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Sweet and Spicy Chipotle Kettle Corn

August 22, 2010 by 6 Comments

A.) It’s rainy.

B.) It’s chilly.

C.) My husband was on a business trip this week meaning that I parented our five boys solo.

D.) My husband got in from that business trip at 1:30 a.m. this morning.

E.) I’ve been canning like a maniac for weeks on end.

F.) I have a hole in my heart that was created by my utter lack of time to watch my favorite movies lately.

G.) I spent all of yesterday at the Angelica Farmer’s Market with the kids (who were selling their Mortar Men and Room & Linen Sprays) on what turned out to be, according to the market’s coordinator “…the slowest day we’ve ever actually had at the Farmer’s Market.”

H.) I wanted to prove that I am still capable of writing a post that doesn’t involve putting food in jars. Although, you really could actually put this into jars.  Just a thought.

There.  This is what I like to think of as front-loading with my excuses reasons behind this post. And now that I’ve been all efficient, I can go straight to the good stuff; Sweet and Spicy Chipotle Kettle Corn. I never really cared much for kettle corn because of an unfortunate incident as an exchange student in France*. I found it an affront to the great and noble salted and buttered popcorn of my youth. I viewed it as an anemic impersonation of caramel corn; food of the gods. And last, but certainly not least, I really, really REALLY didn’t like how very many times I had seen it written ‘kettle korn’.**

*I had been in France for about three months when struck with an incredible craving for crunchy popcorn. I stopped in the first Supermarché I could find and gasped audibly when I found a bag of fluffy white popcorn on the shelf.  I grabbed. I paid. I tore it open. I stuffed a fistful in my mouth.  I spit it out into a garbage can.  I was not emotionally prepared for popcorn to be totally sweet. White Cheddar or Salted? Yes. Sickly sweet?  Not so much.  And so my prejudice against any sweet popcorn that wasn’t caramel corn was born.

**Korn with a ‘K’? No way. That rubs ever CDO** bone in my body the wrong way.

***CDO: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in alphabetical order. The way God intended.

But inspiration strikes at odd moments.  As The Evil Genius and his progeny sat on the couch watching the Little League World Series (El Salvador vs. Saudi Arabia) our eldest pined -pointedly- in my direction, “I sure could go for something sweet to munch.  Sigh.”  The Evil Genius mouthed the words “kettle corn” in my direction and accompanied it with his most charming world-domination smile.  Then they all started ululating.*

*Sorry for all the asides, but this one is one-hundred percent necessary. The guys saw a Saudi mother ululating when her son hit a home run. They’ve been ululating since.  It’s been two hours.  Send help. Now.

Since I was afraid they’d carry on ululating if I didn’t whip up a batch of kettle corn I hied me hence to the kitchen.  I planned on doing one batch of the dreaded kettle corn for them and one batch of my favorite; salted with nutritional yeast (don’t you DARE gag.  It’s delicious.  Even if it DOES contain something called ‘nutritional yeast’ which admittedly sounds like it would be served by a very serious health food adherent with no sense of humour whatsoever.) I made the kettle corn, poured it into a bowl and -in an act that I really can’t remember consciously deciding to perform- sprinkled a generous quantity of ground chipotle powder over the top. Um. Whoops?

No.  Not whoops.  Divine.  Sweet, smoky, spicy, salty and crisp; this stuff knocked off my socks. Color me converted. Well, to the Sweet and Spicy Chipotle Kettle Corn anyway. You can keep the other stuff. And I mean that in the nicest possible way.

I ended up making several more batches because it was eaten almost as fast as I could make it. The kids loved it.  The Evil Genius loved it.  I loved it. Score.

Now if you’ll pardon me.  I’m going to go grab my bowl and catch up on my movies.  Middle Earth, here I come!

For a printable version of this recipe minus the photos and rambling, click here!

