys; there's a level that lifts them up to begin their work. I found Mr. Wizard's while surfing the Net for anyone who would know how to handle technology of this age, and I was not disappointed. The company had special parts cut and made so the rollers would work, and all kinds of inner things I didn't even understand. I just knew I wanted to write with it.

Intriguingly, the company tells me that the typewriter fascinated some 20-somethings who had never seen this kind of machine before. They marveled at the sound the keys made, the ding of the bell at the end of the line, everything about it was a mystery to them. In no way is this the kind of vehicle on which you can drill your way to 20 pages an hour. It's slow going, because the keys can bunch up if you hit them too fast. It takes patience and willingness to peck each letter, but it feels worth it. Something about slowing down forces you to think through every word, discarding the extraneous as you go.

There's something about the recycling factor, too. Why would I toss this machine in the landfill when for less than $200, I can relive what it was like to be a Man of Letters in Washington as history unfolded?

Plenty of recipes ended up being typed on this machine, too. I feel the need to clack, so I'll exit here and move over there to the manual, with keys made before the invention of the exclamation mark!

It's Chocolate Monday

Hats off to my lunch partner, Chris, who had no hesitation imagining that of course we should dash around the corner to a new purveyor of richness, Dude Sweet Chocolate. The shop is tucked away in the Bishop Arts area of Oak Cliff just West of downtown Dallas, and oh golly, gee damn, as Holly Golightly might say, it was a wonderful decision.

Does the thrill of discovery begin the moment we read about it in Paper City? When we find the door is open, even on a "closed for business" gray sky Monday? Or is it the instant a free sample of chocolate sits down, very nicely, on the tongue and whispers "love me?"  For my taste buds, it was all of the above, and I wanted to take one of everything in this fascinating place.

Katherine Clapner is a local, independent chocolatier who's doing some unusual flavor combinations, like The Great Depression (roasted beet, Texas olive oil) and Tahitian (passion fruit and citrus salt). While I examined one of her colorful Depression samples straight from a wine cooler, she mused on working 20 years with Stephan Pyles, one of the godfathers of New Texas Cuisine in our area. I mentioned that I used to enjoy going to his cooking classes, especially the Thanksgiving ones, and she told me that she was right beside him, doing the desserts.

I wanted to stay and play with this amiable dudette, but her store was closed, after all, so I promised to come back to finish my sweet train of thought on a better day. I'm always on the prowl for a wonderful new chocolate to nestle into croissant dough, and Katherine's shop (it opened Dec. 5) has much more to reveal.

There is a website, but it's down at the moment. Keep an eye out for dudesweetchocolate.com. Right now you can get the store address and sign up for email notifications.

Word of mouth: Delicious

(Photo: Assorted Dude Sweet Chocolates on Depression Glass in Singing Wheat Kitchen, by John H. Ostdick)