Ingredients

8 tbsp butter, melted
1 c brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 c flour
1 c walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 loose cup dark-chocolate-covered pretzels, very coarsely chopped

Directions

Chop the walnuts, then toast them in the oven on a baking sheet at 350 for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the butter (about 1 minute in microwave). Mix with sugar. Add the egg and vanilla and mix. Add the flour gradually until completely mixed. Briefly fold in the walnuts and pretzels. Spread in a buttered 8×8 metal pan and bake for 18-25 minutes at 350. Center should still be a little gooey when removed. Cool on a wire rack. The flavor is best once they’ve cooled, who no one will blame you for eating them hot and gooey.

This recipe is inspired by the Momofuku compost cookie. I wanted something that was thicker and chewier (the compost cookie is thin and almost creamy in its texture, and a little crumbly) and a little darker, saltier, and less sweet. I started with this recipe, which came out so good a few weeks ago. The only difference is in place of the 8oz (1 cup) chocolate chips, I used 1.5-2 cups of assorted: semisweet chips, very dark chocolate (82%, with espresso beans), heath bar, Tim’s potato chips, pretzels, peanuts, and smoked almonds, all coarsely chopped. The result is pretty good. The dark chocolate with espresso is really good — when you hit a chunk, you really taste it. The other stuff is a bit lost, and I think I actually could have put more salty in the mix. Also, this time the butter wasn’t as cold as the last time (I’d just picked it up at the store), and so the cookies spread more and were flatter than last time. Keeping the butter cold is essential to this recipe; refrigerating the dough would probably help too.

Ingredients

10 tbsp (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, in 1-inch pieces
1 1/4 c sugar
3/4 c natural unsweetened cocoa powder (not dutch)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp water
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs, chilled
1/2 c + 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 cup walnut pieces

Directions

Position rack in bottom third of oven. Preheat to 325. Line 8×8 metal pan with foil, leaving an overhang and coating with butter or nonstick spray. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Continue cooking until butter stops foaming and browned bits form at bottom of pan, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; immediately add sugar, cocoa, water, vanilla, and salt. Stir to blend and let cool 5 minutes (mixture will still be hot). Add eggs 1 at a time, beating vigorously to blend. When mixture looks thick and shiny, add flour and stir until blended. Beat vigorously 60 strokes. Stir in nuts. Transfer to pan. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out almost clean, about 25 minutes (mine took 29). Cool in pan on rack. Lift brownies from pan using foil overhang. Cut and serve.

These came out really good the first time, both hot out of the oven and later once they’d cooled. We’d like to try different flours. We did one batch with salt and pepper, which was very good too. We also want to try making pretzels dogs because, hey, pretzel dogs. (from the NYT)

Ingredients

1 (1/4-ounce) package active dry yeast
1 tbsp honey
1 c whole-grain or dark rye flour
3 c flour
1.5 c lukewarm water
1 tbsp kosher salt
olive oil
1/2 c baking soda
coarse sea salt

Directions

Mix water, yeast, and honey in a large bowl. Add the salt, rye flour, and 2¾ c flour and stir. Dump the dough out onto a floured surface and knead 12-15 minutes, adding up to 1/4 c flour if needed — dough should be smooth and not too sticky. Brush a large bowl with olive oil, shape dough into a ball, and move to bowl. Brush the surface with oil, cover with plastic, and let rise for 90 minutes, until doubled in size.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and brush with olive oil. Punch down the dough and place on a floured surface. Cut into 12 pieces. Roll each one into a long tube and fold into a pretzel knot. Let rest on baking sheet 15-20 minutes.

Heat oven to 450. Bring 10 c water to boil in a large pot. When pretzels are ready, stir baking soda into water. Add 2-3 pretzels to the water at a time, knot side down. Poach for 30 seconds, flip, and for 30 seconds again. Drain on a towel then return to baking sheets. Sprinkle with sea salt. Bake 14-18 minutes, rotating trays halfway through, until dark brown. Cool on a rack. Serve, possibly with mustard.

Ingredients

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (around 3/4 to 1 lb)
Peanut or other good frying oil
 
Brine
4 c warm water
1/2 c kosher salt
1/2 c sugar
 
Coating
Cornstarch
1-2 tbsp ground white pepper
1-2 tbsp Korean red pepper flakes

Directions

Mix the brine ingredients in a sealable container until the salt and sugar dissolve in the water. Add the chicken and refrigerate for 2 hours. For a longer brine, halve the salt and sugar and brine overnight. Remove the chicken from the brine. Steam the chicken in a steamer for 45 minutes over medium heat. Remove and chop into bite-size chunks. Refrigerate for at least two hours. Take the chicken out of the refrigerator half an hour before frying. Put enough cornstarch in a bowl to toss the chicken pieces in. Add white pepper and red pepper flakes to taste and mix. Add the chicken pieces in batches to the cornstarch mixture and toss to cover. Remove to a colander and shake off excess cornstarch. Add enough peanut oil to a pan to submerge the chicken pieces and heat it to 375. I use a medium saucepan on medium to medium-high and give it 10 minutes to heat up, then fry the chicken a few pieces at a time. Fry each batch for about two minutes, until they start to form a slight crispy crust, then remove them to a paper-towel-covered plate, sprinkle with a little salt, and pat dry. Eat them as finger food, with a dipping sauce, or add them to stir-fried vegetables for a minute or two right at the end.

