MIA due to baking craziness

I haven't written in a bit - but I've been going absolutely nuts baking for this holiday season. I'll post some today, and some over the weekend as the baking continues

First up: Mandelbrot (also known as Jewish Biscotti)


This is a Passover recipe that I make all year round - including taking it on Easter to my Italian in-laws.


Bowl 1:

• 1.5 cups matzo cake meal
• 6 tbsp potato starch
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds or chocolate chips

bowl 2:

• 3 large eggs
• zest of 1 orange
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

1. Mix both together until combined. Cover and chill for 1 hour.
2. Line a baking tray with parchment
3. Roll half of dough in cake meal and roll into logs. Transfer to a plan and flatten to 1/4-1/2 inch, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Repeat for second half.
4. Bake at 350 until golden, 20-25 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes and cut into 3/4" pieces. Place cut side down and bake for 8-10 minutes. Flip and repeat.

 

Next up: Rocky Road Bars

• 3/4 cup (175 mL) butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups (375 mL) graham wafer crumbs
• 1 1/2 cups (375 mL) flaked coconut
• 1 1/2 cups (375 mL) chopped nuts
• 1 pkg (300 g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups (375 mL) miniature marshmallows
• 1 can (300 mL) Regular or Low Fat Eagle Brand® sweetened condensed milk
• 2 oz (57 g) semi-sweet chocolate, melted

1. Combine butter and crumbs; press onto parchment paper-lined 13 x 9 inch (3.5 L) baking pan. 
2. Layer coconut, nuts, chocolate chips and marshmallows over crust. Drizzle Eagle Brand evenly over all.
3. Bake at 350°F (180°C) 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.
4. Remove from oven; drizzle with melted chocolate.
5. Cool completely. Remove parchment paper and cut into squares

*Note: Due to my nut allergy I opt out of the chopped nuts but it's still melt in your mouth amazing!

A gift from the heart - for the stomach: Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Bars

• 1 pound semisweet chocolate
• 2 sticks (8 ounces) plus 1-1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1-1/4 cups sugar
• 5 large eggs
• 1 cup flour
• 2 half-pints fresh raspberries

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter and flour a 9-inch square baking pan. In a microwave oven or double boiler, melt half of the chocolate and the 2 sticks butter; stir to combine. Set aside. 
2. In a large bowl, using a whisk, beat the sugar with the eggs until bubbly, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in the melted chocolate, then the flour. Using a spatula, scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs, about 35 minutes. Let cool on a rack. 

3. In a microwave oven or double boiler, melt the remaining chocolate and 1-1/2 tablespoons butter; stir to combine. Pour the glaze onto the cooled truffle cake and tilt the pan to coat the top. Refrigerate to partially set the glaze, about 30 minutes. While the chocolate is still tacky, scatter the raspberries in a single layer on top, then refrigerate for a few more minutes to set the glaze completely. Cut the cake into 3-inch squares. 

More to come!

Sugar High

It's been a couple of weeks since I baked something - so here goes. Caramilk Fudge. A.k.a. death by sugar. The way it melts in your mouth reminded me of maple sugar candies.

Melt in your mouth goodness

Caramilk Fudge

• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 6 caramilk bars

Grease an 8x8 pan and set aside.
Combine brown sugar, condensed milk, and butter in a large microwaveable bowl and microwave for 8 min, stirring every 2 minutes.

Add the powdered sugar and vanilla.

Beat with a handmixer for 4 minutes.

Pour half the mixture into the greased pan. Lay the Caramilk bars on top and pour the rest of the mixture on top and smooth.

Let it sit for 30 minutes to cool off and set then cut into pieces as you serve.  You don't need a big piece, it really is death by sugar!!

Nothing beats a warm bagel on a Sunday morning

This past week was pretty uneventful - I did try a recipe out for Drunken Pork Chops but completely forgot to take photos, so when I do it again in the next two weeks you can be sure I'll post about it. My husband fell in love with them.

