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Chocolate Chip Cookies (Cakey)

My favorite kind of chocolate chip cookie is cakey and thick. It is a chewy and warm and can reliably be purchased at Levain's Bakery in New York City. In my twenty-three year life span, I have endeavored several dozen recipes to achieve this end at home. But over the weekend, when I made scones, it occurred to me that I might adapt that scone recipe to create a cookie of a similar consistency. 

The key to maintaining the shape? Using butter that is extremely cold. And using much less butter than the canonical Toll House recipe. 

Recipe:

Ingredients:

8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup heavy cream

1 egg

1 cup of chocolate chips

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Slice butter into edamame-sized pieces, then stick it in the freezer.
• In a medium bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt until fluffy.
• Rub the butter into the dry ingredients quickly using your fingertips until no pieces larger than a pea remain.
• Add the cream and egg to the dry ingredients, and mix with a fork until a shaggy dough forms. Fold in the chocolate chips, and knead a few times if necessary.
• Use an ice cream scoop to scoop even sized portions of cookie dough onto the parchment paper, leaving about 1.5 inches of space in between each scoop of dough.
• When you put the baking sheet in the oven, lower the temperature to 375.
• Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden and firm.
• Enjoy.

25 minutes prep time, 1 hour total. Makes 16 cookies.

Butternut Squash Ravioli with Spinach, etc.

When I was living in California, a friend told me that she only made pasta dishes that were mostly not pasta. Her saying this came as a revelation. Using pasta as a vehicle for more nutritious ingredients, like vegetables and proteins, not only removes  the negative connotations around an otherwise carb-heavy dish but also transforms the meal into something more balanced. What a notion.

Today was cold and windy, and I wanted something relatively healthy that didn't take too much time to prepare: butternut squash ravioli with spinach, toasted almonds, and sautéed garlic. And while I used much more raw spinach than uncooked pasta, the spinach wilted down so much that the volume ratio ended up being almost 1:1. Anyway, it was delicious. 

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 box of refrigerated butternut squash ravioli (I used one from Trader Joe's.)
• 1 tbs of salt (+ a bit more for sprinkling)
• 2 tbs of olive oil
• 2 tbs. of sliced almonds
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 lb. of baby spinach (Make sure the spinach is fully dried after washing.) 
• Optional: Parmesan cheese and a dash of pepper

Directions:

• Set a pot of water to boil. Add the salt.
• Chop the garlic cloves into pieces about the size of a pea.
• In a sauce pan, combine the olive oil, almonds, and garlic. Sprinkle with salt. Set on medium high heat. Swirl around with a wooden spoon.
• When the pot of water is boiling, add the ravioli to it.
• When the garlic and almonds begin to brown, add the spinach to the pan. Reduce heat to medium low, and cover with a lid. Leave it covered for 1 full minute.
• After 1 minute, remove the lid from the pan, and incorporate the spinach, almonds, and garlic with a wooden spoon.
• When the pasta is done (reference the box's directions for cook time), drain the pasta and add the ravioli to the sauce pan.
• Cook over low medium heat for about a minute.
• Add cheese, pepper, and salt as desired.
• Serve.

30 minutes total time. Feeds 2.

White Russian Scones

When you have a dozen leftover white chocolate strawberry “ghosts” from your spooky Halloween dinner party, que faire? For me, on a cold rainy gray day, the answer was obvious: white chocolate strawberry scones, warm-out-of-the-oven, bright, delicious nuggets of perfection that would brighten my day and lift my Halloweengria hangover.

The recipe follows, but the success of this late morning breakfast-in-bed treat taught me how well desserts can be repurposed. And this kind of thinking leads to boundless possibilities of creative and delicious weekend breakfasts.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup heavy cream

2 eggs (1 for the dough, 1 for an egg wash)

A dozen white chocolate covered strawberries OR 1 cup of white chocolate chips and 12 strawberries

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Slice butter into edamame-sized pieces, then stick it in the freezer.
• Dice strawberries and set aside.
• In a medium bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt until fluffy.
• Rub the butter into the dry ingredients quickly using your fingertips until no pieces larger than a pea remain.
• Add the cream and egg and mix with a fork until a shaggy dough forms. Fold in the strawberry chunks  and knead a few times if necessary, but DO NOT OVERWORK THE DOUGH.
• Lay parchment paper on your cookie tray before adding the scone dough
• Pat the dough into an inch-thick circle.
• Beat remaining egg and gently brush over the dough.
• Cut into eight equal wedges, then gently separate the individual scones, leaving an inch of space between them.
• Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden and firm.

25 minutes prep time, 1 hour total. Makes 8 scones.

Adapted from Sugar Mountain Treats.

Swirled Letters

Frederic Church's Winter Landscape from Olana, Hudson, NY

[ARTstor]

The Mount, Lenox, MA (Summer Home of Edith Wharton)

Franz West at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Montreal

W. H. Auden's "As I Walked Out One Evening"

Adam Levinson Photography

[a-vl.com // adam@a-vl.com]

"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of the easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

"Mad Girl's Love Song" By Sylvia Plath

"I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead;
I lift my lids and all is born again.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)

The stars go waltzing out in blue and red,
And arbitrary blackness gallops in:
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.

I dreamed that you bewitched me into bed
And sung me moon-struck, kissed me quite insane.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)

God topples from the sky, hell's fires fade:
Exit seraphim and Satan's men:
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.

I fancied you'd return the way you said,
But I grow old and I forget your name.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)

I should have loved a thunderbird instead;
At least when spring comes they roar back again.
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)"

Current Favorite Condiment: Cured Lemons

Demetrios Psillos

Birds of Paradise project

Anna Williams Photography

[annawilliams.com]

Union Church, Pocantico Hills

The Good Samaritan by Marc Chagall

[Historic Hudson Valley]

Gwen Stefani -- Vogue January 2013

[Design Scene]

Debussy’s “Clair de Lune”

MORNINGSIDERS // Empress