Apt because there are so many things about which to wonder once you eat one. Things like, "I wonder if I can resist eating another one!" or "I wonder if all of my teeth are going to fall out of my mouth!" and maybe even "I wonder if that tingly sensation is that bite going immediately to my hips!" My reaction was, "Oh holy Mary mother of Jesus, I wonder where I put my antacids…" because these cookies? They mean business. In both the best and worst ways.

They’re from The Improvisational Cook by Sally Schneider, which is an interesting book not only because the title describes my polar opposite but because of the approach it has towards both the recipes and the layout of the book itself. For instance, the other day I made one of the recipes demonstrating what she calls "close-roasting", a pork shoulder braised in its own juices by covering closely with aluminum foil in a dutch oven and marinated overnight in a "mole-inspired ancho chile, cinnamon and cocoa powder" rub. This was but one of 4 variations listed under the category of close-roasting – the next variation? Duck. So the goal is to show you the technique and how you might apply it to anything you have on hand, so that you might – get ready for it – improvise! Amazing how that works. We’ll see how that works out for someone like me, what with my panic attacks at having a different kind of paprika than a recipe calls for.

Anyway, my lemon cake was almost gone and I needed something to keep me from reaching out to Little Debbie, (she’s so good to me!) so I plucked this recipe out of the back since Warren prefers brownie or other chocolate + flour treats. A word of caution – these tell you heaping tablespoon or 1/4 portions of dough. If you make these with the variation I have written, they are nearly too big to be comfortably enjoyed due to the richness. If/when I make them again, I’m going to scale it back to a heaping teaspoon instead (if you do it now, remember that smaller portion = less time in the oven.) Then again, I had half of one for breakfast and two after dinner, so…

Chocolate Wonders
Adapted from "The Improvisational Cook" by Sally Schneider

You will need:
8 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, or 6 oz semisweet chocolate and 2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped. (because who doesn’t have unsweetened chocolate on hand…)
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/3 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp. instant espresso powder* (optional)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 c. sugar
–variations**–
1 c. milk chocolate chips
1 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 c. white chocolate chips
1/2 c. bittersweet chocolate chips

Now, down to business. There’s some instructions as to placement for two racks in the oven, but I know my limitations as a baker so I keep to a single rack in the center of the oven unless a recipe tells me specifically that I cannot do that. Preheat your oven to 325F and prepare your cookie sheets by lining them either with parchment paper (my favorite) or aluminum foil with the shiny side up. If you are fancy and have a Silpat or the equivalent, I see no reason why this wouldn’t be a perfectly good application for it.

While it cools, sift/whisk your flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.

Use a rubber or silicone spatula to add the chocolate mixture into the eggs and mix until just combined.

Add your variations – "chunky embellishments" she calls them – by folding into the batter with the spatula until evenly incorporated.

Once upon a time, my brain rewired itself overnight to make me want to learn how to cook, and cook well. One of the first dishes I made after that epiphany was a braised short rib dish – this one, in fact – and to this day, despite the mistakes I made while cooking it, it remains possibly the most delicious meal to grace my kitchen. So when I was scouting cookbooks at a local library branch last week, imagine my excitement to see the very book that recipe was culled from on the shelf: Sunday Suppers at Lucques.

The photographs are beautiful, far outclassing anything I’ve accomplished to date.The variety is impressive and it’s categorized by season, so you know if you’ll be able to find the produce the recipe will call for. That said, there are a number of ingredients used that, if not difficult to locate, are expensive to purchase – saffron and fleur de sel, as an example – that can be intimidating. For someone like me who is not much of a seafood eater, it seems to be a heavyweight item on the menus, but it all sounds so good that frankly I’m reconsidering my stance.

This particular recipe appealed on several levels – first, it contains pig and I am very, very fond of cooked pig. Second, it sounded relatively easy and had a new vegetable (that I was ultimately too cheap to purchase) to try as a side dish. Finally, the use of fresh herbs appealed to me. The end result did not disappoint and will, in fact, be made again soon.

 

Herb-roasted Pork Loin
adapted from "Sunday Suppers at Lucques" by Suzanne Goin

You will need:
1/2 c. Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp. thyme leaves, plus 6 sprigs
2 Tbsp. chopped flat leaf (Italian) parsley
1/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil
10 cloves of garlic, smashed
3 lbs. center-cut pork loin*
3 sprigs rosemary, broken into 3" pieces
3 sprigs sage
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, sliced
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

In a shallow baking dish, whisk together the mustard, thyme leaves (not the sprigs!), parsley and 2 Tbsp olive oil. Stir in the garlic and cover the pork loin with the mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

When the pork is nearly out of the oven, return the searing pan to medium-high heat. Allow it a few minutes to get hot then deglaze with chicken stock, water or white wine, or any combination of the three. Bring it to a boil, scraping the browned bits off the bottom. Swirl in 3 Tbsp. butter and set aside.

Green Beans & Spring Onions

You will need:
1 1/2 lbs young, thin green beans, stems removed but the tails left on
3 bunches spring onions**
4 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 tsp. thyme leaves
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
10 small sage leaves***
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Add the green beans to a pot of salted boiling water for 3 minutes, or until tender – crisp, but tender. (if you ever wondered what blanching was, you just did it)

Cut the spring onions 1 inch above the bulb, leaving some green still attached. Trim the roots up as high as you can, but leave them attached, otherwise the onion will seperate and that is a do not want in this scenario. Slice them lengthwise into 1/4" thick wedges. (Mine were on the thin side, so 1/4" was just cut in half.)

Heat a large pan over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Add 2 Tbsp. olive oil into the pan and gently place onions in, cut side down. (for what it’s worth, I just put them in, I’m not willing to be that precise) Season with salt, pepper and thyme, and cook 2 to 3 minutes until they start to brown up a little. Turn them (stir, in my case. again with the precision) using tongs and add in the green beans. Season with salt and pepper again and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes, stirring to combine. Add the butter and sage leaves and cook a few more minutes, tossing to glaze the veggies in the butter and let them get their sage on.

Notes:

- While I see no reason why you couldn’t use dried herbs here, I didn’t include the measurements for them because a) I’d have to look them up and b) such a large portion of the flavor comes from the fresh herbs that it is worthwhile to go to the trouble/expense to have them.

* – Pork loin and pork tenderloin are not the same thing. If you knew this, good on you. If you didn’t, don’t worry, neither did I. Learn something new all the time!

** – Spring onions are also known as green onions or scallions. Why one thing needs three names, I’ll never know, but there you go. I googled so you don’t have to.

*** – My sage leaves were huge, so I sliced up 4 of them into 3 pieces each and called it close enough.