The cookie saga continues! (And possibly ends)

Today I was reflecting. Reflecting upon my failure to bake a proper cookie. Yeah, yesterday's were okay but they just weren't good enough.
Well, I decided that this pitiful character flaw cannot go unchallenged so I tried a new recipe today.

Ingredients:
2 cups + 2 tablespoons plain all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 & 1/2 sticks (170g) butter, melted
1 cup soft light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg +1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
chocolate chips

How to do it:
Preheat oven to 325°F/Gas mark 3
1. Combine together the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and set aside.
2. Combine the melted butter, two sugars and vanilla extract and beat together. Add the egg and egg yolk and beat until thick and homogenous.
3. Stir the dry ingredients into the butter/sugar/egg mixture until combined.
4. Stir in the chocolate chips.
5. Roughly shape into balls - the craggier the better - and bake for roughly 15 minutes.
6. Take out when the edges are lightly browned. You want them to look slightly underdone in the middle - they'll harden slightly upon cooling and still be soft and chewy.



I don't know exactly how many this recipe makes since I only baked one as a test run and froze the rest of the uncooked mix in logs. Since mother reads this blog I thought it best not to be gorging myself on dough. However, I would guesstimate it to make about 15 chocolatey circles of delight. (UPDATE: It makes 12 large cookies.)
And, yes, these are about as near to perfect that I'll probably ever get. They're thick and chewy and soft and pretty amazing.
I implore you to make these as soon as possible. In fact, just go and do it now. Yes, you. Make them. Make them now! And tell me how you get on (:


NOTE: The dough will seem really crumbly and won't mix together easily, but do not add more liquid! Persevere and squidge it together with your hands.
Also, the recipe specified unsalted butter + 1/2 tsp of salt. I used salted butter and also the extra salt. Possibly because I am a disgusting human being, but whatever. They taste goooood.

Original recipe here.

Chocolate chip cookies.

Oh no! I can't find my ancient digital camera that I keep here at the flat. No photo today ):
I've only made CCCs twice before, and they have always been disasters - flat, spongy, delicious disasters. You know the type of cookie that's really chewy and thick? That's what I've aimed for, but when they come out of the oven they've collapsed into cakey puddles of (not so much) joy. They tasted nice and were chewy, but it just wasn't what I wanted.
So I've been scouring the internet ever since for a recipe that sounds good, and decided for this one. I halved the mixture because the full amount claims to, rather disconcertingly, make 60 cookies. So these are the modified amounts.

Ingredients:
1 & 1/8 cup plain all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup of butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup soft light brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
Chocolate chips

How to do it:
Preheat oven to 375° F/Gas mark 5
1. In one bowl mix together the flour, salt and baking powder.
2. In another cream together the butter (I used salted but you can use unsalted) and both sugars. Beat in the egg until the mixture is homogenous and completely blended - it will be quite runny.
3. Add the flour mix into the butter mix and stir until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips (or chocolate that you've chopped yourself).
4. Shape into balls and place onto a lined baking sheet.
5. Bake for roughly 10 minutes until slightly golden, then take out and leave to cool for however long you can restrain yourself. If you want smaller cookies make the balls of dough smaller and bake for 7/8 minutes, and bake for longer if you want bigger cookies.


By halving the amounts, this is meant to give 30 cookies. I actually got about 15 from it, and these weren't even very big. This recipe is fantastic, the cookies come out browned but soft inside, and perfectly sweet and salty.
However, it's still not exactly what I'm looking for - I'm beginning to think only factory machines can make the perfect American cookie. ):

Original recipe here.

Oh, and you can roll any unused cookie dough into a log, wrap in clingfilm, and store in the freezer. They can be baked without thawing.

Chilli con carne pt. 2

Wanted to make guacamole. Cut one avocado open and it was brown. Cut the second one open and it was brown. Dammit.

Ah well. We had salsa, grated cheddar, sour cream, tortillas and rice. Some disgustingly decadent individuals even had a mix of chilli and rice within a tortilla.
Personally I find the texture of the mince with the tortilla too soft, and with rice too same-y, so I compromised and toasted my filled tortilla (chilli, cheese, salsa) in a dry pan. I had it with salad and dipped the wrap into sour cream. It was okay - I guess I'm just not that into chilli. Except of course two days later, when the flavours intensify and everything is just a heck of a lot better. The photo is unfortunate in the way that the lovely black beans in the chilli aren't visible.
And is it just me or does that blob of delectable sour cream look a little like an albino fried egg?

A very basic salsa recipe:
Chop two tomatoes, a red pepper, a little coriander and one spring onion finely. Make garlic paste by crushing one small clove with salt under a knife. Mix everything in a bowl, squeeze some lime juice over and mix again.

Chilli con carne.

There was a load of mince to be used so I decided on chilli for two reasons:

1. Apart from some initial chopping and getting everything together etc., it's a very easy meal - plonk it all in a pot and simmer for a good few hours. Okay, that may be oversimplifying things but you get the jist ;D
2. The whole family likes it. With seven of us, there's going to be at least one person (usually me) that doesn't like what's on offer. We're all very good and eat it anyway, but it's nice to have something that everyone looks forward to.

So here's the first ever recipe I've posted on the blog. I don't use measurements because a) something like a chilli is really all about your own personal taste and b) I actually have no idea what the measurements are... indeed, the ingredients vary too depending on what there is to hand! Tinker with this recipe to your heart's content. Oh, and if you have it handy, a single square of 70% dark chocolate is always good to add in.

Ingredients:
Steak mince (1kg)
Chopped tinned tomatoes (two cans)
Two medium red onions (finely chopped)
Three cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
Olive oil or vegetable oil
Beans (kidney beans, turtle beans, whatever you like)
Cumin
Smoked paprika
One dried smoked chipotle chilli
Soy sauce
Worcestershire sauce
Tomato ketchup
Chilli sauce of your choice.

Serves 8.

How to do it:

1. Add your oil to a large pot (enough to coat the garlic and onion). Put the pot over a medium heat and add the finely chopped onion and garlic. Stir until softened. Add the mince. (You can brown the meat if you want but I don't bother since I'm using such a large amount.)

2. Once no more pinkness is visible in the mince add the two tins of chopped tomatoes, a glug of soy sauce and a generous shake of worcestershire sauce. Stir to combine then top up with water. (I leave the chilli to simmer for about three hours, so I add a lot of water. You may want to add less) Adjust the heat so everything starts to simmer.

3. Add your spices and seasoning - today I used cumin, smoked paprika, a smoked dried chipotle chilli, a little chipotle sauce, a squeeze of ketchup and, of course, salt. Play about with whatever flavours you wish.
4. Add in your beans.

5. Leave to simmer gently for as long as possible - the longer the better - because the flavours will get better and the meat will be tender. Remember to stir everything together every so often so it doesn't all burn onto the bottom of the pot.

6. When it's thick and a lot of the water has evaporated it's ready. Serve with guacamole, salsa, tortillas, rice, sour cream, cheese... whatever you want. You could also have it with corn chips, or cornbread (chopped green chilli and cheddar in cornbread is delicious).

Cupcakes.

There seems to be a huge following for cupcakes nowadays, which is attracting more and more people every day. It is understandable - they're sweet and cakey enough to feel like a treat but, crucially, small enough to not feel like you're pigging out. They also now come with a plethora of pretty designs which helps matters somewhat.
I've always liked cupcakes, so the other day I made a tray for my younger sister's tennis match. I reckoned it's what a bunch of preteen girls would like. Safe bet indeed - they were a hit, and had the mothers angling for one, too. I used the usual equal butter-flour-sugar & two egg mixture, and topped with a generous amount of vanilla buttercream.
Unfortuently, I was using my mother's oven and the cupcakes got a little more brown, and rose a little more unevenly, than I would have liked (said oven has a door that leaves a 2-inch gap, and only two temperatures: warm gently & blitz).
However, the most best part was when one girl ate the blossom flower, thinking it was intended to be consumed, and proclaimed it to taste 'a bit funny'. In hindsight, it would probably have been a good idea to point out that the decoration was not edible.
Ah, fun times!