Banana-Walnut Chocolate-Chunk Cookies

MMmmmmmmm! Just made these tonight from the Martha Stewart Cookie book and they're awesome! Not too banana-y, but nice and tender from the addition of the bananas, and with a little whole wheat flour too. They're fabulous! Enjoy :)

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temp
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 c packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (about 1 large)
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
8 oz. semisweet chocolate coarsely chopped into 1/4 inch chunks (or semisweet chips)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped toasted walnuts

1. Preheat over to 375 degrees. Whisk together both flours, salt, and baking soda in a bowl.

2. Put butter and both sugars into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Add egg and vanilla; mix until combined. Mix in banana. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in oats, chocolate, and nuts.

3. Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets lined w/ parchment paper, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until golden brown and just set, 12 to 13 min. Let cool on sheets on wire racks 5 min. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temp up to 2 days.

"Naughty Shelf" Ice Cream

Okay, so I think I finally have ice cream dialed in. I say that because I made up a recipe for coffee (mocha) ice cream last week and it turned out perfect ... or at least close to perfect.

Here 'tis, though I think it works well for just about any flavor. That's the good news: once you get the base right, it's easy to innovate.

whisk together:

1 cup sugar

pinch salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

3 tsp instant capuccino (that stuff rocks!)

2 tsp cocoa powder
1 tsp corn starch

whisk in:

2 cups low fat milk (I used 1%)

two egg yolks

Heat it on the stove top til it starts to simmer, whisking it constantly so it doesn't burn. Once it simmers, turn down the heat and cook it for a couple of minutes (continuing to whisk) until it thickens up a bit. If you dip a wooden spoon in it, you should be able to draw a clean line through it with a finger.

Off the heat, add:

1 cup heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp vodka

Chill it over night, and then freeze it in an ice cream freezer based on whatever instructions you'd normally follow. The vodka is optional. In theory, the alcohol prevents ice crystals from forming and gives a creamier consistency, but I've seen mixed results. It seems to help, though not much. I include it here because this successful recipe used it, but you can easily omit it without compromising the final product. I think the secret to this recipe is two-fold: (1) not heating the cream, but adding it off heat, and (2) using two emulsifiers: cornstarch AND egg yolks. I've seen lots of recipes that use one or the other, though the egg varieties typically use a LOT of eggs. Using both has yielded ice cream with some truly extraordinary consistencies: dense and smooth--the way ice cream is meant to be.

Using this same base, I've made really nice cinammon ice cream. A chocolate variation (same basic ingredients though with 8 tsp of cocoa powder and no instant capuccino) is getting getting ready for the freezer as I type this. I DO NOT recommend using chocolate ice cream recipes that call for the addition of melted chocolate, regardless of quality. It really messes with the consistency. So, I'm going with Haagen Daz and trying straight cocoa powder.

Congo Bars

CONGO BARS

Despite their name, Congo bars have nothing at all to do with Africa. In fact, they are little more than blondies enriched with coconut -- an ingredient
that was exotic in years past perhaps but is far from it these days. We tried adding both sweetened, flaked coconut and unsweetened, shredded coconut
to our blondies, and tasters unanimously preferred the unsweetened. Sweetened coconut did little but make the bars overly sweet and unpleasantly
chewy. We were able to extract a bit more flavor from the unsweetened coconut by toasting it golden brown before adding it to the blondie dough. If
you have trouble locating unsweetened shredded coconut, try a natural food store or an Asian market. Keep a close eye on the coconut when toasting as
it can burn quickly.

1 cup pecans (or walnuts), toasted and chopped coarse
1 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (7 1/2 ounces)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar (10 1/2 ounces)
2 large eggs , lightly beaten
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 ounces white chocolate chips (1 cup) or chopped bar, or 3 ounces each white chocolate and semisweet chocolate
chips

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Adjust oven rack to the middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Spread nuts on larged rimmed baking sheet and bake until
deep golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer nuts to cutting board to cool; chop coarsely and set aside. Toast coconut on same
rimmed baking sheet, stirring 2 to 3 times, until light golden, about 5 to 7 minutes.

