Ode to Alton

This weekend turned into somewhat of an ode to Alton Brown. Earlier in the week, Alton whet my appetite for cookies in Good Eats episode "Chips for Sister Marsha". For the remainder of the work week, the thought of homemade cookies occupied more space in my mind than I care to admit. When the weekend finally arrived, I knew it was time to do something about it.

Naturally, my initial thought was to make the Chewy. After reviewing the recipe, however, I still had wanderlust to find a cookie recipe that called my name.

Flipping through old pages of recipe notes, I did find the cookie I was looking for. It was scribbled on the back of an envelope, with no name, no source, and not even a cooking time. But it sure sounded tasty!

In addition to good ole chocolate chips, this recipe called for pecans and finely chopped milk chocolate. What a delightful combination. I crushed the pecans as finely as the milk chocolate, and the two of them combine like enjoyable and serene background music in a movie. In other words, they combine to create something delicious in the background of the smorgasboard of chocolate chips. You notice them if your senses are on guard, and the rest of the time, you simply enjoy them with a satisfied smile and contented belly.

Close up of the results:


Since Alton inspired the cookie-making and was later shamed by me not following his recipe, I decided to increase my AB fan points by making his Southern Biscuits.

These biscuits are buttery, soft in the middle, and with just the right amount of golden crispiness on the top. My only complaint is that the recipe said to use a 2-inch biscuit cutter. Biscuits of a 2-inch diameter don't sound like they're that small, but they turned out much smaller than I envisioned before cutting shapes out from the dough! You can almost pop a whole biscuit in your mouth at one time. And even if you bite into a polite sized mouthful of biscuity goodness, you'll want to go back for more than your fair share. Morale of the story: bigger = better in biscuitland.

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after =





Aren't they gorgeous!!