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Nana’s Spanish Style Hot Chocolate (Hot Chocolate Pudding)

January 28, 2011 by 23 Comments

My Mom -known around these parts as Nana- does a lot of things very well.  She remembers the name of just about everyone she’s ever met, plays a mean piano and a killer game of chess, makes stupendous lumpia, and always delivers a hug right when you need one (even if you don’t know you need one…)

And Nana isn’t your average, ordinary Nana… To hear her grandkids tell it, she’s a bit magical.  She talks to her garden, creek stomps, climbs trees, fixes boo-boos, spins fantastic tales, rides her bike down dirt roads at warp speed wearing a long skirt, engineers popcorn explosions, walks barefooted in the snow, drinks full-caffeine espresso as a nightcap, wrestles like a pro and cuddles better than a dog*.

*That last one comes from my fourth born.  Believe you me, from my boy that is a monstrously huge compliment.

Nana also makes the world’s best hot chocolate. Oh, her hot chocolate. Oh, yeah. After a hard day of hopping through snowy fields like rabbits and swinging from icy branches there is nothing quite like Nana’s Spanish Style Hot Chocolate to warm you down to your toes.  Nana’s hot chocolate is like warm velvet; It’s thick, rich, smooth, and sticks to your lips like pudding.  It’s not too sweet.  It’s the bees-knees*.

*Incidentally, even the bees are happy at Nana’s house.  When they wander in, she gets a clean mason jar and gently returns them to their native habitat.

Nana makes hers thick, but drinkable, very much like the hot chocolate served with churros in Spain or in Italy or France.  Sometimes, though, when the muse strikes, I thicken it up to the point where it’s strictly spoon-fare.  When I go that far, I almost always gild the lily, as I am wont to do, and top with chocolate shavings or ground cinnamon.

Hot chocolate pudding.  Can you imagine something more decadent? (Well, if you accidentally splashed a thimbleful of dark rum or brandy over the top, that might be more indulgent.) Once you have this under your belt, you never have to worry about what you’ll make for dessert. I regularly bust this out after dinner with friends, sledding parties, and necessary moments*.

*I have my necessary moments; Everyone does.  I mean the moments when only chocolate stands between you and googly eyes and head-spinning and pea soup spewing.

When Nana wrote down the recipe for her hot chocolate for her grandboys, she included this instruction, “Think of Nana and warm hugs (and the icy creek!)” … And look out, ’cause Nana’s coming at you with a big, warm hug and she just might ask you to climb a tree.

Nana’s Spanish Style Hot Chocolate (Hot Chocolate Pudding)

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

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 2-4 tablespoons sugar, or more, depending on sweet you like it (I prefer raw sugar for the caramel-like flavor it imparts here.)
  • 4 tablespoons good quality Dutch process cocoa powder
  • 2-4 tablespoons arrowroot powder or cornstarch (use less for a more drinkable product and more for a thick, pudding-like finish.)

Optional, for garnish:

  • Whipped Cream
  • Shaved Chocolate
  • Cinnamon Sugar
  • Graham Crackers, Waffles, or Pretzels for dipping

Whisk together the sugar, cocoa powder and arrowroot powder or cornstarch in a heavy-bottomed 2-quart saucepan.  Take care to smash any lumps.  Whisk the milk into the powder.  The powder will not dissolve in the milk, so don’t worry.  The goal is to simply to mix it at this point. Place the pan over a medium flame or heat and whisk constantly. Watch for the following changes.  First, the powder will dissolve and it will begin to look like chocolate milk.  Next, the mixture will darken and begin to thicken slightly; Take care to scrape the whisk across the bottom and sides at this point to prevent scorching. Finally, the mixture will become very bubbly and thick. When it reaches this point, remove the pot from the burner immediately.

Spoon or ladle immediately into serving dishes.  Garnish as desired.

4.0 from 1 reviews

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Nana’s Spanish Style Hot Chocolate (Hot Chocolate Pudding)
Author: 
Recipe type: dessert, breakfast, snack
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 2
 

Thick, creamy, spoonable hot chocolate like that served with churros in Spain. It’s very like a hot chocolate pudding. Whatever you call it it is delicious.
Ingredients
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 2-4 tablespoons sugar, or more, depending on sweet you like it (I prefer raw sugar for the caramel-like flavor it imparts here.)
  • 4 tablespoons good quality Dutch process cocoa powder
  • 2-4 tablespoons arrowroot powder or cornstarch (use less for a more drinkable product and more for a thick, pudding-like finish.)
  • Optional, for garnish:
  • Whipped Cream
  • Shaved Chocolate
  • Cinnamon Sugar
  • Graham Crackers or Pretzels for dipping

Instructions
  1. Whisk together the sugar, cocoa powder and arrowroot powder or cornstarch in a heavy-bottomed 2-quart saucepan. Take care to smash any lumps. Whisk the milk into the powder. The powder will not dissolve in the milk, so don’t worry. The goal is to simply to mix it at this point. Place the pan over a medium flame or heat and whisk constantly. Watch for the following changes. First, the powder will dissolve and it will begin to look like chocolate milk. Next, the mixture will darken and begin to thicken slightly; Take care to scrape the whisk across the bottom and sides at this point to prevent scorching. Finally, the mixture will become very bubbly and thick. When it reaches this point, remove the pot from the burner immediately.
  2. Spoon or ladle immediately into serving dishes. Garnish as desired.

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Filed Under: Breakfast Foods, Chocolate, Desserts, Instructional, Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Six Week Bran Cereal Muffins

January 25, 2011 by 19 Comments

I got a bit of an unpleasant surprise while reading cereal box ingredient lists at the store the other day.

Let me back-track for just a moment or two, though.  For years upon years upon years, drawing close to a decade and a half, I’ve been making a particular bran muffin.  More of a Bran-ish muffin really… Why Bran-ish?  Because it doesn’t fit in the normal bran muffin box.  It’s lighter both in color and gut-bombability than the average bran muffin, gently sweet and über-easy.  In fact, it’s simpler and more convenient than just about any other muffin in existence (aside from the ones you buy.) No cutting in of fats, no measuring ingredients with bleary eyes and un-caffeinated hands in the morning, no hungry children curled around your feet moaning while you try to rustle up breakfast*.  Mix your wet ingredients, mix your dry ingredients, mix them together and stash in the refrigerator for up to six weeks.  No joke.

*This recipe does not come with a guarantee that your children will wait patiently for the muffins.  Mine don’t.  I guess I should’ve just left that out.  I got carried away.  Please forgive me.

You may have encountered a version of this recipe before on the cereal box of a major breakfast cold-cereal manufacturer.  It’s been around for what seems like eons. But this is where my unpleasant surprise popped into play.

I grabbed a box of my normal All-Bran and perused the ingredient list.  HFCS.  Ack.  It’s presence had escaped my notice previously but once I know it’s there, I don’t buy*. I checked the store brand version.  HFCS.  I checked plain old bran flakes from all possible manufacturers.  HFCS.  Double Ack.  I decided to play around with other cereals… Fiber One didn’t have HFCS nor did the store brand version of Fiber One.  I opted for the store brand. Before you balk, Wegman’s (cue heavenly chorus singing the attributes of Wegman’s) store brands are almost always as good as or better than major manufacturer’s products.

*I am aware that educated people disagree on the matter of whether High Fructose Corn Syrup is a health hazard.  Good people can disagree.  I have read a great many research studies on the subject and decided that there is enough uncertainty to make me feel better eliminating as much of it from my family’s diet as possible.

I came home, mixed up my muffin batter and commenced griping my story to The Evil Genius.  He grabbed the box and said, “HFCS! Ha, just kidding.  But really?  There’s aspartame in here.”

Aspartame in cereal?  Seriously, Wegman’s?  EW. Leaving aside any health concerns that are presented by aspartame, let’s just talk taste.  It tastes chemically sweet. And not in a good way.