Sweet and Spicy Chipotle Kettle Corn

Ingredients:

  • 3 Tablespoons canola oil
  • 1/4 cup of your favorite unpopped popcorn kernels (I love ladyfinger popcorn.  So small, so cute, so tasty!) + 3 extra kernels
  • 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
  • salt to taste (start around 1/4 teaspoon and work up from there.)
  • ground chipotle pepper powder to taste (start around 1/4 teaspoon and work up from there.)

Regular Pot Instructions:

In a large heavy-bottomed pan with a tight-fitting lid, heat the oil and the 3 extra kernels over medium high heat with the lid in place.  Shake the pan every 10 seconds.  When you hear the three kernels pop, act quickly (while wearing oven mitts.)  Dump in the 1/4 each of popcorn kernels and sugar.  Put the lid back on very quickly and start shaking in a circular motion. Listen to the popping of the kernels.  It should pick up in tempo until you can’t distinguish the popping of individual kernels.  Keep shaking the pan. After that it will gradually decrease. This is where you need to pay the most attention.  When the popping tapers off to the point where you hear a two to three second pause between pops, you need to pull the pan off the heat and empty it into a bowl very quickly.

Whirly Pop Instructions:

In a Whirly Pop pan, heat the oil and the 3 extra kernels over medium high heat with the lid in place.  Keep turning the Whirly Pop handle.  When you hear the three kernels pop, act quickly (while wearing oven mitts.)  Quickly open one side of the Whirly Pop and dump in the 1/4 each of popcorn kernels and sugar. Knock the lid back into place very quickly and start turning the handle. Listen to the popping of the kernels.  It should pick up in tempo until you can’t distinguish the popping of individual kernels.  Keep turning the handle. After that it will gradually decrease. This is where you need to pay the most attention.  When the popping tapers off to the point where you hear a two to three second pause between pops, you need to pull the pan off the heat and empty it into a bowl very quickly.

~~Now for the good stuff…

No matter which way you cook it, when you’ve emptied it into a large bowl, sprinkle with salt and chipotle powder to taste, toss and stir with a long wooden spoon.  You don’t want to stir by hand because that melted sugar seriously burns!  Let cool for a couple minutes and then dig in!  Kettle corn keeps well in a paper bag with the top folded down and crimped for a day or two at room temperature.


Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Camping Food, Desserts, Gifts, Happy Healthy and Wise, Healthy Foods, Instructional, kid food, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Stretching your dollars, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Homemade Ghee (Clarified or Drawn Butter or Beurre Noisette)

June 3, 2010 by 13 Comments

Welcome to part III of the series of component dishes (Part I, Candied Jalapenos, can be read here! And Part II, Homemade Greek Yogurt and Cucumber Yogurt Salsa [Raita] can be read here!)  to make the transcendent ‘Second to Naanwich’ that still has me obsessed almost three weeks after eating it.  In the next post, I’ll share the recipe for the Tandoori Style Grilled Chicken and directions for putting together the you-know-what!

I promised myself I wouldn’t start this post with an excuse about why it’s taking me so ever-loving long to get these recipes to you. I pledged I wouldn’t tell you all that I’ve been hosting everybody and their uncle (well, everybody BUT the Uncle…), trying to finish up the year-end reports for the school district, keep the kids focused on the last few days of school, plan a trip to a theme park and catch up on my life-long enemy laundry.  I made a vow that I wouldn’t talk about the fact that I’ve spent more hours in the last two weeks outside putting in vegetable, herb and flower gardens than I have in the kitchen. And I pinky-swore that I would absolutely, positively not mention that a guy in the neighborhood (yes, three houses in five square miles counts as a neighborhood) kept us all awake until three in the morning all the way through Memorial Day weekend with a really lousy and very enthusiastic indefatigable live band*.  And I’m always good to my word, so I will not go there and we will instead jump straight to the food.   After all, that’s why we’re all here, right?

*I am writing my Congressman to ask that he propose legislation that if you are going to mike your band and turn the amps to eleven that you will be required to be good.  Anyone who has ever been forced to listen to the band who sounded like they had set up shop in my front yard would vote for it in a heartbeat.

