Welcome to the second episode of the Savorbang podcast. I’m so glad you are here! Thank you for listening and I hope I bring you something that makes you want to cook!

 

 

 

The whole recipe is included below...

 

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• Yield: 18-26 cookies
• Prep Time: 25 minutes
• Cook Time: 10 minutes per batch

Ingredients

• 2 cups white all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups very firmly packed DARK BROWN sugar
• 2 1/2-3 teaspoons vanilla
• 3/4 cups rolled oats
• 7/8 teaspoon baking soda (allllmost fill the teaspoon)
• 1 teaspoon salt, plus more for sprinkling over cookies (2 teaspoons if using unsalted butter)
• 1 cup butter (2 sticks) i use salted
• 3 egg yolks + 1 egg white (so 1 whole egg + two yolks)
• 2 1/4 cups dark or semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cup toasted pecans, divided, (I mixed in slivered almonds the other day because I didn’t have enough pecans due to my fear of shopping right now)

Instructions

Pay attention to the details because they make all the difference with cookie baking…

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees, then toast pecans on a baking sheet for about 6 minutes. Set pecans aside to cool.
2. Measure and whisk together well: 2 cups flour, almost a teaspoon of baking soda and 1 teaspoon salt.
3. Melt (until just melted, not to a steaming liquid or boiling) in a microwave: 2 sticks butter, 1 1/2 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar and 2 ½ to 3 teaspoons vanilla. *Melting rather than creaming makes for more crisp edges and you don't mess around with that exhausting creaming of sugar into butter.
4. Stir to combine the buttery sugar and vanilla, then set aside to cool for a few minutes.
5. Add 1 whole egg and 2 egg yolks to the sugar and melted butter. Whisk until well blended.
6. Slowly, 1/4 at a time, fold flour mix into sugar mix. Don't over blend, but get the white flour mostly obscured.
7. Gently fold in the oats.
8. Crush pecans by squeezing/crumbling over the dough, some in 1/2 pieces some almost whole, then fold into dough. Reserve about ¼ cup whole pecans for planting in center of cookie mid-way through bake.
9. Gently fold in chocolate chips.
10. Optional: spread mix onto waxed paper (or plastic if you don’t care about the next 7 generations). I lay it in a length like a baguette—wrap well. If you have a big empty freezer you can just toss the bowl of dough in there I guess.
11. Chill in freezer for 15-20 minutes while you clean up and lay parchment over 3 cookie sheets.
12. PREHEAT OVEN TO 350 degrees.
13. Remove dough from freezer and cut or scoop tall, round clumps of dough, almost as big as golf balls onto baking sheet. ( I made some big, glorious tennis ball sized scoops too. They made great birthday present cookies, note: they need about a minute longer in the oven).
14. Place in oven. Set timer for 4 minutes.
15. At the 4 or 5 minute mark. Remove baking sheet, press cookie dough down in middle with knife and sprinkle salt over cookie tops. Add a pecan to the depression made by the knife.
16. Return to oven and bake 4-5 few more minutes.
17. Remove cookies when edges are juuuuust turning light brown.
18. Note: Remove cookies after 3-4 minutes if you are stocking a freezer. There is nothing so wonderful to have on hand like a par-baked cookie that you can toss in a toaster oven after dinner—or after shopping at Costco during a pandemic—omg don’t do it!
19. Let your cookies cool and eat with cold milk or black coffee... or cuddled into a big scoop of vanilla ice cream (Screamin Mimi's or Lala's creamery?)

 

 

Anything worth doing is worth doing so well that you pass out… it’s nap time.

 

 

Before we go…

 

Riddle time?  2 riddles in honor of the modern practice of making foods healthier by substituting with healthier options…

 

First riddle:

If you substitute zuccini planks for the noodles, can you call it Lasagna or should you call it a baked, trash-salad?

 

Second riddle: If your recipe makeover involves swapping out the butter and replacing it with applesauce—do you still qualify for a covid-19 stimulus check?

 

 

Ok, Here’s a mini recipe—but one that brings maximal mealage—I made it fast and sloppy with leftovers because as per usual I am scared to go shopping—This is the make-up lasagna I made after freaking my family out with the hot swamp I made with the zucchini planks.

 

My daughter can’t manage cow dairy so I used scraps of 4 kinds of sheep and goat. I didn’t have soft goat cheese—which would have been great to mix in with the brie… this is a draft of a real recipe

I’m not going to give exact quantities as this is a draft of a real recipe--not something I’ve worked out well—more a happy accitdent but it want so good, so so goodworked

 

Ingredients

 

 

1 red onion

5 tablespoons olive oil, divided (I used some to saute the greens and some for the bottom of the lasagna pan)

1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar (by accident)

Some lasagna noodles left at the bottom of three different boxes- some ruffly, some long, some short, some flat

2 eggs

Teaspoon or so of knorr tomato flavored,powdered chicken broth (I know, I can’t believe I use this stuff but I love it.)

½ teaspoon or more black pepper

1 ½ cups red wine

½- 1 teaspoon salt

1+ teaspoon dried Mediteranian or Italian herbs mix (I make mine with, oregano, marjoram, rosemary, thyme, chili flakes, garlic powder)

About a quart of leftover Bolognese with lots of meat and Italian sausage

Another quart of store bought marinara

1 cup water

Two large bags frozen greens—collards and spinach, 32 ounces total

1 ½ Medium sized wheels of goat brie 14 ounces

3 hunks different styles of Manchego (100% Sheep milk) 16 ounces

 

Instructions

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Chop the onion

*In a dutch oven or deep castiron skillet, brown onions in 2-3 tablespoons olive oil

 

*Add the thawed greens. Ok I was worried my greens had gone bad because I left them thawing on the counter for two days and a  green syrup began to leek out of the bag …

 

*Sprinkle the broth powder (this is so optional but) over the greens

 

*Add salt and dried herbs

 

*Add the splash of balsamic vinegar (honestly I added this by accident because the B. Vinegar bottle looks so much like my olive oil bottle…)

Cook the greens about 5 minutes on the stove top, stirring frequently. This is just to combine ingredients. The heat of the long bake in the oven will marry all the flavors from the herbs, vinegar, onions…

 

*Whisk together 2 eggs

 

*fold whisked eggs into greens

 

*Drizzle 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large, deep lasagna pan

 

*Place a layer of un-cooked lasagna noodles on the bottom of the pan (over the olive oil)

 

*Spread the greens mixture over the fist layer of noodles

 

*Dot the greens evenly with chunks of goat brie, rind and all (I just broke the hunks off the my hands).

 

*Place a layer of un-cooked lasagna noodles over the cheese-dotted greens

 

*Spoon the leftover Bolognese sauce over the noodles ( I added a cup or so of red wine and half a jar of marinara to add some moisture to the very chunky, meaty leftover sauce I was using.

 

*Grate a third of your sheep cheese (I had Manchego but I would have loved to mix in a bit of less milk Pecorino Romano—if I’d had some)

 

*Add another layer of un-cooked lasagna noodles

 

*Spread remaining marinara over last layer of noodles

 

*Grate remaining 2/3 Manchego to cover all.

 

*Bake 80 minutes, then turn oven temp up to 385 for 10 minutes

 

*Remove from oven and let cool and set for 10-20 minutes

 

Best lasagna ever…. Thank you tons for listening and we are done…