I feel like it needs some chopped parsley for color (kidding).
I must have a thing for pistachios this year. It looks like the last recipe I posted was for Pistachio, Currant and Toffee Biscotti, and I recently totally fell in love with pistachio butter, I’m blaming this recipe on that one, and FYI pistachio butter, chopped pistachios, pure olive oil and fresh ginger is a fabulous glaze on roasted salmon. And shame on me because I haven’t posted in a while.
I came across this recipe from the New York Times earlier this year and printed it out intending to try it sometime and, as I am wont to do, couldn’t resist tinkering with the recipe. The recipe is good as is, but being a lover of nuts and sesame seeds/tahini, mine has a bit more of a few ingredients (in terms of amounts). I haven’t made rice crispies treats in literally 30+ years, but these sounded delish.
I have been making these, portioning them out and throwing them into the freezer, and they are just dandy straight from the freezer.
I also cheat in areas where I find you can cheat. In the recipe, it calls for browning the butter. I tried it with browned butter and tried it straight, and honestly IMO you can’t really tell the difference. Also you can add all the wet ingredients (plus salt) together after you melt the butter and melt all of it together, marshmallows, condensed milk, tahini, pistachio butter, vanilla paste and salt. I skipped the halvah and added cashews to this as well. Time is money so to speak, and if I were making this in a commercial sized batch, any few minutes you can cut and still come out with a great product, you do if possible.
½ cup grams unsalted butter, cut into pieces (I am and always will be a Kate’s Butter fan)**
6 cups Rice Krispies cereal (or generic store brand)
1 cup shelled roasted pistachios, coarsely chopped
1 cup cashews (roasted is good too)
½ cup white sesame seeds, lightly toasted and divided
Melt the butter in a large heavy bottomed sauce pan (brown if you wish), add marshmallows, condensed milk, tahini, pistachio butter, vanilla paste and salt and stir well until melted. Remove from heat.
Immediately add the toasted sesame seeds and mix well. Add in the chopped cashews and pistachios and stir until incorporated.
This makes approximately 2 8X8 inch pans or a 9×14 pan. I use parchment paper in the pans before adding the mix and spreading.
1.5 sticks of softened butter (3/4 cup butter) I prefer Kate’s Sea Salt Butter for this.
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 tea. maple syrup (I use maple syrup quite a bit as a substitute for vanilla)
2 ½ cups AP flour
¾ tea. baking powder
2 tea. Kosher salt
1 tea. ground cinnamon
1 tea. ground nutmeg
1 cup toasted salted pistachios, lightly chopped
1 cup dried red currants
1 cup toffee bits (I’ve been using the Heath brand for this but you could use any small sized toffee bits)
I make this and either freeze it or refrigerate it for several hours prior to baking. You can bake it right away, but I find the dough tends to spread out more, so you have thinner biscotti with thinner ends. If freezing wrap tightly as this does pick up freezer odors.
Method:
Cream together butter and sugar in a stand mixer with a paddle. Add in eggs and maple syrup and mix until incorporated.
Sift together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, and kosher salt; stir the currants, and toffee bits into the flour mixture to coat. You can add these in afterwards but coating them tends to help distribute them better throughout the dough.
Add the flour/nut mix into the creamed mixture and mix until fulling incorporated.
Shape the dough into two approximately 14 inch long X 4 inch wide logs; press top down until the logs are about an inch in thickness.
Refrigerate for at least an hour (or freeze).
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. If you have frozen the dough, leave in the refrigerator overnight to fully defrost.
Bake for about 40 minutes, or until edges are slightly crispy and the center of the logs is firm to the touch. Remove from the oven to cool. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F.
When logs are cool enough to handle safely but still warm, use a serrated knife to slice the logs diagonally into 1 inch thick slices. Return the slices to the baking sheet. I’ve found turning them completely over so the bottom is the top helps get the sides crispy.
Return to the oven and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes. Cool completely, and store in an airtight container at room temperature. These freeze well when cooked too, hint for defrosting, remove from the container or bag to fully defrost as it helps remove any moisture that may remain and make the biscotti soggy.
