Apple Cranberry Salad

My mom found this recipe and oh my gosh is it tasty and so easy too!  It is perfect for a special holiday or just a good ole Sunday Dinner.

6 oz package raspberry or strawberry Jell-O

1 c. boiling water

16 ounce can whole cranberry sauce

16 ounce can crushed pineapple

1 granny smith apple, cored and diced

1/4 c. chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans are good)

1/4 c. golden raisins (options, my kids wouldn’t eat it if added!)

Dissolve gelatin in boiling water.  Add cranberry sauce and stir until berries are separated.  Add remaining ingredients; chill until set.  Makes 12 servings!  YUMMY!

Grandma’s Toffee

My mom and I had a candy making day on Sunday and decided to make 3 batches of this great tasting peanut brittle.  One batch we made especially for my dad, CAJUN PEANUT BRITTLE.  For this specialty we added 2 teaspoons of Penzey’s Cajun Seasoning.  It was pretty good, had a kick to it!  Anyhow, here is the original recipe! (Click to make larger!) ENJOY!  Oh, the “Syrup” on the recipe is corn syrup. 

 

Yes, we were beautiful and covered in chocolate and candy from head to toes!

Chocolate Saltine Toffee

I received some AWESOME candy this year and I knew that I wanted the recipe.  I have tried numerous times to make English Toffee and end up wasting 12 lbs of butter and an equal amount of sugar and almonds every year!  I decided that I needed to throw that recipe away and this recipe took its place!  It is so simple that even my kids were able to help out.

Ingredients:

1 Cup Butter

1 Cup Brown Sugar

1  1/2 Sleeves Saltine Cracker

1 Bag Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Chip

Nuts for dusting the top (optional)

Directions:  Pre heat oven @ 350 degrees.  Line 15-in X 10-in x 1-in baking sheet with foil and coat with nonstick cooking spray.  Place crackers in rows on foil.  In a saucepan, melt butter; add the brown sugar and bring to a boil for about 1 minute.  Pour mixture over crackers and spread until completely covered.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes (crackers may float).

Remove from oven.  Sprinkle chocolate chips over crackers, wait a few minutes until melted and then spread evenly over crackers.

Cool completely and then crack into small pieces! ENJOY! 

CAUTION: Once you start eating, you may eat the entire batch!

Yummy Pumpkin Bread

I found a great recipe for some pumpkin bread that with a few alterations in the recipe makes it super yummy! Try it out yourself!

3 cups canned pumpkin puree (1 large can)

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

4 cups white sugar

6 eggs

4 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour three 9x5 inch loaf pans.

In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin, oil, sugar, and eggs. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice; stir into the pumpkin mixture until well blended. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.

Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour. The top of the loaf should spring back when lightly pressed.

September's Daring Bakers Challenge

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

Mandatory parts of the challenge: We must make Michel Richard’s recipe for puff pastry (as seen below), and form at least part of it into vols-au-vent.
Optional parts of the challenge: Make your vols-au-vent large or small, and may fill them with whatever you choose (savory or sweet).

Since I have used puff pastry before, I was excited for this month's challenge. After thinking about what filling I would want to make and fill the pastries with, I choose to make a cheesy spinach filling. I filled my circular pastry "cups" with the spinach and cheese filling and with the left over filling, I made it into a cream sauce by making a rue to start and then adding the filling and milk to thin the mixture. I then drizzled the spinach cream sauce on the plate and placed the puff pastry on top of it. It was very delicious and I plan to make it again when I am out to impress, but would possibly used the frozen premade phyylo instead of making my own.

Spinach Cheese Filling:
4 cups chopped fresh spinach ( I used 2 packages frozen spinach. drained)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
1/2 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened and cut up
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Sauté spinach and onion in hot oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat 3 to 4 minutes or until onion is tender. Remove from heat, and stir in cream cheese until blended. Stir in mozzarella cheese, feta cheese, cheddar cheese, egg yolk, flour, nutmeg and cumin. Set aside until your pastries are ready to be filled.

