blue artichoke

I've been looking for an excuse to make another pumpkin cheesecake and pawn it off on other people. Tonight a friend had a Mexican Halloween dinner party, so I showed up with a Spicy Pumpkin Cheesecake. Gentleman Caller said I should call it a flan to fit with the Mexican theme. Better a flan disguised as a cheesecake. Anyway, the cheesecake was so good one guy said it almost made him cry. Was he just being polite? I think I'd be taken aback if someone actually burst into tears over my cooking. I must admit, though, that I wasn't true to the recipe. It called for a store-bought graham cracker crust and Cool Whip topping. That's just too easy for Blue Artichoke, so I borrowed the excellent crust from the Bourbonless Pumpkin Cheesecake and made my own pumpkin-spiced whipped cream topping. Mmm. I followed the recipe for the pumpkin filling. I had my doubts because it was so plain and easy, but GC thought it a good combination of pumpkin pie and cheesecake, which, really, is what a pumpkin cheesecake should be. The Spicy Pumpkin Cheesecake is the leading frontrunner. Cheesecakes are so much harder to give away than cookies.

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 11:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Gentleman Caller is out getting raunchy with the boys and I'm sitting home on a Friday night, hanging out with my blog. It is just as it should be. The blog never makes me listen to loud music and feel awkward for not dancing in a crowd of hippies. I don't even have to dress up or put on makeup. That's why we're such good friends.

Since my last post, about an hour ago and yesterday, I have been looking through the rest of my chocolate chip cookie recipes and have been able to weed out several. One I had tried long ago and written an unfavorable review. The recipe used a cake mix and I thought the cookies were too cakey and had a sharp texture that was painful. Felt "grating... like sandpaper against the roof of my mouth," I noted. Painful cookies, I think, can be eliminated without further review. Another recipe explicitly specified margarine. I never use margarine, so I never have it on hand. It also called for "butter flavoring." What's that? Why not just use butter? One very important quality of the Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie is that I can usually find all of the necessary ingredients in my cupboards. And, finally, I realized there were a few duplicate recipes, with different names. For example, the recipe on the bag of Ghirardelli chocolate chips (Batch #4, my favorite so far) is the same recipe as the one on the package of Tollhouse chocolate chips! Sneaky. But I'm wise to the ruse.

I've also decided to categorize the recipes and pick a winner in each category. The categories are: plain chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and chocolate chip cookies with other additions (cranberries, cocoa, specialty nuts, etc.) These categories are necessary. I've learned from reading reader reviews on some cooking magazine websites that oatmeal emphatically does not belong in a chocolate chip cookie. I, myself, quite enjoy oats in my cookie, but can see why purists oppose such an addition. I've tested 9 of the plain chocolate chip recipes; I have 11 to go. Then on to Round Two.

I should be tracking how much weight I'm probably gaining.

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 12:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I made two more batches of cookies today, but there was so much variation in the resulting cookies because of cooking times that it is more like five batches of cookies. It is so difficult to pick a favorite. Gentleman Caller and I keep sampling cookies. We must be fair to the cookies.

Batch #8 "Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies"
This recipe came off the butter flavor Crisco packaging. It differs from the other recipes by using all Crisco (of course) and no butter. It also calls for milk. The recipe gives a range of baking times: 8-10 minutes for chewy cookies or 11-13 minutes for crisp cookies. Also, instead of cooling on racks, the recipe specified cooling the cookies on a sheet of aluminum foil on the kitchen counter. I disobeyed and cooled them on foil on the dining room table. Whoops.
Batch 8A: Cooked for exactly 8 minutes. Looked slightly underdone, very light color. Cookies kept their shape. Gooey when warm, soft and chewy when cooled. Good flavor.
Batch 8B: Cooked exactly 10 1/2 minutes. Lightly browned and cracked/pitted tops. Also kept their shape. Little bit crispy, but also soft and chewy. Good flavor. Gentleman Caller called this the "Jack-of-all-trades of cookies" because it appeals to those who like soft and chewy and those that like crispy. I liked this one best of the three Batch #8 varieties, and enough to send to the next round.
Batch 8C: Cooked exactly 13 minutes. Golden brown with a smooth surface. These cookies also kept their shape nicely. Both crispy and chewy. Good flavor. This was Gentleman Caller's favorite of the Batch #8 cookies.

