Cookies to get us through the baking bonanza...

It is just about crunch time around here - this next week might be a little slower as I will be quite busy finishing up all of the baked goods we are making as gifts so we can get them out in time. I've been getting doughs into the freezer and getting the last of the ingredient lists pinned down - we may top our usage of butter and chocolate from last year... oh my! As always, a lot of the stuff we will end up making will be items that need to be done last minute to ensure freshness... who needs sleep right?

Since I won't have much time to make snacks for us, I threw together some cookies today so we can have something in the freezer just for us.

The dough for these Honey-Roasted Chunky Peanut Butter Cookies was a breeze to make and just a bit different than your ordinary peanut butter cookies. Since the dough is a little sticky, I used a cookie scoop to portion it out - but you could just use a tablespoon and a little bit of flour to roll them into balls. Honey is used for sweetness and gives the dough a bit different texture - we found the golden baked cookies to have a slight crispness to the outside with the tender insides being more soft with a slight chew. These were not hard, crumbly or sandy as some peanut butter cookies are. To show there are bits of chopped peanuts in the cookies, I pressed in half of a peanut on the top of each cookie. If you don't want to bother with the more traditional criss-cross pattern on top, just use the bottom of a glass or some wet fingertips to flatten the cookies out a bit before baking.

Recipes
Honey-Roasted Chunky Peanut Butter Cookies

Blogger has finally given me the option to switch to the new beta version - has anyone had much luck with the transition or any tips to share? Between our daily updates and recipes we currently have over 1170 posts, I don't have much time to fiddle if issues come up!

Breakfast does not only have to be served in the morning!

I was looking for a different type of side dish to have with dinner tonight, so I opted to make a tangy Poppy Seed Fruited Slaw. The original recipe calls for your basic bagged shredded cabbage and carrot mixture, but I love the crunchy texture that broccoli slaw gives. I used one that contains shredded broccoli, cauliflower, red cabbage and carrots. The broccoli slaw is tossed with a few halved red grapes and chopped orange sections. A sweet dressing consisting of sugar, onion, vinegar, poppy seeds, canola oil and dry mustard is quickly whisked up and drizzled over the slaw mixture. Covered and allowed to marinate in the refrigerator, this was a healthy, light and quick side dish that was full of fresh flavors. If you want to make this ahead of time, just whisk up the dressing and keep it separate from the slaw until about 30 minutes before you're ready to serve.

It has been awhile since we had a breakfast-for-dinner night - to remedy that, I made some Cinnamon-Apple French Toast. While this sounded good, it just felt like it was missing something. The apple topping was delicious - tart Granny Smith apples sauteed in a knob of butter with sugar and cinnamon until tender. A shot of fresh lemon juice, right before they are removed from the heat, brought out the sweetness in the sticky glaze that coated each of the slices. If you don't like Granny Smith apples, be sure to choose a firm variety so to not end up with applesauce instead of nice tender slices. The toast part of the recipe was a little odd - there is no egg in the dipping batter, so it seemed to not really set up or get very crisp on the griddle. While the flavor was pretty good, the texture was not what we expected - we ended up putting them in the toaster oven for a few minutes to crisp up. We did, however, like the addition of apple butter in the dipping mixture - it added an appetizing twist to the light wheat flavor in the slices of bread. Good flavor, but I think there are better recipes out there that could be adapted to use apple butter and result in a better texture.

Recipes
Poppy Seed Fruited Slaw
Cinnamon-Apple French Toast

Warm soup and a hearty rye bread...

I wish the weather would make up its mind! We are offically getting our first snow right now - although it is just flurries and probably will not be sticking around. Next week they are predicting temperatures close to 60... hopefully it will either just be cold or warm, I don't like the in between!

For part of tonight's dinner, I thought it would be nice to make some fresh bread to have along side. Brown Beer Rye Bread peaked my interest as I've been wanting to make another beer based loaf after the success we had with the Onion and Fontina Beer Batter Bread we made a couple weeks ago. Just like the other recipe, this one begins by cooking fresh onions until tender and golden so they have time to cool before adding to the dough. However, this is a yeasted bread rather than one relying on other leaveners. For a more unique flavor, warm brown beer, yogurt and mild licorice scented caraway seeds bring a unique flavor to this chewy loaf. We used a medium colored German beer which seemed to punch up the rye flavor with it's darker malt flavored background. Sometimes the amount of flour called for needs to be adjusted depending on where you live, but I found this recipe was very close as the dough was pretty easy to work with - just tacky enough without being too sticky to knead well. Right before baking, a light egg wash is brushed on the dough to allow the crust to take on a rich deep golden color.