Michel Richard’s Puff Pastry Dough
From: Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan
Yield: 2-1/2 pounds dough
Ingredients:2-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cups cake flour
1 tbsp. salt (you can cut this by half for a less salty dough or for sweet preparations)
1-1/4 cups ice water
1 pound very cold unsalted butter
plus extra flour for dusting work surface
Mixing the Dough:
Check the capacity of your food processor before you start. If it cannot hold the full quantity of ingredients, make the dough into two batches and combine them.
Put the all-purpose flour, cake flour, and salt in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade and pulse a couple of times just to mix. Add the water all at once, pulsing until the dough forms a ball on the blade. The dough will be very moist and pliable and will hold together when squeezed between your fingers. (Actually, it will feel like Play-Doh.)
Remove the dough from the machine, form it into a ball, with a small sharp knife, slash the top in a tic-tac-toe pattern. Wrap the dough in a damp towel and refrigerate for about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, place the butter between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and beat it with a rolling pin until it flattens into a square that's about 1" thick. Take care that the butter remains cool and firm: if it has softened or become oily, chill it before continuing.

Harriet’s Stuffed Zucchini

My wonderful neighbor and good friend, Harriet, came over today and taught me how to make stuffed zucchini. I had no idea if my kids were even going to eat this, but it was worth a try and I thought we needed a new recipe. Harriet told my kids that she had prepared a special dinner for them and that they had to try it. They were skeptical at first but after a few bites G1 exclaimed that he “LOVED it” (INCLUDING THE ZUCCHINI!) and when could we have it again. G2 wasn’t so excited about the zucchini, but he quickly noticed the bowl of leftover stuffing and he chowed that down!

Harriet’s Stuffed Zucchini

Sauté ½ large onion in olive oil then brown with 1 to 1 ½ pounds of ground turkey. After it is done browning, add one can (26 ounces) spaghetti sauce, Italian seasonings, ½ c. uncooked rice and 2 grated (or put in food processor) carrots. Simmer this and add more water as needed to cook the rice.

Take 4-6 small/medium size zucchini and remove seeds/pulp and hollow out so that you have a shell. Reserve seeds/pulp and cook in microwave for about 3-4 minutes, then allow it to drain off its liquid. Dispose the liquid from the cooked zucchini and then put the cooked pulp/seeds into a food processor until it is in tiny pieces. Now, add this cooked zucchini to the turkey burger mixture.

Fill zucchini boats with mixture and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Cook for about 45 minutes/1 hour or until tender at 350 degrees.

May Daring Bakers "Apple Strudel" ALMOST.....

Here we are and another month has gone by and this means that it is time for the Daring Bakers monthly baking challenge. The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers. They chose to make a Apple Strudel which I have NEVER made. I was excited about this challenge and of course left it to the last minute as usual!

The family and myself went to look for trees last weekend and visited one of my favorite markets/nurseries. I picked up about 8 pounds of granny smith apple anticipating this challenge. I got all the other ingredients that I was missing while we were out too! I was so excited to start this recipe!

I began by making the filling part of the strudel. I mixed up the rum and raisins and then mixed the cinnamon/sugar. I then started adding the ingredients to my Kitchen Aid to prepare the dough, I got that going and then I made the breadcrumbs on the stove and then decided to preheat the oven AFTER I had already peeled and cored A LOT of apples. I SUDDENLY SMELLED SOMETHING BAD.....GAS, gas from my GAS oven! I immediately turned it off and called Best Buy for a service man to come out. So, I didn't get to even finish my strudel. I plan on finishing it when my part, an ignitor comes in for the oven. Yeah, I am glad I didn't have an explosion! Here is the recipe:

