Category Archives: Friday Food Fight

Spinach Empanadas

Posted on by Run DMT
13

PhotobucketThree weeks after my wisdom teeth extraction and I’m still on a forced soft foods diet and probably will be for another three weeks since my steenky holes are slow to heal and still pretty sensitive. *sigh*

Besides losing weight, another upside to my soft diet is that it’s forcing Iron Chef Allan and me to think beyond our family favorite menu staples.  During the process, we’ve dusted off some long forgotten cookbooks to find new dishes to try.  This Williams-Sonoma Spinach Empanada recipe was found in one of those dusty old cookbooks, The Best of Taste.  While rediscovering this cookbook, I found a few more recipes I’d like to sink my teeth gums into and if they’re tasty, you’ll find them here on Fridays for my weekly Friday Food Fight.

Although the recipe calls for pastry dough, I opted to use the empanada dough found in the freezer section of my supermarket.

Oh and see those yummy crispy edges?  Um yeah, about that…I couldn’t eat that part but the dough and filling was yummy for my gummy!

Spinach Empanadas

Ingredients

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 red onion, finely chopped

1 Tbsp garlic, finely chopped

2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced

½ lb spinach, chopped

¼ cup pine nuts

1 hard-boiled egg, peeled and chopped

½ tsp ground nutmeg

Salt

Fresh ground pepper

1 package of frozen empanada dough (10 count)

Directions

In skillet, heat olive oil over a medium heat.  Cook onion until soft, stirring often.  Add garlic and cook for about 1 minute.

Add tomatoes and cook until softened, about five minutes.

Add pine nuts and spinach.

Cook until spinach wilts, about five minutes.  Remove from heat.  Stir in chopped egg and nutmeg. Salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat oven to 350.

Spray baking sheet lightly with cooking spray.  Using a slotted spoon, add 1 Tbsp of filling to each round.

Lay on flat surface and fold dough in half.  Pinch edges with fork prongs to seal.

Carefully move filled empanada to baking sheet and brush with olive oil.  Then, repeat steps with remaining empanada rounds.

Bake for 25 minutes or until slightly golden brown on edges.

Serve plain, with side of aioli or a dash of Tabasco hot sauce. (I served mine with a cup of homemade tomato soup, but I’ll tell you all about that next week.)
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Thanks for joining our weekly Friday Food Fight! Can’t wait to see what everyone is flinging this week!


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Chicken Pot Stickers for Chinese New Year

Posted on by Run DMT
6

PhotobucketGung Hay Fat Choy!

Did you know that Chinese New Year is a 15-day long celebration?

That’s 15 more reasons to eat Chinese food!

Of course, I didn’t cook 15 Chinese dishes, but I did serve my family Chinese Chicken Pot Stickers this week, which are always a huge hit with my family.

The preparation is a bit time consuming (about an hour), but if my whole family eats without complaint, then it’s totally worth it.

I’ve modified the Steamy Kitchen recipe to include ground chicken, because we prefer chicken and we typically don’t eat pork.  Also, my local supermarket doesn’t carry dumpling skins, so I use wonton wraps, which seem to work fine.  The pleating part gets a bit tricky, though.

Of course using the wonton wrappers, I make way more dumplings than my family could ever eat in one sitting, but they are great leftovers.

One of these days I’ll visit an Asian market to buy dumpling skins to make real Chinese Pot Stickers.  But for now, this will have to do.  Like I said already, it works and it’s just as tasty too.

(By the way, that’s Hot and Sour Soup in the background from our local Chinese take-out restaurant.  I have yet to learn how to make that.)

 

Chinese Chicken Pot Stickers

Ingredients
1 package of frozen dumpling skins, defrosted overnight in refrigerator or 40 minutes room temp (Do not microwave or set in water.)
1 pound ground chicken
3 stalks green onions, cut into 2 inch sections
1/2 cup canned bamboo shoots, drained and rinsed
1 garlic clove
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 tablespoon rice wine (or dry sherry)
2 Tbsp canola oil
¼ cup water

For the slurry
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup water in a small bowl water

Dipping Sauce
1 teaspoon Asian chili sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar

Directions
In a food processor, add the chicken, green onions, garlic, ginger and bamboo shoots and pulse several times.  Then, in a large bowl, combine soy sauce, salt, cornstarch, ginger, rice wine.  Add chicken mixture and combine well.

