LCBO Food & Drink Holiday 2019

INSIDE SCOOP

All stacked up The quickest and easiest baking recipes don’t require any baking at all. Enter haystack cookies. No bending down into the oven, no last-minute trips to get eggs… Just melt, stir and drop. At their simplest, haystacks are simply chocolate and chow mein noodles—the boiled, fried and ready-to-eat variety traditionally used as a savoury garnish. But for an amped up five-ingredient version, try our salty, sweet and crunchy Chocolate & Peanut Butter Haystack Cookies (recipe on page 217). COOKIE OF THE SEASON

We all need to pay special attention to designated drivers, kids and other abstainers, making sure to have alcohol-free libations on hand. Look no further than our no-buzz Ginger Punch (recipe at lcbo.com/fdholiday19), a citrusy, bubbly soft drink flavoured with zesty ginger and cool cucumber. What punch should I serve to abstainers?

KITCHEN TRICKS Cleanup hack

KITCHEN HELP Virtual sous chef Whether you ask Siri or Alexa, a virtual assistant is like having a brainiac apprentice in the kitchen. Here’s a few ways they can help:

You’ve soaked, scrubbed and rinsed, yet the roast of Christ- mas past has still left its mark on your favourite roasting pan. There is a simple trick for stubbornly dirty pots and pans. It’s called the deglazing method. Soak it in hot water low burner. Using a wooden spoon (so it doesn’t scratch), scrape the baked-on residue until it comes off. Carefully tip the water into the sink then wash the pan in hot soapy water. Done! (no soap) then place the pan on top of a medium-

Do recipe conversions. “How many tablespoons in a 1/4 cup?” or “How many grams in 1 cup of sugar?” Set multiple timers that run simultaneously. “Start a pasta timer for 10 minutes. Start a salmon timer for 15 minutes.”

Get cooking times. “How long should I roast a 12-lb turkey?”

32

HOLIDAY 2019 FOOD & DRINK