Snowbaking ~ Chcolate chip, coconut, oatmeal cookies....

Yes, it's a new word, at least for me.  We were snowed in today, so I decided to bake... so yep, it's snowbaking!

These cookies are chunky, chewy with chocolate chips, oatmeal and coconut in them.  And I made them for gifts for Christmas, for a few friends.  They are pretty low in sugar and fairly healthy too (no butter at all).

Here's the recipe:  (Adapted from Ambitious Kitchen)

• 2-½ cups All-purpose Flour
• 2-½ cups Quick Oats
• 2 teaspoons Baking Soda
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• 1-½ cups Walnut Oil
• 1-½ cups Dark Brown Sugar
• 2  Egg
• 4 teaspoon coconut milk
• 3 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 teaspoon coconut extract
• 2 cups shredded Coconut
• 6 ounces, Semi-sweet Chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350ºF.
In large bowl whisk together flour, oats, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
In bowl of an electric mixer, beat together oil and brown sugar until smooth. Add in egg, milk and vanilla and coconut extract. Beat again for 2 minutes or until smooth.
Add in flour and oat mixture to the wet ingredients; mixing until well combined. Slowly add in coconut and chocolate chunks.
Drop dough with cookie scoop or by large rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-13 minutes or until edges just being to turn a golden brown.  Remove from oven and let cool a few minutes on baking sheet. Transfer to wire rack to finish cooling
.
Makes 4 dozen cookies.

  

YUM!

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Chocolate Peppermint Snowflake Candies ~

 

 

 

 

Want an adorably delicious and easy homemade chocolate gift for someone special this year?  Look no further.  Have I found the perfect gift for you.

I saw these on a blog last year, Baked by Rachel and I thought they looked so intricate that I could never possibley make them. But after reading how easy they were I wanted to give them a try.  I'm all about easy, so if I can do them, you can do them.  Promise.  So, I bought one of the silicone snowflake molds that Rachel suggested.   If you don't have them at your local stores, then they are available on Amazon.

Snowflake Peppermint Bark - adapted

Ingredients:

5oz or dark chocolate
 5oz white chocolate
1 tsp vegetable oil, divided
1/3 tsp peppermint extract, divided
2 crushed candy canes

Directions:

In a small to medium sized bowl add milk or dark chocolate and 1/2 tsp vegetable oil. Melt in the microwave in 30 second intervals at 50% power. Stir well after each 30 seconds. When fully melted, add 1/4 tsp peppermint extract. Stir well.
Using a small spoon, divide chocolate among mold cavities. Sprinkle with crushed candies, making sure the powdered and small pieces are used for bottom layer.  Drag melted chocolate into outer edges of mold with a toothpick, getting into crevices .

Repeat process with white chocolate. Remove from molds after fully hardened. Store in the fridge.

*Makes 6 snowflake peppermint bark pieces, if using this mold. Double ingredients for thicker (like pictured) or for 12 snowflakes.

I'll paraphase it here for you though.  I tweaked mine a bit also.

Mine took all of 1 minute to finish.

Take a tablespoon and pour the dark chocolate in the center of each snowflake mold and then tip the mold gently from side to side.  With a toothpick, drag some of the melted chocolate into the outer edges.  Sprinkle some of the finer pieces of candy cane pieces over each snowflake and place in the refrigerator for about 1/2 hour.

Enjoy

I bought my snowflake mold on Amazon.  I used good chocolate because these were for a gift, I think that is the key in this recipe.

 They look amazingly adorable for so little work, don't you think?

Roasted, carmelized fennel steaks ~

I don't love the winter.  I am such a warm weather person, that often I wonder why I don't live down South.  However, I was born here and it's been the only home I have known.  And in my book, "home is where the heart is".  So Boston is where I'll stay, happily so.... most of the time. 

There are a few things I do love about the winter though and one of them is it's a time for cooking and baking.  I love having roasted root vegetables every night for dinner.   Some wonderful aromatic food gets prepared in my house during this season and one of my very favorites is roasted vegetables.

