Sweet 'n Crunchy Mix

I'm not sure if the following treat could be classified as 'baking'. No offense to the contestant who submitted it to the Taste of Homes cooking contest. It's just that it's soooo simple. I can't believe that I didn't think of it myself. Again, no offense intended. Really. 

These are highly addictive. I made them "for the kids". And the kids loved them - and so did I. So simple, and nut free for my little kiddo with the nut allergy. 

You can tweak this to include any of your favorite cereal or munchie-type snack. I'm thinking plain goldfish crackers would be good in there...some more salt to counter-balance the sweet. The options are endless. I started with a mixture of mini pretzels, multi-grain Cheerios, Crispex, Teddy Grahams and Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

The original recipes says to simply add the sugar to melted butter but I thought it would be grainy if I didn't cook it into a syrup first. So that's what I did.

The original recipe also calls for 4 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon but I thought that was overkill. Plus I only had 2 teaspoons left, which incidentally was a good thing. Pour the syrup over the cereal.

Then bake it for 20 minutes at 275 degrees F. Give it a good mix half way through.

When you first take it out, the Teddy Grahams seem soggy, but once they cool off they become crispy again. It's not rocket science for sure (no offense), but it's yummy. 

Recipe for Sweet 'n Crunchy Mix
(Source: Taste of Home- Special 2011 Collectors Edition)
2 1/2 cups Crispex (or Chex)
2 cups Mulit-grain Cheerios
1 package of honey bear shaped cookies
1 1/2 cups mini pretzels
1 cup Cinnamon Toast Crunch
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
Melt butter, sugar and cinnamon in a medium sized pot. Bring to boil and let cook for about 2 minutes, or until the sugar is dissolved. Pour over your mixed dry ingredients and incorporate thoroughly. Spread onto a rimmed cookie sheet and bake at 275 degrees F. for 20 minutes, stirring it thoroughly halfway through cooking time. Allow to cool before digging in. 

Easy Chicken Tacos

One of my...ahem...New Year's Resolutions was to start blogging about simple weeknight dinners. I know, procrastinate much? Yeah.

I'm not particularly inspired in the kitchen when it comes to regular dinners and, more often than not, I'm at a loss as to what to make. So this resolution of mine was nothing more than an attempt to start recording some of the dinners that I make that were successful so that I can remember to make them again. And by 'successful' I mean merely having fed at least 3 of the 4 members of my family. Not exactly shooting for the stars here.There's always someone who's going to turn their nose up at it in my house, which probably accounts for the reason why I'm feeling less than inspired. 

So bear with me. I'm posting these dinners because I just need a point of reference for the days when I can't come up with something new or I can't remember how I made that one meal last month that was a 'success'. 

If someone else happens to find something here that inspires them in their daily struggle to feed their family, then that's a major bonus.  

This recipe for Easy Chicken Tacos was in the America's Test Kitchen magazine. I'd have to say that it was very well received, all things considered. My husband always turns his nose up when I make anything with chicken breast but even he loved this. He opted to make his into a chicken salad because he's out with carbs. Sigh. My daughter ate the shredded chicken quite happily, but I gave it to her before I added the reduced poaching liquid because it would have been too spicy otherwise. Just a note for those of you feeding children who don't have a love for anything spicy.

Recipe for Easy Chicken Tacos

(Source: The Best of America's Test Kitchen 2011)

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp. minced canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce (use sparingly unless you like spice!)

3/4 cup fresh cilantro

1/2 cup orange juice

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce 

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast (roughly 3 large breasts)

1 tsp. yellow mustard

salt and pepper

12 (6 inch) flour tortillas, warmed

Melt butter in a 12 inch skillet over medium-high heat until foaming. Add garlic and chipotles and cook till fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in 1/2 cup of cilantro, the orange juice and Worcestershire and bring to a boil. Add the chicken and simmer, covered until the chicken registers 160 to 165 degrees, 10 to 15 minutes, flipping the chicken halfway through. 

Transfer to a plate and tent with foil.

Increase the heat to medium-high and cook until liquid is reduced to 

1/4 cup, about 5 minutes. 

Off the heat, whisk in the mustard. 

