Slate's foodies debate the cookie in a seven part series. Absolutely excessive? Without a doubt. And also a total pleasure to read - these writers are to the cookie what Dahlia Lithwick is to SCOTUS: reverent of their subject while still being funny, highly personal, and thoroughly entertaining.
A must-read for holiday bakers: a treatise on butter in the NYT. I love baking wit
h quality butter, but mostly just because it satisfies my pretensions of being more sophisticated in the kitchen than I am. Vindication here, though: apparently butter is not simply an ingredient in, but the foundational element of, a good cookie. And nota bene, my fellow soften-in-the-microwavers, apparently when butter reaches 68 degrees (just a precious few degrees past its ideal softened state), that water-fat emulsion that gives a cookie its perfect texture breaks down past the point of no return.
and a recipe recommendation:
despite her irritating near-pornographic programming, Giada de Laurentiis does a mean holiday biscotti offering for Food Network - I had a lot of success with it this weekend. Skip the red and green sprinkles and go premium with the ingredients for a classy take on the cookie as Christmas gift.
Happy eating, and happy holidays!
1 comment:
I resent the pornography reference! Giada is just a beautiful woman sharing her expertise with the world!...
I laud your butter article link though - read it pre-baking last week and my cookies (although one batch burned) were fantastic this year... favorite line "I can tell a margarine cookie when I bite into it... and I put it right down."
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