I finally bit the bullet and paid the punishingly high price for a box of Truvia sweetener. Trust me, folks, it’s not worth the money. It wouldn’t be worth the money at half the price.

As a diabetic, I use low- and zero-calorie sweeteners on a regular basis, usually in coffee or iced tea, or sprinkled lightly on fruits like strawberries or raspberries. I don’t cook with it, though. While sugar-free baked treats and candies can be good, they’re not calorie-free and the carbohydrates present from ingredients like flour and chocolate can raise blood glucose just like table sugar or even honey.

A box of 200 envelopes of a store-brand version of Nutra-Sweet costs about $4. The box of 80 envelopes of Truvia cost $7, a different of nearly 7 cents per packet. Truvia is made from the leaf of the Stevia plant, which is sweeter than sugar cane. It has long sold in health food stores and online, but has been OK’d by the FDA as a “generally recognized as safe” product. I’ve read studies about all the zero-calorie sweeteners and have been scolded by holier-than-thou non-diabetics about not using the products. (“Don’t you know Equal gives you brain cancer?” says one, brushing cookie crumbs off his trousers.) If you’re one of those, don’t try to tell me I ought to use only raw sugar or plain honey. If I was allowed to use only those products, my options would narrow dramatically.

No, I’m here to talk about the taste of Truvia. It is, in a word, awful. It leaves a slightly bitter aftertaste, even when used in vanishingly small amounts. My delicious morning cup of Cafe Du Monde
coffee was tough to gag down this morning.

I still have 76 packets of Truvia. Any takers?

Today is the final day to submit recipes for the amateur division of the Tribune Burger Challenge. We have one submission so far, which doesn’t bode well for a grill-off. What can I say? I thought there would be more interest from the amateur grillmasters of the area, but it appears most like a plain-jane burger or prefer to buy their fix from the many locals who put out a fine burger.

The professional division is going well. There are nearly 20 nominations, stretching from Cottonwood and Kamiah all the way to Helmer and points in between. Early favorites appear to center on the Woodlot Tavern in Ahsahka, which I can testify makes a mighty fine burger, the Hangout in Cottonwood and the Brass Lantern in Genesee.

Keep an eye out for the ballot, which will be printed in the Tribune on July 1. The voting will continue for a week and we’ll reveal the winner in a front-page story in the Sunday Tribune of July 19.

And what will I do with the lone submission received for the amateur division? It looks like a fairly tasty concoction. I may print it after all and let readers judge for themselves.

TV types call it “competitive reality.” They’re the TV shows in which amateurs and professionals compete in contests within their professional area of expertise. “Top Chef” and “Project Runway” are two high-profile examples, but the Food Network has a number of shows geared to this premise. Among my favorites are “Food Network Challenge,” “Chopped” and “Ultimate Recipe Showdown.” All air at varying times throughout the week, but Challenge and Showdown are Sunday night staples.

I particularly like Showdown because the recipes featured are designed (mostly) by home and amateur cooks. I say “mostly” because the show fudges a little by allowing chefs, caterers and cooking contest veterans to also submit recipes. The “home cook” distinction is important, because the recipes often are things that real people actually whip up in the kitchen, with ingredients that are readily available in the local supermarket.

The winning recipe in Sunday’s Showdown is a case in point. It was created by a 34-year-old graphic designer from Roswell, Ga., and ended up besting creations by two veteran cooking contest competitors. It also won rave reviews from the judging panel, which includes award-winning chef Michael Psilakis. And while I don’t eat many desserts, I’d give these a try. They’re made with baby food and are tiny little bite-size cupcakes. If you give them a try, let me know how they turn out.

Babycakes
Recipe by Lisa Roman
Makes 8 servings

Cupcake Batter
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons double-acting baking powder
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1/4 cup clover honey
1/2 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 (4-ounce) jar pumpkins with pears baby food (recommended: Nature’s Goodness brand)
2 (4-ounce) jars applesauce and apricots baby food (recommended: Earth’s Best brand)
1/2 cup ground pecans

Frosting
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup ground pecans
Special equipment: 2 (12-cup) mini muffin pans

Directions for cupcakes
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small mixing bowl add the baking soda, salt, baking powder and flour. Mix thoroughly with a fork and set aside. In a large mixing bowl add the eggs, honey, both sugars and butter. Mix until smooth using a hand mixer. Add the cinnamon and baby food. Mix until smooth. Using a rubber spatula fold in the pecans. Slowly add the flour mixture using a sifter and fold in until ingredients are evenly mixed.