These are excellent dipped or drizzled in chocolate with the addition of more chopped toasted pistachios or toffee bits.
This used to be one of my signature dishes for the bar menu at The Olde Inn in Cape Cod many many moons ago and people used to order it in the main dining room because they had it prior at the bar and liked it. Just dug the recipe out when a friend asked me if I had any good chili/beer recipes so thought it might be fun to post.
Apologies for the stock photo, I know we took photos back in the day of all of our dishes but heaven help me if I can find where they are now going on 20+ years later.
14 each plum tomatoes diced, you can substitute canned if needed: 2 ea 12 oz diced canned and drained of liquid
1 medium Holland bell red bell pepper, small diced
1 medium Holland bell yellow bell pepper, small diced
1 lb ground beef, (ground pork or buffalo can also be used), chicken can be used but not everyone likes it’s paired with the Guinness
1 large jalapeno pepper, de-seeded, de-veined and fine chopped
6 cloves garlic, fine chopped
2 cups Guinness beer
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce, I prefer Tabasco Chipotle flavor
2 tablespoon fresh chopped cilantro
3 ea 14 oz. canned cooked black beans or about 7 cups fresh cooked black beans
Kosher salt to taste
1 tablespoon arrowroot or cornstarch
2 teaspoons cold water
Preparation:
In a cast iron skillet sauté bacon until cooked through, remove the bacon to drip dry on a paper towel, save the drippings in the pan.
Add the olive oil to the bacon drippings and then add the onion, tomatoes, peppers, and ground beef
Sauté on high for approximately 5 minutes (or until ingredients are cooked through) and then add the dry spices and hot sauce and sauté for an additional minute.
Remove vegetables and meat and deglaze the pan with the beer, do not reduce.
Add the meat and vegetable mix, the cilantro, the cooked bacon and the black beans into the beer and simmer for about 10 minutes or until the liquid is reduced by approximately a quarter.
In a small dish, blend the cold water and arrowroot or cornstarch to make a slurry, add the slurry into the simmering bean mixture and cook on low heat for about a minute until the mixture thickens.
For a thicker chili, you can add additional slurry to get to the consistency you want. Season with salt to taste if needed.
Garnish with Sour Cream or my favorite, Cabot Jalapeno Cheddar, and cilantro sprigs
*This can also be cooked in a crockpot as well if you prefer it slow cooked, it’s still best to cook all of the ingredients seperately first and add about a 1/2 cup more beer to the pot before cooking down a bit.
You can also substitute great northern beans for the black beans or do half and half.
We recommend cooking the beans seperately as they have very different cooking times.
This also freezes really well.
—-This recipes ALWAYS tastes better the second day!!
Winter means time for hearty soups and stews, a great accompaniment is this very easy focaccia which is one of our favorite quick and easy recipes to make and should be a staple in every house. Because it is a single step to mix this dough and no kneading is involved it makes a great easy baked item to snack on by itself, dip in flavored olive oil or dredge in a soup or stew of choice.
Makes 2 9 inch rounds
Ingredients: -3 teaspoons instant dry yeast -3 1/4 cup warm water -2 tablespoons kosher salt -3 tablespoons sugar -2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary -1/4 pure olive oil (not XV) -7 cups AP (All Purpose) flour -Kosher or Sea Salt for Sprinkling -Pure Olive Oil for coating dough
Method: -Mix all of the ingredients (except the flour) together in a mixing bowl (use the mixer bowl preferably so you don’t have to transfer). Let the yeast/water mix sit for about 10 minutes, the top of the mix will start to look puffy. -Add the flour in with a dough hook on slow speed just until ingredients are well incorporated. -Cover the mixing bowl with saran wrap and leave at room temperature for about two hours or until the mixture has more than doubled in size. -Remove from the bowl and split into two and form into two round loaves, coat with olive oil, and place in 2 well seasoned 9 in cast iron pans. -Let dough rise at room temperature for another ½ to 1 hour. the longer the second rise is the airier the loaf. -Sprinkle with Kosher or Sea Salt and additional Rosemary if you would like a stronger flavored loaf. -Preheat oven to 400 and bake loaves for about 30 minutes, loaves will sound hollow on the bottom when finished. -Let cool on a baking rack or serve warm. I brush with olive oil again while still warm for a softer crust.
