Sunday, December 18, 2011

Homemade Marshmallows

Big marshmallows, mini-marshmallows, marshmallow fluff, roasted marshmallows, marshmallows in hot chocolate, any which way, I love marshmallows. Eric likes to work his marshmallows with his hands and turn them into taffy before eating them (he is still such a little kid). So it was only a matter of time before I decided to make my very own marshmallows. And when I discovered that I already had all the ingredients in my pantry, I knew the time was now.

Twice I have broken hand mixers during my holiday baking. I almost did it again making these marshmallows. I strongly recommend using a standing mixer when making these.

Marshmallow Swirls

Ingredients:
3 packets of unflavored gelatin
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup water, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
red food coloring, optional

Special equipment: candy thermometer

Directions:
Butter a 9x13-inch baking dish and dust with confectioners' sugar. Set aside.

In a large bowl (or the bowl of a standing mixer), combine gelatin and 1/2 cold water and allow to soak.

In a saucepan, add sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 1/2 cup water and cook over medium-high heat. When the sugar dissolves, increase heat to high and cook the syrup until the temperature reaches 240 degrees on the candy thermometer. Remove the pan from the heat.

Attach the whisk attachment to your mixer. Slowly pour the syrup into the gelatin while whisking on low speed. Increase speed to high and whip the mixture until it becomes very thick, approximately 15 minutes.  Add in the vanilla extract and mix well.

Pour the marshmallow mixture into the pan and smooth the top. Since I was making these marshmallows for Christmas, I decided to give them a red swirl with food coloring. Drop a few drops of food coloring across the surface of marshmallows and swirl the food coloring using a toothpick. Dust with more confectioners' sugar. Leave out uncovered overnight so the marshmallows dry out.

Remove the marshmallow from the pan (I found it easiest to just lift the marshmallow from the pan versus turning the pan over) and cut them into squares. Dust them with confectioners' sugar one last time. Store in an airtight containers.


 Enjoy!

~Krissy

2011 Christmas Baking List:
Mint-Chocolate Truffles
Starlight Mint Cake
Sea Salt Caramels
Rocky Road Chocolate Log
Candied Citrus Peels
Easy Rum Balls
Homemade Marshmallows
Christmas Kiss Cookies
Tea Cookies

Other Holiday Cooking Ideas:
Snowflake Tortillas
Gingerbread House Decoration Ideas
Christmas Peep S'mores

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Christmas Kiss Cookies

These Hershey's Kiss cookies are a holiday tradition in my family. We've had them every Christmas for as long as I can remember and they always were--and still are--my all-time favorite Christmas cookies. My brother and I would unwrap all the Kisses, my mom would wrap them in the cookie dough then we would decorate them with colored sugar, sprinkles or frosting. These cookies are delicious with milk chocolate Kisses, heavenly with Hugs, and totally ambrosial with caramel Kisses. Hershey's makes so many different types of Kisses--almond, dark chocolate, candy cane, cherry, and many, many more--that it is easy to change this recipe up. But I like them best with good old milk chocolate Kisses.


Ingredients:
36 Kisses
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar--packed
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 2/3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

On medium speed, cream the shortening, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until fluffy. Add vanilla and egg and mix well. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the shortening mixture, mixing on medium speed. Mix well but be careful not to over beat. Wrap approximately 2 tablespoons of dough around a Kiss. Dip the cookie in sugar or sprinkles. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 6 to 7 minutes. Only the bottoms of the cookie will brown.  Cool on a wire rack. If you want to use the whole package of Kisses, double the recipe.
Kisses galore! No wonder I loved these as a kid.

Decorations
6 dozen cookies

Enjoy!

