Bonus Episode - Cooking with the Cat Who...Cookbook!
Greetings friends - Due to some unforeseen circumstances, we're going to bring you a bonus episode this week!
Listen here and see below for the recipes we tried! Cooking with the Cat Who
First - We test out the famous Kabibbles - created by Celia Robinson, this crunchy snack is beloved by both cats and humans!
The recipe as written from the third edition The Cat Who...Cookbook
KABIBBLES
Day-old slices of bread
1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon red pepper
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Parmesan cheese, grated.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Cut enough bread into 1/2 inch cubes to make one layer in a shallow roasting pan. Freeze before cutting if bread is too soft. Mix the oil, garlic salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce thoroughly. Drizzle over the bread and toss to coat thoroughly. Spread cubes in the roasting pan, and sprinkle with cheese. Bake about 45 minutes or until brown and crisp. If not brown at the end of 1 hour, increase the temperature. Serves 6.
These were interesting - they are, as Mildred describes them, basically flavored croutons. But the recipe as written doesn’t quite deliver the can’t stop eating them flavor I was hoping for, despite making them with my homemade sourdough bread. Firstly, I would strongly recommend using the canned Parmesan cheese. The freshly grated stuff doesn’t quite coat things evenly and without the parmesan, the flavor just isn’t as good.
Resist the urge to double to olive oil, but definitely double the other seasonings. I also raised the oven temp to 325 degrees, and baked them for 45 minutes, which gave me mostly crunchy croutons with a couple of softer centers. This has to do with my oven baking a little cooler than most recommended oven. As a whole, this is a very unspecific recipe. It does not specify how much bread to use, or what size pan to use. I used half a loaf of sourdough bread, which filled a 12x 17.5 baking sheet. It also just says Red pepper. I used Paprika for my red pepper, but if you have crushed spicy red pepper (do NOT use red pepper flakes, they won’t coat evenly) . you could use that, and get a spicier kabibble. I doubled the olive oil because the size looked wrong, and I ended up with some greasy drippings on the pan, which is why I recommend doubling the seasonings (including the Worcestershire) but not the olive oil. My other suggestion would be, for a more consistent size, use commercially baked bread with the crusts cut off. Homemade sourdough is delicious, but doesn’t cube equally for an even bake, as Mary Berry would say.
Paw Rating - As written, 2. With experiments, 3
Second - Gary Pratt’s infamous No-Holds Barred Burger, later known as the Booze-Burger. A double decker burger with all the trimmings, it’s so tall it has to be held together with a skewer (after the retirement of Thumbprint Thelma, who held them together with her thumb!)
We love a burger in this house - and we have some specialized tastes… My (susan) favorite is a rare burger with pineapple, white cheddar and mayo, possibly with some good teriyaki sauce. Luke loves a local dive bar’s burger with peanut butter and jelly and bacon. He also loves a good jalapeno burger from anywhere.
The Recipe as Written:
No-Holds-Barred Hamburgker aka Boozeburger
2 lbs ground beef
1/2 cup beer
1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbs
1teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
8 slices bacon, cut in half
4 large buns
mayonnaise
4 slices cheddar cheese
4 thin slices onion
4 thin slices tomato
8 thin slices dill pickle
mustard
ketchup
lettuce
Mix the beef, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, and onion. Shape into 8 thin patties. Fry or grill to desired degree of doneness. In separate pan, fry the bacon. To assemble, place in the following order on the bottom of bun: mayonnaise, 1 burger, 1 slice cheese, a second burger, 4 half slices bacon, slice of onion, slice of tomato, 2 slices dill pickles, mustard, ketchup, lettuce, top bun. Inset wooden skewers. Serves 4.
General thoughts - this is a dang good burger. It would be improved by a toasted bun and an extra slice of cheese between the burger layers (Luke suggests letting the cheese melt a little on the patties rather than just throwing it on before assembly). For more finicky eaters, a fine dice or grate on the onion in the patty mixture would be helpful. The flavor is great but I(Susan) hate biting in to chunks of onion in my burger. For extra decadence, you could fry the patty in the bacon grease.
Paw rating: 2.5 - structure is very solid, but it’s not quite decadent enough as written in this age of super-burgers.
First as written:
Third - Vonda Dudley Wix’s Chocolate Whoppers - these giant cookies were a favorite of her former boss/lover JJ Hawkinfield and she attempts to get into Qwill’s good graces with them as well, until she gets drunk off strong coffee.
The Recipe as Written:
These are, as described in the books, three-ish inches across, and studded with walnuts and chocolate chunks. What they don’t describe is the decadent chocolatey dough and the delicious aroma they have while cooking. They’re basically a chocolate chocolate chip cookie with walnuts, and follow the basic tenets thereof. I make a lot of chocolate chip cookies with walnuts because they are mine and my father’s favorite cookies, so this cookie, with the addition of the baking chocolate into the batter (instead of cocoa that I might usually use) is a great addition to the repertoire. I made two smallish adjustments for altitude (remember, we live in Denver, a mile above sea-level) and for our oven. I added an extra ¼ cup of flour (for altitude), and baked the cookies for a full 15 minutes, instead of the recommended 12-14.
These are delicious (we each only managed one), but not exactly how I pictured them when I read the books the first time. I was picturing more of a layer cookie with a chocolate top, walnut middle and chocolate cookie bottom. Guess I’ll have to invent those. Additional note - they are even BETTER the next day!
Paw rating: 3.5 - it’s a great cookie (even if it’s not what I was expecting.) The use of baking Powder vs. baking soda makes for a crispy, yet moist cookie with a perfect crispy outside and a soft, chewy middle. The baking chocolate in the batter keeps it from being too sweet and enhances the rich chocolate taste.
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