The muffin batter had already been mixed up, though, and I don’t waste, so we started baking anyway and hoped for the best. In a result that shocked no one, they were grossly and strangely sweet.  The thing I found curious was how the high-fiber cereal  didn’t break down at all after sitting in the refrigerator overnight or after baking.  When the muffins were pulled open, they looked like I had made the batter with dried cat food pieces. They were unappetizing, to say the least.  I know when I’m licked.

I decided that there were two options; find another all bran (small caps, not ™, thankyouverymuch) cereal or give up on these muffins.  My little local grocery store did not have anything I wanted to use but unsurprisingly, Amazon had an option; an HFCS/Aspartame-Free real bran cereal.  I took a leap of faith and ordered a package of six boxes.  And happy days, the cereal worked perfectly in the muffins.  No more cat-food, sickly-sweet aspartame muffins for us!

Why go to all the trouble for this muffin?  Well, if the convenience of having it ready to bake off in mere moments doesn’t convince you, maybe the flexibility will.  You can bake them plain, as is, with the batter straight from the refrigerator, or you can gussy them up a bit.  Stir in frozen blueberries, raspberries, other berries or fruits, sprinkle with raw sugar or leave unadorned.  Any way you choose, they’re the simple, perfect solution to a hot breakfast or afternoon snack.

Are you having trouble finding an HFCS or artificial sweetener free cereal?  Try our new favorite from Amazon. If you click on the link below and buy it from Amazon.com, we’ll get a very small commission.  It doesn’t change your price at all, but disclosure feels good.  Come on, gimme a hug.


Oh, and if you would like to save a bit on the cost, you can ‘Subscribe and Save’.  It takes 15% off the listed price and there’s automatic free-shipping, regardless of order total.  There’s no obligation past your one order; you can cancel ‘Subscribe and Save’ at any time.  I use it for our coffee, water filter replacements, coconut oil and other essentials.  And no. They’re not paying me to say this.  I just really, really like the service! How can you beat free delivery of things you need anyway?



Six Week Bran Cereal Muffins

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

Gently adapted from the Kellogg’s All-Bran Muffins recipe
Yield: About 54 Plain Bran Muffins, or more than 60 Bran and Fruit Muffins or Chocolate Chip Bran Muffins

Ingredients:

  • 5 1/3 cups all-natural bran cereal (I recommend Nature’s Path Organic Smart Bran)
  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup wheat germ
  • 2 1/4 cups raw sugar (can substitute white granulated sugar if necessary)
  • 5 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 4 cups buttermilk (You’re culturing your own right? No?  Try this dead-simple method.)
  • 1 cup neutral oil (like canola or vegetable oil)
  • 4 large eggs, beaten

Optional additional ingredients for baking:

  • frozen berries, small pieces of frozen stone fruits such as peaches or plums, or small diced apples or pears
  • chocolate chips
  • raw sugar for the muffin tops (You can use granulated white sugar if necessary.)

To prepare muffin mix:

In a large bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir just until evenly moist. Scrape the muffin mix into a large container (of about 1 gallon capacity or larger) with a tight fitting lid.

Refrigerate for at least 8 hours before using. Label the container with the date the batter was mixed.

You can store and use the batter for up to 6 weeks.

To bake Plain Bran Muffins:

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Line muffin tins with paper sleeves or spray the muffin cups with non-stick cooking spray.  Fill the prepared muffin wells 2/3 full.  If desired, sprinkle lightly with raw sugar.

Bake for 15-20 minutes for standard sized muffins or 10-12 minutes for mini-muffins. Muffins are done when a straw, skewer or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow muffins to rest in the tins for 5 minutes then gently turn out onto a cooling rack.

To bake Bran and Fruit Muffins or Chocolate Chip Bran Muffins:

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Line muffin tins with paper sleeves or spray the muffin cups with non-stick cooking spray.

Scoop the desired amount of muffin batter into a bowl and gently fold in your chosen fruit or chocolate chips.

Fill the prepared muffin wells 2/3 full.  If desired, sprinkle lightly with raw sugar.

Bake for 15-20 minutes for standard sized muffins or 10-12 minutes for mini-muffins. Muffins are done when a straw, skewer or toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. There may be some fruit juice on the skewer, but there shouldn’t be any sticky batter.

Allow muffins to rest in the tins for 5 minutes then gently turn out onto a cooling rack or towel.

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Six Week Bran Cereal Muffins
Author: 
Recipe type: breakfast, bread, quick bread, snack
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 32
 

Muffin batter that throws together in minutes and is usable for six weeks?!? You bet! Have fresh muffins whenever the urge strikes when you have this on hand!
Ingredients
  • 5⅓ cups all-natural bran cereal (I recommend Nature’s Path Organic Smart Bran)
  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup wheat germ
  • 2¼ cups raw sugar (can substitute white granulated sugar if necessary)
  • 5 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 4 cups buttermilk (You’re culturing your own right? No? Try this dead-simple method.)
  • 1 cup neutral oil (like canola or vegetable oil)
  • 4 large eggs, beaten
  • Optional additional ingredients for baking:
  • frozen berries, small pieces of frozen stone fruits such as peaches or plums, or small diced apples or pears
  • chocolate chips
  • raw sugar for the muffin tops (You can use granulated white sugar if necessary.)

Instructions
  1. To prepare muffin mix:
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir just until evenly moist. Scrape the muffin mix into a large container (of about 1 gallon capacity or larger) with a tight fitting lid. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours before using. Label the container with the date the batter was mixed. You can store and use the batter for up to 6 weeks.
  3. To bake Plain Bran Muffins:
  4. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line muffin tins with paper sleeves or spray the muffin cups with non-stick cooking spray. Fill the prepared muffin wells ⅔ full. If desired, sprinkle lightly with raw sugar.
  5. Bake for 15-20 minutes for standard sized muffins or 10-12 minutes for mini-muffins. Muffins are done when a straw, skewer or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  6. Allow muffins to rest in the tins for 5 minutes then gently turn out onto a cooling rack.
  7. To bake Bran and Fruit Muffins or Chocolate Chip Bran Muffins:
  8. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line muffin tins with paper sleeves or spray the muffin cups with non-stick cooking spray.
  9. Scoop the desired amount of muffin batter into a bowl and gently fold in your chosen fruit or chocolate chips.
  10. Fill the prepared muffin wells ⅔ full. If desired, sprinkle lightly with raw sugar.
  11. Bake for 15-20 minutes for standard sized muffins or 10-12 minutes for mini-muffins. Muffins are done when a straw, skewer or toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. There may be some fruit juice on the skewer, but there shouldn’t be any sticky batter.
  12. Allow muffins to rest in the tins for 5 minutes then gently turn out onto a cooling rack.

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Filed Under: Breakfast Foods, Happy Healthy and Wise, Healthy Foods, Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Rebecca, Recipes, Snacks, Stretching your dollars Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Jangsanjeok | Korean Simmered Teriyaki Style Beef Patties

January 21, 2011 by 22 Comments

I got goodies in the mail this week. Score!  It was a massive package of unexpected food-related goodies from my brother and his wife in Korea. Hat trick! In this magical box, Nate and Sun Hwa packed ramen, Korean coffee, laver, spicy tuna and a fantastic Korean foods cookbook. I promise I will cook my way through the book eventually, but the thing that jumped off the pages and screamed “EAT ME!” the most was the luscious looking Jangsanjeok.

There was no accompanying description of the dish, but the ingredients spoke for themselves; beef, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, green onions, honey.  Oh my, yes.  When someone says, “What sounds good to you for dinner?” my brain steers -on auto pilot- to some combination of those tastes. Those are my flavors.

There might not have been a description, but there was a photo and it was glorious.  Small squares of beef in a sticky, dark mahogany sauce dusted with chopped nuts. Heck to the yes. The sauce was so deeply colored that it was almost black.  I needed this badly. A closer study of the ingredient list revealed that I had everything (or a decent substitute for everything) required by the recipe.

My first attempt was, while satisfactory, not spectacular.  I found the quantities specified to yield a dish that was too salty for my tastes.  I love salt.  I’m obsessed with salt. I collect varieties of salt. I bleed salt.  But the way I wanted to eat the dish -pretty little sticky squares of garlicky beef perched atop a bed of steamy rice- didn’t work.  When the beef was nibbled at delicately in between bites of banchan and rice, it worked just dandy.

