Katie at the Kitchen Door

Globally-inspired, seasonal recipes

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Gingerbread 2011 – The Zakim Bridge

Just wanted to quickly share a few photos of this year’s gingerbread creation: a to-scale model of the Zakim Bridge in Boston.  That’s just the kind of thing that happens when you have two civil engineering students who also love food.  Some of you may remember last year’s treehouse, and pre-blog, we did a Romanesque cathedral.  The annual gingerbread extravaganza is always driven by Trevor – he does the planning, the pattern, and the baking, while I’m more like a whiny little sibling who complains about there not being enough to decorate.  This year, I got my fun in by making Santa out of homemade marzipan.  I was going to do a gingerbread sleigh as well, but the bridge collapsed before I got around to it.  Sad day.  And good thing real bridges aren’t made out of gingerbread.  Trevor did the design and made the cable stays out of homemade candy canes, which was kind of a fun process – see pictures below.

I’m including a collection of links for the various pieces of this project, just in case anyone wants to start planning early for next year.  One suggestion I would have for the homemade marzipan is to sculpt it the day you make it – after a few days in the fridge it was oily and difficult to work with, hence the kind of scary looking Santa.  In other news, check out the new logo and the cookbook review section I’ve recently added – feedback on either is welcome.  I’m working on a few projects for the blog, including a two-week cleanse-diet-sort-of-thing, an article about our experience dabbling in cheesemaking, and recipes inspired by my new lemon tree, so expect lots of exciting and healthy recipes from me soon!

Click here for our gingerbread recipe.

See this recipe for homemade marzipan instructions and this article for tips on working with it.

Lastly, how to make your own candy canes!

Drink

Last Minute Christmas Cheer

Christmas always took an agonizingly long time to arrive when I was little.  I started flipping through the giant JC Penny’s toy catalog and circling the 625 items I wanted in October.  We had to wait for what seemed like ages to decorate the tree once December finally arrived.  And as soon as school got out the rest of the month was dedicated to absorbing Christmas – eating cookies, decorating gingerbread, doing the advent calendar, and watching A Muppet Christmas Carol (available on Amazon Instant?? My night just got so much better…) as many times as possible.  Then, of course, Christmas Eve itself was the longest night ever, and I rarely fell asleep within an hour of going to bed.  Now that I’m not so little though, Christmas seems to sneak up on me all of a sudden – I’m barely getting in the spirit when the day has come and gone.  It’s easy to get so caught up in your life – and the shopping, and parties, and rushing around that seem to epitomize Christmas now – that you forget to just enjoy the Christmas spirit.  And to think about what Christmas actually means – whatever that may signify for you.

Luckily, we all still have at least another 48 hours to soak up as much Christmasyness as possible, and I plan on doing just that.  And you know what’s helping the most?  The eggnog.  Sweet, rich, creamy, and just a little spicy, one sip of this eggnog and I feel a little bit more relaxed, a little bit less anxious, and a little bit more ready to enjoy the next two days for what they are.  Fifteen more sips and you can just imagine how good I feel. :-)  Really though, it’s extremely easy to whip up, and I even made a half batch just for Trevor and myself to enjoy on the spot.  If you have a little bit more time on your hands, chop up some apples, oranges, and pomegranates and throw a batch of this Christmas sangria in the fridge as well.  Turn on some Christmas music, plug in the tree, put out a plate of cookies, and pour yourself a glass of your drink of choice.  Christmas is here – enjoy it!

P.S. Recipe for the Chocolate Mint Thumbprint cookies pictured can be found here!

Christmas Sangria

Adapted from Lucid Food: Cooking for an Eco-Conscious Life.  Serves 6.

  • 1 bottle (750mL) red wine
  • 2 c. apple cider
  • 3/4 c. brandy
  • juice of 1 lime
  • 2 sweet, crisp apples, chopped into 1 inch cubes
  • seeds of 1 large pomegranate
  • 1 orange, sliced
  1. Mix all ingredients together in a large pitcher, stirring with a wooden spoon.  Refrigerate for 3-4 hours to allow the flavors to blend.  Serve cold, and don’t forget to eat the fruit!  Will last in the fridge for 3-4 days, if, like me, you cannot drink an entire bottle of wine in one night. :-)

Homemade Eggnog

Adapted from Food Network.  Serves 4.

