Biscotti - Chocolate Dipping

I love to chocolate dip things and biscotti would be one of my favorites to do. The best technique I have found is to use Candy Melts by Wilton. They have an incredible high temp level for melting...meaning they will stay melted even at high temperatures instead of turning chalky like chocolate chips. You don't have to mix anything into them to get the right consistency, they stay melted for a longggggggggg period of time without re-heating allowing you to work slowly if you need to, and they have a GREAT taste. They are a rich, yet smooth tasting chocolate. I buy mine at Walmart in the craft section...at my store they are by the wedding cake and candy making stuff. They come in several colors with coordinating flavors.

As you can see in this picture, these candy melts have been in my pantry awhile or were exposed to cold weather while in route to the store and yet they still melt beautifully! (in the picture I used a mix of dark chocolate and milk chocolate).

You can melt the candy melts in your microwave a little at a time and stirring regularly. OR for biscotti, I like to melt them over the burner on low heat in a wide skillet so that I can dip the whole biscotti in flat sides down. As soon as it's melted take the chocolate off the heat and it will stay melted.

Then start dipping. Like I said above, I like to dip the cut sides down so that you get some chocolate with every dip and bite. But you could certainly dip just the ends or drizzle chocolate across the tops.

Lay them chocolate side down on wax paper. This will give your chocolate sides a nice flat/pressed look.

Once they've cooled completely, peel them off of the wax paper and store them in a sealed container or ziplock bag.

If you want to add a step to the process, after dipping them in chocolate, dip them in a plate of your favorite chopped nuts or candy.

Biscotti - Lemon Pecan

These are really good for tea.

1 box of plain lemon cake mix
1 stick of butter, melted
2 large eggs
1 cup flour
1/2 c chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Mix together all the above ingredients till blended. It should form a dough ball. With floured hands, shape the dough into a rectangle about 14 inches long by 4 inches wide on the cookie sheet. Place in the oven and bake till center comes out clean with a toothpick or cake tester and when lightly pressed on top it feels firm (about 30-35 min.).

Remove cookie sheet from oven and let cool about 10 min. Leave oven on. Cutting on the baking sheet, use a serrated bread knife to slice the rectangle into 1 inch thick slices. You should get about 14 slices. Carefully turn these slices onto their sides, using the slicing knife to arrange them on the same baking sheet. Return the baking sheet to the oven.

Bake for 10 more minutes. Turn the oven off and let the biscotti remain in the oven until they are crisp (about 30-40 min). Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let cool completely.

Easy Biscotti - Butter Pecan

The easiest way to make biscotti is with a cake mix. Here is the basic recipe to use any cake mix. Be creative with your flavors...I've even thought about trying a red velvet cake mix for Christmas biscotti. Maybe dip it in white chocolate and crushed peppermint pieces. You can use a chocolate mix and add in crushed Heath Bar, peanut butter chips, butterscotch chips, or a tbsp of instant coffee, etc....be creative with your flavors.


Ingredients
1 box of cake mix (in the pictures I used Butter Pecan)
1 stick of butter, melted
2 large eggs
1 cup flour



Preheat oven to 350 degrees.



Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.



Mix together all the above ingredients till blended. It should form a dough ball. With floured hands, shape the dough into a rectangle about 14 inches long by 4 inches wide on the cookie sheet. Place in the oven and bake till center comes out clean with a toothpick or cake tester and when lightly pressed on top it feels firm (about 30-35 min.). The top will also have little cracks in it.



Remove cookie sheet from oven and let cool about 10 min. Leave oven on. Cutting on the baking sheet, use a serrated bread knife to slice the rectangle into 1 inch thick slices. You should get about 14 slices. Carefully turn these slices onto their sides, using the slicing knife to arrange them on the same baking sheet. Return the baking sheet to the oven.Bake for 10 more minutes. Turn the oven off and let the biscotti remain in the oven until they are crisp (about 30-40 min). Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let cool completely.

