Mixed Nut Vanilla Brittle

OK, our week of Gifts from the Kitchen continues with this super-easy brittle that I pretty much adore for two reasons: you make it in the microwave, not on the stove, and there is no candy thermometer required. I actually do own a candy thermometer, but I'm a little afraid of it. I only have a dim sense of what things like the "soft crack" stage is, and usually anything with terminology like that is enough to make me move on to something safer, like chocolate chip cookies. But THIS particular recipe is a whole 'nother story.

You need a nice big microwave-safe bowl and a baking tray with sides. Line the baking tray with non-stick foil, and either give the foil a good spray with Pam or butter it well. Now measure out all the ingredients, including the butter and the vanilla and the baking soda, because this baby is going to go FAST at the very end.

OK! So you start by putting sugar and corn syrup in the microwave, first covering the bowl with plastic wrap and then uncovering it. That mixture is going to melt and bubble dramatically, which is exactly what we want. Now, throughout all of this, be very, very careful when taking that bowl out of the microwave - molten sugar is as hot as hot gets. Next you drop the nuts in, and nuke it one minute longer. Now comes the really fun part - drop in the butter, vanilla and baking soda, and it will literally transform before your very eyes into something that looks like liquid brittle. Now pour it FAST into the foil-lined baking sheet and spread it around with a spatula or spoon that you have cleverly sprayed ahead of time with Pam. That's it! Once you have spread it out as best you can, leave it alone on the counter for about an hour, and when you come back you will have a glorious sheet of hardened brittle.

Lift the brittle off the foil - it may be a little buttery on the bottom from the butter or Pam, and if so you can blot it with a paper towel. Now break it up into chunks, and congratulate yourself for making brittle with No Candy Thermometer. Triumph!!

Next up: Chocolate Pretzel Bites. Oh, baby.

Mixed Nut Vanilla Brittle, adapted from Southern Living

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 12 ounces lightly salted mixed nuts
• 2 tablespoons salted butter
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Line a large baking sheet with non-stick foil, and butter or spray with Pam.

2. Combine sugar and corn syrup in large microwave safe bowl, stir well and cover with plastic wrap. Microwave on high for 4 minutes. Carefully uncover and microwave for an additional 8 minutes.

3. Carefully stir in nuts and microwave for 1 more minute.

4. Working quickly, stir in butter, baking soda and vanilla. Quickly pour into foil-lined pan, spreading to edges with a spoon or spatula that is sprayed with Pam.

5. Cool in pan on countertop. Once fully hardened (about 30-60 minutes) break into pieces.

Click here for printable recipe

Chocolate Nut Clusters

It's that time of year again!  We are racing around shopping, wrapping, decorating, making our lists and checking them twice.  And if you are like me, either cooking, getting ready to cook, making notes about what to cook, or cleaning up after the cooking.  My kitchen and I have our closest relationship at this time of the year, and even though it is EXHAUSTING at times, I do pretty much love it.

And one of the things I like most is making things that I can give as holiday gifts,  things that are sweet and salty and just a little bit decadent.  And at this time of the year, if they are easy and reliable, that's a gift to ME as well.  So while I usually try and make my weekly blog posts a well-balanced mixture of main dishes and sides and desserts, this week we are going to have a steady diet of sweet treats, all of which are easy and scrumptious and just right for popping in a pretty bag with a ribbon and handing over to someone you love.  Ready?

Here's the first and probably the easiest one - this one will be ready to wrap in about 30 minutes from start to finish.  It's a sinfully good, completely addictive nut bark made with (and this is the full list of ingredients): mixed nuts, semi-sweet chocolate and sea salt.  Yep, those three ingredients are the only things standing between you and one more gift checked off your list.  Here's the deal:  Spread out 2 cups of salted mixed nuts on a baking sheet lined with parchment or no-stick foil.  Now pour six  ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips into a bowl and microwave them for 30 second increments, stirring after each 30 seconds, until they are smooth and melted.  (This took me 90 seconds with my microwave).  

Once your chocolate is nice and smooth, scoop it into a ziplock bag.  Cut the teeniest bit you can off of one of the bottom corners of the bag, and squeeze the melted chocolate down towards that corner.  You have now made yourself a pastry bag!  Now squeeze the chocolate out of that opening into lovely little drizzles all over the nuts, making sure you cover all of them with at least a little chocolate.

