The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies!

'Tis the season go be jolly, which means a smorgasbord of desserts and other holiday goodies. And there is no perfect treat like a soft, chewy, delicious chocolate chip cookie! This recipe is an adaptation of an adaptation of a Jacques Torres recipe that was published in the New York Times, and is undoubtedly the perfect chocolate chip cookie - the sea salt is really the difference maker!

Ingredients:
-3 2/3 cups of flour (minus two tablespoons)
-1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
-1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
-1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
-2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter
-1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
-1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
-2 large eggs
-2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
-1 1/4 pounds semisweet/bittersweet chocolate chips
-Sea Salt

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

2. Using a mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Drop chocolate chips in and mix into dough thoroughly. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. THIS IS CRUCIAL - YOU MUST CHILL THE DOUGH (NO MATTER HOW TEMPTING IT IS TO SEE IT IN YOUR FRIDGE FOR AT LEAST 36 HOURS FOR ALL THE FLAVORS TO KICK IN! Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.

4. Scoop mounds of dough, the size of generous golf balls, onto baking sheet, sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes to cook. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches .

5. Eat warm! You can always warm it up in the microwave before serving, if made in advance!

Hearty Beef Stew

It's Fall and the weather has cooled off considerably (it has in Chicago... today at least, and on top of it, it's raining) and football is in the air. What better food to make than beef stew? This recipe is a particular favorite of mine and is rich, filling and delicious and just perfect for this time of the year.

Here's what you need (makes 8 very full servings):

• All purpose flour
• 3/4 sticks of butter
  
• 3 pounds of stew beef, with the fat trimmed
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 1/2 can of tomato paste
• 3 cups of red wine (I prefer a Cabernet, whatever you do, don't use cooking wine because good wine just adds to the flavor, so use what you'd usually drink)
  
• 3 1/2 cups of beef broth
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/2 pounds baby red-skinned potatoes, quartered
• baby carrots (I use about 30-45)
  
• 1 zucchini, cut into medium sized pieces (the recipe calls for baby pattypan squash, which I've never even heard of, let alone seen or used)
  
• 1 pound of mushrooms, thickly sliced (the recipe calls for shiitake, but I use the white/cremini mushrooms)
  
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh marjoram or 1 tablespoon dried

Season flour with salt and pepper and then lightly coat the beef with flour. Melt 4 tablespoons butter in heavy large Dutch (emphasis on large; any pot will do, but if it's not large you will get spillage) oven over medium-high heat. Brown the meat in butter and then remove from pot.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in same pot over medium-high heat. Add onions; sauté until tender, and then mix in tomato paste. Add wine and bring to boil, scraping up any browned bits. Add broth and sugar, then beef and and the beef juices. Bring to boil and then reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, for a couple of hours.

Add potatoes and carrots and simmer uncovered. When meat and vegetables are almost tender, add mushrooms and 3 tablespoons marjoram. Continue to simmer until mushrooms are tender. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with french bread.

This stew is best made a day in advance - I guess letting it stew (pun intended) in its juices overnight makes it taste better. Also, it freezes unbelievably well, so I always make a huge batch because it takes so long, but is not extra work to increase volume. Word of caution: this recipe is not slow cooker adaptable, from my experience.

Buckwheat Crepes with Sauteed Vegetables

Buckwheat Crepes:

1 cup lowfat milk

1/3 cup water

3 large eggs

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup buckwheat flour

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Mix together the dry ingredients and set aside. Whisk together the milk, water, eggs. Fold in the dry ingredients, stirring slowly. When all dry ingredients are incorporated, mix in the vegetable oil. Cover, and let chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

While the batter is chilling, chop up the vegetables that you would like to add to your crepe. Sautee vegetables over a medium-low heat until cooked through. For our crepes we used ramps and asparagus from our first CSA delivery of the year.

