Rugelachs

December 13, 2014 / featherheadlady / Leave a comment

Every year, for nearly 30 years, my very good friend and I have a candy making, cookie baking marathon for the holidays. We used to do it over a three day weekend. Now that she recently joined the ranks of the retired we held our marathon over an entire week and we were able to go to lunch a couple times and even got a little shopping in. The real significance of our candy making, cookie baking bonanza is not just that we make the most beautiful, awesome tasting, melt in your mouth sweet treats. It’s really about two good friends in sync with one another in the kitchen. Over the years we have fallen into a comfortable routine. I make most all of the cookie shapes (balls, sticks, knots, cookie press) and my friend does the messy stuff (dipping in chocolate, rolling in nuts, powdered sugaring). We both make dough. We both do cleanup. Not everyone can work well with another person in the kitchen. And our ability to do that makes our Christmas goodies just a little more special.

We have cookie recipes that we have made forever. And every so often we experiment with a new recipe. A few years ago we started making the Rugelach and it has become one of our favorites.

Ingredients:

Dough

1 cup butter at room temperature

1 8-oz package cream cheese at room temperature

2 cups of flour

1/2 tsp salt

Filling

1 cup sugar

2 T cinnamon

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

(We make a double batch. Actually we make two double batches.)

In a stand mixer cream butter and cream cheese together. Combine the flour and salt and gradually add to the creamed mixture. Divide dough into fourths and roll into balls.

Wrap each ball in wax paper and refrigerate for one hour or more for easy handling.

Preheat oven to 350.

After dough has chilled roll out into approximately a 12 inch circle. Combine sugar and cinnamon. Brush each circle with the melted butter. Sprinkle with 3 T cinnamon sugar and then with 2 T chopped pecans. Cut each circle into 12 wedges.

(The dough circle pictured was small and was only cut into 8 wedges.)

Roll up wedges beginning with the wide end. Place pointed side down on ungreased baking sheet approximately 2 inches apart. Curve ends to form a crescent.

Bake for 24-26 minutes or until golden brown. Seems like a long time for cookies but they need to bake that long. Remove to wire racks to cool.

One of the secrets to really good baked goods is really good ingredients. Always use real butter, fresh, quality spices and chocolates.

Maybe one day our beautiful and amazing daughters will take over for us and we can wait anxiously to receive our cookie trays. That will be a happy day.

Caramel Corn

December 10, 2014 / featherheadlady / Leave a comment

More holiday nosh! This caramel corn is an irresistible, addictive sweet treat that’s easy to make. As a child I remember getting a box of cracker jacks and enjoying every bite of the molasses flavored, candy coated popcorn and peanuts AND finding the prize that was in every box. You might find a ring, stickers, plastic figurine, whistle, or a temporary tattoo. If any of you saved the toys from your cracker jacks they have become collectible and are probably worth a few coins. Whether or not this caramel corn makes you feel nostalgic I’m confident you’ll enjoy every last bite. And if you want to include a prize in every bag, well all the sweeter!

Ingredients:

16 cups popcorn (approximately 2 bags of microwave popcorn)

1 cup nuts (optional)

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp baking soda

(Sorry I open the brown sugar bag on the wrong end.)

Spread popcorn (and nuts if you’re using) on a greased jelly roll pan or in a large roasting pan. Try to pick out any unpopped kernels to save on dental work as you’re munching your caramel corn.

Preheat your oven to 250.

In a heavy saucepan combine sugar, butter, and corn syrup.

Cook and stir until mixture comes to a boil. Boil mixture for 5 minutes without stirring.

Remove from heat. With a wooden spoon stir in vanilla and baking soda stirring constantly.

After the addition of the vanilla and the baking soda the consistency of the mixture makes a dramatic change.

Pour the caramel over the popcorn and stir well to coat. Bake for 45 minutes stirring every 15 minutes.

Pour out onto freezer or parchment paper to cool. Spread out to separate. Store in air tight containers or sealed zip lock bags.

We made some with pecans and some with lightly salted cashews. You can use any kind of nut you prefer. Or you can go nutless. I have always used the light butter microwave popcorn but if you have a hot air popper or like to make your popcorn on the stove the old fashioned way it’s all good.

If you put a bowl of this out at your holiday party or while you’re watching a movie, I guarantee you it will be one of the first things to disappear. Prize or no prize. Enjoy!!

