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Chocolate Peanut Butter Oreo Whippy Dips

March 13, 2012 by 15 Comments

 

Before we go one step further, I’m going to need you all to raise your right hand, put your left hand on the Bible and repeat after me:

I solemly promise not to hold Rebecca responsible for the calories I am about to consume when I make this recipe, because I WILL make this recipe. I will not even peek at the calorie count on the back of the ice cream container or the Oreo box or the heavy whipping cream carton or the chocolate syrup bottle. I certainly will not do the math and add up the total.

In exchange for the oath you just swore, I promise to do another installment of tasty penance this week.

Alright. Are we good? Good. Let’s proceed.

You see, I used to work in an ice cream place. I know I’ve mentioned this. I was a pale, scrawny whip of a girl with Sally Jessy Raphael glasses and a long chestnut ponytail. I manned the counter at a walk-up joint called ‘The Whippy Dip’. It was a sweltering summer and even though the tiny ice cream shack was situated on a rural route, the place kept pretty busy. In between rushes, I swept. I swept the counters, floors, sidewalks and walls.

Yes.

I said I swept the walls.

There was a gypsy moth invasion that year. It seemed like the cottony tents stretched over the branches on every tree and everywhere you looked there were caterpillars. They were gross.

Each time I opened the screen door to go out with my broom, about fifty of those nasty little critters bit the dust courtesy of the screen door of doom.

I sat on the stool at the counter after chores were done and between rushes, book on my lap, daydreaming of caterpillar-free living and eating hot dog rolls stuffed with mustard, pickles and onions*.

*I’m sure I had delightful breath.

We served the usuals; regular or sugar cones, bowls, soft-serve, dipped cones, sundaes, shakes, franks or sausages cooked on metal rollers under hot lights, and the like. There was something that was still pretty new on the ice cream scene the summer I worked there, too: Blizzards. Dairy Queen had introduced Blizzards just two years before and our little Whippy Dip crew (the owner, his daughter and I) was eager to cash in on the bonanza. My boss was savvy enough to know that he couldn’t call them Blizzards because it was a trademarked name, so he decided to call our version of the treat Flurries. Kind of a mild term comparatively, but it got the point across effectively. They sold hand over caterpillar over fist.

Our most popular choice was cookies and cream; vanilla ice cream, a splash of milk and crushed Oreos. Boy, those were good. In the years I’ve spanned between the caterpillar fighting, ice-cream flinging late eighties and now, I have to admit I haven’t given much thought to the Whippy Dip’s confections. Then yesterday, I saw a Shamrock Blizzard by Three Many Cooks over on Tasty Kitchen and it was all over but the crying. And the eating. The eating more than the crying. Have you ever tried crying over ice cream? It’s pretty darned near impossible.

I decided to do an extreme version, in honour of my caterpillar sweeping, onion and pickle chomping youth and my former boss, Mr. Worley. Into my blender went a big scoop of crunchy peanut butter, chocolate peanut butter cup ice cream, and crumbled peanut butter Oreos. (Am I alone in not having known these dangerous things existed? Oh the humanity!) Zap! went the blender. The result was a hybrid of soft and hard ice creams- thick enough to stay in the cup when flipped upside down- flecked with broken cookie bits. I scraped the contents into two waiting jars, capped them with a solid two inches of whipped cream, a drizzle of chocolate syrup and -oh dear- more crumbled Oreos.

THUD. (That was the sound of me passing out from the incredible indulgence of this not-at-all-quiescently frozen happy bomb.)

Honestly, though, I couldn’t call it a Blizzard. See, Mr. Worley? I paid attention. Blizzard? We’ve already covered that. It’s trademarked. And Flurry? Just too tame. I decided to call it a -as if there could be any other name- Whippy Dip. God bless you, Mr. Worley, wherever you are.

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Whippy Dips

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Yield: 2 servings

Calories per serving: I said do not look at this!

