Great chefs aren't born that way; they are created. This month's Cook of the Month, is a teenager well on her way to becoming to a great chef.
Katy Botsford first became interested in cooking as a child. "I was home sick from school one day and I was staying at my grandma's house. We baked chocolate chip cookies together and ever since then, I've loved to bake."
She credits her Grandma Floor and her mom, Mary Ellen Botsford, with encouraging her interest in cooking. Mary Ellen is herself an accomplished cook, having been featured as a Syracuse Newspapers Christmas Cookie contest winner as well as creating several winning recipes over the years in the New York State Fair competitions.
Katy's biggest cooking success was a huge one. She won the prestigious children's competition at the State Fair two years ago. "I entered just for fun and my Chocolate Hazelnut Pie recipe won first place."
Although she is young and talented, she has had a few mishaps, as has anyone who cooks frequently. Her biggest disaster involved delicate meringue cookies. "My grandma accidentally turned up the heat on the oven and the cookies exploded in the oven."
A senior at Bishop Ludden High School, Katy plans to attend Onondaga Community College next year to further her education in the Culinary Arts program. She hopes to become a pastry chef and aspires to own a coffeehouse, featuring poetry readings and creating all of the desserts served there.
Katy has many creative outlets in addition to cooking and baking. An avid photographer, she takes photos for the school yearbook. She is a member of the SPACE Club at Bishop Ludden, and art club. She likes to write poetry and creates jewelry. An outdoor enthusiast, Katy also enjoys camping and fishing.
Although baking is her
specialty, Katy's favorite dish to make is "anything with potatoes - fried, mashed - anyway you can make potatoes, I'll make them." If her friends were coming over to her house, she would make a pasta dish.
"When I get bored, I look around to see what I've got and what I can turn it into. Sometimes I like to use cooking to clear my mind of everything else going on."
Katy is the type of a cook I especially admire; one who can take a look in the refrigerator and pantry, grab some ingredients, toss them together and come up with a tasty dish. She can see the possibility of what the ingredients can become in her mind. It's clear that the creativity in other aspects of her life spill over into her cooking.
When Katy is baking, she's usually making cookies. "I like to make cookies, especially for friends' birthdays. My specialty is my Grandma's chocolate chip cookies. My dad prefers my oatmeal cookies and my sister, Hannah, eats anything I bake. My mom loves it when I bake because she doesn't like to bake that much herself."
Katy's mom Mary Ellen said of her, "It's very nice to have a child that enjoys cooking. We especially enjoy that Katy is an excellent baker. I am always so pleased when I come into the kitchen to find that she has made cookies or a cake for dessert. I think her decision to study culinary arts, specifically pastry arts, is a wise one. She knows that the most important thing about cooking is the good feeling you get from making something that others enjoy - what a wonderful way to share your talents. Ted and I are very proud of Katy; she is a very special young lady."
Katy usually bakes about once a week. In addition to cookies, she likes to make cakes and pies. Katy is always on the lookout for new recipes, and goes to the Food Television Network website for new ideas. (www.foodnetwork.com) A recent success was a chocolate cake she made with a ganache topping.
Food TV's "Good Eats" host Alton Brown is a favorite of Katy's. "He sees food as a mystery and on his show he explains how cooking works, the science of it all and why certain things work well together. He makes it very interesting."
She recently received a chocolate cookbook for her birthday that is currently getting a lot of use.
Although she is a baker by heart, the one ingredient Katy always has on hand is garlic. Her indispensable kitchen tool is her food processor. As to chocolate or vanilla ice cream, Katy is a fan of chocolate, especially Ben & Jerry's Phish Food flavor. Ketchup or mustard on her hot dog? Neither - Katy doesn't eat ketchup, mustard or hot dogs for that matter.
If Katy is heading out for fast food, she'll go to Taco Bell for a Chicken Gordita Supreme, hold the sour cream.
McDonald's french fries also rate high, but Katy likes them cold. She says this acquired taste comes from going on road trips and saving her fries for later. For a night out, potato skins from Hafner's Restaurant in North Syracuse gets raves, topped off with Chocolate Lava Cake for dessert.
The four people (living or deceased) that Katy would invite to her house for dinner include the person who started her on her cooking journey: Grandma Floor, Katy's boyfriend, Mike Dussing, and rock musicians Kurt Cobain of Nirvana and Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. It sounds like a dress rehearsal for her future coffeehouse, a place I look forward to visiting in the near future.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks, 1/2 pound) margarine
3/4 cup granulated whitesugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups (12-ounce package) semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1 cup chopped nuts
Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat margarine, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large mixer bowl. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
Bake in preheated 375-degree [Fahrenheit] oven for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.