Very Chocolate Chocolate Fudge

December 9, 2014January 5, 2019 / featherheadlady / Leave a comment

One of my favorite holiday traditions is candy making and cookie baking with my very good friend of nearly 40 years. We’ve been doing it together so long we have an easy routine. Usually we start on a Friday evening and finish up our thousands, and I do mean thousands, of sugary sweet treats on Sunday evening. But this year my friend has joined the ranks of the retired and we are taking an entire week to do what we’ve always done in two and a half days. We always do our candy the first night. This year we are trying a new very chocolate chocolate fudge recipe that another friend shared with us. I cannot eat chocolate but all of the fudge samplers are confirming that the recipe switch was a good one.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1 14-oz can evaporated milk

4 1/2 cups sugar

1 8-oz bag miniature marshmallows

2 oz unsweetened chocolate

2 4-oz boxes semisweet chocolate

2 4-oz boxes German chocolate

1 T vanilla

2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)

Combine butter, milk and sugar in a heavy kettle. Stir over medium high heat until sugar dissolves. Continue cooking to a full boil. Turn off the heat and cover for five minutes.

Add marshmallows and stir until melted.

Break the chocolate up and add a few pieces at a time stirring until all of the chocolate is melted. Add the vanilla.

Pour into foil lined 9×13 pan. Make sure to butter the foil or spray with Pam. Let stand until cool.

Once the the fudge has cooled you can lift it out of the pan using the foil, cut into squares and enjoy.

My dining room table is groaning under the weight of all our candy!

Santa Fe Green Chili with Pork

December 7, 2014 / featherheadlady / Leave a comment

I haven’t blogged for a couple of weeks. I’ve been busy with the holidays and I had my 87 year old father visiting for a couple of wonderful weeks around Thanksgiving. My husband was bragging my blog up to my dad and my dad asked if I got paid for writing my recipes on the computer. I told him no, but one day my blog may make me famous. To which my dad replied, what good is being famous if you don’t make any money. Yup! Ever the practical Finn.

So the possibility of fame is the lead in to this particular blog entry. I entered a Chili Cookoff that was held today. I decided to make my Santa Fe Green Chili with pork. I call it my Santa Fe Chili because I purchased the green chili powder that I use in this recipe on one of our visits to Santa Fe. This is one of my favorite chili recipes! And a lot of the chili tasters also liked it. I’m proud to say I placed second in the competition. Hope you’ll like it too.

Chili, like many other soups, tastes best the second day. If possible I would recommend preparing it the day before you plan to eat it. In this particular recipe there is a notable positive difference with the flavors and heat the second day.

Ingredients:

2 pounds good lean ground pork

1 large onion diced

3-4 cloves of garlic minced

3-4 poblano peppers roasted, peeled and rough chopped

1-2 seeded and diced jalapeño pepper(s)

1 can mild green chilies diced

6 cups chicken broth

1 quart diced tomatoes

3 T dried oregano

1 T dried green chili powder

1 T cumin

salt to taste

2 cans cannellini beans drained and rinsed

2 15-oz cans yellow or white hominy drained and rinsed

1/4 cup (or more to taste) of fresh cilantro chopped

On top of your gas range or in your oven roast the peppers. Once the peppers have a good char put them in a bowl and cover with Saran Wrap until they are cool enough to peel and dice.

In a large heavy kettle cook the pork, onions and garlic until the pork is no longer pink.

I like to to strain out any grease after cooking and then return the meat and onions to the kettle.

Add the diced poblano peppers, jalapeños, and mild green chilies.

Add the oregano, cumin, green chili powder, and salt to taste. Stir in the chicken broth and diced tomatoes. Drain and rinse the beans and hominy and add to the kettle.

Bring the chili to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes.

Allow the chili to cool down and refrigerate overnight.

On the second day slowly heat the chili over medium heat. Chop the cilantro and stir into the chili.

Serve with fresh grated pepper jack cheese, thinly sliced green onions, and a little sour cream. Chili goes great with a nice slice of buttermilk cornbread. Cornbread recipe was previously blogged.

Thanks to all the folks at the chili Cookoff today who voted for my Santa Fe Green Chili! You gave me a brief moment of fame, a cookbook and a great apron!

Peanut Butter Cookies

November 18, 2014 / featherheadlady / Leave a comment

My dad is visiting and these are one of his favorite cookies. It’s funny because he would never eat a peanut butter sandwich or have peanut butter on his toast or on an apple. And a Reese Peanut Butter cup has never crossed his lips. But peanut butter cookies he loves. It was also opening day for deer hunters and my non-hunting husband goes to opening day deer camp fish fries every year so I always send cookies.

Peanut butter, chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin are my standbys. I like to freeze cookies 3-4 to a zip lock bag after they are cooled (unless of course they are all going to deer camp). They always taste fresh and I have something homemade on hand to serve with coffee or as a little dessert.

Preheat oven to 375

Cookie dough:

1 cup butter at room temperature

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Cream together butter, peanut butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla.

