Welcome to the free issue of Between the Layers: A conversation about life through the lens of cooking and baking. For more great content and recipes, consider becoming a paid subscriber!
FIRST THE NEWS. BETWEEN THE LAYERS and I have received a Substack Fellowship! You usually don’t hear from me on Fridays. But before I head to my garden I wanted to tell you that I’ve been selected as a Fellow (yes, as in she’s a jolly good…) with 10 other food and drink writers around the world. You can read about it here. Sad thing is, I don’t get to travel around the world. Happy thing is, I’m not going anywhere so you will continue to hear from me! I am hopeful this fellowship opens my eyes to new ways to write about food and how it intersects with life. We all have our way of living, but writers like to examine that. I look forward to exchanging ideas with my fellow Fellows and take what I do to another level. I’ve just written a month’s worth of content about cooking while there’s a war raging in Ukraine. I am grateful I’ve got this space to rant and write, which I find far more satisfying than social media right now. I’m curious how other writers feel about eating and drinking during war time. The authors before us wrote about austerity in World War I and Victory Gardens in WWII. Right now, I am craving vulnerability over perfection. What about you? Welcome everyone to Between the LayersBecause of this exciting announcement, we’ve got some new folks, and we need to make them feel welcome. So a brief digression: I write from Nashville, Tennessee, where I was born but have not always lived. Nashville is, as you know, the Music City, and it is a hot destination not only for bachelorettes but also to put down roots. Spring in Nashville means a riot of nature’s pastels, from redbud to dogwood, lingering daffodils, determined camellias, and some hot-pink azaleas but not like you find in the deeper South, in Georgia where I called home for nearly two decades. It was where I went to college and stayed and wrote about food for the Atlanta newspapers. But we wound back up in Nashville, via England (another story for another day…) and when I am not in the garden chasing rabbits, I’m writing this newsletter, cooking, photographing, eating (in that order), and writing books. My next cookbook is all about Southern baking. But here at Between the Layers on Tuesdays (for everyone) and Thursdays (if you pay to subscribe), this is my joy. It’s where I write what I want when I want, I don’t have to query an editor and wait for a rejection, and if I write something people care nothing about, then what? The open rate is low or you don’t see many comments or likes. I’ll bet the most popular things I’ve written about to date (more than 100 columns in nearly a year) have been cole slaw, Steve’s pecan pie, chocolate cake, cleaning out your fridge to make barbecue sauce (paid content), what I buy at Costco and Trader Joe’s (paid also), Make Cake & Not War, cabbage, and finding comfort by cooking some white beans. Come on, where is the cookie recipe?It’s coming. It’s worth it. This year, as Passover overlaps with Easter, I’ll admit I don’t feel comfortable writing about what to cook for Passover because I’m not Jewish. But thanks to Substack, I’ve met Leah Koenig, who is also a new Fellow and writes The Jewish Table. (We are trading places right here for Mother’s Day, too!) And I’ve met Rachel Phipps, who writes The Ingredient and this week Rachel opened up about her non-religious Jewish mother, what it was like going to English Cathedral school, and how she realizes the need to embrace the Jewish culture that is hers. As a bonus, Rachel interviews Leah Koenig.
But before you run off and read what they have to say about matzo, I’d like to share a Jewish cookie recipe with you. I know I said I don’t feel comfortable sharing Jewish recipes, but my sister Susan thinks it’s the best chocolate cookie she’s ever tasted. (No flour to get in the way of the chocolate!) This sweet little flourless chocolate cookie originated at the old Gottlieb’s bakery in Savannah, in the land of fabulous azaleas. Do you know it? In this recipe, the cocoa acts as the flour. My version calls for a tablespoon of cornstarch, but you can absolutely make these without the cornstarch. You know, just because we don’t recognize a holiday doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try the recipes. Making food a little out of our comfort zone helps us stay vulnerable and not be so perfect. At least, that’s the case with me! Have a great weekend! Anne Thank you for your comments, your suggestions, and for reading. And you know, it’s a good time to jump on board and subscribe if you haven’t already! That way, you can get my mother’s banana bread recipe and learn what I buy at Trader Joe’s!
Forgotten Chocolate CookiesHow could a cookie this good ever be forgotten? The intense chocolate flavor, the irresistible chewiness, the crunch of the exterior, and how the pecans toast effortlessly as the cookies bake? The name comes from the old method of making meringue cookies where the cookies bake and then you turn the oven off and let the cookies stay in the oven where they get nice and crispy and seem "forgotten." And it is a method of baking chocolate cookies popular in Jewish bakeries such as Gottlieb's Bakery in Savannah, Georgia. They called them Chocolate Chewies, and that original recipe called for two tablespoons flour. All grains like wheat, barley, rye, oats, spelt, and often corn, are called chametz and not allowed during Passover in remembrance of the bread that didn’t have time to rise when the Israelites had to flee Egypt. Gottlieb's opened in 1884 when Russian Jewish immigrant Isadore Gottlieb started his baking dynasty. For generations these cookies, his cinnamon rolls, and challah bread were an important part of growing up in Savannah. Makes 2 to 3 dozen medium-size cookies Prep: 10 minutes Bake: 12 to 15 minutes 2 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar Generous 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa 1 tablespoon cornstarch (omit for Passover) Pinch salt 3 large egg whites 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 2 cups finely chopped pecans 1. Place a rack in the center of the oven, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 2. Line two baking pans with parchment paper or a Silpat mat. 3. Place the confectioners' sugar, cocoa, cornstarch (if using), and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on low speed just to combine the dry ingredients. Add the egg whites and beat on low to incorporate the whites, then increase the speed to high and beat 1 minute, or until very well combined. Stir in the vanilla and pecans. 4. Scoop or drop heaping tablespoonfuls of dough onto the baking pans. Place one pan in the oven, and bake until the cookies are shiny and firm on the outside, but inside they are still a little soft, 12 to 15 minutes. (Gauge the baking time by the size of the cookie. Smaller cookies bake in about 12 minutes and larger ones need more baking time.) Remove the cookie sheet from the oven, and let the cookies rest 2 minutes on the pan. 5. With a metal spatula, remove the cookies to a wire rack to cool. (If desired, place them in a plastic zippered bag in the freezer for one hour where, for some reason, they get fudgier!) Baking Tips: These cookies bake up glossiest when the dough is scooped immediately onto baking sheets and not left to linger in the bowl. Haven't figured out why that happens! I use pecans because they are always in my freezer. Use walnuts if you like.
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