Sunday, September 23, 2012

Oatmeal-Old-Fashioned Cookies


And then I poured myself a Maker’s, neat.

…I mean, and then we poured ourselves a Maker’s, neat. 

Go on now, don’t be shy…you’re reading this blog, you must (have got to) be a bourbon fan. 

No? 

Then don’t bother…a fair handful of these recipes, stories, blunders, joyous moments of recollection involve the hard stuff.

Welcome to my life.  The existence of a baker, a cook (home-cook via grandmother/grandfather/mother/father/part-self-taught-cuisine-maker), a whiskey drinking, wine loving, adventure seeking, life living lover of food – CIN CIN! 

Yah, nice to meet you too.

But onto the food.  I cook, I bake, I meld and create – mostly via anxiety.  If I have a rough day, an empty day, a pent-up-waiting-for-answers-anxietous day, I make food. 

But before you get ahead of yourself, I don’t make just any food.  I don’t crack a box o’ Styrofoam Mac and Cheese and grab a rusty pot, I don’t pull out the burnt over toaster and slide in a stack o’ Pop Tarts and no, I don’t peel back the tinny lid on a can o’ tuna – I literally conceptualize and rationalize a heart-warming tasty treat o’ love.

Yep – o’ love.

And that being said, tonight’s ‘recipe du noit was an oatmeal  cookie…yah, oatmeal cookie sounds bland for what it was – it was an ‘oaty-whiskey-raisin-caramel-cookie-of-delight’ – and that is what I shall name it in my future cookbook* - also the potential name of a delightful cocktail, however, sub Cocchi red for raisins, Oloroso for oatmeal and a little orange bitters for high notes and you’ve got an ‘Oatmeal Old Fashioned’ on your hands (hope Kev  [Kelpe - the original cocktail mastermind] doesn’t sue me for using this).

But about those cookies, here’s what you’ll need:

1C                  Shortening
3/4C               White Sugar
3/4C               Brown Sugar
2                    Eggs, beaten
2tsp                Vanilla
1tsp                Salt
1tsp                Cinnamon
1/2tsp             Cloves
1/4tsp             Nutmeg
2C                  All-purpose Flour
2C                  Oatmeal
1/2C               Bourbon Whiskey
1C                  Raisins

STEPS:
1.                           Heat oven to 350deg
2.                           Put the raisins in a small saucepan with enough water to cover, bring to a boil – leave on high heat for 5min, take off heat and drain – add whiskey, cover and leave off heat to sit/stew
3.                           Cream your shortening and sugars (YEEEEAP, both white and brown…INTEGRATION my people, let’s be PC here)
4.                            Add yo’ eggs
5.                            And then add yo’ vanilla
6.                            Sift together the spices/salt/flour/oats
7.                            Add the dry mix by the 1/2C at a time, mix slowly until fully incorporated
8.                            Drain whiskey off raisins (i.e. pour in an iced glass and retain for sipping pleasure)
9.                            Add raisins to cookie batter
10.                         Chill for at least an hour to let the whiskey raisins perfume the batter – let sit in fridge as long as overnight
11.                         Once you’ve let cookie batter take a long enough nap – bake for 9-11min until they turn a golden-tasty-melty-brillaince-suggesting color of brown

And then EAT ‘EM!!

Cheers,
Carly


*the term ‘future’ meaning it will never come to be…