Neiman Marcus Cookies

Urban legend tells that a woman and her friend had lunch at a Neiman Marcus department store. Along with lunch they had chocolate chip cookies that they loved. When they asked the waiter for the recipe, he replied that they could buy it. There was some misunderstanding when he stated the price, and what they thought was a reasonable price turned out to be very unreasonable. So, legend states that the angry women whom Neiman Marcus refused to refund since they already possessed the recipe determined to spread the recipe to as many people as possible. Here's the supposed recipe:

"Neiman Marcus Cookies"

2 c butter

2 c sugar

2 c brown sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

5 c blended oatmeal (pre-measured then processed in blender)

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

4 c flour

24 oz chocolate chips

1 8-oz Hershey bar, grated

3 c chopped nuts

Cream butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla. In separate bowl, mix oatmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and flour. Add to wet ingredients and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips, nuts, and Hershey bar. Roll into balls and place two inches apart on cookie sheet. Bake 10 minutes at 375. Makes a LARGE batch of cookies--over 100, but can be halved.

***So, I never knew if this myth was true until recently. I was perusing the cookbook section of the library and saw "The Neiman Marcus Cookbook". Suddenly curious, I looked up chocolate chip cookies. The book briefly retold the legend, then said it was absolutely not true and they weren't sure who started it! However, in response to the myth, their chef developed a chocolate chip cookie recipe, which we tried last night (pictured above). Here it is:

Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 c butter

1 c brown sugar

3 T granulated sugar

1 egg

2 tsp vanilla

1 3/4 c flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 c semisweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 tsp espresso powder (I left this out)

Cream butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla. Mix dry ingredients in separate bowl, then add to wet ingredients and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and espresso powder if desired. Roll into balls, place on greased cookie sheet, and bake at 350 for about 12 minutes.

***Well, interestingly enough, of the two recipes we much prefer the "fake" Neiman Marcus cookies. Who developed it and why the legend to go along with it? Who knows!

Frozen Foods--A Fiasco?

So, I went out of town recently and since my hubby couldn't come I stocked the fridge, freezer, and cupboards with easy meal ideas so he wouldn't feel too neglected.
One new thing I found: this Tyson Grilled and Ready Chicken Breast Fillets. It seemed healthy and tasty.
As usual, I overstocked and he didn't use this, so when I got back I thought, great--easy meal! I cooked them up with some veggies and potatoes for Sunday dinner. YIKES!
I just have decided that buying pre-prepared frozen food is just not worth it. These chicken breast fillets were just NASTY. I ate mine, feeling guilty about wasting it, but it just wasn't good. They apparently add some kind of flavoring to make it taste like it has been grilled. Yuck Yuck Yuck. I don't even know what to do with the rest of the package. I've been similarly disappointed in other frozen foods. I bought some frozen stir fry meals with veggies and meat when we were moving last summer and I was looking for some quick, easy meals in my disassembled kitchen. They were equally NASTY.
Also:
I bought some Eggo waffles while we were moving, hoping to give my kids a change from cereal and toast. Never again. These were not worth buying or eating. I don't understand how so many Americans love these, never mind the commercials of my childhood implying they are worth fighting over. I guess that processed taste is just impossible to mask.
I guess I'm just spoiled to have time to make my own waffles (I really think it's worth the extra 10 minutes in the kitchen to whip up your own homemade waffles, and it's probably a lot healthier, too).
I was a little shocked to see now that they have frozen pancakes available. How do you freeze a pancake and have it remain good?

I was even recently disappointed in these Pilgrims Pride frozen chicken wings. I was having a group of people over for the Super Bowl and wanted to make a bunch of hot wings. These were a bargain over the fresh chicken wings. Now I know why--these were just not meaty or flavorful.


So, now a couple of SAFE frozen food bets (at least from my own experience!):
Pilgrims Pride frozen chicken breasts. Not as good as the Kirkland brand frozen chicken from Costco, but since I don't have a Costco within 4 hours of me, I have to buy these and they're not too bad. I discovered long ago that frozen chicken actually beats fresh a lot of times when you're just buying boneless, skinless breasts. Many times the fresh in stores are tough and can be dry. The frozen ones are injected with a little extra water (and sometimes salt) so they freeze well, which actually helps them to stay tender. They're also usually cheaper than fresh.

