Categories
Cookies Dessert

Do ‘nut’ miss out on some delicious cookies

These classic white chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies are a real crowd pleaser.
These classic white chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies are a real crowd pleaser.

According to the “New World Encyclopedia,” the macadamia nut hails from Australia originally, but once the Europeans discovered them in 1828, the evergreen trees they grow on eventually made their way to Hawaii in 1881.

It wasn’t long before they became a commodity, and while the United States produces quite a few, Australia is still the leader in growing them.

The website “Australian Macadamias” notes that the nuts were considered a delicacy by Aboriginal people and were used in trade and ceremonies for a long, long time. They even had a special legend for how macadamia nuts came to be.

I’ve always loved macadamia nuts. I will sometimes pick them first out of a bowl of mixed nuts, and every time I was ever approached over the years to buy cookie dough from my students, I opted for white chocolate chip macadamia nut dough.

To be honest, most of that dough ended up as a snack out of the freezer, but I really like the baked cookies, too, so I decided to whip up a batch this week—avoiding the temptation to polish off the dough before it made it into the oven.

The recipe I used comes from the blog “Back for Seconds” by Stephanie Brubaker. You can find the original at https://backforseconds.com/the-best-chewy-white-chocolate-macadamia-nut-cookies/2/. I doubled the vanilla in my version.

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White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies

These classic white chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies are a real crowd pleaser.
Course Dessert
Keyword cookies, macadamia nuts, white chocolate

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter softened
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 4 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon corn starch
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
  • 1 1/2 cups macadamia nuts

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
  • In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars together until very well combined.
  • Beat in the vanilla and eggs until smooth.
  • Beat in the salt, corn starch, baking soda, baking powder and flour. Stir in the chocolate chips and macadamia nuts.
  • Drop the dough about two inches apart in about two to three tablespoon scoops onto a baking sheet.
  • Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown around the edges.
  • Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool for about five minutes and them place them into an airtight container to keep them soft.

I wish I could say more of these cookies made it out of the house to be shared with others than they did, but we thoroughly enjoyed them over the course of the week.

They were a nice change from my normal inclination to make something with darker chocolate or oatmeal, and the taste of macadamia nuts always makes me think about summer, too.

It also makes me thankful to those folks in Australia thousands of years ago who first started harvesting those little treasures so that they made it to my kitchen in 2019.

This piece first appeared in print on April 4, 2019.

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.

Categories
Salad Side Dish

Sometimes even salad can be comfort food

Oriental salad uses cabbage and ramen to create a great, crunchy side dish.
Oriental salad uses cabbage and ramen to create a great, crunchy side dish.

When I close my eyes and picture my grandpa, I see his mischievous smile—one that went clear up to his eyes—and I can hear his laugh. I see his large hands, calloused from years of hard work, which were always willing to help anyone who needed him. And I’ll never see a pair of suspenders, stretched over a plaid shirt, without thinking of him, too.

We lost my grandfather, Bill Franklin, this past week. He was the epitome of a Kansas farmer, constantly working and fixing, even long after he “retired” from planting grain and milking cows.

He was an imposing figure at over 6 feet tall with a wide frame, and he was strong beyond his 83 years. No one would ever mistake Grandpa for a frail old man.

But he was also gentle and kind. He could create some of the most delicate woodworking I’ve ever seen and was always quick to scoop up a great grand-baby.

And although he probably would have argued with me, he was a life-long learner, too, mastering new technology and doing tons of research on his family tree.

What I admired him for most of all, though, was the love he showed my grandma. They knew each other for practically their entire lives, and they never got tired of each other. He loved to tease her, and she loved to pretend she was shocked by whatever it was he said. They walked hand-in-hand wherever they went, and the look he gave her in their wedding photos was the same one he gave her over 60 years later.

He also liked to eat, and while he had a lot of favorites, the one dish that pops into my head is a salad my mom and I took turns bringing to family meals just because we knew he loved it, so in honor of him, I’m sharing that recipe with you. I don’t have an original source for it. It’s one of those recipes that gets passed around families and loses its origin.

