I am a fan of baby red potatoes. I usually like to cut them in half and then roast them in the oven with olive oil and butter and salt and pepper. I like the outsides to be crisp and the insides to be creamy. I was nodding my head in agreement as I read a recent article in Cook’s Illustrated. It was all about how achieving this combo of crunchy and creamy was the ultimate goal with these potatoes. The article claimed to have perfected a method to achieve this. I had to give it a try right away.

And I have to say, I was disappointed. This method took a LOT of work and attention and the results were not as good as my usual toss it in the oven and let it cook method. I’m including the recipe for you here to try yourself if you would like. I did enjoy the garlic, lemon and chives that are added to this recipe. The potatoes themselves were not nearly as crunchy on the outside as they are when I do them in the oven.

 

I am a fan of baby red potatoes. I usually like to cut them in half and then roast them in the oven with olive oil and butter and salt and pepper. I like the outsides to be crisp and the insides to be creamy. I was nodding my head in agreement as I read … Read more →

I love to make this acorn squash recipe when I get tired of other veggies. It’s so simple, Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Then cut each side up into about 4-6 slices (depending on how big your squash is). Lay them on a greased baking sheet and drizzle a small bit of olive oil over them and season with salt and pepper. Bake at 400 for about half an hour until the squash is soft to a fork. Take them out of the oven and lightly brush the squash with maple syrup. Return to the oven for a few minutes until the squash begins to brown. How’s that for simple and delicious?

I love to make this acorn squash recipe when I get tired of other veggies. It’s so simple, Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Then cut each side up into about 4-6 slices (depending on how big your squash is). Lay them on a greased baking sheet and drizzle a small … Read more →

“Bison?” You might be asking.  Yes, really. We first had bison when we were in Colorado a few years ago. We really enjoyed it. I hadn’t made it at home, although my grocery store does sell ground bison meat. A new grocery store opened in our area and they carry a large selection of game. We bought a fresh bison tenderloin roast to try.

I roasted it in the oven and made a blackberry sauce to go with it. The results were amazing. Bison tastes exactly like beef (I kid you not – exact same flavor – nothing scary!), but it is leaner and less chewier. It has a somewhat smoother texture. We loved this very much and I will be making it more often.

 

“Bison?” You might be asking.  Yes, really. We first had bison when we were in Colorado a few years ago. We really enjoyed it. I hadn’t made it at home, although my grocery store does sell ground bison meat. A new grocery store opened in our area and they carry a large selection of game. … Read more →

 I was turned off at the idea of putting mayo on asparagus, but honestly, this quick little recipe is your savior when you need to dress up asparagus with almost no work. I found this little gem in Family Table by Michael Romano, a book that offers recipes for the dishes top restaurants make to feed their own staffs before service begins. So far I am loving this book.

 

 I was turned off at the idea of putting mayo on asparagus, but honestly, this quick little recipe is your savior when you need to dress up asparagus with almost no work. I found this little gem in Family Table by Michael Romano, a book that offers recipes for the dishes top restaurants make to … Read more →

Sometimes throwing something on the grill is the simplest way to get dinner together. But without a little kick, grilled meat can get pretty boring. Try this easy marinade to liven up your pork chops.

 

Sometimes throwing something on the grill is the simplest way to get dinner together. But without a little kick, grilled meat can get pretty boring. Try this easy marinade to liven up your pork chops. Molasses Marinated Pork Chops   Print Ingredients ¼ cup molasses 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar ¼ teaspoon dried mustard ¼ … Read more →

A new store just opened up in our area, called Orchard Fresh. Owned by another area grocery chain, it seems like a Whole Foods reinvention. We decided to investigate and it was a lot of fun.

In the produce section I was happy to see everything was organic and they had some interesting things I can’t find locally, like cactus leaves, plantains, and tons of fresh herbs. I picked up some pea shoots

and ginger root (which has suddenly been absent from my usual store).

