It’s a shame what Jeffrey Steingarten has done. The Vogue food writer’s two versions of lobster soufflé take 10 hours to prepare, enough to scare away even expert cooks.

For Is My Blog Blog Burning 20: Has my Blog Fallen?, Kitchen Chick sought to convince people that soufflés aren’t so difficult to make after all. Souffles are simply custards that have been leavened with beaten egg whites. Although souffles are notorious for collapsing quickly, soufflé cakes are easy to make because they’re meant to be served in their non-peak state.

The chestnuts in this low-fat “su-fle” (ha ha, get it?) cake add wonderful creaminess. You won’t taste the chestnuts unless someone points them out, but they definitely contribute to the cake’s texture. On the first day, it resembles chiffon cake but on the second day, its flavor develops and resembles mousse. Your patience will be rewarded!

Chocolate Chestnut Soufflé Cake

Adapted from Chocolate and the Art of Low-Fat Desserts by Alice Medrich

Ingredients:
4 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped fine
1/2 cup plus 1/2 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 cup chestnut spread (sweetened chestnut puree) (picture)
2 egg yolks
1 Tbsp rum
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tarter or 1/2 tsp vinegar or 1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 to 2 tsp powdered sugar, for dusting
vanilla ice cream, vanilla frozen yogurt, whipped cream, creme fraiche, sour cream, or sweetened pureed cottage cheese (optional but recommended)

Instructions:

1. Position the rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350F. Place a round of parchment paper on the bottom of the pan and grease the sides.
2. Combine the chopped chocolate, cocoa and half of the sugar in a large mixing bowl. Pour in boiling water and whisk until the mixture is smooth and chocolate is completely melted.  Stir in the chestnut spread, egg yolks, rum and vanilla.  Set aside.
   
3. Combine the egg whites with the cream of tarter, lemon juice or vinegar. Beat at medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually sprinkle in the remaining sugar and continue to beat at high speed until stiff but not dry. Whisk the flour into the chocolate mixture. Fold in a quarter of the egg whites. At this point, you don’t have to be too careful because you’re just lightening the chocolate so it will be easier to combine later. Then, carefully fold in the remaining whites. (Cut a spoon or spatula into the bottom of the bowl and plop the chocolate on top of the whites. Turn the bowl 90 degrees and repeat until no white streaks remain. The batter doesn’t have to be perfectly uniform in color. When in doubt, err on the side of undermixing so you keep the volume in the whites.) Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Bake until a skewer or toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it, about 30 to 35 minutes. Cool torte in the pan on a rack.
   [Rise…]It will sink in the center as it cools.
   
   […and fall]Cake may be prepared to this point and stored, covered at room temperature or refrigerated for 2 days or frozen, well wrapped, for up to 2 months.
4. To serve: Slide a thin knife or spatula around the sides of the pan to release the cake.  
   Remove the sides and bottom of springform or invert cake onto a platter. Remove the paper liner from the bottom and turn the torte right side up. Dust with powdered sugar and serve with a dollop of dairy, if desired.

Notes/tips:

• While this cake did not taste low-fat, I didn’t think it was rich enough. I used mildly sweetened chestnut puree and forgot to add the cocoa, so your results may vary.
• For a milk chocolate-flavored cake, use unsweetened chestnut puree and do not add cocoa.
• You may make your own chestnut puree by boiling canned roasted chestnuts with enough water to cover and brown sugar (I used 2 Tbsp for 14 ounces of chestnuts. My puree was slightly sweet but not like a confection.) for 45-60 minutes, or until most of the water is absorbed and the nuts are soft. Puree the mixture with 1/2 tsp vanilla in a food processor until creamy.
• I’m not big on garnishes, but a dollop of a plain dairy product really enhances the chestnut’s creaminess.  Regular yogurt is not recommended though, because it’s too tangy.
• Eggs are easier to separate when they are cold (the yolks are less prone to break), but the whites whip better when they’re at room temperature.
• Cream of tarter, an acid, stabilizes the whites to insure against overbeating. You’ve overbeaten the whites when a white glob floats on top of a watery mess. For a couple bucks, you can buy one ounce of cream of tarter, a uni-tasker. Or, you can buy a big bottle of vinegar for less than a dollar and save it for a ton of other uses.  😉 Simply substitute twice the amount of vinegar or lemon juice for cream of tarter in all of your whipped egg white recipes.

Tagged with: IMBB # 20 + Souffle

Today I received a tubload of Nutella cookies in the mail, plus loads of chocolate and other goodies that were carefully packaged. Jealous?

It was all courtesy of Blogging by Mail, an organized gift exchange between bloggers. Nicole (of The Baking Sheet) and I dreamt it up this summer. She sent me some homemade marshmallows, and then I sent her homemade Nutella. We decided it was too fun to keep to ourselves.

