the compromise cookie – homemade chocolate grahams

sometimes, life gets in the way. you have intentions, there is motivation, and plans are formed. and then you remember that you have a growing business to run, a husband to love, friends to listen to, a house to tend to and not enough time in the day to get it all done. 

lucky for me, there are always cookies to turn to. i forgot to send the thank you notes again? i’ll have a cookie, please.  didn’t finish editing our new web site? yes, another cookie. haven’t blogged in a while because there’s no time to even cook anymore? well, let’s make us some cookies.

here’s a recipe i stumbled upon this morning. i was searching out one of my favorites - the classic honey graham cracker- and also peeking around for a childhood favorite of my hubby – the chocolate crisp. lucky for me, the chocolate graham cracker recipe popped up on my browser and presented me with the perfect compromise.

they are rediculously easy to make and with a few tweaks could be perfect. they are crunchy and dark, slightly sweet, and would love to be dipped or filled and sandwiched, or made into chocolate s’mores (which will be the fate of my freshly baked batch right after i post this).

enjoy them. and when life gets in the way, just remember there are always, always cookies

Chocolate Graham Crackers

1/2 cup  all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour, traditional or white whole wheat
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dutch-process cocoa
1 1/4 cups  confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons cold milk

preheat your oven to 325°F. cut out two sheets of parchment as large as your cookie sheets.

in a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flours, salt, cocoa, sugar, and baking powder. with a pastry blender, two knives, or your fingertips, cut the butter into the flour mixture until evenly crumbly. in a separate bowl, combine the honey and milk, stirring until the honey dissolves. add the liquid to the dry ingredients and toss lightly with a fork until the dough comes together. add additional milk, if necessary.

turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and fold it over gently 10 to 12 times, until smooth. divide the dough in half. work with half the dough at a time, keeping the remaining dough covered.

transfer one piece of dough to a piece of parchment. roll it into a rectangle a bit larger than 10 x 14 inches; the dough will be about 1/16-inch thick. trim the edges and prick the dough evenly with a dough docker or fork. repeat with the remaining dough and parchment. place the rolled-out dough pieces, on their parchment, onto baking sheets.

bake the crackers for 15 minutes, or until you begin to smell chocolate. remove them from the oven, and immediately cut them into rectangles with a pizza wheel or knife. transfer them to a rack to cool. store the cooled crackers tightly wrapped.

honeybee notes:

i used my kitchen aid stand mixed through the whole process. just use a paddle attachment and be sure not toover mix  the dough. so easy!

be sure to use a dark cocoa powder, such as Drost cocoa, for a dark and rich flavor.

as you can see, i chose to roll and cut out my cookie shapes rather than cut them while hot. this is because i am very accident prone and would probably burn myself in the process, but also because i like to know i’ll have nice, uniform squares. just roll, cut and place on parchment lined pans. re-roll the remaining dough, being careful not to overwork it. we don’t want tough cookies!

the thinner the dough, the crisper the cookie. i like a little body and chew in the middle, so i rolled them slightly thicker. i also sprinkled them with a little granulated sugar for that extra texture and sweetness.

(recipe courtesy of king arthur flour)

instant gratification mac ‘n cheese

creamy dreamy cheesy goodness

when i have a craving, i really have a craving. there’s no being quiet about it.  ask anyone who knows me, and they might say that’s my most annoying habit. i’ll suddenly have the strongest desire for something, and will repeatedly state that i want item x over and over and over and over again. the idea of it will not exit my mind until i have it in my belly. i apologize to those closest to me via this blog. sorry.

so when i looked at the clock the other day and realized it was 2 pm, i hadn’t eaten all day, and i wanted mac ‘n cheese, i had to make some. i needed it now. i needed it five minutes ago. so rather than create a bechamel based cheese sauce and wait who knows how long for a traditional baked version, i made my old standby - a yummy, cheesy stove top version that takes just a bit longer than it takes to cook pasta. few ingredients, ooey-gooey results, and instant gratification.

i like a traditional cheddar based mac, but appreciate the smoothness that a little bit of processed american adds to the pot, so i’ve included the measurements for my everyday fave version. however, if you love all cheddar, do it up. be creative and use whatever you like, and add whatever you like! i love a smoked gouda version, drizzled with truffle oil. add sautéed shallots and a hint of garlic to your butter, use gouda, and at the last moment throw in some butter/white wine cooked lobster tail. love bacon? grilled chicken? steamed broccoli? add it into your favorite version at the end. if you want to amp up the healthfulness, use whole wheat pasta. the pasta -bilities are endless! (yeah, i’m aware that was a bad joke.)

stove top macaroni ‘n cheese

this recipe makes enough for 4 big side dish servings, or two very large main courses. the hot sauce just adds a little hint of something extra, and you can add a pinch of dried mustard for a more traditional recipe. adapted from alton brown’s recipe.

