Author: Lindsey Young

Peaches and fresh ginger will help you snap into August

Post author By Lindsey Young
Post date August 5, 2021

Ginger peach crisp combines the fresh flavor of summer peaches with spicy, fresh ginger to create the ultimate dessert.

If anyone can tell me the trick to pitting a firm peach, I’m all ears.

So far, my strategy includes cutting numerous slits down the sides, grunting and murmuring regrets under my breath while trying to pull the first slice off, and I can tell you that it doesn’t work all that well.

Luckily, the recipe I tried this week included cutting the peaches into bite-sized pieces, so when some of mine ended up looking a bit rough, they still looked gorgeous in the finished dessert.

Joey and I decided to have a Christmas in July get together last weekend. The meal was loosely based around Christmas meals, with pulled pork on Hawaiian rolls, German potato salad, lots of other delicious dishes, and a yuletide-inspired dessert of a fresh ginger peach crisp.

I figured ginger was a good nod to the holidays, and with peaches coming into season, they were an homage to summer.

And, of course, we had to pair it with some great vanilla ice cream. I was able to pick up a couple pints from our local ice cream expert, Salted Creamery. You can find them online at saltedcreamery.com if you want to place an order or find a store where you can buy it. (That’s not a sponsored endorsement; I just really think they do excellent work.)

The recipe I tried this week comes from the blog “Nutmeg Nanny.” You can find the original post at https://www.nutmegnanny.com/ginger-peach-crisp/. I added extra spices and vanilla in my version.

Ginger Peach Crisp

Ginger peach crisp combines the fresh flavor of summer peaches with spicy, fresh ginger to create the ultimate dessert.

Course Dessert

Keyword cinnamon, crisp, ginger, peaches, vanilla

Ingredients

Topping Ingredients

1/2 cup quick oats
1/3 brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
4 tablespoons butter softened
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch of salt

Filling Ingredients

2 pounds fresh peaches cut into bite-sized pieces
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon fresh ginger peeled and grated
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Spray an eight-by-eight-inch baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
In a mixing bowl, combine the topping ingredients until everything is well incorporated. Set it aside.
In another bowl, combine all of the filling ingredients, stirring to coat the peaches. Pour the filling into the prepared pan and then sprinkle the topping evenly over the peach mixture.
Bake for 25 minutes.
Serve warm for best results, along with your favorite vanilla ice cream, and refrigerate any leftovers.

The fresh ginger added great flavor to this crisp. It has a nice spiciness that is especially delicious with ice cream. I doubled the recipe for our group, and I didn’t end up with a lot of leftovers.

It also came together quickly. Or, I guess it would have if I knew how to pit a peach properly.

As they really come into season, I’ll have to pick out riper peaches, and if I can’t, I might also need somebody to recommend a good place for me to take up weightlifting.

This piece first appeared in print on Aug. 5, 2021.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Tags cinnamon, crisp, fresh, ginger, peaches, vanilla

Main Dish

Potatoes and ground beef make dinner a done ‘dillo’

Post author By Lindsey Young
Post date July 29, 2021

Picadillo con papas, or ground beef with potatoes, is a hearty, simple meal that is great for the whole family.

Not long ago, I saw a spirited discussion on Facebook about online food bloggers.

The general consensus was that nobody wanted to read the person’s back story and long-winded tales from the kitchen—they just wanted the recipe.

Honestly, that made me a little sad. Not only because I was sure that means they are definitely not fans of anything I write but also because I tend to really like the stories that accompany food. To me, food and recipes bind us together as community—across all kinds of divides.

That’s why I really like the blog this week’s recipe comes from. It is written by Sonia Mendez Garcia, who grew up learning how to cook from her parents, who owned a taqueria in Texas. She explains on her website that the goal of her blog is to help maintain the legacy of her family recipes. It’s a very sweet tribute. Plus, if you read a bit, you find out that she has a pretty impressive resume as a cook.

