Monthly Archives: September 2011

Biscoff Crunch Cookies

Posted by Annie in Cookies

When my brother and I were kids, one of our favorite parts of going to the airport was the Biscoff Cookies  that Delta served. Even now I still look forward to these delicious cinnamony cookies when I fly. A few weeks ago I saw Biscoff Cookies in my local grocery store which of course caused me to start looking for a good recipe to use them in!

You can search on the Biscoff website to find a store near you that carries the cookies. While you’re on their website, you should also try and find the Biscoff Spread and then check back soon for a recipe that includes the spread!

Biscoff Crunch Cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tbl. vanilla extract
  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 20 Biscoff Cookies, finely ground
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 3/4 tsp. salt
  • 20 Biscoff Cookies, coarsely chopped
  • 2 cups white chocolate chips
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
  2. In a mixer, cream the butter and sugars until light and creamy. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.
  3. In a different bowl, mix the flour, ground Biscoff Cookies, baking soda and salt. Slowly add to the mixer and stir. Add the white chocolate chips and the coarsely chopped Biscoff Cookies and mix until just combined.
  4. Use a medium size cookie scoop to place the dough on a baking sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes; err on the side of slightly underbaking. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Makes: 36 cookies
Source: Picky Palate

General Tso’s Tofu

Posted by Annie in Main Course, Rice and Pasta, Vegetables

Since discovering this recipe a month ago, it has quickly become one of my favorite meals. The sauce is so delicious and tastes great with rice and veggies. One of the best parts about this meal is that it re-heats really well the second day, I always make enough to ensure I have leftovers.

This dish can be a bit time-consuming to make, so it’s best suited for an evening when you aren’t in hurry. I have started making large batches of the sauce and freezing it in small plastic bags. It freezes really well and makes the process of throwing dinner together go much quicker on weeknights.  Feel free to use whatever vegetables you prefer, I usually use broccoli, carrots, onions, celery and green peppers. You can also substitute chicken for the tofu.

General Tso’s Tofu

Ingredients

Tofu

  • 1 1/2 tsp. toasted sesame oil
  • 1 tbl. soy sauce
  • 1 large egg white
  • 1/4 cup plus 1 1/2 tbl. cornstarch
  • 8 oz. extra firm tofu, drained, cubed, and patted dry
  • Vegetable oil for frying
Sauce
  • 1 tbl. vegetable oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
  • 2 tbl. fresh ginger root, finely chopped
  • 1 cup vegetable stock or broth
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1 tbl. cornstarch
  • 1 tsp. Chinese chile-garlic sauce
  • 3 tbl. sugar (raw or granulated)
For Serving
  • Brown or white rice
  • Vegetables of choice
Directions
  1. Start cooking the rice using the method of your choice (I use a rice cooker)
  2. To make the tofu, combine the sesame oil, soy sauce, egg white and cornstarch in a bowl. Add the tofu pieces and stir to combine (it’s hard to coat the tofu with the mixture, it doesn’t need to be perfect!). Let it sit for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally
  3. While the tofu is sitting, chop the vegetables you plan to use and set them aside.
  4. To make the sauce, combine the vegetable broth or stock, soy sauce, cornstarch, Chinese chile-garlic sauce and sugar in a bowl. Mix until smooth.
  5. Add 1 tbl. of oil to a saucepan over med-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and ginger, cook and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Add the sauce to the pan and stir until the mixture becomes thick and shiny. When this happens, turn the heat down to low and let it sit until you’re ready to serve.
  6. In another saucepan, heat a small amount of oil and saute the vegetables you’re using. When the vegetables are cooked, you can put them in the pan with the sauce to keep them warm.
  7. Using the same pan you cooked the vegetables in, heat 1 tbl. of oil over med-high heat. When it’s hot, add the tofu. Cook, stirring frequently, until the tofu has browned on all sides.
  8. Serve the vegetables, tofu and sauce over rice and enjoy!
Makes 3 Servings
Adapted from Tasty Kitchen

Cinnamon Muffins

Posted by Annie in Muffins and Scones

For weeks, a helipad base camp was set up a few blocks from my house to fight the fire on a mountain overlooking the neighborhood. A few nights ago on my way home from work I drove past as the last trucks were leaving. After a summer that seemed way too long and hot, the weather is finally starting to cool down a bit and the smoke is clearing out. While I enjoy the abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables that are available in the summer, I’m always excited for fall to get here. I love the cool weather, the brightly colored leaves and all the delicious flavors that are relegated to the back of the cupboards during spring and summer. The weather isn’t cool enough to make me want soup or casseroles just yet, but cinnamon muffins seemed like a great segue into fall.

