As promised, I tried out two of the recipes from my last entry, and have lots of feedback, tips, etc. for you.
First:
Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies: Chocolate Heaven
This one lives up to its name! Easy to make and oh, so yummy. As my husband said after his taste test, "anything with this much chocolate in it has got to be good!" The recipe is simple and the instructions are easy to follow. If you’ve never made cookie dough using a food processor before (I hadn’t) you need to try this…only one bowl to clean and oh so easy! Especially when your recipe calls for chocolate to be chopped into chunks…that’s time consuming and messy with a chef’s knife and cutting board (been there, done that!) Here’s a pic of all that yummy chocolate after I’d chopped it in the food processor:
BAKING TIP: Yes, I do bake cookies on a pizza stone. If you haven’t yet discovered this trick, I strongly recommend it! And yes, those are two loaves of banana bread also on the cooling rack…evidently it was baking day yesterday!
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: This cookie recipe is a keeper, as is the technique of making cookies in a food processor. I’ve always owned a food processor, just never used it much…mostly since it was stored in a cupboard and it always seemed easier to just leave it there instead of lugging it out, clearing enough counter space, and then having to clean this big bowl, lid and blade. But I’ve been converted! I’ve cleared a patch of counter as a new permanent home for my food processor, and I just popped the bowl, etc. in the dishwasher so cleanup was ultra-easy. The only modification I might make to this recipe in future is to cut the sugars a bit – something I often do with cookie recipes, especially with so much of two very sweet chocolates (milk & white chocolate chunks) already included.
Second:
Pesto, Cheese and Fresh Tomato Pizza & Basic Pizza Dough
Let me just say that this pizza is as good as any you’ll get in a trendy Italian restaurant, especially if cooked on a stone. Now, let me explain why: this one is labour-intensive and a bit complicated (I blanched & peeled tomatoes for this one, folks) to follow, but the results are truly spectacular.
RECIPE TIP: When making a recipe for the first time, read it through thoroughly before starting. Yes, I know this, and I did it – sort of. I read through the dough recipe before making the dough, but I didn’t also read the companion pizza recipe before rolling out the dough. The dough recipe didn’t mention RISING at all, so I didn’t let the dough rise (nice time-saver, by the way!). Then the pizza recipe said, "after the dough rises"…so I was supposed to let it rise. But how long? It doesn’t say. Usually a dough recipe will specify a time and/or volume for rising, e.g. "after about an hour, when the dough has doubled in volume". Well, neither of these recipes specified so I didn’t let the dough rise at all, just rolled it out into two nice, thin, 15-inch diameter pizzas.
Did the lack of rising negatively affect the dough? I don’t think so! Actually, I was skeptical about trying a new dough recipe because I’ve always felt loyal to the long-standing family pizza dough recipe. You know, the kind of recipe everyone in the family has memorized? Yeah, like that. Anyway, I think I’ll be freeing up those neurons for some other purpose since I much preferred this new recipe. The dough was lovely to handle – elastic (but not too much), not at all sticky, not too yeasty, and best of all…very tasty!
Here are some pics of the ‘za getting dressed. First, the pesto, then the cheese, then the tomatoes:
TIPS: homemade pesto is not easy to spread! Patience required for this step. And yes, I know the recipe calls for plum tomatoes, but there were none at the grocery store, so I had to substitute vine-ripened "regular" tomatoes. So sue me! Also, knowing my husband’s irrational aversion to any meatless meal, I did add prosciutto (okay, okay, it was honey ham slices from the deli at Costco) to one of the pizzas, with no ill effect, although I preferred the "virgin" margherita version, myself.
And what about the final product? As I said, this one is as good as you’d find at any stone-baked pizza ristorante, but you definitely have to work for it! My kids loved it (minus the tomatoes), despite the fact that it didn’t look like the kind of pizza they’re used to (I was worried about the presence of pesto [being green] and lack of tomato sauce). They actually ate more of this pizza than they usually do of my "regular" homemade pizza. And my husband was very impressed. "Delicious", was his single comment, before "is there any more?"
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: I’m definitely sold on this dough recipe…I’ve never been able to make a nice, thin dough of this kind before, and I much prefer it. Also, I loved the 3-cheese blend (parmesan, mozzarella & fontina) although I might add about 25% more next time (I do love my cheese!). Finally, I don’t think I’d go to the trouble of making the pesto from scratch or blanching and peeling the tomatoes. Save that effort for diners you really want to impress!
So tell me…did anyone else try these or one of the other recipes I posted last time? What do you think? Let’s get some chatter going in the comments below. If only I could pull out my cookie jar and offer you up one of the chocolate heaven cookies and a cup of java…I look forward to hearing what you have to say. Enjoy!
Now, have your say…I personally always let my kids lick the bowl, spoon, beaters, etc. In fact, I thought this was so common that it could be considered a rite of childhood! Then I randomly asked some friends and was surprised by their responses. One was honestly baffled at why anyone would want to consume uncooked dough or batter, and had never thought of offering it to her kids. Another was completely disgraced that I would let my children eat something containing raw eggs. So, what’s your take on it? Let me know in the poll below:
Please email your ideas, recipes, and feedback to kitchenparty@urbanmoms.ca.