Salt Crusted Potatoes with Rosemary

These potatoes are amazing: creamy, salty, and flavorful with the fresh rosemary.  Literally every time I serve them to guests they rave and can't stop talking about them!  We usually serve these on the side with pulled pork or zippy BBQ.

1 bag (4-5lbs) small boiling white potatoes (1 inch to 2.25 inch) or salt potatoes
1 T regular  salt
2 T olive oil
2 T minced fresh rosemary leaves (I've used 2-3 teaspoons dried instead if I'm don't have fresh)

1.  Preheat oven to 425.
2.  Place potatoes in a large bowl.  Toss to coat with olive oil, salt, and rosemary.
3.  Transfer to baking sheet, bake 25 minutes.
4.  Turn potatoes and continue baking about 20 more minutes or until they are fork tender.

Our Favorite Rolls

My friend Eva kindly adapted her normal roll recipe one to make it egg-free for us.  The quickly became our favorite and while Little Red has mostly outgrown her allergy but we still love them!

3 C warm water

1 T instant yeast

2/3 C potato flakes

1 tsp salt

2/3 C margarine or butter, melted

2/3 C sugar

7+ C flour (I usually do mostly white whole wheat with 1 T vital wheat gluten).

Put all the ingredients in a mixing bowl.   Knead a few minutes.  The dough will be a little sticky.  Let rise for about 2 hours (they can rise for up to 5 hours especially if you cut down the yeast a bit).  Punch down the dough and divide in half and then half again.  Roll them out however you want (balls, crescents, etc) and let rise 1-2 hours covered. Bake about 10-15 minutes at 375 degrees (Baking time varies depending on size of rolls).  Makes about 4-5 dozen rolls.

*Note: original recipe calls for 2 eggs and baking at 375 for 20-25 minutes.

Heath Bar Cake

Everyone LOVED this.  Both of my girls gave it 10 thumbs up.  A great delicious cake--good enough for company and simple enough to whip up as last minute family night treat.  I sized down this recipe for just our family.

Ingredients

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 cup flour

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, softened

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 egg white

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3  (1.4 ounces each) chocolate covered toffee bars (like Heath), chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and center a rack in the middle of the oven. Lightly grease a 8x8-inch pan and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar, white sugar, flour and butter. Crumble these ingredients together with a pastry blender, whisk or two forks until the mixture is crumbly and coarse.  With a cup measure set aside 1/4 cup of  the crumbly mixture.  In the bowl with the remaining crumbs, add the buttermilk, egg, vanilla, baking soda and salt. Mix well.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing it to the edges. Sprinkle the top of the cake with the reserved crumbs and chopped Heath bars. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the center is no longer gooey but a toothpick inserted comes out with moist crumbs. The cake may fall slightly in the center leaving the edges raised. No fear! It will still be delicious.  Serves 6.

Crock-pot Split Pea Soup

This recipe is from my friend Dakin.  I usually make it in the spring using leftover ham from Easter.  Curly LOVES this soup and she doesn't even like peas!

1 (16oz) package dried split peas, rinsed

2 cups diced ham

8 oz. carrrots, chopped

1/2 cup onion, chopped

2 ribs celery, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 bay leaf

1/4 c fresh parsley, chopped (or 1/2 T dried)

1 T salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

6-7 cups hot water

Layer ingredients in slow cooker in the order given.  Pour in water.  Do not stir.  Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours (or high 4-5 hours), until peas are very soft.  Stir and serve.

Broiled Tilapia Parmesan

Note: This is a mild fish dish perfect, for non-fish eaters.

INGREDIENTS 

·          1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

·          1/4 cup butter, softened (I usually reduce this to 2 T)

·          3 tablespoons mayonnaise (low-fat or fat-free works)

·          2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

·          1/4 teaspoon dried basil

·          1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

·          1/8 teaspoon onion powder

·          1/8 teaspoon celery salt (I omitted this because I didn’t have it on hand)

·          2 pounds tilapia fillets

Preheat your oven's broiler. Line a pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, mix together the Parmesan cheese, butter, mayonnaise and lemon juice. Season with dried basil, pepper, onion powder and celery salt. Mix well and set aside.

Arrange fillets in a single layer on the prepared pan. Broil a few inches from the heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the fillets over and broil for a couple more minutes. Remove the fillets from the oven and cover them with the Parmesan cheese mixture on the top side.

