Healthy and delicious all in one dish? 

Some say it can’t be done.

But I have found out differently over the years.

Take sweet potatoes and coconut oil. They’re both “good for you” according to most recent findings. Put them together and what have you got? More than bibbedy bobbedy boo, that’s for sure.

Like this recipe I tried yesterday. These sweet potatoes are lightly sweet — I added just one tablespoon of maple syrup — they don’t need more really. I remember my Mom made candied sweets using an entire stick of butter and about a half box of brown sugar for a large can, including liquid, of cut up sweet potatoes. Yes, it was dee-lish. But also loaded with fat and calories. So if you are looking for a recipe that’s lighter, healthier and with lower fat and calories, try this one.

It’s pretty too, don’t you think?

Sweet Potatoes with Coconut Oil and Maple

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1 tablespoon maple syrup

3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into julienne

2 scallions, chopped

1 large clove garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary or parsley or use thyme leaves

sea salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Heat the coconut oil and maple syrup together in a small saucepan over medium-low heat for about one minute or until the coconut oil liquefies. Place the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet. Sprinkle the scallions, garlic and herb on top. Pour the coconut oil-maple mixture over the vegetables and toss the ingredients to coat the vegetables. Sprinkle with sea salt. Roast for 22-24 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and lightly crispy. Makes 4-6 servings

Healthy and delicious all in one dish? 

Some say it can’t be done.

But I have found out differently over the years.

Take sweet potatoes and coconut oil. They’re both “good for you” according to most recent findings. Put them together and what have you got? More than bibbedy bobbedy boo, that’s for sure.

Like this recipe I tried yesterday. These sweet potatoes are lightly sweet — I added just one tablespoon of maple syrup — they don’t need more really. I remember my Mom made candied sweets using an entire stick of butter and about a half box of brown sugar for a large can, including liquid, of cut up sweet potatoes. Yes, it was dee-lish. But also loaded with fat and calories. So if you are looking for a recipe that’s lighter, healthier and with lower fat and calories, try this one.

It’s pretty too, don’t you think?

Sweet Potatoes with Coconut Oil and Maple

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1 tablespoon maple syrup

3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into julienne

2 scallions, chopped

1 large clove garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary or parsley or use thyme leaves

sea salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Heat the coconut oil and maple syrup together in a small saucepan over medium-low heat for about one minute or until the coconut oil liquefies. Place the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet. Sprinkle the scallions, garlic and herb on top. Pour the coconut oil-maple mixture over the vegetables and toss the ingredients to coat the vegetables. Sprinkle with sea salt. Roast for 22-24 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and lightly crispy. Makes 4-6 servings

Chocolate chip cookies are like politics. You get stuck on a point of view and most of the time you don’t change it. I always sort of knew this but the idea was reinforced recently at our annual family cookoff. Everybody liked different recipes for all sorts of personal reasons.

I like crispy chocolate chip cookies but my sister-in-law Eileen likes them soft. 

Ed and his sister Barbara insist that their Mom’s recipe was wonderful. But her chocolate chip cookies were so lumpy and dry they crumbled like sandcastles.

Jesse likes a variety of chips and also other stuff in chocolate chip cookies — the chips are just one diversion for him.

Is there such a thing as the “best” chocolate chip cookie?

As I said, it’s like politics. It depends on your point of view.

Recently, Felicity Cloake wrote a very informative article in The Guardian, explaining all the ins and outs of chocolate chip cookies. Like why some are chewy, some crispy, whether you should let the dough rest and, of course, a discussion on the chips. She also gives a recipe. 

She says that the original Toll House Cookie recipe is a good basic recipe. 

But I say, it’s not perfect. A tweak here and there to suit your tastes is okay.

BTW, so far, despite Jesse’s great Chocolate Chippers with all Sorts of Other Stuff and the other three cookoff recipes in our family event, all of which were good, the family universally agrees that nothing we’ve tasted thus far surpasses the Grand Finale cookies from my book, Hip Kosher.

Grand Finales are crispy and contain dark chocolate chips, nuts and raisins. Nothing beats them. So, do try them.

Or try the recipe below, a bit more caramel-y because there’s more brown sugar and less white sugar than standard versions. These are soft but moist, neither crispy nor chewy. Vaguely coconut-y because I’ve used some coconut oil and coconut flour.

BTW, this may sound like heresy, but I never use Nestle’s chocolate chips. I think they are way too sweet and not chocolatey enough. I usually buy Ghirardelli but sometimes I use bar chocolate and chop it into pieces.

