Leggy Cooks

     

Welcome to the new and improved leggy cooks. If the revamp comes as a bit of a surprise trust me; I am as taken aback as you. This apparently is what happens when your boyfriends work calendar lightens up and he is left home alone for a few hours. New look aside, you’ll still find all the same tasty recipes that resided at the old site and hopefully soon there will also be some other interesting content to peruse.

Today’s post will be briefer than normal not because this delicious chili is unworthy of hyperbolic praise but rather because just as I was going to post I accidentally deleted everything I had just spent the past hour writing Argh! Even in cyberspace remodeling is not without a few hiccups. So without further ado her is a fantastic vegetarian chili with flavor so rich you won’t miss the meat!  

Black Bean and Butternut Squash Chili

Adapted from Jean Kelly

Bon Appetite Feb. 2011

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

2 onions, chopped

8 garlic cloves, chopped

2 1/2 tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon ground coriander

2 14.5-ounce cans fire-roasted tomatoes

28 ounce can low sodium black beans

2 chipotle chiles from canned chipotle chiles in adobo, minced

2 teaspoons dried oregano (preferably Mexican)

Coarse kosher salt

1 2 1/4-pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 3cups)

1/2 cup quick-cooking bulgur

Sour cream

Coarsely grated hot pepper Monterey Jack cheese

Diced red onion

Chopped fresh cilantro

Pickled jalapeño rings

Heat the oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until soft and beginning to brown, stirring often, about 8 minutes. Add garlic; stir 1 minute. Sprinkle chili powder and coriander over; stir 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes with juice, beans, chipotles, and oregano. Add 5 cups water. Bring to boil, reduce heat to low, cover with lid slightly ajar, and simmer until beans are tender, stirring occasionally, about 2 hours Season to taste with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper. DO AHEAD Chili can be made up to 2 days ahead. Cool slightly. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, then cover and keep chilled. Rewarm chili before continuing.

Stir squash and bulgur into chili. Simmer uncovered over medium-low heat until squash and bulgur are tender, about 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide chili among bowls. Serve with sour cream, cheese, red onion, cilantro, and pickled jalapeño rings and a frosty IPA yum!

Alternative slow cooker method: Brown onion and garlic as directed and cook along with spices. Transfer ingredients to slow cooker and add everything through water to the pot. Cover and cook on low for 4 hour or high for two. During the last 30 min. of cooking add in the squash and bulgur. 

Hello everyone and Happy Valentines Day! I hope you are having a lovely start to your week regardless of whether or not you’ve chosen to celebrate cupids holiday, and just so you know you are quite loved for visiting my blog today and every other day. As you can see today’s recipe is for Brownies, and although the ingredients are run of the mill I assure you the resultant treats are anything but. 

I came across this recipe in the latest issue of Bon Appetite magazine and in fact it is hard to miss in that issue as it’s the cover recipe. Bon Appetite is great because it’s recipes run the gamut from esoteric to effortless and are nearly always delightful. This recipe is more on the effortless side and I’m still having trouble reconciling the chasm between the paltry effort that I was required to put forth and the ambrosial results that I achieved.

These treats are intensely chocolatey and have a texture more closely resembling fudge than brownies. The most amazing aspect of these though is that all their chocolatey goodness is derived not from fine quality chocolate but that bitter brown powder in your kitchen cupboard known as cocoa powder. Amazing, I know. The only other special thing about this recipe is that it entails the use of browned butter which is EXACTLY what it sounds like butter cooked to the point of turning brown. As silly as this sounds the extra step adds a delightful depth of flavor to the brownies that is difficult to pinpoint but delicious to taste. 

A few final notes before you pull out your mixing bowls. These brownies cut really well i.e. they don’t crumble too much; just make sure they have cooled completely. Although I stuck with basic squares they can be cut into any number of shapes; for example Hearts: ) Also, as per usual I swapped out some of the butter in the recipe for plain unsweetened yogurt; specifically I used 7 Tablespoons of butter and 3 tablespoons of yogurt instead of using all butter. I would have probably knocked that down to 5-6 tablespoons of butter but I had already used some of the butter stick and I didn’t want to leave 1 lonely tablespoon in the fridge. Besides that I left the recipe as is. 

Cocoa Brownies with Browned Butter and Walnuts

by Alice Medrich

Bon Appetite, Feb. 2011  

Nonstick vegetable oil spray 

10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces 

1 1/4 cups sugar 

3/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder (spooned into cup to measure, then leveled) 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

2 large eggs, chilled 

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon unbleached all purpose flour 

1 cup walnut pieces (optional; but really good)

Position rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 325°F. Line 8x8x2-inch metal baking pan with foil, pressing foil firmly against pan sides and leaving 2-inch overhang. Coat foil with nonstick spray. 

Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Continue cooking until butter stops foaming and browned bits form at bottom of pan, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; immediately add sugar, cocoa, 2 teaspoons water, vanilla, and 1/4 teaspoon (generous) salt. Stir to blend. Let cool 5 minutes (mixture will still be hot). Add eggs to hot mixture 1 at a time, beating vigorously to blend after each addition. When mixture looks thick and shiny, add flour and stir until blended. Beat vigorously 60 strokes. Stir in nuts. Transfer batter to prepared pan.

Bake brownies until toothpick inserted into center comes out almost clean (with a few moist crumbs attached), about 25 minutes. Cool in pan on rack. Using foil overhang, lift brownies from pan. Cut into 4 strips. Cut each strip crosswise into 4 brownies.

  

Challah my Gentile and Jewish friends is the best bread on earth, please there’s no need to argue; I’ll win. Challah is wonderful because it can be made sweet or savory with equally exquisite results, and due to the egg yolks and butter is always rich and satisfying. One of my favorite incarnations of this recipe was a jalapeno cheddar loaf; that, due to the moisture of the pickled jalapenos, was extremely messy to make, but which turned out mind bogglingly delicious.

More often though I take a simpler route towards altering the flavor of the Challah by coating the loaf in different toppings. For example in the loafs today I made one plain, then brushed the pre-baked loaf with egg white and sprinkled it with sesame seeds. In the other loaf I mixed cinnamon into the batter and then coated the braided loaf in cinnamon sugar. Both were swiftly eaten, and as you can imagine the cinnamon one was great toasted, spread with preserves; while the slightly more savory sesame one was ideal for sandwiches. You can also add in nuts, chocolate, or dried fruit to the batter for other delicious twists.

I have had a long standing fantasy about making a big batch of baked french toast with the Challah complete with plump berries and Grand Marnier, but every time that I have tried anyone within grabbing distance of the Challah has managed to eat it before I had the chance. Don’t worry though, one of these days soon I’m going to secretly bake a loaf and turn it into heavenly french toast, and when I do you all will be the first to know.

