Recipes for oatmeal cookies and chili, advice on bouillon and grilled cheese sandwiches

bakery background
bakery background

Three more 2020 columns follow this one, and the Fare Exchange 2020 file still contains unsolved mysteries. Readers may have sent one recipe answer for a question that has a variety of solutions. Please fill in a blank or two if you have recipes for easy yeast bread, rustic bread, frittatas and crustless quiches, a rich banana bread like the one sold by Chocolate Heaven, and gluten-free pie crust.

OATMEAL COOKIES

Valerie Bowers pronounces this Ina Garten recipe as "our favorite oatmeal cookies, with lots of fiber to help offset the sugar and a small amount of flour. I've cut the recipe in half and also used thick-cut oats with good results. Note that Ina uses kosher salt. If you only have table salt use 3/4 teaspoon rather than a whole teaspoon."

Raisin Pecan Oatmeal Cookies

1 1/2 cups pecans

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed

1 cup granulated sugar

2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon kosher salt

3 cups old-fashioned oatmeal

1 1/2 cups raisins

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the pecans on a sheet pan, and bake for 5 minutes, until crisp. Set aside to cool. Chop very coarsely.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, add the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla.

Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt together into a medium bowl. With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Add the oats, raisins and pecans, and mix just until combined.

Using a small ice-cream scoop or a tablespoon, drop 2-inch mounds of dough onto sheet pans lined with parchment paper. Flatten slightly with a damp hand. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer the cookies to a baking rack, and cool completely.

COOKWARE RECOMMENDATION

If you are Christmas shopping for a favorite cook, here's a cookware recommendation as one of you sought. Anne Ginder began, "I am new to the area and enjoy your column. It reminds me of a longstanding column in the Austin American-Statesman written by Ellie Rucker.

"I just finished researching cookware, mainly on Consumer Reports, and ultimately sent my daughter a set she is ecstatic about. I screened the top-rated choices for a nonstick variety that didn't rely on a coating (that would ultimately come off). That led me to hard-anodized aluminum. I also wanted the set to be free of PTFE and PFOA, chemicals linked to health hazards. I purchased a reasonably priced set of Cuisinart's Green Gourmet Cookware. You can easily find it in 10- and 12-piece sets in local stores and online. My daughter sounds like a commercial, 'Mom: Nothing sticks.'"

And then Ms. Ginder sharpens a point. Your own kitchen may be crying out for an upgrade. She said, "I hope this helps your reader and others who are due for a cookware upgrade for themselves or for gift giving."

GO-TO CHILI

Dan Cobb surveys the vast land of chili recipes, where "Everybody certainly has their own favorite. Here is mine, hands down. There is a really good Greek restaurant not far from home serving the best chili I've ever tasted. I bribed them into giving me their recipe. What they gave me makes 5 gallons, so I had to do some arithmetic to size it for home use. Still, it makes a bunch."

Zoi's Chili

1 pounds ground chuck

2 big onions, chopped and divided

2 cups water

2 cups tomato juice

1 (15-ounce) can petite diced tomatoes

1 teaspoon Better Than Bouillon chicken bouillon

2 teaspoons Better Than Bouillon beef bouillon

teaspoon salt

teaspoon each black, white, red flaked and cayenne pepper

1 rounded tablespoon chili powder

2 teaspoons minced garlic

2 green bell peppers, seeded and chopped

2 (15-ounce) cans red beans, drained but not rinsed

1 (15-ounce) can chili beans, drained but not rinsed

In a big pot, brown beef with 1 chopped onion, then drain. Stir in water, tomato juice, tomatoes, bouillons and spices.

Bring to a boil, then simmer, covered, 1 hours.

Add remaining onions and green peppers.

Bring back to a boil, then simmer, covered, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in beans.

Turn off heat after 3 to 4 minutes.

Keep your eye on it, and stir every now and then while simmering. Add up to one more cup of water a little at a time if it boils down too much.

GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH

Grilled cheese sandwich and canned tomato soup seem like the best possible easy-peasy meal. But perhaps one wants to make an unforgettable grilled cheese. You asked, and Nora Fitzgerald evidently knows of what she speaks. (My guess is that more of you will weigh in on your favorite grilled cheese tweaking.)

"I like Kerry Gold Dubliner cheese, a really good stone-ground mustard combined with a spicy mustard, homemade quick pickles (which I put on the sandwich before grilling) and a multigrain bun." (By the way, readers, those pickle and multigrain bun recipes will follow before 2020 vanishes.)

"The reader's question about using grated cheese sounds like a great idea to me. It seems it would shorten the time that it needed to melt. The key to not burning the outside of the grilled cheese is to keep the heat fairly low, lower than you might think would work. Even though it takes longer, the cheese does melt and the bread gets nicely browned and crisp."

BOUILLON

In Dan Cobb's recipe for chili from a Greek restaurant, which you have just read about, Better Than Bouillon is prescribed. This tasty bouillon paste seems an ideal ingredient for winter soups, when trips to the store may be few and far between. A vegetable-based Better Than Bouillon is an aid to tasty soup for vegetarian diners, and there are several other flavors. And then there is Cousin Anne's trick. She keeps a container in her freezer and adds all the cooking liquid from preparing vegetables: little portions, day after day. The ultimate result: a fine vegetable broth for a someday soup.

And you are an aid to everything tasty, soupy and substantial in the Christmas kitchen. Thank you.

REQUESTS

* Easy yeast bread

* Rustic bread

* Frittata

* Crustless quiche

* Banana bread (a la Chocolate Heaven's)

* Gluten-free pie crust

TO REACH US

Fare Exchange is a longtime meeting place for people who love to cook and love to eat. We welcome both your recipes and your requests. Be sure to include precise instructions for every recipe you send.

Mailing address: Jane Henegar, 913 Mount Olive Road, Lookout Mountain, GA 30750

E-mail: chattfare@gmail.com

photo Jane Henegar

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