Cook Me... I'm Irish!

These Irish toffee shortbread bars are seriously delicious.  There's no need to wait until St. Patrick's Day to make these!  And all of the ingredients and things that every well-stocked (or even a moderately-stocked) kitchen should have.  They're a versatile treat that can be dressed up for a party or pass as a casual treat at the next barbeque.

Irish Toffee Shortbread

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 Tbsp light corn syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 6oz bag choc. chips

Directions 

1. Shortbread: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a bowl, cream together butter and sugar.  Stir in flour until well mixed.  Press batter into 9-in square pan.  Bake 25-30 minutes, until edges are golden brown.  Let cool. 
2. Toffee: Melt 1/2 cup butter in heavy saucepan over med. heat.  Add brown sugar, condensed milk, and corn syrup.  Bring mixture to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring continually.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.  Pour over cool shortbread.
3. Topping: Melt chocolate in the microwave or a double boiler.  Stir until smooth.  Poor over cooled toffee and allow to harden.  Cut into squares.

I am a biscuit snob.

The only time I ever had biscuits from a can growing up was when we used them to make little mini pizzas (which I did a few weeks ago... caramelized onions, roasted red peppers, and a blend of Italian cheeses... yum!).  My mom always make her biscuits from scratch and, even though I'm a poor college students who's hungry ALL THE TIME, there's no going to canned biscuits now.

These are cloud biscuits, and the name doesn't lie!  They're soft and fluffy and delightful, especially when they're still warm from the oven!

So make the change!  Give up those grayish, tough biscuits from the refrigerator aisle of the local grocer and make the switch to homemade.  They're easy to make and completely worth it!

Cloud Biscuits

Ingredients:

2 c. flour                           

1/2 t. salt

1 Tbsp. sugar                     

1/2 c. shortening

4 t. baking powder               

1 beaten egg

2/3 c. milk

 

Directions:

 

Combine dry ingredients, cut in shortening.  Add egg and milk. 

 

Mix well. Knead few times on floured board.  Pat out flat and cut with biscuit cutter (a glass works just fine for this).

 

Bake 425 for 10-12 minutes

 

Confession #1:

I have a culinary crush.

I think most people who like cooking have one.  It happens when your cooking ability has a crush on someone else's cooking ability.  There are a few ways you can identify your culinary crush.

1. When you're looking for a new recipe, this is the first chef you turn to because you know everything they make is amazing!
2. You could watch their cooking show all day long... literally.
3. When you want to curl up with a good book, the first thing you reach for is their most recent cookbook.
4. You don't go to bed until the wee hours of the morning because you can't wait to see how said cookbook ends.  

And who is my crush, you ask?

Yes, Alton Brown.  He may be over twice my age, but we can still cook side-by-side in the kitchens of our hearts!

   5. You say stupid, poetic things 

      like "the kitchens of our 

      hearts".

If you don't have a culinary crush, try Alton Brown's soft pretzel recipe and you may find yourself feeling a bit twitterpated the next time you turn on the TV and Alton Brown's Good Eats is on.  These pretzels are seriously delicious and super easy!

Alton Brown's Soft Pretzels

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups
• 2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
• Vegetable oil, for pan
• 10 cups water
• 2/3 cup baking soda
• 1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
• Pretzel salt

Directions

Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.

Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.

In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces (this will make very large pretzels. For smaller pretzels, divide into 16 pieces). Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.

Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

 

Winter sports: one of the few redeeming aspects of the season.  This weekend some friends and I rented equipment and fulfilled a year-long goal of going snowshoeing.  It was a beautiful, clear day and, except for the heavily-trodden trail, the snow was pristine and totally untouched... that is, until we came along!  Overheating from the exertion and sunshine resulted in many snowball fight and snow angel-making breaks. 

This was (in my opinion) the most beautiful view of the whole hike.

Our destination was Big Springs and we were not disappointed.  They weren't frozen due to the swiftness of the water and the rocks in the stream bed were covered with a thick carpet of green moss, providing a sharp contrast with the white snow blanketing the ground and the taller boulders.  It was over two miles to the springs and tramping through the snow in heavy boots and snowshoes proved to be hungry work!  Luckily, we had a box of crackers between the seven of us to tide us over for the hike back.

The only picture of all seven of us.

