Cook Can Spin Dye

Apple Squares = Perfect Summer Treat

admin — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 21:10:37 +0000

One of my more favorite ingredients to work with is apples. There are many different dishes, condiments, snacks, and desserts that use apples as a foundation.

With the sizzling summer heat here and apple sales upon occasion, one of my favorite summer stand-by treats is the Apple Square recipe found on Allrecipes.com. It’s pretty easy to make, can be doubled to make a big 13×9 pan, and travels very well in both hot and cold weather. It makes a quick breakfast if you are on the run. Simply warm it, add vanilla ice cream, and you have a very tasty dessert. It also works as a tasty snack and people of all ages seem to love it!

Apple Squares

Ingredients: (I doubled the ingredients to fit into a 13×9)

1 cup sifted all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup chopped apple

1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

2 tablespoons white sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9×9 inch pan (or 13×9 if the ingredients are doubled). Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon; set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together melted butter, brown sugar, and 1/2 cup of white sugar with a wooden spoon until smooth. Stir in the egg and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture until just combined, then stir in the apples and walnuts. Spread the mixture evenly into the prepared pan. In a cup or small bowl, stir together the remaining cinnamon and sugar; sprinkle over the top of the bars.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in preheated oven; finished bars should spring back when lightly touched. Cool in the pan, and cut into squares.

The result is fluffy, not overly-sweet, and keeps for a week if it’s properly stored. A perfect way to begin and end a day.

Hickory Wood Chip Heaven

admin — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 15:07:03 +0000

Summer is upon us! For many of you that means lots and lots of grilling and/or camping. One of the exciting aspects of grilling is the different ways that you can prepare food. You can use dutch ovens, skewers, foil packs, new-fangled cooking tools that probably cost way-to-much, or simply throw the food on a hot rack and call it a day. Each way has its own benefits and rewards.

There is also the aspect of flavoring when it comes to grilling. Marinades can make or break a grilled meal, so it is important to keep this mind since a long marinade is much better than a last-minute, “oops I forgot” twenty-minute marinade. Slow and easy is the key.

For an culinary adventurer like myself, I wanted to try using hickory wood chips to flavor some chicken over Memorial Day weekend camping. I originally bought the set from World Market. It came with a metal black box and the chips. The instructions said to soak the chips for an hour, put them in the metal box, and then set the box on hot coals. Seemed simple enough. And, it failed miserably with the wood chips catching on fire shortly after placing the box on the coals…

So the dang chips sat in our camping bin for two years without being touched due to my disappointment with the first attempt. Yes, I am a sore loser. I also hate wasting space and effort, so when I did the inventory of the camping gear earlier this year I decided that I must use the wood chips or they would be sacrificed to the next campfire.

Thankfully, one of my favorite cooking books, Preserved by Nick Sandler and Johnny Acton, came to the rescue. I HIGHLY recommend this book for anyone considering smoking, sun-drying, or canning more exotic foods as it is a wealth of information on the topic.

The book covered a wide variety of topics for preserving and also goes into detail about smoking food. From there, I learned that you should soak the wood chips for at least four hours. And, a plate or something should be set on top of the chips in the soaking bowl so all of the chips are completely submerged. This is very important! The chips should look and feel thoroughly soaked when all is said and done.

And the book also mentioned that the easiest way to smoke the wood chips is in a foil pack with some holes in the top and bottom. The stupid metal box went into the recycling and I proceeded to do this the right way.

The result was perfect! The wood chips smoked the entire time we were grilling and then still smoked the next morning when we made breakfast. Who knew that smoked eggs could be so tasty?

Hiatus in May

admin — Mon, 03 May 2010 15:08:45 +0000

I apologize for the delay in my recent posts. Unfortunately, this month won’t bring many posts if any at all due to the fact that I will be graduating from DePaul University at the beginning of June (and finishing the mountain of paperwork and projects that go with it) and I will also be on vacation during this month. To say that I haven’t had time for my beloved hobbies would be an understatement and very unfortunate as nothing makes me more happy than experimenting in the kitchen. But, school comes first so I have to take a hiatus this month.

Cooking up a recipe to graduate on-time…

However, I will be back in action in shortly after that. Look for new posts around the third week in June. I will be posting about Belly Wine Jelly, new fibers that I have washed combed and dyed by hand, curing my own bacon, a posting about my friend Joanna’s Freckle Cake (it’s authentically Polish), potato and garlic bread, and DIY yogurt to name a few. I can’t wait!