December 22, 2008
I’ve been on a baking binge for the holidays and I can’t seem to stop. It may be the four pounds of dark chocolate I bought at Jacques Torres that is giving me the choco-pneumonia and the coco-loco flu. These decadent macaroons are another installment in the parade of chocolate creations (see: Chocolate Salted Caramels, THE New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookie, and Coconut Oatmeal Lace Cookies) for this holiday season. Making macaroons for yesterday’s Hanukkah dinner with Brian’s family seemed like a no-brainer, as Brian insisted that they are his mother’s favorite. I had not originally intended for them to be chocolate, but after a little goof on my part, it became necessary. With that said, these were really very good.
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December 17, 2008
Get yourself a hat and hold the heck onto it! When messing around tonight in my kitchen experimenting with entry ideas for my office Iron Chef: Holiday Cookie Battle, I finally got around to this recipe, and I don’t care what Gourmet says, this is actually the best cookie of 2008.
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December 12, 2008
Thank god for the so-called “liberal news media” who in addition to the truth, also bring us articles by folks who obsessively test recipes, seek the help of the experts, and create dozens of versions in their own kitchens, all to bring us the fruits of their hard-hitting research: the perfect recipe. They did it for pie crust and it was awesome. Then, last summer, David Leite ran a story about his exhaustive quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie – complete with easy recipe for at home use. It is nothing short of orgasmic and has replaced my old standby CCC recipe forever. ORGASMIC, I say. There are too few things out there that can be described this way.
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December 11, 2008
Like every kid, I loved decorating cookies at Christmas. The only problem was, mine were cookies that only a mother could love. Pastry decorating has never really been my forte (even though I began my illustrious foodservice career at Mrs. Fields: the famous purveyor of giant, custom-decorated chocolate chip cookies), and yet in my old age, I still can’t resist a recipe that requires piped icing. That this one also requires rich chocolate, toasted hazelnuts, and rum justifies my childish urges, since this is clearly a cookie for a more refined palate.
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December 10, 2008
I’m not really a holiday season enthusiast per se, but I do find that it’s a great excuse to stretch my baking wings. With that said, it is highly unusual to find me putting up any Christmas trees (or menorahs for that matter). This cookie is about as red and green as I go, luckily, it is as delicious as it is festive.
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December 8, 2008
Trying to win somebody’s heart? Here’s a tip: save yourself the time that you might spend on writing flowery poems or tracking down a gigantic double-speaker tape deck to hold over your head beneath the window of your beloved, and instead just make these. And then try not to eat them all before gifting them. Only a person with 0 tastebuds will be able to resist, and the rest are sure to swoon. Why? Very simple. Chocolate. Salted. Caramels. Need I say more?
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