Fat per serving: You do not want to know.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Whippy Dips

This indulgent hybrid of soft and hard ice creams- thick enough to stay in the cup when flipped upside down- is flecked with crumbled peanut butter chocolate cookie bits,capped with a solid two inches of whipped cream, a drizzle of chocolate syrup and -oh dear- more crumbled Oreos.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup crunchy or creamy peanut butter
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 4 cups, packed, chocolate peanut butter cup ice cream
  • 6 peanut butter Oreos (or regular chocolate cream sandwich cookies)
  • whipped cream
  • chocolate syrup

Instructions

Add the peanut butter and milk to the carafe of a blender. Add the lid and blend until completely combined. Remove the lid, add the ice cream and 4 of the Oreos (lightly crumbling with your hands as you add them to the blender.) Once again, add the lid to the blender and blend on high, stopping to stir the contents occasionally, if necessary, until you have a very thick smooth ice cream mixture (somewhere in the thickness neighborhood of very cold soft-serve ice cream) flecked with crumbled cookie bits. Do not be tempted to add more milk. It will make your Whippy Dip into a milkshake!

Divide the Whippy Dip between two serving glasses, top with a generous amount of whipped cream and a drizzle of chocolate syrup. Crumble one of the remaining cookies over each Whippy Dip before serving.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/03/13/chocolate-peanut-butter-oreo-whippy-dips/

 

 

Filed Under: Comfort Food, Desserts, Ice Cream, kid food, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Vegetarian, Vitamix Recipes Tagged With: , , , , ,

Slow-Cooker Cola Pulled Pork and Carnitas Rice Bowls | Make Ahead Mondays

March 12, 2012 by 13 Comments

Let me tell you about last week. It was busy. Oh, it was biz-ay. B to the HOLY-COW-HOW-WILL-I-GET-ALL-THIS-DONE to the U-S-Y, man. Or wo-man. Woah, man.

I was hauling my rear (and a bunch of children to boot) all over this stretch of God’s country in my big ugly purple van. I drove people here. I drove people there. I dropped people off. I picked people up. In fact, I went one place with my five boys and came home with seven, only three of whom I had birthed. I balanced brooms in the kitchen to show off the awesome wackiness of the solar flares. I spent the entire week wondering how we could possibly make it to all of our commitments.

On the subject of solar flares, I’d just like to say one word. WEIRD.

Okay, I have a couple more words. Did you balance your broom? I’m not even kidding. Did you know that during solar flares you can take a broom –even a raggedy old angled one like mine- and balance it with no support? Go on. Test it. All the cool kids are doing it. You know you want to. (As a homeschooling mom, I have to practice my peer pressure skills so my kids don’t have to miss out on all the good stuff.)

I’m still not entirely sure how we did it, but we did manage to get to everything we had on the schedule and threw in a big family get together on Saturday for good measure. The biggest yeehah of them all, though,  the icing on the cake, was when the entire family (including those who had come to visit earlier in the day) went to watch a battle of the bands in which my fourteen year old bass-playing eldest son and my eight year old “Animal” drummer participated. It started at eight o’clock at night.

Did you catch that?

As in the same night as the time change. In other words, my  husband and I and our fourteen, twelve, ten, eight and six year olds were in a large auditorium full of big, loud, boomy amplifiers and microphones and screaming rock guitars (and some screaming vocalists) along with my sister, her husband and their eight, six and two year olds, and my mother. Nana was banging her head. At least I’m fairly certain she meant to and wasn’t being thrown back against the wall by the sub-woofer.

This brings me to another point. Can I talk about how much I despise this time change? They are taking an hour from me! Who decided that was a good idea? Do they not know how much I’m trying to cram into a day?

When we were in the process of moving to where we live now, I joked with friends that in order to buy the home, we had to convert to the Amish faith. Since moving here, I’ve gotten to know many Amish and one of the most fascinating things I learned was that they don’t  “do” the time change. Well, hallelujah. I think I’ll convert after all.

Solar flares, time changes, extra kids, battles of the bands, and go, go, GO! I hit my freezer food bank pretty hard this week. And on the subject of a stash of food…

You all know I love me some pulled pork. In fact, one of the all-time most popular posts ever here on Foodie With Family is my Cuban Pulled Pork recipe. It tastes wonderful and it makes enough to stash away three or four meals worth of food (even for a family our size!) It is so good. So good, in fact, that for a very long time (longer than I care to admit), I didn’t make pork shoulder in any other way. Why?

Because IT WAS SO GOOD!

You know what? It’s still that good, but I realized something really crucial. Expanding the pork shoulder repertoire does not mean I love the Cuban Pork any less. It just means I have more opportunities for eating pork!

Pork shoulder is the busy person’s best friend. You wouldn’t think it to look at that massive cut of meat, would you? You look at the marbled hunk of meat with that bone down the center and think, “All that work! Who has time?” You do! I promise. It is one of the most economical cuts of meat and requires so little hands-on time that it’s almost criminal not to take advantage of it.