Now take just a little sea salt - about 1/2 teaspoon is plenty - and sprinkle it lightly over the chocolate nuts.  Make sure you use sea salt and not regular table salt, which will be too intense-tasting.  Now pop the whole thing in the fridge, and in about 20 minutes it will be hardened enough for you to break into glorious little chunks.

Now all you have to do is summon the willpower not to eat all of it before you package it up for that lucky someone.

Mixed Nut Vanilla Brittle coming next so stay tuned!

Chocolate Nut Clusters, adapted from Real Simple

• 2 cups mixed nuts
• 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (I used Ghiradelli morsels)
• Sea salt

1. Spread nuts in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper

2. Pour chocolate chips into a bowl and microwave them for 30 second increments, stirring after each 30 seconds, until they are smooth and melted. 

3. Spoon melted chocolate into a ziplock bag. Snip off of one of the bottom corners of the bag, and squeeze the melted chocolate down towards that corner. Squeeze the chocolate out of that opening into lovely little drizzles all over the nuts, making sure you cover all of them with at least a little chocolate.

4. Take just a little sea salt - about 1/2 teaspoon is plenty - and sprinkle it lightly over the chocolate nuts.  Make sure you use sea salt and not regular table salt, which will be too intense-tasting.  

5. Put the tray in the fridge for about 30 minutes or until chocolate is hardened.  Break into chunks.

Click here for printable recipe

Lemon Cool Whip Cookies

So those of you who have been following this blog for a little while know that I have this, um, obsession with cooking.  Which sometimes works out okay if I am making soup or other things that can be stowed in the fridge and eaten for leftovers later on in the week.

Where I tend to get into trouble is with the whole baking thing.  As in cookies.  Because I live in a house where the Southern husband is perfectly capable of eating one cookie and leaving the rest in peace in the cookie jar, so unless the teenager is home with her usual horde of friends, the rest of the cookies sit there on the kitchen counter calling out to me.  (And by the way, WHO eats just one cookie?  I ask you.)

So over time I have learned that the solution to this particular situation is to pile those extra cookies onto a paper plate and bring them into the office, where I lay them out on the kitchen counter and send out a cookie alert on my Facebook page, and a few hours later when I stroll past the office kitchen the plate is empty.  Sometimes a person or two will say "nice cookies!' to me, but in general the empty plate is the way I know they were a success.

Until I made the Lemon Cool Whip Cookies.

Now to be totally honest, the only reason I made these was because I had a container of Cool Whip that I had bought for something else and never used.  So I Googled "Cool Whip Recipes" and in addition to those scary Cool Whip Jello salads that you inevitably run into, I found this cookie recipe that called for a container of Cool Whip, a box of cake mix, two eggs and some confectioner's sugar.  That's it.  And while I am not usually a big cake-mix-user, since I was already down the road with the Cool Whip, I figured what the heck, and I made them, using a box of Duncan Hines Lemon Supreme cake mix.

My first hint was the Southern husband.  When I make cookies and ask how many I should leave at home when I pack them up for the office, he usually says "Two."  (Two!!  I mean, really!).  This time he said "Ten."

Hmm.

Then I brought the rest in and put them in the office kitchen as usual.

I got phone calls.

I got emails.

I got messages on my Facebook wall.

I got an actual little handwritten thank you note that someone left on the empty plate.

Who knew that Cool Whip and cake mix were all I needed to spread such joy and happiness throughout the land?  Now, a couple of notes about this recipe.  You can make it with whatever flavor of cake mix you want - chocolate, vanilla, lemon, strawberry, Funfetti - your choice.  And for that matter, you can make it with whatever flavor of Cool Whip you want as well.  I have heard rumors that there is chocolate Cool Whip out there somewhere.  I haven't actually SEEN it, but I've heard.

Second, when you mix up the ingredients the dough is going to be VERY sticky.  Popping it in the fridge for about 30 minutes will make it a little easier to work with, but it's still not a dough that you will want to use your hands for.  My best advice is to scoop out about a tablespoonful with a spoon, drop it in the plate of powdered sugar, and then use a second spoon to help roll it around until it is nice and coated.  Scoop it up and plop it on your cookie sheet and you are all set.

So there you go.  Life is better with Cool Whip.