  • 4 eggs, separated
  • 1/3 c. sugar, plus 1 TBS
  • Pinch cream of tartar
  • 2 c. whole milk
  • 1 c. heavy cream
  • 3-4 oz. bourbon or brandy
  • 1 tsp nutmeg
  1. In a medium bowl or stand mixer, whisk egg whites until foamy.  Sprinkle cream of tartar over, and continue whisking/beating until they form soft peaks.  While still whisking, sprinkle 1 TBS of sugar over them and beat until egg whites are stiff.
  2. In a large bowl (preferably with a spout) or pitcher, whisk egg yolks and 1/3 c. sugar until pale yellow and creamy.  Whisk in milk, heavy cream, and booze until incorporated, then gently fold in egg whites until the consistency is even.  Divide between four glasses and top with nutmeg.  Drink right away.

*NOTE: This recipe contains raw egg yolks.  If you are uncomfortable eating raw egg yolks, heat the milk and cream over low heat until just beginning to simmer, then pour over the egg yolk and sugar mixture, whisking yolks rapidly to prevent scrambling, to temper the yolks.  Chill the mixture before continuing.

Cookbook

Cookbook of the Month: Gourmet Gifts… and Sugarplums!

Did you know sugarplums are a real thing?  That they’re more than just a name for a delightful fairy in The Nutcracker?  That you can make and eat and admire them and that they really are worthy of visions dancing in your head?  That they might actually be both the most Christmasy and the healthiest treat I’ve made for the holidays?  Yeah, me neither, at least until a week ago when I picked up a copy of Gourmet Gifts by Dinah Corley, and flipped to a page with tiny sparkly plum-resembling treats titled sugarplums.  And man am I glad to stand corrected, because these things are good.  But let’s back up a little.

Last weekend I went to my very first Boston Brunchers’ brunch.  The Boston Brunchers are a lovely group of food bloggers/writers/enthusiasts that get together once or twice a month to network and share blogging stories and, well, brunch.  Last weekend’s event was hosted by Harvard Common Press – a huge thanks to them for hosting and feeding us! – an independent publisher specializing in cookbooks and parenting books.  While there we ate brunch treats from several of their cookbooks (all delicious – especially the strata and the cranberry coffee cake), chatted each other up, and heard a presentation from the publishers themselves on the process of going from blog to cookbook.  The presentation was filled with new information for me, and convinced me to finally jump on the twitter bandwagon, something I’ve been avoiding for ages.  (Feel free to follow me : I’ll be posting updates on great recipes I don’t have time to blog about, the upcoming gingerbread extravaganza, my beginner gardening attempts, learning to make homemade cheese, and more.  Rest assured that I’m highly opposed to constant communication as I think it can drive people insane, so I promise to use it in moderation.)  After the presentation, they announced that the cookbooks decorating the tables were a freebie for us bloggers – which was a bit like announcing to a candy store full of children that everything was free and then handing them paper bags.  Mild adult chaos.  Anyway, I snagged a copy of Gourmet Gifts, because it seemed seasonally appropriate and it had a pretty cover… and I usually judge books by their covers. Not kidding.

I’m cheating a little bit in posting this review as December’s cookbook of the month, since I’ve only made the sugarplums, and my self-imposed rule is to make at least three recipes from a book before allowing it into the ranks of the cookbook of the month club.  However, I really wanted to share these sugarplums before Christmas, because they’re just so pretty and delicious and … Christmasy!  With that noted, I’ll just give a preliminary review of the book, with updates to come as I explore it a bit more thoroughly.  So far I think the most valuable parts of this book for me are the decoration and delivery ideas – with every recipe comes detailed instructions for how to wrap and present that gift, and the ideas are really quite creative.  I bookmarked several pages just for photography and styling ideas – painting a cutting board with chalkboard paint and using it as a labeled cheeseboard?  Genius!  The recipes also seem very solid.  A few ideas are slightly worn out in the food blog world – spiced nuts, macarons, etc. – but most are novel and intriguing.  High on my list are the kumquat-cognac punch (if only it didn’t have a 6 week infusing time! Next year…), the rose petal vinegar, and the cute little cakes baked into eggshells.  There are ideas for all seasons, and many recipes for portable dishes that might be a great contribution to the next party you attend.  All in all I’m glad I grabbed it, and I’m looking forward to trying out a few more recipes.

