Snacks

Baked Cider Pumpkin Doughnuts

October 6, 2011 by Rebecca 9 Comments

When I promise an all desserts week I mean it. Here’s installment #2!

There are foods that I will beat down the door and jump over an old lady to get. Doughnuts are not usually one of them. I don’t really have much of a sweet tooth (contrary to what you might think considering the number of dessert recipes I’ve posted) and so I spend my “sweet capital” very carefully. Doughnuts, in general, are too sweet, too gloppy, too much of everything. Just too too.

Every fall, though, I like to try an apple cider doughnut. The name is irresistible isn’t it? You say cider, I drool. And they’re usually okay. Often times they’re baked rather than fried and instead of a gloppy glaze, they have gone for a roll in a bowl of cinnamon sugar. I can manage one or two doughnut holes of the aforementioned variety before I have to back off. For me and doughnuts that equals indulgence.

My kids and husband, however, have never met a doughnut they didn’t inhale. My husband, in fact, calls them DARNITS. As in, “DARNIT! I ate another one!” And so, when I saw this the other day, I decided to try my hand at doughnut/darnit making. Using Food + Words’ recipe as a leaping off point, I leapt.

Being in possession of a great deal of apple molasses is a nice thing. It’s especially helpful when you decide you’re going to morph a pumpkin/beer doughnut recipe into a cider/pumpkin one. I wanted a hint of cider in the doughnuts but not enough to overpower the pumpkin. Can you think of two flavours that scream fall more than cider and pumpkin? I can’t.

I made dough. I rolled it. I cut it. I put it on pans. And then men (both of the little and mature variety) started trickling into the kitchen. “What are you OOOOOH! Mom’s making DOUGHNUTS!” “You’re making what? Oh. OH! When will they be done?” “Wow. Did we really clean that well?” (No. You didn’t. But you all are cute. Consider yourselves lucky.)

I baked. I dunked. I rolled in sugar. The doughnuts that is. I didn’t personally roll in the sugar although after doing a double batch of doughnuts I suppose it’s six of one/half dozen of another. Doughnut humour. Somebody stop me.

I snapped a couple pictures with a child or two hanging off of one leg, another one on my back and my husband and two eldest sons dancing from foot to foot in the background saying, “Is she done yet guys? How many pictures do you have to take?” I took three pictures then stepped away.

Locusts.

That’s what they brought to mind with the speed with which they descended on those doughnuts.

When they sat down for a breather, I hazarded a bite of a doughnut hole. They were good. No. They were great. They were light and just sweet enough. The pretty autumnal orange colour of the crumb delivered on pumpkin flavour with just a hint of apple cider. The nutty brown butter that held the crunchy cinnamon sugar to the outside was the perfect finishing touch. In short? It was a doughnut of which I could eat more than two. Darnit.

Some Important Cooking Notes:

This doughnut dough is very slack, very soft and very sticky. When first mixed up, it almost resembles a batter more than a dough. Be patient, allow the flour to hydrate as the dough rises. It should be workable after that first rise.
You will want to flour everything you work with very generously -counters, rolling pins, hands- don’t worry. Keep adding flour as you work with it.
You absolutely need parchment or a silpat on your baking sheet. There’s no getting around it! If you don’t use one or the other you’ll have a nasty clean up job ahead of you.
Use unsalted butter to make the browned butter. If you use salted butter, you’ll concentrate the salt in it and the doughnuts will definitely take on super salty as a finishing flavour.
These are best when served fresh and warm, but there’s not a thing wrong with storing them in an airtight container for about three days. And if they make it that long you know you’re not in my house.

Baked Cider Pumpkin Doughnuts

Yield: 12 large doughnuts and 30-40 doughnut holes (depending on size).

These doughnuts embody fall flavours with their beautiful spiced pumpkin orange crumb, hint of cider flavour and cinnamon sugar coating. Serve hot with cider or coffee for a seasonal treat.

Adapted from Food + Words

Ingredients

For the Brown Butter:

1/2 cup (1 stick/ 4 ounces by weight) unsalted butter

For the Doughnuts:

1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon boiled cider
1 envelope (2 1/4 teaspoons) instant dry yeast
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup bread flour

For the Cinnamon Sugar:

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

Begin by preparing the dough:

Warm milk to just above room temperature using the microwave or a saucepan. Pour into the work bowl of a stand mixer, gently stir in the boiled cider and the yeast. Let stand for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, use the batter attachment on your stand mixer to blend in the sugar, brown sugar, salt, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, egg, egg yolks, and pumpkin puree. Mix on medium for at least 1 minute to be certain everything is evenly combined and smooth.

Turn off the mixer, switch to the dough hook, and add all of the flour at once. Start on low (to avoid the dreaded flour POOF) and gradually move up to medium high where it should stay for 4-6 minutes, or until you have a soft, sticky batter-like dough.

Butter a large mixing bowl or pan generously and scrape the dough into it. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until doubled in size (about 1 hour at average room temperature.)

After an hour, line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment or silpats and set them aside.

Generously flour your work surface and your rolling pin. Turn the dough out onto the counter and dust the top with flour. Knead for no more than 1 minute to deflate the dough.

Roll it out to about 1/2-an-inch thickness and use a 3-inch diameter round cutter to cut large doughnuts and a 1/2-1-inch thickness round cutter to cut the hole from the center. (Or use the small cutter to do a gigantic batch of doughnut holes!) Carefully transfer the cut doughnuts to the lined sheets with about 2-inches of space between each doughnut (or 1 inch between doughnut holes.)

Re-roll the scraps and cut more doughnuts. Repeat until you've used all the dough.

Cover the baking sheets with plastic wrap and let rise for about an hour. Take care not to let them rise too long or the yeast will exhaust its activity before it gets to the oven and you'll lose the light texture you're trying to get.