~Krissy


2011 Christmas Baking List:
Mint-Chocolate Truffles
Starlight Mint Cake
Sea Salt Caramels
Rocky Road Chocolate Log
Candied Citrus Peels
Easy Rum Balls
Homemade Marshmallows
Christmas Kiss Cookies
Tea Cookies

Other Holiday Cooking Ideas:
Snowflake Tortillas
Gingerbread House Decoration Ideas
Christmas Peep S'mores

Friday, December 16, 2011

Tea Cookies

These tea cookies are new to my baking list, but I think they are here to stay. I decided to give them a try because they kept popping up whenever I searched for new holiday recipes, they look like snowballs, and everyone seemed to love them. And now I know why. I don't usually go for crumbly, dry cookies--I generally like mine soft and chewy--but there is just something about these cookies that makes you want to eat the whole batch in one sitting.
Tea Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar, plus extra for rolling
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup walnuts, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Beat butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla  together until creamy. In a separate bowl mix the flour, walnuts, and salt. Gradually add the dry mixture to the creamy one until well blended. Shape into 1-inch balls and place the balls on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8 to10 minutes or until the cookies are firm but not brown. Allow the cookies to cool until they you can handle them. While still warm, roll the cookies in powdered sugar. Allow to completely cool, and roll in powdered sugar a second time. Recipe yields about 3 dozen.

Enjoy!

~Krissy

2011 Christmas Baking List:
Mint-Chocolate Truffles
Starlight Mint Cake
Sea Salt Caramels
Rocky Road Chocolate Log
Candied Citrus Peels
Easy Rum Balls
Homemade Marshmallows
Christmas Kiss Cookies
Tea Cookies

Other Holiday Cooking Ideas:
Snowflake Tortillas
Gingerbread House Decoration Ideas
Christmas Peep S'mores

Easy Rum Balls

I made these rum balls for the very first time last year and absolutely fell in love with them. So much so, that they've been added to my annual Christmas baking list. They are quick and easy, require no baking, and taste divine--if you like the taste of rum. The longer these cookies sit, the stronger the rum flavor becomes. This year I decided to make one batch with the dark rum as I usually do and another batch with coconut rum. Next year I can't wait to experiment with more flavors.
Rum Balls

Ingredients:
1 cup walnuts
2 cups Voortman vanilla wafers, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup powdered sugar, plus extra for rolling
3-4 tablespoons dark rum (or any other flavor of rum)
¼ teaspoon light corn syrup

Directions:
Place walnuts, wafers, and powdered sugar in your food processor. Pulse a few times until the ingredients are well mixed. Be careful not to turn the wafers or nuts into powder. Add 2 tablespoons of rum and corn syrup. Pulse 2 to 3 times. Add the last 1-2 tablespoons of rum.* Pulse until well mixed.

Lightly coat your work area and hands with powdered sugar. Roll dough into walnut-sized balls. Coat balls in powdered sugar and place on cookie sheet. Refrigerate for a half hour. Store your rum balls in an air tight container in the fridge. Recipes yields about 1 1/2 dozen.

You can also use chocolate wafers or coat your rum ball in unsweetened cocoa, melted chocolate, or chopped nuts.

*After 3 tablespoons of rum, your dough will still be crumbly but will stick together easily. 4 tablespoons makes the dough wet and the rum taste a lot stronger.
Rum Balls with dark rum.
Rum balls with coconut rum.

 Enjoy!

~Krissy

2011 Christmas Baking List:
Mint-Chocolate Truffles
Starlight Mint Cake
Sea Salt Caramels
Rocky Road Chocolate Log
Candied Citrus Peels
Easy Rum Balls
Homemade Marshmallows
Christmas Kiss Cookies
Tea Cookies

Other Holiday Cooking Ideas:
Snowflake Tortillas
Gingerbread House Decoration Ideas
Christmas Peep S'mores

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Mint-Chocolate Truffles

Decadent and sophisticated, truffles make a great Christmas present for friends, co-workers, and family. Plus, they are relatively easy to make. I don't even know how many truffle recipes I looked through in trying to find the perfect recipe. Martha Stewart alone had at least eight. Nearly every chocolate manufacturer also had a truffle recipe. Not to mention countless blog recipes. From my research I learned:

