I was in the mood for something sweet and chewy…

My go-to peanut butter cookie recipe adapted from Baking Blonde:

Ingredients:

1 cup + 2 Tbsp. peanut butter

1/2 cup salted butter, softened

1/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

2 Tbsp. milk

1 1/3 cups AP flour

3/4 tsp. baking powder

3/4 cup sugar (for covering dough balls before baking)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.

2. Using a large mixing bowl, cream the peanut butter and butter together until smooth.

3. Add both the sugars and mix until combined.

4. Add the egg and milk.

5. In a seperate bowl, sift the flour and baking powder together.

6. Add to peanut butter mixture in 3 additions. Mix until just combined.

7. Chill dough for at least 15 minutes. This will prevent spreading and flat cookies.

8. Roll about a tablespoon of dough into a ball with your hands.

9. Roll the dough balls in the white sugar until covered and place on baking sheet.

10. Carefully press each ball with a fork to make the characteristic crosshatch design.

11. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until slightly browned and puffed.

12. Remove cookies from the oven and cool on baking sheets for 5-10 minutes.

In high school I had two Spanish teachers. One was from Barcelona and the other from Puerto Rico. The teacher from Barcelona called this caramelized milk dulce de leche while the Puerto Rican teacher called it cajeta. I think what makes dulce de leche different from cajeta is the milk: Dulce de leche is made with cow’s milk and cajeta is made with goat’s milk. Some prefer cajeta over dulce de leche and say that it isn’t as cloying, but I think they are both great.

Since goat’s milk is hard to find and I don’t have time to sit and constantly stir a pot of milk and sugar for an hour, here is how I make my caramelized milk:

1. Get a can of sweetened condensed milk
2. Peel off the label and scrape away residual glue (a spoon works well for this)
3. Bring a pot of water to a boil
4. Drop the can of sweetened condensed milk into the boiling water
5. Boil for 3-4 hours (3 hours for a lighter, more syrupy dulce de leche or 4 hours for a darker and thicker consistency)
6. Let cool before opening can

WARNING: Watch your pot frequently and add more water as needed to keep the can covered. DO NOT let the pot boil dry! Your can could explode if you let the all the water evaporate from the pot.

After 4 hours of boiling time, this is what I got:

I found this post on my beloved Tastespotting and thought it looked like a good use for the dulce de leche: Salted Cashew Cookies from Natalie’s Killer Cuisine. I’m a big fan of sweet & salty combos, so these are perfect. It’s like eating a Pease’s cashew in cookie form.

It’s no surprise that I am addicted to Tastespotting.com. The site serves as a great inspiration for when I’m stuck in a culinary rut or when I don’t know what to do with some leftover ingredients.

That’s where I found the recipe for this pepperoni bread. I had some leftover turkey pepperoni and cheese that needed to be used ASAP. The problem was that I didn’t feel like having pizza again. So I went over to Tastespotting, searched for “pepperoni” and found this recipe from BrownEyedBaker.com.

The great thing about this recipe is that you can mix the dough ahead of time and stick in the fridge for up to four days. This gives you a lot of flexibility, which isn’t something that always comes to mind when you think of baking bread. I made the dough on Monday and just baked half of it today (Wednesday).

As for the results? Well, I honestly can’t believe I made this! My bread baking experience is fairly limited; usually leaning towards quick-breads and No-Knead Bread. So I was really excited when I cut into the loaf and found the inside to be very soft in contrast with the crusty exterior. Absolutely perfect!

Since it was my first time tackling this type of bread, I will do a couple of things differently next time (and there will be a next time!). First, I’ll roll out my dough a bit thinner. Looking at how fat my spiral was compared to Brown Eyed Baker’s, I could definitely go thinner. Second, I will use more cheese and pepperoni. However, since I was only looking to finish off some leftovers, it seemed silly to go and buy more of what I was trying to use up. The bread is still delicious even without the extras, due to the onions mixed into the dough.

So if you have some leftover ingredients that need to be used, try your luck on Tastespotting. You might find your new favorite recipe!

I’ve been a fan of the Food Network for a while now. Over the past year or so, I’ve noticed a distinct change in the programming and the entire feel of the network…and it’s not a good change. Programs featuring talented, informed chefs like Mario Batali and Emeril Lagasse are being cancelled in favor of big mouths like Rachael Ray. There is a great article over at the NY Times that discusses the change, which includes the demise of “Emeril Live” and the addition of a new show hosted by Rachael Ray. Because Ms. Ray will be so busy in ‘08, the Food Network is having her make 20 less episodes of “30-Minute Meals”. At least something good is happening.

Chef Batali has summed the whole thing up better than I ever could in this brusque statement:

“They don’t need me. They have decided they are mass market and they are going after the Wal-Mart crowd, which he said was a smart business decision. So they don’t need someone who uses polysyllabic words from other languages.”

Too true. Give me more Ina and Emeril! I can’t survive on the bobbleheads you are promoting!

We had quite a dumping of snow over the weekend, so today I decided to make a meal that reminds me of a little restaurant in sunny Arizona – Pasta Pomodoro. They have a great butternut squash ravioli, which I always order when I’m there. I found some pre-made frozen butternut squash ravioli when I went to the grocery store the other day and thought it would make a convenient meal.

Boy, was it ever! I put about 1/2 stick of butter in a fry pan along with the rest of a package of fresh sage leaves I had leftover from when I made lasagna on Saturday. I let the butter brown and become infused with the sage and poured it over the ravs which I had boiled. The brown butter and sage sauce was just like they make at Pasta Pomodoro. My favorite part of the whole dish is how crispy the sage leaves become. They just melt in your mouth when you eat them…delicious. I felt like I cheated a little by using the frozen pasta, but I didn’t mind when everything came together so quickly and easily. I was thinking of adding a few pine nuts over the top, but I didn’t have any. I also didn’t bother with any Parmigiano-Reggiano, but you could certainly add some to this dish.

I was first introduced to pizzelles when I was a little girl visiting my “Nana”. Nana was a lefty so when the stroke damaged the right side of her brain, her once deftness in the kitchen was gone. Since the stroke happened before I was around, I don’t have any Marie Callendar type memories of my grandmother. However, thanks to Nana’s neighbor Kate, I do have one holiday tradition that I can associate with my grandmother: pizzelles.

I don’t know if Kate made them for everybody or if they were just for us, but either way they were delicious. The thin and crisp texture of the cookie combined with the hint of anise were just heaven to me. Nana and I always ate so many pizzelles, usually as a snack while we played cards or watched Golden Girls.

After Nana died, I went without pizzelles for a long time. It wasn’t until a few years ago that my mom bought a pizzelle maker. I found myself making batches of the little snowflake cookies yet again. Both Nana and Kate may be gone, but I remember them every time I eat a pizzelle.

Pizzelles

3 eggs
1/2 tsp. anise seed or extract
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 3/4 c. AP flour
1/2 c. (1 stick) butter melted
3/4 c. sugar

1. Beat eggs and sugar.
2. Add melted and cooled butter, vanilla and anise to sugar and egg mixture.
3. Sift flour and baking powder and add to wet ingredients. Stir until just combined.

With your pizzelle maker, drop about a teaspoon to a tablespoon of the dough on the middle of each grid plate. Close the lid and let bake for about 30 seconds. Remove from pizzelle maker with a spatula. While they are still hot, feel free to roll into a cone or even a bowl shape. Use less dough for smaller, lacier edged pizzelles. Enjoy plain, dusted with powdered sugar or even Nutella. Dough can be refrigerated for use at a later time. Cookies should be kept wrapped in plastic wrap or in an airtight container.

Makes about 30 cookies

Not only does Mr. Firth produce drumsticks and mallets, he also has a line of kitchen accessories. They look really well made and are endorsed by hotshots Oprah and Mario Batalli.

I have my eye on the Dark Orange “Ciudad” pepper mill.

The moment I saw this recipe, I knew I had to try it out. The bright red of the cranberries and the dusting of powdered sugar makes this a perfectly festive holiday treat. The original recipe calls for a 9″x9″ baking dish. Since my 9″x9″ pan is over at The Boy’s house, I decided to use my 10″ round baking dish instead; turning the “bars” into a tart.

Feel free to add some orange zest or cinnamon into the cranberries as they cook on the stove. You could also just use your leftover relish from Thanksgiving. I enjoyed the tartness that this recipe yielded, but I might add more sugar the next time around. The shortbread-like crust could be a bit richer for my taste. Maybe a little more salt? Or salted butter instead of unsalted?

P.S. Cranberries are full of antioxidants so eat up!

Recipe follows More »

Fall is stuttering to a start. One day will be 68 and the next is 85. Mother Nature is so indecisive. I’m longing to wear a cozy sweater and to once again experience the smell of burning leaves. Until then, here are some pumpkin-pecan muffins that I have adapted from a recipe via SmittenKitchen. I found this recipe about a month ago, but just couldn’t being myself to bake it until October. For some reason I associate October with being the “Autumn-est” of all the months. Just one bite and you’ll be thinking Fall.

Click here for the recipe. I added some chopped pecans to the mix for a little more texture.

neon paint splashes, banana seats and streamers, peeling the paper off of stubby crayons, clapping erasers, M.A.S.H., cinnamon and sugar soldiers, boxy cars, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese wheels, Donkeylips, Beakman and the Sea Monkies, twirling in dresses, the time step, and new white Keds