Oatmeal cookies

The Thanksgiving post is taking a while, due to both of us catching killer colds.  So, in the meantime, here's an old standby.

Steve took this photo, illustrating the crispy and the chewy versions of this cookie.  Unfortunately,
I was left to my own devices photographing the making of them (remember the Springsteen concert?), so forgive the amateurish pictures below.

I love oatmeal cookies because you can kid yourself into thinking they're healthy, after all they have oats in them, and we all know oats are good for you.  And you can play around with what you add in.  I actually prefer them with raisins and walnuts, but when I made these I was feeling chocolate deprived, so I used chocolate chips.  These are another cookie that is excellent right out of the freezer, too.  Their real virtue is that they're super easy to make and virtually foolproof.

OATMEAL COOKIES

2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup toasted walnut pieces

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix sugars, butter, shortening, baking soda, cinnamon, vanilla, baking powder, salt and eggs in large mixer bowl.

 Stir in oats, flour, chocolate chips and walnuts.

 Scoop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets with a #40 scoop, keeping 2 inches between them.

Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until light to medium brown, depending on whether you want them to be chewy or crunchy.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Thanksgiving

Steve and I have been in San Diego this week for the 65th annual Gerontological Society of America meetings.  It was a little surreal to leave State College at 6:15am and 32 degrees and at 10:15am get off the plane with the sun shining and 80 degrees.

Steve has spent his days in meetings, and in the evenings we share wonderful food with friends old and new.  Last night there was disappointment that I hadn't posted my Thanksgiving recipes, so I apologize.  It's a logistical problem, because Steve takes the photos as I cook, and we would have had to do the whole dinner a few weeks ago, and while that's actually a good idea (who doesn't love a good turkey dinner), I didn't think of it in time.

So, apologies, and I promise that on Wednesday and Thursday we will photograph everything and explain it in my usual loving detail so you can try AND SUCCEED at this iconic American meal.  The funny thing is that until the past few years, we used to have a Chinese meal on Thanksgiving because certain members of our family loathe, totally abhor, can't stop complaining about, any kind of large roasted piece of meat or poultry.

If you want to try something really different this year, look at the recipe in the New York Times for steamed, then roasted turkey.  I have to say I'm really intrigued, and I'll try it after the holidays when I feel more comfortable experimenting.

I also want to encourage you to request specific recipes.  If I don't already have a favorite, I'm happy to experiment until I find a tasty result.  Just sign in and leave your request in the comment space at the end of each post.

Giant Ginger Cookies

I remember eating ginger snaps out of the box as a child.  They were hard as rocks, but you could dunk them in cold milk until they softened up.  I'd eat them until I got a stomach ache, they were that addictive.  (Second only to Hydrox, my childhood preference over Oreos).  There was also a wonderful spice cookie with raisins that my mother would bring home from a local bakery that was both gingery and chewy, covered in sugar.  I could eat plenty of those, too.

I don't really remember where this recipe came from.  Could be from a women's magazine or from a newspaper.  It's been too many years.  But it has some of the characteristics of those long ago cookies from childhood.  There are warm spices, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves, which seem to come to mind this time of year.  And they're soft and chewy so you don't have to soften them up in milk, although they taste wonderful with a nice tall glass of cold milk.  So there's something nostalgic about them, something sort of comforting.

GIANT GINGER COOKIES

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon (I like Chinese cassia in these)
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups vegetable shortening
2 cups granulated sugar (I use superfine)
2 eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup molasses
3/4 cup coarse or granulated sugar

[Note:  This recipe is so old that I've always measured ingredients the old way:  dip, scoop, and level the flour.]

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift flour, ginger, soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt into a medium sized bowl.  Set aside

I usually set all of the ingredients next to the mixer like this:

In a large mixing bowl, beat shortening until softened.

Gradually add 2 cups of sugar;

beat until fluffy.

Add eggs and molasses;

beat well, until combined.

Add 1/2 of the flour mixture and beat until combined.  Then stir in the remaining half of flour with a wooden spoon.

Using a #16 or #20 cookie scoop, shape dough into 2-inch balls.  (You'll get 22 cookies with the #16, and 25 with the #20)  Roll in coarse or granulated sugar.

