About Carrie Zinnecker

Posts by Carrie Zinnecker:

Coca Cola Hoisin Pork Chops with Baby Bok Choy

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When I read a tip that came out of America’s Test Kitchen I immediately believe it and put it to use.  When I read a recipe from America’s Test Kitchen I believe it must be amazing and have the best methods of cooking whatever it is.  I’d like to get a job there.  Or at least spend a day or two there, just observing the amount of thought, effort, time and testing that goes into everything.  It makes me kind of excited to think about it all!

They do what I only wish I had the time, money, energy and intelligence to.  Want to know the best kind of cookie sheet to buy?  Ask the test kitchen.  They’ve already put all the brands out there through a battery of tests and know which gives the best browning and texture while not warping in the oven and doesn’t cost a fortune.  Want to know the best kind of cocoa powder?  Ask the test kitchen.  They’ve already tasted and baked with them all.  You won’t have to make a bad batch of chocolate cookies that burned on your poor quality cookie sheets!  Now some people don’t like the specificity and scientific bent in their articles and think that maybe they’re too engrossed in the food or the recipe to consider the home cook.  Like who has time to check the temperature of their butter before they use it in the perfect pound cake?  I’ve made that pound cake, and I took its temperature and it was spectacular.  But does it make that much of a difference?  If the test kitchen says so, then it must.

The only reason I bring it up is that this recipe came from a cookbook from The Test Kitchen called The Six-Ingredient Solution.  What a genius idea!  I love when a recipe is uncomplicated in its ingredients.  It makes grocery shopping and life just a little bit easier.  But I guess this actually has 8 including pepper and water called for in the directions…still 8 ingredients ain’t bad.  And they turn out a stellar dinner.

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I don’t cook pork chops.  I’ll often cook a pork tenderloin in the oven or Ben will grill one.  I worry about under-cooking pork, and so in an effort to not under-cook it I end up worrying about over-cooking it and making it dry and tough.  I am happy to say that this meal yielded really delicious pork chops that were cooked pretty well.  I got the thumbs-up from Ben on it!  But I did have trouble getting it to temperature during the searing.  I did 3 minutes per side and it was only at 120°F.  Once it got to 130 I took it off and let it cook the rest of the way in the sauce, which worked well.  It’s not the way they instruct in the original recipe, but it worked for me.

I’ve never cooked bok choy before, and I think I’ve only had it once or twice.  So this was a step out of my comfort zone in more than one way.  It cooks quickly and has good amounts of vitamins A and C.  I really enjoyed it and found it to be a perfect side for this meal.  Some people may not be a fan of the texture.  Sub broccoli for the bok choy if you’d like.  Steam it and serve it on the side.

I HAVE cooked rice before.  Lots of rice.  So it was the only part of the meal I was able to put on the stove and know was going to be edible.  And, to be honest, I kind of liked the thought of a big bowl of buttered rice for dinner.  But what we had was much better and more well balanced.

The sauce is amazing, and how could it not be?  It’s delicious on the pork, bok choy and rice.  I think it would be a great sauce for chicken as well.  The sauce ingredients here are what they call for for 4 chops and 4 bok choy, so if you do decide to make this recipe for 4, I’d suggest doubling the sauce.  You might end up with extra, but it would be a shame to run out!  Enjoy!

Coca Cola Hoisin Pork Chops with Baby Bok Choy

From America’s Test Kitchen

Serves 2

Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 cups sushi (short grain) rice
  • 2 thick cut bone-in pork chops (8 ounces, 3/4 inch thick)
  • 2 heads baby bok choy
  • 1 cup coca cola
  • 1/3 cup hoisin sauce
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • black pepper

Directions

  1. Halve bok choy lengthwise and set aside.
  2. Pat pork chops dry with paper towels, then cut 2 small slits through the fat on the side of each pork chop.  Season both sides with ground black pepper and set aside.
  3. Whisk cola, hoisin and 2 tablespoons of water in a bowl and set aside.
  4. Combine rice with 2 1/4 cups of water and a pinch of salt in a medium sized saucepan.  Bring to a boil then cover and reduce heat to low.  Simmer for 10 minutes then remove from the heat and let sit, covered, for 15 minutes.
  5. While rice is cooking, heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over high heat.  Add bok choy, cut side down.  Watch out for oil spatters!  Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, then add 2 tablespoons of water, cover and cook for another minute until stems are just tender.  Transfer to a plate and cover.
  6. Wipe out the skillet with paper towels and adjust heat to medium high.  Heat 1 tablespoon oil in the skillet, then add pork chops and cook 3-5 minutes per side, until the temperature is 130-135, then move to a plate.
  7. Wipe out skillet again, keep heat at medium high and add the cola mixture.  Whisk until slightly thickened then add chops and any juice on the plate back to the pan.  Turn the chops to coat them with the sauce, then cover and cook for 2-3 minutes.  Check temperature of the chops, they should register 145°F.
  8. Plate chops, bok choy (pretty browned sides up) and rice.  Drizzle bok choy with sauce from the pan.  Serve with extra sauce.

