LEMON BASIL COOKIES

KITCHEN NOTES: Recipe Development::Amethyst Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I ventured into my garden yesterday evening and looked at the beautiful flowering Amethyst Basil plant - the flowers a rich orchid color, the leaves an interesting combination of bright green and deep purple. I walked to the chocolate shelf in the pantry and took out a bar of Valrhona Caribe (66%) chocolate and wondered how the combination of basil and chocolate might work out in a chocolate chunk cookie.

A few weeks ago, I started researching and developing a recipe for chocolate chunk cookies. I realize that there are countless versions out there for the "best" chocolate chip cookie and that my pantry is well stocked with at least 9 bags of chocolate chips purchased long ago, still waiting to be used. However, I wanted more than small chips of chocolate. I did a quick search on Google for "basil chocolate" and stumbled upon a recipe  for a chocolate cake using sweet basil. One day I will need to make that cake. For now, I decided to chop up almost the entire bar of chocolate into 1/2 inch pieces instead of using the chocolate chips.

I then selected the nicest leaves on the plant (about 20 of them) and pulsed them in the food processor together with granulated sugar.

I thought about adding lemon zest, then decided against mixing together too many flavours and saving that thought for another cookie recipe in the near future using sweet basil instead of the Amethyst basil. My intention was to make a thin, chewy cookie which is why I used baking soda, brown sugar, and melted butter. I found an informative article about the differences of using baking soda and baking powder. The recipe started out using one whole egg and one egg yolk along with 113 grams (one stick) of unsalted butter. However, as I was mixing the dough, I realized my mistake of not using enough liquids.

A quick decision had to be made: add a cold egg or melt more butter and wait for it to cool. I chose adding an egg as I didn't have the time to wait for butter to cool. I also didn't have time to wait for an egg to reach room temperature even though I realize I could have warmed it in a bowl of warm water. Regardless, the dough came together nicely. After chilling the dough for 30 minutes in the refrigerator, I baked up a batch of nine cookies curious to see how they tasted. The result? Yum! ...as noted in my recipe journal - a note I use when the recipe is worth trying again.

 

Amethyst Chocolate Chunk Cookies

this batch made 25 cookies

INGREDIENTS

113 grams unsalted butter, melted and cooled

10 grams Amethyst basil leaves (about 20 leaves)

125 grams granulated sugar

225 grams all-purpose flour

113 grams cake flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

100 grams dark muscavado sugar

2 large eggs

1 large egg yolk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

180 grams Valrhona 66% chocolate, chopped in half-inch pieces

INSTRUCTIONS

Melt butter in small saucepan over medium heat. Remove saucepan from heat and let butter cool to room temperature.

Combine basil leaves and granulated sugar in food processor and pulse until leaves are finely chopped. Set aside.

Stir together the flours, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, pour in the melted butter. Add the basil sugar and dark muscavado sugar and beat on medium-high speed until creamy (took over 5 minutes). Add the eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and continue to beat for another minute. Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture. Beat just until combined. Stir in the chopped chocolate.

Cover and chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 350°F.

Line a baking sheet (I used a jelly roll pan) with parchment paper and drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls spaced about two inches apart.

Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet - or eat the cookies warm if you're as impatient as my children.

THE NOTES (as jotted down in my blue journal):

I started out wanting a flat and chewy cookie. After researching what would contribute to the flatness of a cookie, I discovered that using melted butter, brown sugar, and baking soda instead of baking powder would do the trick. However, this batch of cookies turned out soft, cakey, and not the least bit flat. No regrets on that "mistake" though. Flat cookies will be the challenge for yet another recipe (with my omitting the cake flour).

The dough needed more liquid with only one whole egg and one egg yolk, so at the last minute I added another whole egg. The result was a soft, cakey cookie that had a great taste with flecks of basil throughout.

