French Dips, to be continued....

Yesterday was a foodie's delight. There were some amazing blog updates, I found a recipe I wanted to try and had all the ingredients for, but first thing in the morning THIS happened:
I admit, I am a bit of a meat snob. There are so many rules regarding meat I will or will not eat that it is often easier to tell people I am a vegeterian. Imagine my surprise and delight when I found a kindred meat snob soul at work! We quickly bonded over our mutual love of Whole Foods, and she happens to have about one of the cutest babies I have ever seen.

She gave me a recipe for french dip sandwiches you make in the crockpot, one of my favorite tools. Then she went above and beyond and brought me a sample of the recipe she made the night before! Well, needless to say I think it took about two bites for me to polish off the sandwich, then it took everything in me to not bathe in the remaining sauce. The poor fiance didn't get a single bite. I actually had to wash the dish out quickly and drink some wine for fear he would smell it on me, like a wild dog. You see, these type of sandwiches are pretty much one of his very favorite things. That being said, I trust we can keep this fact between us: I have no choice but to purchase the ingredients and surprise him with this meal sometime next week. The recipe will be posted of course.

In the meantime, I have even more recipe and posts in the pipeline. But it is Friday, I have poured my first glass of wine, and I intend to at least finish the rest of this bottle. Until tomorrow then...

Butterscotch Blondie Bars with Peanut-Pretzel Caramel

What do ya know? Another sugary sweet recipe!

What you will NOT get in this post:
Beautiful photography
Fancy techniques
A quick, easy, and light recipe

What you WILL get in this post:
A great example of fail
A decadent and incredibly rich dessert
Something that takes forever to make but is so worth it

Butterscotch Blondie Bars with Peanut-Pretzel Caramel
From... you guessed it, the December 2011 issue of Bon Appetit

Ingredients:

Blondie
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
2 t baking powder
1 t kosher salt
3/4 c (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 c (packed) light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 t vanilla extract

Peanut-Pretzel Caramel
4 c roasted unsalted peanuts
2 c sugar
1/4 c honey
1/4 c (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 c heavy cream
1 1/2 c thin twisted pretzels, coarsely crushed

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Line a baking pan with parchment paper (pan should be 13x9x2), leaving a 1" overhang on sides
3. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside
4. Stir butter in a medium skillet over medium heat until browned bits form at bottom of pan, 7-8 minutes
5. Transfer to a medium bowl
6. Add brown sugar, and using an electric mixer beat until well combined, 2-3 minutes
7. Add eggs and vanilla, beat until fluffy and well combined
8. Add dry ingredients, beat until smooth. Batter will be thick
9. Using a spatula evenly spread batter in prepared pan
10. Bake blondie until golden brown and edges pull away from the side of the pan and a tester inserted in the middle comes out with a few moist crumbs, 20-25 minutes
11. Let cool completely on wire rack

Caramel
1. Line a baking sheet with parchment and spread peanuts evenly in it
2. Bake the peanuts in 350 oven, stirring frequently until fragrant, 5-7 minutes
3. Stir sugar and 1/2 c water in large saucepan over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves
4. Increase heat to a boil without stirring, occassionally swirl the pan until caramel is deep amber
5. Add honey, and return to a boil, stirring often
6. Add butter, stir until blended
7. Add cream (mixture will bubble up so be careful) and whisk until smooth
8. Stir in peanuts and pretzels
9. Pour mixture over cooled blondie and chill until cool, at least 30 minutes
10. Run a knife around sides of the pan to release blondie
11. Using parchment paper overhang, lift from pan
12. Cut into bars, but keep them small because they are richer than Beyonce and Jay-Z, trust me on this

Yay here they are! All excited to become something tasty.
Lining my pan with parchment. I must confess, it probably wasn't the exact 13x9x2 measurement suggested but it worked out just fine.

Mix the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. At this point in the recipe it tells you to then set it aside. Now I don't know about you, but really? Do they need to tell me to set it aside for fear that I won't? That I will then complete the recipe with one hand and in a panic because I forgot to set this bowl aside? Oh the world would end! Come on now.

Melted butter goes into another medium bowl.

Then you will plop all that beautiful brown sugar in there. Mmm I love brown sugar.

Beat together until it is supposed to resemble wet sand. I guess that depends on what kind of beach you are used to. Mine was mixed well so that's all that mattered.

Now add the eggs and vanilla.

Beat that all together until it's nice, fluffy, and well combined. Man, there is a whole lot of beating going on in this recipe. Might be good on a bad day.

Then of course you add the dry ingredients.

This batter will be very thick, won't resemble any cake batter or even most brownie batters. Take a spatula, and a spoon if needed like I did, and spread that thick beauty into the pan.

The end result will look messy, but it's fine because it will be covered in caramel heaven later.

Bake it according to the above directions, and you will get something that looks like this.