Spoon 1 teaspoon of the filling onto dumpling skin. With your finger, dab a bit of the cornstarch slurry around the edges of the dumpling skin. Fold over and press to secure edges. Make sure edges are sealed tightly. Shape the dumpling so that it has a flat bottom. Cover loosely with plastic wrap so that it doesn’t dry out.

When ready to cook, heat a large nonstick pan with canola oil over medium-high heat.  (I use an electric griddle.) When the oil is hot but not smoking, add the dumplings, flat side down to the pan. Let fry for 1 minute until the bottoms are light golden brown.

Pour 1/4 cup of water into the pan and immediately cover with a tight fitting lid. Turn heat to medium and let the dumplings steam for 3 minutes. Open lid and let the remaining liquid cook off about 1 minute. Cut into a dumpling to make sure that the filling is cooked through.

Remove to plate covered with paper towel to drain excess oil and water.

Wipe the pan clean with paper towels (or wash) and repeat with remaining dumplings.

Serve with dipping sauce. (Serves 6-8)

Thanks for joining our weekly Friday Food Fight.  Link up and see what everyone else is flinging this week.  



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Sesame Noodles for Chinese New Year

Posted on by Run DMT
22

PhotobucketGung Hay Fat Choy!

It’s Chinese New Year!  The year of the Dragon!

We started our Chinese New Year festivities with a potluck play date at the park with our friends.  Everyone brought a Chinese entrée to share and everything so delicious.  We had dumplings, doughnuts, a variety of noodles, fried rice, orange chicken and of course fortune cookies.

Emmalynn insisted on wearing her Mulan costume for the occasion.

The kids decorated dragon masks and made lanterns, which Allana loved almost as much as the dumplings.

For the potluck portion of the program, I brought Sesame Noodles to share.  This dish is so simple and tasty served either warm or cold as a side dish or a main entrée.

The Rachel Ray recipe I use calls for angel hair pasta but I prefer spaghetti for this dish, so I sent hubby to the store to buy the ingredients for me.  He returned with spaghetti rigata.  Um…ok! At least it wasn’t linguini!  Actually, hubby’s mistake worked perfectly because spaghetti rigata noodles are square and resemble lo mein noodles.  (This is where Iron Chef Allan would chime in to tell me that was his intention all along.)

 

Sesame Noodles

(Adapted from Classic Rachel Ray 30-Minute Meals)

Ingredients

1 pound capellini (angle hair) or spaghetti rigatta

¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce

2 Tbsp tahini

2 Tbsp toasted sesame seed oil

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 inch gingerroot, peeled and grated or ½ tsp ground ginger

3 scallions, chopped

1 large carrot, grated

Toasted sesame seeds for garnish (optional)

Crushed red pepper flakes for garnish (optional)

Directions

Bring a large stock pot of salted water to a rolling boil and then add pasta.  Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine soy sauce, tahini, sesame oil, cayenne, garlic and ginger.  Whisk until smooth.

Drain pasta and immediately chill in a large bowl of ice water to blanch pasta and prevent further cooking.

Drain and dump chilled pasta into bowl with sauce and combine until noodles are evenly coated.  Add veggies and toss to combine.

Serve in soup bowls garnished with some extra sliced greens of scallions, sesame seeds and a little crushed red pepper.

Thanks for joining our weekly Friday Food Fight.  Link up and see what everyone else is flinging this week.  



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Chicken Salsa Soup

Posted on by Run DMT
8

PhotobucketA few weeks ago, as part of our New Year’s resolution, Iron Chef Allan and I thought it would be fun to have soup for dinner on Sundays, which we would appropriately call “Soup Sundays”.  Original and clever, I know.

