Chocolate & Toffee Chip Cookies

Be warned: I am not an avid chocolate lover. I know, it's embarrassing, but I feel like it's only fair to immediately admit this for your consideration. What I really love is the chewiness of the cookie when it's fresh and warm, and the perfect crunchiness of the cookie with those toffee chips the day after. They're thin and buttery and remind me of Brussels cookies, which I adore. So... that said, adjust chocolate to cookie ratio accordingly.


(adapted from allrecipes after a Google of "fat, chewy cookies")

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup toffee bits

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla and the egg until the mixture is light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended.

Stir in the chocolate chips and toffee bits by hand using a wooden spoon. Gather balls of cookie dough sized about 2 tablespoons and slightly flatten them before pressing them one at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets.

Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Shrimp-Stuffed Baby Portobellos

I love stuffed mushrooms, but I never order them in restaurants because, well, five is simply not enough and when you're out in public, you have to play nice and share. The thought of eating only one stuffed mushroom makes me immensely sad. But LOOK, if you make them yourself, you can eat twenty of them, drink a bottle of wine, and then roll straight into bed. It's a win-win...winwinwin situation. Granted, you'll feel like a sack of melty potatoes for the rest of the evening, but it's a pleasurable pain and perfect for a special occasion.
Like a Wednesday.

Shrimp-Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
Bon Appetit

1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
3 large garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
6 ounces cooked bay shrimp [chopped shrimp works just great as well]
2/3 cup fresh breadcrumbs from French bread
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup mayonnaise
24 baby portobello mushrooms, stems & gills removed

(Breadcrumbs can be made easily by cutting the crust off a few slices of slightly stale or aired-out bread and popping them in the food processor. I thought I could be clever and shorten the process by grating the bread on a cheese grater. This, I promise you, is most definitely not easier or quicker.)

Heat the oil in heavy skillet over medium-high heat.

Add in the onion, basil, garlic, and rosemary. Sauté until onion softens (approximately 5 minutes), and transfer to medium-sized bowl.

Mix in the shrimp, breadcrumbs, cheese, and mayonnaise. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Arrange the mushrooms, top down, on lighoiled baking sheet. Mound shrimp filling in mushrooms, pressing filling to compact slightly. Bake mushrooms until tender and filling begins to brown, about 35 minutes. Serve hot. (Not a problem because they're so delicious you'll want to eat them all before you even get them onto a plate.)

[These can be made 6 hours ahead of time, just cover and refrigerate until ready to bake. MAGIC.]

Grilled Gruyere and Sweet Onions

The new and improved grilled cheese.

Grilled Gruyere and Sweet Onions
(As found on Smitten Kitchen, adapted from Food & Wine)

makes four sandwiches...

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced crosswise (4 cups)
salt and freshly ground pepper
8 1/2-inch-thick slices of whole-grain bread (substituted sourdough)
Dijon mustard
8 ounces imported Gruyère cheese, thinly sliced
2 dill pickles, thinly sliced lengthwise

In a deep skillet, melt the butter in the oil. Add the onion, cover and cook over high heat, stirring once or twice, until softened, about 5 minutes. Uncover and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion is very tender and caramelized, about 25 minutes longer. Add water to the skillet as necessary, 1/4 cup at a time, to prevent the onion from scorching. Season the caramelized onion with salt and pepper.

Arrange the bread on a work surface. Spread a thin layer of mustard on each slice. Top half of the slices with the onion, Gruyère and pickles and close the sandwiches.

Preheat a grill pan or panini press. Grill the sandwiches over low heat until the bread is toasted and the cheese is melted, 5-6 minutes. If using a grill pan, press the sandwiches with a spatula and flip them halfway through. Cut in half and serve right away.

In Honor Of.

Valentine

Not a red rose or a satin heart.

I give you an onion.
It is a moon wrapped in brown paper.
It promises light
like the careful undressing of love.

Here.
It will blind you with tears
like a lover.
It will make your reflection
a wobbling photo of grief.

