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We need to have a serious talk. I am adamant that we all need to be baking by weight with a kitchen scale instead of by volume with measuring cups. You have heard me scream this many times in my newsletters and I’m screaming it again!
Last week on Wednesday I sent out the recipe for Toasted Oat + Pecan Cookies and on Friday I taught a group of six how to make them in a Zoom class. I provided the recipe in both weight and volume measurements as a way to be accommodating to anyone that might not have a kitchen scale. Well, none of them did and we all, including myself, made the recipe using measuring cups.
If you have been baking with measuring cups your whole life, you may not see a need for switching to a scale. Sure, you don’t need to but I promise it will help you become a better baker. When you scoop dry ingredients into a measuring cup there is a lot of room for error. Flour for example can get packed in more tightly for you than the recipe developer and you can unknowingly add more flour to a recipe. This is what happened to me with the dark brown sugar in my cookies. I scooped and leveled off 3/4 of a cup. I had my scale out and as an experiment, I tossed it in the bowl over the scale to see what it weighed. 80g!!!!!! 3/4 cup of dark brown sugar should be 150g! With a simple scoop, my dark brown sugar wasn’t packed down enough and I was getting half the amount of sugar that the recipe called for.
Right then I had a moment of silent panic. I knew the recipe wouldn’t come out right, I was being watched by six people, and I knew their recipes would probably be off too. I quickly decided this would be an experiment and to just roll with it. The batter didn’t look too bad and was only a little less runny. Some other student’s batters were way too thick. We scooped them, baked them, and then all compared. Instead of spreading significantly, becoming super chewy, and deep brown, my cookies stayed in tight little balls. Their color was lighter and they were cakier than they should have been. Most of the students had the same results.
Brown sugar aids in the overall texture of a cookie. The molasses keeps it moist and chewy. By using almost half the amount, we all ended up with less than ideal textures. Everyone’s cookies tasted fine but they were not the cookies I developed. Baking can be hard and what I told them was that even if something is a little off, your desserts will still taste good and no one will know. So just roll with it! I stand by that BUT by using a scale, you eliminate the possibility of unknowingly adding more or less of an essential ingredient. Please, I beg of you, buy a scale!
This week was the first week of my Easy Summer Grilling recipes in The Kitchen Club. Three flavor-packed and uncomplicated grilling recipes for all levels of grillers. Our first recipe is Grilled + Marinated Zucchini!
For the month of August, you’ll see lots of grilling articles and recipes in The Weekly Recap newsletter too.
Join us in The Kitchen Club to get this recipe, the next two recipes, and become a grill master!
Stuff to Read
Cooking With Paris Is Anti-Aspirational Food Television (Paris Hilton)
14 Things To Do With a Pint of Cherry Tomatoes (Lot’s of recipes!!!)
Recipe Inspo
Grilled Eggplant With Feta and Maras Pepper From 'The Big-Flavor Grill'
Corn and Farro Salad with Tomatoes, Feta, and Mint (Plus two other recipes)
Watch This
I also put apple cider vinegar in my crusts.
Places I ate
We went to Novel for Marco’s birthday last week. I miss fine dining so much. Novel was the best meal I have had out here in a long time. We had been once before when we first moved to KC, it was good then and it’s good now!
We devoured the Hamachi Crudo, Heirloom Tomato Salad, and the Warm Octopus Salad. Marco ordered the Pekin Duck Breast and I had the Lobster Ravioli. I was spooning every last drop of sauce from my Lobster Ravioli out of the bowl. It is tied with the pastrami short rib from Fox & Pearl for the best thing I have eaten this year.
We finished our meal with Tart Cherry Sorbet, an off-menu item they brought for Marco, and Pistachio Pie. The Pistachio Pie was not what I expected at all. I was expecting…nuts. Maybe something pecan pie-ish. Nope. It was a pistachio custard pie topped with whipped cream. My guess is that it was made with pistachio milk or that pistachios were steeped in milk?!
Thing Everybody Needs
Animal Cuteness
Are chickens cute? I think so.
Help!! Next weekend I’ll be in Chicago for a wedding. We only have half a day to explore, where should I eat lunch? Leave your favorite Chicago spots in the comments 🙏🏼.
See you next week, M.
Gene and Georgettis or Joe’s Stone Crab!