We had a great time and I definitely hope to make a yearly tradition of it!  Best of all, it was fairly inexpensive (only nine dollars to rent the snowshoes).

I thought the following recipe that I recently tried out would be appropriate, since it's the perfect meal after a cold day of playing in the snow!  It's spicy, but even my roommates (who have a fairly low tolerance for spicy food) enjoyed it.  Still, if you don't like heat, leave out some of the peppers because this chile has a kick!  For those of you who don't normally like chile, this is a good recipe because it has more of a chunky stew texture, especially if you break the ground meat into large pieces.

Chipotle Chicken Chili

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 medium onions, diced
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 1 Anaheim chile, seeded and diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon ginger, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander seed
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 1 pound ground poultry (I used turkey)
• 2 chipotle chiles, minced
• 2 tablespoons adobo sauce from chipotles
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 16 ounce can white kidney beans, drained and rinsed

Instructions

1. Heat a heavy bottomed pot over medium-high heat, then add the olive oil, onions, celery, Anaheim peper, garlic, ginger, bay leaf, cumin, coriander, and cinnamon. Sautee until the onions are tender and translucent (about 15-20 minutes).
2. Move the onions to the side and add the ground chicken. Press it down flat, and use a spatula to break it up into large chunks. Continue sautéing until the chicken is cooked. 
3. Add the chipotles, adobo sauce, chicken stock, and cannellini beans. Let the chili simmer uncovered over medium-low heat until it's thick (about 1 hour). Taste and add salt as needed.

A while back there was a sale at the local grocery store on Ritz crackers.  It was 2 for $4 dollars and I thought that sounded like a mighty good deal (I do love crackers) and so I went ahead and bought two boxes.  So what if they were the "Hint of Salt" kind?  Sodium is bad for you anyway, right?  

WRONG.

Unfortunately for me, "Hint of Salt" apparently meant no salt at all and, as anyone remotely interested in cooking knows, no salt=no flavor.  So I was stuck with two full boxes and the most horrible tasting crackers I had ever encountered, and I've tried a few crackers in my day.  I managed over the course of many months to choke down one full box, mostly by salting the crackers myself (imagine! having to salt your own crackers just to make them palatable!) and then covering them with a thick slice of cheese.

Then I bought a box of real Ritz crackers and so the second box of that monstrosity called "Hint of Salt" sat in the back corner of my shelf for many weeks.  Then I came across these little beauties that gave me use for those previously useless crackers!

Voila!  The peanut butter cup cracker sandwiches!  (I know, it needs a catchier name.  Crunchy cracker candies?  Choc-choc-chocolate cracker crunchies?  Obviously catchy naming is not my strong suit.)

Not only are these little lovelies easy to make, they're also super tasty despite my woefully taste-deficient crackers!  One of my roommates commented (as we sat on our kitchen floor, eating them off the pan) that she liked them better than peanut butter cups!  I don't know about that, but they have a very pleasant crispy crunch and an even better chocolatey, peanut-buttery taste!

The moral of this story?  Don't buy low sodium crackers (or low sodium anything, for that matter).  It's just not worth it.  And if you do, coat it in chocolate!

Choc-choc-chocolate Cracker Crunchies (I admit it, the name grew on me!)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups milk chocolate chips
• ½ cup creamy peanut butter
• ¼ cup powdered sugar, sifted
• Ritz crackers (I used one whole sleeve)

1. Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler or the microwave (I find that the latter works just as well).
2. Mix peanut butter and sugar in a bowl until smooth.
3. Spread a small amount of the peanut butter mixture onto a cracker and sandwich with another cracker.
4. Repeat until all the crackers have been used. 
5. Place crackers onto a lined baking sheet (foil works fine but you could use parchment paper if you're feeling fancy).  If the peanut butter mixture is runny, chill crackers before dipping in crackers.
6. Once the chocolate has melted, using a fork or other preferred utensil, dip the peanut butter sandwiches into the chocolate until completely covered.
7. Shake off any access chocolate (shaking will also smooth the surface of the chocolate, making them look smoother) and place back onto the lined baking sheet.
8. Repeat with the remaining sandwiches and set aside to dry (about an hour) or place in the refrigerator until chocolate coating is hard (about ten minutes). 
9. Carefully peel from the baking sheet and enjoy!