Cardamom Fig Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

These are the seeds inside the cardamom pods

Cardamom is one of my favorite spices. Popular in Indian cooking, it is one of the main constituents of Garam Masala. It is compellingly strong, yet delicate and sweet.

Considered one of the most valuable spices in the world due to its medicinal and therapeutic properties, cardamom is often used for relieving digestive problems induced by garlic and onion intolerance. It is very beneficial in oral/mouth health and treating halitosis, lowering blood pressure and it has tremendous antioxidant properties. 

Cardamom is used in different ways by different cultures. In the Middle East it's popular to flavor coffee, in Scandinavian communities it's used as a dessert baking spice. In India it is a savory spice for curries. You can also find it used for poached fish, meat dishes, fish stews and it's wonderful on sweet potatoes. 

We are addicted to cardamom in our coffee! We simply add a teaspoon of crushed (an excuse to use my mortar and pestle!) cardamom seeds to our ground coffee and brew in our regular drip coffee maker. Or, if you want to get fancy, try this Pakistani Coffee with Cinnamon & Cardamom from Global Table Adventure.

The recipe below sounds insanely interesting, I'm pretty sure I will be making these this afternoon!

CARDAMOM FIG CHOCOLATE OATMEAL COOKIES 

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Recipe Adapted From: Food52
Prep Time: 1 Hour Cooking Time: 15 Mins Total Time: 1 Hour 15 Mins

Ingredients:

1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup rolled oats
2 teaspoons ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 ounces dark chocolate chunks (we like 70% cacao)

1 1/4 cup dried figs, chopped (soaked in water if too dry)


Directions:

Cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy with an electric or stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until fully incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

In a separate bowl, stir together all of the remaining (dry) ingredients. Stir these into the butter mixture on low speed until fully combined.

Refrigerate the dough 30-60 minutes before proceeding.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Scoop the dough in 2-3 Tbs. scoops onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake each sheet one at a time (meanwhile keep the rest of the cookies chilled in the fridge while the first batch bakes) until the edges of the cookies are golden but still look a little doughy in the center, about 15-18 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet halfway through the bake time.

Cool the cookies on the sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. 

Enjoy with a cup of cardamom flavored coffee!

Press Here > to Lock Roll

Do you know about the tabs?

I'm talking about those little tabs on the side of most of the aluminum foil, plastic wrap, waxed paper, pretty much everything on a roll. They actually serve a purpose.

Once the tabs are pushed in, it makes pulling and tearing a LOT easier by holding the roll in the box. If you have ever fought a roll of out-of-control foil or plastic wrap, you know that there must be an easier way.....

I can not remember the first time I heard of this little trick, but when I did, it was like, duh! When I recently pointed it out to my husband, who constantly struggles with and harbors a deep resentment for plastic wrap, he was blown away.

I thought it might be a good time to mention this tip since I have recently made a lot of fabulous new foodie friends on Foodbuzz, and other sources, and it is a topic that I haven't seen so far.

So, if you didn't know about this, go to your kitchen right now and pull out all of your aluminum and plastic wrap rolls, push in all those tabs!

Basic Vegetable Stock

Have you noticed how expensive plain vegetable stock is in the grocery store? Making your own vegetable stock is a great way to clean out the refrigerator. Don't limit your stock making ingredients to whole vegetables. Start saving peels and trimmings while you cook. Your stock will be strained before being used, and all those unattractive peels will be gone, but they will add tons of flavor to your stock.

• 1 large chopped onion
• 2 or 3 large chopped carrots
• 3 or 4 stalks celery (include the leafy top parts as well)
• 6 to 8 chopped garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns

Other suggested vegetables (and vegetable scraps) to use are: onions, garlic, potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, celery, carrots, mushrooms, corn (empty corn cobs can also add lots of flavor to stock), parsley, green beans, beets, bell peppers, scallions, green onions, shallots, fresh basil, thyme, cilantro, and oregano...pretty much anything.

A good rule of thumb is to have about half solid ingredients to half water. Add a tablespoon or so of ground black peppercorns and 2 bay leaves. Cover the ingredients with the water, bring to a boil and let simmer for about an hour. Cool and strain to remove all pieces of vegetables.

Use immediately for your favorite recipe, such as the Egyptian Split Pea Soup, or freeze in ice cube trays for future use. It's a great way to add a little healthy flavor to many dishes.

Freeze Your Berries!

We want to share a quick tip with you. We found these delicious raspberries and blackberries on sale for a price we couldn't resist, so we stocked up.

The checkout girl at the grocery store had a great suggestion, one of those "why didn't I think of that" ideas. She suggested that we lay the berries flat on a cookie sheet to freeze them, so they don't stick together and get all smashed. Once they are frozen, then you can put them in plastic bags and they should keep for a whole year. Brilliant!

Baking Soda, Is It Still Good?

One of the best and most used kitchen essentials is that box of Arm & Hammer baking soda you have sitting on the top shelf in your pantry.

How can you tell if is still good? Simply stir about 1/4 teaspoon of soda into 1/2 cup or so of very hot tap water. The proportions aren't critical, if it's still good, the soda will immediately start to bubble.

Baking soda needs an acid to get a reaction, so use the same procedure for baking powder but add 1/4 teaspoon of vinegar to the water before adding the soda. As before, if it bubbles up, your powder is fine to use.

If you don't see bubbles, then you need a fresh box. You could probably still use it to get some lift, but your baked goods will be more dense that usual. Don't be tempted to double the amount of baking soda or powder - it would make your food taste funny!

And since we are on the subject of baking soda, I hope that you too use it as an all around household cleaner. I am personally very sensitive to all of the harsh toxic cleaning products on the market today, and I have found a box of baking soda will freshen and clean most surfaces safely and often better than those other products. Not to mention the box that we keep in the refrigerator to keep smells out, it works wonderfully. BTW, that box should be replaced about once a year for best results!

Cooking 101

Even though Mark has worked in the restaurant industry and has managed kitchens and restaurants for many, many years, the other day he slipped up a bit and I feel the need to share the experience (for educational purposes).

Do NOT EVER, EVER, EVER, take a hot glass casserole dish out of the oven and put it directly under a running faucet, no matter how hot the water is!!

IT WILL EXPLODE!!!!

We are mourning the loss of a favorite 14 x 24 inch glass casserole dish due to this very scenario. Our plumber loves us.