A word to the wise – don’t give these to children at night.

• 10 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons instant espresso powder (or instant coffee granules)
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 1 ½ – 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (recommend Ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate chips)
• parchment paper for lining the cookie sheets

Preheat oven to 325F.  Line two or more cookie sheets with parchment paper cut to fit.

Melt both chocolates (but not the chips) and the butter in a double boiler over simmering water.  When melted, cool slightly.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together into a small bowl and set aside.

 Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs, vanilla, and espresso powder in a medium sized mixing bowl until they are mixed together, about 20 seconds. Add the sugar to the egg mixture and blend until thick, about 1 minute.  Scrape the bowl. Add the melted chocolate/butter mixture and blend 1 minute more.  Scrape the bowl. Add the flour on low speed and mix until blended, about 20 seconds.  Add the chocolate chips and stir in by hand or on low speed.

Drop the dough (it’s very gooey) by large tablespoons full about 2 inches apart onto the parchment-lined cookie sheets.  Bake until the cookies rise slightly and form a think crackly crust, 11-13 minutes.  Let cool for a minute or two then remove to more parchment paper or a rack to cool completely.

 Adaped from the Rosie’s Bakery baking book

• 4 English muffins*, split, buttered and toasted
• 8 slices of ham, Canadian bacon or smoked salmon
• 8 large eggs, poached
• 1 recipe Hollandaise sauce (see previous post)
• 1 bunch asparagus, steamed or grilled (optional)

*Note:  I find that Thomas’ English muffins are too tough to use in this recipe – it’s nearly impossible to cut through them even with a sharp knife.  I prefer Bay’s or Pepperidge Farm, or Portugese sweetbread muffins.

This is really more of a process than a recipe – the trick is to have everything fresh and hot when you assemble the plates.  We usually make this for a crowd and I enlist someone to help keep the assembly line moving – the best way is to have one person devoted just to poaching the eggs.

If it’s summertime, I grill the ham and asparagus ahead of time and keep them warm in the oven or under foil. Warm the sauce.

In a large pasta pot, heat water to a rolling boil – add a splash of white vinegar to help the eggs hold together during poaching.  If you have an egg poaching pan, make sure the cuts are buttered a bit to keep the eggs from sticking (even if it’s a non-stick pan).  If you are new to egg poaching, or even if you’re not, it’s helpful to crack the eggs into a ramekin first and then placing them in the poacher/water.  Poach the eggs two at a time – keeping them away from each other in the water.  It’s hard to instruct how long to cook them – it depends on how you like your eggs and how hot the water is – it’s just something you learn through trial and error – after the first minute or so just keep lifting the eggs out periodically until you think they are done.

Meanwhile, butter the English muffins and put them on a broiling pan and heat them under the broiler until lightly brown.

Assemble the Benedict:  muffin, meat, asparagus (if using), egg, sauce.

Serve with more asparagus, hashed browns or roasted potatoes, fruit salad and Bloody Marys.  And coffee.  Lots of coffee.

• 3 egg yolks
• 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• ½  pound butter, melted
• 1 ½ Tablespoons boiling water
• Dash of Cayenne pepper
• Salt to taste
• 1 thin sliver of shallot (optional)

Doubles nicely.

The shallot is something my mother always added – if you add a teaspoon of fresh tarragon you will have a Bearnaise sauce.  If using unsalted butter be sure to adjust the seasoning carefully.

Put the egg yolks in a food processor with the shallot if you are using it.  Turn the processor on – keep it on as you add all of the ingredients.  Only turn it off when you are ready to taste and correct the seasoning.   Make sure the onion is shredded before slowly adding the boiling water (if you just dump it in the eggs may scramble and you will have to start over).

 Add the melted butter in a very thing stream.  Add the lemon juice, Cayenne, and salt.  Taste and correct the seasonings.

Keep warm over a double boiler (very low heat) until ready to use.

Make ahead:  Transfer to a glass bowl and cover with plastic wrap pressed to the surface.  Refrigerate until about an hour before you expect to use it, and then reheat either over a double boiler or in the microwave.  If you use the microwave, heat the sauce for 1-2 minutes on medium low (power level 4) – stir it vigorously and keep heating it a for short times at low power until it’s properly warm.  If you go too fast and it curdles you are sunk, so be patient.