Whisk flour, baking soda and salt together.

With a wooden spoon stir the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture.

Once the dough is thoroughly combined use a cookie scoop and put on an un-greased cookie sheet. Use a fork dipped in white sugar and press to make ridges on each cookie.

Bake for 11 minutes. Remove to cooling racks. Enjoy!!

You can use smooth or chunky peanut butter, it’s a matter of personal preference. But I don’t recommend substituting oleo for the butter. Ever.

Everyone has their own favorites but I always use airbake cookie sheets. Especially when baking, it’s a good idea to have a thermometer in your oven to make sure the oven is at the proper temperature.

Barbecued Beef Brisket

November 18, 2014February 13, 2016 / featherheadlady / Leave a comment

I had a beautiful beef brisket from my organic farm and decided that would make a perfect Monday night dinner. My dad is spending a couple of weeks with us and he is pretty much a meat and potatoes kind of guy. I make a rub for my brisket, sear all sides and then make a wet sauce that has a little bit of a kick.

A friend once told me that her daughter and son-in-law were gourmet cooks and I asked her what exactly that meant. She said gourmet cooking means smaller portions on larger plates. There is a little truth to that I think. I looked up gourmet in the dictionary and one definition was “a connoisseur of fine food and drink”. A gourmand can also mean “one who enjoys food in great quantities or even a gluttonous eater”. It’s all subject to interpretation. I consider my brisket fine food and the IPA I enjoyed with it fine drink. And we are all pretty full if that constitutes gluttonous eating. You be the judge. But if someone asked me I would call our dinner tonight “plain home cooking”. Barbecued brisket, smashed potatoes and butter roasted carrots…it’s what was for dinner tonight.

Start out with a nice beef brisket.

Rub ingredients:

1/4 cup paprika

1 T chili powder

1 T cumin

1 T brown sugar

1 T kosher salt

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

fresh ground black pepper

With a little whisk or a fork thoroughly mix all of the rub ingredients together in a bowl. Rub spice mix on all sides of the meat.

Heat 2 T of olive oil in a heavy skillet or Dutch oven and sear all sides of the meat.

Preheat your oven to 325. Now you’re ready to make the barbecue sauce.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups ketchup (I always use Brooks)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup chopped onion (or more if you like)

3 T cider vinegar

3 T Worcestershire

2 chipotles in adobo sauce finely chopped (or more if you like)

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp black pepper

Chop your onion and chipotle peppers.

Combine all of the sauce ingredients and whisk together to combine.

Pour the sauce over your beautifully seared brisket, put the cover on your Dutch oven, and put it in the oven for approximately four hours.

You will want to flip the brisket over from one side to the other a couple times during the cooking process. Once it’s done remove it to a platter and let it rest a few minutes before slicing it against the grain. Serve with the barbecue sauce. We all had seconds!

If you’d rather be less “gourmet” you could make really awesome barbecued brisket sandwiches and serve them with chips and cole slaw or a little potato salad.

Citrus Vinegarette

November 17, 2014November 18, 2014 / featherheadlady / Leave a comment

A friend generously shared some salmon with us that he caught on a charter in Lake Michigan and I decided to cook it for dinner tonight. I prepared it very simply. I always soak fish in milk for 30 minutes or so. I dried the fish off, tossed it in a zip lock bag with a little flour, cornmeal, and lemon pepper and pan fried it in a cast iron skillet with a little canola oil and butter. Fish cooks very quickly so make sure the other components of your dinner are near ready when you start cooking your fish. But this post is about the citrus Vinegarette that I decided would be light, refreshing and would add a little interest to the salmon.

Vinegarette Ingredients:

1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice

1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice

1 T honey

1 medium shallot minced

2 T fresh parsley chopped

5 T olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Combine the orange, lemon and lime juices in a small sauce pan and simmer until reduced by half.

Pour the citrus reduction into a bowl to cool. Meanwhile, mince the shallot and parsley.

Once the the reduction has cooled whisk in the honey, shallots and parsley and salt and pepper.

Slowly pour in the olive oil while whisking.

Drizzle a tablespoon of the Vinegarette over each piece of salmon and put the Vinegarette on the table so you can add more if desired.

Oven roasted potatoes, Brussels sprouts and pan fried salmon with citrus Vinegarette. It’s what was for dinner.

Any left over Vinegarette will be great served as a dressing for salad.

Rigatoni with Goat Cheese, Sausage and Summer Squash

November 11, 2014 / featherheadlady / Leave a comment

This pasta dish has few ingredients but the flavor combination is perfect. The goat cheese and spicy sausage give this dish a very rich grown up taste. It’s a dish that will impress guests when served with some good bread and a nice crisp salad. I have made this a couple of times and it’s received rave reviews. And if there are leftovers they reheat nicely.