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Oriental Salad

Oriental salad uses cabbage and ramen to create a great, crunchy side dish.
Course Salad, Side Dish
Keyword ramen, red cabbage, sunflower seeds

Ingredients

  • 16 ounces shredded cabbage I buy the bagged coleslaw mix with carrots
  • 1 bunch green onion chopped
  • 1 package ramen noodles I use beef flavored
  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup shelled sunflower seeds
  • 1/2 cup oil I use canola
  • Flavor packet from the ramen
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 tablespoons vinegar I use apple cider
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

  • In a large salad bowl, combine the cabbage and onions.
  • Place the uncooked noodles into a small plastic zippered bag. Zip the bag and crush the noodles (I normally use the handle of a kitchen knife, but a rolling pin or the smooth side of a meat mallet would also work well.). Break them up into about 1/2-inch pieces. Dump the sunflower seeds into the bag and set it aside.
  • In another small bowl, combine the oil, flavor packet, sugar, vinegar, salt and pepper.
  • Just before serving the salad, pour the noodles, sunflower seeds and oil mixture over top of the cabbage and mix well.
  • Refrigerate any leftovers.

As we gathered this week to share stories of Grandpa in the days leading to his funeral, this salad graced the table with tons of other food from the wonderful people in our family’s life. Grandma’s fridge won’t be empty for quite awhile.

And while the love we all have for each other will keep us going, there will continue to be a piece missing from our get-togethers.

The hole a man like my grandpa leaves is large and a tough one to fill.

This piece first appeared in print on March 28, 2019.

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.

Categories
Main Dish

Shredded cheese, potatoes make ‘grater’ casserole

If you need an easy, crowd-pleasing dinner, keep this recipe handy.
If you need an easy, crowd-pleasing dinner, keep this recipe handy.

Glancing at my pantry this past week, I noticed a forgotten bag of Yukon gold potatoes nestled on the shelf.

I pulled it out, nervous for what I’d find, and discovered they were still mostly good but weren’t long for this world, so it was at that moment that I decided potatoes were on that evening’s menu.

Looking through my list of recipes to try, I remembered a simple one that was really just three awesome main ingredients: potatoes, hamburger and cheese.

You can’t go wrong with that combo, in my humble opinion.

The recipe calls for Russet potatoes, but my Yukons worked well, too. I probably used 10 to 12 of them, since they’re smaller, and it decreased my bake time by around 20 minutes, since they cook faster. I also used ground turkey instead of hamburger to make it a bit lighter.

This comes from the website “Genius Kitchen.” You can find it at https://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/hamburger-potato-cheese-casserole-187672. I changed up the seasonings just a bit in my version.

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Cheesy Hamburger Potato Casserole

If you need an easy, crowd-pleasing dinner, keep this recipe handy.
Course Main Course
Keyword casserole, ground beef, hamburger, potatoes

Ingredients

  • 5 large Russet potatoes sliced about 1/4-inch thick
  • 2 tablespoons onion powder
  • 4 tablespoons garlic powder
  • 1 pound ground beef or turkey
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 cups milk skim is fine
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 8 ounces sharp cheddar shredded (or cheese of your choice)

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • In a large skillet, brown the hamburger/turkey. Drain off any excess fat, and mix in the onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
  • In the meantime, place a layer of potato slices in the bottom of a 2- to 3-quart casserole dish with a lid (it’s fine if the potatoes overlap a bit if you have lots).
  • Dump half the meat mixture on top of the potatoes and spread it evenly.
  • Place another layer of potatoes in the dish and cover with the remaining meat mixture.
  • Finish out with a final layer of potatoes.
  • Set the dish aside and make your cheese sauce (you can use the same skillet).
  • Melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the flour to make a roux and stir for about a minute to cook the flour taste out.
  • Add the milk and salt and pepper and whisk to break up any clumps.
  • Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to stir regularly to keep the milk from scalding. Once the mixture is thick and bubbling, remove it from heat (mine would not thicken to save my life, so I ended up adding quite a bit more flour, a little at a time, until I got a “sauce” consistency).
  • Add the cheese and stir until it is melted. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  • Pour the cheese sauce over top of the potatoes and meat. Shake the dish a bit to help work the sauce down into the entire dish.
  • Place the covered dish in the oven for about 1-1/2 hours, taking the lid off for the last 20 minutes, until the potatoes are fork tender and the top is browned.

This was a very simple recipe and reheated wonderfully as leftovers. If you’re cooking for picky eaters or kiddos, this is a great one to try. 

