Restorative Pork and Cilantro Soup

It's no fun being sick.

No, I'm not oinking, so not to worry.  Since nothing prevents or cures a cold, we can only find comfort in a warm bed, a sympathetic friend and a steaming bowl of nourishing soup.

This particular soup is perfect in it's simplicity of preparation and richness of taste.  Add some freshly steamed rice for extra comfort.

1/2 pound ground pork (lean preferably, otherwise you will spend quite a bit of time skimming fat, something you don't want to do when you're sick.)
1  large bunch fresh cilantro, rinsed and roughly chopped
Water
Soy sauce or salt to taste
White pepper
Cooked rice (optional)

In a medium saucepan, cook ground pork over medium heat, using a wooden spoon to crumble the meat.  Season with salt or soy sauce, then add in cilantro. Pour in just enough water to cover.  Bring to a boil, then cover and let simmer for 15 minutes.  Ladle into a bowl and sprinkle with white pepper, stir and enjoy.  If you have it with rice, first add the cooked rice to the bowl, then sprinkle with white pepper before ladling the soup over it. 
Hope you like it.

Love,

Deb

Another Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Cookbooks and the Interwebz abound with "ultimate" Chocolate Chip Cookie recipes.  And I've tried so many of them: Cooks' Illustrated's, Debbie Fields', Roland Messnier's, classic Toll House to name a few.  But I've always gone back to this one: Sheldon's Mom's Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Sheldon was a buddy of mine back in the when days I was toiling at the USC Seaver Library.  He loved to cook and bake as much as I did, and for one of our staff potlucks, he brough a batch of the best cookies I'd ever eaten.  They were all at once crisp, soft and chewy, and you could actually see the chips.  He said the secret was melting one part butter and one part shortening and beating it with the sugars till fluffy.  The still warm batter allows the chips to "float" on top, so you don't need any of those silly "break the ball of dough in half and twist and smush back together" (sorry, Cooks Illustrated) steps for the chips to be visible in the finished cookie.

I've made some batches with the half butter half shortening formula and some with all butter.  I always thought the half and half recipe made a thicker cookie, but for this post, I decided to make two batches and do a side by side comparison, using my nephew as my guinea pig.

The half-shortening dough was a bit greasier, but they baked up the same.  But did one taste better than the other?  The difference as it turned out, was negligible.  My nephew said that if he HAD to choose, it would be the all-butter

So this is the final recipe - with all butter.  I just hope Sheldon will forgive me.

2 1/2 cups (12.5 oz) all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (two sticks) butter
1 cup (8 oz) brown sugar
1/2 cup (3.5 oz) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 large eggs (preferably room temp)
1 cup (6 oz) chocolate chips
1 cup toffee bits

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Mix together flour, salt, baking soda in medium bowl and set aside.  In small, heavy bottomed saucepan, melt the butter.  Dump brown and white sugars into a large mixing bowl.  Pour melted butter into sugars.  Beat the heck out of it till fluffy.  I use a stand mixer, it makes things so much easier.  If you don't have a stand mixer, use a an electric hand mixer.  If you have to do it manually, use a wire whisk or wooden spoon and really put some muscle into it and show it who's boss.  You need to get the mixture to fluff level.  Add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly.  Add the vanilla and stir some more.  Add the flour mixture and gently stir to combine.  Measure out the chip and toffee bits into one bowl and add to the batter.  Stir gently but thoughly so that chip and bits are evenly distributed.  Scoop by rounded tablespoonsful onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake at 375 for 6 to 8 minutes till golden brown.  They should look crisp around the edges but somewhat soft in the center. 

Note: I like to scoop out portions with my cookie scoop and freeze them in a ziplock bag.  This way I can bake just enough for me, the husband and each of the two kids.  And it's handy for when company shows up unexpectedly.  Just bake them at 325 instead of 375.  They will turn out flatter than if you bake them right after mixing, but they will be crisp around the edges and chewy in the middle.  Mmmmm....