Batch #9 "White House Chocolate Chip Cookies"
This recipe came from a cookbook called Dessert University, written by the White House executive pastry chef. I don't own the book, so I'm not sure where I originally came across the recipe. It specifies use of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. I have one, so that's no problem. But a hand mixer would do just as well. Once the batter has been mixed, you have to refrigerate the dough for an hour. You can freeze the dough at this point, for as long as one month. I refrigerated it for an hour, on the dot. The unique ingredient in this recipe is molasses. Ah, molasses. I had already started mixing and combining ingredients when I discovered I had no more molasses. Aack. Dedicated to the Snackdown, I changed out of my pajamas and went to the grocery store, totally abandoning my plan to remain pj-clad all day long. I hope you appreciate the sacrifices I make for my self-imposed cookie conquest. Molasses in hand, I resumed the snackdown. After mixing and refrigerating, the batter had to be shaped and flattened by hand into the proper cookie shape. I baked one tray for 8 minutes (the minimum time) and one for 10 minutes (maximum amount of time). Again, with very different results. What a difference two minutes makes.
Batch 9A: Cooked 8 minutes. Looks exactly like a cookie should. Golden brown color with a slightly darker middle where the chocolate chips melted and spread out a bit. The cookie kept its shape and the molasses flavor is very distinctive. Gentleman Caller thought it was interesting, in a good way, and liked it enough to add to his top three favorites so far.
Batch 9B: Cooked 10 minutes. Dark golden brown, a little too dark in the way that looks like I forgot about them in the oven and remembered just as they were on the brink of burning. Crispy texture; molasses flavor, interestingly, is not very apparent.

So far, GC has picked Batches 1, 7 & 9A to move to the next round. I have picked Batches 4 & 8B. Batches 2, 3, 5 & 6 are losers.

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 10:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's What Pay-Per-View Didn't Want You To See!

I started classes again on Monday. In an attempt to keep this blog from turning into a rant about the state of education today, I’m beginning a new theme. Past themes have included the cooking school era and my restaurant days (significantly less interesting than Kitchen Confidential, the book and the tv show). New theme, as you can see by the new tagline, is the Ultimate Snackdown, a no-holds barred recipe competition. I assume most home cooks are like me in that they collect more recipes than they actually cook and one day discover, “aack! 40 chocolate chip cookie recipes!” All slightly different, but all claim to be the best. In the interest of decluttering recipe boxes across the land, I’m going to pit these recipes against each other in a battle to the death. I will test only recipes already in my collection or in the cooking magazines piling up by my bed; only after announcing the victorious recipe will I accept reader challenges. Note to challenger: You better make sure your recipe can stand the heat, because if you lose the battle, your humiliation will be public and legendary.

Current battle on the main stage: The Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie.
New battle begun on the side stage: The Ultimate Pumpkin Cheesecake.
Battle brewing: The Ultimate Banana Bread.

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 10:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

The weather has gotten cold and we had to turn on our heat. I like this sort of weather because I like standing over a hot stove in the midst of a cold house. And I like eating winter comfort foods. As I was heading out to the farmer's market two weeks ago, I saw a recipe in the newspaper for a curried lamb casserole. I thought it looked good, so I bought some lamb from the Lamb Guy at the farmer's market. I asked for stew meat. Lamb Guy said he was out. I asked what would be a good substitution; he recommended a boneless leg. I asked for the smallest one he had. He gave me the $22 one. And I paid for it, even though I thought I was being cheated. Lesson learned: don't ask the Lamb Guy for recommendations; he'll sell you the expensive one. Any old cut of lamb with some fat on it would have been just fine. Or I could have gotten it much cheaper at the grocery store. The lamb casserole was excellent, though; I like to think that expensive lamb boosted its excellence. And I still have half a leg for another use.

