Brown Sugar

Dear Lynne: What is a flat-iron steak? Ads talk about it being cheaper than rib eye or the loin steaks. But how do I find it, and what is it exactly? -- Ben in Minneapolis Dear Ben: Flat-iron steak's flavor can trump much more expensive steaks'. This comes from the shoulder of the steer (also known as the chuck). In contrast, the most tender and expensive steaks come from the upper back of the animal (where there is the least movement, hence more tender meat) and have names like rib eye, top lion, sirloin and tenderloin.

1/3 cup melted butter 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar 4 to 5 peaches, peeled and cut in half 1 teaspoon lemon juice Batter: 5 tablespoons butter 2/3 cup brown sugar 1 egg 1 cup milk 2 1/4 cup flour 4 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoons salt Pour 1/3 cup melted butter in bottom of 9-by-9-inch deep-dish baking pan. Cover with 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar. Place peaches cut side down on top of brown sugar in pan. Drizzle 1 teaspoon lemon juice over peaches.

Start to finish: 15 minutes 1 tablespoon butter or margarine 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion 8-ounce can tomato sauce 2 tablespoons brown sugar 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter or margarine. Add the chopped onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato sauce, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce, then bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until glaze thickens, about 5 minutes. Use the sauce to glaze a ham, basting as desired.

· 5 medium apples, sliced · 1/4 cup butter or margarine · 1/4 cup water · 1/2 cup brown sugar · 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon In large skillet, saut apples in butter or margarine for 1 minute. Add water. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Simmer until apples are soft and liquid evaporates.

Crust (Makes enough for three 8-inch crusts.): 2 2/3 cups flour 1 cup shortening 1 teaspoon salt Sprinkle of brown sugar 3/4 cup cold milk Filling: 1 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 2 eggs 1 cup raisins 1 cup sour cream 1/8 teaspoon salt Crust: Combine flour with salt and brown sugar. To make sure milk is cold, Divel puts an ice cube in the cup. Her measure is approximate. You need enough milk to work the dough, she says.

Glazed Apple-Craisin-Walnut Cookies 1/2 cup shortening 1 1/3 cups brown sugar, firmly packed 1 egg 2 cups sifted flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg 1 cup nuts, coarsely chopped 1 cup finely chopped, peeled apples 1 cup Craisins 1/4 cup milk Beat together...

Almond Toffee Brickle 40 saltine crackers 1 cup brown sugar 1 cup butter 12 ounces chocolate morsels 1 cup chopped almonds Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover bottom and sides of jellyroll pan with aluminum foil. Place crackers side by side, not overlapping. Set aside. Melt butter in saucepan. Add brown sugar. Bring to a full rolling boil. Boil exactly 3 minutes; stir often. Remove from heat and pour immediately over saltines.

Sweet and Spicy 'Barbecued' Brisket If you can find chipotle chunky salsa to use for the following brisket recipe, you will notice that the chipotle - dried, smoked jalapeo pepper - will give an extra dimension to the flavor of the finished dish. 5-pound trimmed beef brisket salt and pepper 1 tablespoon garlic powder 2 cups chipotle chunky salsa or plain, chunky salsa 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce sandwich or hamburger rolls Season brisket with salt, pepper and garlic and place in 3-quart shallow baking dish.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Vanilla Cookies 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 2/3 cup baking cocoa (sweetened) 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened 3/4 cup granulated sugar 2/3 cup packed brown sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 large eggs 3/4 cup vanilla chips 2/3 cup peanut butter chips 2/3 cup chocolate chips Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1/2 cup almonds, slivered and toasted 2/3 cup brown sugar 10 tablespoons butter 2 eggs 1 1/2 cups flour 1 1/2 cups oatmeal 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon orange zest 2 teaspoons orange extract 1 cup dried cranberries 1 cup white chocolate chips 1/4 cup powdered sugar 1 teaspoon allspice 1 tablespoon cinnamon Preheat oven to 375 degrees. On a cookie sheet, toast almonds in the oven for 10 minutes.

Kim West of Hagerstown entered the Herald-Mail's 2012 Cookie Exchange Contest. Her entry, Mom's Cracker Jack Cookies, was not selected as a winner, but the concept was distinctive. "This is my mom's recipe," she said. "She's just one of those older women who takes things and throws them together. My nephews love this one, so I thought I would enter it. " Cooking is something of a family tradition for West. She and her sisters all cook, and West has cooked for 40 years, since she was an adolescent.