1/2 lb. macaroni – i love elbows, shells or pipette to catch all of the luscious cheese sauce

4 tbsp. butter, cubed

2 eggs

6 oz. evaporated (not sweetened condensed) milk

splash of hot sauce

salt and pepper to taste

10 oz. cheese of choice – i like 3 oz. american and 7 oz. sharp cheddar

cook the pasta in a medium sauce pot until al dente. drain and add back to the same pot. add the butter and stir until all of the pasta is evenly coated.

in a small bowl, gently whisk the eggs with the evaporated milk and hot sauce until just combined. add to the pasta mixture and stir, then add the cheese. over low heat, continue to stir the pasta until the cheese melts and the sauce comes together and thickens, about 3 – 5 minutes. add salt and pepper if needed. enjoy!

honeybee notes

the pasta will continue to cook a bit with the cheese, so make sure it’s not mushy!

make sure to whisk the eggs with the other ingredients and to keep the heat off until it is mixed with the pasta and the cheese is added. you don’t want scrambled eggs in your pasta!

fudgey valentine brownies with dulce de leche

eat your heart out!

sometimes it’s the simplest things that are the most satisfying. when trying to decide on what to make for valentine’s day, i knew i wanted something chocolate and decadent. but i didn’t want to spend all day in the kitchen because, of course, i’d rather be spending time with my hunny. after watching ina garten make brownies twice in one week (the food network pros know  just how much of a choco-centric holiday this is),  i decided on the basic brownie, but wanted to add a little something extra, special.

gorgeous shiny batter before baking

close up of the sweet swirls

so what goes best with chocolate? nuts, fruit, mint, coffee…the possibilities are endless! but guess who doesn’t like any of those yummy flavors mixed with his chocolate? that’s right, my husband. i sometimes wonder how i could possibly have married such a chocolate purist, but then i remembered that he favors peanut butter and caramel with chocolate! so the decision – peanut butter brownies or caramel brownies? the thought of peanut butter caramel crossed my mind on more than one occasion, but that sounded a little fussy, and i wanted the purest flavors to shine through. so i whipped up a batch of dulce de leche – the easiest thing in the world, trust me – spooned it over ina’s outrageous brownie recipe, and baked away. the result was absolutely sinful. the brownie was dense and very chocolatey, the way a brownie should be. and although the dulce de leche added a nice sweetness and caramel flavor, i think i prefer to top my brownies with it to keep its presence more pronounced.

presentation is key, so after chilling the baked brownies i used a heart-shaped cookie cutter, creating beautifully swirled valentine’s to share. enjoy the recipes, and happy valentine’s day!

dulce de leche

long gone are the days of boiling a can of sweetened condensed milk for 5 hours, hoping the can doesn’t explode or the sweet boiling liquid doesn’t burn your precious hands. this is the easiest way to creamy sweet heaven.

preheat your oven to 425 degrees. place one can of sweetened condensed milk into a glass pie pan or cooking dish, and place that dish in a larger roasting pan or cooking vessel. pour enough hot water into the larger dish to reach halfway up the pie plate. snugly wrap the top of the pie plate with aluminum foil, and bake for about 1 hour 25 minutes or more. the caramel will be browned. remove from the oven, remove the foil, and stir briskly to smooth out the mixture. let cool, and use on almost anything – over ice cream, between cookies, on brownies, bread, fruit…the possibilities are endless.

fudgey brownies with dulce de leche

adapted from ina garten, courtesy of foodnetwork.com

1 pound unsalted butter

1 pound semisweet chocolate

6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

6 extra-large eggs

2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups sugar

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter and flour a 12 x 18 x 1-inch baking sheet.