Instructions for dipping them coming tomorrow.

Biscotti Series

Merry Christmas and WELCOME to my biscotti recipe series! There are so many varieties and flavors of this famous Italian cookie that the possibilities are almost endless! I've even found a biscotti cookie club (as in "biscotti of the month" club) for those who adore the cookie. Here's the link. Also on their website you can get ideas for just about every flavor you can think of...I believe they are listed on the right.

So, this week I'm bringing you some of my own recipes for this dipping cookie...but first some education about the whole thing:

In Italy if a cookie is twice baked then it's a biscotto (singular) or biscotti (plural). Biscotti are hard enough to be dipped into coffee, cocoa, tea, milk, or sweet wine and not crumble. But they should never be so hard to crack a tooth. Homemade biscotti will keep at room temperature in a sealed container for 2-3 weeks.

Chicken Parmesan

This is a GREAT family meal. This recipe was inspired by my friend, Katey (yes, I'm trying to get her to start her own recipe blog) who has brought this meal to our family during times of need and she got it from the Family Fun Magazine. I love the Family Fun Magazine so I looked up the recipe. I of course can't leave any recipe the way it is, so I've simplified it (I love easy!). This is a major meal pleaser for my husband and kids.

INGREDIENTS:
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup Italian bread crumbs
2 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 cup flour (white or wheat)
2 to 4 tablespoons olive oil for frying
1 jar pasta sauce
Sliced mozzarella cheese

Grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Prep three separate bowls or rimmed plates with the following:

one with the flour

one with the eggs and milk beaten together

one with the Italian bread crumbs

Pound the chicken breasts until thin (on a cutting board, cover chicken breast with a piece of cling wrap and pound with a mallet or rolling pin).

Arrange the breading ingredients in assembly-line fashion in this order: flour, egg mixture, crumb mixture. Working one piece at a time, dredge both sides of the cutlet in the flour, knocking off the excess. Dip both sides of the floured cutlet in the egg mixture. Coat both sides of the cutlet with the bread crumbs.

Set a large skillet over medium-high heat and pour in enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Heat the oil for 2 to 3 minutes, then add the cutlets. (If your pan isn't large enough to cook 4 chicken breasts at once, cook them in batches rather than overcrowd the pan.) Fry each side for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes, turning once, until the chicken is browned. Remove the cutlets from the heat.

Pour 2 cups of pasta sauce into a 9x13 pan. Add the chicken cutlets. Pour about 2 tbsp of pasta sauce over the chicken. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Lay slices of mozzarella on top of the chicken pieces, then cover the pan with aluminum foil. Bake until the sauce is bubbly, chicken is cooked through, and the cheese is melted, about 20 minutes. I like to serve it over whole wheat blend pasta.

Note: Cooking them the rest of the way in the oven helps keep them moist. I use chicken breast from Costco which are quite large so after pounding them, I cut them in half pieces. 3 breast will give me a full pan of chicken as seen in the picture.

Easy Stir Fry

I don't know if you've seen these in the store but they make stir fry so simple! Our Super Walmart carries them in the freezer section. They are stir fry kits and they come in a couple of different flavors. They are by Birds Eye. This is a yummy lunch or simple dinner.

I steam some brown rice (very healthy for you)
add some butter to the rice

In a skillet, add half a bag of frozen stir fry with a little olive oil.

Saute the veggies until the moister is gone. Add one of the little sauce packets (included in the bag of stir fry) and mix.

If you don't like their sauces you can also add your own. My kids like to eat this with no sauce, just butter on it and a little salt.

Serve the stir fry over the rice.

You can always add seasoned chicken or beef to this dish instead of having it vegetarian style.

Oatmeal from Scratch

I've been asked before how to make homemade oatmeal.

