Heath Bar Brownies

I just made these today. Nathaniel was not impressed with Heath Bars alone, but I had a feeling that he would like these brownies. I was right and he loved them.

Heath Bar Brownies adapted from Maida Heatter's Brand-New Book of Great Cookies

6 1/2 oz Heath bars
2 oz unsweetened chocolate
4 oz unsalted butter (1 stick)
2 large eggs
1/2 teas vanilla
1/4 teas salt
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup sifted flour

Adjust a rack one-third up from the bottom of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 8 inch square pan by lining it with foil with the shiny side up, then butter it (I sprayed it instead--less work!).

To cut up the Heath bars, work on a cutting board with a sharp and heavy knife. Cut through the long sides into slices 1/4 to 1/3 inch wide (about 1 1/2 cups of cut up Heath bars). Chop a scant 1/4 cup of the cut up bars into smaller pieces (to sprinkle on top), keep these separate.

Place the unsweetened chocolate and butter in the top of a small double boiler over warm water on moderate heat. Stir occasionally until melted. Remove the top of the double boiler and set aside.

In the small bowl of an electric mixer beat the eggs, vanilla, salt and sugar until mixed. Add the chocolate mixture (which may still be warm) and beat only to mix. Then add the flour and beat only to mix. Remove bowl from mixer and add all but the 1/4 cup of the smaller Heath bar pieces.

Turn into the prepared pan and spread smooth. Sprinkle the smaller pieces of Heath bars over the top. Bake for 28 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out just barely clean.

Remove the pan from the oven, let stand until cool. Cut into small pieces. Serve at room temperature or refrigerated.

Frozen Hot Chocolate

I am sure that a few of you are wondering what the heck frozen hot chocolate is. Personally, I think it's kind of weird too. If you remember from earlier posts, I don't really like chocolate but my son was having a hard day and I decided that he needed some cheering up. This recipe helped out some and he really did like it. It comes from the famous dessert place, Serendipity 3, in NYC where celebrities hob nob all the time. This makes A LOT. The cookbook just said a gigantic Serendipity-sized serving. It made easily 5 margarita sized drinks.

Frozen Hot Chocolate from Sweet Serendipity

3 oz of a variety of your favorite chocolates

2 teas store bought hot chocolate mix

1 1/2 tbs sugar

1 1/2 cups milk

3 cups ice

whipped cream

-chop chocolate into small pieces and place it in the top of a double boiler over simmering water, stirring occasionally until melted. Add the hot chocolate mix and sugar, stirring constantly until thoroughly blended. Remove from heat and slowly add 1/2 cup of the milk and stir until smooth. Cool to room temperature.

-in a blender place the remaining cup of milk, the room temperature chocolate mixture and the ice. Blend on high speed until smooth and the consistency of a frozen daiquiri. Pour into a giant goblet and top with whipped cream. Enjoy with a spoon or a straw--or both!

Lamb Chops

This is a a recipe from Giada DeLaurentiis' Everyday Italian cookbook. Our lamb chops came from a local rancher who sells her meats at the Farmer's Market. It took no time to make up the rub and cook these up. She calls for a grill pan, but I don't have one. I ended up just pan frying the chops and they still ended up delicious.

Lamb Chops

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I just made these this afternoon. The recipe was on a blog of a friend (Laura's) of a friend's that she adapted from Smitten Kitchen's blog. I followed the original recipe on SK's and everyone loved them. I'll have to try out the chunky peanut butter next time, but I only had creamy.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Roasted Shrimp Cocktail

A perfectly easy way to make shrimp cocktail. Another great recipe from Barefoot Contessa's Back to Basics cookbook.

serves 6 to 8
2 lbs (12 to 15 count) shrimp
1 tbs olive oil
1/2 teas kosher salt
1/2 teas freshly ground black pepper

SAUCE:
1/2 cup Heinz chili sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
3 tbs prepared horseradish
2 teas freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 teas Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teas Tabasco sauce

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel and devein the shrimp, leaving the tails on. Place them on a sheet pan with the olive oil, salt and pepper and spread them in one layer. Roast for 8 to 10 minutes, just until pink and firm and cooked through. Set aside to cool.
For the sauce, combine the chili sauce, ketchup, horseradish, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco. Serve as a dip with the shrimp.

