I'm a cult follower. I admit it.
In 1978, I developed a habit - small at first, then increasingly addictive. A monthly fix. I began seeking the inspiration, quality and simplicity of the Pleasures of Cooking, an art publication that showcased food.
Perhaps art wasn't what the publisher, Carl Sontheimer, intended, or… perhaps, it was. Let's be honest. The Pleasures of Cooking was launched in service of selling the Cuisinart processor which was first made available to U.S. consumers in 1973.
Sontheimer loved French food. He was an MIT-trained physicist and inventor. He based the original Cuisinart on its big brother, the French Robot Coupe, the food processor we use today in professional kitchens.
Full color. No ads. Simply stylized. Art, showcasing food.
My favorite author, Colum McCann's, phrasing, "…that life could be capable of small beauties" rests easily in my soul. I see those beauties everywhere, in everything, and without fail, in the pages of food in The Pleasures of Cooking.
Prominent cooks and food writers of the day - Madhur Jaffrey, Jacques Pepin, Barbara Kafka, James Beard, Julia Child, Craig Claiborne - offered not only valuable skills, but leading edge technique to educate courageous home cooks.
Does anyone have old copies of The Pleasures of Cooking you'd like to sell? One of my favorite fantasies is having someone say, "Oh, my mother had every issue. They've been in the attic for decades. Here, take them."
I pick issues up for several dollars online from individual sellers or via e-bay. Recently, I paid $.06 plus $6.99 shipping for an issue. I've paid as much as $12.99 when the thinking on a particular subject was something I craved. The issue arriving today was $4.00 (plus shipping). I saved some whole issues of my own and cut up others, retaining individual pages only.
Last night
and I edited a PoC recipe entitled Steamed Scallop Seviche for dinner! It was lovely!Sharing recipes from The Pleasures of Cooking is a joy. Today, it's their Fudge Cookie. Simple, repeatable, unambiguous. Produces a consistently beautiful cookie.
Fudge Cookie partners with Goat Cheese Ice Cream Sandwich with Roasted Red Cherries and Olive Oil Ice Cream, Balaton Cherry Garnish.
Fudge Cookies, as written in the Pleasures of Cooking
Yield: 11 dozen, 2" cookies
Several items of note. Neither the original German’s or Maillard’s sweet cooking chocolate specified in the recipe is available today; however, Baker’s does sell a German’s chocolate. It’s widely available. I use Guittard’s 41% cacao (sweet) and its 72% (dark) chocolate instead of the unsweetened chocolate in this recipe.
The original recipe was written when Cuisinart's processor bowls were significantly smaller than today's models. The earliest model had a 7-cup capacity. Today's models are 14 cups so there's no need to process half the ingredients, then process the remaining half as the recipe directs.
An option in the headnotes of the original recipe suggests shaping the dough into 5, 10" logs and wrapping in plastic. I always use this method. Simply weigh the total finished dough and divide by 5. I found each log to be approximately 250 grams. They refrigerate and freeze beautifully. I like scoring the logs in 1/2" increments, then slicing and bringing them to room temp just prior to baking.
Ingredients
2#, 10 ounces of dough
8.75 oz (1-3/4 C) AP flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
6 oz sweet cooking chocolate (such as German's or Maillard's) cut into 1" pieces
1 C granulated sugar
8 oz 1 C light brown sugar, firmly packed
2 sticks 8 oz unsalted butter, room temp, cut into 16 pieces
2 large eggs
1 T vanilla extract
confectioner's sugar, optional
Procedure
Process flour, powder, soda and salt; set aside.
Process chocolate with 1/2 sugar until chocolate is the same consistency as sugar. Add remaining 1/2 sugar and brown sugar; process for 30 seconds. Add butter; cream briefly until mixture looks like coarse sand. Add egg one at a time through feed tube; add extract. Process for 1 minute.
Add flour mixture in two additions, pulsing 5-6 times just until flour disappears.
Preheat the oven to 375 F.
The dough can be used immediately, but it will be easier to shape if you chill it in the refrigerator. Form the dough into 1" balls. Place them 2" apart on ungreased sheets. Bake for 8 minutes for chewy cookies, 9 minutes for crisp ones. Let them cool on the sheet for 2 minutes; then lift them off with a spatula and cool on wire racks. If you like, dust lightly with confectioners' sugar.
Up next… who knows?! The Portland food scene is exploding with award winning Pacific Islander, Caribbean, Thai and Filipino restaurants. Fodor’s report that Portland “has been crowned a new title by national (and even international) publications: one of the best food cities in America. …Portland truly has reinvented its flavor profile in the last few years.”
In the meantime, here are two of the very best… Links Linda Likes!
For the sight-seeker, the thrill-seeker, the gourmand, The Ultimate Guide to the Mt Rainier Region.
A Fabled Path to a Mystical Grove - Mt Hood National Forest: Ramona Falls