This recipe freezes well both in dough form and baked form. The dough can be kept in the refrigerator for up to two weeks before baking. It can also be baked free form on a pizza stone or divided up into roll size for baking. For a softer crust, brush the exterior with additional olive oil immediately after it comes out of the oven.
Because this recipe is so versatile, there is a lot of variations you can use with it. Add 2 tablespoons of fresh chopped garlic and brush with garlic-infused olive oil before baking. Add 4 oz. fine chopped re-hydrated sun-dried tomatoes Substitute fresh sage, fresh thyme, or fresh tarragon for the rosemary, use slightly less fresh tarragon or the flavor will be overwhelming. Chopped or chopped olives are a wonderful addition, we particularly like them roasted and the olive oil used for roasting the olives used to coat the dough before baking. 4 oz of chopped olives is recommended, more can be used but results in a heavier finished product. Roasted garlic is also a great addition to the base dough but blend it well with olive oil and the warm water before adding the rest of the ingredients so the flavor is distributed equally. 1 tble is plenty to add for this recipe. This makes great panko breadcrumbs, toasted croutons or even great for pizza crust! For a bit of ethnic flair, adding 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon turmeric, and 1 teaspoon curry adds a subtle lovely flavor to the dough. Use your imagination and experiment!
I’ve had a really busy summer and fall so haven’t had much time to do much mucking around with new recipes unfortunately. Winter is coming which oddly enough I am looking forward to so I can spend more time in the kitchen again.
Several days ago, myalumcame out online withBalsamic Of Modena PGI Goat-Cheesecakeand it sounded good and stuck around in my subconsious. I’m a huge goat cheese fan so anything with goat cheese in it is a winner in my book. Add in balsamic, a close favorite second ingredient and I’m totally hooked.
The problem with most recipes is when my subconsious gets hold of them, it starts messing with them and that results in a 2:00 am brain cramp with how can I adulterate it.
My method is a bit different then the CIA recipe as are some of the ingredients, but I like to try to give credit where the origin came from.
Makes 6, 5 inch mini tarts
Ingredients:
Balsamic-Rosemary Simple Syrup 1/4 cup Fig Balsamic Vinegar (I used theSaratoga Olive Oil Fig Balsamicfor this, my fav!) 1/4 cup sugar 1 teaspoon fresh chopped rosemary
Graham Cracker Crust 1 lemon zested Juice from one large lemon 1 ½ cup graham cracker crumbs (about 8 ounces of crackers) 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, melted (I prefer Kate’s butter) ¼ cup fig jam (this recipe would have been even better if I had some really nice quality fig jam but stuck with the local generic brand from the local supermarket, still was super).
Cheesecake 3/4 cup soft goat cheese (similar for the wish for better fig jam, a lovelyVermont Butter and Cheesegoat cheese orCoach Farm’sTriple Cream goat cheese would have been the absolutel bomb, sadly I was stuck with again what I could get at the local super.) V.B.C.’sClover Blossom Honey Goat Cheese would have gone splendidly in this. 1/2 cup Neufchatel cheese (the American version) 1/4 cup balsamic simple syrup 1 teaspoon fresh chopped rosemary Pinch kosher salt 1 Tablespoon sugar 1/2 cup heavy cream
Fig Glaze 1 ¼ cup fig jam ½ cup honey bourbon 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
Method:
For the crust, melt the butter, lemon juice and fig jam together until the fig jam is dissolved. Remove from heat and add the lemon zest. Pulse the graham crackers until finely ground. Mix the jam mixture and the cracker crumbs with your fingers until well blended and press into the tart shells and set aside.
