Cookie Dough Pudding

Guest Blog

Lynnette and I have a working agreement that provides an ideal division of labor for our family. My hobby is in the garage, and her hobby is in the kitchen. I use the woodworking power tools in the garage to remodel the kitchen and the other rooms in the house and Lynnette puts the kitchen to great use. She stays away from the table and circular saws, and I don't mess with the Bosch mixer or the immersion blender. I know how to use my tools, she knows how to use hers and we are both eager recipients of each other's industry (my research lab doesn't fair so badly either, just ask them about the summer long bake-off Lynnette had with herself to perfect her brownie recipe).

But there is one tool in the kitchen that Lynnette has yet to master - the microwave. There is a running joke in the family about the frequency with which "softening butter" becomes "boiling puddles of butter" that spread across the bottom of the microwave. Her perfectly acceptable response is that real cooks don't use a microwave. A microwave is best used for reheating macaroni and cheese, not for real chefs. As a result, the microwave is the one tool in the kitchen that I know how to use (that is unless you need me to make popcorn).

So it is my responsibility to provide the recipe for one of the family's favorite (or at least my favorite) use of the microwave, namely cookie dough pudding. The key to this delicacy is to heat the dough and melt the chocolate without in any way baking the cookie. This requires a careful balance of microwave heat and patience for the perfect cookie dough pudding outcome.

Cookie Dough Pudding


Place one frozen cookie dough blob* into a microwave safe pudding dish

Heat on full power for 15 sec.

Wait one minute for the resulting heat to distribute through the dough

Heat on full power for 5 sec.

Wait an additional 30 sec for the heat to distribute

Heat on full power for 5 sec.

Eat with a spoon while still warm

Note that longer waiting times result in a greater extent of chocolate melting which makes the pudding even more delicious so be as patient as possible through the process.


*The making of this cookie dough blob is beyond my skill set. See the "Strobel Cookie" recipe elsewhere on this blog.

Macadamia Coconut Crusted Chicken with Mango Jicama Salad

Finally, a recipe that isn't a baked good! I've been playing around with this salad for a couple of weeks and am pretty happy with this version.

My favorite way to serve this is to toss baby salad greens with a little dressing, mound the mango mixture of top of that and finally place the sliced chicken over the very top.

If you hate coconut, just replace it with an equal amount of panko. And if you are careful you might be able to fool your kids into thinking this is just chicken nuggets.

For those of you offended by the amount of fat in the Macaroni and Cheese, please take note that this salad dressing is very low fat.

Macadamia Coconut Crusted Chicken with Mango Jiicama Salad

Prepare salad and let rest while cooking chicken. To serve, toss baby lettuce greens with dressing, mound the mango/jicama mixture on top, slice each chicken tender into 6 or 7 slices and place atop salad.



Mango Lime Salad Dressing

1 medium mango
¼ cup rice vinegar
½ cup firmly packed cilantro
¼ red pepper, cut into large chunks
¼ cup honey
4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 garlic clove
salt and pepper to taste

Peel mango, roughly chop flesh. Place mango and all other ingredients into blender or food processor and blend until very smooth.


Mango Jicama Salad

1 red pepper
1 small jicama
2 or 3 mangoes
1 avocado
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
baby lettuce greens

Cut first four ingredients into medium dice. Add sliced green onions. Gently toss mixture with enough salad dressing to evenly coat. When ready to serve toss baby lettuce with dressing. Mound mango mixture on top



Macadamia Coconut Crusted Chicken

2 cups panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
½ cup unsalted roasted macadamia nuts
½ cup sweetened flaked coconut
½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ lbs chicken tenders
2 eggs
½ cup flour
2 or 3 tablespoons vegetable oil for sauteing

Prepare chicken: using the palm of your hand gently smash each tenderloin to an even thickness and pat dry with paper towels.

Prepare crust: place macadamia nuts and coconut in bowl of food processor. Using pulse button grind mixture to the size of large bread crumbs, about 8 or 9 pulses. Add panko and salt and pulse only long enough to incorporate all ingredients. Transfer mixture to a shallow bowl. In another shallow bowl whisk eggs until smooth. Place flour in a third bowl.

Coat the bottom of a large nonstick skillet with just enough vegetable oil to cover surface. Preheat skillet.

Working one at a time, coat each tenderloin in flour, dip into egg mixture, then into crumb mixture, pressing firmly to encourage crumbs to stick.

Place chicken tenders into hot skillet, making sure to not crowd pan. (It will take several batches.) Cook several minutes until crust is nicely browned. Turn each piece, adding a little more oil if necessary. Continue cooking until second side is brown and chicken is cooked through. Remove tenders from pan and place on cooling rack while cooking next batch.

Let cooked chicken rest for at least 10 minutes before serving.