Lindsey Nair

Features staff writer Lindsey writes about food, restaurants and recipes.

Recent columns

• Be sharp about knives
• What restaurant staffers shouldn't do
• Good gourds: How to make your own pumpkin pie filling
• How sweet it is

Recipes

• Squash custard pie
• Espagnole sauce

• Recipe archive

Cooking enthusiasts across this great land have been discovering Penzeys spices for 40 years. Some even subscribe to Penzeys One magazine, which premiered in 2005.

"How We Became One" is the first Penzeys cookbook. It's a compilation of the first three years of the Penzeys One magazine, with recipes and the stories behind them.

Here's a sample:

Southern-style barbecue sauce

Yield: 5 cups

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1¹₂ cups onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste

2 tsp. beef soup base or bouillon (2 cubes)

¹₂ cup honey

3 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. hot sauce

3 cups water

1¹₂ tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. garlic powder

¹₂ tsp. white pepper

¹₂ tsp. cayenne pepper

In a large skillet, heat oil. Add chopped onions and saute for 3-5 minutes. Add minced garlic and cook for a minute.

Add tomato paste, beef base, honey, lemon juice and hot sauce. Stir to make a paste, then add water and mix well. Add the remaining spices.

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 30 to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cook to desired thickness.

Cookbook Corner is an occasional feature compiled by food reporter Lindsey Nair that highlights a new cookbook and a recipe from it.