Pizza night with plenty of cheese and meat to share...

While we didn't post about pizza last Friday, I did actually make one - we repeated that Peking Chicken Pizza for the guests staying with us. I did, however, prepare a new one tonight! This evening I made this Cheese Steak Pizza for dinner!

And yes, again, I used our go-to whole-wheat pizza dough recipe that we just cant get enough of. I'm sure there are better recipes out there that sit in the refrigerator for hours, allowing development of its flavor, but the simplicity and ease of this dough can't be beat - especially on those busy weeknights!

The first layer on top of our rustic circle of dough was pizza sauce - use your favorite, but I still had some of that spicy pizza sauce left in the freezer and just slathered that on. Next came a sprinkling of shredded provolone, followed by a layer of softened vegetables. We used chopped red bell pepper (you can use green, but neither of us enjoy its harder flavor) and sliced onions for the vegetables - we seasoned them with minced garlic along with oregano, salt and fresh ground black pepper while they cooked. If you happen to be a big fan of mushrooms (as you know, Jeff is not!), a couple cups worth of sliced shrooms would be a complimentary earthy note to include when you cook the veggies.

Once we scattered the vegetables on, the top is covered with strips of thinly sliced roast beef. Before we slid the dough onto the fiery baking stone, another shower of cheese is added as a final touch. We both thought this was a killer mix on top of the crisp, golden crust - it was meaty, cheesy and definitely filled our empty stomachs to the brim. Jeff told me he used to always order cheese steaks plain aka no peppers or onions, when he used to get them years ago. I don't think he was ready to find out how much he actually liked the combination - surprise! See what happens when you do a side-step out of your comfort zone?

Recipes
Cheese Steak Pizza

Baking Apple Pie Dog Biscuits for the pups...

While our apple supply is dwindling down (I'll be posting soon on what all we've been making), I thought it would be fun to incorporate them somehow into a treat for the pups! Their supply of homemade treats was running dangerously low anyway, so I came up with these Apple Pie Dog Biscuits.

I suppose I was a bit liberal with the title, but work with me! For flavor and texture, I used a combination of whole-wheat flour, robust rye flour and gritty cornmeal. Into those ingredients, I whisked in cinnamon, a dash of cardamom and a little ginger for their warm scents. I used apples in two forms - wet applesauce and shreds of the fresh fruit - while they both add moisture, I also poured in a bit of water to create the dough along with a little oil to keep it pliable.

The dough should be a little on the wet side when everything is stirred together - knead it on a floured surface, dusting with enough extra whole-wheat flour to keep it from sticking to you or your surface. When it is ready, it should be smooth and just barely tacky to the touch. Use your favorite cookie cutters to cut out the treats after rolling the dough - I used festive miniature fall-themed ones that included an apple, different leaves and an acorn! This recipe makes a fair amount of treats, but don't be shy when placing them on the baking sheet - they can be fairly close together as they don't spread much. Bake them until they are golden and firm to the touch - the centers can still have some give to them though as they will continue to crisp up as they cool.

Max and Gus actually started howling (it only takes one of them to start and then they both feel the need to sing) as they were on the counter cooling - they sat there with their tails wagging as eager testers. I gave Max an acorn first, since he is the big brother, and the white fluff ball gobbled his down in record time! But, don't tell him that I gave Gus an apple-shaped one since it was a bigger piece... he was actually a little timid at first, but after a couple licks, the little guy chomped down on his crisp treat with a silly little grin on his face. I think they are both pleased!

We have plans for lunch tomorrow, so I wanted to make sure that dinner tonight only gave us two servings. While recipes can typically be scaled down, I also keep a separate pile of recipes that are specifically made to serve two for nights like this.

I searched for a pasta recipes as we both thought that sounded very good for dinner and after picking apart a few choices, I ended up with this snazzy Fettuccine Carbonara dish.

After I dropped the sticks of pasta into the boiling salted water, I started crisping up a bit of chopped pancetta. Pancetta is basically cured and spiced Italian bacon that is not smoked - however, if you wanted a smoky note in this dish, feel free to swap it out with regular bacon. Chopped onion and a clove of minced garlic are then added to the crisped meat, along with its drippings, until the onion gained a touch of color. The cooked pasta is tossed into the mix, along with milk that we seasoned with fresh grated Parmesan and parsley.

Now, before we drained the pasta so we could add it in, I reserved a bit of the hot pasta water - this is used to temper an egg before being thrown into the skillet. Is this completely necessary? Probably not, but this method gives you a layer of insurance so the egg doesn't curdle in the luscious sauce as it is warmed through. Serve with a bit more fresh grated Parmesan cheese on top, just because!

Recipes
Apple Pie Dog Biscuits
Fettuccine Carbonara

Pumpkin-Oat Pancakes...

Jeff's niece graduated high school this year and has jumped right into college - we thought that one of the items we could give her to celebrate all the new happenings in her life is a new baked good every month while she is at school! I don't think I mentioned it last month, but we made those reliable Outrageous Oreo Crunch Brownies and this month we sent off a hefty package of Jeff's favorite Chocolate Malted M&M Cookies. Although, this time we used those spooky Halloween M&Ms! I haven't nailed down next month's treat, but I have a few ideas in mind!