I was fortunate enough to enjoy a fantastic lobster dinner with my whole family on Saturday at my sister's place - it was great seeing everyone. I made cupcakes - from a box. I did start something from scratch, and take photos, only to realize halfway through cooking I forgot to add the oil. Silly me.


Sunday morning I woke up with the hopes of trying this new recipe out to make bagels in two hours - a process that normally has to be done overnight. Homemade Bagels Link. Boy were they delicious!! I have great memories of Sunday mornings at home, dad bringing home warm, fresh bagels, cream cheese, lox, and all kinds of other wonderful things.


Homemade Bagels
Makes 8
• 2 1/4 teaspoons dry active yeast
• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
• 1 1/3 cups warm water
• 3 1/2 cups bread flour, plus extra for kneading
• 1 3/4 teaspoons kosher salt (I used regular salt because I didn't have Kosher)
• Poppy seeds (optional)
• Sesame seeds (optional)

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flour, sugar, yeast and salt. With the mixer on low, slowly add the water. Continue to mix until the dough comes together in a mass, about 4-6 minutes. Increase speed to medium-high and knead for another 8-10 minutes until soft and smooth. Put the dough in a bowl sprayed lightly with non-stick baking spray. Cover with a towel or lightly oiled plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.

Gently push down to remove any gas from the dough and let the dough rest for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425º F and bring a large pot of water to a boil; then reduce to a simmer.

Divide the dough into 8 pieces.  Press each piece down to get rid of air bubbles.  Form into balls and roll the balls between your palm and the work surface, rotating to form a smooth ball. Coat a finger in flour and press it through each ball to form a ring.  Twirl the ring around the index of one hand and the thumb of the other, stretching the dough and widening the hole to about 1/3 of the bagel’s diameter. Place the bagels on a lined baking sheet lined and cover with a towel. Let rest for another 10 minutes

Gently lower the bagels into the water in batches, 2-3 bagels at a time. Boil uncovered for about 1 minute. Turn them over once and boil for another minute. Using a perforated skimmer, remove the bagels from the pot, letting the water drain; return to the baking sheet. (Optional:  sprinkle the top of the bagel with poppy seeds, sesame seeds, or both). Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Enjoy!

Source: Adapted from Bread by Eric Treuille & Ursula Ferrigno

*I'm not really sure why blogspot is messing around with the orientation of my photos, but I'll do my best to fix it!!

Who turns down anything in cupcake form?

Today is the last day of my staycation.  I don't personally like cheesecake but I had to try these out for hubby.  Today's task: Cookies & Cream Cheesecake Cupcakes a la Handle the Heat, who originally got the recipe from Martha Stewart Cupcakes.

Cookies & Cream Cheesecake Cupcakes

• 42 cream-filled sandwich cookies, such as Oreos, 30 left whole, and 12 coarsely chopped
• 2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature (4 packages)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
• 1 cup sour cream
• Pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Place 1 whole cookie in the bottom of each lined cup.

2. With your hand or stand mixer on medium-high speed, beat cream cheese until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Gradually add sugar, and beat until combined. Beat in vanilla.

3. Drizzle in eggs, a bit at a time, beating to combine and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in sour cream and salt. Stir in chopped cookies by hand.

4. Divide batter evenly among cookie-lined cups, filling each almost to the top. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until filling is set, about 22 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Refrigerate at least 4 hours (or up to overnight). Remove from tins just before serving. 

Thank you Foodgawker for helping me find these!

Feeling Hot Hot Hot

Today was pretty unproductive, with the exception of dinner.  Homemade Pad Thai.  My sister gave me this recipe, and I love her forever and then some for it.  It's a big hit in this home.  You can replace the chicken with any sort of meat that suits your fancy.