For the balsamic-rosemary syrup: combine the balsamic, rosemary and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.
With a mixer whip the goat cheese, Neufchatel, balsamic mix, salt and rosemary until well blended. I used a Kitchenaid with the paddle attachment. Set aside.
Using a cold mixing bowl, whip the heavy cream and the sugar with the whip attachment until you get medium peaks, a bit beyond soft whip but you don’t want to go to far and turn into butter.
Fold the whipped cream in thirds into the goat cheese mixture. Spoon into the tart shells and spread evenly.
Put tarts on a sheet pan and put them in the freezer for about an hour to set.
While the tarts are setting, melt the fig jam, honey bourbon and cracked pepper in a pot on low heat until jam is completely dissolved. Let cool to room temperature. Spoon the glaze over the top of the tarts and refrigerate for about 20 minutes. Cover with saran wrap. Unmold before serving.
This is my first time making these so I would my guess at shelf life would be 3-4 days in the fridge. I suspect they will freeze will (I am going to test). Even with generic ingredients (jam and goat cheese) this came out even better than I expected it to. The goat cheese mixture with the fig glaze sans crust served at room temp would also be a lovely spread on some toasted rosemary focaccia. *A note these are very rich and a whole tart maybe too much for one person, so smaller tart shells especially if serving with other prepared food would be an option.
11/2 cup unsalted butter (3 sticks), melted and at room temperature
2 teaspoons maple syrup
8 cups grated zucchini-about 3 lbs. (do not strain the liquid off for a moister product)
Method:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Sift all of the dry ingredients together.
Whisk the eggs, melted butter and maple syrup together, add in the grated zucchini.
Stir in half of the sifted dry ingredients until incorporated, stir in the other half. The mixture will look extremely wet.
Grease pans with Crisco, or I prefer to use Vegalene cooking spray as it doesn’t have any water in the spray unlike most cooking/baking sprays. Split the batter evenly between the pans.
Bake at 350 F for about an hour or until a toothpick comes out clean. A little less time for loaves or if doing muffins.
Remove from the oven and cool completely before removing from the pans and cutting.
This is wonderful as a cake or as a quickbread. You can’t taste the zucchini at all. Serve as is or with some cream cheese frosting.
The best way to make delicious roasted peppers is actually not by roasting them but by grilling them. Who would have thought…….
The best peppers to use for this are Holland Bell Peppers or domestic bells; you want to look for firm, ripe, and as thick-skinned as possible.
How do you tell whether a pepper has a thick skin or not? You can tell by looking at a pepper as it looks plumper and rounder, and when you pick it up and squeeze it lightly, it will have a firmer feeling than a thinner skinner pepper.
You can also make roasted hot peppers, but you want to be aware of the hotter the pepper, the better you should make sure your grilling area is well ventilated!
I prefer to use red, yellow, and orange bell or Holland peppers; green peppers generally have thinner skins and not as much flavor when roasted/grilled. Green peppers are unripened colored peppers and tend to not have a lot of flavor to them anyway, and can also be bitter. Green peppers have not had the chance for the natural sugars to develop as the pepper ripens. You will never find a green pepper in my house; neither my husband nor myself like them, and I can’t recall in 20 years in business ever using them on any of my menus.
Peppers are also high in Vitamin C, with even the humble green pepper having twice as much as an orange. Yellow and orange peppers more than 6 times as much Vitamin C as an actual orange.
There are also purple peppers, white, striped, black heirloom, mini sweet, cubanelle, banana, cherry (or pimento), and many varieties of hot peppers from all over the world.
All are fantastic for roasting (grilling) and stuffing for appetizers, an example like roasted jalapenos stuffed with cream cheese, cheddar, garlic, and dill. Banana peppers and other larger peppers can be stuffed with rice, vegetables, and meat, poultry, or fish. Larger peppers don’t generally hold up to roasting/grilling first and then stuffing unless they are placed in some sort of large ramekin or individual baking dish to hold it up as the skin tends to get a bit on the floppy side.