The recipe I tried this week is one of her mother’s. You can find the original post on her blog, “La Pina in La Cocina,” at https://pinaenlacocina.com/moms-picadillo-con-papaground-beef-in-fresh-tomato-sauce-with-potatoes/. I added some extra seasonings to my version below.

Picadillo con Papas

Picadillo con papas, or ground beef with potatoes, is a hearty, simple meal that is great for the whole family.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mexican

Keyword garlic, ground beef, picadillo con papas, potatoes, Roma tomatoes, Serrano, yellow onion

Ingredients

1/8 cup olive or canola oil
1 large Russet potato diced
1 small onion diced (I used yellow)
1 pound ground beef
4 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons oregano
salt and pepper to taste
8 cloves garlic minced
2 large Roma tomatoes cut into chunks
1-2 Serrano chiles cut into chunks

Instructions

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the potatoes and cover the pan, stirring every five minutes or so until the outsides are crispy and the insides are fork tender.
Remove the potatoes from the pan and let them drain on a paper-towel-lined plate.
Add the onions and ground beef to the skillet. Saute until the beef is cooked through and drain off any fat from the pan.
Add the cumin, oregano, salt and pepper, and garlic, and stir to combine well.
While the ground beef is cooking, add the tomatoes and Serranos, along with 1/4 cup water, to a blender or food processor. Process until the mixture is smooth, and then pour it into the pan with the drained beef mixture.
Bring the entire mixture to a boil. Add more salt and pepper, if necessary, and stir in the cooked potatoes.
Reduce heat to low, and allow the sauce to thicken for about 10 minutes.
Remove from heat and serve over rice or with tortillas, along with your favorite taco toppings.

This was delicious, and the leftovers were awesome, too. It was a filling, flavorful meal.

We opted to eat our picadillo on tortillas, along with some fresh spinach, but as Sonia explains on her site, you can eat it all kinds ways, so just pick your favorite (or whatever you have on hand in your pantry).

I suppose, in the grand scheme of things, I can accept that not everyone wants to read little stories about every recipe they try. I mean, when you’re hungry, you’re hungry.

But the nice thing about food—especially family recipes—is whether you know the back story or not, eating connects all of us.

This piece first appeared in print on July 29, 2021.

Tags cumin, garlic, ground beef, Mexican, oregano, picadillo con papas, potatoes, Roma tomatoes, Serrano chiles, yellow onion

Dessert

Come out of your shell with pistachio cake

Post author By Lindsey Young
Post date July 22, 2021

Pistachio cake uses a cake mix and pudding mix, along with chopped pistachios to create a nutty, light dessert.

I normally like to start this column with a story about the week’s recipe, but I have to tell you about my most recent kitchen fail. It’s a doozy.

My parents-in-law gifted us with several packages of frozen tamales that are made by simply boiling the bag for 20 minutes and then serving. They’re great for quick meals. A few don’t have labels on them, so they’ve been a fun surprise when we open up the bag.

I made one of the surprise bags this week, added some Mexican rice and tomatillo salsa to the plate and served it up.

Joey took his first bite, and his face screwed up in an awful grimace.

“These are sweet,” he said, through a mouthful.

Guys. They were apple cinnamon tamales!

I felt awful for ruining our lunch, but Joey, being the trooper he is, scraped the salsa into the rice, ate that first and declared that his slightly spicy apple tamales would be for dessert.

I guess even “easy” meals can take a turn for the worse.

This week’s recipe is one of those easy recipes, but hopefully, you’ll have labels to read, and everything will turn out great.

The recipe I used doctors up a cake mix to make a delicious cake. It comes from the blog “Cake Whiz.” You can find the original post at https://cakewhiz.com/pistachio-cake-recipe/. I added chopped nuts, vanilla and salt to my recipe, as well as simplified the topping.

Pistachio Cake

Pistachio cake uses a cake mix and pudding mix, along with chopped pistachios to create a nutty, light dessert.