Ghee (also known as ‘clarified’ or ‘drawn’ butter) is a staple in many world cuisines; Indian, French, English, Brazilian, and Iranian just to name a few.  It is -to use Wikipedia’s highly accurate and mega-scientific explanation- an anhydrous milkfat rendered from butter to separate the milk solids from the butterfat.  Hoo yeah!  In short, it’s pure butterfat.

Why not just use regular butter?

Ghee has gone through the process of removing the two things that tend to make butter go bad more quickly; milk solids and water.  By cooking it over low, slow temperatures, you evaporate the water and use density to separate the milk solids.  But that’s not the only amazing reason to make ghee.  Not only have you made the butter more shelf stable, you’ve raised the smoke point.  That means you can use it to cook at higher temperatures without scorching than you would be able to do with normal butter.  You get the butter flavor, it lasts more than five times as long as it would have and it is more versatile.  That’s a win/win/win situation.

As with many foods, you’ll get a better end result by starting out with a better ingredient.  If you can get your hands on cultured or European-style butter, you won’t regret it.  If you can’t, just use the best butter you can easily afford.  It’ll be delicious either way.

Let’s talk cost.  Have you ever bought or priced out a jar of ghee at the grocery store?  First of all, that preceding statement assumes you live in an area where they carry ghee in your grocery store.  In my little grocery store?  Not so much.  But if I were to head up to The Big City, I assure you that I wouldn’t pay the  $16.00 they want for a twenty eight ounce jar.  Not happening.  No way, no how.  I pay my Amish neighbor $2.00 per pound of cultured butter.  I’ll pause and let you rage at me for a moment.  Are we done?  Okay.  That means that I yield about twenty-four ounces of ghee for $4.00, if you want to add the cost of the fuel to cook it, we might generously push it toward the $5.00 range. So that’s somewhere in the range of one third of the cost of store-bought to make my own. I bet you don’t need two guesses to figure out what I do.

And don’t you let me catch you tossing out those milk solids that precipitated from the butterfat.  They turn a toasty gorgeous brown and have the flavor to match their appearance.  Spooned into a pot of fried rice, spread on a piece of fresh bread, or stirred into soup, you’ll be amazed at the depth of flavor they impart.  Plus, you can pat yourself (butter pun alert) on the back for being so frugal when so many people just tell you to discard that flavor powerhouse. You just saved even more money and provided yourself with a fan-flippin’-tastic ingredient that you cannot buy.

One warning, though.  You may want to have some snacks prepared to munch on while the ghee is cooking. This stuff smells just a little too good while it’s cooking.

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

Homemade Ghee

Yield: About 1 1/2 pints of Ghee plus 1/2 pint of crispy bits.

Ingredients:

  • 2 pounds of good quality butter (use Cultured or European Style if available)

Melt the butter slowly over low heat in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.

Stir occasionally.  When the butter is melted, it will begin to foam near the top.

Continue cooking over low heat.  After a couple of minutes, you will begin to hear snapping, popping and crackling.  This is the sound of the water separating from the fat and simmering to the top to evaporate away.  You need for this to happen.  This is what helps make the ghee so shelf-stable.

You will also start to see the milk solids separate out from the fat.

Continue cooking over low heat until the crackling sounds cease and the milk solids have mainly sunk to the bottom and taken on a toasty brown color. Another good indicator that your ghee is done is that it will smell like popcorn. There may still be a thin layer of foam near the top or it may have lost all of its foam.  Either way, if the crackling sounds have stopped and the milk solids are golden brown, it is time to remove the ghee or clarified/drawn butter from the heat.

An example of a batch with no foam at the top:

An example of a batch that had foam at the top:

And my beloved toasty milk solids:

Allow it to cool, uncovered for 30 minutes.

While it cools, set up your straining station.  Line a fine mesh sieve or colander positioned over a bowl or jar with paper towels, a clean tea towel or extra-fine cheesecloth.

After the ghee has cooled, carefully pour it into the straining apparatus.