If you’re cooking for a more sophisticated adult palate, you might try adding some more spices to it. Crushed red pepper flakes, minced garlic and a real onion in place of powder, and even some basil or paprika could have taken this to a new level. It’s a pretty blank canvas.

I was just happy to not let a bag of potatoes go to waste, and it was a good reminder that I should peer into the back of my pantry more often. Who knows what other treasures lie within?

This piece first appeared in print on March 21, 2019.

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.

Categories
Breakfast Dessert

‘Pecan’ make ‘berry’ good coffeecake

A cranberry-laden coffeecake is perfect for breakfast or for any occasion where cake is present—no glazes or frosting needed.
A cranberry-laden coffeecake is perfect for breakfast or for any occasion where cake is present—no glazes or frosting needed.

Before I get any letters or people shaking their heads at me, yes, I know I did a large swath of cranberry recipes this winter, and here I am sharing yet another one with you.

I couldn’t help myself.

If you’re like me, you can’t get enough of cranberry desserts, but for those of you who are sick and tired of those little red berries, rest assured that this coffeecake would be great with blueberries, too, so if you’d rather use fresh fruit than frozen now that spring is knocking at the door, I’d go that route.

But regardless of whether you like cranberries or not, there’s no denying that they make for a beautiful dessert. There’s a great wow factor when it comes to those bright red spots poking through.

I took this coffeecake to a gathering with family, and we devoured it.

I found this recipe on the blog “Lemon Tree Dwelling.” You can find the original at https://www.lemontreedwelling.com/cranberry-pecan-coffee-cake/. I changed up the spice mixture, doubled the vanilla and decided to skip making a glaze for this coffee cake. It’s moist and perfect without it.

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Cranberry-Pecan Coffeecake

A cranberry-laden coffeecake is perfect for breakfast or for any occasion where cake is present—no glazes or frosting needed.
Course Breakfast, Dessert
Keyword coffeecake, cranberries, pecans

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup plus 6 tablespoons butter, divided and softened
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 cup fresh cranberries or blueberries or thawed, drained frozen berries
  • a scant 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon cloves
  • 1 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 cup pecans coarsely chopped

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and lightly flour a tube pan and set it aside.
  • Cream together the 1/2 cup butter, sugar and vanilla.
  • Beat in the eggs.
  • Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and sour cream and beat until well combined.
  • In a separate bowl, combine the remaining butter, salt, brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and pecans.
  • Pour half of the batter into the tube pan and spread it out evenly. Top with half of the cranberries and half the spice mixture.
  • Spread the rest of the batter evenly into the pan and top with the remaining cranberries and spice mixture.
  • Bake for 50 to 60 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out dry.
  • Cool completely before removing the cake from the pan. Store in an airtight container.

I threw some extra whole pecans on the top of my coffeecake, too, to give it a prettier top.

And, yes, I probably have a cranberry addiction, but there are worse things, I suppose. I’ll try to give you more variety in my ingredients going into spring and summer, but I probably can’t make any promises.

This piece first appeared in print on March 14, 2019.

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.

Categories
Dessert

It’s time to soup up your dessert

The secret ingredient for this cake is a can of tomato soup, although most people won't ever guess it's included.
The secret ingredient for this cake is a can of tomato soup, although most people won’t ever guess it’s included.

This weekend, Joey walked into the house after leaving me alone for an afternoon to the wonderful smell of spices wafting through the house and a Tupperware container full of cake.

“You’re going to have to guess the secret ingredient,” I told him. “And it isn’t the raisins.”

He sat down, fork in hand, ready to see if he could figure it out.

He managed to identify the bevy of spices I added to the recipe, although I think that’s a bit like cheating since he knows cinnamon, cloves and ginger are among my favorite baking spices.

But he was stumped by the main ingredient.

After finishing the slice and still not guessing, he gave up.

“It’s tomato soup,” I told him.

It took a full 10 seconds of eye contact for him to realize I wasn’t just messing with him, and after the initial shock wore off, he said, “It doesn’t taste like tomato. I just thought it was a spice cake.”

I found this unique recipe on the blog “Lord Byron’s Kitchen.” You can find it at http://www.lordbyronskitchen.com/tomato-soup-cake/. I substituted other spices for the pumpkin pie spice the recipe called for.

