Artichoke and Spinach Dip

All I can say is this is one of my favorite restaurant appetizers. It's best served warm with tortilla chips, or baguette bread, or probably just about anything in my opinion.

Artichoke and Spinach Dip (from Food Network)

1.5 cups half and half

8 oz grated monterey jack cheese

8 oz light cream cheese

1 tsp garlic powder

1.5 tsp Worcestershire

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

3/4 lb fresh spinach (stemmed and chopped)

14 oz can artichoke hearts, rinced and chopped

4 green onions, chopped

Diced red bell pepper and/or diced tomato for garnish

Bring the half and half to a simmer in a saucepan over medium heat, and add monterey jack cheese, cream cheese, garlic powder, worcestershire, and salt. Continuously stir to prevent sticking while the cheeses melt.

While slowly stirring add the chopped spinach, nutmeg, artichoke hearts, and green onions. Stir until mixed and the spinach is wilted. Garnish with red peppers and/or tomatoes and serve hot.

Chewy Ginger Cookie Experiment

I visited the Midtown Global Market here in Minneapolis for the first time last week and fell in absolutely head over heels love with their Ginger Spice Cookies-oh word were they tasty. Everything right and perfect about the holidays were wrapped up in this little cookie. The name of the bakery is Salty Tart and you can check them out here.

So I was in search of a recipe to replicate the prized cookie, and stumbled upon this one. The photos made it look like the ones in the cookbooks, so I thought to give it a try. The tricky thing about baking is that everything has to be absolutely perfect, the right temperature, the exact amount of this and that, it's a rather unforgiving science. Cooking on the other hand is usually salvageable if need be. Once cookies are done though, you can't go back and undo something.

I found out that the texture of a cookie can vary greatly if you change what type of flour is used and what types of fat is used also (e.g. butter vs. shortening.) I'll show you the photos of what happened to me. My first attempt at this recipe produced a flat, but still chewy cookie (and that could have been my pan, or the temperature I used, or something else funky, the original looked beautiful.)


The second attempt I altered a few things and used a cake flour instead of all purpose flour. There are less proteins in cake flour, so the cookie would be free to rise more quickly before the before the fats melt and 'set' the cookie. Having mentioned that, I also elected to use shortening instead of butter. Shortening has a higher melting point than butter, so as mentioned, the cookie can rise for longer before it sets.

One other change I might try for next time is instead of using one cup of granulated sugar is switching to 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar, I hope I remember! If you try let me know how it goes.

All of this and more can be found here Cookie Basics 101 from Alton Brown, the good stuff starts at about scene 5.

Ginger Cookies (Originally from Taste of Home adapted from Cathy)

3/4 cup shortening (regular or butter flavored)
1 cup plus two tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 cups cake flour
1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

In a large mixing bowl, cream shortening and one cup of granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, molasses and vanilla. Mix well. Combine dry ingredients in another bowl, gradually add to creamed ingredients and mix well.

Roll into 1" balls, and toss in remaining sugar, and place at least 2" from each other on a parchment lined baking sheet. Do not overcrowd the sheet. On a standard size baking sheet, bake no more than 8 at a time. For even size, use a small cookie scoop.

Bake for 9-10 minutes or until lightly browned. The cookies might not look all the way done, if you leave them in the oven until they 'look' done, they will actually be overcooked, and that is no bueno. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet until it can easily be transferred to a cooling rack. Store in an airtight container

Peppermint Meltaways

I was up for trying a new holiday cookie to add to the cast of usuals, and these turned out perfectly. I first came upon this recipe flipping through a taste of home holiday cookie edition and there were so many fun ones to pick from, but I'm glad to have made these.

These had the perfect touch of mint without being too sweet or sugary. The frosting I made left white, but I used a few drops of red coloring and used a toothpick to swirl the color through the icing, and that kind of mimicked a candy cane effect. I don't have a piping bag for the frosting so I used a ziplock bag with a star tip.

Peppermint Meltaways (from Taste of Home)

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

1/2 tsp peppermint extract

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup corn starch

Frosting

3 Tbsp butter, softened

1 1/2 cups confectioner sugar

2 Tbsp milk

1 tsp peppermint extract

2 to 3 drops red food coloring (optional)

1/4 cup crushed peppermint candies (best done in a food processor or blender)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a small bowl, cream butter and confectioner sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the extract. Combine flour and cornstarch in a separate bowl. Gradually add to the creamed mixture until fully combined.

Shape into one inch balls, Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes, or until the bottoms are very lightly browned. Remove to wire rack to cool.

In a small bowl, beat butter until light and fluffy. Add the confectioners sugar, milk, and extract.

Once fully incorporated and mixture is smooth, add a few drops of the red food coloring if using. Spread the frosting over the tops of the cookies, a piping bag will make for a pretty effect if available. Sprinkle a little of the crushed candies over the top.

Store in an airtight container until ready to serve.

Fudge

I didn't know before this year that Fudge is actually considered a candy. I guess I don't know what I thought it was, I knew what it was of course. It's not a cookie, or a bar, but actually it's candy. Many friends of mine request fudge each year, the recipe I use isn't special or unique I don't think, but it always turns out lovely.

For favors at our wedding we chose to give out homemade fudge. Some give out cute little trinkets, or colored candies, or photos or cd's, we gave out fudge. In fact we made so much of it I had to take a few years off from making it, I was all fudged out! I'm glad I was able to finally return, because the 'chocolatey-ness' of them is calling my name!

To read more about fudge, check out Alton Brown

Fudge (from Toll House)

1.5 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup (5 oz) evaporated milk
2 Tbsp. butter
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups miniature marshmallows
1.5 cups semi sweet chocolate morsels (I used Guittard)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Line a 8"x8" square baking pan with foil

Combine sugar, evaporated milk, butter and salt in a medium heavy-bottomed sauce pan. Bring to a full rolling boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil for 4 to 5 minutes, remove from heat.

Stir in marshmallows, chocolate morsels, vanilla, and nuts if using. Stir vigorously for one minute. Pour into prepared baking dish and refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm. Lift from pan, remove foil, and cut into bite sized pieces.

Homemade Gumdrops

This holiday season I have taken on more candy making than usual, maybe I find it more of a challenge. Candy making in general is a very precise process. It all depends on the exact temperature you bring your mixture to, and from what I know if even a tiny drop of water gets into some mixtures you have already lost.

One of my very favorite shows is Good Eats with Alton Brown on the Food Network. He gets into the nitty gritty scientific portion of why things happen the way they do. For an interesting peek into the ways of turning sugar into Carmel and what happens to the sucrose read here.

A candy thermometer is also mandatory here. A candy thermometer cannot be a meat thermometer or an oven thermometer, or a thermometer to take your temperature. It has some vary unique qualities which AB discusses in this episode-Fudge Factor. And yes, making fudge is considered candy making.

That being said, these orange gumdrops were bright and fruity, perfect texture, not too hard, not too soft. The recipe itself I think is fairly universal, as in you can alter the flavored extract to what you would like. I plan to use this recipe for strawberry, raspberry, mint, and other flavors of gumdrops. I even tried root beer, which turned out OK, but they were a little strong, I may have used too much extract!

Orange Gumdrops (from Taste of Home)

2 tsp butter, softened and divided

1 cup of sugar

1 cup of light corn syrup

3/4 cup of water

1 package powdered fruit pectin (1 and 3/4 oz size)
1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp grated orange peel

4 drops of yellow food coloring (I used a gel food coloring, thats what I had on hand)

1 drop of red

superfine sugar for sanding

Line the bottom of a 9"x5" loaf pan with aluminum foil. Grease the foil lining with 1 tsp of the softened butter. Grease bottom and sides of a large heavy saucepan with remaining butter. Add sugar and corn syrup to the pan. Cook and stir on medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Continue to stir occasionally until candy thermometer reads 280 degrees (soft crack stage.)

Meanwhile in another large saucepan, add the water, pectin, and baking soda (mixture will bubble.) Cook and stir over high heat until the mixture comes to a boil, about two minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

When the corn syrup mixtures nears the 280 degree mark, move the water and pectin mixture back to heat source and bring up to a simmer. As soon as the corn syrup mixture hits the 280 degree mark, remove from heat.

