Chocolate Chip Cookies

Several weeks ago I made chocolate chip cookies to take into work. I used a new (to me) recipe that called for putting the dough in the fridge overnight and then slicing it like you do the cookie dough you can buy in the refrigerator section. That used to be the extend of my baking skills. While this recipe was slightly more time consuming, it left me with four rolls of cookie dough that each made a dozen cookies that were some of the best soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies I've had. I may have to start keeping some on hand. This really is for soft and chewy cookies and not crisp cookies. The best ones that I ended up with were the ones that were still slightly under done. The ones that were in the oven a bit longer were still good, but tasted more like store bough Chips Ahoy than soft homemade chocolate chip cookies.

Just writing about them makes me wish I hadn't used up all the dough and could go pop some in the oven.

Fiddleheads!

I went to Maine this past weekend and brought some fiddleheads back to the city. Fiddleheads are the unfurled fronds of young ferns. They grow wild in New England in early spring time. Although they are also available in canned form, I highly suggest avoiding those at all costs.

I prepared mine after cleaning and trimming them by boiling them for about two minutes and then I sauteed them with butter and garlic and two chopped white mushrooms until they were soft and tender.
This was the first time I'd had fiddleheads since I was in college and could get them at the farm stand next door. Sadly, I've never seen fresh ones in my local supermarkets in New York. If you've never had them I highly suggest trying some. Consider them vegetarian escargot.

So Many Vegetables!

Today I signed up for the Sunnyside CSA program and I am super duper excited. I'm looking forward to making all kinds of savory vegetable pies. I only got the vegetable share for this year which I'm splitting with a friend because I'm not entirely sure how much volume it will actually be. They also offer a fruit share which was intriguing for pie making purposes, but we'll see how the vegetables go for this season.

I haven't had a CSA share since my second year in college. Back then though I didn't really know how to cook more than a few dishes and neither did any of the people I was living with. I remember we would get piles and piles of leeks and no one knew what to do with them so we'd stick them in flower vases all around the mod. Now I would love to have leeks all the time, so hopefully that won't happen. The jury is out on what I am going to do with all the greens though.

Happy Passover!

Normally I try to avoid Passover recipes that try to replicate the things that I'm giving up eating for the week. The rolls, brownies, cookies, etc. just never taste as good as the real thing and it hardly seems worth the calories when there are plenty of good things that you can eat. Of course even with the determination each year to eat salads, simple meals, and embrace the hundreds of things you can eat, I invariably end up craving bread halfway through. It's more surprising because I don't eat bread on a regular basis.
This year, I invited company over and decided to see what I could do about making some sort of kosher for Passover pie.

Passover Turkey and Potato Pie
Crust:
4 Matzos
2 Eggs
1/2 cup of matzo meal
1 tsp Thyme
8 Tbs of parve (non dairy) margarine
salt to taste

Wet matzos, break into tiny pieces into a bowl. Melt margarine. Add eggs, margarine, spices and matzo meal to bowl. Mix together. Press into a 10" pie plate.

Filling:
1 lb ground turkey
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic1/2 cup of frozen peas
2 Tbs. mushroom soup stock base (I use the Israeli brand Osem, you could use any sort of stock)
1 cup of water
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp olive oilpotato starch (if needed)
salt and pepper

Brown onion in olive oil with the garlic, add turkey and additional spices and cook through. Add water and soup stock base (or plain stock if using that) and frozen peas. Cook until peas are tender. If the filling is too liquid, stir in potato starch until it thickens. Put in matzo pie crust.

Topping:
4 medium sized potatos, boiled
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp parsley
3 tbs water
2 tbs margarine

Boil potatoes and then mash with additional ingredients until smooth enough to spread on top of pie. Bake assembled pie in preheated oven for 30 minutes (or until potatoes start to brown on top) at 375 degrees.
The pie reheats really well which is an extra bonus! Luckily I have just enough left to make it through these last few days even if I will be dreaming of an Italian dinner all the while.

Pie on the Internet

Jezebel is having the kind of March Madness that I can totally get behind:

Pie vs. Cake

They are in round two at the moment, so there's plenty of time but I'm hoping for an eventual showdown between Blueberry Pie and German Chocolate Cake. I encourage you to go vote.

I spent most of the weekend cleaning my apartment for Passover. I finished off a bottle of Murphy's Oil on the floors and most of a smallish container of bleach in the kitchen. It's now as clean as it was in October, but without all of my belongings in plastic bags against the bed bugs. Sadly though it does mean that baking projects will be put on hold until after Passover is over. Though if I get ambitious enough we'll see what sort of Passover recipes I might come up with, unless I choose to just eat salad all week long. I've always hated most Passover recipes that just attempt to recreate what you aren't supposed to eat for the week. Yes, it sticks to the letter of the law, but why bother? There's plenty that you can still eat, especially if you eat rice and legumes, and all those passover rolls and brownies never taste as good as the real thing anyway.

Happy Pi Day!

3.14 pies - or as close to them as my baking dishes would allow.

Corn pie is the same as from Thanksgiving.

The sweet pie and the mini pie are both strawberry apple. The big pie has an almond crumb topping. The little one I tried to cut a pi into, but it didn't work out so well.

Pi #1 for Pi Day - Chicken Tikka Masala Pie

I've been meaning to experiment with making this pie for a really long time. It was one of the very first pie experimentation ideas that I had. Pi Day is tomorrow and it seemed like a great time to try it out. I tried really hard to make an aesthetically pleasing pie. I like being able to see the filling in the vents. This is pie #1 in honor of Pi Day 2010.

Chicken Tikka Masala Pie

Basic Butter Crust

2 cups of flour

2/3 cup of butter

Enough cold water to hold dough together

1. Chop cold butter into square and work into flour by hand until the texture resembles store bough bread crumbs.

2. Add enough cold water to form dough. Be careful not to over knead. (approximately ¼ cup of water)

3. Put in refrigerator for at least 1 hour before rolling out.

Pie Filling

1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
2 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
3 tablespoons of lemon juice
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 red onion, chopped
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 cup fat free plain yogurt plus 1 teaspoon flour
2 teaspoons tomato paste

1 cup frozen peas

1. Into a large bowl, grate the garlic and add the lemon juice. Add the garlic, cilantro, 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, half the lemon's juice, and 2 tablespoons of yogurt, salt, and pepper. Stir, add chicken to bowl, and set aside to marinate.

2. While the meat is marinating, heat the remaining oil in a heavy, large skillet over low heat. Add chopped onion and cook gently for 10-15 minutes until falling apart and caramelized. Add the spices and stir well. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. Remove and set aside.

3. Add chicken to pan. Cook until brown and cooked through, but still tender. Return the onion mixture to the skillet, and add remaining yogurt and approximately a tablespoon of flour. Stir in the tomato paste and frozen peas and simmer for 5 minutes.

4. Let cool a bit then put in bottom pie crust. Add pie top, vent and cook for 35 minutes at 375 degrees.