Girl Detective

Before seeing MacBeth last week, my husband G. Grod and I had dinner at Nick and Eddie’s in Loring Park.

They have a new fall menu that’s not up on their site yet. I had braised beef cheek over a root-vegetable puree accompanied by pan-roasted brussel sprouts, all in an intensely flavored house-made reduction of the braising liquid and drizzled with a mustard chantilly sauce. The beef was so tender I cut it with my fork. The whole dish was warm, comforting, and a delicious mix of color, texture and flavor. I sopped up every drop of it with the restaurants wonderful brioche.

For dessert, I had a thick, moist slice of spice cake drizzled with creme fraiche and atop a pool of house-made caramel sauce. The spice cake was rich with the flavor of molasses, and left a pleasant tingle of ginger to let me know it meant business. G. Grod had the chocolate roll-up, which is what Ho-Ho’s dream of growing up to be. Rich chocolate cake surrounds a thick whipped cream filling that tastes faintly of vanilla and is a brilliantly non-sweet counterpoint to the cake.

If you’re craving fall comfort food of the first order, I highly recommend Nick and Eddie’s.

I am remiss in posting this review of the delightful Terra, which my husband G. Grod and I visited on our recent trip to the Carolinas. G’s mom, aunt and grandmother kindly agreed to wrangle the boys so G. Grod and I could go out to dinner and celebrate our wedding anniversary a few weeks early. There wasn’t a great deal of information about restaurants in South Carolina; Zagat’s had hardly anything. But I found Terra online, and their focuses of local, seasonal and organic ingredients and recipes sounded promising.

Our dinner more than fulfilled that promise. To start, we had the “Quack” Madame, a salad with duck confit and a quail egg, and the Frisee aux Lardon. Both were rich, warm salads that perfectly suited the cool, rainy, early-fall weather. The Quack was especially nice, as the quail egg yolk, when pierced, ran over the salad creating yet another complementary flavor and texture.

For entrees, I had a perfectly prepared NC fish, pan sauteed and served over a sweet pea risotto. G. Grod had a meltingly tender lamb shoulder, and we had the lovely experience of both insisting that we liked our own entree the best.

For dessert, we had white peach pastries and a pecan pie cannily paired with a sweet corn ice cream. The pie was very good, but that ice cream shot it into the stratosphere. And the peach pastries were what Hostess or McDonald’s fruit pies might dream of growing up to be–hot in the middle, crisp and flaky on the outside, and utterly delicious. Our helpful and personable server, Ryan, told us what the secret ingredient in the dough was that made the pastry so perfect. I’ll keep their secret, but will say it’s NOT for vegetarians.

After we’d finished, chef and owner Mike Davis came out to introduce himself, and we talked a bit about the meal, the ingredients, and how we’d found out about Terra.

I know it’s odd to find a SC restaurant reviewed on a Minnesota weblog, but if you’re ever in the Columbia area of the Carolinas, I strongly recommend that you seek out Terra. It’s a lovely restaurant, and we had a lovely meal.

The Minneapolis Heights Theater is screening a double feature of Citizen Kane and The Magnificent Ambersons from Monday October 20 to Wednesday October 22, 2008. You can see one or both for $8. If you go, be sure to get their fabulous popcorn with REAL butter, or a treat from the Dairy Queen next door.

Is it wrong that I think the Pumpkin Pie Blizzard sounds really good? Even I, though, the mistress of overkill, think buttered popcorn and a blizzard is over the top.

Good news for Nordeasters: A new Thai restaurant, Sen Yai Sen Lek: Thai Rice & Noodles, opens this week on 2422 Central Ave NE. The name means “Big Noodle Little Noodle” and will feature a menu influenced by Bankgkok street food. Guests can eat in, take out, or reserve for larger parties. Chef/owner Joe Hatch-Surisook and his wife, Holly, are Northeast residents. They are sourcing many products locally and plan to build new relationships with local growers and producers. Stop in to support their new venture!

I burned myself out baking, constructing and decorating a dinosaur cake for Drake’s fifth birthday. So for his preschool celebration I ordered a cake–white cake, white frosting with pink balloons and writing that said simply, “Drake is 5″.

Not only were the bakery women and customers really sweet to Drake when we picked up the cake, but not one piece was left after preschool. So there’s no need to notify Cake Wrecks, the hilarious site documenting ill-conceived or poorly executed cakes. (Link from ALoTT5MA)

As I’ve mentioned already, Drake turned five recently. We had a party with friends and family in PA a few days prior, and he requested a dinosaur cake. Here’s what I made. While not as pretty as the model I worked from, I was pleased with the result, especially the white gumdrop teeth and pale green frosting, which I made by mixing pureed fresh spinach into a vanilla buttercream.

