The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

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(My Favorite Recipe—from Sunset)
I’ve been making this for more than two decades and have made some changes along the way. Please see notes at the end of the recipe. Many changes I have incorporated into the recipe below.

1 cup solid shortening
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
4 extra-large eggs
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1 teaspoon lemon juice (freshly squeezed!!)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats (I use Quaker Oats brand.)
2 to 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 large packages (12 oz. each) semisweet chocolate chips–that’s about 4 cups [Note: I use 2 cups of regular semisweet chocolate chips, and 2 cups of Guittard Semi-Sweet Maxi Baking Chips, or similar. Sometimes I use the dark chocolate version.]
2 cups chopped walnuts

In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat shortening, butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar at high speed until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes).  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Beat in vanilla and lemon juice.

Add oats.  Mix together soda, salt, whole wheat flour, cinnamon.  Beat into creamed mixture until well combined; add rest of flour until dough is not too sticky when you pick up bit with your fingers.  Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.

For each cooky, drop a scant 1/4 cup dough on a lightly greased baking sheet, spacing cookies about 3 inches apart.  If you have one, use a cookie scoop, about 2-inch size.

Line one cookie sheet with parchment paper. Scoop out all the dough onto the cookie sheet, letting each scoop touch each other. Cover. Freeze, or give it a heavy chill in the freezer. When ready to bake, line a second cookie sheet with parchment paper, and place cookie balls about 3″ apart. I can get about 12-15 on one cookie sheet.

Bake in a 350 oven for 16-18 minutes or until golden brown.  (If they are just out of the freezer, it may take longer.) Remove from oven and set on a rack; let cool for 2 minutes (approx.). Grabbing the edge of the parchment paper, slide the cookies onto a wire rack, and let cool.  Makes about 3 dozen large cookies.

*Note: if you don’t have whole wheat flour, you can use all white (all-purpose) flour.

Quinoa Basic Directions

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Follow the direction on the box or bag.  Really.

I usually use 1 cup dry quinoa (and I don’t rinse it) to 1 1/2-3 cups liquid.  I like using water, then I can mix it with other things, but I’ve also used chicken broth.

If this makes too much, dump the cooked quinoa into a ziploc bag and freeze it.  To use, put it in your microwave on a defrost setting, just until you can mush it between your fingers.

If you want to get fancy, you can go this way:
Wash 2 cups dry quinoa (about 10 ounces) in 3 changes of cold water in a bowl, draining in a large sieve each time. Cook quinoa in a 4- to 5-quart pot of boiling salted water, uncovered, until almost tender, about 10 minutes. Drain in sieve, then set sieve over same pot with 1 inch of simmering water (water should not touch bottom of sieve). Cover quinoa with a folded kitchen towel, then cover sieve with a lid (don’t worry if lid doesn’t fit tightly) and steam until quinoa is tender, fluffy, and dry, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand (still covered) 5 minutes.

Quinoa with Corn, Scallions, Basil and Mint

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Gourmet  | August 2006
yield: Makes 8 servings

Ingredients
2 ears corn, shucked (Our corn was really fresh, so I just used the kernals raw.)
finely grated fresh lemon zest from 1 lemon
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 Tbls. butter, melted
2 Tbls. olive oil
1 tablespoon mild honey
salt, to taste (it absorbs a lot)
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 cups cooked quinoa
3 shallots, chopped
1/8 cup chopped fresh mint
1/8 cup chopped fresh basil
Preparation
Put corn in a 5- to 6-quart wide pot, then add water to cover and bring to a boil, covered. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, 5 minutes. Transfer corn with tongs to a cutting board. When cool enough to handle, cut kernels off cobs with a large heavy knife.
Meanwhile, whisk together lemon zest and juice, butter, honey, salt, and pepper in a large bowl until combined. Add quinoa to dressing and toss until dressing is absorbed, then stir in corn, scallions, mint, and salt and pepper to taste. I added rotisserie chicken, about 1 1/2 cups cubed.  I also put out fresh chopped tomatoes to place on top.

If you’ve never used Quinoa, head to Quinoa Basic Directions (either find in Pasta/Grains category on the side, or do a search up top).  Basically, it’s like rice, with a little more liquid to grain.

Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower

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This is one of those recipes that you pick up while meandering through the blogosphere and end up really liking it.  I do like it.  See additional post.
Ingredients
1/2 medium cauliflower, cored and broken up into 3/4-inch florets (4+ cups)
1 pint cherry tomatoes, or 1 cup quartered tomatoes
Olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh sage
3 large cloves garlic
2 ounces of bacon, fat trimmed and cut into small dice
8 ounces orecchiette pasta
5 ounces spinach, cleaned and coarsely chopped
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation

1 Preheat oven to 425°F. Lay out cauliflower and tomatoes in a roasting pan, coat with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast until just lightly browned and cooked through, about 15 minutes.

2 Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil (1 teaspoon salt for every quart of water).

3 While water is heating, pulse garlic, sage, and prosciutto together in a food processor until coarsely chopped. Once cauliflower has browned lightly, remove from oven, toss cauliflower with garlic prosciutto mixture, and return to oven to cook for 5-7 minutes more.

4 Boil pasta uncovered (rolling boil) for 9-10 minutes until firm, but done (al dente). Reserve one cup of pasta liquid. Drain water from pot. Add cauliflower, arugula (or spinach), and Parmesan to the pasta. Stir in enough cooking water to moisten. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 4.