Carefully and slowly add the corn syrup mixture to the water and pectin mixture and a very thin stream while constantly stirring. I'm not going to lie, it's nice to have an extra set of hands around for this process, but it can be done on your own. Once that is complete, add the orange zest, extract, and food coloring and stir to combine.

Move the mixture into the prepared loaf pan and allow to set undisturbed for two hours. At this point, move the set gumdrops to a cutting board and cut. I chose to cut mine into cubes, but you do as you wish. Roll each gumdrop in superfine sugar to coat.

Store in an airtight container.

**If you do not have superfine sugar, place 2 cups of granulated sugar in the blender or food processor and pulse for a minute or two, that should yield similair results to superfine sugar.

Red Pepper, Leek, and Bleu Cheese Steak Roulade

I saw this recipe in the Food Network Magazine (December 2009) and I knew instantly I had to try this. I've never tried to make something like this, so I knew this would be interesting. If you are not familiar, a roulade is French for a sort of rolled dish, as in meat or a light cake. You can vary the ingredients to what you and your family prefer. The few ingredients I chose I knew were going to be a success. But I whole heartedly confess to using shortcuts (and some not so shortcuts as you will see later) to make this dish quick and easy-which is especially appreciated coming up on this time of year, the holidays!

Here's my secrets: I grocery shopped on Saturday, on Sunday I sliced and cleaned my leeks, roasted off a red pepper on the grill, and the bleu cheese was purchased already crumbled ready to use. So I knew during the week that all I would really have to do was saute the leeks quickly, give my flank steak a once over with something heavy to ensure uniform thickness, assemble (roll it up,) get the bread crumb topping on and into the oven it went.

It was smooth sailing all the way up until I realized I did not have any twine, which turned out to be semi-essential! So I looked and looked and found these small skewers (what they were from I'll never know) and I managed to "pin" my roulade closed. Laugh if you will, but it worked, in a not-so-pretty way, it worked. Kitchen twine is now on my Target list this weekend!

Red Pepper, Leek, Bleu Cheese Steak Roulade

(inspired from Food Network Magazine December, 2009)

For the steak:

1 large red bell pepper (charred and peeled)

3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 leek, white and light green parts only, cleaned and finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

Kosher salt and fresh black pepper

1.5 pound flank steak, trimmed

1/2 to 3/4 cup crumbled bleu cheese

For the crust:

3/4 cup breadcrumbs

3 tsp dried rosemary (or fresh)

3 tsp fresh chopped parsley

3 tsp grated Parmesan

3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

Kitchen twine for tying

Prepare the stuffing for the steak. Rub the outside of the red pepper with a bit of canola or vegetable oil and roast the red pepper under the broiler or on the grill for 8-10 minutes. When the skin is slightly charred remove pepper from heat and place in a paper bag for 5-10 minutes. I'm not entirely sure why, but I've heard that this will help to ease the skin from the pepper, which is your goal. Once the pepper is peeled, remove stem and seeds.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Saute the leeks in a little butter or olive oil until soft, about 5 minutes, remove from heat and cool.

Gently pound the steak with the back edge of a heavy pan, or with a meat mallet, until the entire steak is about 1/4 inch thick. Lay the steak on a cutting board with the long side facing you. Season the steak with salt and pepper. Place the red peppers in one row lengthwise, leaving a one inch boarder. Lay the leek mixture in the next row, next to the peppers. Lastly lay the crumbled bleu cheese in the last row, leaving an inch border to the end.

Roll the meat into a tight roll, tucking in the filling and seems as you go.

Assemble the crust. Mix the crust ingredients in a small bowl and toss until the mixture resembles wet sand. Brush the roulade with a bit of olive oil, and press the crust topping on top, try and do this rather firmly. Tie the roll with kitchen twine in three to four places, not too hard as to not disturb the topping. Depending on the size and thickness of your steak, you may need to tie the twine before you add the crust and snip off before serving.

Place the steak on a rack in a roasting pan and roast until the crust is nice and golden brown and a thermometer inserted in to the middle registers 130 degrees for medium rare (about 45 minutes.) Transfer to a cutting board and let rest for 15 minutes.

Carefully cut the twine and remove, slice the roll crosswise into slices and serve.

