Chocolate peppermint candies

Is it worthwhile to spend 3 hours or even more (if you count the time that you spend tempering the chocolate) on making candy?  Taste these and then answer that question.

Oh yeah.

Chocolate Peppermint Candies

12 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2-3/4 c powdered sugar
1-1/2 T corn syrup
1-1/2 T water
1 t peppermint extract
Pinch of salt
1 T sour cream

Chop up the chocolate and set aside.  You'll be melting 1/2 of it at low temperature in the microwave later and using the other half to seed it.

Prepare the filling.  Beat the sugar with the other ingredients until smooth.  Spread it out on waxed paper, wrap and place into the freezer until firm, at least 15 minutes.

Temper the chocolate.  Spread out about 40 mini baking cups on cookie sheets.  Use the small end of a melon baller (about 1/2 t) to fill each cup, spreading the chocolate to the edges.  Freeze to set quickly.  Using a 1/4 t measure, create small balls of filling and place one in each cup, pressing down to flatten.  Freeze again while you heat the chocolate back up if needed.  Top each cup with another 1/2 t chocolate.

Perfect chewy chocolate cookies

I like my chocolate cookies chewy: not too soft, not too hard, just moist and chewy, with some resistance when I bite into them.  To get them the consistency I crave plus maintain the crackled top, I had to mess around with the fat content and the leavening.  I think these are just about perfect, since I started with the recipe for the vanilla cookies that I shared the other day and tinkered from there:


Chewy Chocolate Cookies

2 c +2 T flour
3/4 c cocoa
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
10 T butter
6 T sour cream
2 c sugar
4 T oil
2 eggs
2 t vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 with the rack in the middle.  In a medium bowl, stir together the flour through the salt.  In a glass measuring cup, melt the butter.  In a large bowl, mix the sour cream and sugar well.  Pour the melted butter over and beat well.  Add the oil, eggs, and vanilla, incorporating each slowly.  Stir in the flour mixture by hand and refrigerate the dough for at least an hour.

Line sheets with parchment and plan on 8 cookies on each tray.  Dip out 2T size portions of dough and roll them in sugar.  Place on sheets and pat them out to about 3".  Sprinkle tops with additional sugar.  Bake one tray at a time for 12 to 13 minutes, turning tray after 6 minutes.  After removing from the oven, allow cookies to sit on baking sheet for 5 more minutes and then transfer them to a cooling rack.   

The world's most perfect vanilla sugar cookie

 

If you like your sugar cookies to chewy but moist, spread and crackled, here's the perfect recipe.  The combination of fats and leavening ingredients result in the perfect cookie.

Perfect Vanilla Sugar Cookies
(Makes 2 dozen)

2-1/4 c flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1-1/2 c sugar plus addition for rolling
1/4 c sour cream
6 T butter
1/3 c vegetable oil
1 egg
1 T milk
2 t vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 with the rack in the middle.  In a medium bowl, stir the flour through the salt together well.  Melt the butter in a glass cup.  In a large bowl, combine the sugar and the sour cream, and pour the warm butter over them.  Beat to combine, adding the oil, egg, milk, and vanilla.  Add the flour mixture, stirring it in thoroughly with a spoon or spatula.  Place dough in the fridge while preparing the baking sheets.

Line sheets with parchment and plan on 8 cookies on each of three trays.  Dip out 2T size portions of dough and roll them in sugar.  Place on sheets and pat them out to about 3".  Sprinkle tops with additional sugar.  Bake one tray at a time for 12 to 13 minutes, turning tray after 6 minutes.  After removing from the oven, allow cookies to sit on baking sheet for 5 more minutes and then transfer them to a cooling rack.

Spiced kumquats

I look forward to kumquat season each year!  They are only in our local market for a very short while, so I was thrilled when I found this very old recipe that was reprinted in Hannaford's Fresh magazine.  I made them exactly as shown, but I packaged and stored them in the freezer instead of in jars.

Just so you know, the online recipe calls for 2 "bags" of kumquats...the printed magazine says 2 pounds.  These are great with poultry, fish, or pork...pretty much anything that calls for a sweet-spicy sauce on the side.