2. While nuts and coconut toast, cut 18-inch length foil and fold lengthwise to 8-inch width. Fit foil into length of 13 by 9-inch baking
pan, pushing it into corners and up sides of pan; allow excess to overhang pan edges. Cut 14-inch length foil and fit into width of
baking pan in same manner, perpendicular to first sheet (if using extra-wide foil, fold second sheet lengthwise to 12-inch width). Spray
foil-lined pan with nonstick cooking spray.

3. 3. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.

4. Whisk melted butter and brown sugar together in medium bowl until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Using rubber
spatula, fold dry ingredients into egg mixture until just combined; do not overmix. Fold in chocolate, coconut, and nuts and turn batter
into prepared pan, smoothing top with rubber spatula.

5. Bake until top is shiny, cracked, and light golden brown, 22 to 25 minutes; do not overbake. Cool on wire rack to room temperature.
Remove bars from pan by lifting foil overhang and transfer to cutting board. Cut into 2-inch squares and serve.

Strawberry Shortcake Biscuits

Strawberry Shortcake Biscuits

This is by far my favorite way to do strawberry shortcake these days. The biscuits are tender and tasty and I like them far better than angel food cake or any other alternative. They're quick and easy as well--a simple drop biscuit. Enjoy!


1 ½ cups flour
¼ c sugar
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp baking soda
1/3 c cold butter
1 egg slightly beaten
½ c sour cream
2 T milk


3 T sugar
Strawberries

Preheat over to 400 degrees. Lightly great baking sheet. Combine flour, ¼ c sugar, bp, salt and baking soda. Cut in butter. Combine egg, sour cream and milk in small bowl and add to flour mixture stirring w/ fork until just moistened.

Drop dough into 8 mounds onto prepared sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden. Cool on rack.

Combine 4 cups of strawberries with sugar. Top biscuits with berries and cream .

Corrine Tilton's French Apple Pie

We found ourselves stuck home today with a sick James, forced into our first official Jeremy Tilton family Thanksgiving. Our consolation is Jeremy's mom's apple pie. Everything will be ok as long as we have the apple pie. Since I've written the recipe down at least a half dozen times and still couldn't find it this morning, I thought I'd post it here for the next time we're in need of some perfect pie.

Corrine's French Apple Pie

1 unbaked pie shell

1. For deep 9 in pie dish: 5 large or 6 med/small Granny Smith apples, cored, peeled, and soaked in large bowl of cold water + 1 T salt. For glass pie dish, 5 small Grannies

2. Crumb topping: cut in 1/3 c butter to 2/3 c flour and ½ c sugar to fine crumbs

3. Squeeze excess water out of apples (or drain in strainer), then cut in halves. Combine with ½ c sugar + 1 t cinnamon and immediately stack densely, piece by piece, in pie shell. Do not add excess juices to pie.

4. Cover liberally with crumb topping. For heavy ceramic pie dish, bake at 350 for 20 min, then 325 for 30 + min, or until apples are tender when pricked, filling is bubbling, and crumb topping is lightly browned. For glass pie dish, bake at 400 for 40 min, rotating pie 1/2 way through.

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

Hi family -- for those of you who are pumpkin chiffon pie fans: Katie passed along a version of mom's recipe Janet has revamped, and I've posted it here. The ingredients are the same, but the directions are quite different, and it goes together easier this way. I just made my rough draft version for RS recipe night (I always have to remind myself how to make a crust come fall, and the first attempt is usually not so hot) with great success.

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

2 1/2 lb can pumpkin, refrigerated

Three pre-baked 9” pie shells

Soften 2 packages of unflavored gelatin in ½ cup cold water. Set aside.