I also like the Birds Eye frozen corn and peas, they are definitely worth spending a little extra for above the store-brand price, they are usually very flavorful and taste fresh.

And finally, our frozen food of choice: Vanilla Ice Cream. Whatever brand might be on sale at the moment. We're not terribly picky (although we don't buy off-brand). Good luck shoppers!

Homemade Hamburger Buns . . . WOW!

So does anyone remember from the movie "Father of the Bride" where Steve Martin sort of goes a little nuts at the supermarket and gets arrested after he freaks out about hot dog buns? Well I feel the same way about hamburger buns. I'm annoyed that they only come in packages of 8. And they don't keep well, even in the freezer. And I don't like the "cheap" kind of hamburger buns. So I feel like you spend a fortune to buy the good kind of buns for your burger, then you waste half the package. And even then, the buns are nothing to shout about.
So, Saveur Magazine's September issue title: "The Burger Bible". We love a good burger, so of course I've read it cover-to-cover. The best find: a recipe for fantastic homemade hamburger buns that I tried for the first time this week. The only question now is how I will ever buy store buns again. Given that I may not always have the time to make these when we want a burger, maybe I'll see if the homemade ones will freeze! Hope you enjoy them as much as I did:

HOMEMADE SESAME SEED BUNS (Makes 12)
1 1/4 oz package active dry yeast (about 2 1/2 tsp)
1 1/3 c milk, heated to 115 degrees
1 1/2 tsp plus 2 T sugar
t c flour
1 1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
4 T unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" cubes, softened
3 tsp sesame seeds

In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together yeast, milk, and 1 1/2 tsp sugar, let foam. Stir in remaining sugar, flour, salt and egg with paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until dough forms. Replace paddle with dough hook, add butter. Knead on medium-high until dough pulls away from sides of bowl, about 8 min. Transfer dough to bowl sprayed with nostick spray, cover with plastic wrap. Let rest until doubled, 1-2 hours. Heat oven to 400. Divide dough into 12 portions, shape each into a tight ball. Place balls on baking sheet sprayed with nonstick spray. Lightly spray or brush balls with oil, cover loosely with plastic and let rise 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Uncover dough and, using a spray bottle filled with water, moisten dough; sprinkle each ball with 1/4 tsp sesame seeds. Bake, rotating tray once in oven, until golden brown, 18-20 minutes. Let cool.

Foodie Mags

I occasionally have a friend ask me about foodie mags, and since I have subscribed to several, here are my reviews (in no particular order, since I can't manage to get the blog photos in the order I would like!):

1) Saveur magazine is my current favorite. However, it's not the magazine to get if you're looking just for recipes. I like it because it has great articles about food and ingredients in all areas and cultures of the world. And, their Saveur 100 issue (pictured above) has great reviews on equipment, cookbooks, and other foodie stuff.

2) I subscribed to Cooks Illustrated magazine for a few years. I think hands-down, Cooks Illustrated is the BEST source for good quality recipes. They are the same company as Americas Test Kitchen (on PBS) and their philosophy is to test and retest recipes, ingredients, and equipment and tweak everything until it's just right. Their recipes almost always turn out fabulous and many become old favorites. However, I don't think the magazine is the best investment. I found that I wasn't interested in more than a couple of recipes per issue. It's not a cheap magazine, at over $30 a year, because they don't advertise (which is actually nice and allows them to offer unbiased reviews). But, I think a better choice for your $30/year is cooksillustrated.com, their website. For your subscription fee you get access to all of their years of recipes, reviews, and ratings. That way I can look up the recipes that I want to make. Very worthwhile!

3) Bon Appetit and Gourmet Magazine (until recently) were published by the same company. Bon Appetit is just not what I'm looking for in a foodie mag. I believe it's too trend-based, superficial, and even a little political. The articles are not well-written and the reviews on the whole are focused on really expensive, ritzy equipment and ingredients. I guess I'm just more of a back-to-basics kind of gal.

4) Cook's Country Magazine is published by the same company as Cook's Illustrated. I subscribed to it for a year or two. The caveat is that it was several years ago, so keep in mind my review may not be current if they've changed things. I was not thrilled with this additional offering from Americas Test Kitchen. The recipes were not as appealing to me, with things like cornflake-crusted chicken, and unlike the CI recipes, they just didn't turn out as well. That's a big thumbs-down for me when you spend a good amount on a recipe-only magazine. I wondered if maybe ATK had stretched themselves a little thin . . .