You want to buy Old Fashioned Oats for making oatmeal from scratch. The Old Fashioned Oats have not been ground and processed down like the quick oats and instant oatmeal have. The instant and quick oats aren't as healthy for you as the old fashioned oats which are the whole grain of the oat.


Measure your water according to the package. Bring to a boil, add your oats according to package measurements. Cook on medium heat stirring often until they are done. It takes only a few minutes longer than instant oatmeal so it's not that much harder. Serve with lots of different things of your choice for flavor:

brown sugar
honey
butter
maple syrup
berries
raisins
milk



Oatmeal keeps well in the fridge and reheats well if you have leftovers. Leftover oatmeal makes a quick and easy breakfast.

Baked Oatmeal

This recipe is from Jessica. She got it from Crystal Paine's website.


1 cup oil (can substitute butter or applesauce)
1 ½ cups sugar (can reduce)
4 eggs
6 cups oats
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 cups milk


Combine all ingredients in order listed. Pour into greased 9x13-inch pan. Bake at 375° for 30-40 minutes until lightly browned. Can refrigerate overnight before baking. Serve topped with butter, brown sugar, and milk.
Yields: Approximately 12 servings

Crockpot Oatmeal

If you like creamy oatmeal then this post is for you! This makes waking up in the morning to breakfast that's ready and waiting for you a cinch. Just measure your water and oats, set out bowls and toppings and then go to bed.


Ingredients:
4-6 cups water (I like the 4 cups because I like mine not so watery so try it till you get the consistency that you like best)
2 cups old fashioned oats


Directions:
Cook overnight in crockpot for 8-10 hours on low. Oatmeal will come out very creamy.


Set out bowls the night before for in the morning. You can also set out toppings for those early risers in your family....such as brown sugar, dried fruit, raisins, honey, etc....

Thanks Katey for this recipe!

Scrambled Eggs

Okay, I know you are thinking "I KNOW HOW to make scrambled eggs!" But I just wanted to share some tips I learned from watching America's Test Kitchen. Where I live, it's on PBS on Saturday mornings.

Fluffy Eggs - We've probably all been told to put milk in our eggs to make them fluffy. True, they will indeed be fluffier but they will also be weepy....the watery part after you've served them that runs out underneath the eggs. Ya, that's the weepy part. It's caused by a few things:

1. the milk. The fat in the milk causes the proteins in the eggs to bind, hence separating the protein from the moisture which causes the water to come out of them. They suggested using half and half instead. Not as much fat so you get fluffy without watery.

2. adding veggies. We love to add veggies to our eggs but we usually add them last. Mistake. Saute your veggies first to cook out the moisture from them. Especially tomatoes and in that cause you'll want to use just the outer part of the tomatoes. Saute your veggies then add your egg mixture. Even mushrooms will put off a lot of steam as you saute them because they are releasing a lot of their moisture.

To get big fluffy eggs, use a large spatula. You want to stir continually turning them with a large spatula giving you large curds. I recommend the high temp rubber spatulas...they are soft and work great for scrambled eggs.

Another tip for fluffy eggs is to use the right sized pan. You want about a 6" pan for six eggs. 8" pan for 8 eggs, 12" pan for 12 eggs and so forth. Sometimes people make the mistake of cooking too few eggs in a large pan which makes the egg cook faster, usually over cooking it before they've had a chance to turn them properly.

The pictures are eggs with chopped mushrooms, green onion, scallions, and chopped cilantro.

A word about:

green onions and scallions - I never knew the difference until recently. The scallion is the small white bulb part of a green onion. Cut off the white bulb part and you have a scallion. The top green long parts are the green onion.

mushrooms - don't rinse them. They'll become spongy. Just wipe them with a damp cloth.

cilantro - YES, you can eat the stems. I hear this debated all the time. If you want to serve the stems instead of picking every leaf off one by one, just be sure to chop the stems finely so that you aren't serving a large piece of stick to anyone! =0)

Recipe Request - Pizza Sauce

I'm looking for a good pizza sauce recipe or brand. I've always just used spaghetti sauce but now that I've perfected my doughs and my cheese, I'm ready to perfect my sauce. I've always loved the chunky tomato light colored sauce of Numero Uno Pizza for those of you that have had that and know what I'm thinking of.... SO, click on the comments and send me your recommendations. I don't care if it comes out of a jar....all the easier! =0) If it's fabulous, I want to know about it! THANKS ahead of time!