Mix together and stir to remove all lumps:
1 ½ cups brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
dash cloves

Mix together:
6 egg yolks slightly beaten
1 cup diluted canned milk (1/2 water)

Add milk and egg yolk to brown sugar and spices in a large saucepan or double boiler. Cook till thick stirring constantly. Add softened gelatin and stir until completely melted. Cool to room temperature and then add a 2 ½ lb. can (approximately 3-3 ½ cups) pumpkin. Add 1 tablespoon vanilla and 1 tablespoon maple flavoring. Cool until mixture starts to set up. While it is cooling, beat 6 egg whites till stiff, gradually adding 2/3 cup sugar. Fold beaten egg whites into the cooled pumpkin mixture and then pour into cooled shells. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Serve with slightly sweetened whipped cream.

Apple Cranberry Crisp

Emeril’s Apple Cranberry Crisp

THIS IS DELICIOUS! Love the tang of the cranberries with the sweet apples. It also turns a pretty pink from the cranberries. We loved this recipe. The topping is a scrumptious combo as well. Perfect fall dessert. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS: (salted butter is fine)
Unsalted butter for baking dish
2 1.2 to 3 pounds sweet, firm apples, such as Gala or Braeburn, peeled, cored and cut into ½ inch dice
12 oz cranberries (fresh or frozen work fine—no need to thaw)
½ c sugar
3 T all purpose-flour
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
¼ tsp grated orange zest plus 1 T fresh orange juice
Crisp Topping

Crisp Topping Recipe
6 T cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 c all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
2/3 c rolled oats
¾ c packed light brown sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp salt
1/3 c chopped walmuts.

Using an electric mixer, beat on low until coarse crumbs form.


Preheat over to 375 degrees. Butter 9x 13 inch baking dish

In a large bowl, combine apples, cranberries, sugar, flour, vanilla and orange zest and juice. Transfer to baking dish and sprinkle w/ topping. Bake until topping is browned and juices are thick and bubbling around edges, 55 to 60 minutes. Let cool 15 min before serving.

DELICIOUS! Love the tang of the cranberries with the sweet apples. It also turns a pretty pink from the cranberries. We loved this recipe. The topping is a scrumptious combo as well. Perfect fall dessert. Enjoy!

Lemon-Luscious Ice Cream

I've had a nice ice cream maker for over a year now, but never found an ice cream recipe that I found perfectly satisfying. Until now. The source is--oddly enough--Rose Levy Beranbaum's Pie & Pastry Bible. If you have that cookbook, nearly all the recipes in it are reasonably complicated, but also consistently excellent.

The ice cream, however, is relatively easy, as far as Beranbaum's recipe's go. Here 'tis:

4 large egg yolks

1 cup sugar, divided (I used raw sugar)

2 tsp finely grated lemon zest (focus on getting just the yellow as the white is bitter)

6 Tb freshly squeezed lemon juice (roughly 3 lemons)

4 Tb unsalted butter, softened

1 and 1/2 cups heavy cream + 1/2 cup milk (I substituted 2 cups half and half)

optional: 4 tsp vodka and 1/2 tsp cobasan (an emulsifier)

Have a strainer ready suspended over a medium bowl.

In a heavy saucepan, beat the yolks and 3/4 of the sugar with a wooden spoon until well blended. Stir in the lemon zest, juice, butter and salt. Cook over medium low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens to roughly the consistency of hollandaise sauce; it should thickly coat the wooden spoon but still be liquid enough to pour (mixture will change from translucent to opaque and begin to take on a yellow color on the back of the spoon). The mixture must not be allowed to boil or it will curdle, so, if it starts to steam or boil, remove from the heat briefly and keep stirring.

When it's thickened (and it took awhile for me--5-7 minutes), pour it immediately into the strainer and push it through the strainer with the wooden spoon until only a coarse residue remains. (The residue and left over good is yummy in and of itself--it's a classic lemon curd.)

In a medium bowol, combine the cream and milk. Whisk in the sugar until dissolved. Cover tightly and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or until well chilled.

