Be Cordial.

Man, those cordial cherries are so darn good, aren't they?  My dad loves them and, through him, I learned to appreciate them myself.

I recently learned that the liquid middle doesn't start out that way at all!  It starts out solid and, over time, the solid breaks down and becomes the liquid center.  The longer it sits, the more clear the liquid.  Who knew?

Naturally, I decided to start looking for recipes that spoke to me.  As usual, they all speak to me!  In true form, I took my favorite components from a few recipes an did my own thing.

I guess the problem is I don't know how well they liquefy because I just did them.  I hope, in a couple of weeks, I have chocolate cherries with gooey middles.  If not, I'm not too worried about it because these just happen to be delicious just the way they are.

2 lbs Powdered Sugar (plus extra for dusting)

1 stick Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature

3 tbls. Light Corn Syrup

1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk

¼ tsp. Almond Extract

¼ tsp. Vanilla Extract

¼ tsp. Salt

60 - 75 Maraschino Cherries w/ Stems, gently drained

2 lbs. Dark or Milk Chocolate Candy Melts (or Tempered Chocolate)

Cream butter, corn syrup, sweetened condensed milk, extracts and salt until smooth.  With mixer off, add half of powdered sugar (1 lb), mix on low until smooth.  Add remaining powdered sugar until a sticky dough forms. 

Wrap dough with plastic wrap and place in fridge for  at least 1 hour. 

Get all your ducks in a row when you're ready to wrap cherries in this stuff, which tastes delicious, by the way.  I wanted there to be some juice to my cherries, so I didn't drain them for any amount of time.  I just threw them onto a paper towel lined tray to get any excess.

Foil lined tray, cherries, chilled dough, 1-oz scoop & extra powdered sugar

Having your hands dusted with powdered sugar and a little on the surface makes this so easy.  Take about 1-oz of the dough and flatten it out. I found that a slight oval worked best.

Place a cherry in the upper half of the oval and wrap the bottom up, pinching to seal.  Once you've sealed the cherry, just squish or roll it into a ball.  

Nestled all snug in its bed.

Like a sweet dumpling!

After you're finished, toss the tray into the fridge for an hour or so.  You could probably even do this a day ahead if you wanted to split up the job, but you will want to cover them.  The amount of cherries that you end up with depends on the size of your cherries and how much dough you use.  You'll end up with 60 - 75 cherries.




When you're ready to dip, the stems will come in very handy!  Melt your favorite candy coating or temper some chocolate.

I use Merckens because it tastes delicious and is easy to use.

Melt your chocolate as you normally would or according to package directions.  I happen to use one of these and I love it.  I don't work with chocolate a lot, but I also use it as a fondue pot.

Try to keep your chocolate in a narrow and deep container rather than a wide and shallow one.  This will allow for easy dipping.  Just dunk it right in!  The cherries are cool, so allow the excess chocolate to run off.  It will slow naturally and then place it on a new tray.  Don't scrape the bottom.  There can't be holes or your juice will run out!

Chill them for a while and then leave them covered in a cool, dry place.  The magic liquid centers should appear in a week or so.  If not, just eat them anyway!

Meet Your Maker.

I was never a fan of "homemade" ice cream when growing up.  We used the old fashioned ice cream makers with ice and salt, even the earliest hand crank version.  Don't get me wrong, I ate it and I have some good memories surrounding the few occasions that warranted the work. 

It was just too icy and soupy for me.  Then there was that strong fake vanilla extract flavor.  Blech.

We love ice cream and the best ones are upwards of $5 a pint these days.  Enter the Cuisinart Mix It In Ice Cream Maker!  You can use it for soft serve, add toppings and even for hard scoops!

I won't deny, my first attempt at ice cream wasn't great.  It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great.  I learned a lot!  For example, when you return the custard to the stove - the cooking happens quickly!  I also changed up my recipe a little bit.

