A very late Sweet Melissa Sundays: Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm quite behind on making and posting about this Sweet Melissa Sundays recipe, Chocolate Chip Cookies. Two weekends ago, when the cookies were supposed to have been sitting pretty in the cookie jar on my counter, I had been too busy to post. First it was my boyfriend's graduation from university, and then a bridal shower in my hometown, and then another bridal shower that same weekend. I didn't spend any time in my own kitchen that entire week.

When the week came to a close and I found myself back in my apartment, I was perusing the Sweet Melissa Sundays website to see what recipe I had missed out on. It was a special week, and the announcement came late: Melissa Murphy, the author of the Sweet Melissa Baking Book, had chosen Chocolate Chip Cookies with Toasted Almonds.

How could I resist? I'm a sucker for chocolate chip cookies.


So I set out to make these, a few days late. Unfortunately, I was unable to post them even last week due to internet issues. Well, actually, my landlords turned off the modem and router to save power while they went on vacation - I was very unhappy, to say the least!

Back to the cookies: the batter came together easily. I skipped the toasted almonds, and instead used a mixture of half semi-sweet chocolate chips, and half milk chocolate, which I cut into chunks. I loved the contrast between the milky sweet chocolate chunks and the darker chocolate chips.


The batter itself wasn't very sweet, which meant that the chocolate created a just-sweet-enough cookie, without that cloying sugariness that can make a dessert taste too rich. The downside of this, of course, is that you can eat many cookies in a row without that self-protective guilt kicking in. Great for my tastebuds, but from a health perspective, probably not-so-good.

What I loved most about these cookies, however, was the texture. I've been looking for a chewy, thin chocolate chip cookie, and I finally found it. Even days later, when the cookie had lost its crispy edge, it was still perfectly chewy.


A big thank you goes out to Melissa Murphy for this choice - I've found my new go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe. Sorry, Anna Olson. Check out her post on Sweet Melissa Sundays for the recipe.

Shrimp and Tomato Risotto

When I was in Stockholm in April, I had the most amazing seafood risotto. Rice, cooked al dente, in a light tomato- and seafood-infused broth, served with a generous portion of shrimp, calamari, and scallops. Like many things in Stockholm, it was outrageously expensive, but it was worth every penny - and not just because it was on my employer's tab (although it didn't hurt!).


The risotto that I've made and ordered before has had a much creamier consistency, and it was nice to try something different. Although it was probably richer than risotto I've made at home in terms of its ingredients (restaurants generally love to cook with plenty of fat), its light consistency made it feel like a healthy meal.

When I got home, I found myself craving seafood risotto. Although I couldn't find a recipe that would yield a lighter risotto, like that which I had in Stockholm, I decided that this Shrimp and Tomato Risotto from Food Network sounded delicious - it would definitely satisfy my seafood risotto craving.


While a traditional risotto is made (using shrimp stock instead of the traditional chicken stock), tomatoes are blended with freshly sauteed shrimp and cream. When the risotto is nearly cooked, the shrimp mixture is added. More sauteed shrimp is added to the final risotto as a garnish.


The result is a rich, creamy risotto with shrimp and tomato flavour in every bite.

For the Shrimp and Tomato Risotto recipe, click here. A recipe for shrimp stock isn't included. You can use store-bought fish or shrimp stock bouillon, or you can check out this recipe, which yields a basic shrimp stock.

Maple BBQ Salmon and Grilled King Oyster Mushrooms

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to receive a request to host a dinner party featuring True North Salmon as the main course.

As I'm living away from my friends and family while I complete my internship, any excuse to spend time with them is hard to turn down. My family and I are also huge salmon fans, so there was no way I could turn down the request! It would have been salmon-lover-sacrilege.

I travelled to London on the weekend of June 5, a huge box of three freshly-delivered salmon halves in tow, to host the party. The afternoon of the party, my boyfriend and I spent some time portioning out the salmon into individual filets. Actually, my boyfriend was kind enough to do the portioning, while I put the excess salmon into freezer bags for our future enjoyment.