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

To Make the Brown Butter

While the oven preheats, melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over high heat, swirling it to keep it from scorching. The butter will bubble and pop. As soon as the butter smells nutty and you can see lightly browned milk solids in the pan, remove the pan from a burner and set in a place to cool just slightly.

To Bake Doughnuts:

Bake the doughnuts in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Bake the doughnut holes in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes, or until just golden.

To Assemble the Doughnuts:

Toss the granulated sugar and ground cinnamon together in a bowl. Set the cinnamon sugar next to the brown butter. Working with one doughnut at a time, dunk into the brown butter and flip to coat. Lift with a fork to allow the excess butter to drain away then drop into the cinnamon sugar. Toss to cover all surfaces with the cinnamon sugar, transfer to a plate, and repeat with the remaining doughnuts and doughnut holes.

Eat.

Darnit.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2011/10/06/baked-cider-pumpkin-doughnuts/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com

Filed Under: Breakfast Foods, Desserts, Holiday Food, kid food, Rebecca, Recipes, Snacks, Vegetarian

Spinach Bacon Cheddar Munchy Cakes

August 23, 2011 by Rebecca 17 Comments

My name is Mrs. Bacon Onion Cheddar-Spinach, but you can call me Mrs. Spinach. I loved spinach so much that I married it.

Er, not really, but you get the point.

Spinach. Sigh. This is a bittersweet story. For years, I didn’t cook spinach as much as I’d like because my kids -most of ‘em anyway- didn’t really like it. I put it on pizza (well, one of the several pizzas I make whenever I make pizzas), made the occasional spanakopita, etc… but I’m the kind of person who could happily eat spinach nearly every day and here I was eating it once a week.

And then I went to Oklahoma. What does this have to do with spinach? Let me tell you.

My kids went to stay with a friend of mine who is nothing less than a living saint*. When I came home, one of the founding members of the “no-green-stuff-in-my-food” cabal approached me and asked, reverently, “Mama? Can you please ask Mrs. Danner for her quiche recipe? That was the best thing ever.” When I answered that I would and asked what kind of quiche it was, you could’ve knocked me over with a feather when he answered, “Spinach!”

*I think we’ll all agree that a woman who agrees to watch all five of my sons and my dog (ages five through thirteen) in addition to caring for her own four children, feeds them, goes for hikes to rivers with them, helps remove leeches from them (thereby providing dinner [and all other moments] conversations for the following month), lets them watch Doctor Who, delivers them home fully alive, and still speaks to me afterward is a living saint. I think her first miracle was getting my kids to eat spinach. That counts, right? Three cheers for Mrs. Casda Danner!

The brain, it boggled. Because honestly, his answer implied both a.) that he liked it and b.) that he was aware that he had actually eaten and liked spinach. I pursued the subject…

“Who ate the spinach quiche?” I asked. All but the baby. “And who liked it?” Again? All but the baby. Holy moly. The next day at the playground, I quizzed my friend about how she accomplished this great deed. Her answer, and I’m paraphrasing here, was that people try to serve spinach to kids all wrong. She told me, “Everyone serves it wilted with vinegar, ” [totally true on my part] “when what they should do is serve it with generous amounts of butter, cheese or cream.”

I told you she was a saint, but she not only is beatified, she’s brilliant.

And so. While ~~wasting incredible amounts of time~~ researching on Pinterest, I stumbled upon a very tempting picture of broccoli cheese bites. “Self,” quoth I, “You ought to try something like that… but with spinach.” I channeled Casda, combined wild amounts of Cheddar cheese, spinach and bacon (because where Cheddar cheese is, bacon should be!) and inspired by the aforementioned broccoli cheese bites, I achieved spinach-to-children’s-mouth success.

These Spinach Bacon Cheddar Munchy Cakes (so dubbed by my eldest son after I struggled with what to call them) are packed with all the culinary joy that results when spinach, bacon, and Cheddar get together. It’s hard to believe something so satisfying can be thrown together so quickly. More good news? These little beauts are very inexpensive. Omit the bacon and you have a vegetarian friendly entree or hearty snack.

A batch of these disappeared at light speed. And guess who tried it? The baby! And guess who liked it? Everyone! Including the baby!

We all opted for sriracha to accompany our munchy cakes. This one is mine. See the ladylike, evenly placed hot sauce dots?

This? This one is my husband’s. No pretty dots for him. No-siree-bob. Man. Need. Much. Sriracha.

All I know is this; I probably won’t win any health food awards with this recipe and I don’t care. They’re just so tasty.

Spinach Bacon Cheddar Munchy Cakes

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

When bacon, Cheddar and spinach come together in these savoury snack cakes, smiles are inevitable. Even the pickiest eaters tucked into these with gusto!

Ingredients

1 pound package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed to remove most of the liquid
3 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (I prefer extra sharp for this.)
1 1/2 cups fine dry bread crumbs (seasoned or plain)
6 large eggs
1/2 pound of bacon, cooked, drained and crumbled
3 tablespoons finely minced onion
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard powder (I prefer Coleman's.)
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Optional:

Hot sauce for serving

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°.

Line a baking sheet (or two, depending on size) with parchment paper.

Stir all ingredients together until even.

Scoop about 1/4-1/3 cup of the mixture (an amount about equal to the size of a plum) and form into a patty. Place patties on prepared pan.

Repeat until all of the mixture is formed into patties.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, flipping the patties after about 15 minutes, until they are all golden brown and crisp on the outside.

Serve hot, warm or cool with your preferred hot sauce.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2011/08/23/spinach-bacon-cheddar-munchy-cakes/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Breakfast Foods, Eggs, kid food, Rebecca, Recipes, Snacks, Stretching your dollars Tagged With: budget friendly, Frugal Food, kid friendly, quick and easy, quick meal

Fancy-Pants Bacon Jam, Spinach, Egg and Asiago Breakfast Pizza and a Giveaway!

