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Freeze and Bake Bacon Cheddar Scallion Scones | Make Ahead Mondays {GIVEAWAY CLOSED}

December 18, 2012 by 190 Comments

Update: The Pick Giveaway Winner plugin chose Jana as the winner of our Folgers Holiday Exclusive Gift Pack. Congratulations, Jana! Check your email!

A couple months ago, I hauled out of bed on a Saturday morning, pulled back my hair and put on my face, put some clothes on that I hoped were cute (who can tell anymore? I’m so out of touch!) and hopped in the car for an hour and a half drive. It was snowing, it was cold, it was a good day to stay home. So why did I go anywhere?

Because in a warm building at the Genesee Country Village and Museum an hour and a half away, there was a King Arthur Flour baking demonstration that was open to the community. I was going to this on a dreary day because I am utterly and completely devoted to King Arthur Flour. I buy it by the fifty pound bag from my Amish friends. As in, multiple fifty pound bags: one of all-purpose, one of high-gluten, and one of white wheat. Yes. I use that much flour. I’m King Arthur Flour’s biggest fan in a non-creepy, not-Kathy-Bates-in-Misery kind of way.

I’d never been to one of their demonstrations, not for lack of desire, but because I lived too far from their baking center. When I learned that there was a local-ish one I could attend, I hopped on it! I really didn’t know what to expect other than the topic was going to be pie crusts, scones and biscuits.

**insert drooling and panting here**

I can’t help myself when it comes to pie crusts, scones and biscuits. They are the holy trinity of me losing what’s left of my pea-sized mind while inhaling food in a frenzy of crumbs, eye-rolling and happy noises. It’s not pretty to watch. Pies, scones and biscuits. I am powerless over you.

Pie crusts, scones and biscuits have more commonality than the equally abysmal self control I exhibit around all three; they’re pretty much made the same way. I hate to admit that with all my baking experience, I had never really thought of that. God bless Irene -King Arthur Flour Baking Expert Extraordinaire!- who made the connection crystal clear. To super simplify the whole process, it is essentially dry things whisked together, cold fat cut into it, and wet stuff tossed in until it is clumpy. Irene shared a tip with me that I’d never heard before and it totally re-invigorated my pie crust/scone/biscuit making. She said to work the fat into the dry ingredients in two separate additions. *FACEPALM* Seriously. Why? Because this ensures both that you have fat worked through which gives it tenderness and larger bits of butter/shortening/lard that gives you flakiness. If you work it in all at once, you won’t be able to achieve that highly sought after flaky/tender combo.  I love Irene.*

*Besides, any woman who can stand in front of a room filled with two hundred strangers and ask in response to an audience question -with a straight face and angelic tone of voice- whether someone’s pie bird ‘pukes up pie filling’ when it bakes has my loyalty forever.

She turned out the most gorgiferous apple pie and then moved onto scones where she casually said something that pretty much rocked my universe, even more than the ‘these three things are pretty much the same’ revelation. She suggested making and forming scone dough ahead of time and flash freezing them (laying the scones on a parchment lined pan to freeze solid before wrapping and transferring them to a freezer bag) and baking them off on Christmas morning. Good golly. I’d done this for years with biscuits, why oh WHY had I not translated this to scones?

I had visions of popping frozen scones on a pan and into a pre-heated oven*, sitting in my easy chair in my flannel jammies on Christmas morning while the kids opened presents, and standing up only when I hear the timer just in time to pull a tray of steaming hot, tender, bacon and scallion flecked scones from the oven. The fantasy goes on to being able to start our Christmas feast in a spotlessly clean kitchen later in the day because all I had to do was crumble the parchment and rinse the pan on which the scones baked.

*Yes, even in my fantasies, I pre-heat my oven.

Irene, we will be singing your praises with mouths full of tender flaky scones Christmas morning. Thank you!

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Freeze and Bake Bacon Cheddar Scallion Scones | {GIVEAWAY} and Make Ahead Mondays

Freeze and Bake Bacon Cheddar Scallion Scones | {GIVEAWAY} and Make Ahead Mondays

Having a bag of these frozen pre-formed scones in the oven is your secret holiday breakfast or brunch weapon. Simply remove desired number of scones from the freezer, place on a parchment lined pan and bake. Forty five minutes later you have piping hot, tender, flaky scones studded with crispy bacon, minced scallion and tiny pockets of melted Cheddar cheese.

Very gently adapted from and with thanks to King Arthur Flour

Ingredients

  • 4 cups (1 pound 1 ounce, by weight) all-purpose flour (preferably King Arthur all-purpose or Galahad flour.)
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 2 tablespoons baking powder
  • 4 teaspoons sugar
  • 8 tablespoons (1 a stick of butter or 4 ounces by weight), very cold and cut into 1/4-inch cubes, divided
  • 1 1/2 cups finely diced Cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 cup finely minced scallion tops (green onions)
  • 1 pound of bacon, cooked 'til crispy, then cooled and crumbled or chopped
  • 1 1/2 cups heavy cream or half and half plus 1/4 cup (plus more, if needed, to make a cohesive dough.)
    • For Baking:
  • Additional cream for brushing prior to baking

Instructions

Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add about 1/2 of the cubed butter and work in with a fork, two knives, a pastry cutter or your fingers until the mixture resembles lentils. Add the remaining butter and work in, leaving some slightly larger pea sized -or even larger- flakes of butter.

