Hello? Is anybody out there?

Oy. I only meant to take a few weeks off, but it turned into a couple of months! Life's been very busy and still is, but I'm going to try posting even just once a week to see if I can get back into the groove of things.

I've missed blogging, but on the upside, I have gotten a lot of things accomplished. I won't go into all the boring details, but one exciting thing I accomplished was painting all four bedrooms upstairs! Now that the weather is really nice, know I'll be very glad that I got it done over the winter so that I can focus my attention on the outdoors and the garden. Speaking of the garden, more on that in a later post.............

It's hard to figure out what my first post should be after being absent for so long! Since I left off last with a savory recipe, let's go sweet. I don't bake much these days. As much as I love to bake, it's just not good for the waistline, so I've cut back rather dramatically. It's not as much fun, but we're healthier for it.

If you like to bake and you like cookies, chances are you might be interested in this recipe. If not, you'll be bored by yet ANOTHER chocolate chip cookie recipe. Obviously I'm never bored or tired of them.....

This one was posted by a fellow blogger and member of the CLBB, Laura from The Spiced Life. Her raves about the flavor and texture of this cookie made me decide that it was definitely worth a try.

As I've probably mentioned here before, I'm a chocolate chip cookie snob - meaning I have a very definite idea of what I want out of a chocolate chip cookie and most cookies fall short of what I want. While these cookies are not quite as buttery as I like, I think the trade off for the texture is probably worth it - they are fabulously chewy -and chewiness ranks second right behind buttery flavor in what I look for in a chocolate chip cookie.

Unlike Laura, I usually like the taste of chocolate chip cookies BETTER the next day - the buttery flavor deepens as they sit - so that is not an issue for me. The use of peanut butter in the batter was intriguing. I also found it interesting that the batter only called for one stick of (per 2 cups of flour) - most of my favorite recipes call for two sticks.

Bob Yosses' Best Chocolate Chip Cookie

I think I would dub these "Bill Yosses' Best of Both Worlds Chocolate Chip Cookies". They look and feel like a shortening cookie - if I saw this cookie on a plate somewhere, I probably would turn up my nose and pass it by because it really looks like a shortening-based cookie - it's thicker and it holds its shape well. But since they are made with butter, they don't have the boring flavor of a shortening cookie - you can taste the butter. They are not as deliciously buttery as a Toll House (one of the 2 sticks of better recipes), but like I said, the texture is so wonderful and they don't spread like so many do, I might be willing to give up the extra butter. The taste of a butter cookie with the texture of a shortening cookie - the best of both worlds. It is my theory that the peanut butter acts sort of like shortening but without actually giving it a peanut buttery flavor and certainly not the crumbliness I associate with an out-and-out peanut butter cookie.

With both batches, I used 1 teaspoon of vanilla, no vanilla beans and Smuckers Natural PB. The first batch I made I decided to use up some open bags of chips, so I used a half bag of peanut butter chips and a half bag of semisweet chips. I also chilled the batter for several hours because I was unable to bake them right away. I baked them for about 10 minutes. The cookies came out fine, but I didn't like all the chips. I'm one of those weird people who don't like many chips in my chocolate chip cookies - I want to taste the cookie part.

The second time I made them, I used one cup of Ghirardelli's bittersweet chocolate chips - my preferred chip for baking cookies. I baked them at 350 (my oven runs hot) for about 12 minutes WITHOUT chilling them. They came out even better. I think that chilling is definitely not necessary for these cookies and I actually think they had a better texture this time around (although the chips in the first batch may have contributed to that).

I forget exactly how many cookies I got - about 3 dozen (more the first time since there were 2 cups of chips).

Ahh, it feels good to post again. I hope someone is still out there checking on my neglected blog and that everyone hasn't given up on me entirely. Although I know I'd keep posting even if no one was reading, just because it's fun.

Easy and delicious chicken thigh recipe.....

Quick post tonight. Things are busy around here this week!

Chicken Thighs Braised in White Wine

We tried a new chicken thigh recipe last week that we all really enjoyed. It was easy to throw together and the tastes surpassed expectations. Wine, lemon, garlic and parsley are fairly common combinations, but sometimes a recipe with these ingredients can fall flat. This one did not fall flat - it was very flavorful and lively. The only change I made to this recipe was to use boneless chicken thighs and cook them for less time.