For this Slow-Cooker Cola Pulled Pork, we begin with the same method used in the Cuban Pork recipe; cook overnight in the slow-cooker, chill during the day, shred the pork, reduce the pan juices, and pour it over the pork. Instead of our well loved Cuban spices and juices, we add cola, onions and chipotles in adobo. Rawr. Then we diverge a bit more… Instead of baking the pork, we press a goodly amount of the shredded pork into a super hot pan until it’s crispy brown around the edges. Flip it over, make it crispier and then? And then. Oh, then.

This, my friends, is the stuff of dreams. Crispy pork carnitas.
We can serve that crispity yet juicy, delectable, slightly spicy and sweet, flavour-packed pork on tostadas, pizza, in tacos, or like we’re doing today on Carnitas Rice Bowls. You cannot possibly imagine a meal that is this easy to throw together can taste this incredible.

This is good enough to bump itself into the rotation with my beloved Cuban Pork.

And much like Cuban Pork, it makes enough to feed a massive crowd ~or~ sock away several meals worth of already cooked meat. With that in the freezer, like all of our other Make Ahead Mondays recipes, dinner is just minutes away.

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Slow-Cooker Cola Pulled Pork and Carnitas Rice Bowls | Make Ahead Mondays

Rating: 51

Slow-Cooker Cola Pulled Pork and Carnitas Rice Bowls | Make Ahead Mondays

Slightly spicy, smoky and a little sweet, this slow-cooker cola pulled pork is so easy to make you'll be shocked and is so good that you'll be thankful it yields enough for several meals-worth to be stored in the freezer. One of our favourite ways to use it is on Carnitas Rice Bowls; hot cooked rice piled with the crispy "little meats" and a variety of flavourful toppings. Go wild and really pile it high. This meal pleases all ages and is easy on the wallet.

Ingredients

    For the Slow-Cooker Cola Pulled Pork:
  • 3 large onions
  • 6-9 pound bone-in pork shoulder or pork butt
  • 2 small cans of chipotles in adobo
  • 2 (12 ounce) bottles or cans of your preferred cola (I like Mexican Coca-Cola.)
    • For Each Serving of Carnitas Rice Bowls:
  • ½-3/4 cup slow-cooker cola pulled pork
  • 1 teaspoon canola, peanut or vegetable oil
  • 1 to 1 ½ cups hot, cooked rice
    • Optional, but oh-so-tasty:
  • salsa
  • shredded pepper jack or Cheddar cheese
  • Smoked Paprika and Chipotle Sauce
  • sour cream
  • sliced or diced avocado
  • finely diced red onion
  • chopped cilantro or parsley
  • lime wedges

Instructions

To Make the Slow-Cooker Cola Pulled Pork:

Cut the stem and root-ends from the onions, cut the onions in half and remove the peels. Arrange the halved onions over the base of the slow-cooker. Position the pork roast –fat layer facing up- on top of the onion halves. Pour the cans of chipotles in adobo (with all the sauce) over the pork shoulder then pour the colas over the chipotles. Cover the slow-cooker and cook on ‘LOW’ for 8-9 hours.

Cool the pork roast (still in its juices in the slow-cooker insert) completely until the pork fat congeals around the roast on top of the cooking juices. Scrape away and discard the fat. Transfer the pork roast to a cutting board and pour the remaining contents of the slow-cooker into a sieve positioned over a saucepan. Push the contents of the sieve with a spoon to extract as much liquid as possible. Set the saucepan over medium high heat and bring it to a boil. Let it boil and reduce until it is about ¼ of the original volume.

Pull the cooled pork roast apart and scrape excess fat from the meat. Use your hands or two forks to shred the pork. To get smaller pieces of pork, you can chop through the pile of shredded pork with a large knife a couple of times. Put the pulled pork into a large mixing bowl, pour the reduced pan juices over the top and toss until the juices are evenly distributed.

To Freeze to Serve Later:

Divide the pulled pork between zipper top bags in meal-sized portions. Try to squeeze as much excess air from the bag as possible before sealing. Try to flatten the bag so that it takes up less room in the freezer. Freeze for up to 8 months.

