Deluxe Double Chocolate Cookies

Finally, after enduring treacle-slow internet due to... the flapping of a butterfly wing probably, as my ISP is the worst ever, I can get on with blogging, then tomorrow it's off to read everyone's wonderful posts over the last few days. I've been trying to deal with the online paralysis by doing the laundry (still fun, so far) and making a few desserts. Sometimes I wonder why we keep up with things that are so unbelievably horrible (escalation of commitment comes to mind).

Take, for example, these potato chips that were "gifted" to us. They are from the company Brother's All-Natural (they have a website but I am NOT linking there). It looks like it has everything going for it. Freeze-dried-- only 35 calories! Absolutely no fat! And even has a classy hint of sea salt. Then, when you take that first bite, you realize exactly what fat and oil is for, but it's too late for your poor, innocent taste buds. These are easily the worst things I have ever put in my mouth, made worse by the fact that they tasted this deliberately awful. I felt that I had to keep eating because
1. The packet is ridiculously small (a shame if it were good crisps, a blessing that they are not).
2. There are people starving all around the world.
3. There's sort of a morbid fascination with how impossibly disgusting these crisps-- which ONLY have potatoes and salt-- are.

I would come up with more colorful descriptions of how horrible these crisps are, but Steve of The Sneeze has already perfected this art with Steve, Don't Eat It! (I could not stop laughing the first time I read that, especially for the Natto and Huitlacoche entries.) Steve, if you're reading this somehow, I highly recommend that you give these a try. After all, you have eaten pickled cellulite.

I mean, even with the same caloric restrictions, I would still opt to eat an equivalent amount of boiled potatoes with salt and pepper than this crap. Go a little more lenient and I'd rather eat Baked Lay's-- which I actually prefer over generic potato chips. The bottom line is, this is a horrible punishment to inflict on people who can't have actual potato chips. Stay away. Eat an apple, it's light years better.

Now-- these cookies, from the Tartine cookbook, are actually good (probably not good for you, but your taste buds will thank you). Intensely chocolatey, satisfying and deep, these are the type of cookies you savor and think to yourself, "Wow, I'm so sophisticated!"

Watch out for Lisa's entry over at Spicy Ice Cream-- she has another Tartine cookie coming up by the end of the month!

Deluxe Double Chocolate Cookies from Tartine

• 225g (8oz) bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped


• 155g (1 cup + 1 tablespoon) all-purpose flour


• 50g (1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons) cocoa powder


• 2 teaspoons baking powder


• 115g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature


• 225g (1 cup + 2 tablespoons) sugar


• 2 large eggs


• pinch salt


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 75g (1/3 cup) whole milk

Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F). Line a sheet pan with parchment. In a microwave-safe bowl or in a heatproof bowl set over (but not touching) a saucepan of barely simmering water, add the chocolate and heat at 50% power in 15-second intervals (if using the microwave), stirring after each burst until smooth. Set aside to cool.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter together with the salt, vanilla, cocoa, and baking powder until creamy. Slowly add the sugar and beat until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition until smooth. Add the melted chocolate and beat until combined. Add the milk and beat until combined. Sift in the flour and beat at low speed until just incorporated.

Drop the dough in heaping tablespoons onto the sheet pan, an inch apart. Bake until just barely firm on top, about 7 minutes: they will firm up as they cool. Cool on a wire rack.

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All That Jazz

I have to confess, even though the thought of finally going to Chicago excited me, I had no idea what it was all about. Early Edition, Alinea, that musical-- fragmented impressions picked up from blogland, film, and television. When I got an invitation to interview there, I scheduled my flight so that I'd get a few more days to explore, and carefully searched for a hotel that would be priced reasonably enough to allow me that. Thankfully, there was Holiday Inn (you're great, Mariott, but too rich for my blood). I was lucky in a way to get my reservation, as it was fully booked just the night before because The Killers played nearby. Another good thing about Holiday Inn was that I only needed one ride on The El directly from O'Hare (thank you, 3-Day Pass), although I had to lug my 35-pound suitcase up 4 flights of stairs at the Clinton-Blue station.