I hit the jackpot in the fish department though. Stone crab! I recently wrote about how to prepare these and mentioned they are non-existent in my neck of the woods. Now if I have a craving, I know where to find them. There was also a tank of live crayfish (which looked way too much like bugs for me to even imagine bringing them home). Then I stumbled on the fresh Hawaiian fish, which is flown in daily. What a treat to be able to bring some of this home. I get tired of salmon, sole, tuna, haddock

and mahi. We bought home hapuka and sunfish, which I made that same night. I grilled the hapuka, which is an oily fish, but with a mild flaky texture. I loved the sunfish which I breaded and panfried. It has a small white flake and is very mild. I find the best way to learn about a new fish is to make it very simply prepared, with just lemon on it. I would make the hapuka again, but it needs a sauce to balance its oiliness. The sunfish was perfect panfried. I might add a brown butter sauce with some sliced almonds if I wanted it to be a little fancier.

Other treats awaited us, such as a gelato bar, Sarabeth’s brand baked goods, a wide selection of different sea salts and even a very interesting sea salt block, which you are supposed to set right on your stove or grill and cook on top of.

I was a bit disappointed by the gluten free selection. There was an aisle marked “gluten free” but it didn’t have much. We then found GF items stuck in among other aisles. Some had

gluten-free tags on the shelves, and some didn’t, making them very hard to find.

To match the seafood selection, there was also a great selection of game. Fresh frog legs, fresh bison, and quail eggs were in the butcher’s case. In the frozen section we found elk, camel (?), alligator, and high end beef.

It was fun to visit a new store and bring home some fun new foods to try.

A new store just opened up in our area, called Orchard Fresh. Owned by another area grocery chain, it seems like a Whole Foods reinvention. We decided to investigate and it was a lot of fun. In the produce section I was happy to see everything was organic and they had some interesting things I … Read more →

“The chocolate chip cookie is more American than apple pie.” – Wally Amos

What better way to wrap up Cookie Week than with the story of one of the most famous cookie bakers? Wally Amos is known for inventing Famous Amos cookies, but do you know his story? Read on and find out.

Wally Amos is famous for his cookies, but his real claim to fame was promotion. Wally was raised in Tallahassee Florida but moved at age twelve to New York City to live with his Aunt Della, who made the best chocolate chip cookies he had ever tasted. Wally told me he’s not sure what recipe she used, but suspects it was the Toll House recipe, and, as he says, “all chocolate cookies trace back to the mother recipe.” Wally started out attending a food science high school. He later joined the Air Force and went to school on the GI bill, working at the Saks stock room to stay afloat. From there, he made the jump to working in the William Morris Agency mailroom and eventually worked his way up to becoming their first black agent. He signed Simon and Garfunkel and worked with the Supremes and Marvin Gaye. Wally became a big shot in the world of show business. He eventually left William Morris and opened his own agency.

Wally’s trademark had long been chocolate chip cookies. He made his own, similar to his Aunt Della’s and brought them to people as gifts. I asked Wally how his cookies were different than Della’s. “I used more chocolate and more nuts and pure vanilla extract.” Wally had often thought of selling his cookies, when an investment by Marvin Gaye and Helen Reddy made it possible.

The Celebrity Cookie

Wally didn’t just open a cookie shop, though. Wally took on the cookie as a celebrity client and promoted it as such. He wrote a biography for it and had a head shot taken. As far as Wally was concerned, the cookie deserved celebrity status. It’s no surprise that on March 10, 1975 when Wally opened The Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookie Store on Sunset Boulevard and Formosa Avenue in LA that it was a big hit. Wally had hosted an opening party the night before for 2500 guests, many of them celebrities. The business earned $300,000 that year and had $12 million in revenue by 1982.

Wally worked hard to get gigs for the cookie. When he met with Bloomingdale’s to discuss having them carry the cookies, he showed up in a jump suit with a giant cookie on the back. Bloomingdale’s signed on and the press conference announcing the deal included a Famous Amos cookie placed on a satin pillow (like a precious jewel) in front of the Bloomie’s boardroom. The cookie later was carried by Neiman-Marcus – when that deal happened, Wally drove in on an armored truck with the cookies.