Add the cheese, bacon and scallion tops and toss through gently until evenly distributed, taking care not to mash it in. Add 1 1/2 cups of the cream, sprinkling it over the top, then tossing to combine. Pick up a small amount of the mixture and try squeezing it gently together. If it crumbles, or if there are dry crumbs in the bottom of the bowl, add more cream -1 tablespoon at a time- until you have a mixture that holds together as a shaggy dough when squeezed gently. Use a bench scraper or spatula to gently fold the dough in on itself until it forms a shaggy mass you can turn out onto a very lightly floured surface.

Divide the dough in half and gently pat out the dough into two 7-8 inch discs that are about 3/4 of an inch thick. Carefully transfer the discs to a parchment lined baking sheet. Use a bench knife or Chef's knife to cut each disc into 8 wedges, cutting straight down and not sawing back and forth to help it rise higher in the oven. Gently separate the wedges so there is a little space between them.

Place the pan directly into the freezer. When the scones are frozen solid, individually wrap each of them tightly with plastic wrap then add to a resealable freezer bag. Keep frozen for up to three months.

Ready to Bake?

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Remove desired number of scones from the freezer, unwrap and arrange with some space between them on a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush lightly with heavy cream and bake for 45 minutes or until browned and puffy.

Notes

Don't be afraid to add more heavy cream (or LESS for that matter) than specified in the recipe. Irene from King Arthur Flour suggests that you should use visual cues to determine how much or little to add. Start at the lower end of the recommended amount and watch how the dough behaves. If there are large amounts clumping together and little pockets of dry-ish crumbly bits, move the large clumps to the side and sprinkle just a little cream over the crumbly bits until they behave like the clumps. It takes patience, but the end result is so worth it!

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/12/18/freeze-and-bake-bacon-cheddar-scallion-scones-giveaway-and-make-ahead-mondays/

Now, another GIVEAWAY! The folks at Folgers have offered a Folgers Holiday Exclusives Coffee Kit (ARV: $150) to one very lucky Foodie with Family reader! This promotion is to introduce their brand new Folgers Wakin’ Up Club. If you join the Folger’s Wakin’ Up Club, you get coupons, news on promotions and chances to win weekly prizes at Folgers.com. You can also download the new Folgers Wakin’ Up App to help spread some extra holiday cheer with friends and family this season. Sounds fun to me!

What’s in the kit?

  • A Variety of Folgers Products: Classic Roast, Black Silk and 100% Colombian (My husband loves the Fresh Breaks for business travel. He says they’re infinitely better than the drip coffee in hotel rooms. Instant coffee has come a long way, baby.)
  • Crate and Barrel Gingerbread Mug
  • L.L. Bean Comfy Flannel Pajama Set (Who doesn’t love warm jammies? These are the comfiest ones in town!)
  • Red Holiday Socks (WARM TOOTSIES!)
  • Pottery Barn Coffee and Warm Socks Framed Print

Here’s how to enter to win that a great bunch of goodies!

MANDATORY ENTRY:

Leave a comment here telling me what your favourite part of the holiday season is. Is it the food? Family? Friends? Smell of pine everywhere? Talk to me!

Optional Entries. Be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry so that it’s sure to be counted!:

You don’t have a ton of time, folks because we’re closing the giveaway on this Friday, December 21st. Get your entries in quickly like bunnies! Merry Christmas to you all!
DISCLOSURE: Folgers is providing a gift pack for one reader and sent one to me for review. All opinions, thoughts, and writing are my own.
Filed Under: Bread, Breakfast Foods, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Holiday Cookies and Goodies Round-Up

December 7, 2012 by 5 Comments

Were you to be looking for me this past Tuesday or Wednesday, you would’ve found me in the basement of the student center at Houghton College in Houghton, New York, selling tasty goodies at a table set up at the 26th Annual Houghton Arts & Crafts Fair. This was the first year the college did two floors of vendors and I was there on a mission: to sell as many baked goods as I could possibly turn out of my kitchen to benefit the Cookies for Kids Cancer organization.

First I want to say a word about this fabulous group. Cookies for Kids’ Cancer was the brainchild of a mother who was inspired by her two and a half year old son’s own battle with pediatric cancer. She took what is most parents’ worst nightmare and turned it into a mission to help other families touched in the same way. Here are some important statistics to know about pediatric cancers.

  • Cancer claims the lives of more children annually than any other disease ” more than asthma, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis & AIDS combined.
  • 46 children per day are diagnosed with cancer totaling nearly 13,000 new cases per year.
  • Cure rates have improved dramatically and advances in childhood cancer research has provided seminal insights into the cancer problem in general. Today, 4 out 5 children diagnosed with cancer can be cured.
  • Combined funding for all pediatric cancers accounts for less than 4% of the National Cancer Institute TOTAL cancer funding budget.*

All statistics sourced from Cookiesforkidscancer.org.