Course Dessert

Keyword cake, cake mix, pistachios, pudding mix

Ingredients

3 eggs
3/4 cup oil I used canola
1 cup milk I used skim
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 yellow cake mix
3.4 ounces instant pistachio pudding mix
pinch of salt
green food coloring optional
1/2 cup chopped pistachios divided
8 ounces frozen whipped topping thawed

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a nine-by-13-inch baking pan by greasing and flouring it, and set it aside.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs, oil, milk and vanilla until it’s smooth. Beat in the cake mix, pudding mix and salt. If you want to make your cake a bit greener, add some green food coloring, too.
Add 1/4 cup of the chopped pistachios to the mixture, and pour it into your prepared cake pan, spreading it out evenly.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let the cake cool, and then top it with the whipped topping and the rest of the chopped pistachios.
Refrigerate any leftovers.

This was fantastic. It was a great summer dessert, and it was really pretty, too. The cake was light and nutty, and we really enjoyed it.

And the good news is Joey knew exactly what he was getting into when he took the first bite, and I didn’t try to serve it to him with salsa on top.

I’m not sure if he’s going to trust a plate of tamales from me in the future, but at least my cake turned out fine.

This piece first appeared in print on July 22, 2021.

Tags cake mix, instant pudding, pistachio, whipped topping

Appetizer Main Dish Side Dish

Grilling cheese is more than just o’queso’

Post author By Lindsey Young
Post date July 15, 2021

Smoked queso with charcoal steaks can be made on the grill or modified to be served from your oven.

When it comes to cooking indoors, Joey and I share the load pretty evenly. We each take on lunch or dinner regularly, with both of us having our specialties.

But when it comes to cooking outside, I definitely fall far behind.

Joey has really perfected the use of his kamado-style grill, mostly opting to create delicious smoked chicken or pork, but he’s also branched out into briskets, pastrami, pizzas and more.

So I was a little nervous when I went to try my own grill creation this past weekend: smoked queso and steak nachos.

I do have to confess that Joey was still the one who got the fire started and got the temperature just right for me, but after that, it was my show, and thankfully, despite my extreme novice status with the grill, it turned out fabulous.

I didn’t use a recipe this week. Instead, I read probably 10 different versions of smoked queso that people have out there and ignored a lot of what they did, mostly because I just can’t handle the taste or texture of Velveeta cheese, and that’s what all of them used.

So this week’s recipe is an original, and it turned out great. We did this on our kamado grill, but you could also make this on a regular grill or in your oven (although you’ll want to probably cook your steaks on your stovetop, in that case).

Smoked Queso with Charcoal Steaks

Smoked queso with charcoal steaks can be made on the grill or modified to be served from your oven.

Course Appetizer, Main Course

Keyword black beans, charcoal steak, cream cheese, grilled, pepperjack cheese, queso fresco, Rotel, sharp cheddar cheese, smoked, taco seasoning

Ingredients

16 ounces pepperjack cheese
16 ounces sharp cheddar cheese
8 ounces cream cheese I used fat free
20 ounces Rotel drained
15.5 ounces black beans drained and rinsed
1/4 cup taco seasoning
8 cloves garlic minced
salt to taste
enough charcoal steaks to serve your guests
Your favorite steak seasoning

Instructions

Prepare your grill so that it is 250 to 300 degrees.
Cube the three types of cheese into about one-inch pieces. (Make sure to use blocks of cheese instead of shredded; it melts better.)
In a foil, eight-by-eight-inch pan, add the cheeses, Rotel, black beans, taco seasoning, garlic and salt, and stir to combine.
For the steaks, pound them to about one-half inch thick, and season them liberally on both sides with steak seasoning, pressing it into the meat.
Once your grill is ready, place your pan of queso on a lower rack (we’re going to cook the steaks above it). If you’re using a standard grill, place it so it’s getting indirect heat. Close the lid and let the queso cook for 20 minutes.
After the 20 minutes, stir the queso. It probably will only just be starting to melt together. Place the steaks on a grate over the queso so that the juices can add flavor to the queso. Again, close the lid.
Check the queso every 20 minutes, giving it a good stir, and turn the steaks when they have good grill marks on one side.
Once the queso is melted and the steaks are done (after about one hour), remove it all from the grill. Be careful not to let the cheese overcook; it will get lumpy and separate if you do. Let the steaks rest for five minutes, and then slice them.
Serve the queso and steak over chips with your favorite nacho toppings.