August 16, 2011 by Rebecca 84 Comments

Updated 8/19/11: Winner announced below the contest rules!

Sometimes you just know something is going to be good. Sometimes you have to pat yourself on the back. Today’s lunch was one of those moments.

While digging madly through the cupboards to find fast lunch ideas for my already starved* children, I realized I was out of bread, cheese, tortillas, apples, and all sorts of other things I rely on to fill their hollow legs quickly.

*Or so they said repeatedly and loudly while clinging to my legs.

Thankfully, a perusal of the refrigerator revealed a big bucket of my special no-knead semolina pizza dough and some leftover cooked spinach. Serendipitously, they were resting right next to a fresh jar of bacon jam and a dozen fresh eggs from our chickens. I knew I had the ingredients to make a great lunch but what I didn’t know was just how epic and satisfying that lunch would turn out to be.

I found that I was on auto-pilot setting when I noticed I automatically pre-heated my oven to four hundred and seventy five degrees without thinking after setting the bucket of dough on the counter*.

*That is the temperature at which I cook all of my pizzas, but this is the subject of an upcoming post. Oooh, spoilers! A tease and a Doctor Who reference all in one sidebar. I’m not proud.

Apparently I was making pizza for lunch. Well, why not? I decided to go with the auto-pilot. I rolled out the dough, spread on a little bacon jam and topped the jam with spinach that had been squeezed dry, topped it with a little grated asiago and slid it into the hot oven. Four minutes into cooking, I gently slide a cracked egg on top of the spinach. When the egg was set, I removed it from the oven…

…showered the top generously with more asiago and shook an indecent amount of hot sauce over the whole thing. I cut it in half, paused for a quick picture, admired the runny yolk, and there was a knock at the door.

Sigh.

Half an hour later, I was able to dig in. I can honestly tell you this tastes incredible at room temperature… I’m equally certain that it would taste most amazing hot, but at least I can tell you it’s better than just okay when cool.

The pizza crust has a crackling crisp underside due in part to the (hubba hubba) semolina flour in it. The insides are chewy. The upper crust takes on a deep golden brown and then we get to the bacon jam. Oh, bacon jam. Do you guys remember my bacon jam recipe? I didn’t think it was possible to love it more than I already did when I wrote that post but I was wrong. Every single way I’ve used it has made me love it better.*

*I guess maybe that one time I tried to use it as perfume didn’t work out really well… But everything else? Golden.

The salty, smoky, meaty, sweet, perfect umami bacony goodness that is bacon jam on pizza crust topped with spinach (hello, lover), an egg that I just took out of the coop this morning and a shower of finely grated asiago cheese? You could say this auto-pilot lunch was inspired. So, I thanked the source of all inspiration and blessings and ate my really excellent cold lunch pizza.

Pssst. I’m sharing my pizza dough recipe with you here today so you can get it in your refrigerator and use it both for this recipe and upcoming ones. This is a big hint. BIG HINT.

Now. Another giveaway! And hoo-doggy it’s a hot one. The generous folks at Smuckers offered to send one of Foodie with Family’s readers a pretty amazing gift basket. And when I say pretty amazing I mean four seriously pretty pink and green striped ice cream REAL (as in not plastic) bowls, an ice cream scoop, some of their new ice cream toppings (Blueberry and Hot Caramel) some of their classic toppings (Hot Fudge), some sweetened condensed milk (Used to make their dead easy 3-ingredient ice cream for which they include the recipe!) and -wait for it- a $75 gift certificate to Cooking.com.

So what does this have to do with a fancy-pants breakfast pizza? What goes better with pizza than a milkshake, I ask you? Not a thing, as far as I’m concerned. And if I accidentally dolloped some of that caramel sauce into the blender with my ice cream and milk then I might have accidentally really loved it, too. I highly recommend accidentally doing that. Happy, happy day.

What do you need to do to enter this contest? This is one of my patented super complex entries. Leave a comment. Tell me what you like to eat with your milkshakes, what you would do with the $75 gift certificate, what your favourite ice cream topper is (Smuckers or otherwise), about the time you poured Magic Shell over your brother’s head, or what you like on your breakfast pizza. That’s it! Not too shabby for a chance to win all those goodies, eh? The winner will be chosen by random.org and announced here on Friday, August 19th.

Our winner is:

TiffH Well here in Oklahoma I love me a Strawberry milkshake with crinkle cut fries from Braum’s Ice Cream. And as far as cooking gift card I would get the ice cream maker I’ve been wanting (cuz I don’t have one) and use it with all that spiffy Smucker’s ice cream toppings and bowls… yeah! Can you overnight me some of that pizza because it looks delicious, and the egg on top genius!

TiffH, email me your mailing address and whatnot and I’ll send that right onto the folks at Smuckers!

Oh, and do me a favour? Since they’re being so generous, show them a little love and head on over to their website. They have some pretty fine dessert recipes posted!

Fancy-Pants Bacon Jam, Spinach, Egg and Asiago Breakfast Pizza

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

This inspired breakfast pizza is topped with the salty, smoky, meaty, sweet, perfect umami bacony goodness that is bacon jam on pizza crust, spinach (hello, lover), a fresh egg, and a shower of finely grated asiago cheese. While it looks and tastes like a big deal, it's incredibly simple to make.

Ingredients

Per Pizza:

1 navel-orange sized piece of Semolina Olive Oil Dough (see following recipe) or favourite pizza dough
2 tablespoons Bacon Jam warmed to slightly over room temperature
1/4 cup cooked spinach, squeezed to remove most of the liquid
2 tablespoons finely grated asiago cheese, divided
1 egg, cracked into a shallow bowl or measuring cup

Optional for serving:

hot sauce

Instructions

Preheat oven to 475°F with a pizza stone in place (if you have one.)

On a clean, floured surface, roll or press out pizza dough until it is about 1/4-inch thick in the center and slightly thicker around the edges.