Heat up a crepe pan and brush with oil or butter. If you don't have a crepe pan, a non-stick skillet works well too. When the oil is heated, pour in about 1/4 cup of the batter. Tilt pan so the batter spreads all around. Cook the crepe until the sides come up easily with a spatula. Flip and cook for about another 30 seconds. Add a couple of spoonfuls of vegetables from your sautee pan, covering half of the crepe. Crack an egg over the vegetables, and flip the other half of the crepe over the egg. Place on a pan in the oven at 250 degrees while you cook your other crepe. Your egg will cook through!

Serve with a side salad, and you've got a tasty nutritious spring meal!

Au Gratin Fish & Potatoes

Syttende Mai is an important holiday for me to celebrate, and every year I like to try something new, while sticking to some of the favorites. This last year I was reminded by my mother that our good friend from Sweden used to make the most amazing creation for Midsommar every year. It was made from pie crust shaped to be a fish, then filled with smoked salmon and other delicious ingredients and baked. I decided to try a variation on the theme: Pie crust shaped like a fish and filled with au gratin salmon and potatoes. What a hit! I couldn't believe how fast we went through this one. The process was a bit lengthy, but I promise it was more than worth the time put into it!

For the crust, I used a typical Pate Brisee:

2 1/2 cups white flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 cup butter, chilled

1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

Mix the flour salt and sugar in a bowl. Cut the butter in to the bowl until the flour and butter mixture has a sort of sandy grainy texture. Add the ice water, 1/4 cup at first, and then more as needed to form a workable dough.

For the filling I used a recipe for potatoes au gratin:

4 cups peeled baking potatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick

2 cups salmon, poached and then flaked into pieces

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp flour

1 3/4 c milk

1 1/4 shredded cheese (a combination of Gruyère and Jarlsberg works great)

3 tbsp Parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp dill

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1 clove garlic

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

Boil potatoes to tender, drain. Melt butter in sauce pan, stir in flour until absorbed. Using a whisk, stir in the milk, cook, stirring until the mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat, stir in 3/4 cup of the cheese, 2 tbsp of Parmesan along with the dill, salt, pepper and garlic. Layer potatoes and salmon with the sauce and top with remaining cheese. Bake in the oven 30-40 minutes. When the au gratin is removed, it will need to cool completely before forming the fish, or the butter in your dough will melt. To make the process go even more easily, both the dough and the au gratin can be prepared and then refrigerated one day in advance.

Assembling the fish:

Divide the dough in half. Roll one half of the dough into an oblong shape on a sheet of parchment paper. Making sure to drain any excess liquid from the au gratin fish and potatoes, spoon it onto the middle of the dough, and shape to look like a teardrop. Roll out the other half of the dough into a teardrop shape, and press down on top of the fish. Press down the edges. When you have finished these steps, it should look like this:

Then, trim the outside of the dough so that a small margin remains, approximately one half to one inch. Crimp the edges together with a fork. From the remaining dough, roll out pieces and shape fins, etc for the fish, whatever sort of embellishments you would like to add! Here's how my fish looked before I put it in the oven:

Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit until the outside of the fish is brown and crisp, around 45 minutes. Garnish with dill and lemon slices and serve! I promise, your guests will be impressed.

A note: A quick way to speed up this recipe would be to buy ready made pie dough, along with some quick au gratin potatoes. If you choose this method, add some extra milk and cheese in order to incorporate the salmon!

Update

It's been over seven months and no posts! It was a busy season for the Midwestern Women, but it is time to begin again! Spring time always brings to mind thoughts of renewal, growth and nourishment. What better time to talk about great food? Please readers, expect to see more in the coming days....

On that note, how is garden planning going for everyone? I'm getting mine mapped out, some seeds started (indoors), and looking forward to getting outside for some planting! This year my new vegetable that I'm going to try to grow will be the artichoke. Has anyone tried to grow them in Minnesota before? We're a few zones north of normal, but I think with some extra TLC it might just work out!