Peanut Brittle

I apologize in advance for not taking a picture of the incredibly delicious peanut brittle that my mom made this year for Christmas.  I had very good intentions of taking a picture, but ate it all before I got around to it.  However, take my word for it, it is foolproof peanut brittle that comes out perfectly every time and you will not be able to resist it!

This recipe actually comes from my mother in law and she finally gave me the recipe a few years ago.  My mom also loves peanut brittle, so she's in charge of making it every holiday season.  You NEED a candy thermometer for the brittle to come out right- you want it crunchy, but not so that it sticks in your teeth.  Overdone or underdone peanut brittle is awful, so rely on your candy thermometer and will be perfect every time.

Peanut Brittle

1 1/2 cups peanuts (you can add 2 cups if you like it really peanuty)
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 cup light corn syrup (karo)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 300
Place peanuts on a baking sheet and roast for a few minutes until browned and roasted and the smell of peanuts fills your kitchen
Meanwhile, in a medium size saucepan, combine sugar, water, corn syrup, and butter
Cook until the candy thermometer reads 300 degrees
Add peanuts and bring to a boil
Remove from heat and add vanilla and baking soda
Stir until combined
Pour mixture onto a buttered baking sheet
Cool and crack into pieces

Gingerbread

Christmas always equals gingerbread in my opinion.  I love it.  The spices, the sharpness, the chewiness, and, of course, the frosting from decorating them.  I've been in charge of making the gingerbread for my family's Christmas for many years and I think I finally created a recipe that I love.  I combined a bunch of various recipes and added my own ingredients to create it. 

Just a couple of pointers:  Do not over flour the board when you're rolling them out.  Too much flour will create a tougher, drier cookie, which is not good to eat.  Also, do not overbake.  The best gingerbreads are the ones that are soft on the inside.  Third, do not roll too thin.  Thin cookies burn very easily and thicker cookies have a better texture.  Last, do not be afraid.  I know that rolling out cookies can seem daunting, but trust me, they're not hard to make and they are very rewarding. 

Roll into a variety of shapes, ice, and decorate. 

Gingerbread Cookies

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 (heaping) teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground ginger

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

¾ cup brown sugar

2/3 cup unsulfured molasses

1 egg at room temperature

Sift flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt into a bowl and set aside

In a large bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy

Beat in molasses and egg

Gradually mix in dry ingredients to make a stiff batter

Divide the dough into 2 disks and wrap each in plastic wrap

Refrigerate until chilled, about 2-3 hours or up to 2 days (You can also freeze the dough)

Preheat oven to 350 and line baking sheets with parchment paper

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let warm slightly so the dough doesn’t crack

Place dough on floured work surface and sprinkle the top with flour (do not over flour- this will make a tough cookie.  Only use enough flour so your rolling pin doesn’t stick and the dough doesn’t stick to the surface.  Your cookies should not look white with flour when you go to bake them)

Roll out dough with a rolling pin to about 1/8 inch thick (if you like thicker, softer cookies, roll to ¼ inch thick)

Using cookie cutters, cut the cookies into desired shapes and place on parchment paper lined baking sheets

Knead the scraps of dough together to form another disk and roll out again- keep doing this until you have used all of the scraps (if dough become too warm, place back into the refrigerator)

Bake for about 8-10 min. until cookies are done, but still slightly soft

Keep cookies on the baking sheet for about 3 minutes, and then transfer them to cooling racks to cool completely

Frost with your frosting of choice (optional)

Caramels = Thank you

My brother learned 3 songs for my babies' memorial service, played them on his guitar, and sang.  Furthermore, he spoke at the memorial and did more than I could have asked for.  Just a simple thank you wasn't going to cut how grateful I was.  I think that making yummy homemade food is a great way to say thank you to anyone for doing anything.  However, my brother is picky and the only "fun" food he likes is white cake with white icing.  I then remembered that he steals caramels from my house whenever he's there.  So, I decided making homemade sea salt caramels would be a great way to thank him.

Ina Garten has a wonderful recipe for homemade fleur de sel caramels in her book, "How Easy Is That".  However, I learned that there are a few rules for making homemade caramel.  First, a candy thermometer is essential.  No one, not even experienced pastry chefs, can tell when caramel is the correct temperature.  So, a simple inexpensive candy thermometer is the only way to tell when your caramel is done.  Second, you need the correct sized pot.  Ina recommends a saucepan 6 inches wide and 4 1/2 inches deep.  I tried to make caramel in a bigger pot and it burned horribly.  That's because there was too much surface for the caramel to expand and it didn't cook correctly.  Third, you need parchment paper.  Use parchment paper to spread and store the caramel and it won't stick.  Lastly, you need a sharp knife.  The caramel is really sticky and can get hard when it sets, so a sharp knife is important so you don't cut yourself.

Everyone loves these caramels and I promise they will be a major hit.  And, trust me, store bought fleur de sel caramels do not hold a candle to the homemade ones- promise.

