Chocolate Chip Cookies ~ my favorite!

When it comes to desserts, I am always on the quest to find  the best recipe for the traditional classics. I have tried multiple chocolate chip cookie recipes over the years, but this one has now become my favorite. Picnics are a perfect time to serve them, since they are easy to pack and are enjoyed by all ages!

Makes 2 dozen

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

½  cup brown sugar

2 large eggs, at room temp.

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1½ tsp sea salt

2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup broken walnuts (optional)

Preheat an oven to 350°F. Beat the first 5 ingredients until light and fluffy (approximately 3 minutes on high). 

Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Blend the flour mixture into the sugar mixture.

Gently stir in chips and chopped nuts (if using) with a wooden spoon. Drop cookies by the scoopful approx. 3 inches apart on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake for about 8-10 minutes. When slightly cooled, use a spatula, take the cookies off the cookie sheet, and cool on wire racks.

Chef’s Tip: If you prefer a crisper cookie, refrigerate the dough for 1 hour before baking, and always try to use a good-quality pure vanilla extract and chocolate.

Recipe can be found in  Country Comfort: Summer Favorites

Sicilian Mint Sauce

I am sharing one of my dad’s recipes. It was originally made by my  Grandma Navoni. As often happens, she never wrote it down. But my dad painstakingly tried to replicate it and finally did!  Growing up, it was one of our favorites, especially since he used fresh mint from our garden, and served it at room temperature, making it the perfect dinner on a hot summer’s night. Today, it is especially meaningful, having spanned over generations, from my grandmother down to my daughter, Chef Nicole, who features it on the menu in the restaurant where she works.

This one is very easy and requires no cooking at all!

Serves: 6

1(28oz) can Crushed tomatoes or Plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped

1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3  cloves  garlic, minced

½ cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves (torn into small pieces)

½ tsp Kosher salt

½ tsp  freshly cracked black pepper

¼  cup dry white wine (like Chardonnay)

1 lb. cooked pasta 

Mix all the ingredients, except the pasta, in a bowl. Set aside in a refrigerator (it is best after 1 day). Just before serving, bring the sauce to room temperature. Pour over the cooked pasta.

 This recipe is featured in Country Comfort Cookbook:Summer Favorites

Tuesday's Tip ~ cooking with fresh herbs

Rather than chop fresh mint leaves, it is best to tare tear them with your hands into small pieces, in this way the leaves bruise and release the mint oil.

(see Sicilian Mint Sauce) 

Frying Pan Fudge Cake

Thanks to Ron Popp  of Wheat Fields Catering  in  Omaha, Nebraska for sharing the following recipe with us for Cooking Across America.  If you bake you will keep saying to yourself, "This doesn't look like anything I have ever prepared before?!"  But I can guarantee that after tasting it ~  you will preparing it again and again!  I would describe it more as a "Pudding Cake."

Serves: 6-8 

Cake

2⁄3 cup white sugar

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temp.

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ cup milk or heavy cream

3 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted

Topping

½ cup brown sugar, firmly packed

2⁄3 cup white sugar

3 rounded tablespoons cocoa

1½ cup boiling water

1 tablespoon pure vanilla

Cake

Preheat an oven to 350°F. In a mixing bowl, mix the sugar and butter thoroughly. Then add flour and milk (or heavy cream), and mix, again. Fold in chocolate and mix thoroughly. Place this mixture evenly in the bottom of

a well-greased, deep, iron frying pan (7  inches) with iron handle for baking.

Topping

In a small bowl, mix together sugars and cocoa. Place this mixture atop the first mixture.

Mix water with vanilla, and pour atop the second mixture. Place in the preheated 350°F oven. Bake for about 40 minutes or until the top mixture sets up like a stiff pudding. Serve warm and top with fresh whipped cream. 

Artichoke Dip

When ever we prepared for a party at our house, our children were recruited to help. We gave them  a “work station” in the kitchen, where we set them up with a recipe and the ingredients. Needless to say, when the guests raved about a particular dish, they would proudly announce that they made it. We appreciated their help, and knew we could not have done it without them. They also appreciate learning to cook, especially when they went away to college. 

Serves: 10-12 
8 oz  Artichoke hearts, well drained

1 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated 

½ cup sour cream  

½ cup mayonnaise

8 oz cream cheese, softened 

2 cloves garlic, minced 

1- 2  jalapeno rings, diced (optional) 

Place all ingredients in a food processor, and puree them until smooth (do not over blend).

Place in a shallow, serving dish ceramic and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before serving. Plate with bagel chips. 
As seen in the  Country Comfort Cookbook series

Tuesday's Tip ~ Perfect Chicken EVERY time!

Living with a chef lets me take advantage of spontaneous  cooking classes. Here's one lesson I am glad I paid attention to!
 2- 3 lbs  whole chicken cutlets
1/4 - 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Take grill pan and place on stove top and turn heat on high.  In the meantime using a pastry brush, brush cutlets with olive oil.  Generously salt and pepper top and bottom of each cutlet.  Once done, your pan will be very hot.  Place cutlets in the pan and leave for approx 2 minutes until it's "marked" ( you will see the marks from the grill pan) Turn over and marked the other side of each cutlet.  Note: chicken will not be fully cooked.  Place marked chicken in a large roasting pan and set in preheated over, cook until you see liquid running out of the cutlets  (do not turn). This takes approx. 30 minutes or more.

Bleu Cheese Dressing and Dip

¾  cup Sour Cream

½ tsp Dijon

½ tsp Salt

1/3 tsp Garlic Powder

1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

1 1/3 cup Mayonnaise

4 oz Bleu Cheese , Crumbled

¼ - ½ cup Buttermilk*

Combine everything in a bowl.  *If using as a salad dressing add the buttermilk and stir until you achieve the desired consistency.  If using as a dip, omit the buttermilk. Refrigerate