This time Kristin, a skateboarding mom from CA, sent me a lovely care package. She mailed out the package in September but got it returned to her because I gave out the wrong address. So she was generous enough to re-bake cookies and send it out all over again.

From left to right, I received a tumbler that holds milk and cookies, Ibarra Mexican chocolate (I’ve heard it’s excellent for hot chocolate), a giant mug, pens to decorate the mug with, Nutella Mexican wedding cookies, a mini pouch (I’m guessing Kristin made it), honey from avocado flowers, and Chocolove dark chocolate with raspberries.

Not to be biased, but I think I got the best package. How can you go wrong with chocolate? Thanks so much Kristin! I didn’t expect so much. My head is swimming with ideas as to how I can “repay” my next partner in the third edition of Blogging by Mail. Hurry, sign ups for BBM3: Home for the Holidays end on Oct. 23.

What would you do to find the best recipe for chocolate chip cookies or whatever your heart desires? Consult an obscure cookbook? Experiment with endless variations? Take the modern route and see what the bloggers are cooking?

How about looking on the back of the bag of your star ingredient? “No no, if a good recipe were so readily available, surely everyone would be able to cook well,” you say. Besides, back-of-the-package recipes often trick you into buying other products from the same parent company. For example, to make “authentic” Philadelphia cheesecake, you must use Honey Maid graham crackers. Nice try, Kraft.

But think about it. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like the classic Nestle Toll House chocolate chip cookie. The Hershey’s chocolate cake recipe on the back of every cocoa package produces a delicious, moist cake. All pumpkin pie recipes that I’ve seen are only slight variations from the one on Libby’s pumpkin label (15 oz. of pumpkin puree, 1 1/2 cups of dairy, two eggs and sugar and spice to taste). Manufacturers know that back-of-the-package recipes better be good, or you won’t be buying their product anytime soon.

The M&M oatmeal raisin cookie recipe is no exception. I’ve seached high and wide for a good oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe. I was convinced that it simply didn’t exist. In my cookies, the chunk of chocolate interfered with the chewiness of the oats. It was a completely different mouthfeel. I figured only raisins could go with oatmeal because both were chewy.

It turns out a trusty oatmeal chocolate cookie recipe was right under my nose, er, in my hands.

M&M Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

adapted from the M&M Gift Jar Cookie Mix recipe on every Mini bag

Ingredients:
1 stick of unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup (169g) firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
3/4 teaspoon (3.75mL) vanilla extract
3/4 cup (169g) whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cups (281g) uncooked oats (quick or old-fashioned is fine)
1/2 teaspoon (2.5mL) baking soda
1/2 teaspoon (2.5mL) salt
1/2 teaspoon (2.5mL) ground cinnamon
1 cup (225g) M&M’S® Chocolate Mini Baking Bits
1/2 cup (113g) raisins
1/2 cup (113g) chopped toasted walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C).

In a large bowl cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy; beat in egg and vanilla until well blended.

In a medium bowl combine flour, oats, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; blend into creamed mixture.

Stir in M&M’S® Chocolate Mini Baking Bits, raisins and nuts.

Roll into 1-inch balls and place about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 12 to 15 minutes, or just until edges begin to brown. Cool 2 minutes on cookie sheets; cool completely on wire racks. Store in tightly covered container.

Makes 4 dozen cookies

Notes:

• As usual, I reduced the butter. The original recipe called for 1 1/2 sticks, but you won’t miss it.
• Also as usual, I swapped out all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour for health reasons. I think whole wheat flour gives the cookies a heartier flavor and texture.
• To reduce spread, refrigerate the batter for at least one hour to solidify the butter and let the flour/oats soak up moisture. If chilling for more than a couple hours, roll the dough into three or four logs and slice off a chunk to bake. By then, it will be too hard to spoon. The logs can also be frozen, double-wrapped, to satisfy later cookie cravings.
• The dough was uber flavorful for my tastes. Next time I will use 3/8 tsp salt and 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar. It’s all a matter of taste though. Nic at The Baking Sheet thinks salted butter (which already has 1/2 tsp of salt per stick) plus 1/2 tsp salt per 2 cups of flour is perfect.
• Why use unsalted butter if you’re adding in salt anyway? First, unsalted butter is often fresher than salted butter. Second, you get to control the flavor. Regular butter is often too salty for cookies.

Favorite chef?  Check.  Free cooking lesson?  Check.  Free food?  Check.

