Sesame Nut Brittle

With christmas right around the corner, this is the perfect item to add to a last minute candy plate. It's an easy recipe with a wonderfully crunch, nutty texture. It holds up well through shipping as long as you keep it tightly sealed. Best of all, if you know a person with nut allergies, this mixed sesame seed brittle has the same great taste and texture, but without all the terrible allergic reactions and death.

Nut Brittle

Ingredients

• 1 cup nuts or sesame seeds (preferably sesame seeds and almonds, a combination)
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup corn syrup
• ½ cup water
• 1 tsp baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Ingredients

1. Cook sugar, water and syrup until it reaches soft crack stage and is a golden amber color (about 260 degrees)
2. Add sesame seeds and almonds. Stir until coated.
3. Add butter, soda and vanilla at the very end. Stir thoroughly and pour out onto parchment paper or silpat mat.
4. Let cool completely before breaking into chunks

With christmas right around the corner, this is the perfect item to add to a last minute candy plate. It's an easy recipe with a wonderfully crunch, nutty texture. It holds up well through shipping as long as you keep it tightly sealed. Best of all, if you know a person with nut allergies, this mixed sesame seed brittle has the same great taste and texture, but without all the terrible allergic reactions and death.

Nut Brittle

Ingredients

• 1 cup nuts or sesame seeds (preferably sesame seeds and almonds, a combination)
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup corn syrup
• ½ cup water
• 1 tsp baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Ingredients

1. Cook sugar, water and syrup until it reaches soft crack stage and is a golden amber color (about 260 degrees)
2. Add sesame seeds and almonds. Stir until coated.
3. Add butter, soda and vanilla at the very end. Stir thoroughly and pour out onto parchment paper or silpat mat.
4. Let cool completely before breaking into chunks

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Bacon Walnut Stuffing: Great for Christmas or Thanksgiving

I realize this is a little late for Thanksgiving (the holiday when I made this dish) but it's a great stuffing that will be fantastic for Christmas as well. It's salty, nutty, crunchy and tart at the same time from a combination of apples, bacon and nuts. Instead of buying those packages of stuffing bread, it was cheaper to go to the Mexican market and purchase a loaf of cheap bread that I knew would go stale in a day anyway.

Bacon Walnut Stuffing

Ingredients

• 1 lb bacon
• 1 loaf stale french bread
• 1 large onion
• 2 large carrots, cut into thin circles
• 3 ribs celery
• 1 spring fresh sage
• 1 spring fresh thyme
• 2 large cooking apples, peeled and chopped
• 2 hand fulls of walnuts
• 1 can chicken stock
• 1 cup chopped oyster or shiitake mushrooms

Directions

1. Fry bacon to render the fat. Slice bread and allow to sit out and become stale or toast in oven until it hardens. Set bacon aside to try and drain off fat
2. Fry diced celery, onion, carrot and mushrooms in a little bacon fat with the aromatics until tender. I saved most of the bacon fat for basting my turkey, but you can use as much asyou want for frying the vegetables. Add to bread with walnuts, apples and chopped bacon
3. Pour chicken stock over stuffing as needed to soften slightly (but not too much)
4. Pour into baking dish and bake in oven at 350 for 20 minutes or until heated all the way through

This post has been submitted to Yeastspotting

I realize this is a little late for Thanksgiving (the holiday when I made this dish) but it's a great stuffing that will be fantastic for Christmas as well. It's salty, nutty, crunchy and tart at the same time from a combination of apples, bacon and nuts. Instead of buying those packages of stuffing bread, it was cheaper to go to the Mexican market and purchase a loaf of cheap bread that I knew would go stale in a day anyway.

Bacon Walnut Stuffing

Ingredients

• 1 lb bacon
• 1 loaf stale french bread
• 1 large onion
• 2 large carrots, cut into thin circles
• 3 ribs celery
• 1 spring fresh sage
• 1 spring fresh thyme
• 2 large cooking apples, peeled and chopped
• 2 hand fulls of walnuts
• 1 can chicken stock
• 1 cup chopped oyster or shiitake mushrooms

Directions

1. Fry bacon to render the fat. Slice bread and allow to sit out and become stale or toast in oven until it hardens. Set bacon aside to try and drain off fat
2. Fry diced celery, onion, carrot and mushrooms in a little bacon fat with the aromatics until tender. I saved most of the bacon fat for basting my turkey, but you can use as much asyou want for frying the vegetables. Add to bread with walnuts, apples and chopped bacon
3. Pour chicken stock over stuffing as needed to soften slightly (but not too much)
4. Pour into baking dish and bake in oven at 350 for 20 minutes or until heated all the way through

This post has been submitted to Yeastspotting

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Sand Dollar Almond Cookies

I remember seeing these cookies on a blog this summer and wanting to make them. They seemed so appropriate for the season, especially to bring to a picnic at the beach.