Lemon Cool Whip Cookies, from Allrecipes

• 1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 2 eggs
• 1 (18.25 ounce) package lemon cake mix
• 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar for decoration

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease baking sheets.
2. Beat together the whipped topping and eggs together. Add the lemon cake mix and continue to mix. Dough will be sticky.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Drop by teaspoonfuls into a bowl of confectioners' sugar and roll to coat. Place cookies on the prepared baking sheets. Bake  for 11 minutes.  Cool on racks.

Click here for printable recipe

Cottage Pie

A while back I made a recipe for what I called Shepherd's Pie.  It is a scrumptious mixture of ground beef and vegetables in a light tomato-ish sauce, topped with mashed potatoes and baked.  Perfect, easy comfort food.  I wrote a little story about how I fell in love with shepherd's pie.  I even included a picture of a sheep, because I had one hanging around and it seemed like the perfect time to use it.  I posted it up on the blog, and started reading the comments.  (I love comments, by the way.  Leave me comments!).

Anyway, in addition to all the sweet things everyone says to me about the pictures and the recipe and the story, more than one person gently told me that I had not in fact made Shepherd's Pie.  I had made Cottage Pie.

Huh?

Well, as it turns out, that's exactly what I did.  Apparently Shepherd's Pie is made with lamb, and Cottage Pie is made with beef.  Which now made me feel bad about the whole sheep picture thing, because I was unwittingly including a really cute picture of the, um, ingredients.  Oh dear.

So long story short, I recently ran across this recipe for Cottage Pie, which used a topping of very thin-sliced potatoes instead of the mashed version...and while I am probably the world's biggest fan of mashed potatoes, I actually LOVED this version.  The filling is the usual mixture of ground beef, carrots and peas, and the whole thing was just as delectable as its incorrectly named predecessor.

So at the end of the day, no matter what you call it, MAKE it.  Delicious, delicious, delicous.

Cottage Pie, adapted from Everyday Food

• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 3 large carrots, cut into 3/4 inch pieces
• Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 pound ground beef
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme
• 1 cup dark beer
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 large russet potato, sliced very thin

1. Preheat oven to 400.  In large skillet, heat one tablespoon butter over medium high heat.  Add onions and carrots and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often.  Season with salt and pepper and add tomato paste.  

2. Add meat and cook for 3 minutes, breaking up with wooden spoon.  Add thyme and beer and bring to a boil.  Cook, stirring frequently, until slightly reduced, about 3 minutes.  Sprinkle flour over top and stir.  Add 1 cup of water and cook until slightly thickened, another two minutes.  Stir in peas and then season to taste.  

3. Transfer to baking dish and top with overlapping potato slices.  Drizzle with melted butter and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.  Bake until potatoes are browned at the edges, about 40-45 minutes.  Cool ten minutes before serving.

Click here for printable recipe

Almost No Knead Bread

There aren't very many things I am afraid to attempt, recipe-wise.  I've triumphantly conquered chicken-fried steak.  I've made my own pork dumplings.  I will modestly tell you that I have made the Best Molasses Cookies In The Entire World.  I have successfully cooked with Fritos, and my family has survived.

But there is one thing that still really intimidates me, and that is BREAD. 

I'm not sure why, although I think it might be the whole thing with the yeast and the rising.  It's NERVEWRACKING!  You stir up the yeast and the flour and the water and the salt, and there are all these dire warnings about measurements and temperature, and you spend the next few hours circling around it to see if the dang thing is going to RISE or not.  Sometimes it does...and sometimes it doesn't.  It's just all too anxiety-provoking for me, and yet I keep coming back to it all, because when it works, there is nothing quite as fabulous as a slice of warm, homemade bread and butter.

Then I came across the Cooks Illustrated recipe for No-Knead bread, which was inspired by a recipe in The New York Times, but being Cooks Illustrated, they took the recipe apart and put it back together again in a fool-proof way.  Here's the drill: you mix up flour, yeast, water, a little beer and a little vinegar in a bowl.  Cover it with plastic wrap and then go do something else for 18 hours.  (Yes, 18 hours).  Then knead it about 10 times, just enough to make it come together into a nice smooth ball.  Put it on a piece of greased parchment paper, cover it again and go find something else to do for another two hours.