This recipe was inspired by the Momofuku fried chicken recipe. David Chang uses a three-step process: brine, steam, fry. The brine (as usual) makes sure the chicken stays juicy; the steam actually cooks the chicken, so the fry can be only as long as necessary to crisp the skin. It worked perfectly and was pretty easy, though it takes time to do all the steps. It doesn’t actually have to be three days — you could do the whole thing over the course of 4-6 hours — but I did the brine overnight (my brine is not as strong as Chang’s), then steamed the chicken the next night and put it back in the fridge, then actually fried it on the third night. I decided to use chicken thighs, since they tend to be juicier than breasts and have a good ratio of meat to bone to skin.

Along with the chicken, I experimented with some sides and garnishes that were less successful. I thought it would be tasty and picturesque to fry whole stalks of thai ginger. They looked pretty good, but didn’t taste so great, acquiring a slightly bitter flavor during the frying. I also fried garlic slices and scallion pieces to accompany the chicken. The garlic was still too garlicky, but the scallions were not bad. I also put a little chili paste in the brine but it didn’t seem to have any effect. Finally, I made a BBQ sauce for dipping, which came out pretty good and went well with the chicken.

Ingredients

4 chicken thighs, bone-in and skin-on
Peanut or other good frying oil
 
Brine
4 c warm water
1/4 c kosher salt
1/4 c sugar
 
BBQ Sauce
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp mae ploy (sweet chili sauce)
1 tsp sambal olek (or other hot chili sauce)
a few drops liquid smoke

Directions

Mix the brine ingredients in a sealable container until the salt and sugar dissolve in the water. Add the chicken and refrigerate overnight. For a shorter brine, double the salt and sugar and brine for 1-6 hours. Remove the chicken from the brine. Steam the chicken in a steamer for 45 minutes over medium heat. Remove and refrigerate for at least two hours or overnight. Take the chicken out of the refrigerator half an hour before frying. Add enough peanut oil to a pan to submerge the chicken pieces and heat it to 375. I use a medium saucepan on medium to medium-high and give it 10 minutes to heat up, then fry the chicken one piece at a time. Add the chicken to the oil skin side down and fry for 2 minutes. Flip the chicken and fry until golden brown, about 2 more minutes. Remove from the oil to a paper-towel-covered plate and sprinkle with a little kosher salt. Mix the sauce ingredients and serve the chicken with the sauce in a bowl for dipping.

Ingredients

1 lb. ground turkey
1/4 c finely chopped fresh basil
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 green onions, finely chopped
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp sriracha
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp coarse kosher salt
1 tbsp sesame oil

Directions

Combine all ingredients except sesame oil in a bowl. Form into 1-inch meatballs and place on a lined baking sheet. Cover and refrigerate at least an hour. Heat oil in a large skillet on medium-high. Add half the meatballs and saute until cooked through, turning frequently, about 15 minutes. Repeat with rest of meatballs.

Ingredients

4 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 1/2 sticks butter
2 c sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 c flour
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 c cocoa nibs (or amount to taste)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Melt the butter and chocolate in a glass bowl in a microwave for 2 minutes. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Add sugar and cocoa powder and mix thoroughly. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Add flour gradually until blended. Add cayenne, salt, and cocoa nibs to taste. Pour into buttered 13×9 baking pan and bake about 25 minutes — a knife inserted will come out clean but brownies will still be a little gooey (that’s how I like them).

Ingredients

chicken patties
1 lb boneless skinless chicken (about 2:1 thigh to breast), ground
several leaves swiss chard, de-ribbed
panko
oregano, basil, salt, pepper, finely-grated parmesan

yogurt dip
1 c greek yogurt
feta cheese, cubed small
2 green onions, finely chopped

pitas
4 pitas
1 tomato, sliced
1/2 cucumber, sliced

Directions

Steam the chard in a covered pot in about 1/2 inch water until soft. Mince the steamed chard and add to the ground chicken. Add the other stuff and mix well, but don’t overwork it. Heat oil in a skillet on medium-high. If you want to check your flavor, fry one small patty first. When you’ve got the chicken mix to taste, form into small (about one tbsp) flattish patties and fry on each side until done, about 5 minutes per side. Fry in batches until all are done and put aside on paper towels.
Meanwhile, mix all the yogurt ingredients to taste. Serve the patties with tomato, cucumber, and pitas (either halve them and split open the pockets, or just wrap ingredients in pita gyro-style, if you have really good soft pitas). Slather a pita with the yogurt dip and add chicken, tomato, and cucumber. Good served with hummus and veggies (e.g. carrots and snap peas) for dipping.

Ingredients

3/4 lb ground chicken (about 2:1 thigh to breast)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2″ of ginger, peeled and minced
2 green onions, minced
1/8 c soy sauce
1/8 c oyster sauce
a few grinds black pepper
wonton wrappers
soy sauce, rice wine vinegar

Directions

Heat oven to 375. Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Cook in a nonstick skillet on medium-high until cooked through. Lay wonton wrappers on a silpat-covered baking sheet. Put a spoon of the filling on each one and fold over into a triangle. Pinch the edges (if necessary, dip a finger in some water and use to seal the edges). Bake in oven until the corners brown and turn crispy, about 10 minutes. Mix some soy and rice wine vinegar for dipping and serve.