I'm glad I got this chance, as it's just one of those cities that rewards those who really endeavor to scratch beneath the surface. I'm not quite sure if I'm one of those people, but I know what (and who) I wanted to see, and that's enough for me, at least till I get my first big paycheck and that will open a few more doors for me (ahemAlineaahem). But as a simple traveler, I still managed to enjoy myself a lot.

And I'm not talking about the shopping. Sure, the biggest names in retail are here, and that Mile is truly Magnificent, but I guess it'll be a while before I'm able to afford the type of clothes they have there.

It was a lot of fun navigating the subway system and the astonishingly organized grid city planning, but I wish I'd bought a good bus map, because it was a pain having to consult my laptop whenever I needed a bus route (hmm, so that's what these newfangled phones are for). Some things I wanted to do-- like go to a Jazz club, just because-- I had to postpone, but I'm not disappointed. Leave some for next time! The beautiful neighborhood above is Greenview Avenue, near Vanille Patisserie.

Now, I haven't nearly been in enough Patisseries in my life (believe it or not), but I don't think I'd be too far off in declaring Vanille as one of America's best Patisseries. There was absolutely no question I had to visit this before I left. If I had more time, I'm pretty sure I would have come back!


The display is leaning a little too heavily on the non-fruit choices (chocolate, vanilla, caramel, nuts-- okay, technically nuts are fruits), but I still had difficulty deciding what I wanted!


Sooo... I got two. Yeah. Hello, welcome to my blog if this is your first time. Anyway, I got the Sicilia, which is a pistachio mousse, biscuit, and raspberries. I thought the sphere on top was some candied fruit, but it turns out it was raspberry mousse coated in raspberry gelée! Awesome. The second is a Tarte Vanille, which is probably inspired by Pierre Hermé's creation.


The first lunch I had in Chicago was at Giordano's. A friend of mine had already warned me about the greasiness and general grossness of deep-dish pizzas, I felt it was something I had to eat. So I went with what was generally regarded as the best among the accessible pizza franchises in Chicago. I was pleasantly surprised as Anthony Bourdain was: the trick is to not expect it to be anything like a pizza, just let it be its own thing. So imagine it's a lasagna in a tart shell or something (okay, that not letting it be its own thing, sorry). BUT I did get a vegetarian one to avoid potential oil-slicks.


My first dinner in Chicago was in Avec, a bistro and bar. The entrance was near-invisible so there was this evil waitress inside practically screaming at me to enter from the side. Felt like an idiot, but the bartender was nice and said nearly everyone gets that wrong the first time. It attracted an easygoing, swanky crowd and I felt a little out of place with my water! I ordered the Frisée salad with pan-fried cuisses de grenouille, crispy fennel, prosciutto and paprika aioli. It was my first taste of frog's legs-- I had been saving my first taste for a very good restaurant, and these didn't disappoint. The taste was... interesting (cross between chicken and fish, how Darwinian), but it's the texture I wasn't comfortable with. Too slippery (!). The rest of the salad was really good.

I met up with the gorgeous Ginny of Just Get Floury, who didn't recommend eating the very plain hot dogs of Chicago, so we ended up at Atwood Cafe, which is located at the first floor of Hotel Burnham. We had a very light lunch of beef and vegetable soup, and Ginny had the... something in cherry something. Ha ha ha. I had a great time; it was just a pity Ginny had to study! (Sorry I couldn't go to your LOST premiere party too!)

This is the display at More Cupcakes, which looked good but I denied myself the indulgence as self-flagellation for bombing at my interview. I did, however, explain to two shoppers what Valrhona was.


This was my last dinner in Chicago, Le Colonial. It's critically acclaimed, but unfortunately due to my sinking mood, my appetite was waning. At least it allowed me to save money-- on a salad so big I couldn't even finish it. It was a Goi Bun So-- scallops with garlic fried noodles and lime vinaigrette. Yum, yum, and yum.

These are oil pastels from Blick, which I managed to photograph before one of the employees nearly threw me out. I can't believe Blick Art Materials has a bouncer. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my little tour (sorry there aren't any tourist-y things, heh). And Chicago? I'll be back. I promise.

