Roasted Garlic Butter

Dave asked for Garlic Butter a couple weeks ago.  So when I roasted the garlic for our garlic jelly, I went ahead and roasted twice as much as I needed.  The other day, Dave picked up a couple of steaks and we thought that the Garlic Butter would make a good finishing butter for them.


8 oz of heavy whipping cream
4 oz of garlic
salt and pepper to taste.

Set cream out on counter for about an hour to allow it to warm to room temperature, or at least close.  (The only really different between whipped cream and butter is temperature and no one wants Garlic Whipped Cream, not even Dave.)

Roast garlic at about 350 for 10 or 15 minutes, or until cooked through.  You don't need to peel the cloves, you can squeeze the garlic out once it roasts, but you need to at least separate them.  I peeled them because I like the crispy, dark flecks you get that way.

Once cream is warm and garlic is cool, pour cream into food processor.  You can either pulse it for 45 seconds or so at a time, or just turn the processor on and keep an eye on it.  It will start to look a lot like whipped cream, but slightly yellower.  As soon as it separates into butter and butter milk (Trust me, you'll know.) stop the food processor and drain off the buttermilk.  Press the butter against the side of the processor bowl to squeeze out as much of the rest of the buttermilk as you can.

If you let the processor go too long, the buttermilk will be whipped back into the butter and is very difficult to separate back out.  It can be done, but it's very time consuming.

Remove butter from processor bowl and give it a quick rinse and wipe to get the remaining buttermilk out, and put the butter back in.  Add garlic and salt and pepper to taste and pulse in the processor until you have an even consistency.  (You'll probably need more salt that you think,)

Enjoy!

Frying Pan Apple Crisp

So, this is one of our favorite "treat" breakfasts.  It's made all from things we usually have just lying around, and doesn't take all that long to prepare.  We love it equally with apples or pears, but will a little adjustment of the cooking times, I bet it would work with peaches or blueberries.

So, here we go.

1 cup oats
1/3 cup flour
1/3 - 1/2 cup brown sugar
cinnamon to taste
1 stick butter, cut in half

4 average Apples or Pears, peeled and cored, cut in bite-sized chunks

Melt 1/2 stick of butter in your frying pan, once the pan is coated, toss in the apple chunks.

While apples cook, mix up the Flour, Oats, Brown Sugar, Cinnamon and remaining butter to make crumbs.  Mixture should be very crumbly, it doesn't need to hold together.  (I did use some extra sugar in this batch, the apples I had were Lodi Tarts and they lived up to their name quite nicely!





Once the apples are beginning to cook down and become translucent, push them together in the center of your pan (if you're using a giant pan like I did, otherwise, they're probably already there).







Top with crumbs and cover.












Don't worry about peeking now and then, it won't hurt anything.  Once the steam has worked its way up through all the crumbs, and the brown sugar is starting to caramelize, give it a good stir and let it cook a few minutes more.








 When it looks like this, ENJOY!  We eat it just like this, but it's equally delicious with whipped cream or ice cream.  It makes about 4 servings, or as we like to say, just enough for us to have breakfast.

CHEEEESE!!!

http://fhif.wikia.com/wiki/Cheese

CHHEEEESE!

I love cheese.  Making cheese, eating cheese, cooking with cheese, sharing cheese.  But let's talk about making cheese.

I can't say that I have a lot of experience making cheese, but we use this recipe for Farmer's Cheese to make a boatload of different things.  It's super easy to make, the blogger calls it "Easiest Cheese Recipe" and it really is.

Here's the breakdown:

• Boil a gallon of milk.
• Add 1 cup of cider vinegar.
• Strain out all your curds.
• Add 1 Tablespoon of salt.
• Squeeze out a lot of the liquid.
• Add whatever you want.
• Squeeze out the rest of the liquid.

TADA!  Cheese.

You get about a pound of cheese from your gallon of milk, so unless you add expensive other stuff, this costs about $4.  I happen to think $4 is a pretty good price for delicious cheese.

Usually we add some dried oregano (about a teaspoon) and sundried tomatoes (cut in little pieces, maybe an ounce?) but this weekend we had a whole bunch of stuff we wanted to try, so I divided the pound into 3 more or less equal amounts and made 3 totally different cheeses.

From Left to Right:  Fresh Garlic and Oregano, Brown Sugar Cinnamon, Honey Raisin

The beauty of the Farmer's Cheese recipe is that it makes a savory cheese as easily as a sweet one.

