The Secret Ingredient: A Mouthful of Wine

How's that for an attention-getting headline? 

Golden Girls fans will remember that the secret ingredient in Sophia's tomato sauce was a mouthful of wine.  For my grandmother (Mary), it was a teaspoon of grape jelly...and a jar of Prego.  She let the secret slip when she was giving me an impromptu cooking lesson, afraid that I'd go hungry in big, bad New York if I didn't know my way around a stove. 

Imagine it:  a little old Italian lady who would spend forever on her "good sauce"--the one we had with Christmas ravioli--revealing that her everyday sauce was (gasp!) jarred.

What's my point, and how does this relate to cookies?  Simple:  Great taste and texture can come from everyday, "nontraditional" ingredients.  My secret ingredient, for example, is ground-up graham crackers.  They add a little sumpin'-sumpin' that will make you go hmmm. I've also used ground-up Cocoa Pebbles cereal, Nilla wafer cookies, and vanilla-creme wafer cookies.  Simply replace some of the dry ingredients--flour, or in my case, oatmeal--with the ground-up add-ins.  You can also try adding some flavored liquid ingredients.  In my Juliana Skiffle cookie (ginger and lime...I'll explain the name in a later post), I replace some of the wet ingredients with a dash of spicy ginger beer.

So take a page out of my book.  Try some dry or wet flavor add-ins the next time you make cookies.  But whatever you do, don't mix up raisins with something else, as Mrs. Doyle from Father Ted does.

Comments

[Lorraine]

OK, now you've outdone yourself! Your video clips were hysterical and a fun surprise when I made the click. Picture me dancing in front of my computer to "Things that make you go hmmm" On second thought, that may be a painful visual. The Mrs. Doyle clip was a sure fire LOL! By the way - also love your photos.

[Oatmeal Cookie Guy]

Thanks, Lorraine! You're the best mother-in-law ever.

[Mumma]

Wow! That's a secret Grandma took to her grave! Now I don't feel so guilty about opening a jar of Rao's.

[Oatmeal Cookie Guy]

How's your supply doing?

[Mumma]

Not to worry. I still have 3 jars and I won't be using them any time soon because that would involve actually having to boil water for the pasta! If I can't "nuke" it, I don't buy it. Julia Child is definitely NOT my middle name. Thank God you learned some culinary arts from your dad and grandma...

[Katrina]

Whew! I love the recipe and the chili is a big hit at the office, but I had to add 2 cans of stewed tomatoes to my chili to cool it off enough for me to eat it. No, I can't handle the heat - Yes, I am a wimp! Thank you! Katrina