Broil for 2 more minutes or until the topping is browned and fish flakes easily with a fork. Watch closely and be careful not to over cook the fish.  Serves 8.  from allrecipes.com

Salted Caramel Brownies

These are some of the best brownies I've ever had!  And the salted caramel is amazing!  Taken from Smitten Kitchen.

Caramel

1/2 cup granulated sugar

4 tablespoons unsalted butter (or salted, but then ease up on the sea salt)

Heaped 1/4 teaspoon flaky sea salt (or 1/8 teaspoon table salt, more to taste)

3 tablespoons heavy cream

Brownie

3 ounces (85 grams) unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped

1 stick (4 ounces or 115 grams) unsalted butter, plus extra for pan

1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract

Heaped 1/4 teaspoon flaky sea salt or 1/8 teaspoon table salt

2/3 cup (85 grams) all-purpose flour

Make caramel: Set a square of parchment paper over a medium-sized plate. Lightly butter or coat the parchment with a spray oil, just as an added security measure.

In a medium, dry saucepan over medium-high heat, melt your sugar; this will take about 5 minutes, stirring if necessary to break up large chunks. By the time it is all melted, if should be a nice copper color; if not, cook until it is. Remove from heat and stir in butter. It may not incorporate entirely but do your best. Stir in cream and salt and return saucepan to the stove over medium-high heat, bringing it back to a simmer and melted again any sugar that solidified. Cook bubbling caramel for a few minutes more, until it is a shade darker.

Pour out onto parchment-covered plate and transfer plate to your freezer. Freeze until solidified, which can take anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes in a decent freezer to 40 minutes in my terrible one.

Meanwhile, or when your caramel is almost firm, make your brownies: Heat oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8-inch square baking pan with parchment, extending it up two sides. Butter the parchment or spray it with a nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium heatproof bowl over gently simmering water, melt chocolate and butter together until only a couple unmelted bits remain. Off the heat, stir until smooth and fully melted. You can also do this in the microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring between each. Whisk in sugar, then eggs, one at a time, then vanilla and salt. Stir in flour with a spoon or flexible spatula.

Assemble brownies: When caramel is firm, remove it from the freezer and chop it into rough 1-inch squares. Gently fold all but a small amount of caramel bits into batter. Scrape batter into prepared pan, spreading until mostly even. Scatter remaining caramel bits on top. Bake in heated oven for 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool thoroughly — a process that can be hastened in the freezer, which will also produce cleaner cuts — and cut into squares or other desired shapes.

Homemade Pretzels

I've been in search of a good homemade pretzel recipe for a long time.  Not just a bread-like recipe you shape in the form of a pretzel, but one that tastes more like the pretzel at the Auntie Anne's in the mall.  And I finally found one that satisfies in every way--quick to make, fun to bake, and tastes great!  Adapted from here. Enjoy!

pretzels
1 t dry yeast
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 1/8 tsp salt
1 C. bread flour*
3 C. regular flour*

1 1/2 C. warm water

baking soda wash

2 C. warm water
2 Tbsp baking soda

toppings

2 – 4 Tbsp butter (melted)

coarse salt or cinnamon sugar

Mix yeast, brown sugar, salt, and flour in a mixing bowl with a whisk.  Add 1 ½ cup warm water.  Knead dough with dough hook until smooth and elastic about 5 minutes.  Place dough in a greased bowl.   Cover with saran wrap.  Let rise about at least 30 minutes.

While dough is rising preheat oven to 450.  Then prepare a baking soda water bath in another large bowl with 2 cups hot water and 2 tbsp baking soda. Be certain to stir often.

After dough has risen, punch down and pinch off bits of dough and roll into a long rope (about 1/2 inch or less thick) and shape. We live making pretzel sticks for dipping or traditional pretzels shapes.  To make the pretzel shape roll into a long rope (24+ inches) pick up both ends of the dough and give it a little spin so the middle of the dough spins around once. Lay the dough down with the loop nearest to you. Fold the ends down toward you and pinch to attach them to the bottom of the loop. The twist should be in the middle.

Dip pretzel in soda solution and place on baking sheet lined with a slipat or parchment paper. Allow pretzels to rise again (optional). Bake in oven at 450 for about 8-10 minutes or until golden.

Brush generously with melted butter. Sprinkle with coarse salt or cinnamon sugar.  Enjoy!

*Note: I don't usually have bread flour on hand and I like to use whole wheat flour so I used the following: 1 cup white whole wheat flour, 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten, and 1 3/4 cup flour.