Cranberry Coconut Muffins

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Happy Friday!  Just have to point out that this is my 3rd post of the week!  I don’t anticipate every week being this productive, but I am glad to start the year off tackling some of my blogging goals.  Now for a yummy, fast and simple recipe for your weekend…crancoconutmuffin2

With half a bag of cranberries still in my fridge, and some ideas brewing for what to do to this muffin recipe, I whipped these up during nap time.  Using pineapple juice in the last muffins led me to the thought of coconut and I just so happened to have both coconut oil and coconut milk in my pantry.  Just like last time I wished I’d had a can of crushed pineapple to add in.  Maybe I’ll get around to making a tropical cranberry muffin one of these days.  But that would involve me buying another bag of cranberries and then having leftovers after making the muffins which would then require me to make something else with cranberries.  I might have to put it on hold until next holiday season.  I might be muffin-ed out.

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I’ve sung the praises of coconut oil before.  This zucchini bread is one of my favorite things.  Coconut oil behaves pretty much the same as oil and butter in a baked good.  But it’s rock hard at temps at which vegetable oil is liquid and butter is spreadable.  It remains solid until is reaches temperatures above 76°F.  I warmed it in the microwave before using it in this recipe.  I keep muffins and breads in the fridge unless I know they’re going to be eaten within a couple of days to keep them from going bad.  With the coconut oil in the muffins they come out of the fridge very hard.  A quick warm up in the microwave and they become nice and soft and ready to devour.  I found some great information on this blog about using coconut oil and its health benefits.  I’d never thought about cutting in to pastry dough!

Coconut is a main and noticeable ingredient in these muffins.  There’s coconut oil, milk and flakes.  So the coconut averse may not be into these.  If you do want the benefits of the coconut oil, just sub milk or buttermilk and leave out the coconut flakes.  The coconut oil alone shouldn’t make a coconut hater turn up their nose, but I don’t find coconut oil alone to be too coconutty, especially after being baked into something.  Correct me if I am wrong!

On another note, I got this wonderful spreader for Christmas from my mother-in-law.  “No such things as too much butter” is definitely something I find to be true.  You can get your own at For Such a Time Designs on Etsy.  She hand stamps pieces of flatware and I’ve been perusing her site quite a bit lately.  Check her out!

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Coconut Cranberry Muffins

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil, warmed to liquid
  • 3/4 cup lite coconut milk, shake the can before opening and measuring
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup fresh cranberries, roughly chopped
  • 1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
  2. Grease and sugar a 12-cup muffin tin.
  3. Combine flour, powder and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
  4. Beat sugar and coconut oil until combined, then beat in coconut milk and egg.
  5. Add flour mixture to the liquid ingredients and mix just to combine.
  6. Fold in the cranberries and flaked coconut.
  7. Divide batter equally among the cups.  Sprinkle with raw sugar or flaked coconut.
  8. Bake for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool for a few minutes in the pan before transferring to a rack to cool completely.

Thin and Chewy Chocolate Chip and Toffee Cookies

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In general I prefer a thick, soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie.  The flat crunchy kind aren’t what I typically make or choose to enjoy with a glass of milk.   I’ve made my fair share of chocolate chip cookies and have some favorite recipes.  These, these and these are probably the ones I’ve enjoyed the most.  Going back in the blog archives makes me nostalgic and a little embarrassed of my food photos and writing.  Yeesh.  But, this is why I blog!  Documenting the good and the not so good, and seeing how my cooking, blogging and photography has changed.  Anyway, back to the cookies.

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I made these cookies for a friend who recently moved into a new house.  I kept a few for myself.  They are thin, but still chewy, which I realize now is what I really crave in a cookie.  And they are buttery and sweet and delicious.  The small amount of toffee pieces adds something special to these.  The original recipe, from The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook, calls for mini chocolate chips.  I used regular sized chips and think that it’s really a personal preference.  With mini chips you’ll get chocolate in each bite.  With the big chips you’ll end up with some bites with no chips, but the bites with chips are super yummy.  I love big hunks of chocolate in a cookie.  I guess a solution for that could be to use more big chips…  Other than the chips and the addition of the toffee pieces, I didn’t do anything differently.  This is a terrifically simple recipe.  Enjoy!

