Friday, May 02, 2008

more cookies at work


These cookies actually came before last post's cookies. I made them from a recipe in "Another Serving"... yet another Kentucky cookbook sent to me by a publisher.


Here's the review I wrote for the New Era:

Title: Another Serving: The Kentucky Monthly 10th Anniversary Cookbook What’s inside: As with other southern cookbooks, “Another Serving” offers up dishes replete with down-home comfort and calories. But amidst the cheesy dips and creamy casseroles there are a few healthful surprises like Fat-burning Cabbage Soup on page 30, Grilled Veggie Burger on page 100 and Faux Potatoes on page 122, which uses pureéd steamed cauliflower in place of spuds.
The recipes range from formal, such as Crème Bruleé French Toast and White Asparagus Vinaigrette with Country Ham Crumbles, to fit for a backyard barbecue, such as Beer Can Grilled Chicken and Fried Green Tomato Sandwiches. None of the
recipes run over a page and most use common ingredients, or offer substitutes (such
as beef for the bison meatloaf on page 64.) All the recipes come from select
food columns in Kentucky Monthly magazine,which celebrates 10 years this year.
How it looks About every third recipe in the 122-page perfect-bound book contains a full-page color photo, usually cropped in close to show the details.
In the kitchen: Several of the recipes require only a handful of ingredients and often use packaged convenience foods.
Paula Cunningham, the cookbook’s publisher and compiler, calls the recipes in the book “embarrassingly easy,” and I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly I was
able to make these cookies from page 176. To avoid too much bingeing, I cut the recipe in half. Also, I didn’t have selfrising flour on hand, so I used 1 ¾ cup all purpose flour and 3 teaspoons baking powder. They came out crunchy, but light
and not overly tough on the teeth. I usually go for the soft and goey cookies,but I like the variety of textures that the coconut, cereal, oats and nuts bring to these hearty cookies.

Great Crunchy Cookies
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 egg
1 cup vegetable oil
1 ½ cup oats
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
3 ½ cups self-rising flour
1 cup Grape Nuts® cereal
1 cup coconut
1 cup chopped pecans

Cream butter and sugars together in a food processor or mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, oil, oats, vanilla extract and salt and mix well. Add 1/3 of the flour and mix. Continue adding the remaining flour until mixed well. (You may have to transfer it into a larger bowl and mix by hand with a large wooden spoon.) Add the Grape Nuts®, coconut and pecans. Pinch off the dough and roll into quarter size balls. Place dough balls on an ungreased baking sheet and press down with a fork or with your hands. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly brown. Cool and store in an airtight container. Makes 6 to 8 dozen and can be stored in an airtight container for two weeks or longer.

Where to get it: The Pennyroyal Area Museum gift shop and Books on Main carry the cookbook, which sells for $21.95.
— Review by features editor Emily Parrino

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