Half way thru on the lemon preservation process- thinking about all the ways to use them up-
Week 3 of Lemon Preservation
Gooey and Juicy! Half way there!
On the 8th Day of Christmas Cookies I remembered why I fell in love with Crackle Cookies a few years ago! It is the season for Christmas cookies and at work many friends bring in plates of cookies to share. It’s a great way to celebrate the holiday season and to try new types of cookies (and fall off the diet). I fell for this cookie at first bite!
Good Things Come In Small Packages
There are a ton of recipes for the popular Crackle Cookie, some use dark chocolate, some semi-sweet chocolate, and some even add nuts- hazelnuts or pecans. My favorite is simple with semi-sweet chocolate as these cookies are so rich. If you are a dark chocolate fan, you can just substitute bittersweet chips in place of the semi-sweet chips.
Of the many recipes for Crackle Cookies I have tried, the recipe below from Culinate is my favorite.
Ingredients
Crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside!
Steps
1. In a large saucepan, melt the chocolate and butter, stirring frequently, until evenly melted. Set aside to cool down to warm, about 10 minutes. Stir in the sugar and then, one at a time, the eggs. Stir in the vanilla extract and the espresso powder.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. The batter will have the sticky consistency of brownie batter.
3. Scrape the batter onto a sheet of plastic wrap and wrap the dough into a large ball. Place in the fridge for at least two hours (up to eight hours) or in the freezer for 30 minutes, to firm up the dough.
4. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place parchment paper or silicone baking mats on cookie sheets.
5. Put the powdered sugar into a small bowl. Roll chunks of the chilled cookie dough into 1-inch balls, and then roll the balls in the powdered sugar until evenly coated. Arrange the balls about 1½ inch apart on the cookie sheets.
6. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes (the baking time will vary, depending on how cold the cookie dough is), until puffed and cracked on top. Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes before removing the cookies with a spatula to wire racks to finish cooling.
7. Serve warm or at room temperature. Keep in an airtight container for a few days. (Do not freeze, as freezing makes the powdered-sugar coating soggy.)
Makes about 4 dozen cookies
Chocolate Crackle Cookies
I can’t believe I went so long in life without meeting this cookie!
I was so excited to participate in the first ever Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap, hosted by Love and Olive Oil and The Little Kitchen. It was fairly simple, I made and sent a dozen cookies to three participants and three other food bloggers sent a dozen to me! Pretty easy, once I was finally able to decide on which cookies to send!! Convinced by Sir Wes, I picked his favorite, Martha Stewart’s Chewy Chocolate Ginger Cookie, these little guys have a lot of punch and are delicious!
The kick in these cookies warm you up!
They don’t last long in our house!! If you prefer a lighter ginger flavor, you can cut the fresh ginger by half!
Chocolate Ginger Cookies Mise En Place!
Little Balls of Dough, dropped in sugar before baking.
Warm and Decadent! Packed with Punch!
We look forward to these cookies all year!
Sir Wes says these cookies "Have moves like Jagger!"
To ship cookies, check out this link, which offers great tips to keep your little gems safe and sound. I packed up my cookies with plenty of cushion, using tissue paper and filler from the paper shredder.
Ready to be shipped across the country!
Many thanks to Lindsay and Julie, the hosts of The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap, who spent many hours orchestrating food bloggers across the world!!! I hope Also, the cookies I received from Kate, Eleana and Mackenzie were sinfully delicious, just amazing!! If you would like to partipate next year in the swap, sign up for notifications here!
We had a breakfast a few months ago at work and served these decadent bakery treats! I was so impressed I brought the idea home to Sir Wes, with the help of a recipe from The Novice Chef. I have to confess, I am not a bacon eater, which is just a personal preference but my taste testers all agree- they soooo good! They are kind of ridiculous, the kind of breakfast that stays with you all day.
Just a "little" sinful!
Here is the how the Novice Chef told me to make them-
Recipe Notes: There are two important ingredients for this cupcake. First being the bacon, of course. Don’t cheat yourself by using turkey bacon…or worse…pre-cooked bacon! Use good, quality bacon. Trust me, it is worth it. And also spend the money and buy the pure maple syrup. I promise you that Aunt Jemima just ain’t gonna cut it in this recipe!