A soup for the winter that will not end.  This creamy tomato soup is adapted from a recipe from the King Arthur Flour people.  I simplified it a bit and made it gluten-free.

• 5 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onions (1 large or two small onions)
• 1 28 ounce can tomato puree
• ¼ teaspoon thyme
• ½ teaspoon basil
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 Tablespoon corn starch
• 2 cups chicken broth
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 2 Tablespoons sugar (or to taste)
• 1 12 ounce can evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Melt the butter and olive oil in a soup pot or large saucepan over medium heat, then add the onion and sauté until it is translucent, about 10-15 minutes.  Add the tomato puree, thyme basil and a bit of black pepper.  Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, measure out the chicken broth in a glass measuring cup and then stir in the cornstarch until it dissolves.  Add the broth to the tomato mixture, stirring constantly until it is thoroughly incorporated.  Cover the soup and simmer it gently for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Turn the heat up to low/medium and stir in the baking soda – it will foam up for a second but as long as you’ve used a pot that leaves you a few inches at the top it will be fine.  Add the sugar, milk and salt and bring it back to a simmer.  Taste and correct the seasonings.  I found that letting it simmer for a little while longer before serving allows it to develop a little texture.

Serve hot with crackers and cheese, or for those who can have gluten, a grilled cheese on sourdough bread.

• King Arthur gluten free mixes are by far the best mixes on the market for bread, cakes, and pancakes, and they make it easy if you also happen to be dairy free.
• Schar table crackers and pasta go over well at our house, but we really have yet to find pasta that has really good texture.  The crackers are great, though.
• The Really Great Food Company makes banana and corn bread mixes that are very good, and like King Arthur stuff, they keep well for a few days.
• Deland Bakery frozen breads, found at Whole Foods and some specialty markets.  They do warn about cross contamination but we have never had any problems, and this bread travels well.  If you are very sensitive, however, please note that they do not guarantee their products to be gluten free.
• For oatmeal fans, Bob’s Red Mill makes guaranteed gluten-free oats.
• The Glutenista page on Facebook offers a much more exhaustive array of options and recommendation than I have here – if you are a FB type, it’s absolutely worth friending them.

We still serve gluten and this site is not going totally gluten free, but bear with us while we try to create some balance in our cookbooks.

It’s the end of corn season and the start of soup season.  I grew up in Iowa but never had corn chowder until I moved to New England.  If you choose not to use bacon, a little fresh ground nutmeg added when cooking the corn makes a sweeter, lighter version of this soup.

• 10 ears of sweet corn
• ½ lb. thick sliced bacon
• 2 medium leeks, white and lightest green, cleaned and sliced thin
• 2 lbs. red creamer potatoes, halved (or diced if they are large)
• 4 cups chicken stock or water
• ½ c. chopped parsley
• 1 cup light cream
• 3 tablespoons butter
• Salt & pepper to taste

In a large deep skillet, fry the bacon and drain on paper towels.  Pour off the excess fat and then sauté the leeks in the remaining fat, adding 1 tablespoon of the butter, if necessary.

Using a very sharp knife cut the kernels off of all the ears of corn (use the back of the knife to scrape the ears to get the most milk out of them) and add to the leeks, along with the butter and some salt and pepper.  Cook on medium heat until the corn is warmed through and then lower the heat.  Using a heatproof measure, remove 4 cups of the corn and puree it with ½ cup water in a food processor.  Move the corn and onion mixture from the skillet into a stock pot (I guess you could just start with that pot but I like the way my skillet browns the bacon and leeks) and add the corn puree, stock and potatoes.

Simmer on top of the stove until the potatoes are tender – if you make it early in the day you can keep it warm in a very low oven for several hours.  About an hour before serving, add the cream and parsley, correct the seasonings, and simmer until ready to serve.

Serves six as a main course with bread and salad – it’s a pretty big recipe and may be halved easily.

This ice cream is for people who like their chocolate really dark.  I use a Cuisinart ice cream machine.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1 1/3 cups heavy cream
• 1 vanilla bean
• 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder (Green & Black’s or Valrhona)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup Ghiradelli Bittersweet chocolate chips (or 8 ounces ch0pped bittersweet chocolate)
• 1 Tablespoon espresso powder

Process

In a medium saucepan over medium low heat combine the milk and heavy cream.  Split the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds into the milk mixture and then add the empty pod to it, too.  Simmer it all over low heat for 30 minutes, then remove and discard the bean pod.

