A Jersey Girl in Portland

Really good chocolate chip cookies

I thought I had posted this months ago. I still love these cookies, I just haven’t made them in ages. Enjoy. 

 

I was looking through some old recipes and realized that a cook’s recipe box — my recipe box —  is a time capsule of my life. Most recipes came from a newspaper. Some are lovingly taped to a recipe card. A bunch were printed on a dot-matrix printer (1990s tech—it printed in color), a scant few of them come from the back of the package. 

This is one of the latter. From the back of the Bob’s Red Mill AP flour bag, I give you

“OUR FAVORITE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES”

16 T (227g) unsalted butter 

1 c (198g) granulated sugar

1 c (213g) brown sugar

2 large eggs

2 t vanilla extract

2½ c (248g) rolled oats, quick-cooking or old-fashioned

2 c (240g) King Arthur Unbleached AP Flour

1 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

¾ t salt

2% c (454g) chocolate chips

½ to 1 c (85g to 170g) chopped nuts, optional (They say optional, I say necessary.)

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two or more baking sheets.

2. Beat together the butter and sugars, then beat in the eggs and vanilla.

B. Grind the oats in a blender or food processor until they've turned to a coarse powder; add to the sugar mixture along with the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, chips, and nuts. Mix just until thoroughly combined.

4. Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheet. Leave about 1 ½" between each ball of dough; the cookies will spread.

5. Bake the cookies for 14 to 15 minutes, or until they're very lightly browned. Remove them from the oven and cool right on the pans or cooling rack.

Yield: about 5 dozen medium-size cookies.

And wow. Just fucking wow. They are perfect.

 

Radicchio Salad with Beans, Feta, Frisée, and Pistachios

What a crazy, busy few months it’s been. I’m loving my new position at a fancy grocery store in SW Portland. I’m a demo cook so I’m cooking almost every day.  All the recipes are good.  A few have been great. This is one of the great ones.

Radicchio salad with Beans, Feta, Frisée and Pistachios

Juice of one lemon

1/2 cup infused olive oil of your choice (or make your own*)

2 15 oz cans of white beans, drained and rinsed

1-1/2 t kosher salt

1 head radicchio, thinly sliced (not mandolin-thinly sliced, knife cut will do)

1 head frisée, chopped (if needs be, substitute a roughly equal amount of any shredded green - kale, Brussels sprouts, etc)

1 small red onion (or half a big one), small dice

1/4 cup chopped fresh dill (reserve some for garnish)

1 c raisins or dried cranberries (Medjool dates, chopped, MIGHT also do. Try it and let me know.)

8 oz feta (I used French feta but any will do — if it’s very salty, use less salt on the beans)

1/3 c pistachios, roasted and salted or not. Rough chop 

 

Add the juice of one lemon and the infused oil* to the beans. Set aside.

Toss the greens -  radicchio, frisée, and most of the dill.

Gently mix the beans with a slotted spoon and spoon the beans over the greens. Set the bean juice & infused oil aside — you’ll need it in a minute.

Add the rest of the salad elements; raisins, onion, crumbled feta & pistachios, and moisten (if needed) with the bean juice/oil. Taste and salt as needed.

Toss gently and serve.

 

 

* To make infused oil, put a 1/2 cup of good olive oil in a small pan.  Add to it the zest of one lemon, 1/2 t red pepper flakes, 3 cloves smashed garlic and 10 peppercorns. Cook on LOW until the garlic starts to brown.  Remove from heat and let stand a few minutes. Strain while still warm and pour over the drained beans and lemon juice