To Serve from Fresh:

Put a heavy-bottomed skillet over high heat and add the oil to the pan. Swirl to coat, then pile the pulled-pork in the center of the pan. Use a spatula to press the pork into the pan. Fry until the pork is brown around the edges. Use a spatula to flip the pork until crisp on the other side.

To Serve From Frozen:

Thaw the pulled pork in the refrigerator or in the microwave. Put a heavy-bottomed skillet over high heat and add the oil to the pan. Swirl to coat, then pile the pulled-pork in the center of the pan. Use a spatula to press the pork into the pan. Fry until the pork is brown around the edges. Use a spatula to flip the pork until crisp on the other side.

To Assemble the Carnitas:

Put the hot, cooked rice in a bowl, use a spatula to place the crispy pork on top. Pile any or all of the toppings on the crispy pork.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/03/12/slow-cooker-cola-pulled-pork-and-carnitas-rice-bowls-make-ahead-mondays/

Filed Under: Accessible Ethnic, Comfort Food, Component Foods, Freezer Pleaser, kid food, Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Main Dish, Make Ahead Mondays, Meat, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, slow-cooker, Stretching your dollars Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Green Orange Julius Smoothie

March 7, 2012 by 10 Comments

This has been one seriously weird weather winter. From a green, warm Christmas to a rainy, snow-free February, I’ve been sitting around tapping my foot waiting for the weather to turn frightful. Tap tap tap. Nuttin’.

While my husband and sons have been running around outside singing rapturously about the weather and twirling with their arms à la Julie Andrews in the opening scene of “The Sound of Music”, I’ve been checking and double checking my yak trax, gloves, scarf and parka just in case I need them. Thirty something Northern Michigan and Western New York winters will do that to a girl.Instead of the clear and obvious signs of quiet -blankets of snow covering everything and icicles dangling from roofs- there has just been this kind of stasis or suspended animation. Everything looks muted and like it’s waiting on the edge of its seat for snow to fly. And hard.  I can’t seem to let go of the idea that we’re going to get slammed with the mamma jamma of all winter storms at some point.

We’re less than three weeks away from the official start to spring, though; the maple trees are flowing and there is smoke and steam rising from all the maple shacks dotting the countryside. That is an irrefutable sign that things are perking up and that even if the winter that has been hanging about at the edges of the room shows up, its life will be short. That means that even my cold, winter loving and fearing heart has to start the thaw, too.

The only thing that has been “wintery” around here is my like-clockwork-late-winter-craving; greens. I need green food and I don’t mean Shamrock Shakes faux green. (Although I’m pretty fond of one or two of those per season, too.) I mean food that looks fresh and leafy and full of life. Since I got a G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S. and super thoughtful Vitamix from my husband for Valentine’s Day, I’ve jumped onto the green smoothie bandwagon so hard I rattled the wheels.

Sidebar for those who haven’t yet tried a green smoothie: I know some of you are ready to pull a face and think I’ve jumped the shark for throwing spinach into a smoothie, let me tell you something. You don’t taste the spinach in these. I promise. It’s the wackiest thing ever. And if you’re wondering why in the world I would want to do such a thing as spinach in smoothies let me just ask this; do you get enough vegetables in your diet every day? Do your kids? Because even as a vegetable lover, I’ve had a hard time meeting my daily recommended veggie intake. When you consider my two youngest anti-veg kiddos, I know for a fact I wasn’t getting enough into them. But then came green smoothies. They love them. LOVE. My gruesome twosome is getting about two hundred percent more vegetables than they got before we started with the green smoothies. I count that a win.

I’ve blended spinach into just about every kind of smoothie I can possibly think to try, but it was just this last week that I stumbled upon our favourite. I saw someone on pinterest post a green orange julius smoothie, and I knew it was a great idea. I made a completely different green orange julius smoothie, but Green Lite Bites provided the inspiration.

So now a word to those who aren’t familiar with Orange Juliuses. Or should it be Orange Julii? Aw shoot. I don’t know. Whatever the plural of an Orange Julius is, that’s what I’m going for. Orange Julius is a mall-centric chain of beverage sellers that specializes in the most luscious thick, sweet, orange slushy/shake thingies ever. For years, I’ve been making an Orange Julius smoothie for my kids that uses frozen bananas as both a sweetener and thickener. It didn’t take a whole lot of messing with to turn it into a green smoothie. In fact, it only took the addition of a couple fists full of spinach.