We went for a smaller batch of queso than I saw many people make online, and it still fed six people, so definitely plan accordingly, but if you have a crowd, you can easily double this into a nine-by-13-inch pan and feed them all.

You can also make this as spicy or as mild as you like, depending on which style of Rotel and taco seasoning you choose. You could also add a drained can of jalapenos or something spicier if you really wanted to take it up a notch. It could also be made with pre-cooked ground beef or sausage or chorizo, if you don’t want to mess with steaks.

I certainly wouldn’t claim to be a grill master yet, but Joey did seem impressed with my most recent accomplishment. That being said, I think I’ll leave the heavy lifting to him. It’s a lot nicer to be the one sitting in the Adirondack chair than the one next to the grill.

This piece first appeared in print on July 15, 2021.

Tags black beans, charcoal steak, cream cheese, grilled, nachos, queso, Rotel, sharp cheddar cheese, smoked, taco seasoning

Dessert

Try a spiced cake that’s perfect for your next par’tea’

Post author By Lindsey Young
Post date July 8, 2021

The use of earl grey tea adds lots of complex spice flavor to this moist cake.

As a general rule, I have no concept of how long it takes me to complete recipes.

Poor Joey has had to wait until 8 or 9 p.m. on several occasions for me to complete a meal, because I was just sure I could finish it for a normal eating time.

And he’s thrown up his hands at me staying up into the wee hours of the morning, baking pies for Thanksgiving or Christmas.

You’d think I would learn. But I haven’t.

So, when I decided to take a birthday cake for our friend when we were going over to play games at her house that evening, it would come as no surprise that I was hurriedly trying to finish it before rushing over for game night.

Unfortunately, that meant my cake’s glaze looked atrocious. Fortunately, it still tasted amazing.

The cake I made features the flavors of earl grey tea, and I found it on the “Tastemade” website. You can find the original post at https://www.tastemade.com/videos/earl-grey-tea-cakes/. I doubled the vanilla and changed some of the directions in my version.

Earl Grey Tea Cakes

The use of earl grey tea adds lots of complex spice flavor to this moist cake.

Course Dessert

Keyword cake, earl grey, glaze, spice, tea

Ingredients

Cake Ingredients

1 cup milk I used skim
5 earl grey tea bags
14 tablespoons butter
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 eggs
2 cups flour
zest of one small lemon
1 1/3 teaspoon baking powder

Glaze Ingredients

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons butter
3-4 tablespoons strong earl grey tea
purple food coloring optional

Instructions

Microwave the milk in a glass mug or bowl for 90 seconds. Place the five teabags into the milk, and cover it with aluminum foil.
Let the milk sit, with the teabags, for at least 15 minutes, letting it cool to room temperature.
Squeeze out the teabags into the milk and discard them. If some of your milk evaporated, top it off so you have one cup.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Prepare an eight-by-eight inch cake pan by spraying it with cooking spray and lining it with parchment paper. (If you want to remove it from the pan before serving. If not, just spray the pan.
Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla together for a few minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, and then add in the flour, lemon zest, baking powder and milk until everything is combined well.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and tap it on the counter a few times to flatten the batter out before placing in the oven for one hour or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
If removing the cake from the pan, let it cool for five minutes before inverting it and placing it on a wire rack. Either way, though, let the cake cool completely before glazing it.
For the glaze, melt the butter and add it to the sugar and tea. Stir until the mixture is smooth. If there are lumps of butter that refuse to combine with the rest of the ingredients, microwave the mixture no more than 30 seconds at a time until it is smooth.
Either cut the cake into even squares or leave it whole, and position it on a wire rack over a rimmed backing sheet. Drizzle the glaze over the top of the cake. Let the glaze set, and serve.
Store any leftovers in an airtight container.

his cake was super delicious and very moist. I really wish I would have saved myself enough time to really make it as pretty as it should have been, but the flavor did not disappoint, and I’m lucky to have very gracious friends who were more than happy to eat the whole thing.

