Posts filed under ‘Snacks’
Recipe of the Week – Homemade Granola
(From the Misc Collection at emealsforyou.com)
Granola
It has been a few days of cooking. Beginning with homemade pizza on Friday and then Sweet Cabbage on Saturday and Grilled Clams Casino, Steak au Poivre and the granola on Sunday. All recipes worked as planned; all wonderful. There was one miss on Saturday; we attempted to make homemade Ricotta from a recipe found in a magazine a few months ago. We followed the recipe right down to the cheesecloth strainer but to our surprise the milk never formed a curd. I guess we will give it another try in the near future.
Back to the granola. Usually you make something like this and it is okay but not worthy of the effort; as it is pretty much the same as the store bought stuff. Not with this recipe. We were surprised by the crunchy, delicious, not too sweet results. This is definitely a keeper. The only problem turned out to be that you have to put it away as soon as it cools or it seems to disappear from the cookie sheet each time you pass it on the counter. I suggest a double batch. You can freeze it; that’s if you hide it fast enough.
Granola
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 12 |
| Category: | Misc |
| Meal: | other (General) |
| 3 | cups | oats, old-fashioned rolled |
| 1 | cup | fruit, dried |
| 1 | Tb | vanilla |
| 1 | Tb | cinnamon. ground |
| 0.5 | tsp | salt, kosher |
| 0.33 | cup | sugar, brown |
| 1 | cup | maple syrup |
| 1 | cup | almonds, slivered |
| 1 | spritz | PAM |
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Spray cookie sheet with PAM. Spread granola mixture evenly on cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, stir and bake an additional 20 minutes. Allow to cool then store in an airtight container.
All the recipes mentioned above, with the exception of the Ricotta, can be found at emealsforyou.com.
The Message Said – Bring Cookies
(From the Dessert Collection at emealsforyou.com)
Teresa's Oatmeal Cookies
Just before I left for my very brief trip to NJ a couple of weeks ago I got a message from my brother-in-law to bring some “finger food” desserts for a family gathering. I don’t know about you but I would prefer larger desserts as they take less time and effort to make. Biting the bullet I decided on some very good brownies, chocolate macaroon jam tarts, some individual fruit tarts and at the last minute some of these cookies.
They are called Teresa’s Oatmeal Cookies, named for a friend and fellow cook, who gave me the recipe. These are without a doubt the best oatmeal cookies you will ever try. Very easy to make and the best part is they travel well; unlike my individual tarts that arrived in NJ looking more like individual tartlets. Make these, stand back and watch them disappear.
Teresa’s Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
| Complexity: | Medium |
| Serves: | 8 |
| Category: | Dessert |
| Meal: | Dad’s in charge???? (Share-a-Meal Plans) |
| 3 | large | egg |
| 1 | cup | raisins |
| 1 | tsp | vanilla |
| 16 | Tb | butter, salted |
| 1 | cup | sugar, brown |
| 1 | cup | sugar, granulated |
| 2.5 | cup | flour, all-purpose |
| 1 | tsp | salt, table |
| 1 | tsp | cinnamon. ground |
| 2 | tsp | baking soda |
| 2 | cup | oats, old-fashioned rolled |
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine beaten eggs, raisins, and vanilla and cover with plastic wrap. Let stand for one hour. Cream together room temperature butter and both sugars. Add flour, salt, cinnamon, and soda to sugar mixture and mix well. Blend in egg-raisin mixture and oatmeal. Dough will be stiff. Drop a heaping tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned.
Delicious: Soaking of the raisins is the secret!
More of Teresa’s and my recipes at emealsforyou.com.
Recipe of the Week – Microwave Peanut Brittle
(From the Misc Collection at emealsforyou.com)
Peanut Brittle
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about Hazelnut Toffee and homemade Holiday gifts. I went a little overboard this year and made about 6 different candies to package in special tins to distribute to our neighbors and friends. I gave you the recipe for the toffee but neglected to provide the easy recipe for this Microwave Peanut Brittle. Weather you make the toffee or the brittle or any one of the other great and easy recipes found on our website, emealsforyou.com, the important thing is to begin a family tradition that harkens back to when homemade treats provided a sense of community.
Think beyond the typical fudge recipes. This recipe takes less than 15 minutes to make and the gift recipients will remember it long after the tin is empty.
Microwave Peanut Brittle
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 12 |
| Category: | Misc |
| Meal: | other (General) |
| 0.5 | cup | corn syrup, light |
| 1 | cup | sugar, granulated |
| 1 | cup | nuts, roasted and salted |
| 1 | Tb | butter, salted |
| 1 | tsp | vanilla |
CAUTION: This recipe is very hot and extreme caution should be used to avoid burns!
