Hazelnut Biscotti

Each Holiday season comes around and I have to make biscotti's! They are great to bring to work, or to a friends house for coffee or tea. They are especially nice because they are a nice option that isn't super sugary sweet, with all of the cookies and bars out and about that wonderful time of the year. Katie Lee Joel once described that biscotti's are named so because they are twice cooked (bi- meaning two.) She stood them up and baked them once after slicing to eliminate the extra cook time. That way the hot air in the oven could circulate to both sides. She gave rosemary biscotti's out as wedding favors when she married rockstar Billy Joel. Rosemary has many historic symbolic ties to weddings, among them is the belief that the herb represents fidelity and remembrance (and other as seen here.) However, in the summer of 2009, Katie and Billy split.

Hazlenut Biscotti's (adapted from Tyler Florence, Food Network)

1 1/2 cup hazelnuts

1/2 cup of unsalted butter, softened

3 eggs

1 cup of sugar

1 tsp almond extract

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

*semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Lay the hazelnuts out on a cookie sheet in a single layer. Toast in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until the the nuts are lightly toasted. Remove from oven.

With an electric mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy. With the mixer running, gradually add eggs, sugar, and almond extract; mix until creamed. Add the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix the dough until smooth. Using a wooden spoon, mix in the nuts until evenly distributed.

Move the dough to a lightly floured surface and cut in half. Roll each half into a log, each 12 inches long by about 1 inch tall. Place the logs on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for about 35 minutes until the bottoms are lightly browned. Remove from oven and let the logs cool for five minutes, and then move them to a cutting board. Slice each log on a diagonal into 12-14 one inch thick pieces. Put the biscottis back onto the baking sheet and bake five minutes, remove from oven and flip, baking the the other side up for five minutes as well. Remove from the oven and let cool. Store in an airtight container.

For an added treat, melt some semi-sweet chocolate chips over a double boiler and dip the bottom half of each biscotti in the chocolate and let dry until hard on the parchment paper.

***Note: the flavors in this biscotti are interchangeable. If you choose to you can use a different nut, or none at all. You can use dried fruit, or seasonings and spices. Whatever you want to add is up to you :)

Smoky Beef and Bacon Chili

So for Christmas my dear husband gave me my very first piece of LeCreuset cookware, it was the 7 quart dutch oven in Dune! I love it, I have had that on my Christmas list for what seems like forever! Now I was determined to find a recipe to christen my new cookware with, he suggested Chili! Call me crazy but I have never made a chili!

I searched and searched for what looked like a good chili recipe, I wanted something a little spicy, kind of smoky, some beans (but not a lot.) This version has BACON in it, and I knew that was the one for us. Use a good thick cut smoky bacon for this, not the breakfast type stuff if you can, it will make a difference!

I've always imagined that making chili involved a HUGE pot that made enough chili to feed a small army, but I was kind of surprised that this made a reasonable amount, easily managed by just the two of us.

Smoky Beef and Bacon Chili (from Sunset Recipe Collection)

2 slices thick-cut bacon, finely chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef (I used a 'meatloaf mix' from the butcher...veal, pork, and beef)
1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 tsp. chili powder (I opted for Penzeys Chili 9000 blend, it was awesome!)
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons smoked Spanish paprika
1/2 teaspoon to 1 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
About 1 tsp. salt
1 can (14.5 oz.) crushed fire-roasted tomatoes
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
1 cup beer-pale ale worked well for me
1 teaspoon Worcestershire
1 can (14.5 oz.) pinto beans, drained
Sour cream, sliced scallions, and/or grated cheddar for topping

In a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat, cook bacon, stirring until it just begins to brown, about 4 minutes. Add onion, lower heat to medium, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, 4 to 7 minutes. Uncover pan, stir in garlic, and cook 1 minute.

Increase heat to medium-high and add ground beef; break it up with a wooden spoon and stir gently until it loses its raw color, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in spices and 1 tsp. salt and cook 1 minute. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, beer, and Worcestershire and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover partially, and cook 30 minutes.

Add beans and cook 10 minutes, uncovered. Season to taste with additional salt. Serve warm, with toppings on the side.

Caramel Apple Caramel Corn

I thought for the holiday season I would shake it up a bit and try my hand at something that wasn't a cookie, but still sweet. I had been eyeing up this post ever since I saw it back in the fall. The other day I actually found the Lyles Golden Syrup in the store. As like most I'm sure, I had never heard of such syrup. It seemed to add a lovely buttery, caramely taste to the recipe. If you cannot find it you can substitute light corn syrup, but look for it if you can. There are other uses for it, like drizzled on pancakes, an English muffin, or even frozen yogurt.

Caramel Apple Caramel Corn (From Culinary Concoctions)

2-3 bags plain, not buttered, microwave popcorn.

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup dark brown sugar, tightly packed

1/2 cup Lyle's golden syrup

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup unsalted butter

1tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp baking soda

14 oz bag of caramels, unwrapped and each piece quartered

12 oz dried apples, chopped into bite sized pieces

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

Divide the popped corn between two large bowls. Divide dried apple pieces between the two bowls, as well as the caramel pieces.

In a large heavy bottomed saucepan bring together the sugars, syrup, salt, and butter to a full boil over high heat, stirring often. Add vanilla extract and baking soda and stir vigorously. The mixture will bubble up a bit with the addition of baking soda, but that's OK.

Divide the caramel mixture between the two bowls of popcorn, apple pieces and caramels. Stir thoroughly. Move the popcorn to the two prepared baking sheets and bake in 200 degree oven for 20 minutes. The caramel pieces will melt a bit, but will firm up when cooled.

"Sandies"

I think the original, or correct name for these cookies are "Russian Tea Cookies." However, growing up my brother and I have known these as sandies. I've altered these a little from growing up, but now my husband Brian loves these! For a final touch, I have a sugar glitter that I sprinkle on afterwards for a pretty little snow ball effect (sugar glitter found at Michaels Craft Store)

"Sandies"

3/4 cup shortening

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup confectioner sugar

2 Tablespoons almond extract

1/4 cup water

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Cream together shortening, butter, and confectioner's sugar. Once complete add extracts, flour, water, and walnuts. Stir to combine.

Roll into 1 inch balls and place on parchment lined baking sheets. Bake at 325 degrees for 10-12 minutes until the bottoms are lightly browned. Quickly and carefully move to a cooling rack with parchment or wax paper underneath for easy cleanup. Either gently roll the cookie in a bowl of confectioner's sugar while the cookie is slightly warm. Or using a sifter, dust the tops of the cookie generously with the confectioners sugar.

Cool on the racks. For a nice touch use the sugar glitter for a pretty effect.

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.