And now it’s time to bring it back to the sugarplums, the first trial recipe from this book, which was a huge success.  The gist of the recipe is this: blend dried apricots, dates, figs, pistachios, Christmas spices, apricot jam and brandy to a sticky, chewy paste.  Let sit.  Shape into adorable little plums and roll in sanding sugar.  Pop into your mouth and be really, really surprised by how much you like them.  And how completely they taste of Christmas.  Easy and quick, these are definitely worth giving a try before the big day – especially since your guests will be impressed by how pretty they look on a platter.  Just be sure that your food processor is ready for a workout – I think this may have been the last straw for my little Ninja processor.

FTC disclaimer: I received a copy of Gourmet Gifts for free but was not asked to write this review, nor was I compensated for doing so.  All opinions are my own and reflect my honest impressions of the book.

Pistachio Sugarplums

Recipe adapted slightly from Gourmet Gifts by Dinah Corley.  Makes about 30 pieces.

  • 2 c. pitted dates, chopped
  • 1 c. shelled pistachio nuts
  • 1/2 c. dried apricots, chopped
  • 1/2 c. dried figs, chopped
  • 3 TBS brandy
  • 2 TBS apricot jam
  • 1/4 tsp orange oil, or 1 TBS dried orange peel
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/2 tsp ground cloves
  • 1 tsp ground mace
  • 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 30 whole cloves (for the stems!)
  • 3/4 c. large crystal sugar (sanding or turbinado sugar)
  1. Place all ingredients except whole cloves and sanding sugar in food processor and rapidly pulse until mixture is evenly ground and forms a sticky paste.  If your food processor is too small to do all this at once, process the dried fruit and nuts in batches, then add them all back in (each ingredient should shrink in volume as it is processed) with the remaining ingredients until they are evenly mixed and blended.  Knead the dough/paste for 2-3 minutes then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 2-3 hours or overnight.
  2. Pull off tablespoon sized balls from the refrigerated dough and roll into small oval shapes between your hands (to resemble plums).  Roll in sanding sugar, then stick a whole clove into the end to make a stem.  Lay the sugarplums out on a baking sheet and allow to firm up in a cool, dry place overnight.  Store in single layers in airtight containers at room temperature.

Cookbook

Udupi-Style Risotto with Dal

Just posting this recipe for inclusion in the winter 2012 cleanse – if I make it again, I’ll be sure to take some pictures!  This dish comes from a book called The Dance of Spices, which I haven’t yet gotten a chance to fully explore.  It’s packed with vegetables and spices, and the heat can be adjusted to your personal preference.  This recipe makes a lot (it’s hard to scale down recipes to use half of vegetables like eggplants and peppers without a lot of food going to waste), so stick some in the freezer for a lazy night.

Udupi-Style Risotto with Dal

Adapted slightly from The Dance of Spices.  Serves 6.

  • 1 c. Arborio rice
  • 1/2 c. yellow split peas
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 TBS canola oil
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1/4 tsp asafetida
  • 2 TBS chopped cilantro leaves and stems
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric
  • 1 onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 medium Yukon gold potato, washed and cubed
  • 1/2 a large eggplant or 1 small Japanese eggplant, diced
  • 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
  • 1 green bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 small head of broccoli, cut in 1-inch pieces (about 3/4 c.)
  • 2 TBS tamarind concentrate, dissolved in 1/2 c. water
  • 1 recipe rasam powder, recipe below
  • 2 TBS butter
  1. Combine rice and split peas in a bowl and cover with cold water.  Soak for 30 minutes, then drain and rinse twice.  In a large saucepan, combine rice, split peas, 3 1/2 c. water, and 1/2 tsp salt and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until split peas are tender, about 30 minutes.  Turn off heat and let stand, covered.
  2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add mustard seeds and asafetida, and cook for about 1 minute, then add cilantro, turmeric, onion, potato, eggplant, carrots, bell pepper, and broccoi, and cook, stirring for 3-5 minutes.  Add dissolved tamarind liquid.  If needed, add more water to almost cover veggies, then cover pan, and cook over medium heat until potato is tender, about 8-10 minutes.  When potato is tender, season with salt and add the huli anna powder as well as 1 c. water, stir to combine then pour over rice and split pea mixture.  Stir to combine, then cook over medium heat for about 2 minutes, to allow the water to be absorbed.  Mix in 2 TBS of butter, and serve hot.

