TODAY's CASES:

• Dark Molasses Cookies
• Peppy's Batter Mix
• Standing Rib Roast
• Raincoast Crisps

Dark Molasses Cookies From: margaret Sent: Friday, December 20, 2013 11:47 PM To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com Subject: cookies my great aunt made great molasses cookies they were dark in color and mine no matter what I do do not come out dark they taste almost as good but are never dark almost brownie dark can u help me with this...I use black strap molasses and in her recipe it calls for 3/4 cup hot coffee just can't get color right HELP... Margaret Dover , pa Hello Margaret, Well, I feel that you are asking me to comment on a recipe that I know nothing about. The thing to do would have been to send me you great aunt’s recipe and asked my why your cookies didn’t turn out as dark as her cookies. All you are really telling me here is that her recipe had 3/4 cup hot coffee in it. You say that you use blackstrap molasses, but that doesn’t tell me whether she did or not – maybe you used blackstrap molasses to get the color darker, but her recipe might have just said molasses. Regular molasses comes in both light and dark versions. Blackstrap is what’s left in the kettle after these two have been drawn off. Blackstrap molasses has a very strong flavor, so it’s not used as much in cooking as the other two. The dark color could possibly come from three things: dark molasses, the coffee, and dark brown sugar. If her recipe just says “sugar”, you might try the some dark brown sugar. If her recipe calls for blackstrap molasses, then by all means use it, but if her recipe just says “molasses”, then I’d use dark molasses, not blackstrap. In our files, I found one recipe in our files with blackstrap molasses, and one with coffee. A great man once said, “In solving a problem of this sort, the grand thing is to be able to reason backwards”. Taking his advice, I searched the Internet for photos of the darkest molasses cookies that I could find. Then, I traced the photos back to the recipes. Here are the recipes that I found on the web, with photos: Canadian Molasses Cookies Ginger-Spiced Molasses Cookies Ginger-Spiced Molasses Cookies 2 Alaska Molasses Cookies Hopefully, you can take the information in these recipes and use it to adjust your cookies to a color that suits you. Phaed Molasses Cookies 2 c. sugar 1 1/2 c. shortening or 2 3/4 sticks butter 1 tsp. salt 2 eggs 5 c. flour 4 tsp. baking soda 4 tsp. ginger 2 tsp. cinnamon 1/8 tsp. cloves 1 c. black strap molasses Mix sugar, eggs and shortening; add molasses and mix. Add remaining ingredients, mix well with electric mixer. Shape into 1 inch ball, roll in granulated sugar. Bake about 12 minutes in 350 degree F. oven on ungreased cookie sheet. --------------------------------------------------------- Soft Molasses Cookies 4 3/4 c. sifted flour 1/4 tsp. allspice 1/4 tsp. cloves 2 tsp. ginger 2 eggs, beaten 2/3 c. soft margarine 1/2 c. hot coffee 1 tsp. salt 2 tsp. cinnamon 1 c. sugar 2 tsp. soda (dissolved in the coffee) 1 c. dark molasses Sift flour, add salt and spices. Beat eggs, add sugar and blend. Add molasses, shortening and coffee. Mix thoroughly. Chill at least 1 hour. Drop by tablespoon on greased baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 9 to 11 minutes. ==================================================================================== From: margaret Sent: Sunday, December 22, 2013 3:02 AM To: Phaedrus Subject: Re: dark molasses cookies my aunt's recipe 1 c sugar 3/4 c shortening 1 egg 1 c molasses 3/4 c hot coffee 1 tsp soda 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp ginger 4 c flour pinch of salt 1 tsp baking powder sift flour add salt and spices beat egg add sugar add molasses shortening and coffee mix thoroughly. chill 1 hr drop on greased baking sheet and bake 375 degrees 9-15 min Hello Margaret, I would say that using dark molasses and dark brown sugar are the keys to getting dark-colored cookies with your aunt’s recipe. The first thing to try is to use her recipe, but to use 1 cup dark molasses (unsulphured, and not blackstrap), and to use 1 cup of dark brown sugar, with everything else remaining the same . If the result still isn’t what you want, then I’d try the recipes on those sites that I sent to you. As you can see from the photos, those make dark molasses cookies. Phaed Peppy's Batter Mix From: Nancy Sent: Friday, December 20, 2013 11:13 