Making cookies as a youngster was always lots of fun. There was always a great mess around me when I was finished but my mom kept her smile and always encouraged my sister and I to make large batch of cookies. My sister, Louise always made perfect small cookies and while mine were always big!  There is something about big cookies that always did appeal to me. Over the years, I have tried, created and tested many recipes, keeping the best ones for Arctic Watch.

I have a great reciepe that I have been using at Arctic Watch for the past several years. A very popular cookie, it is my “ultimate chocolate cookie” receipe. Everybody loves them. Do not cook them too much. Once you get them out of the oven they should just be crispy outside and soft inside.

The receipe is large, but do not worry, you can always cut it back or give the left over dough to the kids; they will be happy to eat it! You can always freeze the dough and cook it later.

MUDD SLIDE COOKIES

- 12 cups of chocolate (3 cups unsweetened and 9 cups bittersweet chocolate) – use the finest quality chocolate you can find! It makes a big difference.

- 8 oz butter

- 16 eggs

- 7 cups sugar

- 3 tsp coffee extract

- 1  ½ cups of cake flour

- 3 tsp vanilla  extract

- 5 tsp baking powder

- 1 tsp salt

- 4 ½ cups walnuts

- 5 ½ cups chocolate chips (NOTE: you can use less chocolate chips if you find the cookies too rich)

Finely chop the unsweetened and bittersweet chocolates and melt together with the butter in a stainless-steel bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water.  Remove from the heat and set aside.

Beat together the eggs, sugar, coffee extract and vanilla extract in a mixer, using the wire whip attachment, on high speed for 5 minutes or until thick in texture and light in color.  Add the chocolate mixture all at once to the egg mixture and blend together.  Scrape down the bowl as necessary.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and blend into the mixture, scraping down the bowl as necessary.  Add the walnuts and chocolate chips and mix until blended.

Portion into 2 lb /900 g logs, wrap in parchment paper and store in the freezer or under refrigeration unit until needed.

Cut longs into 2 ½ oz pieces and place on parchment lined sheet pans.

Bake in a 350 F oven for 14 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove the cookies from the tray and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.   Cookies may be stored for up to one week.

I’d like to share a great recipe that I’ve used over the years at Arctic Watch. However, before I begin, each great recipe has a wonderful story behind it. So let’s first begin with the story.

I was raised by french canadian parents, in a small town called Sherbrooke in the eastern townships of the province of Quebec. Coming from a french canadian family, food is extremely important, it is where people share experiences, coming together – a crucial element of daily life.

Growing up, there wasn’t much money in the house, so my parents tended a big garden. With great will power, my mother fed us wonderful food on a daily basis. The food was relatively simple, but healthy and wholesome.

I started to cook at a very early age. I would stand on the kitchen chair, making oatmeal cookies with my mom. My mom was a very patient instructor, countless eggs fell to the floor and my mother patiently cleaned them up, always encouraging me to keep cooking. She would continually tell me that “anyone can clean, but few people can cook!”.

My passion for cooking was further developped when I made regular visits to my aunt Helene. A poor rural farming family, my aunt raised 18 children, making the food from scratch every day. She made all the bread for the family. Although she led a relatively difficult life, she always smiled, was as tall as she was wide, and had developed STRONG arms from rolling bread. My aunt was my first inspiration. My first teacher in the bread making world. Her bread was always made from  the basics – flour and water.

40 years later, this wholesome bread is one I serve at Arctic Watch. A bread that is still made by hand every week at Arctic Watch; just the way my aunt made it all those years ago. I make the bread with the same techniques she would use, placing the dough into several coolers; each cooler having a warm bottle of water, allowing each batch of bread to rise at different speeds. By the end of one baking day, the Arctic Watch kitchen is filled with 50 beautiful, warm country breads.

This recipe is for you Helene.

Pain sur Poolish

Method: (Sponge Method)

Elapsed time: 8½ hours between mixing the sponge and the end of the bake.

Dough Temperature: 68°F

Making the Poolish: Dilute the yeast in the warm water, then add the flour and mix to incorporate. The mixture is very liquid so it can be made by hand. The polish can be set to ferment in a bowl or wooden trough for at least 3 ½ to 4 hours. When the polish has risen & then fallen in the middle, it’s ready to use.

Mixing the dough: 12 to 14 minutes

First Rising: 2 hours. If after 30 minutes the dough seems to lack a good, active “force”, knock it back.

Scaling: 12 ounce; 1-pound, 3-ounce; or 2-pound, 6-ounce loaves.

FINAL RISING OR MAKEUP: 1.5 – 2 hours. The loaves should be made up, placed on cooking sheets dusted  with  flour.

.BAKE-OFF: 475°F to 500°F,  place a pan filled with water  at the bottom of the oven will the bread is cooking. The bread should be cook when the internal temperature reaches 205 F

ENJOY!