Rasam Powder

Recipe adapted from The Dance of Spices.

  • 2 tsp vegetable oil
  • 3 TBS coriander seeds
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp whole black peppercorns
  • 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
  • 10 fresh kari leaves
  • 1 small, hot dried chile (such as a Thai chile), stemmed and broken into rough pieces
  • 1/4 tsp asafetida
  1. Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat.  Add coriander, cumin, peppercorns, fenugreek, kari leaves, and chile pieces.  Toast, stirring constantly, until the seeds are beginning to brown and the leaves are beginning to crisp, about 5 minutes.  Add asafetida and cook for 1 additional minute.  Transfer mixture to a mortar and pestle (or electric spice/coffee grinder) and pound or grind to a powder.

Recipe

Basic Arugula Mashed Potatoes

Just posting this recipe for inclusion in the winter 2012 cleanse – if I make it again, I’ll be sure to take some pictures!  These were made to make my grape and ginger chicken dinner more filling, but without the inclusion of butter and cheese… well, let’s just say they weren’t the potatoes I was dreaming of.  Still, I ate them all, and it was a great way to sneak another serving of leafy greens into my day!

Arugula Mashed Potatoes

Serves 3.

  • 3 medium yukon gold potatoes, washed and cut into 1 inch cubes
  • approx 4 cups arugula, rinsed
  • 3 TBS olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  1. Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water.  Add about 1 TBS salt.  Bring potatoes to a boil and then cook until tender, about 5 minutes.  Remove potatoes from pot with a pasta skimmer and place in a large bowl.  Add arugula to the still boiling water, and blanch until bright green, about 1 minutes.  Quickly drain and run under cold water to stop the cooking process, then blend the arugula, potatoes, and olive oil until they form a smooth puree.  Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Cookbook

Grape and Ginger Glazed Chicken

Just posting this recipe for inclusion in the winter 2012 cleanse – if I make it again, I’ll be sure to take some pictures!  This is good – not particularly inspiring but fairly interesting and yummy.  One major note: the original recipe is for an entire roast chicken, so this is my very loose adaption.

Grape and Ginger Glazed Chicken

Adapted loosely from Lucid Food: Cooking for an Eco-Conscious Life.  Serves 3.

  • 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 TBS olive oil
  • kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 6 cloves garlic, sliced
  • 3 c. grapes, a mix of green and red
  • 2 inch fresh ginger, peeled and minced
  • 1 TBS honey
  • 1 1/2 TBS mustard
  • 1 TBS butter
  1. Make sauce: put grapes and ginger in blender or food processor and process until smooth.  Strain juice into a bowl, then whisk in honey and mustard.
  2. Preheat oven to 450°F.  Rub chicken breasts with 1/2 TBS olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic slices, then place all in a roasting dish with 1/2 c. of the grape sauce.  Marinate for 10 minutes.
  3. Heat remaining 1/2 TBS olive oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat.  Add chicken breasts and brown on both sides, about 2 minutes per side.  Return the breasts to the pan with garlic and juices, and roast for 15 minutes, uncovered, until chicken is cooked through and tender.
  4. While the chicken is roasting, wash out saute pan and return to stove, over medium heat.  Add remaining grape mixture to pan and cook down while the chicken roasts, until it has thickened slightly to form a sauce.  Add the butter to the sauce to finish and remove from heat.  Serve the chicken with the sauce drizzled on top.

Recipe

Beet and Chickpea Salad

I’ve been on a bit of a beet kick lately – I made beets for Thanksgiving, I’ve made this incredible beet and chickpea salad twice in the past week, and I have recipes for beet keftedes and beet soup and beet-bulghur pilau shortlisted for the next two weeks.  This isn’t such a bad thing – beets are packed with health benefits.  I mean, their vegetable family also includes spinach, chard, and quinoa – superfoods much?  Beets are full of something called betalains, which have got all that antioxidant, pro-eyesight, anti-cancer stuff going on.  Plus, they’re filling and delicious and even eating them roasted in large amounts of olive oil makes me feel good about myself.  However, I suppose there can be too much of a good thing, even when that good thing is related to lots of superfoods.  So if there’s any blame to be laid for the perhaps excessive amount of beets in my diet recently, I’m laying it on the Somerville Winter Farmer’s Market and the super gorgeous, super sweet, potato shaped beets they have every week.  They’re so pretty and pink and shapely, I just can’t help myself!