Wally adopted a Panama hat and gauze embroidered shirt as his official uniform and it appeared on the cookie packaging. In 1980, the Smithsonian accepted the hat and shirt into its American History collection.

 

The Cookie Philosophy

Wally told me that the secret to making a good cookie “is that there is no secret.” Everyone has their own secret he believes. Wally did reveal to me what the most important part of the cookie making process is. “I talk to my cookies. I tell them they have a great responsibility. They need to taste good. I tell ‘em I love ‘em.” He feels that talking to cookies improves their taste in the same way that talking to plants helps them grow better.

 

Tough Times

Wally’s initial success was short-lived. By 1985, revenue was down and the company lost money.  He lost his home. The company was sold to the Shansby Group and Wally remained as spokesperson for a year. After several sales, the company is now owned by Kellogg.

Wally tried to continue selling cookies as Wally Amos Presents, but Keebler sued, so he used the name Uncle NoName. He filed for bankruptcy in 1997. Soon after though, Keebler hired him to be the spokesperson for the brand again and cut a deal that allowed him to sell muffins on his own. Famous Amos is now owned by Kellogg’s and Wally is honest about his feelings about the cookies they sell under his name. “Kellogg’s is selling a brand. They’re selling a bag. You cannot eat the bag. What’s inside the bag is what matters and what they sell is not my cookie. What Kellogg’s is selling is not a cookie. It is a disgrace to cookies.”

 

Rebirth of Wally

Wally went on to own Chip & Cookie, a two-location cookie store in Hawaii, which sold a variety of chocolate chip cookies as well as their signature cookie dolls, but subsequently closed. Wally has a line of books and does motivational speaking and had a cameo on the TV show, The Office in 2012, as himself. Wally is just as passionate about his cookies today as he was when he first began selling them. “All of my cookies are made by hand. A human being touching a cookie makes a big difference.” His Chip & Cookie cookies were made with his original recipe, the one that made him famous, which he proudly told me was 33% chocolate. “To make a good cookie, you need the best ingredients and lots of them.”

Wally has many stories to tell – of people who tasted his cookies twenty-five years ago in Hawaii and who upon their return made his shop their first stop. He also proudly talks of people who came into his shop as children and then brought their own children in. “I am part of the cookie and the cookie is part of me,” he says. “I really love what I do.” The day I talked to him he had just gone for out-patient cataract surgery that morning. When he went to the surgery building, he brought bags of cookies for everyone who was working there that day.

Although Famous Amos cookies are now just another brand on the store shelves, Wally’s legacy remains. “You can’t name anyone more associated with chocolate chip cookies than me,” he points out. He was the one of the first true food personalities (only Colonel Sanders and Julia Child predate him) – to be followed by people like Emeril and Rachel Ray. Wally’s success with cookies may have paved the way for Mrs. Fields as well. Wally believes that Ruth Wakefield is famous because of him. He says that until he became famous, Nestle never credited her. It was only after Wally became a household name that Nestle made Ruth Wakefield a prominent part of their history. Wally regrets never having a chance to meet her. “It would have been like going to Mecca.”

If you enjoyed this tidbit, there are plenty more stories of famous cookie bakers (Ruth Wakefield who invented the Tollhouse Cookie, Margaret Rudkin the woman behind Pepperidge Farms cookies, and Debbie Fields who created the Mrs. Fields empire (and lost her husband in the process) in Cookie: A Love Story.

“The chocolate chip cookie is more American than apple pie.” – Wally Amos What better way to wrap up Cookie Week than with the story of one of the most famous cookie bakers? Wally Amos is known for inventing Famous Amos cookies, but do you know his story? Read on and find out. Wally Amos … Read more →

This is day four in my week long series sharing some of the fun and intriguing info in my book Cookie: A Love Story. Today we’re talking about state cookies!

Your state has a state flower, state bird, state motto, state flag, state song, state poet, state fruit, state vegetable, and even in some states, a state meat pie and a state jelly, so why not a state cookie? Only two states have actually legislated an official state cookie, though:

Massachusetts: Chocolate Chip, adopted in 1997 (despite state Rep. Kay Khan who said “The tollhouse is a crummy alternative to the Fig Newton.”)

