Sunday, December 21, 2014
Peppermint Blondies with Peppermint Ganache
I have to admit that I have no problem bribing people with baked goods. I mean, really, is it considered blackmail if you hold brownies, cookies or cakes over someone’s head to get what you want? Is it quid prop quo if you want a ride from the airport in exchange for chocolate goodness? Is it unethical to use pumpkin pie to get your way? In my humble opinion, the answer is no, it is all fair game.
So 2 weeks ago, in Michigan, I was trying to sucker someone into giving me a ride from the airport. I actually ended up not even needing the ride, but in the end I decided it didn't hurt to have them owe me one, so I made the brownies anyway. Let me just say that these brownies were seriously some of the most decadent brownies I have ever tasted.
I am not a big candy fan, however, York Peppermint Patties are the closest thing to candy crack for me, and, they have a home in these brownies. The brownies are also packed with regular and white chocolate chips and then drizzled with a chocolate peppermint ganache, which pretty much makes these brownies too die for. These brownies are an instant chocolate coma!!
Brownies:
2 cups dark brown sugar
1 stick butter, melted
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup peppermint patties, roughly chopped
Peppermint ganache:
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup peppermint patties
To begin with, combine the brown sugar and melted butter in a mixer. However, seeing as I was in Michigan, I did not have a mixer, so I did all of this with the aid of my hands and a spoon, it worked just fine and gave me muscles!! Blend together for 2 minutes.
Next add the eggs and vanilla. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt to the wet ingredients. Mix together.
On a side note, I am quickly learning how confusing it can be to stock two kitchens. So while in Michigan, I obviously bought the ingredients for these brownies. There was no way in hell the bachelor pad that the man calls home had vanilla or chocolate chips, or hell, even butter, so I needed to shop. However, when I got home, I decided to make cookies for work and so I went to the store and I had vivid memories of buying vanilla, eggs and butter so I KNEW I did not need to purchase those for my cookies...only to get home and find the fridge devoid of these key ingredients. Hence, realizing that these memories of food purchases occurred in a different state and these ingredients were happily sitting in another fridge, that was inaccessible to me...bringing me to a second grocery store visit. Ugh!!
Anyway, back to the brownies. Add the chocolate chips (both white and chocolate) and chopped up peppermint patties and add to the batter. Gently mix until combined.
Transfer the batter to a greased 9x13 pan. Spread evenly and bake in a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest for at least 15 minutes.
While the brownies are resting, prepare the ganache. Bring the heavy cream to a boil in a small saucepan. Once the cream is boiling, add the chocolate chips and peppermint patties and stir until melted. Drizzle the chocolate mixture over the brownies. For some reason, I had a ton of ganache leftover so think of something fun to do with it.
Enjoy and Happy Holidays!!
Saturday, December 20, 2014
Crock Pot Hot and Sour Soup
So many of our food loves, hates and choices were developed as a child. My childhood, being extremely adventurous with food, has led me down a lifetime of food journeys and some strange food traditions, which has brought me to this blog.
So last weekend I was under the weather, ya know the sore throat, stuffy head and aches that come with winter. So instead of making Chicken Noodle Soup I turned to my Mothers cure all-Hot and Sour Soup. Now I know that I am not the only one who wishes for Mom when they are sick, however, mine lives 12 hours away. The thought of cooking when you feel crappy sounds less than desirable, right? So I went on a journey to look for a Hot and Sour Soup recipe that could be made in the crock pot-homemade and easy...win/win!! And I found one!!This recipe is obviously incredibly easy to make since you make it in the crock pot and it does have good flavor, however, in my opinion it needed a little more spice. I remember Hot and Sour Soups having a sesame flavor, so I added some sesame oil and I thought that really enhanced the recipe. It really did make me feel better, the chicken broth and soy sauce made it salty and the rice wine vinegar gave it that nice tangy taste. I just love bamboo shoots and water chestnuts and they just make me happy, and just like when I was a kid, when I found the shrimp in my soup it feels like a prize, better than Cracker Jacks in my opinion.
So in the crockpot combine the chicken broth, carrots, drained bamboo shoots, drained water chestnuts and drained mushrooms. I wasn't sure of the canned mushrooms because I definitely prefer fresh, but in this soup they work. Add the vinegar, soy sauce, sugar and crushed red pepper, and again I could have added more pepper.
Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.
Turn the crockpot to high. Add the cornstarch and cold water, that you already mixed together in a separate bowl. Add the frozen shrimp and tofu and cook on high for 30 minutes.