Last night I made Mediterranean Sausage Ragoût, using the beer brats I had intended to grill last week had the rain not interfered. It was hot, soupy and comforting as well. And made lots of leftovers. I like cooking, but occasionally even I don't feel like cooking. Having a freezer full of good food is the biggest comfort. Except that now there is no room for frozen chocolate chip cookies!

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 01:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Cheesecakes are sly creatures. They make me very nervous. Why do they jiggle so when they are thoroughly cooked? I always panic and leave the cheesecake in the oven until it no longer jiggles, terrified that I'll have a soggy, runny mess if I don't. And I never have a runny mess, because I always overcook cheesecake. So, when I made a pumpkin cheesecake this weekend for a dinner party thrown by Gentleman Caller's colleague, I decided to go against my better judgment and cook the cheesecake for exactly the time prescribed by the recipe. If it didn't work, well, at least it would be spectacularly embarrassing to show up with a partially cooked dessert. But it did work! For once, I finally turned out a cheesecake that wasn't dry, thick and cracked, but moist and cheesecakey.

The cheesecake was officially a Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake, but I omitted the bourbon as the hosts have children and I didn't know how they felt about feeding alcohol to their kids. Turns out, they don't mind a bit. I think the bourbon would have rounded out the flavor nicely. There was a sour cream topping to the cheesecake, which was OK, but I think I'll try a new topping next time, or just forget it. The crust, though, was excellent. Walnut and graham crackers, brown sugar and butter. Yum.

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 09:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Gentleman Caller and I got our first real grill, a navy blue behemoth of grates, knobs and burners. It's awesome. The folks at Lowe's were supposed to assemble it before I picked it up, but forgot or something, which actually was for the best because the thing would never have fit in GC's car. So we took it in the box and it sat in our living room for almost a month. I assembled it last weekend using an array of tools, curse words and ingenuity. It sat in our living room assembled for a few days, then moved to the backyard where it will stay until someone steals it. Eager to try it out that night, GC went out to get a propane tank. We fired up the grill and marveled at its beauty and grilling potential. Then we turned it off and rummaged through the fridge for things to grill. When we were ready to eat, we tried to fire up the grill and couldn't open the propane tank! Too much pressure, or something. We both felt weak, stupid and hungry, so I returned the tank to the store where the clerk gave me a new one. It was late and dark before we actually got down to grilling. GC had to use a flashlight. The problem with grilling is that it is just too easy to get sucked into Deadwood (our current HBO obsession) and forget there's food cooking in the back yard. Our sausages were a bit overdone, but the potatoes were nicely charred and the asparagus perfect. Also, the chestnuts roasted nicely.

I was hoping to grill out every day, to make up for all the years I lived grill-free, but it rained all week! In desperation, I got out the tabletop camping grill and cooked some steaks on the front porch, sheltered from the rain. But it just wasn't satisfying. I had planned to have a cookout tonight with friends and neighbors, but it rained again! How dangerous is it to grill in the living room?

Has anyone ever tried grilled chocolate chip cookies?

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 11:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Barbeque purists would probably poopoo this recipe as not authentic bbq. Whatever. It's delicious, so here's the recipe:

North Carolina Pork Barbeque

3# boneless pork butt, shoulder or blade roast
1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes
1/2 c. vinegar
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 T. sugar
1 T. (heaping) crushed red pepper flakes
1 T. salt
2 t. black pepper

Combine all in crock. Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours or on high 5 hours.
Remove and shred meat to serve.

I have a 4 1/2-qt crock pot, so these are the measurements I'm supposed to use. For a larger (6 1/2+ qt.) crock pot, double the recipe above. I used a pork shoulder, bone in. It was 6# and barely fit in the crock pot; I increased the rest of the ingredients to whatever would fit in the crock pot. Not quite doubled. Anyway, it was easy and excellent. Recipe from the GE crock pot instruction and recipe book.