My niece was up visiting my brother and sister-in-law that weekend, so they suggested that we hold the party at their place. They're both fantastic cooks, so I knew that though we were bringing the salmon, potatoes for baking, and dessert, they'd probably put together some awesome side dishes.


For their part, my sister-in-law made a nice side salad with homemade vinaigrette, while my brother made spicy, Asian-inspired Grilled King Oyster Mushrooms.


We made Maple BBQ Salmon, a recipe from True North. The salmon marinated in a mixture of maple syrup, fresh garlic, and garlic salt for over 30 minutes. When it was done, we put it on the barbecue until it was light pink and flaky. It was perfectly tender, if a little bland (extra salt really made a difference). My three year old niece, who I don't think has had salmon before, loved it. She doesn't usually have much of an appetite, but when she began to get full, we asked her to eat more potatoes -- instead she finished her salmon. A girl after my own heart.


All in all, it was so much fun to have an informal dinner party with family. All of the elements - the salad, baked potatoes, grilled mushrooms, and of course, salmon - made for a well-rounded and extremely filling meal. We barely had room for dessert (peach cobbler), but somehow we were able to polish that off, too.

Maple BBQ Salmon
4 servings

4 Fresh Atlantic Salmon portions
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
1/8 tsp. ground pepper

1. Mix the maple syrup, garlic, garlic salt, and pepper.
2. Place salmon portions in a shallow dish, and coat with the maple syrup mixture. Cover the dish, and marinate salmon portions in the refrigerator 30 minutes, turning over at 15 minutes.
3. Drain the salmon fillets and discard used marinade.
4. Season salmon with salt and pepper.
5. BBQ the salmon portions over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until cooked to taste.

Here's a link to the mushroom recipe we used from Off the Broiler - keep in mind it was very spicy, so you may want to use less ginger or hot pepper:
Grilled King Oyster Mushrooms

Tuesdays With Dorie: Honey-Peach Ice Cream

This week's Tuesdays With Dorie pick is Honey-Peach Ice Cream, chosen by Tommi of Brown Interior.

I'm always happy to break out my ice cream maker and try a new recipe, and it's not something that I get to do as often as I'd like to. But when you're asked to make something as sweet-sounding as Honey-Peach Ice Cream, how can you resist? It seemed like it would be perfect summer ice cream. And I think it is.

Here are a few reasons why:

It doesn't require you to turn on your oven.

You just have to simmer fresh peaches in honey and blend them with a very simple custard, then freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker. Any dessert that takes advantage of fresh summer fruit gets bonus points from me.


In the final product, the honey flavour was subtle to me, but I thought it perfectly complemented the bright flavour of the peaches.

I think the honey-soaked peaches would also be perfect to make frozen yogurt with. The tartness of the yogurt would most definitely enhance the peach flavour. I can't wait to try out this idea in the future.

To see how my fellow TWD bakers did, you can check out the blogroll. For the recipe, visit Tommi of Brown Interior. Thanks for the great choice, Tommi!

Tuesdays With Dorie: Parisian Apple Tartlet

This week's Tuesdays With Dorie pick is Parisian Apple Tartlet, chosen by Jessica of My Baking Heart.


This is probably the easiest dessert I have ever put together. It goes like this:

1. Roll out puff pastry into a thin sheet and cut into a circle.
2. Halve an apple, cut this half into four pieces, and place on the puff pastry circle.
3. Dot with brown sugar and butter.
4. Bake.

That's basically it. No mixing. No dough-making. Incredibly easy.

One problem, though. The brown sugar and butter slid off and turned the bottom of the tart into a blackened mess. I caught it halfway through and slid the tart away from the charred pool of sugar, but then most of the leftover sugar also turned into a pile of char.

Next time, I'll have to make sure the puff pastry is as cold as possible (I think the pastry didn't rise enough to keep the sugar and butter in) and put the pieces of apple together to create a wider border of pastry.

The flavour of this tartlet (besides the slightly burnt flavour, of course) is worth a second chance. Simple but classic, with its homey baked apple and brown sugar taste, it would be perfect for an impromptu dessert for just one - or a dinner party, for that matter.

Just be careful where your brown sugar ends up!

Check out My Baking Heart for the full recipe.