I know you may be thinking “she’s crazy for stuffing those tiny little pods”, but they are always a hit a party.
When I started catering 20 years ago it seemed like everything idea I came up with involved a lot of time and handling of food. But, I have to say, those are usually the appetizers people go crazy for. Anyone can throw out a cheese tray or deli tray so I tend to like appetizers that people know you went to a little extra trouble making. I usually cringe when someone calls me and ask me if I do “trays”. What comes to mind when I think “trays” are piles of cheese or little hoagie sandwiches with those frilly little picks sticking out of the top.
I’ve stuffed black olives with pepperoni and then piped in a flavored cream cheese, I have stuffed rigatoni bites, and the Parmesan Bacon Wraps I make are to die for and they take a couple of hours almost in the oven.
This is a great little recipe I first tried about 10 years ago from “Come On In” cookbook. A few years ago I was catering a wedding and I had the menu all prepared for 75 guest. I had planned on doing these snow peas. Normally I would have done 150, which would have been 2 per person. Well, the guest list kept growing and growing and finally ended up at 225. So the night before the wedding I’m sitting (by myself) stuffing 450 snow peas. I think it took me about 4 hours just to do the peas. After that, I never put them on the menu for 50 or more people — they just takes way too long to do these for large parties.
So what to do with the fried turkey carcass? You make gumbo!
Well, it was raining today down here in South Texas which pretty much destroyed my plans to play in a golf tournament this morning. It was not only wet, it was cold too — almost 40 degrees so I really wasn’t too motivated to work in the yard or do anything that was particularly constructive.
Being trapped inside for a day led me to the refrigerator to chow down on some comfort food. As it turned out, I couldn’t find anything interesting but I did notice a frozen fried turkey carcass in the freezer. It was left over from Thanksgiving when we deep fried turkeys out in the backyard.
We have fried a ton of turkeys for ourselves and friends for many years. One of my sons and I get up early every Thanksgiving, crack open a bottle of cognac, pour some cotton seed oil in a pot, light up a fire and start frying turkeys. Lots of people use peanut oil for frying but we’re from SE Missouri cotton country and we use cottonseed oil (it burns cleaner and has a high flash point). Sometimes we have two pots going. I generally take a break and run the annual 5 mile turkey trot with our other son, daughter-in-law, daughter and anyone else who feels up to it, then it’s back to turkey frying. Sure helps build an appetite for the rest of the day.
Great little bread to have for breakfast. Freezes well for fast morning getaways.
We just came back from Missouri where we visited our families. While there we had about 6-9″ of snow and temperatures around 11° in the morning. I was sitting with my grandmother (she will be 97 in May) one day watching the snow come down by the bucket fulls and wishing I could click my ruby tennis shoes together like Dorothy and be back in Texas were it was at least in the 40’s. I didn’t have a warm coat or gloves and was desperate enough I bought some work gloves at the grocery for 99 cents.
This is a nice bread to have on hand for a cold morning . I have been making this sausage bread for years. It is great with a cup of tea, hot chocolate, coffee, coke or just about any beverage.
When my kids were all still at home, I use to have this bread in my freezer and they could eat it as a snack or for breakfast along with eggs. One of my sons, always had two eggs, almost every morning before school. He never ate the yolks. So, when he was finished with his breakfast, there staring up from the plate were these two big yellow “eyes”.
This bread is so easy to make. If you like cooking ahead, like me, cook up a bunch of breakfast sausage and freeze it in portions to make this bread and then this is a cinch to throw together. This recipe can also be made into muffins.
Add some fruit, eggs and you have a nourishing breakfast.
What more could you ask for, bread, sausage and a fried egg.
The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca.
Today I was sitting in a dentist chair waiting to have my teeth cleaned. Now, there isn’t a thing in the world I wouldn’t rather be doing at this moment. My least favorite thing to do in life is having my teeth cleaned. Don’t ask me why. I think, mostly, it is the polishing and that little grinder and that gritty stuff they put on your teeth. Years ago when my kids were in the dentist chair, I said to the dentist, “do you use the gritty stuff on them”, the dentist says, “oh, we don’t say gritty to the kids, we say CRUNCHY”.
Well, trying to take my mind off this “crunchy” treatment, I start thinking about the blog and what I could make. Crunchy keeps coming to mind and I know I’m making these Nanaimo (Nah-nye-Moh) bars for the challenge and I want to try and make homemade graham crackers for part of the recipe. So as I sit here, I imagine rolling out the dough, pricking holes in the individual cookies, baking and then pulverising them to make graham cracker crumbs. Ahh, that seems to do the trick because I can almost smell the cookies baking in the oven and before you know it, I’m out of this chair.