These muffins not only have cinnamon chips in the batter, but a cinnamon swirl mixed into the batter also. And if that isn’t quite enough for you, there’s a cinnamon streusel too! If you want to make them even fancier, you could make a powdered sugar glaze to drizzle over it too, but they are perfectly delicious without it.

Thoughts about this recipe

  • I had to look in a few grocery stores to find cinnamon chips before finding them at Albertsons. If you want to save yourself from randomly driving around to different stores, you can use this search page to find them. Just select ‘baking products’ under the category menu, and ‘cinnamon chips’ under product.

Cinnamon Muffins

Ingredients

Streusel Topping

  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
  • 1/4 cup quick-cook oatmeal
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 4 tbl. unsalted butter, softened
Filling
  • 3 tbl. unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 tbl. ground cinnamon
Muffins
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup quick-cook oatmeal
  • 2 tbl. cornstarch
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tbl. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
  • 3/4 cup cinnamon chips
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
  2. To make the topping, combine all the streusel ingredients in a bowl and stir with a fork until crumbly, then set aside
  3. To make the filling, combine all the filling ingredients and stir until smooth, then set aside
  4. To make the muffins, combine the melted butter, milk and eggs in a mixing bowl and stir until combined.
  5. In a different bowl, mix the flour, oats, cornstarch, sugar, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon chips together then add to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.
  6. Drop approximately 2 tbl. of batter into each cupcake liner. Add 1 tsp of cinnamon filling and then top off with more muffin batter until the muffin tins are about 2/3 full. Sprinkle the streusel topping across the cupcakes.
  7. Bake for approximately 20 minutes
Makes: About 12-15 muffins
Adapted from The Curvy Carrot

NYT’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

Posted by Annie in Cookies

I don’t make regular old chocolate chip cookies very often. I usually think they’re fairly bland and I’m almost always disappointed in them… until I made these chocolate chip cookies! There has been a lot of hype on the internet about this recipe from the New York Times so I knew I needed to give it a chance. I was a little apprehensive when I read the ingredient list and saw they wanted different types of flour and then I got to the part of the recipe where it said to put the dough in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours and I became even more skeptical. But, I decided to give it a go, and I have to admit this recipe makes some really good chocolate chip cookies!

Thoughts about this recipe

  • I experimented with baking a few cookies right after mixing them, and at 12, 24, and 36 hours of refrigeration. In my highly unscientific study, the results were unanimous that the cookies baked at 36 hours were significantly better than those baked with less time in the fridge.
  • The coarse ground sea salt on top of the cookies is delicious, don’t skip that step!
  • If you’re anything like me, you probably want to add some other mix-in ingredients to this recipe the first time you make it, but they’re so good just the way they are that you should try them this way once. Then you can add a bunch of extra flavors next time!

NYT’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

  • 2 cups minus 2 tbl. cake flour
  • 1 2/3 cups bread flour
  • 1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp. coarse salt
  • 1 1/4 cups unsalted butter
  • 1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
  • 1 cup plus 2 tbl. granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
  • Sea salt
Directions
  1. Sift the flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl
  2. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time then mix in the vanilla.
  3. Reduce the speed of the mixer to low, and add the dry ingredients and chocolate chips. Mix until just combined.
  4. Press plastic wrap against the dough and refrigerated for 36 hours.
  5.  When you’re ready to bake them, preheat the oven to 350 degrees
  6. Roll cookie dough into balls and place on a non-stick cookie sheet (or a cookie sheet with a parchment paper liner). Sprinkle with sea salt and bake until lightly browned, about 18 minutes, err on the side of under baking.
  7. Allow cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for a minute or two before transferring to a wire cooling rack
Makes about 24 medium-sized cookies
From the New York Times

Peach Vanilla Bean Jam

Posted by Annie in Canning, Fruit

This was my first time making jam or canning and despite being fairly intimidated but the process, it turned out well and wasn’t nearly as difficult as I expected. The jam is delicious and the bright peach flavor partners wonderfully with vanilla beans. I’m sure it’ll taste even better in the middle of winter when fresh peaches are hard to come by!