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Chocolate Amaretti

Amaretti di Cioccolato

Ah, I've finally started answering your comments. But I just managed the Strudel and the Blintzes posts. I don't know why I thought I'd go through them faster. Clearly reading, thinking, and replying take time!
Yes, I know the image title isn't a word. But since I returned, I've gone mad from meeting random relatives and family friends. Why? Because no less than ten people have told me, "mukhang tumaba ka!" (Translation: It looks like you got fatter! Unsaid: ... Porky!) And while just the plain words written out just seem baseline-offensive, the thing that drives me crazy is the way they say it. With a giant smile on their faces! Like somehow they think it's a good thing to tell someone that they have chubbed up. Twisted.

Without speculating too much, I think there may be a cultural/ generational difference going on here. And not in the way that the Romans thought that overweight women were attractive or something. You see, if we're just talking about my own circle of friends, the only time we'd talk about it is (1) asking point-blank ("Do I look fatter?"), in which case the answer is always either "No!" or "Not by much, don't worry!" or (2) a male friend poking fun at another guy. But it's always undesirable, unless we are talking about my friends who have difficulty gaining weight, curse them.

With older folks (one full generation or more up, though a cousin from my generation said the same), it's possible that they do equate gaining weight with a general state of happiness ("It looks like the States agrees with you!"), sometimes health. The mere fact that you gained weight can go either way when they're talking about you behind your back ("He gained weight, but it looks better on him"). But among my peers, unless you're skin-and-bones, the connotation is that you've let yourself go or something. I wonder which generation has it better.

Truth? I'm a lot hard on myself for my appearance (without crossing the unhealthy body image line, I think-- then I wouldn't be baking), but I don't think I look substantially different. Based on Jen's kitchen feature with a picture of me, is that someone you'd call a chub? Definitely I gained only 3-5 pounds, which is not bad considering I did not go to the gym for 3 months (except for the Wii fit every day for 3 weeks), sometimes ate American-sized portions (regularly I eat palm-sized portions), gorged on desserts when the opportunities presented themselves (I was in MANHATTAN! Give me a break!), and stayed in most of the time due to the insane temperatures.

... But yeah, I did get heavier. But is that any reason to tell it to my face? If I was feeling grumpy, what should I have said?
(1) "So have you!"
(2) "Is that supposed to be a good thing?" (Let's see them try to answer that.)
(3) "No I didn't!" (This is what I said, with a smile, when it started to get to me.)
Okay, I promise this is the last time in a while I'll be talking about weight. I just had to vent while it was still fresh.

Today we have a recipe I made a while back-- Dan Lepard's Chocolate Amaretti. They are extremely easy to make (although they do need overnight). No butter in these-- they rely on ground almounds for moistness. They were gone nearly as I produced each tray from the oven! Not an indulgence, but if you need a satisfying hit of chocolate, these will do in a pinch. They were also convenient as I had a stock of ground almonds; I made the recipe to use up leftover egg whites, and they're a good way to go if you don't want to fuss with macarons.

The recipe is here, with a step-by-step by the Man himself here. His pictures are much better than mine, heh.

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Baked Blintzes with Fresh Blueberry Sauce

Hi everyone-- thanks to all those who gave words of comfort and encouragement after last post's sadness. I'm really touched. Anyway, my dear Jen of Use Real Butter has featured my humble kitchen in a recent post, do take a look if you like! And my right column now has links to 5 of the most recent reviews from my newest baby, The Gastronomer's Bookshelf. I hope you drop by (and subscribe)!
It's never a good sign to have to preface your posts with reassurance that you're alive, but since I got back to the Philippines, things have been crazy. I won't go into the details, but the worst among the things that have piled up is that the internet connection has now been reduced to intermittent. After giving me around 4 minutes (30 if I'm verrrry lucky) of blissful browsing, the line will die for maybe another 4 minutes (30 if I'm verrrrry unlucky), then repeat ad nauseam. Not exactly ideal circumstances for catching up on the blogs you've missed reading so much, as well as responding to my own comments and e-mail. Graeme once told me, "If you have time to blog, then you have time to comment." It's just common courtesy. Sooo... It turns out, I couldn't blog either. (By the way, just to drive the point home: The Philippine Long Distance Company is the worst broadband service in the history of telecommunications. Congratulations!)

