Search and CAESAR Salad with Cornbread Croutons

You have been SEARCHING for this recipe, and now you have found it! SEIZE it and don't let it go until you're done!

After all of the sugary sweets, I thought it would be nice to lighten things up a little.  Honestly, if you cut out the cheese, this is a pretty healthy recipe (but cheese can't hurt that much...right?).

Well, this recipe would make my momma proud. She LOVES a classic caesar salad dressing, anchovies and all. Everyone needs to trust me though -- this DOES NOT taste fishy! I swear by it. Cooking with anchovies sounds strange and scary, but they really just have a nutty flavor when you mix them into things. It's delicious and simple, and will leave people wondering, "hmm...what is that little extra flavor that has me coming back for more and more?" Step outside your comfort zone and try it -- you'll be pleasantly surprised.

I put a little twist on the classic caesar by adding cornbread croutons. They are slightly sweet, a nice texture addition, and just look darn pretty. I'm a big fan of how this worked out!

What you'll need for the...

Croutons:

- Cornbread -- you can either make it from scratch, from a box, or buy it already made from the market

Dressing:

- 4-5 anchovy filets
- 1 large garlic clove
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp pepper (I love pepper, but not everyone is such a fan. Add as much as you wish)
- 2 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1/2 cup olive oil

Salad:

- 1-2 heads of romaine lettuce
- shaved parmesan cheese
- 1 chicken breast (optional)


How you make the...

Croutons:

Make, buy, etc. the cornbread according to the recipe directions. Allow to cool completely. Now, slice the bread into crouton-sized pieces. Spread the chunks on a cookie sheet and bake at 250 degrees for 40 minutes. Then, place on the top shelf and turn on the broil. MAKE SURE TO WATCH THE CROUTONS! They will burn VERY quickly. 1-2 minutes MAX on broil. Remove and allow to cool completely before using.

Dressing:

Super easy. Place all of the dressing ingredients into a food processor and pulse until there are no more chunks. Now taste it to make sure it's how you want it! If it's not how you want it, then add more salt/pepper/olive oil/mustard/or whatever you feel is missing. Refrigerate and use within 3 days!

Salad:

Cook the optional chicken breast fully, seasoning with some olive oil and salt. Allow to rest for 1-2 minutes once fully cooked. Then, slice it into bite-sized pieces. Now, chop up the lettuce and place in it in a large bowl. Sprinkle with desired amount of parmesan, croutons, and chicken. Add dressing, mix, and DIVE IN! Yummy!


Legal Term: Search and Seizure

DEPRAVED HEART-stamped Sugar Cookies

Happy (early) Valentine's Day!

Check out these sugar cookies. They aren't the most incredible things in the world -- just simple, soft sugar cookies. BUT, they are homemade and have a heart stamp in the middle! I think that's pretty cool/impressive. Did I really make these? Awesomeee

What you'll need:

- 3 cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup butter, cold & cut into chunks
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1.5 tsp liquid red food coloring

How you make it:

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Stir in the egg and vanilla extract. In a separate bowl mix together the flour and baking powder. Now slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture.

Once dough comes together, remove 2/3 of it and set it aside. Stir in the red food coloring into the remaining 1/3 of the dough, until the color is mixed throughout.

Roll the red dough out so that it is 1-2 inches. Cut out heart shapes and then stack them together.

Now, roll the remaining uncolored dough out so that it is 1 inch thick. Wrap the stacked hearts with the uncolored dough and slightly press together. Wrap the roll in plastic wrap. Lightly roll the entire thing along your countertop, then place it in the refrigerator for an hour (overnight would be best). You can also freeze the dough at this point (that's what I did).

When you're ready to bake, first let the dough come to room temperature (aka defrost). Then preheat your over to 350 degrees. Either line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper, or lightly grease it using non-stick cooking spray.  Slice the cookie roll into 1/2 inch cookie rounds and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the cookies are very VERY lightly golden on the bottom. Remove them form the over and allow them to cook completely before removing them.

Viola! Heart-stamped sugar cookies. Perfect for Valentine's Day :)

Legal Term: Depraved Heart Murder

DOUBLEtree JEOPARDY Chocolate Chip Cookies

I won't lie, lately my baking/cooking concoctions have been lackluster. I seemed to have lost my baking-mojo for a while. These cookies (and the previous post for French Macarons), however, make me think that I'M BACK in full force. Try these absurdly amazing little gems. They take some extra work, but I am not over exaggerating when I say THEY ARE THE BEST COOKIES THAT I HAVE EVER MADE! Seriously. Try them!

Also, below is a rambling post. If you want to skip the story and head straight to the recipe, I don't blame you. I just needed an outlet for what I have been bottling up. If you skip it all, just know that cookies make everything better. Enjoy!