I took some time yesterday for the annual roasting of a bunch of sugar pumpkins - I do this to harvest the fantastic orange flesh to freeze for pumpkin goodies throughout the year! Before stashing it away, I saved a bit of the fresh mash to make these Pumpkin-Oat Pancakes with Crystallized Ginger for a breakfast-for-dinner night this evening.

I used a combination of dry ingredients to create pancakes that were still fairly light, yet sneaked in a few good nutrients. I mixed things up with all-purpose flour, whole wheat pastry flour and a bit of finely ground old-fashioned rolled oats to add a hearty factor. If you prefer not to use those ingredients, just use completely all-purpose flour instead. To infuse the fragrant aroma of fall into these pancakes, I spiced up those dry ingredients with our favorite Vietnamese cinnamon, allspice, ginger and a pinch of cardamom for its racy attitude.

Since we love the sweet heat of crystallized ginger, and besides the fact that it goes tremendously well with pumpkin, I also tossed a small handful into the mix. This batter is more viscous than typical pancakes, a bit akin towards waffle batter, but don't try to thin it out - just spread the batter out with a spoon or spatula, if desired, once it hits the griddle. The pancakes cook up pretty thick with a healthy weight to them, but they are not dense and gummy either. With just a few tablespoons of brown sugar to enhance the pure pumpkin essence, these pancakes are not too sweet, making them a perfect candidate for a generous helping of warmed pure maple syrup at serving.

Recipes

Pumpkin-Oat Pancakes with Crystallized Ginger

Chocolate Peanut Butter Shortbread...

We're getting back into the swing of things around here... our guests departed yesterday and we are jumping head first into new recipes! It is Tuesday, so that means another edition of baking for the Weekly Wednesday Treat Day. We went with another recipe from those ever-present holiday magazines that are flooding the market - we decided on this Chocolate Peanut Butter Shortbread as the combination of chocolate and peanut butter ranks right up there as one of our favorites!

These slim cookie planks are crisp, oh so buttery and each one has an alluring peanut butter scent. Generously studded with miniature chocolate chips, the dough was pleasant to work with - it was not dry, but not wet either. The texture was just right so you could press it into the pan without it getting stuck to your fingertips. The small chips are semi-sweet, but if you crave a darker bite, I'm sure you could chop up your favorite bittersweet chocolate into small chunks.

You'll know this glorious pan of speckled shortbread is done when the center is set and the finish on top transforms from a pale color to a rich light golden brown. It is best to cut these cookies when they are pipping hot from the oven, so do this carefully with a sharp knife - they will not cut as clean and may crumble a bit if you wait for them to cool completely. To gild the lily, half of each cookie is dunked into dark pool of melted chocolate - I used bittersweet because I couldn't help myself, but choose your chocolate of choice. I didn't have the time (or energy today!) to bother with tempering the chocolate, but if you have to have that luxurious snap to the chocolate coating, don't let me stop you! With their melt-in-your-mouth texture, I think we both overdid it a bit in the sampling department... hopefully we'll still have enough to send in with Jeff tomorrow morning!

I'm kind of winging it in the dinner department this week - we didn't have time to run to the market or plan recipes for this upcoming week while trying our best to entertain our guests. So, I'm trying to find recipes in our stash that will lean on pantry staples or need a simple ingredient or two that Jeff could pick up on the way home. I didn't need him to stop tonight though as we already had everything on hand for this Herbed Chicken and Dumplings dish.

Browning a combination of chopped breast and thigh meat was the first order of business for this recipe - you could use all thighs if you wanted a richer base, but we used a mix. Once golden, the chicken was removed and we sautéed a mixture of sliced celery, carrots and chopped onions with a pinch of thyme, a few sprigs of fresh parsley and a handy bay leaf. Once softened, the cubed chicken was added, along with enough chicken broth to cover.

While the soup was simmering away, we tossed together the dumplings in a matter of minutes. The light dumplings are a combination of a little flour, fresh parsley, a little baking powder to give them lift and enough milk to make a dough. Small scoops of the dough are then dropping into the lightly bubbling broth and left to cook, covered, until they have puffed up and absorbed some of the well-seasoned liquid in the pan. With enough for just two servings, you can certainly double up the ingredients (hold back a little on the parsley though in the dumplings if you do this) if you need a larger batch. Quite comforting, this was a perfect way to warm up after raking a bunch of leaves in a bone-chilling breeze... it also has the benefit of not weighing you down and making you feel a nap is in order! Having said that, I wouldn't turn a nap away afterwards if it meant sliding into a bed with flannel sheets and a warm comforter!

Recipes
Chocolate Peanut Butter Shortbread
Herbed Chicken and Dumplings

Not much new.... but still keepin' busy!

You may have noticed it has been a little quiet here over the past few days. That doesn't mean the kitchen has been closed - we just had a couple of guests (Jeff's mom and long-time friend) who came out to stay with us and visit for a few days. In between car trips to view the beautiful scenery, the obligatory day at Mall of America and coercing them to paint a couple pumpkins for us, I was quite busy serving up several dishes!

Here's the (short) list of what we've made over the past few days... most of the recipes we have made before, but I did make one or two new ones that are not listed. However, we decided to just enjoy the food with our guests instead of taking photographs of those new recipes! They were good enough to make again and post about though... so I'll try and do that soon.