Saffron, my 5-year old daughter, said the cookies were very messy and that perhaps I should make them without chocolate next time. No chocolate?! Is this my daughter? I do plan on developing another cookie recipe with the sweet basil and lemon zest, so I will reduce the chocolate in this recipe my dear daughter. :)

Changes I would try for next time:

* Use more melted butter instead of an extra egg (170 grams butter)

* Reduce chocolate amount to 100 grams instead of 180 grams to partially satisfy my daughter's request. :)

* Sprinkle Pink Himalayan Sea Salt on top of cookies before baking

***For the flatter cookies, I will experiment with using all-purpose flour as the only flour.

A LATE NIGHT SUMMER DINNER::PUFFY PANCAKE

Saffron laughed as I told her I was making a puffy pancake last Thursday evening. Once again, I found myself wondering what to make and once again I started to experiment when I shouldn't have - late in the day and well past the typical dinnertime. No matter, because we are far from typical. Breakfast, especially now during the Summer months doesn't happen until about 11h (sometimes later), and dinner typically is under the stars with a lantern hanging from the patio umbrella and a candle flickering on the table. With nights so warm here in Texas, we enjoy our meals outside on the patio and often wait until after the prime mosquito time to eat dinner.

After some research (which almost always includes reading articles on Wikipedia) , I wrote up my recipe for my first experience with a puffy pancake and was excited to see how it would turn out. I wanted to make sure there was enough for all five of us, so I used six eggs. For flavourings, I used a combination of vanilla extract and dark rum - I use Zacapa 23. The remaining ingredients included whole milk, cane sugar, a pinch of sea salt, and all-purpose flour. I blended it all in the blender and added the mixture to a hot cast iron pan that had been heated along with the oven at 425°F. If I remember correctly (I forgot to write it down), the pancake baked for 20 minutes. The children and I were watching the rising of the puffy pancake through the glass oven window. It really did puff up!

After removing the pancake from the oven, I dusted powdered sugar over the top, followed by freshly grated lemon zest, and the juice of half a lemon along with sliced organic strawberries.

I didn't realize how different the flavour of this pancake was from regular pancakes - more eggy than cakey. Overall, I liked the taste and will continue to experiment with different versions - the next one with Grand Marnier and orange zest.

Puffy Oven-Baked Pancake (the first version)

makes plenty for a simple European dinner

INGREDIENTS

6 eggs, room temperature

240 ml whole milk

145 grams all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons cane sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon dark rum

4 tablespoons unsalted butter (added to pan)

INSTRUCTIONS

Place 10" (unbuttered) cast iron pan into cold oven. Preheat oven and pan to 425°F.

Blend eggs, milk, flour, sugar, salt, vanilla extract, and rum in blender until smooth, making sure all ingredients are well incorporated.

Wearing oven mits, carefully pull out the oven rack with pan and add the butter. Make sure that the sides of the pan are well coated. Pour the batter into the hot pan, replace the rack, close oven, and bake for about 20 minutes - until pancake starts to puff.

Remove from oven. Cut pancake into wedges and dust powdered sugar over the top, sprinkle some lemon juice, and add freshly grated lemon zest. Top with strawberries and serve immediately.

SUNDAY'S FIVE GRAIN CEREAL

The sun shines brightly on this beautiful Sunday morning. The children are up and already running around asking when we'll be eating. "Soon", I tell them, as I measure out the ingredients into the colorful bowls purchased the day before and take them all outside to photograph for yet another attempt at writing this post. This hot cereal is a favorite in our house - the dried blueberries being the most requested addition to the cereal by all three children. Today was the first time I had used my newly purchased 4-quart soup pot and I wondered why it took me so long to add it to my collection as it is, in my opinion, the most useful sized pot in the kitchen.

Earlier in the week (on Tuesday), I had made changes to my original recipe (posted below) - adding lemon zest and pure vanilla extract, and using chopped walnuts instead of the sliced almonds. After tasting the cereal, I decided that the lemon zest and vanilla posed an overpowering flavour so I left them out. Also, after seeing Sagey meticulously pick out the chopped walnuts, I chose to use the sliced almonds - which appealed to him better. However, I do like the taste of walnuts with this hot cereal and will remember to chop them finer next time.

Sometimes it's best not to combine too many flavours. 