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Tomato Soup Cake

The secret ingredient for this cake is a can of tomato soup, although most people won't ever guess it's included.
Course Dessert
Keyword cake, tomato soup

Ingredients

  • 10.75 ounces tomato soup
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon cloves
  • 1 teaspoon ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup raisins

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • Spray a bundt pan or tube pan with cooking spray and set aside.
  • In a bowl, combine the tomato soup and baking soda. (Be sure it has room to fizz, because it will bubble up.)
  • In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together.
  • Beat in the egg, and then beat in the tomato soup mixture.
  • Finally, add the flour, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, baking powder and salt and beat until just combined.
  • Fold in the raisins.
  • Pour the mixture into the prepared bundt pan.
  • Drop the pan onto the surface of your counter a few times to even it out and get rid of any air bubbles.
  • Bake for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
  • Let the cake cool for about 10 minutes and then invert onto a plate to remove it from the pan. Store in an airtight container.

The recipe’s author serves theirs with a dusting of confectioner’s sugar, but it’s completely unnecessary unless you just like the look of it. This cake is delicious without it and doesn’t need the added sugar.

I was expecting more of a reddish color to my cake, but it turned out a bit darker. I’m guessing that’s thanks to my liberal use of cloves.

If you wanted to dress this up, it would be fantastic with cream cheese frosting, too.

I would argue this recipe is worth trying not only because it’s a great cake but also because it’s a fun combination to experience.

I don’t know why it works or why someone tried it in the first place, but I suppose since tomatoes are technically a fruit, it makes sense to try them in a dessert, too.

This piece first appeared in print on March 7, 2019.

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.

Categories
Main Dish Soup

Warm soup goes beyond the ‘kale’ of duty

Autumn rice soup is a nice meal for a cold day.
Autumn rice soup is a nice meal for a cold day.

I started following a few folks on Instagram who post beautiful food pictures regularly.

One is Karin Pfeiff Boschek, who does some of the most spectacular pie crusts I have ever seen. Another is food stylist Judy Kim, who not only posts many of her gorgeous food photos but often chronicles the behind-the-scenes set up for her photography sessions.

I continue to try to improve my food photography, despite terrible lighting in my kitchen and my propensity to bake late into the evening, but sometimes, even though the photo of the recipe I try looks extremely appetizing online, mine just doesn’t turn out the same.

This week’s recipe was one of those. Truth be told, it was definitely my fault. The recipe calls for wild rice rather than the normal, long-grain variety, but as we all know, sometimes the local grocery store just doesn’t carry whatever specialized ingredient you’re looking for, so you have to improvise.

What I did not consider was that my cooking time would need to be adjusted and that the colorful soup photo I saw online would not be quite as pretty with only white rice.

With that in mind, I still really liked my end result—even if it wasn’t a picture-perfect soup—and I adjusted the cooking time below to reflect what I wish I would have done.

This recipe comes from the blog “Gimme Some Oven.” You can find it at https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/cozy-autumn-wild-rice-soup/, where the recipe author also posted instructions to make this soup in a pressure cooker. I added extra seasoning and garlic to my version. I also opted for using regular rice instead of wild rice.

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Autumn Rice Soup

Autumn rice soup is a nice meal for a cold day.
Course Main Course, Soup
Keyword kale, rice

Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons butter divided
  • 1 small white onion diced
  • 2 medium-sized carrots diced
  • 2 ribs celery diced
  • 1 pound sweet potato peeled and diced
  • 8 ounces sliced baby bella mushrooms
  • 8 cloves garlic minced
  • 6 cups vegetable stock
  • 1 cup uncooked rice
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 heaping tablespoons Old Bay seasoning
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1 1/2 cups milk I used skim
  • about 3 cups loosely packed kale chopped into bite-sized pieces and the stems removed
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  • In a large Dutch oven with a lid, heat one tablespoon of butter over medium-high heat.
  • Saute the onion until it is translucent. Add in the carrots, celery, sweet potato, mushrooms and garlic, and stir regularly, letting them cook for about 5 minutes.
  • Add the stock, rice, bay leaf and Old Bay and stir to combine, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pot a bit to loosen any stuck-on bits.
  • Keep the pot on medium-high heat until it just starts to slowly bubble. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cover. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes and give it a good stir and check the rice’s doneness. If it’s not quite how you want it, continue to let the pot simmer, covered, checking on it every five minutes or so until the rice is where you want it.
  • While the rice is cooking, melt the remaining three tablespoons of butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Whisk in the flour and let it cook for about one minute. Whisk in the milk and stir frequently, making sure to break up any clumps and letting the mixture thicken significantly.
  • When the rice is done and the cream sauce is thickened, add the sauce and kale to the Dutch oven and stir to combine.
  • Add salt and pepper to taste and serve when it is heated through.