Bulgur Salad With Grapes and Feta Cheese
Herbed Cracker Bread
Lasagna Soup
Asiago-Black Pepper Drop Biscuits
Egg Salad BLTs
Peking Chicken Pizza
Waldorf Chicken Wraps
Dark Chocolate Banana Macadamia Nut Bread
Butterscotch Drop Scones
Chocolate Malted M&M Cookies
Outrageous Oreo Crunch Brownies

Biscotti bonanza...

Jeff's Mom had a birthday not too long ago - one of her favorite treats is biscotti, so we thought we would bake up a couple batches and send them her way! I know... we've been a little biscotti-making crazy over the last month or so!

I went with these two recipes because they have one big difference - one recipe calls for butter, while one recipe does not. Let's begin with the latter with these Almond Ginger Biscotti.

Because there is no butter in these biscotti, they are crisp and crunchy, resulting in a biscotti that is perfect for dunking. The dough for this version is a little crumbly when all the ingredients hit the bowl, but after a couple pushes and kneads on the counter, it comes right together. Giving these biscotti a fresh tone are fine shreds of zest from a brilliant lemon, along with chopped pieces of crystallized ginger. Rather than using slivered or sliced almonds, we used whole almonds, so when you slice through the dough you get those fat, chunky pieces that are striking when cut. You may think the baked loaves would be a pain to cut with those whole almonds, but the heat from the oven softens them just enough that a serrated knife will glade right through without tearing the nuts out.

If you want to add a little sparkle on top, dust each log with a bit of granulated sugar before putting them in the oven. While those nuggets of almonds definitely stood out with their nutty crunch, the ginger was not going to be forgotten - the alluring quality from its sweet heat grabbed our attention and left a lingering note that made me reach for piece after piece. I had to get these wrapped up as soon as possible or they would have never made it into the box!

The next biscotti we made, Cranberry-Pistachio Biscotti, calls for butter in the dough, which lends a slightly more tender texture than the above cookies.

Instead of being a little crumbly, I found this dough to be a touch more moist and tacky. Don't be afraid to use additional flour to keep it from sticking, but try to keep it at a minimum - dust lightly and sweep off any excess. If you want, you could also just moisten your hands with water, rather than dealing with the extra flour.

While you could just toss the dried cranberries into the soft dough, we plumped them up in a dish of very hot water (though I won't tell anyone if you used some of type liquor!) - this allows the fruit to keep their pleasant chewy quality and resist drying out through the two bakings. To add a complimentary color and a little crunch, chopped pistachios are also added to the dough. As we do for most biscotti recipes, once the loaves had been baked and slightly cooked, we spritzed the top of each with a little water. This gently softens the crust, adding extra insurance against any crumbling while slicing the loaves into the individual pieces. This process won't make them soggy or anything as the heat from the oven will re-crisp that fantastic crust.

When sliced, the smattering of red and green can easily be seen in each biscotti, making them a festive cookie to make for the upcoming holiday season. This recipe also yields quite a few tasty pieces - you'll have a good amount to give away for gifts, while still having a few extra to enjoy for yourself!

Recipes
Almond Ginger Biscotti
Cranberry-Pistachio Biscotti

Spinach and Prosciutto Lasagna...

While lasagna is one of those dishes that can be extremely worthy of its typical lengthy process, especially if you make the noodles by hand, you may not always have the energy, or time, to prepare everything yourself. With a few no-boil noodles and some homemade sauce from the freezer, this Spinach and Prosciutto Lasagna was a breeze to assemble!

A mess of spinach, ricotta cheese, garlic and crushed red pepper are the thick layers in between the noodles for this lasagna. If you use thawed frozen spinach as we did, be sure to muscle out as much of the excess liquid as you can so it doesn't turn this watery as it bakes. Wring it in a towel if you must, but the easiest way I've found and have used for a few years now is to take a potato ricer, slip the greens inside and squeeze down to extract the liquid.

Use your favorite sauce, homemade or jarred, as you are going to bring it to life with one of my favorite and savory indulgent purchases - prosciutto! To be sure that ever-tempting flavor is well spread out, the thinly sliced salty prosciutto is chopped into bits before adding to the sauce. Layered as usual with plenty of sauce, noodles and the healthy filling, the lasagna is topped off with a liberal scattering of mozzarella cheese.

Baked until the noodles swell from drinking in the bright, prosciutto-spiked marinara sauce, you'll want to give this at least 5 minutes resting time before cutting into. With lasagna, I've been known to wait, very impatiently I might add, for about a half hour before diving in so the insides don't slosh all over. However, we only waited about 10 minutes with this and we still managed to pull out fairly clean pieces. A piece of garlic bread and a light salad on the side, we were both happily stuffed to the brim, but that still didn't stop me from stealing a couple extra forkfuls of the leftovers (Jeff did it too!).

Recipes
Spinach and Prosciutto Lasagna

Fun with sesame...

Tonight's dinner had to be pretty speedy... while I was not going to have much time tonight, I got a head start this morning by cooking and shredding the chicken for this dish of Sesame Noodles with Shredded Chicken. This allowed me just enough time to prepare the rest of the ingredients.

