Don Mauer

Arlington Heights

Contributor at Daily Herald

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Articles

What makes a good brownie great? Quality ingredients

1 month ago | dailyherald.com | Don Mauer

Using quality ingredients like natural high-fat cocoa and einkorn flour can take your brownies from basic to melt-in-your-mouth. Courtesy of Don Mauer Over the years, I’ve shared several low-fat, low-sugar, or low-carb brownie recipes — all of them good. Recently, Nan came across a very old, stained handwritten recipe card for Lillian’s Brownies. Originally procured from a colleague of Nan’s nearly 50 years ago, the recipe had the look of one that had been made many times over the years.
Caesar-style salad dressing has staying power - and no added sugar

1 month ago | dailyherald.com | Don Mauer

Re-create a classic with a bed of Romaine topped with Caesar-Style Salad Dressing, homemade garlic croutons and Parmesan cheese. Courtesy of Don Mauer Has the classic Caesar salad lost its appeal? At one time, Caesar salad was a popular part of an upper-tier dining experience. After selecting a Caesar salad, a service person would roll a salad bowl on a cart over to your table and create the dressing (using a raw egg) and then assemble the salad using Romaine, croutons, and fresh Parmesan cheese.
Milk Street’s latest cookbook an adventure through Italy’s back roads and kitchens

2 months ago | dailyherald.com | Don Mauer

Pasta alla Papalina (Spaghetti with Prosciutto, Parmesan and Peas) is a lighter, brighter riff on classic carbonara. Joe Murphy, Courtesy of Voracious, Little, Brown and Company As a column reader, you may have noticed that you’ll rarely read about new cookbooks here. Instead, shared recipes almost always come from food-centric websites, believing most of us do just that — turn to the internet for recipes.
With care, cast-iron can serve for a century

2 months ago | dailyherald.com | Don Mauer

A well-kept cast iron skillet is perfect for creating one-pan dishes such as this Asian Hot Slaw. Courtesy of Don Mauer Editor’s note: Don Mauer is taking some time off. This column originally ran May 1, 2019. It's no secret. I love my 12-inch, beautifully well-seasoned, cast iron skillet. I bought my skillet new and unseasoned so far back I don't remember the year. Today it has a deep black patina and gets used at least once a week, usually more frequently.
Colorful cold chickpea salad a great way to get legumes on your plate

Mar 26, 2025 | dailyherald.com | Don Mauer

This cold chickpea salad uses canned organic chickpeas as the base for less hassle and easy cleanup. Courtesy of Don Mauer Other than baked beans with burgers, I have a difficult time incorporating beans (legumes) into my food plan. Yes, beans are excellent in a number of ways: They’re high in vegetable protein, fiber and several B vitamins. I like bean salad a lot, especially during the summer when I roll out my version of sugar-free, three-bean salad.
Sheet pan chicken gets dinner on with only 10 ingredients

Mar 12, 2025 | dailyherald.com | Don Mauer

I began my late-afternoon thinking about what to do with a large head of organic cauliflower (it had been on sale) and a package of boneless, skinless organic chicken thighs. Wanting to do something different, I headed to the internet to look for a way to cook them both together. I found a recipe at mashupmom.com and I decided to use it as a very loose guide to get dinner done quickly, but with a new twist. The recipe’s ingredient list was short — 10 ingredients, including salt and pepper.
Famous peanut butter chocolate chip blondies get low-sugar makeover

Feb 26, 2025 | dailyherald.com | Don Mauer

A brown sugar substitute made with erythritol and stevia prompted this makeover of a favorite blondies recipe. Courtesy of Don Mauer Who doesn’t like chocolate and peanut butter? If you asked the fans of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, their answer would be: “No one.” Years ago, I found an excellent recipe for Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Blondies that, according to then-current beliefs, had too much fat. Back then, mistakenly, sugar was not an issue.
Making chicken Marsala with my own twist for my sweetie

Feb 12, 2025 | dailyherald.com | Don Mauer

Serve chicken Marsala over some spaghetti with a vegetable, such as sautéed green beans with almonds. Courtesy of Don Mauer My sweetie, Nan, loves chicken Marsala and orders it every time it appears on an Italian restaurant menu. Since those restaurants are so good at making it, and because I don’t normally stock Marsala wine, I’ve never tried making it; until now. I bought a bottle of real Marsala wine, not cooking wine, and began searching for a recipe.
Quick cannellini bean and bacon soup warms and delights on a cold day

Jan 22, 2025 | dailyherald.com | Don Mauer

Canned cannellini beans and store-bought chicken broth make soup preparation a flash. Courtesy of Don Mauer What a surprise, cannellini beans are also called white kidney beans. Are you familiar with the famous Italian soup Pasta Fagioli (pronounced paa·stuh faa·jow·lee)? Yes, I mispronounced it as pasta faa-zool for years. Either way, it’s a very tasty cannellini bean-based soup. Not all white beans are the same. Cannellini beans are larger than other white beans and firmer in texture.
This chilled asparagus side dish goes the distance

Jan 7, 2025 | dailyherald.com | Don Mauer

Cook fresh asparagus for about two minutes before shocking it in ice water. Courtesy of Don Mauer January is not the best time for fresh asparagus. Late spring, at my local farmers market, is when I find stellar fresh asparagus. If I lived in Peru, now’s the time for good asparagus, which is what I found in my local supermarket today. I was surprised, after traveling as many miles as it had, that this asparagus looked as good as it did.