 

This salad is, as Trevor would put it, “flavor-exciting.”  There’s a lot going on in this dish, and all of it is good.  Roasted beets, chickpeas cooked in spiced broth and fried with cumin, ricotta cheese, kalamata olives, parsley, and a simple dressing of red wine vinegar and lemon juice give you pretty much every flavor and texture you could want in a single dish.  For me, the chickpeas are the star element of this dish, and the key to getting them just right is patience.  Now, I’m not usually that patient in the kitchen – think slightly undercooking the pasta, turning the heat up on an omelette to get it to cook faster and burning it in the process, etc.  But these chickpeas are worth the wait.  After cooking to a firm-tender bite in the beautifully spiced broth, you have to wait even longer for them to fry.  And fry.  And fry.  It takes a long time (a good 15 or 20 minutes) for these little beans to get to that golden-brown chewy-crunchy magic spot, but don’t let yourself toss them into the salad until they’re just right.  With under-fried chickpeas the salad will be good… but with perfectly fried chickpeas you won’t be able to stop eating it.  Promise.

Roasted Beet and Fried Chickpea Salad

Recipe adapted from Sunday Suppers at Lucques.  Makes 3-4 meal-sized servings.

For the chickpeas:

  • 1 c. dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and drained
  • 2 TBS oilve oil
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 6 cloves garlic, smashed
  • 1 aji amarillo chile or chile de arbol, crumbled
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tsp sweet Hungarian paprika
  • 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

For the salad:

  • 4-5 large beets, peeled and cut into wedges
  • 1/4 c. + 2 TBS olive oil
  • sea salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 2 TBS red wine vinegar (optional)
  • 1 TBS lemon juice (optional)
  • 1/2 c. kalamata olives, halved
  • 1/2 c. fresh flat parsley leaves, chopped
  • 1/2 c. fresh ricotta
  1. Make the chickpeas: In a medium saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add onion and smashed garlic and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until starting to brown.  And chile, bay leaf, spices, and chickpeas and cook for 2 minutes, stirring to coat chickpeas with spices.  Add just enough water to cover chickpeas and cook at a low simmer for 1/2 an hour.  Add 1 tsp salt, then continue cooking until chickpeas are tender, another 15-30 minutes.  Take off heat and set aside, leaving in cooking liquid.
  2. Preheat oven to 425°F.  Place peeled beet wedges in a 9×13 glass baking pan, toss with 1/4 c. olive oil and salt and pepper – beets should be well coated with oil.  Cover pan tightly with aluminum foil and roast for 40-50 minutes, until tender when pierced with a fork.
  3. In a large frying pan, heat remaining 2 TBS olive oil over medium heat.  Add cumin seeds and toast for 1 minute.  Add chickpeas (drained of their liquid but including chile and onion bits – I use a large slotted spoon to scoop them from the saucepan to the frying pan) and fry, stirring every 2 minutes or so, until golden-brown and crunchy on the outside, about 20-25 minutes.
  4. Mix roasted beets, fried chickpeas, kalamata olives and parsley leaves until combined.  Drizzle vinegar and lemon juice over salad if using and toss to combine.  Serve warm, and dot with fresh ricotta after plating.

Breakfast

Overnight Cinnamon Pumpkin Rolls

It’s that time again!  Vote for me in the Marx Food fregola challenge here!

Just because Thanksgiving has passed, Halloween is a distant memory, and I’ve already started posting about Christmas does not mean the season for canned pumpkin has ended.  But does it mean that it’s too late to share pictures of this year’s pumpkin carving?  Probably, but I’m ignoring that, because our pumpkin (and I’m using the word “our” loosely, as it was carved 100% by Trevor – how talented is he?) is too awesome not to share.  3D dragon?  Hell yeah.