These Green Orange Julius Smoothies are screaming, “SPRING YOU FOOL!!! Spring is COMING. Look alive!” These are responsible for me finally embracing the fact that spring is about to, well, spring! This is my new favourite spring recipe. It’s creamy, vibrant, sweet, vanilla-y and oh so orange even though it’s green. If you think about it, with St. Patrick’s Day next weekend, there’s no better way for this mostly Irish American girl to celebrate both the coming of spring and my heritage than to whirl together the green and the orange.

This time of year and with this recipe, I truly, deeply wish you all slàinte mhòr!

This post was sponsored by Frigidaire. When you check out Suzanne Goin’s springtime recipes at www.maketimeforchange.com, Frigidaire will donate $1 to Save the Children’s U.S. programs. Plus, you’ll be entered for a chance to win the new Frigidaire Range with Symmetry™ Double Ovens– featuring two large ovens (that can each fit up to a 28 pound turkey!), providing the flexibility to cook multiple dishes at the same time at different temperatures, so you can get more on the table at the same time.

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Green Orange Julius Smoothie

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Serving Size: 2

Green Orange Julius Smoothie

This fun twist on both green smoothies and a classic Orange Julius is my new favourite spring recipe. It's creamy, vibrant, sweet, thick, vanilla-y and oh so orange even though it's green. I promise, you won't taste that spinach. Go ahead and take the plunge! To your very good health!

Ingredients

  • 1 cup fresh baby spinach, washed
  • 1 cup 100% orange juice concentrate
  • 1 1/2 cups milk (whole, 2%, 1% or skim)
  • 1 large frozen peeled banana, broken into chunks
  • 1 teaspoon real vanilla extract

Instructions

Pour milk into a blender carafe first and then add the remaining ingredients. Fix the blender lid in place and blend on high until smooth*.

*If you have a less high-octane blender, you may want to stop the blender and move things around with a wooden spoon or spatula a couple of times.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/03/07/green-orange-julius-smoothie/

Filed Under: Beverages, Comfort Food, Happy Healthy and Wise, Healthy Foods, kid food, Rebecca, Recipes, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , , ,

Southwestern Egg Rolls | Make Ahead Mondays

March 5, 2012 by 20 Comments

My love of all foods Southwestern is deep and abiding. From tacos to burritos (breakfast and otherwise), quesadillas, nachos (grande or humble), tortilla soup and everything in between, I can’t resist. Well, maybe I can resist, but I’ve honestly never tried because I don’t want to give up any opportunity for any of those heavenly goodies.

These Southwestern Egg Rolls are currently the top of the heap of the goodness that is southwestern food for me right now. And most conveniently, they’re as easy and delicious when cooked from frozen as they are when you first roll them up. That makes them the perfect subject for today’s Make Ahead Monday feature.

I can’t think of anything I like much better than bright, festive onion, corn, red bell and jalapeno peppers, spinach, parsley or cilantro, melted pepper jack cheese, mild and moist chicken, substantial and creamy black beans and smoky spices wrapped up in a crunchy, crispy, dark brown egg roll wrapper. Hubba hubba. Or should I say ‘arriba!”? No really, should I? I have no idea if that’s even appropriate here.

All I know is this. These egg rolls make me happy. Very, very happy. They make my husband happy. Extremely happy. And they make my two eldest sons so insanely happy they’re almost weepy. The middlest son? Well, he loves the chicken, corn, black beans, spinach and cheese, but he’s on the fence over the bell peppers and onions. The gruesome-twosome anti-veg contingent? They’re not going anywhere near this many vegetables all mingled together even if it is in a deep-fried, hand-held package. Oh well. More. For. Me.

One day they will be filled with bitter regret for all the delicious vegetables they passed up at the table. In the meantime, I will continue to eat what is left on their plates, much to my waistline’s chagrin, to better absorb the unavoidable body check that will be used to knock me out of the way when they finally realize how delicious these things are.

Let’s get down to some nitty-gritty customization options in this dish, shall we?

