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KitchenKatalog: Blog 222
Sunday, December 20, 2015, 12:00 AM
We were at a holiday event and someone brought these. They were so good that we had to ask what they were and how to make them. It turns out that they are made from Rollos. The recipe is super, super simple. Place a Rollo on each pretzel, bake at 350 for 4 minutes, then quickly press on a pecan. Let cool (we used the cool garage).
They were so simple and also really good. Actually, perhaps too good! More than a few people reported that this was their favorite of our candy. And we barely made it.
We made this from this Kraft Recipe (local). We followed the recipe pretty closely except we used Greek Yogurt cream cheese (about the same calories but more protein, less fat). We dipped them in dark semi-sweet chocolate (which we also thinned with coconut oil).
They also came out really good. Easy ingredients but actually pretty labor intensive
Oreo Truffles (from Kraft Recipes)
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Meredith had made these for me a while ago and they were really good so we decided to try them again. We used the recipe from So How's it Taste? (local). The recipe is actually pretty simple. I think the hardest thing is (a) the temperature adjustment and (b) not stirring the sugar.
On the note of altitude, we followed many guides that said to basically just linearly adjust the temperature based on the boiling point of water. Essentially, just decrease by 10F
They were really good. I think we just have to be more careful about using too much grease on the pan. Also wrapping them is a royal pain. We ended up using parchment and tape to hold it.
Salted Whiskey Caramels (from So How's it Taste?)
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We love honeycomb candy we used to buy at the grocery store so we decided to make it. We used this Joy The Baker recipe (local) and followed it closely except again the temperature (see above). However, we had trouble with the combination of candy and digital thermometers. Before I knew it, the temp had gone to 300°F (where it was supposed to be if not for the adjustment).
It became really hard to stir and control. I think it was too hard/too hot. It kind of became a sticky mess as you can see from the photos. And a ton left on the pan.
They did mostly work. There was certainly a honeycomb structure but it was smaller than we would have happen. I would try it again but I would be more careful about the temperatures. It goes up in temp really quickly.
As you can see in the top picture, we dipped it in chocolate.
Homemade Honeycomb (from Joy The Baker)
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We made divinity again like last year. Again, we used the Paula Dean Recipe (local) but I think that was a mistake. It was so sticky. We could barely work with it. It stuck to the parchment paper and everything else. Also, it wasn't as good this year (as our second last year) but that could also have a lot to do with the fact that we made it about 5-6 days before we ate any. Also, we did salt them but didn't use salted nuts. I liked the salted nuts in there too. And, again, as noted above, we adjusted for the altitude.
I looked at some other recipes that seem to use less sugar. I think I would try that in the future. Also, I will lay them out of silpats since they won't tear while peeling them off.
We [tried] to make Rosemary Shortbread again like 2015-11-06 with this recipe. The only difference to the recipe being that we didn't want to use the egg-wash and we went heavier on the rosemary.
However, we somehow really messed it up. While we prepped everything over the weekend, we wanted the cookies to be fresh so we prepped the dough, then refrigerated it for two days. Then we warmed it enough to roll into a log (we wanted to make them round and this is an easier way to cut them).
Well, the combination of the refrigeration and everything must have messed them up because they spread everywhere on the pan. Or, it could have to do with the silpat, but I highly doubt that. The crumbs were amazing though!
Friday, December 18, 2015, 12:00 AM
Pretty simple meal. I used to do this pretty often.
I cut and roasted:
And probably other stuff I do not recall. I chopped it all, tossed it with olive oil, and seasoned it with salt, pepper, garlic powder, crushed red pepper, and rosemary.
I roasted it for 20-25 minutes at 425, then added diced chicken sausage, tossed it, and did another 20 minutes.
As usual, it came out very good. Lots of food but no starchy vegetables. It had a kick from the poblanos and the crushed red pepper (something I sadly found out were spicy after a trip to the bathroom....)
Wednesday, December 16, 2015, 12:00 AM
We again did what we like to do with leftover pimento cheese (from here), we made grilled cheese. The pan was a bit too hot so it blacked a bit but didn't taste burned at all and was still really good. The pimento cheese was a bit smokier than when we made it other times, but it worked well with the grilled cheese.
We also made Roasted Broccoli Soup. We approximately 1.25x to 1.5x the recipe. Except we forgot the lemon (which we often do).
We used the Vitamix to blend it all (in batches) so it was super smooth. Also, despite increasing the recipe, we only used about 3 oz of cheddar (added grated to the Vitamix to really blend). This worked well enough. We also topped it with cheddar. Also, I added some garlic powder to the broth and, as the recipe suggests, went heavy on the bouillon.
Actually, we made the soup the night before, refrigerated it, and reheated it today. As always, it was incredibly good. I think the broccoli just brings out so much flavor. And it is a pretty easy soup to make which is nice.
Tuesday, December 15, 2015, 12:00 AM
Meredith and I made Lighter Lasagna Soup. Like the last time, we used that vodka sauce. Other than that, we really didn't mess with the recipe except to skip the bread and use regular pasta.
