cooking

Perhaps I get an abnormal amount of satisfaction from a well-done geek project. I also get an unusual amount of satisfaction from a great chocolate chip cookie. This project made me extremely happy, appealing to both my scientific side, and my... well, chocolate side. I do not have the privilege of knowing Meg Hourihan personally, but I can tell that we would get along! She writes a food blog at megnut.com, and during a recent recipe search, this post caught my eye: A Mean Chocolate Chip Cookie. Intrigued, I decided to give the recipe a glance. What I found was a wonderful fusion of geekery and bakery. Meg, a self-described "Food Enthusiast," had embarked upon a quest to find THE best chocolate chip cookie. She solicited suggestions, and received more recipes than she could use. To simplify her work, she narrowed the list of recipes down to a dozen contenders. Then, like any good geek, she made a spreadsheet of the recipes. She converted all of the measurements to base 10, averaged the preparation techniques, chilling times, oven temperatures, baking times, etc. She came up with a formula for a "mean" (averaged, get it?) chocolate chip cookie. You can see the complete recipe on her blog. It is quite brilliant. So, how did the cookies taste? After doing all of the mathematical calculations, measuring, mixing, chilling, and baking (13.04 minutes at 354.17°F), Meg sampled her creation, and declared...

The first bite revealed a cookie crispy around the rim, warm and chewy on the inside. A few hours later, they were firmer, but still tasty. The best chocolate chip cookies ever? I'm not sure, but I baked A Mean Chocolate Chip Cookie. And that's enough for me.

A happy ending to a unique kitchen adventure! I say, "thank you!" to Meg for her contribution to the canon of kitchen geekery.

What is SPAM good for? Well, it may be an acquired taste, but before "spam" became an online nuisance, it was a food. Remember? And while some snooty foodies will heap ridicule upon those of us lowbrow commoners who consider SPAM a legitimate ingredient, I have to say to anyone who is judging SPAM by its reputation alone, "Try it. You might like it." Seriously! For example, here is a photo of some delicious fried rice I made the other day. Maybe I'll call it SPAM Rice Royale, or something else that sounds tempting and exotic. See the lovely, tender onions and green peppers? The authentic leftover steamed Japanese white rice? Notice the beautifully browned SPAM cubes? That's the secret! The SPAM must be diced and browned, so that at least two sides of the cubes are carmelized and a bit crisp. That's what makes this such a tasty treat! Additionally, I sprinkle the rice with a little bit of seasoned salt, garlic powder, fresh ground pepper, and a splash of Kikkoman shoyu (soy sauce). And if it were up to me, I'd also add some carrots and frozen peas, but Hubby doesn't eat those. And since I'm so nice, I usually leave them out. And there you have it. GeekMom's SPAM Rice Royale. For the record, Hubby is a picky eater, and he had seconds for dinner, and took the rest to work for lunch the next day. Try it. You might like it!

Making a perfect pie crust is a skill that can take years to perfect. How can something made from such simple ingredients be so difficult to master? I don't know! That's why I always buy pre-made crusts! But this year, I am going to figure out the magic and mystery behind homemade pie crust. I have gathered some helpful video tutorials on pie crust making, along with some highly-rated recipes, and put them all together on this page. I've included video from Alton Brown and Cat Cora, as well as some home cooks. It's amazing how you can conjure such a delicious, tender, flaky, golden, crispy, soft, beautiful crust from just flour, fat, salt, and water. Sure, some people add extra stuff, but the basics are always the same. I've never had great success with pie crust. Maybe it's because I'm too impatient to mix the cold fat with the flour properly. Or maybe it's because my hands are always warm, so the dough gets sticky and overworked. I don't know. But I hope I can figure it out this season. Otherwise, it's back to the frozen crusts for good!