Sweet! Another post!

I didn't want to make my earlier post too long.  I think I have a penchant for going on too long when it comes to talking about food.  I hope no one minds but since I haven't heard any compaints as of yet, I will stop worrying!  Another item I made for treats for yesterday was the brownies.  Yummy, chocolately goodness!  To go with my theme of pink for "Cook for the Cure", I opted to make the brownies with pink icing in lieu of the usual chocolate overload icing.  No worries faithful readers.  I will post both icing recipes today!

For the brownies:

Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Butter a 9inch square baking pan.  Line with parchment.  (The parchment helps for easy removal to cut the brownies later.)

In a pot (or in a bowl in the microwave) melt:

• 1/2 cup butter and stir until smooth with;
• 1/4 cup of your very best cocoa powder

Put this mixture aside to cool slightly

In a bowl beat:

• 2 eggs until frothy

Add to the bowl, but do not mix yet:

• 1 cup of sugar
• 2/4 cup flour
• a pinch of salt

 Sometimes I like to add one of the following to the batter to mix things up a bit:

• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup nuts
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp cayenne (or to taste, depends on how hot you like it)
• mini marshmallows and crumbled graham crackers.....This leads me to the ultimate brownie treat...read on until the end of this post for the ultimate brownie treat!

Pour the butter/cocoa mixture into the bowl and mix until all the ingredients are well combined.
Pour the batter, scraping out the bowl into the prepared pan.
Shake the pan or use a knife to even the batter out in the pan.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.  A toothpick should come out clean and the edges will start to pull away from the edges of the pan.

Chocolately brownie icing:
Beat together:

• 1 1/3 cups icing sugar
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 3 tbsp softened butter
• 1 to 3 tbsp hot water

Beat the ingredients together until smooth.  Adjust the water as needed to make the icing a nice spreadable consistency.
Pour the icing over the HOT brownies right when they come out of the oven.  The icing will melt and then set up to a nice firm consistency that cuts nicely!

If you want a coloured icing, replace the cocoa with 1/3 cup of more icicng sugar and add the colouring of your choice.  Mix and proceed as per instructions

Ultimate S'more brownies

• Line your prepared pan with whole graham crackers, breaking them into pieces if needed to fit the bottom of the entire pan.
• Pour the batter over the graham crackers
• Bake the brownies as per usual
• Top the baked brownies with halved large marshmallows (or whole miniatures) and a chopped up milk chocolate bar.
• Place under the broiler until the marshmallows are golden brown
• This tasty treat cuts best when it is completely cooled...you know what they say, the waiting is the hardest part!

Good Food for a Great Cause!

Many apologies for the lack of postings this week.  I have actually been busy baking and running around like a lunatic.  Hubby was away with work, meetings or baseball practice every night and I was on treat duty at work...Treat duty you ask?  Each week at work, someone is assigned to keep the place neat, run the dishwasher, and toe bring in treats for Friday.  As there is no school today, treat day was yesterday.  It is no lie that I like to bake but if I am going to bake for people at work, I will do it for a great cause.  I registered my treat day as a 'Cook for the cure' party.  Cook for the cure is a great program to raise funds for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.  Basically you ask people to make donations to the CBCF while you provide the treats.

The array of goodies on cook for the cure treat day!

This is the second time I have used my treat day to raise funds and both times have been fairly well received.  CBCF are great supporters when you register online to host a party.  They will send you items to use as prizes, giveaways, donation cards with envelopes, and pink ribbons for people to pin on their shirts. 

What type of yummy treats did I make?  Well I am glad you asked.  I did make the pumpkin spice cupcakes from one of my earlier posts, brownies with pink icing, Star Wars cookies, and caramel popcorn.  I also put out some salty treats such as multi grain tortilla chips with salsa, pretzels, and a few veggies...just to sastify everyone!
One of the top things people enjoyed seemed to be the caramel corn.  This is such a tasty treat that I don't  make as often as I should.  It is suprisingly easy to make.  I will have to make some more so I can take pictures.

To make caramel popcorn:

• Pre heat oven to 300 degrees F. 
• Butter a rimmed baking sheet or roasting pan.
• Measure out 10 cups of hot air popped corn into a large bowl.  (I like to measure the popcorn directly into my butered roasting pan.)

In a pot on medium heat mix:

• 1/2 cup butter (butter makes the flavour here, I do not reccomend using margarine)
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup of water
• 1/4 tsp salt

• Bring this mixture to a boil (keep an eye on it! It will start to get foamy and will rise up in the pot.  If this happens, pull the pot off the heat and stir the bubbles down.) 