I do all of my root vegetables the same way, just roast at a high temperature in the oven and they caramelize on their own.  Other than pre-heating your oven, cutting your vegetables uniformly and sprinkling with a little salt, pepper and olive oil, there is nothing else to do.  And they taste heavenly too.  Just place all of your cut vegetables a little bit apart, so they will roast and not steam, turn your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.   Place a half sheet pan on the middle of your oven and put the timer on for 15 minutes and remove the sheet from the oven, turn the vegetables over for another 10-15 minutes.  Serve one, maybe two steaks per person.

This week, I started slicing my fennel from top to bottom in 1/2" slices instead of wedges and they look so amazing and the taste is out of this world.  No coring them, no waste at all!  Fabulous tasting, easy to make.  How great is that?  Just look at these beauties right from the oven.  Place a slice on each person's plate as one serving and that's it!  And what a gorgeous presentation they make for a side dish too.

Another way I serve fennel, is roasted with Yukon gold potatoes.  It's a marriage made in heaven, trust me.  The flavors are exceptional together.  I wedged both the potato and fennel and placed them in the oven to roast at the same temperature and time.   Don't they look amazing too?

So, while it may be winter and it may be cold and dreary here.  These two dishes warm my heart.  Did I mention that they are low calorie and good for you too?

A big yum for me!

I'm joining Michael Lee on Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm this week.

Flour's Famous Banana Bread Muffins (adapted)

Flour's Famous Banana Bread (Adapted)

Recipe courtesy Chef Joanne Chang of Flour Bakery in Boston

I have been meaning to make this bread for a long time, it comes from a very famous chef from a wonderful bakery here in Boston, Flour Bakery.  I always have ripe bananas stored in my freezer, peels on, just waiting to be used.  Don't worry that they turn all black, their heavy skins protect the delicious banana inside.  And let them sit outside of the freezer at room temperature, before removing the skins.  And you may need a knife to cut the top of the stem from the frozen banana, but then they peel easily.

This recipe calls for 3&1/2 bananas and I never understood why.  I mean, what do you do with the other half?  And I hate waste, so I decided to try upping the sour cream a bit to supplement the extra moisture with just using 3 bananas.  And it worked wonderfully in this recipe.  I also like to bake muffins, because I can share with friends instead of bringing the entire loaf.   So, I just baked them for 20-22 minutes and they came out moist and fluffy.
 
I also changed out the amount of nuts to only 1/2 cup, but added 1/2 cup of chocolate chips.  Just because I think a little hint of chocolate with bananas and nuts is nice.

Ingredients

• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup oil
• 3 very ripe, mashed
• 1/4 cup sour cream 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of a loaf pan with parchment paper.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Beat sugar and eggs with a whisk until light and fluffy, about 10 minutes. Drizzle in oil. Add mashed bananas, creme fraiche, and vanilla. Fold in dry ingredients and nuts. Pour into a lined loaf pan and bake for about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

MUFFINS:
Spray and line 3 regular sized muffin tins.  I use a regular ice cream scoop and pour 1 scoopful into each.  Place in a 350 degree (F.), oven, middle rack for 20-22 minutes.  Let cool 5 minutes and invert onto a plate.  Put muffins on cooling rack for 15 minutes, seal in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

 

Just a side note, if you care to know!  My cutting board was made by my youngest son in high school.  He is now 34, and I still love it as much as the first day he gave it to me.  He is a gifted woodworker and has even made some furniture.  But, this board was one of his first pieces and I cherish it!

 

Cranberry sauce with Vodka, Cointreau and lime... Cosmo Cranberry Compote ~

 

I love Thanksgiving.  I mean what's not to love?  Family and friends all enjoying a leisurely meal together, which I don't know about your family, but in mine, doesn't happen often enough.  So when we can all be together, it's a very special day for me.

I also take time for special kinds of extra dishes, that I wouldn't normally serve on ordinary times.

This dish is one of them.  Before you go any further though, I must tell you that you don't cook off the liquor in this recipe.  The vodka and Cointreau is added after the dish has been cooked, so please serve it only to adults and no pregnant gals either.

So if you want to change up your kind of boring cranberry sauce this year?  Then here is a great version to make and it's so easy too!  You can also make it up to 2 weeks in advance and store it in your refrigerator in a sealed container. 

1 12 oz. package of fresh cranberries
1/2 c. water
1 c. sugar
1/3 cup vodka
3 Tablespoons of Cointreau
Juice of 1 lime

In a medium, heavy bottomed saucepan, bring cranberries, water and sugar to a boil.  Turn down to medium low and let simmer for 15 minutes.  Turn off your stove.  Set aside.  Let it cool for 1/2 hour.