When you are through straining, there should be the toasted milk solids left in the strainer.  Scrape these into a separate clean jar to save for spreading on toast or adding to recipes.  The toasted milk solids should be stored in the refrigerator in a tightly covered container.

The ghee can be stored at room temperature in a tightly covered jar for up to six months.  At room temperature, ghee is mainly solid and opaque.  It will look like this…

Filed Under: Canning, Component Foods, Food Preservation, Instructional, Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Rebecca, Stretching your dollars Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Vanilla Bean Cardamom Pound Cake with Apples in Caramel Sauce

May 6, 2010 by 4 Comments

I’m going to warn you right now.  The cake is made with a pound (A POUND, PEOPLE!) of butter, nine eggs, a pound of sugar and a pound of flour. Then the cake is sliced, spread with yet more butter and griddle fried. It’s addictive.  And it’s swimming in caramel.  And it’s topped with crème fraîche. This is not low-fat or low-calorie.  At all. On any planet. But I don’t care because it left The Evil Genius speechless.  All he could do was make big, pleading eyes and gesture toward it with his fork.  Yes, this is the same husband who is on a diet.  Um.  Hang on a second. I’m not mean.  I didn’t do this to tempt him; we had company that we hadn’t seen in a long time and I wanted to give them a ‘wow’ dessert. He didn’t want them to eat alone. *

*”Because we all know there’s nothing sadder than someone who eats alone…” Right.  The man’s been on a diet for a month.  He wanted a piece of pound cake.  Trust me when I tell you that you can’t say ‘no’ when you smell a slab of this frying in butter on the griddle.  It’s not humanly possible.

He finished licking his plate (subtly, of course) and sidled back into the kitchen.  When I looked back at him he was halfway through another serving and groaning happily.  No shame.  No shame, I tell you.  (He’s awfully cute when he’s shameless…)

But you’ve been warned.  Now let me tell you why this is so absolutely addictive.

First, is the fine-textured, rich vanilla pound cake delicately scented with cardamom.  We’re about to move from painfully delicious territory to downright evil with a buttery, creamy caramel sauce that simmers away with paper thin slices of tart apples.  What we do next is nearly criminal.  One inch thick slices of the pound cake are buttered on one side and thrown on a hot griddle to fry.  When they’re golden brown with little flecks of caramelized bits, the cake is slid onto a plate, fried side up, to be topped with the buttery caramel and apple slices then crowned with crème fraîche.  Can you handle that? Because that is some serious dessert, my friends.

One final word of caution.  Make this when you have friends with large appetites dining with you.  Otherwise you just might find yourself eating it for breakfast.  Not that that’s a bad thing…

This is a multi-step recipe, but never fear.  I’m going to walk you through each little step needed to whip up this little beauty.  Each step is simple, but it’s important to hit each one!

For a photo-free, printer friendly version of this recipe minus my story about tempting my husband beyond his ability to resist, click here!

Vanilla Bean Cardamom Pound Cake with Apples in Caramel Sauce

Ingredients for the Pound Cake (adapted from Martha Stewart Living):

  • 1 pound all-purpose flour (3-1/4 cups)
  • 14 ounces (2 cups) granulated sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon coarse salt
  • 1 pound softened unsalted butter (4 sticks)
  • 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
  • 9 large, room-temperature eggs
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

Ingredients for the Apples in Caramel Sauce:

  • 1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 stick (4 Tablespoons) unsalted butter
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • 4 medium sized tart apples, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Also needed:

  • additional softened butter for frying
  • crème fraîche for garnishing

To Prepare the Cakes:

Preheat the oven to 325°F.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour and sugar.  Set aside.

Add the butter to the bowl of your stand mixer (or use a separate large mixing bowl with a hand mixer).  Use the butter wrappers to liberally grease two five-by-nine inch loaf pans.  Cream the butter and sugar on high speed until it is pale and fluffy.  This is going to take a while, but don’t skip this step.  It’ll take about 8 minutes.   Scrape down the bowl.