Now that that bit of semi-irrelevant bragging is taken care of, let’s talk about some ways to use the 17 cans of pumpkin you (and by you I mean I) hoarded in your cabinet when you thought that there was going to be a pumpkin shortage.  Seriously, at the end of September, things were looking dire – I hadn’t seen a single can of pumpkin in any of the (four) grocery stores that I frequent.  So when I saw four measly cans at Pemberton Farms, I bought three (leaving one for someone else in my pumpkin-less situation out of empathy).  That same morning, Trevor brought over a supply of cans from his house.  Pumpkin shortage avoided.  Since then, I’ve used 1 and a half cans of pumpkin.  Turns out a little pumpkin goes a long way when you’re just one person.  I made these pumpkin scones, which didn’t have a great scone texture or a great pumpkin flavor, pumpkin oatmeal cookies, which were OK but mine came out too soft for my liking, this pumpkin ale bread, which was super fantastic, and I’m planning on trying this smoothie this week, but the recipe I’m choosing to share with you is much more decadent: pumpkin-cinnamon-pecan breakfast rolls with cream cheese frosting.  Um, yum.

These rolls are the perfect treat for a lazy weekend morning.  You can prep the dough and the frosting the night before, let them rest in the fridge overnight, and then in the morning all you’ve got to do is roll out the buns, slather with cinnamon-sugar butter, and pop them in the oven.  Twenty minutes later, as the house fills up with the smells of pumpkin and cinnamon and people start coming downstairs to sniff around, you officially become the worlds’ best mother/girlfriend/wife/daughter/male-versions-of-these-terms.  They taste like a really good, really soft cinnamon roll, but with the added punch of pumpkin, ginger, and nutmeg.  The toasted pecans in the filling and the lemon-cream-cheese frosting take them over the top.  I can almost guarantee you that a steaming pan of these and a hot pot of coffee could make any sunny December morning complete.

Overnight Cinnamon-Pumpkin Rolls

Roll recipe adapted from TheKitchn.  Frosting recipe from Good Life Eats.  Makes 8 large rolls.

For the dough:

  • 2 TBS warm water
  • 1/2 TBS instant yeast
  • 1/2 c. milk
  • 1/2 stick (1/4 c.) butter
  • 1/4 c. sugar
  • 1/2 (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 1/2 c. AP flour

For the filling:

  • 6 TBS butter
  • 3/4 c. brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ginger
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 c. pecans, chopped finely and toasted

For the frosting:

  • 2 oz. cream cheese, softened
  • 1/2 stick butter, softened
  • 1 c. powdered sugar
  • 1-2 tsp lemon juice
  1. Proof the yeast: In a small bowl, add the yeast to 1/8 c. warm (not hot) water and let sit for 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, heat the milk and the 1/2 stick butter over low heat until the butter is melted.  Mix in the sugar until fully dissolved, then let cool slightly so that it is warm to the touch, but not hot.  Stir the proofed yeast and the canned pumpkin into the milk mixture until evenly mixed, then add the salt and all the flour at once.  Stir to incorporate fully – dough should come together into a slightly sticky but workable mass.  Add another 1/4 c. of flour if dough is too sticky to work with.  Cover dough with a towel and let rise for 1-2 hours (until doubled in volume) in a warm place.  Punch down and place in fridge overnight.  (You can make the rolls directly from this point without the overnight refrigeration as well, but the extra resting time will result in a better flavor.)
  2. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll out into a large rectangle of dough 1/2 inch thick, about 14 inches by 8 inches in size.  Melt the 1/2 stick of butter for the filling in the microwave, then mix in the brown sugar and spices, and spread on top of the dough, leaving an inch at the top (the long way – you’re going to roll it into a long tube and need a space to pinch the dough together).  Sprinkle toasted, chopped pecans on top.  Roll the dough into a long (14 inch tube) and pinch the ends together.  Use a sharp knife to slice the tube horizontally into 8 rolls.  Place these rolls in a buttered 9 inch cake pan with about 1/2 inch of room between them.  Cover and let rise for 40 minutes.
  3. Preheat the oven to 375°F and bake risen rolls for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown on edges and no longer doughy in center.  While they bake, prepare the frosting: mix together cream cheese and butter until smooth.  Add powdered sugar and lemon juice and beat until they form a thin frosting.  Test for flavor and consistency, and adjust with more sugar or more lemon juice as needed.  Let rolls cool slightly then drizzle with cream cheese frosting.  Serve warm.

