Blue Cayenne

In the world of binges, a cookie binge isn’t such a bad thing. 

So…here is another cookie recipe close on the heels of the oatmeal cookie recipe (here) posted a couple of weeks ago. That oatmeal cookie comes together with a mix of  traditional ingredients. Today’s cookie makes use of an untraditional cookie ingredient: miso. 

You’ve probably had miso before. It is a salty-sweet fermented soybean paste that flavors miso soup, glazes, salad dressings, marinades, and some desserts. Umami-rich miso is often used as an anchovy substitute for the anchovy-averse as well. 

Chinese and Japanese cooks have been using miso in their cooking for thousands of years. Along the way, the preparation of miso has become an art form in Japan with some miso being given as long as 36 months to ferment. Miso in some form–often soup–is consumed at least once a day by most Japanese.  That’s a lot of miso!

To make things complicated for those of us who are trying to build our miso skills, there are more than 1000 types of miso on the market–red, white, barley, rice, soybean and on and on. The possibilities are seemingly endless. As a rule of thumb, lighter-colored miso is milder and sweeter. Darker miso is more salty and pungent. If you are interested in giving miso a try, the good news is that miso can be stored in the refrigerator indefinitely while you perfect your miso-cooking game. Personally, I’m looking at an eggplant recipe with a miso glaze right now and I had a bowl of probiotic-rich miso soup for breakfast…and a miso cookie, of course. Life is good.

Here is the Miso Cookie Recipe. 

This cookie recipe is adapted from one that appears in the New York Times here.

Every month, Blue Cayenne features one post from our archive of more than 350 recipes. Here is a Pasta Alla Vecchia Bettola recipe you won’t want to miss…again.

Want to dive deeper into our recipe archive?  Just click one of the categories at the top of our page or use the category search drop down menu on the right side of the page.

Here is the link: Pasta Alla Vecchia Betolla.

Ahhh, potatoes!  Let me count the ways.  

Today’s potato is the upmarket Yukon Gold.

The history of these potatoes is interesting. Yukon Gold potatoes have only been available commercially since 1980. Developed at Canada’s University of Guelph by legendary potato breeder Gary Johnson, the distinctive yellow-fleshed Yukon Gold potato was the product of 14 years of work and experiments with 66 potato crosses.

The Yukon Gold wasn’t Johnson’s only contribution to the world of potatoes, though. Over the course of  his long career, Johnson developed 16 potato varieties. ( Sixteen potato varieties!!! Move over Liam Neeson and Pierce Brosnan. Any man who develops 16 potato varieties has a sure place in the heart of this potato-loving Irish girl!)

Johnson’s Yukon Gold potato is a cross between a wild  (yellow) Peruvian potato and a domestic (North Dakota) variety of potato. Food writers often describe the potato as looking like it is drenched in butter. Food images don’t get a lot better than that!

Once the Yukon Gold potato was introduced commercially, it became a culinary rock star. The potato got its big break when it was featured by food writers like Mark Bittman in the New York Times. Bittman’s piece was titled “Yukon Gold Standard.”

Soon, Queen Elizabeth II was being served Yukon Golds on Buckingham Palace china. Wolfgang Puck was serving an elegant Yukon Gold potato appetizer at an Oscar’s Ball–yellow-fleshed Yukons topped with Caspian caviar, no less!  And, Barack Obama’s celebrated White House Chef, Cristeta Pasia Comerford, was featuring Yukon Gold potatoes at a state dinner honoring Canada’s hunky Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Her dish?  “Yukon Gold Potato Dauphinoise Drizzled With Yukon Jack Canadian Whiskey.” Wow. Wow. Wow. 

The Yukon Gold potato celebrated it’s 50th anniversary in 2020. We have Gary Johnson to thank for elevating a potato from its lowly status as a sustenance food  to that of a delicacy.

Now, if I can just find that Yukon Gold Potato Dauphinoise recipe, or, at least, a bottle of Yukon Jack Canadian Whiskey…

In the meantime, here is a wonderful Yukon Gold-Cheddar Soup recipe. 

The original recipe from which this soup recipe was adapted appeared in the New York Times.