Use the dull edge of a knife to scrape the ‘caviar’ from the vanilla bean.  Add to the butter along with the cardamom.  Beat on high speed again for an additional minute.  Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl again.  Add two eggs to the butter and sugar mixture and beat well.  Scrape down the bowl then add another two eggs and beat well.  Scrape down the bowl again and repeat with two more eggs.  After scraping down the bowl, add the final egg and beat well on high to make sure your mixture is even.

Reduce the mixer’s speed to low and add the flour in four batches, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the bowl before adding more.

Divide the batter as evenly as possible between the two loaf pans.  Tap the pans several times each to help work out air bubbles then smooth the top with a spatula.

Bake for about 60-65 minutes, or until a skewer or toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.  Let the cakes cool in the pan for half an hour before turning out to cool completely on a wire rack.  While the cake is cooling, prepare the caramel sauce.

To Prepare the Apples in Caramel Sauce:

In a two-and-a-half quart saucepan, melt the butter together with the two sugars over low heat.  When the butter is completely melted, raise the heat to medium high and bring the mixture to a boil.  Boil hard for exactly four minutes.  Now carefully pour the heavy cream into the pan.  It will splutter and splash and boil madly, so do this carefully!  As soon as it is in, whisk until combined and add the thin slices of apple.  Lower heat to medium-low and partially cover the pan.  Let the mixture come back to a simmer.  Allow it to cook at a bare simmer for 3 minutes, or until the apple slices are tender but not mushy.  Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.

To Plate your Magnificent Dessert:

Slice the pound cake into one-inch slices.  Butter one side of each slice.  Fry on a hot griddle until the underside of the cake is golden brown with some caramelized bits.  Transfer, fried side up, to a dessert plate.  Use a spoon to scoop apples and caramel sauce over the hot pound cake.  Top with a dollop of crème fraîche and serve while still warm.

Prepare to be adored.

Filed Under: Breakfast Foods, Desserts, Holiday Food, Instructional, Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Vegetarian Tagged With: , ,

One Hour Sandwich Bread

April 17, 2010 by 22 Comments

Can you think of any scent more bewitching than that of fresh bread baking in the oven?  It is nearly impossible to concentrate when I smell it. While the bread bakes my brain rummages through its box of all my favorite ways to eat a loaf hot from the oven; Should it be blueberry jam? Cold butter? Ginger marmalade? Or maybe a fried egg? A paper thin slice of salty ham? What sweet agony narrowing down those options.  And what a marvelous way to pass part of a Saturday morning; luxuriating in the brown yeasty aroma of dough transforming into the staff of life and contemplating that new loaf’s upcoming rapid demise.

If talk of bread fires up your salivary glands the way it does mine, you are in luck today, my friends.  I have a recipe for an astonishingly flavorful yeast bread that is ready to be loaded up with whatever makes your fancy take flight in one hour flat.

From start to finish, from its Alpha to its Omega, from the time you dip that first scoop of flour to the time it is removed from the oven you will have spent sixty minutes; and most of that will have been baking time.  There’s no crazy trick to it, it’s simply simple.

And this is a sandwich bread that is the stuff on which dreams are built; mouthwatering flavor, magnificently chewy crust, fine crumb interior, able to be sliced Texas toast thick or whisper thin and capable of holding anything you want to pile or slather on it.   Just take a look at it.

Want to look closer?

Well, sure! zoom on in…

If you have any fears about making yeast breads abandon them long enough to give this a try.  Kiss those yeast-bread bogey monsters goodbye, because this is the bread that will change your life.  You don’t need special equipment, or mad bread skills, or anything other than a big bowl and a spoon and a little counter space and the counter space is negotiable.  I’ll give instructions for preparing this with a stand mixer, food processor and by hand. And please note that it is just as easy as can be in all three methods.  I do believe it’s time to revamp that old cliché, “It’s as easy as pie.”  From now on I’m going to say, “It’s as easy as One Hour Sandwich Bread!”

