Madhu Knits and Cooks

Another Cook's Illustrated Success -- and Surprisingly, a Failure as Well!

I have really been doing good in cooking and baking from my stacks of cooking magazines and books lately, including my recent attempts at the Cook's Illustrated Creamy Chocolate Pudding and Chocolate Chip Meringues. The pudding turned out really, really well -- so much so, that I even ate a small portion with some fresh fruit, even though I don't really like pudding that much.  The only alteration I made to this recipe was to substitute Ghiradelli's cocoa powder for the dutch-processed cocoa powder.

The meringues, which I made with the leftover egg whites from the pudding, unfortunately were a complete mess. In fact, perhaps they were the worst meringues I have ever made -- a shocking statement, I know. The problem with the meringues were that they were chalky, brittle, and the flavor was also a little off. I think the problem with this recipe though was not with its construction, but rather perhaps purely with my inability to follow it. I ended up halving the recipe because I ultimately had only two useable egg whites from the pudding. I also slowly poured in all of the sugar into the egg whites at once, instead of in two parts, so perhaps that is why the cookies ended up being so dry. In any case, I think I will stick to other meringue recipes in the future, including this chocolate meringue recipe.

The Great Compost Cookie Experiment

I have finally attempted the Momofuko Compost Cookie recipe.  I have not been to the Momofuko Milk Bar yet (though the Noodle Bar is amazing and highly recommended), but I saw their compost cookies being prepared on Regis & Kelly almost two years ago.  Upon hearing how you can really put whatever you want in them -- chips, candy, and really any savory or sweet snack -- I knew that I would have to make these one day.  I have to admit that when I have thought about really making these cookies in the past, I have actually become a little overwhelmed with the options -- I mean really, if you could make a cookie with ANYTHING, what would you put in it?  Should you play it safe, with the pretzels, potato chips, chocolate chips, etc., or go all out with Doritos, Cheetos, and other completely unnatural food products?  

Well, finally, I pulled myself together to make the cookies -- they are just cookies, right, and not something to get completely stressed about?  Unfortunately, when I actually decided to bake them, my indecision led to day-off trips to the grocery store and lots of thinking in the kitchen about whether my mixture of ingredients was just right.  Additionally, I found a few different ways to find the Compost Cookies online -- one version from the Regis & Kelly show, with a few website critiques of how to best prepare them, as well as a version from the Oprah website, which had significantly different ingredients.  Ultimately, I pulled together something based on these two blogs' versions of the Regis & Kelly-featured cookies.  

Per the websites' guidance, I put in slightly more flour than called for in the recipe - perhaps 1/4 cup.  I also included slightly more of the savory and sweet snacks - 1 1/4 cups of crushed potato chips (Lay's reduced sodium), 1/3 cup of blue corn tortilla chips (Xochitl), 1/2 cup of dark chocolate chunks, 1/2 cup m&ms, 1 cup crushed kit kats.  I also included 1 tsp. of kosher salt instead of 2 tsps. because I was worried about the salt from the potato chips and tortilla chips.  I also used a handheld mixer instead of a stand mixer, and creamed the butter and sugars together for less time than called for in the original recipe.

I baked the cookies in two different batches - one had been been in the fridge for just over an hour, and then in the freezer for 20 minutes, before baking at 375 in the oven for 15 minutes.  I rotated the cookie sheet twice on the same rack during the baking.  The second batch was in the fridge for a day or two, and then in the freezer, but I did not notice a different in the outcomes between the two batches.

The cookies were pretty good, though perhaps a little thin.  I think when I make these cookies again, I'll put in the full 2 tsps. of kosher salt, and also include thicker chunks of snacks that will withstand the baking, e.g., pretzels, pretzel m&ms, or even hard candy chunks?  The chips and chocolate pieces just softened too much while baking, so the cookies just seemed to lack both proper thickness in size and an optimal amount of crunch while eating them.  To the next round!

Alpaca/Wool Hat and Blanket for Baby Owen

Baby Owen entered the world in late fall, and to ensure he had a warm welcome (pun intended!), I wanted to make sure he had versatile winter gear upon his arrival.  I selected a lovely alpaca/wool yarn for him at the NY Sheep and Wool Festival earlier this fall, and searched for some time for a pattern before settling on the blanket and hat combination from Louisa Harding's Natural Knits for Babies and Mothers.  As I have wrote before, this book is amazing -- every pattern is worth knitting, and I think I may actually end up completing the set of pattens in the book before too long.  I highly recommend that even Internet search-dependent knitters check out this book because it really does have a great set of patterns for any type of baby/toddler gift.  Project details follow a picture of the completed items - and be sure to scroll to the end of this post for an image of Baby Owen modeling his hat!

Owen Hat and Blanket

Pattern:  Hat and Blanket from Louisa Harding's Natural Knits for Babies and Moms

Yarn:  60 Wool/40 Alpaca from Good Karma Farm.  Approx. 0.3 skeins for hat and 1.3 skeins for blanket.

Needles:  For hat, two US6 circulars and two US8 circulars.  For blanket, one US6 circular and one US7 circular.  

Post-Blocking Measurements:  For hat, 7.5 inches wide by 4 3/4 inches tall.  For blanket, 19 inches wide by 22 1/4 inches tall.