1.) use quality chocolate (duh)
2.) the amount of whipping cream or butter you use determines the pliability of the chocolate
3.) there are endless flavor variations (and I wanted to try them all)
4.) all truffle recipes are pretty much the same

For my truffles I used whipping cream instead of butter or a cream-butter combination simply because I think that the whipping cream gives the chocolate a richer taste than the butter (However, I do use butter to make my Rocky Road Chocolate Log). Narrowing down what flavor I wanted to make was nearly impossible. Years ago I bought a bottle of chocolate-raspberry rum in the Virgins Islands. It was divine and I used to put it in cakes, fillings, frostings, hot chocolate . . . Man, did I wish I still had some of it left for the truffles. I debated using the brandy and Malibu rum we have in the house. I restrained myself from going out and buying Bailey's Irish Cream (next year for sure) or an orange liqueur. Finally, I decided on mint-chocolate truffles since I already had the mint extract and, as I've mentioned before, Eric loves everything mint.

Mint-chocolate truffles
Ingredients: 
12 ounce bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup whipping cream
2 teaspoons mint extract
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions:
In a saucepan, bring the whipping cream to a boil. Put chocolate chips in a large mixing bowl. Pour the cream over the chocolate and let sit for 3 minutes. Add mint extract and whisk the mixture until it's smooth. Refrigerate, uncovered, until the chocolate thickens, about 2 hours.

Line a cookie sheet with wax paper and spoon teaspoon-sized mounts of chocolate onto the wax paper. Don't worry about shaping into balls yet--the chocolate still needs to harden more before its workable. Refrigerate again for about 45 minutes.

Roll chocolate mounts into balls then roll the balls in cocoa powder and place them back onto the cookie sheet. To keep the chocolate from melting, only work with 2 or 3 mounts at a time while the rest remain in the refrigerator. Refrigerator the truffles for another hour then store in an air-tight container in the fridge. Yields between 50 and 60 truffles.

I absolutely loved how these truffles came out. They're almost too good to give away. I can't wait to experiment with different flavors and chocolates next year. Here are some ideas I came across during all my truffle research.

Truffle Flavor Ideas:
Chocolate
   dark chocolate
   white chocolate
   milk chocolate
   a combination of different chocolates
Any type of flavored liqueur under the sun*
   raspberry
   orange
   cherry
   strawberry
   apricot
   butterscotch
   caramel
   coffee
   coconut
Any type of extract under the sun
   vanilla
   mint
   hazelnut
   almond
   cinnamon
   rose water
   caradamom
   orange
   rum
Different Teas
   earl grey**
   green
   chai
   jasmine
Coating Ideas
   nuts: walnuts, pecan, hazelnuts, peanuts
   chocolate coating: dark, milk, white
   coconut flakes
   sprinkles
   colored sugar
   crushed candy: candy canes, toffee, mints

*most truffle recipes that I found call for 1-2 tablespoon of liqueur
**if you're interested in making tea truffles, Martha Stewart gives you a good jumping off point

Enjoy!

~Krissy

2011 Christmas Baking List:
Chocolate Truffles
Starlight Mint Cake
Sea Salt Caramels
Rocky Road Chocolate Log
Candied Citrus Peels
Easy Rum Balls
Homemade Marshmallows
Christmas Kiss Cookies
Tea Cookies

Other Holiday Cooking Ideas:
Snowflake Tortillas
Gingerbread House Decoration Ideas
Christmas Peep S'mores

Rocky Road Chocolate Log

Chocolate, marshmallows, and nuts, who doesn't love rocky road? For me, winter and ice cream don't go together (Eric would disagree). So I found a way to get my rocky road fix this holiday season: make a chocolate log that can be cut into delicious nutty, marshmallow-y slices.