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Thin and Chewy Chocolate Chip and Toffee Cookies

From The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook

Makes 24-36 cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 11 tablespoons unsalted butter,  softened
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips
  • 1/4 cup toffee pieces

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl and set aside.
  3. Cream together butter and sugars until light in color, then beat in egg and and vanilla.
  4. Add the flour mixture and beat until combined.
  5. Mix in chocolate chips and toffee pieces.
  6. Use a cookie/ice cream scoop or tablespoon to drop scoops of dough onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment or a nonstick liner.  Space them a couple inches apart since they’ll spread during baking.  8 cookies per sheet works well.
  7. Bake for 8-10 minutes until lightly browned on the edges.  Let cool for a minute before moving to a rack.

Cranberry Pineapple Muffins

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Happy New Year! Can I still say Happy New Year a week into it?  I think so.  One of the things I want to do in 2014 is to blog more here on Hottie Biscotti.  I did a photo a day project on the Baby Z blog in 2013 and love that it gave me a purpose in blogging and a goal to achieve for the year.  I have a lot of ideas for this blog; weekly recipes, cookbooks to cook through, kid friendly meals, dinners for busy moms/dads, vegetarian meals, and a few others.  But I know that if I say I’m going to do all of that I will be overwhelmed, will start to get my priorities out of order, end up disappointing myself and not be a good wife, mom and friend.  So I’m just going to set a goal of blogging once a week.  Maybe I’ll start some series, maybe I’ll blog more than once in a week, maybe I’ll end up cooking more out of my library of cookbooks.  But if I don’t, and all I have is 52 blog posts in 2014, I can say I’ve accomplished my goal.

Anyone else out there buy a bag of fresh cranberries over the holidays and find themselves with an unopened bag of them in need of being used?  Anyone?  I did.

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Of course what I found when I searched for “cranberry muffins” were a bunch of recipes involving orange juice and orange zest.  I know cranberry and orange are good together.  But I’m not super crazy about the combination.  And I never have orange juice around.  I took this muffin recipe, used pineapple juice instead of orange, used up some of my cranberries, and wound up with a tasty batch of muffins.

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I really loved the pineapple juice in these.  They smell spectacular and taste wonderful, especially warm with a little spread of butter.  The cranberries are perfectly tart and give a beautiful pop of color.  I think a small can of drained, crushed pineapple mixed in would make them phenomenal.  Now that I’m thinking about it, I will probably make these again with some other add ins…stay tuned.

These come together quickly and have a super simple ingredient list.  If you don’t have juice, I think you could get away with milk or buttermilk instead.  Blueberries, strawberries or raspberries would be great if you have some around.  Happy baking!

Cranberry Pineapple Muffins

From allrecipes.com

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 6 ounces pineapple juice (1 small can)
  • 1 heaping cup fresh cranberries, roughly chopped

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F.  Grease and sugar a 12-cup muffin tin.  Set aside.
  2. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.
  3. In a large bowl whisk oil and sugar together until light in color.  Beat in egg, then pineapple juice.
  4. Stir flour mixture into the wet ingredients until just combined, then fold in cranberries.
  5. Divide evenly among the muffin cups.
  6. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until tops are lightly browned.

 

Bacon, Potato & Blue Cheese Tart

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A good friend of mine made this when we met up for a playdate at her house a while back.  I say “a while back” because it feels like just a few months ago but I think it might have been over a year ago, which reminds me just how quickly a year goes by.  I can’t believe it’s almost 2014.

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Candace paired this rich and savory tart with a spinach salad loaded with berries, which made for a well balanced lunch.  I’m still amazed that she fixed this lunch for us since she’d recently had a baby.  My meal of choice when having people over for a playdate is Chick-fil-A…or goldfish and raisins.

The recipe is from Smitten Kitchen and is something I can definitely see myself making again, especially for a lunch or brunch.  It’s impressive but not too time or skill intensive.  It’s also fine served room temp, so you can make it hours ahead or even the day before and re-warm it.  I added bacon to the original recipe because I don’t see anything wrong with adding bacon to pretty much everything.  Maybe my new motto for 2014 will be, “Put some bacon on it!” inspired by Portlandia… But of course it’s amazing without the bacon and fits into a vegetarian diet that way.

Other than the bacon, the rest of the recipe is unchanged.  You can use a tart pan or pie plate for this.  I had planned to use a tart pan because it’s just prettier than a pie plate.  Something about that fancy fluted edge.  But the dough recipe provided wouldn’t fit in my 10 inch tart pan, so I used a 9-inch pie plate.  Thankfully the lovely filling makes up for the unimpressive pie plate.  The dough wasn’t impossible to work with, but it was a little crumbly so I had to do some patching up in places.  It was delicious and not hard to whip up in the food processor, so I’d definitely recommend it over a store bought crust.