The opportunity to take part in the arts & crafts fair was pretty last minute, so I didn’t have a ton of time to recruit friends and family to donate baked goods for sale, but I wasn’t about to give up the chance to use my partnership with the GLAD Product Company to help as many people as I possibly could. Why was this such an opportunity? Because GLAD was going to donate up to $1.00 for every single cookie (or goody) I sold, up to $100,000. I knew I couldn’t dream of turning out one hundred thousand cookies, but my kitchen kicked into as high a gear as I could make it go. I made a monstrously huge batch of Chex mix (as in three boxes worth of cereal, a bag of pretzels, a mega-box of Goldfish crackers,  three-quarters of a pound of butter and various other bits and pieces), a quadruple batch of salted caramel corn, and a bunch of homemade instant vanilla chai mix. I took them to the sale on Tuesday, hoping I might be able to sell out before the six o’clock end time to get home with plenty of day left to make things to sell the next day.

I had no idea.

I was cleaned out by two o’clock in the afternoon. The pleasant surprise spurred me to have more the next day, so the boys and I went home to make something REALLY spectacular for day two. I turned out forty eight Hot Chocolates on a Stick, four batches of homemade marshmallows (Bourbon Vanilla, Coffee, Orange Vanilla and Mint flavoured, respectively), another roaster pan of Chex mix and four batches of kettle corn (two classic, two spicy/sweet chipotle). Phew. I bagged everything maniacally Wednesday morning, pulled a brush through my hair and threw some makeup at my face, hoping it would land in the right place and had everything on my table to start selling at ten in the morning. My prayer was that I’d once again be able to sell most of what I had brought. I promised the kids they could eat whatever I didn’t sell.

Again? Whoa.

Houghton students and community members from the county really know how to kick it into gear when it comes to charitable giving. I sold out again by two.

One student came by and listened sweetly to my spiel then opened her wallet and stuffed what she had into the donation jar with the simple statement, “I am cancer. I survived.”

That makeup I threw at my face melted off as I thanked her tearfully.

All in all, I sold two-hundred and fifty items at that sale. My word.

You can get in on the giving, too, from the comfort of your own home or office and without baking a thing! Exchange a virtual cookie with a friend at the GLAD Cookie Exchange. GLAD will donate up to $1.00 to Cookies for Kids’ Cancer for each virtual cookie sold, exchanged or given this November and December 2012 – up to $100,000! In other words, all you have to do to help is click! Keep on clicking, folks. Together we can take a bite out of Pediatric cancers. Please visit the Glad Cookie Exchange and Cookies for Kids’ Cancer to see what you can do to help!

Now let’s talk goodies and cookies round-up, shall we? All of these recipes are suitable for holiday cookie exchanges, giving or bake sales.  First, let me show you what we offered at our bake sale.

Hot Chocolate on a Stick

Sweet and Spicy Chipotle Kettle Corn

Salted Caramel Corn

…And now for other cookies and goodies that make great gifts or holiday cookie exchange items!

Ada and Anna’s Maple Sandwich Cookies (Maple Whoopie Pies)

Homemade Twix Cookies

Amish Cookies

Almond Joy or Mounds Cookies

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

…And because not EVERYONE has a sweet tooth, include this for your favourite savoury snack lovers!

Rosemary Garlic Almonds



I have partnered with The Glad Products Company through DailyBuzz to help promote their Food Storage products. I have been compensated for my time commitment to work with this product. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments. Thank you GLAD!

Filed Under: Rebecca, Round Ups Tagged With: , , , , ,

Salted Caramel Corn | Make Ahead Mondays {GIVEAWAY CLOSED}

December 3, 2012 by 280 Comments

 

Update: The Pick Giveaway Winner plugin chose Christi P. as the winner of the Whirly Pop and Coconut Oil. Look for the email I’ve sent you, Christi! I can’t even wait for you to get to try these things. Congratulations!

My Grandma is one of my biggest cooking heroes. She has spent the majority of her life feeding people. My Grandpa, her husband, was a pastor who couldn’t walk away from someone who looked hungry, and everyone looked hungry to Grandpa. I’ve mentioned it before, but it bears repeating that one of my most treasured possessions is my collection of recipe cards handwritten for me by Grandma in my first years of marriage. There is just nothing to compare to road-tested recipes written by the hand of someone you love bigger than the bay. The only drawback? Well, maybe I get just a touch weepy whenever I make her recipes. In other words? I weep a lot.

The recipe I’m sharing today is a holiday staple. I only allow myself to make it from December first through January thirty first because otherwise I’d be the size of a house. We give bags of this to friends, Romans and countrymen. In other other words? We give it to EVERYONE. If you walk near my house in Advent, you’re getting a bag full of Salted Caramel Corn shoved in your hands. It’s just the way we do things, because it’s how Grandma does it.

And since we’re talking about Grandma, let me tell you, she was ahead of her time. Grandma was doing Salted Caramel WAY before anyone else. As in decades. When salted caramel hit the food scene I was all, “What? You mean other people DIDN’T salt their caramel?” Honestly. I was agog. Aghast. Alarmed. Arsey-versey. Shall I stop now? Please say yes. I’m all out of words that mean agape that begin with ‘A’. Oh, no I didn’t. Oh yes, I did… Astounded, awestruck, astonished, amazed…

We were, however, talking SALTED Caramel Corn. On the back of the recipe card, Grandma wrote about the final step of the process, “This is what makes it crisp and it does not stick to your teeth-” I’m neither an orthodontist nor have I played one on t.v., but many of my kids’ braces wearing friends are able to eat this with no issues! If you’re looking for a caramel corn that fits the bill for your favourite dental appliance sporting pals, this is the one!