Place on parchment lined baking sheet, about 2 1/2" apart.

Bake 12-14 minutes or until cookies are light brown and puffed.  Do not overbake or cookies will not be chewy.  Let stand for 2 minutes before transferring parchment to counter.

Cool completely.  See how lovely they look with their fissures and sparkling sugar.  Since they're so large, they take about 28 seconds in the microwave to defrost.

Judy's Meatloaf

This is one of those good news, bad news stories.  Steve is a die-hard Springsteen fan, as most of you know.  He and Ben saw him in Florence, Italy, in June, in the pouring rain.  So when Springsteen announced Fall dates for the Wrecking Ball tour, Ben snagged tickets in Pittsburgh for Steve and Matt and himself.  When Megan found out she could make it to Pittsburgh to meet Sam for the first time, Ben found a ticket for her, too. That's the good news.  But Steve was in Pittsburgh last weekend, and took Ben and Megan to the airport.  That got him home just as the meatloaf was coming out of the oven.  That's the bad news.  I had to take most of the photos myself, and you will definitely notice a difference in skill level.  Also, picture me with the camera in one hand, mushing together meatloaf in the other.

Meatloaf is one of those things that I make fairly often, mainly by request from Mom and Steve.  They like it right out of the oven, and they like to make sandwiches.  My latest innovation is to slice the leftover meatloaf, wrap the slices in plastic freezer wrap, and freeze them in a freezer bag.  That way there is no danger that it will become old and forgotten in the refrigerator.  One of the challenges of enjoying cooking is that I am always creating leftovers, and sometimes there are just too many good things.  By breaking things down into small portions and freezing them, it prevents waste, and creates an interesting mix of things to choose from.

So, this is not your mother's meatloaf.  In fact, my fans say it is more like eating steak, but easier to chew.  This recipe started out in the New York Times, probably 20 or 30 years ago.  I think it got much better when I started using Wegman's 85% lean Angus ground beef.  So I recommend using the best beef in the 85% range you can find at your grocery store.  I also like Contadina tomato paste, and use the one with Italian herbs here.  

A word about bacon.  For many years I microwaved the bacon for 1 minute before putting it on top because it just didn't cook thoroughly enough without it.  But I think it tastes better if you take the time to sweat it in a frying pan for about 4 minutes...that means keeping the heat medium-low.  Your goal is not to cook it, and it won't even change color. You just want to get the cooking started, so it will continue cooking on top of the meatloaf.  You'll see how nice it looks in the final photo.  Since you can't buy just 4 slices of bacon, you may as well cook the whole package.  If you don't use it up very quickly it gets all slimy and disgusting.  In this situation I would sweat the 4 slices for the recipe, then cook the rest until it is almost done, but not quite.  Drain it, let it cool, then throw it into a plastic freezer bag.  Now you have bacon ready to eat with a quick trip to the toaster oven to finish cooking it.  It's never a bad thing to have a few strips of bacon in the freezer.

JUDY'S MEATLOAF

4 slices thick cut bacon

2 1/2 pounds 85% ground beef, room temperature (leave it out for 1 hour)

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

1 teaspoon chopped leaf basil

2 Tablespoons chopped dried parsley

2 Tablespoons tomato paste with Italian seasonings + remainder in 6 oz. can

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 egg, room temperature

1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Sweat 4 strips of bacon over medium-low heat for 3 or 4 minutes, but don't let it start to brown.  Drain on paper towels and let cool.

In a large bowl, mix beef, salt, pepper, basil, parsley, 2 Tablespoons tomato paste, soy sauce, and egg.

 Now add the bread crumbs,

and mix until well blended.  You'll have to use your hands...this is when your hands will appreciate having brought the meat and egg to room temperature.  Having it room temperature also helps it cook evenly, because if it's cold the outside will dry out and get overcooked before the inside gets close to done.

 The ingredients should be evenly distributed like this:

Shape the mixture into a loaf in a baking pan (I like to use Pyrex).

 Spread the remaining tomato paste over loaf, completely covering it.

Cut the bacon strips to fit.  You can piece together the ends to cover more of the loaf.

Bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees F, then lower temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake for 1 hour longer, or until a thermometer reads 160 degrees F.

Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

There it is.  Couldn't be easier.