Here is a photo of a six strand braided loaf in progress. It is not as complicated and as it looks and makes for a very impressive presentation. As proof of how manageable this shape is to make the person who taught me how to first do this was my at the time 10 year old sister. So no excuses, go forth and make a scrumptious AND gorgeous loaf. Here is a handy link to see exactly how its done. http://www.ehow.com/video_2341036_braid-six_strand-challah-bread-loaf.html

Michele Jenny’s Challah 

originally on recipes.com and not adapted at all because it’s so good!

7/8 cup water

1/2 tablespoon salt

1/4 cup honey

2 eggs

1/4 cup butter, melted

4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons active dry yeast 

Place water, salt, honey, eggs, melted butter or margarine, flour, and yeast in order given into the bread machine. Set the machine to Dough cycle, and start. 

Remove dough from the machine after first rising knead in 1/3 . Divide dough into three or 6 equal pieces. Braid the pieces, and tuck the ends under. Place on a greased baking tray. This bread can also be made in a 9 x 5 inch greased loaf pan (but it won’t be as pretty). Allow to rise under a towel in a draft free environment until doubled in size about an hour. 

Just before baking brush the loaf with beaten egg white and sprinkle with sesame, poppy seeds, Cinnamon sugar or leave plain.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 35 to 45 minutes. Bread is done when the crust is golden brown.

 

I LOVE lasagna. Tender lasagna noodles layered with a homemade sauce, creamy ricotta, and finished with a sprinkling of Mozzarella and Parmesan oh so good! I can’t imagine a much better combination of textures and flavors. 

I have several other lasagna recipes and even a tortilla lasagna which are all tummy rubbing good, but this recipe is heads and tails above the rest. The key lies in the home made sauce packed with Italian sausage, fresh basil, and a sprinkling of sugar. Apart from being mind blowingly tasty; lasagna is the perfect winter dish that will warm you up from the inside out on a chilly winter day. Curiously I made this on a day when the sun was shining and the thermometer read 80, but I had time on my hands and a craving so those two things were enough to get me to turn on my oven whip this together. 

Tada! this is what the lasagna look like right before going into the oven; isn’t it beautiful? The order of the layers is: sauce, noodles, Ricotta, Mozzarella, Parmesan. Repeat two more times but on the last layer switch the order of the sauce and two cheeses such that you finish the dish with a sprinkling of cheese and not a naked layer of sauce.

Here is the finished product. Now before you dive in enlist all your will power and let the pasta sit for 20 minuets. I find enjoying a glass of wine to be a suitable distraction. This delay before serving ensures that your lasagna will slice into neat little sections and protects your tongue from burning. Once the longest 20 minuets that your stomach has ever had to wait are over slice into servings and serve with a glass of wine and a little green salad. Enjoy!

World’s Greatest Lasagna

from Allrecipes.com (with a few mild adjustments) 

 Serves 12 but I halved the recipe to make the size in the photo

1 pound spicy Italian sausage 

3/4 pound lean ground beef

1/2 cup minced onion

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes

2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste

2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons white sugar

1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, chiffonade

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 tablespoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

12 lasagna noodles

16 ounces ricotta cheese

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

  

In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. 

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). 

To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese*. 

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 20 minutes. Cool for 20 minutes before serving. 

*If you don’t want to prepare this ahead of dinner simply assemble the lasagna and then place in the fridge up to 24 hours ahead of cook time. When your ready to cook this can go directly from fridge into your oven; just be sure to add about 10 extra minuets to the first half of the cook time to account for the initial coolness of the dish. 

Hello and Happy 2011 (16 days late)! Today, in the New Years tradition of eating right and getting back into shape I’m starting off the year with a delicious and nutritious African Stew. I was SO excited to make this for several reasons; chief among them that I got to break in my brand spanking new Le Creuest dutch oven, courtesy of Brian (newly minted as the coolest guy around). I LOVE THIS POT, and I swear that the taste of everything cooked in it is elevated to the nth degree, and I’m not exaggerating one bit. 

Today I’m also cracking in a new way of blogging that shows you step by step how I put a particular recipe together. I can’t promise that every post from here on out will look this way as there are inherent challenges to wielding a camera while simultaneously cooking, but I will do my best. So ready or not here we go!

Start by heating a drizzle of oil in your beautiful dutch oven over medium heat. Dice 1.25 lbs. of boneless skinless chicken into bite size pieces and toss with a mixture of smoked paprika, cumin salt and pepper. Add the chicken to the pot stirring occasionally until brown on both sides about 4 min total.

Next, add one red onion sliced into half moons and two carrots cut into quarter inch circles.

 
Next add in chicken broth, apple cider vinegar, and lemon zest. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to maintain at brisk simmer. If at this point you’re scratching your head over the addition of vinegar and lemon to a soup just trust me, the result will be tangy deliciousness.

 
After about 5 min the chicken should feel firm and cooked through and you can turn off the heat. Finally stir in a 1/3 cup of Tunisian pesto; a delightfully fresh tasting combination of of parsley, cilantro, almonds, and a smidgen of garlic. To serve cook up a bit of couscous divide into bowls and then ladle the stew over. Now dig in! I promise you’ll find this soup absolutely delightful.

North African Chicken Stew

from Food Network’s Making it Easy 

4 Servings

1.5 cups chicken broth

1 cup couscous

4 tsps. kosher salt
1 Tblsp. unsalted butter
1 Tblsp. vegetable oil

ground black pepper to taste

1.25 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breast cut into bite size pieces

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. smoked paprika

1 small red onion cut into 1/4 inch thick half moons

2 carrots cut into 1/4 inch rounds

1 2/3 cups chicken broth

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

the zest of one lemon 

1/3 cup Tunisian Pesto (recipe below)

Bring the 1.5 cups chicken broth to boil and add in the couscous, 1 tsp. of salt and pepper to taste. Turn off heat, cover, and set aside while you make the stew.

Heat the oil and butter in a dutch oven. Season the chicken with the remaining salt, cumin, paprika, and pepper to taste. Cook stirring occasionally until browned all over 3- 5 min. Add the carrots, onion, 1 and 2/3 chicken broth, vinegar, and lemon zest; bring to a boil. Turn down heat to maintain a simmer, cover and cook until the chicken is just firm and the carrots are tender about 5-8 min.


Stir the pesto into the stew. Fluff the couscous with a fork and mound it in 4 soup bowls. Spoon some chicken stew over each portion and serve. Yum!!!