We just had this toasted tonight, but I can't wait to try a sandwich with some thin sliced meat or as a base for a more adult-flavored grilled cheese.

With it being so windy and chilly, tonight was perfect for a warm and filling soup. If you still have some cooked turkey in the freezer from Thanksgiving, this recipe for Turkey Soup With Cheddar Dumplings turned out to be a great way to use up ours. Fresh carrots and onions refresh leftover turkey stock from the freezer with some additional water to thin for liquid in the recipe. While the veggies simmer away until tender, a few dumplings are quickly thrown together. These are not those heavy and bland dumplings that you may have had before - they get a boost in flavor and texture with crunchy cornmeal, corn kernels and sharp cheddar. Once they are portioned out into balls and the soup is at a gentle boil, they are dropped in and allowed to absorb the savory essence of the rich stock. As they cook, the dumplings blow up into light pillows that just melt in your mouth as you enjoy the soup.

Recipes
Brown Beer Rye Bread
Turkey Soup With Cheddar Dumplings

Fresh Cranberries.... part two!

Back with part two of the cranberry extravaganza for Wednesday Treat Day. I've been wanting to make a cheesecake for Jeff's co-workers for awhile and finally settled on a recipe for a Cranberry-Orange Cheesecake with Oreo Crust.

We start off with a twist to the crust - chopped bittersweet chocolate is added along with the Oreos when you process them into crumbs for an extra punch of chocolate. Melted butter holds the two together and the crumbly mixture is pressed into a springform pan. Once the crust has a chance to bake and cool, the creamy filling is made with just a few ingredients. For the best results, make sure each ingredient is close to room temperature so you don't get any lumps. Cream cheese is sweetened with sugar and mixed until smooth with a just a few tablespoons of flour being added to help hold the cheesecake together. Eggs are added, one at a time, and are only mixed until combined - do this on low speed so you don't add air to the batter. Fresh grated orange zest and a touch of vanilla are added to brighten the flavor. Before pouring into the crust, wrap the springform pan with some heavy duty foil to prevent any water from penetrating the crust as this will be baked in a water bath. This helps the cheesecake to bake evenly and ususally prevents the dreaded cracks that can sometimes happen. To keep the cheesecake moist and creamy, remove it when the edges are set, but about a 3" circle in the center is still jiggly when you touch the pan. Since the cake will want to shrink as it cools, run a thin knife around the top edge of the cheesecake and the pan - this also helps reduce the chance of cracking so you will achieve a nice smooth surface on top.

The cranberry part of the recipe comes in with a ruby red sweet, syrupy topping with a hint of orange for the cheesecake. These are both best done a day ahead so they have plenty of time to rest and chill in the refrigerator. While I can't comment on the taste, the feedback we got today was fantastic! Jeff did get a small sliver and said it was silky smooth, just orange-y enough and a perfect pair to the decadent crisp crust.

We had a meat and potatoes type of dinner tonight - we will start off with the Ponzu-Glazed Flank Steak first and talk about the funky and fun recipe I made with fingerling potatoes a little later. This recipe could not be simpler - a Ponzu glaze is made by boiling fresh lemon and lime juice with salty soy sauce, golden honey and grated ginger root. Half of this tart and tangy mixture is brushed onto the flank steak and under the broiler it goes for a couple minutes. It is then flipped over to be brushed with the rest of the glaze and placed back under the broiler to finish cooking. For medium-rare, it only took about 10 minutes to cook - the steak is then left to rest for 5 minutes so the temperature can continue to rise a few degrees and the juices can be reabsorbed. Sliced against the grain to ensure the steak is tender, the gorgeous pink color shines against caramelized outer crust. Served with the succulent juices left behind, the slightly sweet sauce has a gentle bite from the fresh ginger to off-set the tangy liquid the fruits added. Jeff has already claimed the leftovers to have as a killer sandwich for lunch tomorrow... though we may have to veto that idea and give him some other dinner we have leftover in the freezer!

Recipes
Cranberry-Orange Cheesecake with Oreo Crust
Ponzu-Glazed Flank Steak

Fresh Cranberries.... part one of two

We're back with another day of baking for the weekly Wednesday Treat Day for Jeff's coworkers - this time we used a favorite fresh fruit of the season, Cranberries! I love this time of the year when we can find them all over - I always buy extra and keep a few bags in the freezer so we can enjoy them throughout the year.

