The New Chef's Journal

A couple of weeks ago I was very bored and really wanted something sweet, so I googled "best cookie recipes." After a few minutes of searching I found this great recipe for homemade Oreos on smittenkitchen.com . This recipe is really simple, but very delicious. The cookies are a bit softer and chewier than the Oreos you get at the store, which I liked. If you're looking for a change from making your standard chocolate chip or oatmeal cookies, these are worth a try. Ingredients For the chocolate wafers: 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 1/4 cups sugar 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) room-temperature, unsalted butter 1 large egg For the filling: 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) room-temperature, unsalted butter 1/4 cup vegetable shortening 2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract Directions 1. Set two racks in the middle of the oven. ...

I've recently gone on a bit of a pumpkin kick, making a couple of pumpkin pies and this pumpkin chili recipe. The recipe comes from verybestbaking.com . I was happy with how this recipe turned out, though it was not quite perfect. I initially stuck directly to recipe and found that that chili had a nice pumpkin flavor, but lacked spice. To kick it up a bit I added about a teaspoon of cayenne pepper. This definitely added some spiciness, but drowned out the pumpkin flavor. Either way it still tasted good and the pureed pumpkin added a nice creaminess you don't usually find in chili. Anyone have any tips for adding heat to a dish without drowning out the underlying flavors? Ingredients 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1/2 cup chopped onion 1 cup chopped red bell pepper 1 clove garlic, finely chopped 1 lb. ground turkey 2 cans (14.5 oz each) no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained 1 can (15 oz.) LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin 1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce 1 can (15.25 oz.) kid...

A couple weeks ago my girlfriend and I went apple picking at the Stribling Orchard in Markham, Virginia. If you're looking for a place to go apple picking near DC, I'd recommend it. It's a beautiful spot and all of the fruit I've gotten there has been excellent. Their store also has delicious baked goods, salad dressings, salsa and bbq sauce. The recipe I got from the Food Network calls for 6 Jonagold apples, which are a hybrid of Jonathan and Golden Delicious. Since the orchard didn't have any Jonagolds, I just used 3 Jonathans and 3 Golden Delicious. I made the crust using Amish butter from the Agora Farms stand at Eastern Market. Amish butter was recently recommended to me and I was amazed at how much better it tastes that Land O' Lakes or Country Crock. It's great on bread and it really enhanced the flavor and texture of the crust. Ingredients Piecrust: 2 cups flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 2/3 cup shortening 6 tablespoons cold water, plus 5 table...

Now that its turning into Fall and getting a bit cooler I've really been craving soup. The surprisingly good chicken and corn chowder from Harris Teeter inspired me to try and make my own. This recipe comes from Cooking Light magazine via myrecipes.com. The recipe suggests that you should be able to have this recipe on the table in half an hour. It took me a little bit longer than that, but it was still quick and convenient. You could definitely make this on a weekday night for dinner. The soup wound up very rich and flavorful, especially considering its lighter chowder using 2% milk instead of half-and-half or heavy cream. Ingredients 2 tablespoons butter 1/4 cup chopped onion 1/4 cup chopped celery 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 3 cups 2% reduced-fat milk 2 cups chopped roasted skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 2 breast halves) 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels (about 3 ears) 1 teaspoon chopped fresh or 1/4 teas...

This recipe is one that I've made several times for company and I'm always happy with the results. The recipe comes from Giada De Laurentiis. Giada is a great resource for me as I'm fairly obsessed with pasta. The sauce in this dish is a pink cream sauce that's subtle but very flavorful. This is one of my favorite dishes to cook. I served the pasta with a simple salad of mixed greens, chopped walnuts, dried cranberries and goat cheese, with a creamy balsamic vinaigrette. Ingredients 1 pound penne pasta 1/4 cup olive oil 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled, and deveined 4 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus extra for seasoning 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus extra for seasoning 1 (15-ounce) can whole tomatoes, drained, roughly chopped 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves 1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 1 cup white wine 1/3 cup clam juice 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream 1/2 cup grated P...

This summer, when it was preposterously hot and humid in DC, I started looking around for some nice cold dessert recipes. I found this recipe for iced chocolate on David Lebowitz's website . His recipe is based on the frozen hot chocolate served at Serendipity in New York. The drink is essentially a very dressed up version of a chocolate milk shake. The melted dark chocolate and cocoa powder really help to take it up to another level. Unsurprisingly, this was a very rich and delicious dessert. Definitely worth trying at home. Next time I'm in Manhattan I'll have to try Serendipity, as everything I've heard about it sounds great. Ingredients 3/4 cup (180ml) whole or lowfat milk 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Dutch-process 8 chocolates or 4 ounces (115g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped 1 1/2 cups (6 ounces, 175g) ice cubes 2 to 3 scoops chocolate ice cream or chocolate sherbet Directions 1. In a small saucepan, heat two-thirds of t...

When I was visiting my friends Anna and Justin in Madison, WI last month we went to a Sichuan Chinese restaurant called Fugu Asian. As a spoiled New Yorker, I was shocked to find such good Chinese food so far from the East Coast (though the Chinese food in DC's Chinatown is remarkably underwhelming). Fugu had some amazing and highly authentic dishes. In fact some of the dishes on the menu were far too authentic for me to actually try: ox tongue, pork kidney, pork intestine, intestine in hot pot. And that was just on the menu that had been translated into English. Anna's already talked a good deal about Fugu on her blog,  Dining and Opining , so I won't go into too much more detail on it. My favorite of the various dishes we ordered was eggplant in garlic sauce, also known as Sichuan eggplant. This was an amazingly dish, with a very unique flavor that Anna and Justin informed me was Sichuan peppercorn. This is the description wikipedia offers for Sichuan peppercorn: ...