All language subtitles for Good Eats - S03E06 (2000) - Three Chips For Sister Marsha

Hello? Oh, Allison, I just don't know
what to do. My name's going to be mud.

Marsha? Oh.

Slow down.

Please, you've got to help me. Well, I
was at the Locks and Latte, and I guess

set them down in the chair next to me.

Well, we'll go back and get them.

I did, Billy. They were gone.

Well, then go home and bake some more.

I'm never going to make the ladies
luncheon by noon. Please, you've got to

me. You know, I've always wondered,
what's the difference between a lunch

luncheon anyway?

This is no joke, Buster. I show up
without those cookies, I've got to leave

town. Yeah?

Permanently? You know, I don't need you.

I can buy some cookies at the market.

Probably better than yours, anyway.

What did you say?

So you'll do it?

What kind?

Chocolate chip. And they had this pretty
little pink wrapper. I don't do pink.

Okay, well, I'm at the corner of Crocker
and Hine. Make them fast and make them

good. Eat?

You and that silly show.

Just make the cookies, will ya?

All right.

Good eat!

Having mired herself in yet another
socio -culinary quagmire, my half

sister has turned to good eat for
salvation.

Step one, recipe retrieval.

Ever since Ruth Wakefield traded her
famous Toll House cookie recipe to the

Nestle Corporation in exchange for a
lifetime supply of chocolate, the recipe

the back of this bag is served as the
Magna Carta of American cookie baking.

I break this out every single time I
make chocolate chip cookies, which is

to say I always make the same chocolate
chip cookies. Because you see, as long

as you've got a little customizing know
-how, you can basically adopt any good,

solid cookie recipe to suit your or your
lame -brained sister's particular

needs. Now, my legal department has
warned me not to actually read this

on air. So if you want to know where we
deviate, just grab a bag and follow

along at home. But keep your mitts off
the chip. We need them.

Knowing my sister's penchant for all
things skinny, I've decided to execute

thin and crispy chocolate chip cookie
variation.

It all starts with two and a quarter
cups of bleached all -purpose flour

together with a teaspoon each of salt
and baking soda, plus just a pinch more

baking soda.

Sifting now will mean better leavening
later. Now, I'm a little pushed for

so I'm going to turn this over to a
noted cookie colleague. You may know his

brother from... I told you never to
mention that ruffian.

All he knows about cookies is how to
shove them into his face.

Oh, yeah, I'm sorry. Forgot. Please,
continue.

Well, baking soda, you see, reduces the
acidity of the batter, thus raising the

temperature at which the batter sets.

So, if you desire a flatter cookie,
increasing the soda called for in the

by up to half would be appropriate.

And now, the wet stuff. One egg, mixed
with two ounces of whole milk.

Splendid shot. Thank you.

And one and one half teaspoon of vanilla
extract.

Mix thoroughly and bring to room
temperature.

Since eggs tend to puff rather than
spread, replacing one or all of the eggs

with milk will promote spreading.

Now that the dry goods and the wet works
are assembled, it's time to...

cream, two sticks of butter in your
trusty stand mixer. Beauty, isn't it?

get that right in there and start it out
on low.

Nothing affects a cookie's texture more
than the melting characteristics of its

fat. Butter has a sharp melting point,
meaning that there are just a few

difference between solid and liquid
dates.

So, Conversion occurs at a relatively
low temperature.

The resulting batter spreads prior to
setting.

Old Blue, he's gone.

What a moron.

W!

W! Old Blue died!

W! Didn't I tell you to donate that
thing to a museum?

W, I ain't got time to plead, okay? A
lot has changed since your grandmother

that clunker in bingo.

It was a raffle!

Traditional blade mixers like Old Blue
were nothing more than motorized egg

beaters. So?

Ever tried kneading a bread dough with
an egg beater? No.

The best of today's mixers feature a
single post driven by a planetary

and are capable of hosting an array of
interchangeable attachments.

Oh, planetary means the post spins on
its axis while orbiting around an

point at the same time, like the moon
travels around the Earth, right?

Nice to see you've done your homework
for once.

Also, you want a sturdy work bowl that
locks into place.

Old Blue had a spinning bowl.

Aerating a batter or developing a bread
dough requires friction, and that means

a bowl that stays firm. Hey, this one
reminds me of you.

Efficient. Cranky.

Personally, I think the swing -up head
allows for better bowl access.

You can even remove the bowl without
dismantling the beaters.

A 300 -watt variable -speed power plant
drives the action, while a rock -solid

chassis and a wide footprint provide
quiet stability.

Beautiful and lethal.

All in all, a lifetime investment that
won't break the bank.

I'll take it. Just put it on my account,
will you?

That'll be cash for you, sir.

Don't bother.

Bye -bye, old blue.

It really is best to move on. Don't you
think?

On to creaming this two sticks of
butter. We're going to start it off on

just to loosen it up.

One cup of white sugar.

That's half a cup and another half cup.

And half a cup of brown sugar. I like to
use the light brown kind, but you can

use the dark if you like.

