Chocolate crinkle cookies

A few weeks ago (okay, before Christmas) I heard this story on NPR in which Shirley Corriher, author of Bakewise and frequent guest on Good Eats talks about what makes a good cookie. She ended with one of her recent favorites, chocolate crinkle cookies. I had never made them before, so I was intrigued. (Butterhorns were the holiday cookie of choice in our household growing up.)

After looking at the recipe, and reading about bloggers’ attempts to make the cookie, I realized that I would first of all have to cut back on the sugar. The recipe calls for an ungodly 2-3/4 cups of sugar, and that is not even including the powdered sugar on the outside. Holy toothache! Many other bloggers said that it was in fact, too too TOO sweet.

I worked on it for a couple of weeks and came down to this recipe. I reduced the sugar and replaced the canola oil with melted butter. (Come on, why make a cookie without butter?) It is a bit more fudgy than chewy, but is still really super chocolatey. The key is to not overbake it, and in fact underbake it just a little bit. A nice tip I took away from the NPR story was first rolling the cookies in granulated sugar, then powdered sugar prevents the cookie from absorbing the powdered sugar so it stays snowy white.

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
makes about 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients
6 tablespoons (75g) butter
8 ounces (227g) bittersweet chocolate
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-1/4 cup (250g) granulated sugar
2 tablespoons honey or corn syrup
2 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk
1-3/4 cup flour (232g)
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

For rolling:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup powdered sugar

1. Melt together the butter and chocolate. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
2. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl. Set aside.
3. With a mixer with a paddle attachment, combine the sugar, honey and eggs on medium speed for 3-4 minutes. The mixture should be lightened and thickened quite a bit.
4. Add the chocolate-butter mixture to the egg mixture. Beat at medium low speed until well combined.
5. Add the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture, and beat at low speed just until combined.
6. Refrigerate the batter for at least 4 hours.
7. When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 325 F (170 C). Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.
8. Roll the dough into 2-inch balls. Roll in the granulated sugar, then the powdered sugar.
9. Bake for 11 – 13 minutes (I bake them at 11 minutes, but I think my oven runs too hot). They should still look a bit gooey inside.
10. Let cool and eat the same day if possible (that’s when they are best!)

Links:
NPR: Chemist Divulges How To Bake The Perfect Cookie

Seattle trip

Perfect coffee at Stumptown

We just got back from a whirlwind trip to Seattle a couple weeks ago and I’m finally getting around to posting some pics!

We hit our usual places (sushi, burgers, etc.) and my sis held her wedding reception at Palisades which was totally delish (this is such a great place for a reception!)
A couple of my favorite new finds:

• Samurai Noodle: This place on the side of Uwajimaya totally blew my mind. I loves some noodle soup, but the pork broth seriously Knocked. Me. Out. It was that good — creamy, salty, tasty tonkotsu broth (not to be confused with tonkatsu, which is pork cutlet). No wonder the place is jammed at all hours of the day. Thanks to my sis for the awesome tip!

• Trophy Cupcakes: Another recommendation from my sis. I am normally not super impressed with cupcake joints because usually their goods seem too sweet. (See this post for my typical opinion). Even though they were sweet, I really liked the cupcakes at Trophy. The price almost made me fall over, so at first I bought two cupcakes (at $2.99 a pop, they’d better be good!), but we gobbled them down so fast that we had to go back for more. The flavor not to miss? S’mores. This one took the cake, so to speak. And I don’t even like real s’mores.

• Stumptown Coffee: This one was a tip from my friend Joseph, the best home barista I know. Here you can get the perfect latte. My brother called them “those feather coffees” because of the leaf pattern on top — which, as I’ve mentioned before, is the sign that the coffee and milk were worked perfectly. Sigh, I don’t find that too often here in NL, so Seattlelites, don’t take your great baristas for granted!

Delicioso tonkotsu ramen at Samurai Noodle

Ordering fish and chips at Jack’s at Pike Place Market

A pretty little chai cardamom cupcake at Trophy (good, but the s’mores cupcakes are still my fave.)