Knife Contest On Steamy Kitchen

I found this knife contest on a blog that I read. I missed posting about Pioneer Woman's KitchenAid contest today, but this one is still going on Steamy Kitchen. She also has some great tips on how to sharpen your knives (which will only work if you have decent knives).

Sorry that I don't have cool contests like this. But no one is sponsoring me or offering to donate me any items to give away. Plus future plans include being a poor college student once again, so giving away $150 knives just isn't in the budget right now. Maybe someday.

Knife contest

Barefoot Contessa's White Pizza With Arugula

The other night, I decided to try my hand at making homemade pizza (much to my son's delight). It took a little bit of time and effort, but it was fun to make them with Nathaniel. The only problem now is that Nathaniel doesn't feel that other pizzas are up to par to eat anymore and it looks like I'll be making more pizzas in the future. This is a Barefoot Contessa recipe from her newest cookbook that I purchased a few weeks back. She uses a garlic oil instead of red sauce and 3 different kinds of cheese for the pizza, then she tops it with arugula with a lemon vinaigrette. It's a perfect pizza!

White Pizza With Arugula

Pioneer Woman's Shrimp Pasta

I wasn't feeling great all day, but I needed something quick for dinner. I try to keep a bag of frozen shrimp in the freezer, which made this dish easy to make. If you like pasta and shrimp, this is a wonderful and quick dish. I used spiral pasta instead of penne because I recently purchased a six pack of pasta at Costco. Another great dish from Pioneer Woman!

Shrimp Pasta

Carnitas!

I forgot to take pics of this lovely recipe. I had tried making carnitas earlier and the results were ok, but not great. Even my foodie son commented on how they were too dry and that this recipe was much better. It made a lot of food, so we will be enjoying the pork for a couple of lunches. I had some homemade salsa leftover and served it with some sour cream and flour tortillas. Delicious (and easy)!

Carnitas

Curried Chicken Salad

I was really glad that Nathaniel ended up liking this because the recipe makes a lot of chicken salad. It's a Barefoot Contessa recipe and you can adjust it to your taste by making it spicier with more curry powder or sweeter with more chutney. If you want to omit the raisins or cashews, you can (I omit both because I don't like raisins in my savory foods and Chris doesn't usually like nuts).

Curried Chicken Salad from Barefoot Contessa's Family Style cookbook
serves 6

3 whole (6 split) chicken breasts, bone in, skin on (you'll want the skin on to keep the juices in, but get rid of it before putting it in the salad)
olive oil
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups good mayonnaise (DON'T use Miracle Whip--whatever you do, don't do it!)
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup Major Grey's chutney
3 tbs curry powder
1 cup medium-diced celery (about 2 large stalks)
1/4 cup chopped scallions, white and green parts (2 scallions)
1/4 cup raisins
1 cup whole roasted, salted cashews

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the chicken breasts on a sheet pan and rub the skin with olive oil. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is just cooked. Set aside until cool enough to handle. Remove the meat from the bones, discard the skin, and dice the chicken in large bite-size pieces.

For the dressing, combine the mayonnaise, wine, chutney, curry powder, and 1 1/2 teas salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Process until smooth.

Combine the chicken with enough dressing to moisten well. Add the celery, scallions and raisins, and mix well. Refrigerate for a few hours to allow the flavors to blend. Add the cashews and serve at room temperature.

Marshmallow-Hot Fudge Sauce

I just purchased the ice cream cookbook last night and had Nathaniel look for a recipe to make. This is the one that he picked to top our homemade ice cream.