Tunisian Pesto
From Making it Easy
Makes 1 cup


2 cups packed fresh cilantro
1 cup packed fresh italian parsley
1/4 cup almonds
1-2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 pinch cayenne pepper


Combine the cilantro, parsley, almonds, and garlic in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add 1/3 cup olive oil and and process until smooth and fully incorporated. Add the salt and a pinch of cayenne pepper.  If using immediately add the remaining oil and pulse until smooth. If freezing for later use transfer to an airtight container and pour the remaining oil on top.

 

The other cookie recipe I have to share with you, Chocolate Treasure Cookies; is so named because their cocoa cookie outside en-robes a hidden surprise; reese’s cups and caramely (is that a word?) rolos. These cookies are SO good they make me weak in the knees and I have gotten up twice while writing this to nibble on them. In the past I have only used bite sized reese’s to make these, but this year as a result of a generous candy donation from a lovely friend I had rolos in my cabinet, and decided to try the chocolate caramel combination. Now the only problem I have is deciding which one a like better. The rolos melt perfectly inside the cookie imparting caramel to each bite, while the peanut butter cups remain largely intact and the center of the cookie is packed with peanut butter goodness. Either way you have a totally awesome cookie on your hands that I challenge anyone to turn down. 

The humble appearance of these guys doesn’t do justice to their taste so I usually drizzle them with a bit of melted butterscotch, white chocolate, or a sprinkling of powdered sugar to dress them up and make them more appealing to the eye. If you want to keep these to yourself though leave them plain and you’ll have much more success deterring sticky fingers from your cookie jar.

Treasure Cookies
yield 3 dozen

1/2 cups nutella
6 Tblsp. softened butter
2 Tblsp. nonfat plain yogurt

1/2 cup granulated sugar 
1/2 cup packed brown sugar 
1 teaspoons baking soda 
1/2 teaspoon salt 
1 large eggs 
1teaspoons vanilla extract 
1 tablespoons milk 
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder

Combine nutella, butter, yogurt, sugar, egg, milk, and vanilla together and stir until you reach a homogeneous mix. Gradually stir in the flour, cocoa leavening, and salt. Once dough no longer has streaks of flour in it chill in the fridge for 30 min. to 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Once dough has chilled unwrap 36 p.b. cups, rolos or combination of both. Remove the dough from the fridge and taking a  tablespoon amount flatten it with the palm of your hand. place one P.B. cup in the center of the dough disk and bring the edges of the dough up around the candy and roll the dough around in your hands a few times to completely seal. Repeat with remaining dough and place cookies appx. 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.
Note if using rolos only use 1/2 a tablespoon of dough per cookie.    

Bake cookies for 10-12 min. remove from oven and allow to cool completely on baking sheet. Once cooled decorate with powdered sugar or melted chocolate. Now taste and try not to eat more than 1 in a single sitting.

 

As you may have guessed; I totally bombed my attempt to bake a dozen different cookie recipes in the 12 days leading up to Christmas. It seems between a job, school, and an internship one is left with little time to blend butter, sugar, and flour into delicious treats. I do however have two final recipes to share with you today and tomorrow that I whipped up on days 9 and 10 of the cookie period but didn’t get around to  sharing until today.

The first of these recipes is a Maple-Walnut Biscotti. I fell head over heels for these lovely light cookies as a result of their unique maple syrup flavor and crunchy walnuts. In the picture you can see that I dipped the ends of the biscotti into melted white chocolate for a festive finish. This flavor pairing was good, but dipping the cookie resulted in too great a ratio of white chocolate to cookie and was a bit overpowering to the other flavors. Next time I’ll just drizzle the chocolate over head to better integrate the flavors and you might try this technique too. Heavy dose of chocolate aside I still ate about half a dozen of these in a day so they’re definitely worth making.


Maple-Nut Biscotti
yield 24
2 eggs
3/4 cups white sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 Tblsp. salted sweet cream butter
1/2 tspsp. vanilla extract
1 tspsp. Maple flavor
2 1/4 tspsp. baking powder
2 1/2 cups flour

2/3 cups chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Blend together the butter, sugar, and eggs until you achieve a smooth consistency. Next, stir in the extracts and then the dry ingredients. Once the flour and baking powder have been incorporated into the doug fold in the walnuts.

on a greased baking sheet shape the dough into a 2X16 oval. Bake for 20 min. then remove from oven and allow to cool 20 minuets before proceeding to next step.

With a serrated knife cut the oval on the diagonal into 1/2 inch slices. Lay the slices back on their side on the baking sheet and return to the oven for 16 more minuets flipping the cookies halfway through baking.

Cool cookies on wire rack and then dip or drizzle with white chocolate. These cookies have a good shelf life and can be stored for up to 3 weeks in an airtight or frozen for 2 months.

A phlebotomy final, three christmas parties, and a dead camera battery all combined to keep me from posting these last few days. However, lest you think that I have abandoned my decision to host the 12 days of cookies on leggycooks; I have three new recipes for you! 

As the title denotes these cookies are super fast and are a great last minute idea for a cookie platter, which is exactly what I made them for. Among the recipes are my All-time Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies, Pecan Snowballs (a.k.a. Mexican Wedding Cookies), and Classic Sugar Cookies. All three of these recipes went from mixing bowl to plate in less than 2 hours, and they taste great too (especially the C.C. cookies: ). So with out further ado here are the recipes!

All-time Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

6 Tbl. softened salted sweet cream butter

2 Tbl. plain yogurt

1 egg

1/4 cup plus 2 Tbl. brown sugar

1/4 cup plus 2 Tbl. white sugar 

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup plus 2 tbl. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Beat together butter, yogurt, sugar, and vanilla. Next beat in the egg just until the yolks disappear into the batter.  Slowly add in the flour and baking soda and mix until you get a cohesive batter, then mix in the chocolate chips. Drop batter by rounded tablespoons onto cookie sheet leaving at least two inches of space between them. Bake 10-12 minuets until edges are brown, cool pan on wire rack until cookies are completely cool.

Pecan Snowballs

adapted from “Mexican Pecan” Cookies on Allrecipes

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cups very soft butter

1 2/3 cups chopped pecans
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

2 Tbl. confectioners’ sugar

1 cup confectioners’ sugar for rolling

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Mash together the flour, butter, pecans, and 2 Tablespoons of confectioners’ sugar in a bowl until the mixture is thoroughly combined and forms a soft dough. Pinch off about 2 teaspoons of dough per cookie, and roll into 3/4-inch balls. Place the balls on ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake in the preheated oven until the bottoms of the cookies are lightly golden brown but the tops are still pale, 8 to 12 minutes.Let the cookies cool completely, then roll in remaining confectioners’ sugar.