There wasn’t a reason NOT to go to Sur La Table last Wednesday to watch Alton Brown do a knife demo.  If you haven’t already guessed from the name of my blog, his show, Good Eats, is probably my greatest culinary influence.  He taught me about the whys of cooking so I can troubleshoot my recipes.  Like Alton, I’d rather enjoy simple, well-prepared food than a dish with so much going on that you can only name it by its ingredients, like Meyer lemon pepper sable with blueberry gelee.  Dang, sometimes I just want a cookie.

Like any free event, the demo was actually a giant promotion, specifically for Sur La Table, Alton Brown, Shun knives and American Express.  I took the commercial aspect with a grain of salt but walked away with a free lesson on knife skills.  Some highlights:

• The design of the food will tell you how to cut it most efficiently.  For example, the standard way to dice an onion is the crosshatch method: score the onion horizontally and vertically before cubing it.  But if you’ve ever watched Shrek, you know that onions have layers, which can work to your advantage.  An easier way is to make several radial cuts (start at the edge and slant down into the center) in each onion half.  Then you can slice down to cube it.  You’ve just saved yourself one step.
• Take the path of least resistance.  For example, it’s easier to julienne a bell pepper with the skin side up.  That way, the edges won’t curl up on you.  But if you have a dull knife that can’t pierce through the skin, you’re better off cutting it with the skin side down.
• Use the cutting board as friction to cut through sticky foods.  For example, if you want to slice a peeled avocado half, don’t just cut straight down into the board.  Otherwise, you’ll continuously have to stop to remove each piece from your knife.  Instead, cut each strip at an angle and slide the avocado half across the board.  Sushi chefs use the same method to cut fish.
• Minimize the possibility of accidents as much as possible.  Curl in the fingers on your non-knife hand, like a claw.  The knife should ride up against your knuckles so you always know where the blade is, even when you aren’t looking.
• When chopping, your knife hand should stay in one area, while the other hand feeds the food into the blade, kind of like a log cutter.
• To test if your cutting board is big enough for the knife, lay the knife diagonally across it.  The board should have about two inches clearance on both sides.
• To cut uniform pieces, the object isn’t speed but rhythm.  That being said, it’s easier to cut on a wooden board.  Knives stick on plastic boards.

For more of Alton’s knife tips, check out the transcripts to his shows, Seeing Red (scroll down to scene three and four) and Soup’s On (scroll to scene five with the picture of little Elton and the cutting board).

Here’s Alton in action:

Alton yelling “Demo!” as he bisected a honeydew with one swoop of a knife.

Yes, that melon was cut in half with the effortless drop of a knife.

Who’s that handsome fellow?

Alton answered several questions as he went along. Most of the time, he wasn’t stumbled.

The “Alton’s Angle” line featured his picture on the blade, something only his mother would appreciate. (His words, not mine.)

There is a point to the cupcake dance…Note the humble muffin on the left and the frosted cake on the right.

Alton compared German blades (Wusthof-Trident, J.A. Henckels) to the interior of a spice muffin: delicious but rustic-shaped air pockets. Knives were modeled after swords, and in Germany swords were used for brute force.

In Japan however, swords were used for precision. Blades on Japanese knives were more delicate, kind of like the uniform air pockets in a poundcake-style cupcake.

He noted that knives are all about personal preference (do you prefer muffins or pound cakes?), but of course the Japanese knife sounded more desirable.

Alton demonstrated the correct way to grip a knife.

“You know why cooks in restaurants clank their knives on the honing steel?” Alton asked. “Because there’s a window!”

Honing re-aligns a sharp edge that got curved, while sharpening corrects a flattened edge. To hone, delicately slide the knife against a steel at a 22 degree angle. With practice, you can tell if you’re at the correct angle just by hearing the sound of the blade against the steel.

Alton demonstrating how to skin a mango with a Santoku knife. Santokus are good for beginners.

Check out Sur La Table in Soho for more free events, including a Mario Batali book signing/cooking demo on 10/26 and prepared foods from Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Laurent Tourondel, Todd English and Cedric Tovar on 11/16.  Upscale kitchen stores like Sur La Table, Williams-Sonoma and Crate & Barrel are all about the eye candy,  but use them to your advantage!

For actual purchases, I recommend the restaurant supply stores along Bowery St.  (If your job is to do bulk cooking, there’s no way you’d pay $10 for one cake pan.)  Chef Restaurant Supply has professional baking sheets for $5, less than what you’d pay in the supermarket for smaller, flimsy sheets.  And you wonder why your cookies burn on the bottom: generic cookie sheets attract heat because they’re thin and have a dark non-stick coating.  But that’s another post, or not.

Sur La Table
75 Spring Street
New York, NY 10012
Phone: (212) 966-3375
Hours: Mon-Sat 9:30am-8pm, Sun 10am-6pm

Chef Restaurant Supply
294 Bowery (near Houston)
New York, NY 10012
Phone: (212) 254-6644

I’m always disappointed when I open a new bag of potato chips, hear the air rush out, and discover that it’s only half full. Once I finish the few unblemished chips, I’m left with a pool of crumbs on the bottom. Most often I shake the bag and spitefully throw it away.