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Coconut Flour and More Brown Sugar

14 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup coconut flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups chopped chocolate or chocolate chips

Cover cookie sheets with parchment paper. Beat the butter, coconut oil, brown sugar, white sugar and vanilla extract in the bowl of an electric mixer set at medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until the mixture is smooth and well blended. Add the eggs and beat the mixture until well blended. Add the flour, coconut flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt and blend them in thoroughly. Stir the chocolate into the dough. For each cookie, mound balls of dough (about 3 tablespoonsful) onto the prepared cookie sheets, leaving an inch or more of space between each mound of dough. Flatten the mounds slightly. Bake immediately or refrigerate for 2-24 hours. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until golden brown. Makes about 24-28 cookies

fridayreads:

This week’s #FridayReads giveaway is Ellen Feldman’s Next To Love -

Synopsis:

“When their men go off to war, Babe, Millie, and Grace, three childhood friends in Massachusetts,  live on letters, and in dread of telegrams that can bring only bad news.  But as the war drags on, and when  peace breaks out, they experience changes that move them in directions they never dreamed possible.  The women lose their innocence, struggle to raise their children, and find meaning and love in unexpected places.

And as they change, so does America—from a country in which people know their place in the social hierarchy to a world in which women’s rights, the Civil Rights movement, and technological innovations present new possibilities and uncertainties.

Yet Babe, Millie, and Grace remain bonded by their past, even as their children grow up and away and a new society rises from the ashes of the war.

A story of war, loss, and the scars they leave, Next To Love depicts the enduring power of love and friendship, and illuminates a transformational moment in American history.”

Praise:

“The ‘Greatest Generation’ and the battles to defeat Germany in Europe during WWII have received generous and much-deserved attention. Ellen Feldman turns our attention to the home front in a moving and insightful story of three young women in a small New England town, two of whom lose husbands on the Normandy beaches, and one whose returning husband is haunted by what we now know as PTSD. How they attempt to rebuild their lives is a story beautifully told. Feldman’s narrative also encompasses the racism and the anti-Semetism of those years as well as the nascent women’s movement without ever seeming didactic. A brilliant book!”

— Marian Nielsen, Orinda Books, Orinda, CA

Links:

The author’s website

Indiebound

I’m reading Indomitable Will, LBJ in the Presidency, by Mark Updegrove. All about LBJ from different perspectives of the people who knew him

Gillian’s new App, Lalalunchbox, is a big hit. Kids all over the world, it seems, and their parents, are using it to help them pick stuff for lunch. (And the App also sets a shopping list up for you.)

Naturally, I’m thrilled for her. And happy for all those people out there who use it and have a chance to talk with their kids about the food they bring to school. And the App is fun to use too.

It also prompted a conversation about lunch with my trainer this morning because while I’m working out, as I’ve mentioned here before, Robbie and I talk about food practically the whole time I am doing pushups, squats and running up and down the stairs.

We talked about “retro-lunch.” You know, the kind of stuff we took to school or ate at home (I walked home from school at lunchtime) when we were kids. His Mom sent things like meatball sandwich (two of them) plus an apple or other fruit, “something crunchy,” like Doritos, and something sweet, like chocolate chip cookies.

My Mom made a sandwich, like salami or cream cheese and jelly or leftover roast beef. But my favorite was her Toasted Cheese, hot if she was home, cool and waiting for me on the counter if she wasn’t. No fruit as I remember. Or anything crunchy or sweet. Snack was for when I got home at the end of the day at 3:30, always milk and cookies.

I still make Toasted Cheese the way my Mom did. Two or three slices of American cheese on each of two pieces of bread, then broiled (these days in the toaster oven of course). Eaten open-faced.

Very often she left the sandwich in the broiler a few seconds too long and burn bubbles appeared on top of the cheese. I didn’t complain about that. In fact, I thought it added to the flavor.

Still do.

Here’s how I make the Toasted Cheese, which, by the way, you can put in a kid’s lunchbox as a sandwich (I’ve done that for my grandchildren), by slapping it together like a regular sandwich.

Toasted Cheese

2 slices whole wheat or multigrain bread

1 tablespoon butter, optional

4-6 slices, approximately, American cheese (or cheddar slices)

tomato slices, optional

Slather the bread slices with butter, if desired. Place 2-3 slices American cheese on each slice of bread. Top with a slice of tomato if desired. Toast in a toaster oven until hot and bubbly, or longer if you like blackish-brownish burnt bubbles on the surface. Eat open-faced or place the centers together for a traditional closed sandwich. Makes one sandwich.

Is apple cider vinegar healthy?

Or is that a myth?