The Garlic has a healthy sprinkling of oregano and 4 cloves of fresh garlic.  We crumbled it into our rice for dinner tonight, and it was delicious.

The Brown Sugar is a little over a half teaspoon of Korintje Cinnamon (which is my new favorite) and a small handful of Brown Sugar.  I'm not gonna lie, we ate the whole container with a fork while we were watching tv 2 nights ago.  It was absolutely lovely.

The Honey Raisin has healthy dollop of honey and a handful of Golden Raisins.  We're really happy with it, and I had to take it from Obes before he ate it all.

So I would call all three a success.  Making tiny amounts of a bunch of different flavors required a little more planning than I usually do ahead of time, but it was worth it to know that if any of it turned out awful, we wouldn't be wasting much.

Cookie Dough Bites (Homemade Candy!)

So I decided I want to add a few more new candies to the homemade candy arsenal.  We already do Double Coconut Eggs, Peanut Butter Eggs, Buttercreams in several flavors, Peppermint Patties and Cordial Cherries.  I came across a recipe for cookie dough bars the other day and thought that might be a fun addition to the list, rolled in balls and dipped in chocolate instead of cut into squares.

I picked up mini-chips and threw them together, but I thought I could taste the flour too much, so I added more vanilla and some Korintje cinnamon, since I usually double the vanilla and add a bit of cinnamon when I made chocolate chip cookies.  But it still wasn't right.  It was good, but not what I was looking for.

Last night I tried again.  I wanted something that had the texture of a buttercream and the taste of the Nestle Tollhouse dough.  I started with my buttercream recipe and added the things that make a Tollhouse cookie so distinctive - the brown sugar, vanilla and of course semi-sweet chips.

I'll probably add these to the assortment of candies I make at Christmas time.

Here we go!

1 12oz bag Mini Chips

2 sticks Butter (at room temperature)

1 cup Brown Sugar (packed)

3 cups Powdered Sugar

1/2 cup Cornstarch or Arrowroot Powder

lots of Vanilla Extract (a Tablespoon or so, to taste)

a light sprinkle of Cinnamon (optional)

Candy Melts or additional Chocolate for coating.

Cream Butter and Brown Sugar until fluffy.  Add Powdered Sugar and Arrowroot (or Cornstarch) 1/2 cup at a time, mixing thoroughly in between each 1/2 cup.  Add Vanilla and Cinnamon.  Blend again.

Add entire bag of Mini Chips.

Refrigerate 15 minutes to make dough easier to handle.  Roll into bite size pieces.  Melt Candy Melts or Chocolate according to package instructions.  Coat each piece and place on wax paper to let coating set.  Place in refrigerator to speed setting.

Enjoy!

Caprese Ravioli

I love delicious handmade food.  I love delicious food that takes hours to prepare.  But you know what?  I also love delicious food that only looks/tastes like it took hours to prepare.

I made a recipe from some awful talkshow the other day.  (The Chew, maybe?  I don't know, it has Mario Batali and Michael Symon.)  But anyway, it was delicious.  And they used wanton wrappers instead of making pasta from scratch for the ravioli and it worked out really well, except you have to be SUPER careful of them sticking to each other.

What I love best about this recipe is that you can go totally nuts and make everything from scratch, hell, even the pasta if you wanted to, or you can do what I did, and stop by Wegman's on your way home and pick it up already half made.

So, let's get started!

1 package of Wonton Wrappers (approx 1/2 lb, otherwise you'll need 2 packs)

Roasted Tomatoes with Garlic cut in half inch or smaller pieces (about 1/3 cup)

1/4 cup Basil Pesto

8 oz. Whole Milk Ricotta Cheese

1 Egg

1 Tbsp(ish) of Water

Mix Pesto and Ricotta until a uniform brilliant green,  Taste it, if the pesto flavor doesn't come through to your liking, add more.

Beat Egg and Water in a small dish or cup to make an Egg Wash for sealing your ravioli.

Working on wax paper or parchment so you don't make a giant mess, layout a single layer of Wonton Wrappers with a bit of space in between.  (I worked with 6 at a time.)  

Place roughly 1/2 tsp of Pesto Ricotta mixture on each Wonton Wrapper.  Top with a small piece of Roasted Tomato.  Brush Egg wash around outside edge of Wonton Wrapper and gently fold in half, pressing lightly on the edges to seal the delicious fillings in.  (I fold mine on a diagonal because I like the shape, you probably only need egg wash on two sides of the Wonton if you do it this way.)