Extra moist coffee cake

This coffee cake is dense and moist, thanks to the mix of fats and leavening ingredients.  Perfect for Christmas morning, and you've still got time to make it!

Extra Moist Coffee Cake

2 c flour
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 c butter
1 c sugar
2 eggs
1 c sour cream

Crumb filling and topping:
1 c chopped pecans
1/4 c brown sugar
2 t cinnamon

In a small bowl, mix the crumb ingredients and set aside.  In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and baking soda.  In a large bowl, cream the butter with the sugar until it is light and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating to incorporate after each addition.  Blend the flour mixture into the butter mixture, alternating with the sour cream a bit at a time.

Spread half of the batter into a prepared 9 inch square baking pan (greased and floured).  Sprinkle half of the crumb mixture over the batter.  Spread on the remaining batter and top with the remaining crumb mixture.  Bake at 375 for about 40 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Traditional stuffing

Stuffing (or more accurately, dressing) is something that I could happily eat every day, not just when there's a turkey involved.  Over the years, I've messed around with my dressing recipe.  Below you'll find a list of almost everything that I might throw into a batch.  But not all these ingredients are actually in every single batch...there's a lot of room for experimentation.  Like maybe adding more bacon and leaving out the carrots? :-)

Traditional Stuffing

Cooking spray
8 slices of whole wheat bread
3-4 slices of bacon
Bacon grease or 2 T olive oil
3 celery ribs, finely chopped
2 onions, finely chopped
1 c carrots, shredded
Black pepper, freshly ground
1 1/2 t poultry seasoning
1/2 c fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 c dried cranberries
1 c sliced almonds
1 1/4 c chicken broth
1/2 c skim milk
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350. To bake the stuffing outside the bird, prepare a 2-quart casserole dish with cooking spray. Toast the bread until dry and lightly toasted. Cut slices into 1/2" cubes without removing the crusts. Place bread cubes in a large mixing bowl and set aside.

Fry up a few slices of bacon until crisp.  Set aside and remove most of the bacon grease from the pan. 
Reheat grease or olive oil in over medium heat. Add celery, onions, and carrots and cook until tender, about 7 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and add to the bread cubes. Add pepper and poultry seasoning and toss to combine. Stir in crumbled bacon, parsley, cranberries, and almonds.

In a liquid measuring cup, stir together broth, milk, and egg with a fork until combined. Pour over bread mixture and stir to distribute evenly. Transfer stuffing mixture to the prepared casserole dish and cover with a lid or foil. Bake 50 to 55 minutes, until set. Remove lid or foil and bake an additional 5 minutes to toast the top of the stuffing.

Fruit and walnut-stuffed pork loin

How many people can you feed with one rolled pork loin?  Quite a few as long as you've got lots of good sides to go with it!  This is a great way to stretch your meat, giving everyone a small but extra-tasty portion.  And pork is lean too, so the moist fruit cooked inside it keeps it juicy and healthy.

I used the recipe from Cooking Light, and was delighted with how delicious this was.  The only change I made to their recipe was to serve mustard on the side rather than smearing the meat with it.  Next time?  I'm smearing the meat!

Advanced penicillin soup

We really love this Hawaiian Chicken Soup on a cold night!  It's fabulous in its original form, as shown above, but I recently made it when I was suffering from a nasty cold and found that it can easily be doctored up (so to speak) into an even more symptom-reducing form.  I used the original recipe, found at the link above, but added cubes of butternut squash, orzo pasta, and additional sweet red chili sauce.  I was breathing again quickly :-)

Peanut butter plops

We're still searching for a good name for these.  "Peanut Butter Plops" was DH's idea...he thought it was funny!

Peanut Butter Plops

3/4 c peanut butter
1/4 c sour cream
2 T heavy cream
1/4 c plus 2 T powdered sugar
1/4 t vanilla extract

1 1/4 lb bittersweet or semisweet chocolate squares

Dry-roasted peanuts, chopped coarsely for tops

Mix the peanut butter through the vanilla very well and refrigerate until stiff.  Place 36 foil muffin cups on 2 cookie sheets. Melt 1/2 lb chocolate (for the bottoms) in a glass measuring cup in the microwave, 2-1/2 minutes stirring ever 30 seconds.  Drop 1/2 t of chocolate into each mini muffin cup, using the small end of a melon baller. Spread the chocolate evenly across the bottoms. Freeze for just a few minutes until chocolate is set.

