Columbus Foodie

With tons of food blogging events ending in the next couple of days, you guys are going to get a double-header this Sunday! I hope you enjoy reading and looking as much as I enjoy cooking and writing.

The Spice is Right event is usually hosted by Barbara of Tigers & strawberries (one of my favorite blogs, BTW), but for this edition, The Spice is Right VII: Seasons of Love, the reins are being turned over to Danielle of Habeas Brulee while Barbara is recovering from the birth of her new daughter.

In this edition, she asks us to choose a spice mix that is common to our family. We don’t have our own family mix (although, I really should think about developing one), but we use the spice mix I’m going to feature in just about everything.

Goya Adobo is a blend of salt, garlic powder, oregano, black pepper and tumeric that is typically used in Hispanic cooking. Since I grew up in a community with a very large Puerto Rican population, I became well acquainted with this spice at a very young age, putting it on just about everything I cook, from soup to vegetables, meat and more. It truly is an all-purpose seasoning. It’s been the main feature of many of the recipes I’ve featured on this site, like Roast Pork and Rice and Beans and Chicken Legs and Empenadas. In any case, most times I also pair it with another Goya seasoning called Sazon, which is MSG (I know, I know…), salt, garlic, cumin, coriander, and annatto, which gives it a pretty bright orange color. The ideas above are a great place to start with this spice, but if you’d like to try it out first (and get an idea of the flavor you’re working with), try sprinkling either or both on a chicken breast before you grill it. Simple, easy, and delicious.

I had a heck of a time finding it when I first moved to Ohio over a decade ago, so much so that I stocked up on trips back to New Jersey, but now it’s available virtually everywhere, with Giant Eagle having the best selection of Goya products out of the major grocery chains. Also, you can find it at any of the Spanish groceries in town, too. 

The Retro Recipe Challenge #3 event, hosted by Laura Rebecca’s Kitchen, challenges us to find a recipe from any publication originally published within five years of your birth year. Since I was born in the seventies (1972, to be exact) it wasn’t too tough to find a recipe that qualified.

I chose Quick ‘n Chewy Crescent Bars, which was the Grand Prize winning recipe of the 1972 Pillsbury Bakeoff. They are very simple to make, and sickly sweet. Actually, they’re not bad at all, quite good actually if you stick to the serving size they suggest - case in point, each square in the picture above is actually twice as big as they suggest they should be, so you’re looking at 4 servings up there. It sort of reminds me of the praline topping that I put on top of my yams at Thanksgiving, minus the booze of course.

And I also managed to discover sweetened condensed milk, an ingredient I’ve never worked with before, but now plan to in the future.

Quick ‘n Chewy Crescent Bars (Pillsbury)

1/2 cup Pillsbury BEST® All Purpose or Unbleached Flour
1 cup coconut
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup margarine or butter
1 (8-oz.) can Pillsbury® Refrigerated Crescent Dinner Rolls
1 (14-oz.) can sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)

Heat oven to 400°F. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. In medium bowl, combine flour, coconut, brown sugar and pecans. With pastry blender or fork, cut in margarine until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.

Unroll dough into 2 long rectangles. Place in ungreased 15×10x1-inch baking pan; gently press dough to cover bottom of pan. Firmly press perforations to seal. Pour condensed milk evenly over dough to within 1/2 inch of edges. Sprinkle coconut mixture over condensed milk; press in lightly.

Bake at 400°F. for 12 to 15 minutes or until deep golden brown. Cool 1 hour or until completely cooled. Cut into bars. Makes 48 servings.

Nutrtion per bar: 90 cal, 4 g fat, 12 g carb, 60 mg sod, 0 g fiber, 1 g pro, 2 WW points

Tag: RRC3