Chocolate Hazlenut Pie
(Blue ribbon winner, StateFair Children's division 2002)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1 cup chopped hazelnuts
1/4 cup of hot fudge sauce
1 cup chilled whipping cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1. Heat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Grease a pie plate with shortening
3. Mix granulated sugar, butter, vanilla, salt, eggs, flour and cocoa in a medium bowl.
4. Stir in nuts, pour in pie plate.
5. Bake until toothpick inserted in center of pie comes out clean, about 25 minutes.
6. Immediately prick holes in pie with a wooden toothpick, spread fudge sauce over pie. Cool completely.
7. Beat whipping cream and powdered sugar in a chilled small bowl until stiff, spread over fudge sauce.
8. Drizzle pie with more fudge sauce and sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts.
Makes 6 to 8 servings.
Oatmeal Cookies
2 sticks (1/2 pound) margarine, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 cups Quaker Oats, quick or old-fashioned
1. Heat oven to 375-degrees F. In large bowl, beat margarine and sugars until creamy. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg; mix well. Add oats; mix well.
2. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3 Bake 8 to 9 minutes for a chewy cookie or 10 to 11 minutes for a crisp cookie. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.
Makes about 3 dozen.
Chocolate Lava Cakes
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate pieces
2 tablespoons whipping cream
3/4 cup butter
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate pieces
3 eggs
3 egg yolks
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/3 cup all purpose flour
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
Powdered sugar
For filling
In heavy small saucepan, combine the 3/4 cup chocolate pieces and whipping cream. Cook and stir over low heat until chocolate melts. Remove pan from heat, cool, stirring occasionally. Chill until firm, about 30 to 45 minutes. Meanwhile in a heavy medium saucepan cook and stir butter and the 1 cup chocolate pieces over low heat until melted. Remove from heat; cool.
Form chilled filling into 6 equal-size balls; set aside. Lightly grease and flour six 6 ounce custard cups. Place cups in a 15 by 10 by 1 inch baking pan; set aside.
In a mixing bowl beat eggs, egg yolks, granulated sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer on high speed 5 minutes or until lemon-colored. Beat in chocolate-butter mixture on medium speed.
Sift flour and cocoa powder over mixture; beat on low speed until just combined. Fill prepared dishes with about 1/3 cup batter. Place one ball of filling into each dish. Spoon remaining batter into dishes.
Bake in a 400 degree oven about 13 minutes or until cakes feel firm at edges. Cool in dishes 2 to 3 minutes. Using a knife, loosen cakes from sides of dishes. Invert onto dessert plates. Dust with confectioner's sugar and serve with whipped cream or ice cream.
She credits her Grandma Floor and her mom, Mary Ellen Botsford, with encouraging her interest in cooking. Mary Ellen is herself an accomplished cook, having been featured as a Syracuse Newspapers Christmas Cookie contest winner as well as creating several winning recipes over the years in the New York State Fair competitions.
Katy's biggest cooking success was a huge one. She won the prestigious children's competition at the State Fair two years ago. "I entered just for fun and my Chocolate Hazelnut Pie recipe won first place."
Although she is young and talented, she has had a few mishaps, as has anyone who cooks frequently. Her biggest disaster involved delicate meringue cookies. "My grandma accidentally turned up the heat on the oven and the cookies exploded in the oven."
A senior at Bishop Ludden High School, Katy plans to attend Onondaga Community College next year to further her education in the Culinary Arts program. She hopes to become a pastry chef and aspires to own a coffeehouse, featuring poetry readings and creating all of the desserts served there.
Katy has many creative outlets in addition to cooking and baking. An avid photographer, she takes photos for the school yearbook. She is a member of the SPACE Club at Bishop Ludden, and art club. She likes to write poetry and creates jewelry. An outdoor enthusiast, Katy also enjoys camping and fishing.
Although baking is her
specialty, Katy's favorite dish to make is "anything with potatoes - fried, mashed - anyway you can make potatoes, I'll make them." If her friends were coming over to her house, she would make a pasta dish.
"When I get bored, I look around to see what I've got and what I can turn it into. Sometimes I like to use cooking to clear my mind of everything else going on."
Katy is the type of a cook I especially admire; one who can take a look in the refrigerator and pantry, grab some ingredients, toss them together and come up with a tasty dish. She can see the possibility of what the ingredients can become in her mind. It's clear that the creativity in other aspects of her life spill over into her cooking.
When Katy is baking, she's usually making cookies. "I like to make cookies, especially for friends' birthdays. My specialty is my Grandma's chocolate chip cookies. My dad prefers my oatmeal cookies and my sister, Hannah, eats anything I bake. My mom loves it when I bake because she doesn't like to bake that much herself."