Drop 1 t peanut butter mixture into each cup, using the large end of the melon baller.  Flatten, using a silicone muffin cup.  Return to freezer while you melt the rest of the chocolate (3/4 lb for the tops).  Spoon enough chocolate (about 1 teaspoon, the large end of the melon baller) into each cup to cover filling completely. Sprinkle each peanut butter cup with a small amount of chopped peanuts before it hardens. Return to freezer for a few minutes to set.

Note about chocolate: If you start with chocolate that is already tempered, heating it gently will probably not cause it to lose temper.  If it does, and the chocolate is looking dull, here's the method I use to bring it back to temper: Temper 

Lavender-honey ice cream

Almost everyone who has seen the movie It's Complicated remembers the scenes with the food.  Especially the discussion and the subsequent gorging on Lavender-Honey Ice Cream.  I spent the next day pouring over different suggestions for how to best make that delicacy, finally deciding upon one that I found in Epicurious. 

This recipe makes a lovely soft-bodied ice cream that doesn't get too hard even when frozen overnight.  It won't be as soft the next day, but you won't have any trouble scooping it either...if there's any left over!  When you mix up the custard, the lavender scent may seem overwhelming, but remember that flavors are dulled by cold, and do try it according to their recipe the first time, adjusting it if you feel it needs to be during subsequent batches.   I rarely keep a recipe exactly the way it is, but this time I didn't change a thing :-)

Beet greens with prosciutto

Usually I fix Beet Greens with Canadian bacon, but I decided to try substituting prosciutto instead.  Just as good!

Catfish with tomatoes and olives

This dish was amazing! It would probably also be good if the olives, capers, and shallots were minced a bit finer and made into a tapenade...but really, we liked it just the way it was.

Catfish with Tomatoes and Olives

1 lb catfish
Olive oil
Black pepper
1 shallot, minced
1 c cherry tomatoes, halved
1/3 c brine-cured olives, chopped
1 T capers
1 T fresh oregano, chopped
Balsamic vinegar
   
Oil a baking dish and oil the fish.  Pepper the fish and place it in the dish.  Roast in the oven at 450 for about 20 minutes until done.


Just before the fish is ready, heat some oil in a skillet and cook the shallot until soft.  Add the tomatoes, olives, capers, cooking for a few minutes until heated through.  Stir in the oregano and vinegar, and spoon over the fish to serve. 


 

Pomegranates

I don't care how messy these things are...I just love them!

Malaysian lamb

I have done Malaysian Lamb in a crock pot before, and it comes out beautifully tender and mouth-searingly spicy!  This time I decided to do with larger leg cuts, and it was still amazing. 

Braised chicken tikka

We have a favorite method of preparing Chicken Tikka for the grill or the oven, and now I've found a delicious way to braise it!  The results are almost like a stew.  If you wanted to thin it a bit more, it would be excellent served over rice, but we decided to just spoon it into a bowl and enjoy it with Naan. 

Braised Chicken Tikka

Garam masalah
A dash of tumeric
Salt
Flour
1 lb chicken breasts, cut into tenders
Canola oil
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large vidalia onion, chopped
1 T fresh ginger, minced
28 oz can of plum tomatoes, with liquid
1/2 c half and half

Sprinkle the chicken pieces with a mixture of garam masalah, salt, and tumeric, and roll in the flour.  In a dutch oven, brown the chicken in oil for a few minutes and remove to a plate.  Add more oil and cook the garlic, onion, and ginger until they begin to brown.  Add a few teaspoons of garam masalah and a dash of tumeric, and stir for about 1 minute.  Sprinkle with about a tablespoon of flour and stir to coat.  Add the tomatoes and liquid, breaking up the tomatoes as they simmer.  Cook while stirring for about 5 minutes.  Stir in the half and half and add the chicken.  Cook while stirring for another 4 to 5 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.  Serve in a bowl over rice or with naan.       