Gently spread the bacon jam from the center of the dough to within 1/2-inch of the edges, taking care not to stretch the dough. (Heating the jam ahead of time helps it to spread more easily.)

Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the asiago over the bacon jam and scatter the spinach over the top.

Sprinkle semolina or cornmeal over a pizza peel (if using a pizza stone) or a baking sheet (if no stone is available.) Transfer the dough, carefully, to the dusted peel or pan. If using the stone, slide the pizza directly onto the stone, if using the sheet, slide the sheet directly into the center of the oven.

Bake for 4 minutes then open the door of the oven and pour the cracked egg directly into the center of the pizza. This is easiest if the bowl or measuring cup is held right next to the pizza to minimize the egg running.

Bake an additional 8-14 minutes or until the egg is done to your liking. I pulled mine when the whites were firmly set and the yolk was still mostly runny.

Transfer the pizza to a cutting board, sprinkle with the remaining asiago cheese.

Serve hot or cold with hot sauce, if desired.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2011/08/16/fancy-pants-bacon-jam-spinach-egg-and-asiago-breakfast-pizza-and-a-giveaway/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com

No-Knead 10-Day Semolina Olive Oil Pizza Dough

Prep Time: 15 minutes

This is, without a doubt, the best pizza dough I've ever made and eaten. The fact that it is no-knead and incredibly simple to make adds to its already ample charms. It bakes up as a beautifully crisp bottomed, chewy pizza crust but can also be made into pita bread and focaccia. It's like the bass-o-matic of pizza doughs!

Inspired by Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Zoë François and Jeff Hertzberg.

Ingredients

5 1/2 cups room temperature water
3 tablespoons instant yeast
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons sugar (raw or granulated)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
11 cups (2 pounds, 15 3/4 ounces by weight) all-purpose flour
2 cups (11 ounces by weight) semolina flour

Instructions

Mix the yeast, salt, sugar, olive oil and water in a 12 quart capacity bucket. (This recipe can be halved if you do not have a large enough container.)

Stir in the flour until no dry pockets remain. You do not have to knead it, but I find the easiest way to have it thoroughly mixed is to wet one hand and forearm and use that one to mix it in completely.

Cover lightly (Do not put a lid on tight. Trust me.) and let rest at room temperature until the dough has doubled and collapsed. (Or at least until dough is very, very puffy.) This takes a less than 2 hours in warm weather and more than 2 hours in cool or cold temperatures.

You can use the dough immediately. If you have leftovers, you can store them in the container, lightly covered (again, do not use a tight lid!) for up to 10 days. If you need to store the dough beyond that time, divide into individual pizza sized servings. Freeze in re-sealable plastic bags that have about a teaspoon of olive oil smeared around inside each for up to 3 months.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2011/08/16/fancy-pants-bacon-jam-spinach-egg-and-asiago-breakfast-pizza-and-a-giveaway/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Bread, Breakfast Foods, Main Dish, Rebecca, Recipes, Snacks, Stretching your dollars Tagged With: Breakfast, budget friendly, Frugal Food, kid friendly, quick and easy, quick meal

Sriracha Crab Rangoons or Crab Rangoon Dip

June 13, 2011 by Rebecca 6 Comments

This is the last of my Rule of Three deep-frying posts. Look for more hat tricks of deep-fried recipes in the future!

Yes, I crabbed (heh) about these rangoons two posts ago, but I tell you this honestly and truly… Every single one of these was devoured. The children wanted more. The husband wanted more. I wanted more. The truth is, had I not doubled the recipe*, and had I not overfilled and then sealed them with a lick and a prayer**, I wouldn’t have had such issues with the popping and the exploding and the grease burns. All that being said, these Sriracha Crab Rangoons were worth every single grease burn I acquired in the making of them.

*It’s a compulsion. I’m working on it.

**I don’t mean I actually licked them to seal the wrappers. I mainly mean that I was distracted while sealing them and in a hurry. What? Who’s distracted? SQUIRREL!

Sriracha Crab Rangoons. Honestly. could something sound any better? First of all I need to make a confession. I adore Chinese Buffets. It’s indecent really. I’m not talking about authentically Chinese food*. I’m talking about thoroughly Americanized deep-fried, kind-of Hunan, sort-of Szechuan, not-really Cantonese steam tables loaded with Crab Rangoons, Sweet and Sour Chicken, General Tso’s Chicken, French fries, hot dogs and donuts that suspiciously resemble deep-fried canned biscuit dough dusted with cinnamon sugar. I know crab rangoons have about as much to do with authentic Chinese food as Boston Coolers have to do with Boston. It doesn’t matter. They’re so good.

*I have had real Chinese food. It’s amazing. My overwhelming love of what my friend calls “WPCF” does not at all detract from my adoration of the real-deal. By the same token, though, I pledge my troth to General Tso and his Happy Family forever and ever, Amen. If it tastes good I will eat it; authentic or not.

Honest-to-Pete, you do not want to sit, stand, or otherwise be in between me and the crab rangoon steam tray at a buffet. Crispy wrapper (we’ve talked about my crispy foods issue), creamy crab filling, green onions, etc… Come on. That’s the stuff of dreams. When you add Sriracha you have hit another level of crave-ability entirely. Rooster sauce + Crab Rangoons= Heaven.

It will probably not surprise you to know that there are no Chinese buffets near where I live (unless, that is, you count a forty-five minute drive both ways as being near.) As much as I love this not-Chinese Chinese food, I’m far too lazy and far too cheap to drive that far for a craving. Farfarfarfarfar. Could I say that again?

The solution in these situations -because I often find myself craving things- is to make them myself. This is how I found myself manically and maniacally overstuffing wontons that I hastily sealed with hands shaking from hunger*. This is also how I came to stuff a fresh-from-the-fryer rangoon straight into my mouth. I do not recommend this move. Patience isn’t just a virtue, it’s a saver of the roof of your mouth.