Dessert

Chocolate-Covered-Cherry Cookies

Everyone has different first-of-the-month traditions.  A lot of people make sure the first thing they say is “rabbit, rabbit,” to bring good luck all month. A harmless, fun tradition, right?  Well in my family, on the first of the month, we physically abuse each other.  I.e. we wake up, sprint into each other’s rooms, yell “pinch and a punch, first day of the month” while brutally delivering the requisite pinch and the punch, then run out of the room to get everyone else.  The ultimate goal is to get everyone before anyone gets you, which can be challenging in a family of 5. Family agreement used to state that you had to wait until someone was awake before you got them, but now that my brother is in college mode and sleeps till noon when he’s home, the rules have changed such that jumping on someone while they’re asleep is fair game.  Needless to say, Ryan hates this game.  It’s not something you can escape by leaving home either – this morning, my Dad called at 7:10.  Now, I’m always awake at 7:10, but I usually haven’t spoken to anyone yet, nor am I in the mood too.  Additionally, getting phone calls at strange hours always puts me on the alert -something must be wrong if you want to talk that early in the morning and I know you’re not trying to make breakfast plans with me.  So I answer, slightly nervous, only to hear the whole gang on speaker phone, virtually pinching and punching me and delighting in their victory.  I actually just grunted and hung up (which made me feel a lot like my brother).  Later in the day, I received several emails from aunts across the country, all claiming their own victory.  Ah, family :-).  I’ve never actually met anyone else who does “pinch and a punch,” but a quick wikipedia search reveals that it is an old British tradition, so we can’t be the only crazy ones still doing it.

So, now that it’s December, there are going to be two types of food on everyone’s mind: 1) decadent, delicious holiday treats to celebrate the season, and 2) crash-diet-type meals to make up for all the over-indulging.  I wish I could say I was going to break the mold and don’t feel the need to either lose weight or indulge in excessive baking around the holidays, but I can’t.  I’m just like everyone else – simultaneously writing my Christmas cookie list and planning how to lose 15 pounds.  This is blog is going to reflect that over the next month.  And let’s be serious – who wants to start with healthy?  Healthy is for when you feel guilty about unhealthy.  We’re starting with cookies.  These chocolate-covered-cherry cookies from lolfoodie are probably the best cookies I’ve made all year.  Possibly ever.  My parents thought they were good.  My roommate declared them incredible (he just walked in and said they might have been “the single best cookies he’s ever had in his life.”  Wow.)  I loved them.  We finished the first batch in 48 hours, and as I type, Trevor is making another batch for me to bring in to work tomorrow.  (OK, secret’s out.  Trevor does my blog baking occasionally.  But usually it’s me.  Honest.)  They’re definitely going on the annual Christmas cookie list.  The only possible improvement?  Soaking the cherries in brandy for a few days first.  Try it.

Chocolate-Covered-Cherry Cookies

Recipe from Lolfoodie.  Makes 18 cookies.

  • 1 stick butter, well softened (partially melted)
  • 2/3 c. white sugar
  • 1/3 c. brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 c. flour
  • 1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1 (10-0z) jar maraschino cherries
  • 1/3 c. sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 TBS juice from maraschino cherries
  • 2/3 c. chocolate chips
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  In a large bowl, cream together softened butter and sugars, beating vigorously until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Add the salt, egg, and vanilla, and beat well to incorporate.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and baking powder until evenly combined – be sure to break up any clumps of cocoa powder to the best of your ability.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix together.  The mixture will be very dry at first, with an almost sandy texture.  Keep mixing it – the dough will come together into a very thick, moist mixture that stays together easily when formed into balls.
  3. Pinch off 1 inch balls from the dough and roll into balls, then flatten slightly and place on a baking sheet.  Use your finger to make a small indent in the center of each cookie, then place a maraschino cherry in the indentation.  Bake the cookies for 12 minutes – they should be just beginning to crack around the edges, then remove and let cool completely on a rack.
  4. In a small saucepan, heat the condensed milk, cherry juice, and chocolate chips over very low heat, stirring continuously, until the chocolate has melted and formed a smooth frosting with the condensed milk.  If you are worried about seizing the chocolate, this step can be done in a double boiler.  Remove from heat and let cool slightly before placing a 1/2 TBS of frosting over the tops of each cookie, hiding the cherry underneath.