Think of this as the ultimate in caramel corn. It’s perfectly caramelled (new word. I made it up), just a touch salty, crispy and not at all sticky and is totally simple to make. I promise you many accolades and much affection (more ‘A’ words!) if you make a batch of two of these to give away. Here’s where ‘Make Ahead Mondays’ comes into play. This caramel corn is good for about ten days after it’s made. One batch makes roughly eight quarts. Make a batch, bag it up and give it away for the next few days. If it starts softening a bit, crisp it up in a 250°F oven for a few minutes. This is a room-temperature storage item. You want to spread some joy? ” The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear” AND give them a bag of this stuff. I’m pretty sure Buddy would approve. (My final ‘A’ word.)

If you want to try a sample of this good stuff, I’ll be selling it as a fundraiser for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer at the 26th Annual Arts and Crafts Fair at Houghton College in Houghton, New York tomorrow (Tuesday, December 4th) and Wednesday the 5th. Come on down and see me!

 

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Salted Caramel Corn | Make Ahead Mondays

Salted Caramel Corn | Make Ahead Mondays

There is nothing that can compare to Grandma's Salted Caramel Corn with its brown sugar, nutty browned butter and touch of salt. Grandma is a genius.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups brown sugar
  • 1 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup light corn syrup
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 8 quarts plain (unseasoned, unsalted) popcorn in a very large mixing bowl

Instructions

Line 2 half-sheet pans with silpats, parchment paper or non-stick foil. Preheat oven to 250°F.

Combine brown sugar, butter, corn syrup, vanilla and salt in a heavy, medium-sized saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the pan from the heat and add the baking soda. It will foam up big time! Don't worry, it's to be expected.

Pour the molten caramel over the popped corn in the bowl and stir gently but thoroughly to evenly coat the popcorn. Split the popcorn between the two prepared pans and spread it out evenly. Bake in the oven for 1 hour, stirring well every 15 minutes. Grandma says "Watch it closely during baking to ensure it doesn't stick and burn. If it tends to do this, lower the temp a tad. This step is what makes it crisp and it does not stick to your teeth!"

Let the caramel corn cool on the pan (if it is sufficiently done, you'll hear it crackling as it cools!), then store in an airtight container at room temperature.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/12/03/salted-caramel-corn-giveaway-and-make-ahead-mondays/

Now the GIVEAWAY! This one is sponsored by ME! Just me! No one else! Several years ago, my Aunt Molly sent my family a Whirly Pop. Have you ever heard of one of these? I hadn’t until she sent me one. It is, in short, the ULTIMATE popcorn popper. It’s a funky pan with built in stirring mechanism that makes up to SIX QUARTS of theatre style popcorn in under THREE MINUTES. I’m telling you, this is on the short list of things I would replace the same day if it broke, not that I see it breaking any time soon. Honestly, folks… it has a 25 year warranty on all moving parts. Can you beat that? We’ve put this thing through its paces for almost seven years and it’s still going strong! We seriously use this every. single. day.  Sometimes we eat three batches a day! Oh! And you can make the best kettle corn of all time in these bad boys, too!

It is so much more inexpensive and incredibly healthier to pop your popcorn this way. Plain bagged popcorn is FAR less costly than and contains none of the weird, nasty preservatives found in the microwave stuff. You can get away with using much less oil when using the Whirly Pop than you would using a big pot on the stove. It’s pretty much the best way ever to make popcorn.

So here’s what I’m giving away. ONE WHIRLY POP…

 

and ONE JAR OF EXTRA VIRGIN COCONUT OIL.

Believe me, you haven’t had popcorn until you’ve had it popped with coconut oil in a Whirly Pop.

Here’s how to enter! (Be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry method you use so each one is counted!)

Mandatory Entry:

What’s your favourite popcorn topping? Hot sauce? Plain old salt? Sardines? (What? Could happen!) Nutritional yeast? Talk to me!

Optional Entries:

Like Foodie with Family on facebook.

Follow Foodie with Family on Instagram.

Follow Foodie with Family on Pinterest.

Follow Foodie with Family on Twitter.

Tweet the following, “I want to win a Whirly Pop and coconut oil for the perfect popcorn from @foodiewithfam ”

Disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored by me and paid for by me. Sadly, I can’t ship this package outside of the continental US, so this giveaway is only open to residents of the aforementioned!

 

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Desserts, Make Ahead Mondays, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

November 16, 2011 by 9 Comments

 

As I walked up from the mailbox a couple weeks ago, I glanced through the pile of stuff; a bill, some advertisements, blah blah blah, and then something caught my eye. On the cover of the new issue of Whole Living was a pan full of what appeared to be roasted Brussels sprouts with grapes and walnuts. “Ooooh,” thought I, “That looks good. I’ll give that a look over as soon as I make myself a cup of tea.” I walked in the door, sat the magazine down and never saw it again.

What happened to it? Who can say? What happens to anything that disappears in a home with five sons ages thirteen (for another two days) and under? Well, sometimes those things end up in the chicken coop under a pile of something I’d rather not describe on a food blog, or on the roof of the shed (not kidding), or buried under the gravel pile (with my soup spoon), or stuck on a pike in the boneyard (not so scary, really, it’s a place where kids found a pile of deer bones left by the previous owner of our property, now a fertile ground for much imaginative play) as a pirate flag, or crammed under beds/van seats/recliners.