If you decide to use wild rice for your version, the original recipe calls for a 45-minute simmer time. I tried that with my long-grain rice, and while the flavors were still nice, the rice was pretty mushy, and I didn’t end up with the amount of liquid in my soup that I should have had at the end.

This wasn’t one of Joey’s favorites. The kale stays quite crisp, despite being added to the hot soup, and he was not a big fan of the texture. If you’re not a kale enthusiast, you could easily add fresh spinach instead.

And be prepared that your soup might not photograph as nicely as you want. I don’t think my concoction would have a chance of appearing on Karin or Judy’s Instagram feeds, but it was nice to have a warm bowl of soup on a cold day—pretty or not.

This piece first appeared in print on Feb. 28, 2019.

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.

Categories
Main Dish Pressure Cooker Soup

Get a ‘lentil’ bit adventurous in the kitchen

Lentil soup is a meatless meal that doesn't skimp on flavor or protein.
Lentil soup is a meatless meal that doesn’t skimp on flavor or protein.

With less than a month to go before Lent starts for some and the push to continue to eat healthier in the new year for others, it’s the time of year to look for meatless recipes.

Unfortunately, sometimes it feels like those meatless meals are less satisfying than heartier meals, so I often find myself hunting for vegetarian recipes that are high in protein. The last thing I want is for a healthy dinner to drive me into the kitchen for a snack later because it just doesn’t stick with me.

When I stumbled on a recipe for some lentil soup I could make in my pressure cooker, I decided to do some research on lentils, not being particularly familiar with the ingredient, but I was pleasantly surprised at how healthy lentils really are.

Registered Dietician Katherine Zeratsky with the Mayo Clinic explains that “Lentils are high in protein and fiber and low in fat, which makes them a healthy substitute for meat. They’re also packed with folate, iron, phosphorus, potassium and fiber.”

And I thought they were pretty tasty, too, after we gave this soup recipe a try. The recipe I used is from the website “Delish” and was posted by Makinze Gore. You can find it at https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/a25240121/instant-pot-lentil-soup/. I increased the amounts on several ingredients.

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Pressure Cooker Lentil Soup

Lentil soup is a meatless meal that doesn't skimp on flavor or protein.
Course Main Course
Keyword lentil, pressure cooker, soup

Ingredients

  • 1 medium yellow onion diced
  • 2 medium carrots peeled and diced
  • 3 stalks celery diced
  • 6 to 8 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 1/2 cups dried green lentils
  • 14.5 ounces diced tomatoes
  • 3 teaspoons thyme
  • 2 teaspoons basil
  • 2 teaspoons oregano
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
  • 4 cups fresh spinach
  • shredded or grated parmesan for serving

Instructions

  • Add all the ingredients, except the spinach and parmesan, to the crock of a pressure cooker and stir.
  • Set the pressure cooker to high pressure for 18 minutes and then quick release the pressure when it’s done cooking.
  • Stir in the spinach, and once it’s wilted, serve the soup garnished with parmesan.

There was enough leftover soup for us to put some in the freezer, and it was great later on, too.

I also opted for the vegetable broth to make this truly vegetarian, and I didn’t even notice there wasn’t any meat in the soup. It was hearty and filling and packed a lot of flavor. 

If you really can’t bring yourself do meatless, I’d suggest tossing some cooked ham or bacon into the mix, but honestly, you won’t need it.

If you’ve never cooked with lentils before, don’t let them intimidate you. They look a little different, but they’re really just beans, but they have a bit of a nutty flavor, too.

I’m looking forward to seeing how else I can use them in my kitchen and glad I have a new vegetarian recipe to add to our dinner rotation.

This piece first appeared in print on Feb. 21, 2019.

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.

Categories
Cookies Dessert

Simple oatmeal cookies are ‘raisin’ the stakes

There is nothing remarkable about these classic oatmeal raisin cookies outside of being a good, old-fashioned recipe.
There is nothing remarkable about these classic oatmeal raisin cookies outside of being a good, old-fashioned recipe.