*PSA: Foodie With Family does not recommend approaching a deep frying project when you are shaky because all you have consumed are two pretzel sticks, a fistful of raisins and an ill-advised cup of coffee. We recommend you eat a hard-boiled egg, at the very least, and come back to the job in a half hour. Too long to wait for fried happiness? I understand. There’s always the make-someone-else-do-it approach. We endorse that.

Here’s the other thing to remember about this recipe. Halfway through, when I realized that the 72 crab rangoons that were the inevitable result of doubling the recipe would be excessive even for a family the size of mine, I abandoned stuffing wontons and decided on the filling-as-dip/Sesame Wonton Crisp approach. Those were fantastic, too. Approach this as the spirit moves you. Either way you do it, you’re going to be eating happy.

Because I am nearing the end of the school year with the kids and this is what homeschoolers do, let’s RECAP!:

Doubling this recipe? Bad idea unless you have a lot of time. This should’ve been evident from the “Yield: 36 wontons” statement in the book.
Overfilling or not sealing the wontons well? Bad idea #2. Don’t go there. Take your time and do the job right or you’ll have quite the clean up job and a couple lovely red grease burns to boot.
Eating these straight from the fryer? Also a bad idea unless you dislike the skin on the roof of your mouth.
Making these very soon? Great idea. You will NOT regret it.
Don’t feel like frying? Make the filling, call it dip and dunk Sesame Wonton Crisps in it with joy!

Sriracha Crab Rangoons or Crab Rangoon Dip

Author: Adapted lightly from Randy Clemens

Recipe type: Appetizer, Snack

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 35 mins

Serves: 6-12

This spicy, garlicky, combination of crabmeat, cream cheese, garlic, green onions and Sriracha is great as a stand-alone dip or stuffed into wontons and deep fried.

Ingredients

1 (8 ounce) brick cream cheese, brought to room temperature
1 tablespoon Sriracha
6 ounces drained, flaked crabmeat
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced or pressed
4 green onions, green part only, minced (*see notes for what to do with the white parts!)
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
36 wonton wrappers (**see notes)
1 egg white, beaten until frothy
vegetable or peanut oil, for frying

Instructions

To Make the Dip:

Use a wooden spoon or stand mixer to beat together the softened cream cheese and Sriracha until it is an even colour.
Stir the crabmeat, soy sauce, garlic, green onions and sesame oil into the cream cheese mixture.
Chill, tightly covered, and serve as dip. Or…

To Make the Sriracha Crab Rangoons:

Preheat about two inches of vegetable or peanut oil in a high-sided frying pan or pot until it reaches 375°F.
Line a pan or large platter with paper towels, set aside.
Lay a single wonton wrapper in front of you oriented like a diamond.
Brush all four outer edges of the wonton wrapper with the beaten egg white.
Spoon about 1 teaspoon of the filling below the top point, but above the centerline.
Fold the bottom corner up over the filling to match with the top corner and form a triangle.
Carefully and firmly seal the outer edges completely by pressing the edges tightly.
Fry the stuffed wontons in batches of 2-3, taking care not to overcrowd the pan, for 3-5 minutes, or until golden brown, delicious and crispy looking.
Carefully transfer the rangoons (this is where they like to pop) using a skimmer or slotted spoon, preferably, or tongs to the towel lined platter.
Repeat until all rangoons are fried.
Let rest 2-3 minutes before eating, but serve while still hot!

Notes

*Don’t toss out those white root ends of the green onions! Put them, roots down, in a jar with water about halfway up the white portion and stick in a sunny window-sill. Change the water every two days and before you know it, you’ll have more green onion ends to use! **Most wonton wrappers are available in the frozen section of grocery stores. Be sure to thaw them completely before using or you’ll have to fight to separate them!

WordPress Recipe Plugin by EasyRecipe

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Recipes, Side Dishes, Snacks

Sesame Wonton Crisps

June 7, 2011 by Rebecca 4 Comments

KEY-RrrrrrrrrrrrUNCH!

Oh crispy things, how I do love you. Shattering, noisy, shedding crumbs from both sides of the mouth. That is what a snack food is meant to be. And within that crispity, crunchity category there is a hierarchy wherein salty crunchy things are in firm possession of the throne.

It is pretty common knowledge in my family that I can put a world of hurt on a bag of pretzels, potato chips fear me, and tortilla chips tremble at the sound of my name. If you value your salty snacks you don’t leave them alone in a room with me. Dips? Oh yeah. I demolish dips, too, but it’s the crispy bits that really ding my chimes.

I whipped up a batch of these Sesame Wonton Crisps when I lost steam in the kitchen making crab rangoons the other day. Wonton pocket after wonton pocket filled with spicy cream cheese and crab burst open in the oil and spit all over the place. After my fourth grease burn in as many minutes, I threw my hands up in the air and said, “Let this filling henceforth be known as dip!” Staring at a large, open package of wontons and a bowl of beaten egg whites, I decided to try an experiment. I brushed the wontons with the egg white, sprinkled with sesame seeds, and threw into the hot fat. I sprinkled a little salt over the crisps as soon as they hit paper towels and then promptly devoured the entire plate. Crab ran-whuh?

These are ohmygosh good and holycow simple. I dunked them in crab rangoon dip, but when I ran out of that, I simply squirted a little Sriracha on every crisp before munching merrily. It takes longer to heat the oil than it does to fry an entire package of wontons. Man! I just LOVE food that does that… Don’t you?

Sesame Wonton Crisps

Author: Rebecca Lindamood

Recipe type: Snack, Appetizer

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Total time: 20 mins

Serves: 12

Crispy, crunchy, nutty… These super fast homemade crisps are a wonderful break from the everyday chip. Serve alone or with dip.

