Barley-Mushroom Risotto

Normally, risotto is a rice dish (in fact, an Italian would say that you can't make risotto unless it's with rice). However, any grain that releases starch and absorbs liquid as it cooks can be made into risotto (or a least a risotto-like porridge). The barley and mushrooms in this recipe give the dish a earthy richness that is almost beefy. You could make this as a main dish for a light supper or it would go great as a side dish to almost any meat - especially steak!

Ingredients

• 4 1/2 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth (I like the vegetable better)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 8 ounces sliced mushrooms
• 3/4 cup uncooked pearl barley
• 1 large red pepper, chopped
• 2 cups packed chopped spinach, kale, or other greens
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (use the good stuff, not from the green can!)
• 1/4 teaspoon (to taste) fresh ground black pepper

Directions

Bring broth to a boil in a saucepan or kettle. Reduce heat to low and keep it hot.

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium high heat until shimmery. Add onion, mushrooms, and a small pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 6-8 minutes, or until the mushrooms have browned and the onions are fully cooked. Add barley and cook for 1 minute. Add 1 cup of broth and simmer, stirring occasionally, until it is almost completely absorbed. Add more broth 1/4 cup at a time, stirring constantly at a simmer until each addition is absorbed before adding the next 1/4 cup. After 20 minutes of this, add bell pepper and continue adding/stirring broth. There should be about 30 minutes total cooking time. When the last addition of broth goes in, add spinach and simmer until the spinach is cooked and the barley is tender. Stir in cheese and black pepper and serve.

Beef with Cabbage and Carrots

Who hasn't had some leftover ground beef that needed to be cooked up? This recipe only takes a few minutes to cook up and uses up leftover meat and vegetables that you were just going to throw out anyways. If you don't like/have carrots and cabbage, you could use bell peppers, broccoli, zucchini, or anything else you would stir-fry.

Ingredients

• 3/4 pound ground beef
• 4 cups shredded cabbage
• 1 large carrot, cut into matchsticks
• 1/2 teaspoon caraway seed
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar (AKA sushi vinegar)

Directions

Brown beef in a large skillet or wok over medium heat. Increase heat to medium-high and add cabbage, carrots, caraway, salt, and pepper. Stir fry for 5-10 minutes, or until the cabbage has softened. Add vinegar and cook for 30 more seconds. Serve immediately with rice.

Super Chocolatey Cookies

Most "chocolate" cookies are not very chocolatey. I believe the problem is that they are normally made from cocoa powder, which contains only chocolate solids. Cookies made from coca powder will not have any cocoa butter, which gives richness and savoriness that is sorely missed. These cookies have no cocoa powder at all - all the chocolate flavor comes from actual chocolate - 3 kinds in fact (semi-sweet, bittersweet, and unsweetened) - complete with the cocoa butter. The presence of all that fat makes these cookies quite fudgy - more like brownie bites than cookies. One important thing to note is that this cocoa butter will crystalize and become grainy if it cools too quickly. To prevent this, it is recommended that you let the cookies cool completely on the baking sheet set on a cooling rack.

Ingredients

• 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips (not chopped bittersweet bar chocolate - the texture won't be right - I prefer Ghiridelli's 60% cacao chips)
• 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature (put cold eggs in hot tap water for 2-3 minutes to warm them up)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (Hershey's are good)

Directions

Create a chocolate melting rig by wrapping a small metal bowl with an electric heating pad and putting that in a large glass bowl. Put the unsweetened and bittersweet chocolate along with the butter in the metal bowl and turn the heating pad on high. Stir every few minutes until the chocolate is smooth and glossy, between 30 and 60 minutes. Remove metal bowl from heat and set aside to cool slightly. If you're in a rush, you can use a double boiler, but the heating pad is a lot less stress.

Beat eggs and sugar in a large mixing bowl with an electric hand mixer on medium-high until very thick and pale, about 4 minutes. Mix in vanilla. Reduce speed to low and mix in chocolate mixture until combined, 30-60 seconds.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Using a large, stiff rubber or silacone spatula, fold the flour mixture and semi-sweet chips into the chocolate-egg mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and let thicken for 20-30 minutes, until the batter looks like thick brownie batter or ganache.

Meanwhile, put the oven racks on the upper- and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper and drop by heaping tablespoonfulls, 2 inches apart (I use a #60 disher). Bake until cookies are shiny and cracked on top, 11-14 minutes, rotating the pans top to bottom and front to back halfway through the cooking time. Let cool completely on the baking sheets set on cooling racks before serving. Makes between 35 and 50 cookies, depending on how heavy you scoop the batter.