Fun Fact: Rocky road ice cream was created in March of 1929 by William Dreyer (co-founder of Edy's Grand Ice Cream along with Joseph Edy) when he used his wife's sewing scissors to cut up walnuts and marshmallows and then added them to his bowl of chocolate ice cream. Eventually the walnuts would be replaced by toasted almonds, sometimes peanuts. Dreyer and Edy gave the ice cream flavor its "rocky road" name in order to give people something to smile about during the Great Depression.

Rocky Road Chocolate Log Slices
Ingredients:
12-ounce bag of milk chocolate chips (we used Hershey's)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
1/2 cups coarsely chopped peanuts

Directions:
In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Remove from heat and add the chocolate chips. Stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes. Stir in the marshmallows. Transfer chocolate to wax paper and shape into a log. Wrap in wax paper and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Unwrap and press the peanut into the top of the log. If you want, you can roll the entire log in peanuts. I was lazy and just placed them on top. Re-wrap and store in refrigerator overnight. Slice the log and store in an air tight container.

Rocky Road Chocolate Log

Enjoy!

~Krissy

2011 Christmas Baking List:
Mint-Chocolate Truffles
Starlight Mint Cake
Sea Salt Caramels
Rocky Road Chocolate Log
Candied Citrus Peels
Easy Rum Balls
Homemade Marshmallows
Christmas Kiss Cookies
Tea Cookies

Other Holiday Cooking Ideas:
Snowflake Tortillas
Gingerbread House Decoration Ideas
Christmas Peep S'mores

Candied Citrus Peels

So this is one of the recipes that I added to my holiday baking list after I had supposedly finalized it. I came across the recipe on the Martha Stewart website and thought they looked fun and different and not too difficult. Made from oranges and lemons, they reminded me of gel candy fruit peels, which Eric loves. (They taste as awful lot like them too!) And they'd make a nice contrast to all the chocolate candy I was making. But the main reason I decided to make them: their color. One of the reason I love to cook and bake so much is because food appeals not only to taste and smell, but also sight, sound, and touch. What drew me to these candied citrus peels was simply how vibrant and pretty they looked. 

Candied orange and lemon peels
Ingredients:
2 large oranges
1 lemon
3 1/2 cups water
3 1/2 cups granulated sugar, plus extra for decorating

*You can also make these using grapefruits. We're just not grapefruit eaters.

Directions:
Cut six slits from the top of the fruit to the bottom. You only want to cut through the peel, not into the fruit. Gently remove each section of the peel using your fingers. Save the actual fruit for another purpose. Next, remove the white pith from the rinds. Eric did this part, and he found that the easiest way was to pretend you were flaying a fish. Once the pith has been removed, cut each peel into 1/4-inch wide strips.

In a large saucepan, cover the strips with cold water, bring to a boil, and then drain. Repeat this step two more times so you have boiled and drained the peels a total of three times. Set the peels aside.

Pour 3 1/2 cups of water and sugar into saucepan and boil until sugar is dissolved, stirring occasionally. Once sugar is dissolved, quit stirring. Place the strips into the boiling syrup and adjust heat to medium-low. Allow the peels to simmer until the strips become translucent, approximately 1 hour. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the peels to cool in the syrup.

Transfer the peels to a wire rack. Place a rimmed cookie sheet beneath the wire rack to catch the syrup drippings. Pat the strips with paper towels to remove any excess syrup. Roll the strips in granulated sugar and place on wax paper to to dry, about 30 minutes. 

Next year I think I'll add limes to the mix, just for that brilliant and Christmas-y green color.


Enjoy!