Now that it's no longer summer, and now that I don't live very close to the ocean, anymore, I felt it was appropriate to make them again and bring back a little feeling of summer.

Sand Dollar Cookies

Ingredients

• ½ cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs (1 whole, one separated)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 generous pinch of salt
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• 1 ¾ cup flour
• Cinnamon sugar
• sliced almonds

Directions

1. Cream together butter and sugar
2. Add 1 whole egg and one egg yolk, vanilla, salt, flour and baking powder until incorporated
3. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Then preheat oven to 350 degrees
4. Roll out cookie dough to ¼ inch thick and cut out 2 inch circles in the cookies. Place on parchment paper and brush with egg white.
5. Immediately sprinkle sugar on cookies and press almonds in the center in a star shape
6. Bake 4 minutes. Press almonds in again and continue to bake 8 more minutes. Let cool completely before serving.

I remember seeing these cookies on a blog this summer and wanting to make them. They seemed so appropriate for the season, especially to bring to a picnic at the beach.

Now that it's no longer summer, and now that I don't live very close to the ocean, anymore, I felt it was appropriate to make them again and bring back a little feeling of summer.

Sand Dollar Cookies

Ingredients

• ½ cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs (1 whole, one separated)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 generous pinch of salt
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• 1 ¾ cup flour
• Cinnamon sugar
• sliced almonds

Directions

1. Cream together butter and sugar
2. Add 1 whole egg and one egg yolk, vanilla, salt, flour and baking powder until incorporated
3. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Then preheat oven to 350 degrees
4. Roll out cookie dough to ¼ inch thick and cut out 2 inch circles in the cookies. Place on parchment paper and brush with egg white.
5. Immediately sprinkle sugar on cookies and press almonds in the center in a star shape
6. Bake 4 minutes. Press almonds in again and continue to bake 8 more minutes. Let cool completely before serving.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Peanut Butter Nutella braided bread

You know what my favorite guilty pleasure, 3am, stoned in college snack was? It was peanut butter, banana and nutella sandwiches.

Making this recipe brought both very amazing flavors. It was rich and delicious. I promise it didn't last very long...

This post is submitted to yeastspotting.

Peanut Butter Nutella Swirl Bread
Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1 pack active dry yeast
• ½ cup warm milk
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 Tbsp nutella
• 2 Tbsp creamy peanut butter

Directions

1. Proof yeast in the warm milk, melted butter, sugar and vanilla.
2. Mix liquids with with flour and knead until pliable, springy and smooth. Let rise 45 minutes
3. Mix nutella and peanut butter. Spread on parchment paper in 10x4 rectangle and freeze for 45 minutes
4. Roll dough out into a 12x16 rectangle. Place frozen chocolate in center and fold dough over in thirds, pinching at the edges.
5. Fold dough in thirds again in the other direction. You should now have a square
6. Gently roll square into a rectangle, folding once more in thirds. Be gentle so filling does not ooze out the sides. You should now have a skinny rectangle. Repeat as many times as desired for more stripes.
7. From this point, roll dough so it is still skinny, but about 12-16 inches long. Cut into thirds
8. Braid dough and let rest another 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
9. Bake 30 minutes until brown on top.

You know what my favorite guilty pleasure, 3am, stoned in college snack was? It was peanut butter, banana and nutella sandwiches.

Making this recipe brought both very amazing flavors. It was rich and delicious. I promise it didn't last very long...

This post is submitted to yeastspotting.