Shred the chicken into bite size pieces and return it to the skillet. 

Add remaining cilantro and toss till combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with warm tortillas and toppings. 

*For toppings, I used a diced avocado mixed with fresh lime juice and seasoned with salt, diced tomatoes, grated cheese and sour cream.

The Modern Bakers: Chocolate Caramel 'Hazelnut' Tartlets

When the Modern Bakers Challenge got to the Sweet Tarts and Pies chapter, I knew exactly which recipe I wanted. Chocolate Caramel Pecan Tartlets please and thank you! For me, nothing gets me more excited about dessert than when  chocolate and caramel are paired together. Add nuts to the mix and I can't even talk about it. 

By way of background, we were invited to our friends' house for dinner. This particular friend is a lot like me, when he plans a dinner party, we're talking about a project that entails at least a week's worth of 'research'. Finding the perfect menu, reviewing numerous cookbooks for inspiration, and pulling a number of recipes, editing, combining and tweaking until you have the perfect multi-course meal that takes hours/days to prepare.  

And so it wasn't without a great deal of conflict that I asked him if he would mind if I brought the dessert. I knew that it came at the risk of appearing as though I was hijacking his menu planning, but I also knew that he would be the perfect taster for these tartlets and I couldn't let the opportunity pass without at least asking. He agreed, albeit somewhat reluctantly, and being a fellow Type-A dinner-party-planner, I understood his hesitation. As it turned out, he ended up making his own dessert in addition to my offering, and so there was the added element of 'friendly competition'. 

For the crust, I followed Nick's recipe to a T, however, I opted to use hazelnuts in lieu of almonds, as he noted that hazelnuts are a good substitute and they happen to be my favorite chocolate-nut-pairing. I toasted my hazelnuts in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes, to enhance their flavor before processing them in the food processor.

This tart dough came together perfectly, with absolutely no mishaps to report. Now, you'll just have to trust me when I say that this speaks volumes about the user-friendly-techniques in this book. Particularly since this was my first experience with tart dough and I have an annoying tendency, when trying something new, to learn the hard way. 

I made eight 3 1/2 inch tartlets, baked them for 13 minutes, let them cool slightly, and then removed them from their tart pans while still slightly warm as per the instructions. They slid out easily. 

The baked shells appeared perfect, slightly puffed, yet maintaining their shape. I baked these the night before assembling, despite the book saying to bake them on the same day as they were being filled. If you're like me and prefer to accomplish steps ahead of time, I assure you that their freshness was not compromised in the least by doing this.

Next up, the filling. I did take one liberty with Nick's recipe, I used milk chocolate instead of bittersweet. I'm the person who takes a bite out of a chocolate from a mixed box and puts it back if its insides are dark. There, I admit it. Barring that one deviation from the filling recipe, I followed the rest of the recipe 'almost' exactly as written, except I used hazelnuts once again in place of the pecans. This was noted as a good alternative by Nick so I didn't feel like I was  compromising the integrity of the recipe, despite its title. Do I sound defensive? I don't mean to. Really.

So, I've had some experience with making caramel. Actually, I've had more experience with "burning" it than actually "making" it. I wasn't lying about learning things the hard way. But, given my track record, I felt confident that I would exercise good judgment when it came to knowing when to pull the melted sugar from the heat. Nick says to pull it prior to achieving the deep amber color, as the sugar's color continues to deepen from the residual heat in the pot. In keeping with tradition, my first attempt was about 20 seconds too late. It looked like this when I pulled it:

Cluelessly optimistic, I proceeded to add the cream and cooked it a further minute, resulting in this hot mess:

After I poured it into a heatproof bowl and added the milk I tasted it. It was awful. And bitter. Very much like my prior caramel-making experiences. Disgusted and disappointed, I began Round II. This time, I pulled the sugar when it looked just slightly darker than apple juice:

It most definitely continued to darken off the heat. This is what it looked like once I added the cream and cooked it a further minute:

It wasn't cool enough to taste until the milk was added, but I am happy to report that Round II was a success. I would encourage you to have extra cream and milk in case you follow in my footsteps and decide to learn the hard way. Taste it before you add your chocolate...throwing it away is much less painful when it's simply sugar, cream and milk going down the drain. Just a suggestion. I whisked in my melted milk chocolate,

 and then folded in my hazelnuts. Magical.

