Raining, not snowing

So, after treating myself to Specialty's for lunch and having a peanut butter cookie...I'm jonesing for more peanut butter cookies. Soft, chunky, chewy ones! I've got a good recipe for them WITH chocolate chips, but I'd like one that's even softer and chewier (or I'd just take out the chocolate chips!).

Anyone have the perfect soft, chewy, peanut butter cookie recipe?

We made this recipe on the weekend and while it made TONS!!! it was excellent, although I didn't like it much the first night but really loved it the next day. It's from BBC's "Saturday Kitchen" and the recipe is by Ken Hom.

The recipe originally is meant to be served alongside another meat dish, so as we had it on its own, I doubled the amount of ground pork. The recipe has a really nice back-of-the-throat kick to it - no front-of-tongue heat at all, which is perfect for me, as I find that always drowns out the flavour rather than enhancing it.

If you don't like spice, I'd leave out the chilli bean sauce.

A lot of ingredients, but VERY tasty!

For the noodles:

225g/8oz fatty pork, minced (I used 500g, or just over one pound)
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tsp Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
1 tsp salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
450g/1lb fresh or dried Chinese egg noodles
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp groundnut or peanut oil
2 tbsp finely chopped garlic
2 tbsp finely chopped ginger
2 spring onions, finely chopped
2 tbsp tahini or peanut butter
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tsp light soy sauce
2 tsp chilli bean sauce (available from Asian supermarkets)
2 tbsp chilli oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
250ml/8fl oz chicken stock
2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns, toasted in a dry frying pan then ground in a mortar and pestle
(The Sichuan peppercorns smelled good but I did NOT like the flavour in the dish. Also, they ended up with a very gritty texture - if I'd had a finer grinder, I might have liked them better. Definitely optional!)

1. For the noodles, place the pork mince, soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine, salt and freshly ground black pepper into a bowl and mix well. Leave the pork mixture to marinate for ten minutes.

2. If you are using fresh noodles, cook them for 3-5 minutes in boiling water. If you are using dried noodles, cook them in boiling water for 4-5 minutes or according to packet instructions. Plunge the boiled noodles into cold water, then drain them thoroughly.

3. Place the noodles and sesame oil into a clean bowl and mix well. Set aside until ready to use. The noodles can be kept in this state, if tightly covered with cling film, for up to two hours in the refrigerator.

4. Heat a wok or large frying pan over high heat until it is hot. Add the groundnut oil and when it is very hot and slightly smoking, add the garlic, ginger and spring onions. Stir-fry for 30 seconds.

5. Add the pork and continue to stir-fry until the pork loses its pink colour.

6. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the ground Sichuan peppercorns, and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the pork mince is completely cooked through.

7. Add the noodles and mix well.

8. To serve, place the noodles onto a serving platter and sprinkle with the ground Sichuan peppercorns.

From the More With Less cookbook.

Combine in large bowl:

1 c. quick oats
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 T. salt
2 T. margarine

Pour 2 c. boiling water over mixture, and stir to combine.

Dissolve 1 package dry yeast in 1/2 c. warm water.
When batter is cooled to lukewarm, add yeast.

Stir in 5 c. white flour.

When dough is stiff enough to handle, turn onto floured board and knead for 5 minutes. Place in greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled. Punch down and let rise again. Shape into 2 loaves and place in greased loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Cool on rack, brushing loaves with margarine for a soft crust.

Very good! We had these tonight and they were *excellent* although the sauce is quite rich.

Pork Chops with Dijon Sauce
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
4 center-cut rib or loin pork chops, preferably bone in, about 1-1/4 inches thick (ours were thinner than this and it still turned out fine--just reduce the cooking time, obviously)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped green onions or shallots
1/2 cup dry white wine
3/4 cup chicken stock (I wouldn't use bouillon for this--use store-bought if you don't have homemade)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp chopped parsley (optional - I used dry and halved the amount)

- Melt the butter and oil in a large deep skillet over medium high heat. Season chops with salt and pepper and brown them, about 2-3 minutes on each side. Reduce heat slightly if the chops brown too quickly

- Remove chops from the pan and pour off most of the fat. Add the green onions/shallots and cook on med high heat until softened, about 1 minute. Add wine and bring to a boil, scraping the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir in the stock and return chops to the pan. Bring sauce to a simmer and cook until chops are tender, about 15-20 minutes.

