The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies. Period.

2 cups plus 2 tbl flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 sticks (12 tbl) butter, melted & cooled until warm
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg plus 1 yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325. Mix together the dry ingredients and set them aside. Mix the butter and sugars together till fully mixed. Add the egg, yolk and vanilla and mix until combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Mix in the chips. Scoop out 1/2 cups of dough and roll them into balls. Pull the dough into 2 equal halves. Place each half a ball craggy side up onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, leaving ample room between each half. Put them in the oven and bake them till the edges are starting to brown, but the center is still unset. Do not over bake! Cool the cookies on the sheets for a couple minutes then move them to a wire rack to finish up.

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I love chewy chocolate chip cookies. I really do, it's a weakness. So when I saw a blog post titled The BEST Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever! I just had to check them out. The recipe is originally from Americas Test Kitchen and I'm pretty sure I saw this episode. Couple the trust I have in ATK with Baking Blondes taste in sweets and I was totally making these cookies. Yes. I did and they are the best. And here they are.

First off preheat your oven to 325. Now you should whisk together your dry ingredients, it makes things come out better. I never do. Ah well. You want to melt the butter, I just tossed it in a small sauce pan over low heat, broke it into pieces and stirred it for a minute or so. You can do it in the microwave too. Let it cool then pour it in a bowl with the sugars. Now the recipe didn't say dark or light brown sugar... so I just used half a cup of each. Besides, I only had a half cup of dark anyway. So it worked out. But you want all the sugars and the butter mixed together well. Now you are going to need to separate an egg. I do it by cracking the egg into one of my hands (which is over a bowl) and then passing the yolk back and forth between my hands while holding all my fingers just a tiny bit apart. Hopefully that made sense or you have some method of your own, because I'm afraid that's the best way I can think of to explain it. Do it however you do, then toss the whole egg and the yolk into the bowl. The vanilla too. Mix this up well then add your dry mixture. Combine it well then add the chips and stir some more. At this point in the recipe I came across two challenges. The first was the 1/2 cup of dough measurement for the cookies. That seemed immense. And it was. I wound up using 1/4 cups on the second batch and they were still huge. (UPDATE: The reason they were initially so huge is because I was doing it wrong. You don't want to press the two halves back together, they are two separate cookie portions. The recipe and post have been edited to reflect this. I now return you to your regularly scheduled blogging.) Now enormous cookies aren't a bad thing, but next time I think I will use big rounded tablespoons and get smaller ones. The second challenge was keeping my girlfriend out of the dough. Heh. Anyway line your cookie sheet with parchment paper, take balls of dough and pull them in half. Then turn them so the craggy side it up and put each half on the cookie sheet with a goodly amount of space between them. Ripping the dough balls in half gives the cookies a nice textured top. Now bake them. Should take about 10-14 minutes. You want them not quite done in the middle but starting to brown on the edges. Cool them for a couple minutes on the sheet then transfer them to a wire rack to finish up. I also suggest eating one hot. Maybe with a scoop of ice cream on it. Yeah. I think that's a good idea.

One Pot Baked Ziti

1 lb ziti
3 cloves of minced garlic (or more)
28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
3 1/2 cups of water (a 28 oz can holds this much)
1/2 - 1 tsp basil
1/2 - 1 tsp oregano
1/2 cup diced onion
mozzarella and lots of it
salt and pepper to taste
pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

Preheat the oven to 475. Brown the onion in a couple tsps of olive oil in a large, oven safe pot. Add the garlic and cook till fragrant. Add the tomatoes and seasonings and give it a good stir. Add the water and pasta and stir again. Bring just to a boil then reduce heat, cover and simmer, stirring frequently, till ziti is cooked al-dente. Check the seasoning and add salt, pepper or anything it needs. Cover with cheese and bake till the cheese is brown and crispy, 10-12 minutes.

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This is an adaptation of the baked ziti recipe from Americas Test Kitchen. I'm just going by what I remember, I didn't write it down when I watched it, so we'll assume any flaws are mine and not ATKs. The reason I liked this particular recipe so much is because it's a one pot deal. Less dishes = good times. Plus it's covered in mozzarella and I love that stuff. Most baked ziti recipes I've seen say "boil your ziti, put it in a casserole dish with a bunch of sauce, cover it with cheese and bake it". This recipe cuts out a couple steps by combining the pasta cooking with the sauce making. It's like hamburger helper for adults. And without hamburger. Unless you put some in. Which you can. I'm actually adding Italian sausages. The recipe above is just the basics (although it is perfectly good as it and vegetarian to boot) you can mix in all kinds of things. Zucchini, bacon, meatballs, peppers, mushrooms, shrimp, various cheeses, whatever you want. But why don't we just make it, then you can see for yourself.

So, first off if you are using meat or mushrooms or anything that you want to brown, do it first. Like I said, I'm using sausage. Use a really big oven safe pot, you are going to want it to be able to hold a pound of pasta and seven cups of liquid. Once they're browned I'm moving them to a paper towel lined plate since I don't want the sauce to taste like nothing but sausage. Leave a little grease in the bottom of the pan to brown the onion and garlic in. And then brown the onion in it. If you aren't using something that puts out it's own fat just use a couple teaspoons of olive oil or butter. Add the garlic when the onion is just about done and saute it a little bit. If you browned up something like sausage add it back in now. Then pour in the sauce, add the basil and oregano (uhm, I didn't measure them. Sorry. Just add them to taste.) and stir it up. Then the water and pasta and stir it again. Did you notice me pouring the water from the can? Guess how many ounces are in 3 1/2 cups? 28! Very convenient. Don't ask how long it took me to figure that one out. Now bring it to a boil, stirring frequently. Then reduce the heat to low and cover and simmer till the pasta is cooked, still stirring frequently so the pasta doesn't stick. This should take just about as much time as it would in water, maybe a little longer. Once it's done turn off the heat and take off the cover. Now you can mix in some parmesan, romano, and/or some milk or cream to make it really rich. Some fresh herbs would be nice too. Now top it with the mozzarella, how much depends on your tastes. I recommend lots. I would have put even more on, but this was all I had. Now toss it in your preheated 475 degree oven till the cheese is browned, maybe 10-15 minutes. That's it kids. Want to know what else about this recipe is wicked cool? You can make it in about a half an hour. Make it, eat it.