Preparation Time

Total: 2 hours 15 minutes – 3 hours 30 minutes

15-20 min to make dough

30-90 min to let dough rest/to prepare the filling

20-30 min to roll out and stretch dough

10 min to fill and roll dough

30 min to bake

30 min to cool

Apple Strudel

From “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers

2 tablespoons golden rum

3 tablespoons raisins

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted, divided

1 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs

strudel dough (recipe below)

1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

2 pounds tart cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into ¼ inch-thick slices (use apples that hold their shape during baking)

1. Mix the rum and raisins in a bowl. Mix the cinnamon and sugar in another bowl.
2. Heat 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the breadcrumbs and cook whilst stirring until golden and toasted. This will take about 3 minutes. Let it cool completely.
3. Put the rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with baking paper (parchment paper). Make the strudel dough as described below. Spread about 3 tablespoons of the remaining melted butter over the dough using your hands (a bristle brush could tear the dough, you could use a special feather pastry brush instead of your hands). Sprinkle the buttered dough with the bread crumbs. Spread the walnuts about 3 inches from the short edge of the dough in a 6-inch-wide strip. Mix the apples with the raisins (including the rum), and the cinnamon sugar. Spread the mixture over the walnuts.
4. Fold the short end of the dough onto the filling. Lift the tablecloth at the short end of the dough so that the strudel rolls onto itself. Transfer the strudel to the prepared baking sheet by lifting it. Curve it into a horseshoe to fit. Tuck the ends under the strudel. Brush the top with the remaining melted butter.
5. Bake the strudel for about 30 minutes or until it is deep golden brown. Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Use a serrated knife and serve either warm or at room temperature. It is best on the day it is baked.

Strudel dough

From “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers

1 1/3 cups unbleached flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

7 tablespoons water, plus more if needed

2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough

1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

1. Combine the flour and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour with the mixer on low speed. You will get a soft dough. Make sure it is not too dry, add a little more water if necessary.Take the dough out of the mixer. Change to the dough hook. Put the dough ball back in the mixer. Let the dough knead on medium until you get a soft dough ball with a somewhat rough surface.
2. Take the dough out of the mixer and continue kneading by hand on an unfloured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally.Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes (longer is better).
3. It would be best if you have a work area that you can walk around on all sides like a 36 inch round table or a work surface of 23 x 38 inches. Cover your working area with table cloth, dust it with flour and rub it into the fabric. Put your dough ball in the middle and roll it out as much as you can.Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.
4. The dough will become too large to hold. Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands. Stretch and pull the dough until it's about 2 feet wide and 3 feet long, it will be tissue-thin by this time. Cut away the thick dough around the edges with scissors. The dough is now ready to be filled.

Tips- Ingredients are cheap so we would recommend making a double batch of the dough, that way you can practice the pulling and stretching of the dough with the first batch and if it doesn't come out like it should you can use the second batch to give it another try;- The tablecloth can be cotton or polyester;- Before pulling and stretching the dough, remove your jewelry from hands and wrists, and wear short-sleeves;- To make it easier to pull the dough, you can use your hip to secure the dough against the edge of the table;- Few small holes in the dough is not a problem as the dough will be rolled, making (most of) the holes invisible.
Both Courtney and I did a trial run on making the strudel. Below are our notes:
Courtney's notes- She couldn't get it to stretch to 2 feet by 3 feet, it turned out more like 2 feet by 2 feet. But the dough was tissue thin nevertheless;- She got some serious holes, but after rolling it wasn't noticeable;- She used a large cheese cloth which helped manipulate and stretch the dough more than a heavier cloth would have.

My notes- I made the dough by hand, just mixed the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon. Kneaded it for about 5 min like you would bread dough. This worked as well. Haven't tried using a stand mixer so I don't know how it compares.- Instead of cider vinegar I used red wine vinegar;- I used bread flour;- Picking up the dough to let it stretch didn't work well for me, holes appeared pretty much instantly. Instead I stretched the dough while it was lying on the tablecloth by putting my hands underneath and stretching it out further and further;