Fleur de sel Caramels (Ina Garten, “How Easy Is That” p. 232)

1 ½ cups sugar

¼ cup light corn syrup

1 cup heavy cream

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon fine sea salt (fleur de sel) plus extra for sprinkling

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Line 8 inch square baking pan with parchment paper, allowing to drape over 2 sides and lightly spray with nonstick spray

In a deep saucepan (6 inches wide and 4 ½ inches deep), combine ¼ cup water, sugar, and corn syrup and bring to a boil over medium high heat

Boil until mixture is a warm golden brown

Don’t stir- just swirl the pan

Watch very carefully as it can burn quickly

In the meantime, in a small pot, bring cream, butter, and 1 teaspoon sea salt to a simmer over medium heat

Turn off and set aside

When the sugar mixture is done, turn off the heat and slowly add the cream mixture into the sugar mixture

Be careful- it will bubble up violently

Stir in vanilla with a wooden spoon and cook over medium low heat for about 10 min. until it reaches 248 (firm ball) degrees on a candy thermometer

Pour the caramel into the prepared pan and refrigerate for a few hours, until set and firm

Take the caramels out of the pan and place on a cutting board

Cut the caramels into small squares and sprinkle the tops with sea salt

These are also wonderful dipped in chocolate then sprinkle the top with sea salt

You can keep these in the refrigerator, but bring to room temperature before eating

Salmon Chowder

I love soups, stews, and chowders.  I always make them in the winter because they just warm me up.  I saw a recipe for salmon chowder that looked interesting, but it had cream and butter and unnecessary fats.  My Crohn's disease does not handle a lot of fat well, so I decided to lighten it up and make it healthier.  I left the cream out and put lemon juice in it instead, which made the flavor really pop.  I also added a lot of veggies and herbs to give it more texture and flavor.  It was a huge hit with my husband and hopefully you'll like it too!

Salmon Chowder

1 medium onion, diced
2 medium red potatoes, scrubbed, skin on, diced
1 1/2 cups carrots, diced
6 cups chicken stock
10 oz. white mushrooms, sliced
10 oz. Brussels sprouts, quartered
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley and/or dill (I used a combo of both)
Juice of 1 large lemon
3/4 pounds skinless salmon fillet, cut into 1 inch cubes (you can use fresh or frozen salmon)
salt and pepper

Cook onion in a large saucepan over medium high heat until softened
Add potatoes and carrots and cook until slightly softened
Add chicken stock and bring to a soft boil
Cook until vegetables until tender, about 5-7 min.
Add Brussels sprouts, mushrooms, and parsley and/or dill, and salt and pepper (about 1 teaspoon of each)
Cook until they are tender, about 4-5 min.
Reduce heat to medium low and add the lemon juice and salmon
Cook until salmon is opaque
Taste for seasoning and add more salt/pepper if needed

Enjoy!

Popover goodness

Ina never fails.  I finally made her popovers last night to go with my seafood stew and they were wonderful and no fail.  They are light and airy and super flavorful without a lot of ingredients.  However, they aren't the easiest things in the world to make.  You can make a lot of mistakes if you don't follow the recipe exactly.  For great popovers that turn out right every time first you need an actual popover pan (it's shown in the above picture).  My mom tried to make them in a muffin pan and they didn't work at all.  Popover pans are easy to find- any kitchen store will have them.  Second, you need to grease the pan really well with softened butter.  Third, you need to preheat the pan (without the batter).  Lastly, don't open the oven while they're baking.  This will cause them to deflate.  Just turn on the oven light to check on them. 
This recipe comes from Ina Garten's "Parties" cookbook on page 189.  The only tweak I made was that I used 2% milk instead of whole milk and they still tasted great. 

Popovers (makes 12)
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 eggs at room temperature (to get eggs to room temp. quickly, put them in a bowl with warm water and let them sit for a few min.)
1 1/2 cups whole milk (or 2%) at room temp. (microwave for about 20 sec. to bring to room temp)

Preheat the oven to 425
Grease the popover pan with softened butter
Place pan in oven for exactly 2 min. to preheat
Whisk butter, flour, salt, eggs, and milk until smooth (batter will be thin)
Transfer batter to a liquid measuring cup (makes it easier to fill the pan)
Fill popover pan a little less than half full (do not overfill- you will have a mess in your oven)
Bake for exactly 30 min. and do not open the oven door while cooking!!

Popovers are best served warm, but my husband said that they were just fine the next morning with a little bit of jam.  Enjoy!

Pumpkin, Banana, Orange, Chocolate Chip Muffins

I am forever on the hunt for good pumpkin recipes. Pumpkin pie, bread, cookies, and bars have zero flavor to me.  Some add spices, but not enough.  After some research, I found that pumpkin is friends with many other ingredients like banana, orange, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and chocolate.  So, I looked at all of my and my mom’s pumpkin recipes to find a combination that would use all of these and have great flavor.  I finally created these pumpkin, banana, orange, chocolate chip muffins (or 4 friends).  I wanted them to have loads of flavor, but not a lot of fat.  I omitted butter and used a little bit of vegetable oil instead and used bananas and sour cream to keep them moist (I had to add chocolate though).  These are really easy and are good for breakfast, dessert, or a snack.

Pumpkin, Banana, Orange, Chocolate Chip Muffins (4 Friends)

2 cups flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

2 heaping teaspoons cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground ginger

½ cup sugar

¾ cup brown sugar

1/3 cup sour cream

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 small bananas, mashed

2 eggs

2 teaspoon vanilla

Zest of one medium orange

1 can pumpkin puree

3/4 cup dried cranberries (you can add more if you like)

3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips (you can add more if you like)

Preheat oven to 350

Line a muffin pan with liners- about 20-22

In a small bowl sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Set aside

In a large bowl, mix both sugars, sour cream, vegetable oil, and mashed bananas with a hand held mixer or a spoon until combined

Add 1 egg in a time, beating well between additions

Add vanilla and orange zest

Add pumpkin and mix well

Add the dry ingredients and mix only until combined

Fold in dried cranberries and chocolate chips

Divide batter among muffin liners, filling about ¾ of the way full

Bake between 20-25 min. or until a toothpick comes out clean

Cool muffins in the pan for 5 min. then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely

If you only like chocolate chips, then add only chocolate chips.  If you only like dried cranberries, then add only cranberries.  I like a mixture of both since the tartness of the cranberries mixes well with the sweet pumpkin and the chocolate makes it more decadent.  Enjoy!