Instead of pulling my hair out, I ended up doing chores, the most pressing of which (ooh, pun) was washing and ironing the clothes I'd brought back from my trip. Having become used to washing my own clothes when I was in the States, I thought I'd flex those self-dependence muscles by usurping the person we hire to do the laundry, and at the same time learning to treat my clothes with respect (i.e., actually following the care instructions on the tags). Never mind that chapter one of "self-dependence" actually involved calling Duncan up and asking him how to iron a shirt. Oh, we grow up so fast! (And yearn for no-iron shirts!)

I did have it a lot easier in the States, though, as laundry was an automatic piece of cake. Here we only have a semi-automatic washing machine, which involves:

1. manually filling the tub with water


2. manually draining the tub


3. manually transferring the clothes to a spin-dry canister


4. repeat steps 1 through 3 (for rinsing)


5. make you fall in love with me, er, not really, cos that's it. No tumble drying here, but the sun will gladly oblige and throw in a free sunburn too.

It seems like I actually enjoy this, but I guess many of you are thinking it'll be a few weeks before my spirit is broken like everyone else. But right now, after everything that's happened, I have to say it feels freaking great to get a job well done.

... Okay, I realize it's usually a happy ending when I cook too, but just let me have my small triumphs :) Next on the list is blog-related housekeeping!

Here is something I made and photographed in New Jersey. The recipe was a little problematic as the ultra-thick cheese layer did not want to behave, but maybe it'll work for you. As for me, delicious as this was, I think I'll just keep the sauce and stick to labor-intensive blintzes. At least I can control the amount of filling that goes into each and won't be serving up acute coronary events on a plate.

Baked Blintzes with Fresh Blueberry Sauce adapted from Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics
I definitely had problems with this one-- the baking time was way too short. It seems the filling needed another 15 minutes in the oven to set, and even then it needed a trip to the fridge to become stable enough to serve. If I'm going to make this a second time, I'll definitely cut the amount of filling in half (thus baking it for 30-45 minutes), as I found it too rich. I have a few more issues with the book that you can find in my review of Back to Basics on The Gastronomer's Bookshelf. The blueberry sauce, though, is a winner.
Batter:

• 300g (1-1/4 cups) milk


• 30g (2 tablespoons) sour cream


• 56g (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted


• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


• 4 extra-large eggs


• 185g (1-1/3 cups) all-purpose flour


• 25g (2 tablespoons) sugar


• 1 tablespoon baking powder

Filling:

• 720g!!! (24oz or 3 cups) ricotta cheese


• 240g (8oz) mascarpone cheese


• 2 extra-large eggs


• 67g (1/3 cup) sugar


• 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (2 lemons)


• 30g (2 tablespoons) freshly squeezed lemon juice


• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F). Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan. Place all the ingredients of the batter in the bowl of a food processor with a steel blade or blender (or a whisk, because that's all I had) and blend until smooth. Pour half the batter into the dish and bake 10 minutes, or until set.

For the filling, whisk all the ingredients together in a large bowl until thoroughly combined. Spread over the baked layer, then carefully spoon the remaining batter over the cheese layer. Return to the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes (... or longer) until the top is light golden and the filling is set. Remove from the oven and let stand 10-15 minutes (... or longer). Cut into squares and serve with blueberry sauce.

Fresh Blueberry Sauce

• 180g (3/4 cup) freshly squeezed orange juice (3 oranges)


• 133g (2/3 cup) sugar


• 1 tablespoon cornstarch


• 900g (2 pounds) fresh blueberries


• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest


• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Combine the orange juice, sugar, and cornstarch in a medium saucepan and boil, stirring occasionally, until translucent and thickened. Stir in the blueberries and simmer 4-5 minutes. Stir in the zest and lemon juice and cool.

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