Combine the corn syrup and sugar in a 1 ½ quart microwave proof baking dish. Stir until blended. Microwave 4 minutes. Stir in the nuts, Microwave for 4 minutes until light brown. Stir in butter and vanilla. Microwave 2 minutes. Quickly pour onto a lightly greased baking sheet. Allow to cool and break into pieces and store in an air-tight container.
Makes about 1 pound.
Get the gift idea recipes at emealsforyou.com
Recipe of the Week – Date and Nut Bread
From the Breads Collection at emealsforyou.com
Date & Nut Bread
Driving to NJ this week to pick up my mother-in-law and bring here back to Cincy for a visit. As I plan the meals I decided that one of the breakfasts would be a variety of breads and muffins; served on the deck in the morning sunshine. There is something relaxing about idling over a second cup of strong coffee and enjoying sweet breads adorned with a bit of butter or some creamy cream cheese.
The good news is I can make these ahead and simply pop them into a plastic baggie and then into the freezer to be rapidly thawed and served almost warm later in the week. I bake them in 4 inch springform pans so that I can take just the right amount out of the freezer and keep the rest for a later time. I think I will make some banana muffins, blue berry muffins and maybe a few palmiers just for grins.
Date & Nut Bread
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 10 |
| Category: | Breads |
| Meal: | other (General) |
| 1 | cup | Dates, dried, chopped |
| 1 | cup | walnuts, chopped |
| 0.33 | cup | karo syrup, dark |
| 1.5 | tsp | baking soda |
| 0.5 | tsp | salt, kosher |
| 3 | Tb | butter, unsalted |
| 0.75 | cup | water |
| 2 | large | egg |
| 0.75 | cup | sugar, granulated |
| 0.5 | cup | flour, whole wheat |
| 1 | cup | flour, all-purpose |
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease a 81/2 X 41/2 X 3 inch loaf pan.
Put dates, walnuts, baking soda, salt, karo syrup and butter in a bowl. Heat water to the boil and pour on top of date mixture. Let stand for 15 minutes.
Beat eggs and sugar together in a large bowl. Add the flours and stir. Add in the date mixture and stir until well blended. Pour batter into the loaf pan and bake 40 -50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Slide a knife around pan and invert over a serving plate. May be frozen.
Find the recipes for the muffins, the palmiers and more at emealsforyou.com.
Recipe of the Week – Philly Soft Prezels
(From the Bread Category at www.emealsforyou.com)
Philly Soft Pretzels
Growing up just outside of Philadelphia we often took trips into the city for shopping and sightseeing as kids. One of the highlights of the Philly excursion was to buy a hot, soft pretzel from the street vendors. These were always freshly bakes, still warm, soft, salty and delicious. A squirt of yellow mustard and you were all set for that late afternoon snack .
Pretzels continued to be a big part of the Philly culture but became a commodity and began to be baked in mass quantities; substituting ingredients that allowed them to be kept longer ( supposedly fresher) but took both the special texture and taste out of them. They became the cardboard offering that we now get everywhere you look. I have been searching for that old-fashioned recipe that brings back the flavor and textured I remember. Making Capt. Jim’s Tomato Focaccio the other day I realized that the dough was exactly what I was looking for. Moist and tasty, with a hint of sweetness, these brought back all the memories of those trips to Philly.
I have to say that actually twisting the pretzels reminded me a Lucy and Ethel skit, but once I got the hang of it, it was easy. If you are looking for something special for a party or movie night give these a try; you will never go back to those frozen, cardboard things in the grocery freezer again.
Philly Soft Pretzels
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 8 |
| Category: | Breads |
| Meal: | N/A |
| 1 | package | yeast, dried |
| 4.5 | cup | flour, all-purpose |
| 1.25 | tsp | salt, kosher |
| 1 | cup | water |
| 1 | cup | milk, 2 % |
| 2 | Tb | oil, olive |
| 0.5 | cup | baking soda |
| 8 | qt | water |
| 0.25 | cup | egg wash |
| 1 | Tb | salt, kosher |
Heat 1 cup of water and milk in microwave for 2 minutes, until warm but not hot. Place in a mixing bowl and add yeast. Let stand for 3 minutes then add the flour, salt and olive oil. Mix until a ball forms. Place dough in an oiled large bowl and cover, allow to rise until doubled in size. Cut dough into 16 even strips. Roll each piece into a long rope. Holding one end in each hand twist the dough to form a figure 8 and place on a sheet of parchment paper. Heat water and baking soda to a boil. Carefully drop a few pretzels at a time into the boiling water, Allow to cook for about a minute and remove to parchment paper on cookie sheets. Repeat with remaining pretzels. Brush egg wash (water and egg) on each pretzel and sprinkle kosher salt on top. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Bake pretzels for 12 -18 minutes until brown. Serve warm with mustard or cheese dip.
Recent Comments