LEWISTON – Kaitlynn Hinson likes to see the happy faces on her family and friends when she cooks for them. The 13-year-old certainly had a happy face when she cooked for her dad, Steve Hinson, upon his return from Iraq.
He had left just before Christmas 2003 as a member of the Army Reserves’ 619th Transportation Company and returned last February.
“I made him spaghetti sauce when he got home,” says Hinson. Her first cooking attempt was also for her dad. “I started (cooking) with Father’s Day a couple of years ago. I made him eggs and bacon,” said Hinson.
Hinson, who’ll be a freshman at Lewiston High School this fall, has her heart set on cooking as a career. “I would like to go to the French Culinary School in New York,” she said. “I definitely want to be a professional chef.”
“I get this weird feeling when I am in the kitchen,” she said. “I just have to cook.” She admits that the worst part of her time in the kitchen is the cleaning. “When I made the pie,” she exclaimed, “there was flour everywhere. We have a blue countertop, and it was completely white! “
Her advice to newer cooks is to “start way before you know it needs to be done. That way if you mess up, you have time to do it again.” She said she always allows at least one extra hour for herself when cooking her famous spaghetti sauce. And she doesn’t panic if she doesn’t have all of the ingredients. “When I don’t have certain things, I improvise.”
Hinson lives in Lewiston with her dad, mom, Heidi; and sister, Taylor, 9. Her favorite school subject is English, and she enjoys reading and talking with her friends on the computer. She plans to attend a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps camp this summer.
Fresh blueberry pie
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel
Dash of salt
5 cups fresh blueberries OR one 20-ounce package frozen unsweetened blueberries, thawed
Pastry for double-crust pie
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
Method:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a mixing bowl, combine sugar, flour, lemon peel and salt. Add sugar mixture to blueberries; toss to coat fruit. Fill a pastry-lined 9-inch pie plate with blueberry mixture. Drizzle with lemon juice and dot with butter or margarine. Adjust top crust on pie. Seal and flute edge. Cover edge of pie with foil. Bake in 375-degree oven for 20 minuets. Remove foil and bake for 20 to 25 minutes more or until crust is golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Makes 8 servings.
Spaghetti sauce
Ingredients:
1 onion, large, chopped (1 cup)
1 green pepper, large, chopped (1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 16-ounce cans tomatoes, diced
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1½ teaspoons dried oregano, crushed
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon dried basil, crushed
½ teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
1 bay leaf
2 cups water
Hot cooked spaghetti
Method:
In large frying pan, cook onion, green pepper, and garlic until vegetables are tender. Stir in undrained tomatoes, tomato paste, brown sugar, oregano, salt, basil, thyme and bay leaf. Stir in the water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 1½ to 2 hours, or until sauce is of desired consistency, stirring occasionally. Remove bay leaf. Makes 6 servings.
Sweet-sour pork
Ingredients:
1 egg, beaten
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons cornstarch, divided
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1½ cups chicken broth, divided
½ teaspoon salt
1 pound boneless pork, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 green pepper, large, chopped
½ cup carrots, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 quarts plus 2 tablespoons cooking oil
½ cup sugar
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons soy sauce
¼ cup cold water
Hot cooked rice, if desired
Method:
In a bowl combine egg, ¼ cup cornstarch, flour, ¼ cup chicken broth and salt. Beat until smooth. Dip pork cubes into batter. Deep fry pork, about 12 cubes at a time, at 365 degrees for 5 to 6 minutes or until golden. Drain; keep warm.
In a skillet, cook green pepper, carrots and minced garlic in 2 tablespoons hot cooking oil until vegetables are tender but not brown. Stir in 1¼ cups chicken broth, sugar, red wine vinegar and soy sauce. Bring to boil; boil rapidly for 1 minute. Stir cold water into remaining 2 tablespoons cornstarch. Stir into vegetable mixture. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 1 to 2 minutes more. Stir in pork cubes. Serve over hot cooked rice, if desired. Makes 4 to 6 servings.
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