The recipe says to sprinkle the soup with cilantro, however, I used green onions because I thought that seemed a little bit more authentic, in all of my Chinese cuisine knowledge (read with sarcasm). This soup was definitely comforting and made me feel better, both physically and psychologically. And it was almost as good as having Mom.
Here is the actual recipe, with measurements and all:
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup bias sliced carrots
1 8oz can bamboo shoots, drained
1 8 oz can water chestnuts, drained
1 4 oz can sliced mushrooms, drained
3T rice vinegar
1T soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
2 T cornstarch
2T cold water
8 oz frozen peeled and deveined uncooked shrimp
4 oz refrigerated water packed firm tofu, drained and cubed
2 T snipped fresh parsley or cilantro (I used green onions)
1. In a 3 1/2 qt or 4 qt slow cooker cooker combine broth, carrots, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, mushrooms, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar and crushed red pepper.
2. Cover and cook on low heat setting for 6-8 hours or on high heat setting for 3-4 hours
3. If using a low heat setting, turn to high heat setting. In a small bowl stir together cornstarch and cold water; stir in broth mixture in slow cooker. Add frozen shrimp and tofu. Cover and cook for 30 minutes more. Sprinkle with parsley.
Friday, November 21, 2014
Parsnip & Potato Soup
There are a few people, places and things that I just always get confused. Like parsnips and rutabagas, those are two vegetables that I always have to read the labels for at the grocery store as I fear purchasing the wrong one. Yes, I know a parsnip looks like a white carrot and a rutabaga looks like a giant purple and white potato, but what can I say I just have a mental block. Kind of like Billy Joel and Elton John...no, don't worry, I don't think they look alike, but I can never guess their music correctly. In my mind their music is always interchangeable!! Yes, I know some of you are thinking that is just sacrilegious, but I am just being honest. And for the sake of full disclosure I must admit that I also always get Natalie Portman and Keira Knightly confused....now which one was in Star Wars again?
Anyway, back to the soup before I get myself in even more trouble. This soup was really good!! Seriously, how can you go wrong with any recipe that has bacon, butter, and cream in it? Maybe I should have thrown those 3 ingredients in my slow cooker bread the other day...hell, anything would have helped that hot mess of a recipe!! But seriously, this soup was so good! It was creamy and had great flavor from the salty fatty bacon, the hint of spice from the nutmeg and the hint of caramelization from the potatoes, parsnips, onions and garlic that were cooked in bacon fat and butter. Yum!!
This recipe also allowed me to use my new kitchen gadget...the immersion blender...and let me just say blending soup has never been so easy! I was that girl that would have full-on hot blender soup explosions ALL the time, up until I received my immersion blender as a gift. Nothing makes me happier now!!
 |
| I love bacon!! |
So to begin with, cook the bacon. The smell of bacon just makes me happy!
 |
| Yum! Good snack while cooking! |
Remove the bacon and most of the bacon fat. Next, add the butter and the potatoes, parsnips, onion, pasley and garlic and cook for approximately 20 minutes. For me, this mixture wanted to stick a bit to the bottom of the pan, so remember to stir it every once in awhile, but it was tasty and kind of reminded me of hash browns. One of the other great things about this recipe is the fact that you don't have to stress about knife cuts...you are going to be blending all of the veggies anyway so they don't have to be pretty. I, for one, hacked the hell out of them and I truly enjoyed getting my work day aggressions out on them...just sayin'.
 |
| This soup has a color scheme-white! |
Remove the parsley...I am not even sure what the parsley was for...seriously when you think about it, how much flavor does a few sprigs of parsley lend to an entire batch of soup? Hmmm...
 |
| This is the random parsley |
 |
| This mixture would be amazing with eggs and bacon in the morning. Just sayin' |
Now add the chicken broth and take your immersion blender to the pot. Yipee!! This is fun and so much less messy than trying to ladle soup into a blender, exploding said soup all over the cabinets in the blender and trying to pour what little soup you have left back in the pot. Oy!!
 |
| Immersion blenders are my new kitchen addition |
Next add the cream and bacon (that you cut into bite sized pieces...well if you didn't snack on all of it) back into the soup and warm slightly.
Top with chives and pepitas (pumpkin seeds). This is absolutely the most perfect comfort food!
I have to admit I was totally stressed when I was blending this soup as it was brown instead of white, like the picture, but once I added the cream all was right with the world. Serve this with a nice Sauvignon Blanc and you will have happiness. Cheers!!