Basic Vanilla Ice Cream

1-1/4 c.  Half and Half

3/4 c. Heavy Cream

6 Egg Yolks

3/4 c. Sugar

1/2 tsp. Salt

2 tsp. Vanilla Bean Paste

Over medium heat, warm Half and Half and Cream until scalded (just before boiling point).  While the cream is heating, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until pale yellow and smooth.  Stir in salt. 

A small amount at a time, add the scalded milk to the yolk mixture, continuously whisking (or use your stand mixer on low) so that no lumps form.  If you are nervous about this step, start small.  Once about half of the cream mixture has been worked into the eggs, pour the yolk mixture into the saucepan with the remaining cream.  Add the vanilla and salt.  Continue to cook until it has thickened slightly and coats the back of the wooden spoon. 

Secret Weapon: King Arthur Flour's Vanilla Bean Paste

Remove the pan from the heat and pour into a container to cool.  Once cool enough, cover and place in fridge overnight.  

When you're ready, pour the cream base into your machine and follow directions.

Easy and delish!

There are no pictures of the finished product, well, because we ate it!

Philip's Weekend Bagels

When you live in a region with a particular type of food, it's easy to take it for granted!

I remember when I moved to NY from Indiana.  One day at work, I turned to a co-worker and said,  "Where can I get a good tenderloin sandwich?"  The blank stare on her face made me realize that I was living in a land without my beloved breaded pork tenderloin sandwich!  

We are now back in Indiana and there are tenderloins available on every corner.  I've probably only had 3 or 4 in the two years we've been back, but just knowing they are there is what matters!

It didn't take long before the local bagel shops weren't cutting it for us.  They weren't like the chewy bagels we had grown to love.  They were more like rolls with a hole in them and seeds on top!  

Thus began my foray into creating the perfect bagel recipe.  We had some stumbles along the way, but now I'm able to turn these babies out with my eyes closed.  If you fail the first few times, don't give up.  Chances are you won't end up with inedible product, but you will get a feel for the dough and that's the hardest part.

Here's a horribly filmed and produced video of the process!

Philip’s Weekend Bagels

This recipe calls for specific flours available through King Arthur, but you could make it with 3 cups of your favorite bread flour.  The results will not be a true chewy bagel, but it will still be delicious!

Dough:

2 cups King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour

1 cup Sir Lancelot High Gluten Flour

1 ½ teaspoons Salt

2 tablespoons White Sugar

2 tablespoons Non-Diastatic Malt Powder (Optional, but highly recommended.  It’s the secret!)

2 ¼ teaspoons Instant Yeast (If you use Active Dry yeast, proof it in water with the sugar)

1 to 1-¼ cups Warm Water

Topping Options:

Minced Onion, Caraway Seeds, Poppy Seeds, Sesame Seeds or Coarse Salt.  I use the Everything Topping from KA Flour!

Egg Wash:

1 Egg White

1 tablespoon Cool Water

Boil:

Large pot of water

2 tablespoons Non-Diastatic Malt Powder (or 2 each of Brown Sugar and Baking Soda)

Combine flours, salt, sugar, Non-Diastatic Malt Powder and yeast into mixer with dough hook attachment (or stir together in large bowl).  Add 1 cup of warm water until dough comes together, it will be smooth and not sticky.  If the dough isn’t coming together, add a little more warm water until it does.  Using the dough hook or by hand, knead for 5 – 7 minutes. 

Let rise in bowl, loosely covered with cling film, for one hour.  The dough will swell and smooth out, but it will not double.  Divide the dough into equal pieces for 6 large bagels or up to 10 small bagels.  (I weigh my dough and then portion it, by weight, into 8 pieces.)  Roll each portion into a ball and flatten slightly.  Rest for 30 minutes. 

Place dough in fridge for up to 24 hours. *

When you’re ready to bake, remove from fridge and rest for 30 minutes.

Poke a hole into each dough ball and twirl on your finger to create a 1 ½- to 2-inch hole.  Place on parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and rest for 1 hour. 