- Remove the chops to a warm platter; cover with foil to keep warm. Raise the temp of the pan to boil the pan juices, reducing the juices by half, about 2 minutes. Add cream and boil 2 minutes more, until sauce reduces and thickens. Remove from the heat and whisk in mustard and parsley. If you want, add more mustard to taste. Spoon sauce over chops and serve.

Here's another recipe offered up to alleviate my whiny post earlier...we made these a lot growing up, as they're ideal for kids, namely, cool and self-contained while still being relatively healthy.

I'm posting it directly as it's been so long since I made them (this weekend that may change) that I can't remember what changes my mom makes, other than doubling them! At this point in my life, though, without a family of five, I'd halve them.

Experiment as you like--I can see playing around with them and doing spaghetti sauce centers or even vegetarian centers with roasted veggies. They're from the More With Less Cookbook (something that should be in everyone's kitchen, in my opinion!).

Bierrocks

Dough: 2 c. warm water
2 pkg. dry yeast
1/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 t. salt
1 egg
1/4 c. margarine
6-6 1/2 c. flour

Meat mixture:
1 1/2 lb. beef
1/2 c. onion

Remaining ingredients:
3 c. cabbage, finely cut
1 1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
dash Tabasco sauce
minced garlic, Worcestershire sauce, and smoke flavoring, optional (note from Heidi: I've never used smoke flavoring in mine...ick. Garlic and Worcestershire, though, are a different story--sounds yummy!).


Chill dough for several hours and prepare as for roll dough (or substitute frozen dough).

Brown beef and onion in a skillet and add remaining ingredients. Cover skillet and continue cooking over low heat, stirring occasionally, until cabbage is tender. Do not add liquid. Cool slightly.

Roll out dough into thin sheets. Cut in 5-inch squares. Place 2 T. meat mixture on each square, pinch edges together, and place pinched side down on greased cookie sheet.

Let rise 15 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

As I have no desire to be at work and am looking at the clock every minute wondering what time it is and when I get to go home, I suppose I should post something!

Recipe of the day (not that I have one anything like every day!). Made this last night and both of us found it wunderbar! I'll post my changes in italics.

Spicy Honey Mustard Pork Roast


INGREDIENTS:

* 3 pounds pork roast Ours was around 2-3/4 lbs, which made more than enough for us to have a couple of meals out of it but we're also hearty eaters.
* 1/4 cup honey I cut this down by a couple of teaspoons in case it was too sweet but I think it would have been fine as-is
* 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
* 2 tablespoons black pepper This is a *lot*--I made ours with just one tablespoon and it was plenty!
* 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* I also added a couple of minced cloves of garlic because really, garlic is always good!

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Score 1/2 inch slits in your roast and place in baking dish.
2. Combine honey, mustard, pepper, thyme, and salt in small bowl; mix until well blended. Brush mixture over roast, working well into slits.
3. Bake roast in preheated oven for one hour. Remove roast from oven and flip in pan. Brush remaining honey sauce over roast. Return to oven and continue baking for 45 minutes to an hour or until internal temperature reaches 170 degrees F (75 degrees C). let stand for 15 minutes before slicing.

We don't have an instant-read oven thermometer, so I just baked ours for two hours on the dot because I know our oven runs a little cool and then let it sit for 15 minutes. It was perfectly cooked, although the crackling on the side was a little blackened, but the meat was beautifully moist and tender. I'd highly recommend the oven thermometer if you have it, though!

***

Hmm...other news. Not a heck of a lot. I've been shamefully neglecting the apartment the last couple of months, so weekend before last I scrubbed on my hands and knees, did laundry, etc. It seems to have burned out my cleaning bug because this weekend I did nada. Nothing. Except for the roast pork above.

