Ever since my very lovable friends Norah and Jeff first mentioned the name "Mark Bittman" to me in early spring of this year (and subsequently blew me away replicating his rice pilaf recipe), I wondered about whether or not to refer to him for lessons in cooking. It wasn't until a few weeks ago that the name was mentioned again, and aside from becoming instantly addicted to his blog, I finally ventured to expand my own skills according to his artistry (quel snob? Jamais!)
A colleague and fan of Bittman's no-knead bread recipe helped to suade my ego. He convinced me with his own gourmet novice success that the New York Times could make anyone into a great baker. Not only could I make a whole wheat boule as good as the next guy, he said, or the guy at the Sullivan Street Bakery, but following the Times' recipes I could probably make 5-star chocolate chip cookies too, with relative ease.
What I found in the New York Times Dining archive was this little treasure map for Jacques Torres chocolate chip cookies; cookies which are the best (least dietetic) cookie I have ever baked in my whole life, and an impressive example of what I think a chocolate chip cookie should be.
Proof of the perfection e is in the fact that the dough can be prepared comfortably while talking on the phone, even though that is otherwise perhaps the most annoying thing in the world. (Not just to the person on the other end!) It is uncharacteristic of me to multi-task to that extent, or in that way, and yet while I prepared the dough for these, I remained on the line with the dear and always-engaging Brian for nearly an hour without saying a peep about discomfiture, or abruptly ending the conversation out of frustration, or without dropping the phone numerous times until the battery fell out of it, which happens a lot to me.
No, I was transfixed. During the butter-and-sugar blending process, I was sitting at my table, stirring and stirring, watching the room-temp butter and brown-and-white sweetness slowly commingle then swiftly blend then become this soft, milk-in-your-coffee colored, heavenly-smelling, perfectly whipped cream-stuff, all while Brian talked, and I made sure to offer the adequate "uh huh, uh huhs" to keep the conversation going on my end.
The mixture was so beautiful when I was done, and smelled so buttery and sweet, I almost jarred some of it for later to use as lotion. But didn't.
Ever since I started writing about food for Mark Sisson, I have been trying to eat more like his diet suggests, which means no sugar. None. But the rain provoked me. When it rains, I hunker way down to my old domestic get-cozy-and-warm habits, and I start drinking wine, and I get nostalgic for cookies.
I went overboard this time (too excited about the new recipe) and so the baking of these cookies turned into baking many batches of these cookies, which then turned into a party. I sent an email invitation asking everyone in the building to come to the kitchen and help figure out what to do with all the cookies. And those guys, let me tell you. They are so smart. They knew just the solution.
