Somethin' For Your Chow Chow To Chow On - Cheesy Vegetable Chews

First, I must apologize for being MIA over the last couple weeks.  Yeah, I posted about Consomme and Eggs in Aspic (Ouefs en Gelee) but that was not without it's difficulties.  My Mac crashed (dead hard drive) so I was forced to bring my old Titanium 500 back into service again.  Yeah right.  The thing is antique and the operating system (Panther) is positively ancient.  Thus, due to the overwhelming amount of Flash all over the net, it was impossible to navigate anywhere or "see" anything.  The two posts I DID succeed in releasing took 3 hours to type up cause I kept loosing my connection through the decrepit airport card.  On top of that, I had to re-learn how to use the old version of Gimp to edit my photos which took an additional couple of hours to process. (sigh) Don't get me started on trying to check Facebook or anything else for that matter. 

I guess I should count myself lucky that the poor old thing worked at all at this point.  Luckily, and finally, I now have a new hard drive in my Aluminum 1.67 and life is good again.  Un-luckily, nothing on my old hard drive was salvage-able, so every photo I have taken is suddenly gone (Insert sound of flushing toilet).  But it is time to stop lamenting and get back to the main topic.

Dog Treats....... (though in a pinch, they are consumable by humans)

Just like humans, dogs need vegetables to stay healthy.  And while most dog foods DO contain some form of vegetable matter, it usually consists for the more questionable "vegetables" such as Potatoes, Corn or Peas; all of which are extremely high in starch.  While I realize that the FDA lumps all of these into the vegetable group, being why school lunches often include French Fries or Tater Tots (Insert eye roll), this is the same organization that deemed Nutrasweet to be safe for human consumption.

FDA charlatans aside, I figured it would be a good way to mix up the textures a little as well.  I have already made 2 hard and crunchy treats as well as crisp yet airy pumpkin treats, so I decided to mix it up a little further and go for a more chewy texture.  This was made infinitely easier by the inclusion of vegetables, though the cheese lent a proverbial hand as well.  :)   Some healthy Quick Oats and that hint of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese along with vitamin A rich Carrot and some vibrantly verdant Spinach and we have a winner. 

Cheesy Chicken Vegetable Chews

1 1/2 cup Barley Flour
1 cup Quick Oats
1/ 4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2/3 cup shredded Carrot
1/2 cup frozen Spinach, measured after thawing and squeezing out the water
1/2 -3/4 cup Chicken Stock

Combine Barley Flour, Quick Oats and Parmigiano-Reggiano in a bowl, whisk together well.

Add Spinach and shredded Carrot in a blender jar.

Add 1/3 cup of chicken stock and blend into a puree... Add up to an additional 1/4 cup of chicken stock if the mix is too dry to puree properly.

Add the Vegetable/Stock puree to the dry ingredients.

Stir until well combined and a soft sticky dough forms.

Grab a small cookie scoop or a teaspoon.

Spoon small balls of dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet.

Fill a small glass cold water and grab a fork.

Dip the fork in the water and then press a crosshatch pattern in the "cookies" just like you would for Peanut butter cookies.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Allow to cool on a wire rack.

Then store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks,

if you need them to last longer, store in the refrigerator.

I promise - my next post will be human food.... Gruyere scones to be exact.  I realize that over the last couple months about 50% of my posts have "gone to the dogs", but let me assure you, I am steering back towards Human consumables...  LOL

Mangia!!
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I Wanna Be a Cowboy......

And you can be my Cowgirl... er, I mean, Cookie....

Bad 80's Music aside, I apologize for not being around the last week. Not only was I tinkering, like a mad scientist, with Hot Air Poppers and Green Coffee Beans, but it appears that after 13 years of living in San Diego, I am no longer resistant to Pacific Northwest pollen... Oye! Whether 'twas sinus infection or an actual cold, I have been feeling wretched for the last week.

Then I suddenly remembered something of importance, through my Sudafed induced haze. (Yes, I crossed the border and got the REAL stuff from Washington cause that Sudafed PE junk is worthless) Anyway, the point is that, though I was doped up on Sudafed, so I could breath, the pseudoephedra cloud lifted just long enough for me to remember that I already had, in my possession, the perfect medication for a sinus issues...

OK, bear with me now, cause my logic is a little questionable (I was drugged up, remember?) So, since sinus pain is the byproduct of the pressure created by swollen membranes caused by a histamine reaction within the blood vessels, I decided that it might be wise to increase my circulation. How do I do this? Well via chocolate of course, cause Theobromine dilates blood vessels. Not to mention chocolate is full of antioxidants and flavinoids which will make me healthier. Right?

Oh, and since I am SO health conscious about these sorts of things, I figured as long as I was at it, I would improve my serum cholesterol levels too by consuming oat fiber. Yeah... Make that arteriol plaque a thing of the past! Thus, increasing blood flow even more... YAY!!! And walnuts, I need walnuts because they contain tannins which are antiviral and antibacterial. Yep, it was settled.... I need Cowboy Cookies.