In a mixing bowl beat together the sugar, cocoa, espresso powder, eggs and egg yolk until thick.  Measure about 1 cup of the hot milk/cream mixture and, with the mixer on low, add in a thin stream to the egg/sugar mixture, mixing thoroughly.  Stir the chocolate chips to the hot milk/cream that remains in the pan and once the chips have mostly melted, add the egg/sugar mixture to it.  Cook over low hear stirring constantly until it thickens and looks like chocolate pudding.  Remove to a heatproof bowl, cool ever so slightly and then cover with plastic wrap pressed to the surface (so that a skin does not form on the top).  refrigerate until completely chilled, 4 to 6 hours or overnight.

Spoon the chocolate mixture into the ice cream maker (it won’t pour if it’s thoroughly chilled) and mix until thickened, about 30 minutes.  It may be served immediately or further firmed in the freezer until ready to serve.  Serve with sweetened whipped cream.

Makes 1 quart.

I never did find the sour cherries, but I did get a boatload of sweet cherries and made two kinds of sauces.  The whole cherry sauce I served over ice cream (vanilla or peach), on pound cake, and on lemon yogurt; the puree I used to offset the sweetness of a Blueberry Mascarpone tart.

• 4 cups fresh cherries, pitted and halved
• 3/4 cup water
• 2/3 cup sugar (taste the berries and adjust accordingly)
• 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 Tablespoon lemon zest
• 2 teaspoons cognac (optional)

Combine everything in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Bring to a gentle boil and let it boil for 5- 10 minutes.  Let it cool completely.  For the whole cherry sauce just cover it and refrigerate until ready to use (it has more flavor at room temperature).  Keeps in the refrigerator for about a week.

For a smooth cherry sauce, puree the sauce in a Cuisinart until there are no chunks of cherry at all.  It will still not be totally smooth.  Strain the sauce with a fine mesh strainer – then it will be smooth, and a beautiful shade of red.  Keeps in the refrigerator for about a week, and freezes beautifully.

Another member of our family is now gluten free so I need to diversify my desserts.  Cambridge, Massachusetts ice cream purveyor Toscaninni’s makes a Burnt Caramel Ice Cream I used to get when I worked at MIT in the 1990s.  Now the local Whole Foods carries it and it is just as good as I remember, and when I found a caramel ice cream recipe I thought I would try and replicate the burnt version at home by cooking it longer and adding some sea salt.  It worked!  I use a Cuisinart ice cream maker.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups organic sugar
• 2 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon coast sea salt (flaked is even better)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup whole milk
• 3 large eggs

Process

In a dry 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat, heat 1 cup of the sugar, stirring to assuring even heating.  Once it starts to melt swirl the pan over teh ehat until all of the sugar is melted and it turns a deep amber color.  Carefully add 1 1/4 cups of the cream (careful – it can splatter) and stir until all of the caramel has dissolved.  Transfer to a bowl and add the salt and vanilla.  Cool to room temperature.

Once the caramel is cool, in a small saucepan bring the milk, the remaining cream (1 cup), adn the remaining sugar (1/4 cup) jsut to a boil.  Meanwhile, whisk the eggs in a medium bowl then add half of the hot milk and sugar mixture in a thin stream, whisking continuously.  Return this mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat and stir with a wooden sppon until the custart coats the back of the sppon adn registers 170 ndegrees on an instant read or candy thermometer.  Do not let it boil.  Strain the custard through a fine mesh sieve into a large bowl, then stir in the cooled dark caramel.

Chill the custard in the refrigerator, strring now and then, until completely cool – 4 to 6 hours.  Our it into the prepared ice cream maker and mix it according to the manufacturer’s instructions, about 25-30 minutes.  It will still be quite soft when it is finished, and is delicious as a cold custard, or you can transfer it to an airtight container(s) and firm it up further in the freezer.

Serve it on its own or with bittersweet chocolate sauce and/or whipped cream.

Makes 1 quart plus 1 cup.