[gardener]

First, I'll be cruel and post way below the recipe from last week's NYT for the best choclate chip cookies, ever. The secret is to let the dough sit in the frig for at least 24 hours, but preferably 72. The extra time alows the tiny bit of moisture in the eggs to meld with everything else. The other part of the secret is to make the cookies BIG-- up to 6" across. That way, the edges are crisp, the middle is spongy, and the intermediate area is from paradise. My wife made six of these cookies last night. I ate a piece half an inch by half an inch and it was a sublime, decidedly erotic, nut just gustatory sensual experience. I am resisting eating another sample until my waist gets back down to 33" and my BF to 16%.

Considerably older than everyone in this precinct, I have a long history of weight gain and weight loss. I bet I've lost (and mostly regained) over 1000 pounds cumulatively. My baby pictures show a chubby kid. In elementary school I was pudgy. In high school I'd gain weight and then diet, with such extreme measures as making salad dressings out of vinegar and mineral oil. In the past 30 years, the most I've weighed was 220 (that's obese, at a height of 5'8"!), the least 145 (that was ten years ago, prior to some very scary major surgery). Mostly I alternate between 160 and 180. I keep khakis and jeans in 3 sizes. The usual cycle is two years. Weight gain starts when Halloween rolls around and candy is left over. I weight 160+. Then comes Thanksgiving and... worse for my waist line... the advent of Xmas cookies.My wife makes 30 kinds, all delicious, all very rich. All are intended as gifts for friends and kin, but i munch and nibble, By Xmas I am up to 168, and then, what the hell, might as well start eating the occasional pizza. Hot fudge sundae. Fried chicken... The cycle continues another year, through another cookie baking season, and then, finally, the next July rolls around, shame sets in, and it becomes exquisitely easy to attain the grace of self-discipline. New Jersey, the southern part, really is the garden statee. Tomatoes, blueberries, blackberries, canteloupes, egg plant, peaches--the local farm stands are filled with fresh, delicious,
nutritious, low caloried fruits and vegetables. Who needs a chocolate chip cookie?

In ten days I've lost 4 pounds and an inch in the middle. I'll get down to 160 and 33" by the arrival of autumn. I'll stay pretty much there until October, 1909, when there will be Hershey bars unclaimed by trick or treaters.

I doubt that there's any such thing as permanent weight loss... not as long as I breathe earth's good air, anyway.





Published: July 9, 2008
Adapted from Jacques Torres

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Perfection? Hint: It’s Warm and Has a Secret (July 9, 2008)

Time: 45 minutes (for 1 6-cookie batch), plus at least 24 hours’ chilling

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons
(8 1/2 ounces) cake flour
1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content (see note)
Sea salt.
1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.

4. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.

Yield: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies.

Note: Disks are sold at Jacques Torres Chocolate; Valrhona fèves, oval-shaped chocolate pieces, are at Whole Foods.