We blitzed a healthy dose of toasted sesame seeds, creamy peanut butter, a couple cloves worth of minced garlic, brilliant fresh ginger, salty soy sauce, rice vinegar and just a touch of cayenne pepper sauce in a food processor until the ingredients were all groovin' with each other. If you don't have a food processor, a blender would be fine. Fairly thick as is, the nutty sauce is thinned out with hot water - you don't want it to become watery though, just add enough so it resembles the viscosity of heavy cream.

When that was done, we dropped a fistful of whole-wheat spaghetti into a pot of bubbling salted water - be generous with the salt when you add it to the water so the pasta is seasoned well. We like our pasta to still retain a little bite to the center and if you do as well, be sure to check it for doneness a minute or two before the directions state. The noodles are then rinsed to bring them down to about room temperature - don't worry about them sticking though... they will loosen up as soon as they are generously coated with pungent toasted sesame oil.

We added the shredded chicken I broiled earlier, along with mild scallions, shreds of bright orange carrots and the wicked peanut-sesame sauce. To add a little crunch, I scattered the top of each portion with chopped peanuts - for a visual punch, I then sprinkled with black sesame seeds. They are not always easy to find, so the same amount of toasted sesame seeds would be fine. If you've never tried the charcoal-colored seeds, they have a slightly more earthy note to them and have the benefit of adding a striking contrast.

We've actually made a somewhat similar dish back quite a few months ago, but we both loved the depth of sesame from two types of seeds and the slick toasted sesame oil this recipe provided. The peanut butter was not too assertive, but it definitely made itself known - the crunch from the nutty peanuts at the end was also a welcome contrast to the wheat-y pasta. Even if you prepared the chicken along side the rest, this dish was still a snap to prepare without too much effort - especially for a weeknight meal! One down side... I still ended up with quite a bit of clean up to do afterwards!

Recipes
Sesame Noodles with Shredded Chicken

Coconut Crescents and a hearty Cheddar-Topped Shepherd's Pie...

We reached into the holiday magazines again to find a cookie to make for the Weekly Wednesday Treat Day this week. While I know not every one is in love with coconut, these Coconut Marmalade Crescents may just change their mind!

These cookies are incredibly tender and light thanks to the lovely combination of butter and cream cheese in the dough. For the best mixing ability, give the cream cheese plenty of time to take the chill off from hanging out in the refrigerator - the butter should be softened as well, but try not to let it get so soft that it becomes greasy. While the dough was not very sticky after mixing, you will want to refrigerate it to firm the butter back up. This allows you to easily work with the dough and insure the cookies keep their shape while baking. While you could turn the cookies into whatever shape your heart desires, rolling them into a log and bending the edges into a half-moon is dead easy... especially when you have to do it 60 times!

You have a couple options for the coconut you add into the dough - use it plain if you want just a subtle note, but if you want to push that coconut flavor, toast the flakes, like we did, first. We also perked up the crescents with a bit of rum extract in the dough as the combination of coconut and rum creates sparks, but vanilla would fit in well if you didn't have the former. Once the crescents were baked and cooled, we coated the tops in a light frosting (almost more glaze-like) of confectioners' sugar, apricot marmalade and just enough fresh orange juice to thin the mixture out. You could also certainly use orange marmalade if that excites you more than apricot - once glazed, we topped them off with a shower of crunchy toasted coconut. These cookies were sturdy, but still soft on the inside - not necessary cake-like, but tender and moist nonetheless.

Tonight's dinner was all about relaxing and comfort... it is going to be crazy busy around here for the next few days, so this Cheddar-Topped Shepherd's Pie was exactly what we needed.

Underneath a generous mound of cheesy homemade mashed potatoes is a hearty filling of ground sirloin and vegetables. Once the chopped pieces of carrots, celery and onions had a chance to soften, the are coated with flour and thick, concentrated tomato paste. Adding this now allows the two direct contact with the heat, so the flour-y taste can cook out and intensify the tomato flavor. The beef is then added and crumbled until cooked through - while it is technically done at this point, the dish still needs a stint in the oven. To keep the filling moist, a cup of broth, or water, is stirred in - this activates the flour, turning that additional liquid into a thick gravy.

Once that beefy mixture is added to the baking dish, dollops of the mashed taters are added on top and connected with an off-set spatula - to create grooves on top to brown, a fork is dragged all over the top. Since we are a part of the "more cheese please" club, a smattering of additional sharp white cheddar is scattered on top. The dish is then baked just long enough to bring the potatoes and filling back up to temperature, melting the cheese and turning the top a lovely golden shade. Don't think the potatoes will dry out or stiffen up though - they were warm, creamy and had a pleasant sharpness from all that cheese. Pure comfort, delivered in a nice package, just waiting to be devoured. Bonus points for making plenty of leftovers to enjoy throughout the week! If you're feeling especially elegant, scoop the potatoes into a pastry bag, with a big star tip attached, and pipe them on top! Want to make this dish ahead? Prepare both the potatoes and filling a day ahead, keep them separate in the refrigerator and just assemble when ready - add about 15 minutes to the baking time to compensate for the chilly ingredients.

Recipes
Coconut Marmalade Crescents
Cheddar-Topped Shepherd's Pie

Not deep fried... but still tasty!

Tonight's recipe for dinner, Lighter General Tso's Chicken, took a leaner approach to a dish that is classically pretty caloric and deep fried.