There are a number of great resources online about canning, this one from the USDA is hugely informative if you want lots of nitty gritty details. If you’d like something a little more simple, the jar company Ball has a great guide too. I’ll include the canning process I used in the directions, but I’m far from a pro, so feel free to check out other guides too!

I cut back on the sugar in the recipe by a little over a half cup. The taste of my jam is still great, but the consistency is just a little on the watery side, so I’m guessing the sugar is important for the jam’s texture and I wouldn’t recommend you cut back on it (unless of course you’re fine with the jam not being as thick as normal!). Do make sure your peaches are fully ripe, if they are under-ripe the peach flavor won’t be nearly as strong.

Peach Vanilla Bean Jam

Ingredients

  • 3 lbs. ripe peaches, peeled, pitted and chopped prior to weighing
  • 3 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1-2 vanilla beans, sliced in half with the seeds scraped out
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
Directions
  1. To peel the peaches, bring a pot of water to a boil. Cut a small ‘x’ in the bottom of each peach and put it in the pot of boiling water for approximately 45 seconds. Use a slotted spoon to remove the peach and put it in a bowl with ice water until it cools off enough to handle. At that point you should be able to slide the peel off easily.
  2. Mix the chopped peaches, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla bean seeds and pods in a large pot over medium heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat a to simmer and stir frequently until the fruit has started to caramelize, which will take about an hour and a half.
  3. Remove the vanilla bean pods. If the fruit mixture is too chunky, briefly pulse it in a food processor. Can the fruit using the method of your choice, or store it in the fridge or freezer.

Canning

  1. Wash your jars, lids and cans in hot soapy water.
  2. If you have a canning rack, place it in the bottom of a large pot filled with water. I didn’t have a canning rack and instead placed some small, smooth rocks in the bottom of the pot. You just need to put something in there to keep the jars from sitting directly on the bottom of the pot and to allow water to circulate around the jars. Place the clean jars in the pot of water and bring it to a boil.
  3. When the fruit mixture is ready, remove the jars from the boiling water and fill them with the jam, leaving about 1/2 inch of space at the top. Use a clean, damp paper towel to clean the rim of the jar before putting on the lid and twisting the band. You don’t want to the band to be super tight, just tight enough that water won’t get in.
  4. Place the jars in a pot of boiling water on top of the canning rack (or rocks) making sure there is at least one  inch of water above each jar. If your altitude is less than 1,000 feet, boil the cans for 15 minutes, if you’re above 1,000 feet, check page 6 of the Ball Canning Guide to see how much to increase the boiling time.
  5. After the appropriate amount of cooking time, use tongs to carefully remove the jars from the boiling water and place them on a kitchen towel to cool. As they cool, the tops should pop and there will be a slight indentation in the lid which indicates the canning process was a success!
Makes about 8 cups
From Smells Like Home

Russian Pudding Pops

Posted by Annie in Cocktails, Ice Cream

I know summer is close to ending in many places, but it’s worth it to fit these cocktail-popsicles on to your menu before summer is officially over! This recipe comes together pretty quickly and they taste delicious. If you’re busy or unmotivated and don’t want to make your own homemade pudding, I’m sure you could make a small box of the instant vanilla pudding and use that instead. If you have popsicle molds that would work well, I made these in small, 3 oz, plastic cups which turned out fine too.