However…

Delicate nibbling does not seem to be the favored approach at our dinner table.  I liken my boys’ eating more to a contest. It’s not a contest between brothers, oh no.  It’s a personal challenge.  You can almost see them thinking, “If I eat this quickly and quietly, she will keep giving me more food. Need more food.”

This is hogwash as my children eat nearly constantly from waking to sleeping.  I regret introducing them to Lord of the Rings so early in life.  They now feel it is their birthright to eat breakfast, second breakfast, elevensies, luncheon, afternoon tea, dinner and supper. If one of the seven is omitted the weeping and moaning and gnashing of teeth is Biblical in proportion. I’m fairly certain they all must have tapeworms. And this brings me to my point…

Eaten in the mode of my sons, the salt in this dish was overwhelming.  I modified the recipe to reduce the salt content in the sauce and was thrilled. The raw sugar I prefer in this dish gives it a subtle molassesy flavor and contributes to the gorgeous lacquered appearance of the beef patties.  Finally, I threw sesame seeds over everything for a little pop of that wondrous toasty, nutty sesame flavor.

Redolent with flavor, beautiful to the eye, family-friendly, simple and economical to prepare, and made with ingredients that are easy to find, Jangsanjeok is now a part of our regular meal rotation.

I think everyone should blow a collective kiss toward Daegu, Korea right now.  Thank you, Nate and Sun Hwa!

Jangsanjeok | Korean Simmered Teriyaki Style Beef Patties

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

Adapted from ‘A Korean Mother’s Cooking Notes’

Ingredients for Beef Patties:

  • 2 pounds lean ground beef
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons sesame oil
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 tablespoon finely minced green onion
  • 1 tablespoon finely minced (or pressed in a garlic press) garlic
  • 4 tablespoons raw sugar (can substitute white granulated sugar if necessary)
  • 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Ingredients for Simmering Sauce:

  • 5 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons water
  • 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons unsweetened apple juice
  • 6 tablespoons raw sugar (can substitute white granulated sugar if necessary)
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 10 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1-1/2″ piece of ginger, thinly sliced*
  • 3 whole small dried red chilis (can substitute 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, can also reduce to suit heat preferences.)
  • 2 whole green onions, ends trimmed

Optional for Garnish:

  • Toasted Sesame Seeds
  • Minced Green Onions

*If you like the idea of having fine threads of cooked ginger adhered to your food with a sticky sauce (and I do, oh, I do!), peel and julienne the ginger before adding to the pot.  If you’d prefer no ‘stuff’ sticking to your food (alas, this is my three youngest children’s preference…) simply slice the ginger into thin coin-shaped pieces before adding with other ingredients.

Preheat oven to broil (High Broil if your oven allows you to differentiate) with the oven rack between 6 to 8 inches from the heating element.  (Alternately, you can heat your gas grill to High or lay a bed of hot coals in your charcoal grill.)

Combine beef with all the other patty ingredients in a medium size bowl.

Mix well with your hands until the ingredients are evenly distributed.  Divide the meat into two portions.  Pat each portion into a square or rectangle that is about 1/2″ thick on a rimmed baking sheet.  The patties do not have to be shaped perfectly, but try your best to get them evenly thick in order to promote even cooking.

Broil or grill the beef for about 3 minutes on the first side.  Carefully flip to prevent breakage. One spatula underneath and one spatula pressed lightly against the top works well for the manoeuver. Return the patty to the broiler or grill and cook until cooked through.  This took 4 more minutes under my broiler.  Do not give in to the temptation to cook the beef rare or medium.  (It will become tender later as it simmers in the sauce.) Remove the pan from the oven and cool completely.

While patties cool, combine all of the sauce ingredients in a large skillet or braising pot.

When the patties are completely cool, cut into squares that are about 1-inch to 1 1/2-inches in size. Bring the sauce ingredients to a boil over medium high.  Stir well, then add the patties to the sauce.  Lower heat to medium low and simmer, basting the patties and turning occasionally, until the sauce has been reduced, is thick and syrupy and has been mostly absorbed.

These can be served over rice with ginger scallion sauce, as a snack, or as part of the banchan in a traditional Korean meal. I like a sprinkling of sesame seeds on top.

5.0 from 1 reviews

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Jangsanjeok | Korean Simmered Teriyaki Style Beef Patties
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 8
 

Try out this Korean classic tonight. Chances are you have everything you need for these small squares of beef in a sticky, dark, garlicky sauce served on rice.
Ingredients
  • 2 pounds lean ground beef
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons sesame oil
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 tablespoon finely minced green onion
  • 1 tablespoon finely minced (or pressed in a garlic press) garlic
  • 4 tablespoons raw sugar (can substitute white granulated sugar if necessary)
  • ¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • Ingredients for Simmering Sauce:
  • 5 tablespoons soy sauce
  • ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons water
  • ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons unsweetened apple juice
  • 6 tablespoons raw sugar (can substitute white granulated sugar if necessary)
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 10 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1-1/2″ piece of ginger, thinly sliced*
  • 3 whole small dried red chilis (can substitute 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, can also reduce to suit heat preferences.)
  • 2 whole green onions, ends trimmed
  • Optional for Garnish:
  • Toasted Sesame Seeds
  • Minced Green Onions

Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to broil (High Broil if your oven allows you to differentiate) with the oven rack between 6 to 8 inches from the heating element. (Alternately, you can heat your gas grill to High or lay a bed of hot coals in your charcoal grill.)
  2. Combine beef with all the other patty ingredients in a medium size bowl. Mix well with your hands until the ingredients are evenly distributed. Divide the meat into two portions. Pat each portion into a square or rectangle that is about ½” thick on a rimmed baking sheet. The patties do not have to be shaped perfectly, but try your best to get them evenly thick in order to promote even cooking.
  3. Broil or grill the beef for about 3 minutes on the first side. Carefully flip to prevent breakage. One spatula underneath and one spatula pressed lightly against the top works well for the manoeuver. Return the patty to the broiler or grill and cook until cooked through. This took 4 more minutes under my broiler. Remove the pan from the oven and cool completely.
  4. While patties cool, combine all of the sauce ingredients in a large skillet or braising pot.
  5. When the patties are completely cool, cut into squares that are about 1-inch to 1½-inches in size. Bring the sauce ingredients to a boil over medium high. Stir well, then add the patties to the sauce. Lower heat to medium low and simmer, basting the patties and turning occasionally, until the sauce has been reduced, is thick and syrupy and has been mostly absorbed.
  6. These can be served over rice with ginger scallion sauce, as a snack, or as part of the banchan in a traditional Korean meal. I like them with a sprinkling of sesame seeds on top.

Notes
If you like the idea of having fine threads of cooked ginger adhered to your food with a sticky sauce (and I do, oh, I do!), peel and julienne the ginger before adding to the pot. If you’d prefer no ‘stuff’ sticking to your food (alas, this is my three youngest children’s preference…) simply slice the ginger into thin coin-shaped pieces before adding with other ingredients.

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Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Happy Healthy and Wise, Healthy Foods, kid food, Korean Food, Main Dish, Meat, Party Food, Recipes, Side Dishes Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Bacon Jam (a.k.a. Oooh-Mommy! Jam)

January 17, 2011 by 105 Comments

You know food is going to make you happy when it smiles at you.  (Probably could’ve made a buck selling a smiling egg yolk on eBay, but honey?  There was no way I was walking away from this breakfast.  And even if I did, there were twelve people waiting to take over the job for me this morning.)

My love of bacon has been pretty well documented (proof of my bacon-obsession) but I can honestly tell you that today’s recipe, Bacon Jam,  is the my favorite way I’ve ever eaten it.

I’m just going to say right here -at the beginning- that this is one of the hardest pieces I’ve ever written.  I’ve flogged my brain for hours, but the fact is, there aren’t enough superlatives to describe how core-shakingly good this bacon jam is. It is umami jam.  It is Ooo-Mommy jam.

Since every way I conceived to ‘splain this jam ends up sounded like a big, fat cliche in my brain (lip-smacking, mouth-watering, etc…) I thought a few anecdotes about the power of this Ooooh-Mommy, holy-cow, sweet-crappy-pappy-this-is-good jam might do the job.

  • While this jam was cooking, a neighbor (who we haven’t met in the three years we’ve lived here) came over to introduce himself.  He didn’t say as much, but I assume the smell drew him since he kept looking over at the stove where my pot of bacon jam bubbled away. He left as a friend.  He’ll be back. I’m sure of it.
  • I was chatting with my friend, Krysta, who lives on the opposite coast,  telling her how the scent of the cooking jam made me want to gnaw my own leg off at the ankle.  She realized she had the ingredients and decided to make it right then and there.  Within an hour she was drooling all over the place.  Ask her.  She’ll tell you.
  • When my beloved, The Evil Genius, tasted Bacon Jam for the first time, his eyes rolled back into his head and he said, “Ooooh- Mommy.”  While my husband is a food guy, those are reactions that he just doesn’t have. That equals spectacular food.
  • We had a grown-up slumber party last night (Okay, not just grown-ups.  Four adults and nine children. The kids were tucked in and it was party time, Foodie With Family style.  We were hard-core.  We broke out the Gilbert and Sullivan and sang along.  You haven’t played a drinking game until you have to take a sip every time someone in ‘Pirates of Penzance’ says ‘duty’!) This morning, breakfast was toasted slabs of fresh homemade bread smeared with bacon jam that we heated in a cast-iron frying pan next to sunny side up eggs.  Our friends and their kids have now moved into our house.

Speaking of these friends…  While we collectively munched our breakfasts, our dear Daytons, Pamela and Jon, helped us hash out just why a Bacon Jam topped piece of toast with a fried egg was superior to the traditional fare of bacon, eggs, and toast.  Jon observed that with Bacon Jam and fried egg on toast, you get the taste of bacon, egg, and toast in every bite. Because of his keen insight, he got double rations and the ability to choose the keyword the next time we all indulge in our Gilbert and Sullivan proclivities.

This post is special for one other reason.  The aforementioned Krysta  happens to have a pretty stylin’ food blog. You have read Evil Chef Mom, right? I really did tease her about the salty, sweet, meaty, maple-y, coffee-tinged dutch-oven-of-joy that I had just created, and she really did inventory her pantry and chill-chest and make her own batch.  We waxed rhapsodic over our new discovery.  And more than that, we decided that we both needed to post this at the very same time, because Bacon Jam turned us into giddy little teenage girls who buy and wear matching Johnny Depp* t-shirts. Hop on over to Evil Chef Mom and read Krysta’s reflections on the recipe.  She tried the recipe using Martha Stewart’s original instructions (using a slow-cooker.)

*Or somebody.  But probably Johnny Depp.  Because he could be the Bacon Jam of actors.  Or not.  But probably he is.

You can join the Bacon Jam Club, Krysta and I aren’t exclusive.  We want the whole world to know this joy.  Just be warned, once you try it, it’s like the mob. There’s no going back.

Bacon Jam (a.k.a. Oooh-Mommy Jam)

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

Inspired by Martha Stewart and The Perfect Pantry

Yield: About 6 cups.  (You can easily halve this recipe.)

Ingredients:

  • 3 pounds bacon
  • 4 large yellow onions, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 8 cloves garlic, smashed with the flat side of a knife or a pan and peeled
  • 1 cup cider vinegar
  • 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
  • 1 1/2 cups very strong brewed black coffee
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Cut the bacon slices into one inch strips.  Add the bacon to a Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Cook the bacon, stirring frequently, until the bacon is browned.  Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon to a paper-towel lined plate.  Drain all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon drippings into a heat-proof jar with a tight-fitting lid.*

*Save the bacon drippings in the refrigerator.  That’s too much flavor to trash!

Place the Dutch oven back over the medium-high heat and add the onions and garlic.

Stir well and reduce heat to medium.  Continue to cook for about 8 minutes, or until the onions are mostly translucent.

Add the remaining ingredients, stir well, and drop heat again, this time to low.

Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, and boil hard for 2 minutes.  After 2 minutes, stir the browned bacon into the onions and liquid.

Simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally to make sure things aren’t sticking, adding 1/4 cup of water if it seems to be drying out. When the onions are meltingly soft and the liquid is thick and syrupy, remove the dutch oven from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes.

Transfer the contents of the Dutch oven to the work bowl of a food processor that has been fitted with a blade.  Fit the lid in place and pulse several times or until the Bacon Jam is a spreadable consistency.  Scrape into a jar (or jars) or a container with a tight fitting lid.

Store in the refrigerator for up to one month or the freezer for up to six months!

Can be served cold, room temperature or warmed.

I do believe that breakfast just doesn’t get much better than this…

5.0 from 17 reviews

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Bacon Jam
Author: 
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 32
 

Salty, meaty, chewy, sweet, savoury, smoky, bacony goodness. Bacon is crisped and made into the ultimate breakfast spread with maple syrup, onions, coffee, brown sugar and pepper.
Ingredients
  • 3 pounds bacon
  • 4 large yellow onions, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 8 cloves garlic, smashed with the flat side of a knife or a pan and peeled
  • 1 cup cider vinegar
  • 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
  • ½ cup pure maple syrup
  • 1½ cups very strong brewed black coffee
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions
  1. Cut the bacon slices into one inch strips. Add the bacon to a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook the bacon, stirring frequently, until the bacon is browned. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon to a paper-towel lined plate. Drain all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon drippings into a heat-proof jar with a tight-fitting lid.*
  2. *Save the bacon drippings in the refrigerator. That’s too much flavor to trash!
  3. Place the Dutch oven back over the medium-high heat and add the onions and garlic. Stir well and reduce heat to medium. Continue to cook for about 8 minutes, or until the onions are mostly translucent. Add the remaining ingredients, stir well, and drop heat again, this time to low.
  4. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, and boil hard for 2 minutes. After 2 minutes, stir the browned bacon into the onions and liquid.
  5. Simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally to make sure things aren’t sticking, adding ¼ cup of water if it seems to be drying out. When the onions are meltingly soft and the liquid is thick and syrupy, remove the dutch oven from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes.
  6. Transfer the contents of the Dutch oven to the work bowl of a food processor that has been fitted with a blade. Fit the lid in place and pulse several times or until the Bacon Jam is a spreadable consistency. Scrape into a jar (or jars) or a container with a tight fitting lid. Store in the refrigerator for up to one month or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
  7. Can be served cold, room temperature or warmed.

Notes
The bacon jam could take up to 3 hours to reduce to a syrupy consistency. Just stick with it!

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Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Breakfast Foods, Camping Food, Charcuterie, Component Foods, Condiments, Eggs, Instructional, kid food, Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Meat, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Side Dishes, Stretching your dollars Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Finnish Oven Pancakes (Pannukakku)

December 2, 2010 by 32 Comments

There is a certain type of weather that requires you to fire up your oven;  To combine flour, butter, eggs, milk and various other good things and apply heat. There is something in the low temperatures or rain or snow that obliges you to create baked goods and then eat them.  Since I am a slave to duty…

Finnish Oven Pancakes are a perennial forgotten favorite around our house.  Perennial in that we make them semi-often.  Semi-often in that I forget how simple a solution they are for last minute hot breakfasts, lunches or dinners until the children remind me.  I make them often enough that I remember there are 4 ingredients and I think I remember the quantities, but infrequently enough that I have to consult my human encyclopaedia de cuisine: my stepmother.  The conversations run like this.

(Phone rings and stepmother picks up the line.)

Val: Hello.

Me:  Hi, Val.  It’s me.  I am calling because I’m making Finnish Oven Pancakes again.

Val:  (chuckle)

Me:  I forgot again.  And I didn’t write it down again.

Val: (with the patience of Job) Four eggs, 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of milk, sugar, salt.

Me:  Thank you and I love you.

Val:  You’re welcome and I love you, too.

