Cookie Madness

I mentioned this recipe in a previous post. It’s from Food 2.0 by former Google Chef, Charlie Ayers. The book is awesome, but if you don’t have it yet, lucky for you there’s a copy of the recipe on the SF Gate. Click Here!

These were extremely quick and the results were fabulous. The bars, which I cut rather large, were perfect level of sweetness (remember to use unsweetened coconut) and have plenty of chocolate to satisfy chocoholics. There’s absolutely no fault with this bar, and with the coconut, oats and chocolate, I don’t even miss the lack of nuts.

For the coconut, I used some unsweetened coconut chips/flakes from Whole Foods. The recipe calls for shredded, so I buzzed the flakes in the food processor and they worked beautifully. For the brown sugar, I used “Dark”.

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Charlie Ayers was in town yesterday for a book signing. I missed it due to a dentist appointment (chipped tooth), but luckily, I have an advance copy of Food 2.0 and that is very much like having Charlie right here. Well, sort of. After reading the book, I feel like I know him. Read on for review….

Charlie Ayers was employee number 53 at Google. He was hired to fulfill the dietary wishes of employees and in the spirit of efficiency, make it so they wouldn’t have to leave campus for lunch. Charlie, a trained chef whose past experience included catering for The Grateful Dead, was in tune with management’s belief that employees who were eating good, nutritious food would be happy and more productive. So Charlie’s challenge was to make and serve truly nourishing food that people would actually eat….which as we all know is not as easy as it sounds.

In Food 2.0, Charlie makes his style of cooking sound fun. As someone who loves exploring ethnic foods and has a keen interest in nutrition and dedication to eating locally, he was perfect for the job at Google, and the book is a series of stories of how things were when he started and what changes occurred due to his influence and certain employees’ influences on him. He was loved by many, and when you read the book you’ll understand why. He has a friendly way of imparting very practical, if not enlightening, advice.

Along with the stories, Charlie gives personal opinions and plenty of tips. He discusses vinegars and why he likes using them, types of oil and their uses, and mentions a few more ingredients which aren’t very common now, but will be in a few years. Japanese mayonnaise, anyone?

As for recipes, in the first half of the book, there are quickies. There are at least eight “raw juice snacks” (Charlie’s very interested in raw foods), three quick throw-together vinaigrettes, some of Charlie’s special flavored condiment formulas and a few unique recipes for various “flavor cubes” you can add to soups or stews. These mini recipes are scattered through the first part of the book where Charlie’s mostly “talking”.

Second half of the book is where most of the recipes are. He eases us into things with smoothies – some simple and some with more unusual ingredients such as rice milk and royal jelly. And that sets the stage for the rest of the book which features recipes for courses– different, yet familiar. Breakfast includes fluffy pancakes made with soy powder, granola with sesame and a breakfast polenta. For “lighter” fare, there is a crumbled blue cheese salad with beets, dragon breath noodles (something kids would probably like) and Khyer spring rolls (recipe here). Heartier recipes include a Japanese beef dish made with red miso paste and chicken Wellingtons made with Quorn. There’s something for everyone in the book, but nothing is boring or typical.

As for baked goods, there aren’t a ton, but I am happy to say that every single baked item in this book is something I personally would make. There’s cranberry-orange bread, sweet potato biscuits, mint chocolate brownies and one recipe called Coconut Oatmeal Squares with Chocolate Chips which I just found published here. I’m off to make it right now!

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After making so many rich and gooey things this week, I thought I’d switch gears and make something kind of wholesome and useful. This recipe is based on an old recipe from a 1984 Southern Living annual, so it’s (at least) 24 years old. Doesn’t it seem strange that 1984 was 24 whole years ago? 1984 seems like yesterday. I hated the ’80s but I sort miss them still.

Anyway. This bread, unlike the eighties, is not defined by excess. It has a low but reasonable amount of oil and all kinds of healthy (’60s!) ingredients like whole wheat flour, carrots and nuts.

Carrot-Pecan Bread

1 1/2 cups shredded carrots
1 cup boiling water
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup chopped, toasted pecans (or walnuts)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9×5 inch metal loaf pan with flour-added cooking spray or grease and flour.

Combine carrots, boiling water, brown sugar, oil and orange zest in a medium bowl. Let cool for about 10 minutes.

Stir together both flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in center of mixture.

Stir eggs and vanilla into carrot mixture, then pour carrot mixture into the well you made in the center of the flour mixture. Add pecans, then stir until well mixed (do not beat with a mixer).

Pour mixture into pan and bake on center rack for 1 hour. Cool on a wire rack. Flip from pan and cut into slices.

Makes 1 loaf

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Today’s recipe is something I found while lurking (Wooooo — ghost noise — Woooo) on the Southern Living bulletin board. The recipe was requested by someone who couldn’t find her Oxmoor House book and of course, someone with the book was nice enough to post it. The ladies on the bb liked these. I made half batch and may have undercooked mine a little. I’m not quite sure, but I thought the brownies were too rich…….or maybe it’s just the 3 sticks of butter. You’ll have to decided for yourselves. That is, if you dare!  (Wooooooo, WOOOOOO).

Aside from halving the recipe, I made these as directed, but left the milk chocolate out of the batter then sprinkled it on the hot brownies as soon as they came out of the oven. When the milk chocolate softened, I swirled it around.

Recipe is here.

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This morning I decided to do another little experiment with the Levain copycat recipe. Since it was an experiment, I made a very small batch, which yielded only 3 cookies. If you like the cookies, you can scale it back up!

For the experiment, I used European style butter and White Lily flour. The result was a cookie that looked more like Levain’s….or at least what I’ve seen on pictures and TV.

White Lily flour is similar to cake flour, so if you only have cake flour, you can use that. Measuring with cups isn’t very accurate, and I recommend using a scale. If you don’t have a scale, fluff the flour up and spoon and level it into the cups. The dough should not be too sticky to shape, but it shouldn’t be dry and crumbly either.

The leavening amounts are very small, but if you don’t have a teaspoon that measures 1/8, just eyeball half of a 1/4 teaspoon, which is what I did. You’ll definitely have to eyeball the 1/16 teaspoon because I don’t think there is such a thing.

And finally, I left the walnuts whole. I think there might be something to that in that the jaggedy big walnuts make air pockets that puff up. But if you hate nuts, you can still try without them.

SUPER Small Batch Levain Copy Cats with Experiment

4 tablespoons unsalted European style butter, cubed, cold but not too hard
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons lightly beaten egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons White Lily or Cake flour (or weigh out 108 grams)**
¼ teaspoon salt (scant)
1/8 teaspoon plus 1/16 teaspoon baking powder (eyeball)
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
small handful chocolate chips (semi-sweet)
Small handful whole toasted walnuts

In a mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars just until they come together. Don’t overbeat. Add the egg and vanilla and beat just until mixed. Don’t keep beating until smooth – you want it to be roughly creamed.

Stir together flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. When thoroughly mixed, add to creamed mixture and stir. The dough should seem kind of dry at this point.

Before the flour is fully mixed in, add the walnuts and chocolate chips and continue mixing (may need to use hands) allowing some of the walnuts to break.

Divide dough into 3 big balls. Stack them in the bowl and chill the dough for an hour or so.
When ready to bake, bake on a parchment lined cookie sheet in a 350 degree oven for 21 minutes. Let sit on cookie sheet for about 10 minutes to cool, them remove.

Makes 3

**If you have to stick with all purpose, only use ¾ cup or weigh out 105 grams

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