Not anymore. Crushed chips actually make tasty cookies! The promise of sweet and salty, plus a hint of the bizarre prompted me to try a potato chip cookie recipe from Real Simple magazine. These cookies are reminiscent of pecan sandies and snickerdoodles. When fresh, they’re delicately crisp like shortbread. After a couple days, they get chewy but remain delicious for weeks.

I upgraded these cookies by using leftover Terra chips, a mixture of taro, sweet potato, yuca, batata and parsnips. I imagine tortilla chips would work too. Any nut can also be used; I substituted hazelnuts. I also omitted about 1/3 of the butter (the original recipe called for two sticks) to no ill effect.

Terra Chip Cookies
Inspired by Nancy Myers’ recipe in Real Simple, May 2005

1 stick plus 3 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus 1/2 cup more for coating
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup Terra, potato or tortilla chips, crushed
1/2 cup toasted pecans, chopped
1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt (only add if using low-sodium chips)

Preheat oven to 375° F. Cream the butter and 1/2 cup sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed. Lower to medium speed and add the vanilla. Add the flour, cinnamon and salt (if using) to the butter mixture. Beat on low speed until incorporated. Fold in the chips and nuts. Form into approximately 1 1/2-inch balls. Dredge in the remaining sugar. Flatten with the bottom of a glass cup. Place on foil-lined baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake until golden brown around the edges, about 13 minutes. Cool completely on sheets.

Yield: Makes 2 1/2 dozen

NUTRITION PER SERVING (from full fat recipe)
CALORIES 138(54% from fat); FAT 8g (sat 4g); PROTEIN 1mg; CHOLESTEROL 16mg; CALCIUM 6mg; SODIUM 18mg; FIBER 1g; CARBOHYDRATE 15g; IRON 1mg

Notes:
When lightening a cookie recipe, you may remove up to half of the fat. Because cookies depend on butter for crispness and chewiness, I don’t recommend replacing the fat with anything. Fruit purées like applesauce will make the cookie cakey and gummy. Just leave out the fat: most recipes have plenty already!

This recipe is a variant of the Earl Grey tea cookies that have popped up in IMBB 17: Taste Tea and Blogging by Mail 2. The Earl Grey cookies use 1/2 cup each of granulated and powdered sugar, 2 Tbsp tea leaves pulverized with the dry ingredients, and no cinnamon. They are the slice-and-bake variety.

Photo: Kenneth Chen/New York magazine

To the uninitiated, the word "hummus" may invoke images of mucuous secretions. But at the aptly named Hummus Place in the East and West Village, their namesake dish is as decadent as butter.

The Hummus Place subscribes to the philosophy of doing one thing and doing it well: on the menu are hummus tahini (plain chickpea puree with a swirl of olive oil), hummus masbacha (with whole chickpeas) and hummus foul (with fava beans and a chopped hardboiled egg), all for about $5.  The waiter said the hummus, which Time Out magazine called "vegetarian foie gras," was merely chickpeas, tahini (sesame butter) and garlic.  😕  I’ve made hummus with those ingredients, and it didn’t make my mouth sing. He neglected to mention that the tahini was imported from Nablus in the West Bank.

The gigantic platters come with two thick pull-apart pita breads with which to grab the creamy goodness.  The pitas are the best I’ve ever tasted: they’re thick, soft and hot out of the toaster.  They surpass the ones at the respectable Damascus Bakery in Brooklyn and put Aladdin’s sawdust-like pitas (which should be banned from supermarket shelves) to shame.

Or, you can get the $2 sandwich special: an overstuffed pita with hummus, fresh tomatoes to cut through the richness, and a hardboiled egg to once again, make it rich.  It’s a better value than McDonald’s value menu and better executed than a $150-private dinner at the Park Avenue Cafe.  I actually had to scoop out a large portion of the hummus, or else gobs would have plopped out.  It was so good that I had the leftovers for breakfast the next day.  It takes a lot for a sweet tooth like me to start the day on a savory note.

All the dishes come with a side of pickled cucumbers, onions and peppers.  Their crunchy sweet-and-sourness provide a foil to the nutty hummus.

According to the Sephardic Heritage Update (scroll to the second to last article, "A Bit of the Middle East in the East Village"), the Hummus Place is also planning a third shop on the Upper West Side.  All the more easier to get gourmet food at fast food prices.

The Hummus Place
99 MacDougal St. between First Ave. and Ave. A, (212) 533-3089
109 St. Mark’s Pl. between Bleecker St. and Minetta Ln., (212) 529-9198