We have repeated this conversation about three times a year for about 16 years.  It’s not that I make this three times a year.  It’s that I make it in streaks, forget about it until the kids beg for it, smack myself in the head for having forgotten this recipe and hoist the phone to my ear once again. Thankfully, I have a very patient stepmother.

Thankfully, I say, because this is a recipe that should be added to your regular rotation and you deserve to know Val’s recipe.  And thankfully, too, because  finally, I am writing it out.  Writing it out so that I can share it all with you, yes.  But even more, writing it out means that I can stop annoying my beloved Val.  Well, at least about this particular recipe.  I’ll still call her for my knitting patterns, the-name-of-that-one-website-we-were-talking-about, the recipe for her oatmeal bread, that book title, which Mr. Bean episode had the hymn that they played while the Titanic was sinking, and the name of Hyacinth Bucket’s son.  Like I said, Val is a very patient woman.

But about these Finnish Oven Pancakes.  These fixtures of Finnish cuisine are prominent in many communities in the U.S. where there is a high population of Finn immigrants. The Upper Peninsula (Go, Yoop, eh?) has a huge Finnish community. They have graced us with all manner of cured fish and baked goods, but these?  These are one of their best. Finnish Oven Pancakes the love child of pancakes and custard.  They puff up like a Yorkshire pudding. They have structure -not wet, by any means- and texture, but they’re still soft.  Ranging from not-at-all-sweet to good-and-sweet and everywhere in between, Finnish Oven Pancakes can accompany everything from a simple sprinkle of sugar and squeeze of lemon to jam to sweetened whipped cream and Nutella to sausage gravy to stewed venison to seared mushrooms. Not all together, of course, but all this is to say it’s a very flexible meal base.

My boys prefer it with a little shake of confectioner’s sugar or brown sugar and a lemon wedge squeezed o’er top.  My husband likes it covered with sausage gravy like -as he is wont to say- “SOS, but much, much classier.”

It takes four ingredients; all of which will probably be in your pantry and/or refrigerator barring natural disasters or winter storms*.  Eggs, flour, milk, and salt.  Sugar is one-hundred percent optional.

*You will note that I don’t classify a winter storm as a natural disaster.  That is because I’m from Michigan.  We’re tough.  No whining about snow here, people.  Bring. it. on.

Finnish Oven Pancakes (Pannkakku)

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

Ingredients:

  • 4 Tablespoons (1/2 of one stick) butter, cut into three or four pieces
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup milk, preferably whole milk
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • up to 4 Tablespoons sugar, optional
  • splash of vanilla extract, optional

Preheat oven to 400°F.  When the oven temperature reaches about 300°F, place an 8- or 9-inch cake pan or 10-inch pie plate in the oven with the butter in it.  The butter should melt, but not brown, while the oven finishes heating.

Place the eggs, f lour, milk, salt, sugar and vanilla (if using) in the carafe of a blender.  Fix the cover in place and blend on high, stopping to scrape down the sides if necessary, until the mixture is smooth and even.  When the oven is fully heated, and the butter is fully melted, pull the oven rack out far enough to work safely and pour the batter into the hot pan.  Push the rack carefully back into the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the oven pancake has puffed quite high and is a deep golden brown.  You can test the doneness by quickly inserting a butter knife in the center of the oven pancake.  If the knife comes out clean, the pancake is done.

Remove the pan from the oven, cut immediately (it will deflate some, so don’t worry!) and serve topped as desired.

Here are some topping ideas:

If you add the sugar to the batter…

  • Powdered sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice
  • A handful or two of fresh or frozen berries
  • A sprinkle of brown sugar and drizzle of maple syrup
  • A dollop of fruit jam
  • Apples sautéed in butter and caramel sauce (oh help.)
  • A dollop or five of sweetened whipped cream

If you omit the sugar…

  • Sausage gravy and chopped green onions
  • Beef or venison stew
  • Gravy

Did you get a chance to read about my Wii Just Dance Kids giveaway?  The sky has not fallen, I’m actually giving away a brand-spankin’ new copy of this great game.  You have until this Sunday morning (the 5th of December) to enter. See here for details.

5.0 from 3 reviews

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Finnish Oven Pancakes (Pannukakku)
Author: 
Recipe type: Breakfast, Main
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 4
 

This high-rising traditional Finnish dish is a crispy exteriored cross between a pancake and a custard. Perfect for topping with both sweet and savoury goodies
Ingredients
  • 4 Tablespoons (1/2 of one stick) butter, cut into three or four pieces
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup milk, preferably whole milk
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • up to 4 Tablespoons sugar, optional
  • splash of vanilla extract, optional

Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400°F. When the oven temperature reaches about 300°F, place an 8- or 9-inch cake pan or 10-inch pie plate in the oven with the butter in it. The butter should melt, but not brown, while the oven finishes heating.
  2. Place the eggs, f lour, milk, salt, sugar and vanilla (if using) in the carafe of a blender. Fix the cover in place and blend on high, stopping to scrape down the sides if necessary, until the mixture is smooth and even. When the oven is fully heated, and the butter is fully melted, pull the oven rack out far enough to work safely and pour the batter into the hot pan. Push the rack carefully back into the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the oven pancake has puffed quite high and is a deep golden brown. You can test the doneness by quickly inserting a butter knife in the center of the oven pancake. If the knife comes out clean, the pancake is done.
  3. Remove the pan from the oven, cut immediately (it will deflate some, so don’t worry!) and serve topped as desired.

Notes
Here are some topping ideas: If you add the sugar to the batter… * Powdered sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice * A handful of fresh or frozen berries * A sprinkle of brown sugar and drizzle of maple syrup * A dollop of fruit jam * Apples sautéed in butter and caramel sauce (oh help.) * A dollop or five of sweetened whipped cream If you omit the sugar… * Sausage gravy and chopped green onions * Beef or venison stew * Gravy

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Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Bread, Breakfast Foods, Component Foods, Happy Healthy and Wise, Healthy Foods, kid food, Main Dish, Rebecca, Recipes, Stretching your dollars, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Spicy Cocktail Nuts and a Giveaway! (Updated)

November 3, 2010 by 76 Comments

We have a winner!  Connie… You were picked by the random number generator.

“Connie

I am surprised you are out of the competition. Your recipes are so delicious and extremely helpful. Hope you have a wonderful weekend.”

Contact me for instructions on how to redeem your prize!  Congratulations!

Aw, nuts!

…Or so I said when I learned that my tenure in the Project Food Blog competition was done. After a brief spell of sitting on my bar stool at my counter indulging in self-pity, I came to three conclusions.

  1. I was truly proud of each and every entry I submitted to the competition because each one represented my approach and attitude toward food.
  2. I was kind of relieved. I had a pumpkin carving party to attend that night and that meant I could really have fun without worrying about a deadline.
  3. I have the most loyal, kind, sweet, and hilarious readers ever created. The emails and messages of support left on the Foodie With Family fan page were and are much appreciated.  And truth be told, you guys kind of choked me up a little bit.  Thank you for all your support for me both during and after the competition.  You are awesome.

Now, that being said, I thought the most appropriate way to say ‘thank you’ and express my opinion about being foisted from the competish was to make some nuts.  As in aw, nuts.  As in I’m nutty.  As in I’m nuts for you guys.  As in…  let’s just make these nuts already, eh?

Spicy, sweet, salty, and totally addictive, these nuts will become an instant necessity in your holiday food arsenal.  You will dream about these.  Years ago (and we won’t say how many because I might be having an aging crisis), a friend brought these to an event that I organized at the office*.  Let’s just say that these didn’t make it past my desk to the buffet table.  They stayed with me.  And my friend wasn’t allowed to pass the desk until he jotted down the recipe for me.  Because I’m just that kind of person.

*The aforementioned event -my brainchild- was “PigFest” wherein we spent each Friday in November bringing in dishes to pass with the express aim of expanding our stomachs to better hold the bounty that would be lain before us at upcoming holiday events.  Who ever said advertising people were impractical?

