Christmas Week, Post 3

Today's perfect holiday gift shop is Yummy Dummy Chocolate Company in Davis, California.

Yummy Dummy is run by seven girls who love chocolate and love giving back to those in need. One-hundred percent of all Yummy Dummy profits are given back to charities including the World Wildlife Fund, the Nature Conservancy, and, my favorite, TB Friends. 

The gals at Yummy Dummy use dark chocolate and add fresh, local ingredients.

They sell their candy in 10-bar boxes--you can buy 10 of all the same bar or ask them to put together a special variety box.

Yummy Dummy bars would make a great stocking stuffer or a whole box would light up the eyes of any of your recipients.

I know what I'll be buying myself in the new year...

Eight-Ender Stout Cake

I've been sitting around the house today, trying to get ready for the holidays, when I realized that I was craving some chocolate cake. We had an open house for the curling club to attend, and we volunteered to bring a dessert, so I figured I could kill two birds with one stone. But what to make?

Then it hit me. Chocolate stout cake! What better way to represent the curling club than with beer? ;)

If you're not a beer person, stout is a rich, dark beer. It's got a lovely taste and texture. Try a stout float...you won't regret it.

Today I used a bottle of Bell's Kalamazoo Stout, which has flavors of coffee and chocolate--perfect for this cake. There are also a nice number of chocolate or oatmeal stouts that would suit this recipe nicely.

A bottle of beer is about a cup and a half. You'll need the entire bottle.

Pour the beer into a sauce pot along with some butter.

Butter makes life good.

Now brew yourself a cup of nice, dark coffee and pour half a cup's worth (that's a measuring cup, not your coffee cup) into the pot.

Unwrap two squares of unsweetened chocolate and toss them in too.

Let everything heat up; the butter and chocolate need to fully melt. Give your pot some good stirs throughout the melting process.

Once everything is melted, pull your pot off the stove and sprinkle in some cocoa. The darker, the better!

Now let your chocolate mixture cool and move onto the next step.

In a large mixing bowl, combine sour cream and some eggs. Beat them together really well, making sure to scrape the sides and the bottom of the bowl.

Now sloooowly pour your chocolate mixture in, a bit at a time. If you add it all at once, you may scald your eggs and sour cream.

Add the dry ingredients in two stages. Just halve the measurements and add them twice. Here's the first addition.

And here's the second. Be sure to get all the flour mixed in, but mix just until combined. Overmixing will make your cake tough.

Pour the batter into a greased cake pan.

If you're planning on making a layer cake, pour into two 8-inch rounds. You'll want to butter and flour your pans really well, to make sure they come out clean.

Yummy.

Bake in a 350F oven for 35-40 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.)












This makes a super rich, dense cake with just a slight scent of stout. I topped it with my Vanilla Bean Frosting, but if I'd had another bottle of stout I might have made a stout frosting instead. I saw other recipes for stout cake with peanut butter frosting--I don't know if that sounds good or not! What do you think?

Recipe: Eight-Ender Stout Cake

1 1/2 c. (1 bottle) stout beer
1/2 c. strong, dark coffee
2 c. butter
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate

1 c. cocoa powder

3/4 c. sour cream
2 eggs

2 c. flour
2 c. sugar
1 tbsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs


Preheat oven to 350F.

In a sauce pot, combine stout, coffee, butter, and unsweetened chocolate. Gently stir over medium heat until butter and chocolate are melted and mixture is simmering.

Pull chocolate mixture off heat and stir in cocoa powder. Cool slightly.

In a large mixing bowl, beat sour cream and eggs until well combined (be sure to scrape the beaters and the sides/bottom of the bowl.

When chocolate mixture has cooled, pour it slowly into the egg mixture while beating. Don't add too much at once or you may scald your eggs.

When chocolate and egg mixture are fully combined, add half the flour, sugar, soda, and salt. Beat lightly until combined.

Add the remaining dry ingredients and beat again until just combined.

Pour into a greased cake pan (or two 8-inch rounds--if you use rounds, butter and flour your pans.) Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted i the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Christmas Week, Post 2

Today's last-minute Christmas vendor is Racine Danish Kringles in Racine, Wisconsin. I have relatives who live in Racine, and whenever we have a family get-together, they bring a kringle or two.

What, you may be asking, is a kringle?

A kringle is a bit like a giant danish. It's made from a flaky dough, which is wrapped over a fruit, nut, or dessert-y filling and then frosted. It's usually shaped into an oval, but can also just be a straight "stick". Racine Danish Kringles sell 28 different flavors of kringle, including basics like pecan, cinnamon, and cherry, to more complex flavors like chocolate eclair, strawberry cheesecake, and key lime.

The best part about Racine Danish Kringles is that they ship all over the country, and offer several great gift packs, including a Kringle of the Month Club, Kringle and Coffee Gift Sets, a box of 10 kringles, Kringle Gift Boxes, and Kringle Sample Packs. So it's easy to send kringle to those you love. Their website is easy to use and their product is delicous. I would not say no to a Kringle of the Month membership!

