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