Peanut Butter Nutella Swirl Bread
Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1 pack active dry yeast
• ½ cup warm milk
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 Tbsp nutella
• 2 Tbsp creamy peanut butter

Directions

1. Proof yeast in the warm milk, melted butter, sugar and vanilla.
2. Mix liquids with with flour and knead until pliable, springy and smooth. Let rise 45 minutes
3. Mix nutella and peanut butter. Spread on parchment paper in 10x4 rectangle and freeze for 45 minutes
4. Roll dough out into a 12x16 rectangle. Place frozen chocolate in center and fold dough over in thirds, pinching at the edges.
5. Fold dough in thirds again in the other direction. You should now have a square
6. Gently roll square into a rectangle, folding once more in thirds. Be gentle so filling does not ooze out the sides. You should now have a skinny rectangle. Repeat as many times as desired for more stripes.
7. From this point, roll dough so it is still skinny, but about 12-16 inches long. Cut into thirds
8. Braid dough and let rest another 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
9. Bake 30 minutes until brown on top.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Almond Rochers

I used to keep a blog, which has since fallen into the infinite abyss of internet obscurity. I began to favor pen and paper as my medium of choice for recording my thoughts, observations, and interactions. I wanted something tangible I could bring with me and observe on the spot, or something that I could keep completely private.

For a time I tried doing a food blog, but I was not in a place where I cooked regularly enough to keep it up, nor in a place where I really used recipes (I still don't, most of the time).

But recently I started to catalogue my favorite recipes (ones I had adapted, and ones I had taken from my favorite books or blogs) and began to photograph those creations to keep track of my progress and how I had learned. One of those that I chose was the recipe for Almond Rochers from the Tartine Bakery book when I discovered that I would soon be moving across the country, and would no longer have access to this amazing bakery within 30 minutes of my house

Almond Rochers (from Tartine Bakery in San Francisco)

Ingredients

• 1 cup and 2 tbsp sliced almonds
• 2 large egg whites (at room temp)
• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch of salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Break almonds into 1/4 inch pieces or smaller, depending on whether you will be spooning or piping them. Toast in oven until golden brown and let cool
3. Combine egg whites, confectioners sugar and salt in stainless steel bowl over a double boiler. Whisk ingredients together over simmering water until egg whites are hot to the touch (about 5 minutes)
4. Remove egg whites from heat and beat on high speed until egg whites are glossy and hold very stiff peaks (note: it is important to use an electric mixer. I tried doing this by hand and it's like trying to whip glue)
5. Fold in almonds and vanilla with a rubber spatula, being sure not to lose volume
6. Pipe 1 inch meringue kisses onto parchment lined baking sheet, or drop by the tablespoon
7. Bake cookies for 15 minutes with oven door slightly ajar. They will puff at the sides and feel dry but soft to the touch. Cool completely before serving.

I used to keep a blog, which has since fallen into the infinite abyss of internet obscurity. I began to favor pen and paper as my medium of choice for recording my thoughts, observations, and interactions. I wanted something tangible I could bring with me and observe on the spot, or something that I could keep completely private.

For a time I tried doing a food blog, but I was not in a place where I cooked regularly enough to keep it up, nor in a place where I really used recipes (I still don't, most of the time).

But recently I started to catalogue my favorite recipes (ones I had adapted, and ones I had taken from my favorite books or blogs) and began to photograph those creations to keep track of my progress and how I had learned. One of those that I chose was the recipe for Almond Rochers from the Tartine Bakery book when I discovered that I would soon be moving across the country, and would no longer have access to this amazing bakery within 30 minutes of my house

Almond Rochers (from Tartine Bakery in San Francisco)

Ingredients

• 1 cup and 2 tbsp sliced almonds
• 2 large egg whites (at room temp)
• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch of salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Break almonds into 1/4 inch pieces or smaller, depending on whether you will be spooning or piping them. Toast in oven until golden brown and let cool
3. Combine egg whites, confectioners sugar and salt in stainless steel bowl over a double boiler. Whisk ingredients together over simmering water until egg whites are hot to the touch (about 5 minutes)
4. Remove egg whites from heat and beat on high speed until egg whites are glossy and hold very stiff peaks (note: it is important to use an electric mixer. I tried doing this by hand and it's like trying to whip glue)
5. Fold in almonds and vanilla with a rubber spatula, being sure not to lose volume
6. Pipe 1 inch meringue kisses onto parchment lined baking sheet, or drop by the tablespoon
7. Bake cookies for 15 minutes with oven door slightly ajar. They will puff at the sides and feel dry but soft to the touch. Cool completely before serving.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad