Um...we have to make...

this. Immediately. Also, Miz Helen's Country Cottage invited us to share the cookie recipe on her Full Plate Thursday page. Neat. Lots of other great recipes on there too. If I wasn't so stuffed with Alex's lasagna right now, I'd need to go forage. I might anyway.

xo
L

Olive Oil & Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies, redux

Good news! Lisa at Sweet as Sugar Cookies has invited us to post these cookies on her "Sweets for a Saturday" segment. This is exciting because her blog gets lots more hits than ours. :) Plus, she's got a recipe for chocolate biscotti on there. Nom nom nom. Oh, what's that, last ten pounds of baby weight? I didn't hear that. HUH? Your voice grows distant in the presence of cookies. 

Love,

Linz

Olive Oil & Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies

Dear Megs,

These are so good. Soooo good. Really, whatever cookies you're eating right now, these are better than them. For real. These are fluffy and gooey and melt-in-your-mouthy all at once.

Olive Oil & Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup olive oil
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 cups chopped pecans (optional but unless it'll kill you recommended)
sea salt, coarse

0) Preheat to 375.
1) In a small bowl, whisk together flour, soda, and salt.
2) In a larger bowl, "cream" olive oil and sugars. It will get soupy, but it won't really get fluffy like it does with butter. Add the eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly in between, and then add the vanilla. Now you can put the mixer on high for a minute, just to fluff the eggs out, but don't do it for too long because olive oil can turn bitter if overworked.
3) Add flour gradually.
4) Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.
5) Using your awesome cookie scoop that you got for Christmas, scoop out blobs of cookie dough onto ungreased cookie sheets. No need to flatten - these will melt into gorgeous little blobby puddles. Which actually sounds sort of gross, but you won't think so when it's cookies.
6) Sprinkle coarse sea salt on top of each cookie.
7) Cook for just long enough.
8) I defy you not to spoil your dinner.

Love,

Linz

THANKSGIVING

Dear Meggy,

Turns out having a new baby and working full time is wicked time consuming. When I do make time for sweets, I lose steam on the photos and the posting. Here is a Thanksgiving pledge: I will photograph and post at least one dessert this weekend. This should not prove too difficult since I have already made 4 pies and pumpkin bars. Avanti!

How about you?? What's your excuse, full time job and Masters program or something? Pah! Show me the goods!

Loves,

Linz

Banana Cream Pie

Dear Megs,

We have been remiss! I *know* you're baking. Where are the posts? And when are you coming to visit me and my darling little man? We miss you up here, and Avi needs to meet crazy old Aunt Megs, like, now. Ok? Ok. I'm so glad we settled that.

Last week, I made a banana cream pie to bring to a friend's barbecue. Now, as you know, on principle I am against pies that have something other than tart fruit as their main filling: cream pies, chocolate pies, mint pies, I'm against them. But, this friend being excessively fond of banana cream pies, I made one. And I must say, I might be a convert. The pie was beautiful, delicious, and very easy to make. I can also think of all kinds of tweaks that would turn this homey recipe into something a little fancier.

Loves!


Banana Cream Pie

Filling
6 T cake flour
2/3 c sugar
1/4 t salt
1 3/4 c milk
2 egg yolks, beaten
1 1/4 t vanilla
1/2 c whipping cream
3 bananas
1/2 lemon

Crust
18 graham crackers
6 T butter
1/4 c sugar

1) Pre-heat oven to 350. Mash the hell out of graham crackers, making crumbs as small as possible. Mix with sugar and melted butter. Use your hands to insure everything gets really well mixed. Press into a pie plate; the harder you press, the better the structure of your crust will be. Pre-bake for 12-15 minutes.

2) In a double boiler, mix flour, sugar, and salt. Add milk, and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Cook for 15 minutes longer, stirring periodically. Pour small amount of milk mixture over egg yolks and beat, then add that to the double boiler and cook 2 minutes (or so) longer. Do not let it boil! Remove from heat, add vanilla. Chill completely.

3) Fold whipped cream into cold pastry cream.

4) Sprinkle lemon juice over sliced bananas. Put a layer of banana on the cooled pie crust, top with cream, and top that with more bananas. Garnish with berries, whipped cream, lemon peel, or whatever you find pretty.

5) Nom nom nom!

A New Secret Ingredient?

Dear Megs,

I just made the yummiest, most perfect thing ever. It didn't cook for *quite* long enough - still gooey in the middle - but I have to say, this is the most scrumptious thing I have ever had a hand in.

I might have to change the secret ingredient, though.

Love,

Linz

The Secret Ingredient is Passed Down

Dear Linz,

What beautiful posts! From the éclairs to the croissants to the lemon doberge cake -- it’s all so beautiful! I think my favorite post, however, was about your grandmother's simple, perfect cornbread. Recipes are perhaps one of the best things to pass down between generations. Furniture breaks. Rings are stolen (*sigh*). But recipes last forever.

Sadly, I don’t have any of my grandmother’s recipes to share right now. Her cousin told us about a time when she pranked her playmates by filling cream puffs with cotton balls (ha!), but that was long before she was a grandma with grandma recipes. I hope to find some as my family and I sift through things in the coming weeks. In the meantime, here's her mother’s recipe for apple delight (essentially an apple crisp except for the fact that it’s not)

Great Grandma Jessica’s Apple Delight

¾ cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
6 - 10 apples (I typically use Macintosh apples)

Soften butter to room temperature. Preheat oven to 350. Mix flour, sugar, butter, and cinnamon to form crumbly topping. Peel and slice apples to fill casserole bowl. If apples are dry, add 1/4 cup water. Sprinkle on topping. Bake 1 hour, until bubbly.

The last time I made it, I used my new Le Crueset mini-cocottes:

And topped it with homemade cinnamon ice cream:

Cinnamon Ice Cream

1 cup whole milk

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup pure maple syrup

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 cup heavy cream

½ tsp pure vanilla extract

½ tsp coarse salt

Prepare an ice-water bath; set aside. Combine the milk, sugar, maple syrup, and cinnamon in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture just begins to bubble and sugar has dissolved, 6 to 8 minutes. Add cream, vanilla, and salt; stir to combine. Pour mixture into a medium bowl set in the ice-water bath. Stir occasionally until cooled. Cover and transfer to refrigerator until chilled at least 1 hour and up to overnight. Stir mixture briefly; pour into an ice-cream maker and process according to manufacturer's instructions.

Love you,

Megs

P.S. The top photo is of my great grandmother and great grandfather (remind me to tell you about their victory garden sometime). The other two photos are courtesy of my amazing roommate, Daniel Hernandez.