Instead of deep frying the chicken, the cubed breast pieces are coated in a mixture of egg whites, cornstarch and the obligatory salt and fresh ground black pepper. Because there is a good amount of the chicken, you'll want to cook them in two batches in just enough oil to keep them from sticking - this way you won't drop the temperature in the skillet, trying to cram all of the pieces in, and they will be more likely to stay separate from each other. This light coating creates an almost ethereal golden crust as the chicken cooks - also note that you definitely want the excess cornstarch mixture to drip away, before you place the chicken inside the skillet, so it doesn't pool in the pan.

Once the batches were complete, we added halved snow peas that we tossed with a mixture of cornstarch, water, garlic, ginger, granulated sugar, soy sauce and flakes of crushed red pepper into the skillet. Once the sauce had a chance to thicken, the snow peas were bright and crisp-tender - the cooked chicken is then added back into the skillet to get lubed up with all that thick spicy sauce. That syrupy coating is slightly sweet, yet balanced well by the red pepper and salty soy - the aromatic bite from the fresh ginger is also worthy of being noted. We piled the chicken and snow peas on a bed of brown basmati rice to serve - feel free to cook your rice in whichever method works best for you, but the directions I gave were for the simple no-fuss method where there is no guess work involved.

While I'm sure we have never had a true and authentic version, for us, we were satisfied with the results we attained, especially for a lighter dish! Was is as good as a deep-fried version? Probably not, but did it cure a craving? It sure did its job!

Recipes
Lighter General Tso's Chicken

Steel cut oats... savory, not sweet!

The end of this week brings us one more week closer to Christmas (this is what I hear every week as Jeff is such a fan of the holidays!)... we prepared 8 new recipes - our favorite this time was that Brat, Beer and Cheese Soup, the Old-Fashioned Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting and the Peking Chicken Pizza from last night.

Gus sure is getting big! When we got him, he was a paltry 4 pounds... today? He weighs a beefy 10 pounds! We expect him to get around 13 pounds or so, but who knows at this point. He wanted to show off just how long his little doggy body is getting this morning - look at him stretch!

We have a bowl of steel cut oats often for breakfast - I love their chewier texture and hearty nature over the flakes of old-fashioned rolled oatmeal. However, for breakfast we usually sweeten them in one form or another. Have you ever thought about taking them in a savory direction though?

That is exactly where they went in this Oat Risotto with Peas and Asiago dish we made for dinner! While we waited on the pot of vegetable broth to come to a simmer, I began softening a leek that we cleaned and thinly sliced. Leeks are quite notorious for being sandy and dirty, so be sure to rinse or soak it as the grit can hide in the several layers the vegetable has.

To those tender leeks, a cup of the firm steel-cut oats are poured in and quickly toasted. As with most risotto preparations, this recipe takes the same path - broth of some sort (we used vegetable) is slowly added and the mixture is stirred until whatever grain or rice you used is just tender, but still retains a bit of a toothiness to the center. This process will suspend the now-chewy oats in a thick sauce - for a pop of color, we then stirred in scallions and tiny balls of baby peas to warm through.

To give the sauce a sharp edge and add a velvety note, fresh grated Asiago cheese is stirred in, along with a few shreds added on top, once we eased the risotto into the serving bowls. While I'm all for using arborio rice in risotto, using the oats in this dish anchored it with an earthiness that was a little unusual, but rightfully delicious. If you want a more distinctly flavored cheese, you could swap out the Asiago with a salty Pecorino.

Recipes
Oat Risotto with Peas and Asiago

Hazelnut Scones and revisiting a Chunky Spiced Applesauce...

One of the first things I had to do with our overflowing basket of apples was to make applesauce! I was browsing over a couple new recipes that I thought about making, but changed my mind when Jeff reminded me of that brilliant version we made last year. While I may make one or two other recipes this year just to see how they would compare, so far that Chunky Spiced Applesauce is the winner! Besides making it a rosy color, that alluring tart bite from the cranberries combined with the sweet depth from the maple syrup was as outstanding as last time!

This morning I was taking note of the baking supplies I had out in the freezer located in the garage. I have a variety of flours, butters, seeds and nuts in there to keep them as fresh as possible - when I was going through the nut section, I found a few (way underused!) hazelnuts! I guess I had forgotten about them, but after seeing them, I knew I had to bake with them today.

I was trying to think what type of baked good we haven't had for awhile and when I asked Jeff, his first response was cookies (that is always his first answer) - he then mentioned scones! Score! I knew I had a recipe for Hazelnut Scones in my untried piles, I just needed to figure out what stack I hid it in.

The first step for these scones is to grind together a small handful of hazelnuts with the sugar used to sweeten the dough. While you could just grind the nuts by themselves, the sugar is added as a layer of protection - it will absorb some of the excess oils so you don't grind them right into hazelnut paste.

You don't often find hazelnuts (also called filberts) without their skins (though I used to be able to get them at Trader Joe's... alas I haven't seem them there in a very long time), so for the remainder of the hazelnuts, you'll want to toast them and rub the skins off with a kitchen towel. Because you are really using a small amount in the first step, you don't really need to worry about skinning those - besides, the slightly bitter coating added a nice contrast to the sweet sugar. I've also heard of boiling the nuts with a pinch of baking soda and then toasting them to dry them out, but I haven't tried that method yet (this supposedly is more successful in removing all of their skins - but, as I said earlier, I don't mind them that much).

