Chicken nuggets (my way)

Chicken nuggets, besides being one of the "signature" items on the menu of the most popular fast food chain (no need to name it), are also present in most of the kids menus all over the world. Because almost all children (and often also parents) love them; except my son and maybe few other kids in the world (excluding vegetarians of course). In particular he doesn't like those nuggets made using bite sized pieces of chicken, where the taste and texture of the meat is fully recognizable even if they are covered in breadcrumbs, usually very salty and deep-fried. But my son actually dislikes almost all kinds of meat and fish and also cheese: I would say he is unconsciously vegetarian, and he would have pasta, then pasta and more pasta, both for lunch and dinner (he is really Italian!).

But when I made these chicken nuggets, beyond any expectations, he liked them, so I want to share the recipe for those moms looking for different ways of presenting meat to their children, especially if like my son are not meat and chicken lovers.

Raspberry - almond blondies

I admit that the first time I heard of blondies (sigh, how long ago it was... my first stay in the States) I thought they were a flat cake, cut into squares, made with white chocolate. And I was completely wrong! But forgive me, I am Italian and this sweet doesn't belong to Italian tradition. Actually now many "foreign" sweets, as well as many other dishes, are popular in Italy too, and sometimes are even more appreciated than local ones, especially by follower of food trends: first cupcakes, then macarons, now something else. But blondies, unlike their dark cousins, are not much familiar to people. Maybe in future ... who knows? They are good indeed, and also easy to make.
I don't know exactly neither their origin and the story behind them, if there is one, nor their relation with brownies. But I think they deserve a try. Whereas brownies flavor depends, obviously, on chocolate, blondies have a molasses flavor, coming from brown sugar combined with butter, that I like even if some recipes are too sweet for my personal, and Italian, taste (actually most of the American desserts tend to be too sweet for me).

The recipe for these raspberry-almond blondies comes, ça va sans dire, from an American cookbook, "Cookies" by Martha Stewart, from which I take inspiration sometimes. But. as usual, I adapted the original recipe to my personal taste: first of all I cut (much actually) the amount of sugar and this means less sweet but also less chewy, more cakey blondies; then, since I am not a fan of nuts, I didn't put any sliced almond into the batter, as requested by the recipe, but just sprinkled some on top, all over raspberries; and finally I added to the batter some chopped white chocolate whose sweetness perfectly pairs with raspberries sourness. And these italianized  blondies came out very good, not too sweet, soft and delicate, perfect with a good cup of jasmine tea.

Mixed Berries and Apple Muffins

Like for these soft "cookie-buns" with milk chocolate chunks that I published a few weeks ago, this recipe was not intended for the blog because somehow improvised with ingredients I had on hand and, most important of all, conceived just with the intention of preparing something healthy and yummy for my child's "merenda" (this is how in Italy we call kids afternoon snack). Instead of giving him simply an apple, as I often do, I wanted to use apples as the main ingredient of a more nutritious, yet light and sane, snack.  I had at home some green apples (I am not a fan of their sour taste, I don't even know why I bought them, maybe just to change: I always buy Golden apples or red apples, like Gala, but rarely Granny Smith) and also frozen mixed berries that I wanted to combine. Since I wanted to put in place this idea straightaway, I searched for help on the internet, which is perfect if you have only a little time (I love referring to cooking books or magazines, but searching for inspiration there requires much more time than putting some key-words on Google); I hope that my work on this blog could help people who like me search for a quick inspiration when deciding to cook something. Since I wanted to make something also easy to handle (my child is only two years old) I tough of making a batch of muffins with apples and berries as main ingredients.

I found several inspiring recipes, but I was searching for something also healthy, that for me means possibly with no butter, very little sugar or better sugar substitutes, whole grain flours, etc. And so the final inspiration came from a recipe published on a blog that I did not know before (sallybakingaddiction), but perfectly in line with my requests. Of course I did not have on hand part of the ingredients the recipe called for, like applesauce, yogurt, blackberries (I had mixed berries instead); also I wanted to swap white whole wheat flour used in the original recipe for spelt flour (for which I have a particular affection as showed in these bread, cake, and cookies) and, as I have recently tried with great satisfaction the local laban (an Arab yogurt drink) in this raspberry laban cake, I wanted to use it again in this recipe to replace yogurt and milk. Well, the end of the story is that these muffins came out very good: super moist, packed with healthy fruits, not too sweet and really enjoyable. These berries and apple muffins are the demonstration that healthy sweets can be also very good!

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies with dried cherries

I have always at least one good reason to make cookies, and to try new ones. I have already tested many recipes, even more are waiting to be prepared and for sure there many others that I have not discovered yet. And I am happy of this. Because I love to make cookies: preparing cookies let me relax, sharing them with my family or guest gives me satisfaction and enjoying them makes me happy.
Today's cookies are a combination of flavors and textures: whole wheat flour gives a particular rustic taste, oat flakes add a crunchy texture, the sweetness of cherries is perfectly balanced by dark chocolate. For a richer version it is possible to add to the dough pecans or walnuts or other nuts you like.

Chocolate chip cookies façon Christophe Michalack

Chocolate chip cookies. For sure one the most renowned cookie all over the world. And like for other famous recipes their origin is a mix of history and legend (see for example the stories about "Tarte Tatin", chocolate ganache, in Italy Panettone or even pizza). The certain fact is that they are good, very good. In my personal opinion (and I am neither a pastry-chef nor a food professional, just a food lover), chocolate chips cookies are the most valuable American contribution the world of pastry-making. And they are so famous and so beloved that anywhere you search (on the web, in cook-books, in magazines, specialized in food or not) you find for sure somebody who wants to share the recipe for "the original chocolate chip cookies" or, even more frequently, "the best chocolate chip cookies ever"; and some have even different versions of the "best chocolate chips cookies ever", each one described as an improvement of the previous one.
In addition to this there are many theories regarding the characteristics of these iconic cookies: how large and/or thick they should be, what is the right ratio between chewiness and crunchiness, should they be made with butter or vegetable shortening, should the chocolate be dark or milk, in chips or chopped, and so on.  
In my opinion (am I having too many opinions today?) it is difficult, better impossible, to label a recipe "the best" one, because many factors influence the judgement, first of all personal tastes and, why not, specific mood. Yes, I think that one day one person may like something and, after a while, for many reasons, the same person can like something different and maybe dislike what he or she liked before.
But anyway, among the hundreds recipes for chocolate chips cookies that it is possible to find, or create, I have recently tested one signed by the famous French patissier Christophe Michalack.
Typically chocolate chips cookies recipes contain more sugar than flour, something that I can hardly accept (for my taste I mean and, also and maybe more important, for my glycemia level) and this is way the recipes I try are somehow non-orthodox; this recipe makes no exception to the weird rule. But I have to say that the final result is worth trying, because these cookies are really very good: not too sweet as I like, soft in the middle and crunchy on the outside, and they go well with the traditional glass of milk (this is how my kid has them), with tea (like I do), with coffee or even on their own.    
One note: since the recipe creator is French he uses cassonade, which is a kind of sugar very common in France but not so easy to find outside: a good substitution is brown sugar; I used the light brown sugar (if you are interested in the topic, here is an interesting article by David Lebovitz about French sugars and their substitutes).