I’m taking my Zen Foodism show on the road this weekend… heading out to eastern Kansas to visit my grandmother and aunt in lovely Junction City. My sister Amy and I are going there together, returning Wednesday. I don’t think I’ll be able to post while I’m gone, but I’ll report back on our food finds late next week.

Until then, Happy Eating, everybody!

♥Beth

Cook’s Illustrated is right. These really are the best Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Unless you overcook them and turn them into rock hard inedible discs.

Not that I did that or anything…

In other words, don’t overcook them. 15 minutes is enough!

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
From Cook’s Illustrated

2 1/8 cups (2 cups plus 2 tablespoons) bleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
1 cup light or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 to 2 cups semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower- middle positions. Mix flour, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.

Either by hand or with electric mixer, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Mix in egg, yolk, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients; mix until just combined. Stir in desired amount of chips.

Form scant 1/4 cup dough into ball. Holding dough ball using fingertips of both hands, pull into two equal halves. Each half will have a jagged surface where it was ripped from the other; rotate each half up so the jagged surface faced the ceiling and press the halves back into one ball so that the top surface remains jagged. (The nooks and crannies you have created will give the baked cookies an attractive and somewhat rough, uneven appearance.) Place formed dough onto one of two parchment paper-lined cookie sheets, about 9 balls per sheet.

Bake, reversing cookies sheets’ positions halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 18 minutes (start checking at 13 minutes). Cool cookies on cookie sheets. Serve or store in airtight container.

Makes about 18 3-inch cookies

For San Diegans

The New York Times Travel Section did a feature on the San Diego Gaslamp District last week. Did you read about how fabulous and culture-forward our city’s downtown area is? Who knew?

For All Online Foodies

Have you seen the new Mighty Food web site from Heidi of 101 Cookbooks? If you’re into natural foods and healthy eating, stop by and learn about the wide world of sustenance with a conscience.

Recipes on the Radar

I’ve always wanted to make my own Homemade Ricotta and now, thanks to Becks and Posh, I can!

Another thing I’ve never made before is a frittata. This Garden Vegetable Frittata from Adventures in Food intrigues me and might just be the first one I try.

Hhmmm… interesting concept:Lentil Enchiladas from The Accidental Scientist.

Barley with Dried and Fresh Mushrooms brought to my attention by Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen.

Sesame Peanut Noodles from Leite’s Culinaria.

Alicat of Something So Clever says that these Chocolate Chip Angel Cookies are super-soft, so I’m definitely going to try them soon. Yum!

Another one of my winning recipes from this week came to me from The Essential EatingWell Cookbook: Good Carbs, Good Fats, Great Flavors. It’s called Wheat & Dried Fruit Porridge. I don’t think I’m in the minority when I say that the only experience I have with the word “porridge” is through fairy tales. Something about Goldilocks and porridges of various unsatisfying temperatures…

So I don’t know what possessed me to try this one. My only bulgur wheat experience comes from tabbouli and I’ve never had porridge. My expectations were fairly low going into this one, but both my breakfast-hating husband and I ended up loving the warm, creamy sweetness of this dish. And it really was creamy! I don’t know why, as there’s nothing guilt-worthy in this recipe. I think that the dried fruit in the simmering water lent a lot of flavor to the mixture. Oh and it has 48% of the fiber you need in a day, in one steamy cup. Even better!

I found that the cooking time that the Eating Well folks suggested was totally off. I ended up following the directions from my bulgur box and I would recommend that you do the same. The original recipe calls for cooking the grain for only 4-5 minutes. I found that it needed at least 10 minutes cooking time. Just make sure that almost all of the liquid if absorbed before serving.

Another guilt-free breakfast! Now if only I could get my ass out of bed in time to prepare these goodies before having to run to work each morning. That’s literally a mission impossible. So realistically… I guess this will only have to be a weekend treat.

Wheat & Dried Fruit Porridge
Adapted from The Essential EatingWell Cookbook
Serves 2 (about 1 cup each)

1/3 cup dried apricots, sliced
1/3 cup dried cranberries (E.W. recommends currants)
1 T honey or to taste
1/4 t ground cinnamon, plus more for garnish
Pinch of salt
2 cups water
2/3 cup bulgur

Combine apricots, cranberries, honey, cinnamon, salt, and water in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Stir in bulgur; cook, stirring constantly, until the bulgur starts to thicken, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover and let stand until most of the liquid is absorbed and the fruit is tender, according to the directions on your box of bulgur. Divide between 2 bowls, dust with a little cinnamon and serve.

Yesterday was one of those magical days where I tried three new recipes and all three were big-time keepers! You know when you feel so fortunate that a certain recipe came your way because it’s almost too delicious to be true? I’m really looking forward to sharing these new recipes with you this week.

But I am MOST excited about what I made for dinner last night. It’s like Bon Appetit delved into my head and took all of my favorite flavors and techniques and created the perfect comfort food just for me. Maybe it’s kind of antiquated and 1950s-ish, but I tend to like a good casserole. There’s something about a bubbly dish being removed from the oven in complete-meal format that just appeals to me.

There are a lot of bad casseroles out there. And maybe this Baked Penne with Broccoli and Three Cheeses doesn’t even count as a casserole technically. But Daniel and I both loved it instantly because of the classic Italian flavors, moist pasta, creamy cheesiness, crunchy broccoli, and addictive tastiness of everything put together in one dish.

I changed it a bit from the Bon Appetit version by using whole wheat pasta and sprinkling toasted pine nuts on top after it emerged from the oven. My husband has lately been on a campaign to rid our kitchen of whole wheat pasta. When we were both working to lose weight last year, he was fine with it. But now he’s decided that it just doesn’t compare to regular pasta and he’s having none of it! But I honestly think I could have tricked him with this dish because you really can’t tell that it’s WW pasta at all. There’s so much moisture and so many great flavors, he never would have known! As for the pine nuts, well… I just think that everything’s made better with the addition of toasted nuts.

BAKED PENNE WITH BROCCOLI AND THREE CHEESES
Adapted from Bon Appetit January 2003
Serves 4 (generously)

2 teaspoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups penne pasta
3 cups 1-inch broccoli florets

2 cups purchased marinara sauce
1 cup (packed) coarsely grated low-fat mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup low-fat ricotta cheese
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

Stir oil and garlic in small skillet over medium heat 1 minute; set aside. Cook penne in large pot of boiling salted water until almost tender, about 11 minutes. Add broccoli; cook 1 minute. Drain.

Mix marinara, 1/2 cup mozzarella, ricotta, basil, 1 tablespoon Parmesan, and sautéed garlic in large bowl. Add pasta and broccoli; toss. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to 11×7x2-inch glass baking dish. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella and Parmesan over.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Bake pasta uncovered until cheese melts, about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with pine nuts. Let stand 5 minutes. Serve and enjoy!