Chicken Pad Thai

• Chicken - for 3 of us I use 3 chicken breasts, cut into cubes
• Sauce:
  - 2 tbsp brown sugar
  - 2 tbsp water
  - 1 tsp fish sauce
  - 4 tbsp chili paste (your favourite brand, my favourite is the Rooster brand)
  - 2 tbsp soy sauce
  - garlic, minced to your liking
  - Squeeze of lime (juice)
• Vermicelli noodles
• Fresh or frozen vegetables to your liking
• Cornstarch

 

Marinate your chicken in a bit of soy sauce and cornstarch

As your chicken is marinating, mix all of the sauce ingredients together.  You should get approx. 1 cup of sauce - if it's not that much, feel free to add more soy or chili paste to your liking.  I like my sauce HOT so I add a bunch of chili paste and more garlic.

Like my fancy garlic mincer from Kitchen Stuff Plus?  Best small investment ever.  I don't want to chop it by hand, prefer to have it freshly chopped and don't want to use my big food processor.

 

Brown your chicken until it's fully cooked - I use a little bit of olive oil on the bottom of the pan, you can use PAM or whatever suits your fancy.

Once your chicken has browned, add your vegetables - I used a variety of frozen veggies along with 2 small onions sliced thinly.  After the veggies have thawed (if frozen) or after a few minutes of cooking add your sauce and stir.  Cover your skillet and allow it to cook for at least 10 minutes.  The sauce will thicken thanks to the cornstarch.

 

As the pad thai is cooking, bring a pot up to a boil and throw in your vermicelli noodles.  They only take about 5 minutes to cook.  Once done - drain.

 

Serve your pad thai served over the noodles and enjoy!! It tastes better than it looks!

Time off work = time to cook

So, I've been off work for a week now, which has given me great opportunities to cook.  The unfortunate part is I didn't take pictures of some of the items I made so far, such as pretzel bites, so I will add them as I make them again.

Tonight's dinner consisted of crock pot chili and white chocolate brownies.  Details below!



Crock Pot Chili - Recipe courtesy of MightyPurdue22 @ AllRecipes.com
I made a few adjustments, so here's my version (excuse the image in a ziploc - I had started to bag this to freeze a whole bunch.  My crock pot was crammed full!!)

• 2 pounds lean ground beef
• 3 sausages, removed from casing (I used honey garlic, only because I didn't have any hot)
• 4 cans chili beans, drained and rinsed - I chose red kidney, black, mixed low sodium and romano
• 1 can chili beans in spicy sauce (PC brand "Smokin' Stampede" bean mix)
• 2 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with juice
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
• 4 cubes beef bouillon
• 1/2 cup beer
• 1/4 cup chili powder
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons Sriracha sauce or other hot pepper sauce 
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon white sugar

1. Brown all of the meat together until fully cooked
2. Toss all ingredients into your crock pot
3. Cook on low from 2-6 hours.  I did mine for 6 hours - the longer it simmers the better it is.
4. I served it with ciabatta buns.  My hubby said it was more like a stew than a chili but loved it!

Now onto DESSERT!
I had been searching high and low for a recipe that depicted Moxie's White Chocolate Brownie and boy did I find it here at Buttercream Barbie's Blog.

• 8 ounces white chocolate, chopped (1/2 lb or 1 cup)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). 
2. Grease a 8x8 or 9x9 pan. 
3. Melt white chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler, over barely simmering water until smooth, stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool.
4. In a large bowl, beat eggs until foamy. Gradually add the sugar and vanilla, mixing constantly. Drizzle in the melted white chocolate mixture. Combine the flour and salt; fold into the white chocolate mixture. Fold in chocolate chips. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
5. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool then cut into bars.
6. Serve heated (if it cools zap it in the microwave for 40 seconds). I topped mine with cookies and cream ice cream, SO GOOD!!

Post #1 - Hopefully of many

Welcome to my blog - I've had blogs in the past, not very good ones.  I'm a simple woman living with her husband trying to make it through life.  I don't have much time to cook, but when I do, I love to try new recipes, and make them work for us.  I'm a very picky eater, but my hubby will eat just about anything, so he's my guinea pig.

In saying that...here goes nothin'!