Recipe: Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES:

1 cup + 2 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick of butter (8 oz a.k.a. 1/4 lb), softened
6 Tbsp brown sugar
6 Tbsp granualted sugar OR Stevia sugar substitute
1 egg
1 tsp mint extract
1 cup good chocolate chips (the better the chips, the better the cookies)

Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, add the butter and sugars.  Using a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together on high.  The end result will be light and fluffy and only slightly tan.  If the butter is at room temperature, it shouldn't take more than 3-5 minutes.  If you beat them together longer, you will end up with flatter, more spread out cookies.  For a more cakey cookie, beat until everything is just creamed together and fluffy.  Add the egg and the extract, and beat on medium until everything just comes together.

Add 1/2 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix together.  Add the rest of the flour mixture and stir together until the dough forms.  I wouldn't recommend using the electric hand-mixer for this bit, because if you over-mix the dough, gluten will form and you will get tougher cookies.  Add the chocolate chips and stir to combine.

Take a cookie-sheet or half sheet-pan and line it with either a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.  Portion 1 Tbsp of the dough per cookie and and put it on the lined pan about 2-3 inches apart from each other.  You'll likely get 12 or 15 per pan.  I have a small disher ("ice cream scoop') that holds about 1/2 Tbsp, so I just put two blobs out of that on top of each other on the pan.

At this point, turn the oven on to 375.  This will give the flour in the dough a little more chance to soak up moisture from the egg.  If you wanted, you could refrigerate the dough for up to 2 days if you covered it in plastic wrap.  But let's face it -- who wants to wait 2 days to eat cookies that you're making the dough for today?

When the oven has heated, put the pan(s) in and cook for 9-11 minutes, or until the edges are nicely browned.  Remove from the oven, and let them sit on the pan for 2 minutes.  This will let the insides finish cooking and keep them from falling apart when you take them off the pan.  Remove the cookies to a cooking rack and allow to cool completely (about 10 minutes).  If you try to eat one now, you'll end up with a mouthful of molten chocolate chips.

Recipe: Gnocchi Carbonara

GNOCCHI CARBONARA

1 package gnocchi
1 egg
1/3 cup Parmesano Reggiano or similar cheese (pecorino, asagio, etc.)
3 slices of thick-cut bacon or pancetta
pepper to taste

You can use fresh gnocchi that you make yourself, of course, but that's a different recipe.  The packaged or frozen stuff will work just fine for this.

First, put a pot of water on to boil.

In a large bowl, mix the egg and the cheese together, and then add the pepper.  Set aside.

Chop the bacon into small pieces (about 1/4 inch square).  Put them in a frying pan over medium to medium-low heat and cook to render out some of the fat.  When it is about halfway cooked through, turn the burner down to low.  You don't want to burn your bacon.

When the water comes to a boil, drop in the gnocchi.  It should only take a couple of minutes to cook.  when it floats, it's done.  Strain the hot gnocchi.

Add a few of the still-hot gnocchi to the egg and cheese mixture, stirring it quickly.  Add a few more gnocchi, continuing to stir, and then do it a third time.  You want to raise the temperature of the egg slowly so that you don't scramble it -- and scrambled eggs is what you'd get if you dumped all the hot pasta into the eggs at once.  After three small additions, it should be fine to add the rest of the gnocchi, stirring.

If the bacon is not cooked through, turn up the heat and cook until crisp.  Drain off most of the fat that rendered out, and then add the bacon to the gnocchi and give it a toss to combine.  Serve hot.