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12/08/2021 11:01 PMWow, has my kitchen been getting a workout.
The day before Thanksgiving, I made two apple pies, two pumpkin pies, a batch of corn bread, and Asian-style green beans. The latter became just green beans, since the sauce I made created would have seared the mouth of anyone who tried it.
Over the weekend, I made chili and a butterflied boneless leg of lamb for three meals, and today I made a batch of the tastiest granola ever. I was also going to make the famous H.G. Sawyer peanut brittle, but it really needs weather a little colder, perhaps below 32 degrees, for it to break into chunks. But I have made it so many times that you can trust the recipe.
Both the granola and the brittle are easy to make and are wonderful housewarming gifts when you are invited to visit over the holidays. I have even more recipes, so if you need a few more than those from last week’s column, and the ones below, email me at leeawhite@aol.com and I’ll send a few more.
Lee White of Old Lyme has been a food editor and restaurant reviewer for more than 25 years. You can email her at leeawhite@aol.com.
Amazing Peanut Brittle
From the late H.G. Sawyer, a dentist from Groton
Ingredients:
4 cups sugar
1 ½ cups white and/or dark Karo syrup
1 ½ cups water
4 cups Spanish peanuts
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 tablespoons baking soda
Directions
Butter two rimmed cookie sheets.
Mix sugar, syrup, and water into a heavy-bottomed large pan. Stir with long wooden spoon. Place candy thermometer into the mixture. Heat at medium-high until thermometer reaches 320 degrees (this will take a long time to hit 290 degrees and very little time to hit 320).
Add Spanish peanuts, stir, then add butter and vanilla. Stir, then add baking soda and still until frothy, about 15 to 20 seconds. Pour into cookie sheets and thin to about one-peanut high. (It is great to have a silicone spatula for this.) Place outside if it is cold out or put sheets in refrigerator until hardened, about 20 minutes. Break brittle apart and place in tins or zippered bags.
Granola Cereal Clusters
from Richard Swanson of Waterford
Yield: as gifts in small boxes, perhaps 10-12
Ingredients:
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup light corn syrup
1/3 cup honey
4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
2 ¼ cups old-fashioned oats
(best not to use quick oaks)
3 cups Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal
4 cups Honey Nut Cheerios
2 cups chopped pecan, walnut, or almond
¼ cup finely chopped coconut
Directions
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line half-sheet baking pan (17” by 13”) with parchment; spray parchment lightly with cooking spray.
Place oil, corn syrup, honey, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt together in bowl of stand mixer with flat paddle and stir on low until fully mixed. Add oats, cereals, nuts, and coconut and stir on low until thoroughly combined and cereals are somewhat crushed into smaller pieces. About 2 minutes.
Transfer mixture to prepared sheet and spread across entire surface in even layer. Using a stiff metal spatula, press down firmly on mixture until very compact. Bake until lightly brown around edges, 35 to 40 minutes, rotating halfway through baking.
Transfer sheet to wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour. Mixture will be slightly soft until fully cooled. Break into chunks. Store in airtight container.