I was feeling adventurous, so I ended up making two different treats, with the first one being a Cranberry Upside-Down Coffee Cake. The bottom layer, which will end up being the dark colored top, is created by melting a couple tablespoons of butter and adding dark brown sugar, fresh orange juice and cinnamon. This cooks for a short time and is poured into the bottom of the baking dish. Tart fresh cranberries, crunchy walnuts, sweet pitted dates and a bit of orange zest are then sprinkled on top of the caramel mixture. A buttery cake batter is then mixed up and spooned over the cranberry mixture. Once baked until firm and golden, the cake rests for a short time and is turned out to reveal a sticky, sweet and beautiful jeweled top.

For a striking contrast in color, a zesty glaze made simply from confectioners' sugar, butter and fresh orange juice is drizzled in lines across the top to finish off this moist cake.

Be sure to have lots of time if you want to make this Spaghetti Bake that we had for dinner tonight. Between the prep work, making a homemade sauce, the cheese topping and then baking the dish, it took me awhile to get everything together. Don't let that scare you off though, the effort it took to make definitely showed up in the taste. A hearty meat sauce abounding with fresh onions, garlic, carrots, zucchini, red bell peppers and mushrooms bubbles away with chopped fire-roasted tomatoes to create a deep full-bodied filling. As you wait for the sauce to thicken, a base for the cheese topping is created by whisking melting butter with flour. Milk is added in a slow stream and the mixture cooks until thick and bubbly. A dash of fresh nutmeg is then added - don't skip this step, it brings an interesting depth to the sauce. This mixture needs time to cool before adding the remaining ingredients.

Once the meat sauce is ready and removed from the stove, a drizzle of balsamic vinegar heightens the flavors with a shower of Parmesan mixed in for for a touch of sharpness. This is then mixed with whole wheat spaghetti that has only cooked for about 5 minutes - you want it to still be pretty firm as it will continue to cook in the oven and this will help soak up the extra moisture and flavor in the sauce. This mixture is then placed in the baking dish and the base for the cheese sauce is finished by mixing in creamy ricotta and an egg. The sauce is then spooned on top and a light scattering of Parmesan finishes the dish. Baked until golden and bubbly, this hearty comfort dish has generous portions that can be cut and served in neat squares. I hope the night hurries by... I can't wait for lunch tomorrow to enjoy another piece of this!

Recipes
Cranberry Upside-Down Coffee Cake
Spaghetti Bake

Using those old pans...

Do you have baking pans around that just don't get enough use or know what to do with? I have that problem... the last time we used our donut pans (or doughnuts... however you like to spell it) was more than a year ago! I loved using them before and I ended up forgetting about them until I went to reorganize my baking pans when we got the new cabinets.

While they are not as decadent as fried donuts, these Vermont Apple Cider Donuts with Maple Glaze certainly didn't let us down. If you don't happen to have a donut pan already on hand, you could always use those miniature bundt molds or even bake them in a regular bundt pan for a large cake! Flavored with apple cider and apple butter, these lightly cinnamon scented rings also have a hint of maple from pure maple syrup which also adds just enough sweetness. The texture is more on the light side with the interior staying very moist from the addition of plain yogurt. The glaze is a simple combination of confectioners' sugar, maple syrup and a few drops of vanilla. Right after dunking, the glaze may seem to be a bit thick on top - but as they rest, the sweet maple-infused topping slowly absorbs into the donuts. So instead of a fluffy frosting, this leaves a soft, but set, thin and opaque crust.

As a side for some leftovers, tonight we decided to have a Warm Potato Salad with Beer and Mustard Dressing. Red potatoes begin by hanging out in some simmering water until they are tender - they are then drained and left to cool until you can easily slice them into rounds. Since you need to wait, you are left with just enough time to finish the rest of the salad. Onions, celery, parsley, sweet pickles, amber ale and cider vinegar are mixed together and are added to the cooled sliced potatoes. To warm them back up, a hot dressing is made by cooking a bit of sweet onion in olive oil. More amber ale along with cider vinegar and seasonings are added in and the mixture bubbles away until it reduces and concentrates their flavors. The hot mixture is combined with tangy Dijon and processed until smooth. Olive oil added in a slow stream brings the dressing together and is then mixed with the potato mixture. The bite from the beer, mustard and vinegar matched well to the tender potatoes - we both liked how light tasting this was compared to a mayo based recipe.

*If you don't wait long enough before you slice the potatoes, you may have a harder time getting them to hold their round shape - I waited about 15 minutes or so and was just at the edge of them being a bit too warm still.

Recipes
Vermont Apple Cider Donuts with Maple Glaze
Warm Potato Salad with Beer and Mustard Dressing

It's that time of the year....

What's that aroma in the house? No... it is not the rich smell of Christmas cookies baking away, not yet anyway as we had another project that needed our attention!