Tofu with peanut sauce

A while back we were at a dinner where Kyle was discussing ‘going green’ with a woman at our table. She was explaining all the measures her family takes to reduce their carbon footprint: driving less, reusing and recycling, not flying as much, etc. Kyle said, “The thing that’s hardest for us is eating less meat.” She wasn’t sure what he meant (as she continued eating the delicious steak we were served) so he mentioned about how in this NY Times article, Mark Bittman explains how global meat production actually produces more carbon than transportation. (Nothing like factoids from the NY Times to ruin a juicy steak!) She was really disheartened to hear this, just as I was when I read about it. Somehow, with all the talk about reducing carbon footprints, this aspect just doesn’t get mentioned so much — I think because it is a difficult idea to face.

I too find not eating meat to be a difficult idea. However, we’ve been working for a while on trying to reduce our consumption of meat for health and financial reasons anyway. I remember a few years back when Kyle was doing his internship, we were trying to save cash, so we cooked a lot and got our meat fix by flavoring the veggies and beans with bacon. (A little bit of bacon goes a long way, believe me.) For the New Year, I am trying to follow Mark Bittman’s tenet about treating meat like a side dish: flavor the other stuff with meat, just like we did back then with the bacon (After all, bacon is meat candy, as my friend Ryan says, and even Rick Bayless wore one of those shirts on his show!)

The following is one of my fave dishes — I’ve been making this for years, and when I bust out the block of tofu, the kids actually get excited for dinner (They don’t understand tofu’s bad rep because this and hotpot are the only ways they eat it). The key is to make sure and get the extra firm tofu (sometimes called ‘Chinese-style’). Don’t even think about making this with softer tofu — it’ll just absorb all the oil and taste gross.

One interesting takeaway from all the handwringing is that reducing one’s meat consumption by just 20 percent is like switching from a regular sedan (such as a Camry) to a fuel efficient Prius. If I take this into account on a weekly basis, I can eat that barbeque pork later — just not every day.

Tofu with peanut sauce
serves 4

Ingredients
1 pound (500g) of extra-firm tofu
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 scallion, minced, white part separated from the green part
1/4 cup sesame or peanut oil
For the peanut sauce:
1/2 cup boilng water
3 tablespoons natural peanut butter
2 teaspoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar

1. For the sauce: combine the peanut butter, fish sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar and sugar. Pour the hot water over it, whisking with a fork. It’ll take a little time for it to come together, but continue whisking until smooth. Taste for salt. Set aside.
2. Pour the liquid off the tofu and press slightly to remove as much of the liquid as possible. Cut into 3/4-inch thick slabs. Blot with a paper towel to dry the tofu.
3. Heat the oil over high in a large nonstick wok or skillet (you will need to be careful — the tofu will splatter, so if you have a screen you can set over the skillet, have it ready).
4. Slide the tofu pieces into the oil and let it fry, undisturbed for 3-5 minutes, or until golden. Flip over and brown on the other side. Set on a paper towel.
5. Pour off all but a couple tablespoons of the oil from the skillet. Add the whites of the scallions and garlic and swirl around. Add the tofu back in and toss. Pour in the peanut sauce and toss the tofu to coat in the sauce. The sauce will thicken really fast, so do this quickly.
6. Pour the mixture into a serving dish and serve with white rice.

Links
NYTimes: Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler
NYTimes: Putting meat back in its place
NYTimes: As more eat meat, a bid to cut emissions

Roasted chestnuts

Merry Christmas! Here’s the perfect holiday snack — roasted chestnuts. Last year we were in Rome just after Christmas, and a few times a day we would buy a cone of grilled chestnuts on the streets. Nothing beats it in cold weather. I couldn’t resist when I saw some at the produce stand a few days ago. Make sure they are really fresh, and if you keep them in the fridge for a couple of days, keep them in a bag that breathes, rather than a plastic bag. These are ready to eat in a half hour, and if you have a house full of people who love chestnuts (like mine) they won’t last more than a half hour.