White Russian Pudding Pops

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup cornstarch
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 3 cups cold milk (I used nonfat, whole milk would make it creamier)
  • 1 tbl. vanilla extract
  • pinch of salt
  • 5 oz. Vodka
  • 2 oz. Kahlua
  • 2 oz. Bailey’s Irish Cream
Directions
  1. Mix the cornstarch, sugar, salt and milk in a blender or food processor and pulse until blended. You could also whisk by had if you’d rather, but be sure it’s fully combined.
  2. Pour that mixture into a heat-proof bowl and place it over (not touching) a pot with simmering water. Cook and stir for about 15-20 minutes until it begins to thicken. Pudding is finished when it coats the back of a spoon. Add the vanilla and stir to combine.
  3. Add the vodka, Kahlua, and Bailey’s to the pudding and stir until smooth and fully combined.
  4. Pour the mix into  popsicle molds or small plastic cups and put in the freezer. Check the mixture after an hour or so to see if it’s beginning to freeze and solidify, if it is add the popsicle sticks. Finish freezing the popsicles overnight. To release the popsicles from the mold, run warm water on the outside of the container for a few minutes.
Black Russian Pudding Pops
Follow the recipe above with a few small changes-
  • After the pudding has cooked, add 3/4 cups of finely chopped dark chocolate to the mixture at the same time you add the vanilla. Stir together until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth
  • For the alcohol, use 5 oz of vodka and 3 oz of Kahlua
Makes about 18 small (3 oz) popsicles
Adapted from Endless Simmer

Baked Vidalia Onion Dip

Posted by Annie in Appetizers, Vegetables

Each week the students in my graduate program hold a pot-luck. It’s always a good time, but last week’s was especially fun as it was the first one of the school year. It was great to catch up with my fellow second-year students and to meet the new first years. I’m not sure how it’s possible, but it seems like everyone in our program is an amazing cook and people put a lot of effort into the dishes they bring. Of course I wanted to bring something delicious, but I also needed a recipe that was easy. I had a really busy week at school and knew I wasn’t going to have a lot of time to make something complicated. The night before the potluck I made the onion mixture for this dish and threw it in the fridge. The next night I made the topping and added that right before putting it in the oven. It came out yummy and cheesy just like I was hoping!

Thoughts about this recipe

  • This can be made the day ahead and kept in the fridge prior to baking
  • The dip is best when it’s hot, so plan on serving it relatively quickly
  • You can decide what kind of cheese to use, I did half pepper-jack and half mozzarella. The pepper-jack added just the right amount of heat and I’d definitely recommend using it.
  • I’ve made it with and without the topping, it’s just as good either way!

Baked Vidalia Onion Dip

Ingredients

  • 2 tbl. butter
  • 3 Vidalia onions, diced (or other sweet onion)
  •  1 clove garlic, minced
  • 2 cups shredded cheese
  • 1 cup mayonnaise (light or regular)
  • 4 oz. can diced green chilies
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/2 cup panko
  • 1 tbl. butter, melted
  • Crackers or bread to serve it with
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 375 and lightly coat a two-quart dish with cooking spray
  2. Add 2 tablespoons of butter to a large skillet and place over medium heat. Once the butter has melted add the onions and cook until they are soft and starting to brown and caramelize. Add the garlic and cook for one more minute
  3. Place the onions in a bowl with the cheese, mayonnaise, and diced green peppers. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish.
  4. Mix 1 tablespoon of melted butter with the panko bread crumbs and sprinkle over the onion mix (optional)
  5. Bake for 25 minutes or until the mixture is hot, if you refrigerated the dish overnight it may need to cook longer. Let it cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Adapted from Bakin’ and Eggs

Pear Butter

Posted by Annie in Canning, Fruit

My mom’s side of the family has some amazing recipes that have been passed down through the generations and they are some of my favorite things to make. If you haven’t had pear butter before, it tastes like a significantly improved variety of apple butter. This goes together very easily and tastes great on rolls, biscuits and toast.