Weiner Schnitzel and Spaetzle

So my dear husband usually never makes requests when it comes to dinner, but he proclaimed one day that he wanted Weinerschnitzel and Spaetzle. Hmm, that's kind of out of the blue, but ok! I have never eaten either of the two, but I would give it a try anyway. So you guessed it, I Googled, and I Googled, and Googled. From what I could tell the weinerschnitzel was going to be a breeze, but the spaetzle was not. There are many many versions of this (as with most things) and I used a variation of one I found online.

This turned out to be a delicious favorite, the combination of the two that is, but I might invest in a spaetzle press next time. The process of making these little beauties was quite messy for me. This was my first attempt at this, so maybe my dough didn't have enough of this or that, but they tasted pretty good. After boiling the spaetzle I sauteed them briefly with a little butter and olive oil to give them a little texture and flavor, which turned out rather nice. If you unfamiliar with spaetzle, you can read more about it here.

Weinerschnitzel (adapted from Allrecipes.com)
two servings

4 boneless thin cut pork pork chops**, about a quarter of an inch thick, may need to pound thin.
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup bread crumbs
1/2 lemon

oil for frying

Ensure that the pork is the desired thickness of 1/4", you may need to use a heavy skillet or a meat mallet to attain this thickness. In three separate shallow bowls or containers, place the flour in one, the lightly beaten eggs in the next one, and the bread crumbs in the final container.

Thoroughly dredge each cutlet of pork in the flour first, shake of the excess. Then one by one , submerge each cutlet in the beaten egg, allow excess to drip off, and finally dredge really well in the bread crumbs. Once these are completed, reserve them to the side on a plate.

Meanwhile in a skillet, heat oil until shimmering. Move pork cutlets to the pan, do not crowd and work in batches if needed. Don't let the oil get too hot or the crust will get dark too quick. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until they are golden brown. The cutlets of pork will cook rather quickly due to the thickness of each piece.

Once complete move to a paper towel lined plate to absorb any excess oil. Add a quick squeeze of lemon juice to each cutlet and serve. The lemon juice will really make a difference, don't skip it unless you have to.

**I believe that traditional Weiner Schnitzel is made with veal, but an ok substitution is pork.

Spaetzle

(adapted from Mrs. KLA's family recipe and Food Network magazine, October edition)

3 cups all purpose flour

2eggs

kosher salt

4 Tbsp. unsalted melted butter, plus 2 Tbsp melted butter for saute pan

freshly ground pepper

pinch of nutmeg

Combine flour, salt, nutmeg, and eggs in a bowl and gradually add up to 1 cup of water to produce a dough like consistency. Stir in 4 Tbsp of melted butter. The dough at this point should be smooth and elastic like.

Turn dough out onto floured surface. This is where it became a bit tricky for me. You are supposed to be able to simply press the dough through either a spaetzle press (which I did not have, ) or a colander with larger holes. I had neither so I turned to the pasta insert I had for my large stock pot. You are instructed to use a plastic spatula and press the dough through the holes, and voila, you have spaetzle. In a perfect world you could probably just press the dough right into a big stockpot full of boiling salted water and when they floated to the top you are mostly finished, strain them out and reserve them on the plate. Give them a quick saute to lend a bit more texture and enjoy!

The true story: My patience with the stock pot insert lasted minutes, same with the plastic spatula. In truth, the dough was so elastic and sticky my plastic spatula separated into two pieces. So I thought, hmmm, I'm not giving up yet, what else in my possession could I try. So I grabbed my four-sided box grater. I used the side you grate cheese with. Instead of using a spatula I used the two greatest tools God gave us-my hands.

So I grabbed a big scoop of sticky dough with my hand and reached inside the box grater and started to press the dough out through the holes. This took A LOT of work and patience, I truly believe that it was not supposed to be this hard, I'm sure there was something wrong with my dough...maybe? Of course now I realized I had a big pile of sticky, elastic-y spaetzle that began to cling together, so I grabbed for the flour and tried to remedy the situation and that worked.

After much cursing and a close bout with carpal-tunnel syndrome I was finished. I boiled them as mentioned and gave them a quick saute and sat down to a nice German dinner which was well worth the effort. It was delicious.