~Eric

2011 Christmas Baking List:
Mint-Chocolate Truffles
Starlight Mint Cake
Sea Salt Caramels
Rocky Road Chocolate Log
Candied Citrus Peels
Easy Rum Balls
Homemade Marshmallows
Christmas Kiss Cookies
Tea Cookies

Other Holiday Cooking Ideas:
Snowflake Tortillas
Gingerbread House Decoration Ideas
Christmas Peep S'mores

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Sea Salt Caramels

I'm definitely a chocolate-holic. If given a choice of different types of candy or sweets, I always go for the chocolate. But caramel comes in a close second. A very close second. I wasn't planning on making caramels this Christmas season--my baking list is already quite long. But then I stumbled upon a sea salt caramel recipe. I already had everything I needed to make them except heavy cream. I checked out a variety of other recipes to see which one I liked best and the one I'm going to show you was the most popular. I found it on a number of different sites with rave reviews on every one. So I went to the grocery store, bought my heavy cream, and here you have it: melt-in-your-mouth sea salt caramels.
Ingredients:
1 cup heavy cream
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 teaspoons sea salt


1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup water

sea salt for garnishing

Special Equipment: Candy Thermometer

Directions:
Line the bottom and sides of an 8x8-inch baking pan with wax paper. Lightly coat the wax paper with canola oil or cooking spray.    

In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream, butter, and 2 teaspoons of sea salt to a boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Set aside.

In a heavy-duty saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup, and water. Over medium-high heat, bring to a boil, stirring continuously. Once the sugar is completely dissolved, continue to cook the mixture until the temperature reaches 248 degrees. Occasionally swirl the saucepan. Do not stir.

When the temperature reaches 248 degrees, slowly and carefully stir in the cream mixture. The mixture will bubble so be careful not to burn yourself. Simmer over medium-low heat until the mixture thickens and turns a golden brown color--between 15 and 25 minutes. Swirl the mixture frequently. Do not let temperature exceed 250 degrees.

When the the mixture reaches the desired color and texture, pour it into your paper-lined pan. Allow the caramel to cool for 2 hours before cutting into pieces. While the caramel is still warm, garnish the top with sea salt, gently pressing the salt into the top. Cut into 1-inch pieces and wrap in wax paper.

Enjoy!

~Eric

2011 Christmas Baking List:
Sea Salt Caramels
Starlight Mint Cake
Mint-Chocolate Truffles
Rocky Road Chocolate Log
Candied Citrus Peels
Easy Rum Balls
Homemade Marshmallows
Christmas Kiss Cookies
Tea Cookies

Other Holiday Cooking Ideas:
Snowflake Tortillas
Gingerbread House Decoration Ideas
Christmas Peep S'mores

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Gingerbread House Decoration Ideas

When I was about seven or eight years old, my mom made a gingerbread house. I don't remember much about the house. I think she baked it herself and I'm pretty sure my brother and I didn't help her decorate it. What I do remember is eating it. She let me and my brother invite all our friends over to dismantle it. I remember tons of laughing, sugar and crumbs all over the table and floor, and thinking that this was the greatest thing in the world. I'm pretty sure my brother and friends thought so too.


This year my mom bought me a pre-made gingerbread house to decorate. As a kid, the gingerbread house was all about the gluttony, as an adult it's all about creativity, artistry, and decorating (except for Eric who just wants to eat it). My mom usually "makes" a gingerbread house every year--she decorates pre-made houses because baking the gingerbread and getting the pieces to fit together is a pain in the ass. I have not even made my own gingerbread cookies, let alone attempted to bake a house. Maybe one day. However, I had so much fun decorating my house that I can't wait to do it again next year and make it an annual tradition. I even got Eric to help out a little.

So I'm not going to share a gingerbread recipe with you. Just share a few decorating ideas. I started with the pre-made gingerbread house made and sold by Target. My mom brought me coconut M&Ms, colored sugar, regular sprinkles, sprinkles shaped like holly leaves and berries, sprinkles shaped like candy canes, heart-shaped candies, coconut flakes, and Wilton's Sparkle Gel, green and black.

A lot of what I did was pretty basic. I put green and white M&Ms on the roof, red gum drops on the very top, mini bead candy and icing icicles on the edges. I wanted to do Big Red gum as shingles, but Eric vetoed that idea because it'd make the roof inedible. The path is made out of brown M&Ms, green mini beads, and broken peppermint candies. I outlined the doors and windows with frosting or sprinkles. But the more I got into it, the more creative I got.