Featured Product - Creamed Honey

Have you ever tried creamed honey? I didn't even know about it until a year or two ago. My kids love it as do I! It's a wonderful spread for just about any breakfast bread or snack. The one in the picture is from Trader Joe's but I've bought it at other grocery stores as well. It's so creamy and melts on toast. Yummy!

Frito Taco Salad

This is a kind of taco salad. I grew up having this and our family calls it Beef Ole. My kids call it Frito Salad. It's easy and yummy. This is a great meal for camping because it's easy and you can prep it ahead of time.

Cook ground beef or turkey in a skillet and add taco seasoning.

Serve over Frito chips.

Top with your choice of the following:

grated Mexican cheese

lettuce

tomatoes

olives

cilantro

avocado

green onion

Last goes the dressing (whatever you like on top):

sour cream

ranch

salsa

guacamole

For a vegetarian version...substitute beans for the meat and cook the beans in the taco seasoning to give them the taco flavoring.

Favorite Things- Removable Adhesive Hooks

I love these hooks. I use them in my pantry and actually all over the house. Even in the garage, on my front door to hang a wreath, for decorations at Christmas, in our closets, as hat hooks, and they are also great for RVs. They come in a variety of shapes, sizes, designs. They even make fancy brushed nickle ones. You just peel the red side and stick it to the hook. Peel the black side and stick it to the wall. When you want to remove them, detach the hook and stretch the tab out till the whole thing pops off the wall. I've used these on just about every service you can think of it and it won't ruin anything....no paint comes off, no wall paper, nothing! I even used these in a building we rented for a party that had Tuscany painted walls and no damage at all. They are strong enough to hold a whole wedding dress up. These are great little gadgets and I highly recommend them.

Green Bean French Fries

My mom got us hooked on this tasty healthy snack. It's her version of healthy french fries and we love them now too. We make these some times in the afternoon for snack.

Spray a cookie sheet with olive oil. Spread frozen green beans on the pan. Roast them under the broiler till cooked and a little crispy. Spray again with olive oil (or toss in a bag with olive oil) and sprinkle with salt.

That's our version but my mom steams them in a skillet with a little water in the bottom covered just until they are tender but still crisp and not mushy. It's a different texture and we like them that way too. So, you might want to try both ways to see which you like best.

We always use the petite green beans.
No, we don't dip them in ketchup. We eat them plain.

Wassail

On another blog there has been discussion about what Wassal is? Is it the tradition of putting up your tree and decorating it or is it a beverage? I don't have a clue, but I do have a Wassail recipe and it's very yummy. Makes the whole house smell yummy. Spelled differently.
(no, the picture is not mine)

3/4 c sugar
3 c water
10-12 whole cloves
3 large cinnamon sticks (broken)

Boil for 10 min. covered. Turn off heat and let sit overnight.

When you are ready to serve:
add- 2 cups orange juice
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 gal. cider or apple juice

Bring to a boil. Turn off heat. Strain and serve.

Keeps for 2 weeks in fridge.

Costco Finds

Here are some old Costco finds but I still love them. =0)

Romaine Hearts (usually around $3 a package)

2 9in quiche (one is broccoli and one is mushroom)

Chicken Barbacoa (spell?)