Here is the actual recipe:
INGREDIENTS
6 slices bacon, cut into thirds (preferred brand, Oscar’s Smoke House)
2 tablespoons butter
2 large Russet potatoes, 1 1/4 pounds, peeled and diced
3 to 4 large or 6 medium parsnips, peeled and chopped (3 cups)
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
Black pepper
About 1/8 teaspoon grated or freshly grated nutmeg
1 bundle of parsley, tied with string
1 quart homemade or store-bought chicken stock
1/2 pint cream
Salt
Toasted pumpkin seeds (pepitas) to garnish
Chives, chopped or snipped, to garnish
Sourdough rolls or English muffins and softened butter, to serve
PREPARATION
Heat a soup pot over medium-high heat. Add bacon and render until crisp. Remove, finely chop and reserve the bacon bits.
Spoon off all but a few tablespoons of the smoky drippings and add butter to melt. Reduce heat a bit, add potatoes and stir to coat. Add parsnips, onions, garlic, black pepper, nutmeg and parsley; partially cover and cook to soften 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. The color of vegetables should be light golden. Remove parsley.
Puree potatoes and parsnips in batches if necessary in a food processor or blender with stock or just add stock to the soup pot and use an immersion blender. Stir in cream and reserved bacon bits, then, season the soup with salt to taste.
Serve in shallow bowls with pepitas and chives to garnish, sourdough rolls or English muffins toasted and buttered alongside for dunking.
Monday, November 17, 2014
Slow Cooker Bread...Not My Biggest Kitchen Success
I now know how hockey pucks are made. I saw a post
this week by another food blogger about how to make homemade bread in the slow
cooker and it peaked my interest. How could it not, right? I had visions of
coming home to the smell of freshly baked bread like the bread my Mom made when
I was a kid. I had visions of crusty fresh warm bread and melted butter dancing
through my head. And I was thrilled by the thought of all of this without hours
of slaving in the kitchen, without the patience required to watch bread rise
and without the agony of defeat. I, however, tend to be a tad bit of an
optimist and this just so happened to be one of those times.
Don't get me wrong, the recipe was easy enough.
What could be easier than throwing 5 ingredients in a bowl and stirring, right?
1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
 |
| Yes, I know this looks like a bad science experiment |
So I was pretty successful with this portion of the
recipe.
Now for the crock pot portion of the recipe:
Directions
Shape your loaf of bread: Shape your loaf into a
round or a loaf depending on the size of your slow cooker and/or what kind of
loaf you'd like to make. Set the shaped dough on a square of parchment paper.
(If you're baking the bread in a pan, there's no need to use parchment.) I was
pretty excited by the fact that I cut the parchment paper to match the size of
my crock pot, especially since as many of you know I hate parchment paper and
it is one of my kitchen enemies.
Lift it into the slow cooker: Lift the loaf by the
parchment and set it in the middle of the slow cooker. Try to arrange flatten
the parchment as much as possible against the sides of the slow cooker to
prevent it from getting caught in the bread as it rises. Cover the slow cooker
with its lid. →
Pre-Baking Rise?You do not need to let your bread rise before baking. However,
if your bread dough has been in the refrigerator, letting it warm a bit on the
counter can reduce the overall cooking time.
Set the slow cooker to HIGH: Turn on your slow
cooker to the highest heat setting (or quickest time setting). This step also
went pretty well and I was thrilled by the fact that I didn't have to watch my
bread rise and do other stuff to it in between.
Bake for 1 to 2 1/2 hours: Baking time will vary
depending on your slow cooker. If this is your first time baking bread in your
slow cooker, begin checking the loaf after 1 hour, then every 30 minutes, and
then more frequently as it nears finishing. Record this baking time for future
reference.
Checking the internal temperature of the loaf is
the best way to tell when it is done baking; a finished loaf will have an
internal temperature of 190°F to 200°F. The top will also feel soft but no
longer spongy, and the bottom will be hard and slightly golden. I also did
a good job of watching it cook in the crockpot or should I say watching reality
TV as it cooked.
Brown the loaf under the broiler: If a
darker-colored, crustier loaf is desired, set the loaf on a rack positioned in
the middle of the oven and turn on the broiler for 3 to 5 minutes. Check
frequently to avoid burning the loaf. And yes I even browned the top of bread
in the broiler because it was a little lackluster in color when I took it out
of the crockpot.
Cool and slice: Let the loaf cool completely on a
wire rack before slicing.