That's it - short, sweet and simple - the recipe and the post!

Weekly Recap 2/3/08

Sunday
*From the freezer: White Turkey Chili
*grapes

Monday
*tuna melts
*soup

Tuesday
Chicken Thighs Braised in White Wine (new)
*white rice
*green beans

Wednesday
*Coconut curry with tilapia, peas, red bell pepper and spinach
*roasted cauliflower
*brown basmati rice

Thursday
*hot pastrami sandwiches with coleslaw, cheese and Thousand Island dressing
*grapes

Friday
*hamburgers
*corn
*fruit

Saturday
*Skillet Lasagna (new)
*salad

Excellent Lentil Recipe

This is one of the better recipes we've tried in quite a while. And no one even claimed that it would be better with sausage!

There are three main components that all come together to make a really fantastic dish. No one component is particularly difficult, it just takes a little planning and a little coordinating on the stove top. One thing that made things more simple, and freed up some space on the stove, was to use the rice cooker for the pilaf. In addition to the pilaf, there is a curried dal-like lentil mixture and caramelized onions. I wasn't sure that caramelized onions belonged in a dish with Indian-inspired flavors, but I was absolutely won over in the end.

Curried Lentils with Caramelized Onions

The pilaf is infused with cardamom pods. I had black cardamom pods on hand and really have no idea how they compare with the more commonly used green, but I can say that they lent a slightly smoky, subtle something extra to the rice that complemented the curried lentils without competing or overwhelming. The only thing that seemed particularly lacking in the curried lentils was perhaps a little heat. The recipe itself actually mentions "spicy red lentils", so I have to wonder if Jack Bishop uses a hot curry powder - mine is of the sweet variety. Nothing that a little chili garlic paste can't fix though.

We oohed and aahed our way through this dish. Something about it just worked really well. I'm also happy to report that it tasted fantastic and actually better the next day, and even the day after that, as I happily brought the leftovers to work for lunch. This dish will most definitely be repeated in our house, especially since we tend to keep all of the ingredients on hand on a regular basis.

Two from Simple Suppers

So it's been a while since I had a real post. I got off track last week because of a house project - I've been painting our bedroom. More on that later.....

On to the recipes. Both of these recipes earned my "it has potential" rating; meaning that while they were not out-of-this-world-fantastic, they were good solid recipes that I think could elevated to a higher status with a little tweaking.

Mexican Polenta-Stuffed Peppers

The first was a polenta-stuffed pepper dish in which bell peppers are lightly roasted and then stuffed with polenta, topped with cheese and placed under the broiler. The peppers are served over a super easy but very tasty warm black bean and salsa mixture. I really liked all the different elements of this dish, but the polenta was underwhelming. I think that part of the problem is that the polenta did not cook fully enough and still had an off/raw taste. The 3 males in the family commented that sausage would make this dish really good. Although I'm trying to eat more vegetarian meals lately, I have to admit that a little sausage would really be good here. :) To elevate the taste without resorting to meat however, I would look to maybe a bit of chipotle and perhaps some black olives. Polenta is certainly versatile enough to tweak as you wish - this dish could be turned into something with a more Italian flare with a bit of Parmesan and served over a white bean mixture. Or with a little feta and black olives, it could turn Greek. The possibilities really are endless.

Southwestern Cheese Soup
(I'm afraid that no amount of photo editing could save this photo!)

I've had a couple of inquiries about the Southwestern Cheese Soup that we had earlier this week. It's a very easy soup to throw together and everyone enjoyed it, but again I think it could use a bit of tweaking. Of course I tweaked it just a tad the first time, but just a little - I made a substitution for the canned green chiles. First of all I didn't have any on hand and second of all, I really don't care for them - they seem to have this off/tinny taste that I can't get past. Looking for something to add a bit of heat and flavor, I stumbled on a jar of pickled jalapenos in my refrigerator - these were perfect - they added heat, color and no tinny taste. The soup got very positive reviews from the males at the table. I thought it was very good considering how quick and easy it is to make, but I thought it could be kicked up a notch - maybe some black beans, replacing some of the cheddar with a bit of light cream cheese. And yes devoted carnivores - a little sausage would ramp things up a bit too.

So, two solid recipes that could be really good with a little tweaking. Again, I tend to value recipes as much for the overall ideas they give me for future meals as I do for the overall end result.