Wednesday, September 7, 2011 C3 DAILY COMMERCIAL ‘Grands’ are more than just biscuits ot everyone is born with a wooden spoon in their mouth. Yes, I mean wooden — that is my term for someone who has the talent to feed people and feed them well with little or nothing to work with. My Mother shoved a wooden spoon in each of her girls’ mouths; we had no choice in the matter and I am glad we learned to cook early. Because the longer you have a skill, the better you are at it later in life. I would also like to also say that versatility has played a big role in my success in the kitchen. One minute I’m going thru my vast cookbook library looking for that special recipe that will turn hardas-a-rock Florida pears into a taste sensation. The next minute I’m in my back yard battling angry squirrels for pecans to N RECIPES CONTINUED FROM C1 ball. 3.Refrigerate several hours. 4. Allow to come to room temperature. 5. Cut in half and roll out on a lightly floured surface. 6. Cut into rounds. 7. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake in a preheated 350°F oven 8-10 minutes, or until golden. Optional: Cut a hole in the center of every other cookie. Put a spoonful of jam on top of the whole cookies and set the cookies with the hole on top to expose the jam. Baking time will increase several minutes. OLD FASHIONED SUGAR COOKIES INGREDIENTS: K 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, mixed with 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar and pinch of salt K 1/2 cup (1/4 pound) butter or solid shortening K 1cup granulated sugar K 1extra large egg 1full teaspoon vanilla K 7 teaspoons sugar mixed with K 1 teaspoon cinnamon DIRECTIONS: 1. Preheat oven to 400°F. 2. Combine the flour, baking powder, cream of tartar and salt. Sift together if you like. It really doesn’t make any difference with cookies. 3. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. 4. Beat in the egg and vanilla. 5. Add the flour mixture. 6. Roll into small balls. With a teaspoon, drop 1 inch apart on a greased or parchment covered cookie sheet. Press down on each with your hand or a spatula to flatten. Sprinkle with the sugar/cinnamon. 7. Bake 10 minutes or until light brown. EASY BROWNIES (FUDGE SQUARES) This recipe may be doubled for 2 pans. Freeze one for another time. INGREDIENTS: K 3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate K 1/2 cup (1/4 pound) butter (Remove from refrigerator 15 minutes prior to beating) K cup granulated sugar 2 extra large eggs K 1 teaspoon vanilla K 1/2 cup all-purpose flour DIRECTIONS: 1. Preheat oven to 350°F. 2. Melt the chocolate on a plate set over a small pot of simmering water. Place a top over the chocolate. Do not stir. 3. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together with a handheld electric mixer. Add eggs, one at a time. 4. Add the vanilla. Add the melted chocolate. 5. Add the flour. 6. Spoon the mixture into a disposable 8X8 aluminum pan. Bake 20-30 minutes. SEIZE THE DAY’S make some not-so-homemade pecan sticky buns. “What do you mean, Ze’, notso-homemade?” Well, I have a kitchen secret: I don’t make everything from scratch all the time. I know, you are gasping but it’s true. In fact, when I’m experiencing a food-related emergency, a can of Grands Biscuits often bails me out. I know, canned biscuits have been on the market since the late 70’s and were considered the modern woman’s biscuit. But today they are so much more. In fewer than 30 minutes, you can have a meal and a dessert all in one muffin pan. All you have to do is turn on the oven. Grands Biscuits are great to make ahead and leave out on the counter for the kids’ afterschool snack. Just pop them in the microwave for a few seconds or not. The “Practical Potwatcher Mary” did make a good point last week: cooking for one can sometimes be a daunting task. My answer: Grands Biscuits. Make the following recipe. Eat what you like, wrap up the rest and freeze until later. THE GRAND-EST MEAL INGREDIENTS: K 110-count Grands Biscuits K 1 to 11⁄2 cups of leftover Sloppy Joe (or you can make it ahead of time) K 1⁄2 cup of chunky apple sauce K 1 teaspoon apple pie spice or allspice K 1⁄4 stick of butter (room temperature) Preheat oven to 400 degrees DIRECTIONS: 1. With a paper towel, take soft butter and grease a 6-cup large muffin pan (this pan is larger than the standard cupcake pan). You can use a smaller cupcake pan but that will require fewer biscuits. 2. Take each biscuit and place on a lightly floured surface and with a rolling pin or glass flatten out biscuit to almost double its size. 3. Place 2 tablespoons of Sloopy Joe mixture in the center, grasping the edges and making sure filling doesn’t spill. Then place in greased muffin pan. Repeat with 4 biscuits. 4.Pour applesauce, softened butter and spice into a bowl and stir (you will still see butter in the sauce) and do the same with the remaining biscuits and fill with applesauce mixture and place in the same muffin pan. Since there will be some empty wells in the next batch you bake fill empty wells part of the way with water. 5. Bake for 12-15 minutes in the center of oven until golden brown. 6. Remove from oven let cool for 510mintues. Filling will be hot. Serve when ready with your favorite coleslaw or salad. Aren’t Grands … Grand? Want more grands biscuit ideas visit my Facebook page “Get Cooking with Ze’ Carter”. Ze Carter ROAMING GOURMET Do you have a food related question or a restaurant you think I should visit? Let me know and you could win a free kitchen product, meal or even a grocery store gift certificate. Email zecarter@aol.com or mail to Get Cooking w Ze’ Carter 124 S Joanna Ave, Tavares, FL 32778. Preserving food: Back to basics TOM MEADE SHNS This is a time of abundance for gardeners, a time to reap, to share and to save some of the harvest for the winter and next spring. Among the three most popular ways to preserve the garden’s bounty are two of the most ancient, drying and freezing, and the most recent, canning. Pickling, fermenting and curing have their applications, too, but the ways of making sauerkraut, mead and bacon are becoming the province of professionals. Whether you’re putting up a couple of quarts or a truckload, the principles are the same, says Steve Cory, owner of Cory’s Kitchen at Sweet Berry Farm in Middletown, R.I. Cory cans thousands of jars of jams that HART CONTINUED FROM C1 not good enough for my children. Period! But, who has the time to bake? If there are not too many ingredients and they are easy to just toss together without fuss, it takes just a little extra time to bake your own cookies and square cakes than to use a mix or get into your car and go to the store to buy readymade stuff. And, you can double recipes to freeze for weeks ahead. King Arthur Flour recently released an are shipped all over the world. Preserving fruit with honey or sugar was known to ancient cultures, according to Brian A. Nummer of the National Center for Home Food Preservation at the University of Georgia. Only since the relatively recent discovery of bacteria, however, have preservation practices become more sophisticated and sanitary. Deviate from standard practices, and “you can kill someone,” says Martha Smith Patnoad, cooperative extension professor and food-safety education specialist at the University of Rhode Island. She and Cory agree that the “Ball Blue Book of Preserving” is the essential reference and recipe book for preserving food. Patnoad also recommends the website uga.edu/nchfp. unbleached cake flour blend that is free of any added chemicals. The blend aims to produce cakes that are mediumfine with a moist crumb, and King Arthur claims that the final cakes will be lighter, less greasy, and less dense than those made with all-purpose flour. The unbleached blend is not organic, but it is made without chemical bleaching. You might want to also try organic pastry flour that has a lower gluten content than all-purpose flour and is suitable for making cakes, cookies, quick breads, scones, or other baked goods that are better with a lighter texture. The final products made with organic pastry flour still might be a bit denser than those made with bleached cake flour, Try the recipes below — just for fun! Your kids will love you. The neighbors’ kids will love you. Their parents will hate you. 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