Ingredients

1 package wonton wrappers
1 egg white, beaten with a fork or whisk
up to ¼ cup sesame seeds
3 inches canola or peanut oil in a heavy bottomed, high sided pan
salt to taste

Instructions

Heat oil over medium heat until the oil reaches 350°F. (*See notes for tips on deep frying.)
Line a bowl or platter with paper towels and set aside.
Lightly brush each wonton wrapper with egg white then sprinkle with sesame seeds. Cut each wonton in half.
Drop several wonton strips into the hot oil, stirring gently once.
Fry wonton strips for 1-2 minutes, or until golden brown.
Transfer to the paper towel lined plate and immediately sprinkle with salt.
Repeat with the remaining wonton wrappers.
Store leftovers at room temperature in a paper towel lined airtight container.

Notes

Deep Frying Tips: If you do not have a deep frying thermometer, you can test the temperature of your oil by dropping a wonton strip into it. If it bubbles up around the edges immediately, you are at the right temperature. If the wonton strip sinks, the oil is too cold. Wait a a minute or so and try again. If it bubbles violently and turns deep brown quickly, your oil is too hot. Turn the heat down and wait a few minutes before trying again.

WordPress Recipe Plugin by EasyRecipe

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Snacks

Ham and Cheddar Stuffed Pretzels

May 5, 2011 by Rebecca 16 Comments

This recipe ran as part of my column in today’s Traverse City Record-Eagle.

Yes I am obsessed with soft pretzels. And with shoving ham and cheese into things. Why do you ask? Is it because of this? Or this? Maybe this, this, this, this or this? Okay, that last one is bacon, but really? It could’ve been ham just as easily. Ham and bacon? They’re like *this*.

Ham, cheese, pretzels and me? We’re also like *this*. How it look so ever loving long for that beautiful food in the picture above to happen is beyond me. I live for stuffing things into soft pretzels and I live for stuffing ham and cheese into things. It was inevitable and the inevitable was oh-so-good.

We’re talking about a snack crossed with a meal. I’ve heard it both ways. It’s hearty enough to serve with a big salad* and some beans and be called dinner. It’s small enough that you could eat it alone (dunked in mustard, of course) for a serious snack. I chose to eat enough of them for snack that dinner was no longer an option.

*Big salads make all meals healthy and legitimate, no?

There are a few important things to remember when making these:

Use a great, dry-ish ham. Country ham is the best. Your second best option is a Virginia baked type ham or ham steak. Don’t use watery, pressed, nasty, rectangular ham. Have you ever seen a rectangular pig? No. Therefore, no ham should be a perfect rectangle.
Ham is salty. Cheese is salty. Go light on the salt on top of these pretzels. A soft pretzel needs at least a wee bit of salt on top in my book, but it’s easy to go overboard and cross into salt-lick territory. Better to leave it off if you’re watching the sodium intake or sensitive to salt.
The sharper your Cheddar, the better the final product. The cheese had to stand up against the assertive flavour of ham and a sharper Cheddar is better equipped.
This is one time I’m going to insist you cook your pretzel to a dark colour. Most often I offer a choice on baking lighter or darker, but this pretzel begs to be a deep brown. It needs the dark toffee coloured crisp exterior to balance the hearty fillings. Go for broke!

As with most soft-pretzels, these freeze and reheat beyootifully. Have you ever gotten so hungry you felt almost panicky or sick? Picture a serious hunger attack and knowing that you have a bag full of these bad boys in the freezer. Hunger be gone! We vanquish you with Ham and Cheddar Stuffed Pretzels. Victory is ours!

4.0 from 1 reviews

Ham and Cheddar Stuffed Pretzels

Author: Rebecca Lindamood

Recipe type: Appetizer, Snack, Main

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 25 mins

Total time: 40 mins

Serves: 8

Soft pretzels, ham and cheese -individually- make me happy, but together, they make me swoon. Deep brown soft pretzels stuffed with salty ham and melted, gooey sharp Cheddar cheese make the ultimate snack or light meal.

Ingredients

Ingredients for the pretzel dough:

1 cup lukewarm milk
½ cup hot water (not boiling, just hot)
4 cups (1 pound 1 ounce, by weight) high-gluten flour (or bread flour)
1 tablespoon malt powder (or granulated sugar)
1 ¼ teaspoons kosher salt
2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast

Ingredients for pretzel boil:

2 quarts water
¼ cup baking soda

Ingredients for fillings:

1 ½ cups diced ham (I like to use country ham or a Virginia style baked ham for this.)
1 ½ cups diced Cheddar cheese (We prefer extra sharp, but use your favorite.)

Ingredients for toppings:

1 egg, beaten
Coarse sea salt, kosher salt or pretzel salt

Instructions

To Make the Dough by Hand:

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, malt powder or sugar and yeast.
Set the whisk aside and switch to a sturdy wooden spoon.
Stir in the milk and hot water until a soft dough forms.
Turn onto a generously floured surface and knead, adding small amounts of flour as needed to keep the dough from adhering to the counter. You do not want a firm dough… it should be fairly slack, a little tacky and soft, yet smooth.
Place dough in a clean bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and set aside to rise in a warm, draft-free place until nearly doubled in bulk and puffy, about an hour or so.

To Make the Dough by Stand Mixer:

In the work-bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the flour, salt, malt powder or sugar and yeast.
Mix on low just to combine dry ingredients. With mixer still on low, carefully pour in the milk and water.
Continue mixing on low until you have a smooth, soft, slightly tacky dough.
Remove bowl from the mixer, cover with a damp tea towel and set aside to rise in a warm, draft-free place until nearly doubled in bulk and puffy, about an hour or so.

To Make the Dough by Bread Machine:

Add the milk, water, flour, malt powder or sugar, and yeast to the pan of your bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer.
Select the “Dough” or “Dough Only” cycle and hit start. Allow the cycle to complete.

