Food is one of the most important aspects of the holiday season. Different tastes ignite memories of childhood as traditional recipes are passed down from generation to generation.
WBBM news writer Terry Bauer has seen firsthand how holiday recipes can connect friends and family. Bauer earned his culinary and baking degrees in 2002 at the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago/Le Cordon Bleu while continuing to work in news radio. Both are his true passions.
While attending classes, he worked for the renowned Charlie Trotter at Trotters to Go, an upscale Lincoln Park specialty and food establishment. He later catered for the Hearty Boys and catered small dinner parties on his own in the north suburbs before working in Lakeview at Home Bistro under Chef Jon Carl Lachman where he honed his cooking and pastry skills. Learning the many holiday flavors across the globe, Bauer has seen his culinary creations touch the lives of others.
We asked Bauer to share a few of his favorite recipes with us this holiday season. We decided to create a new series called, Cooking with Terry. Here our esteemed colleague will share some of his favorite holiday recipes, starting with cashew peanut brittle.
Ingredients:
16 ounces of raw cashews or raw peanuts
2 tablespoons of white sesame seeds
1 3/4 cup sugar
¼ cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup water
2 sticks unsalted butter cut in 1/2 inches pieces
1 teaspoon Maldon sea salt or Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Toast your nuts and sesame seeds in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes or until light brown, remove, let cool and place in a bowl. Then combine salt, vanilla, baking soda and nutmeg in a small bowl. Next, in an 8-cup sauce pan, add sugar, corn syrup and water stir to incorporate and heat over medium high heat until full boil. Add the most important ingredient: butter.
Using a candy thermometer, heat until brown in color until hard crack stage 310-315 degrees is reached. If you don’t have a candy thermometer, use a spoon, drop 1/4 teaspoon of sugar mixture into ice water. Taste test: It should be hard like brittle.
Add spices and peanuts, stirring vigorously to combine and quickly pour onto silpat or buttered parchment paper on a half sheet baking pan. Working quickly, press firmly with an offset spatula or rolling pin to 1/4 thickness. Let cool to room temperature before breaking into pieces. Store in tightly sealed tupperware or cookie tin.