Honestly, I’ve always wondered about all those studies that tout this, that or the other thing to try to prove a point. One day we’re supposed to stop drinking coffee because it’s harmful, then another study comes along and says no, coffee is good for you.

Ditto chocolate. And coconut oil.

And other stuff.

Are these really scientific studies or generational shifts, like theories about child-rearing?

I guess, like a lot of life — it depends.

It depends on the study, how many people are study subjects, who is sponsoring the study and so on.

Obviously, findings made in unbiased settings with no corporate sponsors done over a long time with many subjects are worth paying attention to.

So I was happy to read this article which cautions people to beware of the “apple cider vinegar can speed up fat loss, lower your cholesterol and help with diabetes” notions. Apparently, the studies that have been done are way too small and don’t actually prove anything of the kind.

Which is not to say there’s no use for apple cider vinegar. I always have a bottle on hand. It’s a good choice for basic vinaigrette when you don’t want something quite as powerful as Balsamic vinegar or as harsh as wine vinegar. It’s nice as a liquid, in small amounts, to deglaze a pan of sauteed chicken. You can use it to give some extra flavor to caramelized onions.

And so on. Like this recipe for Vinegar Pie. Don’t laugh. It’s true, it may sound weird but adding a bit of apple cider vinegar to custard makes a hugely delicious difference. Like the sweet-and-salty thing with chocolate covered sea salt caramels. The apple cider vinegar cuts the sweet just enough. You actually don’t taste the vinegar.

This is a quick, easy and light-on-the-stomach dessert that’s terrific for summer. Or anytime really. You can add some sliced almonds if you wish.

Vinegar Pie

 1 9-inch unbaked pie crust

4 large eggs

1-1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup melted butter

1-1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

sliced almonds, optional

whipped cream and/or fresh berries

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place aluminum foil over the pie crust and weight it down with pie pellets or dry beans. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the weights and foil. Return the crust to the oven and bake for another 3 minutes. Remove the crust and let it cool. Lower the oven heat to 350 degrees. Mix the eggs, sugar, melted butter, cider vinegar and vanilla extract. Blend ingredients thoroughly and pour the mixture into the prebaked crust. Sprinkle with some sliced almonds if you wish. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until filling is set. Remove the pie, let it cool and serve it garnished with whipped cream and or fresh berries. Makes one 9-inch pie

We have a winner!

Last week I blogged about our annual Mother’s Day cookoff. 

Ed baked the cookies from the recipe in that post. And everyone else (except me) made their own versions, including some that had to be prepared the night before so the dough could “firm up” in the fridge.

The kitchen smelled so good on Sunday during the baking that no one wanted to go out even though it was such a beautiful day here in Connecticut. (But we did).

After dinner we judged The Contest! That was dessert.

You can see that this is a Grand Event, meant to be Earnest and Solemn. Take a look at the form Jesse made as a judging tool (except that my grandson Zev used his own method, as you can see from the yellow pad in his hands at The Contest).

I am the serious looking woman in the Wonder Woman apron (a really cool Mother’s Day gift!).

We cut up each of the four different kinds of cookies into halves and ate them in the same order. Nibbling, tasting, cooing, humming and making all the other noises people make when they are eating something delicious.

And then of course (because the Event was so Serious) we all had to eat more and even a bit more, just to make sure we had the tastes and textures right and we had made up our minds what we liked (or didn’t) about each cookie.

And then we scored the cookies.

And all and all, Jesse’s Chocolate Chippers with All Sorts of Other Stuff got the most points.

And he was very modest about it. Unfortunately I didn’t get a photo of him dancing around the kitchen.

Actually we all had different favorites. For different reasons. Which is one of the reasons we all love our annual cookoffs. They are very unserious and so much fun and we can all appreciate each others’ efforts and creativity and every year all of us eat everything.

But Jesse did get the most points and so here is his smashing and wonderful recipe, based on an original formula for Compost Cookies from Momofuku Milk Bar.

Jesse’s Chocolate Chippers with All Sorts of Other Stuff

• 2 sticks butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup tightly packed light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons corn syrup
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 cup large Ghirardelli chocolate chips, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped Fairway chocolate covered sea salt caramels
• 2 whole Graham crackers, broken into pieces
• 1/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 2-1/2 teaspoons ground coffee (not instant)
• 2 cups Cape Cod potato chips, slightly broken
• 1 cup broken pretzels
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• 1 cup corn flakes