5) Alas for Gourmet magazine. I really enjoyed this magazine, with well-written articles, solid reviews on all ranges of equipment and ingredients, and some good recipes. However, they stopped publication November of 2009. I read that, in part, it was because they had to pay their writers more than Bon Appetit. It's amazing how price and quality almost always go hand in hand. But, if you like Gourmet or would like to check it out they actually have a ton of content online, including a lot of content from many years worth of issues.

If you have other foodie mags you like I'd love to hear about them! Happy Reading!

Pizza Margherita

One of my first posts extolled the virtues of Margherita Pizza. So, I figured I had better share my recipe! I also did a little research about it and discovered:
1) It was supposedly named after a Queen Marghereta in whose honor the recipe was developed. She was visiting Italy and a chef created this pizza and was so pleased by her praise of it that he named it after her.
2) This is considered (unlike many pizzas today!) a more authentic Italian pizza. Although, to make it truly authentic would be difficult at home, it normally requires a VERY HOT (800 degrees!) pizza oven and would only cook for a minute or two!
3) This is most likely healthier than many pizzas, using only a few fresh ingredients.

So, without further ado:
PIZZA MARGHERITA (courtesy of Cook's Illustrated, although modified just a bit)
This recipe makes 2 pizzas, but as they're thin, it only serves about 3-4 adults. You can shape the second pizza while the first is cooking. They cook quickly and get cold quickly so be ready to eat when the first pizza comes out!
Crust:
1 1/4 tsp instant yeast
1 c water
1 3/4 c all-purpose flour
1 c cake flour (although I usually substitute all-purpose flour, just measure one cup and remove one Tablespoon of flour from it before adding it to the recipe)
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
Topping:
1 (28-oz) can diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp sugar
1 small garlic clove, pressed through a garlic press or minced
1/4 c chopped fresh basil (I just roughly chop it)
table salt
8-oz fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
kosher salt

Adjust oven rack to lowest position, set pizza stone on rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees. Whisk yeast into water to dissolve. In food processor, combine flours, salt, and sugar to combine. With machine running, pour liquid slowly through feed tube. Continue to mix until comes together in smooth, cohesive ball. If dough sticks to bowl, add a little flour at a time until it forms ball. Or, if dough appears dry, add a little water at a time until ball forms. Turn out of food processor bowl onto floured surface, and divide dough into two smooth balls. Place on greased baking sheet about 3 inches apart and cover loosely with greased plastic. Let rise until double, about 1 hour.
In clean food processor bowl, process tomatoes two or three 1-second pulses, until broken up a little. *Be cautious here, if you like chunkier bits of tomato, process less. If you process too much, it ends up almost like juice. Pretty much useless! Transfer tomatoes to fine-mesh strainer set over bowl and let drain 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to release liquid. Transfer to bowl and add sugar, garlic, 1 T of chopped basil and 1/4 tsp salt.
When dough has risen, working with one round at a time, carefully stretch or roll dough into 12" round (will be thin). At this point, if you have a pizza peel, you can proceed to top the pizza on the peel, then transfer to the stone. If, like me, you don't own a peel, carefully remove the hot stone from the oven, immediately place the dough round onto it and, working quickly, spread about 1/2 cup of sauce over the round, leaving about 1/2 inch border. Replace in oven and bake until crust just begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and quickly sprinkle half of cheese cubes evenly over, then replace in oven. Bake just 4-5 minutes more until cheese is melted. Shape 2nd pizza crust while baking. Remove pizza to large cutting board so stone is free to cook 2nd pizza. On finished pizza: sprinkle 1/2 of chopped basil, drizzle 1 tsp olive oil, and sprinkle with a little kosher salt. Slice and serve (while cooking the 2nd pizza!). Delizioso!

Cook's Prerogative?