melt together the butter, chocolate chips, and the unsweetened chocolate in a medium bowl over simmering water. allow to cool slightly.

in a large bowl, stir (do not beat) together the eggs, vanilla, and sugar. stir the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and allow to cool to room temperature.

in a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. add to the cooled chocolate mixture. pour into the baking sheet and spread evenly. dollop the dulce de leche over the brownie batter and swirl gently with a knife (this distributes the caramel and makes the brownies pretty!).  

bake for 20 minutes, then rap the baking sheet against the oven shelf to force the air to escape from between the pan and the batter. bake for another 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. do not overbake! allow to cool thoroughly, refrigerate, and cut into squares or use a cookie cutter. enjoy!

honeybee notes:

i know it looks like A LOT of butter and chocolate, but it is a LARGE sheet of brownies. i haven’t tried halving the recipe, but if you do the baking times may change, so just pay attention! use your senses – once you smell chocolatey goodness, start checking for doneness.

if you prefer your brownies without the dulce, just bake them without. the original recipe calls for adding chocolate chips and walnuts, which i omitted here. if you’d like to add them, use only 1 cup of flour in the batter itself, and mix the remaining 1/4 cup with 3 cups of walnuts and 12 ounces of semi sweet or milk chocolate chips. add to the batter and bake as usual.

you can melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave, just be careful. microwave in a glass or microwave safe bowl in one minute increments, stirring after each minute. it took me about 4 minutes total.

i buttered my pan and coated it with cocoa powder instead of flour for a little extra hint of chocolate.

a comfy girls night in: quinoa with mushrooms and swiss chard

the final product

having great friends is, well, great. having friends that you’ve known since elementary school, who are as close as family, who you can laugh, cry, and dance your heart out with is even greater.  and having friends who love to eat as much as you do is simply awesome. lucky me, i have the best friends a girl can ask for. 

thursday is our night;  no boys allowed - just food, wine and gossip. but week after week, after spending our time and cash at our old standby tapas restaurants and even more time and more cash trying new wine bars and ‘hot spots’, we’ve become bored. disappointed. uninspired. so last week while sitting at a new wine bar/lounge/small plates spot with good wine but cold food and bad dessert (a sin!), we decided it was time for a night in. why not? we’re all more than capable of making good food, and it’s a great reason to stay in sweats.

so we went to my girlfriend e’s house, which is always warm and cozy with beach inspired decor and tons of subtly scented candlelight. e roasted a chicken, presented with roasted potatoes and beer bread, the other girls brought the wine (lots of wine. lots.), and i of course was expected to bring dessert. but i wanted to try something new, and knowing e’s love of yummy healthy food, i decided to try a recipe out of a cookbook i recently purchased in hopes of expanding my ‘superfood’ cooking skills.

mound of mushrooms

i chose the quinoa mushroom swiss chard salad. it was a hearty, healthy, and very delicious side which could easily be a filling vegetarian lunch option. i cooked away, tried the dish and packed it up to get ready to leave. then i decided that we needed chocolate. knowing i’d seen a quick mousse recipe in saveur, i looked up the recipe and whipped it up in minutes. but it wasn’t enough for six. so instead of making two of the same, i brought with me two creamy chocolatey mousses that made the girls swoon. the original  bittersweet, and a milk chocolate peanut butter version that i created on the spot and took my chances on. so glad i did – it was the perfect ending to one of the most memorable girls nights we’ve ever had. i’ve attached the quinoa recipe below, but am saving the mousse for another day, once it’s perfected and to my liking.

quinoa with mushrooms and swiss chard, from the book power foods by the editors of whole living magazine

2 cups water

1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 pound swiss chard, stems and leaves cut into 1/2 -1 inch pieces

salt and pepper

pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

1 garlic clove, minced

12 ounces cremini mushrooms, cleaned, trimmed and sliced thin

2 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme

shaved parmesan cheese

in a medium saucepan, bring the water to a boil. add the quinoa and reduce heat to a simmer. cover the pan and cook until quinoa is tender and has absorbed all liquid, about 15 minutes. remove from heat

meanwhile, heat 1 tsp oil in a large skillet over medium heat. cook the chard until tender and wilted, about 8 minutes. add salt to taste (about 1/4 tsp.) , add pepper and red pepper flakes. transfer to a plate.