***

To change the subject and act as a comment-generator, one of my biggest pet peeves is people who use public toilets, make a mess, and don't clean up after themselves. What is YOUR biggest pet peeve?!

At the moment I seem to have a very high percentage of pregnant friends keeping blogs (daily to weekly) about their pregnancies, or at least updating frequently on their regular blogs with pregnancy details.

When we were thinking about having a baby (well, I was thinking about it, targaff was pretty much not thinking about the topic at all) I really *loved* reading entries like that...the "how big is my baby and what's its development RIGHT NOW?" updates. They bring happiness, musings like that, because they're all about the future, about excitement, promise, hope.

At the moment I still read them, but I don't derive pure pleasure from them anymore either. As glad as I am to hear that things are progressing, it's *hard* to not be one of you, to not be making these kinds of entries myself and making plans and lists of things that we need. While a part of me enjoys that Brie sandwich, another part of me wants to spit it out, wishing that I actually *couldn't* eat it, that I could blame heat? allergy?-induced nausea on pregnancy hormones instead. That I could be eagerly awaiting the motion of a baby inside.

I'm not feeling devastated anymore. I can talk about the miscarriage more easily, without being afraid that tears will suddenly start to flow. I'm okay, really, and am more able to think about future babies instead of the one that's gone, but I miss the pleasure of reading pregnancy entries without a twinge of sadness for what wasn't.

***

The weather has finally changed from super-hot and humid to cool/warm and humid, which is a welcome development. I was having so much trouble sleeping with even my super-light cotton sheet sticking to me at night. Now, though, allergies are in full swing, which is strange considering I've never had hayfever like this before. Allergy tablets work so sporadically that I don't really bother taking them, except before I head out to work to try to stave off the worst from my morning walk. Yesterday was the worst though--my sore throat kept acting up--it felt *dry* even though I drank as much water as I could get in! I was running to the bathroom so frequently that my co-worker in the office must have thought I was sick or something.

Of course, my miscarriage-induced hypochondria started panicking, remembering that my really miserable illness/rash/whatever of last autumn started off as a nagging sore throat that just wouldn't go away, so I was envisioning yet another vasculitis attack when the scars from the last one still mar the skin on my legs to the point where I don't like to wear capris because they show the brown marks!

When I say hypochondria, I mean it. I've never felt this scared that something was about to go wrong before and afraid that suddenly I'll have a heart attack at 27, die of a stroke, or that something else really nasty will happen. I'm not normally this paranoid, so I can only attribute it to leftover psychological baggage that I'm hoping will go away sooner rather than later, particularly since I'm not thrilled with the idea of visiting my GP, even as I go through five minute sneezing fits, itchy eyes, and a nose that requires constant Kleenex attention.

Who'd have known grief could manifest itself in so many bizarre ways?!

***

Also, on a lighter note, I need ideas for good portable lunches again. I'm going to buy myself baguettes and nicer deli meats (ie, prosciutto) but other recipes and inspiration would be lovely, as I'm back in no-free-lunch-for-the-summer mode! I'd love some make-ahead salad recipes, good portable sandwich ideas, and that sort of thing...I'll eat almost anything (excluding cantaloupe, brussels sprouts, and green beans) and can generally manage to substitute what I don't!

Baguette and butter pudding...my comfort food of the day. Recipe is originally Gordon Ramsay's, but I've added my alterations in italics.