  • Use whichever leftover chicken you have whether it’s dark or white meat. I had a combination of leftover thighs and chicken breasts, so I picked the meat off and coarsely chopped it. Rotisserie chickens, leftover roast chicken, or almost whatever you have on hand will do the job. Just try not to toss something that is too strongly flavoured or overly saucy (for instance, chicken tikka masala or some such) into the mix.
  • If you’re sensitive to spicy foods, you can omit the jalapeno pepper and swap in Monterey Jack for the pepper jack.
  • You’ll note the recipe calls for ‘cilantro ~or~ parsley’. In short, use cilantro if you like it, use parsley if you don’t!
  • You can deep-fry or bake these. It’s entirely up to you. Regarding this…

If you want that shatteringly crispy exterior, you are going to want to take the plunge and deep-fry these. There’s just no way to get the same effect from baking them. I’m not going to say don’t bake them, because they really are tasty when prepared that way, too, it’s just they’re different.

I shoved two of these under my husband’s nose; one baked, one fried. He looked at both and went for the fried one first. He gobbled that down then tried the baked one and it was gone in a trice, too. When I quizzed him afterward about which he had preferred, he said, “I don’t know! They were both good, just different!” So there you have it. Both good, just different. If it helps you to decide, he ate the fried one with his hands and the baked one with a fork.

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Southwestern Egg Rolls | Make Ahead Mondays

Southwestern Egg Rolls | Make Ahead Mondays

These crispy Southwestern egg rolls are filled with bright, festive onion, corn, red bell and jalapeno peppers, spinach, parsley or cilantro, melted pepper jack cheese, mild and moist chicken, substantial and creamy black beans and smoky spices.

Made and frozen in advance, these make dinners a snap on busy nights and are eagerly anticipated by all.

Ingredients

    To Make and Freeze the Egg rolls
  • 6 cups cooked, cubed chicken (or shredded chicken)
  • 2 cups frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
  • 2 cups frozen corn, thawed
  • 2 cups cooked or canned black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 4 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 1 small onion, peeled and diced
  • 1 red bell pepper stemmed, seeded and diced
  • 1 jalapeno, stemmed, seeded and minced (omit if you prefer milder, less spicy food)
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced or pressed
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil
  • 12 ounces, about 2-3 cups, depending on how coarsely you grate it, pepper jack cheese (use regular Monterey Jack if you prefer less spicy food.)
  • ¼ cup chopped cilantro or parsley
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • ¾ teaspoon ground cumin
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 40-50 egg roll wrappers
  • water in a bowl to moisten and seal the egg roll wrappers
    • To Cook the Egg Rolls:
  • canola, peanut or vegetable oil (for deep frying)
  • ~or~
  • non-stick cooking spray or oil (for baking)

Instructions

To Make and Freeze Egg Rolls:

Heat the vegetable oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium high heat. Add the green onions, onion, red bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, and garlic cloves along with a pinch of salt and stir to combine. Cook over medium high heat for about 2 minutes, or until the peppers and onions are crisp tender. Transfer the contents of the skillet to a large mixing bowl. Stir in all of the remaining ingredients except for the egg roll wrappers and water.

Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment or waxed paper.

Lay one egg roll wrapper out like a diamond with one tip pointing at your stomach. Scoop between ¼ and 1/3 cup of the filling neatly near the center of the egg roll wrapper, just a little bit closer to you than the center.

Pick up the corner closest to you and lift it, draping it over the filling. Use the wrapper to help compress the filling and distribute it so you have a tube of filling.

Fold the left corner over toward the center.

Do the same with the right corner.

Dip your fingers into the bowl of water, moisten along the edges of the top corner, then roll the bottom of the egg roll up toward the top, tightening the roll as you go.

When you roll it up and over the top corner, press lightly against the work surface to help seal it.

Place your sealed egg roll onto the lined pan. Repeat with the remaining filling and egg roll wrappers, trying to leave a little space between the egg rolls on the pan to prevent them from sticking together.

Cover the pans with plastic wrap and place in the freezer until the egg rolls are frozen through, about 4 hours. Transfer the frozen egg rolls into a re-sealable zipper-type freezer bag. Keep frozen for up to 6 months, using them as needed.

To Deep-Fry the Prepared Egg Rolls Before Freezing:

Heat about 2-inches of canola, peanut or vegetable oil in a high-sided heavy-bottomed pan until the oil is shimmery. If you have a deep-frying thermometer, you want the oil to be at 350°F. Carefully lower the desired number of egg rolls into the hot oil, taking care not to crowd the pan. If necessary, fry them in batches to avoid overcrowding. Fry the egg rolls, flipping once if necessary, for about 4 minutes, or until the egg roll wrapper is deep golden brown and the filling is hot all the way through. Transfer to a paper-towel lined plate or pan and let cool for a couple of minutes before serving.