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Ingredients

If you don’t like blue cheese you probably haven’t read to this point in the blog post, and if for some reason you have I can pretty much guarantee that you won’t be a fan of this tart.  Which makes me sad, because it’s delicious…if you like blue cheese.  I think you could use goat cheese, but haven’t tried it so I’m not sure how that will effect the final product.  Let me know how it turns out if you try it!

A few tips:

  • Refrigerate your crust before filling to minimize shrinking during baking.
  • For making ahead, you can prep everything, store it in the fridge and assemble right before baking.
  • If using bacon, this cold oven method of cooking it has become my new favorite.  No greasy pan to clean and your house won’t smell like bacon for days.
  • Make sure to let the tart cool or otherwise the filling won’t have time to thicken and could be runny.

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Pre-baked Tart

Bacon, Potato & Blue Cheese Tart

From Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients

Tart

  • 1 Savory Tart Shell, recipe below, in a 9-inch tart or pie pan and ready to use
  • 1 pound small red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1/4-inch slices
  • 4-8 slices of good bacon, cooked and crumbled
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1/4 pound blue cheese, crumbled (about 3/4 cup)
  • 1 tablespoons finely chopped thyme and rosemary
  • Fine sea salt for sprinkling

Tart Shell

  • 1 and 1/4 cups flour
  • 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 6 tablespoons butter, diced
  • 1 large egg

Directions

For Tart Shell

  1. Combine flour, cornstarch and salt in the bowl of your food processor.  Pulse a few times to combine.
  2. Add in butter chunks and pulse until butter is in pea sized pieces.
  3. Add egg and pulse until dough comes together.  It will still be slightly crumbly.
  4. Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead it a few times so that it comes together.  Flatten into a disk.
  5. Roll out into a 12 inch circle then transfer to your 9-inch tart pan or pie plate.  Press out any air bubbles and trim or crimp edges as desired.  Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before filling.

For Filling

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F
  2. Cook potatoes in a medium sized saucepan, just covered in water, over medium heat.  Simmer until tender, 8-10 minutes.  Remove from the water and drain.  Lay the slices out on a clean dishtowel and gently pat dry with another clean towel or paper towels.
  3. Arrange potatoes in concentric circles on the bottom of the crust, overlapping slightly, covering the crust entirely.
  4. Sprinkle cheese over potatoes, followed by bacon and herbs.
  5. Whisk egg and cream in small bowl and pour over everything.
  6. Sprinkle with sea salt.
  7. Bake tart for 45 to 50 minutes until bubbly and browned.  Cool on wire rack.  Serve the tart warm, room temp or cold.

Chocolate Mint Marshmallows

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There is something truly special about real, fresh, homemade marshmallows in your hot chocolate.  Or hot cocoa.  Did you know there is a difference beyond personal word choice?  Me neither!  But these marshmallows really do melt differently than the store bought kind.  And the best part is, they’re not impossible to make at home!

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I’ve only made marshmallows once before, and I didn’t remember them being too terribly difficult, just time consuming.  Not a lot of active time, but a good 6-18 hours of wait time between putting the marshmallow goo in the pan and then cutting and enjoying them.  This time around was no different.  These are really not difficult to make in your own kitchen.  The only special equipment you need is a candy thermometer.

It’s kind of fun (especially if you’re a food nerd likes me who still finds beating egg whites to stiff peaks amazing) to watch such simple ingredients go from nothing impressive to a fluffy, sticky mound of marshmallow in just a few minutes.  And again, marshmallows aren’t difficult at all to make!  But you do need to plan ahead.  And you do need a candy thermometer.  You will be sad and lost without your candy thermometer!

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I found this tutorial from The Kitchn to be extremely helpful in making marshmallows and used their recipe as my base.  I’ve seen yummy variations including pretty pink peppermint marshmallows, toasted coconut marshmallows and even salted caramel marshmallows.  All of which I thought about making.  But I decided to try something a little different.  My undying love of York peppermint patties led me to make these.  They’re delicious on their own, but something really wonderful happens when the peppermint patties start to melt into your hot chocolate.  It’s heavenly.

One of the little bits of advice I’d give is to be patient in waiting for the sugar syrup to get to temperature.  It heats quickly to 200°F, but took a while to get to 250°F.  Keep a close eye on it after it gets to 230 or so, because it seemed to speed up then.  Also remember, no stirring.  It all comes out fine in the end.  Resist the urge.

These are another great gift idea for Christmas!  Wrap up a few in a glassine or poly bag and pair with some fancy hot chocolate mix and a cute mug.  Done.

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Chocolate Mint Marshmallows

Marshmallow recipe from The Kitchn

Ingredients

  • 1 batch marshmallow base (ingredients and recipe below)
  • 1 bag mini York peppermint patties (about 27) unwrapped and roughly chopped

Marshmallow Base

For the gelatin bloom:

  • 3 tablespoons (typically 3 packets) unflavored gelatin powder (See Recipe Notes)
  • 1/2 cup cold water
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract

For the marshmallows:

  • 3/4 cup water
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 1/4 cup sugar cane syrup or corn syrup
  • Pinch kosher salt

For the marshmallow coating:

  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/2 cup cornstarch

Directions

  1. Grease a 9×13 inch pan with cooking spray or shortening, making sure to cover every nook and cranny.
  2. Spread/sprinkle/place the peppermint patty pieces onto the bottom of the pan, covering as evenly as possible.  This will be hard since the candy will want to stick to everything but the pan.

For the Marshmallows

  1. Put the gelatin into the bowl of the stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Add 1/2 cup cold water and the vanilla to the gelatin and whisk with a fork. Continue stirring until the gelatin reaches the consistency of apple sauce and there are no lumps.
  2. Pour 3/4 cup water into a heavy bottomed 4-quart saucepan.  Pour the sugar, corn syrup, and salt on top and leave it.  Do not stir.
  3. Clip your candy thermometer to the side of the pot and place over medium-high heat.  Bring it to a full boil.  Do not stir.  As the mixture comes to a boil, dip a pastry brush in water and brush down the sides of the pot to keep the sugar from crystallizing on the sides of the pot.
  4. Continue boiling until the sugar mixture reaches 247°F to 250°F, brushing down the sides of the pot occasionally. Take the pan off the heat and remove the thermometer once it reached temperature.
  5. Turn on your mixer to low speed.  Slowly pour the hot sugar syrup into the gelatin, being very careful not to let the syrup spill on anyone, it is extremely hot.
  6. After all the syrup has been added, cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel (to keep you and your kitchen clean!) and increase the speed to high.  The towel can be removed once the mixture begins to thicken.
  7. Whip for about 10 minutes.  No excuses.  Set a timer and don’t turn the mixer off until the timer says so.  You will have a beautiful bowl of white fluffy goodness.
  8. Remove the whisk and scrape off as much of the marshmallow as you can.  Use a spatula to scoop the marshmallow, which will be incredibly sticky, into the 9×13 pan lined with your peppermint patties.  Try to spread it as smoothly as possible without moving the patties too much.  Spray your hands with cooking oil and flatten and smooth the top of the marshmallow as much as possible.
  9. Leave it alone now for 6-24 hours, uncovered.  Away from toddler hands.
  10. Whisk the powdered sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl.
  11. Sprinkle the top of the marshmallows with some of the powdered sugar mixture. Turn the pan over onto your work surface or large cutting board.  This may require some coaxing from an offset spatula.  The patties will stick somewhat, so be careful not to lose a chunk by being too rough in removing the marshmallow block.  Once it is removed, sprinkle more powdered sugar onto the other side of the marshmallows, the peppermint patty side.
  12. Use a pizza wheel, knife or cookie cutters to cut the marshmallows.  Wet your utensil of choice between cuts to keep the marshmallow from sticking.  (If you use cookie cutters, make sure they’re large and not too intricate.  I tried a small frilly snowflake cutter with less than stellar results.  The heart cutter was easier.  Squares are easiest!
  13. After cutting, toss the marshmallows in the powdered sugar and place on a platter, cookie sheet or in the container you plan to keep them.  Repeat with the remaining marshmallows.
  14. Keep marshmallows in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

 

 

Caramel Pecan Turtles with Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt

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Pecan-Caramel-Turtles

There is a story behind these tasty treats.  This was my second batch.  Not because the first was so delicious that it was eaten up before I could take any photos, though.  The first batch was an “Eat at your own risk” kind of candy thanks to an overcooked caramel that could probably have taken a tooth out.  I pride myself in being pretty good in the kitchen.  I’m not afraid of recipes that require some skill because I think that I have pretty good kitchen skills.  I know fancy cooking words and know the science behind some baking do’s and don’ts.  My first time making this caramel was a humbling experience, to say the least.  And we all need those experiences from time to time to keep us from thinking that we’re real good at something.

Some things to know before making these candies.

Lesson 1: Do not overcook your caramel!  Be patient and attentive, watch it like a hawk!  Candy is not forgiving.

Lesson 2: Go buy yourself a decent candy thermometer if you have any intention of ever making candy.  It is a necessity.