As soon as he got home from work, my husband G. Grod, 5yo Drake, 2.5yo Guppy and I piled in the car and headed west of Minneapolis to where G and I first lived when we moved here ten years ago, St. Louis Park. First, we went to Half Price Books, and found a huge pile of delightful books and dvds, all an extra 20% off. Then we went to Noodles and Company for supper (I love the Mushroom Stroganoff with Sriracha sauce), and Ben & Jerry’s for ice cream (I never get anything else besides Chocolate Therapy). We took a walk around part of Lake Calhoun, then headed home to get the boys ready for bed, during which Guppy peed in the potty for the second time, ever. Then G. and I watched an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer from Season 2, “The Dark Age.”

It was a wonderful evening.

5yo Drake and I enjoy different things at the fair. He wants to ride rides, watch rides, and eat cotton candy and caramel apples. I want to watch the chef demonstrations and food panels, visit the Fine Arts and Creative Activities buildings, eat a fish taco, drink minty lemonade and get a mocha frappe. Fortunately, there were a few things we agreed on and shared:

Fresh peach and pluot
Cedar Summit cups milk
Tom Thumb mini donuts
Lingonberry sno cone
Tater Tots on a stick
Wild rice hamburger
Roasted corn on the cob
1919 root beer
Nitro ice-cream cone

Next year I think we’ll go once as a family, and I’ll get a sitter so I can go by myself on MN Cooks Day.

I’m going to Minnesota Cooks day at the State Fair today. You?

Our little family of four went to the MN State Fair this morning, foregoing the double-wide stroller so we could park n ride. I found that the closest park n ride to us, Highcrest Park, isn’t ideal. The buses aren’t frequent to and from even though they’re listed as running every 15, they run less often. We’ve done better at the surface lots at the U of MN. They’re a bit farther to drive, but a much shorter bus ride, with much more frequent buses.

It’s very hard to keep the boys moving; they’re prone to stop and stare. While some might romanticize this–oh, look, they’re stopping to smell the “roses” of the fair!–it can be quite frustrating for G. Grod and me, who aren’t mesmerized by dirty water trickling into a drain, bumper cars, and watching the sky ride cars go ’round. These are ironic, too, in that 5yo Drake refused to visit supposedly kid-friendly things like the baby animal barn. The boys’ initially slow pace wound down as the morning wore on, but they LOVED the river raft ride, kidway rides and sky ride. We ate pork chop on a stick–LOVE!–french fries and a strawberry malt for breakfast. For lunch, a pronto pup, fried cheese curds, lefse with butter and brown sugar, jerk sausage on a stick, birch beer and a pickle pop, the latter of which was, not surprisingly, a mistake. And I was careless with my sunscreen–my nose is red.

I still haven’t been to fine arts building, or the little farm hands with Drake, and there are still some favorite foods I haven’t gotten too, like the mocha on a stick, corn, lingonberry ice cream, Sweet Martha’s cookies, and mini donuts. Plus the Nitro ice cream and handmade tater tots sound good.

Oh, so much food and so much to see. So not-enough money and time.

I returned to the fair last night for Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, who played live at the free bandshell. It was a great show with fabulous music and huge energy. They played again tonight, so I hope a lot of people got to see it tonight, too.

And I got corn fritters with honey butter and a root beer, to accompany the show.

What? It’s not Christmas? Well, maybe that’s the most wonderful time for you, but for me, it’s the Minnesota State Fair.

It’s opening day, and I’m going with the boys and our babysitter. I’m going to have to clean up my food plan from past years and be more conscious when I’m with the kids. (This year’s food map, here.)

Idea: 1. Big, strong food, e.g., wild rice dog or Sausage Sisters, 2. Snack food, e.g., cheese curds or french fries, 3. Treat, e.g., mini donuts or Sweet Martha cookies.

Why, yes, I _do_ have a talent for rationalization. I think it’s all those years studying and working in marketing.

Added later, post trip: I was brave and didn’t take the stroller for 5yo Drake and 2.5yo Guppy. We used the park-n-ride on 6th Street at the U of M. But as the boys got tired they got slower and fussier, so the trip to the parking lot felt endless. We ate a Twisted Sister from Sausage Sisters, a pickle on a Stick, Mouth Trap cheese curds, drank a green apple soda, had cider freezies and a lemonade for the road.

Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings are playing, for free!, at the bandshell tonight, so I may go back if G. Grod is up for putting the kids to bed. I think the fair trip will have sufficiently tired them out.

From Food Alliance Midwest:

A Farm to Table Tour
6th Annual Minnesota Cooks Event at State Fair

SAINT PAUL, Minn.– Food Alliance Certified growers, extraordinary Minnesota chefs, and hungry fair-goers will all come together on Tuesday, August 26th at the 6th annual Minnesota Cooks program at the State Fair. Minnesota Cooks is a unique event that celebrates the fabulous foods produced right here in Minnesota and educates consumers about the importance of supporting locally grown food and sustainable agriculture through discussions and demonstrations with area chefs, farmers, and celebrities. The program will begin at 8:30 AM with a special, first-time breakfast show and will continue with a show at the top of each hour from 10:00 AM until 5:00 PM on the Minnesota Cooks Stage in Carousel Park, just west of the Grandstand Ramp.

The Minnesota Cooks event features 16 of Minnesota’s premier chefs who will present 45-minute demonstrations using ingredients supplied by sustainable Minnesota farms. During their presentations, chefs will interact with charismatic emcee Scott Pampuch, chef and owner of Corner Table Restaurant in Minneapolis, about their award-winning recipes and will engage in rich discussions about the sustainable philosophies they hold for their restaurants. During the last 10 minutes of each 45-minute demo, local celebrities as well as audience members will have the opportunity to sample the delicious dishes created. Between each show, Light of the Moon, an eclectic, bubbly string quartet from Saint Paul, will serenade the audience with their wide variety of songs, serving up blues, gospel, and bluegrass.

“The Great Minnesota Get-Together is the perfect venue for the Minnesota Cooks program because it brings farmers, consumers, and chefs together to showcase the great food we have to choose from right here in our state,” said Doug Peterson, Minnesota Farmers Union President. “With the growing energy costs and concerns, Minnesota Cooks also highlights ways you can use local resources to reduce those costs while also contributing to our local communities.”

Available for complimentary distribution at the event will be the beautiful and informative Minnesota Cooks 16-month calendar, produced by Renewing the Countryside. The calendar is packed with stunning photography and enticing recipes and will weave the meaningful stories characteristic of chef/grower relationships.

Participating chefs, many of who will be available for greetings and calendar signings during the event include:

Judi Barsness, Chez Jude, Grand Marais
Anna Christoforides, Gardens of Salonica, Minneapolis
JD Fratzke, The Strip Club, St. Paul
Jorge Guzman, Tejas Restaurant, Edina
Brian Hauke, Red Stag Supper Club, Minneapolis
Nathalie Johnson, Signature Cafe, Minneapolis
Jeff Klemetsrud, Savories Bistro, Stillwater
Donna Lovett, Marriott City Center, Minneapolis
Mike Phillips, The Craftsman, Minneapolis
Alex Roberts, Restaurant Alma, Minneapolis
JP Samuelson, jP American Bistro, Minneapolis
Nick Schneider, Cafe Brenda, Minneapolis
Tracy Singleton & Marshall Paulsen, Birchwood Cafe, Minneapolis
Carla Blumberg, Chester Creek Cafe, Duluth
Dick Trotter, Trotter’s Cafe, St. Paul
Lucia Watson, Lucia’s Restaurant, Minneapolis

Minnesota Cooks is sponsored in part by AURI and is co-presented by Minnesota Farmers Union, Food Alliance Midwest, and Renewing the Countryside.
For more information about Minnesota Cooks, please visit the website at www.minnesotacooks.org or contact Jill McLaughlin of Food Alliance Midwest at 651-209-3382 or e-mail info@minnesotacooks.org.

Minnesota Farmers Union (www.mfu.org) is a nonprofit membership-based organization
working to protect and enhance the economic interests and quality of life of family farmers and ranchers, as well as rural communities.

Food Alliance Midwest (www.foodalliance.org) is a nonprofit, third-party certification program for environmentally friendly and socially responsible agricultural practices, and is dedicated to promoting the expanded use of sustainable farming systems in the Midwest. Food Alliance Midwest, a joint project of Cooperative Development Services and the Land Stewardship Project, is an affiliate of Food Alliance, based in Portland, OR.

AURI (www.auri.org), created and supported by the Minnesota state legislature, is a unique and innovative nonprofit corporation working to enhance Minnesota’s economy through the development of new uses and new markets for the state’s agricultural products.

