Almost cruel May 29, 2011
Posted by D in Random.Tags: cookies
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That’s how one of my employees described my cookies. “Almost cruel.” That rates up there in the Top 3 food compliments I’ve ever gotten, right up with a tenderloin roast being described as “beautiful food” and my chicken being the only one cooked as perfectly as a friend’s dad’s chicken.
Two batters enter...
A couple of months ago, a friend from out of town was staying over, and I guess I must’ve started nesting or something. I decided to bake cookies. Since then, I’ve been refining and tweaking the recipe. Add ginger. Diversify and cut the fat a little. Add cashews. Load up on spices.
Here’s the most current version:
Almost Cruel Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies With Cashews
1/2 c shortening
1/3 c butter (I’ve been using salted)
3/4 c white sugar
3/4 c brown sugar
2 eggs
2 t vanilla
1 t cinnamon (heaping)
1 t ground ginger (heaping)
dash nutmeg
1 1/2 c flour
1 t baking soda
dash salt
2 c oats
250 g chocolate chips (about 1 1/2 c)
125 g roasted, salted cashew pieces (about 1 c)
Cream shortening, butter, and sugars. Mix in eggs and vanilla.
Stir cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, flour, baking soda, and salt together. Add to wet ingredients.
Stir in oats. Add chocolate chips and cashew pieces.
Drop onto cookie sheet (about 30-35 g per cookie). Bake at 350 for 12 minutes.
I added the vanilla to the base recipe because I don’t understand why you’d bake anything without vanilla. The cinnamon and nutmeg were meant to combine with the oats to give an earthiness to the cookie. Is that the right way of phrasing it? I’d never make it as a foodie. Anyway, I’m most proud of the ginger, which I added on a whim once. It adds a bit of heat and makes the cookie linger just a bit on your tongue. I think the cashews have a nice mellow flavor that doesn’t dominate the cookie, and besides I like cashews more than almonds or walnuts. A common first response to the cookie is “oh, I don’t like nuts” but then they end up trying one anyway after everyone around them is having mouth orgasms. Then they’re all “I REALLY LIKE THE CASHEWS!” Um…that’s a nut. Anyhoo.
I’m curious what would happen if I ground a portion of the oats. My dad does that with his cookies. I do like some chunkiness, so I don’t think I’d grind all of them. I’m wary of going all butter, because I’m usually too impatient to refrigerate the dough, and my ultimate cookie isn’t a wafer-thin collection of particles held together by a greasy blot of batter. Not that that’s bad, but it just seems like a lot of cookies go that route. I love me some butter, but it’s not what I want to be the primary taste in my cookie.
It’s been fun to tinker with the recipe to the point where I honestly believe it’s mine. Of course, it’s entirely possible that everyone does this and Ina Garten shows up at my door screaming, “Bitch stole my look!”
Southern comfort May 27, 2011
Posted by D in Random.Tags: biscuit
2 comments
I finally made a good from-scratch biscuit! I’ve never liked Bisquik; I can always detect that aftertaste. I think “flat” is the best word I can use to describe the aftertaste. Do you know what I’m talking about? Is there a proper description for the Bisquik tang?
Anyway, so I finally found something that worked for me. And it wasn’t one of those restaurant-sized recipes where you have to bake it in five batches. It was just enough for a meal plus some leftovers. I was so excited about it, I texted Xeo.
me: I finally made a perfectly fluffy/flaky biscuit. Now I just need to figure out how to make a white gravy, then I can be a southern girl like all y’all.
x: roflmao
x: I just made mediterranean ass.
Yeah, that’s right. It always comes back to ass.
Anyhoo, because Xeo requested it, here it is. Nothing groundbreaking, but it’s my ticket to belle-dom!
LF Gravy, PST
2 c flour
4 t baking powder
3 t sugar
1/2 t salt
1/2 c shortening
1 egg
2/3 c milk
In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Cut in shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Beat egg with milk; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Turn onto a well-floured surface; knead 20 times. Roll to 3/4-in. thickness; cut with a floured 2-1/2-in. biscuit cutter. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees F for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.
What what (…) May 26, 2011
Posted by D in Random.Tags: da:o, rift
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I’m still around! Barely.
My characters are kind of grounded at the moment. I just don’t have any drive to log into WoW. I’ve tried a couple free trial periods of Rift, and I’ve liked it. It’s almost too much choice, though. And the races don’t really feel different at all. I mean, WoW racials were always somewhat imba, but at least a night elf felt different from a dwarf. With Rift, it all feels the same. Still, a nice diversion.
But the big thing is that I’ve fallen in love. With Alistair. I am, of course, talking video-game-wise; so don’t be texting all up in Mr. Hubby’s grill axing him wassupwidat. I capitalized on a big sale and bought Dragon Age: Origins/Awakening.
I knew that that the game had some homo content (thanks to That’s Gay) but I didn’t realize that it would be so upfront. Like, within 5 minutes of creating my human noble I was totally cruising this son of a minor lord. wtf is this, Dragon Age: Adam4Adam?
So anyway, naturally I tried to put the moves on Alistair. And nothing worked! Then I found out it required an addon. DONE AND DONE. Now I feel a little dirty. And a little degraded, since the addon just makes Alistair perceive you as a girl, not fall in love with a guy. Sigh. I guess that’s realistic. But the avatar + the voice = hottness. Sigh.
So yeah. Off I go to, uh, kill the dragon.