Thirty minutes before baking time, take your handy dutch oven and put it in the oven and set the temperature to 500.  (Yes, 500.)  When it is time to bake, take the Dutch oven out of the oven Very Carefully and using the parchment, lay the dough in the pot and cover it up.  Put the pot back in the oven and lower the temp to 425.  Bake with the cover on for 30 minutes, and then another 20 or so with the cover off.  At the end of this lengthy process,  you will have a perfect, round loaf of delicious country style bread.

I think my days of being intimidated by yeast are over.

Almost No Knead Bread,  from Cooks Illustrated

3	cups flour (15 ounces), plus additional for dusting work surface
1/4	teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast
1 1/2	teaspoons salt
3/4	cup plus 2 tablespoons water (7 ounces), at room temperature
1/4	cup plus 2 tablespoons beer (3 ounces)
1	tablespoon white vinegar

1.  Whisk flour, yeast, and salt in large bowl. Add water, beer, and vinegar. Using rubber spatula, fold mixture, scraping up dry flour from bottom of bowl until shaggy ball forms. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 8 to 18 hours.
2.  Lay 12- by 18-inch sheet of parchment paper inside 10-inch skillet and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface and knead 10 to 15 times. Shape dough into ball by pulling edges into middle. Transfer dough, seam-side down, to parchment-lined skillet and spray surface of dough with nonstick cooking spray. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until dough has doubled in size and does not readily spring back when poked with finger, about 2 hours.
3. About 30 minutes before baking, adjust oven rack to lowest position, place 6- to 8-quart heavy-bottomed Dutch oven (with lid) on rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees. Lightly flour top of dough and, using razor blade or sharp knife, make one 6-inch-long, 1/2-inch-deep slit along top of dough. Carefully remove pot from oven and remove lid. Pick up dough by lifting parchment overhang and lower into pot (let any excess parchment hang over pot edge). Cover pot and place in oven. Reduce oven temperature to 425 degrees and bake covered for 30 minutes. Remove lid and continue to bake until loaf is deep brown and instant-read thermometer inserted into center registers 210 degrees, 20 to 30 minutes longer. Carefully remove bread from pot; transfer to wire rack and cool to room temperature, about 2 hours.
   
   
   Click here for printable recipe

Overnight Oatmeal

I think I am overdue in terms of singing the praises of one of my very favorite kitchen appliances, which is my beloved, faithful, trustworthy slow cooker. I've had the same slow cooker for years and years now - it's a basic Rival Crockpot model - and I've made everything from the best beef barley soup in the world to a really incredible chocolate pudding cake and a lot of stuff in between. There's nothing quite like the feeling you get when you toss a bunch of stuff in the crockpot in the morning, go out to work, and then come home hours later to a house that smells like heaven and the glorious knowledge that dinner is already made!

Most of my crockpot recipes are dinner-oriented (well, except for that cake. Which I would happily eat for dinner, but that's just me.) This oatmeal recipe also makes a fantastic comfort food dinner recipe, but it's my only crockpot recipe that is perfection for breakfast. Here's how it works, and why I adore it so much.

First of all, you must use steel-cut oats - none of those regular rolled Quaker Oats for this recipe. Steel cut oats are those hard little round oats - they look like teeny little pebbles and you will wonder how on earth they are going to turn into anything edible, but have faith. You toss them into your trusty slow cooker with some water, a little half and half and some dried fruit. I used dried cranberries and chopped up dried figs, but I think probably anything you have around will work just fine - raisins, dates, etc. Set the slow cooker for 8 hours on low, and go to bed. The next morning you will wake up to an unbelievably amazing aroma of sweet and creamy oatmeal. It has slowly cooked away all night long, and the fruit has somehow broken down and blended into the oats, giving the whole thing a wildly delicious, comforting, sweetly creamy texture. No additional sweetener is needed - just warm up a little milk and grab your favorite bowl.

Take hold of a spoon, close your eyes and dig in. It's comfort food extraordinaire, and you may never go back to those little oatmeal packets ever again.

Overnight Oatmeal, from Alton Brown

• 1 cup steel cut oats
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup dried figs, cut in quarters
• 4 cups water
• 1/2 cup half and half

1. Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker and set on low. Cover and cook for 8 hours.