The dough for these scones is a very basic combination of flour, a portion of the ground hazelnut/sugar mixture, baking powder and baking soda that had cubes of cold butter worked in with a pastry blender (if you don't have that handy tool, two knives work well). The mixture should resemble coarse crumbs - the butter doesn't need to all be the same size either, a few bigger lumps is okay. Rather than using a rich cream, as a lot of great scone recipes do, this recipe takes them a bit lighter by using tangy buttermilk and an egg for that bit of extra fat from the yolk to keep them tender. Once the wet ingredients are mixed into the dry, keep a light hand and try not to mix more than you need too - just stir until the flour is moistened and knead it just a couple times until the dough comes together.

Instead of cutting rounds out like a biscuit, the dough is patted into a large circle and scored into 12 wedges - you're not looking to separate them, but only defining where each portion is. The remaining ground hazelnut/sugar mixture is then scattered over the dough to give the top a crunchy finish as it baked. These scones had a light crust on the outside and were soft and moist, with a nice tang from the buttermilk, on the inside. The chunky nuggets of toasted hazelnuts added a rich crunch that reminded me just how much I love them! Just sweet enough, a bit of preserves, curd or even a pat of softened butter would have been a nice compliment, but we found we didn't need anything else to enjoy these!

Recipes
Hazelnut Scones

Peking Chicken Pizza...

I can't believe it is Friday again... this year is just flying by at record speed it seems! Being Friday already, that means it is pizza night here!

As usual, I started this Peking Chicken Pizza I made tonight by whirling together our favorite whole-wheat pizza dough in the trusty food processor. Once the yeast had enough time do bubble up the dough, we easily stretched it into a large rough circle - don't worry about it being perfectly round... just call it rustic! Along the edge of the dough, I laid a track of sesame seeds about 1" wide - while you could lace the edge with an egg wash or even melted butter first, I didn't find I needed any glue as they stuck pretty well. The recipe did call for using two to three tablespoons worth of the seeds - I found that two was even a bit much for just coating the edge, so I went ahead and sprinkled the remaining seeds all over the dough.

Instead of a tomato-y sauce, this pizza is covered in a combination of your favorite barbecue sauce and an ingredient I've never used... plum sauce! This sauce is sweet and somewhat sour - it is usually made from plums (surprise!), but can also include peaches or apricots. On top of the sauce, we arranged thin slices of cooked chicken breast that we first seasoned simply with salt and fresh ground black pepper. The recipe called for the chicken to be placed on top of the lavish layer cheese, but I didn't want to expose them directly to the heat and dry them out. So, instead, I just hid them underneath.

Back to that layer of cheese - we used Monterey Jack which brought a smooth and mild finish to the top of this pizza. For a bit of freshness, we finished this off by sprinkling a mixture of chopped sweet red and orange bell pepper, along with a few thin pieces of scallion. Since the raw sesame seed ring on the crust was mostly exposed, those tiny seeds were able to toast, intensifing their flavor, as they were exposed to the heat. I don't know what is was about the combination of barbecue and that tangy plum sauce, but the duo danced around on top of the crust and married to create a delicious burnished glaze that was the highlight of this casual pizza.

Recipes

Peking Chicken Pizza

Lighter dinner with Mini Corn Cakes and a Bulgur Salad...

We've had a couple heavier meals over the last few days, so I thought I'd change things up for dinner and go with a couple lighter dishes tonight. First off, I made these tiny Mini Corn Cakes with Scallions that we made in miniature muffin tins for our side.

The batter for these small cakes began with a combination of cornmeal and flour that we spiked with a couple dashes of cayenne pepper. To moisten those ingredients, lots of corn kernels, milk, an egg, sugar and scallion whites were added to produce a fairly wet mixture. To try and get an even portion of the batter in the muffin tins, I used a smaller cookie scoop to fill up each well - a measured amount would be roughly a rounded tablespoon per corn cake.

These little guys cook quick - ours were ready in a short 9 minutes. They are done when the cakes are just set in the center... when they come out of the oven, you'll want to carefully run a thin knife around the edges as they have a tendency to stick as they are quite moist. To add a little flare, we topped them off with a small dollop of sour cream and set a piece of scallion on top. The little chunks of corn were pleasant to bite into, giving the cakes a little heft. Jeff commented that he thought these would be a fun bite-sized appetizer!

While we won't be having a picnic anytime soon (how long till spring again?!), I'll have to remember this Bulgur Salad With Grapes and Feta Cheese that we made tonight... it would be a good dish to bring along on one!

Bulgur is basically whole wheat that has been parboiled (or steamed), dried and then ground into varying small sizes. While bulgur and cracked wheat are sometimes confused, the big difference is that bulgur is pre-cooked, allowing it to be quickly prepared - usually a short 15 minute simmer. However, an even easier, off-hand method like we used in this recipe, the grains are just soaked in salted hot water for about half an hour!

Coating the grains is a simple, clean and bright dressing composed of fresh lemon juice and olive oil. To add some zest to this light salad, a couple tablespoons of minced scallions, halved seedless grapes, nutty toasted walnuts and generous crumbles of salty feta cheese are tossed in with the bulgur and dressing. The bulgur was tender, but still had a wheat-y chew that kept our mouths busy - if you wanted to changes things up, how about using quinoa, whole wheat couscous or even rice?