Preheat oven to 375˚.  Combine egg white and water in small bowl, set aside.

While dough is resting, bring a large pot of water to a steady, low boil.  Stir in 2 tablespoons Non-Diastatic Malt Powder (or Brown Sugar or Baking Soda).  Drop bagels into water and boil for 30 seconds on each side.  Drain on a clean towel and return to lined baking sheet.   When all bagels are boiled, brush lightly with egg wash and then sprinkle on your desired topping. 

Bake for 12 minutes, rotate pan and bake for another 10 – 15 minutes or until bagels are golden.             

* It is not necessary to retard the dough in the fridge, but it allows the flavor to develop and it makes a delicious bagel.  It also helps if you want hot bagels early in the morning because there’s less work to do!  If you want to bake your bagels right away, just go ahead and make your holes and continue on to your 1 hour of resting before boiling. 

Variations:

Cinnamon Raisin:  Use brown sugar instead of white sugar, add up to 1 tablespoon good cinnamon and ½ cup raisins, which have been soaked and well drained.   (What?  Rum soaked, you say?  Maybe!)

Jalapeno Cheddar:  Add a minced Jalapeno and ½ cup of shredded Cheddar. 

Chocolate Chip:  Use brown sugar instead of white sugar, add ½ cup mini chocolate chips.  

Peanut Butter Pretzel Chip Cookies

I am on a cookie craze!  Today, I came up with these little numbers.


I know that Chocolate Chip Cookies are the most favored cookie in all the land, but they have never been one of my favorites.  I think I've finally realized that I either like a very basic cookie - sugar or shortbread, or a crazy cookie full of things like candy and pretzels!  

Peanut Butter Pretzel Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter or margarine, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large egg

1 (12 ounce) package milk chocolate chips
1 cup thin pretzels, broken into small piece

1 cup Reese’s Pieces

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl.  In large mixer, beat butter and both sugars until creamy.  Add peanut butter and vanilla extract .  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chips, pretzels and candies. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 6 minutes and switch pans on racks.  Back for 5 – 6 more minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Crispy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

I've had a real hankerin' to bake cookies recently.  Not so much a hankerin' to eat them, but the desire to bake is strong in this one.  Unfortunately, after they are finished, the desire to inhale them is not far behind.

Lots of "new" cookie recipes are running around out there.  You know, not just chocolate chip or peanut butter or snickerdoodles.  Of course, I'm not talking about those quinoa raisin nut types either!  I'm just not there yet, folks.  

My main problem with recipe searching is that I never find quite what I want.  My stuffed peppers and bagels will attest to this.  Most creations never make it to paper, though.  Some shouldn't.  This time, though, I had a winner.

Crispy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

Make sure you have this stuff:

2 sticks Unsalted Butter Softened

1/2 cup White Sugar

1-1/2 cup Brown Sugar, Packed

1 cup Peanut Butter (I used creamy.  Chunky would work.)

2 whole Large Eggs

1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract

1-1/2 cup All-purpose Flour

1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

2 teaspoons Salt

1-1/2 cup Regular Oats

1-1/4 cup M & M's

1-1/4 cup Chocolate Chips

3 cups Rice Krispies

Then do this with it:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter with sugars until smooth, add peanut butter and mix until combined.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and beat.

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and kosher salt.  Alternate adding flour mixture and oats into the creamed butter until combined, but not over-mixed.  Add candies and chocolate chips using “stir” cycle or by hand.  Finally, stir in Rice Krispies at the very end, mixing until just combined.  Do not over mix!

Use a large spoon or cookie scoop to scoop dough onto a cookie sheet.   Bake 11 – 13 minutes until golden.  Take to work the next day.

Shout out to Pioneer Woman's Monster Cookies, Gaby Dalkin's Dad's Kitchen Sink Cookies and Paula Deen's Monster Cookies for inspiration.