Lex Culinaria

The World's Best Cookies!!!

I have a strange collection of little booklet-style cookbooks. Some are from the 40's or 50's. Some are the kind of cookbook that you could write away for off the back of a packet of baking soda. Some were clearly made and sold as a fund raiser for local community or church groups. In all, I'd say I have somewhere around 20 of these little gems. One of them is from the 1995 graduating class fund raiser from my law school. It contains, not just cheesy law-school humour, but cheesy, college student recipes in spades. Some are good. A lot of them use offensive amounts of mayonnaise or Velveeta. But one of the recipes has served as the basis for 12 years of amazing chocolate chip cookies for me.

In 12 years, I don't know that I've managed to stick to the recipe entirely even once, but the results have always been stellar. The trick, in my opinion, is the ground oatmeal which replaces half the flour. It makes for a cookie that tastes like a marriage between an chewy oatmeal cookie and a chocolate chip cookie. Perfect!

The current incarnation looks something like this:

• 1 cup butter, soft
• 1/4 cup vanilla sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 2 1/2 cups rolled oats (whizzed into flour in your blender)
• a splash of milk
• 1 heaping cup walnuts
• 12 oz bag chocolate chips (minus a few chips to eat while you're cooking)
• 1 cup dried cherries

Whip butter and sugars together on high in a stand mixer until fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. mix in eggs and vanilla. Sift together salt, cinnamon, flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and mix in to the butter mixture. If the dough is a little stiff (this will depend on the size of your eggs and the state of your brown sugar) add a little splash (maybe a tablespoon or two) of milk. Mix in the nuts, chocolate and cherries.

Drop by heaping teaspoons full onto a cookie sheet and bake in a 350F oven for approximately 10 minutes - until the edges of the cookies begin to turn a golden brown colour. Remove from oven and let cool on sheets for a few minutes before transferring to cooling racks.

Thai Pumpkin Soup

I really love a nice steamy bowl of pumpkin soup when it's cold outside - it's seasonal, warming and hearty, without being super fatty or carb-y. I usually make a very standard kind of pumpkin soup, and I was feeling a bit bored of that when I hauled up a nice pale-yellow "ghost" pumpkin from out cold room. Despite the fact that I've never really thought of pumpkin as a Thai food, it turned out extremely well with Thai flavours. It was creamy and warming and spicy.

Serves four to six

• 1.5 kilo pumpkin, halved and de-seeded
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 long red chillies, minced
• 1/4 cup Thai basil, minced
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 3 Tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• zest of 1 lime
• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro (reserve out a teaspoon to mince for garnish)
• 3/4 cup coconut milk, plus 2 tablespoons for garnish
• juice of 1 lime

Brush pumpkin halves with oil and bake at 350F for 45 minutes, or zap in the microwave until soft (about 12 minutes). Allow pumpkin to cool for a few minutes on the counter.

Heat oil in large saucepan and fry the onion, basil, red chillies and garlic. Scoop cooked flesh away from shell of pumpkin and add it to the saucepan. Stir in the stock, cilantro, fish sauce, soy sauce and lime zest.

Allow to simmer, uncovered for 15 minutes and then puree with an immersion blender. Stir through the lime juice and coconut milk.

Ladle into bowls and top with coconut milk and minced cilantro.

Serve immediately.