The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie

There is nothing better than one freshly baked cookie, well, maybe two. I can actually eat one cookie and stop but that cookie better be really good. Don’t try to pass off a mass produced preservative enriched package cookie on me!
I am very fortunate know Kathleen Tate and live in close proximity to her bake shop, Tate's. There's no mistake why her cookies happen to be world famous. Even those who bake will admit to having a sleeve or two on their countertop for an instant cookie fix, like her Chocolate Chip, White Chocolate Macadamia, Oatmeal Raisin, or Shortbreads.

I’ll borrow the description of Tate’s Bake Shop from Kathleen’s website because it describes Tate's best.

If you're in the Hamptons and walk around the charming little Atlantic coast town of Southampton, you'll see a charming sage green Victorian structure with white shutters, framed in flowers, that seems to attract people like bees to a hive. It's Tate's Bake Shop, the fairytale culmination of a dream that got started when 11-year-old Kathleen King began baking cookies to sell at her family's farm stand not far out of town. Today, those amazing cookies have attracted a loyal following from coast to coast. Crispy and buttery, rich but not overwhelming, they simply melt in your mouth… and just one is never enough!

But, lucky for those who can't visit Southampton, New York or the many food markets across the US where her cookies are available, Kathleen also ships! I’m a traditionalist and her Chocolate Chip Cookies are my favorite with the perfect ratio of chip to cookie with a crunchy consistency. Tate's also bakes cakes, pies, muffins, and quick breads. 

image: George Hirsch

Community Oven

Calling all bread trucks that look like this. Baguettes, a whole mini truck filled with thick crusted bread. This is the kind of bread that was birthed from a real brick oven. This kind of baking is an art that every village should experience.

A good Idea: In Europe, communal ovens date back to the 14th-15th century, mostly owned by churches, and charged a fee to bake your families loaf. Eventually taken over by the village, the community people were then in charge of the oven + no fee. Once a week the oven would be fired up and the villagers would gather, talk + bake. Looking forward to seeing a community bread oven in a town near me soon. Unique experience that deserves the flame to fired.

image, unknown

Pain de Mie

I'm sure you'll agree the aroma of freshly baked bread is comforting during the cold winter season. Pain de Mie is just another way of saying a fresh baked pullman loaf of bread (a long rectangular loaf). Do you prefer yours toasted with butter or jam? Or, maybe you fancy a simple egg salad, tuna salad or BLT sandwich? You might want to go for the full energy classic combo of peanut butter and banana.

Baking really is a science and baking bread successfully proves that there are so many factors to consider when thinking about how your loaf is going to bake-up. For example, the air temperature, the quality of the flour, the type of liquid used - are all to be taken into consideration. But, I'll spare you and won't turn this into a Baking 101 Class. I've given you a basic but fail-safe recipe should you want to bring out your inner most boulanger (bread baker).

Pain de Mie

Recipe by Chef George Hirsch | Makes 1 loaf

2/3 cup milk
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk
1 cup water
6 Tablespoons sweet butter, softened
2 1/4 teaspoons salt
3 Tablespoons sugar
3 Tablespoons potato flour
4 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

For Full Recipe

Apple Dessert

When was the last time you ate a caramel apple? This is one of those classic fall harvest treats that captures popularity with people of all ages. I suggest the combination of a crisp, tart apple like the Granny Smith with good old fashioned sweet caramels.

Come apple picking with me; watch GH Living it UP! TV segment: Visiting a Hampton's Apple Orchard

Directions: Making of a Caramel Apple.

George Hirsch TV series: Halsey Apple Orchard

Neilsen-Massey

Family-owned Neilsen-Massey has been dedicated to bringing the finest vanilla products to market since 1907. Using an exclusive cold extraction process, they slowly and gently draw the flavor from their vanilla beans in order to make exceptional pure vanilla extract. Their Mexican Pure Vanilla has a creamy, spicy flavor that has a natural affinity for dishes that also contain chocolate, cinnamon and other warm spices. 

Bake. For My Vanilla Cupcake Recipe