To Deep-Fry Frozen Prepared Egg Rolls:

Heat about 2-inches of canola, peanut or vegetable oil in a high-sided heavy-bottomed pan until the oil is shimmery. Preheat oven to 350°F. If you have a deep-frying thermometer, you want the oil to be at 350°F. Carefully lower the desired number of frozen egg rolls into the hot oil, taking care not to crowd the pan. If necessary, fry them in batches to avoid overcrowding. Fry the egg rolls, flipping once if necessary, for about 6 minutes, or until the egg roll wrapper is deep golden brown and the filling is hot all the way through. Transfer to a paper-towel lined pan. Cut one open to test the heat in the center. If they are not hot, you can remove the paper towels from the pan and put the pan in the oven to finish heating through. Alternatively, you can heat the fried egg rolls for 30 seconds to 1 minute after frying if the centers are not hot. When the filling is hot in the center, let cool for a couple of minutes before serving.

To Bake the Prepared Egg Rolls Before Freezing:

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Spray the desired number of egg rolls all over nonstick cooking spray or brush with oil. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes, flipping occasionally, or until the egg roll wrappers are golden brown all the way around and the filling is hot all the way through. Remove the pan from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

To Bake the Frozen Prepared Egg Rolls:

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Spray the desired number of egg rolls all over with nonstick cooking spray or brush with oil. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes, flipping occasionally, or until the egg roll wrappers are golden brown all the way around and the filling is hot all the way through. Remove the pan from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

These are best served hot with a selection of sauces, like Ninfa’s Green Sauce , Smoked Paprika and Chipotle Sauce ,Roasted Red Pepper Sauce , or your favourite commercial or homemade salsa.
http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/03/05/southwestern-egg-rolls-make-ahead-mondays/

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Comfort Food, Freezer Pleaser, kid food, Main Dish, Make Ahead Mondays, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: , , , ,

Almond Joy or Mounds Cookies

March 2, 2012 by 9 Comments

By a show of hands, who out there is going to be angry with me if I post two dessert recipes in one week? Anyone? No? We’re good? Good. Because this one? Phew. This cookie recipe is the ne plus ultra of cookies.

This is like a combination of a Twix bar with an Almond Joy or Mounds bar. The anatomy of the cookie is thus:

  1. Crispy chocolate butter cookie base. It is what it sounds to be. It’s a little shortbready and carries a little snap to it. It’s the perfect place to put your…
  2. Honey caramel coconut chew. Yes. Just yes. Have you had honey coconut caramels? Maybe not. It’s an old one (and I blush to see the photo of it, but ever onward, right?) And if you’ve parked a honey caramel coconut chew on top of a crispy chocolate cookie, you might as well add a…
  3. Big, fat toasted almond. Sigh. There are very few things I like better than a handful of still warm aromatic, toasted almonds.  Well, maybe there’s one thing I like better than that. It’s when I cover them with…
  4. Melted dark chocolate. This doesn’t require a whole lot of explanation, but I’ll do it anyway because I add a little coconut oil (you could sub in butter if coconut oil is hard to find where you live) to the melted chocolate for added flavour and to make it a little softer once it’s set up. All this would be plenty fine, but if you’re going to the trouble you might as well gild the lily, right? Top the whole thing off with a sprinkle of…
  5. Flaked sea salt. Have you had sea salt with dark chocolate? When you add just a touch of sea salt to chocolate you taste chocolate like you never have before. The salt actually performs in this role. It suppresses some of the bitter flavours and amplifies the sweet and sour flavours.

Can you use regular old table salt here? Negatory. Table salt has iodine added to it which is great if you have goiter issues, but not so great taste wise. You know those bitter flavours you were suppressing with the salt? Yep. The iodine adds it right back in along with a pronounced metallic taste. Don’t go there. If you can’t get my favourite Maldon Sea Salt*, use a nice coarse sea salt or kosher salt (church of the last resort, but still acceptable.)

*I collect different salts. Crazy salts are my impulse buy weakness. Maldon Sea Salt is one of my all time favourites, though. It is harvested in Great Britain and is sold in the most impossibly beautiful irregular flakes. Some of them are pyramid like, some are flat and clear, some of them look like tiny gemstones. You usually grind them together in your fingers while sprinkling over food (or your tongue) and it’s generally used as a finishing salt rather than one you cook into foods.