  

Books for Christmas

It seems that many people on my list are getting cookbooks this year...I'm shocked, shocked I say...and I thought I'd share with you the top contenders on my lists.  I'm not telling you who's getting what just in case any of you are reading this ;-)

The Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home by the Moosewood Collective

Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics by Ina Garten

The Food You Crave by Ellie Krieger

5 Ingredient Fix by Claire Robinson

Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Hacks, and Good Food by Jeff Potter

The New Best Recipe by Cook's Illustrated Magazine

The Best of the Best from New England by Gwen McKee

The Best of the Best from Pennsylvania by Gwen McKee

The Best of the Best from the Mid-Atlantic by Gwen McKee

Amazon Gift Certificates...for those whom I'm not quite sure about!

Hungarian goulash soup

 

My DH feels that goulash should always contain mushrooms and be served with noodles.  If you don't agree, please feel free to make whatever substitutions are traditional for your family :-)

That said, this is hardly traditional goulash, but rather a soup version. Love the flavors, and I hope you will too!

Hungarian Goulash Soup

Vegetable oil
2 onions, chopped
1 lb stew beef, cubed
Flour
Water
1/4 c tomato paste
3 T paprika
1 T caraway seeds
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 t marjoram
1 t lemon peel, fresh grated
Hot pepper sauce
Pinch of sugar
Beef stock
2 - 3 c mushrooms, sliced
Egg noodles
Sour cream (optional)

Saute the onions in oil in a stockpot or dutch oven. Remove them when soft and set aside. Brown the meat on all sides, sprinkling with flour. Add a bit of water and scrape up the browned bits. Add the onions back in along with the tomato paste through the sugar. Add the stock slowly, stirring. Bring to a boil and lower heat to simmer. Cover and simmer 1-1/2 hours. Add mushrooms and noodles before serving and simmer until soft. Serve topped with sour cream.

Good Hanukkah at sundown!

Feta cheese sandwiches

These oven "grilled" cheese sandwiches were perfect for a night that no one was too hungry.  Add soup for a more hearty dinner...tomato soup of course!

Feta Cheese Sandwiches

Flat breads
Basil pesto mixed with a bit of pub cheese
Slice of tomato
Slice of feta cheese

Pumpkin soup

Delicious pumpkin soup!  You can make this with other hard squashes too, like acorn or buttercup.   You can use canned pumpkin, fresh, or frozen. 

Pumpkin Soup

28 to 32 oz of cooked pumpkin
1 quart of milk
2 T butter
1 T honey
2 T maple syrup
1 T brown sugar
Juice of an orange
1 t marjoram
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
Salt and pepper

Process the pumpkin and some of the milk together if needed. Pour into a large saucepan and heat together with the rest of the milk through the orange juice. Heat only to a simmer. Add the spices and serve hot.

Cranberry apple sauce

My usual cranberry sauce has an orange processed into it, but I decided to try for a gentler, sweeter version in one of the batches I made this year.  Here's my regular recipe for Cranberry Sauce.  Instead of orange, I added two honey crisp apples, peeled and chopped, and only one cup of sugar.  Maybe even a bit less sugar next time!

Happy Thanksgiving!

What to do with the leftovers (OAMC)

More treats with leftover turkey

Basic turkey soup

Lemon turkey soup

Turkey rogan josh

Cranberry sauce

This year, I varied my Cranberry Sauce recipe (only slightly) by using clementines instead of larger oranges.  I used 2 to 3 clementines for each bag of cranberries.  Not a huge difference, but we did like it!

Homemade Oreo cookies

I experimented around with various "Oreo Cookie" recipes, including the one from More Top Secret Recipes until I felt that the flavor was about as good as it was going to get.  The picture above is actually from an earlier batch that didn't quite make the grade, but was still quite tasty in its own way.  The recipe below is the one that finally satisfied me.  Using Duncan Hines instead of another brand led to a more elastic dough, which meant smoother edges and thinner cookies.  This is one of those times when I break my own rule about not buying packaged mixes or using shortening...