Dittmer Mix

This recipe is known by many other names.  But it will always be remembered as "Dittmer Mix" for my friend Anna who introduced it to me.  Beware it is very addicting for those who like sweet/salty combinations.  It's a fun treat to make with seasonally colored M&M's.  Slightly adapted from here and from the Dittmer family recipe.

3 ½  cups Cheerios toasted oat cereal

3 cups Rice Chex

3 cups Corn Chex

16 ounces M&M's plain chocolate candy

2 ½ cups salted mixed nuts or almonds (about 12 oz)

2-3 cups small pretzels (we like the square window-pane ones for this recipe)

1 ½ (11 ounce) packages white chocolate chips (Ghirardelli brand preferred)*

1-2 T shortening*

Directions

Dump the cereals, M&Ms, nuts & pretzels in a large bowl.

Melt the white chocolate and shortening in the microwave or in a double boiler. Melt very slowly, stirring occasionally, being careful not to burn the chocolate.  Stir.

Dump melted chocolate over the rest of the ingredients and fold over and over until you have well-coated hunks and chunks.

Spread the whole mess out on parchment paper and set in a cool place until it sets up, then break it into pieces.

Store in zip-top bags or air-tight containers.

*I used 1 package Ghiradelli chips plus about 1 cup of white melting wafers and 1 T shortening.  You can also use almond bark if you like.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

UPDATE:  We still love this recipe, but we love and use this one even more now.  A favorite pizza dough.  I love that it can be made in advance.  And it tastes great--not too thin, not too thick, crisp yet chewy.  From America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook.

2 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour
2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 envelope or 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
1  1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees)

1.  Pulse 2 cups of flour, 2 cups of whole-wheat flour, yeast, and salt in a food processor to combine.  With the processor running pour the oil then the water through the feed tube and process until a rough ball forms 30-40 seconds.

2.  Let the dough rest for 2 minutes, then process 30 seconds longer.  If the dough is sticky and clings to the blade add an additional 1/4 cup white flour 1 tablespoon at a time until no longer sticky.  Pulse to incorporate.

3.  Turn the dough onto a lightly floured counter and knead it into a smooth round ball.  Place the dough in a large lightly greased bowl and cover with greased plastic wrap.  Let rise in a warm place until nearly double in size 1-1 1/2 hours before using.

To Make Ahead (refrigerate):
Do not let the dough rise in step 3, but wrap tightly or cover in a greased bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 16 hours.  Let the dough sit for 30 minutes at room temperature before using.

To Make Ahead (freeze):
The dough can be frozen for up to 1 month; let the dough rise as directed in step 3, then wrap tightly in greased plastic wrap and freeze.  Let the frozen dough thaw on the counter 2-3 hours, or overnight in the fridge before using.

4.  To bake, preheat the oven and a pizza stone to 475 degrees for 30 minutes.  Cut dough in half.  Roll out dough (should make enough for two 14-inch pizzas).  Place dough on silpat mat or parchment paper on a rimless baking sheet.  Top with favorite toppings, slide onto pizza stone and bake 10-15 minutes.  Let stone reheat 5 minutes before baking second pizza.

Apple Dumplings

This is the real deal.  An amazing authentic apple dumpling baked to the perfect consistency—a nice soft, sweet apple on the inside enveloped in a crisp buttery crust.  I think we prefer these over the amazing apple dumplings.  I guess there’s special about the real deal.  We like to serve these dumplings warm with vanilla ice cream.  Serves 8.  From Cook's Country October/November 2009

INGREDIENTS

Dough

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

¾ teaspoon salt

10 tablespoons (1¼ sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled

5 tablespoons vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled

¾ cups cold buttermilk

Apple Dumplings

6 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

3 tablespoons golden raisins, chopped

4 Golden Delicious apples (see note*)

2 egg whites, lightly beaten**

INSTRUCTIONS

Make Dough

Process flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in food processor until combined. Scatter butter and shortening over flour mixture and pulse until mixture resembles wet sand. Transfer to bowl. Stir in buttermilk until dough forms. Turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead briefly until dough is cohesive. Press dough into 8- by 4-inch rectangle. Cut in half, wrap each half tightly in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

Prep Apples

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Combine sugar and cinnamon in small bowl. In second bowl, combine butter, raisins, and 3 tablespoons cinnamon sugar mixture. Peel apples and halve through equator.  Using a melon baller or a metal teaspoon scoop out core and seeds carefully so as to not pierce bottom half of the apple.  Then pack butter mixture into each apple half.

