Madhu Knits and Cooks

The Best Oatmeal Cookies Ever!

Not surprisingly, Cook's Illustrated has done it again - created the most perfect recipe for one of my favorite food items.  This recipe has the benefit of also being easy to make, which is (just one) complaint about our test kitchen friend's gifts to the world.

So, behold, the best Thin and Crispy Oatmeal Cookie recipe I have come across.  The cookies were easy enough to assemble on a weeknight, and the result - again - was outstanding.  Thin and slightly salty with the oats stealing the show by adding both an almost nutty and chewy components to the cookies.  

Thankfully, we shared the wealth with some co-workers, almost all of whom also declared these to be the best oatmeal cookies ever.  

The only modification I made was to reduce the baking time to 12 minutes, potentially because my new oven isn't calibrated (and my oven thermometer succumbed to a long, painful death a year ago).  But otherwise, very easy to make and bake while preparing a weeknight dinner.

A Sort-Of Attempt at Roberta's Pizza Dough

Roberta's Pizza is a much-heralded pizza-focused restaurant in Bushwick, Brooklyn.  While the waits at Roberta's can be legendary, thankfully the two times I have had Roberta's pizzas have been relatively painless.  The first experience was a Roberta's lunchtime visit (wait = 15 minutes), where we tried two different pizzas.  The pizzas were good, but maybe not to the level of my other Brooklyn favorites (DiFara and Totonno's).  The second Roberta's experience was getting a Roberta's frozen or maybe refrigerated pizza at the Brooklyn Whole Foods, which despite how it sounds, was actually really delicious.  

When the New York Times recently posted Roberta's pizza dough recipe, adapted from the Roberta's cookbook, I knew it was a must-try.  Unfortunately though, my first attempt at the pizza dough, which included some significant modifications, left a lot to be desired.

The issues were mostly with the process though, than the result which was decidedly "ok."  The process was somewhat laborious because the dough was incredibly sticky and hard to work with, no matter my adding of what seemed like considerably more bread flour while working the dough.  This may have been because of my substitutions of half bread flour and half all purpose flour, for the half 00 flour and half all purpose.  In addition, I did not use a scale to accurately measure the weight of the flour, which could also have been critical.  

The stickiness of the dough also affected my stretching of the dough after removing it from the fridge for a few days.  The dough was very hard to work with, and resulted in the somewhat odd shape pictured above.

All in all, a recipe I will probably try again, but with the right flour and a scale!

Easy Weeknight Garlic and Olive Oil Pasta (Aglio e Olio) - Two Ways

I've been trying to develop (or ressurect) more weeknight recipes to turn the tide against my current default of ordering out after a long day at work.  As part of these efforts, I've made two fairly simple pasta recipes this past month that forgo the standard can of tomatoes.  

The first pasta meal, based on Cook's Illustrated's Aglio e Olio recipe, relies on just a handful of ingredients, and the cooking is basically sauteeing garlic, chili flakes and fresh herbs (parsley) in olive oil, boiling pasta, and tossing these components together with lemon juice, and parmesan or pecorino cheese if you wish.

The two critical ingredients to making this dish a standout success are the lemon juice, which definitely freshens the dish and makes the flavors more complex, and the fresh garlic to really accentuate the cooked garlic.  The modified recipe appears below the picture.

Aglio e Olio

Ingredients:

• 6 cloves garlic, minced and divided
• 3 tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 2 tsp. dried red chili flakes (to taste)
• 2 tbsp. fresh parsley leaves, minced
• 1 - 2 tsp. lemon juice
• 1/2 lb. pasta, I've used fettucine and spaghetti
• salt
• black pepper
• parmesan or pecorino cheese, grated, optional 

Directions:

• Bring salted water to a boil, and cook pasta according to pasta directions.  Retain 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water after draining the cooked pasta.
• While water is being heated, heat 2 tbsp. olive oil in saucepan.  When hot, add 4 of the minced garlic cloves and saute with a pinch of salt until garlic becomes very lightly browned.  Then add parsley, chili flakes, lemon juice, and 1/2 tsp. salt, turning off heat.
• Add sauce, remaining fresh garlic and 1 tbsp. olive oil to the cooked pasta, and starting with 1 tbsp. pasta water, combine ingredients.  If the pasta is too dry, add more pasta water 1 tsbp. at a time.
• Add additional salt and/or parmesan or pecorino cheese to taste and serve immediately.

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The second weeknight pasta recipe is a seasonal recipe to use the huge supplies of local fresh tomatoes in late summer.  

It's basically the same recipe as above, but with slightly longer cooking time to break down fresh tomatoes into a rustic sauce.  

Summertime Fresh Tomato and Garlic Pasta

Ingredients:

• 1/4 lb. pasta (I used angel hair, and probably more pasta than I had sauce for in my first attempt)
• 1.5 cups grape tomatoes, halved
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 tbsp. parsley, chopped
• 3/4 tsp. lemon juice
• crushed red pepper
• salt

Directions:

• Bring salted water to a boil, and cook pasta according to pasta directions.  Retain 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water after draining the cooked pasta.
• While water is being heated, heat 2 tbsp. olive oil in saucepan.  When hot, add 4 of the minced garlic cloves and saute with a pinch of salt for 2 minutes or until garlic becomes fragrant
• Then add the tomatoes, sauteeing for 12 - 15 minutes or until the tomatoes cook down into a chunky, bright sauce.
• Add parsley, chili flakes, lemon juice, and 1/2 tsp. salt, cooking sauce for another minute.
• Add sauce and remaining fresh garlic to the cooked pasta, and starting with 1 tbsp. pasta water, combine ingredients.  If the pasta is too dry, add more pasta water 1 tsbp. at a time.
• Add additional salt and/or parmesan or pecorino cheese to taste and serve immediately.

Sour Cream Onion Dip - Homemade is Definitely Better!

I've never thought about making homemade sour cream onion dip before (completely unclear why), but when I had an unopened family size bag of Ruffles and a nearly whole 16-oz. container of sour cream in the kitchen, it just made perfect sense.

I ended up cobbling together a recipe from two different Mark Bittman approaches, to fit the ingredients I had at home.  I decided to cook the onions, instead of using raw onions, for a softer flavor though I probably didn't caramelize the onions as much as other recipes I found on the internet (20 minutes of cooking v. 40 minutes to 1 hour).  Regardless though, the result was completely amazing and I definitely think this dip will be a must-serve for future casual parties or weekend snacking - and no chemicals or preservatives unlike the store-bought version!

Sour Cream Onion Dip

Ingredients:

• 16 oz. container of sour cream
• 1 small onion, peeled and minced
• 1 tbsp. grapeseed oil (approx.)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
• pinch of sugar
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

• Heat grapeseed oil in a wide saucepan on medium-high heat.  When hot, add onions with a pinch of salt and sugar.  Stir for 30 seconds, and then lower heat.
• Cook on low heat for approximately 20 minutes, stiring occassionally.  Add a bit more oil if onions start to brown (goal is carmelization, not burning).
• When onions are lightly browned/caramelized, remove onions from heat and let cool.
• Stir together sour cream, parsley and onion.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
• You can serve immediately or leave in the fridge for flavors to blend more.  Serve with chips or vegetables.