I am trying to be truthful.

Not a cute card or a kissogram.

I give you an onion.
Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips,
possessive and faithful
as we are,
for as long as we are.

Take it.
Its platinum loops shrink to a wedding-ring,
if you like.

Lethal.
Its scent will cling to your fingers,
cling to your knife.

--Carol Ann Duffy

Fresh

Since I hate the taste of water (yes, it has a taste), I try to drink as little of it as possible, except when in the ocean, where I always manage to drink enormous quantities of it, enjoying as I do the subtle hints of fresh seaweed and baby pee. This general aversion means that, from time to time, I have sudden and overwhelming cravings for "fresh". "Fresh", being distinctly different from "healthy", can be satisfied with a salad (mandatory 1:25, leaf:more delicious things ratio), sushi, or Otter Pops.

I chose salad yesterday.

I know you can throw just about anything over cold veggies and call it a salad, but I think I've hit upon a pretty excellent one.

Strawberry and Avocado Salad

Ingredients:
8-10 large strawberries, hulled and sliced
1/2 avocado, diced
3 radishes, diced
2 slices of Canadian bacon, diced
a handful of grape tomatoes
mixed baby greens (or baby spinach)
a dash of lemon juice
a mandarin-based salad dressing (I used Brianna's Ginger Mandarin)

Toss and serve. (For 2. I just eat twice as much.)

Chocolate Tart with Fresh Strawberries

Sweet Tart Dough (Pate Sucree)
from Paris Sweets by Dorie Greenspan

Makes enough for three 9-inch tart crusts. To be used with sweet dessert tarts.

Ingredients:
2.5 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1.5 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup ground blanched almonds (I substituted 1 tbsp of almond extract)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Blend the butter in a food processor or in a large bowl with a handheld mixer until creamy. Add the confectioners’ sugar blend well. Add in the ground almonds, salt, and vanilla, and continue to process until smooth.

Lightly beat the eggs in a separate bowl and, with the machine running, add them to the work bowl. Once well-blended, add the flour and pulse until the mixture just starts to come together. When the dough begins to look like cornmeal and begins to clump into a ball, stop. The dough will be extremely soft.

Gather the dough into a ball and divide it into 3 pieces. Gently flatten each into a disk and wrap each disk in plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rest in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, or for up to 2 days, before rolling and baking. It can also be kept for much longer in the freezer.

When making the pie crust, it is easiest to roll it out between sheets of plastic (Freezer size Ziploc bags work really great, or even just plastic wrap). Turn the dough over often while rolling and lift the sheets of plastic occasionally so they don’t crease. If the dough becomes too soft to work with, just slip it with the plastic onto a baking sheet and refrigerate for a few minutes.

Carefully remove one sheet of the plastic and flip the dough over the tart pan, so that the dough is centered with the exposed side facing down. Remove the other sheet of plastic and press the dough firmly against the bottom of the pan and up against the sides. (Be careful not to stretch the dough out). Roll your rolling pin across the rim of the pan to cut off the excess.

Chill for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

To par-bake the crust, preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the crust with parchment paper and fill with dried beans or pie weights.

Bake the crust for 20 to 25 minutes. If the crust needs to be fully baked, remove the parchment and beans and bake the crust for another 3 to 5 minutes, or until golden. Transfer to a rack to cool.


Chocolate Tart Filling

Ingredients:
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
10 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature

Fully bake one tart shell, and lower the oven temperature to 325°F.

To make the filling, heat the heavy cream and milk in a saucepan over medium-low heat, until it simmers slightly around the edges. Remove from heat.

Add in the chocolate and stir until melted and smooth. Add the sugar and salt and whisk. Beat the eggs in a small bowl and add them to the chocolate mixture. Stir until completely blended.

Pour the filling into the cooled tart shell and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the filling is set and the surface is glossy. If you see any bubbles or cracks forming on the surface, remove the tart immediately (overbaked). Let cool before topping with fresh sliced strawberries.