add remaining 2 tsp olive oil and the garlic to the skillet. cook over medium until garlic is golden, about 1 minute. add the mushrooms and cook about 3 minutes, until they release their juices and lightly brown. add salt and pepper to taste, and continue to cook until tender, about 5 more minutes. stir in the cooked quinoa, and cook to heat through, about 1 minute more. stir in thyme and remove from heat.

to serve, divide the chard among plates and spoon quinoa mushroom mixture over the top. sprinkle parmesan over the top and enjoy!

honeybee notes:

quinoa can now be found in most supermarkets and trader joe’s and whole foods. look in the rice and grain section. you can tell it’s cooked through because it will look translucent and have a thin white ‘ring’ around it.

olive oil is great and healthy, but i’m thinking i’ll add a little sesame oil next time for an extra punch of asian flavor. yum!

this is great warm or at room temp. make the night before and it’s perfect to pack away for lunch during a busy work week.

kitchen basics: because if you don’t know, you can’t cook

this is why people are intimidated by the kitchen.  you watch the first five minutes of a cooking show, a celebrity chef talking about the most scrumptious meal they are about to create. interested, you sit down in front of the television, maybe snuggled up with a cup of hot cocoa, and await the magic. as the chef discusses the ingredients, using terms like fresh! creamy! delicious! heavenly! you start to think,  ”hey! i can do this! i’m going to make this (insert favorite food here) tonight!”

and then he or she goes on to cook as if they were in their restaurant kitchen, and you are a fellow chef.  maybe they tell you what they’re doing.  maybe they throw around a few terms you’ve heard of. but do you know what these terms mean? do they tell you why they’re doing it? or how the ingredients are supposed to look or change or, whatever while doing it? how doing it wrong will impact your final product?  if you’re lucky, they do, but too often, having only thirty minutes to create a three course meal on national television, not so much. and you give up. 

i’ve heard this story before from people i know, which is the reason for this new ‘series’ i’ll be starting up asap.  i think everyone should know the how and why of some very basic kitchen terms and techniques. as important as the method is, you probably aren’t interested unless you can relate it to actual cooking, so i’ll include a recipe with each technique. hopefully you’ll learn something and become a more confident and competent cook. because knowledge is power, and food should never be intimidating.

i just love this pic...butter and oil!

cream filled chocolate sandwich cookies -or- homemade oreos

we’re not the type of household that stocks boxes of store-bought cookies and treats in our pantry. anyone who knows me knows that  instead, there is always a container of homemade chocolate chip cookie dough waiting for its moment to be baked and devoured. that there must be some leftover nutella ice cream hiding in my freezer, or a cake recipe in my head waiting to be tested. those are the desserts i eat, right?

for the most part, yes. i do love to bake. love. even though it is my job and my business, which sometimes haunts me in my dreams, i still adore it. because of the creativity, the freshness, the quality, the un-matched flavor. but if you look really closely in my secret pantry, the one in my basement that stocks the extra cans of tomatoes for sauce, the bottles of pellegrino and the tubs of cocoa powder, you will almost always find a box of oreos.

mmmm. there is nothing like that crispy dark chocolate cookie combined with perfectly sweet cream filling, especially when dunked in a big glass of milk. i’m a big dunker,  holding the cookie in the ice cold liquid until it is nearly falling apart mushy. it is a moment of pure yum.

so when i was in godiva last week and saw a milk chocolate covered oreo, of course i bought one. i ate it and enjoyed it and thought, “dipping oreos in chocolate? this is something that i need to do on a regular basis”. until my conscious reminded me that “on a regular basis” should be more like “on a really special occassion when there will be lots of other people around to stop me from eating the entire batch”. and as good as that dreamy chocolate covered heaven was, you certainly can’t dunk it in milk, and eating more than one at a time could certainly prove to have its share of post-snack regret.

and that’s when i stumbled upon not one, but two blog posts about homemade oreo cookies. they weren’t new entries, but they were on two blogs that i visit regularly. a sign from the cookie gods. my baking addiction found the recipe on smitten kitchen, who adapted it from wayne harley brachman’s  book retro desserts. that was a few days ago, before my trip to the chalet, where i couldn’t knock the thought of making them out of my head (even after an entire bottle of red).