It is the sweet pine smell from our fresh tree slowly wafting through each room in the house! It has been more than a few years since we have had a real tree - we just started using an artificial one for ease. We actually went out to a local tree farm, with saw in hand, and chopped down the Fraser Fir tree now standing in front of our bay window! Yes, it is still quite naked - we will put on the lights and decorate here and there during the next week.

Which one do you like to put up - real or artificial? We always had a real tree growing up - Mom would not have it any other way, so it sure brought back a bunch of memories!

Working from the pantry...

Earlier in the week I was itchin' to bake something for Jeff to bring in and share for an extra treat day, so I looked around to see what ingredients were already on hand. We still had some mashed pumpkin in the freezer and I needed to use up some cream cheese... I peeked through some recipes and ended up making Pumpkin Carrot Swirl Bars.

These bars could be looked upon as a different take on carrot cake - more spicy, a hint of pumpkin in the background with a cream cheese frosting swirled and baked in on top. Being more cake-like than dense and chewy, they are quite moist and have an almost fluffy interior. The swirled frosting on top has a slight sweet vanilla scent and leaves pockets of a cheesecake-like flavor scattered throughout. The texture of the shredded carrots matched well to the light cake and did not seem obtrusive at all.

Recipes
Pumpkin Carrot Swirl Bars

Soup to fill you up...

Right after Thanksgiving, I made sure to go to a few different markets around town to see what they had left for turkeys. I found some fresh ones at a killer price and picked up a couple to debone. I do this to make my own ground turkey and turkey stock to store in the freezer - so much cheaper than paying upwards of $4-5 a pound the pre-ground meat costs! I can also mix and match dark with white meat to help keep the white meat moist while cooking.

I needed some of that ground turkey for tonight's dinner of Spinach and Orzo Soup with Turkey Parmesan Meatballs. The turkey meatballs are held together and flavored with a combination of an egg, panko breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, garlic and spices. To help the process of shaping and dividing out the meat, I used a tablespoon cookie scoop which made this a breeze to complete. If they start to stick, dip the scoop in some water and continue on. Another bonus with this method is you also get a head start on shaping them into balls! I did veer a bit from the original recipe - instead of using escarole, we went ahead and used a more mild spinach. The recipe also called for cooking the meatballs in the broth and while I'm sure that works well, I wanted to add a bit more depth and texture. We caramelized and cooked them most of the way in a skillet before adding them into the soup to finish. Chicken broth is the base of the soup with the addition of chunky carrots and orzo to round out the dish. Being bulked up with pasta and meatballs, this soup was a very filling main dish - even though we don't repeat many recipes, this will have to be made many more times to enjoy during the upcoming winter season.

Recipes
Spinach and Orzo Soup with Turkey Parmesan Meatballs

No time at night, but have a few minutes in the morning?

If you going to be too busy in the evening to bother with making dinner, but find yourself with a few minutes in the morning to throw some ingredients together, the dinner we had tonight may be something you would like!

Because this recipe, English Muffin Strata with Cranberries and Spicy Sausage, needs a few hours to sit in the refrigerator, it should be assembled in the morning or even the night before you wish to bake it so the English muffins have time to absorb some of the custard and the flavors to meld together. This hearty and savory dish begins by cooking spicy and lean Italian turkey sausage until browned. A liquid mixture made from eggs, plain soy milk (you can use regular milk), sour cream and seasonings is whisked together to form a light but creamy custard. The strata can then be assembled by making two layers of cubed English muffins, the cooked sausage and dried cranberries. The custard is then poured on top to soften the cubed muffins, with a scattering of sharp white cheddar for a cheesy finish. Once this is assembled it can rest in the refrigerator until you're ready to bake - I wouldn't let it sit more than 24 hours though. This bakes into a beautiful golden brown strata full of spicy sausage off-set with a touch of sweetness from the dried cranberries.

Sometimes these types of recipes don't go over well with Jeff as he doesn't care for the more soft texture they can have, but he especially liked that this was not mushy or soggy - we also both enjoyed the touch of tangy richness the sour cream added in the background.

Recipes
English Muffin Strata with Cranberries and Spicy Sausage

Quick and refreshing...

For those that have been asking, we did go ahead and send in the treats today. Since we wrapped them individually with plastic wrap, they were not able to run all over and the stickiness factor was minimal. The feedback was great for the taste, but I just wish the texture would have been better!