Classic Sugar Cookies

1 egg 

1/4 cup shortening

1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large bowl beat together the butter shortening, sugar, vanilla and egg. Slowly add in the dry ingredients and then cover and chill dough in fridge for 3 minuets and up to 1 day. Roll chilled dough out on a lightly floured surface to 1/8 inch thick. Cut dough into desired shapes. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees F for 10 to 12 minutes

Cranberry Bliss Bars, nothing says holiday treat more to me than these pretty, decadent, and sweet bars. You may have tried a version of cranberry bliss bars from Starbuck’s or some other coffee house, but I assure you these are better. Packed with dried cranberries, white chocolate chips, and flavored with orange, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves these bars are full of taste and a great end to a big christmas dinner. 

One drawback to these is that they require a hefty number of ingredients that even I don’t keep lying around the house. On the plus side however no one ingredient is expensive and you can always take shortcuts and buy store frosting in lieu of making your own, or use orange zest in the batter instead of orange extract saving both time and money. 

Despite the nuisance of gathering all the necessary ingredients, these cookies are perennial favorites of mine because they look awesome and taste amazing too. So hurry up and make you list! and quit putting off culinary bliss.

While the recipe might look a little involved it is actually really straightforward and easy to pull together. After mixing together the base and baking a process which all told takes about 30 min. Allow the cookie to cool slightly before spreading a thin layer of orange infused frosting over top.

Next roughly chop some cranberries to sprinkle over the base. Be sue to to do this while the frosting is still moist so the cranberries have something to adhere to. 

Now melt about 1/2 a cup of white chocolate chips in a bowl and transfer to a re-sealable plastic bag. Cut a small hole towards the tip of one side of the bag and then quickly drizzle the cookie with the melted chocolate. 

Now, grab an orange and using a micro-plane zest over the cookie. Slice in to triangles or your preferred geometric shape and voila! Bliss in a cookie.

Cranberry Bliss Bars

Adapted from Diane Phillips 

Makes ~40 2-inch bars

Base

3/4 cup butter (1.5 sticks)

1/4 cup plain fat free yogurt or applesauce

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon orange oil or 2 tsp. orange extract

2.5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1.5 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. pumpkin spice*

3/4 cup unsweetened dried cranberries

3/4 cup white chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate

Frosting

1 3 oz. package of cream cheese softened

6 tablespoons butter

2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp. orange extract or 1/2 tsp. orange oil

Garnish 

1/4 cup unsweetened dried cranberries

Drizzle

4 oz. white chocolate chips

grated zest of one orange

For the bars: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 15-by-10-inch jelly roll pan with silicone liner, aluminum foil or parchment paper. If you are using foil or parchment paper, coat it with nonstick cooking spray.

In a bowl, stir together the butter, brown and granulated sugars, eggs, and orange oil. Add the flour, baking powder, ginger and pumpkin pie spice, and beat until the flour begins to blend into the batter, about 1 minute. Stir in the cranberries and chips, being careful not to over mix. Spread the batter into the prepared pan, and bake until a skewer inserted into the center comes out with a few crumbs adhering to it, 15 to 17 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 30 min. in the pan on a rack.

For the frosting: Beat cream cheese, butter, sugar and orange oil together to a spreading consistency. If needed, add a few drops of milk to thin. Spread over cooled bars.

To garnish:  Roughly chop dried cranberries and sprinkle evenly over the frosting.

For the drizzle: Melt chocolate in the microwave heating at 30 second intervals and stirring until you achieve a smooth consistency. Drizzle the frosting over top in a decorative pattern and top with the orange zest.

The bars freeze for up to 6 weeks, or refrigerate for up to 3 days. Store leftover bars in the refrigerator.


*If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice you can also make it from spices that you already have. Here is a quick recipe: 2 tsp. ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/2 ground ginger, 1/4 tsp. ground cloves. 

No cookie countdown would be complete without a peanut butter cookie recipe. Peanut butter cookies with their crosshatched surfaces are about as ubiquitous as chocolate chip cookies, and as a peanut butter fiend I have to say I like them almost as much. I anticipate one day finding a p.b. cookie that can hold a candle to my beloved chocolate chip cookies (to be seen later in the countdown) but so far I am still on the hunt. That is not to say that today’s recipe is anything less than tasty, in fact they are already halfway gone and I pulled them from the oven a less than 24 hrs ago. 

As you may have noticed I made few changes to the standard cookie. I decided to forgo the traditional fork imbued decoration and added in some milk chocolate chips. I also played around a tiny bit with the shape which in all honesty was a complete accident. You see I figured that p.b. cookies would behave like drop cookies and spread out once they entered the oven, but as it turns out pressing them with a fork not only provides them with eye catching decor but also serves a practical function of shaping them. So for the first batch I ended up with bulbous cookies and for the next batch I had wider more traditional looking ones having flattened them with the bottom of a glass. Each version tastes good the only difference being that the chunky cookies are a tad more chewy than their leaner counterparts. 

So without further ado here is the recipe. Be sure to down these with big glass of calcium rich milk to round out these protein packed bad boys (relative to other cookies of course). Enjoy!

• Peanut Butter Cookies 
• 
  
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 3 tablespoons plain fat free yogurt
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).In a large bowl, cream together the peanut butter, butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until well blended. Beat in the egg, milk, and vanilla one at a time. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into creamed mixture. Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into balls. Place cookies 2 inches apart onto a cookie sheets. Press each ball once with fork tines.Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are lightly browned.

So I told a bunch of my girlfriends that I was thinking of doing a 12 days of cookies countdown here at leggycooks in honor of the holiday season, and because I told another group of people of my plans I’m compelled to make it true. So get ready for a bevy of baked deliciousness as I share with you a new cookie recipe each day until Santa comes to town.  Start your ovens and lace up your running shoes now.

Were starting off with a bang with today’s scrumptious recipe for Cardamon Cornmeal Biscotti. The recipe comes from my cookie bible “Great Cookies” by Carol Walter, the same publication that provided the recipe for sesame coins. You may remember that I often have trouble with Carol’s recipes because they’re  ingredients are a bit high brow and my pantry is not, and I often substitute to the detriment of the final product. Regardless of my cookie hijinks however her book is chock full of unique recipes and amazing photographs so keep I coming back time and time again.  

These cookies intrigued me because Cardamon is a spice not commonly found in cookies, or at least not in the ones I’m familiar with, and because biscotti are my absolute favorite type of cookies to make.  Biscotti are a little time consuming because you have to bake them twice and slice them in between their jaunts in the oven but it’s this time intensive process that makes me love them so (strange, I know). 