Lesson 2: Use a heat proof spoon to avoid losing half of the plastic part of your spatula in the hot caramel.

Lesson 3: Use parchment on your pans to make removing the finished caramels a breeze.

Lesson 4: Have everything you need ready to go so that making the caramel and assembling the candies is quick and easy.

I found this recipe on a blog called Alaska from Scratch.  It was my first time stumbling upon the site and it’s one I’ve now added to my blog reader.  The only thing I did differently was to use a different chocolate.  I was fortunate enough to come across Ghirardelli melting wafers at Target.  I think I might have audibly gasped as I saw them on the shelf.  It was a Christmas miracle!  It is way better than candy bark.  It hardens nicely, is easy to work with and actually tastes like chocolate.  They have white chocolate too!  Stock up.  I know I’m going to.

Giving handmade gifts at Christmas is something I really love doing.  Sometimes you know someone well enough to know they need a particular item, but other times you’re not sure what to get for someone and you don’t want to get them something they’re not going to use or that they’re going to throw out.  Food is almost never a bad gift idea.  It only takes up space for a short time, and the recipient is guaranteed to enjoy it.  These candies are a great gift to give.  Pack them into normal sized mason jars or cute baby ones if you’re giving them with something else or in a basket of other goodies.  You could easily use walnuts or almonds instead of pecans.  You could also make some with white chocolate and pack a few of each together.

Pecan-Caramel-Turtles-Gift-

 

The caramel recipe is fairly simple, but be sure to keep a watchful eye on it and stir is constantly.  Make sure to have your pecans toasted and set up for topping before you even start the caramel.  Getting the chocolate melted before you start the caramel is also a great way to make the process fast and smooth once the caramel is done.  If you have another set of hands, set up a little assembly line.  The caramel does begin to thicken up and harden after you remove it from the heat so it’s important to work quickly.  If it does get too thick to drizzle onto the pecans, you can warm it (stirring constantly) over low heat until it thins a bit.  I had extra caramel that I spread onto some parchment, let cool and cut into little pieces.  The consistency was much different than the caramel on the candies since I’d warmed it again a couple times.  Another example of how finicky candy can be even with just a little more cooking.  It still tasted great, but wasn’t gooey like it should be.

The pecans are crunchy and delicious, the caramel is sweet, rich and gooey, the chocolate is nice and smooth and the little bit of salt on top is perfection.  These are wonderful little treats.  Enjoy!

Caramel Pecan Turtles with Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt

From Alaska from Scratch

Ingredients

For the Caramel:

  • 1/2  cup butter
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 7 ounces sweetened condensed milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

You also need:

  • 2-3 cups whole pecan halves, toasted
  • Dark chocolate candy coating
  • Flaked sea salt

Directions

  1.  Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment or nonstick silicone mats.
  2. Arrange pecans in clusters of 3, 2 next to each other and one on top, on the parchment.  They shouldn’t be too close so that the caramel does not run together.
  3. In a heavy saucepan over medium low heat, melt the butter, sugar, honey, salt and condensed milk together, stirring occasionally.
  4. You can begin to melt the chocolate in the microwave according to the package instructions while the caramel starts to cook.
  5. Once everything has melted together increase the heat to medium high and attach your candy thermometer to the pan.  Do not let the thermometer touch the bottom of the pan, you will not get a correct temperature reading.  Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly with a heat proof spoon.
  6. The moment the temperature reaches 234°F, remove from the heat and mix in the vanilla.
  7. Spoon the caramel onto each pecan cluster, just enough to coat, a little more than a teaspoon.  If at first the caramel seems too runny, just stir and let it cool and thicken slightly.  Resit the urge to cook it any longer!
  8. Finish melting the chocolate (or maybe someone was doing this for you while you did the caramel!) then spoon the melted chocolate on top of the caramel.  Sprinkle each with a little sea salt and allow to set completely before eating or packaging up to give as gifts.

 

Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs

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Balls of meat stuffed with cheese and covered in a chunky marinara sauce?!  I am all in.  And I’m not sure if it’s being pregnant or the change in the seasons, or maybe both, but this kind of meal is right up my alley right now.

mozzarella-stuffed-meatball

These meatballs are total comfort food and will leave you full and happy.  Just like food should when it’s cold out.  Who in their right mind is eating salad right now, anyway?  I guess maybe I should be…but instead I’m eating meatballs, pasta and rosemary rolls.  And I’m ok with that.