Cook's Illustrated Foolproof Pie Dough -- New Go-To Pie Crust Recipe

For years, I have been a faithful adherent of the Gourmet Cookbook pie crust recipe.  I have never had a explicit reason to change recipes, but with all things Cook's Illustrated, given that I now have the online subscription and their techniques are generally close to perfect (if not perfect), I decided to try something new when making a Christmas pumpkin pie this year.  

I used their Foolproof Pie Dough for a Single-Crust Pie, and it definitely was different from your standard pie crust.  First, and perhaps most notable, the recipe calls for vodka -- apparently this "secret" ingredient has a high water content, a lower gluten content, and allows the pie crust to be rolled out more easily.  And the alcohol evaporates in the over during baking, so no need to worry about keeping the kids away!  Second, the pie dough is definitely far more moist than your standard pie dough, so I definitely had doubts while folding it together about whether I had prepared it correctly.  The result though was fantastic - perfectly flaky and puffy, which was a nice change from the more flat and perhaps blah Gourmet version.  

I had to put foil "hats" around the edges though fairly early on in the pie baking process (one uses an unbaked dough with this pie recipe), and I think I need to refine my foil covering technique because I wasn't that successful in getting the foil covers to stay on the crust edges while baking.  So the crust was a little more brown than I would have liked - but you won't necessarily notice a difference in the picture below because of the crust edges were disturbed in the car ride from home to the Christmas gathering.  Bottom line:  if I happen to have vodka, I will definitely make this pie crust again.  If I don't have vodka on hand, I will probably be more than content to just go back and use the Gourmet version if I am pressed for time.

New Pair of Knit Socks for...Me!

2011 was definitely a record knitting year for me -- I completed more projects than ever in one calendar year, and I finally got back to knitting larger clothing projects like dresses (not completed yet) and adult-size tops.  2011 was also a record "selfish" knitting year with three of my completed projects being made exclusively for my personal use.  But given my record knitting output overall this year, I am going to give myself a pass on the selfish knitting :-)

The last of these three projects is a new pair of socks.  I decided one day this fall that I wanted to incorporate a smaller project into my ongoing knitting, at the time a baby blanket and dress, so that it would be easier for me to knit while not in the house.  I also decided that I don't have enough hand-knit socks (I don't.  It makes me sad).  Unfortunately, I ran into some gauge problems with the stash yarn I decided to use -- yarn bought on a whim at Smiley's in Queens this past spring -- and so had difficulty finding a pattern from my stack of knitting magazines and books at home.  I ultimately looked on Ravelry, and then checked out a book at the Brooklyn Public Library that had the pattern I thought would work -- thankfully the pattern worked out well to achieve the size of socks I wanted (though I made the foot maybe 1/4 inch too long), but I have to admit I am not that much a fan of the pattern.  The resulting pattern seems a little too rough and almost choppy for me, but at least they will be a good pair of house socks.  Project details follow the picture of the completed socks.

Van Dyke Socks for Madhu

Pattern:  Van Dyke Socks by Wendy D. Johnson

Yarn:  Fashion Toes by Filatura Lanarota

Needles:  Two Addi Turbo US1 circulars

Post-Blocking Measurements:  6 1/2 inch foot circumference, 7 inch leg circumference, 9 3/4 inch foot length, and 8 3/4 inch leg length

MadhuKnitsandCooks.com Post 200! Two Holiday Scarves

Wow -- I can't believe that I am now composing post 200 for www.MadhuKnitsandCooks.com.  This blog has been a lot of fun to work on the past five and a half years, and I really don't think more than a few days go by before I check the blog to remember what yarn I used for a certain project, or how I modified X recipe that I want to make again (or realize that when I made X recipe before, I really didn't like it!).  I hope this blog has also been helpful to all of you as you attempt new cooking dishes and knitting projects.  I will be attempting to update the blog's format and layout over the next several weeks, so please do leave a comment or send an email if you have any suggestions on what you have liked/not liked/would like to see on MadhuKnitsandCooks.com!

Ok, on to today's post.  Last year, I auctioned off again hand-knit goods for the Yale Law School Initiative for Public Interest Law Auction.  The winner of my auction item requested scarves for his two daughters as Christmas presents.  I was really excited about these projects because they gave me the opportunity to not only finally knit a Noro striped scarf (though I ultimately did not use Noro yarn) but also to make a pull-through/key-hole scarf.  Both projects turned out really well, and I hope the recipients enjoy them this winter and the winters to come.  Although I try not to repeat patterns, I can definitely see myself making both of these scarves again.  Project details follow the pictures of the completed scarves.

Noro Striped Scarf

Pattern:  Noro Scarf by Jared Flood.  As Flood notes, this is just his version of a standard slipped-stitch edge, 1 x 1 rib scarf.

Yarn:  Liberty Wool from Classic Elite Yarns.  1.3 skeins of color 7808 and 1.3 skeins of color 7809.

Needles:  One US 7 circular

Post-Blocking Measurements:  5 1/8 inches wide by 50 inches long

 

Bow-Knot Scarf

Pattern:  Bow-Knot Scarf by Katherine Burgess

Yarn:  Meriboo by Frog Tree, approx. 1.05 skeins

Needles:  One US 7 circular

Post-Blocking Measurements:  36 inches long, including 17.5 inches for the "body" of the scarf and 5.5 inches for each of the bow ends.  The scarf is 3.5 inches wide at the "body" and 5.5 inches wide at the widest part of bow-ends.