Renewing the Countryside (www.renewingthecountryside.org) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide inspiration, ideas, and assistance to individuals and communities looking for sustainable ways to strengthen their rural communities and reduce poverty.

On last Sunday’s episode of Mad Men, “Three Sundays”, Don Draper’s son Bobby asked what Don’s father had liked. Don, surprised by the seeming randomness of the question, paused, then answered, “Ham…and candy that tasted like violets, and came in a “beautiful purple and silver package.”

Interestingly, and I suspect deliberately on the part of the writers, many watchers thought Don said the candy tasted like “violence,” since his dad was physically abusive. (Link at Videogum, plus the clip.) Also interesting, because violet candy in a beautiful wrapper seems so incongruous for a ham-lovin’, child-beatin’ man.

I’d never heard of the mints; I found out they were Choward’s Violet Mints by reading the comments for the episode recap at What’s Alan Watching. Then, less than 48 hours later, I found the violet mints by a cash register in Philadelphia International Airport. On impulse, I bought them. The package is lovely, but the smell, especially to a sensitive schnoz like mine, is too strong. It permeated the rest of the food in the bag. It looks like lavender soap, and the taste is not unpleasant, though it’s floral and not minty. If you like chamomile or Earl Grey tea, you might like the mints. But I’m guessing that most people will feel similarly to Figaroo, who reviewed them at Writers/Artists Snacking at Work.

If you’re flying into or out of Philly, you can find them at Cibo Express in Terminal E.

I scanned the board at the coffee shop, but didn’t see what I wanted. The woman at the register waited for my order.

“Can I get a depth charge?” I asked, not surprised when she furrowed her brow and wanted to know what it was.

“A cup of coffee with a shot in it.”

“Oh,” she smiled. “We call that a red eye. Where are you from?”

Minnesota, I told her. She placed my order, then had another question.

“What do you call it when it has TWO shots in it?”

“A double depth charge. What about you?”

She laughed. “A _black_ eye.”

Vive la difference.

Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential received good reviews when it was published in 2000. I thought, “I’d like to read that.” Then I watched a few episodes of his Food Network “A Cook’s Tour“, and was put off by his on-air persona. But my favorite local food writer wrote a positive article about him, and his book was turned into a decent, though canceled, sitcom (now available on DVD). I thought I’d give the book another chance. Then a few years went by. A friend lent me the book. My husband lent it to someone else. I got it back, and finally read it. And I wish I’d read it way back when.

I’m now a fan of Bourdain as a guest star on “Top Chef” or from his Travel Channel show “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations,” for which he has a blog. From what I’ve read, part of the the unlikeability of Bourdain’s former Food Network show was about its production, not its star. His book is written in the acerbic, funny, and in-your-face provocative way that he comes across in person.

What most people don’t get about professional-level cooking is that it is not at all about the best recipe, the most innovative presentation, the most creative marriage of ingredients, flavors and textures; that, presumably, was all arranged long before you sat down to dinner. Line cooking – the real business of preparing the food you eat – is more about consistency, about mindless, unvarying repetition, the same series of tasks performed over and over and over again in exactly the same way. The last thing a chef wants in a line cook is an innovator …. Chefs require blind, near-fanatical loyalty, a strong back and an automaton-like consistency of execution under battlefield conditions.

The essays that make up the book alternate between personal anecdotes, behind-the-scenes looks at chefs and line cooking, and advice on food–don’t eat fish on Mondays, go to brunch or order meat well done, and own one good chef’s knife rather than a big block of mediocre blades. They are loosely arranged in the order of a multi-course dinner. “Loose” is the key term here, because it wasn’t always clear to me why some essays were in particular “courses,” and they did not flow chronologically.

In the eight years since this book was published, much of what he notes has become common knowledge, so the shock value it must have had has lessened. To be fair, though, some of the explosion of food knowledge and appreciation of fine dining is likely due to this popular book. I was both entertained, and a little disappointed in the book. I enjoyed the anecdotes, but they never delved much below surface level. I learned about food, though a lot in the book I knew already. This book was of its moment, and momentous in the changes it helped inspire. Eight years later it’s still good, but perhaps more culturally significant in retrospect than currently relevant.

