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The 75th anniversary edition of Joy of Cooking
Now in its eighth edition and its 75th year, the Joy of Cooking brings you numerous 30-minute meals. For the first time ever, JOY gives you slow cooker recipes and tips. Especially important to busy households is a new section that teaches you to cook for a day and eat for a week! If your family is on the go, buy this modern classic now at Barnes & Noble, Powell's or Amazon.
A Recent Featured Recipe
A Love Affair with Chocolate
February, the month devoted to love, reigns as the time of year when friends and lovers exchange chocolates with true affection. A gift from America to the rest of the world, chocolate plays a historic role in courtship rituals. Legend (and some research) defends that eating chocolate triggers the release of endorphins, the human body’s natural feel-good hormone. Endorphins reduce sensitivity to pain, and some say, contribute to a warm inner glow.
The Joy of Cooking overflows with chocolate recipes, from mouth watering desserts to meltingly sweet candies. In 1931, the first edition of JOY brimmed with recipes for chocolate cakes, caramels, bars, bombes, and the ever-popular Fudge Squares (now called Brownies Cockaigne). Fast forward 75 years, and JOY still contains a sweet variety of chocolate recipes, nestled alongside descriptions of types of chocolate, and instructions for storing, melting and tempering this “food of the gods”. Step into the kitchen during the month of love. Create chocolate joy for your valentine with these tempting recipes from America’s favorite cookbook.
For best results, use the type of chocolate specified in the recipe. All chocolates do not taste the same. We encourage tasting different brands of chocolate and experimenting with other chocolates instead of the standard squares of baking chocolate.
Ideally, chocolate should be stored in a cool place away from heat and direct sunlight, at 55° to 65°F with a humidity of less than 50 percent. Fluctuations in temperatures may cause a gray cast, or “bloom,” to appear on the chocolate, a superficial flaw that will disappear when the chocolate is melted. Under optimum conditions, dark chocolate will last at least 1 year, milk chocolate 10 months, and white chocolate 8 months.
Chocolate is heat-sensitive and burns easily, especially when melted alone. White chocolate is the most delicate of all. Chocolate can separate at temperatures over 130°F, so do not heat dark chocolate over 120°F or milk and white chocolates over 110°F. Containers and stirring utensils must be clean and perfectly dry, and stray drops of water or condensation must not be allowed to touch the chocolate. Small amounts of water may cause melted chocolate to “seize.” When this happens, the chocolate loses its gloss and become grainy instead of melting smoothly. If this should happen, add for each ounce of chocolate ½ teaspoon or more of vegetable shortening—not butter—to reliquify the chocolate.
Bittersweet Chocolate Tart
Note: Numbers refer to pages in the cookbook. Many of the recipes can be found online by using our search feature.
One 9 1⁄2- or 10-inch tart
Best served the day it is baked.
Prepare in a 91⁄2- or 10-inch two-piece tart pan.
Pat-in-the-Pan Shortbread Dough, below
Position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Bring to a simmer in a small saucepan:
1 cup heavy cream
Remove from the heat and add:
8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
Whisk gently until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth, then whisk in:
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Pour the chocolate mixture into the tart shell. Bake until the center seems set but still quivers, like gelatin, when the pan is nudged, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool on a rack.
Serve slightly warm or at room temperature with:
Whipped Cream
Store in refrigerator.
PAT-IN-THE-PAN SHORTBREAD DOUGH
One 9 1⁄2- or 10-inch tart shell
When baked, this rich, sweet dough resembles a shortbread cookie. Use it for a cream pie, a lemon tart, a fresh fruit tart with pastry cream, or any other pie or tart with a creamy or buttery filling.
Whisk together in a bowl or process in a food processor for 10 seconds:
1 1⁄4 cups all-purpose flour
1⁄3 cup sugar
(1 teaspoon grated lemon zest)
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
Add:
1⁄2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces, softened if working by hand
Mash with the back of a fork or process until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add:
1 large egg yolk
Mix with a spatula or process just until the dough comes together in a ball. If the dough is too soft and sticky to work with, wrap it and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (up to 2 days). Grease or butter the bottom of a 9-inch pie pan or 9 1⁄2- or 10-inch two-piece tart pan or eight 3 1⁄2-inch tartlet pans. Dust the pans with flour, and tap out the excess. Pat the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the prepared pan. Thoroughly prick the bottom and sides with a fork. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Bake until deep golden brown, 18 to 22 minutes.