Method: Wash your peppers and pat dry. You don’t want to cut the peppers out or remove the seeds in advance, this will be done after cooking.
Heat up your outdoor grill: charcoal or gas. You can also grill them indoors if you have a gas stove using a grate on top of the burners but be warned, it can cause some floating black debris in the air.
For a little extra added flavor add some wood chips, smokiness gives the peppers a little bit more depth of flavor.
Place the peppers directly on the grill and let the skin blacken until almost the entire surface is black, there can be pockets of color, don’t let it get to the point where you are seeing ash grey on the skin (you have cooked them too much by then if you see this).
Turn the peppers until the entire exterior is well singed. (ie blackened but not totally black). The perfect peppers are ones that you stand and watch and baby the peppers, frequently turning so they don’t get overdone. The perfect balance is seeing when the skin starts to pucker and pull away from the flesh underneath it.
Remove the peppers and let cool until they are easy to pick up comfortably. (Do not cover the peppers). I’ve seen it suggested to do this but I’ve found when you cover the peppers can get overcooked and get quite mushy.
Using a rubbing motion with your thumbs, gently remove the skin for the peppers, it will come away very easily. And rub off any seeds as the pieces start to gently come apart. The stem is also easily pulled off at this point.
If you are using this for hot peppers, WEAR GLOVES! The natural capsaicin in hot peppers is very painful if you get in your eyes by accident or you touch other tender parts of your anatomy. Even heavy hand washing does not remove all the natural oils from this. Trust me on this, I could tell you some stories of line cooks being warned about this and ignoring the warning. I’ll leave that up to your imagination, but I think you probably catch my drift.
Don’t wash your peppers after removing the blackened skin as this will remove the natural flavors and oils that have come out.
Refrigerate the peppers and cover only when completely cool; within several hours the peppers will exude a natural juice. Don’t strain the juices off because marinating in these juices is the best way to keep them AND enhance the flavor.
Peppers prepared this way will store up to a week refrigerated. They taste even better on day two, after they have had a chance to sit in their natural juices and marinate.
When I have roasted pepper juice leftover, it makes a great base for a vinaigrette, or I add it into soups, stocks and sauces. It freezes well as well. If you make roasted pepper salad dressing whether it’s a vinaigrette or dairy or a mayo/egg-based dressing, go ahead and add that juice right in as well, it’s condensed roasted pepper flavor,
Roasted peppers do get a bit mushy if frozen, but if using them for soups or sautéed dishes, they work fine. The best way to freeze for sautéing is toss them in a little bit of pure olive oil before freezing and wrap well. They do pick up freezer odors. If using for soups, you may want to not use the olive oil depending on the end usage, but again may sure you wrap well.
A few variations on the basic roasted peppers is marinating in some olive oil, I prefer pure vs EV, but that’s a matter of taste preference. Garlic and fresh herbs are also a nice addition. My personal favorites are fresh thyme and/or rosemary. Roasted garlic is also a nice addition, but I wouldn’t marinate the peppers in it for more than a day, or all you will taste is roasted garlic and not roasted pepper. A recent addition that is fantastic on roasted peppers that we have fallen in love with is black garlic salt. It’s pricey but worth it with a lovely subtle sweet garlic flavor.
I admit it; I used to be a sucker for Thomas’ Corn Toasties/Toast-R-Cakes. I bought some recently and was not as in love as I used to be; either they changed the recipe or it had just been a while (decades…..), similar to remembering old movies from the 80’s you thought were hilarious and then watching them again and saying, geez that was kind of dumb.
In any case, I love cornbread, and so began the quest for the perfect cornbread that tasted like what I think was the illusion of yumminess that Corn Toasties used to have for me.
When the pandemic first hit, we had some shortages at our local grocery store (the great toilet paper hoarding notwithstanding) and small containers of milk became non-existent in the dairy aisle. So it was a gallon of milk or bust. Now neither my husband nor myself drink milk; we eat plenty of dairy and have 1/2 and 1/2 and heavy cream on hand all the time. AAAANNNNND I know I can dilute both to make milk for baking, but honestly, I love my heavy cream, and using up the 1/2 and 1/2 meant for coffee and tea (plus it’s pricier) isn’t an option.