These cookies in particular are a must make. The cardamon imparts a bright almost savory taste to the dough that combines spectacularly with the sweetness of the raisins, the nuttiness of the almonds, and the grainy texture of the cornmeal. The recipe is pretty straight forward; the only thing that I adjusted was the baking time which I extended by about 5 min during the final oven run, but if you prefer a slightly chewier cookie follow Carol’s instructions exactly.Show these off at you next holiday gathering and be prepared for oohs! and ahhs! galore.

Cardamon Cornmeal Biscotti 

by Carol Walter

1.5 cups flour

1/2 cups stone ground cornmeal 

1 Tbl. ground cardamon 

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 cup golden raisins

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup finely ground toasted almonds

In a large bowl beat together the butter sugar together for about a min until light and fluffy then ad in the eggs and beat together for another min. In another bowl combine the flour cornmeal, cardamon, and baking soda. add the dry ingredients to the wet and blend just until combined. Fold in the raisins and almonds then ocver with plastic wrap and chill dough in fridge for 2 hours or overnight. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a large cookie sheet with nonstick spray or line with parchment paper. Divide the dough into 2 halves and shape each half into two 12 inch logs. Place the logs onto the pan spacing them 5 inches apart and then bake for 15-18 min. remove from oven and allow to cool on pan for 20 min. and reduce the oven temp to 250 degrees

After cooling, place logs on a cutting board and use a serrated knife to cut into 1/4 inch thick slices. Return the slices, cut side down, back on the cookie sheet and bake for 8 minuets more then flip them over and bake for an additional 3 minuets on the other side (I ended up baking them for 8 min on each side). Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 min before transferring to a cooling rack. Store in an airtight container for up to three weeks, but good luck making them last that long.

Lets talk about leftovers. If you’re like me, leftovers are simultaneously despised and loved. On days when you arrive home ravenous the delay that cooking presents to eating can sometimes seem unacceptable and a plate of leftovers is heaven-sent. On the other hand eating leftovers multiple days in a row can bother even the most resilient taste buds. So how does a cook who regularly cooks more food than they need cope?

The answer my friends lies in using whatever you made the day before as the springboard for what you plan to make today.You’ll be surprised how easy it is to totally transform a dish and make yourself a satisfying meal without spending hours in the kitchen and launching yourself into a blind hypoglycemic rage. 

Today’s recipe for turkey turnovers is a standout example of the virtue of leftover meals and perfect for this time of years when holiday feasts give way to weeks worth of leftovers. I used my moms outstanding turkey one of two that she cooked for thanksgiving (crazy right?) and combined it with a decadent mixture of heavy cream, mushrooms, thyme, and brandy and then sealed it in buttery puff pastry…

ahem excuse me I just went glassy eyed remembering the the dish. IT WAS REALLY GOOD.

 

Now if you don’t happen to have the remnants of a 20 lb. turkey hanging around go ahead and swap out the turkey for chicken and it will taste just as good. Also if your not a big drinker and don’t have a bottle of brandy on hand use apple juice. Curiously, I did not substitute any of the original ingredients in this recipe but I’m certain it would taste excellent even with these changes. So what are you waiting for?! Make haste and get this together for tonight at first bite you’ll be ready open your own restaurant award yourself a Michelin star.

Turkey Turnovers

Originally seen in Food Network Kitchens Making it Easy

2 Tbl. butter

8 oz. fresh shitake mushrooms

1 medium onion

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

Fresh ground pepper

3 Tbl. cognac or other brandy

1/2 cup heavy cream 

1 tsp. dijon mustard

2.5 cups cooked turkey torn into bite-sized pieces

2 9-oz., 91/4X10-inch sheets frozen puffed pastry thawed

Cranberry sauce for serving (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper or spraying with Pam. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, onion, thyme, salt, and pepper. Cook stirring occasionally for 5 min. Next pull skillet from heat and add the cognac and simmer 1 min. Add the cream and mustard and bring to a boil, and cook until the cream thickens slightly. Remove from heat and stir in the turkey.

Lay the puff pastry on a cutting board and slice diagonally. Mound 1/4 of the turkey mixture in the center of each half, lightly wet the edges of the perimeter of the pastry and double over to form a triangular turnover. Press the tines of a fork around the edges to seal and poke the top of the pastry with a sharp knife to vent. Repeat with remaining pastry and then space turnovers evenly on baking sheet. Brush the turnovers lightly with cream and bake for 25 min. Serve warm or at room temperature with cranberry sauce, and enjoy!

 

Greetings all and welcome to a special Halloween edition of leggy cooks. As I’m sure you can see from the photo, my kitchen was infiltrated by the long claws of scary bear this morning.  He was climbing into the cupboards pulling out all kinds of ingredients and he would not leave until I baked his favorite sweets; aptly named monster cookies. This of course was not too difficult of a request to satisfy since in the last two weeks I have baked no fewer than 5 types of cookies and one pie, but needless to say I never expected a monster to be my primary impetus for culinary creation. 

Luckily scary bear has excellent taste. Monster cookies are suitable for monster and human consumption and are absolutely scrumptious. They have a crisp exterior that yields to a chewy middle and they’re filled with a ton of delicious morsels including peanut butter, chocolate chip, semisweet, and toasted pecans. So hurry and make this today before a monster comes after you and have a Happy Halloween! 

Monster Cookies 

adapted from a recipe by Ree Drumond

5 tablespoons butter melted

3 tablespoons plain yogurt

1/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 egg

3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup oats

1/3 cup toasted pecans

1/4 cup milk chocolate chips

1/4 cup semi sweet chips

1/4 cup peanut butter chips

Preheat oven to 375

In a large bowl cream together the butter, yogurt, and sugar. Next add in the vanilla and egg and stir just to combine ~15 strokes.

pour in the flour and leavening ingredients and gently mix. Once only a few faint traces of flour remain in the batter add in the oats. Once the oats have been evenly incorporated into the batter add in the nuts and chips.

Drop batter by rounded tablespoons onto a baking sheet and make sure to leave about a 1.5 inch space between batter drops as these cookies spread. Bake 10-12 minuets until edges are golden brown. Serve with a tall glass of milk to your favorite, ghost or goblin.

Hello all! Sorry for my unannounced leave of absence over the latter half of September. Life got exponentially more hectic in the last two weeks, and I didn’t spend much time engaging in many of the activities that I normally do. While things are not completely back to normal I am happy to report that my regular jaunts in the kitchen are once again in full swing. 

To mark my re-entry into the culinary world I dusted off a cookbook from my chronically neglected collection, and chose a recipe from Cat Cora’s Book “Cooking from the Hip”. The fact that I haven’t tried making anything from this publication in three years is truly tragic, because her dishes are outstanding. The results of the Salmon-Topped Hash were so good in fact that I kind of want to cook her book cover to cover now, and definitely won’t be forgetting about it anytime soon.