For cake:
3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
3/4 cup hot water
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream, room temperature
3/4 cup bacon, cooked and chopped
For Maple frosting:
2 sticks unsalted butter; room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 pound confectioners’ sugar
1/3 cup pure maple syrup; plus more for drizzling
1 teaspoon salt
As Sir Wes says- "Bacon Makes Everything Better"
For the cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together cocoa and hot water until smooth. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
Melt butter with sugar in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to combine. Remove from heat, and pour into a mixing bowl. With an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat until mixture is cooled, 4 to 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add vanilla, then cocoa mixture, and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the sour cream, and beating until just combined after each. Remove from stand mixer and gently fold in bacon.
Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three- quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 15 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely. Frost as desired.
For the frosting:
Cream the butter in the bowl of an electric or stand mixer. Add the vanilla extract, salt and pure maple syrup and combine well.
Begin adding in the sugar and mixing thoroughly after each addition. After all of the sugar has been added and mixed thoroughly, give it a taste and decide if you want to add in more maple syrup. For thicker frosting you can gradually add in a little more sugar.
Garnish with chopped bacon and a drizzle of pure maple syrup if you wish.
Maple Bacon Chocolate Cupcakes
Ball Park Bread Pudding
Mustard, Onion and Pretzel Bread Pudding
Frozen Unbaked Soft Pretzels, cut into large bites
Preheat oven to 350. Cut unbaked pretzels into large bites and put into a cooking spray coated 9×12 baking dish. Spread caramelized onion evenly over pretzel pieces. In a mixing bowl combine remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour over pretzels and onions and gently stir so all is coated. Bake in oven for about 45 minutes, until center is done.
Cream, egg and mustard whipped up, ready to pour in!
Ummm, it's going to be good!!!!
Pour it evenly and then follow up with a good stir, making sure all the bread is coated!
Mustard, Onion, and Pretzel Bread Pudding!
Anyone else waiting for Turkey? Anyone else wondering what to do with the leftover pumpkin from your pumpkin pie recipe? Anyone else wishing they had more room in the refrigerator? I was!
I made more room in the refrigerator by getting rid of a Tupperware and a crate of eggs with decision to make breakfast this morning and that alone makes it a win! Not to mention the smell in the air!
Pumpkin Waffles with Home Made Pecan Butter
Pumpkin Waffles
In a large bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, sugar, baking powder, seasonings and salt. Whisk the egg, milk, pumpkin and butter; stir into dry ingredients until well blended. Follow the directions on your waffles maker- Should serve about 4 pp!
Pecan Butter
Grind all ingredients in a food processor until blended.
Pecan Butter
Want a bite?
There are a ton of cooking shows on television today. Some I love, some are just “ehh”, and some are just garbage. The shows I don’t like are the ones that make professional kitchens and chefs look ridiculous. Many of my friends and family ask me after seeing Hell’s Kitchen, “Is that what you do?”…So I’d like to say to everyone, while there are times when chef is screaming in our kitchen, there is no Gordon Ramsey running around yelling at seemingly inexperienced ”chefs” that don’t know how to saute a piece of fish. It just isn’t reality….
I am a Top Chef fan, I think Bravo does a great job, capturing the energy and vibe of a kitchen. When my friends and family chat me up about cooking, our conversations often lead to Top Chef. I love the creativity of the chefs, the familiar competition amongst them and the accurate portrayal of the stress all kitchens have. The producers really capture it well, so I love for friends outside of food and beverage world to watch, so they can understand the day to day life in a kitchen.
We have a lot of kitchen “toys” at work, some of which are used by the chefs on Top Chef. The one fault I see in the show, is that the contestants use new, cutting edge cooking techniques, equipment, presentations and ideas, but don’t give a clear explanation for the viewers. (Perhaps they need a 2 hour time slot). We recently had a “teach and learn” at work using liquid nitrogen to make ice cream, a method I have seen on Top Chef fairly often. So I thought I would share the process, while you might not have a liquid nitrogen tank at home, you can at least know what the heck Richard Blais is doing!
The Tank! Saftey first!