A friend of mine recently posted on social media, “Raisin oatmeal cookies that look like chocolate chip cookies are the main reason I have trust issues.”

I chuckled a bit, although I am a lover of both raisin-filled and chocolate-chip-filled oatmeal cookies. But then I started thinking about how good an old-fashioned, chewy oatmeal raisin cookie sounded.

With this column, I often try to get out of my comfort zone and try recipes I’ve never made before and sometimes with ingredients I haven’t ever used in my kitchen.

But the classics are classics for a reason.

So I pulled out my canister of oats and bag of raisins and whipped up a batch of just plain, delicious oatmeal raisin cookies. The recipe I used only adds nutmeg for spices, which I liked. While I love a good cinnamon-flavored oatmeal cookie, this lets the raisins be the star in the middle of the comforting flavor of oats and brown sugar.

The recipe I used is from the blog “Brown-Eyed Baker.” You can find it at https://www.browneyedbaker.com/chewy-oatmeal-raisin-cookies/#recipe. I doubled the nutmeg in my version.

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Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Course Dessert
Keyword cookies, oatmeal, raisin

Ingredients

  • 2 sticks butter softened
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats I used quick oats instead
  • 1 1/2 cups raisins

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two baking sheets by lining with parchment paper or greasing them with cooking spray and set aside.
  • Beat the butter on medium speed until it’s creamy. Beat in the sugars for about three minutes until the mixture is fluffy. Beat in the eggs
  • Dump in the rest of the ingredients except the oats and raisins and beat on low until everything is well combined. Stir in the oats and raisins.
  • Roll the dough into about two-inch balls and place them about two inches apart on the baking sheets. Place both sheets in the oven.
  • Bake for about 25 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are browned. Rotate the sheets (both front to back and top to bottom) halfway through baking to get an even bake.
  • Let the cookies cool for a couple minutes and then transfer them to an airtight container to keep them soft and chewy.

Once my cookies were done, I enjoyed a couple with a big glass of milk, and it was the perfect treat. I had to take the Tupperware to work to make sure I didn’t finish off the whole batch—it was completely what I was in the mood for.

I’m sure it wasn’t my friend’s intention to bring more oatmeal raisin cookies into the world with her social media post, but I appreciated the inspiration, no matter how it came my way.

And you could definitely swap out the raisins for some chocolate chips, if you’re not a fan—just don’t try to trick anyone. You don’t want to be the reason for someone’s trust issues.

This piece first appeared in print on Feb. 14, 2020.

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.

Categories
Appetizer Main Dish Side Dish Snack

You can’t just wing crispy chicken

Cooking nice, crispy chicken wings in the oven takes some time but is well worth the wait.
Cooking nice, crispy chicken wings in the oven takes some time but is well worth the wait.

Although we had big crowds of folks in our house for the NFL playoff games this season, Super Bowl Sunday was a calm evening without company—something Joey and I were both very much in the mood for after a few busy weeks in a row.

Despite the lack of a table full of food, I still decided to make a traditional football snack for the big game: buffalo wings.

Buffalo wings are one of Joey’s favorite foods, and we’ve spent a lot of time over the years trying to figure out how to make some at home that are crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside and aren’t the product of lots of deep frying.

In all our attempts, we generally only attained one or two of those criteria, but I finally figured it out this past weekend, thanks to a blog post by “The Cookful.” You can find it at https://thecookful.com/bake-chicken-wings-crispy/. I will warn you that it takes a good amount of time in the oven to accomplish this, but it is mostly hands-off time, and it’s well worth the wait.

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Crispy Chicken Wings

Cooking nice, crispy chicken wings in the oven takes some time but is well worth the wait.
Course Appetizer, Main Course, Snacks
Keyword chicken wings

Ingredients

  • 20 wing pieces
  • 1 tablespoon aluminum-free baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • sauce or dry rub

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.
  • Line two rimmed baking sheets with foil and place a rack onto the sheet (I just used my cooling racks).
  • Place the wing pieces into a bowl and dump in the baking powder and salt. Mix them with your hands to distribute the powder and salt. (Don’t expect them to look like they’ve been dipped in flour; you won’t be able to see the coating on the wings when you’re done.)
  • Place the wing pieces in a single layer on the rack, spacing them just slightly. Cook them for 30 minutes.
  • Increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees, and cook for another 45 to 50 minutes or until the wings are brown and crispy.
  • Let them rest for a couple minutes, and then toss them in your favorite wing sauce or dry rub and serve immediately.