OK, so my logic is a little twisted, but it made sense at the time. Gimme a break. LOL

I have NO idea why these are called cowboy cookies, but the recipe is my Great Grandmother Ruby's who traveled, via covered wagon, down the Oregon Trail to The Dalles, OR when she was a little girl at the turn of the century (the 1900 one). I assume that she actually KNEW real cowboys, and probably knew why the cookies had been given their peculiar name. Alas, that tidbit of information was not passed down and the internet has been less than helpful in deciphering the mystery surrounding the name. Although I did notice there seem to be a lot of "Cowboy cookie" recipes that include coconut. This perplexes me. Where is a cowboy going to get coconut? Yet another mystery. But one that points to the fact that cowboy cookies may not have been named so, because cowboys ate them. Hmmmm

Luckily, though the origin may remain elusive, at least the recipe has been passed down, intact from G G Ruby, to Grandma Reva, to my Mom and finally to me... Woo Hoo!

So here is my Great Grandma Ruby's Cowboy Cookie recipe. They're good for what ails ya. Oh, and as an added bonus, they go GREAT with Freshly Roasted Coffee... ;)

Cowboy Cookies

8 oz Unsalted Butter
3/4 cup Granulated Sugar
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
2 Large Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla extract
2 Cups AP Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
2 Cups Quick Oatmeal
12 oz 63% Bittersweet Chocolate Chips (or higher) Not Semi-Sweet, they usually contain milk which will aggravate sinus problems
1 cup Chopped Walnuts

As with all cookies, the best place to start is by preheating the oven to 350 degrees; after which, begin creaming the butter and both sugars together until they are light and fluffy.

Add the eggs and vanilla, beating until incorporated

Whisk the flour, baking soda and baking powder together in a small bowl, then add slowly to the mix.

Mix until a soft sticky dough is formed.

From here, I fold in the remaining ingredients, starting with the oatmeal.

Once the oatmeal is distributed evenly, add the chocolate chips and fold some more.

Now if your not a nut fan, you can simply stop here.... They will spread a little more in the oven, but they will still be delicious. :)

But I come from a loooooooong line of nut hounds, so I always add the walnuts.

Using a cookie scoop, measure out the dough onto parchment lined baking sheets, keeping at least 2 inches between the cookie mounds.

Bake for 13 minutes, until golden; then cool on a rack.... (although I like them best when the are still slightly warm and the chocolate is still gooey)

I'm not really a Doctor, I just play one on this blog.... So if you are feeling under the weather for any reason. Take 2 of these and call me in the morning. :) It worked for me.

Mangia!!
~~

The BEST Kind of Leftovers... Aside from Cold Pizza

So what do you do with the left over Rice Krispies from making Rice Krispie Treats? OK, aside from making MORE Rice Krispie treats. You make Rice Krispie Cookies......

They were suggested by my mother. So I decided to start pokin around on the internet and see what I could find on these cookies. I did find a lot of recipes, starting in 2001 with Josette Aaron who won a baking contest, but her recipe had nuts and less sugar. There were several others as well. Some with Shortening, others with only granulated sugar, and still others had no oatmeal, but twice the amount of Rice Krispies.

As I was lamenting the fact that there were a million and four variations, my mom handed me a recipe that she had acquired from her friend Judy Bjorge. So I decided that it would probably be in my best interest to listen to mom and use Judy's recipe to make them. (See, with age comes wisdom) LOL

OK, I admit I fudged just a little... I added an extra 1/2 cup of Rice Krispies.... ;)

Rice Krispie Cookies

3 1/2 cups AP Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Cream of Tarter
1 tsp Salt
1 cup Granulated Sugar
1 cup Dark Brown Sugar
1 cup Unsalted Butter
1 large Egg
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 cup Peanut oil (or vegetable)
1 cup Quick Oats
1 cup Shredded Coconut
1 1/2 cup Rice Krispies

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
In a medium bowl, whisk the Flour, Baking Powder, Cream of Tarter and Salt together, then set aside.

Cream the Granulated and Brown Sugars together with the Butter until light and fluffy.

Mix in the Egg and Vanilla.

Beat in the Oil until well combined.

With the mixer on low, begin adding the flour mixture 1/2 cup at a time to prevent a dust cloud.

Once all the flour is incorporated, add the Quick oats and mix until combined.

Once a soft dough has been achieved, fold in the Coconut and the Rice Krispies.

Drop onto parchment lined baking sheets.

Flatten slightly with a fork, in a cross pattern, like you would for Peanut Butter Cookies.

Bake for 9-10 minutes.

Move to a cooling rack.

Brew a BIG pot of Coffee... Cause these things are EVIL good!!! Thank GOD the recipe makes 5 dozen. They will last about 2 days...... Maybe...

Mangia!!
~~