Remember, too, that a last minute loaf of bread can make the meal.  It can be the difference between a lonely bowl of soup and a feast.  And more than that, this bread turns humble pantry staples into a reason to look forward to dinner.  And while the taste and ease are enough, there is also the low price tag to recommend it.  A few cups of flour, salt, sugar, yeast, water and it’s bread! And let me tell you something else, a loaf of this wrapped in a new tea towel makes a fantastic hostess gift.  Who doesn’t like a loaf of warm bread?

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe minus the photos and rhapsodic waxing about bread, click here!

One Hour Sandwich Bread

Adapted from ‘The Tightwad Gazette’.

Ingredients:

  • 6 cups all-purpose flour (1 pound, 9.5 ounces by weight)
  • 2 Tablespoons instant yeast (also known as Bread Machine Yeast)
  • 2 Tablespoons sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon Kosher salt (if using table salt, reduce to 1 ½ teaspoons)
  • 2 cups very warm water (about 120°F)
  • 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Mixing the dough by Stand Mixer (my preferred method):

Combine flour, instant yeast, sugar, and salt in the bowl of the stand mixer that has been fitted with a dough hook.  Mix on low speed for 30 seconds.

With mixer running, slowly pour in the water and olive oil at the same time.  Continue mixing on low until the dough comes together and becomes smooth, about 4 minutes.  Remove bowl from the stand mixer, scraping any dough that remains on the dough hook into the bowl.  Pull dough from bowl with your hands and form a smooth dough ball.  Replace in bowl, cover with a clean tea towel and let rise in a warm place for 15 minutes.

Mixing the dough by Food Processor:

Combine flour, instant yeast, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor that has been fitted with a blade or dough blade.  Pulse 10 times.  With the food processer running, pour the water and olive oil into the feed chute.  Continue processing until the dough forms a cohesive ball.  Spin the dough ball 20 times and shut off the food processor.  Remove the dough, form a smooth dough ball and place in a lightly oiled mixing bowl.  Cover with a clean tea towel and let rise in a warm place for 15 minutes.

Mixing the dough by Hand:

Combine flour, instant yeast, sugar and salt with a whisk or fork in a large mixing bowl.  Pour the warm water and olive oil into the flour mixture and use a sturdy spoon to combine into a shaggy dough.  Use your hands to knead for 8 minutes*.  After kneading for 8 minutes, cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and let rise in a warm place for 15 minutes.

*If you find it difficult to knead in the bowl, you can turn the dough out onto a clean surface to knead it.  After kneading, just return the dough to the bowl and allow it to rise as instructed above.

Turn dough out onto a clean surface and divide in half.  Form each half into a ball and place 5-6 inches apart on a baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper or a silpat, or has been lightly greased.  Use a sharp knife to slash the top of the loaf about ¼ of an inch deep.  This allows the steam to escape the baking loaf.

To bake the loaves:

Arrange the racks in your cold oven so that one rack is on the very bottom and one is positioned in the center of the oven.  Place the baking sheet with the loaves on the center rack and a bread or cake pan that is full of very hot tap water on the bottom rack.   Close the oven and turn your oven on to 400°F.  It is imperative that you start this in a cold oven!  Set your timer for 40 minutes.  That 40 minutes is all that stands between you and fresh bread.

The crust should be a deep brown and quite firm when you remove the loaves from the oven.  Transfer the loaves to a rack to cool completely if you wish to slice them, or you can do like I normally do and cool one loaf while tearing the second one into pieces and slathering with cold sweet cream butter.

Filed Under: Bread, Happy Healthy and Wise, Healthy Foods, Instructional, Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Rebecca, Recipes, Stretching your dollars, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , ,

No-Cook Mint Patties: Foodie Gift #16

December 21, 2008 by 3 Comments

I remember coming across this recipe years ago–it was an instant hit then, and its been the same in all the years I’ve shared it since. These creamy, buttery mints are easy to put together, store well, and make a lot, so there is plenty to share. I usually make a double batch at a time, since there is enough room on my table and cake racks to handle the drying needed for these candies.

 

From Cooks.com, here is the recipe (with a couple of my own tweaks included):

 

NO COOK MINT PATTIES

Printed from COOKS.COM

1/2 c. light corn syrup
1/4 c. butter, softened
1 tsp. peppermint extract
4 c. sifted powdered sugar
2 drops red food coloring
2 drops green food coloring

In small bowl combine corn syrup, butter and peppermint. Beat until well combined.

Gradually add 2 cups of sugar beating well. Stir in as much of the remaining sugar you can to mix with a spoon. Turn out onto a surface lightly coated with powdered sugar. Knead in remaining sugar-enough to make a stiff dough that is smooth. Divide into thirds.

Leaving one of the three white (I actually used yellow food coloring for the third portion)-Knead in food coloring-red and green-in the other two.

Shape into 3/4 inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Press with fork. Let dry several hours (or overnight), then move to a cooling rack to complete the drying process (usually 24 hours is enough). Place in an airtight container and store in a cool place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: candy, Gifts, Recipes, Valerie Tagged With: , , ,

Hot Crab Dip: Foodie Gift #13

December 14, 2008 by Leave a Comment

Only have a few minutes in between things to do today, but I thought I would pop this in–makes a nice quick hot appetizer for unexpected company, and a nice gift for friends who might like this kind of dish. As a gift, pack the spread into a jar or place it in an appropriate baking dish, wrap as needed, and include the recipe and instructions for heating. If not being baked right away, it must be refrigerated.

 

I came across this several years ago, and my family loved it from the first bite.  Even my grandfather, who always liked best the plainest of plain food, thought this was worth eating!  I can’t remember where I found it, but it was certainly a good find!

 

Hot Crab Dip

 

1 8-oz. block of cream cheese, softened to room temperature

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

2 T. milk or cream

2 T. prepared horseradish

1 T. Worcestershire sauce (or more if you like it)

1 small can crab meat, drained and flaked (or 6 oz. imitation crab, broken into small pieces)

 

Cream the cheese, blend in the onions, cream and seasonings till well blended. Stir in the crab, and place in a shallow 1 qt. baking dish or gratin dish.   Bake at 350 till hot and and you see it beginning to brown on top. Garnish as you wish, and serve with savory crackers and/or veggies.  (My favorite is sesame crackers–terrific with the crab and horseradish.)

 

Enjoy!

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Gifts, Recipes, Valerie Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Homemade Nut Butters: Foodie Gift #12

December 12, 2008 by Leave a Comment

Nutella was only the beginning….I’ve made homemade peanut butter for some time now — I buy 30 pound bags of Valencia peanuts and our PB is cheaper and fresher and better than what we could find at the store. It is good, quick and easy, and while I’ve made foods that incorporated pulverized cashews, almonds, pecans, etc., I don’t remember making just plain nut butters out of these. So, today was the day.

 

First, I have to say that except for the smell of cinnamon and nutmeg wafting through the house, the smell of browned nuts can’t be beat–something about that toasting and browning process that seems to bring the best out of so many foods!  Today I made cashew butter and macadamia butter, both incredibly easy, both incredibly good. Tonight and tomorrow I’ll be trying pecans, almonds and brazil nuts.

 

From what I’ve observed so far, the process for all of these is about the same. Toast the nuts (2 to 3 cups at a time) at 350 degrees for 8 to 15 minutes, depending on the nut–cashews, blanched almonds and macadamias brown more quickly than the others (I don’t blanch my almonds for this). If you have a trustworthy sense of smell, that can help here as well–when a nice nutty toasty smell comes from the oven, it’s time–the beginnings of a burnt smell do not bode well for the finished product.

 

Let the nuts cool for 15 to 20 minutes, place in a food processor with the chopper blade, and let ‘er rip.  Depending on the speed of your processor, it will take anywhere from three to five minutes for the nuts to get to a smooth, spreadable state. If the mixture needs a little thinning, add a bit of nut oil or vegetable oil, processing until incorporated. Taste the butter, add salt and/or little sugar if you feel it could use some. Pour into a container and refrigerate if not using up in the first few days.