Let’s talk about these nuts for a moment.  You can serve them warm (kept that way in a little slow-cooker) or room temperature; either way has its advantages. You can change out the seasonings used to spice them up.  You can ratchet up or scale back on the heat.  You can swap out walnuts, cashews, peanuts, Brazil nuts or whatever floats your boat for the almonds. You can pour a bunch of the cooled nuts into a clean canning jar, wrap some ribbon or rafia around it and give it as a fabulous hostess gift.  But what you can’t do is skip making these.

Before we go any further, let me tell you about this giveaway.  Aside from the nuts, it is another way of saying thank you for being here!  The nice folks at CSN (and have you LOOKED at their sites?  They have over 200 of them!  It’s like my own personal candy store! That bar stool link above is to one of their sites.) have offered a $50 gift certificate just in time to stock up with the gear you need to turn out the best holiday meals you possibly can.  Thank you, CSN!  So the rules.  First, I’m tired of contest rules so we’ll keep it simple.

Da Rules

  1. Leave a comment.
  2. That’s it.  You’re entered.
  3. If you really need more rules, perhaps you should make them up and leave them in the comment area.
  4. I love you guys.
  5. Really.  Those are all the rules.
  6. Oh geez, you slave drivers.  Okay.  One more thing.  I’ll pick the winner at random on Saturday morning at an as-yet undetermined time.  Because I told you, tired of the rules.

Now, we cook.

Aw, nuts.

Spicy Cocktail Nuts

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

Recipe by Emeril Lagasse

  • 1 large egg white
  • 1 teaspoon water
  • 4 cups raw almonds (…or raw walnuts, pecans, or peanuts)
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons Emeril’s Essence, recipe follows (or whichever spice blend you prefer…)
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together egg white and water until frothy. Add the nuts and toss to coat. In a small bowl, combine the sugar, Essence, cayenne, and salt. Add to the nuts and stir to coat evenly. Spread the nuts on the prepared pan and bake until dry, about 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and stir to separate. Let cool on the baking sheet. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Essence (Emeril’s Creole Seasoning)

Recipe by Emeril Lagasse

  • 2- 1/2 tablespoons paprika
  • 2 tablespoons salt
  • 2 tablespoons garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon onion powder
  • 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano
  • 1 tablespoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container. Yield: about 2/3 cup

Print
Spicy Cocktail Nuts and a Giveaway! (Updated)
Author: 
Recipe type: Snack, Appetizer, Hors d’oeuvres
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: Lots
 

Addictive. That’s the only word to describe these spicy, sweet, crunchy, roasty-toasty cocktail nuts. Make with almonds, cashews, peanuts, walnuts… You choose!
Ingredients
  • 1 large egg white
  • 1 teaspoon water
  • 4 cups raw almonds (…or raw walnuts, pecans, or peanuts)
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons Emeril’s Essence, recipe follows in notes (or whichever spice blend you prefer…)
  • ½ teaspoon cayenne
  • ¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together egg white and water until frothy. Add the nuts and toss to coat. In a small bowl, combine the sugar, Essence, cayenne, and salt. Add to the nuts and stir to coat evenly. Spread the nuts on the prepared pan and bake until dry, about 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and stir to separate. Let cool on the baking sheet. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes
Essence (Emeril’s Creole Seasoning) Recipe by Emeril Lagasse * 2- ½ tablespoons paprika * 2 tablespoons salt * 2 tablespoons garlic powder * 1 tablespoon black pepper * 1 tablespoon onion powder * 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper * 1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano * 1 tablespoon dried thyme Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container. Yield: about ⅔ cup

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Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Breakfast Foods, Gifts, Holiday Food, Instructional, kid food, Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Non-food recipes, Party Food, Project Food Blog 2010, Rebecca, Recipes, Stretching your dollars, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Ham and Swiss with Caramelized Onion on Rye Pizza

October 17, 2010 by 30 Comments

Here we are in Challenge #5 in Project Food Blog from foodbuzz.com!  Thank you all many times over for the support you’ve given me in the comments here, via email, and on the Foodie With Family Facebook fan page. (That’s an awful lot of effs.) The competition has been more fun than I ever expected it to be.

This prompt for this challenge stated, “One recipe, 100 variations! We’re challenging each of you to put your own spin on the same recipe. How you do it is up to you.  …You’ll be asked to put your own spin on Pizza. For the purpose of this contest and challenge, we are defining pizza as having a solid base, a sauce and at least one topping.” Oh my.  We are in my wheelhouse on this one, folks. My middle name is “Put My Own Spin On Pizza”.

Pizza. Can we pause for just a second?

(Contented sigh and wistful expression stealing over my face.)

I say -without a touch of hyperbole- that I could happily eat pizza every day of my life.  From pepperoni-and-cheese to Hawaiian pizza to Chicago deep dish to more outlandish combos, I love it all, but, and this is a biggie*, I am choosy about my pizzas.

*I mean a big ‘but’ not to be confused with a big ‘butt’ which would be the inevitable result of me eating pizza daily.

I don’t order pizzas because I am, ahem, a little high-maintenance when it comes to pizza.  If I’m going to pay twenty dollars for one meal, it had better be the best representation of that meal that ever was.  And -God love them- the pizza joints around here just don’t measure up.  Good pizza can take some serious planning and time, but my last minute cravings still have to be obeyed. So how does such a picky-pants get a quick pizza on the nights when you really need one?

Enter the freezer from stage left.  You probably already know that it’s a good idea to keep frozen pizza dough on hand, but did you know that you can keep frozen partially baked pizza crusts, too?  I’m sure you’ve seen the variety of pre-baked pizza shells you pick up in shrink wrap at the grocery store near the bread section.  These are like that, except that they’re -wait for it- tasty.

There’s no real mystery to the process. On days when you find yourself with a little bit of time to spare, whip up your favorite pizza dough, portion it out and roll it or stretch it out like you’re going to make a pizza. Bake it for just a handful of minutes and remove from the oven before the crust starts to color to cool. Then freeze and wrap the crusts individually.  Here are a few helpful things to keep in mind when making partially baked pizza crusts:

  1. For the best results, use a pizza stone that preheats with your oven. Transfer your dough to and from the oven on a cornmeal dusted peel. If you don’t have a pizza stone, the next best option is a parchment lined pan dusted with cornmeal or semolina.
  2. Get generous with the cornmeal or semolina. Use a good layer of cornmeal or semolina flour on your pan, peel or parchment; whichever vehicle you use to get your crust in and out of the oven. Since you’re not completely baking the crust, it is crucial to prevent the dough sticking before or after baking. This step provides a little insurance against sticking dough.
  3. Cool crusts completely before stashing in the freezer. This simple step improves the final baked pizza, so don’t skip it.
  4. To save room in the freezer, make a stack of crusts, separating each layer with parchment paper. After stacking, wrap tightly in a double layer of plastic wrap or a large, resealable freezer bag.  You can use the parchment separating the crusts beneath them during baking, too.

Frozen crusts ready to be topped.

 

When time is short and pizza calls your name, simply pull a crust from the freezer, top, and bake.  It doesn’t get much easier than that.  You can have a pizza done before the local place could have delivered one. There are a couple of tricks to getting the perfect pizza from your homemade frozen shells.

  1. Use pre-cooked or mostly cooked toppings on pizza shells. Since the crust is already partially baked, you aren’t going to need to cook it as long.  That means that your toppings aren’t going to cook as long, so you need the head start cooked toppings will provide. This means cooked, chopped meats are good (as is pepperoni since it’s already fully cooked.)
  2. Don’t overload the crust! Okay, this rule applies to using fresh dough, too, but it bears repeating.  As tempting as it is to put half a pound of cheese on your personal pan pizza, it just doesn’t work. The crust would be blackened before your cheese was all melted and bubbly. If you have too many toppings, your crust will suffer for it. Resist!
  3. Break out the olive oil. Lightly brush the outer edge of your pizza crust with olive oil before topping.  This helps develop a deep brown, crackling crisp crust.  (Of course, if you prefer the paler variety, this can be omitted!)

And finally, since I’m on a hint-sharing binge, I want to let you in on some of my favorite ways to use pre-baked crusts.