Our Soup Sundays would help us spice our usual menus by trying some recipe as well as returning some forgotten favorites into the mix.  Upon our first installment of Soup Sunday, we decided to try a new recipe and Rachel Ray’s Chicken Salsa Soup.

Does anyone tear recipes out of magazines and store them into a notebook?  Well, this particular recipe had been tucked away in my notebook for a couple years.  Such a sin, because this soup is too delicious not to try!  And it was a perfectly delicious pick to start our Soup Sundays!

We modified the soup recipe by adding chicken breast instead of thighs, because we don’t like dark meat.

Also, before you start the soup, you have to make the Rachel Ray’s Salsa Fresca.  It’s the base for the soup, but it is also delicious with tortilla chips or as topping to any Tex-Mex dish.  There’s a ton of cilantro in it, which I love, because you can never have too much cilantro in salsa!

Rachel Ray’s Salsa Fresca (Borrowed from Everyday with Rachel Ray Magazine.)

Ingredients

1 cup packed coarsely chopped cilantro

2 cloves garlic

½  onion, coarsely chopped

1 jalapeño chile, halved lengthwise

2 ½ pounds ripe tomatoes (7 or 8), cored and quartered

Juice of 1 lime

Salt

Directions

Using a food processor, pulse the cilantro and garlic together for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides, add the onion and jalapeño and pulse until finely chopped; transfer to a medium bowl.

Working in batches, add the tomatoes to the food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add to the cilantro mixture. Stir in the lime juice; season with salt.

Rachel Ray’s Chicken Salsa Soup (Borrowed from Everyday with Rachel Ray Magazine.)

Ingredients

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 head garlic, cloves finely chopped

2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts

One 32-ounce container (4 cups) chicken broth

1 ½ cups Salsa Fresca

Salt

1 avocado, thinly sliced lengthwise (optional)

1 cup chopped cilantro (optional)

¼ cup sour cream (optional)

Directions

In a large Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 3 minutes. Add the chicken breast and broth, bring to a boil and simmer for 4 minutes. Stir in 1 cup salsa, cover and remove from the heat. Let stand until the chicken is cooked through, about 45 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and shred.

Return the broth to a simmer; season with salt. Add shredded chicken to pot.

When ready to serve soup, top each bowl with avocado, cilantro, sour cream and remaining salsa.

Now link up and see what If I Could Escape and Gone Bananas are flinging for this week’s Friday Food Fight.  



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Mini Caprese Salad Skewers

Posted on by Run DMT
9

PhotobucketSome days on a healthy kick and some days I kick healthy eating habits to the curb.  Healthy eating was definitely curbed from October to December, which you probably observed if you follow this blog.

The week after Christmas, I decided was to get back on the healthy wagon and it started on New Year’s Eve.  So when our friends invited us to their home to ring in the New Year, I wanted to bring a dish that would help ring in a healthy New Year.

I’ve read that the best way to control your eating habits and not kill your diet at potluck parties is to 1) eat before your show-up and 2) bring a healthy option to share.

But what healthy dish would I share that wouldn’t spoil the evening?

With a quick Google search for “healthy appetizers”, I found a dish on Eating Well that looked good and would most certainly taste good.  Plus, this dish would spare our wallet because our local supermarket, Publix, had grape tomatoes as a “buy one, get one” special that week and I already had mini bamboo skewers. (Total coast of this dish cost for me was $9.48.) With this dish, we would be starting the New Year by saving money and calories!  WOOHOO!

Mini Caprese Salad Skewers

Ingredients (adapted from Eating Well)

16 mini fresh mozzarella balls

16 grape tomatoes, sliced into halves (I used red and yellow just for presentation purposes.)

10 fresh basil leaves, torn

Kosher salt, to taste

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Extra-virgin olive oil, to drizzle

Balsamic vinegar to drizzle

Directions

Thread one half grape tomato, basil, mozzarella and other of the tomato onto skewer.  Then repeat step so that each skewer has two servings of a mini Caprese salad.

Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt and fresh ground pepper just prior to serving.

(Makes 32 servings)

BTW…This dish was so easy to assemble even Emmalynn got in on the act.

 

Now link up and see what If I Could Escape and Gone Bananas are flinging for this week’s Friday Food Fight.  



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Best of Friday Food Fight- 2011 Edition

Posted on by Run DMT
13

PhotobucketWhen Karen, Kirsten and I began co-hosting Friday Food Fight for over a year ago, I would have never considered myself “foodie” and it stuns me when someone uses that adjective to describe me.  Me? Foodie?   I mean, I love food and all but I’m not like Julia Childs or anything.

For years, my DH, Iron Chef Allan, did most of the cooking in our house.  Anytime I attempted to cook, he stepped in and took over and honestly, I was happy he did.  Cooking was always a chore for me, like laundry or ironing.  But when his work schedule changed, I found myself preparing most of the meals out of necessity.  After all, we needed to eat.  With a twist of fate and a twist of lime, I learned I could cook and what I produced was pretty darn tasty.

Through a year of Friday Food Fights, I’ve discovered a new appreciation for food through preparing meals and photographing them.  So I suppose, in some sense of the word that does make me foodie.  I’ll take it, like some yummy take-out food.

And speaking of yummy food, I present to you The Best Friday Food Fight 2011 Edition!

Best Breakfast Food - Although Iron Chef Allan’s makes some pretty spectacular pancakes, I found my thrill on a hill of blueberry scones made with fresh picked blueberries.

Best Running Fuel Food – The protein and carbs in Lentils and Pasta packs a lot of punch to go the miles.  Just remember to take some Gas Ex so you don’t toot while you trot.

Best Snack/Appetizer – My hummus is always a huge hit.  If anyone ever catches onto how easy it is to make, my popularity will stale like an old bag of chips.

Best Soup - Soup is love because it warms your innards from your head to your toes and in the winter months, this hearty Chicken Sausage and Cannellini Bean Stew is always simmering on our stove.  We’ve even taken a batch camping.

Best Sandwich – Fo’ Sure it had to be Shrimp Po’Boy.

Simplest Dish - Even when it appears there’s nothing in the house to eat, you can guarantee I have all the ingredients in my pantry to make this oh-so-simple-pasta sauce which pairs nicely with any pasta.

Best Pasta Dish – You know it has to be good when your food is featured on Today Show- Food.  I just made some Baked Penne with Eggplant and Chicken Sausage a couple weeks ago and froze half for dinner another night.  Mmmmmm…Maybe tonight is the night?

Best Use of Leftovers – This was a tough call for me.  I love leftover roasted chicken for chicken salad, but then I love leftover Thanksgiving turkey for turkey enchiladas.  I’ll let you be the judge.

Strangest Combination – I’m referring to the “Healthy” Chicken and Waffles, of course and not my SIL and me.

Best Themed Meal – Although my kids weren’t to pleased with the Green Eggs and Ham, I still earned an star upon thar for my effort.

Spookiest Dish- Any dish that looks at you while you’re eating it has to be pretty spooky in my book.  Mummy Pizza were a perfect spooky, fun food for Halloween.

Best Dessert – Hands down, it had to be the Frostbitten Red Velvet Brownie Bites.  Between how easy they were to bake to the presentation, I impressed myself!

Best Beverage- Just looking at this frosty, cold margarita has me craving one again. Is it 5:00 yet?

What was your favorite Friday Food Fight post?  Which dish are you craving to see again?

Link up and share your favorite Friday Food Fight post and while you’re here see, what If I Could Escape and Gone Bananas are flinging for this week.



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Sweet Tooth Friday

Frostbitten Red Velvet Brownie Bites

Posted on by Run DMT
10

PhotobucketGrowing up with two very New York City slicker parents, there were only two desserts I can remember: NY Style Cheesecake and a some type of coffee (pronounced “cawfee”) cake.  That’s it.