Once I filled the baked tart shells with the chocolate caramel ganache, I sprinkled a few toasted hazelnuts on top and then kept them at room temperature. I would note, however, that I actually preferred mine served chilled. It just made the filling ever-so-slightly chewy. In a very good way.

To call these decadent would be an understatement. But they are sooo worth it.

The recipe calls for making them into much smaller tartlets, but I used the only tartlet pans I had, making them slightly larger than perhaps intended. A little goes a long way. Notwithstanding this fact, I have to tell you that my friend, the host of above-noted dinner party, the Type A planner who insisted on making an additional dessert, he ate two of them. By himself. He loved them. Then he shocked me and I almost fell out of my chair when he voluntarily admitted defeat in our friendly dessert war. Unprecedented. Never to be repeated, I'm sure. But this tart really did 'take the cake'. Ha. Pun intended.

So, if you don't have the book and feel the compulsion to try this recipe before buying it, ask me and I'll email it to you. From one friend to another. But out of respect to the author, Nick Malgieri, I can't publish it. Sorry. I will say that of the dozens and dozens of great books I own, The Modern Baker would easily be in my top 5 for recommendations. 

Chocolate Cream Cupcakes

I was going to jump on the Red Velvet Cupcake bandwagon for Valentine's Day but my daughter vetoed that choice and, instead, chose the Chocolate Cream Cupcakes that are featured on the cover of Cook's Country magazine. It didn't take much convincing, I had been coveting those cupcakes for a few weeks and was waiting for an opportunity to try them.

This is a modern day, new and improved take on the Hostess Chocolate Cream Cupcake. What could go wrong? Nothing. That's what. They are even better than I'd hoped. I was a little hesitant about the ingredients in the filling, being marshmallow creme, butter, gelatin and vanilla. But it's true what they say, butter really does make everything better. The filling was really delicious and not at all sickly sweet as I'd feared.

The cupcake itself is terrific on its own. It has a deep chocolate flavor and a moist, tender crumb. So if you weren't inclined to stuff it with marshmallow filling, it would still be great. And the glaze, oh the glaze...delicious. Nothing but chocolate and butter. I used a good quality milk chocolate instead of the semisweet chocolate chips called for in the recipe. Worth every penny and every calorie.

This recipe is easily doubled, which is what I did. It only makes 12 and since I was sending them off to school with my daughter for Valentine's Day, and I knew I wouldn't be able to part with them without at least trying one - or three, I doubled the recipe. I would point out that, if you do double it, it will take a little longer for the filling to set up in the fridge, so you'll want to wait a little longer than the alloted 30 minutes to reach the desired consistency.

Not as Valentine's Day-appropriate as the Red Velvet would have been... so I threw a candy heart on top and called it a day. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say these are my new favorite cupcake. 

Chocolate Cream Cupcakes

(adapted from Cook's Country)

yield: 12 cupcakes

For cupcakes:

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup boiling water

1/3 cup cocoa powder (I used Dutch processed)

1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 Tbsp. instant coffee

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

For filling:

3 Tbsp. of water

3/4 tsp. unflavored gelatin

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

1 tsp. vanilla extract

pinch of salt

1 1/4 cups marshmallow creme (not sauce)

For glaze:

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used Callebaut milk chocolate)

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter (I used salted)

Batter: Adjust oven rack to middle and heat oven to 325 degrees. Line muffin tin with paper liners. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl, set aside. In large bowl, whisk boiling water, cocoa, chocolate chips and instant coffee until smooth. Add sugar, sour cream, oil eggs and vanilla, mix till combined. Whisk in flour mixture until incorporated. Divide evenly among muffin cups. Bake until toothpick comes  out with a few dry crumbs attached 18 - 22 minutes. (I baked for 18). Cool for 10 minutes, remove from muffin tins, and allow to cool completely.