Christmas Week, Post 1

As we wind down toward the holidays, on the days I don't post recipes (Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday), I'm going to take the time to suggest some fun and unusual Christmas gifts for those special people on your list.

Today's plug is for Jen's Wreaths in Deer River, MN. They make beautiful and affordable wreaths made from balsam fir. And shipping is free through the holidays! I bought one for my grandma and I can't wait for her to get it! Check out the links below to see all the products they offer.

Christmas Wreaths
Fresh Wreaths
Door Wreaths
Wreaths

Not only will you be buying a gorgeous (and renewable!) gift, you'll also be supporting a local, family-run business. With wreaths, swags, and centerpieces in a variety of colors, sizes, and prices, it's easy to find that perfect holiday gift.

Feel free to leave any holiday gift suggestions in the comments section!

Yeah French Toast!

For some reason, the idea of wet bread squicks me out, yet I love stuffing, bread pudding, and French toast. I can never say no to French toast. Maybe it's something about the way the custard soaks into the bread, or the spicy scent of cinnamon, or the fact that it's smothered in syrup.

For those of you who don't know, today's recipe is a play on the comedian Heywood Banks' song "Yeah Toast!" (Seen here.)

The batter begins with some flour.

Whisk in some milk. I wasn't able to whisk, pour, and take a picture all at once, so my batter ended up a bit lumpy. But it didn't affect the French toast at all. I suppose lumpy batter works fine for pancakes, so it must work for French toast as well.

Season your plain milk and flour with cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, salt, and sugar. Make it a custard by adding some eggs.

See? A little lumpy. But you don't want to overbeat the flour, and, like I said, the little lumps really didn't do much in terms of taste or texture.

Here's my French toast bread. I used a loaf of honey-wheat bread from Panera and had them slice it thick. I've also used cinnamon-raisin bread (omitting the extra sugar in the recipe) and Texas toast. An eggy bread, like challah, makes amazing French toast.

Is it weird, to use Texas toast to make French toast?

Soak your bread in the batter in the egg mixture. I like to soak one side, and then flip it over.

The bread will get a sort of spongy texture. Let the excess batter drain off.

Melt some butter on a griddle or frying pan over medium-high heat.

Let your French toast cook until it's golden brown on both sides.

If you're making a bunch of French toast at once, I like to keep a plate in the oven at around 200-250F, and slip any finished French toast (or bacon, or sausage, or whatever) onto it to keep warm while I make the rest.






Serve your French toast with delicious breakfast sides like bacon, sausage, eggs, or fresh fruit. I like to drizzle my French toast with real maple syrup.

Got a whole loaf of bread that needs to get used but only one or two people? You're in luck--this recipe freezes well. Place your cooked French toast flat in a Ziploc bag (once the pieces are fully frozen, you can stack them on top of each other.) Heat up in the microwave under a moist paper towel or gently on the stovetop or oven.

Recipe: Yeah French Toast!

1/4 c. flour
1 c. half and half or milk
3 eggs
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt

10 slices of thick-sliced bread

butter, for melting


Preheat stovetop pan or griddle to medium-high heat.

Pour flour into a medium-sized bowl. Whisk in milk, eggs, and spices.

Soak both sides of the bread in the egg mixture until moist; allow any excess batter to drain off.

Melt butter in pan or on griddle. Gently lay toast onto pan or griddle.

Flip when one side is golden brown and allow second side to cook as long.

Eat warm!

Flaky Biscuits

These biscuits will want to make you poke that tubby white doughboy out of your kitchen for good! Making biscuits is easy-peasy and you'll know every ingredient in them (what are those hard white bits in the refrigerated biscuit dough, anyway?) And they're even better the next day--stick a chunk of Pineapple and Brown Sugar Glazed Ham in between them, or smother them in gravy and serve them alongside some Homestyle Hash Browns. Or just go simple with some cold butter and jam.

Get out a big bowl and fill it with flour. You could use self-rising flour, or, if you're like me with a small kitchen that's already full, use a mixture of flour, baking powder, and salt. Add baking soda as well. Both the baking powder and baking soda will help your biscuits rise.

Whisk your dry ingredients together well. If you like to sift, you could certainly sift them instead. 


You just want to make sure you get all the lumps of baking powder out. Have you ever bitten into a lump of baking powder? That stuff will dry your mouth out, let me tell you.

Add both butter and shortening to your dry ingredients. The shortening will give you flaky biscuits, while the butter will give them a nice flavor.

Look! I found my pastry blender! No idea where it was, but I'm just glad to have it back. 

If you don't have a pastry blender (also called a pastry cutter or dough cutter), use forks, knives, or your fingers. The whole point is to cut the fats into little pieces and coat them with flour. The little pieces of fat will melt during baking, creating the flaky layers we all enjoy.

When your flour and butter are melded together, it's time to bind them with a liquid. I used plain milk, but you could use buttermilk if you had any on hand.

Gently stir the milk into the flour. You don't want to mix too much--that results in a tough biscuit. You just want the milk to moisten the flour.

Now turn your dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Gently fold the dough over onto itself about a half-dozen times--another effort to getting nice, flaky layers in your biscuit.