 I put candles in the window in the front of the house. I used a red sprinkle for the stick, a small yellow sprinkle for the flame, and two holly leave sprinkles for the base of the candle. It took a lot of patience but turned out pretty good.
Candles in the windows.
Using the holly sprinkles, I decorated the front door and back windows.

Holly in the windows. Jelly bean scrubs.
I also made two wreaths for the house out of the holly sprinkles. On the front of the house I built the wreath on a peppermint candy. Toothpicks and the sparkle gel made the job possible. But the sparkle gel takes a ridiculous amount of time to dry and harden (I don't think it's really meant to harden). Even though I let my wreath sit for hours before attaching it to the house, the leaves on the wreath began to slide off so my wreath isn't actually circular but at least they didn't fall completely off.

Peppermint wreath
On the back of the house I just drew a circle of frosting on the wall and applied the leaves and berries. It was much easier, quicker, and sturdier.

Frosting wreath
I gave the side windows shutters by using a meat tenderizing mallet to flatten and shape the red gumdrops. The gumdrops will stick horribly so use granulate sugar on your work surface. After I made the shutter, I used the sparkle gel to glue on sprinkle candy canes on two of the shutters, and holly leaves on the other two shutters.

Gum drop shutters with candy cane accents. Jelly bean scrubs.

Gum drop shutters with holly leaf accent. Jelly bean shrubs.
Probably the coolest thing I did was make a Christmas tree on the side of the house. I cut the spearmint leaves in thirds, flattened them with a mallet, and then cut them into a bunch of little triangles. With frosting I attached the triangles to the side of the house to make the tree. Wilton gives a good tutorial on how to do this. I then used sparkle gel and red holly sprinkles to decorate the tree. On the sides and back of the house I made little shrubs by flatten and shaping green jelly beans.

Spearmint leaf tree with holly berry decorations.
Eric made a snowman out of the mini marshmallows. If you keep pulling and stretching a marshmallow, it turns into a very sticky taffy like substance (Eric taught me this). So what he did was turn a bunch of marshmallow into taffy. He made two balls and rolled them in powdered sugar so they weren't so sticky. He skewered them on a toothpick and then added a mini marshmallow on top as the head. Spaghetti pasta made up the arms. He used a sprinkle as the carrot nose. Then with a toothpick and the black sparkle gel, he drew on a face and buttons. After I learned my lesson with the peppermint wreath, we put the snowman in the freezer so the gel would set.  Eric was also nice enough to do some of the roof for me after my carpel tunnel locked up my hands.
Marshmallow Snowman
I covered the cardboard base with royal icing that I made myself. All you need is one egg white, a tiny pinch of tartar, and 1.5 cups of powdered sugar. Beat the egg white and tartar on high until it becomes frothy then gradually add the powdered sugar until peaks form. Because the frosting contains raw egg, you're not suppose to eat it. However, I grew up on this frosting and use it on sugar cookies as did the many women who came before me; the raw egg doesn't bother me or Eric. If you do decide to eat this frosting, know you're risking salmonella poisoning. I sprinkled coconut flakes on top of the frosting for snow and I was done!\
Front

Side


Side
Back
Enjoy!

~Eric

2011 Christmas Baking List:
Mint-Chocolate Truffles
Starlight Mint Cake
Sea Salt Caramels
Rocky Road Chocolate Log
Candied Citrus Peels
Easy Rum Balls
Homemade Marshmallows
Christmas Kiss Cookies
Tea Cookies

Other Holiday Cooking Ideas:
Snowflake Tortillas
 Christmas Peep S'mores

Monday, December 5, 2011

Spicy Cheese-Stuffed Turkey Burgers

I love turkey burgers. Eric loves hamburgers. Since I don't eat red meat, I had to come up with a turkey burger that Eric would love too. Eric is usually a good sport; he'll try anything once. But if he doesn't like it, there's rarely any revisiting that food. So I knew if I was going to get him to eat turkey burgers, they'd have to be damn good. In the world of Eric that means spicy and cheesy.