Ingredients:

1 pound dried rigatoni noodles

3 T olive oil

1 pound hot Italian sausage

1/3 cup thinly sliced shallots

3-4 cloves of garlic minced

4 zucchini and/or yellow summer squash diced

6 oz goat cheese crumbled

1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

1/4 cup asiago cheese shredded

Cook pasta according to package instructions.

In a heavy skillet heat 1 T of olive oil. Remove the casings and break up sausage and cook over medium heat until no longer pink.

Remove the sausage to a strainer over a plate and allow the fat to drain off. Remove most of the fat from the skillet. Add 2 T of olive oil and and cook the shallots and garlic over medium low heat until tender, 1-2 minutes.

Increase the heat a little and add the cubed squash and cook 3-5 minutes. Add the sausage back into the skillet and keep warm.

Set aside 1/2 cup of the pasta water. Drain the pasta and stir into the sausage, squash mixture. Over medium heat toss the pasta and sausage. Add the pasta water a little at a time…continue adding to keep the pasta moist. Heat for 3-5 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the goat cheese and parsley. Toss until the cheese melts and coats the rigatoni. Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle with the grated asiago.

Voila! It’s that simple. Isn’t that a beautiful dish! I served this and a red pasta dish together. Always trying to make sure there is something for everyone. Everyone choose BOTH dishes.

You could use penne pasta for this recipe if that’s what you have on hand. I think the next time I make this I will add some mushrooms along with the squash. Both of my pasta dishes had generous amounts of garlic. No vampires in our house! But you can rein the garlic back if you’d like. I always consider recipes, particularly for savory dishes, as a template that invites us to make modifications and personalize the dish.

Rigatoni with goat cheese, it’s what was for dinner last night AND tonight.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

November 10, 2014 / featherheadlady / Leave a comment

My brother and sister-in-law and her parents were visiting this weekend to celebrate her birthday. I wanted to make her something special and different from a typical birthday cake. I looked through my stash of recipes torn from my cooking magazines and came across Emeril Lagasse’s Pumpkin Cheesecake with Bourbon Spiked Cream. Well, I love pumpkin, I love cheesecake and I love bourbon so I’m thinking this looks promising. This looks like something my sister-in-law would love as much as me. And she would love me for making it for her. It’s definitely a day before recipe which is a good thing when you’re having guests. It was relatively easy to make. The instructions have you mixing most of it in a food processor but if you don’t have one a good stand mixer would work fine. Pumpkin cheesecake, it’s what was for dessert tonight. Happy birthday sister!

For the crust:

1 1/2 cups of vanilla wafer crumbs (about 45 crushed wafers)

1 cup of pecans, ground

1 stick unsalted butter

For the Cheesecake:

2 pounds cream cheese, cubed and at room temperature

1 cup packed light brown sugar

6 large eggs

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup all purpose flour

pinch of salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups canned pure pumpkin

Preheat at the oven to 350.

Combine the crumbs, ground pecans and melted butter in a bowl. Press into the bottom of a 12-inch springform pan. (I happen to have a square springform pan that I love.)

In your food processor fitted with the metal blade mix the cream cheese until smooth.

Add the brown sugar and process until blended. Add the eggs, one at a time, processing until fully incorporated. Next blend in the heavy cream. Add the flour, salt, cinnamon and vanilla and blend until smooth. Add the pumpkin and blend until smooth. Pour the filling over the crust in your springform pan.

Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the cheesecake is just set. Remove from the oven. Use a knife to loosen the cake from the sides of the pan to prevent the center from cracking. Let the cake cool completely before slicing. I refrigerated mine when it had completely cooled.

Now for the bourbon whipped cream.

2 cups of heavy whipping cream

dash of bourbon

2 T sugar

Stir the dash of bourbon into the cream. Whip the cream until soft peaks form gradually adding in the sugar as you whip. I think my “dash” was a little heavy handed but please “season to taste.”

A piece of good cheesecake is a thing of beauty. Happy birthday!

Candy Bottles

November 9, 2014 / featherheadlady / Leave a comment

These make simple, inexpensive and fun gifts for any occasion. When we empty bottles of adult beverages I remove the labels and thoroughly wash the bottles. I use painters tape to define the area I want to paint and paint it with chalkboard paint. The quart of paint I bought goes a LONG way. Share it with a friend. It usually requires two or three coats. Once the paint is completely dry remove the tape. Fill the bottles with candy (m&ms, skittles, jelly bellies, Reese pieces…you get the idea). Write on the chalk board! A love note, the name of the candy, “happy birthday.”

Your friends and family will love this “homemade” gift!!