  1. Get creative. Experiment a little. I’ve found that most of my favorite sandwiches (Reubens, Smoked Turkey with Cheddar, and French Dip Sandwiches, just to name a few…) translate very well to the pizza medium. Have fun with it.
  2. Make a build-your-own-pizza bar on movie night. I have not yet met a kid who isn’t in love with the idea of building his or her own pizza.  Lay out bowls with toppings and sauces and give each person their own pre-baked crust.  I guarantee happy faces.  (Psst… It’s a great way to use up odds and ends from the refrigerator, too.  Got a little leftover cooked chicken and some hot sauce?  Hello, Buffalo Chicken Pizza!)
  3. Miracle last minute bread. I have, on more than one occasion, pulled a pizza shell from the freezer, topped it with cheese and tossed it (on its parchment square) straight onto the rack of a hot oven until the cheese was melted and bubbly.  Ta da! It makes almost instant crispy bread to serve alongside hearty soups in lieu of crackers.  Dunked into a steaming bowl of sausage and white bean soup or a humble tomato soup, this really shines!

To help get you started on stocking your freezer I’m sharing one of my favorite pizza crusts; onion rye.  Rolled thin, this crust gets cracker-crisp and holds up well to all kinds of pizza toppings.  It is an obvious choice for my favorite game of “turn this sandwich into a pizza”.

This crust serves as a perfect compliment to the  flavors of a classic deli Ham and Swiss on Rye. Tender balsamic caramelized onions provide the sauce on a pizza that is so good that you’ll be ready to bake another one as soon as you take a bite of the first.  And what’s to stop you since you already have all those crusts in the freezer?

For a printer friendly version of this recipe with no photos, click here!

Ham and Swiss with Caramelized Onion on Rye Pizza

Ingredients for Onion Rye Pizza Shells:

Yield: 4 individual sized crusts, 2 small crusts or 1 medium-large (note: Yield has been modified to to reflect the quantities specified in the recipe.  I always double recipes -yes, even my own- and based my original yield on the fact that I doubled my recipe.  I’m sorry for any confusion!)

  • 1-1/4 cups water
  • 1 Tablespoon canola oil
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 2-1/4 cups bread flour
  • 2 cup white whole wheat flour
  • 1/4 cup rye flour (Use light, medium or coarse, depending on how strong you like your rye flavor.  I use coarse.  Rye?  Because I love it.)
  • 1 Tablespoon malt powder or sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • pinch of white pepper
  • 2 Tablespoons dried onion flakes
  • 2-1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
  • Optional: 1 egg white whisked with 1 teaspoon water until frothy, caraway seeds and coarse salt for sprinkling over the edge of the crust.

Bread Machine Instructions:

Combine water, oil, egg yolk, bread flour, white whole wheat flour, rye flour, malt powder, salt, pepper, onion flakes, and instant yeast in the pan of your bread machine according to manufacturer’s instructions.  Program for a simple dough cycle and press start.

Stand Mixer Instructions:

Combine water, oil, egg yolk, bread flour, white whole wheat flour, rye flour, malt powder, salt, pepper, onion flakes and instant yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook.  Turn the mixer on the lowest setting.  Continue mixing until a smooth and elastic dough is formed.  Place in a lightly greased bowl.  Cover with a damp tea towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Hand-prepared Dough Instructions:

Use a whisk to combine bread flour, white whole wheat flour, rye flour, malt powder, salt, pepper, onion flakes and instant yeast in a large mixing bowl.  Add the water, oil and egg yolk and mix with a sturdy spoon until a cohesive dough forms.  Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and knead until smooth and elastic, about 15 minutes. Place in a lightly greased bowl.  Cover with a damp tea towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

To Prepare the Pizza Crusts:

Preheat the oven (with a baking stone, if you have one) to 425°F.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter, punch down to deflate, and divide into 4 equal pieces.  I find a bench knife is the easiest tool for this job.  Form each piece of dough into a ball.

Gently flatten the dough balls and cover with a tea towel.  Remove one dough ball from beneath the towel and use a rolling pin or your hands to stretch it into an approximately 10-inch circle. A rolling pin gives you the super thin, cracker-crisp crust which I prefer in this recipe.

Dust a peel (or parchment lined pan) generously with cornmeal or semolina flour, lift the dough circle and place on the cornmeal.  If desired, brush the outer 1/2-inch of the crust with the egg wash then sprinkle with caraway seeds and coarse salt.  Use the peel to slide the dough directly onto the stone (or place pan in the oven.)  Bake for 4 minutes, or until air bubbles start to puff up on the dough.  Remove the now partially-cooked crust from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Gently pierce any air bubbles in the center part of the crust (the part you will top) while the dough is still hot. Repeat with the remaining dough balls.

When all are completely cool, place each on a square of parchment that is the same size as the crust.  Stack the crusts and parchment and wrap tightly with a double-layer of plastic wrap or put in a large, resealable freezer bag before freezing.  These are best when used within 3 months of being made.

To Make a Ham and Swiss with Caramelized Onion Pizza

Ingredients for Two Personal Pizzas :

  • 2 frozen Onion Rye pizza crusts
  • 4 large cooking onions, peeled, cut in half and thinly sliced
  • 2 Tablespoons butter
  • a pinch each of salt and sugar
  • balsamic vinegar
  • freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 12 thin slices of good quality deli ham (I used honey baked ham.)
  • 2-1/2 thin slices of Swiss cheese
  • Optional, 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard mixed with mayonnaise for dipping

Begin by making the caramelized onions: Melt the butter over low heat in a heavy-bottomed mid-sized saucepan.  Put onions in the pot, sprinkle the pinch each of salt and sugar over the onions and toss to coat with the butter.  Stir occasionally until onions begin to become soft and start giving up their juices.  Continue cooking over low for about 35 minutes, adding a splash of balsamic vinegar any time the onions begin to look as if they’re drying out.  The onions are done when they are so tender it seems they’re melting.  They should be moist, but not sitting in pools of liquid.  Remove from the heat.

Preheat oven (and baking stone, if available) to 500°F.

Take two Onion Rye Crusts (and their parchment squares) from the freezer. Divide the caramelized onions evenly between the two crusts, spreading near the edges.  Fold the ham slices gently onto the crust, covering most of the onions.  Arrange the Swiss cheese slices evenly over the top and use a peel or your hands to slide the parchment and crust onto the pizza stone or directly onto the oven rack.  Bake for 6-9 minutes, depending on how crispy you prefer your crust.  Six minutes will give you a softer, lighter colored crust, while nine minutes will yield a pizza like the one in the photographs here.

Let cool 5 minutes before slicing.  If desired, serve with the dijon mayonnaise for dipping.

This is my fifth entry in Project Food Blog over at Foodbuzz.com. Did you like this recipe and the post?  I’d appreciate your vote of support! Voting is now open.  To show your support for Foodie With Family, you can click here or on the orange “Vote for Me” tab in the Official Project Food Blog Contestant widget in the upper right sidebar. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for getting me this far and for your continued support!

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Breakfast Foods, Getting Creative With Leftovers, Instructional, kid food, Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Main Dish, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Stretching your dollars Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Pretzel Wrapped Smoked Sausages & Cranberry Mustard

October 10, 2010 by 36 Comments

I’ve made it to Challenge #4 in Project Food Blog from foodbuzz.com! I am having so much fun being part of this competition and I need to thank you so much for your continued support!  The prompt for this challenge was: “Sure, you can take a pretty picture. But your task here is to go above and beyond and use photography to create a step-by-step, instructional photo tutorial. It could be anything from how to bone a chicken to how to make your favorite recipe, but your photos need to guide the reader through the steps.”

The only chickens around here are quite alive and would probably not appreciate having their bones removed just now, so I’m opting to share one of my family’s all-time favorite foods.  Tighten up those apron strings and join in because this recipe is a must have for football or hockey viewing and upcoming holiday parties.  Maybe you should make it just because you can.  I’ve been known to do that…

A sausage in the hand is worth two on the fork.  Or so I’ve heard it said.

