Chocolate Chip Cookies and Chocolate Marshmallow Bark

Kent boasts not one, but two chocolate shops. It seems, therefore, fitting that Kent is the home of a Chocolate Fest. For 16 years, the Kent Center School Scholarship Fund Committee has hosted this annual event, which features home-made chocolate delights, all baked by local residents.



Top: Ready to bake; bottom: Ready to eat!



Since its inception, the committee has distributed a total of $923,160 to deserving students attending post-secondary vocational and technical schools and four-year colleges. The Chocolate Fest this year will be held Wednesday, Feb. 9, (snow date Feb. 10) from 3:30-5:30 p.m. at the school (9 Judd Avenue). I love working at the Chocolate Fest, seeing the children as they pass by the tables of goodies. Nobody leaves this event without a smile on his face.

          If you would like to attend the Kent Chocolate Fest, here’s how it works. Lovers of chocolate pay $5 at the door or present a pre-purchased ticket to receive a plate that they can then fill with a sampling of scrumptious home-made goodies prepared by local bakers. In previous years, the tables have overflowed with mouth-watering chocolate delectable delights.

          It should be noted that there is a no-nuts, no-peanut policy in place at the school. Kent Center School students provide handmade center pieces for the tables. Many sixth graders, who are potential scholarship recipients, volunteer their time at the Chocolate Fest. Local merchants and crafts people are on hand to sell seasonal gifts, as well. More than 30 volunteers make the event a special community effort.

          I am currently running a Saturday morning class called Cooking with Kids, organized by the Kent Memorial Library and held at Kent KitchenWorks. My students will be learning to make chocolate confections this week that they can contribute to the smorgasbord of offerings at the Fest.

          Because my wife, Leslie, is the baker in our family, I am turning over my column today to let her share with you two of her chocolate recipes. You can NEVER go wrong with chocolate. Enjoy.

          A word from Leslie: For some reason, I never became a cook but I always loved to bake. My earliest memories focus on baking cookies at Christmas with my Mom. We baked sugar cookies and chocolate chip cookies. Over the years, I have collected an endless number of recipes for chocolate chips and have finally one evolved that I will share with you here. I am also going to include a very quick and easy recipe for chocolate bark.

Leslie Levy’s Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

·        2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour (I prefer King Arthur’s)

·        1 ¼ tsp baking soda

·        2 tsp. kosher salt

·        8 oz. (2 sticks—one sweet, one salted) butter, softened

·        1 1/3 cups packed light brown sugar

·        ¼ cup granulated sugar

·        2 large eggs at room temperature

·        1 tbsp. vanilla extract

·        3 cups chocolate chips (I love to mix different chips – usually I do 1½ cups Nestlés Semi Sweet chips with 1½ cups King Arthur Flour bitter sweet chips, but it’s OK to do 3 cups of Nestlés or whichever brand you favor)

·        2 cups chopped pecans and/or walnuts (These are optional. I like to mix them and literally pulverize them in an electric chopper)

Directions

1.     Preheat oven to 325°. (I use a small stand-alone electric convection oven, 20”w x 15”h x 13”d, made by Farberware. They’re hard to find.  We found our last one searching the internet. This oven is dedicated solely to my cookie baking and I set the temperature to 300°. One should note that a convection oven requires a lower temperature.)

2.     Combine flour, baking soda and salt (scoop and scrape tops of measured amounts with a straight edge to level). Whisk together and set aside.

3.     In a mixer fitted with the paddle (an electric hand mixer will work too), cream the butter until smooth and fluffy. Add brown and white sugars and mix until light and fluffy. Scrape sides of bowl.

4.     Add eggs, one at a time and beat. Scrape sides of bowl and mix thoroughly.

5.     Add flour mixture slowly, reserving about a half cup. Mix slowly on low speed. 

6.     Add pulverized nuts to the half cup of reserved flour and incorporate with whisk. (Remember, nuts are optional.) Add to mixing bowl and mix slowly. The batter will be dry and may not incorporate entirely at this point.

7.     Now add the vanilla, scrape sides and mix one last time. The vanilla provides enough moisture to incorporate all of the dried ingredients that remain on the bottom of bowl.

8.     Slowly add chocolate chips. You may have to finish mixing by hand because there are a lot of chips.

9.     Chill dough for half an hour.

10.   Using a small cookie scoop,* dip and scoop and level with back of rubber spatula and drop on cookie sheets.** Flatten slightly with fingers or the bottom of a glass. Bake until edges are golden brown. In a conventional oven, bake for 8-10 minutes. (In my convection oven, it takes 5-6 minutes.) I like my cookies to be slightly under done. Loosen cookies and remove to cooling rack.

* I use a cookie scoop by Farberware that measures 1½ inches in diameter. This yields a 3” cookie. In my search for the perfect scoop, I have acquired ones which measure 1-3/8”, 1-9/16” and 1-5/8”. I find the 1 ½” scoop to produce the perfect size cookie. You can find the Farberware cookie scoop on line on the Platzgraff website.

** I prefer using baking sheets which have a sealed air cushion. I find the cookies bake more evenly and are less likely to burn.

I hope you enjoy these cookies. They’re favorites of my husband, my grandchildren and niece, Grace.