Breakfast

Marx Challenge: Sweet Fregola Fritters

It’s that time again!  Vote for me in the Marx Food fregola challenge here!

In the past two years I’ve participated in several recipe development challenges hosted by Marx Foods, an online company that sells specialty meats (think alligator, kangaroo, and frog), truffle products, mushrooms, unique pantry goods, and lots of other culinary goodies.  The first challenge I participated in was the four-part “Ridiculously Delicious” challenge they hosted last winter, for which I made dill and feta stuffed cucumber cups, spicy cherry-chocolate souffles, and a trio of wasabi-centric recipes using fresh wasabi.  Then, this summer, I participated in the dried chile challenge, and made a smoky-sweet adobo and corn frittata, which I very much enjoyed.  And now it’s time for another challenge!  This time around the challenge is to make a sweet recipe using fregola – an ingredient I’d never even heard of until this month.  I have yet to win one of these challenges, but maybe this will be my lucky recipe.

Fregola is a toasted Italian pasta, similar in size and shape to Israeli couscous.  I could eat couscous all day every day, so I was super excited to try another version of it.  To be honest, I didn’t like the fregola as much as I like regular old couscous – it’s very chewy and has an almost tapioca-like consistency – but it was still an interesting new addition to my kitchen.  Along with the sample of fregola, Marx sent a handful of other goods to inspire a sweet fregola creation – whole vanilla beans, star anise, and saffron.  The contestants were required to use at least one of the extra ingredients along with the fregola.  Almost immediately upon signing up for this contest I knew that I wanted to create a fregola fritter, something that played on arancini – the delicious cheesy fried risotto balls made with leftover risotto which I seem to be eating a lot of lately.  So I made a fregola pudding using milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, honey, and vanilla, and then, after a brief rest in the fridge, fried it up into fritters.  To cut the grease and add another level of flavor, I made a batch of Gourmet’s grapefruit and star anise salad.  My mom and I make this salad every year on Christmas morning, and it’s my favorite part of Christmas breakfast without fail.  Even when there’s vanilla bean coffee cake, maple-turkey sausage patties, and pomegranate mimosas – that should tell you something about how delicious it is.  It was the perfect complement to the slightly sweet, chewy fritters, and the syrup soaked right into them.  I’ll be enjoying the leftovers for breakfast for the next few days (and not even feeling that bad about it – thank you, grapefruit).  I think this is the original recipe that I’m most proud of – I guess there’s something to be said for keeping it simple.

Sweet Fregola Fritters with Star-Anise and Grapefruit Compote

Grapefruit compote recipe from Gourmet.  Makes 5 large fritters.

  • 1 c. fregola
  • 3 c. milk
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/4 c. honey
  • 1 vanilla bean
  • canola oil for frying
  • 2 grapefruits
  • 1/4 c. water
  • 1/4 c. sugar
  • 3 whole star anise
  1. In a large saucepan mix together fregola, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, and honey.  Scrape out seeds from vanilla bean and add to the mixture along with the pod.  Bring to a gentle simmer and cook, stirring frequently (be sure to scrape any milk skin off the bottom to prevent from burning) for 20-30 minutes, until pasta has just a bit of chewiness left and milk has boiled down to create a thick fregola pudding.  Remove the vanilla bean pod and refrigerate mixture for 1 hour, or until cool.
  2. In a small saucepan, dissolve sugar in water, and add the star anise.  Bring to a gentle boil and cook for 5 minutes to create a thin syrup.  Peel the grapefruits and remove their segments, placing in a medium bowl.  Squeeze any excess grapefruit juice into bowl as well.  Add the star anise syrup to the grapefruit mixture and set aside.
  3. Heat a 1/2 inch of canola oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat.  When oil is hot, form the fregola pudding into 5 patties about 3 inches in diameter and 1 inch thick, and gently fry for 5 minutes on each side, until golden brown.  Fregola mixture should stay firmly together when formed into patties by hand.  Drain fritters on a paper towel and serve warm, with the grapefruit compote served on the side.