Homemade Oreos

18.25 oz package of dark fudge cake mix (I think Duncan Hines came out the best)
1/3 c water
2 T shortening

In a large bowl, sprinkle the water over the cake mix and cut in the shortening. Use your hands to mix it very well, kneading until the moisture is evenly distributed. Place the dough in the fridge while you make the filling. Preheat the oven to 325 and cut parchment for your cookie sheets.

Filling:
1-3/4 c powdered sugar
1/4 t vanilla
1/4 c shortening
1-1/2 T hot water

In a medium bowl, mix all the ingredients together by hand. Place filling in the fridge while you bake the cookies.

From the cookie dough, dip out balls of approximately 3/4 inch. Roll them round and use the bottom of a glass (sprayed with oil) to flatten them to around 2 inches across. Place on the prepared cookie sheets and bake as follows: Bake 6 minutes, remove and cool on the sheet. Flip the cookies over and bake 5 minutes, remove and cool on the sheet. Flip again and bake 4 minutes. Remove and press cookies down slightly with fingers, or else with a tool to create a pattern. Remove cookies when cooled.

From the filling, dip out balls of approximately 1/2 inch. Place in the middle of a cookie (the bottom side), and use another cookie to gently press and spread the filling. Makes approximately 2 dozen cookies.

Mediterranean seafood stew

This stew is likely to turn out to be different every time you make it, depending upon what seafood looks good when you go to the market!

Mediterranean Seafood Stew 

Olive oil
Leek, chopped
Onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Stalk of celery, chopped
Green pepper, chopped
Fennel bulb, chopped
1 t turmeric
1/2 t cayenne pepper
28 oz can of diced tomatoes
1/3 c tomato paste
1/2 t thyme
Bay leaf
3 c clam juice or mix of juice and other stock
1 lb firm white fish, cubed
Mixture of any of the following:
Shrimp
Scallops
Crabmeat
Clams
Salt and pepper

In a stockpot or dutch oven, cook the leeks, onions, and garlic in oil until soft. Add the rest of the vegetables through the cayenne pepper and cook until they are soft too. Add the rest of the ingredients through the clam juice and bring to a boil. Lower heat to simmer and cook covered for about 20 minutes. Add the seafood just before serving and cook till done, about 5 minutes.

Cornish game hens

Cornish game hens average around 1-3/4 lbs each, which make them a lot faster to cook than a full-sized chicken or turkey!

Cornish Game Hens

Hen
Clove of garlic
Rosemary, sage, or thyme
Lemon wedge
Onion
Salt and pepper

Stuff the hen with the garlic through the onion. Sprinkle the skin with salt and pepper and roast until the internal flesh temperature is 165 degrees and the juices run clear. For an average sized bird, that means approximately 35 to 40 minutes at 400.

Beef and lentil stew

This recipe is a variation on the Lamb and Lentil Stew that I shared many moons ago!  I made a few changes to the original recipe, so I'll give you the update here. 

Beef and Lentil Stew

Olive oil
1 lb stew beef
Flour
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, mashed
2 T fresh ginger, grated
1-2 T curry paste, or your favorite mix of Indian spices (optional, my mixture is here)
2 c beef stock
28 oz can crushed tomatoes
2 c lentils, pre-soaked
10 oz spinach
1 yellow pepper, chopped
1 red hot pepper, chopped

Pre-soak the lentils, 2 c lentils in 4 c water. Drain before using. Brown the beef in oil in a dutch oven, sprinkling with flour. Remove meat and set aside. Saute the onions, garlic, and ginger. Add the curry paste or spice mixture of choice and heat through. Add a small amount of stock and scrape up all the browned bits. Add the rest of the stock, the tomatoes, and the beef, and simmer for 2 hours. Add the lentils and cook until tender, 15 to 20 minutes. [Note - some varieties of lentils cook faster than others.] Add the spinach and peppers, and cook until peppers are tender, about 10 minutes.