Tonight's dinner, Chicken, Broccoli, and Lemon Stir-Fry, was a quick way to get dinner on the table, but still enjoy a dish that was brimming with flavor. Letting the chicken rest in a marinade of soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, garlic and crushed red pepper was the first step in adding zing to this meal. As the chicken is sliced fairly thin, it only takes a few minutes for the marinade to work its magic - it also means the chicken will cook quickly too! Once the chicken is done, broccoli and fresh slices of lemon are added to the hot skillet until the broccoli turns a bright green. A touch of water is added and the broccoli gently cooks until tender. Some of the marinade mixture that was set aside is then poured over with a slurry of cornstarch and water to thicken the sauce. With spice from the crushed red pepper backed up with crisp-tender broccoli and bright lemon slices, this chicken dish was a refreshing end to a hectic day. You could stretch this by serving it over fragrant jasmine rice or enjoy it as is for a light dinner. Next time, I think we will add a couple dashes of toasted sesame oil for another depth of flavor.

Recipes
Chicken, Broccoli, and Lemon Stir-Fry

Oh Martha... you finally steered me wrong...

We've done pretty well with recipes from Martha that we have made... but I can't say that anymore! I had some heavy cream leftover from last week and needed to get it used up - I looked through her baking handbook and selected a recipe I had marked to try for awhile. I figured it would be a good item to make for Jeff to bring in for the weekly Wednesday Treat Day tomorrow - but alas, I have not decided if they will end up going in or not.

The recipe, Caramel Nut Bars, seemed to be going fine up until the point where the caramel was suppose to be "set". The base is a buttery crust easily made from brown sugar, butter, flour and a touch of salt. While this baked, I toasted and chopped pecans, cashews and peanuts. I thought the caramel was cooking along fine, the candy thermometer went up to 300 as stated (yes, I've even checked to make sure it works correctly - I use it often). As I stirred the nuts into the cooling caramel I thought it still looked very liquid-y, but I poured it onto the crust and into the oven it went to finish. Once the timer went off, I set it on the cooling rack and continued on with other errands I had to do. A few hours later I came back to see it was still sort of jiggly... I stuck it in the fridge thinking it would help get things moving. Well, a couple hours later I went to cut into it and it was still soft - but it seemed to be holding together. After separating the triangles, the caramel started to just run and ooze out... *sigh*. While they certainly taste delicious - salty, nutty and chewy, they are not really presentable and are just too sticky. We will wrap them up and set them in the freezer to see if the texture will be okay in the morning.

I'm not sure if something in the recipe is funky or what, but I diligently followed the directions and am sad that the caramel never fully set up - expensive recipe to not work correctly! Any idea as to what happened? Maybe I was suppose to dance around and hop on one foot when I made it... hmm!

On the other hand, dinner tonight - Balsamic Chicken with Grapes and Almonds, turned out very well. This quick dish starts by searing seasoned chicken breast in a touch of oil until golden on each side. Red grapes, broth, balsamic vinegar and brown sugar are added and brought to a boil. Once reduced, the chicken is added back in and allowed to finish cooking in the simmering liquid. Since this dish is pretty saucy, I threw on some whole wheat couscous while the chicken was finishing to soak up the flavorful juices. The bite from the vinegar was tempered by the sweet brown sugar and we loved how the red grapes brought a soft texture to this savory recipe. Leaving you with minimal clean up and only taking about 20 minutes - this is a perfect dish for those hectic nights when you don't have much time or energy to cook.

Recipes
Caramel Nut Bars
Balsamic Chicken with Grapes and Almonds

Versatile side dish...

10 new recipes made last week and if we were picking out favorites they would have to be Chicken and Black Bean Taquitos with Adobo Sour Cream, Snickers Fudge and Roast Turkey and Prosciutto Pizza. I have also brought the recipe section on the left side bar up to date - you may need to hit refresh on each page to see the new recipes added. Can you believe we have over 600 recipes between the two sections now?! Since we have made every single one, it is fun to stroll back and look through them to see the pictures and what we thought of the recipe.

Tonight's dinner, Quinoa Stuffing with Leeks, Walnuts and Cherries, made excellent use one of our new favorite foods. Even though the original recipe didn't call for it, make sure to rinse the quinoa as it can bring an unpleasant bitterness - I also like to gently toast the grain afterwards to dry them out and punch up the nutty flavor. As the quinoa soaks in flavor from the chicken broth while it gently bubbles away, thin slices of leek, chopped celery and seasonings are cooked until tender in melted butter. Minced garlic is tossed in and quickly cooked to temper the harsh raw flavor. Once the quinoa explodes and the tiny curls pop out, they are added to the cooked vegetables along with chopped dried cherries and nutty toasted walnuts so the flavors can meld together as the dish warms through. A little sweet, crunchy, nutty and chock full of healthy ingredients, I can see making this quite often as a side or even with a piece of grilled chicken for a light dinner.