The cookies, despite all their components, are deceptively simple to make. The dough can be made and frozen ahead of time. In fact, freezing the dough is necessary, so make it up to three months ahead of when you’d like to make it if you feel like it! The honey caramel coconut chew takes only one and a half minutes to make then five minutes to cool before scooping onto the cookie bases. Toasting almonds is a piece of cake and then you melt chocolate and coconut oil together for dunking. It doesn’t get much easier than that. And cookies can’t taste much better than this.

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Almond Joy or Mounds Cookies

Almond Joy or Mounds Cookies

These dreamy crispy chocolate butter cookies topped with honey coconut caramel chew and a toasted almond are enrobed in a subtly coconut flavoured dark chocolate.

To make these into Mounds rather than Almond Joy cookies, simply omit the toasted almonds.

Ingredients

    For the Cookie Base:
  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch or rice flour
  • 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • For the Honey Coconut Caramel Chews:
  • 1 cup pure honey
  • 1/2 cup raw sugar or granulated sugar
  • 2 1/2 cups unsweetened medium flake coconut
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
    • Also needed:
  • 24-30 whole almonds, toasted (If you can only find raw almonds, see instructions below the recipe to learn how to toast almonds.)
  • 2 cups dark chocolate chunks (or chopped chocolate)
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin coconut oil or butter
  • flakey sea salt or kosher salt

Instructions

To Make the Cookie Dough:

Whisk together the flour, cornstarch (or rice flour), cocoa powder and salt in a bowl. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle or using a hand mixer, beat together the butter and granulated sugar until smooth and fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl, add in the milk and vanilla extract and beat on low speed until combined. (It will not look smooth, but that is okay.) Add the flour to the butter mixture about 1/3 at a time, beating after each addition to combine. When all the flour mixture has been incorporated, turn the dough out onto a clean work surface and split into two equal amounts. Form the dough into logs and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Place cookie dough logs in the freezer until ready to bake.

To Bake the Cookies:

Preheat oven to 375°F and line cookie sheets with parchment or silpats.

Slice 24 rounds of frozen cookie dough no thicker than 1/4 of an inch.

Arrange the dough rounds on the lined cookie sheets. These cookies do not spread much while baking, so you don't have to worry about leaving more than 1/2 of an inch between them.

Bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until the cookies are firm all the way around on the edges. You can cool the cookies on the sheets on which they were baked.

While the cookies cool, make the honey coconut caramel chews.

To Make the Honey Coconut Caramel Chews:

In a medium sized, heavy bottomed saucepan, bring the honey and sugar to a boil over medium high heat. Boil hard for exactly 1 minute then turn off the heat. Immediately stir in the coconut and salt. Remove from the burner and let cool 5 minutes before portioning onto the cookie bases.

To Make the Chocolate Coating:

In a microwave safe bowl, combine the chocolate chunks (or chopped chocolate) and coconut oil or butter. Microwave on high for 45 seconds, stir, and continue microwaving in 15 second increments, stirring well after each burst, until the chocolate is smooth and glossy and completely melted.

To Assemble the Cookies:

Scoop generous tablespoons full of the honey caramel coconut chew mixture on top of each cookie base. Gently press 1 toasted almond onto the coconut chews.

Let the mixture cool completely. Stir the chocolate mixture, which by this time should have thickened just slightly. Lift a cookie by the base, invert it and dunk the coconut/almond part of the mixture into the melted chocolate. When you lift it and turn it back right side up, swirl it around a bit to get the chocolate to coat the coconut and drizzle onto the cookie base. Set the cookie back on the pan and repeat with the remaining cookies.

Sprinkle the tops of the cookies with salt to taste. Let stand until the chocolate has cooled completely.

Store leftover cookies in a tightly covered container at room temperature.

To Toast Almonds:

Stir almonds in a heavy, ungreased skillet over medium heat until golden brown. Turn them out of the pan immediately when they reach this stage or they will scorch.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/03/02/almond-joy-or-mounds-cookies/

P.S. If you run out of coconut to make the honey coconut caramel chews (like I did), you can make something remarkably similar to a Thin Mint by adding a little peppermint extract or oil to the same chocolate coating and dunking plain old (HA! Plain old chocolate cookies. I should be thrashed with a wet noodle for saying that!) into it with the remaining cookies.

Filed Under: Chocolate, Comfort Food, Cookies, Desserts, kid food, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , ,
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