There.

It should be noted that the higher ratio
of white to brown sugar will also lend

Christmas to the final cookie.

Thank you, cookie fiend, for that
clarification.

Make yourself at home.

Now, there are a lot of cookie recipes
that call for this business of creaming

the butter and the sugar together until
light and fluffy.

Why bother? After all, the butter would
soften by itself, right? Well, it would,

but only if it started to melt. And, of
course, since butter melts rather

quickly once it gets soft... That would
mean it would separate, there'd be water

and fat, it would be bad. By working
cold butter together with the sugar, the

tiny sharp sugar crystals actually cut
into the butter, creating very, very

small bubbles. And those bubbles will
make it easier for other ingredients to

integrate into the batter.

Now there, that's what creaming ought to
look like. All the added volume is

nothing but air. Now the word creaming
also refers to a general method of

or cake construction.

A lot of professional recipes are
nothing more than an ingredient list

by the word printing method.

Now, in cookie dump, that denotes a very
simple but fixed order.

Cream the sugar and fat together at a
relatively high speed until they are

and fluffy.

Then reduce the mixer speed and slowly
and completely incorporate the eggs and

the liquid. Then finish by adding the
dry stuff a little at a time, scraping

sides of the bowl as you go.

Just like that.

Now, stir in two cups of your chunks of
choice, in our case, the chocolate

morsels, and you are well battered.

Set your oven to 375 and arm for
scooping.

Consistent scoopage is crucial in cookie
baking because even small discrepancies

from cookie to cookie can result in one
cookie looking like a gluey glop while

its neighbor resembles burnt tree bark.
The secret to clone -like cookies is to

not drop them on the pan with a spoon.

Use a disher. Those of you that saw our
chocolate show, The Art of Darkness,

already know my dedication to this
delivery device.

Now, this is a number 20 disher, which
means each and every one of the cookies

it scoops will be a 20th of... and a
quart, roughly one and a half ounces by

volume. If you look closely, the
number's usually engraved right on the

These are available good and cheap at
your local restaurant supply house, as

these heavy aluminum half sheet pans and
sheet parchment.

By the way... Parchment and wax paper
are not the same thing.

Parchment is coated with silicone, okay,
which is the same stuff used to caulk

bathtubs, patch boats, and lubricate big
industrial things.

Besides possessing excellent release
characteristics, silicone is extremely

resistant, unlike the wax and wax paper,
which melts and makes everything it

touches taste like these.

The other great thing about baking on
parchment is that no matter how many

cookies you plan on baking, you only
need two pans because you can just stage

everything on parchment and then slide
them off and on the pans as you go. You

can even freeze the cookies on parchment
and cook them later.

Now remember, you've got to give these
little guys room to grow. I never put

more than six on a pan at one time.

How long are they going to take? Well,
13 to 15 minutes, depending on your

But always start checking in on them
after about five minutes. The reason?

Browning. Depending on your oven, the
back ones may start to brown before the

front ones, and you may have to rotate
the pans a couple of times. Oh, and

remember, the more pans you put in, the
longer the cook time.

Now, when it comes to doneness, cookies
have a lot in common with custard, which

is that they should come out of the oven
before they look completely done. In

fact, as soon as the edges are kind of
brown and crispy looking, it's time to

bail. If the thinners are already hard
and set, guess what? They're already

burned.

These, however, aren't.

Once they're out of the oven, you want
to de -pan as soon as you can.

the heat in the pan will continue to
cook the bottom of the cookie.

That isn't good.

Now, once they are completely cooled,
you move them to whatever vessel you

like. I generally just roll them up and
pop them into my friendly neighborhood

cooking jar.

In here, they'll last about an hour and
a half, at least around here.

If you're looking for a longer -term
option, consider a zip -top bag where

they'll last at room temperature for a
week, or you can even put them in a

freezer bag and freeze them for up to
three months.

Right.

have you been? I could have made cookies
from roadkill by now.

You're welcome.

Hey, you dropped a stitch, right?

Very nice.

Very nice?

What does that mean?

Nothing. It's just that mine are
puffier, fluffier. These are flat and

They'll know they're not mine. Well,
they're not yours.

Puffy, fluffy, fine.

a cup of butter flavored shortening into
the bowl along with

three quarters of a cup of regular white
sugar and

one whole cup of brown sugar.

Just pack and sweep and pack and sweep.

Now, if you're curious about the change
from butter to shortening, well, it's a

curious thing. We better ask Big Green
over there. Hey, Big Green, what's with

the shortening?

Well, shortening melts at a higher
temperature than butter, so it remains

longer, giving the batter time to rise
and set before it spreads.

Increasing the ratio of brown to white
sugar also creates a more tender cookie.

Now leave me alone.

You've got to give it to him. He knows
his stuff.

Now, while that's creaming, we
concentrate on the dry goods. Two and a

cups of cake flour, sifted together with
a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon and a

half of baking powder.

That's a lot of changes there. Why?

Why?

The low -protein cake flour will tie up
less moisture, making it available for

steam production.