Normally, I’m anti-gadget. They clutter the house, they break, they create more work than they save. Yet I’ve been very happy with three recent purchases:

Cherry pitter: 2yo Guppy doesn’t have to negotiate the pits, and both he and 4yo Drake love to use it–it’s a new favorite reward for good behavior. We eat Door County cherries straight, or use them in homemade vanilla ice cream (like this recipe from Baking Beauties) with Potion 9 chocolate on top. Mmm.

Mandoline: A $10 purchase at Target, this made-in-China one is flimsy, but it’s getting lots of use in spite of that. The thin slicer attachment does great work on radishes (for eating with sweet butter on fresh bakery bread), cucumbers, and carrots for salads. When it breaks, I think I’m likely to spring for a better-made one.

Lemon/Lime juicer: I’ve used a stainless juicer with basin, a Robocop-lookin’ thing, and a reamer over a sieve over a bowl. But this thing gets maximum juice and maximum flavor from both lemons and limes. I think it’s strong enough to get out some of the oil from the rind. Great for guacamole:

Guacamole (from a recipe from Cooks Illustrated)

Makes about 1 1/2 cups
2 small avocados , ripe, (preferably Haas)
1 tablespoon minced red onion or scallion
1 small clove garlic , minced or pressed through garlic press
1/2 small jalapeño chile , minced (about 1 1/2 teaspoons), ribs and seeds removed to temper heat
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro or Italian parsley leaves
Table salt
1 tablespoon lime juice from 1 lime

1. Halve 1 avocado, remove pit, and scoop flesh into medium bowl. Using fork, mash lightly with onion, garlic, jalapeño, cilantro, and 1/8 teaspoon salt until just combined.

2. Halve and pit remaining avocado. Using a dinner knife, carefully make 1/2-inch cross-hatch incisions in flesh, cutting down to but not through skin, (see illustrations below). Using a soupspoon, gently scoop flesh from skin; transfer to bowl with mashed avocado mixture. Sprinkle lime juice over and mix lightly with fork until combined but still chunky. Adjust seasoning with salt, if necessary, and serve. (Can be covered with plastic wrap, pressed directly onto surface of mixture, and refrigerated up to 1 day. Return guacamole to room temperature, removing plastic wrap just before serving.)

From Apartment Therapy’s food site, The Kitchn:

Fridge-Clearing Avocado Soup:
serves 4 as a soup course, 16 or more as an amuse bouche

2 ripe avocados
2 cups spinach leaves, stems removed
1 cup plain yogurt
1 cup milk
small handful cherry tomatoes (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup chicken broth
juice of 1/2 lemon (about 2 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon fine salt
small handful basil leaves
coarse salt, like Maldon or Fleur de Sel and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Place everything but a few tomatoes and the coarse salt into a blender and purée, gradually increasing the speed until soup is smooth. Adjust with more milk or broth if soup is too thick.

Serve immediately, or chill for an hour, topped with a few thin slices of tomato and a sprinkling of coarse salt. To serve as an amuse bouche, pour into shot glasses, or other small cordial glassware and top with a brunoise (tiny dice) of tomato and salt.

This was a great outline, since it was so hot last night that I didn’t feel like turning on the oven or the stove. Instead I got out the food processor and threw in a little of everything that I had, which is a lot after a good trip to the farmers market last weekend. And I didn’t worry about what I didn’t have (spinach) or forgot (milk) It turned out great, though the 2yo and 4yo still wouldn’t eat it, even after we told them it was a smoothie, and served it to them in a cup with a straw. They’re too clever by half. Here’s what I used:

avocados
cucumbers, peeled and seeded
chopped parsley, chives, dill
chopped scallions
garlic
juice of 1/2 lime
cherry tomatoes
yogurt
broth
salt
Tbl. pesto

Along with many NE Minneapolis residents, we are frequent flyers at Punch Pizza on Hennepin. During the summer especially, I long for an ice-cream finish to the Neapolitan-style pizza and salad. I was delighted to discover that Kramarczuk’s across the street carries a few flavors of Izzy’s ice cream. Izzy’s owners learned their trade in Italy, so their ice cream is very much in the tradition of gelato, and much better than the supposedly authentic but actually gummy and kinda yucky gelato at the coffee shop near Punch. Thus it’s a good match for Punch pizza, though perhaps incongruous at the Eastern European sausage shop. The ice cream is vegetarian, though, as are the many international candies and treats.

Punch has a blog, and recently addressed the hot topic of how best to enjoy their pizza at home.

Last week, the New York Times ran an article on the pursuit of the “perfect” chocolate chip cookie, and included a recipe adapted from chocolatier Jacques Torres (Link from ALoTT5MA). It touched on people’s obsessions with the cookie, as well as things that can be done to tinker with the classic, back-of-the-Nestle-bag recipe.