Place 24 mini baking cups (2-inch, non-foil) into each hole of the mini muffin pan. Place a 1-gallon resealable freezer bag into a bowl (for support) and pour the cupcake batter into the bag. Seal the bag and cut the tip off 1 of the bottom corners of the bag. Squeeze the batter into each baking cup, filling them only 3/4 of the way full. Place the mini muffin pan in the oven on the center rack. Bake for 12 minutes.

Frosting

In a small mixing bowl add the extracts, milk, cream cheese, butter and powdered sugar. Mix until smooth and creamy using a hand mixer. When the cupcakes are done baking remove each cupcake from the pan and place on a cooling rack. Place the cooling rack in the refrigerator for 5 to 7 minutes.

Once the cupcakes are cooled remove them from the refrigerator. Frost each cupcake by putting a generous dollop of frosting on the top with a spoon. Garnish top with ground pecans and they are ready to serve.

Soup is one of my favorite wintertime meals. I like all kinds, but tend to favor the brothy variety. This year, my search for a good bowl of soup in local restaurants has come up sorely lacking. What I often end up with is a mushy, gloppy cup of overly salty mystery food that in no way resembles what was advertised on the menu. One cup of mystery soup two weeks ago was so thick, it wouldn’t even fall out of the cup into the garbage. I tried to gag down a couple of bites, but it was too salty, a result of having simmered for too long over a hotplate. And God forbid the soup contain any kind of pasta or rice. By the time that concoction has sit for longer than an hour, the grains are so broken down you couldn’t tell a piece of macaroni from a rotini.

I know many restaurants rely on frozen or canned soups from commercial suppliers, but even those who make their own can’t seem to figure out how to make a good pot of soup. (Note to some of the worst offenders, who shall remain nameless: There’s more to making soup than creating a weak broth of water and chicken flavoring, then dumping in all your leftover vegetables from the previous week. The result is a food crime and you ought to be prosecuted.)

The thing is … soup is not rocket science. Any numbskull with a saucepan, aromatics, seasonings and a few tastebuds can make soup. I did it Tuesday night in about an hour (including simmering time). I served my low-fat Chicken Corn Chowder to a friend who proclaimed it “the best soup” he’d ever had. It wasn’t that terrific, but it was savory and hearty, and had the added benefit of being fairly low in sodium because I use lots of spices and little salt. It was also very inexpensive and easy to make, which is something restaurants seem to want. Also, tthis soup could be converted to vegan by substituting vegetable broth for the chicken stock and textured vegetable protein for the chicken. I’m including my recipe, such as it is, since I made it up on the fly and didn’t measure ingredients precisely.

Chicken Corn Chowder

1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil

1 can reduced-sodium chicken stock

1 medium chopped onion

2 stalks chopped celery

2 to 3 cups of water

1 can diced tomatoes

2 cups diced chicken breast

1 can whole kernel corn, drained and rinsed (removes excess sodium)

Garlic powder

Onion powder

Ground cumin

Chili powder

Sour cream (I used the fat-free variety)

Put olive oil in large saucepan and add onions and celery. Cook for a couple of minutes or until onions begin to turn translucent. If you want to use less olive oil, add a little of the chicken stock and cover to let the aromatics release their flavors.

Add remainder of chicken stock and let cook for 5 to 10 minutes or until vegetables become a little more tender. (You could also add other vegetables at this time, such as red or green pepper or chopped cabbage.)

Add water, tomatoes and corn and simmer for 10 minutes or so.

Begin adding the seasonings. This is where the guesswork comes in. I started by covering the top of the soup with a layer of chili powder, followed by the same amount of cumin. Cumin has a rich, smoky flavor that will amp up the volume of any Tex-Mex flavors, so don’t skimp on it. Add about 1 or 2 teaspoons each of garlic and onion powder. Stir and allow soup to simmer for a couple of minutes to allow flavors to mix. Taste. If you’d like more spiciness, add more chili powder and about half as much cumin. Try not to fall back on adding a bunch of salt, although a teaspoon or so probably wouldn’t hurt. Let the soup simmer for a while. Just before serving, stir in about 2 tablespoons of sour cream to give the soup a creamier texture.

I didn’t have any fresh cilantro on hand, but a handful of the freshly chopped herb would be terrific in this, too. Also, if you like a chili-lime flavor combination, this soup could benefit from the addition of a squeeze of lime juice. The acid from the juice would punch up the taste as well. Just slice a whole lime in half and squeeze both halves over the pot and stir. Be careful not to let seeds fall in.

See? Soup isn’t difficult. I wish some restaurant owners could figure that out.