Ramble-Babble: 

Life is funny. Today, I had to turn down an absolutely AMAZING job opportunity. It was my dream job. It was perfect. It was in the city I wanted to be in, working with people I really liked, doing work that I'm extremely passionate about; but (BIG BUT), I need to go home and be with my family right now.

Cruel. Why tease me like this? Why set me up for this? Why put me in this difficult position?!

I like to believe that everything happens for a reason. (Right?) Sometimes, you can't see the reasons right away, but you just have to stay positive and know that, later down the road, you will look back and understand it all. Sometimes, we fall so that we learn to pick ourselves up (yes, I just quoted Batman).

We can struggle with the decisions that we have to make regarding the future and we can question the choices that we have made in the past; BUT we just need to push forward and not look back. Everything happens for a reason. We are meant to experience and feel certain things. Learn from them, and try again. Head up.

Lots of decisions/situations can make you sad. There's nothing wrong with that, as long as you remember things will get better. So, EAT A COOKIE and keep trucking.

There is really nothing that can make a person feel better than a warm, gooey, chocolate chip cookie. YUMMM! Can you think of anything more comforting in your time of need?! I think not. Nom Nom Nom coooooookiessss (Yes, I just quoted Sesame Street.)

The Inspiration:

These cookies are Philadelphia inspired. Over the last year or so, I have developed a love for the city, its food, and the Flyers (please make playoffs). If you have never been, GO! It's honestly an amazing place, and I'm happy to have gotten to experience it. It has a bad reputation, but once you give it an honest try, I think you'll fall in love with it as I did. (It only took 4 days for me to make my LA-diehard little sister a Philly fan. Miracles do happen.)

Back to the cookies, though. At some point, a friend told me about the Philadelphia Doubletree Hotel's chocolate chip cookies. They are so good that you can even buy them online.

My sister and I LOVE cookies, so we had to try one. Even in the 19 degree weather, they made us happy and warm inside. Just what a cookie should do.

These cookies are PERFECT. Crunchy, yet gooey. Nutty, yet perfectly chocolatey. Not too thin, but not too thick. All with a slight hint of oatmeal cookie lingering in the background. Just perfect. Really. I can't describe it, you just have to experience it for yourself.

Since you all can't go to the Doubletree Hotel (or want to spend $25 on an online cookie order), I have a copycat recipe for you. I AM BEGGING YOU TO TRY IT!

[I think this version might even be better than the one we bought. No joke.]


The Recipe:

What you'll need:

- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (use the good stuff!)
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 3/4 cup white sugar

How you make it:

Here's a twist -- DO NOT PREHEAT YOUR OVEN! I don't think that I have ever NOT started a recipe with "Preheat your oven to...;" so this is a first. The reason? You have to refrigerate the dough before baking. Preheating will come hours later, don't you worry.

So, the first step -- start by pulsating the oats in a food processor until the oats are semi-fine. Then set them aside.

Then, in a large bowl, use a hand mixer to combine the butter, brown & white sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice. Once the ingredients are creamed together, add in one egg at a time, until smooth. Now put the hand mixer away. I know you don't want to, but trust me, it makes a difference if you do the rest of this by hand using a spatula. DO IT! WALK AWAY FROM THE HAND MIXER.

Ok, great! Now in a small bowl mix together the oats, flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix it all together. Try not to over-mix, but make sure to get it all well-incorporated. Confused? Yeah, just play it by ear. I'm sure you'll be just fine. Go ahead and throw in the chocolate chips and walnuts and mix again.

Now, you have options. You can either (1) refrigerate the cookie dough bowl  for 2-3 hrs as is; (2) you can line a baking sheet, drop large cookie scoops on it and then refrigerate for 2-3hrs that way; or (3) you can drop cookie scoops on a baking sheets and freeze them (once frozen you can put them in a ziplock and keep it for later, as desired, use). Then, bake the cookies for 13-14 mins at 350 degrees. [I really think that's the perfect amount of time for my oven, but every oven is different.]

Here's what I did with my cookie dough. Its a rather long process, but I think it really does result in better cookies.

I popped the cookie bowl in the fridge overnight. The next day, I placed golf-ball sized pieces of cookie-dough on a lined cookie sheet and placed it in the freezer. After 3 hours, I baked some of the cookies at 350 degrees for 13 minutes, checking on them after 10 minutes. The rest of the cookies, I placed in a ziplock and kept them in my freezer for later, as desired, use.

Most people will recommend you allow the cookies to cool completely (and you should if you plan on feeding these cookies to other people), but (1) I am not nearly that patient, (2) I planned on eating all of these cookies, and (3) there is absolutely nothing on the face of this earth that is more amazing than a warm chocolate chip cookie (even it its a crumbly-sticking-to-the-cookiesheet-kinda-mess). No one is watching. Go on and dive in, there's no time for shame at this point.

The perfect thing that will make anyone forget about life's troubles and just be overcome with pure bliss. Enjoy, my friends. Enjoy.

LEGAL TERM: Double Jeopardy