Recipes

Quinoa Stuffing with Leeks, Walnuts and Cherries

Chips can be more than chocolate...

I wonder if we will end up making all the recipes from the new King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking cookbook... We have done at least one recipe a week now and we hit another winner. I chose this recipe as I liked the way the bones looked, but I did change it some because we wanted a different flavor.

Cappuccino Oatmeal Muffins were originally supposed to be flavored with crystallized ginger and the topping was different, but I opted to change some of the spices and use some cappuccino chips! The last time we saw these for sale was back in Phoenix, but we finally spotted some again while we were out of town and picked up a couple bags. White whole wheat flour is used which adds to their nutritional value, but keeps them tender and fluffy without changing the taste much. We also used oat flour to keep the whole grain theme going - if you can't find this, you can make your own as we did by processing old-fashioned rolled oats in a blender or food processor until they are very fine. This actually measures cup for cup, so you would whiz 1/2 cup regular oats to achieve the 1/2 cup oat flour needed in the recipe. Instead of using a large ice cream scoop to portion out the mixture I ended up using a measuring cup - I found the batter to be a little more runny than other muffins, but I think this helped to keep them moist and added to their lightness. Before baking, I scattered vanilla sugar on top to add a sweet crunchy top to each muffin. If you look at the larger picture, you can see the darker speckles of vanilla bean on top.

Recipes

Cappuccino Oatmeal Muffins

Two "pies"... one sweet and one savory...

I made a small mentioned yesterday about the dessert we had for Thanksgiving - instead of a typical pie (even though we are quite fond of the one we made last year) we opted to make a cake... flavored like a pie!

I made the layers for the Pumpkin Pie Cake a few days ago and just kept them in the freezer until this morning. With classic pie flavors of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice, these moist cakes are separated by a sweet luscious cream cheese frosting that also adorns the top. The original recipe calls for scattering chopped pecans on top - but for a fun twist, we added some crumbs from the new gingerbread flavored graham crackers! While it certainly does not have the same texture as a pie, the pumpkin pie-like flavor was there and it was a satisfying way to finish a rich meal with a dessert on the lighter side.

While sandwiches are always a must have for leftovers, we opted to start a new tradition and turn part of the turkey meat into a Roast Turkey and Prosciutto Pizza! Instead of buying a prebaked crust as the recipe called for, I opted to make our favorite whole wheat pizza dough and bake it for a few minutes on our pizza stone before topping it. The dough really only takes just a couple minutes to whip up in the food processor. I used a spicy pizza sauce to top the nutty dough, followed by shredded fontina, turkey spiced up with potent balsamic vinegar, red onions, fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and cracked black pepper. Once the crust had a chance to crisp up and the cheese melted, we removed the pizza and showered the top with torn bits of salty prosciutto. If I could have found any Arugula when we went to the market earlier in the week, I would have added some torn pieces on top for another peppery bite.

Recipes
Pumpkin Pie Cake
Roast Turkey and Prosciutto Pizza

Happy Thanksgiving 2006!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope everyone is taking a little time to enjoy the day today! We spent most of the morning finishing up and are done cooking for the day - hooray! We kept the menu fairly low-key as it is just Jeff and I.

Here's what ended up on our menu today - Roasted Turkey breast, Sausage, Apple and Fennel Corn Bread Dressing Muffins, Roasted Garlic Golden-Smashed Potatoes, Make-Ahead Gravy, Roasted Garlic and Asiago Cloverleaf Rolls and something sweet for dessert. You'll find the recipes for the titles in bold down below.

We did a simple mixture of butter, salt, pepper and poultry seasoning to flavor the turkey breast. We then used a high-heat roasting recipe from Epicurious to cook the turkey breast and were pleasantly surprised with just how moist the meat came out. The bird took just about an hour and 10 minutes at 450 degrees - we will definitely be using this method again!

I ended up making the corn bread for the dressing a couple days ago and then just assembled and baked this afternoon. We took a cue from the stuffing hit last year and just made these in muffin tins instead of a big casserole - perfect for an individual portion size! I used chipotle smoked turkey sausage, but I imagine you could use the sausage of your choice. The corn bread was not sweet like some with sugar, but I liked that as it seemed to meld in with the rest of the flavors better. The mild anise flavor that the fennel brought was a refreshing addition to the crunchy topped muffins. The apples added a cool tartness to offset the spice in the sausage and kept the interior pretty moist. Using a couple eggs in the dressing made sure that they did not fall apart when they slipped out of the muffin tins.