To Form Pretzel Bites:

Line two 11×13-inch baking sheets with silicon or teflon pan liners. (You can use parchment, but you will need to grease it generously to prevent it from sticking.) Set next to your work area.
Turn the dough out onto a very lightly floured surface.
Use a bench knife to cut the dough into four pieces.
Keep three pieces of dough covered with a tea towel while working with the first. Roll the piece like play-dough until you have a snake of dough about the circumference of two thumbs squashed together.
Use your bench knife to cut the dough snake into 6 equally-sized pieces.
Press each piece into an oval that is about 3-4 inches across.
Put 1 ½ teaspoons each of the minced Cheddar and ham into the center. Bring the dough up together from the sides toward the center and pinch together firmly to seal the dough. Pinch the ends so that the cheese and ham are sealed into the dough.
Transfer the sealed, stuffed dough, seam-side down, onto the lined baking sheets, being sure to leave generous amounts of room between pieces and rows. They will expand both as they rise and again as they boil and bake.

To Cook the Pretzels:

Preheat oven to 400°F.
Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil in a stainless steel or other non-reactive pan (enameled cast-iron, tempered glass, etc…) When water boils, add the baking soda.
Gently lift the pretzel dough pieces one at a time into the boiling water. (You can boil more than one at a time, but be sure not to crowd the the pan as they will expand as they boil. Let simmer for about 45 seconds, flip the pieces and simmer for another 45 seconds-1 minute.
Use a slotted spoon to drain and return each piece to its place on the pan. Continue until all pieces have been boiled and returned to the pan.
Brush all pieces of dough with the beaten egg and sprinkle with coarse salt.
Place pans in oven and bake at least until golden brown (at least 15 minutes), but you can bake until they are deep brown. It’s up to you!
Remove the pans from the oven and let the pretzels rest on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a serving plate.
Leftovers, if you have them, should be stored in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator.
Serve warm or room temperature. I like mine with classic yellow mustard, but they’re also good with grainy beer mustards.

Notes

I recommend going light on the salt on top of the pretzels, especially if you use a good country ham. Ham and cheese are salty on their own, so the pretzel only needs the lightest sprinkle of coarse salt on top.

WordPress Recipe Plugin by EasyRecipe

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Bread, Main Dish, Meat, Rebecca, Recipes, Snacks

Cinnamon Sugar Soft Pretzel Bites

April 11, 2011 by Rebecca 8 Comments

You might have noticed I have a real thing for soft pretzels. Usually, I whip up the savoury variety (here or here) but my kids are partial to the ones you see up above. Chewy little two-bite pretzels tossed with butter and cinnamon and sugar.

I know I’ve mentioned how popular other varieties of soft pretzels are around my house. But these? These are the big guns. These are the ones that make my kids gaze at me with eyes aglow.

My kids know I’m making these before I even tell them. They love them so much that my second born recognizes the smell of the dough. He comes drifting into the kitchen led by his nose much like Bugs Bunny sniffing out a world-class carrot. He assumes a dreamy expression and he breathes, “Cinnamon Sugar Soft Pretzels. Oh Mom!” The inevitable follow up is a little mini-Riverdance routine accompanied by, “When will they be done? Oh, when will they be done?” An answer and the sound of sprinting feet and a bellowed “MOM’S MAKING CINNAMON SUGAR SOFT PRETZELS!” later, all five boys come barreling through the door with expectant faces.

This snack is the way to my boys’ hearts. Take note, all ye who wish to woo them later. They are exceptionally handsome young men and the competition will be thick. You’ll want to remember this recipe.

While my kids like a long, tall glass of icy cold milk with theirs and my husband prefers a hot cuppa coffee I say the only real requirement is a big stack of napkins.

5.0 from 1 reviews

Cinnamon Sugar Soft Pretzel Bites

Author: Rebecca Lindamood

Recipe type: Dessert, Snack

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 45 mins

Serves: 8

These sweet, soft, cinnamon sugar two-bite pretzels are a great after school or late night snack.

Ingredients

Ingredients for dough:

4 cups (1 pound 1 ounce, by weight) bread flour
1 tablespoon non-diastatic malt powder (preferably) or sugar
1¼ teaspoons kosher salt
1 cup whole milk
½ cup hot tap water
2 teaspoons SAF or instant yeast

Ingredients for pretzel boil:

2 quarts water
2 tablespoons baking soda

Ingredients for topping:

1 stick butter (4 ounces by weight), melted
½ cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Instructions

To Make the Dough by Hand:

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, malt powder or sugar and yeast. Set the whisk aside and switch to a sturdy wooden spoon. Stir in the milk and tap water until a soft dough forms. Turn onto a generously floured surface and knead, adding small amounts of flour as needed to keep the dough from adhering to the counter. You do not want a firm dough… it should be fairly slack, a little tacky and soft, yet smooth. Place dough in a clean bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and set aside to rise in a warm, draft-free place until nearly doubled in bulk and puffy, about an hour or so.

To Make the Dough by Stand Mixer:

In the work-bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the flour, salt, malt powder or sugar and yeast. Mix on low just to combine dry ingredients. With mixer still on low, carefully pour in the milk and water. Continue mixing on low until you have a smooth, soft, slightly tacky dough. Remove bowl from the mixer, cover with a damp tea towel and set aside to rise in a warm, draft-free place until nearly doubled in bulk and puffy, about an hour or so.

To Make the Dough by Bread Machine:

Add the milk, water, flour, malt powder or sugar, and yeast to the pan of your bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select the “Dough” or “Dough Only” cycle and hit start. Allow the cycle to complete.