Like most meatballs you will end up with a mess in your kitchen.  BUT you can form the meatballs ahead of time, refrigerate them, clean up that round of dishes, then fry and bake them for dinner that night, or even the next day.  You can probably get away with not frying them at all and just putting them straight into the oven.  Maybe just add 10-15 extra minutes, especially if you’ve refrigerated them.  Regardless of the mess you make though, they are definitely worth it!

You have a few options with these meatballs.  Pair with some spaghetti or other pasta (I made this spaghetti with simple garlic sauce and thought it was a nice combination) or load them onto some substantial crusty bread for meatball subs or sandwiches.  One of the greatest things about these meatballs is that both of my kids LOVED them!  So not only did Ben and I eat 2 dinners with them, but the kids had at least 4 meals of meatballs and ate them up.  Carson asked for more!  Rarely do they eat the food we do and enjoy it.  This is definitely going into my kid friendly meal file.

One tool I use for cookies and meatballs and to get them to be uniform in size is a scoop like this.  I have a small one (about 1 inch in diameter) and a larger one that is closer to 2 inches.  It’s something I’d recommend you have in your kitchen if you do much cooking and baking.  Get a sturdy one.   It will be worth the money, work better and last longer than the cheaper ones will.

The original recipe simmers the meatballs in the sauce in the same pan they are cooked in.  I finished them off in the oven and the only thing that wasn’t great about that was that some of the cheese escaped, which in the end was not a big deal.  There was still plenty of cheese inside the meatballs!  No need to worry.  Enjoy!

Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs

Adapted slightly from Just a Pinch

Makes 24-30 meatballs depending on size

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground sirloin (90/10)
  • 1 pound ground sweet Italian turkey sausage (or mild or hot)
  • 1 1/4 cup fresh breadcrumbs
  • 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/2 small white onion, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 8 ounces mozzarella cheese, cut into 27 cubes (or how ever many meat balls you get)
  • olive oil
  • flour
  • 1 jar simple marinara sauce

Directions

  1. Mix meat, breadcrumbs, seasonings, onion, garlic, eggs and milk.  Clean hands are the best tool for the job, but a spoon or spatula is fine.  Mix until everything is combined but not overly mixed.
  2. Divide into balls of equal size, 1 1/2 to 2 inches.  Place on a foil lined baking sheet, then take each meatball and press one cube of cheese into the center and form the meat around the cheese so that it is sealed.  Place back on the foil lined baking sheet.  At this point you can cover and refrigerate the meatballs for later.
  3. Preheat oven to 350°F and heat a drizzle of oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Put 1/2 cup of flour into a bowl.  Dredge each meatball lightly in flour, then place in the pan.  Repeat until pan is full but not overly crowded.  Cook for a minute or so on each side (I know this is hard to do with a round shape, but it’s not super important to get every bit of it cooked just the same.  Just make sure the majority of the meatball is browned.)  Be careful not to burn them.  If they’re browning too much, turn down the heat.  As the meatballs finish, move them to a 9×13 inch pan that has been sprayed with non-stick spray.  Repeat with the remaining meatballs until they’ve all been browned, adding more oil if needed.
  4. Pour the entire jar of marinara sauce over the meatballs.  Add about 1/4 cup of water to the jar, screw on the cap, shake it up and pour it over the meatballs also.  Spread it out as evenly as you can.  Put into the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes (a little longer is you did not fry the meatballs or if they were refrigerated).  Cut open a meatball to be sure they’re cooked thoroughly, there shouldn’t be much if any pink.
  5. Enjoy on top of pasta, or on some nice crusty bread.

Quick Honey Dinner Rolls

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These warm, soft, pillowy, sweet little bundles of happiness will be on your dinner table in 45 minutes.  No lie.  I made them twice this week and everyone in our house loved them.  Ben had 3 with dinner last night, and I had 2…and one a little later in the evening with some butter and honey.  Heaven.  No longer will I be buying rolls in the bakery or pulling a frozen bag of Sister Shubert’s out.  I still love you, Sister Shubert.  Your sausage rolls are amazing.  I’ll still be eating those.

rolls1

I had a sudden urge to make dinner rolls earlier this week at 4 o’clock in the afternoon.  My kids eat dinner at 5, so I knew I needed to find something fast.  I googled “fast dinner rolls” and found this recipe from Your Homebased Mom.  I made them as written the first time and loved them.  But as I poured the sugar into the bowl I thought, “Maybe you could use honey in these…”  and so that is what I did the next time.  I also brushed the rolls before and after baking with melted butter.  I loved them more.

These are delicious right after they’re baked, but reheat wonderfully.  So they would make a great addition to your Thanksgiving table that you could easily make the morning of or even the night before.  So go make a batch.  You’ll thank me.