Combine the butter, sugars and corn syrup in the bowl of a stand mixer (use paddle attachment or regular beaters if you don’t have one) and beat the ingredients on medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and beat for 7-8 minutes at medium speed. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Beat at low speed just until a dough forms. Add the chocolate chips, caramels, graham crackers, oats and coffee and mix on low speed until the ingredients are incorporated. Add the potato chips, pretzels, coconut and corn flakes and mix at low speed until just incorporated. Place mounds of dough (about 1/3 cup) onto parchment-lined cookie sheets, leaving plenty of room for the cookies to spread. Pat the tops of the mounds slightly. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (up to 1 week). Be sure to bake the cookies when they are cold, not room temperature. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375°. Bake the cookies for about 18 minutes, or until browned at the edges and beige-yellow in the center. Cool the cookies on the cookie sheet. Makes about 20-24 cookies

On Mother’s Day we always have a family cookoff. I really really don’t like going out for brunch to a crowded restaurant. I find it is actually easier to just cook something at home instead of expecting four grandchildren of various ages to sit there and behave themselves for what would be an enjoyable amount of time to eat but the grownups wind up eating fast before anyone gets too restless.

I’m not really a cranky old grandma. Just ask my grandchildren!

It’s just easier at home.

So, we’ll have an early Sunday dinner but before that we will be cooking for the cookoff. This year’s theme is “Chocolate Chip Cookies.” 

That could mean anything. The only rules are that the recipe must contain chips and CANNOT be the original Toll House cookie and CANNOT be Grand Finale cookies from my book, Hip Kosher.

I am going to try the variation here. Ed always almost comes to tears when he remembers his mother’s chocolate chip cookies. But she never left a recipe. I remember those cookies as being drier than most and also they looked lumpy, not flat. So I included more flour in this recipe than most standard chocolate chip cookie recipes. I am also adding sea salt at the end because, well, because I think sea salt and sweet chocolate cookies are a swell combo. 

And because I am experimenting with coconut oil these days, I added a little of that too.

Also, letting the dough chill out in the fridge gives a firmer texture, if you like your chocolate chippers that way.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter almost at room temperature

2 tablespoons coconut oil

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

3/4 cup white sugar

1-1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 large eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

12-14 ounces chocolate, chopped

sea salt

Beat the butter, coconut oil, brown sugar and white sugar together with a mixer at medium speed for about 2 minutes or until creamy and smooth. Add the vanilla extract and eggs and beat them in thoroughly. Mix the flour and baking soda and add to the butter mixture. Blend into a uniform dough. Fold in the chopped chocolate. Chill, if desired, for 2-48 hours. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place parchment on cookie sheets and scoop golf ball size balls of dough and place them on the parchment. Bake for about 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt. Cool the cookies for 2-3 minutes, then remove them to a cake rack to cool completely. Makes about 48

fridayreads:

Here at Team FridayReads, we are practicing book addicts. Because we suffer from this contagious and life-saving malady, we often read multiple books at a time. This means our hair is extra shiny, we walk with extra pep in our step, and our #fridayreads won’t fit in one Tweet!

Here’s what…

I’m reading Binocular Vision, a collection of short stories by Edith Pearlman. 

Are granola bars healthy?

When they first became popular, back in the 1980s when my kids were little kids, I thought so. And in my efforts to be a “good mother” who tried to give my children healthy food, I bought what was available then. Granola bars were frequent snacks in the house and for school.

I later learned that many of those so-called healthy snacks weren’t.

Just because something is called granola doesn’t mean it’s healthy.

Like if the bars are loaded with trans fats, hydrogenated vegetable oil, high fructose corn syrup, marshmallows, chocolate, artificial color and so on. 

Here’s a recipe for Honey-Oat Granola Bars. Yes, they have chocolate. And honey is a sweetener. And there’s a little brown sugar in there. Still, there’s oats and dried fruit and nuts. You can add some sunflower seeds if you wish.

And they taste good. These are rich, so you just eat a little and feel snack-full.

Honey-Oat Granola Bars

2 cups quick cooking oats

6 tablespoons vegetable oil 

3/4 cup honey

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup chopped almonds

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1 cup dried cranberries

1 teaspoon cinnamon 

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9-inch-square baking pan with parchment paper, letting a few inches hang over the side of pan (to help you lift the bars out of the pan). Brush the paper with vegetable oil. Place the oats on a cookie sheet and bake for 5-6 minutes, mixing them once during the baking process, to toast them slightly. Mix the vegetable oil, honey and brown sugar in a saucepan and cook over medium heat for 1-2 minutes or until blended, smooth and hot. Combine the toasted oats, almonds, chocolate chips, cranberries, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. Pour in the honey mixture and stir until well blended. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toasty brown. Let cool in the pan. Lift the square out of pan using the overhanging paper. Cut into squares or rectangles. Makes about 2 dozen