I'm not very good at making and cooking the patties so that always falls to Eric. Look at how perfect his turn out.
Ingredients: 
20 ounces (1.25 pounds) of lean ground turkey
1/3 cup salsa
3/4 cup Monterey Jack cheese with jalapeno peppers, shredded
1-2 Serrano peppers, coarsely chopped
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:
In a large bowl, mix meat, salsa, cheese, peppers, and black pepper together. Form into about five patties that have 3/4-inch thickness. Heat your pan and cook over medium-high heat, about five minutes on each side, until thoroughly cooked. Serve on buns with ketchup, mustard lettuce, tomato, or onion. Eric likes to add a slice of cheddar cheese to his burgers.

My Education In Burger-Making:
I first starting playing around with ground turkey and turkey burgers three or four years ago. Since I didn't eat red meat, I didn't have any experience with how to make a burger, so I always left the patty making up to Eric. However, this time around he decided it was time to learn because this is what my burgers looked like:
Wrong thickness and falling apart. So here is what Eric taught me. Scoop up a good handful of meat. Form it into a patty, working with it until you hands warms up the meat a bit because this makes the patty stick together better. He likes the burgers with about a 3/4-inch thickness. Then he slaps the burger down into a hot skillet. Don't press down on the burger with the spatula right away or else you'll lose all the juices. Instead, wait a minute or two so the bottom of the burger cooks and seals in those juices. Let the patty cook for five or six minutes until the edges of the burger look cooked. You don't want to have to flip the burger more than once (something I'm terribly guilty of). Again, once you flip the burger, don't press down on it with the spatula right away. Cook that side for about five minutes then remove from heat.

We'll see how well I'll do the next time.

Variations:
It's really easy to take the spice up or down a notch with these burgers. For less spicy burgers use mild salsa and leave out the Serrano peppers. If you like things super spicy, add hot salsa and two chopped up peppers. We usually take the middle road--medium salsa and one pepper. Though the super spicy burgers are a nice change from time to time.


Also, instead of shredding the Monterey Jack cheese, you can cut it into little cubes so when you bite into the burger, you get a little burst of cheese. I prefer my burgers this way. Eric likes them with the shredded cheese. Plus, since Kraft now makes shredded Monterey Jack cheese with jalapeno peppers, it's easier to make them with shredded cheese.

Eric's lunch: turkey burger, snowflake tortilla chips, and salsa.
Enjoy!

~Eric

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Snowflake Tortilla Chips

Snowflake tortillas are as much a recipe as a craft that's fun for both adults and kids. At least I had a ton of fun making them. Martha Stewart uses the tortillas to make snowflake quesadillas. I, however, turned them into semi-homemade tortilla chips. They're perfect for holiday party appetizers and making a festive Mexican dinner feel all wintery and Christmas-y.

Snowflake tortilla chips and salsa. Eric said they were almost too pretty to eat. Almost.

Ingredients:
6-inch tortillas
olive oil
pepper
powdered garlic
cayenne pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray.

First, you have to cut your tortilla into a snowflake by folding your tortilla into thirds--fold in half, fold in half again, and fold in half one last time. Then using kitchen shears, cut out a snowflake. Now, I hadn't made a paper snowflake in . . . twenty years? So I had to look up how to do it here.

Once your snowflakes are cut out, mix olive oil and spices together. I like a mix of pepper, powdered garlic, and cayenne pepper for some heat. But you could just do salt and pepper, rosemary, thyme, anything you'd like. Use as much or as little of the spices as suits your tastes. This is one of those recipes that I call "to your taste" recipe. Using a pastry brush, brush the olive oil mix onto both sides of the snowflake tortilla then place on the cookie sheet.

Bake the tortillas for 6 to 10 minutes, flipping them after 3 to 5 minutes. Let cool then serve with salsa, guacamole, or any other kind of dip.