New Mexico: Biscochito (an anise flavored shortbread), adopted in 1989

Other states have tried to enact official cookies, but legislation has hit some snafus. It can be hard to agree as to which cookie really represents an entire state, not to mention the fact that taxpayers may believe there are more important issues to legislate. Some of the legislation has been initiated because school children proposed it as part of school projects focusing on government process.

There was a bill in Pennsylvania in 2003 seeking to name the chocolate chip cookie as its state cookie, but some legislators felt the Nazareth sugar cookie (a local specialty) was the right choice.

Michigan had a bill pending in 2004 naming the Michigan Treasure Cookie (a chocolate cookie with chocolate chips and dried cherries – the cherry is the state fruit) as its state cookie. That also did not pass. Maryland tried to pass a bill naming the apple-oatmeal cookie as their state cookie with no success. A 2006 Connecticut state movement to name the oatmeal chocolate drop cookie made with nutmeg (Connecticut is “the Nutmeg State”), conceived by an elementary class, petered out and was not placed before the legislature for a vote. Wyoming had a bill introduced in 2003 to name a state cookie – the chocolate chip cookie. The bill actually included the recipe for the state chocolate chip cookie. It did not pass because legislators could not agree and some felt that adding another state symbol simply diluted Wyoming’s image.

There is a petition in progress to seek to make the chocolate chunk cookie the state cookie of Delaware. So far there has been no legislative action. Would you like to have a state cookie? What would you choose for your state?

Michigan’s Unofficial State Treasure Cookie

Makes about three dozen cookies

– 1 ¾ cups of all purpose flour

– 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

– ½ teaspoon baking powder

– ½ teaspoon Diamond Crystal brand kosher salt

– 1 cup softened butter or margarine

– 1 cup Pioneer brand granulated sugar

– ½ cup packed Pioneer brand brown sugar

– 1 egg

– 1 teaspoon vanilla

– 1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chunks

– 1 ½ cups Graceland Fruit brand dried cherries

– Additional granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit

Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl; set aside. Beat butter, 1 cup granulated sugar, and brown sugar in a large bowl at medium speed of electric mixer until light and fluffy (about two minutes). Beat in egg and vanilla until well blended.  On low speed of mixer, gradually beat in 1/3 of flour mixture at a time, until all is used.  Scrape sides of bowl between additions of flour mixture.  Stir in chocolate chunks and cherries.  Refrigerate covered dough for at least one hour.

Roll chilled dough into golf-ball-sized balls.  Roll the balls in the additional granulated sugar.  Space three inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Gently press with bottom of glass to flatten.  Return remaining dough to the refrigerator until ready to use.

Bake 13 to 15 minutes or until cookies are set.  Cool cookies about five minutes on cookie sheets; transfer to wire racks.  Cool completely.

Variations:

– Substitute 1 ½ cups of Graceland Fruit brand dried blueberries instead of dried cherries.

– Add ½ cup chopped Michigan walnuts

Did you know there is an entire calendar of official days dedicated to different types of cookies? You can find that and much more in Cookie: A Love Story.

This is day four in my week long series sharing some of the fun and intriguing info in my book Cookie: A Love Story. Today we’re talking about state cookies! Your state has a state flower, state bird, state motto, state flag, state song, state poet, state fruit, state vegetable, and even in some states, … Read more →

Who doesn’t love Girl Scout cookies? Did you know the Girl Scouts have been selling these cookies for almost 100 years? Did you ever wonder how it started?

Girl Scouts have been selling cookies as a fundraiser since 1917, when the Mistletoe Troop in Muskogee, Oklahoma baked and sold cookies in its high school cafeteria as a service project.

