Cooking for Two - Bruce Weinstein [66]
4. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in the skillet; as it melts, scrape up any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the skillet. Add the caraway seeds and toast for 15 seconds, stirring constantly. Add the cooked noodles and the parsley, toss well to coat, then cook for 30 seconds, or until heated through. Divide the noodles between the plates and serve at once.
Cookies
Is there anything better than cookies? But who wants to make six dozen when six will do? With these recipes, you don’t have to stand over a hot oven bringing out tray after tray. One baking sheet, and you’ve got traditional sugar cookies or lemon hazelnut biscotti. Just one piece of advice: measure the ingredients precisely—there’s a huge proportional difference between a 1 and 1½ teaspoons in these recipes. All in all, you’ll have a batch of sweet indulgence, hot, moist, and ready to eat, without a cookie to spare.
CHOCOLATE CHIP ESPRESSO COOKIES makes 6 large cookies
These chocolate chip cookies are spiked with instant espresso powder, available in most supermarkets alongside the other instant beverages, or with the teas and coffees. Look for instant espresso powder, a freeze-dried coffee, not just espresso powder (which is simply finely-ground espresso beans). The instant powder dissolves in the batter and gives the cookies a mild, mocha taste. Store instant espresso powder in the freezer, tightly sealed, for up to a year.
¼ cup packed light brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tablespoon pasteurized egg substitute, such as Egg Beaters; or 2 quail eggs
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
7 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips, mini chocolate chips, or chocolate chunks, roughly chopped
1. Position the rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Use a nonstick cookie sheet, or a regular one lined with either parchment paper or a silicon baking sheet.
2. Cream the brown sugar and butter in a small bowl with a wooden spoon or an electric mixer at low speed, until pale brown and fluffy, about 2 minutes by hand or 3 minutes with the mixer (see Note). Beat in the pasteurized egg substitute or the quail eggs and the vanilla for about 1 additional minute, until creamy. Using a wooden spoon, mix in the flour, espresso powder, baking soda, and salt all at once but just until incorporated; then gently stir in the chocolate chips. Do not use an electric mixer at this stage or the cookies will be tough.
3. Drop by six heaping tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheet. Gently press the cookies with the back of a stainless steel tablespoon, just until they flatten slightly—but do not press hard enough to turn them into disks. Bake for 10 minutes, or until brown and set. Transfer from the baking sheet to a wire rack and cool. Store them in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 2 days.
NOTE: If the butter is very soft, the dough can easily be beaten with a wooden spoon. First, use the back of the spoon to mash the sugar into the butter, then turn the spoon around and begin beating the mixture until light and fluffy. This method produces dense cookies, since the batter is not whipped with air, as it is with a mixer. In any event, do not use a whisk—too much batter adheres to its wire whips, and small amounts of batter are precious when you’re baking in small batches.
Hold the Espresso, Please.
For a small batch of standard chocolate chip cookies, without the mocha taste, simply omit the instant espresso powder from the recipe.
PEANUT BUTTER OATMEAL COOKIES makes 6 cookies
If you prefer a softer version of these classic cookies, take them out of the oven a minute or two earlier than suggested, just after they’ve set.
2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tablespoon smooth peanut butter
1 tablespoon pasteurized egg substitute, such as Egg Beaters; or 2 quail eggs
teaspoon vanilla