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I never realized how many phrases there are about cookies. Weird.

Anyway, I made two more batches on Friday:

Batch #6 "Cakey Chocolate Chip Cookies"
Recipe from Martha Stewart. Edges are thin, crisp and brown. The middle is thick, cakey and white. The flavor is good and sweet and the texture is light. I followed the recipe exactly and used my stand mixer and lined the cookie sheets with parchment paper. I'm sure you could use a hand mixer and a bare cookie sheet, but being a Martha recipe, I'm not surprised that you need extra tools. Gentleman Caller said the flavor is good, "but it's not a cookie." Another taster thought this cookie was better as a "breakfast application."

Batch #7 "Thin-and-Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies"
This recipe makes a lot of cookies, and uses only one bowl. For that, it gets extra points. The cookies are very thin, crispy and crunchy with a nice brown color. Have you ever read The Little Prince? These cookies remind me of the drawing in the book of a hat, or a snake who just ate an elephant, however you look at it. The cookies flattened out so much that the chocolate chips really stand out. There is a nice ratio of chocolate chips to cookie. This is tied with batch #1 for GC's favorite.

Also on Friday, while I had my stand mixer out (limited counter space does not allow the mixer to live on the counter), I made some pizza dough. The recipe made enough dough for two crusts. It was super easy and the crusts were awesome. I questioned their awesomeness until I ate a slice. Yum. The crust was thin and crispy, but sturdy enough to hold all of the toppings without flopping down in the center. First pizza was topped with garlic sauce, zucchini, red pepper, caramelized onion, Parmesan cheese and cheddar. Second pizza was topped with leftover bbq pork, potatoes, corn and a pizza blend of cheese.

Cookies and pizza. Man, that's livin' large.

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 09:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Who are the lucky ducks that get to be my tasters? I wish I could say I have a highly organized panel of chocolate chip cookie experts. Instead, the tasters are whoever happens to come into my house when there are some cookies around. I’ve taken some to the office staff at my dentist’s office and sent some to work with Gentleman Caller. I enlisted yard sale shoppers as tasters. Soon I’ll start distributing cookies to the local homeless community. Any suggestions of where to dispose of extraneous cookies?

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 08:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I have tried to control as much as possible the various aspects of this cookie quest. I bought a giant bag of semisweet chocolate chips and jug o' vanilla extract at Sam's. I use the same kind of flour (Wal-Mart brand all-purpose white flour), unless otherwise noted. I use the same baking soda and powder (whatever is in my cupboard). I have used different brands of eggs, but all are large eggs. I use light brown sugar unless otherwise directed. I use the same brand of unsalted butter, which is good because water and salt content vary by brand. I just ran out of light brown sugar, so I'll replenish it using the same brand. I keep the chocolate chips in the fridge, so they are cold for every batch of cookies.

I use my regular cookie sheets as is, unless directed to use Silpat or parchment paper. My cookie sheets aren't nonstick, but I've never had a problem with anything sticking to them.

And I follow the recipes faithfully, which is more difficult than I thought it would be. I like to add more or less of an ingredient or go by how the batter looks and adjust accordingly. One of the batters looked too runny to me. Usually I would add flour, but I refrained and the cookies turned out fine.

Some of the recipes I've tried call for nuts or other additions. I omitted them because I want the best plain chocolate chip cookie. I do like nuts in cookies, but I'll experiment with add-ins after I narrow down the cookie contenders.

I'm learning that the ingredients make big differences. For example, using butter leads to cookies that spread; Crisco helps cookies keep their shape. Brown sugar has more moisture than white sugar and means chewier cookies. Most recipes call for brown sugar and white sugar in various ratios. I'm still working out the perfect ratio for chewiness and sweetness. Only ~35 more recipes to test!

I wonder when I'll burn out on chocolate chip cookies?