Rye bread

I've been searching for awhile for a rye bread recipe that works well in my bread machine.  I've never had problems with rye bread when I've hand mixed and formed it, but I was having flop after flop when I tried to adapt it for my bread machine.  It tasted great, but always seemed to form a big air bubble and collapse on top!

Finally, here is one that worked well, tasted great, and made a very pretty 1.5 lb loaf:

Rye Bread

1-1/4 c water
1 T butter, softened
2-1/2 c bread flour
3/4 c rye flour
2 T dry milk powder
2 T sugar
1-1/2 t salt
1 t caraway seed
2-1/2 t yeast

Use the basic setting and choose a light or medium crust.

Spinach

Spinach is good just about any way it comes, especially if it's baby spinach. But here's a really easy way to jazz it up a bit.

Spinach

1 T toasted sesame seeds
2 t soy sauce
2 t toasted sesame oil
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/4 c water
1/2 lb baby spinach

In the bottom of a wok or dutch oven, toast the sesame seeds. Add the soy sauce through the garlic and simmer until garlic softens. Add the water and the spinach. Turn down the heat and cover until spinach wilts. Stir to coat spinach with sauce.

Carrot cake

I have long been in search of the perfect carrot cake and frosting.  The frosting is especially problematic for me as I've got a real slime-aversion.  Most cream cheese frostings, with additional butter thrown in, are just too thick and sweet for me.  But I found what is for me the perfect frosting, and now I think I've also come up with the perfect cake.  It's ok with me if you prefer a different version...there is always room for another carrot cake!

Carrot Cake


2-1/2 c sliced carrots
2 cans (12 oz) apple juice concentrate 
1-1/2 c raisins
2 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c wheat germ
2 T baking powder
2 T cinnamon
1/4 c vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 T vanilla
3/4 c applesauce

Use food processor to coarsely grate the carrots.  Add the raisins and 1 c of apple juice concentrate to the bowl and process a bit more.  Pour into a large bowl and add all the ingredients in order, stirring in.  Pour into a prepared 13 x 9 inch pan.  Bake for 55 to 60 minutes at 350.

Cream Cheese Frosting link

Punjabi masalah lamb stew

I've shared the recipe for Punjabi Masalah Lamb before, but this is a variation.  Instead of fresh tomato, I used a can of diced tomatoes, and added a can of black eyed peas, some carrots, and more liquid.  We had it served like a stew over some basmati rice. 

Mountain stew

The Appalachian Mountains ran to the east of where I grew up in Pennsylvania, but thoughts of the trail dominated when it came to hiking.  There are versions of mountain stew all over the country, I believe, but here is mine, dedicated to the beautiful Appalachians.

Mountain Stew

Bacon grease (or olive oil)
2 onions, chopped
Stalk of celery, chopped
1 lb kielbasa, sliced
1 quart of chicken stock
Pepper
4 carrots and/or parsnips, sliced
Rutabaga, peeled and cubed
2 - 3 potatoes, cubed
1/2 cabbage, chopped

In a dutch oven, saute onions and celery in grease or oil until softened.  Add the kielbasa and brown it.  Add stock and pepper and simmer for about 20 minutes, covered.   Add the vegetables except for the cabbage and add more water if needed.  Simmer covered for about 40 minutes.  Add the cabbage and simmer for about 30 minutes.     

Beef burgundy for a fall day

One of our favorite beef stews!  I've already shared the recipe, but I didn't manage to get a good picture before.

Salmon on a bed of rice and spinach

 

I had some leftover brown rice from a few days back and decided to make a variation on Baked Trout with Mushrooms.   I made a bed for the meal with the rice, to which I added more liquid.  Then I layered on fresh spinach, nestling it down into the liquid, a piece of salmon, and topped it with garlic, green onions, bread crumbs, and the butter-oil-lemon juice mix from the original recipe.  It took about 25 minutes at 375.  Delicious!

Stir fry with mchuzi mix

Mchuzi mix is a spice blend in cornstarch that is added to Kenyan soups and stews.  Our Kenyan friends brought us a large jar of the spicy beef flavor mix, and I decided that it would probably be pretty good with one of our classic stir fries too!