Add vodka and Cointreau, stir well.  Add lime juice and sitr.  Transfer to a container and seal tightly for at least two hours.

Serve with a thin slice of lime in the center.

I'm joining the lovely people at Rattlebridge Farms, for Foodie Friday today.  The link is on my side-bar.



Happy Thanksgiving ~

 

Turkey Taco Soup ~

I lightened up Taco Soup, without losing any of the flavor. And like most of my food, it has a bit of a kick. It's easy and delicious too, which makes it a winner in my book.  At the end of the cooking process you can add a little tiny cooked pasta, cooked rice, baked tortilla strips, too.  And if you aren't worried about the calories, add a dollop of sour cream and thinly sliced avocado when you serve.  But, you don't have to because this soup is fantastic on it's own. 

Here's the recipe:

1 lb. lean ground turkey
3 medium carrots, small diced
3 stalks of celery, small diced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 T. taco seasoning (I use Trader Joe's)
1 can of white or black beans, drained and rinsed
1 small can of petite canned tomatoes (8 oz.)
8 cups of chicken stock (low sodium)
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 pound bag of fresh baby spinach, chopped
1 T. olive oil
1 T. Kosher salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

In a dutch oven, heat oil on medium heat.  Add onion and sauté on medium low for 5 minutes.  Stir in carrots and celery.  Saute for another 3 minutes and add in garlic.  Remove pan from burner.  Stir garlic so it doesn't burn.  Add 1 tablespoon of Taco Seasoning, stir.  Add salt and pepper and stir again.  Place pan back on burner and turn to medium.  Add in tomatoes and chicken stock.  Bring soup to a simmer and turn down to low.  Partially cover and let cook for about 15-20 minutes.  Add chopped spinach and turn stove off.  Cover the pot and let sit for 30 minutes.

Serve with suggestions above, or just eat it alone.  It's that good, it's that easy and it's very healthy and low cal.  When I eat it for lunch, I don't embellish it.  For a meal, I love adding sour cream, thinly sliced avocado and a sprinkling of cheese.

Enjoy!

A very rustic Eggplant & Ricotta Galette ~

It had been a while since I made a galette and I was in the mood for something kind of different than my normal stir fry for dinner during the week.  However, I work during the day and coming home to long recipes isn't in my realm.  I want short cuts.  So I roasted the eggplant in the morning before I left for work.  I put them in a container and left them on the counter.  This made short work for my dinner! 

This one is made with baby eggplants, but I'm sure you can use the larger one, just make sure you buy the smallest size they have.  I cut them mine in half, because they were about the size of a golf ball.  If you buy a regular size eggplant, cut the slices into 1/2" widths.  Some people salt the slices and drain them for a few minutes.  Although I have never found that step necessary, unless you have a really, really large and old eggplant. 

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.

Anyway, slice a large eggplant into 1/4" thickness or cut your small ones in half (I used 10 small ones), toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tsp. of kosher salt and roast  for 15 minutes.  Let cool for about 5 minutes.

In the meantime, either using your own pie dough or a store bought one, which I did, roll it out on a floured surface.  Transfer dough to a half sheet baking pan lined with parchment paper. Let sit for a minute while you get your cheese mixture ready.

Mix together, 1/2 cup ricotta cheese, 1/4 cup of shredded mozzarella and 1 ounce of freshly grated parmesan cheese.

In a separate bowl, whisk one egg and 1 Tablespoon of cold water together.

Spread cheese mixture over dough, leaving a 2" border on the edges.  Place eggplant slices on top of cheese mixture in one layer.  I didn't have any mozzarella, so I used blue cheese.  Although I liked the flavor, I much prefer it with the ricotta/mozzarella mixture.  The blue cheese was just a little to pungent.  Stick with the ricotta.  It's sublime.

Now fold up sides of dough to encase the eggplant/cheese mixture.  Pleat the dough edges gently as you go.

Brush dough with the egg wash and grate more parmesan cheese all over the top.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Let sit for a few minutes and serve.  By the way, I snipped the stem before I served it!  It makes a nice dinner dish served with a  green salad for accompaniment.

Joining the lovely people for Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm here:

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