That everyone loves finger food is one of the immutable laws of the universe.* Portable and filling, hand-held foods are a real kid,  husband and crowd pleaser.

*The law -as written by me- states that any food that may be transferred from plate to mouth by way of hand or stick is exponentially more appealing and tasty than one which requires utensils or cutlery. I have yet to meet anyone who contests the law.

Soft pretzels and cocktail sized smoked sausages are in the upper echelon of snackery.* Soft pretzels at their best are a chewy, salty, satisfying contribution from the bread world. Cocktail sized smoked sausages offer a low-effort delectable umami punch in a cute little package.

*Their superiority is also an immutable law.  I offer proof.  What disappears first on a party buffet? If they are present, the answer is unquestionably soft pretzels and cocktail sausages. On another note, is snackery a proper word?  If not, I claim this newly coined word in the name of Foodie With Family.  I have a flag and everything.

These morsels?  These are the cream of the crop.  Pretzel Wrapped Smoked Sausages (with or without the divine Cranberry Mustard) combine the best of everything from the grab-and-go food world into two savory, chewy, dunkable, adorable-to-behold bites.  And oh, what bites they are!  This is far and away the most requested birthday, special occasion, just-because-I’m-craving-it recipe in my arsenal.

A word of caution… Make the whole batch.  Don’t be tempted to halve or quarter this because you will eat more than you thought you would and so will anyone standing around you.  That tray of pretzel sausages above was cleaned in 5 minutes flat. I don’t think you’ll have to worry about leftovers.  But, leftovers -if, by some miracle, you have them- freeze beautifully when wrapped in foil and a resealable bag.

Don’t think for a moment, though, that in the presence of such glorious snack food that this Cranberry Mustard is a throw-away recipe.  You have never had a mustard quite like this one before.  Ruby-hued, tart, thick, and sweet with that mustard pop, it compliments everything from smoked sausages to venison to roast turkey.  More unique than its lovely color is the fact that, unlike most homemade mustards that have to age for weeks, this one is ready to eat straight from the pan.  May I make a suggestion that will have you naming your next-born children after me? Have Cranberry Mustard at your next Thanksgiving table.  I have six words to say  that will convince you: Leftover turkey sandwiches with Cranberry Mustard. I believe that says it all, no?

For a printer-friendly, photo-free version of these recipes, click here!

Pretzel Wrapped Smoked Sausages

Yield: About 76 pieces.

Ingredients for the pretzel dough (Ingredients and bread machine method from the Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook):

  • 4 cups (1 pound and 1 ounce by weight) bread flour (High-gluten flour)
  • 1 tablespoon malt powder or sugar
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons Kosher salt
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast

Ingredients for the pretzel bath:

  • 2 quarts water
  • 2 tablespoons baking soda

Additional Ingredients:

  • 2 (14 ounce) packages cocktail-sized smoked sausages
  • 1 egg white whisked together with 1 tablespoon of cool water until frothy
  • coarse salt

Optional:

  • melted butter for brushing the finished pretzels

To prepare pretzel dough with a bread machine:

Add all pretzel dough ingredients into the pan of the bread machine according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Program the bread machine for the dough cycle and press ‘start’.  Allow the machine to complete the cycle.

This is how the dough looks when it is completed.  If you are using one of the alternate dough preparations listed below, your dough should still be smooth and elastic like this.

To prepare pretzel dough with a stand-mixer:

Fit your stand mixer with a dough hook. Add all of the pretzel dough ingredients to the work bowl. Turn the stand mixer on using the lowest setting.  Keep the mixer on ‘low’ for 6 minutes.  After 6 minutes, remove the dough hook from the bowl.  Cover with a damp tea towel.  Allow the dough to rise in a warm, draft-free place until puffy and doubled in bulk; about 35 minutes.

To prepare pretzel dough by hand:

Add dry pretzel dough ingredients to a large mixing bowl and mix lightly with a whisk.  Add the milk and water to the bowl and stir well with a sturdy spoon until a shaggy dough forms.  Turn out onto a lightly floured counter top and knead until a smooth and elastic dough forms.  Place in a clean bowl covered with a damp tea towel. Allow the dough to rise in a warm, draft-free place until puffy and doubled in bulk; about 35 minutes.

To assemble the pretzel wrapped sausages:

Empty the sausages into a bowl for easiest access. Line 3 half-sheet pans with parchment paper.  Spray the parchment paper lightly with non-stick cooking spray.  Set aside.

Turn the risen dough out onto a clean counter top. (Do not flour the counter top!)  Use a bench knife or spatula to pinch or cut off a piece of dough about the size of a ping pong ball.  Cover the bulk of the dough with a clean towel to keep it from drying.

Squash the piece of dough flat.  Using the pads of your fingers and the palms of your hands, roll the piece of dough back and forth, gently moving hands away from each other. If you call on your play-dough snake making experience to get the right feel for the movement you’re on the right track.

Continue rolling the dough until it forms a long cord with a diameter of about 1/4-1/2 of an inch.  Hold the end of the dough cord to the end of the cocktail sausage with one hand. Use the other hand to coil the pretzel dough around the sausage down to the other end.

Use a bench knife or spatula to cut the excess dough cord.

Wind the last bit of dough cord tightly at the end and pinch the loose ends  into the dough coil. Don’t worry about perfection.  You’re working with sausages and pretzel dough.  Whether it ends up a perfect finished coil or not it will still taste like a dream!

Place, pinched sides down, on the prepared parchment lined pans.  Let rise, uncovered, for 30 minutes.

To boil and bake the pretzel wrapped sausages:

While the pretzel dough is rising, preheat oven to 400°F and bring 2 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot.  Add the baking soda to the boiling water.  Carefully lower up to 8 pretzel dough wrapped sausages into the boiling water with your hands.  Take care not to drop them from on high as that will cause the boiling water to splash.  Allow them to simmer for about 45 seconds. The pretzel dough will become puffy and some ends may come untucked.  As soon as you reach this stage…

…Use a slotted spoon to lift each piece from the water, drain and return to the pans.  Brush each piece with the frothy egg wash.

Remember that the sausage is already salty, so use a light hand in sprinkling the coarse salt.

Bake the trays for 16 minutes each, or until the pretzels are a glossy golden brown.  Remove from the oven.  If desired, brush the finished pretzels with melted butter and cool for 5 minutes before transferring the pretzel sausages to a serving platter.

Cranberry Mustard

Adapted gently from The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving

Yield: A little over 8 ounces.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1/3 cup yellow mustard seeds
  • 1 1/3 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
  • 2 generous pinches ground allspice

Bring red wine vinegar to a boil in a stainless steel pan.  Remove from heat, add yellow mustard seeds, swirl the pan and cover tightly.  Let the pan sit at room temperature for about an hour or until the seeds have absorbed almost all of the red wine vinegar. Scrape the soaked seeds into a blender or food processor fitted with a stainless steel blade.

Process until most of the seeds have been crushed.  Do not process until completely smooth as you still want a grainy texture with some whole seeds.  Add the cranberries, Worcestershire sauce and water and process until the cranberries are finely chopped.  Here is where you start getting an idea of just how gorgeous this mustard will be.

Use a silicone or rubber spatula to scrape the cranberry/mustard seed mixture back into the stainless steel pan.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.  Boil gently for 5 minutes.

Whisk in the sugar, mustard powder and allspice until completely incorporated. Simmer until reduced by third, about 5-10 minutes.  Transfer into a clean jar with a tight fitting lid.

The mustard is ready to use immediately, but can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a month. This is the only mustard I’ve ever found myself sneaking by the spoonful straight from the jar.  Yes, it is that good.

This is my fourth entry in Project Food Blog over at Foodbuzz.com. Did you like this recipe and the post?  I’d appreciate your vote of support! Voting is now open.  To show your support for Foodie With Family, you can click here or on the orange “Vote for Me” tab in the Official Project Food Blog Contestant widget in the upper right sidebar. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for getting me this far and for your continued support!

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Bread, Holiday Food, Instructional, kid food, Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Meat, Party Food, Project Food Blog 2010, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: , , ,
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