2. Stir and scoop into bowls. Pour warm milk over each serving.

Click here for printable recipe

Bagel, Lox and Avocado

I've mentioned this here and there before, but I'll say it once again just for the record: the Southern husband has a serious love affair going with Costco. From giant packages of paper towels, to 5 pound bags of chocolate chips, to camoflauge fabric shorts, to the world's largest bag of dog biscuits, I never know what he is going to come home with next. Whatever it is usually makes at least someone in the house ecstatically happy.

Especially the dog biscuit part.

Now, all of this works out really well when you are talking about paper towels, because you put one roll on the paper towel dispenser and put the other 29 rolls in the closet and you are set. However, when the thing that catches his eye is perishable, it turns into a game of Beat The Clock...because as you may know, Costco sells in bulk. As in lots and lots and lots of whatever that item is.

Which is how I ended up with this particular recipe, because not so long ago along with a giant container of laundry detergent and package of 24 containers of strawberry yogurt, he also came home with a Costco-sized bag of avocados.  Now, I love avocados, and I have made everything from avocado and shrimp salad in mason jars to cucumber avocado soup, but a bag of 12 avocados was a bit of a challenge.  Sure, I could make the world's largest bowl of guacamole, but that seemed like cheating to me.  So over the course of a week filled with various and sundry avocado recipes that I had already tried before, we also had what is now known in my house as the BLA.  Not to be confused with a BLT, since the letters stand for totally different items.  BLA is a bagel with lox and avocado, and I tossed a little sliced red onion on top just for good measure.

Here's all you do.  Cut your bagel in half, and toast it or don't, depending on your own personal bagel preferences.  Take an avocado, cut it in half and scoop it out onto a plate.  Drizzle a little lemon or lime juice on top - about 2 tablespoons, and if it's fresh-squeezed all the better.  Now take a fork and mash it all up.  Mix in a pinch of coarse salt and a little fresh ground pepper.  Now spread a generous amount on your bagel, lay some lox or smoked salmon on top, garnish with some thin sliced red onion if you have any, and there you go - BLA!

Now if I can just figure out where to put all the paper towels.

BLA, or Bagel, Lox and Avocado, adapted from Epicurious

• 1 ripe avocado, peeled and mashed
• 1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• Salt and fresh ground pepper
• 2 split bagels, toasted or not - it's up to you!
• Strips of lox or smoked salmon
• Thinly sliced red onion

1. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper to mashed avocado and stir.

2. Spread each bagel half with avocado.  Top with lox and onion and serve immediately.

Click here for printable recipe

Fried Goat Cheese and Fig Salad

Okay, so I will tell you right now, this salad is a complete and total show-stopper.  If you are looking around for a first course to make for the holidays, look no further...you're there.  And best of all, it is super easy in addition to being one of the best things you will ever eat that doesn't involve either bacon or chocolate.

This recipe comes from a gorgeous new cookbook called The New Brooklyn Cookbook.



Some of my favorite people live in Brooklyn so I loved this cookbook at first sight, and once I found out the recipes were taken from some of the most fantastic restaurants in Brooklyn (Buttermilk Channel, I love you!!), I was in, and this was the very first recipe I tried from this book.  Because among other things, it involves fresh figs, which are my current obsession.

I did alter the recipe by adding a bed of chopped frisee lettuce, but that is because (after figs) frisee lettuce is my other current obsession.  It's just so dang FANCY.  You put a nice handful of it on a plate, and then grab a few of these babies.

Chop them in half and pop a couple on the lettuce.  Next, take a piece of thin-sliced prosciutto and lay it elegantly in the center.  Now you are ready for the most dramatic part.  Heat up some canola oil in a saucepan until it is nice and hot - you want it to be about 350 degrees.  Roll up some soft goat cheese into one inch balls and stick them in the freezer while the oil heats up.  When the oil is good and hot, take the cold goat cheese and dunk them in beaten egg and flour twice, and then drop them carefully in the hot oil.  In about 3 minutes they will be golden brown...scoop them back out and put a couple on your plate.  Last but not least, drizzle on some honey, some olive oil and just a tiny bit of balsamic vinegar.

Now serve it up and sit back while the rave reviews wash over you.  Because they WILL.  Thank you, New Brooklyn Cookbook!

Fried Goat Cheese and Fig Salad, adapted from the New Brooklyn Cookbook

• 1 head frisee lettuce, washed and chopped
• 1 eleven ounce log goat cheese
• Canola oil
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup flour
• 6 fresh figs, cut in half
• 4 thin slices prosciutto
• Honey
• Balsamic vinegar
• Olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• Sea salt

1. Roll the goat cheese into half-dollar sized balls and place on parchment-lined sheet.  Put in freezer for 20-30 minutes.