To Form Pretzel Bites:

Line two 11×13-inch baking sheets with silicone or teflon pan liners. Set next to your work area.
Turn the dough out onto a very lightly floured surface. Use a bench knife to cut the dough into four pieces. Keep three pieces covered with a tea towel while working with the first. Roll the piece like play-dough until you have a snake of dough about the circumference of two thumbs squashed together. Use your bench knife to cut 1-inch pieces from the dough snake. Transfer the dough pieces onto the lined baking sheets, being sure to leave generous amounts of room between pieces and rows. They will expand both as they rise and again as they boil and bake. When you have dealt with all the dough, cover the pans with tea towels and let them rise in a warm, draft-free place until puffy looking, about 20 minutes.

To Cook the Pretzels:

Preheat oven to 400°F.
Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil in a stainless steel or other non-reactive pan (enameled cast-iron, tempered glass, etc…) When water boils, add the baking soda. Gently lift the pretzel dough pieces one at a time into the boiling water. (You can boil more than one at a time, but be sure not to crowd the the pan as they will expand as they boil. Let simmer for about 45 seconds, flip the pieces and simmer for another 45 seconds-1 minute. Use a slotted spoon to drain and return each piece to its place on the pan. Continue until all pieces have been boiled and returned to the pan.
Place pans in oven and bake at least until golden brown (at least 15 minutes), but you can bake until they are deep brown. It’s up to you!
Use a fork to combine sugar and cinnamon in a small mixing bowl. Set aside.
Remove the pans from the oven and transfer the hot pretzels to a large mixing bowl, drizzle the melted butter over the top and sprinkle with desired amount of cinnamon sugar. Toss until evenly coated with butter and cinnamon sugar (Do in batches if necessary).
Serve warm or room temperature.

Notes

Serve with an ice cold cup of milk or a hot cup of tea or coffee, but don’t forget the napkins!

WordPress Recipe Plugin by EasyRecipe

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Desserts, Rebecca, Recipes, Snacks

Sausage, Egg and Cheese Breakfast Sandwiches

April 4, 2011 by Rebecca 5 Comments

There are a lot of things I’m good at in my kitchen. Making hot breakfasts for seven people (or more if we or the boys have overnight guests) before a whole pot of seriously caffeine fortified tea isn’t one of them. I’m just not enough of a breakfast person to warrant the effort most times. Still, though, I feel like it’s important for my kids to have the option. The slow-cooker does the work most nights while I sleep and dream of Victorian-era nannies and housekeepers showing up on my doorstep saying they thought my children were so wonderful they wanted to work for us for free and could they start right away… Many mornings the unnaturally large-capacity bellies of my skinny children are filled with overnight-ed oatmeal, jook, bread pudding or somesuch. But there are also many corn flake and raisin bran mornings when I forgot to set up the slow-cooker before going to bed; More than I’d care to admit.

While flipping through the archives of a friend’s site, I happened upon her recipe for Breakfast Sandwiches. Brilliant! The concept was smack-your-head-on-the-table simple. Make and assemble all the components for breakfast sandwiches (similar, at first glance, to those available from The Golden Arches, but much better for you and mu-uh-UH-ch better tasting) then let them cool completely.

Wrap and freeze. Then BANG! Just reheat those beautiful, substantial lovelies in the microwave of eeeee-vil.*

*A prize to the first person to identify that quote. What kind of prize? I have no idea. I’ll work on that idea. Any suggestions?

Here’s the point. They play to my strong suit. Namely, cooking in the afternoon. I can whip up a dozen or more of these, have them wrapped, bagged, and frozen while the kids watch an episode of Phineas and Ferb. Stashed in the freezer, they are a serious solution to the breakfast dilemma. Whether you’re just low on time in the morning rushing to get everyone out the door or you want variety available, these Sausage, Egg and Cheese Breakfast Sandwiches are the answer to your problem.

Scale this recipe up or down as you like, just keep in mind the one English muffin + one egg + one quarter-cup of cheese ratio; Keep in mind, though, that since you’re already heating up the oven, skillet and toaster, you might as well make as many as you can reasonably eat in a month. Around here, that’s quite a few…

3.0 from 1 reviews

Sausage, Egg and Cheese Breakfast Sandwiches

Author: Rebecca Lindamood (Adapted from Katie Lee)

Recipe type: Breakfast, Snack

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Total time: 25 mins

Serves: 12

These hearty breakfast sandwiches are cooked, assembled and frozen ahead of time. They reheat easily in the microwave, making them the ideal solution for the morning rush or substantial after school snacks.

Ingredients

12 eggs
12 English muffins
12 breakfast sausage patties
3 cups of shredded cheese or 12 slices cheese(Colby Jack, Cheddar, or Pepper Jack)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
a pinch of dried mustard powder
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Optional for serving: arugula and hot sauce

Instructions

Toast English muffins and set aside.
Cook sausage patties completely, until nicely browned. Transfer cooked patties to a paper towel lined plate and set aside.
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Crack all the eggs into a large bowl, whisk until evenly yellow. Whisk in dried mustard, chopped parsley, salt and pepper. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin or 12 ramekins generously with nonstick cooking spray or grease well with butter. Divide the beaten eggs evenly between the 12 cups. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the eggs are set up and mostly cooked through.
Remove from the oven and top each muffin or ramekin cup with about ¼ cup (or 1 slice) of cheese. Return to the oven just until the cheese is melted.
When cheese is melted, remove the pans from the oven and let cool before carefully removing each egg and cheese round.
Assemble each sandwich as follows: Base of the English muffin + one sausage patty + one egg and cheese round + top of English muffin.
When they are completely cool, wrap each sandwich individually with plastic wrap and put the wrapped sandwiches into a resealable zip-top bag. Store in the freezer for up to one month.
To reheat: Remove plastic wrap, wrap sandwich in a paper towel and microwave on HIGH for 1½ minutes, checking at 30 second intervals.

Notes

After reheating, I like to carefully separate the sandwich between the egg and sausage and stuff it with a healthy fistful of arugula and a squeeze or two of hot sauce before re-assembling and stuffing into my face.

WordPress Recipe Plugin by EasyRecipe