So I feel a little guilty. I've been married 12 years, and have known for about 11 of those 12 years that my husband just really doesn't like beef stew. Yet for 11 years, I have continued to make beef stew. Not very often, maybe 3 or 4 times a year. I really thought about it last night for the first time. I made a nice savory, beefy stew with onions, carrots, potatoes, celery, beef, and the easy stew packet mix from McCormick. My husband, always the sport, ate his bowl without complaint. The only way I could tell he really didn't love it is that he "washed it down" with copious amounts of bread. Like almost half a loaf. My eight-year-old tasted one bite and refused to eat any more until we ordered him to eat his compulsory "five bites". My two year old had a bit more, but not a lot. And then there was me, savoring every delicious morsel. The truth is I really like beef stew a lot. I am a big comfort-food girl, especially in the cold weather months. I love the satisfying beefy taste of stew. I love the texture of the tender veggies and the meat almost melting in your mouth. I admit not being able to comprehend why my family dislikes this dish. Yet, here we were last night.
So I had a thought-should I continue to selfishly make this dish for my own enjoyment only? Is it the cook's prerogative to make things that she likes without regard to what everyone else thinks? The funny thing about this dish is it's not even really a recipe. It's not like it's an insult to my cooking skills that they don't like it. It's not really even cooking--chop everything up, dump in water and the mix and turn on the crockpot. I also wondered, are there dishes I cook that I don't like but I know my husband or family does? I can't think of any! Of course there are things I make for my kids that I think are nasty, case in point: boxed Mac and Cheese (like any normal American kid they don't like homemade mac and cheese!), hot dogs, etc. But those are not things I eat. I make them for the kids and make something else for me.
I still haven't come to a decision about this. But especially after writing about beef stew, I can't imagine never making it again. My mouth was practically watering trying to describe the taste and I was secretly grateful there's a serving of last night's dinner tucked away in a corner of my fridge. One of life's great dilemmas . . . .

Chinese take-in

Given many let-downs by Chinese take-out establishments, I rarely do Chinese take-out anymore. Off the top of my head, the only restaurant Chinese food worth eating is from the Mandarin

in Bountiful. Given that the Mandarin is 2,059 miles from where I currently live, I have to make my own Chinese.

I experimented with 2 recipes tonight, Orange-Flavored Chicken, and Stir-Fried Shrimp and Snow Peas in Coconut Curry Sauce, both courtesy of Cooks Illustrated. The shrimp dish was a bit bland, but I'll have to try making it again. I realized as I was cleaning up that I didn't shake up the coconut milk can well enough and most of the yummy stuff was still at the bottom. Oops. However, the chicken was FABULOUS. And not that tricky. So, here it is! Enjoy--

ORANGE-FLAVORED CHICKEN

Marinade and Sauce:

1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces

3/4 c low-sodium chicken broth

3/4 c orange juice, plus 1 1/2 tsp grated zest and 8 strips orange peel (use very sharp vegetable peeler), from 2 oranges

6 T white vinegar

1/4 c soy sauce

1/2 c packed dark brown sugar

3 medium cloves garlic, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 T)

1 piece fresh ginger (about 1"), grated (about 1 T)

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (can add 1/2 extra for more heat if desired)

1 T cornstarch, plus 2 tsp

2 T water (cold)

8 small whole dried chiles (optional)

Coating and Frying:

3 large egg whites

1 cup cornstarch

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp baking soda

3 c oil for frying

1) Place chicken in 1 gallon zipper-lock bag, set aside. Combine chicken broth, orange juice, grated zest, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, garlic, ginger, and cayenne in large saucepan, whisk until sugar is fully dissolved. Measure out 3/4 cup mixture and pour over chicken in bag. Press out air and seal bag. Refrigerate 30-60 minutes (no longer).

2) Bring remaining mixture in saucepan over high heat. In small bowl, stir together cornstarch and cold water, whisk into sauce. Simmer sauce, stirring until thick and translucent, about 1 minute. Off heat, stir in orange peel and chiles, set aside.

3) Start oil heating over high heat in dutch oven or heavy pot, until registers 350. Place egg whites in pie plate and beat until frothy. In second pie plate, whisk cornstarch, cayenne, and baking soda until combined. Drain chicken in colander and pat thoroughly dry with paper towels. Place half of chicken in egg whites, turn to coat, then transfer to cornstarch mixture and coat thoroughly. Place carefully in oil and fry until golden brown. Remove to paper towel-lined plate. Repeat with second half of chicken.

4) Add chicken to sauce, toss gently, and serve immediately.