Transferring the Liquid Nitrogen
We used Paula Deen’s recipe for Key Lime Pie filling, which is delicious! Of course we used liquid nitrogen, but if you can make it at home in your ice cream maker too!
Some of the Mise en Place for the Key Lime Pie Ice Cream
In a large bowl, with an electric mixer at medium speed, beat cream until slightly thickened. Gradually add the sugar, beating until soft peaks form. Add condensed milk and beat until stiff peaks form. Beat in lime juice, lime zest, and half-and-half. Now you are ready for the ice cream maker, they all have slightly different directions, follow the method of the maker you have at home. OR…go get yourself a liquid nitrogen tank, and do not forget the saftey mask and gloves!
Pour the liquid nitrogen into a manageable pitcher.
The Key Lime Pie filling is freezing in the mixer!
It's so cool to have the "smoke" blowing all over the place. They should do this in high school science classes!
I am refilling the pitcher, it takes a little more than I thought.
A little more and it should be nicely frozen. It took just minutes!
Voila, Key Lime Pie Ice Cream. Now I need a Graham Cracker Cone!
Now you are ready for the next Top Chef Auditions 
The event kicked off with a welcome reception for all the participants and their teams! The scenery was lovely; the wine was flowing and the buffet was plentiful. The host of the event, the staff of Veggie U, The Chef’s Garden and the Culinary Vegetable Institute welcomed us graciously. It was a perfect summer evening to meet many new friends and reconnect with old ones!
The Culinary Vegetable Institute, also known as CVI
Welcome to Ohio Chef Brian!! Maggie and Brian worked together years ago at WDW. I guess it IS a Small world after all ;-/
Birds eye view of the dining room at the CVI. The chefs were finishing up their prep for the evening before joining the welcome reception.
Chef's finish your mise en place!!
The Grand Tasting Tent- this is where the action would take place! Vendors, chefs, sponsors will thrill guests with their bounty from The Chef's Garden!
Our favorite sales person, Michele!
We were home from the welcoming party by 12:30 AM, grabbed a quick nap before heading to Maggie’s shop at 3:00 AM. (My friends at work thought I was taking a vacation, hahaha). We made up batters, beat buttercream, baked cupcakes, packed all the equipment and shoved it in the car by 1:00 pm. And we were off to the races!
The Subaru was loaded! But it all fit! And that is the lovely Cheryl, who rocked all weekend long with us! Attention Wrigley, you have a new Life Saver flavor!
The Culinary Vegetable Institute, I ran by those chairs all evening long....tempting!
The Reefer Truck- It was refreshing to run and get supplies from the truck, despite the distance, as it gave me break from the heat!
Port Wine Brownies by Sweets By Maggie- We prepped in the reefer truck and were able to keep the desserts from spoiling....mostly... I ate the other ones!
Wine Seminar Tent - This was great because we were very close to it, while I was busy being a Cake Ball Ninja, I listened closely to the Master Sommelier Serafin Alvarado!
The gardens around the property were gorgeous! I love that you can see people hustling in back before we get started!
The Sweets by Maggie table! Getting close to opening, JUST a few friends to feed!
The tent before the action started.
Tart Cherry Cupcake with Grand Marnier Buttercream; and Lemon Lavender Cupcake with Local Honey Buttercream! They were fabulous!
Port Wine Brownies. I gotta say, the reduction was beautiful -hollllaaaaa!
Cake Balls! There were teams developing amongst the guests, arguing which one was better. (It was a tough decision, but I finally sided with Team White Cake Ball)
Sea Turtle Cake Balls, caramel, pecans, chocolate, sea salt, a few other things and of course, love! Just make sure you don't call them Sea Turtle Balls- I got a few looks when I quickly spieled the desserts.
Salted Caramel Cake Balls! These are soooo good, unfortunately I didn't have any to bring home to my friends in Florida! Hoping Sweets by Maggie starts shipping soon!
That's me- Cake Ball Ninja
Pipe Away Maggie!
I did manage to slip away before the event got going, taking a tour of all the chefs and what they were serving. The caliber of creativity and culinary responsibility (local, sustainable, fresh, ect…) was extreme! So many dishes I could not wait to try!
Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream, by far the best thing I learned about on my trip north. (Excluding everything I learned at the Sweets by Maggie Shop)
Flavors from Jeni's treasure chest!
Jeni's Sweet Corn and Black Raspberries Ice Cream. This will be in my freezer by the weekend. It was A-maZing!
Rockmill Brewery- I can't say enough about this brewer, every brew I tasted was...sooooo good.
Our new and old friends! Brian from Gary's Seafood, Chef Brian and Chef Garrett. We knew there was a great chef next to us, but was delighted when Garrett shared his beverages with us too!
Whoop, Whoop!!! The event was amazing, the Sweets by Maggie table had guests raving….A complete SUCCESS!!! And like after any huge event, it is time to join in the party!
Welcome to The After Party!
The After Party! Good times were had by all!!
Steelite International was a sponsor of the Chef competition. The award was a trip to Alinea!! #Awesome! Congrats @Jonathon Sawyer!!!
The After Party! The winning chefs were announced, the volunteers, chefs, participants gathered as a team, broke bread, drank wine and relaxed!
By the end of the evening, with the bustle winding down, I was able to look around and soak in the atmosphere, the friendly faces, all the talent and passion in one beautiful field. Knowing that all the effort that went into the event was going to fight the rising epidemic of childhood obesity was “icing” on top!
To learn more about Sweets by Maggie, take a look at the http://www.sweetsbymaggie.com website or “Like” them on the Sweets By Maggie Facebook Page.
Another creation from my Alabama mother-in-law’s backyard! As always, my eyes are bigger and badder than my stomach; therefore, I insisted on traveling home to Florida with the remaining bounty of my backyard farming. (No surprise when I realized the life of these beauties was nearing an end.)
I did the best thing I knew and made jam! Images of fig jam creations danced thru my head: croissants, Greek yogurt parfaits, chicken marinates, pork belly glazes, salad dressings…etc. – You get the idea!
Alabama Brown Turkey Figs- Roll Tide!!!!
Fresh figs are in season beginning in July in the south, and a bit later in the summer as you travel north. Many people we ask have never tried a fresh fig, and only refer to the almighty “Newton” or a dried figs as something they’ve tried. Well there is more to figs than the “Newton” – the flavor is night and day. A fresh ripe fig has the texture of a ripe peach, and a juicy sweetness.
This is another really easy recipe that will provide endless results. The shelf-life is great, so no need to feel like you have to use it up right away. It is also perfect for canning. **Mental note to myself -must learn how to can soon!!
Figgy Jam
Figs cooking -Simmer slowly, let the sugars carmelize
This is super simple – just put the figs, lemon zest, lemon juice, and sugars into a heavy 2 quart pot and slowly simmer. The sugars and juices from the figs will slowly release and start to caramelize. My figs did not release enough juice so I helped it along, with a couple of tablespoons of water at a time. When the figs had cooked down and a nice golden brown color appeared, I removed from the pot from the stove and ran the chunky jam thru a food processor, giving a smooth spread. Allow it to cool and keep refrigerated for 3 months.
Cooked down figs- nice caramel color!!
Fig Jam! Spreads, sauces, marintates, dressings, and even homemade poptarts!!!!!!!
Happy cooking!!
Carroll
The ripest banana will prove tastiest!!
This recipe for granola is great, I was looking for a low-calorie, low-fat recipe and ran into a few with mashed banana as the binder. No oil? Perfect. I added a few ingredients to build up a bit more flavor and protein. There isn’t a ton of honey in the recipe, so the orange zest really plays a part in the sweetness factor. I am pretty certain without the orange zest that I would be feeding cardboard to my family.
Pulse, Pulse, Puree! BamO!
Banana and Orange Granola
Makes about 6- ½ cup servings
2 cups rolled oats
1 ripe banana
3/4 cup water
1 tbsp. honey
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tablespoon orange zest
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/3 cup walnuts, chopped
1/4 cup almond slivers
Stir it well!
Before the oven
This granola is perfect with all the typical granola roles, yogurt (Greek or Icelandic is my preference), or berries and fresh fruit. I think it is perfect to use as cobbler topping, or even in a salad when you want some crunch instead of croutons.
Get it fast!
Bon Appetit!