The rolls were pretty much the same as last year execpt for a few changes - I used half bread flour, dried thyme instead of rosemary and added 2 ounces of fresh grated Asiago cheese during the last couple minutes of kneading. These were excellent - soft, tender and the roasted garlic flavor went well with the sharp Asiago.

We started the gravy yesterday by first making a Roasted Turkey Stock from turkey wings and the classic aromatics. Easy, made quite a bit of stock for the freezer and brought a rich fresh flavor to the gravy. When it was time to make the gravy, we first reduced a bit of the stock, added a few cups more and then whisked some of the hot liquid into a mixture of butter and flour. Back to the stove it went to heat back up. This ended up a little thinner than we would have liked, but the amount of flavor the gravy had was so good.

As you can see... the pups and Miss Kitty made sure they were close by just in case something happened to fall while we were getting our plates ready!

Here's a quick snap of Jeff's plate before we went to sit down.

No, we didn't forget dessert - here is a sneak peak at what I made, but you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see what it was!

Recipes
Roasted Turkey Stock
Make-Ahead Gravy
Sausage, Apple, and Fennel Corn Bread Dressing

Keeping it simple...

I spent some more time today doing a little prep work to get a head start on the holiday meal for tomorrow. Since it is just us two, we don't really do anything extravagant, but it will be nice to have a majority of it done. We do have to make enough though, so there are plenty of leftovers - the best part of course!

We kept dinner light and quick tonight so there wouldn't be much clean up to do - the kitchen will be ready to go without much work in the morning. The recipe, Penne with Spinach Sauce, was on the table in a flash since we just needed to wait for the pasta to get tender. As it cooks, a simple sauce is made from fresh garlic, goat cheese, cream cheese and tender baby spinach. The original recipe called for three cloves of raw garlic - I find garlic to be a little harsh raw and at three cloves I had a feeling that would be a bit much for us. To help mellow the flavor, I added the garlic to the boiling water when I added the pasta and let it cook for a couple minutes.

I then fished the cloves out and used the food processor to make short work of the sauce. This took just enough of an edge off so the flavor came through, but some of the bite was gone. The recipe also suggested to save a cup of the cooking liquid to thin the sauce - I only added a tablespoon or so and it was plenty thin enough, any more and it would have been soupy. The soft goat cheese brought a nice tang with the cream cheese adding a little substance to the creamy pesto-like sauce. With a sharp finish of fresh grated Parmesan, this pasta dish was a snap to prepare and was quite filling with a slice of the Onion and Fontina Beer Batter Bread on the side.

Recipes
Penne with Spinach Sauce

Dangerously good treat....

I've had a recipe in my to-try piles for some time now that has been calling to me to give it a try lately - I don't know where this one originated, but I've seen it on more than a few "recipe" sites. I figured I would finally listen to the call and make the recipe so Jeff could bring it in for the weekly Wednesday Treat Day at his office.

The recipe name alone, Snickers Fudge, grabbed my attention as we are both fond of the candy bar. This candy has 4 layers to it and you need to set aside time for each layer to set up before making the next. The first layer is a combination of milk chocolate, butterscotch and peanut butter that is melted together until smooth. Once spread into the bottom of the pan and left to set up in the refrigerator, the next layer is prepared. This could be considered the nougat layer - but don't let that scare you, it is pretty easy since it uses marshmallow creme (like a fantasy fudge recipe). Instead of pouring the hot marshmallow mixture into chocolate as you would fudge, you fold in chopped salted peanuts and the nougat is quickly spread over the chocolate base. As this layer sets, a quick caramel layer is prepared by melting caramel cubes and heavy cream over low heat until smooth. This is spread over the nougat and since this is a thin layer, you need to work quickly as it will begin to set if you take your time. The next and final layer is the same combination as the base - melted and spread over the caramel.

While fairly lengthy to make, most of the time is just waiting for the layers to set. After a couple hours from applying the final layer, I began to cut them into squares. As I was cutting through, I was very happy to find it was quite easy to make smooth clean cuts with each layer shining through. The taste? Actually very close to a Snickers - the butterscotch flavor comes through a little more than I thought it would and the nougat is a little more fluffy in texture, but these captivating squares are delicious! The salty peanuts add a likable crunch below the chewy caramel layer with the milk chocolate top and bottom adding just enough sweetness. This will definitely have a spot on the holiday candy platter and will be heading to the top of the repeat pile.