We shredded mozzarella from a block. The chicken sausage was a Spicy Parmesan Sausage. We had about a full pound but it was also very, very stuck to the casing so there is no way that much got into the soup.
It was really good. The recipe is pretty easy and doesn't take much creativity, but it's still really good!
2016-05-18 Update: Recipe moved to its own page
Saturday, December 12, 2015, 12:00 AM
Somehow I forgot to take photos, but we were going to two different parties so we made more food.
We made this for our first party. We followed the same recipe as the first time with the addition of green onions.
I do not know what is with that recipe but it really needs 2-3x the mayo.
The flavored seemed a bit off this time but adding more tabasco helped. I still don't think it was our best showing...
We again made Ramen Rice Krispies like last night except we made a few changes.
We actually made two half batches but for both, the biggest change was that we doubled the butter (well, halved everything but the butter). I read on this site that butter makes it softer since they were very crunchy the day before. They essentially have the same amount of dry stuff and marshmallows but double butter. That worked well!
We also experimented. We made one batch with 1 Tbsp tahini to up the sesame flavor. That was a bit strange. I think it added too much toasted flavors and was a bit too rich.
The other batch was with wasabi. We started with about 1/4 tsp wasabi powder and kept going up since we couldn't taste it. We ended with around 1 tsp but still was too weak. So this batch was better but mostly because it tastes regular.
Sadly, this was not a hit at the party. I think in the future, I won't tell people it has seaweed. That got some strange reactions.
Friday, December 11, 2015, 12:00 AM
Meredith and I had friends over so we decided to make some strange and different foods. They brought the salad which was very good but I do not know what was on it. I talk about the things we made below
We made Lebanese Moussaka using the same recipe as last time including those changes (canned chick peas, tomato liquid, extra seasonings including pomegranate mollasses, etc).See note below about pomegranate mollasses.
Other than doubling everything, we stayed pretty true to the recipe. I should note that we didn't have ground all-spice so I ground it myself but they ground easily. We also let it cook for a good, long, while.
The one thing of note though is that I tried to make my own pomegranate molasses. I used this Alton Brown recipe (local) except that I apparently had some trouble. I followed the recipe closely, but I think that I let it go too long (either time or heat). When it cooled, it was like taffy. And made much less than the 1 cup. Then, after it was in the fridge, it turned to a solid block! I was able to microwave it (and turn it essentially molten) and use in. I used the planned amount (roughly double the Moussaka recipe) but note that it was probably even stronger.
I think, in the future, I will not be making it myself. I am sure I saved calories over the super-sweet store-bought stuff, but it just doesn't make sense. The cost of the pomegranate juice plus the time and effort aren't worth it.
Still, I thought the Moussaka came out pretty good. I was worried as it was cooking since it didn't have the full flavor, but as it cooked down, it started to taste great. I think next time, I will see if my Lebanese Cookbook has any different suggestions just to mix it up (though it would probably be less easy then). We served it with a double portion of Cauliflower Rice
Pomegranate Syrup or Molasses (From Alton Brown, via The Food Network)
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This was a strange one...
Meredith found this recipe for Ramen Rice Krispies on Joy The Baker (local). The broken (junky) ramen noodles are interesting enough, but when you add the furikake (to quote: "sweet/salty/seaweed/umami") seasoning, it gets very, very strange.
Making it was easy enough, though I used my hands to toss (since that is really the only way to do it) and it was HOT!. We just halved the recipe, which made more than enough for us (we only had one pack of ramen).
The only other changes we made were to use pam on the pan, and to use all of the ramen in the mix and just furikake on top.
Meredith seemed uncertain but I really (really!) liked it. I love salty sweets and this was a great example of it. We bought the regular furikake (see pictures below) but they also had others including one with bonito (fish) and one with wasabi. We will not be touching the fish one any time soon but the wasabi could be interesting!
Only thing that would have been better was if they were chewier. They came out hard as a rock.
Ramen Rice Krispie Treats (from Joy The Baker)
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Wednesday, December 09, 2015, 12:00 AM
We made standard and simple Zucchini Fritters (or Latkes) for Chanukah. Not much to them. The regular recipe but doubled. I tried using some nutritional yeast for extra flavor and that worked ok. I am not sure if I tasted it or not.
Tuesday, December 08, 2015, 12:00 AM
Simple meal of seared salmon and leftover (really, extra) corn-pudding from the other night. The salmon was done with Penzeys Northwoods Fire seasoning. The website describes it as:
What could be better than two types of Northwoods Seasoning? Northwoods Fire has the same great flavor as the original, with the added kick of smoky ground Chipotle and hot Cayenne red pepper. A wonderful seasoning for all grilled foods--steaks, fish, chicken and chops, even grilled vegetables.
Hand-mixed from: coarse flake salt, paprika, ground chipotle pepper, black pepper, cayenne red pepper, thyme, rosemary and granulated garlic.
Anyway, we baked the corn pudding from cold for about 20 minutes at 350. That was enough to get it warm, but it (for better or worse) wasn't too hot. I think if it got hotter, it may have leaked or spilled. I think I may have liked them more tonight, but that could have also just been in comparison to everything else.