My favorite way to coat wings is to put them in a bowl with a lid along with the sauce and then just shake them until they’re coated. I’m not coordinated enough to do it without a lid—unless I want to clean sauce off every inch of my kitchen.

These wings were awesome—exactly what we’d been looking for. It was also nice that any fat dripped down onto the foil, and the wings weren’t swimming in it while they cooked.

I’m not sure what the secret of the baking powder is that makes the wings cook so well, but it was just what I was missing in previous attempts.

They also received the Joey stamp of approval, which is a pretty big deal. He has pretty high standards for what makes for a good wing.

Our Super Bowl snack was awesome. The game, on the other hand, well…maybe it could have used some baking powder.

This piece first appeared in print on Feb. 7, 2019.

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.

Categories
Main Dish Pressure Cooker

‘Loin’ing to use pressure cooker no easy feat

A tender pork loin, along with tasty stuffing and gravy, can all be made in under an hour with a pressure cooker.
A tender pork loin, along with tasty stuffing and gravy, can all be made in under an hour with a pressure cooker.

Over the past year or so, I’ve noticed quite a number of people jump on the electric pressure cooker bandwagon.

I have a traditional pressure cooker I inherited from my grandmother, but to be honest, I’ve always been a bit scared to actually try it, so it’s stayed packed away on a high shelf in my kitchen.

On Christmas, though, my parents gifted my sister and I each an electric pressure cooker, which somehow seems less terrifying than the stovetop variety.

So, since Christmas, I’ve been playing with recipes, trying to figure out how pressure cooking works, and I finally have a recipe I’m excited to share.

This recipe comes from the blog “The Creative Bite” by Danielle Green. One thing I really liked about this recipe is that it’s all made completely in the pressure cooker pot, so there’s only one dish to dirty. You can find her post at https://www.thecreativebite.com/pressure-cooker-pork-loin-stuffing-gravy/. I subbed in cornbread stuffing and added rosemary for seasoning.

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Pressure Cooker Pork Loin, Stuffing and Gravy

A tender pork loin, along with tasty stuffing and gravy, can all be made in under an hour with a pressure cooker.
Course Main Course
Keyword cornbread, gravy, pork loin, stuffing

Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons butter divided
  • 1 medium yellow onion diced
  • 24 ounce pork loin
  • 4 to 5 teaspoons rosemary
  • 3 to 4 teaspoons garlic powder
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 1/4 cups chicken broth
  • 6 ounce box cornbread stuffing mix
  • 2 tablespoon flour

Instructions

  • Season the pork loin with rosemary, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
  • Add two tablespoons of butter to the pressure cooker and turn to saute. Add the pork loin and sear for about four minutes.
  • Add the onions and flip the pork loin over and sear for another four minutes.
  • Add the chicken broth and cook on high pressure for 35 minutes, and then allow the pressure to release naturally.
  • Remove the pork loin and set aside to rest on a cutting board.
  • Scoop out about two cups of liquid, leaving the onions behind, and reserve it for gravy.
  • Dump in the stuffing and stir to moisten. (If it’s still a bit dry, pour a little of your reserve liquid back in. Look at the directions on the box if you’re unsure how much liquid the stuffing mix needs.)
  • Place the lid on the pot and let it sit for five minutes.
  • Pour the stuffing into a serving dish and cover it.
  • Add the rest of the butter to the pot and turn back to saute. When it melts, whisk in the flour. Stir it for a couple minutes and then whisk in the reserved liquid. Cook for about two minutes or until it thickens. Season with more salt and pepper.
  • Slice the pork loin and serve with stuffing and gravy.

This was such a nice, hearty meal, and it came together really easily, which I appreciated. Also, having this recipe turn out so well gave me a lot of confidence moving forward with learning to use my new kitchen toy.

My sister has also been playing with her pressure cooker, and we were discussing how the electric version seems less terrifying than the traditional variety.

“What is it about the Baby Boomers that they’re brave enough to use those things all the time,” I asked her.

“Well, they did grow up without seat belts,” she said. “Now they’re not afraid of anything.”

Good point, Sis. Good point.

This piece first appeared in print on Jan. 24, 2019.

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.

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