Set finished raviolis to the side in single layers on more wax paper or parchment.

Boil gently in a large pot of water until the raviolis float.

While ravioli are boiling, heat olive oil or more pesto in a skillet.  As raviolis cook, transfer directly into warm oil/pesto and toss lightly to coat.

Garnish with pine nuts, fresh basil, more roasted tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, etc.  

If you're like me, and you went nuts and doubled the recipe, freeze them in single layers for later.

Enjoy!

...and a Partridge in a Pear Tree.

or more like a big guy with a ponytail.  lol.

Years ago, my Grampa planted a couple of pear trees.  One of them is a dwarf pear of some kind and the other is, I think, a variety of seckel pear.  But Dave loves pears, and apparently we're the only ones who want to see the pears actually get eaten.

So, we went up 2 separate afternoons, and with some help from my dad and my sister, we picked all the pears (although there were only about 6 on the dwarf tree) and brought them home.  We ended up with 5 grocery bags of pears.  Not produce bags, grocery bags.

We made 4 jars of brandied pears.  We made 4 1/2 pints of pear butter with orange and ginger.  We made 6 jars of spiced pears.  We made 5 more jars of brandied pears.  We made 7 jars of cinnamon pear jam.  We canned pears in heavy syrup and I made a pear betty.  Unfortunately, we didn't get through all the pears before they started going bad, but we got all but the last 2 dozen or so preserved.

We're pretty proud of ourselves.  It was a huge project and took most of our free time for almost 2 weeks.  We ran out of canning jars.  We ran out of lids.  We ran out of space in the pantry.

Recipes:

Most of the recipes came from this site - Oregon State Extension Office.

http://extension.oregonstate.edu/fch/sites/default/files/documents/sp_50_678_preservingpears.pdf

Spiced Pears from Fresh Preserving 

Pear Jam from SUREJELL (we just added about a 1/2 Tablespoon of Cinnamon.)

Not that I expect you all to run out and get a whole tree worth of pears, but we are really enjoying these recipes, and in fact we just drank the leftover syrup from the brandied pears, and I thought I'd share them with everyone.

Wait, What Kind of Chips? Kale chips?

Yup.  Kale chips.  After this afternoon, I'm going to be up to my eyeballs in them, but hopefully the D&D groups demolishes them tomorrow night.  If not, I'm going to be eating A LOT of kale this week.

I guess Natalie started it, if that's fair to say.  She's the one who brought a box of them with her last week.  Then Obes tried them and liked them.  And then Dave.  I passed because they were salt and vinegar flavor, but remarked that I've made them in the past and I really liked them.

A bit of back and forth was had about someone bringing more next week, and no, I will, and so on.  And I sort of thought that would be the end of it.  Figured, maybe this coming week, somebody brings some.  Or not, whatever.

Until this weekend, Dave and I went grocery shopping.  We eat TONS of veggies.  I think we polished off a pound and a half of roasted cauliflower last night.  He sees neat little bundles of kale and remarks that I should make kale chips for gaming.  Next thing we've got 3 bunches of kale in the cart and a whole list of different flavors I'm supposed to make today, since I only had a half day.

Well, I can't remember what the flavors were supposed to be, so Dave's getting what I feel like, HA! but I figured I've share the basic recipe for these tasty little buggers, since it's been a while since I've posted a new recipe.

So, without further delay!

Kale Chips

1 bunch kale

Cooking Spray or your favorite oil in a sprayer or Misto

Salt (any kind)

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.  Wash and thoroughly dry kale.  Tear into bite-sized pieces (stay on the big side, they'll shrink some).

Arrange kale in a single layer on a cookie sheet or in a large shallow baking pan.  (I've seen that some people like to throw parchment paper in the bottom.)  Spray generously with oil - I like olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt to taste.

Bake chips for approximately 20-25 minutes.  Turn/stir them about halfway through.  Keep an eye on them so that they only dry/toast.  Do not let them burn.   It's gross.

Enjoy!  Make more than you think you'll need, they don't last long.

If you have leftovers, or you're making them ahead, let them cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Other options:

• add black pepper and garlic powder, for a simple but flavorful seasoning
• taco seasoning
• McCormick Parmesan Herb Perfect Pinch plus grated or shredded parmesan cheese
• Ranch or other dressing mix
• curry powder

or whatever other seasonings you love!

Hippy Kitchen Magic

So, forever ago, I started writing a cookbook.  No one was particularly encouraging about it, and I understand some of it.  My mom didn't want to help me taste test desserts, she was trying to eat healthy.  No one wanted to try pasta dishes because everyone was eating low carb.