But the idea of the dish stayed with me. I didn’t want to overthink it, because Whole Living usually has lovely, uncomplicated, pure flavours in their recipes. They don’t get all wacky and difficult, God love ‘em, so I decided the fewer ingredients, the better. I grabbed the ingredients the next time I went to the store and came home to try my hand at the version my imagination had supplied.

I was assembling my pan-o-sprouts when my husband walked by, stopped and backtracked. “You’re putting grapes in with Brussels sprouts?” he asked incredulously? I decided to play it cool and replied with a, “Yep.”  He shrugged his shoulders and moved on.

Thirty five minutes later I pulled a tray of roasted sprouts* and other goodies from the oven and took a deep whiff. Oh my. That smelled pretty good. I splashed balsamic vinegar onto the hot pan and vegetables and it smelled even better. I tossed it all together and it smelled best yet. Then I called Mr. Doubtful into the room. “Give it a try,” I said.

He did.

One grape, one Brussels sprout half and one piece of walnut in one bite. Then he went into broken record mode, trying the same combination again and again and again. “This is perfect. It is. You need one piece of everything for the perfect bite.”

I probably don’t need to tell you how well this would go with your Thanksgiving feast, but I should probably  mention that we ate a full pan of this the first night I made it and forgot all about the rest of the meal. And I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you that with a little crispy bacon thrown in, this would be at home between a bottom layer of grits and a top layer of poached or fried egg. Then there’s that little matter of throwing together with pan-fried ham pieces for a quick hash.

…I never did find my  Whole living, but I ran my version of the recipe past a friend who did not lose (or have lost on her behalf) her copy. As luck would have it, my method was the same and my end version differed only in the matter of quantity of olive oil and the fact that I didn’t include fresh thyme. How ya like that?

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Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Grapes and Walnuts

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Grapes and Walnuts

Roasted Brussels sprouts are mellower than their boiled counterparts, and when combined with intense roasted grapes, toasted walnuts and balsamic vinegar you have a perfect dish that you have to taste to believe. Try it with your Thanksgiving feast, or on a night when you want to make ordinary extraordinary.

Inspired by Whole Living.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2-2 pounds fresh Brussels sprouts
  • 2-3 handfuls of red, seedless grapes
  • 1/2 cup shelled walnuts (large pieces, not diced)
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • Kosher or sea salt to taste
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 2-3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Trim the Brussels sprouts of any dry ends and loose leaves, then halve. Place halved sprouts along with grapes and walnuts on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle the olive oil evenly over the top, sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Roast for 30-35 minutes, or until the sprouts are well-browned in places, the nuts are fully toasted and the grapes are darkened in colour and very plump.

As soon as you remove the pan from the oven drizzle the balsamic vinegar over the contents of the pan and toss to coat. Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle with a little additional coarse sea salt.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2011/11/16/roasted-brussels-sprouts/

Filed Under: Comfort Food, Happy Healthy and Wise, Healthy Foods, Rebecca, Recipes, Side Dishes, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , ,

Shortbread Cookie Spoons (Spookies)

March 28, 2011 by 4 Comments

You know how sometimes everything just comes together at the right time? Those moments where inspiration strikes at the same time that you have all the supplies to make it happen? This is one of those moments.

I had just made some velvety, luscious chocolate custard and one of my friends started talking about the world’s best shortbread cookies that she just made. I wished aloud that I had a couple of her cookies to dunk in my custard and asked for the recipe.

Lightbulb.

I was going to make cookies that were spoons and eat my custard with them. Were they cookies? Were they spoons? Yes, they were both; they were Spookies*.

*Like a spork, but much more delicious.

I imagined them wrapped up in cellophane and a bow as the prettiest cookie at the bake sale, bagged up with a gift tag as a hostess gift, then the dipping and dunking vistas opened up before me;  Spookies dunked in custard (as I served them), Spanish Style Hot Chocolate, coffee, hot cocoa, pudding… What couldn’t Spookies do?

I messed with my friend’s recipe ever so slightly, substituting orange zest for lemon zest out of necessity and  rice flour for half of the all-purpose flour in her recipe. Why? Well, the best shortbread cookie I have ever had in my entire life came from an elderly Scottish woman who told me she the secret to truly wonderful shortbread was to use half all-purpose flour and half rice flour.  She said as long as you used real butter and the flour blend, everything else would fall into place.

Every shortbread I’ve made since has incorporated her trick. To test her (now our) theory, I did a side-by-side comparison on my friend’s recipe. I made a batch using all-purpose flour and one using the blend of all-purpose and rice flour. They were both outstanding, but the one made with rice flour was slightly more delicate in crumb and flavor.  The verdict: Half the crew here was in the rice flour camp and half was in the all all-purpose camp but everyone agreed that they would eat either without hesitation. If you can lay your hands on a bag of rice flour, I encourage you to make it as written below. If you can’t, substitute another cup (4 1/4 ounces, by weight) of all-purpose flour for the rice flour. It’ll still be delicious!

Note: To the best of my knowledge, there aren’t any spoon shaped cookie cutters in the world. I did the next best thing. I used brute force and a pair of pliers to bend an old bell-shaped medium-sized (2″) cookie cutter into a spoon-ish shaped cutter. It was a bit wonky, but effective and efficient. If you’d prefer, you can trace a tablespoon sized measuring spoon on cardboard and cut that out to use as a template.  I found it much simpler to bend the tar out of a cookie cutter and use it than to cut around a cardboard template repeatedly, but do as the whimsy moves you!