It wasn’t until I started teaching in the rural and very southern small town of Dade City that I first tasted Red Velvet Cake.  Upon that first forkful, it was love at first bite.  I don’t know if it was the bright red color or the cream cheese icing that hooked me, but as far as desserts go, red velvet is still one of my favorites.

And speaking of favorites, my favorite time-waster past time of late is Pinterest, which is where I happened up this beautiful notion of Red Velvet Brownie Bites.  What the…? A brownie AND  Red Velvet?  Surely, you can’t be serious! (I am serious and don’t call me Shirley.)

Well of course, I had to give this recipe a go and it was a delicious as it sounds.  It was love at first bite (or two… or three) all over again.

 

 

Frostbitten Red Velvet Brownie Bites (Borrowed from A Farm’s Girl’s Dabble)

Ingredients for the red velvet brownies
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, diced
3 oz. bittersweet chocolate chips
1 ½ cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp salt
2 Tbsp liquid red food coloring
1 cup flour
½ tsp baking powder

Ingredients for cream cheese frosting
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
4 Tbsp butter, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
1 ½ cup sifted powdered sugar
White cake sparkles

Directions for brownies
Preheat oven to 325°.

Using non-stick aluminum foil, fold a 16″ long piece of foil to a 9″x16″ strip and place in 9″x9″ metal baking pan, leaving overhang on two sides.  Repeat with another sheet of foil the same size in the opposite direction to line pan completely.

Stir butter and chocolate in heavy large saucepan over very low heat until chocolate is melted.  Remove from heat.  Whisk in sugar and then eggs one at a time.  Stir in vanilla, salt and food coloring.  Sift flour and baking powder over mixture and stir to blend well.  Transfer batter to prepared pan.

Bake brownies until puffed and dry-looking or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with some moist batter attached (about 30 to 35 minutes). Cool completely in pan on rack.

Directions for icing

Prepare the frosting by beating the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy.  Add vanilla and lightly mix. Then add the sifted powdered sugar and beat to combine.

Using the foil as an aid, lift brownies from pan and place on cutting board.  Peel foil down away from the sides of brownies. Spread cream cheese frosting evenly over brownies.  Sprinkle with white cake sparkles. Cut into bites 1-1/4″ x 1-1/4″.  To achieve clean cuts, wipe the knife after each slice.

Yields approximately 50 brownie bites.

 

Now link up and see what If I Could Escape and Gone Bananas are flinging for this week’s Friday Food Fight.  


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Peppermint Shortbread

Posted on by Run DMT
7

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Last Sunday, my mom, my sister and I held our annual Christmas cookie baking day.  For our annual cookie challenge, my electric mixer churns all day long to produce dozens of delightful treats and every year I surprise myself.

My baking has come a long way since the days of slice and bake cookies.  My friend, Chrissy, still teases me about the time I tried to pull off store-bought Snickerdoodle break-apart cookies as my own at a cookie swap.  Yep, I used to be that person.

But not these days!  Now, I’m like Betty Crocker whipping out batches of cookies and I’m certainly not intimidated to try new cookie recipes.    No more break-apart necessary!

Plus, the best part about making my own from scratch is that I know exactly what ingredients are in each batch.  There’s no hydrogenated oil or artificial flavor.  Just some sticks of good ol’ fashion butter!

Since I’m not scared to try new cookie recipes, I decided to give Publix’s Peppermint Shortbread a whirl.  This recipe was featured in the Publix’s Grape Winter 2011 magazine, which is currently on display on the kiosk at the front of the store.

Of course, Publix’s recipe called for 1 cup (2 sticks) butter because every good shortbread needs lots of butter.  However the recipe didn’t call for salt, which I thought was odd since cookies are typically made with unsalted butter.  So, I consulted Iron Chef Allan the Joy of Cooking to compare shortbread recipes.  Sure enough, Joy’s recipe stated unsalted butter and ¼ tsp of salt.

Not a difficult recipe by any means and the results are delicious!  And look at the presentation!  How pretty and festive!  I impress myself sometimes!