Well, I've got a friend who wants to learn to cook, and another friend who can't believe the way that I cook ahead for a week of breakfasts at a time, so I think it's time I pulled this project back off the back burner.  It's actually a two-fold project, probably going to end up as two cookbooks, but I feel like I may as well work on the recipes together because I can't just eat cake and biscuits, and even if I could I like a lot of variety in my food.

So one of the books is going to be super easy recipes made, in part from boxes mixes and ready to go items,  for people who don't like to cook for hours and the other is going to be single serve and easy to freeze make ahead goodies so simplify packing lunches and breakfast on the go.  If you have an idea you'd like to see me try, let me know, I plan on crediting where the suggestions came from.

Happy cooking!

Wish me luck!

Miracle Max's Death Pill

1/2 cup Peanut Butter
1/2 cup Flax Meal
1/2 cup Hull Hempseeds
2 Tbsp Chia Seeds
1/2 Tbsp Hawaiian Spirulina

Optional: Baking chocolate or candy melts for coating (about 9 oz.)

Mix everything but the chocolate until it's an even consistency and weird green color!

Roll into balls and dip in melted chocolate (follow instructions on the package for melting)

Makes about 20.

Keep refrigerated because of the flax meal and hempseeds.

Enjoy!

Christmas Cookies.

So, on Sunday, I decided to make some Christmas cookies.  But if you know me, you know that A) I try to tailor things very specifically to the people they're for and B) I don't do anything halfway.  So there would be NO ORDINARY COOKIES!  Well, except one batch, someone's favorite cookie is Sugar Cookies.

I had 4 cookie gifts to make and this is the criteria I was up against.
1) Sugar Cookies are Tom's favorite.
2) Marnie loves Chai Tea.
3) Dane specifically asked that I make my Chocolate Cherry Cayenne Cookies again.
4) I needed something Super Special for Eric, who had given me NO HINTS.

So, grab for the Cooky Book (I have a reprint of the 1963 Betty Crocker Cooky Book) but it's NOWHERE.  GONE.  Probably packed up in the basement.

But that's what the internet's for, right?

Search:  Sugar Cookies.
Found:  Allrecipes.com Easy Sugar Cookies, that though bookmarked, I can't find again because the bookmark apparently directs to All Recipes Argentina, even though it didn't 2 days ago.  And a new search yields the same error.  But at any rate, they turned out to be chewy, sweet, perfect sugar cookies.
Result:  I'm not sure Tom's kids actually got any of them, because I don't think they survived the day at work.

Search: Russian Tea Cookies.  I'm thinking that these are a pretty bland cookie on their own, but could easily be changed into a Chai Tea Cookie.
Found: Betty Crocker's Russian Tea Cakes.  We mixed some good cinnamon from Penzey's into the powdered sugar for rolling them in, subbed chopped almonds for the usual walnuts or pecans, and used Trader Joe's Spicy Chai Latte Mix instead of most of the powdered sugar in the dough.  After accidentally throwing a few on the floor, we discovered an awesome, mild, spice cookie with a hint of black tea.
Result:  Marnie loved them!  And shared with Carol who agreed!

Search: Nestle's White Chip Chocolate Cookies.  I have it here somewhere!  Ah, there's the bag of white chips.
Found:  After tearing the kitchen apart, I found the recipe I based my Chocolate Cherry Cayenne Cookies on.  I use the same recipe for the dough, but Semi Sweet Chips instead of the White, and then I add Dried Cherries, more of the cinnamon from Penzey's and ground Cayenne.  Except this time we had Cherry Flavored Cranberries instead of Cherries.  (Oops, grabbed the wrong thing in a hurry)
Result: I already know that Dane loves these cookies.

Search: Unique Cookie Recipes.  I still need something for Eric and I'm out of ideas.
Found: After a few false starts, (I didn't have parchment for Meringues, and so on) I settled on Thumbprint Cookies thinking I had to have some kind of interested thing to add to these.  And I found it in the pantry: Blueberry Limoncello Jam from Bittersweet Herb Farm.  I added a few packets of True Lemon to some water to dissolve it and added that, plus a bit of extra flour to the cookie dough and topped them with the Blueberry Jam.
Result: I haven't heard from Eric, but everyone else who's had them loved them!

So all in all, a successful cookie baking day.  I'll get some of the details of the recipes posted over the next few days, but for now, I need to get onto the laundry I've been avoiding.