Quick & Easy Chocolate Bark

Ingredients

·        8 oz. semi sweet or bitter sweet chocolate, either chips or bars that have been broken into smaller pieces (milk chocolate is an acceptable alternate)

·        2 tsp. butter

·        2 cups mini marshmallows

·        Optional ½ cup chopped nuts

·        Optional ½ cup dried fruit (craisins, apricots, etc.)

Directions

1.     In a double boiler, melt chocolate and butter, stirring occasionally.

2.     Remove from flame, set aside and let cool slightly.

3.     Line a 9 inch square pan with parchment paper or tin foil. Set aside.

4.     When chocolate has cooled a little, add mini marshmallows and mix gently and thoroughly. The combination of these ingredients is sufficient, but if you would like to add additional tastes and textures, you can incorporate chopped nuts and/or chopped dried fruit or crunchy cereal, such as Rice Krispies or Corn Flakes.

5.     Spoon mixture into the prepared pan. Smooth with spatula. Refrigerate at least 1-2 hours. Remove chilled chocolate from pan. Peel away parchment or foil. Use a knife to cut into bite size pieces.

 

Thanks to Rick for letting me share two of my favorite recipes.

Pork Loin & Vegetable Roast

Now that most of our friends and I have reached the upper limits of middle age, i.e., lower limits of “older people,” cooking presents different obstacles and challenges me to be more creative.

Pork with rub on V rack over veggies

Take, for instance, this dinner I am planning for six friends this weekend. My wife, Leslie, is a member of WeightWatchers and does not care for red meat. One guest does not eat mushrooms or raw tomatoes; another has a cholesterol problem, while someone else does not eat fish. Whether it’s allergies, taste preferences or health and weight issues, it does pay to survey your guests before planning the meal to be sure everyone has something they will enjoy enough to ask for your recipe.

The following dish meets the criteria of my expected company and is relatively inexpensive, easy to cook and with preparation before hand, leaves you free to mingle with your guests.

First, I’d like to say a word about the meat. Today’s pork is very different than it used to be. The livestock is bred to be leaner and more tender, thanks to a modern diet of grain supplemented with vitamins, protein and minerals. They are brought to market at a younger age before they have a chance to develop fat. While this meat is healthier, it presents problems because most of the fat is gone and the meat can dry out during the cooking process, resulting in a tough and tasteless dish.

Brining restores some of this moistness and taste, allowing a shorter cooking time and a tastier dish. (I want to touch on brining. I find that brining my chicken, turkey, pork and even some extra large shrimp makes a BIG difference in the end results.)

Also, pork used to be cooked to a temperature of 170°-185°, but today’s pork should cook to a range of 150°-160°, yielding a juicy, tender, slightly pink meat. These brining instructions are for pork roasts only. Brining times for other cuts of meat will vary.

Ingredients for the brine

·        1 gallon water

·        2 cups kosher salt

·        2 cups sugar

(Rick’s Tricks: you can add 7-8 whole peppercorns, a bay leaf, cloves or other spices.) For one-half gallon of water, use one cup salt and sugar, each. Submerge the meat entirely, cover and brine (let sit) for 12 to 18 hours in the refrigerator. Rinse twice before cooking. Dry with paper towels and do not salt any further.

(Rick's Tricks: 1. If you’re short on time, double the amount of salt and reduce the brining time in half; 2. To determine the amount of water needed, submerge meat in cold water, remove meat, and measure the water. Add or reduce salt proportionately. Use a heavy plate to keep the meat submerged.)

Ingredients for Pork & Vegetables

·        3 tsp. sugar

·        1 tbsp. rosemary leaves

·        3 tsp. fresh ground pepper, divided

·        ¼ tsp. ground cayenne pepper

·        6 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped

·        1 pork loin roast, 3 lbs., trussed

·        2 onions, peeled and quartered

·        3 zucchini, sliced in half-inch pieces

·        3 carrots, peeled and cut into half-inch chunks (or just use a small package of baby carrots)

·        2-3 medium red potatoes, quartered

·        1 lb. parsnips, peeled, trimmed, cut into one-inch slices

·        1 cup pesto (I buy mine at Costco, great value)

·        1 tbsp. grape seed oil (Note: can substitute with EVOO but use a bit more)

·        ½ to 1 cup dry white wine

·        ¾ to 1 cup chicken stock

·        3 tbsp. sweet butter

1. Mash first five ingredients (sugar, rosemary leaves, pepper, cayenne pepper and cloves) into a thick paste. (I use my grandmother’s brass mortar and pestle) and rub the solution evenly over the pork.

2. Toss prepared vegetables in bottom of a large roasting pan with pesto, oil, wine, chicken stock and add a tsp. of salt and pepper. Toss veggies thoroughly.

3. Place pork on a v-rack over the veggies and place in a preheated oven at 425° for 30 minutes.

4. Turn roast over, reduce heat to 325°. Continue to roast for another hour, basting a few times.

5. When the internal temperature of the pork reaches 145°, remove roasting pan from the oven, tent with tin foil and let it rest for 10 minutes. The internal temperature will continue to rise.

6. Remove veggies to platter and tent them with foil, as well.

7. Place roasting pan over stove on medium-high heat. Add more wine and stock, if needed. Reduce liquids slightly until thickened and then whisk in butter.

8. Slice pork on an angle and serve with the veggies and sauce.

A little pre-planning makes for happier guests. Get ready for accolades.