Honey Dinner Rolls

From Your Homebased Mom

Ingredients

  • 1 cup + 2 tablespoons warm water
  • 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/3 cup oil
  • 1 egg, slightly beaten
  • 3 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
  • 4 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F and grease a 9×13 pan.
  2. Combine water, yeast, honey and oil in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Stir a couple times then let rest for 10 minutes to bloom.
  3. With a dough hook mix in the flour, salt, baking powder and egg.  Continue to mix for 2-3 minutes until dough comes together.  If it seems especially sticky add a tablespoon or two of flour.
  4. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and divide into 12 equal sized pieces.  Shape into balls that are smooth on top (in doesn’t matter what the bottoms look like) and place in prepared pan.
  5. Cover with a clean dish cloth and let rise for 15 minutes.
  6. Brush the tops of the rolls with melted butter (about half of what you have) and bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.
  7. Brush with remaining melted butter and let cool slightly before serving.

Gingerbread with Cream Cheese Glaze and Candied Ginger

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During Top Chef season 5, I absolutely loved Carla Hall.  I thought she was the sweetest chef to ever grace the show, and her quirkiness was so endearing.  She seemed like someone I’d like to cook with, unlike some of the people on the show.  She’s now on The Chew, a daytime foodie talk show that I almost never watch, mostly because if my television is on when my kids are awake we are watching Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Peppa Pig or Umi Zoomi.  I happened to catch a part of an episode recently where she made gingerbread sandwiches, a gingerbread loaf with a couple of different fillings, lemon cream cheese and a cranberry compote.  The next day I bought the necessary ingredients.  But it took me a while to actually make the gingerbread.  I finally got around to it this week.

gingerbread2

This gingerbread isn’t sweet.  There’s no sugar other than what’s in the ginger beer and the molasses.  It’s very spicy and dense, so it pairs well with the light and sweet cream cheese glaze.  The candied ginger provides texture and makes the mini muffins especially lovely.  While this wasn’t what I was expecting when I made this bread, it is a nice cold weather treat and would be perfect paired with hot chocolate and eaten in front of the fire.  Have I mentioned that it’s 76 here with 80% humidity?  I won’t be sitting in front of a fire anytime soon, but if your weather permits it, please sit in front of a fire and drink hot chocolate for me.

I ran into some issues when I made this bread, so be warned.  If you go to The Chew’s website and follow the instructions for this bread without reading the comments you will be a sad and sorry baker.  And possibly an angry baker, if you’re anything like me.  Shouldn’t they have people whose job it is to read and test the recipes they post on their site?   After mixing up the batter I thought that it looked like an awful lot for one 9 inch loaf pan (which is what the original recipe calls for).  So I filled my pan about 3/4 full and still had a ridiculous amount of batter left.  I could have easily filled another loaf pan, but instead opted to make some mini muffins.  Then I looked at the comments and realized that almost every person complained about the same thing, way too much batter for 1 loaf.  I still had some batter left over, but had made such a mess of my kitchen by this point that I didn’t want to get another thing dirty.  Remember to ALWAYS read comments on a recipe before you make it.  I’m glad I read them before pouring all the batter into one pan.  It would’ve been a disaster.

gingerbread3

 Gingerbread with Cream Cheese Glaze and Candied Ginger

From Carla Hall on The Chew

Makes 2 9-inch loaves or 1 9 or 10-inch loaf and 24 mini muffins

Ingredients

For the Gingerbread

  • 2 cups dark molasses
  • 1 cup butter
  • 1/4 cup strong Ginger Ale or Ginger Beer
  • 4 1/2 cups cake flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 4 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 4 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups sour cream or buttermilk
  • 4-5 pieces of candied ginger, chopped, for garnish

For the Cream Cheese Glaze

  • 4 ounces of softened cream cheese
  • 4 tablespoons of powdered sugar
  • 3-4 tablespoons of milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

For the Gingerbread

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F and grease and flour your pans.
  2. Combine butter, molasses and ginger ale in a saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture boils.  Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.
  3. Sift flour, salt, spices and soda together in a large bowl and set aside.
  4. Transfer the molasses mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl if you’re using a handheld mixer.
  5. Beat the eggs into the molasses mixture until well combined.
  6. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the sour cream/buttermilk in 5 total additions, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.  Continue to mix on medium low speed until thoroughly combined.
  7. Bake loaves for 45-55 minutes.  A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean.  Bake mini muffins for 10-12 minutes.
  8. Let cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto wire racks to cool completely.

For the Cream Cheese Glaze

  1. Beat cream cheese with powdered sugar until smooth.
  2. Add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.
  3. Spread onto cooled gingerbread loaves or mini muffins.
  4. Use candied ginger to garnish loaves and muffins.
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