Marshmallow-Hot Fudge Sauce from David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop

makes 2 cups

2/3 cup milk (whole or low-fat)

2 tbs salted butter (I used unsalted since I never have salted)

30 large marshmallows (not quite a whole bag)

8 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped (I used a 4 oz bar of each since that's what I had)

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Warm the milk and butter in a medium saucepan. Add the marshmallows and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until they've melted. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate pieces. Let stand for 30 seconds, the stir until smooth. Add vanilla. Serve warm.

**Can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Rewarm it gently in a microwave or by stirring in a saucepan over very low heat. If the sauce becomes too thick, stir in a few spoonfuls of milk.

Korean Short Ribs

I just realized that the picture isn't that appetizing looking, but trust me, it's delicious. It's a great meal when you serve it with some rice and a veggie side (I made stir-fried bok choy). I get my short ribs from the Korean/Japanese market in Overland Park because I have never seen the same cut in the regular grocery store. I have seen short ribs, but not cut the same way. So you might have to get the meat from an Asian market unless you live out in CA or somewhere like that.

Korean Short Ribs from Neiman-Marcus' No Jacket Required

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup sliced green onions

2 tbs toasted sesame seeds

2 tbs sugar

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1/2 teas pepper

4 lbs short ribs, cut between the bones

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Stir together soy sauce, water, onions, sesame seeds, sugar, garlic, and pepper. Pour over ribs and marinate, chill in fridge overnight. Grill or broil for 15 to 20 minutes until cooked to desired doneness.

Sweet Potato Fries

I found this recipe for sweet potato fries last week when I was looking for something to make with my Farmer's Market sweet potatoes. Chris loves blue cheese (which I do not love), so I decided to be nice and still make the blue cheese dressing that was also posted. The fries were delicious (sorry no photos) and Chris loved the blue cheese dressing. He loved it so much that he asked if that was really all that was left of it after finishing off the fries. I did have a couple of the fries burn on me and I think that I might try to make these at 400 degrees instead of the 425 because it was too hot for my fries. And next time, I will probably make a homemade ranch dressing along with the blue cheese when I make these again. It's a good change of pace from regular french fries and with it's high nutritional value, how can you go wrong?

Last Week's Cooking Class

I know that I am slacking in the posts! I am about 3 posts behind and I will try to get them up asap! I didn't end up going to Chicago because I needed to have a relaxing weekend before the holidays. Now that I am rested, I am ready to take on the holiday season. Ok, I am not, but let's pretend that I am.

I took cooking class #3 at the Merc last week. It was called "A Vegetarian Indian Feast Made With Fresh Paneer" taught by a woman who was grew up in New Delhi and has lived in Lawrence for the past 20+ years. For those who aren't familiar with Indian food, paneer is Indian cheese. It's unbelievably easy to make (milk and vinegar). It's creamy, delicious and very versatile. She showed us how to make the paneer and how to use it in 5 different dishes. I'll be making it in the near future (since Chris is really excited about this), so I'll post step-by-step pics of how to make paneer on my blog.

Tonight, I am taking another class (#2 out of 3 this month) where I will learn the tricks of making breakfast breads. The sole reason that I signed up for this class is that the instructor is making cinnamon rolls (YUMMY!) and I have completely forgotten what else is being made!

The cold weather has made it's way to KS, so expect some cold-weather homey foods to start appearing. I've already gotten into a rut in making some foods that are sure things lately and haven't been pulling out the old cookbooks as much. I am really enjoying Barefoot Contessa's Back to Basics, so if you are in the market for a new cookbook, I highly recommend it. I pretty much want to make everything in it and I've already made a few recipes with plans for more soon!

Anyway, it's off to Half Price Books right now where I am going to purchase another cookbook! I have some great coupons and spent two hours yesterday scanning the whole store for some great purchases (of course, there was more than just one great book, but the coupons are for a single purchase). So I am going back today to purchase The Perfect Scoop at the ridiculously cheap price of 40% off $12.99 (brand new copy too)! By the way, is it wrong to buy an ice cream cookbook when it's 40-some degrees outside?