I have never heard of this dessert before. The recipe is a classic Canadian dessert recipe that originated in Nanaimo, British Columbia and since the winter olympics are going to be in Vancouver it seems a fitting dessert to try. After making it, I need to find someone to give them to to get them out of the house. This is a no-bake recipe so if you aren’t up to making the graham crackers from scratch, just buy some graham cracker crumbs from your grocery.
The graham crackers were actually fun to make. I think these homemade crackers would make great smores.
Nanaimo Bars
Bottom Layer 1/2 c. unsalted Butter
1/4 cup granulated Sugar
5 tablespoons unsweetened Cocoa
1 large egg, beaten
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup walnuts (finely chopped)
1 cup coconut
Middle Layer
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons instant vanilla pudding powder
2 1/2 c. powdered sugar
3 Tbsp. peanut butter
3 Tbsp. Nutella
Top Layer 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
For bottom Layer: Melt unsalted butter, sugar and cocoa in top of a double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, nuts and coconut. Press firmly into an ungreased 8 by 8 inch pan.
For Middle Layer: Cream butter, cream, peanut butter, pudding powder, and icing sugar together well. Beat until light in color. Add the Nutella and swirl a bit with a knife. Do not over mix. Spread over bottom layer.
For Top Layer: Melt chocolate and unsalted butter over low heat. Cool. Once cool, pour over middle layer and sprinkle with additional chopped walnuts. Chill until firm. If you have a hard time cutting these, try dipping a knife into very hot water and then cutting. The knife will slide right through the bars.
I think graham crackers are the most misunderstood cookie ever eaten.
This is such a simple little cracker/cookie that never has gotten enough attention. Kind of like Cinderalla. Add some buttons and bows and dress her up and she becomes a beautiful young lady. Well, you can do so many things with this plain little graham cracker. Over the years I have made so many different desserts using graham cracker crumbs. Everything from pies, tortes, smores, pineapple puff balls, and was probably one of the first cookie/crackers I let my kids eat when they were toddlers.
These graham crackers were part of a recipe for Nanaimo Dessert Bars and this recipe was adapted from Nancy Silverton’s La Brea Bakery book.
I first saw this recipe on Smitten Kitchen’s website and thought they would be fun to make and then when this Nanaimo Challenge came up from The Daring Kitchen, I decided it would be a good time to try the homemade graham crackers.
The graham cracker was developed back in 1829 by a Presbyterian minister Rev. Sylvester Graham as part of the Graham diet. Even though it is called a cracker it is more like a digestive biscuit (according to Wikipedia).
This is what the dough looks like when it is ready to go into the refrigerator to chill.
All rolled out. I used a fork to prick the tops.
Finished cookie. Next time I will put the cinnamon topping on them even though a traditional cracker does not have cinnamon in it.
Graham Crackers
2 1/2 c. plus 2 Tbsp. all purpose flour
1 c. dark brown sugar, lightly packed
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
7 Tbsp. butter, cut into 1″ cubes and frozen
1/3 c. mild flavored honey
5 Tbsp. milk, full-fat is best
2 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract
Topping (optional)
3 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade or in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Pulse or mix on low to incorporate. Add the butter and pulse on and off or mix on low until the mixture is the consistency of a coarse meal.
In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, milk and vanilla extract. Add to the flour mixture and pulse on and off a few times or mix on low until the dough barely comes together. It will be very soft and sticky. Lay out a large piece of plastic wrap and dust it lightly with flour, then turn the dough out onto it and pat it into a rectangle about 1″ thick. Wrap it, then chill it until firm, about 2 hours or overnight. Meanwhile, prepare the topping, if using, by combining the sugar and cinnamon a small bowl and setting aside.
Roll out the crackers: Divide the dough in half and return one half to the refrigerator. Sift an even layer of flour onto the work surface and roll the dough into a long rectangle about 1/8″ thick. The dough will be sticky, so flour as necessary. Trim the edges of the rectangle to 4″ wide. Working with the shorter side of the rectangle parallel to the work surface, cut the strip ever 4 1/2″ to make 4 crackers. I made mine about 1 1/2 – 2″ and used a fluted cutter for the edges.\
Place the crackers on one or two baking sheets lined with parchment or Silpat. Sprinkle with the topping. Chill until firm, about 30 to 45 minutes in the refrigerator or 15 to 20 minutes in the freezer. Repeat with the second batch of dough. Gather scraps together into a ball, chill until firm and re-roll.
Adjust the oven rack to the upper and lower positions and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
To decorate the cracker: Mark a vertical line down the middle (I didn’t do) of each cracker, being careful not to cut through the dough. Using a toothpick, skewer or fork, prick the dough to form two dotted rows about 1/2″ for each side of the dividing line.
Bake for 15 to 25 minutes, until browned and slightly firm to the touch, rotating the sheets halfway through to ensure even baking.