Torres, for example, refrigerates his dough for 36 hours before baking. Food scientist Shirley Corriher, author of the excellent Cookwise and the upcoming Bakewise, laughed when she heard this, and said it was a clever way to dry out the dough and bind the flour and butter, thus creating a better-textured thick cookie that’s crisp on the outside and chewy in the middle.

Of course, I tried this recipe. I happened to have both cake and bread flour in the pantry, since those were the two types specified, rather than the more easily found all purpose. I used Guittard semi-sweet chips (which my grocery co-op sells in bulk), rather than spending $20+ on either of the chocolates the recipe called for, here and here. And because the timing was inconvenient, I made one batch about 31 hours after refrigeration, and the other about 47. The latter batch browned more nicely and turned out better. The earlier batch tasted more like sugar cookies (albeit very good ones) with chocolate chips. The latter batch tasted like excellent chocolate chip cookies. Even so, I probably won’t make this recipe again. The two special flours, plus the long refrigeration time are inconvenient. Even worse, I thought, was how difficult it was to scoop out the refrigerated dough. I tried letting it warm a bit, but that produced the lightest cookies in the bunch.

Instead, I’m returning to what has been my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe for about three years, Pam (not Pamela!) Anderson’s Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies. Making the dough is easy (though use unbleached all purpose; there’s no reason for bleached). Rather than refrigerating the dough, she says to scoop out dough balls, freeze them for at least 30 minutes, then bake first at 400F, then finish at 350F. It has a few more steps than the back-of-the-bag recipe, but it’s well worth it. The cookie, as promised, delivers puff, crisp, and chew. It browns nicely without having to wait 36 HOURS! as in the Torres recipe. Also, it’s a marvelous vehicle for experimentation with additions other than chocolate chips or chunks. I’ve even added some oats and wheat bran before with excellent results. Further, the dough balls can be refrigerated for a long time. I’ve made a batch after thirty minutes, then another weeks later. This is a versatile recipe with a few weird twists that produces great results without long waits, specialty flours, or expensive chocolate.

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies by Pam Anderson from USA Weekend

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 tsp. salt
14 Tbs. butter (2 sticks minus 2 Tbs.), cut into chunks
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbs. flavorless oil, such as vegetable or canola
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips or 8 ounces good-quality bittersweet or semisweet chocolate cut into 1/4-inch chunks, about 1 1/2 cup
OR
1 cup each chocolate chunks or chips and 1 cup toasted nuts (pecans, walnuts, unsalted peanuts or macadamias)

Hot tip: If you have a 3/4-cup measuring cup, it’s the only one you’ll need. The sugars measure 3/4 cup each, the chip quantity is 1 1/2 cups (3/4 cup times 2), and the flour is 2 1/4 cups (3/4 cup times 3).

Mix flour, baking powder and baking soda in a medium bowl; set aside. Mix eggs, vanilla and salt in a small bowl; set aside. Microwave butter on high power until just melted but not hot, 30 to 45 seconds; set aside. Mix brown and granulated sugars in a large bowl. Add butter and oil; stir until smooth. Add egg mixture and stir until smooth and creamy. Add dry ingredients and stir until smooth. Stir in chocolate and optional nuts. Using a 1 1/2-ounce (3 Tbs.) ice cream scoop, spoon 16 dough balls onto a pan that will fit in your freezer. (Don’t worry if the dough balls are crowded. They pull apart when frozen.) Freeze until dough is hard, about 30 minutes. (Once dough balls are frozen, they can be stored in freezer bags up to 3 months and baked as desired.)

Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to upper middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Working in half batches, place 8 frozen dough balls onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake until set, but not brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Continue to bake until cookies are golden-brown around the edges and lightly brown on the top, about 10 minutes longer. Let cookies cool on cookie sheet. Repeat, preheating oven to 400 degrees again before baking second batch.

Cookies can be stored in an airtight container up to 5 days.

Servings: 16 large cookies.

ADDED LATER: Boing Boing discusses Ideas in Food’s experiment with vacuum sealing the NYT recipe’s dough, which significantly reduced the 36-hour refrigeration. The vacuum-sealed dough looked much different than what I’d made, which was significantly lighter in color. And the cookies looked different also. Theirs were browner, but high in the middle and thin on the edges. Mine (see above) were a uniform 1/4 inch from center to edge.