Shortbread Cookie Spoons

Gently adapted from Krysta, Evil Chef Mom.

Scroll to the bottom for an easy-print version of this recipe!

  • 2 sticks (8 ounces, by weight) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature, cut 1/2-inch pats.
  • 1/2 cup superfine sugar (Can be made by placing granulated sugar in a blender on HIGH for about twenty seconds.)
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • zest of 1/2 an orange
  • 1 cup (4 1/4 ounces, by weight) unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup (5 ounces, by weight) white rice flour
  • 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup Bourbon and Vanilla Infused Sugar (preferably Bourbon infused) or granulated sugar

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flours and set aside.

Fit a stand mixer with the paddle attachment  and beat butter on medium high until butter is totally smooth, about 1 minute. Change mixer speed to low, and with it running, gradually add the superfine sugar, then the vanilla, orange zest and salt, and continue mixing until it lightens in color. Turn mixer off, add about 1/3 of the flour blend. Turn mixer onto low and incorporate all the flour. Turn off the mixer, scrape down the sides and add another third of the flour blend.  Again, mix on low until incorporated, then turn off the mixer, scrape down the sides and add and blend in the final installment of flour. Continue mixing on low until the dough forms a fairly cohesive mass.

Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead four times, or until smooth. Dust the top of the dough with flour. Gently roll the dough out to an even thickness between 1/4- and 1/3- of an inch.

Line two cookie sheets with silpats or parchment paper and place to the side.

Use your spoon cookie cutter (or trace around the edge of our template with a sharp paring knife) and carefully transfer the shapes to the lined cookie sheets, placing them 1-inch apart.  Collect the scrap dough, gently push it back together and roll out, cutting more cookies. Continue gathering scraps, re-rolling the dough, and cutting until all the dough has been used.

Place the cookie sheets in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F with racks positioned in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. When hot, place one cookie sheet on each rack. Cook,rotating the trays from front to back and top to bottom after 7 minutes, for a total time of 15 minutes or just until they become golden brown around the edges. Remove the trays from the oven and immediately sprinkle the raw sugar over the hot cookies. Cool the cookies completely on the pans.

 

Store in an airtight container at room temperature. These cookies just improve with age.

…Want your own bourbon and vanilla infused sugar? That’s coming your way tomorrow! I guarantee you want this recipe. Think of it stirred into coffee, tea, sprinkled over cookies, etc… I thought so. See you tomorrow!

 

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Shortbread Cookie Spoons (Spookies)
Author: 
Recipe type: Dessert, Cookie
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 15
 

These lightly orange-scented, spoon shaped shortbread cookies turn the ultimate cookie into the ultimate dipper. Dunk in hot chocolate, coffee, tea, or milk. Don’t stop there, though. Try them in pudding, custard, and ice cream!
Ingredients
  • 2 sticks (8 ounces, by weight) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature, cut ½-inch pats.
  • ½ cup superfine sugar (Can be made by placing granulated sugar in a blender on HIGH for about twenty seconds.)
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • zest of ½ an orange
  • 1 cup (4¼ ounces, by weight) unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup (5 ounces, by weight) white rice flour
  • ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ cup raw sugar (preferably Bourbon infused) or granulated sugar

Instructions
  1. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flours and set aside. Trace a measuring spoon (tablespoon size) onto cardboard and cut out to use as a template or bend a medium-sized metal cookie cutter into a spoon shape. (Of course, if you happen to have a spoon sized cookie cutter that will work!)
  2. Fit a stand mixer with the paddle attachment and beat butter on medium high until butter is totally smooth, about 1 minute. Change mixer speed to low, and with it running, gradually add the superfine sugar, then the vanilla, orange zest and salt, and continue mixing until it lightens in color. Turn mixer off, add about ⅓ of the flour blend. Turn mixer onto low and incorporate all the flour. Turn off the mixer, scrape down the sides and add another third of the flour blend. Again, mix on low until incorporated, then turn off the mixer, scrape down the sides and add and blend in the final installment of flour. Continue mixing on low until the dough forms a fairly cohesive mass.
  3. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead four times, or until smooth. Dust the top of the dough with flour. Gently roll the dough out to an even thickness between ¼- and ⅓- of an inch.
  4. Line two cookie sheets with silpats or parchment paper and place to the side.
  5. Use your spoon cookie cutter (or trace around the edge of our template with a sharp paring knife) and carefully transfer the shapes to the lined cookie sheets, placing them 1-inch apart. Collect the scrap dough, gently push it back together and roll out, cutting more cookies. Continue gathering scraps, re-rolling the dough, and cutting until all the dough has been used. Place the cookie sheets in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.
  6. Preheat oven to 350°F with racks positioned in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. When hot, place one cookie sheet on each rack. Cook,rotating the trays from front to back and top to bottom after 7 minutes, for a total time of 15 minutes or just until they become golden brown around the edges. Remove the trays from the oven and immediately sprinkle the remaining sugar over the hot cookies. Cool the cookies completely on the pans.
  7. Store in an airtight container at room temperature. These cookies just improve with age.