 

Peppermint Shortbread

Ingredients

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

¼ cup sugar

¼ tsp salt

¼ cup crushed peppermint candies

1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut up

½ tsp peppermint extract

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 325.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking sheets.

In a large bowl, lightly combine the flour, sugar, salt and crushed candies.  Then, pour dry ingredients in electric mixer.  Add cut up butter and peppermint extract.  Combine on a low speed until mixture resembles fine crumbs.

Remove bowl from mixer.  Use your hands to bring mixture together and shape into a ball. (The warmth of your hands will soften the butter and help mixture come together.)

Divide dough into half.  On the prepared baking sheet pat each dough half into 6-inch circles about ½ inch thick.  If desired, flute the edges with a fork and prick each dough circle several times with prongs.  Cut each dough circle into 8 wedges (like a pizza) but do not separate the wedges.

Bake about 20 minutes or center appears set.  Cool on baking sheet on a wire cooling rack for 5 minutes.  Slice wedges again while warm.  Remove wedges from baking sheet and place on wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 16 wedges.

Note: The next time I make these cookies, I’ll split the dough into two loaves instead of two circles and then cut 2 inch bars into the loaves prior to baking.  By doing this, it will offer more than 16 servings, which is necessary for a Christmas cookie swap.  And speaking of Christmas cookie recipe swaps, don’t miss this one!

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Now link up and see what If I Could Escape and Gone Bananas are flinging for this week’s Friday Food Fight.  



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Pumpkin Biscotti

Posted on by Run DMT
7

PhotobucketLast Friday, I blogged about The Great Pumpkin Palooza for Thanksgiving!  This was no joke.  Iron Chef Allan and I really did bake an unbelievable amount of pumpkin goodies.  I have enough material for four more Friday Food Fights, but I’ll spare you the pumpkin, because it’s Christmas and I’m ready to move onto some peppermint goodies.

Well, maybe just one more pumpkin treat because these pumpkin biscotti were so yummy.  All right then, I’ll share one more pumpkin treat with you because it is Christmas.  And then, next week no pumpkin for you!

I found this recipe and all things pumpkin at My Baking Addiction.  The white chocolate drizzle compliments the pumpkin pie flavor nicely, however, these pumpkin biscotti have a chewy center rather than a crunchy center like most biscotti.  Perhaps it should be called Pumpkin Pie Biscotti because then you might anticipate a moist center.  That’s what she said.  Either way, this biscotti is a tasty Thanksgiving snack while sip your coffee.

 

 

Pumpkin Biscotti (from My Baking Addiction)

Ingredients
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
½  tsp salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
½ cup pumpkin puree
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp butter
1 ¼  cup nuts, coarsely chopped (I used almonds.)
White chocolate chips (optional)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350*F.

Combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice in a large bowl; stir well. In another bowl, combine pumpkin, eggs, and vanilla, stirring well with a wire whisk. Slowly add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened. Mixture will be very crumbly.  It will gradually become moist after stirring.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add nuts. Cook, stirring constantly, until nuts are browned. Remove from heat and cool completely.

Knead or gently stir cooled nuts into dough. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and divide into 2 portions. Lightly flour hands and shape each portion into a 2 x 10″ long log. Place logs 3″ apart on lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for 24 minutes; cool logs 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300 F.

After some cooling, move a loaf to a cutting board and cut diagonally into 1/2″ thick pieces. Do the same to the other loaf. The interior of each biscotti should still be just a little moist (while the exterior is nice and hard). The crust of the loaf will probably be quite hard, so use a large serrated knife such as a bread knife for this job.

Place the biscotti with a cut side facing up on a half sheet pan and bake for 8 minutes. Remove the pan and flip all the biscotti over so the other cut side is now facing up. Bake for another 7 minutes. Set all the pieces on a wire rack to cool making sure that none of the biscotti are touching each other. If the biscotti are placed too close together, they could get a little soft or soggy as they cool.

Once the biscotti have fully cooled, they can be consumed as, white chocolate dipped or drizzle with white chocolate.