Roasting chestnuts on the grill in Rome

Pumpkin cheesecake: Happy Sinterklaas!

I have been just a little bit obsessed with pumpkin over the past few weeks. I’ve made a bunch of pies, bars, you name it. I felt like making a slightly different dessert, and having bought a bunch of cream cheese with the intention of making a lemon cheesecake, I switched gears and went for a pumpkin one instead. ‘Tis the season.

One accidental discovery in the process was that kruidnoten, the crunchy tiny Sinterklaas cookies that Zwarte Pieten throw at all the kids this week, make a really excellent cheesecake crust. If you don’t have access to pepernoten, gingersnaps are a good substitute. Also, if you don’t have access to pepernoten, you are probably better off. They are seriously like an addictive cookie version of crack — you have one and you can’t stop consuming them. Luckily, they are a seasonal treat.

Some tips: Do make sure to use a bain-marie (water bath) to make sure the cheesecake cooks evenly. If you use canned pumpkin, the amount called for here is equivalent to one 15-ounce can of pumpkin puree. Do make sure to cook it briefly (as mentioned in the recipe). I like to serve it with sweetened vanilla creme fraiche. If you don’t have easy access to creme fraiche (or if it is expensive), you can add 2 tablespoons of buttermilk to 1 cup of heavy cream, shake it in a jar, and leave it out at room temperature overnight.

Pumpkin cheesecake with sweetened vanilla cream
makes one 9-inch cake

Ingredients


For crust:
9 ounces (250 g) kruidnoten (or gingersnaps)
6 tablespoons (90g) butter, melted and cooled to room temperature

For cheesecake:
1 kabocha pumpkin, about 2 pounds (or 1 15-ounce can of pumpkin puree)
1-1/2 teaspoons speculaas spice (or pumpkin pie spice)
1-1/2 pounds (700g) cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
5 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla

For vanilla creme fraiche:
1 cup (200ml) creme fraiche
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1. If you are using fresh pumpkin: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (160 C). Cut the pumpkin into quarters, scooping out the seeds and stringy stuff. Place in a baking dish, cover with foil, and roast for 1 hour or until soft. Scoop out the flesh and measure out 2 cups.
2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 C). Crush the cookies in a bag or give it a whirl in a food processor until it is completely in crumbs. Using a fork, combine with the butter until all the crumbs are moistened. Press them firmly into a 9-inch springform pan.
3. Bake for 15 minutes, until fragrant. Remove to a cooling rack.
4. Combine the pumpkin with the spices. In a medium saucepan, heat the pumpkin over medium heat, stirring. Cook for 3-5 minutes, until shiny and slightly thickened. Remove and cool to room temperature.
5. In the bowl of a standing mixer, combine the cream cheese and sugar. With the paddle attachment, mix at low speed for a few seconds until softened a bit. Add the cooled pumpkin and vanilla, mix at low speed for another minute or so. Scrape down the bowl. With the mixer running on low, add the eggs one at a time. Scrape down the bowl and combine for another 1-2 minutes.
6. Cover the outside of the springform pan in two layers of aluminium foil, making sure it is secure around the pan — you don’t want water to get in. Pour the cheesecake filling into the springform pan. Set the springform pan into a roasting pan. Set the pan on the oven rack and fill the roasting pan halfway up the sides with very hot tap water.
7. Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour. Check the temperature with an instant-read thermometer — the temperature should be at least 160 degrees F (72 degrees C). If not, bake for 15-20 minutes longer.
8. Turn off the oven and prop the door open with the handle of a wooden spoon. Leave the cheesecake in the oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and the water bath. Run a knife around the cake to make sure it doesn’t stick to the sides of the springform pan. Set on a cooling rack until cooled to room temperature. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.
9. For the creme fraiche: Combine the creme fraiche, vanilla and sugar. Stir together and refrigerate until you serve the cheesecake.