Tonight's dinner, Moros y Cristianos (or Cuban-Style Black Beans and Rice) had some debate on how to actually serve the dish. Neither of us knew if the bean mixture is mixed with the rice, served on top or each served separately so the recipient could decide how they wanted to eat them. We just opted to place the bean mixture on top and left it at that! While the brown basmati rice cooks, onions, garlic and a red bell pepper are cooked until softened. Tomatoes are added with a splash of sherry vinegar and a spice mixture consisting of cumin, oregano, coriander, fennel and red pepper. Black beans and a few dashes of cayenne pepper sauce are added and the mixture is left to thoroughly warm through. The fragrant rice made a good base to the spicy beans - I liked having one on top of the other to just sort of mix them together as you go along, but anyway you like would be good! I served this as a main, but you could easily do this as a side to a variety of dishes. Next time I think I would add a sprinkling of cilantro though for a finishing touch.

Recipes
Snickers Fudge
Moros y Cristianos

Easy make ahead dinner or turn them into an appetizer!

I've been busy getting some prep work done before the upcoming holiday this week - I'm just trying to do bits and pieces when I can so we can relax and enjoy the day. Since I was going to be busy with that, last night I made the dinner we actually cooked tonight since you can assemble and freeze the portions before hand. I only had to pop them in the oven and throw together the dip to complete the recipe for Chicken and Black Bean Taquitos with Adobo Sour Cream.

Chopped cooked chicken breast, shredded Monterey Jack and Jalapeno cheddar cheese, black beans and diced green chiles are pulsed together in a food processor to form the filling. For the tortillas, I used a favorite Chipotle flavored kind that we have been using for the last couple of years. The filling is spread on one side of each tortilla and then instead of wrapping it like a burrito, the tortillas are rolled up like a log. Once sliced in half, they can be placed in a ziploc bag and frozen - this way you can make as many as you want or need at any time, rather than baking up a whole batch. You could also bake them right away, but you will want to check them a couple minutes early so they don't get too browned. The sauce could not be easier - sour cream mixed with fresh cilantro and spicy chipotles in adobo - just enough heat to compliment the mildly seasoned filling. After just a few minutes in the oven, the tortillas have a satisfying, shattering crunch when you bite into them - I had no idea just how easy these were to make yourself at home! We've seen them sold in the market, but never ventured out to try them!

Recipes
Chicken and Black Bean Taquitos with Adobo Sour Cream

A peek into our (freezer)Pantry II...

12 new recipes this week... our favorites had be the Kissed Molletes, Onion and Fontina Beer Batter Bread and Falafel Pitas with Goat Cheese Sauce.

We had quite a busy day today and I'm pretty tired, but I did manage to bake something today at Jeff's request. He mentioned that it had been awile since I have made an apple pie and he was correct! I prepared the crust early this morning before we left to do errands and after we arrived back home and started getting the rest of the ingredients together, I noticed I forgot to pick up more apples at the market! I did have a few, but not quite as many as I would have liked so the pie is lacking in the height department!

I never really measure my ingredients here, but it is much like any basic apple pie recipe - the only thing I do different is use arrowroot powder as a thickener and add a couple dashes of ginger to the filling. I also like to sprinkle the top with turbinado sugar for a sweet crunch. The crust recipe I use is one from King Arthur - using mostly butter for flavor, but I do like to swap out a few tablespoons to use some spectrum organic shortening as to not loose out on the flakiness.

I posted a peek into our pantry a few weeks ago... I'm coming back with Part II - The deep freeze!

I've always got a couple bags of King Arthur Flour now in the freezer - Whole Wheat, White Whole Wheat and All Purpose. I keep around 4-6 cups worth in some containers upstairs for easy access - I just find it stays fresher this way. I like to keep a small tupperware dish of instant yeast in the refrigerator, but you will usually find a vacuum sealed package in the freezer too.

Since we've been playing more with whole grains lately, I also keep Whole Cornmeal, Rye flour, Spelt flour and Barley flour in ziploc bags in the chest freezer in the garage.

I love to have options... I'll use that as my excuse on why we have so many different kinds of nuts and seeds in the freezer.

Walnuts, Pecans, Almonds, Hazelnuts and Peanuts (I make our own fresh nut butters often)

Sunflower Seeds, Pepitas and Pine Nuts

Pistachios, Cashews and Soy Nuts

I'm also crazy about blueberries - I have at least a cup a day mixed with some yogurt or in a smoothie. I've got quite a few pounds of these tiny wild blueberries stocked to get me well through the winter season!

How can we forget about butter? Since we started buying the big packs at Costco, I've started storing most of it in the freezer.

I'm scared to find out how much we will use this baking season... remember how much we used last year? *heartattack...*