I do think I’ll make this cake again in the future. The flavors were deep and complex and felt just a little fancy. Plus, I always love a good spiced cake, and this one didn’t disappoint.

I’d like to say that this was the recipe that finally taught me my lesson, but I’m sure I’ll be hurrying through another one soon. It turns out you can’t rush perfection—or even something sort of near to it.

This piece first appeared in print on July 8, 2021.

Tags cake, earl grey, glaze, spice, tea

Main Dish

Make summer meals direct from farm to ‘vege’table

Post author By Lindsey Young
Post date July 1, 2021

This skillet sausage and zucchini dish is not only a quick meal to make but features plenty of fresh summer vegetables to create a beautiful, colorful plate.

The vegetable section of our local grocery store has been calling to me lately. And now that our local farmer’s markets are in full swing, I’m sure I’ll be finding all kinds of reasons to bring home fresh produce.

This past week, the siren’s song was coming from the zucchini. It was so pretty and just waiting for me to throw it into a pan, so I immediately went hunting for a quick and easy summer recipe for eating some fresh vegetables.

I was not disappointed in the one I found. Not only does it come together in under 30 minutes—even with me being one of the slowest vegetable choppers on the planet—but it was also absolutely delicious.

I found this on the blog “Counts of the Netherworld.” You can find the original post at https://countsofthenetherworld.com/skillet-sausage-and-zucchini-20-minute/. I changed up amounts of the seasonings in my version.

Skillet Sausage and Zucchini

This skillet sausage and zucchini dish is not only a quick meal to make but features plenty of fresh summer vegetables to create a beautiful, colorful plate.

Course Main Course

Keyword 30-minute meal, garlic, red bell pepper, sausage, yellow onion, zucchini

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
14 ounces fully cooked sausage cut into rounds
2 medium zucchini cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 small yellow onion but into 1/2-inch pieces
1 large red bell pepper, but into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
salt and pepper to taste
6 to 8 cloves garlic minced

Instructions

Heat one tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced sausage and cook until it is nicely browned.
Remove the sausage from the skillet and add the second tablespoon of olive oil, along with the zucchini, onion, bell pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, basil and salt and pepper.
Stir regularly until the vegetables are soft.
Add in the garlic and saute until it just starts to brown, then add the sausage back to the pan. Stir until everything is heated through and serve immediately.

I opted to use a Polish kielbasa for our sausage of choice, but you could easily substitute in something spicier or a turkey or chicken sausage to lighten this even more or even use a meatless “sausage” option, too.

We ended up with two nice, big portions and another one to put in the fridge, so you might want to double this if you’re feeding a bigger crowd.

Also, it would be so easy to substitute or just add in summer squash, more colors of bell peppers and maybe even some small tomatoes into the mix for this.

Let the local veggie scene guide you on this one.

I’m sure many folks will be very, very tired of zucchini by the end of the summer growing season, but for now, I’m completely excited to start getting ahold of more locally grown vegetables.

Now, if only the ice cream cooler would stop calling to me, too, this could be a perfect summer.

This piece first appeared in print on July 1, 2021.

Tags garlic, red bell pepper, sausage, yellow onion, zucchini

Main Dish

Explore new ‘pasta’bilities with avocados

Post author By Lindsey Young
Post date June 24, 2021

Spinach avocado pasta is a great summer dish with lots of fresh flavors, including some roasted tomatoes on top.

There’s a running joke that the people in my generation, Millennials, are completely obsessed with avocados.

In our house, we fit the stereotype, although we rarely eat them on toast. The truth is, avocados are more popular with our generation, because it was in the late 1990s that trade restrictions started to ease for avocados to be imported into the United States and Canada, and a 2015 Super Bowl ad then made Americans start flocking to get their “avocados from Mexico.” (Did you sing the jingle in your head when you read it?)

