Good morning,
A FEW WORDS OF INSPIRATION
With the drawing of this Love and the voice of this Calling
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
-- T. S. Eliot, Four Quartets
“All my work, my life, everything I do is about survival, not just bare, awful, plodding survival, but survival with grace and faith. While one may encounter many defeats, one must not be defeated.” --Maya Angelou
“LA CHOY MAKES CHINESE FOOD SWING AMERICAN”
A recent crossword puzzle clue for “what is a spicy food from a box?” (I can’t remember if it was the New York Times or the New Yorker). The answer was “Lachoy.” Who even remembers this food, much less its annoying jingle. Yet for those of us who grew up in the latter 20th century, don’t you remember the ubiquity of advertising jingles, including this one?
What is most interesting is that the Chinese food Lachoy delivered to our Western palates was not really Chinese food, but a rendition thereof designed for our taste. More generally, I’m pretty sure that there is no such thing as “chop suey,” yet that’s one of the foods we grew up with. There are many versions of the story of how chop suey came into being, many revolving around the Chinese cooks who participated in the building of the Transcontinental Railroad. That said, a Cantonese native traveling in America wrote in 1903 of the dish, which he said local Chinese people wouldn’t eat because the food and technique were “really awful.”
Other cultures did not escape the “Americanization” of their local cuisines. Bagels are now chocolate and blueberry, hardly a staple in the “old country.” I’m also pretty sure no Italian child ever found themselves consuming “Chef Boy-ar-dee’s” circular pasta in a bland pureed tomato sauce.
And, much as I like huevos rancheros, I have found myself more often than not explaining to a waiter or chef in Mexico how to make them…
THICK AND CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHUNK COOKIES
Proving that pancakes are not my only kitchen hobby, I have always searched for the best chocolate chip cookie. I believe the cookies coming out of this recipe, published last year by The Los Angeles Times, are the best. I’ve made them multiple times and they never fail to please.
14 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons Kosher salt
1 ½ cups unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ½ cups packed dark brown sugar
¾ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup heavy cream
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
4 cups old-fashioned (rolled) oats
2 cups walnut halves and pieces
My modifications are a 1 teaspoon of salt is plenty; 3 cups of oats are sufficient; only ½ cup of granulated sugar (hey, this stuff isn’t good for you); heavy cream can be substituted with milk; and in our house, given Lauren’s allergy to nuts, the walnuts are verboten (although they are a pretty darned good addition if you don’t have this issue). The “secret ingredients” are using a high quality chocolate rather than chips; the full tablespoon of vanilla (more than in most recipes), and the oats.
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Use parchment paper
Coarsely chop the chocolate into ½-inch chunks, leaving all the flaky bits on the cutting board. Whisk the flour; baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
Beat the butter and both sugars with a stand mixer (use the paddle attachment) on medium speed, scraping the bowl occasionally, until smooth and creamy (but not fluffy), for about 3 minutes. While on medium speed, pour in the cream and beat until smooth. Scrape the bowl; turn the machine slower and add eggs one at a time and then vanilla. Beat until just smooth and scrape the bowl.
Turn the machine to low speed and gradually add the flour mixture, followed by the oats. Scrape the bowl, add the walnuts, and mix until evenly incorporated. Scrape in the choclate chunks and bits and beat at low speed until well mixed.
Use a large (3-tablespoon) cookie scoop to drop balls of dough onto cookie sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes (our oven runs hot; 10-12 minutes is plenty).
Cool on the pan on a wire rack. You can wait for them to completely cool or eat them warm. No judgment.
Try them. They’re great. The ending of the above recipe—“no judgment”—is apt. Have a few…and then maybe a few more.
Have a great day,
Glenn
From the archives:
Sure...give us this great recipe right before Passover!! Thanks a lot! They do sound yummy, though!