Recipes
Mini Corn Cakes with Scallions
Bulgur Salad With Grapes and Feta Cheese

Mac 'n Cheese... with three cheeses!

One of our favorite comfort foods is Mac 'n Cheese - it is hard to go wrong with lots of cheese and a bit of pasta thrown in. Instead of using your everyday cheddar, this Three-Cheese Macaroni and Cheese uses a different combination of cheese to add a different profile.

Another way to add a little more dimension to this baked pasta dish is sautéeing a chopped onion before beginning the creamy sauce - be sure to finely chop the onion, though, so the pieces kind of disappear into the mix. Once the flour and milk were added and began to thicken, the cheeses were stirred in to melt - we used a combination of piquant Gorgonzola cheese and decidedly sharp Parmigiano-Reggiano. Gorgonzola can be fairly strong, depending on where you get yours, so if you find it too pungent for your tastes, just use your favorite melting cheese - Gruyère would be a good choice.

While the sauce is tossed with classic elbow macaroni, we wanted to add a bit more nutrition, so we used a multi-grain pasta (we have found we like Barilla Plus the best). I'm sure you're counting and you've noticed we have only used two cheeses, right? The third, shredded mozzarella, is actually layered inside! We spread half of the dressed pasta into the baking dish, scattered the cheese on and then spread the remaining pasta on top. To add a crunchy contrast to the creamy inside, the top is smothered with crisp panko breadcrumbs that we tossed with additional Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese right before baking.

While serving this home-style right out of the baking dish was easy (and what we opted for!), if you wanted to make it a bit special, you could assemble the recipe in the same manner, but portion them out into individual 1-cup ramekins (you'll need about 6) and bake them for 20 to 25 minutes instead. We loved the depth this macaroni and cheese had compared to other versions - the garlic and bay leaf that was infused into the sauce came through; however, it also didn't distract from the cheesy punch. The Gorgonzola was definitely present - it actually didn't come through as strong as I thought it might though - just enough so Jeff knew it was there, but not so much that it overwhelmed him (he usually isn't a fan).

Recipes
Three-Cheese Macaroni and Cheese

Breathing in the aroma of fall through baking...

Baking for another Wednesday Treat Day was on tap for today - since we have an abundance of gorgeous apples we picked at the orchard, we figured it was time to start making a dent in our supply! For this week's treat, I made this Old-Fashioned Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting.

The preparation for the cake portion of this sweet recipe was a snap to do - all but two of the ingredients are tossed into a mixing bowl and beat together until crumbly. I used a combination of fragrant cinnamon, fresh grated nutmeg, cardamom and ginger to spice up this mixture - if you don't have those spices on hand already, you could just tally up the teaspoons and use the equivalent of prepared apple pie spice.

As I said, this mixture is rather crumbly - so at this point, a hearty dose of chopped apples (I used a combination of Honeycrisp, Fire Side and Golden Delicious) are added, along with a cup of lightly toasted chopped walnuts. Once those apples are jostled around with the mixer, their juices are released, transforming the crumbly mixture into a thick batter that is quite reminiscent of cookie dough.

Don't worry if you see the cake rise quite a bit halfway through baking and then slowly fall back as it gets closer to being done... it is suppose to work like that! Once thoroughly cooled, the cake is topped with a sweet penuche-like frosting. The frosting isn't too fussy, but it is a bit more work than a regular frosting - just be sure to let the butter and brown sugar mixture cool for about 10 minutes before beating in the confectioners' sugar. Do note that the frosting will need to be spread while still warm - if you wait too long to spread it, it will begin to set and not cover the cake well.

The cake portion was very moist with chunky bits of apple strewn throughout - I wouldn't say it was dense, but it was not necessarily light in texture either. It kind of reminded me of a rich fall-spiced blondie, especially with the toasted chunks of walnuts in each bite. While fairly sweet, the thin layer of frosting was killer and turned out to be a fantastic combination with the cake underneath - it was pretty tough to stop tasting it as I was trying to spread it on top! Another benefit of this cake? It makes the house swell with the aroma of fall from those aromatic spices!

For our dinner tonight, I made these individual Smoky-Spicy Tamale Pies. After browning a bit of turkey meat I coarsely ground in the food processor, we added chopped onion, a scoop of the corn I stashed in the freezer earlier in the summer and a couple cloves worth of minced garlic. We seasoned the crumbly mixture with chili powder, cumin and a healthy pinch of ground chipotle chile to back up the smoky notes from the cumin, along with a punch of heat. If you don't happen to have the chipotle, you could use about an eighth of a teaspoon worth of cayenne pepper to get that kick.

Red kidney beans and a mess of fire-roasted tomatoes with green chiles (woo! let's hear it for spiciness!) are tossed into the skillet and quickly warmed through. Once divided out into the ramekins, a quick cornbread topping is whipped together and spooned over each serving. You'll just need to bake these long enough to bake that layer of cornbread... which is just enough time to make the filling pipping hot! If for some reason your ramekins are extra full, be sure to place them on a baking sheet before going into the oven to prevent any messes if the juices bubble over the edge.

