Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I don't know about you, but I've always loved and preferred oatmeal raisin cookies over just about any other cookie. Each time I make them, I'm reminded that this is a recipe that my mother used when I was a child and that my grandmother used when my mother was a child. It's nothing spectacular, but it is oh so good. For this recipe, I've used vanilla extract and cinnamon from The Spice House

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
by Glenn Edwards
Yield will be about 3-dozen

Here's what you're going to need:

3/4 cup of melted unsalted butter
3/4 cup of granulated sugar
3/4 cup of packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of The Spice House Madagascar "Bourbon Islands" Pure Double-Strength Vanilla Extract
1 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon The Spice House Vietnamese "Saigon" Cassia Ground Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 3/4 cups of rolled oats
1 cup of raisins

Start by mixing the butter, sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla.

Next sift the flour, baking soda and cinnamon and salt together and mix with butter mixture.

Next add the rolled oats and raisins.

Roll tablespoonfuls into a ball (slightly smaller than golf-ball size) and place on baking sheet covered with parchment paper and cook at 375°F for 12-14 minutes.

Cousin Connie's Chocolate Pie

A few months back, my bride's cousin Connie, from Tennessee, was visiting our area, and one night after dinner she asked if we wanted dessert. Well, who am I to turn down an offer like that? Exactly! The next thing I know, Cousin Connie is serving up her chocolate pie. It was pretty darned good! So, with Kudos to her, here is her chocolate pie recipe adapted with some of the ingredients from The Spice House.

Cousin Connie's Chocolate Pie
by Glenn Edwards

Here's what you're going to need:

1/4 cup of The Spice House Natural Processed Cocoa Powder
1/4 cup of self-rising flour
1 cup of granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of The Spice House Madagascar "Bourbon Islands" Pure Double Strength Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup of unsalted butter, melted
Refrigerated pie dough (or if you prefer, your favorite pie dough recipe or frozen pie shell)
9-inch glass pie plate

Start by sifting the flour and cocoa powder together, then add the sugar, eggs, vanilla and melted butter. You can use a whisk to mix all ingredients, although I've found that it's far easier to use and electric mixer with a whisk attachment.

Next, place your pie dough in the pie plate - you can crimp or not. Add pie mixture in the pie plate and bake at 300°F for 45 minutes.

Low Sodium Chicken Salt Hole In The Middle

This recipe is known by many different names and always uses salt and pepper - but now, replace the salt and use the Low Sodium Chicken Salt. As for the names of this recipe, they can be "Hole In The Middle", "Toad In The Hole", Bird In The Basket" - nonetheless, this recipe takes you back to your childhood and, for some, their adulthood. When my bride Iloe and I first got married 17 years ago, she wanted something different for breakfast one morning - to which I said "I'll make you a Hole In The Middle". She looked at me perplexed as I went into our kitchen to make this fast breakfast treat.

Low Sodium Chicken Salt Hole In The Middle
by Glenn Edwards

1 slice of your favorite bread, at least 1/2-inch thick
1 egg
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
Low Sodium Chicken Salt, to taste
Cracked black pepper, to taste

Cut a hole in the middle of bread and reserve the removed portion to toast. Put the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat and place the slice of bread in the skillet once the butter melts completely. Break the egg into the hole in the slice of bread and salt and pepper. Flip over the bread/egg carefully and continue to cook until egg is over-easy. Also, while the egg is cooking, take the reserved portion of bread from making the hole and toast it in the skillet, as well. Enjoy!

Red Pepper Chicken Salt Burnt Butter Pasta

This is quick and easy - and the addition of the Chicken Salt gives it an inviting flavor. For this recipe, I used the Red Pepper Chicken Salt, and you get a slight kick on the back side of each bite.

Red Pepper Chicken Salt Burnt Butter Pasta
by Glenn Edwards
Adapted from Food.com's Pasta and Burnt Butter Sauce

8 ounces uncooked angel hair pasta (half of 16-ounce box, or pasta of your choosing)
Water for boiling pasta
2 teaspoons of Red Pepper Chicken Salt, divided
1/2 cup of unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
1 Tablespoon of dried parsley

Boil water for pasta and put 1 teaspoon of the Red Pepper Chicken Salt in the water. Once the water starts to boil, put in the uncooked pasta. Once the pasta is finished, drain and set aside.

Melt the butter over medium to high heat until frothy and add 1 teaspoon of Red Pepper Chicken Salt. Make sure the butter is a golden brown color. Return the cooked pasta to the pan with the melted butter, toss and coat evenly. Add the red pepper flakes and dried parsley and serve!

Baby Back Ribs

This is a simple recipe for making Baby Back Ribs and they're always fall-off-the-bone tender - and with the help of the Instant Pot, you can have them anytime you'd like without spending hours cooking them. Yes, with the Instant Pot, baby back ribs are no longer relegated to making them on weekends only - this will become something you'll do often.

Baby Back Ribs
by Glenn Edwards

2 racks of baby back ribs
2 Tablespoons kosher salt
2 Tablespoons fresh ground pepper
2 cups of water
Pam cooking spray (or other brand you prefer)
1/4 cup of BBQ sauce for IP water
2 cups of BBQ sauce

Take both racks of ribs and remove the membrane from the back of the ribs. Then season both sides with the salt and pepper. After seasoning, place ribs in the refrigerator for at least 10 minutes and prepare the Instant Pot for cooking the ribs. Spray the inner pot with the cooking spray and put in the 2 cups of water and 1/4 cup of BBQ sauce and whisk. 

Remove ribs from the refrigerator and cut in half. Place ribs on their side in the inner pot and secure lid to Instant Pot. Press the meat/stew button and reduce the time to 25 minutes (the default time for that setting is 60 minutes). It will take at least 15 minutes (plus or minus) to come up to pressure. 

