Two for Tuesday

Yes, that’s a tired old slogan, and I don’t know that I’ll make it a habit, but I figured that I’d share two recipes with you guys today.

We’ll start with a side dish, and an easy one at that, Red Wine New Potatoes. This particular recipe I started using about a month ago because I had new potatoes in kitchen and I wanted to use the grill. Some random browsing of the internet gave me ideas to work with, and I took my first stab at cooking in a foil packet. It worked well, so I adopted it as one of my regular ways of making potatoes. Normally I make this recipe with Italian style seasonings (basil, oregano, etc), but my girlfriend suggested I try some fresh rosemary. So I picked up rosemary at the store, paired it with tarragon I already had, and the results were amazing. That’s the version of the recipe I’ve decided to share here.

For our second recipe, I figured I’d go back to one of things I’ve become known for, and that’s my cookies. As with all of my cooking, I’m rarely satisfied with simply getting a recipe and just making it as directed, so I spend a lot of time browsing books and the Internet for interesting or unique recipes. When this doesn’t work, I just let my mind wander, and try to come up with something original. This recipe was one of the second instances. I wanted to cook something new and was looking at the contents of my pantry when I saw a bag of cinnamon chips. After a few of the strange connections my mind always makes, I settled on the idea of Cinnamon Raisin oatmeal cookies. Realizing I didn’t have a recipe for oatmeal cookies in my repertoire, I asked my mom for one she uses, tweaked it a bit, and ended up with this recipe.

Red Wine New Potatoes

6 new potatoes, cubed
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 ½ tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
¾ tsp dry tarragon
2 ½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2/3 cup dry red wine (NOT cooking wine)
Salt and pepper to taste
Aluminum foil

Put all the ingredients in a foil packet. Double the foil over if it’s not heavy duty. Put packet on a medium-hot grill for 20-30 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Open up packet (be careful not to burn yourself on the foil) and serve. Delicious side that is dead simple to make.

Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup shortening
3/4 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1 large egg
1/3 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
3 cups quick oats, uncooked
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup raisins
1 cup cinnamon chips

1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. Beat butter, shortening, sugar, egg, milk and vanilla at medium until well blended.
3. Combine oats, flour, salt, baking soda, cloves and allspice. Beat into butter/shortening mix until smooth. Stir in raisins and cinnamon chips.
4. Cook for 10-12 minutes until lightly browned. Let cookies remain on cookie sheet for five minutes, then remove to wiring rack to complete cooling.
5. Enjoy!

Now you have a dessert and a great side. Pair these with something like a good steak and some asparagus, or grilled chicken and broccoli (which is what I did this past Saturday), and you should have a simple, tasty meal that you can be proud of.