According to the Canadian restaurant chain Quesada on its website, 90% of the avocados eaten in the United States come from Mexico, whereas past generations had to settle for the shortened growing season in California.

Basically, we now have access to fresh avocados year-round, and they’re cheaper than before, too, so Millennials just happened to be at the exact right time in American history to enjoy the creamy, green fruits. I decided to use avocados in a little different application this week that is absolutely perfect for summer—as a pasta sauce ingredient.

I found this recipe on the blog “Healthy Fitness Meals.” You can find the original post at https://healthyfitnessmeals.com/spinach-and-avocado-pasta-recipe/. I changed up some ingredients, added others, and chose to saute the tomatoes instead of incorporating them raw, like the original author did.

Spinach Avocado Pasta

Spinach avocado pasta is a great summer dish with lots of fresh flavors, including some roasted tomatoes on top.

Course Main Course

Keyword avocado, spaghetti, spinach, tomatoes, vegetarian

Ingredients

10 ounces spaghetti
2 tablespoons olive oil divided
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes halved, if large
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 large ripe avocado, peeled and pitted
1 cup fresh spinach leaves
4 to 6 cloves garlic minced
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Boil the pasta according to the package directions, and reserve about 1/4-cup of the pasta water before draining it.
While the pasta is cooking, heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the tomatoes, basil, parsley and oregano and stir to coat the tomatoes with oil. Saute the tomatoes, stirring regularly, until they start to burst or give up their juices, then remove them from the heat.
Meanwhile, add the avocado, spinach, garlic, one tablespoon olive oil, salt and pepper to a food processor or blender and process until smooth, adding some of the pasta water, one tablespoon at a time, until the sauce is smooth and to your preferred consistency. Taste it and add more salt and pepper, if desired.
Stir the pasta and sauce together until it is well coated, and then serve, topping each scoop with some of the cherry tomatoes, along with the juices from the pan.

I have to admit, eating avocados, whose taste I generally associate with flavors like cumin and red pepper, along with Italian spices was a bit weird, but I really liked it.

It was fresh and light and perfect for a summer meal. If you did want to make it heavier, serving this with some grilled chicken would be fantastic, too.

And even if it was a little cliché for a 30-something to make an avocado dish, I’ll be easily ignoring any snickering. Those earlier generations just didn’t know what they were missing.

This piece first appeared in print on June 24, 2021.

Tags avocado, fresh spinach, pasta, tomatoes

Dessert

Feel like you’re on ‘toffee’ the world with three ingredients

Post author By Lindsey Young
Post date June 17, 2021

With just three ingredients and a little patience, you can easily make homemade toffee that has a great flavor and can be eaten alone or incorporated into baked goods.

As a complete sweets addict, it figures I would marry somebody who would rather have an extra portion of a savory main dish than eat dessert.

That being said, Joey does still have a sweet tooth—it’s just fairly particular.

So, while most sugary concoctions I share with you are decidedly something I made because I wanted to try it or share it outside our household, this one was 100% made with Joey in mind: homemade toffee.

He loves toffee, and when I found a recipe that promised to be an easy way to make it with only three ingredients, I decided to give it a try.

This comes from the blog “Cook With 5 Kids,” but this recipe appears to only exist on Pinterest. You can find the original post at https://www.pinterest.com/pin/564427765807969699/ or visit her website at http://cookwith5kids.com, if you’re interested in her other stuff. I didn’t change anything, because it was so simple that there wasn’t anything to change.

Homemade Toffee

With just three ingredients and a little patience, you can easily make homemade toffee that has a great flavor and can be eaten alone or incorporated into baked goods.