Filling: Combine water and gelatin in large bowl and let sit until gelatin softens, about 5 minutes. Microwave until mixture is bubbling around edges and gelatin dissolves, about 30 seconds. Stir in butter, vanilla and salt until combined. Let mixture cool until just warm to the touch, about 5 minutes, then whisk in marshmallow creme until smooth. Refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes. (Transfer 1/3 cup of marshmallow mixture to a piping bag fitted with small tip if you want to pipe decorate line on finished cupcake; reserve remaining mixture for cupcakes.)

Glaze and assembling cupcakes: Microwave chocolate and butter in small bowl, stirring occasionally until smooth, about 30 seconds. Cool glaze to room temperature, about 10 minutes. Cut cone from top of each cupcake and fill with about 1 tablespoon of marshmallow mixture. 

Cut the tip of the cone off the top of the cupcake and replace the circular disk as the 'lid'. Frost with 2 teaspoons of glaze, let sit 10 minutes. Pipe curlicues across glazed cupcake. Serve. Can be stored at room temperature in airtight container for 2 days.

A Dinner Party, Ovaltine Chocolate Pudding With Honeyed Rice Krisps and a Dog Named Kona

We went to our friends' Ricky and Tamra's house for a dinner party a couple weeks ago. Knowing that they would be doing a gourmet and very elaborate multi-course meal, I offered to bring dessert. One less thing for them to have to deal with and besides, I had been eyeing this recipe from Saveur and was looking for an excuse to make it.


Admittedly, the idea of chocolate pudding on its own isn't something that I get excited about, however, these chocolate puddings had honeyed rice crisps so they piqued my interest.  Plus the addition of Ovaltine was interesting, to me anyway.


Round one of the honeyed rice crisps did not go so well. I sampled them and promptly threw them in the garbage. For round two, I used a higher quality honey. What a difference.  A whole world of better. The lesson: use good honey.  It matters.


I added vanilla whipped cream and the finished dessert was a great balance of flavors and textures. This is definitely not your average every-day chocolate pudding. The rich chocolate was balanced by the vanilla whipped cream, the sweetness of both balanced by the slight saltiness of the honeyed rice crisps, who's cripsy texture played nicely against the creaminess of the pudding. 

The pudding was a great finish to a fabulous meal. And the best part? They can be prepared ahead of time with little trouble. So there's that.


I would be remiss if I didn't mention that most of these pictures were taken by my friend, Maria, as she worked with my sister and Tamra as my much-needed 'food stylists' so I could get a decent shot for my blog. A far cry from the usual eye-rolling I get when I pull out my camera to take pictures of food before it is allowed to be served. 


However, the wonderful food and conversation notwithstanding, the highlight of the night was a Portugese Waterdog named, Kona:

Kona likes to sit at the dining room table with 'her' guests. Unfortunately, she did not have a place of her own at the table, clearly an oversight, so she was relegated to a spot under the table until such time as a guest vacated their seat. Then she claimed their chair and joined the rest of us until such time as the guest returned. She has impeccable table manners, although she did help herself to my water as I sat on the floor taking pictures of her. But who can blame her, really? It was right in front of her and I was on the floor. She was also a fan of the dessert, by the way, and given her refined palette and cushy lifestyle, I was actually flattered.

Kona, I think I love you. You cannot, however, meet my dogs. Like, ever. There would be mutiny in my house, and I can't have that. 


Recipe for Ovaltine Chocolate Pudding with Honeyed Rice Krisps
(Source: Saveur Jan/Feb 2011 issue)
For the Chocolate Pudding:
2  1/4 ounce packages unflavored powdered gelatin
1 cup milk
3 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup Ovaltine powder
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped and reserved
10 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I used semi-sweet), finely chopped
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
For the Honeyed Rice Krisps:
1/4 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. honey
3 Tbsp. butter
1 3/4 cups of Rice Krispies
Whipped cream for serving


In a 2 quart saucepan, sprinkle gelatin over the milk and let sit for 5 minutes. Add the cream, Ovaltine and vanilla been seeds and heat over medium heat; cook, stirring often until gelatin dissolves and mixture is warmed through. Remove from heat, stir in the chocolate and salt until smooth. Pour mixture through a fine strainer into a large pitcher; then pour into eight 6 ounce serving glasses or ramekins. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled and set (at least 2 hours or overnight).