Last Farmer's Market For The Year Today

The last Farmer's Market for Lawrence was today. It's a sad day for me because that means that till April, I will have to shop in the grocery stores for all my produce. Luckily, we signed up and paid for a CSA from Amy's Meats to get 15 lbs of beef/pork & 2 cartons of farm-fresh eggs monthly until the Farmer's Market starts up again. It's nice because she makes a bi-monthly trek out to Lawrence (they are right outside of it) and you pick up your meat at one of the three locations that she has set up. The upfront cost was a lot, but in the long run, we are probably saving a bundle since we were buying quite a bit of meat/pork from her weekly. Plus now, we don't have to worry about paying for beef/pork products (unless we decide to add some stuff on) till April. Amy took really good care of us this month with tons of great stuff in our bag: 2 cartons eggs, lb flank steak, lb minute steak, 2 lb ground beef, lb ground pork, lb Italian sausage, lb sausage patties, 2 3/4 lb rump roast, 2 1/2 lb arm roast, 1 1/2 lb ham steak, and 1 1/4 lb pork tenderloin. It looks like I'll be busy looking for some recipes for all this stuff!

Along with our CSA subscription, we also purchased one whole chicken, 2 lbs chicken thighs, 3 lbs chicken wings (I am in the middle of reading a book right now that has me swearing off chicken from the market--I'll post about the book later), 2 lbs of lamb chops (great thing is this farmer will also be making a monthly visit from Baldwin to sell her beef/lamb/pork too), bok choy, 2 bunches of arugula, salad mix, cilantro, a HUGE leek, 2+ lbs of Roma tomatoes, dill, hummus, baklav and organic cayenne pepper.

That's the last purchase of 2008 at the Farmer's Market for me. Sad, sad, sad. I have a couple of posts that I haven't gotten to yet, so I'll try to get those up soon. Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Pumpkin Pie

I finally used my pumpkin puree (you remember the one that made my hand break out in a weird allergic reaction) to make some pumpkin pie. I found the recipe in the local newspaper that comes from the pumpkin patch people. Since the pumpkin puree had no spices in it (like in canned pumpkin), I would add more pumpkin pie spice next time.

Pumpkin Pie

2 eggs
2 cups pumpkin
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 small can Carnation Milk
1 9-inch unbaked pie shell (I ended up using two because the shells were very shallow)

Mix all ingredients together in large bowl. Pour into unbaked pie shell, bake at 375 for 15 minutes and reduce to 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until set.

Apple Turnovers

I am a HUGE fan of Ina Garten (aka Barefoot Contessa) for her mouthwatering, sophisticated recipes. I have yet to be disappointed in one of her recipes and she continues to make my family's stomachs happy. But I believe that she has outdone herself with her new cookbook Back to Basics. Everything in the cookbook looks so tasty and I am ready to make all the recipes soon!

Last night, I made her Apple Turnovers. OMG! I love this recipe because it uses frozen puff pastry, which is something that I always have on hand. I only made half this recipe since I didn't think that we would eat all eight of them and I figured that these are best served hot. Since the oranges at the grocery store looked sad, I used lemon instead (worked perfectly) and I skipped the dried cherries (since I didn't have any). Make this soon!!!

Apple Dried Cherry Turnovers adapted from Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics cookbook

1 teaspoon grated orange zest (I substituted lemon)
3 tbs freshly squeezed orange juice (again lemon)
1 1/4 lbs tart apples (I used Golden Delicious)
3 tbs dried cherries (I omitted them this time. I am sure dried cranberries would be good too)
3 tbs sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
1 tbs all-purpose flour
1/4 teas ground cinnamon
1/8 teas ground nutmeg
pinch of kosher salt
1 pkg frozen puff pastry (2 sheets), defrosted
1 egg beaten with a 1 tbs water, for egg wash

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Combine zest and juice in a medium bowl. Peel, quarter and core the apples, then cut into 3/4-inch dice. Immediately toss the apples with zest and juice to prevent them from turning brown. Add the cherries, sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.