Assemble Dumplings

On lightly floured surface, roll each dough half into 12-inch square. Cut each 12-inch square into four 6-inch squares. Working one at a time, lightly brush edges of dough square with egg white and place apple, cut-side up, in center of each square. Fold the corners of the dough diagonally to the center.  Overlap and crimp edges to seal.  Using paring knife, cut vent hole in top of each dumpling.

Finish Apples

Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange dumplings on prepared baking sheet, brush tops with egg white, and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon sugar. Bake until dough is golden brown and juices are bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on baking sheet 10 minutes. Serve with ice-cream.

*Note: the apple you use is important!  Some softer apples such as a McIntosh run mushy, others are too crunchy when the pastry is done.  Suggested apples include other sweet, moderately firm apples like Golden Delicious, Braeburns, or Galas.

**Note: due to egg allergies I omit the egg whites completely and thought they were still fabulous...perhaps not the same nice sheen but still just as tasty.

Easy Pumpkin Spice Granola

Baldy said this granola is unlike anything he's ever had--it's amazing!  I love the idea of adding a little quinoa to the oats to up the protein too.  Adapted slightly from skinnytaste.com.  I usually triple the recipe and it fits nicely on two large baking sheets in my oven.  I just rotate which one is on top and which one is on bottom when I stir the granola.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed well and pat dry with paper towel

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

1/4 cup ground flaxseeds

1/4 cup pepitas (or other seed)

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup real maple syrup

1/4 cup pumpkin puree

1 tsp canola oil or melted coconut oil

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp nutmeg

dash of ginger

pinch kosher salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325° F.  Spread oats and quinoa out on a parchment lined baking pan. Toast in the oven 10 minutes, stirring once.

Remove the oats from the oven, pour the toasted oats into a large bowl and add the ground flaxseeds, pepitas, and pecans.  Mix.

In a medium bowl, combine maple syrup, pumpkin puree, oil, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and vanilla.

Pour over oat mixture and stir together with a spatula. Spread back onto a baking sheet and bake an additional 45-60 minutes, stirring every 15-20 minutes or until golden.  Add dried cranberries after it has cooled a bit.  One batch makes 3 2/3 cups.

Raisin Bran Muffins

A pet peeve of mine is the end of the cereal bag where the cereal is all crushed.  Raisin Bran is one of the worst.  So to help it not go to waste, I keep the extra crushed cereal in a ziploc bag to use when I want to make these muffins.  My girls actually like these best without raisins.  Sometimes I put in some dried craisins with the bran cereal instead.

muffins:
1 cup non-fat milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 cups Raisin Bran cereal
1 cup all-purpose flour (or half whole wheat flour)
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon

optional topping: 
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 T butter or margarine, melted

Preheat oven to 400F*.  Grease or line 12 muffin cups.  Combine milk, oil and egg in a bowl.  Stir in cereal and let stand 10-15 minutes.  Stir to break up cereal.   Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and cinnamon in seperate bowl.  Add to cereal mixture, stirring until just moistened.  Divide evenly among muffin pan.  Bake for 10 minutes for mini muffins,  20* minutes for regular muffins or until toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool on a cooling rack for a couple of minutes.  Then remove from pan.  If desired make topping (we usually skip this part and still love them).  Combine cinnamon and sugar.  Brush muffins with butter and sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top.  Best served warm.  Makes 12 muffins or 2 dozen mini muffins.

*Note for my dark non-stick pans I heat the oven to 375-385 and bake for 9-10 minutes for mini muffins, 16-18 minutes for standard muffins.

Fast Broccoli Cheese Soup

You can do it from start to finish in minutes and it tastes like you made it from scratch.  Good enough for company and doubles for a large crowd.  Serve with homemade bread or in a bread bowl.  From Katie Christensen (who got it from Emily Reese).

2 cans (10.25oz) of cream of chicken soup
3 T grated onion
2 T butter or margarine
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
3 cups milk
1 package fresh or frozen broccoli florets, steamed until very tender

In a large stockpot saute the onion in the butter.  Over low heat, add a can of soup to the pot and stir.  Add cheese and stir until thoroughly melted.  Add milk and whisk until smooth.  Add the broccoli and stir.  Simmer until bubbly.

Notes:
CROCKPOT VERSION: After sauteeing the onion in skillet you can put all the ingredients in a crock-pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until bubbly (at least 1 hour).
VARIATION: You can use a package of mixed broccoli and caulifower or even double the broccoli to make it more hearty.