Put those nuts in a pan to roast. I did not line it with parchment paper because it seemed unnecessary.

While the peanuts are roasting I put the sugar and water in a pan. Then put that on a burner and stirred to dissolve the sugar.

Right about then the peanuts came out of the oven. Looking pretty much exactly as they did before they went in.

Well lookey here! Looks like this caramel is coming together nicely, so I step away to let it do its thing.

In about two minutes I have the pretzels pulsed in my mini food processor,

So that they look like this.

Caramel, bubbling along nicely...

and then BAM, it seizes. Just. Like. That. CARAMEL FAIL.

Considering it is just sugar and water, I just start over. Man have I matured. Just three years ago this would have triggered a full on tantrum.

I get the additions ready.

Now this is what a good caramel should look like.

Stir in the peanuts and pretzels, and get ready to spread.

Would you take a look at this beauty? I mean look...

at...

this.

While I still stand behind the statement that I really don't have a sweet tooth, I cannot resist anything caramel. Just ask my dentist.

So I had to take a few of these to the Kummer family, who handily live a mile down the road.

I then packed up the majority of the rest and brought them to work.

These do have an insane amount of labor required, and they are insanely sweet so not something you would want everyday, but what a fantastic "special occassion" dish. Sometimes a foodie wants to cook or bake something a little more complicated.

While these were very good right away, they get better every day so these are a good make ahead if you are doing them for guests or an event.

Enjoy!

Almond Oat Lace Cookies

Yes, here it is, more cookies.

These are also from the December 2011 issue of Bon Appetit. Months and months went by where it seemed I didn't dog ear a single page in the issues of BA I was getting in the mail. I am not a fan of the changes that have been made with the new editor, and have been left feeling just... blah about each issue. And then we can fast forward to the December issue. Literally every other page dog eared. I figured I would try a few recipes and maybe end up liking two. Wrong. Each and every one blew my socks off. So bear with me, as the next few posts will be from the December issue. Here we go...

Almond-Oat Lace Cookies

1/2 c whole natural unsalted almonds with skins
2 T old-fashioned oats
6 T (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
6 T superfine sugar
2 T (packed) light brown sugar
1 1/2 t honey
1 t all-purpose flour
1/4 t kosher salt
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Line rimless baking sheet with parchment paper
3. Pulse almonds and oats in food processor until coarse meal forms, set aside
4. Melt butter in a medium sauce pan over medium heat.
5. Add both sugars and honey to butter, whisk until blended and sugar dissolves, 1-2 minutes
6. Remove from heat. Add nut mixture, flour, salt, and stir until well blended
7. Spoon batter by 2 teaspoon portions onto baking sheets, spacing 2 1/2 inches apart
8. Using your fingertips, pat cookies down to 1/4 " high and push in edges to form smooth circles
9. Bake, rotating sheets after 6 minutes, until dark golden brown, 10-12 minutes
10. Slide cookies on parchment onto wire rack to cool
11. Using a pastry brush, brush half of each cookie with melted chocolate
12. Let stand until the chocolate is set, about 2 hours

Here we go!

Amazingly few ingredients for something that ends up so delicious.
Now let's all take a second and look at what the cookies were SUPPOSED to look like. That way it will be fresh in our minds while we laugh at how they really look later.

Lining my favorite cookie sheet with parchment. This cookie sheet was actually purchased at a thrift store, but it out performs the ones I paid big bucks for.

My mom actually gave me this mini food processor. At the time I couldn't imagine I would use it a lot. Well I have actually used it almost everyday since. So handy.

Pulse the oats and almonds together...

Until they look like this, then set aside.

Once the butter has melted in the pan, I add the sugars and the honey. Yes, this pan is old enough to be registered to vote. What?! Am I supposed to toss a perfectly good pan? I am far too cheap to do such a thing. On the other hand, maybe if I toss these it would justify buying new ones. Hmmm...

Add the nut mixture, flour, salt, and stir until well blended.

Here is where I was a little confused apparently. When the directions said to spoon by 2 teaspoon portions onto baking sheet, I must have gotten a little generous, you'll see what I mean later.

Pat them somewhat flat, and make sure the edges are rounded.

I popped them in the 350 oven, turning after six minutes, taking out when they were done. Which got me these....

So, like I was saying above, be a little light handed with the blobs of dough you plop onto the sheet. Place the cookies with the parchment paper onto cooling racks. The directions say to brush half the cookie with a pastry brush and chocolate. I decided to drizzle.

Though perfection isn't a strong suit of mine.

Pretty or not, these things were damned delicious.

And incredibly easy. What more could you want?

Yum. Enjoy!

25 Things About Me

There are so many people doing this I firgured I'd give it a shot also.

