Chocolate–Sour Cream Cookies

On March 31, 2022November 18, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, cookiesLeave a comment

Some years, I’ve spent April focused on recipes for making your own cheese and other homemade dairy products here on the blog. Now that I’m writing the Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, I’m rewriting some of those recipes with the tweaks and upgrades I’ve made to them over the years. I’ll be sharing those new-and-improved recipes here this month.

My Flathead Beacon column will feature recipes that use these fresh dairy products and hopefully inspire you to try making them yourself. I couldn’t resist writing in March about a few of those recipes, including Savory Herb and Sour Cream Scones, Sourdough–Yogurt Pancakes, and this week’s Chocolate–Sour Cream Cookies. So check out the recipes in the column, and then come back here to the blog for the homemade dairy instructions.
Learn to make Homemade Sour Cream and Chocolate–Sour Cream Cookies

Vegetarian Red Beans and Rice

On March 24, 2022November 18, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, dry stored1 Comment

Red beans and rice can be a simple comfort food, relying on browned onions and meat for its main flavor, but I take it much further in the vegetarian version I share this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon. My favorite version of this quintessential Southern dish has a long ingredient list packed with flavor.

If you tend to believe that a recipe with more than a handful of ingredients is too complicated to make, look at this one again: You’re essentially dumping everything into a pot, cooking it, and serving it over steamed rice. And if you’re missing something on the list, you can pretty much cook the beans with as many of the ingredients as you do have and end up with a delicious meal.

There is one shortcut I use to shorten the ingredient list: If I’m cooking dried beans, I preseason them with many of the flavorings and then just add the final ingredients when I make the dish as a quick midweek meal.
Learn to make Vegetarian Red Beans and Rice

Savory Herb and Sour Cream Scones

On March 17, 2022November 18, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, quick breads1 Comment

No matter how cold or gray it is, it feels like a little bit of spring when I spot the first herb and bulb shoots poking through ice and snow. Although I freeze, dehydrate, and otherwise preserve homegrown herbs to use all year, I’m always eager for the first fresh cuttings. Once enough have popped up that I can do more than sprinkle them as a garnish, I make savory scones packed with fresh herb flavors.

I share a savory version of my favorite scone recipe in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon. In early spring, I use chives and parsley, the first herbs that appear in my garden or I can get fresh locally. As the weeks pass, I start to swap in sorrel, oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme, basil, dill, and more.
Learn to make Savory Herb and Sour Cream Scones and more

Hot Pearl Barley with Honeyed Nuts

On March 10, 2022November 18, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, dry stored2 Comments

I didn’t learn to enjoy hot cereals until I spent a winter in St. Petersburg, Russia, with weeks of subzero mornings. A kasha blend of mixed grains is now one of my go-to breakfasts for chilly Montana mornings. Although delicious, it doesn’t taste or look as good when it sits, so it’s best made and eaten immediately. That’s why when I want to make a large batch of hot cereal to serve to a group or keep on hand to quickly reheat and eat over a few days, I choose pearl barley.

As I explain in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, I recently started making pearl barley in the pressure cooker, a technique I hadn’t thought workable because I feared it would foam and stop up the pressure valve. By using a water bath, that fear has vanished. The reward: it takes less than half the time as cooking pearl barley on the stovetop. So you can prepare it on the stovetop or in a pressure cooker, depending on the tools you have at hand.
Learn to make Hot Pearl Barley with Honeyed Nuts

Spring Asparagus Pickles

On March 3, 2022November 19, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, Cookbook, pickles, Workshops1 Comment

Join me at two free pickling workshops this month. Learn more at TwiceasTasty.com. — *Pickling asparagus. Photograph by Andrea Getts.*

As I note this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, in my world, spring means pickling workshops. I’m offering two free workshops in the upcoming week: a virtual presentation and demonstration on March 6 and an in-person talk with samples on March 10. I hope you can join me. Learn more about these workshops in my column.
Learn to make Spring Asparagus Pickles

Roasted and Curried Squash Soup

On February 24, 2022November 18, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, soups3 Comments

If you’ve yet to fall for squash soup, now’s your chance. There are so many directions you can take this soup: different varieties (including pumpkin), various spices and herbs, chunky or smooth. As I explain this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, every spin you put on it changes the flavor.

I find squash soup most flavorful if you roast the vegetables, add spices and finishing touches at the cooking stage that maximizes their flavor, and puree the soup to remove any potential stringiness and ensure balance in each spoonful.
Learn to make Roasted and Curried Squash Soup

Panfish Piccata

On February 17, 2022November 18, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, fresh eating1 Comment

The local fisherfolk I’ve seen out on the ice all winter inspired my Twice as Tasty column this week for the Flathead Beacon. I prefer to fish in warmer weather, wading into a stream with a fly rod in hand. But each time I see someone on the ice, I’m tempted by the idea of a panful of freshly caught perch. I made due with tilapia when developing my recipe for Panfish Piccata, and the result was delicious even if you head to the freezer instead of the frozen lake for the main ingredient.

I like this technique for cooking fish on the stovetop because the flour cuts down on the oil splatters but isn’t as messy as breadcrumbs. It’s also a one-pan meal, with the sauce following the fish into the pan and picking up some of its flavor.
Learn to make Panfish Piccata

Quick Beer–Cheese Dip

On February 10, 2022November 18, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, dips1 Comment

With chilly temps and that big sporting event (you know I mean the Olympics, right?) happening this weekend, it seemed the perfect time to share my favorite beer–cheese dip in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon. This dip is easy yet decadent; we usually think of special-occasion recipes as being difficult, but not so here. The recipe in my column gives you store-bought ingredient options, but you can also bump the decadence up several notches by using homemade versions.

Let me be clear: when I make dips like this one with homemade ingredients, I don’t start by saying, “OK, I’m going to smoke the cheese and chilies, make the chili paste and mustard, roast the garlic, and then I can make dip.” Nope. All those ingredients are staples in my fridge. When I want to use them in dip (and everything else), I just set them on the counter, mix them into dip, and dig in.
Learn to make Quick Beer–Cheese Dip

Gardening from the Kitchen

On February 3, 2022November 18, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, fresh eating2 Comments

The ongoing arrival of seed catalogs is reminding me that no matter how cold it is outside, now’s the time to start planning the garden. This week’s Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon has a decidedly local spin, mentioning local sources for seed and local farms offering community-supported agriculture (CSA) shares. If you live outside the area, take these as reminders to look out your own back door for local seed and produce resources before they sell out. According to Axiom’s 2022 garden survey, 62% of respondents plan to plant more this year.

Narrowing down the choices of what to plant can be as challenging as finding time to tend the garden all season. Read on to find out how I try to resist planting more than I can manage.
Learn more about gardening from the kitchen

Sourdough Cabin Bread

On January 27, 2022December 27, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, sourdough2 Comments

This week’s Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon wraps up Sourdough Month, which has been a resounding success. I’ve sent out more than 100 packets of sourdough starter, and there are still a few days left of the giveaway. If you’re just now learning about the giveaway, you can read about it and my starter in this blog post.

To round out the month, I’m sharing my first and still favorite sourdough bread recipe. My niece and nephew initially called it Auntie Julie’s Special Bread, because they only ate it when I visited with a loaf. It’s lost that title now that my brother-in-law bakes with sourdough starter. It may be less special, but that doesn’t make it any less delicious.
Learn to make Sourdough Cabin Bread