I chose this recipe for two reasons 1. It looked fast to make, and 2. I rarely cook fish or potatoes so it would be an exciting change for my taste buds. The recipe was pretty straightforward, but because the potatoes took about three times longer to cook than I ever imagined the whole dish was not particularly fast. Time consuming spuds aside this recipes is a keeper. The potatoes were crispy, the salmon buttery, and when topped with a little sour cream the whole dish was WOW!

So don’t make the mistake I did and push this recipe aside; start parboiling your potatoes and get ready for a delicious meal today.

One final note. This recipe calls for parboiling, then cooling, and then grating potatoes. This is tedious so I ended up skipping the grating step, and just thinly slicing the potatoes into 1/4 inch quarters. While this technique worked out very well it also took longer to cook. If you really wanted to speed up this process, I would pick up a bag of frozen hash from the store and just use that instead of fresh potatoes. That way you’ll get that perfect hash consistency and save yourself about 45 min of prep time.

Salmon-Topped Hash adapted from ‘Cooking from the Hip’ by Cat Corra

4 medium yukon gold potatoes (or 2 cups frozen hash)

1 Tbl. extra virgin olive oil

1 Tbl. butter

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 medium red onion, chopped

1.5 tsp. dried tarragon

1 tsp. kosher salt or to taste

1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

12-16 oz. fresh Salmon

1/4 cup sour cream

1-2 sprigs green onion, green parts thinly sliced

If using fresh potatoes: Fill a large pot with cold water and slip the potatoes in making sure they are completely submerged. Bring to a boil then cover and simmer . After 15 min check doneness by piercing potatoes with a knife. If the tip penetrates but meets some resistance the potatoes are ready; if not boil for 5 more minuets and check again. Once done remove tubers from water allow to cool; then grate and set aside.

If using frozen hash: Skip aforementioned first step! Set your oven to 200 degrees and start dicing your red bell pepper and onion. 

Heat butter and oil over medium heat and brown the salmon flipping after about 4 min. Once cooked through, remove fish from pan and place in the oven to keep warm while you prepare the hash. 

In the same pan that you cooked the salmon in toss in the bell pepper; cook for 5 min. stirring frequently. Add in the red onion and cook an additional 4 min. Add in the potatoes, tarragon, salt, and pepper and lower heat to med. Press mixture into the pan and allow to cook undisturbed for 4 min. then flip over and cook other side. Taste and add additional seasoning if necessary.

To serve; spoon the hash onto plates, place salmon on top, and garnish with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of green onions. Bon appetite! 

So as if the weather knew that yesterday was labor day; the unofficial end of the summer season; the atmospheric conditions here in my neck of the woods have turned decidedly fall like. I however am still convinced that we in Southern California will enjoy our annual indian summer 80+ degree heat into October despite the nippy temps this 7th day of September. That being said, I thought todays recipe for the lightest most delicious rolls ever would be the ideal companion to dinner on what I have convinced myself to be the SINGLE gray day of fall.

Now If you’re not in the mood for rolls or craving carbs like a ravenous beast; this post may appear a bit banal. Don’t let their modest appearance fool you though these babies are shear heaven fresh out of the oven smeared with a pat of butter. They are soo good in fact that they could easily steal the spotlight from the steak dinner that you are now considering pairing these with. 

If you have never made bread before never fear it’s really not that complicated it just takes a little time and patience. That said, bread recipes are the ones that I tweak the least. The only thing that I ever really change is the amount of flour used adding in more when the dough is too sticky to work with. For this recipe I had no changes to make, and I imagine that you’ll enjoy similar success if you follow it to the letter in your kitchen. 

On a final note the location and time in which you allow bread to rise is of utmost importance. If you put your bread in a drafty area; the little yeast will shiver and not work as hard leading to a dense poorly risen loaf. On the other hand allowing yeast to work for too long stretches the gluten strands beyond their elastic ideal and can also result in a leaden loaf. To avoid both of these lethal happenings, first chose a fairly warm draft free location to rise your bread. I typically place mine on top of my refrigerator loosely covered in saran wrap; the subtle heat provided by the refrigerator is yeasts preferred temp for running around and creating gas. Second, set a timer for the length of rising time that your recipe calls for. Once the timer goes off check your bread to see if it has risen appropriately. First it should look about twice as big as the last time you saw it. If the dough it still small let it rise for another 30 min. and check again. Once you have decided your dough has reached its ideal size gently make an indent into its surface. If the mark you made with your finger is still there it has risen enough and you’re ready to bake.

Now that you are well versed in the nuances of bread baking get those yeast working! Dreary weather or not these rolls are unbelievable.

• Unbelievable Rolls from allrecipes.com by Shirelie
• 3/4 cup milk
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 5 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup margarine, melted
• 
  
• In a medium saucepan over medium heat, warm milk, water, sugar and salt. Remove from heat, and mix in the eggs and yeast.
• 
  
• Measure flour into a large bowl. Make a well in the flour, and pour milk mixture into it. Do not stir. Cover with a lid, and let stand for 20 to 30 minutes.
• 
  
• Pour melted margarine into flour, and mix well. Add more flour if too sticky. Knead lightly. Cover, and let rise for 20 to 30 minutes.
• 
  
• Shape the dough into rolls, and place on a baking sheet. Let rise again for 20 to 30 minutes.
• 
  
• Bake rolls in a preheated 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) oven for 15 minutes, or until done.

Now I know the above photo does not paint the most impressive picture but holy cow this was good! I initially made this Bulgur Wheat and Sausage Stuffing as a filling for cabbage rolls, but peeling cabbage leaves off whole is far easier said than done so we tossed the rabbit food aside and just ladled this deliciousness into bowls for our meal. 

Since “Cooking Light”, where this recipe is from, generally provides recipes that serve four-eight there was a small discussion within my two person abode whether or not to make the whole recipe. In the end we did and I am so glad, because we easily knocked out the additional four servings in a matter of days and neither one of us tired of it.

This recipe made me glad to have a food processor, because it requires that you cut celery, carrot, onion, mushroom and garlic into minuscule little pieces and doing that by hand can be a bit tedious. That potentially time consuming step aside this dish is straight forward to make, and well worth the effort to whip up even if you don’t have a speedy cutting contraption at your disposal. 

As I mentioned earlier this dish is supposed to be wrapped in cabbage leaves, it is also normally accompanied by a tangy tomato sauce. I made the sauce and unfortunately don’t have a photo of the dish with it but it was a nice complement to the earthy and savory flavors of the stuffing. I don’t think that it was a vital component though, and if I were to make this as a side dish for say Thanksgiving I might eschew the sauce along with the cabbage leaves. 