- Serves 6 (so it says, anyway--mine serves four ;p )

-Butter, softened
-1/2 large baguette - mine uses a little less than this and I put it in an 8x2" Pyrex casserole. If you're doubling the recipe, you're going to need the whole thing and a bigger casserole! I also hear brioche is nice to use, but haven't tried it myself.
-60g raisins or dried cranberries or a mixture of both - I don't do the "measure by weight" European thing yet, never having bought a kitchen scale. I sprinkle on a moderate number of raisins, namely, what looks good to me...add more if you like them, omit if you don't.
-2 egg yolks - the original specifies large, but I use medium with no problem--free range is nicer than caged!
-2 eggs - Yes, you use eggs AND egg yolks. This should be your first hint that this is NOT the light version of bread pudding.
-scant 1/4 cup granulated sugar
-1-1/4 cups heavy/double/whipping cream
-1-1/4 cups milk - Recipe doesn't specify. I use 2%, but some people like whole. Skim might work, but really, in a dish like this, why are you THINKING of using skim?!
-4T Baileys cream liqueur, or more to taste - Totally optional. We skip the Baileys, but I imagine some of you will douse the thing with it.
-demerara sugar - I have yet to see real demerara sugar in a "regular" American grocery store, but if you can find "raw" sugar that should work just fine. Otherwise somewhere like Central Market or Whole Foods might carry it. It's large brown granules of sugar, like you'd use on creme brulee
-3T apricot jam - Again, optional. Graham doesn't like it, so I've always skipped it, but I imagine it would taste yummy!

Use butter to grease a shallow ovenproof dish. Again, I always use my 8x2" round Pyrex casserole, but if you're using one that's significantly larger, ponder doubling the whole recipe, or you might not end up with enough custard. Spread the bread slices *thinly* on both sides with butter. Arrange the bread in the dish in overlapping rows, sprinkling dried fruit over and between the layers as you go.

Beat the egg yolks, eggs, and sugar together until light and frothy, then add the cream, milk, and Baileys. Slowly pour the mixture over the bread/fruit.

Press the bread slices down until completely submerged in the custard. Leave to stand for 20 minutes for the bread to absorb the custard. The original recipe doesn't mention that the bread floats. Keep pressing it down every few minutes to aid in the absorption process. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C/350F.

Stand the dish in a roasting tin/larger casserole and pour boiling water around the sides until it comes halfway up the side of the dish. Sprinkle with demerara sugar and bake for 40-50 minutes until golden. Shortly before the time is up, warm the apricot jam gently until runny.

Dab this glaze over the surface of the pudding and leave to stand (out of the bain marie) for 15 minutes before serving. The custard will continue to cook and firm during this time. Serve with some more Baileys trickled over if you like.

Sweet Ginger Chicken, from Ken Hom's Quick Wok

This is a really rich, wonderful recipe--it's almost like a Chinese "teriyaki" with that lovely combination of sweet/salty. It says the recipe serves four--I think it's more like three servings.

Marinade:
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry -- I use dry sherry and it's fine
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons cornflour (cornstarch)


450g (1 lb) boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 tablespoon groundnut (peanut) oil
2 teaspoons sesame oil
3 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh ginger
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
salt and freshly ground black ppper, to taste
150ml (5 fl oz) home-made chicken stock or quality store-bought fresh stock -- this works out to about 5/8 cup--it's not exact
2 tablespoons Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry

1. Cut the chicken into 5cm (2 in) chunks and place in a large bowl. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the ingredients for the marinade. Pour over the chicken and stir well to ensure all the pieces are thoroughly coated. Marinate for about 30 minutes at room temperature. Drain, discarding the marinade. Place the chicken pieces on a large baking tray.

2. Preheat the oven to 240C/475F

3. In a small bowl, combine the groundnut and sesame oils. Pour over the chicken pieces and cook in the over for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon, drain off all the fat, and rest on kitchen paper (paper towels).

4. Heat a wok over high heat until it is hot. Add the ginger and stir-fry in the dry wok until it is crispy; this will take about 1 minute.

5. Then add the soy sauce, sugar, salt, pepper, and stock, and continue to stir-fry for 1 minute. Reduce the heat, cover the wok, and simmer for 8 minutes.

6. Remove the lid, turn the heat up to high, and reduce the sauce by about half, stirring occasionally.

7. When the sauce has been reduced, add the rice wine/sherry and continue to stir-fry for 2 minutes.

8. Now add the chicken and stir-fry for 3-4 minutes or until it is hot.

9. Turn onto a warm platter, garnish with the spring onions, and serve at once.