 

One note: We prefer crunchy peanut butter, so when I first get the peanuts going, I try to remember to stop and retrieve about a 1/2 cup of chopped nuts to be stirred into the final product.

 

Have fun playing around with the different kinds of nuts and butters–a quick and easy way to add some variety to those nut butter sandwiches! And not bad on a freshly toasted English Muffin…

Filed Under: Happy Healthy and Wise, Recipes, Valerie Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Fiesta Foodie T.V. Hash: Foodie Christmas Gift #8

December 10, 2008 by Leave a Comment

 

T.V. Hash, Chex Mix, Party Mix, Snack Mix, Nuts and Bolts:  Whatever you call it, it is a holiday classic.  As long as I can remember -starting in childhood and on into my own household- limitless quantities of t.v. hash have been available from the day after Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day.  We eat so much of it that we don’t want to see another little rice, corn or wheat square for another 10 months.  Then the cold wind blows and the holidays begin and a primal urge for salty, crunchy and buttery takes hold. 

 

Our favorite version makes a huge amount.  It’ll feed a crowd at a party or provide snacks for a large family (read: my size family or five hollow-legged boys) for a few days.  Fiesta Foodie T.V. Hash combines taco and Ranch flavors.  In our house that’s always a winning combination.

 

Time Required For Project:

 

The prep time for making Fiesta Foodie T.V. Hash is about 5 minutes, give or take a bathroom break.  The baking time is about 1 hour and 20 minutes.  It can be served warm out of the oven or cooled completely and packed into decorative bags or jars for gift giving.

 

The Cost Breakdown:

 

I’m warning you now.  My recipe is not for those with the appetites of birds.  This makes a roaster pan full -and I do mean full- of t.v. hash.  Plenty to eat and give!  We usually fill a couple sandwich bags and put those in a decorated paper bag tied with a ribbon.  The kids decorate the bags with crayons and markers.  But if you were crafty you could make very elegant designs -á la Martha Stewart- on the bags.

$7.50     3 (12.8oz or thereabouts) boxes of Corn Chex on sale (or the generic equivalent, hint hint…)

$1.00     1/2 of a bag of thin pretzel sticks (save the other half for another batch.  You may make more!)

$1.75     3 sticks of unsalted butter

$1.50    1 packet of Fiesta Ranch dip mix

$0.75     1 packet of taco seasoning mix, any brand

$0.75     2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

$1.00     50 sandwich bags (Can I hear an ‘Amen’ for the Dollar Store?)

$1.00     50 paper lunch bags (And a second ‘Amen’?)

$15.25  Yields about 50 cups of Fiesta Foodie T.V. Hash. 

 

“Homemade Vs. Purchased”  Price Comparison:

$15.25  for 50 cups of Fiesta Foodie T.V. Hash, all dolled up and ready to give as gifts.

$28.10  for 44 cups of Traditional or Bold Chex Mix in the bag from the store.

 

Fiesta Foodie T.V. Hash

 

3 sticks Unsalted Butter

1 Packet Fiesta Ranch Dip Mix

1 Packet Taco Seasoning

2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce

3 (12.8 ounce or thereabouts) Corn Chex or the generic equivalent

1/2 a bag of thin pretzel sticks

 

Preheat your oven to 250°F.  Place a large roaster pan on two burners on your stove over low heat.  Add butter and stir until melted.  Mix in the taco seasoning, Fiesta Ranch mix and Worcestershire sauce until evenly combined.  Pour in the contents of one box of Chex and stir until evenly coated.  Repeat with remaining Chex, one box at a time, until all of the cereal has been added and evenly coated.  Add the pretzels and stir from the bottom of the pan up to coat the pretzels with the seasoned butter. 

 

Place roaster pan in the oven and bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes, stirring from the bottom up every 20 minutes.  Remove pan when time is up and eat warm or cool completely to package for gift giving.  Enjoy!

Filed Under: Rebecca, Snacks, Stretching your dollars Tagged With: , , , ,
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