2. Heat about 4 inches of oil in large deep pot until hot, about 350 degrees on a deep fry thermometer.

3. Place the eggs and flour in two separate bowls.  Dip the goat cheese balls in egg, then flour, then egg again, then flour.  Using a metal slotted spoon, carefully lower the cheese balls into the hot oil and cook until golden, about 3 minutes.  Using the slotted spoon, gently remove and drain on paper towels.

4. Assemble the salad as follows:  place a handful of frisee on each of four plates.  Arrange figs, goat cheese and one slice of prosciutto on each plate.  Drizzle with honey, a little balsamic vinegar and a little olive oil, sprinkle with red pepper and salt and serve.

Click here for printable recipe

Coconut Beef Stew

These are a few of my favorite things:

1. Beef Stew
2. Coconut

(Does two count as a few? I can never remember.)

Anyway, imagine this.  You get a hankering for a nice, hot, comforting beef stew with all the wonderful ingredients: chunks of beef, pieces of carrot and potato, etc.  But instead of the usual beef broth or wine that you usually make beef stew with...you use coconut milk.  And you throw in a few spices that are usually not found in beef stew, like coconut and cumin.  And when the stew is done, all tender and with a hint of coconut taste after simmering for hours in the coconut milk, you sprinkle it with a little shredded coconut just for good measure.  Then you ladle it out into bowls and take your first bite, and you are transported into a land that is a confusingly wonderful mixture of tropical comfort food.  I promise you, this is one beef stew that you are going to remember lovingly for a good long time.

Which all goes to show you, you CAN teach an old dog new tricks.

Sorry.  Any excuse to put a puppy picture up.

Anyway...coconut beef stew.  Try it!

Coconut Beef Stew

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons cumin
• 1 tablespoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 14oz can coconut milk
• 2 pounds beef chuck steak, cut into cubes
• 4 large Yukon gold potatoes, cut into chunks
• 2 cups carrots, cut into 1-2 inch pieces
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley

1. Heat oven to 350.  Put oil in Dutch oven or other ovenproof pot over medium heat.  Cook onions for 5 minutes or until soft.  Add garlic and spices  and stir for one minute.  Stir in tomato paste and then coconut milk.  Bring to a boil and add beef.

2. Cover and transfer to oven,  Cook for 1 hour,  then remove from oven and add potatoes and carrots.  Cover and cook for an additional hour and 15 minutes.

3. Sprinkle each serving with flaked coconut and parsley and serve.

Click here for printable recipe

Cinnascones!

If there are two baked goods I love over all others, they are cinnamon rolls and scones.  And if there is one food-related ritual I love over all others, it is afternoon tea.  And so when I came across a cookbook that took all these heavenly things and mixed them all up together...well, let's just say that I was one happy girl.

Alice's Tea Cup is both a wonderful tearoom in New York City and now a cookbook packed with things like this:

Banana Nutella Cake
Apple-Cinnamon Butternut Squash Soup
The Red Queen's Pink and White Chessboard Cookies

But the recipe that had me at hello was the one called Cinnascones, and yes, they are exactly what you hope and dream they are.  A sweet buttermilk scone dough that is rolled out, spread with a cinnamon paste, rolled up, sliced, baked and then drizzled with a light frosting.  Is your mind blown yet?

This is a recipe that you will want your handy Silpat for, or a nice piece of parchment paper for the rolling out part, because the dough is a little bit sticky, but if you roll it out on one of those you can lift it up and guide the dough around as you start the rolling up part.  Aside from that, the only tricky part is going to be keeping them in your kitchen for more than 5 minutes after they come out of the oven.

Now my only problem is deciding if I am going to make the Peppermint Stick Scones or the Peanut Butter and Jelly Scones next.  Or the Bacon Cheddar Scones.  Or the Banana Butterscotch Scones....

Cinnascones, from Alice's Tea Cup

• 3 1/2 cups flour 
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoons ground nutmeg
• 10 tablespoons butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1/2 cup buttermilk (and more as needed to adjust dough consistency for rolling)
• 3/4 teaspoons almond or vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup heavy cream

• 1/2 stick butter
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

• 1 cup confectioner's sugar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons whole milk
• 1/2 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 400.  In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.