Stir in option vodka and/or cobasan and freeze in an ice cream maker.

She recommends letting the ice cream, once frozen, "ripen" in the freezer for at least two hours before serving, but if you're like me and can't wait that long, the stuff is awesome right out of the ice cream maker, though it holds its consistency wonderfully even after extended time in the freezer.

I know it sounds strange, but the best term to describe this ice cream is "lovely": lovely color, taste, and texture.

I did not add cobasan (I think it's tough to find), though I did use the vodka. (Kamchatka vodka: $3.25 a bottle at the state liquor store.) Vodka is tasteless in a recipe so the point isn't to add flavor or even to add an on-the-sly Davidson-style "kick"; rather, the alcohol lowers the freezing point of the mixture, meaning that it takes longer to freeze and the ice crystals, when they form, are smaller = better consistency, and, like I said, the consistency is divine. I'll have to try it w/o the vodka to see how it compares. I've been obsessed with consistency and this is far and away the best result yet.

Bran Muffins

Jennie was just asking me about mom's bran muffin recipe when I came across this one on my computer. It very well may have been the one mom used. That's the problem with mom's recipes---we never know which she used and how she tweaked it. So, here's this one. I can't vouch for it because I've never tried it, and I don't know if it really makes that many muffins, but that's what is written :)

Bran Muffins
Dorothy Hawkes

1 c shortening or margarine
1 ½ tsp salt
2 ½ c sugar
4 eggs unbeaten
2 c boiling water
1 quart buttermilk
6 c bran buds cereal (?)
5 c sifted flour
5 tsp baking soda

Cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs, liquids, and dry ingredients. Add nuts raisins and dates if desired. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. I can be stored in the refrigerator for 6 weeks and used as needed. If stored, add nuts, raisins, dates, etc.. at time of baking. Makes 130! “_

Chocolate Pudding

We really enjoy this pudding recipe from America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook:
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tb cornstarch
2 Tb Dutch-processed cocoa
1/8 tsp salt
3 1/2 cups milk
3 large egg yolks
6 oz melted bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
2 tsp vanilla extract

The original recipe calls for 3 1/2 cups half and half, but that's overkill in my book. Even 1 percent milk works fine. It also calls for a tablespoon of unsalted butter, which also seems unnecessary. (Let me put it this way: I don't miss it when I leave it out.)

Whisk the dry ingredients together in a medium sauce pan. Slowly wisk in the milk, then the egg yolks one at a time. Add the melted chocolate (don't worry about lumps: they'll dissolve as it cooks).

Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium high heat, whisking gently and/or scraping the sides as it heats up. Once it starts to simmer, reduce the heat to medium, continue to stir, and let the pudding cook until it thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon (1-2 minutes).

Remove from the heat and strain through a fine strainer, pushing it through with a spatula if necessary. (This removes any little bits of cooked egg and/or unmelted chocolate.) Stir in the vanilla extract (and butter if you want to try it that way) and chill for about 3 hours if you want it chilled through. Or, if you can't wait, eat it warm, which is a great way to eat it. (Remember how Mom used to serve the cook and serve pudding that way? You actually get a richer flavor if you eat it warm.)

The recipe says to "press plastic wrap directly on the surface" to prevent a skin from forming, but if you're like me, the skin is half the charm.

Lick all the varous bowls, pans, spoons, and whisks used in cooking the pudding (or, if you're feeling particularly generous, share them with the kids), and, once it's reached your preferred temperature (or if you lose patience waiting for it to cool), eat it straight with the biggest spoon you can find or serve with a dollop of fresh whipping cream.

Variation: add a half teaspoon (or more) of ground cinammon to the dry ingredients. The family remains dubious, but I love the combination of cinammon and chocolate--it adds depth and interest. (I do the same with chocolate ice cream, gelato, etc.) If you're feeling really adventurous, add a pinch of cayenne pepper. Oh yeah.