Katy's mom Mary Ellen said of her, "It's very nice to have a child that enjoys cooking. We especially enjoy that Katy is an excellent baker. I am always so pleased when I come into the kitchen to find that she has made cookies or a cake for dessert. I think her decision to study culinary arts, specifically pastry arts, is a wise one. She knows that the most important thing about cooking is the good feeling you get from making something that others enjoy - what a wonderful way to share your talents. Ted and I are very proud of Katy; she is a very special young lady."
Katy usually bakes about once a week. In addition to cookies, she likes to make cakes and pies. Katy is always on the lookout for new recipes, and goes to the Food Television Network website for new ideas. (www.foodnetwork.com) A recent success was a chocolate cake she made with a ganache topping.
Food TV's "Good Eats" host Alton Brown is a favorite of Katy's. "He sees food as a mystery and on his show he explains how cooking works, the science of it all and why certain things work well together. He makes it very interesting."
She recently received a chocolate cookbook for her birthday that is currently getting a lot of use.
Although she is a baker by heart, the one ingredient Katy always has on hand is garlic. Her indispensable kitchen tool is her food processor. As to chocolate or vanilla ice cream, Katy is a fan of chocolate, especially Ben & Jerry's Phish Food flavor. Ketchup or mustard on her hot dog? Neither - Katy doesn't eat ketchup, mustard or hot dogs for that matter.
If Katy is heading out for fast food, she'll go to Taco Bell for a Chicken Gordita Supreme, hold the sour cream.
McDonald's french fries also rate high, but Katy likes them cold. She says this acquired taste comes from going on road trips and saving her fries for later. For a night out, potato skins from Hafner's Restaurant in North Syracuse gets raves, topped off with Chocolate Lava Cake for dessert.
The four people (living or deceased) that Katy would invite to her house for dinner include the person who started her on her cooking journey: Grandma Floor, Katy's boyfriend, Mike Dussing, and rock musicians Kurt Cobain of Nirvana and Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. It sounds like a dress rehearsal for her future coffeehouse, a place I look forward to visiting in the near future.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks, 1/2 pound) margarine
3/4 cup granulated whitesugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups (12-ounce package) semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1 cup chopped nuts
Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat margarine, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large mixer bowl. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
Bake in preheated 375-degree [Fahrenheit] oven for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.
Chocolate Hazlenut Pie
(Blue ribbon winner, StateFair Children's division 2002)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1 cup chopped hazelnuts
1/4 cup of hot fudge sauce
1 cup chilled whipping cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1. Heat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Grease a pie plate with shortening
3. Mix granulated sugar, butter, vanilla, salt, eggs, flour and cocoa in a medium bowl.
4. Stir in nuts, pour in pie plate.
5. Bake until toothpick inserted in center of pie comes out clean, about 25 minutes.
6. Immediately prick holes in pie with a wooden toothpick, spread fudge sauce over pie. Cool completely.
7. Beat whipping cream and powdered sugar in a chilled small bowl until stiff, spread over fudge sauce.
8. Drizzle pie with more fudge sauce and sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts.
Makes 6 to 8 servings.
Oatmeal Cookies
2 sticks (1/2 pound) margarine, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 cups Quaker Oats, quick or old-fashioned
1. Heat oven to 375-degrees F. In large bowl, beat margarine and sugars until creamy. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg; mix well. Add oats; mix well.
2. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3 Bake 8 to 9 minutes for a chewy cookie or 10 to 11 minutes for a crisp cookie. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.
Makes about 3 dozen.
Chocolate Lava Cakes
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate pieces
2 tablespoons whipping cream
3/4 cup butter
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate pieces
3 eggs
3 egg yolks
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/3 cup all purpose flour
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
Powdered sugar
For filling
In heavy small saucepan, combine the 3/4 cup chocolate pieces and whipping cream. Cook and stir over low heat until chocolate melts. Remove pan from heat, cool, stirring occasionally. Chill until firm, about 30 to 45 minutes. Meanwhile in a heavy medium saucepan cook and stir butter and the 1 cup chocolate pieces over low heat until melted. Remove from heat; cool.
Form chilled filling into 6 equal-size balls; set aside. Lightly grease and flour six 6 ounce custard cups. Place cups in a 15 by 10 by 1 inch baking pan; set aside.
In a mixing bowl beat eggs, egg yolks, granulated sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer on high speed 5 minutes or until lemon-colored. Beat in chocolate-butter mixture on medium speed.
Sift flour and cocoa powder over mixture; beat on low speed until just combined. Fill prepared dishes with about 1/3 cup batter. Place one ball of filling into each dish. Spoon remaining batter into dishes.
Bake in a 400 degree oven about 13 minutes or until cakes feel firm at edges. Cool in dishes 2 to 3 minutes. Using a knife, loosen cakes from sides of dishes. Invert onto dessert plates. Dust with confectioner's sugar and serve with whipped cream or ice cream.
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