PM To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com Subject: Peppy's batter mix? do you know of any recipe for Peppy’s Batter mix? The Seattle company is out of business, and have yet to find an approximate recipe... many have been looking for it, and we can’t seem to find it anywhere! Thank you! Nancy Hi Nancy, I had no success find a recipe, a copycat, or even a recommendation of a substitute for this product. The trademark is owned by: Continental Mills Website Continental Mills, Inc. 18125 Andover Park West Tukwila, Wa 98188 US Main Phone Number: 800-426-0955 This company also owns Krusteaz, which makes a tempura batter for frying. My suggestion to you is to call Continental Mills and ask their Customer Service for help. Occasionally, you can get a home recipe or a recommendation for a substitute by doing this for a discontinued product. If you have any success, please let me know. Thanks, Phaed Standing Rib Roast From: betty Sent: Monday, December 23, 2013 12:10 PM To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com Subject: Standing rib roast I need a fail safe method to prepare my standing rib roast for xmas day. Want to make it medium. Is there a rub that should go on it? How long do I cook it for medium. Thanks, Betty Hello Betty, I found several “fail-safe” recipes on the web. Since true oven temperatures vary, I would use a meat thermometer instead of relying on the cooking time alone. Most standing rib roast recipes are for medium-rare, and it is ruinous to cook one more than medium. Medium rare is recommended. The internal temperature using your meat thermometer should be 135° for medium-rare, and 145° for medium. Watch it closely. If you must use cooking time to estimate doneness, add 15 minutes to these cooking times for medium, because these are for medium rare. See the recipes on the sites at these links. Any sort of rub is wholly optional. Most standing rib roast recipes do not call for a rub. The recipes on the first two sites have a rub of sorts. The Paula Deen one looks pretty good. Paula Deen's Standing Rib Roast Vinetodine's Standing Rib Roast Fail Safe Standing Rib Roast Just a Pinch Prime Rib Roast Phaed Did this and it turned out great. Didn't want to screw it up as it was so expensive. Now, I have some left over and want to heat it up for tonight's dinner. How do I do that? I have some juice left over. Should I warm it in that? Thanks, Betty Hello Betty, Betty, “tips” is not my thing. You can find this sort of thing by just going to www.google.com and typing in your question. I went to Google and typed in: "reheating leftover rib roast". Dozens of sites with tips for reheating rib roast came up: Google These may be the best of the lot: GardenWeb Thanks, Phaed Raincoast Crisps From: "Donna" To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com Subject: Raincoast Crisps Date: Saturday, November 23, 2013 10:39 AM First tasted these at Banff, Canada. They were delicious. And I can't find them in the States so...these are very good too, so others must like them as well. Raincoast Crisps  With Apologies to Lesley Stowe   Source: https://vitaminv.ca/node/781 6 p.m.Friday. You need cocktail nibbles for your dinner guests. Fast.Once again, your reach for Leslie Stowe's delicious Raincoast Crisps, which you will serve with Salt Spring Island Goat Cheese embellished with a hot pink edible flower. We'd done it time and time again at $8.99 a box. Until we realized: hey, I can do that! Herewith, a fool proof recipe developed in the Vitamin V test kitchen: Vitamin V Crisps Combine in a bowl: 1/2 C white flour 1/4 C flax or wheat germ 1/4 C sesame seeds 1/4 C poppy seeds 1/4 C sunflower seeds, chopped 1/4 C pecans, chopped 1 teaspoon fine sea salt 1 teaspoon baking soda 2 tablespoons brown sugar Set aside. In a saucepan, over low heat, for less than one minute, combine: 1/4 C buttermilk 2 tablespoons blackstrap molasses Gradually add wet ingredients to dry until dough just starts to hold together (you may not need all the liquid or may need a pinch more flour). Roll as thinly as possible between two sheets of parchment paper and bake on a cookie sheet in slow oven (250 degrees) for one hour. After 30 minutes, take off top sheet of parchment paper. When one hour is up, turn off oven with crisps still inside and forget about them.  You'll arrive home at 6 p.m. to a sheet of perfect crisps to break into bite-sized pieces.