Course Dessert

Keyword brown sugar, butter, salt, toffee

Ingredients

1 stick butter 8 tablespoons
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Prepare an 8-by-8-inch pan or dish by lining it with waxed or parchment paper.
Combine the butter, brown sugar and salt in a medium-sized skillet or saucepan over medium heat.
Stir regularly, making sure everything is smooth and well-combined.
Continue stirring until the mixture reaches 300 degrees on a candy thermometer.
Once the mixture reaches 300 degrees, remove it from the heat and pour evenly into the lined pan.
Place the pan in the freezer for at least 30 minutes to let the toffee set up and harden.
Once the toffee is set up, remove it from the paper and then smash it into bite-sized pieces. (I used my meat mallet.) Store in an airtight container.

If you wanted to turn this up a notch, I’d recommend melting some chocolate and spreading it on the top of the toffee before breaking it into pieces. Let the chocolate harden, and then break it. You could include a sprinkling of nuts on top, too.

This is great to eat on its own. It’s super crunchy (like peanut brittle), but it also dissolves in your mouth like hard candy if you don’t want to chomp on it.

The recipe’s author also suggest smashing it into much smaller pieces and incorporating it into chocolate chip cookies. I think it would also be great in brownies or sprinkled on top of a frosted cake.

For us, it’s just hanging out on our counter in a little sealed bowl, and every day, each of us savor at least one piece and try not to go back in for more.

I have to admit, I haven’t done a great job of eating only one at a time. Maybe, if I’m being honest, I did make this for myself more than for Joey. Just don’t tell him. He doesn’t need to know.

This piece first appeared in print on June 17, 2021.

Tags brown sugar, butter, candy, easy, salt, three ingredients, toffee

Dessert

Mini pineapple desserts are a true work of ‘tart’

Post author By Lindsey Young
Post date June 10, 2021

Pineapple tartlets can be made with a cupcake tin and feature a delicious, light pineapple flavor that is perfect for summer.

No matter how many kitchen gadgets I get, I always seem to need one more.

We were invited to a barbecue recently, and I decided to bring something summer-y, settling on making pineapple tartlets.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a tart pan, let alone any tartlet pans, but I do have cupcake tins, and it turns out that if you have that and a large cookie cutter, you can make tartlets, too.

I actually combined recipes from two different blogs for this recipe. I use the tartlet shell recipe from “A Baking Journey.” You can find it at https://www.abakingjourney.com/tartlet-shells/. I used the filling recipe from “Hawaii Travel with Kids.” You can find that original post at https://hawaiitravelwithkids.com/hawaiian-recipes-pineapple-tarts/.

Pineapple Tartlets

Pineapple tartlets can be made with a cupcake tin and feature a delicious, light pineapple flavor that is perfect for summer.

Course Dessert

Keyword coconut, pastry, pineapple, tartlet, whipped cream

Ingredients

Shell Ingredients

3 1/3 cup flour
1 cup powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter cold
2 eggs

Filling Ingredients

14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
15.25 ounces pineapple tidbits in juice
1/2 cup sour cream
1 can whipped cream
3-4 tablespoons shredded coconut

Instructions

For the shells, add the dry ingredients to a food processor (or just use a bowl and a pastry cutter or two forks) and pulse to mix. Cut the butter into small cubes and incorporate the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles small crumbles. Try to handle the butter as little as possible—colder is better.
Now incorporate the eggs until the mixture is a smooth dough. Dump it onto your countertop and knead the dough just enough to make sure it’s smooth. Spilt the dough into two, even pieces, and place each ball of dough between two large pieces of parchment paper and roll the dough out to about 1/8-inch thick. Leave the dough between the pieces of parchment and place them on trays in the refrigerator for an hour.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and cut large circles out of the dough with a cookie cutter. (Mine was about four inches in diameter, and if you have one with pretty edges, use that.) Place each circle into the wells of a cupcake tin, pressing down so the dough goes evenly up the sides of each and there are no air bubbles underneath.
Poke the bottom of each pastry with a fork and then place the cupcake tins in the refrigerator for another hour.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and bake for 10 minutes or until the shells are starting to turn golden brown.
While the shells bake, mix the filling. In a mixing bowl, combine the sweetened condensed milk, sour cream and seven tablespoons of the pineapple juice from the can.
Dice about two dozen of the tidbits and set aside.
Carefully pour the filling into the prepared shells, being careful not to fill them to the top or overflow them (they will stick in the cupcake tin if they overflow). Add a few pieces of pineapple to each tart.
Increase the oven temperature to 375, and bake the tarts for seven minutes.
Remove the tarts from the oven and let them cool completely.
While they cool, place the shredded coconut in a small pan over medium heat, stirring often, for about three minutes or until much of the coconut is golden brown. Remove it from the heat.
When the tarts are cooled, remove them from the cupcake tin and top them with whipped cream, toasted coconut and a few more pieces of pineapple. Serve.