Meanwhile, heat sugar, honey and butter in a 4 quart saucepan over medium heat. Cook, swirling pan often, until mixture turns the color of medium dark caramel. Add salt and cereal and stir to coat evenly. Transfer to a greased baking sheet and spread out evenly. Let cool and then break into small pieces. 


To serve, uncover puddings and top with sweetened whipped cream and a generous sprinkling of the honeyed rice krisps. Serve immediately.

Ferrero Rocher Cheesecake

Fact: As I type this, I am lying in my king-sized bed on a Friday night with two very large sleeping dogs who both refuse to give me enough space to stretch out my legs. Who's running this show?!

Fact: My legs are cramping but I can't do anything about it because I don't want to disturb the peace. The. Much. Needed. Peace.

Fact: I am currently suffering through the obligatory New Year's diet and I'm hungry. So very hungry.

Fact: I am also a cliche.

I made this cheesecake during the holiday free-for-all-food-fest and I think it may have a little something to do with extra 4 pounds I gained in 2 weeks. I've managed to shed 3 of those 4 pounds - but this last one is a killer. It's hanging on for dear life. It's mocking me right now.

I was looking for something new to do with cheesecake when I stumbled upon the idea of adding Ferrero Rocher chocolates. Why the heck not? It was Christmas after all, the season of indulgence. Ferrero Rocher is the most delectable chocolate available at a supermarket, and they aren't that pricey, relatively speaking. And since I had already doctored my vanilla cheesecake recipe to perfection, if I do say so myself, there was really no point in reinventing the wheel. I decided to simply fold chopped Ferrero Rocher chocolates into the cake batter and cross my fingers. 

 For the topping, I cheated. I had purchased a jar of chocolate hazelnut spread from Bernard Callebaut and simply warmed it until it was spreadable and then smeared it all over the cheesecake. Heaven! If, however, you don't have a Bernard Callebaut store in your neck of the woods, the same could be done with Nutella. Add some chopped hazelnuts if you want texture, but either way, it would be delicious.

Finally, I cut the remaining chocolates in half and added them as 'garnish'. They cut in half surprisingly well and really finished the cake. This was a big hit, everyone really liked it and it will definitely be making another appearance as soon as I can find an excuse. And when I'm done dieting. Or after I abort my mission to shed this final pound. Whichever comes first.

If you're looking for a special occasion cheesecake and you love chocolate and hazelnuts, look no further, I promise you won't be disappointed. 

Recipe for Ferrero Rocher Cheesecake:
Base:
3 cups of Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal
5 Tbsp. butter, melted
Process the cereal in food processor until they form fine crumbs. Add your melted butter and pulse until combined. Press into your cake pan(s). Set aside. (You could also use the more traditional graham wafer crumb crust.)

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.

Cheesecake:
1 kg. container of Victorian Style cream cheese (found at Costco); or 4 eight ounce packages of full fat cream cheese
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 1/3 cup of full fat sour cream
1 T. vanilla extract
seeds from 1 vanilla bean
3 eggs

10 Ferrero Rocher chocolates cut into quarters (plus extra if you want to use them for decorating)

1 cup of Chocolate Hazelnut spread, such as Nutella (for frosting)

Put all the ingredients (except the eggs) into the bowl of your food processor. Pulse several times until the mixture is well blended and smooth, scraping the sides as necessary. Add the eggs, one at a time, pulsing after each addition until fully incorporated. Be careful not to over process. Once smooth, gently fold in the chopped chocolates, pour over your crust.

Place cake into shallow baking pan and add enough boiling water to reach half way up cake pan. Bake for one hour. Cake should still be jiggly after the hour. Carefully from the oven, and remove the cake from the water bath. Allow to cool on your counter top until room temperature. (About 2 hours). Refrigerate at least 4 hours, but overnight is best.

When the cheesecake has been chilled and has set, warm the chocolate hazelnut spread in the microwave briefly, just long enough to loosen it and make it a spreadable consistency. Spread over the surface of the cheesecake and decorate with the remaining Ferrero Rocher chocolates, cut in half. Chill until ready to serve.