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 03:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I have embarked upon the most noble of quests: the perfect chocolate chip cookie. As I might have mentioned (it's been so long, who can know for sure?), I have +/-40 chocolate chip cookie recipes. That is entirely too many. All I need is one recipe for the perfect cookie. To date, I have made 5 batches of cookies and I'm quickly realizing that "perfect" is subjective. I know that there is no bad cookie (except perhaps for broccoloons), but tastes vary widely as to the perfect taste, texture and appearance. Personally, I like a nicely browned chewy cookie that is not too sweet. Gentleman Caller, however, likes thin sweet crunchy cookies. I won't say that he is wrong, but definitely misguided.

Here's the lowdown so far:

Batch #1 "Best Chocolate Chip Cookies"
Spread out considerably; flat cookies, yet soft and not too crunchy. Really sweet. GC's favorite so far. Too sweet and flat for me. I like a cookie with curves.

Batch #2 "Basic Chocolate Chip Cookies"
Undercooked at recommended cooking time. Cooked almost twice as long as directed, still pale with very little color. I cooked one tray on Silpat and these browned at the edges. Kept shape nicely, very plump. Soft cookies. Not sweet.

Batch #3 "Gourmet Chocolate Chip Cookies"
Recipe from Gourmet magazine. Nice color. Spread out a lot; very thin cookies. Sweetness just right. Would be perfect if cookies held shape better.

Batch #4 "Ghirardelli Chocolate Chip Cookies"
Recipe from bag of Ghirardelli chocolate chips. Good color. A little crunch at the edges, but chewy in the middle. Good ratio of chocolate chips to cookie. My favorite cookie so far.

Batch #5 "Chocolate Chip Cookies"
Recipe source unknown, which is a shame because I'd like to ridicule the creator. This recipe uses no egg, which is unusual, but might be handy for someone with egg allergies or who doesn't keep eggs on hand. I am neither of these people. These cookies are a bitch to make. After making the dough, you press it into a disk, wrap it in plastic and refrigerate it for one hour to one day. That's not so bad. Sometimes I can wait that long for hot chocolate chip cookies right out of the oven. Sometimes. But, after refrigerating, you need to roll out the dough to a 1/4" thickness and use a 2" round cookie cutter to cut out the cookies. Ugh. The mention of a rolling pin makes Chips Ahoy seem like a good alternative. The dough gets soft quickly, so you have to wrap it back up and refrigerate it for another half hour or so. But, are all the results worth it? No way. The cookies were really light in color, had a crumbly/crunchy texture and were lacking in flavor. Gentleman Caller liked the texture but agreed that something was missing flavor-wise. This recipe goes directly into the trashcan. (I did finally get to use my new rolling pin and rolling pin bands, and one of my round cookie cutters. For that, I am appreciative).

So, that's the progress so far.

Tomorrow I'll let you in on the methodology and the lessons I've learned so far.

Update 10.14.05: I sent batches #4 and #5 to Gentleman Caller's office and received some feedback today. One colleague, an "old guy who's had a million cookies and is looking for something unusual or different," prefered cookie #5. Another was undecided, saying, "The shortbread style cookie seems more refined in style, which I would love to have with tea, not so much a "milk and cookies" style cookie" (about batch #5) and "[Batch #4] is truly a comfort food and I would have a hankerin' for that with a big glass-o-moo." Most other colleagues preferred the more traditional batch #4. So do I.

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 09:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Blue Artichoke is back! How long was I out?

I guess there has been big news since we last met. I eloped, went to Norway for a month, started a business, then abandoned the business while I search for a better name, went to Pumpkin Fest! and completed my first two classes for teacher certification. You're very lucky the blog wasn't operable while I was in class. There would have been mighty rants. Mighty.

I've been cooking up a storm. It's different now, cooking for two. I cook bigger meals now than I did when I was a single artichoke. I made some North Carolina pork barbeque last night and GC claims it is better than our favorite bbq restaurant. The recipe came with my new crock pot. I'm falling in love with crock pots all over again.

More later.
For real.

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 09:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)