Flour a board and lightly roll each sheet of puff pastry to a 12 x 12 square. Cut each sheet into 4 (6 x 6 inch) squares and keep chilled until ready to use.

Brush the edges of each square with the egg wash and neatly place about 1/3 cup of the apple mixture on half of the square. Fold the pastry diagonally over the apple mixture and seal by pressing the edges of the pastry with the tines of a fork. Transfer to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Brush the tops with egg wash, sprinkle with sugar, and make 2 small slits in each turnover. Bake for 20 minutes, until puffed and browned. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Spaghetti and Meatballs

I love spaghetti and meatballs, but only if it's homemade sauce and homemade meatballs. I don't do sauce in a jar (I've tried most of them and they are too sweet for my tastes) and I haven't found any frozen meatballs that aren't hard and tasteless yet. One night, I was talking to my friend (who is part Italian) and she told me about how wonderful her Grandma's meatballs were. After that conversation, I decided that I needed to find a recipe for meatballs! With some searching online, I found one in the New York Times and sent it to my friend. She told me that it sounded very similar to the one that her Grandma made, so I was excited to try it out.

Nathaniel LOVED them and was disappointed that there wasn't more (we did let him eat about half of them--you can imagine how much growing teenagers eat). I will admit that I ended up burning the first batch because I used a pan that I never usually use and it heated a lot quicker than my other ones (might have to start using it more often). After adjusting the heat to a very low temp, I was able to brown them to perfection. I also admit that my meatballs weren't perfectly uniform and pretty, but they tasted so good that I hope a dinner guest wouldn't complain!

The tomato sauce that I used is a recipe from Giada De Laurentiis' Marinara Sauce from her cookbook Everyday Italian. It's a great sauce that can be frozen for up to three months. We froze half of it, so that Chris would have something to eat this weekend while I am out of town. I'll probably be making this again during the cold winter, if it ever comes that is!

Meatballs

Saturday's Farmers Market

Sorry about the lack of posts lately, but with Halloween and the KU-K State game this weekend, I haven't had a lot of time to make food. I am heading to Chicago for a little R&R this upcoming weekend, so I'll try to get some good recipes in before Friday. It's sad that I'll miss the final weekend of the Lawrence Farmer's Market and it's going to be hard to have to buy produce in the grocery store for the next six months. I am hoping that I can send my husband to the market on Saturday and that he'll pick up some good stuff for us (but you know husbands who don't cook....haha).

The list of food from this week: baby carrots (too cute!), green onions, cilantro, lettuce/salad mix, 2 cartons eggs, 2 lbs minute steak (it's basically cubed steak for Pioneer Woman's steak sandwiches), 3 lbs ground beef (I'm making meatballs this week), lb sweet Italian sausage, bok choy, radishes, apples, Roma tomatoes, honey wheat bread, two mini pies (that I forgot to put in the first pic)--sweet potato & pecan and some organic cayenne pepper.

My sweet potato pie was AMAZING (Chris got a bite) and I should look into making some this winter. I am really interested in the cayenne pepper. I have never used homemade cayenne pepper and usually use Dean & Deluca spices (worth the extra money), so I'll have to find a recipe using cayenne for this week.

For Halloween, we were the "cool house" and passed out full size candy bars to the kids. We ended up with some extra candy bars, so I might have to try to use them up in some desserts too.

Anyway, I hope everyone had a great Halloween and weekend!

Short Ribs Round 2

This is the second short rib recipe that I have tried since I started this blog. This one comes from the blog Simply Recipes that I have been following for awhile now. There are tons of great recipes on there, so be sure to check it the website. It's nice because you get rid of all the fat by skimming the cooking liquid the next day and reheating the ribs over the stove.

Elise's Short Rib Recipe