Sunday's Five Grain Cereal

made enough to feed our family of five

INGREDIENTS

40 ounces (1 liter + 240 ml) whole milk

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

200 grams 5-grain hot cereal (I used this one from Bob's Red Mill)

50 grams wild dried blueberries

25 grams sliced almonds

2 tablespoons heavy cream

2 tablespoons honey

INSTRUCTIONS

Add milk and salt to 4-quart pot and heat over medium heat. As the milk starts to boil, stir in the 5-grain cereal and reduce heat to low. Cook for about 15-20 minutes, until mixture has come together into a creamy consistency (as it cools, it will start to harden).

Remove from heat. Stir in the blueberries, almonds, heavy cream, and honey.

Serve immediately.

AN INSPIRED BREAKFAST

This morning as I was going through my Twitter feed, I came across a tweet from Hannah sharing a link to a blog post about why you should start a food blog. What Shanna said in her latest post on her blog, Food Loves Writing, about having that post sitting as a draft for weeks resonated with me as I have two posts sitting unfinished and a myriad more than I've never posted.

My inhibitions include wondering whether or not to post something so simple as a berry smoothie, not having a cute story to go along with the post, not coming up with a recipe all by myself (fearing the recipe attribution police), or the absence of a whole collection of step-by-step "perfect" photos (unlike the imperfect one above where a speck of a thyme leaf was embedded in the yolk - it bothers me, but I'll have to get over it). In addition, having three small children coming into my office every few minutes asking if they can have the iPhone or tattling on each other create a distraction that oftentimes pulls me away from the computer and from finishing up a post to the point where I simply give up. Of course, the challenge is to get better organized so that I can successfully execute my blog posts - taking photos before or after they've been fed and planning out and lining up the shots in my head that I wish to execute. Baby steps.

After reading Shanna's post, I was inspired to come up with my version of a healthy egg breakfast with whatever I had on hand. It started with using the local eggs I discovered at Whole Foods last week. I saw a guy grabbing for a brand I've never before noticed and decided to try them after seeing that they were from a local farm. They were a bit more pricey than the eggs we usually buy, but definitely worth it. The yolks were more orangey which made the egg taste close to the ones I remember from breakfasts in Croatia - fresh from the chicken every morning.

I didn't have any kale, so I selected the few good leaves of spinach from the water-logged container (after having the spinach sit in a melting ice chest). I know, it's not from the farmer's market, but sometimes it's what I do. I chopped the handful of spinach leaves and added them to the eggs as they were frying. I have to admit that it's difficult to shoot any photos at the stove due to the low light. It would be nice to have a skylight above the stove with the stove in the middle of a large kitchen, but for now Lightroom will do. Also, the angle at which I took the photo also bothered me - again, I need to get over it. One day I hope to have a large kitchen with a skylight, two ovens, two refrigerators, a huge pantry, lots of storage for baking pans, a sink overlooking a beautiful "real" garden with gorgeous morning sun, and...I could keep dreaming.

If I had more spinach, I would have wilted the spinach first - instead of chopping it and adding it to the top of the eggs. I sprinkled a little Portuguese Flor de Sal and topped the eggs with fresh thyme leaves from my little container garden and some crumbled Greek feta. Chives would have also been a good option if I had any (growing them in a container has proven unsuccessful). Aleppo pepper would also be good or freshly ground black or green pepper. The possibilities are endless. I think next time I'll cover the eggs while cooking for a more poached egg dish instead of the hard fried exterior.

Simple, healthy, and delicious. No real need for a recipe, but here it is as I made it this morning...

Eggs with Spinach and Feta

Serves 1

INGREDIENTS

butter, enough to coat the bottom of the pan

2 large eggs

handful of spinach leaves, chopped

pinch of sea salt (I used a coarse grain Portuguese Flor de Sal)

fresh thyme leaves

Greek feta

INSTRUCTIONS

Melt butter in 8-inch frying pan over medium heat.

Crack two eggs into pan. Sprinkle with salt and add spinach after one minute or so. Cook uncovered, about 5 minutes or to your liking (you can also cover the eggs - something I'll try next time).

Serve on a colorful plate and top with crumbled feta and thyme leaves.

* Thank you Shanna for the inspiration! I love that quote from "Cold Tangerines".