For a white chocolate drizzle, melt some white chocolate chips and add the melted chocolate in a Ziploc bag.  Cut a small opening in one corner and drizzle it across the biscotti.

The biscotti tastes best during the first few days, but will keep for up to a month in a sealed air-tight container.

 

Now link up and see what If I Could Escape and Gone Bananas are flinging for this week’s Friday Food Fight.  And while you’re here, feel free to toss share your cookies at The Ultimate Virtual Christmas Cookie Recipe Swap.  



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Pumpkin Ale Cupcakes

Posted on by Run DMT
9

PhotobucketThanksgiving 2011 will forever be known as The Great Pumpkin Palooza!  Seriously, Iron Chef Allan and I went out of control with the pumpkin treats this year.  With all the pumpkin baking we did yesterday, we went beyond the reasonable amount.  Although I think we surprised ourselves with the yummy results of The Great Pumpkin Palooza from the pumpkin scones for breakfast to the maple pumpkin pie after our Thanksgiving dinner.

What prompted The Great Pumpkin Palooza is my addition to My Baking Addition and my recent discovery of Jamie’s wonderful pumpkin list.  I mean, for real! How could we only attempt to bake one of these perfectly delicious pumpkin treats?

So they we were yesterday, Iron Chef Allan and I, madly baking pumpkin goodies while watching the Macy’s Day Parade and tossing back a few mimosas.  The kitchen smelled perfect.
image of bottle of Samuel Adams® Harvest Pumpkin Ale

One particular pumpkin treat sparked my curiosity over the others: The Pumpkin Ale Cupcake.  Since we love our seasonal craft beer, some Samuel Adams Pumpkin Harvest Ale was
chilling in the fridge.

However, I must have been downing the bubbly a bit too quickly while baking, because I flubbed and omitted the cocoa powder from the recipe.  The results were cupcakes with a more spice cake taste rather than chocolate cake flavor.  But no need to worry, my little pumpkins!  They were still delicious.

So if you prefer a more chocolate cake flavor, then add the cocoa powder. If you want a vanilla spice/pumpkin pie cupcake, then hold the cocoa powder.  Either way, you can’t go wrong!

But never mind about the ingredients!  Hopefully, you’ll have the right piping tools and your tips didn’t fall victim to the garbage disposal so your finished product will look prettier than mine.  Although given the circumstances, I think Iron Chef Allan iced these quite nicely for me. Besides, it’s what’s on the inside (or in this case, NOT on the inside) that counts.

 

Pumpkin Ale Cupcakes (from My Baking Addiction)

Ingredients

For the Cupcakes

1 (12-ounce) bottle Pumpkin Ale
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (optional)
2 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

For the Buttercream

4 sticks unsalted butter; room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
2 pounds confectioners’ sugar
6 tablespoons pumpkin ale

 

Directions

For the Cupcakes

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line muffin tins with paper liners.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or in a large bowl with an electric mixer combine the pumpkin ale, milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add in sour cream, mix until fully incorporated.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cocoa, sugar, flour, pumpkin pie spice and baking soda.
4. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined (batter will be thin).
5. Evenly divide batter amongst the prepared muffin wells.
6. Bake 25 minutes, until risen and set in the middle but still soft and tender. Remove pan to wire rack. Cool completely before turning out of the tins.

For the Buttercream

1. Cream the butter in the bowl of an electric or stand mixer. Add the vanilla extract, pumpkin pie spice and salt.

2. Slowly begin adding the confectioners’ sugar, mixing well after each addition. After all of the sugar has been added and mixed thoroughly, add in the pumpkin ale and mix until light and fluffy. Beat on high speed for about two minutes. If frosting is too thick, gradually add in a little more pumpkin ale (1 teaspoon at a time) until you reach the desired consistency. Pipe frosting onto cupcakes.  If desired, garnish with festive sprinkles.

Yields  24 cupcakes

 

Now link up and see what If I Could Escape and Gone Bananas are flinging for this week’s Friday Food Fight.



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