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Filed Under: Cookies, Desserts, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Yuletide Spiced Brandy Liqueur

November 29, 2009 by 2 Comments

It’s time to get cozy.

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The air has progressed past crisp to chilly and will soon be downright cold. The leaves have finally given up their tenuous grasp on the trees and -with one final gust of nearly winter wind- fallen to insulate the grass and ground against the coming snow.

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Thanksgiving and the feast have come and gone and we’re still snacking and feeding on the almost-more-anticipated-than-the-meal-itself leftovers.  A warm potato wheat roll dunked in hot turkey gravy is just the thing to bring warmth back to icy fingers after playing outside.

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There’s a bustle and hustle going on almost everywhere.  Crowds have pushed at store doors on ‘Black Friday’ with people rushing to snap up those spectacular deals they were promised.  Malls and stores are teeming with holiday shoppers.

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The deer are treading lightly and making midnight mass crossings on the backroads and highways alike, trying to elude the daylight and its attendant hunters.  My mighty hunter husband spends each morning and evening out in our  back field bundled from nose to toes in fleecy camouflage with his head and chest sporting blaze orange.

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The kids are wired from the excitement of the season; parties, gifts, friends, food.  They’re constantly discussing, formulating, planning, creating, and playing.  Gifts for bosom buddies are made and given with care and anticipation.

~~  ~~

And I am finding the little pockets of quiet.  The hush.  The moment of silence when everything else falls away and I am left alone to admire the hawk circling the silver clouds in the late autumn sky and watch my husband making his way back to our yard and home through the tall dried weedtops.

When the timing is just right -the evening hunting is over, the kids are working on their presents, dinner is bubbling away on the stovetop, the dogs are napping- I throw a log on the fire,  a blanket around my shoulders, and meet The Evil Genius out on the porch with two small glasses of Yultide Spiced Brandy Liqueur.

yuletidespicedbrandy3

This gentle restorative or lightly orange and spice flavored brandy warms you enough to make you feel equal to a return to the rush. Serve this at a gala holiday event, an intimate gathering of friends, or in your own pockets of quiet. Whether basking in the glow of your loved ones or relaxing by the light of the fire in the woodstove, take a little sip. Just one. Then breathe.

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And remember it’s Christmas time.

yuletidespicedbrandy2

 

Pour this brown elixir into a beautiful bottle and wrap with a ribbon -satin, velvet or raffia- to make a one-of-a-kind culinary gift for the lovers of food and drink in your life.

For a printer-friendly, photo free version of this recipe, click here!

Yuletide Spiced Brandy Liqueur

Adapted from the Christmas Spiced Brandy recipe in “Classic Liqueurs” by Cheryl Long and Heather Kibbey

Ingredients:

  • The zest of half of a tangerine (Only use the colored part of the peel.  Avoid the white pith.)
  • 4 broken cinnamon sticks
  • 2 whole allspice berries
  • 2 whole cloves
  • 2 juniper berries
  • a 2 inch piece of fresh ginger root, grated (or 2 Tablespoons dried ginger pieces)
  • 2 black peppercorns
  • 1 scraping fresh grated nutmeg
  • 2 cups brandy
  • 1/2 cup raw (turbinado or demerara sugar)
  • 1/2 cup water

Add tangerine peel, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, juniper, ginger root, peppercorns, and nutmeg  to a clean and dry quart or half gallon mason jar with a tight fitting lid.

yuletidespicedbrandy1Pour brandy over spices and zest.

yuletidespicedbrandy4

Shake the jar and put in a cool, dark place for fourteen days.  Be sure to shake the jar every other day.

yuletidespicedbrandy5

On the fourteenth day, combine the water and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat.  Stir constantly until sugar is completely dissolved.  Remove from heat and allow to cool, covered, to room temperature.

While syrup cools, arrange a fine mesh sieve (or colander lined with cheesecloth) over a bowl or clean pan.  Shake brandy one more time and then pour through the sieve.   Set the spices aside* or discard them.  Transfer the strained liqueur liquid to a clean jar that you can use to further age and store the liqueur.

*You can discard the spices or you can put them in a small saucepan with water over low heat to make your kitchen smell wonderful.

When the sugar syrup is cooled, pour it into the jar with the liqueur liquid.  Tightly fix on the lid and shake to combine.  Return to the cool, dark storage area for an additional seven days to mellow.  It only improves with age, but it is ready to serve at this point.

Filed Under: Beverages, Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: , ,

Gingerbread Biscotti With White Chocolate and Nuts or Crystallized Ginger: Foodie Gift #9

December 11, 2008 by 3 Comments

 

The boys and I spent yesterday afternoon at the home of our friends, the Cooke family.  Dave Cooke is our local United Methodist pastor.  He lives nearby with wife, Heather (the hostess with the mostest), and son, Ben (who says some of the funniest things I’ve ever heard.)   

 

Heather bravely invited my entire crew and two other families with young kids to make, ice and decorate gingerbread cookies.  To help you understand why I say ‘bravely’ I will make the situation a little clearer.  Myself and my five sons, ages 11, 8, 6, 5, and 3 along with two other mothers and their children, ages 6, 2 and less than one year old as well as Heather and Ben (also 3 years old) were all flinging cookie dough, royal icing, jimmies, dragees, cinnamon candies, chocolate chips and M&Ms all over her kitchen.  She deserves a Medal of Honor. 

