Tuesday Tips-Oven Bake Your Bacon

I LOVE bacon, but I hate to fry it on the stove top.  It makes a huge mess and the bacon smell just sticks to me.  So, I started baking my bacon in the oven.  I cover a cookie sheet with aluminum foil (I use the 18" width kind for this job), spray it with non-stick spray, and spread the bacon in a single layer across the pan.  The non-stick spray really is an important step.  I know bacon has plenty of fat in it, but the bacon sticks if I don't spray it first.  Bake at 425 degrees for 15-23 minutes, depending on how crispy you like it and how thick your bacon is.  I like my bacon thick and crispy!

 

After it's done cooking, I fold one hot pad in half and set the pan on it and a flat one so that it create a tilt. 

Place the pan on the folded hot pad as well as a flat one for the other end.  I push the bacon to the top half and let the grease run down to the bottom.

Remove the bacon and place on paper towels to absorb any extra grease.  Once the pan cools a bit, I put a couple of paper towels down to soak up/contain the grease, fold the foil up into a neat little packet, and throw it in the garbage.  No mess no fuss.  If I cooked any extra bacon, I crumble it up and store it in the fridge for bacon bits.

Barb's Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

Several years ago, one of my co-workers and good friends, Barbara, would bring the most amazing chocolate chip cookies to work to share.  They were soft and rich, and I could easily eat half a dozen in one sitting.  Give them a try.  You won't be disappointed. 

One amazing tip I've learned is to cream your eggs and butter together to create beautiful, creamy emulsion.  See the picture below.  It takes a while, so don't panic.  The cookies bake differently when I do this and when I don't. This picture shows the whip attachment for the mixure, but I prefer to use the paddle attachment.

After the eggs and butter cream together, I add the sugars, cream, and extracts and mix, then switch to my dough hook.  Next, I add the dry ingredients that I mixed together in a separate bowl, and lastly, the chocolate chips, about 1 1/2 bags.  Guittard Milk Chocolate Chips are my favorite.  I'd definitely use a high quality chocolate chip in these.  Milk and semi-sweet both work great.  Use your favorite!

Next, drop them onto a cookie sheet.  Don't flatten them.  I recently started using silicone baking liners, and I love them!  Another tip is don't bake too many at a time.  I only cook a dozen at a time.

Bake at 350 degrees for 9-12 minutes.  Do NOT over bake them.  They will get hard and crunchy if you do.  The best way to tell is by looking at the bottom of the cookie.  They should be on the very light end of turning brown.  I like to leave them on the cookie sheet for an extra minute or two before I transfer them to the cooling rack.  They cook just a tiny bit more and are a little easier to handle after they have cooled for a moment.

They are the best when served with a tall glass of milk!  After they have completely cooled, store them in an air tight container so they will stay fresh and soft.

Barb’s Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

From the Kitchen of Lynnae Hymas

Recipe adapted from Barbara Leonhardt

Ingredients

•          1 ½ c. butter
•          3 eggs
•          2 c. brown sugar
•          1 ½ c. sugar
•          1 ½ tsp vanilla
•          1 ½ tsp coconut extract (don't leave this out!)
•          ¾ c. cream

Dry Ingredients

•          4 ½ c oatmeal flour (17 ounces)
•          4 ½ c. flour (22.15 ounces)
•          1 ½ tsp baking powder
•          1 ½ tsp baking soda
•          ¾ tsp salt
•          3 c. chocolate chips

Directions

Cream the eggs and butter together until emulsified.  Preheat oven to 350° F.  Cream the sugar.  Mix in extracts and cream.  Blend oats in blender until flour.  Combine dry ingredients together in a separate bowl and then add to sugar, butter, and egg mixture.  Combine together, then add chocolate chips.  Drop balls onto a cookie sheet and then bake for 9-12 minutes.  Allow to cool on the pan for a minute or two. Remove from pan and allow to cool on cooling rack.  Makes approx. 6 dozen cookies.

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Etiquette--Bread and Butter

A few weeks ago, we went to a banquet at a country club.  I found myself needing a refresher on what to do with my roll and butter.  So here's the skinny on bread and butter.

Before eating, you should break the bread into moderate sized pieces with your fingers.  Then you can butter the bread one piece at a time.  There were some differing opinions on whether you should hold the piece of bread when buttering or hold it against your plate, not in your hand.  The most prevailing opinions said to hold the bread in your fingers.  Toast and hot biscuit halves can be buttered all at once since they taste the best when the butter is melted.

If the butter is in the center of the table with a butter knife provided, you should transfer the amount you want to use to your bread plate, or to the side of your dinner plate if there isn't a bread plate.  If no utensil is provided, individuals may use their own clean knives or forks.

When butter is served as individually wrapped squares, leave the empty wrappers on your bread plate or tucked under the edge of your dinner plate if you don't have a bread plate. 

Granola

My mother-in-law has some delicious recipes that have become part of our family tradition.  One of these is homemade granola.

A few quality ingredients make for a great breakfast treat.  Grape-Nuts Flakes is one of the more difficult ingredients to find, but well worth the effort!

Mix all of the dry ingredients in a big bowl. 

Add the butter and honey melted together.

 

Stir until well mixed.

Place on two cookie sheets.  I put the both in the oven at the same time and switch the shelves half way through.  Stir occasionally while in the oven.

It's also a good idea to stir the granola while it cools.  It will harden into a big chunk that you'll have to break apart if you don't.

 

Granola

From the Kitchen of Lorinda Hymas

Ingredients

·         9 c. rolled oats

·         3 c. Grape Nuts Flakes

·         3 c. shredded coconut

·         1 c. wheat germ (optional)

·         1 c. brown sugar

·         1 c. melted butter

·         1 c. honey

·         1 c. raw sunflower seeds

·         3 c. chopped nuts

Directions

Mix dry ingredients together.  Melt honey and butter together.  Pour over dry ingredients and stir until well mixed.  Bake at 325° F for 20-30 minutes.  Stir 1-2 times.  (Less cook time=more chewy).  Remove from oven and allow to cool.  Stir while cooling to keep the granola broken up into individual flakes.

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