Gently pat the dough into a circle or oval, about 1 inch thick. Using a biscuit cutter (or a glass, or a cookie cutter, or a tin can with both ends removed), cut straight down into the dough.


Here's where you'll be tempted to twist the cutter. Fight temptation. Twisting the cutter while cutting your dough will keep your biscuits from rising to their full potential. Just cut straight down, and then pull the cutter straight up.

Now your biscuits go on a lightly greased cookie sheet. I like to place my biscuits so they're just barely touching. That way, when they bake, the touching parts stay soft and fluffy. If you like crisper biscuits, space them farther apart. 

I like to brush my biscuits with something before they go in the oven. Doing this keeps the biscuit tops a bit softer as well. You could use milk or buttermilk, half-and-half or cream, or melted butter. I used half-and-half, and then I sprinkled my biscuit tops with some salt.

Now they're all dressed up and ready to go!














 Hot out the oven biscuits go with any meal. I spread mine with butter and raspberry-blueberry jam from Guldan Family Farm, but they'd be perfect with the foods you like best. Turkey, ham, gravy, eggs, sausage, or butter and jam--whatever you choose, these biscuits will hold their own.

Recipe: Flaky Biscuits

2 c. self-rising flour (or 2 c. all-purpose flour, plus 4 tsp. baking powder and 1/2 tsp. salt)
1/4 tsp. baking soda
2 tbsp. butter, chilled
2 tbsp. shortening, chilled
1 c. milk


Preheat oven to 450F.

Whisk flour with baking soda (or flour, baking powder, and salt if not using self-rising flour) until well mixed, to avoid lumps.

Add butter and shortening; cut fat into flour until the pieces are small and pea-sized.

Add milk; gently stir until dough is moist.

Turn dough onto floured baking surface; gently knead dough half a dozen times. Gently shape into a 1-inch-thick round.

Use a floured biscuit cutter to cut shapes out of the dough (do not twist cutter!)

Place biscuits close together on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Brush with cream, half-and-half, or melted butter, and sprinkle with salt if desired.

Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown.

Ham and Lentil Soup

I said on an earlier post that I had a great recipe for ham and lentil soup, and here it is!

This is a fairly inexpensive and healthy meal that is also an easy way to use up extra ham (or other meats or sausages that you may like) and vegetables. I love to make it on a cold winter day. It's another soup that freezees and reheats well, and can be made in a crock pot or on the stove.

I like to make this soup extra chunky. Carrots, celery, onion, and garlic are the vegetable base, but squash, sweet potatoes, turnips, rutabagas, or other root vegetables would be good, too. I just happen to really like using carrots, celery, and onions.

I start them in a big pot with some olive oil.

Once your vegetables are softened, you can add in the lentils. I like to use French lentils; they have a nice flavor, and are quite pretty.

You could certainly use any kind of lentil (or bean) you prefer. Brown lentils are probably easier to find and take less time to cook.

Here are red, green, and brown lentils together. I have the red lentils on hand to make a coconut and red lentil soup. As you can see, the brown lentils are the largest.

After I've stirred the lentils around a few times, it's time for the ham. I'm using a hickory-smoked ham shank today, but usually I use the bone from my Pineapple and Brown Sugar Ham.

Now that the ham is in, the broth can come and play. I used two cans of vegetable broth and a can of chicken broth, but use whatever you like and have on hand. I've seen ham stock available in stores on rare occasions.

Pour in a can of tomatoes. I used petite diced.

The soup seasonings today are thyme, basil, oregano, and bay.

Don't forget to salt and pepper--but taste before you salt. There's salt in both the broths and the ham, and you don't want to oversalt things.







Now let the soup cook for an hour, at a nice rolling simmer (medium heat). After the hour is over, I like to take out the ham bone.

Remove as much meat as you can from the bone. This was a couple cups' worth.

If there isn't enough ham on the bone, or you want a little variety in your bowl, add some smoked sausage. This is chorizo, but any smoked sausage will add a nice flavor to the soup.

Add the meats (and the ham bone) back into the pot.















Once your meat is cooked through, your soup is ready to serve! Enjoy it with a chunk of Honey-Pepper Cornbread or maybe a nice slice of Beer Bread.

Recipe: Ham and Lentil Soup

3 large carrots, roughly chopped
2 stalks celery, roughly chopped
1/2 large onion, roughly chopped
olive oil, for sauteeing

1 scant cup French green lentils

1 large smoked ham shank or bone from bone-in ham

~40 oz. (approx. 3 cans) vegetable or chicken broth
1 can diced tomatoes
2 small bay leaves, or one large
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. basil
salt and pepper, to season

2 smoked sausages (optional)


Saute carrots, onions, and celery in a large soup pot with olive oil until softened.

Add lentils; stir to combine.

Add ham shank. Cover shank and vegetables with broth. Season with bay, oregano, thyme, basil, and salt and pepper. Simmer over medium heat for one hour.

Remove ham shank; carefully remove as much meat as you can (supplement with additional ham if there wasn't enough on the shank.)

Cut sausage into bite-sized pieces. Add ham shank, meat from ham, and sausage to the soup.

Once meat is heated through and lentils are fully cooked, soup is ready to serve.