Sesame Ginger Dressing (haven't seen that there in awhile)

Whole Wheat Tortellini and Ravioli

Artichoke Parmesan Dip

Carnitas

Crockpot Chicken Enchilada Verde

I've been making Chicken Enchilada Verde the old fashioned way for several years and recently converted it to a crock pot version. The original recipe (or more like "method") I learned from a few different people. The first time I had them melt in my mouth was the time a Mexican family friend made them. I was determined to duplicate what she had done. I also figured that since I married someone of Mexican descent, I should know how to make at least one decent Mexican dish. So, between our friend's recipe, some Mexican cooking shows, and some tips from my mom, this is what I've come up with. It's one of my most asked for recipes.

We throw around the term "authentic" a lot as Americans so I won't go so far to say they are authentic, but I can say that they are more Mexican than many of the recipes that have been bestowed on me by well meaning Americans. I bravely served them once to my sister's new husband (he is from Mexico and they live there now) and he was kind enough to tell me they were good. I figure he's too nice to tell me otherwise. =0)

Oh, and no, I don't consider these healthy. =0)

Ingredients

1 whole chicken (or 3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts)

1 package white tortillas (6-8 inch size)

6-8 cups grated Monterey Jack Cheese (Jack works the best but in the pictures I had some colby and monterey jack on hand)

1 can green chili enchilada sauce (found in the Hispanic cooking section of most stores)

Seasoning (garlic, dried onion, salt, pepper, chili powder)

Cook your chicken over night in the crock pot on low. Sprinkle it with seasoning when you put it in. In the morning, let the chicken cool. By noon, shred it or chop it and begin layering the remaining ingredients. I cut my tortillas into long strips and then into squares. I begin with pouring a little sauce in the bottom of the crock to begin. Then tortilla, then chicken, then cheese, then more sauce (go easy on the sauce, just a drizzle each time. If you do too much sauce, they'll be soupy and you won't like it. You want it to mainly be tortilla, chicken, and cheese).

(in the pictures, I'm using left over chicken that was not seasoned when it was cooked. So, I seasoned each layer of chicken as I went. Sorry, I don't measure, just sprinkle it.)

Once you get to the rim, finish it off by topping it with more cheese.

Cook on low till dinner time. The reason I use the dried onion flakes is because sometimes it's not long enough to cook chopped onion through.

If you want to make a pan of these instead of in the crock pot. Pour some of the sauce into a skillet big enough to hold your tortillas. Put a tortilla into the sauce to warm it. This will make it pliable so that you can roll it without it tearing. Flip it once so that it's coated in the sauce then transfer it to a non-stick sprayed glass 9x13 pan. Laying the tortilla in the pan, fill it with the meat, cheese, seasons and roll it. Push it to the end of the pan and lay your next tortilla in the pan and repeat. By the time you get to the end and the pan is getting full, you lay the last tortilla over top all the rolled ones, fill it, roll it and tuck it into the last spot on the end. Top with cheese and a drizzle of sauce. Bake for about 20-30 min. @ 350.

Brownies

So, I've looked for a long time for a good homemade brownie recipe. I've tried a lot of different ones from people but they are always dry and crumbly, oh ya, and thin....I like them hooey gooey, and THICK! So, this friend of mine made us these incredible brownies and I asked her for her recipe. She said, "sure, I'll give you the recipe." She came over one day and went out to her car to get the recipe and when she came back in, she handed me a box mix. A box mix? This can't be! It was a Betty Crocker mix with frosting. I told her, "I don't remember there being frosting on them." Then she told me her secret. She takes them out of the oven and while they are still hot, she puts the frosting on (even though you're supposed to wait till they are cooled). That way, the frosting melts into the brownies.

So, when I went to the store to pick up a few more boxes, I noticed that they also come in "triple chocolate" and not just frosted. What I did was mix one box of each recipe together! They came out awesome! The triple chocolate ones have chunks of chocolate in them so you get the best of both worlds. I did just like she said and put the frosting on while they were still nice and warm. I got the best thick, gooey brownies. I was so happy. AND it was SO easy!