These were literally gone before the meat was done cooking and got rave reviews. If you’re traveling with these, I do recommend waiting until you reach your destination to add the whipped cream and coconut. Mine fell a bit in transit.

And it was nice to be able to create something that looked fancy even though I lack the fancy equipment. I’ll probably invest in a full-size tart pan at some point, but for now, I have it all under control.

This piece first appeared in print on June 10, 2021.

Tags pineapple, summer dessert, tartlet, toasted coconut, whipped cream

Main Dish

A one-pot meal won’t take up ‘mushroom’ in the kitchen

Post author By Lindsey Young
Post date June 3, 2021

This one-pot recipe for creamy mushroom pasta is a great dinner for the whole family.

Joey and I have completely different styles when it comes to cooking.

I’m a measurements person. He’s an “add it until it tastes right” person.

I subscribe to the “clean as you go” philosophy. He waits until the meal is over.

I search cookbooks and online for ingredients that meld well. He goes with his gut.

So, it was a little out of character for me when he walked into the kitchen to me scrutinizing a video on my phone while furiously scribbling down notes.

I watched a video of a person with the online handle of “Everything Delish” make what appeared to be an amazing creamy mushroom pasta, but after a long search, I realized that if I wanted to recreate the recipe, I was going to have to figure it out for myself.

I found her through her Pinterest page, if you’re interested in watching the video as well, and she has a website at everything-delish.com, although I couldn’t find this particular recipe on it. So, for the most part, the following is my interpretation.

One Pot Creamy Mushroom Pasta

This one-pot recipe for creamy mushroom pasta is a great dinner for the whole family.

Course Main Course

Keyword chicken, creamy, garlic, linguine, mushrooms, parmesan-reggiano, pasta, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 chicken breasts cut into two-inch cubes
6 to 8 cloves garlic minced
16 ounces mushrooms sliced (I used baby bellas)
4 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup milk or cream
12 ounces linguine pasta dry
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup parmesan-reggiano cheese grated
6 ounces parmesan shredded
2 cups fresh spinach leaves

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or a large pan with a lid over medium heat.
Add the chicken and brown on all sides. Don’t worry about cooking it all the way through. Add in the garlic, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, oregano, basil, onion powder, red pepper flakes and salt and pepper. Cook for several minutes, letting the garlic brown slightly.
Add in the chicken broth and milk. Raise the heat to a low boil.
Add in the dry pasta. Stir to incorporate it. A bit, then lower the heat to a simmer and place the lid on the pan. Let the pasta cook for about eight minutes or until it is al dente.
Remove the lid and stir. Stir in the flour, then add the cheeses and continue stirring regularly for five to 10 minutes, making sure to scrape the bottom to keep the cheese from sticking. Once the sauce reduces into a thicker, creamier consistency, stir in the fresh spinach. Let the pasta continue to heat through until the spinach is wilted, and serve.

This was so, so good. I was really nervous at first that the sauce wasn’t going to thicken, but after being patient, it finally got to a great consistency.

It also reheated really well out of the fridge, and Joey and I got several meals out of it.

When Joey figured out I was winging a recipe, he seemed a bit proud of me. I think maybe after a decade of marriage, he might finally be rubbing off on me.

Except for the whole kitchen cleaning thing. I’m not quite there yet.

This piece first appeared in print on June 3, 2021.

Tags creamy, fresh spinach, garlic, linguine, mushrooms, one-pot meal, parmesan, sun-dried tomatoes