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Enjoy this story from our archive, originally sent to TT members on .

In the Bag

Spicing up your next bagged lunch

Michael Voltaggio's new takeout sandwich shop, Ink.sack, doesn't adhere to deli standards. Case in point: The cold fried chicken is cooked sous-vide before being coated in corn flakes and fried, and the C.L.T. unites chicken-liver mousse and curried chicken alongside lettuce and tomato. Voltaggio's inventiveness extends to dessert, as evidenced by his intensely flavored chocolate-chip cookies. Studded with chunks of Mexican chocolate, this cookie is the lunch-sack standby on steroids.

Mexican Chocolate-Chip Cookies

Recipe adapted from Michael Voltaggio, Ink.sack, Los Angeles

Yield: 20 to 25 cookies

Cook Time: 20 minutes

  • INGREDIENTS

    • 2 cups all-purpose flour

    ½ tablespoon kosher salt

    ¼ teaspoon baking powder

    1½ sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

    1¼ cups light brown sugar

    1 egg

    ¾ cup semisweet chocolate, chopped

    ¾ cup Mexican chocolate, chopped

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside. In a standing mixer, mix the butter and sugar together until well incorporated. Add the egg and mix until incorporated, scraping down the mixture from the sides of the bowl.

2. Add the flour mixture and blend until a dough forms. Gently mix in the semisweet and Mexican chocolates.

3. Using an ice cream scoop, form 1½-tablespoon-size balls of dough and place them on a sheet pan; leave about 1 inch between cookies. Place the pan in the oven and bake until browned on the edges and set in the center, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven. After 5 minutes, transfer the cookies to a cooling rack. Repeat with the remaining dough until all the cookies are made. Serve warm or at room temperature.
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About The Chef

Michael Voltaggio has worked at the Ritz Carlton in Naples, Charlie Palmer's Dry Creek Kitchen in Healdsburg and the Bazaar by José Andrés in Beverly Hills. In 2009, Voltaggio was a finalist for the James Beard Best New Restaurant award. That year, he also earned the title of Top Chef on the eponymous Bravo TV show. Ink., Voltaggio's first signature restaurant, opened in 2011. He also recently opened Ink.sack, a sandwich shop a few doors down from Ink. His cookbook, VOLT ink.: Recipes, Stories, Brothers, written with his brother, Bryan Voltaggio, will be released in October 2011.

Ink.sack, 8360 Melrose Ave. #107, Los Angeles; 323-651-5866 or mvink.com