Once the timer completes the cooking cycle, do a quick release and carefully move ribs to a baking sheet that's been coated with the cooking spray and place under your broiler for 5 minutes on each side. Next, coat one side of the ribs with BBQ sauce and place under broiler for 5 minutes and then repeat on the other side. Remove from broiler and enjoy!

Pinto Beans with Jalapeno Sausage

Being from the south, we love our pinto beans. Before the Instant Pot came along, it was a long affair in the slow cooker. But no more - you can have your beans ready to eat in less than an hour for the entire family to enjoy!

Pinto Beans with Jalapeno Sausage
by Glenn Edwards

Here's what you're going to need:

1 package of Jalapeno sausage, sliced into half-inch rounds

1 medium yellow onion, cut into quarters

5 cups of water

1/2 of a 6-ounce package of Canadian bacon, cut into quarters

1/2 of a 24-ounce package of thick-cut peppered bacon (pre-cooked in the oven and torn into 1-inch pieces)
1 pound of dried pinto beans (rinsed and soaked overnight)
1/2 cup of sweet jalapenos

Start by slicing the jalapeño sausage and onion and sauté in your IP. Next add the 5 cups of water, as well as Canadian bacon, peppered bacon and pinto beans (that have been drained) and mix well. Select the Bean setting on your Instant Pot and adjust time to 20 minutes. As always, allow it to come up to pressure which may take 15-20 minutes. Once the timer expires, allow it to NR for 10 minutes, then do manual release and serve!

As a side note, if you desire, make your favorite cornbread recipe to have with it!

Sweet and Savory Breaded Boneless Pork Chops

We all know the baked breaded pork chop - but this recipe takes it up a notch or two by using sweet chili sauce for dredging whereby giving it a sweet and savory all its' own and the sweetness from the Golden Grahams gives it a nice sweet crunchiness.

Sweet and Savory Breaded Boneless Pork Chops
by Glenn Edwards

4 boneless pork chops, 3/4-inch thick
4 cups of General Mills Golden Grahams cereal
4 ounces of sweet chili sauce

Preheat oven to 350°F. Rinse pork chops under cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Place General Mills Golden Grahams cereal into food processor and give it a quick pulse two or three times (you want there to be larger chunks of the cereal). Completely dredge chops in the sweet chili sauce then coat the chops in the processed Golden Grahams cereal. Place on wire rack/baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes.

Trix Crispies with Candied Pineapple

While this certainly isn't an original recipe, it's definitely a twist on the classic well-known treat. Most of us remember making this treat with our moms, but with this recipe, there's a slight note of the cayenne with each bite - certainly for the adult in all of us and it brings back childhood memories.

Trix Crispies with Candied Pineapple
by Glenn Edwards

1/4 cup butter
1 7-ounce container of marshmallow cream/fluff
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 teaspoon of cayenne (or something similar to Slap Ya Mama)
6 cups of General Mills Trix cereal
1 cup of diced candied pineapple

In a large saucepan, melt butter over low to medium heat. Add marshmallow fluff and stir until the fluff and butter are fully incorporated. Add vanilla and cayenne and stir until well mixed. Then add half of the General Mills Trix cereal and candied pineapple and mix well, then add remaining General Mills Trix ensuring that the cereal is completely coated. Remove from heat.

Immediately place the mixture in a 12 x 9 x 1 inch baking sheet lined with wax paper. Use either a silicone spatula that's been coated with cooking spray or another sheet of wax paper to press evenly into baking sheet.

Let the mixture cool then cut into squares.

Meet our newest cook, Glenn!

My name is Glenn, and I live with my wonderful bride and Houston, Texas native, Iloe (pronounced eye-low) in Huntsville, Texas (on the fringe of the Piney Woods of East Texas). I have a few passions in life - my bride of 16+ years, the NFL, my vocation (I'm a radio personality), and cooking!

I grew up around food and cooking - as a young child, my mother was a waitress at a traditional Jewish deli. I spent every afternoon there, watching the cooks in the kitchen and learning, and that was my cooking education. As for my style of cooking, I'm real big on comfort foods, e.g. matzo ball soup, hamburger stew, tortilla soup, etc. At the same time, I'm real big on preparing snack-type foods for NFL game day.

I am so excited to be part of the 37 Cooks family. With that said, this is a milestone for me personally. In May, 2015, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis - and at first I thought I'd never be able to hold my Chef's knife, let alone cook meals, any longer. I'll be battling this disease the rest of my life as there is no cure, but I've found ways to work around this in the kitchen with the help of my dear bride.

There are only Iloe and I - we have no children together, and for the bulk of our marriage I've done most of the cooking, primarily due to the fact I used to get home from work early every day, so it gave me the time to prepare great meals just about every day.

Here's my recipe for baked Honey Mustard Chicken Wings - it's simple, easy, and so enjoyable.

Honey Mustard Chicken Wings

by Glenn

20-24 drumette/wingette pieces

1+ Tablespoon kosher salt
1+ Tablespoon cracked black pepper
3 Tablespoons prepared mustard
3 Tablespoons honey
1 generous Tablespoon prepared horseradish sauce

Place wings on sheet pan with wire grate (spray both sides of grate with PAM or similar cooking spray). Salt and pepper the wings, and cook in a preheated oven at 425°F for a total cook time of 90 minutes. Turn the wings over at 35 minutes and go another 35 minutes. While the wings are in the oven, prepare the honey mustard sauce by combining the mustard, honey and horseradish. Then baste the wings on one side and give it another 10 minutes in the oven. Turn the wings and baste again and give it another 10 minutes. You can always adjust the honey mustard sauce to your individual tastes. The horseradish sauce (I prefer Woebers brand) gives the wings a nice little bite on the back side of every bite.

Enjoy!