Scout cooking was a hot topic at the time – the 1918 book Camp Cookery: A Cookery and Equipment Handbook for Boy Scouts and Other Campers by Ava B. Milan, A. Grace Johnson, and Ruth McNary Smith contained a recipe for rolled oat cookies which were to be baked on a grill over an open fire. In 1922, The American Girl magazine (then published by the Girl Scout national headquarters) included a cookie recipe which estimated the cost of ingredients to be 26 to 36 cents for six or seven dozen cookies. It also suggested the cookies could be sold for 25 to 30 cents per dozen. Cookies sales became traditional for many troops in the 1920s and 30s with Girl Scouts baking sugar cookies at home and selling them door to door.

Published in 1922, this is the original recipe Girl Scouts used to make cookies at home for their sales:

Original Girl Scout Cookies

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar plus additional amount for topping (optional)
2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder

Cream butter and the cup of sugar; add well-beaten eggs, then milk, vanilla, flour, salt, and baking powder. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Roll dough, cut into trefoil shapes, and sprinkle sugar on top, if desired. Bake in a quick oven (375°) for approximately 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges begin to brown. Makes six- to seven-dozen cookies.

There’s a lot more about the history and culture of Girl Scout cookies (and some neat photos the Girl Scouts gave me permission to use) in Cookie: A Love Story!

Who doesn’t love Girl Scout cookies? Did you know the Girl Scouts have been selling these cookies for almost 100 years? Did you ever wonder how it started? Girl Scouts have been selling cookies as a fundraiser since 1917, when the Mistletoe Troop in Muskogee, Oklahoma baked and sold cookies in its high school cafeteria … Read more →

If you love to bake (and eat!) cookies, you’re probably always looking for tips on how to make them better. Here are a few suggestions to improve your cookie baking skills.

The Pastry Chef:

Chef and Professor Dieter Schorner of the Culinary Institute of America says that one of the biggest mistakes Americans make in baking cookies is overworking the dough (“fold it together,” he recommends, instead of mixing). Another comment he has is that Americans use too many flavors in one cookie. “The simplest is the best tasting,” Schorner suggests, “If there are too many ingredients, you can’t figure out what it is. Keep it flavorful and keep it simple.” Schorner believes American cookies tend to be underbaked. “A cookie,” he says, “should be crunchy, not chewy. Americans think if it is crunchy it is stale.” And lastly, he says, “The cookie is too grown up in this country. Everything is Texas sized. That’s a meal, not a cookie. I want to taste a little cookie.”

The TollHouse Secret:

If you’ve made chocolate chip cookies before, you might be surprised to see that this recipe dissolves the baking soda in hot water, chills the dough overnight and has the baker form the cookies by hand. This was all actually part of Wakefield’s original recipe but was not included by Nestle when it used her recipe. In her 1948 book, Toll House Tried and True Recipes, Wakefield says, ”At Toll House, we chill dough overnight.” Chilling the dough is actually a crucial step that improves the texture of the cookie. This time lapse allows the eggs to absorb the dry ingredients more fully, creating a drier and firmer cookie. This method has recently regained popularity, as demonstrated by a recent New York Times article, “Perfection? Hint: It’s Warm and Has a Secret” by David Leite (July 9, 2008). In the article, Leite interviews Maury Rubin, owner of City Bakery in New York City. Rubin discloses that not only does he chill his dough for 36 hours, but he makes his cookies six inches in diameter because this creates three distinct textures – a crispy outer ring, a chewy second ring and a soft center ring.

An important factor in the quality of a chocolate chip cookie rests on the quality of the chocolate itself. Most professional bakers use chocolate that is at least 60 percent cacao. Jacque Torres, owner of Jacques Torres Chocolate in New York City relies on couverture chocolate for his cookies – thin disks of coating chocolate which melt during the baking process and create layers of cookie and chocolate.

If you enjoyed these tidbits, you’ll find cookie recipes and techniques and more in Cookie: A Love Story.

If you love to bake (and eat!) cookies, you’re probably always looking for tips on how to make them better. Here are a few suggestions to improve your cookie baking skills. The Pastry Chef: Chef and Professor Dieter Schorner of the Culinary Institute of America says that one of the biggest mistakes Americans make in … Read more →