2. Work butter into dry mixture using your hands until thoroughly incorporated and mixture is the consistency of fine breadcrumbs.  Make a well in the center and pour in the buttermilk and extract.  Mix with your hands until combined, kneading about seven times.  Add buttermilk as needed until the dough combines into a rolling consistency.

3. Turn dough out onto a floured surface, ideally a Silpat or parchment paper.  Using a floured rolling pin, roll into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle.

4. Make the cinnamon paste by combining remaining butter, brown sugar and cinnamon in a small saucepan over low heat until sugar dissolves.  Smear over the entire surface of the dough.

5. Starting at one long side, roll the dough tightly to make a long cylinder.  Using a sharp knife, slice the roll into 1 inch thick disks.  Lay the disks on their side, two inches apart, on a non-stick baking pan.  Press them with the palm of your hand to flatten them to 1/2 inch thick.

6. Using a pastry brush,. brush the tops liberally with heavy cream.  Reduce oven temp to 350 and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden.  Remove from oven and cool for 20 minutes.

7. Make the frosting by combining confectioner's sugar, milk and remaining extract.  Whisk until smooth.  Using a pastry bag or a spoon, drizzle over scones.  Serve warm with a nice cup of tea.

Click here for printable recipe

Fig Jam and Cheese Bites

It's time to face the inevitable: it's November, and that means we are entering the holiday season.  And with the holiday season come holiday parties.  And with holiday parties come HORS D'OUEVRES.  And the only thing harder than figuring out how to spell hors d'ouevres is figuring out what they should be.  I'm all for a good cheese ball, but there's nothing like coming across a new nibbles idea that is both easy AND delicious AND different.  Because after the nibbles you still have the main course, the dessert,  and the holiday cards that all still have to be done.

Help is on the way.

Here's my latest favorite appetizer (and my extended family?  If you are reading this?  Spoiler alert!).  All you need for this one is a nice french bread baguette, your favorite jam (I like fig, but peach or apricot will work just fine), and a nice soft triple cream cheese - Brie, Camembert, or my current obession, D'Affinois.  A little fresh chopped thyme and you are in business.  Cut the baguette into thin slices and spread each slice with a little jam - I used fig jam, but peach or apricot would work just as well.  .  Slather on a bit of soft cheese.  Sprinkle a few bits of chopped fresh thyme.  If you want to get REALLY fancy, grind some fresh pepper on top. 

That's it - you are done!   Not even a recipe needed.   Put them on a nice platter, pour some mixed nuts into a bowl and now all you have to worry about is the next two courses.   And the holiday cards.  And the shopping.  Ho ho ho!

Bacon Cashew Caramel Popcorn

Now you have to admit, I have been very well-behaved in terms of the bacon recipes lately.  I didn't put any bacon in the pumpkin granola, or the marshmallow frosted cupcakes, or even in the spaghetti tacos.  I am practically going through bacon withdrawel over here.  And the only antidote might be this CRAZILY good popcorn.  Bacon, cashews and popcorn, all held together with just a little bit of caramel and with a little red pepper tossed in just to keep you on your toes.  It's hard to describe how completely, totally, addictively good this is.  All I will say is, one minute that jar was full up with popcorn, and the next it was empty.  It's all kind of a blur to me.  A happy, sweet, salty blur.

This recipe comes via the wonderful Saveur magazine (who called out my little blog as one of their "Sites We Love," so I in turn will love them forever), and they got it from someplace in Denver called Colt and Gray.    I had never heard of Colt and Gray before this recipe, but based on this popcorn recipe alone, I love them too.  It's part of their bar menu (don't you just love bar menus???) and I could easily eat it for dinner all by itself.

Here's the deal.  Pop up about 15 cups of popcorn (which is about 1/2 cup of unpopped popcorn kernels, which doesn't make sense to me but it's true.)  This will mean your popcorn ends up with just a tiny bit of caramel on each kernel, which was perfect from my point of view, but if you like more caramel on your caramel corn, cut the popped popcorn down to 10 or 12 cups.  Cook up some bacon, crumble it up and toss it in with the popcorn.  Add in some cashews, some coarse salt and some red pepper.