Thoughts About this Recipe

  • You can decide how much sugar to include, I like it on the less-sweet side, but if you prefer sweeter jams then add the full amount of sugar.
  • There are two different ways to cook this, it’s lower maintenance if you make it in a crock-pot, but it can also be cooked on the stove
  • After you finish the butter, it can be canned or stored in the freezer
I’m participating in a holiday recipe exchanged hosted by  My Baking Addiction and Good Life Eats. This week is sponsored by Spice Islands

Pear Butter

Ingredients

  • 15 cups pears, washed and sliced (peeling is optional)
  • 3-5 cups sugar
  • 1 tsp. ground cloves
  • 1 tsp. ground ginger
  • 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
Directions
  1. In small batches, place the fruit in a food processor and reduce to pulp or puree
  2. If using the stove top method, place the fruit puree in a large pan and add the sugar and spices. Simmer, stirring frequently, until it thickens (1-2 hours)
  3. If using a crock-pot, pour the fruit puree into the crock-pot and add the sugar and spices. Cover until the mixture begins to simmer, then remove the lid and allow it to cook slowly while thickening using the 4 to 6 hour setting.
  4. Can be canned using your preferred canning method, or stored in the freezer
Makes: About 13 cups

Southwestern Salad

Posted by Annie in Mexican, Salad

I eat a lot of salads for dinner, they’re delicious and healthy and they don’t require much effort when I get home from a long day. One of the things I struggle with when I have salads is that they usually aren’t very filling, especially if you’re going vegetarian and not including any sort of meat. This southwestern salad is is a great solution to that, the beans add some protein and they also help you feel like you’ve had a real meal, not just a super-sized side salad. This has so much flavor from the beans, onions, salsa and guacamole that I don’t think a salad dressing is necessary, but feel free to use one if you’d like!

Southwestern Salad

Ingredients

  • baby spinach (or other salad greens of your choice)
  • 1 can black beans
  • 3/4 cup chopped onion
  • 1 tbp. olive oil
  • salsa
  • shredded cheese (optional)
  • guacamole
Directions
  1. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan, when it’s hot add the onions and cook them over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until they start to become soft but still have some texture. Add the beans and cook until they are warm. Add salsa to taste.
  2. Place a layer of spinach on a dinner plate followed by a few spoonfuls of the bean and onion mixture and the guacamole. Add another spinach layer on add with more beans and guacamole. Top with cheese and/or salad dressing if desired.
Makes: 2 large salads

Corn Cakes

Posted by Annie in Appetizers, Main Course, Vegetables

These corn cakes are a great way to wrap up the summer while corn is still in season. Fresh basil is a great addition to nearly any dish and it pairs very well with the corn and red onion in these delicious and filling corn cakes. I had these as the main course for dinner, but you could make them slightly smaller and serve them as appetizers as well.

Thoughts about this recipe

  • I served these with guacamole  and a little bit of salsa. I think they’d also be great with some ranch dressing
  • Next time I make these I plan to include some cayenne pepper to add a little heat to the corn cakes
  • These taste best right after they are made, but I reheated mine on a skillet the next day and they retained their texture fairly well
I’m participating in a holiday recipe exchanged hosted by  My Baking Addiction and Good Life Eats. This week is sponsored by  Shenandoah Growers Organic Fresh Herbs

Corn Cakes

Ingredients

  • 3 ears of corn, shucked
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup cornmeal
  • 1/3 cup red onion, diced
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tbsp. buttermilk
  • 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
  • Canola or vegetable oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
  1. Cut the corn from the cobs into and large bowl. Place 2 cups of the kernels into a food processor and briefly pulse until the corn is slightly pureed but still chunky. Return the pureed corn to the bowl with the rest of the corn.
  2. Mix the flour, cornmeal, onion, basil, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pepper with the corn
  3. In a different bowl, combine the eggs, buttermilk and melted butter. Once combined, add this to the corn mixture and stir until just combined.
  4. In a large skillet over medium heat, add enough oil to just cover the bottom of the pan. Heat until it is hot enough to sizzle.
  5. Using a heaping tablespoon, scoop the batter into the skillet and slightly flatten it with a spatula. Allow them to cook in small batches for 1 to 2 minutes per side. Turn the heat down slightly if the outsides are getting too brown before the inside is fully cooked.
  6. Place on a paper towel lined plate to drain while the remaining corn cakes cook. Serve immediately
Makes: 12 corn cakes