1. I was born in Minnesota.

2. I have ridiculously curly hair.

3. Without a doubt, I drop the F bomb more than I should.

4. My mom was born and raised in Bremerhaven Germany, which is also where my older brother was born.

5. I have 3 sets of teeth, rather than the usual 2.

6. I am a hemophiliac which is rare in females.

7. Contrary to what this blog states, I much prefer savory food over anything sweet.

8. I drink too much wine... but is there really such a thing?

9. I was raised mormon but I am not currently active in any church (uhhh see #'s 3 and 8).

10. I thought 25 things would be easy to think up but it's not...

11. My favorite # is 2.

12. January 26th is my birthday.

13. My favorite color is green.

14. Dream destination vacation would be Bora Bora or Iceland.

15. My favorite place to go on vacation is Santa Cruz California. There is a nice KOA there and we bring the dogs who LOVE it. Everytime we are there we have to go to Phil's Fish Market for dinner, and Los Palmas taco stand for Mexican food.

16. For me, feeding people is the most sincere way to show I care.

17. My favorite season is fall.

18. I love yoga.

19. I am currently listening to The Script, loving them at the moment.

20. I worked with autistic kids when I was a teen.

21. I read every single day, and don't think there are enough years to read all the books I want to read.

22. I am allergic to pineapple, bananas, and cantaloupe. Yes, it is just as awful as you think it would be.

23. When I was a kid I wanted to be a judge AND a forensic pathologist. Oh, and I was going to marry an architect. Seems it didn't work out that way.

24. I have been on two billboards in town.

25. Tom Hanks is my favorite actor.

I have several recipes in the pipeline and hope to post a new one tonight!

Chewy Ginger Cookies

COOKIES!!

Admittedly I have not tried any recipe lately that has blown my skirt up. In fact, most have made me walk away annoyed that I even wasted the ingredients it took to make them. So when I was half assedly (is assedly a word? It is now) flipping through the December issue of bon appetit I saw a whole section that struck my fancy. So I decided to make the Chewy Giner Cookies. Basically I Saw that they called for molasses, which I not only had, but happen to love. Enough said.

2 1/4 c all purpose flour
2 1/2 t ground ginger
1 1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground nutmeg
1/2 t kosher salt
1/4 t fresh ground black pepper
3/4 c packed brown sugar
1/2 c vegetable shortening (I must admit here I used butter flavor crisco because I had some)
1/2 c (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp
1 large egg
1/2 c blackstrap molasses
2 t finely grated peeled ginger
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 c finely chopped crystalized ginger (I did not use this)
1 c raw or sanding sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees with racks arranged in lower and upper thirds of oven.
2. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Whisk together flour, ground ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and pepper in medium bowl.
4. Using an electric mixer on med-high speed beat brown sugar, shortening, and butter in a large bowl, until light and fluffy.
5. Reduce speed to low and add the egg, molasses, grated ginger, and vanilla, beat just to blend.
6. Add flour mixture and beat on low speed just to blend.
7. Mix in crystallized ginger (which I did not do). At this point the dough will be very soft and sticky.
8. Put the raw sugar in a shallow plate or bowl.
9. Using a tablespoon (T) measure scoop out dough. Using a second spoon scoop dough into bowl with raw sugar; turn to coat well.
10. Roll into a ball.
11. Transfer ball to prepared baking sheet, spacing the balls 1 1/2" apart.
12. Bake the cookies, rotating sheet halfway through, until edges are firm 8-10 minutes.

Ingredients as per usual:
This is what the cookies are "supposed" to look like. Yeah, I don't go by that much.

Lining my pan with parchment... exciting stuff right there.

Mix the dry ingredients - flour, ground ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pepper.

Whisk those together and set aside. In my kitchenaid mixer bowl I put the brown sugar, shortening, and butter.

Then I mixed like crazy.

Until it looked like this. I love how they say "scrape down the sides of the bowl every now and then". Uhhh, ya think?

Now add the egg,

And the molasses...

Notice how that sticky stuff flows all nice...

and easy away from the sides of the measuring cup?

That's because I sprayed the measuring cup with PAM spray before pouring in the sticky substance of choice. Works like a charm every time.

Add the vanilla.

Mix just to blend. Like so. Add the dry ingredients and again mix just to blend.

I did not have a bowl shallow enough for my raw sugar. So I used a plate.

For all of that beautiful sugar.

I busted out my brand new secret weapon. THE COOKIE SCOOP. Seriously. Worth every penny.

I scooped out even amounts of dough, just enough to fill the scoop with the top scraped off.

Which I then rolled in the previously mentioned gorgeous sugar.

Once I had several on the sheet they were ready for their main scene in the oven. 12 minutes at 350 degrees.

Which resulted in these wonderous beasts.

Just look at them...

I had absolutely no choice but to immediately sample one (or three but hey who's counting?!) with a glass of milk.

If you make these, you will love them. Period. I did.