It was this step that I felt the wind come out of
my sales. My bread had grown slightly in size, but it was still flat. It had a
nice brown coloring to it, but dang it was dense. And the flavor was ok, but it
did kind of remind me a little bit of sucking on play dough as a kid, just a
little too salty and for once I didn't add extra salt and a slightly strange
consistency.
At the end of the day I just have to say it was a
cool idea, but it didn't give me the thrill of homemade bread or fresh
baguettes from Sicily or even the smell of bread coming out of the oven at
Albertsons. But if you are short on cash and you need some easy and cheap
hockey pucks, well, just fire up the slow cooker and this recipe is a winner,
as for bread, this was kind of an epic fail.
Friday, November 14, 2014
Paella in the Slow Cooker
Let me
start by going on a brief tirade about technology. It is a blessing and a
curse. However, I find that technology often leads me to feeling like I want to
have a temper tantrum, you know that feeling when you just can’t get something
to work and you don’t know why so you would rather throw yourself on the floor
with legs, feet and arms flailing instead of dealing with reality…yup, that is
what I feel like doing tonight.
However,
even though technology is not being cooperative my slow cooker is and my love
affair with this kitchen gadget continues to grow. Slow Cooker Paella being
just the most recent example. So, last night, after a long day of work, I
decided to put together this dish, with a little hesitation because we all know
that paella is supposed to be made in a large flat pan, full of tradition,
exotic spices and chutzpah.
But this
recipe was a really pleasant surprise. I do have to say that it is not exactly
reminiscent of traditional paella, however, it has really good flavor. The
texture is more reminiscent of risotto and not paella, but this could be due to
the fact that this recipe calls for Arborio rice. I love the flavor from the
smoked paprika and the saffron, love the spice from the Spanish chorizo and
this is just great easy comfort food.
So to
begin with brown the chicken thighs in olive oil with smoked paprika, salt and
pepper. Remove with a slotted spoon and put in the crockpot.
Next, add
the rice and brown. This is a common requirement of Arborio rice as it breaks
down the starch and also adds a nutty flavor to the grain.
Now add
the rice, tomatoes (the recipe calls for whole but I used diced to save time),
chicken broth, white wine (I drank the leftovers!!), Spanish, aka cured,
chorizo, onion, garlic, saffron and salt to the slow cooker.
On a side
note, Spanish or cured chorizo is different from Mexican chorizo as it is well
cured. It is more reminiscent of a salami type of meat versus the Mexican
chorizo which is more soupy and similar in style to an Italian sausage. Spanish
chorizo is a pork sausage and it is flavored with Smoked Paprika. It holds its
shape and can be sliced, which is perfect for a dish like this.
Turn on
the slow cooker to high and cook for 2 minutes. Add 2 cups of peas and let sit
for 10 minutes.
Yes, that
is it!! Doesn’t get much easier than this, right? Just so you know Arborio rice
is often served al dente and this dish definitely has al dente rice so if you
like your rice a little bit well done you may want to cook it for longer. Just
something to be aware of.
This dish
can be paired with red or white wine. I ate it with a red table wine and the
dry finish of the wine paired nicely with the dish, but I am sure a crisp
Sauvignon Blanc would also be heaven with this. Oh and by the way, this dish
makes the house smell amazing!! Cheers!!
Ingredients:
•
2
tablespoons EVOO
•
2
pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
•
3
teaspoons sweet smoked paprika
•
2
cups short-or medium-grain rice, such as Arborio
•
1
14 1/2 ounce can whole tomatoes, diced
•
1
cup low-sodium chicken broth
•
1/2
cup dry white wine
•
1
8 ounce package
cured chorizo, thinly sliced
•
1
onion, finely chopped
•
3
cloves garlic, finely chopped
•
A
pinch saffron (optional)
•
1
tablespoon salt
•
2
cups thawed frozen peas
•
1/2
cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 lemon, cut
into 8 wedges
Directions:
In a large skillet, heat the EVOO over
medium-high. Add the chicken in a single layer and sprinkle with 1 1/2 tsp.
paprika; season with salt and pepper. Cook, turning occasionally, until light
golden, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken to a large
slow cooker.
Add the rice
to the skillet and cook, stirring, until light golden, 3 minutes. Add the rice,
tomatoes, broth, wine, chorizo, onion, garlic, saffron, if using, 1 tbsp. salt
and 1 1/2 tsp. paprika to the slow cooker. Stir to combine. Cover and cook on
high heat until the rice is tender, about 1 3/4 to 2 hours. Stir in the peas;
cover and let stand for 10 minutes. Top with the parsley; serve with the lemon
wedges.
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