so this morning i baked up a batch. needless to say, they are fabulous. the cookie is dark and crispy and the filling is almost identical to the original. i haven’t tried dunking them yet, as i’ve only had one so far, purely for quality control. i have a feeling they’ll taste better tomorrow, as the flavors sit and develop, which i’ll be sure to let you know.

the recipe is ridiculously easy to make. it calls for using 1 to 1 1/2 cups of sugar, depending on your taste. per smitten kitchen, because the filling is so sweet, you can get away with using just 1 cup, but if you use the cookie with a less sweet filling, or for something like ice cream sandwiches, go with the full amount. i went with 1 1/4 cups, taking the middle road. they turned out great, and if you want to reduce your sugar intake, you can certainly use just 1 cup with wonderful results.

homemade cream filled chocolate sandwich cookies (oreos)

chocolate wafers:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened dutch process cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1 large egg

filling:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

set two racks in the middle of the oven. preheat to 375° f.

in a food processor, or bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. while pulsing, or on low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. continue processing or mixing until dough comes together in a mass.

take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately two inches apart. with moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough.  bake for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. set baking sheets on a rack to cool.

to make the cream, place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.

to assemble the cookies, in a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch, round tip, pipe teaspoon-size blobs of cream into the center of one cookie. place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. lightly press to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream.

honeybee notes:

i used extra dark cocoa powder for that extra dark chocolate taste. you can certainly find great brands at restaurant depot, whole foods or costco, but hershey’s also sells a version that you can find in your favorite grocery store.

there are those out there who will poo-poo the idea of using shortening. trust me, i’m a butter girl all the way. but you will not be able to achieve the same flavor or texture using all butter. so just go with it this time.  all things in moderation! plus, nowadays you can find trans-fat free shortening.

regarding the ‘flattening’ of the cookie dough, i used the bottom of a juice glass. no messy fingers!

the cookies will appear slightly puffed when you take them out of the oven. they will flatten within a few minutes, or you can just lightly bang the bottom of the pan on the counter, which will deflate them immediately. (i prefer this. there is a  strange satisfaction in watching the cookies shrink)

weekend in the country (house)

because we didn’t really travel ’round the country side.  we stayed in the house, otherwise known in my family as ‘the chalet’ (not just because we’re so fancy, but that’s the type of house it is) for ninety percent of the weekend. the other ten percent? exploring our acres of woodsy land, taking pictures of the sparkling snow and running water.

over the river and through the woods...our home away from home

my parents bought the house just over one year ago. just a three and a half hour drive away, it is their greatest and most genius investment as it serves not only as hunting grounds for my dad but as a weekend getaway, a family meeting place, a peaceful home to enjoy the nothing-doing of the mountains and the clean, country air. so when the hubby comes home and declares he has a long holiday weekend (usually more of a “hey babe, i have off monday!”), my immediate thoughts are of the fireplace, the backyard creek, the bright shining night stars, and food. lots and lots of food. because on a cold, snowy weekend away, skiing is not my pleasure. movies, scrabble and eating are.

scrabble says it all!

so no, there will be no recipes in this post. yes, i cooked. but there was no thinking involved, no measuring or attention paying to exact method and technique. cooking in a weekend house is all about ease and comfort. knowing that the nearest grocery store isn’t exactly on the corner, you learn to rely on meat and veg, neatly tucked away in the freezer. there are cheeses and salumi, olives and sun dried tomatoes, chicken and beef base, a few spices, pasta. you learn that when making seared pork chops with apples and onions, it’s okay to squeeze some apple juice from a trader joe’s kids juice box into the pan. it’s acceptable not to flour the beef for beef stew (it was still some of the best i’ve ever made). bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches for lunch?! yes. perfect.

the perfect sunday afternoon lunch - bacon egg and cheese sammies

and though i didn’t technically ‘work’ this weekend, i did think a lot about food and the food i wanted to create. the cooking channel’s constant presence surged a need to make puff pastry from scratch and create an indian veggie curry. the recent blog posts i stumbled accross about homemade oreos and the magazine cover story on homemade nutella were etched in my brain, taunting me all weekend to return home and actualize these glorious ideas. so there’s a lot started and a lot coming. i just wish i had a fireplace