Food & Recipes: November 2011 Archives

Time to throw away the fruitcake recipes. With Christmas baking season just around the corner, Julie brings in three delicious new ideas for your holiday cookie exchange.

Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chip & Pretzel Bars

3/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1-2 cups chocolate chunks or chips
1 1/2 cups mini pretzel twists, coarsely broken (divided)
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350°F and butter a 9×13" pan.

In a large bowl, beat the butter with both sugars at until light and 
fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Add the flour, baking soda and 
salt and stir until almost combined; add the chocolate chips and 1 cup 
of the pretzel pieces and stir just until blended.

Spread the batter evenly in the pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, until 
golden. In a small bowl or saucepan, melt the peanut butter and 
chocolate chips in the microwave or over low heat, stirring until 
smooth. Sprinkle the bars with the remaining crushed pretzel pieces 
and drizzle with the peanut butter-chocolate mixture. Let cool until 
set, then cut into squares or bars.

Nutella Brownies with Hazelnuts & Dried Cherries

adapted from epicurious

1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup Nutella
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts, toasted
1/2 cup dried cherries

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°F and butter an 8x8" pan.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter, chocolate chips and Nutella over 
low heat, stirring until smooth. Scrape into a medium bowl and let 
cool slightly. Whisk in the sugar and eggs. In a small bowl, stir 
together the flour, baking powder and salt; add to the chocolate 
mixture and stir just until combined. Stir in the toasted hazelnuts 
and dried cherries.

Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake in the middle of the oven 
for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a tester comes out with moist crumbs 
adhering to it. Cool brownies completely in the pan. Makes 16 squares.

Skibo Castle Ginger Crunch

from Gourmet, December 1999

Shortbread base:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into pieces

Topping:
1/3 cup butter
1 Tbsp. Lyle's or Roger's Golden Syrup (British cane sugar syrup)
1 cup icing sugar
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°F and butter a 9x13" metal baking pan.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, 
ginger and salt and blend in the butter with your fingertips until the 
mixture resembles coarse meal. Press evenly into bottom of the pan 
(base will be thin). Bake in middle of oven until golden and crisp, 20 
to 25 minutes.

Make topping just before shortbread is done: Melt the butter in a 
small saucepan and whisk in the remaining ingredients until smooth. 
Bring to a boil and simmer, stirring, 30 seconds.

Remove shortbread from oven and pour topping over, tilting pan and 
using a spatula to cover shortbread evenly. Cool in pan on a rack, 
then cut into small rectangles or break into shards. Makes about 64 
pieces.

Cinnamon Bun Crunch Icebox Cookies

Dough:
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

Filling:
2 Tbsp. liquid honey
2 Tbsp. packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 Tbsp. finely chopped walnuts or pecans

In a medium bowl, beat butter, sugar and brown sugar with an electric 
mixer for 1 minute, until well combined. Beat in egg white and vanilla 
until smooth.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Add to the sugar 
mixture and stir by hand just until you have a soft dough.

Roll the dough between two sheets of waxed paper into a 12-inch 
square. Place on a cookie sheet in the fridge for about 30 minutes or 
in the freezer for about 15 minutes. Remove dough from the fridge and 
peel off the top layer of waxed paper.

Drizzle honey evenly over the dough, then sprinkle with brown sugar, 
cinnamon and nuts, going almost to the edges. Gently roll into a log, 
peeling back the bottom paper as you go. Wrap in waxed paper or 
plastic wrap and freeze for 3 hours, or up to 3 months.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Slice the log into 
1/4-inch slices and place 1-inch apart on a cookie sheet that has been 
sprayed with non-stick spray. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until pale 
golden. Let cool on the sheet for a few minutes before transferring to 
a wire rack to cool.

     Per cookie: 52 calories, 1.5 g fat (0.2 g saturated fat, 0.9 g 
monounsaturated fat, 0.3 g polyunsaturated fat), 9.1 g carbohydrates, 
0 mg cholesterol, 44.2 mg sodium, 0.2 g fiber. 26% calories from fat.

A special thanks to Linda Johnsen (@LJohnsen), who was our 2000th follower on Twitter! As our way of saying thanks, we invited Linda in for breakfast with Julie today.

On today's show, Julie dove into her spice rack for some recipe inspiration.

Tonka Bean Shortbread

3/4 cup butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg yolk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. finely grated Tonka bean (optional - experiment with 
different spices, too!)

In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar and salt with an electric 
mixer for 2 minutes, until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolk and 
vanilla.

Add the flour and grated Tonka bean and stir just until you have a 
soft dough. Shape it into two logs, wrap and refrigerate for an hour 
(or up to a few days) or freeze for up to 6 months.

When ready to bake, slice 1/4" thick and bake on a parchment-lined 
sheet at 350F for 15 minutes, or until pale golden around the edges. 
Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Spice Crusted Ham

Adapted from Gourmet, April 2001

1 6-8 lb. fully cooked shank or butt end ham
4 garlic cloves
1 tsp. fine sea salt
1 Tbsp. whole coriander seeds
1 Tbsp. mixed peppercorns (containing black, pink, white, and green 
peppercorns but not allspice)
1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp. butter, softened

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Remove any thick skin from ham and all but 
about a 3/4-inch layer of fat.

Mince and mash the garlic with salt to a paste. Coarsely grind the 
coriander and peppercorns with a mortar & pestle or in a coffee/spice 
grinder and stir in the garlic paste, flour and butter.

Put the ham, cut side down, into a roasting pan or large cast iron 
skillet. Spread the spice paste all over the ham. Bake in middle of 
oven until crust is golden and the ham is heated through - about 1 1/2 
hours. Let stand 15 minutes before slicing.

Julie brings us a soup that's guaranteed to help ward off colds and flu.

Mulligatawny Soup

1 small roasted chicken (a deli rotisserie chicken works well)
1 onion
canola or olive oil, for cooking
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 fresh jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed or chopped
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 Tbsp curry paste or powder
1 tsp cumin
1-2 cups cooked chickpeas (half to a full 19 oz can, rinsed and drained)
1 tsp salt
1 14 oz (398 mL) can coconut milk (optional)
1 tart apple (such as granny Smith), finely chopped

steamed rice, for serving with
chopped cilantro and/or chopped salted peanuts, for garnish (optional)

Pull the meat off the roasted chicken, eat the crispy skin and put the 
carcass and bones into a saucepan. Set the meat aside and just barely 
cover the carcass with water. Peel the onion and add the outer layers 
of skin to the pan. Bring to a simmer and cook for about half an hour. 
Strain into a bowl or pot and set aside. You should have 4-6 cups of 
stock.

Meanwhile, chop the onion and sauté it in a drizzle of oil in a large 
soup pot set over medium-high heat. Add the carrots, celery, jalapeño, 
garlic and ginger and cook for a few minutes, until soft. Add the 
curry paste, cumin and chickpeas and cook for another minute or two.

Add the chicken stock, salt and chopped chicken and bring to a simmer. 
Cook for about ten minutes, then add the coconut milk and apple and 
heat through.

Put a scoop of rice into each bowl and ladle the soup overtop. If you 
like, sprinkle with cilantro and/or chopped peanuts. Serves 6-8.