 

A few hours later, we toddled home with three plates full of extremely generously iced gingerbread cookies. (Giving a pastry bag full of royal icing to a three year old is not entirely well thought out as far as ideas go…)  We also went home with Dave’s grandmother’s gingerbread recipe.  Dave’s grandmother had 8 kids and compiled a collection of recipes that were not only delicious but were also family friendly.  According to her instructions, this particular gingerbread dough was exceptionally good for kids to work with because it was moldable and was not terribly sticky.  I’ll second that!  The kids treated it like playdough.  They rolled it, mashed it, squished it between fingers, shaped it and occasionally cut shapes.  It all baked up like a dream. 

 

I put Dave’s grandma’s recipe to another test today.  I made some grown-up gingerbread cookies; Gingerbread Biscotti.  After baking, I dunked them in a little melted white chocolate, and tapped them in pie plates filled with crushed toasted almonds and finely chopped crystallized ginger.  They were delicious.  And they were also pretty and unique enough to be Foodie Gift #9.

 

Gingerbread Biscotti with White Chocolate and Toasted Nuts or Crystallized Ginger

Aside from the obvious change of baking this as biscotti rather than cookies I did tweak the amount of ginger called for in Dave’s Grandma’s recipe.  The original recipe has a very mild ginger flavor and I was going for a big punch here.  You can, if desired, use her called for half teaspoon, if your tastes run more to the mild.  If you decide to do gingerbread men or cookies, this should be your go-to recipe as well.  Simply roll out, bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes on greased cookie sheets, and cool completely before icing.  Yum.  Thank you, Dave’s grandma, for the heritage of tasty food you passed to your family!

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups sifted flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 1/2 cup melted butter
  • 1/2 cup molasses
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon warm water
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 12 ounces white chocolate, chopped (or white chocolate chips)
  • 1/3 cup toasted almonds, finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger, optional

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and ginger together.  Set aside.  Stir together melted butter, molasses, brown sugar, water and egg in a large mixing bowl.  Add flour and stir until all the dry flour disappears and you get a smooth dough.  You may need to use your hands to work the dough together at the end.

On a parchment lined baking sheet, use your hands to form the dough into a loaf approximately 9″ long by 5-1/2″ wide by 2″ thick. 

Place on center rack in oven and bake for about 35 minutes or until the gingerbread loaf is lightly browned.  Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes. 

 

Move loaf from pan to a cutting board.  Use a serrated knife to slice the loaf into 12 slices of approximately 3/4″ thick along the long side.  Carefully move the slices, cut side down, back onto the parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until lightly browned, and remove from oven.  Move biscotti to a rack to cool completely.

While biscotti is cooling, put chopped nuts in the bottom of a pie plate.  If using the crystallized ginger, put those in a separate pie plate.

Place white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and heat at 50% power for about 30 seconds.  Remove from microsave and stir until the bowl no longer feels warm.  Continue to heat at 50% powder in 15 second increments until the white chocolate is smooth. 

Working with one cookie at a time, dip the long, flat side of the biscotti in the white chocolate then hold over the bowl to allow excess to drip off.  Dip the chocolate edge in either the chopped nuts or crystallized ginger and then move back to the parchment lined cookie sheet to set up.

 

When cookies are set up, move all but one of them to an airtight container.  Take the remaining biscotti, along with a cup of strong tea or coffee, to your favorite chair with a book.  Dunk the cookie.  Eat.  Relax. 

 

Filed Under: Desserts, Gifts, Instructional, Rebecca, Stretching your dollars Tagged With: , ,

Viennese Rounds: Foodie Christmas Gift #6

December 7, 2008 by 2 Comments

The first time I had these cookies was in the home of a friend in a little college town I lived in for several years. Houghton, NY was the town, and Barbara Woolsey was the friend.  We have lost touch with each other since I left Houghton several years ago, but every time I make these cookies I think of her and her lovely family. And I thank her for sharing this recipe!

 

These are simple cookies, but take a little more time than some. Like the cookies mentioned in my last post, these are nut and butter cookies, no eggs involved, but they are sandwich cookies and take a little more time to form and decorate. But they are certainly worth it. The one change I have made is to toast the nuts before grinding them.

 

Viennese Rounds

 

1 cup butter

1 1/2 c. confectioners sugar (divided)

1 1/2 c. flour

1 t. vanilla

1/2 cup ground toasted filberts (hazelnuts)

red food coloring

1 c. red raspberry preserves

 

Cream butter and 1/2 c. sugar until well blended in large bowl; stir in flour, vanilla and nuts. Roll into teaspoon sized balls and place 2 inches apart on creased cookie sheet (or use parchment if you have it). Lightly grease bottom of measuring cup and dip in sugar, pressing each ball to a 1 inch round. Bake in 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until goldn around the edges. Remove from cookie sheets to wire racks and cool.

 

Beat remaining 1 cup of confectioners sugar with a few drops of water until smooth, tint with a drop of food coloring. Spread half of the cookies with preserves, top with remaining cookies. Decorate tops with pink icing spirals.

 

Again, we hope to have photos of these added soon! And Barb, should you stumble across this site, again accept my many thanks, both for the cookies and the years of friendship!

Filed Under: Desserts, Gifts, Recipes, Uncategorized, Valerie Tagged With: , , , , ,
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