 Now I don't like to let anything go to waste. So I turned all the little bits of tortilla that I cut out of the snowflakes into chips. Put the bits and pieces, oil, and spices in a resealable plastic bag and shake. Then lay on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray in a single layer. Cook for 6 to 10 minutes, flipping halfway through.

Snowflake left overs.

You can also use this recipe to make regular tortillas chips. Just cut the tortillas into wedges.

Enjoy!

~Krissy

2011 Christmas Baking List:
Mint-Chocolate Truffles
Starlight Mint Cake
Sea Salt Caramels
Rocky Road Chocolate Log
Candied Citrus Peels
Easy Rum Balls
Homemade Marshmallows
Christmas Kiss Cookies
Tea Cookies

Other Holiday Cooking Ideas:
Gingerbread House Decoration Ideas
Christmas Peep S'mores

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Starlight Mint Cake

I am ridiculously excited to start my holiday baking this year. Every time I get online, my baking list gets longer and longer. Nothing screams Christmas as much as peppermint so I'm starting this year off with Kraft's Starlight Mint Cake. I'm not a huge fan of peppermint, but Eric's madly in love with it. However, satisfying his sweet tooth is not why I decided to make this. To decorate the cake you get to melt starlight mints. That was just too cool to pass up. As always, I've changed a few things from Kraft's recipe. 

I made two one layered cakes because I was giving one to a friend (Hi Christian!). The recipe, however, is for a two layer cake.

Ingredients:
1 white cake mix
the ingredients called for to make the cake mix (vegetable oil, water, eggs)
1 cup water
1 3-ounce package cherry-flavored gelatin
15  starlight mints, divided
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
2 tablespoons sour cream
2-3 drops red food coloring
2 cups cool whip, thawed
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract

Directions:
Prepare cake mix according to package direction and divide batter between two 9-inch round cake pans. Bake according to directions then allow to cool for fifteen to twenty minutes. In the meantime, boil one cup water, remove from heat, add gelatin, and stir until all the gelatin is dissolved. Once the cakes have cooled, stick the cake with a large fork at 1/2 an inch intervals. Pour the gelatin mix over both cakes. Refrigerate the cakes for at least three hours. 

These have about 1.5 inch diameter.
While waiting for the cakes to set, make your starlight decorations. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with wax paper then spray them with cooking spray. Unwrap six mints and place them on the baking sheet, about four inches apart. Bake them for about 5 to 7 minutes or until they have of diameter of about 1 1/2 inches. You can make them even bigger as I did by accident: 

Larger melted mints in the center.

But the mints will bubble at the edges, distorting the design. Allow the melted candies to cool for 5 to 10 minutes. After a number of broken mints, I found it's easier to peel the wax paper away from the candy than to use a metal spatula to peel the candy from the wax paper. Repeat with the rest of the mints. 

To make the cake filling, melt the white chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl in the microwave. To avoid burning the chocolate, only put it in the microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until the chocolate is completely melted. Stir in sour cream and food coloring. Kraft added crushed mints to the filling. I left these out because I don't like crunchy things in my cake. To remove cakes from pans, dip the bottom of the pan in hot water for 10 to 20 seconds. Place one cake on a plate and spread the white chocolate mixture on top of it. Stack second layer on top.


In a bowl, fold the peppermint extract into the cool whip then frost the cake with the cool whip. Decorate the cake with the melted mints.


One for Eric, one for Christian.
Enjoy!

~Krissy

2011 Christmas Baking List: 
Starlight Mint Cake
Chocolate Truffles
Sea Salt Caramels
Rocky Road Chocolate Log
Candied Citrus Peels
Easy Rum Balls
Homemade Marshmallows
Christmas Kiss Cookies
Tea Cookies

Other Holiday Cooking Ideas:
Snowflake Tortillas
Gingerbread House Decoration Ideas
Christmas Peep S'mores