Now comes the fun part: making the caramel.  You bring some cream to a boil with a tea bag, and let it sit for a while.  (Tea bag?  I don't know, and I wasn't going to ask any questions.)  Then you boil up some sugar, water and corn syrup in a large saucepan until the sugar melts and turns amber-colored.  Now comes the dramatic part: pour in the cream...it will bubble up and then before your eyes you will have a pan full of beautiful molten caramel.  Quickly pour it over your popcorn mixture, quickly stir it up to coat everything with just a touch of caramel loveliness.  Now turn the whole shebang onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and let it cool until the caramel hardens.  Then comes the hardest part of all: trying not to eat it all in one fell swoop.  Good luck with that part!

 Bacon Cashew Caramel Popcorn, adapted from Saveur

• 1/2 cup popcorn kernels, popped to make 12-15 cups popcorn
• 6 ounces bacon, cooked and chopped
• 1/2 cup cashews
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 tea bag (regular black tea)
• Cooking spray
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1. Combine popcorn, bacon and cashews in a large bowl.  Sprinkle with salt and cayenne and toss to coat,.

2. Bring cream and tea bag just to the boil and remove from heat.  Let sit for 15 minutes, press on tea bag and remove.

3. Line baking sheet with foil and coat with nonstick spray.  Spray two large spoons with cooking spray as well.

4. Stir sugar, water and corn syrup in large saucepan over medium low heat until sugar dissolves.  Increase heat to high and boil without stirring until  syrup turns amber, occasionally swirling pan.  This will take about 15 minutes.  Remove from heat and immediately add cream - mixture will bubble up - don't panic!

5. Immediately pour mixture over popcorn, being Very Careful - it's hot.  Toss with the sprayed spoons until well-combined  and transfer to baking sheet.  Cool completely and then break up into chunks.

Click here for printable recipe

Loaded Potato Soup

So, I have to kick off this particular post by telling you about one of my new favorite blogs, which is the place I found this fast and fabulous soup. The blog is called Ezra Pound Cake, and the name alone had me at hello. It's full of terrific recipes and even more terrific color commentary, and it's one of the blogs I go to as much for the entertaining writing as for the scrumptious dinner inspiration.

Anyway, I found this soup when I was wandering around the site the other day, and it totally lived up to my fondest hopes and dreams: in other words, it is basically like eating the soup version of some really fantastic mashed potatoes. Which is my personal idea of heaven, so I was in a place of perfect happiness for as long as the soup lasted. Smooth, thick, creamy, with bits of cheese and bacon and green onion....is your mouth watering yet?

And to make it even more wonderful, it is a snap to make. Cook up a few potatoes in your microwave (I used Yukon golds, which worked perfectly). While the potatoes are cooking, you make the soup base by sauteing some chopped onion and adding in some chicken broth and milk and a little sour cream. When the potatoes are done, scoop the potato out of the skin and drop it into the soup mixture, and then give the whole thing a good whirl with an immersion blender or your regular blender. Garnish with some chopped cooked bacon, some shredded cheddar and some chopped green onions. And there you have it - the soup version of some really fabulous mashed potatoes. YUM. Thanks, Ezra Pound Cake - you rock!

Loaded Potato Soup, adapted from Ezra Pound Cake

• 4 (6-ounce) potatoes (I used Yukon Gold)
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 1/4 cups chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups 1% low-fat milk, divided
• 1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 bacon slices, halved
• 1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 4 teaspoons thinly sliced green onions

1. Scrub and dry the potatoes, and prick them all over with a fork. Place the potatoes on a plate, and microwave them on high for 13 minutes. The potatoes should be tender. Cut them in half, and set aside.

2. While the potatoes are cooking, heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, and sauté for 3 minutes. Add broth.

3. In a small bowl, combine flour and 1/2 cup milk. Add the mixture to the pan with 1 1/2 cups milk. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Cook for 1 minute.

4. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in sour cream, salt and pepper. Set aside.

5. Place a paper towel on a microwave-safe plate. Arrange your bacon halves on the paper towel, and cover them with a second paper towel. Microwave on high for 4 minutes. Crumble bacon. Set aside.

6. Scoop the potato pulp out of the skins, and mash the pulp into the soup (at this point I pureed it with my emsulsion blender to get it even smoother) . Discard skins.

7. Garnish each serving of soup with cheese, green onions and crumbled bacon. Serve immediately.

Click here for printable recipe