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December 25, 2007
Simple, Awesome Stuffing
Ingredients:
1 pound multi-grain bread
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbl thyme
1 tbl sage
1 clove garlic, minced (or to taste)
6 tbl butter
1 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 3/4 cups turkey stock or chicken stock
Directions:
Without using the heals of the bread, cut bread with crust into 1" cubes. This should yield approximately 10 cups, loosely packed. Place these cubes in a large pan and let sit overnight to dry. If you don't have that kind of time, toast the bread to golden in the toaster before cutting. After toasting and cutting into cubes, place in oven for approximately 30 min at 200 degrees F, until almost the consistency of croutons. (Not as hard though.)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, and parsley. (You can always add more vegetables to this mixture. This recipe was made for someone who doesn't much like veggies in his stuffing.) Saute vegetables until they are soft, approximately 10 minutes. (You can also prepare the veggies one day before hand and refrigerate until use.)
In a small bowl, mix together oil, thyme, sage, and garlic. Once the bread cubes are sufficiently prepared, place them in a big bowl, drizzle with the oil mixture, and toss. Toss in the veggie mixture.
Butter 11X7X2" glas baking dish. Place final mixture into the pan and spread throughout evenly. Gradually add hot broth throughout the entire dish, making certain to cover all areas. Cover dish with buttered foil, buttered side down. Bake stuffing until heated throughout, 20-25 minutes. Uncover and bake until top is brown, 20-25 minutes longer, and serve.
Posted by Kelli Little at 11:41 AM
December 21, 2007
Chocolate Orange Fudge
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 tsp grated orange peel
1 tsp pure orange extract
Directions:
Line an 8X8" square pan with parchment paper.
Melt chocolate chips with condensed milk in the top of a double broiler or in a bowl in the microwave. Stir until smooth. (If microwaving, microwave for a minute, stir, and stir every 30 seconds afterwards until melted.) Remove from heat if on the burner, and stir in pecans, grated orange peel, and pure orange extract.
Pour chocolate mixture into prepared pan. Chill for 2 hours, or until firm, and cut into squares. Store, covered, in the refrigerator.
Posted by Kelli Little at 10:09 AM
Mini Pecan Delights
Ingredients:
Tart Shells:
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup all-purpose flour
Filling:
2 tbl butter, melted
1and 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup pecan halves, finely chopped
Powdered sugar (optional)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. For tart shells, beat butter and cream cheese in a bowl until well blended. Add flour, and mix until a soft dough forms.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place within the ungreased cups of a mini muffin pan. (There should be 24 cups for this pan.) Dip a tart shaper into flour, and press into the dough with even pressure until the dough rises slightly above the rim of pan. Don't let the tart shell become too thin, or the filling will seep out and make it impossible to get the tart out of the pan once cooked.
For the filling, place the butter in a bowl and microwave on high for 30 econds or until melted. Stir in the brown sugar, egg, and vanilla. Finely chop pecans and add to the batter bowl and mix well.
Using a small spoon, fill each tart shell with a level scoop of filling. Do not overfill. Bake at 20-25 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove from the oven, and cool in the pan for 3 minutes. Remove from the pan to the counter or a cooling rack and cool completely. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.
Creates 24 tarts.
(This recipe modified from its original, which was provided by Pampered Chef.)
*** A couple of notes:
1. This recipe isn't as sweet as other desserts, so if you have a crowd of sugar-fiends, go with something else.
2. Make certain you are softening the butter and cheese for the tart shells, or the conglomeration with the flour will turn out far stickier and less manageable than it should be.
Posted by Kelli Little at 09:59 AM
December 10, 2007
Tart Mini Lemon Meringue Pies
Ingredients:
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 sticks of salted butter, chilled and finely chopped
5 eggs, separated
Grated rind of two lemons
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 cups of superfine baker's sugar or caster sugar
Directions:
1. Process flour and 7 tbl of butter in a food processor until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Add 1 egg yolk and 3-4 tbsp. cold water and pulse until mixture just comes together. Form pastry into 1" balls and place in a mini-tart/mini-muffin pan. (This pan should have 24 spaces in it.) Use a mini-tart shaper and press down in the middle of the ball, forming the tart shells to peek just over the edge of the tart space. Prick the bottom of the shells just barely with the tongs of a fork. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Bake tart shells for 15 minutes or until golden.
4. Whisk lemon rind, 1/3 cup lemon juice, the remaining 4 egg yolks, and 1/3 cup sugar in a large heatproof bowl until well combined, then add the remaining 9 tbl butter. BRing a saucepan of water to a simmer over medium heat. Place bowl on top and stir lemon curd with a wooden spoon for 10-12 minutes or until the curd is thick. Remove the curd from heat, cover with a plastic wrap and allow it to cool.
5. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
6. Place the remaining sugar and 1/2 cup of water in a stainless-steel saucepan, then cook, stirring over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat ot medium and then using a clean, wet pastry brush, brush down the sides of the pan. Cook until the syrup reaches 250 degrees F or the firm balls tage on a sugar thermometer. (To test this stage, drop a spoonful into a glass of ice cold water: it should form a pliable ball that softens as it warms.) Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, whisk egg whites until firm peaks form. While whisking, slowly pour sugar syrup into whites and whisk until combined and cool.
7. Assembling the pies: spoon lemon curd into the tart crusts until shell is mostly full. Top with the meringue. Bake in the preheated oven at 400 F for 5 minutes or until the meringue is golden brown.
Remove and cool. Note that the crust recipe should give you 22 tarts per batch, rather than 24.
Links:
Mini-Tart Shaper
Mini-Muffin or Mini-Tart Pan
Posted by Kelli Little at 09:19 AM