J is the Children's Services Librarian at the Churchill County Library. Currently, J is undergoing chemotherapy and modeling an increasingly wide variety of hats.
I recently requested the library order Samin Nosrat's new cookbook, “Good Things” (yes! The library takes requests, and you can make them online!). If you like cooking, food, or just gathering around the table, I highly recommend checking out this book. Instead of a cookbook where a chef is trying to translate restaurant dishes, this book starts from a place of home cooking and makes that process as pleasurable as possible.
I love to cook, but a long time ago, I decided life was too short to peel, separate, or pound. We love cooking shows at my house, but if anyone mentions my knife cuts, they will be cordially invited to eat somewhere else. I want to keep cooking fun, and “Good Things” takes the reader on Nosrat's journey to understanding that home cooking is a different skill – no less important than restaurant cooking – and one that should bring the cook pleasure instead of stress.
Appropriately, I read “Good Things,” with its message of pleasurable eating, on the same day I tested recipes for the Churchill County Library's April spice: Cinnamon Sugar Crunch. Wonderfully aromatic royal cinnamon, cinnamon verum, and cardamom are mixed with coconut sugar and turbinado sugar for a really satisfying crunch. This mix is all about pleasure: the smell, the taste, the texture – everything is geared toward pure enjoyment. You can pick up your sample at the library through April.
Berry Pie (ish)
I call this Berry Pie (ish) because it does include all the ingredients of a traditional pie, but without as much sugar or work (and because I feel weird calling things "deconstructed"). I always have leftover pie crust when I do make traditional pies, but you can make pie crust just for this, leave out the pie crust entirely, or substitute leftover waffles, pancakes, biscuits, or other bread-type foods that sound good. If you want to go even healthier, you can substitute a dollop of plain yogurt for the whipped cream.
Leftover pie crust (recipe below)
1 tablespoon Cinnamon Sugar Crunch (or regular cinnamon sugar to taste)
Berries or other fruit of your choice
2-4 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon sugar
Dark chocolate (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash hands. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.
Roll the leftover pie crust as thin as you can, in a shape that fits easily on your baking sheet. I cook the leftover pie crust in my toaster oven, and roll the pie crust into a shape that fits its small baking tray. Put crust on baking sheet and sprinkle as generously as you'd like with cinnamon sugar.
Cook crust about 15 minutes. When you start to smell it, it's done.
Pour cream into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, beat cream on medium-high speed. Add sugar and continue to beat until peaks form. Softer peaks are fine for this recipe.
Rinse berries. If you are using strawberries or other fruit that are larger, cut them to a size that's easy to eat.
Remove pie crust from the baking sheet and cool on a rack. When cool and set, break pie crust into pieces in a bowl. Add berries and whipped cream. Top with grated chocolate (or chocolate curls if you're fancy!) and/or granulated sugar.
Pie crust (for a 10-inch, two-crust pie)
Because I'm trying to get as much nutrition as possible from the few foods I want to eat, I have been replacing all-purpose flour with whole-wheat pastry flour. I find I can use all whole-wheat flour in this pie crust recipe, but there is a taste difference (which I like, but definitely not everyone does). You might need all 8 tablespoons of water with whole wheat flour, and a little less with all-purpose.
1 cup butter, cold
2 2/3 cups flour (all-purpose, whole wheat pastry, or a mix of the two)
1 teaspoon salt
7-8 tablespoons cold water
Wash hands. Pour flour into bowl or food processor. Cut butter into small squares and add to the flour. To mix the flour and butter, you can use a pastry cutter, a fork, a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, or a food processor. I have a tall Ninja processor that I really like for this purpose.
Add cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together. The nice thing about the food processor is that you can really see when the dough is ready because everything starts to come together.
Lightly flour the counter or a silicon mat and dump the dough in the middle. You don't want to handle pie crust too much, so just gather it into a disc and put it in a sealable container. Refrigerate for at least two hours.
Cinnamon Crunch Sweet Potato Fries
Ok, this is one where I really did try to get all the fries the same size so they cooked evenly. I did these in an air fryer, but you can roast them in the oven, too.
2 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 lb.), peeled and cut into ¼-inch fries
1 tablespoon oil (I used olive oil, but a neutral oil is good too!)
1 tablespoon Cinnamon Sugar Crunch (or regular cinnamon sugar)
salt (optional)
Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees for 3–5 minutes (or oven at 425 degrees). Wash hands.
Toss cut sweet potato fries with oil in a large bowl until evenly coated. Add Cinnamon Sugar Crunch and optional salt, tossing again until all fries are evenly coated.
Arrange fries in the air fryer basket in a single layer (cook in batches if needed so they crisp instead of steam).
Air-fry at 400 degrees for 10 minutes — shake the basket or flip the fries halfway through. In the oven, roast for 15 minutes and test with a fork to make sure they are done to taste.
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