steak & asparagus

I tried two new things tonight. First, I used a steak-preparation idea that I read about on Jaden's Steamy Kitchen some time ago that is purported to turn cheap steak into great steak. You should check her post for the scientific explanation, but basically you use salt to lock in flavor and moisture and such. I would love to tell you that I bought cheap steak as a purely scientific endeavor, but I'm a college student, so we both know that's a lie. The point is, I had cheap steak. I did indeed coat it in garlic, rosemary, and salt, and let it sit, then wash it and pat it dry, as recommended. The texture wasn't great--about like you'd expect from cheap steak--but the flavor was really good. I am looking forward to doing this again with a better cut in the near future.

The other is nowhere near as obscure, although I suppose it is equally science-y: I blanched my asparagus. It turns out that word doesn't mean what I thought it meant--I was under the impression that blanching was like when you toss some broccoli in boiling water for a minute and then pull it out because you want it crispy. Which isn't inaccurate, just incomplete. Apparently one also then has to plunge the vegetable into cold water, halting the cooking. So I boiled the asparagus for about 5 minutes, then put it in a pan full of cold water (into which I ran more, since it heated up very quickly) until the asparagus was just above room temperature. The result was fantastic--soft and fully cooked, but still with some resistance when you bite in. I am going to do this every time I make asparagus, seriously. I cannot recommend this enough.

YMMV, of course, but I was very pleased.

bigass cookies

I stumbled across a new (to me) recipe for chocolate chip cookies last night, and since there was talk of making cookies anyway, I decided to go for it. According to Cooking on the Side, this recipe originally came from a Land O Lakes butter box, so the butter content below should not surprise anyone.

I made this as it is here, and it was pretty good. The dough got really crumbly by the end; I had to squish it pretty hard to get it in to proper blobs for cooking, but the cookies came out well. Very bready, which is a good thing once you get used to it. I am probably going to cut it down to 4 cups of flour next time and see how it works, but for posterity, here is the original:

4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups salted butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 (12-ounce) package (2 cups) semi-sweet chocolate chunks or chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375°F.

Combine flour, baking powder and baking soda in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Combine butter, sugar and brown sugar in a large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping the bowl often, until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla. Continue beating, scraping bowl often, until well mixed. Reduce speed to low. Beat, gradually adding flour mixture, until well mixed. Stir in chocolate chunks.

Drop dough by 1/4 cupfuls, 2 inches apart, onto ungreased cookie sheets (tip: line the sheets with parchment, if you have some). Bake for 10 to 14 minutes or until light golden brown. (Do not overbake.) Let stand 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from cookie sheets.