When I cook at home, I create a large mess. I can’t help myself. I do not take what I learned and practiced at school or (practice at) my new job (yes you read correctly, I am now employed at the Marion Street Cheese Market in Oak Park). At home, I am free to do whatever I want and I just go nuts. I disregard that brilliant French term, mise en place, (miz a plas)—it means, “everything in its place.”
For some reason I start throwing things together before I have a real game plan. I have no order, no rhyme or reason—just one big explosion of food. The other night, I made a triple batch of cookies, fish tacos, homemade salsa, pickled red onions, and skillet sweet potatoes. I thought I was going to start at 3:00pm, it was more like 5:30 when things actually got moving. We ate late that night. I was annoyed looking around the kitchen; I saw flour dusted over the countertops, a mountain of dirty dishes, and a couple of rogue onions on the floor. I wanted to cry it was so messy. I am at that point, where I have realized my (home) kitchen weakness. And I want a fresh beginning.
It’s like when you open your cabinet door, your Tupperware (mysteriously) multiplied, and tumbles out all over your feet. You groan in discontent and have to pull every last piece of plastic out to reorganize right then and there. Or maybe that’s just me, but—it’s the tipping point.
So I am vowing to get my mise en place back on in my kitchen. If you hate cooking, it might be that you just need to get organized before go time. I am ready to give up this bad chaotic habit. What about you?
Get organized and make these ice cream sandwiches; they do not disappoint.
Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies
Adapted from Everyday Italian
½ cup old-fashioned oats
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ½ cup (packed) light brown sugar
½ cup sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup hazelnuts – some fine chop, some rough chop
½ – ¾ pound dark chocolate bar – rough chop
Heat oven to 325 F. Chop the oats in a food processor until fine. Mix the dry ingredients in a medium bowl (oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt). In a large bowl blend the butter, brown sugar, sugar, eggs, and vanilla with an electric mixer or a professional mixer with the paddle attachment. The mixture should be smooth and uniform. Slowly add the dry mixture to the large bowl and mix until just combined. Finally add the chocolate chunks and nuts. Let the mixture sit for at least a half an hour in the fridge.
Drop small rounds onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Cook for 15 minutes or until golden. Place cookies on a cooling rack. Serve with ice cream.