Carrie Crawford learned her way around a kitchen early in life. Her family owned a commercial food business. "I learned to cook from my mother and grandmother. My mother owned the Cake and Candy Emporium in Lancaster, (Pa.), and we kids helped make things," she said. She continued cooking and baking into her adult years. Now a Funkstown resident, she gave up wheat a few years ago due to health concerns. "I'm gluten-free now. It's been probably five or six years," she said. "For a while, it was all about things I couldn't eat. But then I discovered things like quinoa.

I started this recipe with a bunch of peanut butter cups and a cup of espresso in my hand. I reworked two older recipes I've used to build this new recipe, featuring Nespresso espresso coffee. I love the added kick in flavor you get when you add excellent coffee to chocolate, cookies, creams, and rubs, so I thought why not try to add coffee to peanut butter cup cookies. What you see before you is the final product, tested and approved by my family and my two sous chefs during the experiment, Jenna Rose and Jaelyn Grace.

This recipe is the most often requested and sought after family favorite and a standard at all family holiday gatherings either at home or with the in-laws.  It's delightfully easy to prepare and can be calorie adjusted by replacing sugar with Truvia, as desired. My immediate family prefers the recipe without the nuts in the topping, while my mother incorporates nuts in hers. As for my sister, Katie, who is terrific in the kitchen, she always says that you need to double the topping recipe for every batch of the filling made.  To this day, I follow that advice and thus the phrase, "Candy Bar in Bowl" was created.

My latest creation came about when playing with some espresso-ground pumpkin spice coffee.  I love the flavor and was interested in trying to coax out more flavors at breakfast, hence the Pumpkin Coffee Cake. I also wanted it to have a bite to it so that it can perk up anyone sampling the moist coffee cake.  If you desire you can easily leave out the cayenne, and add in another teaspoon of cinnamon, or nutmeg. However, be careful, nutmeg can overpower the batter if used liberally.

This is a wonderfully easy coffee cake recipe with actual coffee in the recipe.  The beauty of adding coffee into the recipe is the richness and depth of flavor it imparts to the batter. I will be trying this recipe again with a pumpkin-pie flavored coffee, but for this version I used chilled dark roasted coffee (8 ounces). In essence of time to help the breakfast cook of the house, I used packaged ingredients to help offset the time and cost needed to gather flour, baking soda, baking powder and so forth.  I also like to add applesauce to help with the moisture in the cake as well as eliminating the need for oil. Scott C. Anderson is associate food service director and chef with Shepherd University dining services in Shepherdstown, W.Va., and Chef Ambassador to the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board.

Teri Keller, 18, of Hagers-town has a lot of experience in the kitchen. Cooking runs in her family. "When I was little, I always cooked with my mom, Brenda - mostly cookies, cupcakes," Keller said. "My grandparents were bakers and had their own bake shop, so I got recipes from them. " Keller, a South Hagers-town High School grad, now lives with her family in Hagerstown's North End. Keller cooks for her family several times a week. "When my mom makes dinner herself, she makes it healthy.

Bev Coyle is a member of the board for One Mountain Foundation, a nonprofit organization that works to improve the community surrounding Fort Ritchie in Cascade. Coyle submitted several recipes for inclusion in “Mountain Heritage Cooking Collection,” a fundraising cookbook to benefit One Mountain Foundation. Several of the recipes Coyle submitted are from her mother, Miriam Poole. “My mother was always the best cook ever,” Coyle said. “She has Alzheimer's disease now. I thought it would be a nice to have some of her recipes in 'Mountain Heritage Cooking Collection'.” Coyle said Poole was improvisational - she could put things together without a recipe.

I know this is deviating from the salads and cast iron cooking I've been writing about, but I wanted to make some cookies with my son. We went to work creating these wonderful, morsels of goodness.  Make sure you have fresh peanut butter and that you completely blend ingredients together before moving onto the next step. Also be sure to get the best chocolate chips possible, or incorporate chocolate chunks.  Scott C. Anderson is associate food service director and chef with Shepherd University dining services.

I will make this intro short and sweet: For all my family, friends and fellow cooks, chefs, grillers, smokers and such, I give you my friendship and my bread. Enjoy! - Scott C. Anderson is associate food service director and chef with Shepherd University dining services in Shepherdstown, W.Va., and Chef Ambassador to the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board. Amish Friendship Bread For day 1: 2/3 cup sugar, 2/3 cup milk, 2/3 cup flour For days 6: 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk For day 10:  1 1/4 cup flour, 1 1/4 cup sugar , 1 1/4 cup milk For final bread: 1 cup applesauce 1/2 cup milk (skim or 2 percent)