Off I went to research what was the best powdered dry milk. I found Peak dried whole milk (from Holland) in a huge can and promptly fell in love with it for baking. Add a little more powder than called for and get a creamier product. Plus it’s shelf-stable and no more tossing milk, which was more than enough waste after the first few times.
I’ve tried dozens of cornbread recipes and many dozens more of the faux corn toastie recipes, and I think I’ve finally ended up with the perfect blend of sweetness and moistness for at least my taste buds. My husband is not a cornbread fan, and I know I have a winner; when I cajole him into trying a little, he takes a small slice out and then eats a crumb but then eats the full slice and says, “it’s good”. For me, that’s a win-win.
*A note, as soon as this is cool, make sure you wrap promptly; it does dry out quickly.
2 cups medium grind yellow cornmeal (I like the Great River Organic cornmeal, which has not removed the germ and bran, so it’s a tad healthier, plus it has a nice flavor and consistency)
1 1/2 cups AP flour
1 1/4 cup sugar
6 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon kosher salt
Method:
Sift all the dry ingredients together.
Blend milk (or milk powder and water), eggs, honey, and room temperature melted Crisco.
Stir in the dry ingredients and mix until fairly smooth.
Pour into a greased (I use Vegelene Spray) 10 X 13 half pan (commercial) or a 9 X 13 baking square (retail); this can also be done in deep sheet pans or muffin tins depending on usage.
Bake for approximately 40 minutes (less for muffins and sheet pan) until a toothpick inserted comes out dry. The top will be golden brown.
Serve warm.
This would be very nice with the addition of some grilled corn mixed with the batter, some nice double-smoked chopped bacon, or a nice, tart, slightly spicy, corn and peppadew salsa on top to balance out the sweetness if you wanted more of a sweet and savory blend.
Makes 2 loaves or 1 ea. 10 Inch Springform Pan, a Bundt pan can be used as well
Ingredients:
2 cups AP flour
1 tea ground cinnamon
1 tea ground nutmeg
1 tea ground allspice
½ tea Kosher salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 tea baking soda
1 table warm water
1 tea maple syrup
3 apples – peeled and small diced
½ cup dried cherries
½ cup chopped toasted pecans
¼ cup confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Butter a 10 inch Bundt pan or 2 loaf pans.
Whisk together flour, spices, and salt. Set aside.
Cream together butter and sugar.
Add in eggs and maple syrup.
In a separate bowl, stir together baking soda and 1 tablespoon warm water, and add into the sugar mixture.
Stir in the flour mixture, apples, dried cherries and chopped pecans until well blended.
Pour batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for approximately 1 hour, or until a knife tip or toothpick comes out clean.
Dust with confectioners’ sugar and toasted pecans when cool
A nice accompaniment to this is a nice cherry or apple flavored whipped cream or vanilla ice cream
Flavored whipped cream: 1 cup Heavy Cream 1/4 cup powdered sugar 1/4 cup flavored liquor of choice Pinch of Kosher salt
With a stand or hand mixer, combine all ingredients in a chilled bowl, it helps if the heavy cream and liquor is as cold as possible prior to mixing. I put my mixing bowl in the fridge for about half and hour prior. You do want to make sure your bowl is as free of other moisture as possible. Whip on high until stiff peaks form. Adulterate with additional booze to taste. If you don’t want to use alchol in the recipe there are non-alcoholic alternatives or you can use extracts, keep in mind most extracts do have alcohol bases (at least the good quality ones do).
I’m not sure where the original of this recipe came from, it’s one I’ve used for years in restaurants I’ve worked at and the base recipe is a typical quick bread/quick cake that you can pretty much add any fruit or nut additions to.
This recipe freezes well and keeps well in the refrigerator for about 5-6 days.
My Grandfather Campbell Norsgaard used to make this frequently.