I served this with the tomato sauce spooned over top and accompanied by a glass of chardonnay and it was heaven. If you’re in for some excellent comfort food or searching for a new addition to your Thanksgiving menu look no further.

Whole Grain and Italian Sausage-Stuffed Cabbage Cooking Light May 2008 

Serves 6

2  cups  water

• 1/2  cup  dried porcini mushrooms, crushed (about 1/2 ounce)
• 1 1/4  cups  uncooked bulgur
• 2  teaspoons  butter
• 1  teaspoon  olive oil
• 1  cup  finely chopped onion
• 2/3  cup  finely chopped celery
• 2/3  cup  finely chopped carrot
• 2  garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 1  pound  hot turkey Italian sausage
• 12  large Savoy cabbage leaves
• 2  cups  canned crushed tomatoes
• 1 1/2  tablespoons  red wine vinegar
• 2  teaspoons  brown sugar
• 2  tablespoons  chopped fresh parsley

Bring 2 cups water to a boil in a saucepan. Stir in mushrooms; cover, remove from heat, and let stand 10 minutes.

Uncover pan; bring mushroom mixture to a boil. Stir in bulgur; cover, remove from heat, and let stand 30 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Spoon bulgur mixture into a large bowl.

Heat butter and oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, carrot, and garlic to pan; sauté 7 minutes or until tender and lightly browned. Add vegetables to bulgur mixture; cool slightly. Stir in salt and pepper. Remove casings from sausage. Crumble sausage into bulgur mixture; stir well to combine.

Add water to a large Dutch oven to a depth of 2 inches; set a large vegetable steamer in pan. Bring water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add cabbage leaves to steamer. Steam cabbage, covered, 6 minutes or until tender and pliable. Remove cabbage from steamer (do not drain water). Rinse cabbage with cold water; drain and pat dry.

Working with one cabbage leaf at a time, place 1/2 cup bulgur mixture in center of leaf. Fold in edges of leaf; roll up. Repeat procedure with the remaining cabbage leaves and bulgur mixture to form 12 cabbage rolls. Stack rolls evenly in steamer.

Return Dutch oven to medium-high heat; bring water to a boil. Steam rolls, covered, 30 minutes, adding more water if necessary.

Combine tomatoes, red wine vinegar, and sugar in saucepan; cook over medium heat 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in parsley. Serve sauce with rolls.

How to describe these???? slices of heaven, gastronomic bliss, or perhaps the best frigging breakfast in the world; yeah that sounds right. These are to die for, or should I say hop out of bed faster than a speeding bullet for. I baked 13 of these guys Saturday morning and while I tried my hardest to limit myself to just 1/2 of one I ended up eating 1.5 as soon as they came out of the oven. I took five to work, Brian’s brother ate one, and by Monday morning Brian and I had taken care of the rest, and all I could think about was making more. 

I have made cinnamon rolls using a few other recipes and I have never had a bad result, but the one thing I always found problematic about other recipes was that they took several hours to make. In order to enjoy them for breakfast you would either have to wake up before sunrise or make them the day before and reheat. I  knew there was a better way though; I envisioned a world in which you could sleep in and indulge in fresh cinnamon roll bliss. 

That’s where today’s recipe comes in to play. These guys go through their final rise overnight in the refrigerator, and their sweet cinnamony scent is ready to waft out of the oven towards your nostrils as you do your morning stretching. Now apart from the temporal convenience of this recipe these rolls are also quite tasty. The dough is light and subtly sweet, the filling is spicy, and incredibly alluring, and the frosting adds the final decadent touch. 

So here’s the game plan; around 8 tonight gather your ingredients and put these together. In the morning pop them in the oven and then get ready for your day. Then just as your finishing your morning routine you’ll detect the scent of heaven itself coming from your kitchen, and will shortly sit down to the most mouthwatering breakfast that you could ever dream up. 

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls adapted from allrecipes.com by dendes5238 

Makes 11-13 depending on size of each roll

Dough:

1 cup milk

1/3 cup butter

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast

1/2 cup white sugar

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

Filling:

2 tablespoons butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup raisins  (optional)

1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, roughly chopped (optional) 

Frosting:

4 Tbl. butter

1/3-1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

a dash of milk

OR

Cream Cheese Frosting 

4 oz. (1/2 package) cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons butter, softened

1/2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Add the butter and stir until melted; let cool until lukewarm. 

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast in the milk mixture. Add the sugar, 3 cups of flour, salt and eggs; stir well to combine. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and supple, about 8 minutes. (Conversely you could also toss all this stuff into a bread machine set it on the dough cycle and let it do its thing.)

Lightly oil a large mixing bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. (If your using a bread machine allow it to work on the dough until the end of the first rise which is equivalent to the 1 hour rest period noted above.)

Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a 10x 14 inch rectangle. Lightly brush the far edge with water and KEEP CLEAR of filling ingredients. Brush the remaining surface of the dough with melted butter. Sprinkle a light coating of cinnamon over the dough; enough so that the whole surface is covered but not so much that there is a film. Next sprinkle with brown sugar. Then sprinkle the raisins and chopped nuts over the dough. Roll up into a log and seal the seam (the edge that you prepped with water). 

Cut the dough into 12 equal pieces; place the pieces in a greased 9x13 inch baking pan, or 12 inch deep dish pizza pan. Cover over with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to rise overnight.

The next morning, take the rolls out of the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature while you preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Bake the rolls for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden. Meanwhile,make the frosting by combining the softened butter with powdered sugar (or butter, cream cheese and powdered sugar) until you reach a desired level of sweetness. Stir in the vanilla and a little milk if the resultant mixture is stiff.
 

Remove rolls from oven and place on cooling rack. Immediately drizzle with frosting; If frosting has hardened a bit microwave for 15-30 seconds, stir, and then pour over rolls. Serve to family friends and of course yourself, and watch the food orgasms unfold.

Greetings all, sorry for my relatively sparse postings these last few weeks. My mind has been contemplating many more topics besides what is brewing in the kitchen, but a girl has to eat and I have made some real winners these last few days. 

Todays recipe for Barbecue Chicken Pizza is one of that I have cooked at least half a dozen times. Since I’m constantly looking to try new dishes I rarely make anything more than once and only have a handful of recipes I’ve made twice, but I can’t seem to shake this recipe. The combination of savory barbecue sauce, succulent poultry, and creamy gouda cheese brings joy to my taste buds every time and even a quarter life crisis can be put on hold for such tasty fare.

So with out further ado here is the pizza recipe to end all others, enjoy!