Steam will lift the batter in the oven,
producing a fluffy, cake -like batter.

Switching from baking powder to soda
enhances fluffiness by creating an

batter which will set quicker and spread
less.

Now as soon as your shortening and sugar
are light and fluffy, which won't take

near as long as the butter because the
shortening is not as hard, go ahead and

add the wet work.

One egg, two eggs, and

the vanilla.

teaspoon and a half of course and bring
the speed up again until everything is

thoroughly incorporated

Now, as soon as that is all the way in
there, we're going to slowly add the dry

goods. And I usually do this in three
installments. Why?

Well, if you just dump it all in there,
your mixer's going to throw it all over

the counter, and then it won't be inside
your cookies, and that's not good.

The other reason is, well, it's got to
do with moisture and the way that flour

absorbs moisture, which is relatively
slowly.

If you work in about three batches,
you're going to allow time for the

actually form.

There's the second installment.

Always add it on a low speed, and once
the flour's worked in, turn it back up

that the batter can be.

And installment number three.

There.

After in your chips, two cups once
again.

And don't turn it up too high.

And once the chips are fully integrated,
turn up the speed and slowly bring the

head of the mixer out. That'll leave the
batter in the bowl instead of on the

paddle. And now for something completely
different.

Chill death.

Why chill? Why ask me?

Cold dough spreads slowly,

giving the cookie time to climb before
setting.

When your batter has thoroughly chilled,
it's time to scoop and bake. And by the

way, the smaller the scoop, the more
puff the cookie will have.

Remove when golden, brown, and puffy.
Cool, package, and deliver to your

thankless sibling.

There you go, sis. Light, fluffy, cakey.
Where did those come from?

Well, you know, all this cookie talk, I
got hungry.

So I went right over to that little
bakery and got some cookies. Very chewy.

Chewy. Fine.

Back to butter, but this time we're
going to melt it. Two sticks.

Eight ounces, 16 tablespoons, 48
teaspoons in a heavy, medium saucepan

heat. While that melts, sift together
two and a quarter cups of bread flour

a teaspoon each of salt and baking soda.
Why?

Well, where's that big puppet I hired?

Sorry. The water from the melted butter
will combine during agitation with the

higher protein of the bread flour,
therefore producing gluten.

which is chewy.

Also, since bread flour can absorb much
more liquid than all -purpose flour,

more moisture will stay in the cooking.

Add the now -melted butter to the mixing
bowl and add a quarter

cup of white sugar and a quarter cup of
brown sugar,

plus a whole cup of brown sugar.

And I should mention that the darker the
sugar you use, the chewier the cookies

are going to be.

Why?

Brown sugar is coated in molasses.

Molasses loves moisture.

By increasing the amount of brown sugar,

The finished cookies are guaranteed to
attract H2O from the air, keeping them

moist and to it.

And now the wet works.

Up to this point, we've strictly been
two -egg cookies, but now we're going to

make a change. I'm going to go with one
whole egg.

Let that work its way in. And one egg
yolk.

Why the change?

I'll take this one.

It's got to do with egg whites. You see,
egg whites dry out baked goods. That's

kind of what they do.

And a chewy cookie has got to be moist.
So not only are we going to get rid of

one egg white, we're actually going to
add an ounce, two tablespoons of milk,

and of course, our teaspoon and a half
of vanilla.

As soon as that is integrated, we can go
with the dry stuff.

By the way, vanilla extract is produced
by macerating chopped beans in a

solution of alcohol and water.

Now in this country, real vanilla
extract must contain 35 % alcohol and 13

ounces of beans per gallon.

Double strength extracts contain the
same amount of alcohol but twice the

Imitation vanilla extract is made from
wood and other stuff.

Vanilla flavoring, on the other hand, is
a combination of imitation and pure

extract.

Oh, you!

Where'd you get the cookies, freak?

Add this nice and slow, scraping down
the bowl as you go.

Now, as soon as your batter comes
together, time to go with the two cups

chips.

Once those are thoroughly stirred in,
well, you know the rest of the drill.

Chill, scoop, bake, cool, pack, yada,
yada, yada, yada.

So what have we learned, other than that
my sister should be drawn and

quartered? Well, even subtle variations
in the course of a recipe can steer a

cookie to some deliciously different
places.

Now take your favorite chocolate chip
cookie recipe, add a little extra soda,

replace some or all of the eggs with
milk, up the ratio of white to brown

and use butter rather than shortening.

Thin, crisp cookies will result.

If your tastes run to the soft and
cakey, use cake flour, baking powder

than soda, and shortening instead of
butter.

Chilling the batter and scooping on the
small side will add to the puff factor,

too. Now, finally, chewiness calls for
melting the butter, holding back on the

egg whites, and using more, if not all,
brown sugar.

Any way you go, you'll definitely have
goodies.

Hey, Miss, do you want to buy some
cookies?

Cookies!

That's not bad, but you might think of
changing the overall shortening the

butter ratio.

You talk funny, mister.