If only I thought ahead to double this... I would have certainly enjoyed another dish of this for lunch tomorrow - at two servings, Jeff and I thought it was pretty generous too. If you want to tone down the level of heat, use regular fire-roasted tomatoes and if you have it, use ancho chile powder, instead of the chipotle, to ramp up the smokiness. The recipe actually called for making two ramekins full, but it called for a ramekin size of 1 1/2 cups - I didn't have those, so I split the recipe into three 1 cup ramekins. Jeff and I just fought for the third dish - and while Jeff would lead you to believe we each ended up with half, I bet Jeff got more! If you do have the larger ramekins and wish to use them, just divide to filling and topping between the two - you will need to add 10 or so minutes to the baking time.

Recipes
Old-Fashioned Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting
Smoky-Spicy Tamale Pies

Brat, Beer and Cheese Soup on a dreary day...

We ended up with 8 new recipes coming from the kitchen this week - our picks this time were those Maple Walnut Thumbprint Cookies, that enormous Meaty Deep-Dish Pizza, and the Peanut Energy Bars we made yesterday.

If you were uncertain that fall has arrived, it definitely has up here in Minnesota! Saturday morning we woke up to frost and today has just been pretty dreary and rainy. We definitely needed something hearty, warming and comforting to fill us up tonight!

Soup was definitely in order... but I needed to find a recipe that had some weight to it - after flipping through some of our options, we both decided this Brat, Beer and Cheese Soup fit the bill, especially since I didn't need to buy anything extra!

Inside of our big Dutch oven, sliced carrots, chopped celery and onion bounce around in olive oil until they were quite tender. A couple cloves of minced garlic were tossed in, and as soon as it's aroma was present, all-purpose flour is sprinkled over the vegetable mixture and allowed to cook out for just a minute to remove it's raw taste. A pound of cubed russet potatoes were added, followed by a combination of chicken broth and a bottle of beer (preference is up to you - whichever favorite kind that you think would add a pleasant depth should do well). After the potatoes were given a chance to become tender, yet still retain some texture, the soup is seasoned with a bit of chipotle pepper for a smoky heat, along with mustard powder for an intriguing background.

For a creamy edge with a bite, milk and just a touch of Worcestershire sauce is stirred it - if you are feeling a little decadent, swirl in some half-and-half instead of the milk... that was my plan at least, until the container I pulled out of the refrigerator was empty (! - and it wasn't me who put an empty container back). A few generous handfuls of cheddar cheese are slowly stirred in, off heat, to melt into the soup for a sharp contrast. A couple cups worth of the vegetables are then removed from the soup and pureed to give the soup a voluptuous body. If you wanted a soup that was more thin, skip this part, but we both agreed that the added texture was worth that step. Cooked and sliced links of bratwurst sausage were added to the soup, along with the puree, and the pot was placed back over the heat long enough to warm everything through.

The beer brought a subtle, but noticeable, background tang to the soup that caught our attention - the soup also definitely benefited from that thicker body with those pureed vegetables. It helped to suspend those remaining chunky pieces so they didn't fall right to the bottom. In this homey and very comforting soup, if the brats don't get you excited, how about using kielbasa or going the more smoky route by crisping up a few slices of bacon to add on top first, then using their drippings to soften the vegetables?

Recipes
Brat, Beer and Cheese Soup

No-bake Peanut Energy Bars...

We are both grazers when it comes to food and would snack all day if we could. We just finished up that biscotti I made last week, so I needed to get a new snack made today. This time I went with a healthy granola-type bar that is overloaded with all sorts of nuts, seeds and a variety of dried fruits.

The dry ingredients to these no-bake Peanut Energy Bars that I made this morning are a combination of salted peanuts, roasted sunflower seeds, dried blueberries, dried cranberries, dark raisins, golden raisins, old-fashioned rolled oats and crisped brown rice cereal. Whew... what a list - right? Just use your favorite combination of dried fruit to equal two cups - if you don't have crisped brown rice cereal, Rice Krispies would be just fine.

We now needed to get all those healthy ingredients to stick together! I heated a mixture of homemade peanut butter (use any natural kind that suits your fancy), brown sugar, brown rice syrup, Lyle's Golden Syrup and a splash of vanilla until the mixture was bubblin' away. I did this in the microwave to speed the process along, but you could just as well do it on the stove over medium heat. I know the rice and golden syrup may be a little unfamiliar, but you could certainly use light corn syrup or a mixture of corn syrup and honey.

If you don't know those two ingredients, brown rice syrup is thick and sticky like honey, but tends to be not as sweet and metabolizes more slowly in your system. The Golden Syrup has a fantastic burnt sugar/caramel-esque flavor that can't be beat - also great for pouring over pancakes or drizzling on toast!

Once the wet and dry ingredients were thoroughly combined, the tacky-to-the-touch mass was pressed into a baking tin - be sure to press down firmly so all those tasty bits will grab a hold of one another. If it starts to get too messy, just coat your hands lightly with softened butter or cooking spray. Leave the tin be for just about an hour or so and you'll get cleanly cut pieces. The bars are thick, generously sized, just sweet enough and decidedly c-h-e-w-y! Since Jeff loves M&M's, I think the next time I make these I'll toss in a few instead of one of the dried fruits just for variety. Also, I definitely have plans to turn these out again, using cashew butter and salted cashews to replace the peanuts! If you're a fan of sweet and salty, I have a feeling you'll be just as pleased as we were - move over grocery store granola bars!

Recipes
Peanut Energy Bars