Barbecue Chicken Pizza

Serves 4-6

1 pizza crust (the recipe I use is below, but store bought works well too)

1 bottle barbecue sauce (a honey or brown sugar recipe works best)

3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

1/2 cup smoked gouda cheese, thinly sliced or shredded  

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken, cubed, cooked, and chilled (prevents overcooking on pizza)

1/3 cup cilantro roughly chopped

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

Toss cold cooked chicken with barbecue sauce and return to refrigerator. Heat oven to 450 degrees. 

Roll out pizza dough to 1/4 inch thickness and place on top of greased pan or pizza stone. Spread desired amount of barbecue sauce to within 1/4 inch of crust. Top with cheese, chicken, and onion. 

Cook for 11-13 min. until cheese is melted and crust is golden brown. Immediately sprinkle with cilantro and serve. 

Quick and Easy Pizza Crust  from allrecipes.com by Chef Rider

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast

1 teaspoon white sugar

1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

2 1/2 cups bread flour

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

• 
  
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). In a medium bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
• 
  
• Stir in flour, salt and oil. Beat until smooth. Let rest for 5 minutes
• 
  
• Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat or roll into a round. Transfer crust to a lightly greased pizza pan or baker’s peel dusted with cornmeal. Spread with desired toppings and bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Let baked pizza cool for 5 minutes before serving.

I debated whether or not to post this recipe owing to the absence of a lovely finished product photo, but this diner was too delicious to be ignored. When I look back on the ingredient list that included red wine, hot Italian sausage, and chicken;  I’m not sure how I could have expected anything less than sumptuous results. This was a fabulous meal; hearty and quick. Apart from a bounty of protein the dish also features a generous amount of tomatoes, and I don’t know about you but I think tomatoes in the summertime are just divine. 


In addition to being DELECTABLE, I found this dish also fun to make. I know, I know, you’re probably thinking that goes with out saying for someone who whips out her muffin tins at 11 p.m. because she’d rather make cupcakes than watch t.v., but I too can distinguish between tedious cooking, and jubilant culinary endeavors. This dish falls squarely into the latter category. 


When I served this I followed Bon Appetite’s recommendation and accompanied the caccitore with fresh garlic bread (which my magical bread machine baked for me while I was at work, and for which a recipe will be posted soon) and a green salad making for a nicely balanced meal. If you’re ready to have a ball in the kitchen and enjoy a fabulous dinner (with lots of friends) make this right away and you’ll be licking your lips in no time. 


Chicken and Sausage Cacciatore with Grape Tomatoes Adapted from Bon Appétite, July 2008
Serves 4
3 tablespoons olive oil (nonstick cooking spray)
4 large chicken thighs with skin and bone (6-8chicken legs)
3/4 lb. fresh hot or mild italian sausage
3/4 lb. mushrooms, quartered
2-12 oz containers grape tomatoes, quartered (cherry tomatoes)
1/2 cup dry red wine
3 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 tsp. fresh rosemary (.5 tsp. dried rosemary)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil


Spray pan with nonstick spray or drizzle with 2 Tbl. oil and heat over medium high. Sprinkle chicken with sat and pepper. Add chicken and sausage and saute for 5 min on each side until browned. Transfer to a bowl. Add mushrooms to skillet saute until brown, ~4 min add to same bowl. 


Add remaining 1 Tbl. spoon oil, or re-spray the pan; add the tomatoes, red wine, rosemary, and garlic. Cover reduce heat to medium and cook 5 min until tomatoes soften. Using a potato masher, crush half the tomatoes. Return chicken to skillet reduce heat to medium low, and simmer uncovered for 5 min. Add remaining contents of bowl to skillet and simmer uncovered until chicken and sausage are cooked through, turning occasionally ~15 min. 


Cut sausages on diagonal and place on platter along with chicken. Stir basil into sauce, season with salt and pepper, and spoon over dish.  Serve with crusty garlic bread.   

Gah!!!!!!!!!! these cookies are incredible and make me feel like a domestic goddess every time their scent wafts from the oven.  I have made this recipe at least 8 prior times and this particular batch was the result of competition between myself and Pepperidge Farm. It all started when I bought a bag of P. Farm’s Soft Chocolate Chunk Cookies and quickly devoured their entire contents with the help of two other people in less than 12 hours. Now aside from the fact that purchasing cookies is a rare event for someone who regularly bakes several different kinds of sweets per week, the fact that I killed an entire package of cookies in essentially one sitting was somewhat disconcerting. I thought “what a crock! a whole package of cookies gone in less than a day hrmpf!” and then decided to make them more scrumptious and numerous than P. Farms ever could.

These little gems were my answer; they are super soft and chewy, and this recipe makes a million of them so you won’t run out before satisfying your cookie cravings (like those OTHER guys). The secret lies in the inclusion of instant pudding mix to the batter. I don’t know exactly how it works but every time I include pudding in cakes, cookies, or quick breads the result is a super moist and flavorful creation. Now the original recipe calls for all butter and I regularly make it this way, but this time around I swapped out a third of the butter for yogurt. This was a bit riskier than normal because substituting yogurt or applesauce for butter will always result in a softer more cake like texture, and since the pudding mix already does this I was running the risk of baking cookies that tasted more like pancakes, but swap I did because pancake cookies are also good.

Fortunately the cookies still looked and tasted like cookies and they were ooooooh so delicious! Brian said he could have gone for a slightly denser texture but gave them a thumbs up nonetheless. The recipe calls for vanilla instant pudding but you can use any flavor of pudding you want and the same goes for the types of chips you use. I have made versions using chocolate pudding with white and semisweet chips, pistachio pudding with peanut butter chips, and of course vanilla pudding with semi sweet chips. Besides the yum factor of this recipe the versatility of this dish is really what cements it in my favorites list. Have fun with this one, and let me know what you think; especially if you come up with your own tasty flavor combinations. 

Award Winning Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies Adapted from allrecipes.com

Serves 36

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 cup butter, softened (2/3 butter 1/3 plain fat free yogurt)
• 3/4  cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 (3.4 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cups chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl combine the butter, sugars, vanilla, and eggs stirring to combine. Next add in the flour instant pudding and baking soda mixing just until the wet ingredients are incorporated with the dry. Toss in the chips and nuts if using. 

Roll into tsp. sized balls and place on cookie sheet (as you can probably tell from the photo tsp. sized balls result in mini cookies, I like mini food it makes me feel like a giant). If you prefer larger cookies you can roll them into Tbl. spoon sized balls instead; the serving size of 36 corresponds to the larger dough proportion. Whatever size dough you decide on bake these for 9-12 min until golden on the edges. 

Allow to cool on the pan for 3 min before removing to cool further on a wire rack. Serve with a tall glass of milk.