Boil for about 2 minutes.

Allow this mixture to cool for about 5 minutes, then pour over the popcorn.
While pouring the mixture, gently stir the popcorn.   Continue stirring the popcorn until it is thouroughly coated in yummy caramel goodness.

Place the roasting pan in the oven.  It will take about 40 minutes for the caramel to turn into a nice glossy finish.

***You will need to stir the popcorn every 10 to 15 minutes while it is cooking.  Simply set your timer and every time it beeps, take the pan out of the oven, give it a good stir and return to the oven....remember to re set the timer.

Let the corn cool before eating!

Honey Cinnamon Peaches

Not too long ago, I made an oh so yummy batch of honey vanilla plums and it did not last very long (I do have some everyday with my vanilla yogurt)! Yesterday while Hubby and I were grocery shopping, we happened past some peaches.  The lovely, sweet, peachy smell was intoxicating!  I just had to buy some.  Today I decided to savour that peachy goodness by revamping the honey vanilla plums into honey cinnamon peaches!!!

Honey Cinnamon Peaches

Wash and chop:

• 4 large, sweet smelling peaches

Place the chopped peaches into a pot on medium heat.

Let the peaches cook down for a few minutes allowing the juices to start flowing.
Add to the pot:

• 1/4 to 1/3 cup of honey
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Continue to cook the peaches until they are soft.
Mash the peaches slightly, leaving some luscious lumps of peachy goodness.

From here you can either spoon into hot sterilized jars as per canning guide lines or allow the sauce to cool and store in the fridge.  As with the honey vanilla plums this goes great with:

• vanilla ice cream
• vanilla yogurt
• with granola
• on pancakes or waffles
• in a peanut butter sandwich
• by the spoonful

Winna Winna Chicken Wing Dinna!!

After a busy last half of the week, we are spending a Saturday evening at home watching a movie (and the baseball game).  It is nice to slow things down for the weekend.  I still have to finish my yard work before the snow flies but tonight I am cooking a few tasy favourites and relaxing with the boys!

Now over the past year or two I have been testing different mixtures of coatings to make oven  roasted chicken wings crispy. Wheat flour, corn starch, mixtures of the both, different seasonings...the list goes on! I like using a corn flour and corn starch mixture as it not only makes for a really crispy coating but it is also safe for my gluten free friends!

Tonight however, I tested out the corn starch/corn flour mix and was told they were the best wings I had ever made!  Winner, winner, chicken dinner!!

To make the tastiest oven roasted hot wings ever:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Prepare a baking sheet with either a silicone baking sheet liner or some parchment paper.

 In an extra large zip top freezer bag mix together:

• 1/2 cup corn starch
• 1/2 cup corn flour (you can use regular flour or all corn starch but the all the corn products make for a nice crispy coating)
• Note: You can use 1 cup of four if you wish, the wings will still turn out fabulous! 
• 1 tbsp paprika (smoked if you have)
• 1tsp onion powder
• 1tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp mustard powder
• pinch each of salt and pepper
• any other seasonings you feel might be tasty (tonight I added some old bay seasoning)

Once these ingredients are all mixed up place in the bag:

• 1 pkg of chicken wings and drumettes rinsed in cold water and patted dry (tonight I used a 1.5 kg package)

Seal the zip top bag and shake things up a bit until all the wings are coated.
Take the wings out of the bag and shake off the excess coating.
Arrange in a single layer on the baking sheet
Bake for 20 minutes and then turn the wings over.
Bake for another 20 minutes.
Turn the broiler on if needed to brown the wings and give them an extra crispy coating.

Just before serving, transfer some wings to a large bowl and douse and toss them with the sauce of your choice.  Anything you have on hand is a viable option such as:

• Frank's redhot sauce (a house favourite)
• BBQ sauce of choice
• Honey garlic sauce
• Teriyaki sauce
• Lemon pepper seasoning

Some things in our house are sacred.  Homemade mac and cheese is one of them.  I don't make it very often but when I do, it is sooooo good.  The start of any home made mac and cheese is the bechemel sauce which gets the addition of cheese.  Making the bechemel sauce is one the first jobs my Mom let me do in the kitchen.  I think she was suprised that I had the patience to stay in the kitchen and keep my eye on the sauce.  I might be weird but I do find something relaxing about watching the sauce thicken as I stir it.

To make mac and cheese:

Put a large pot of water on to boil and boil according to the package instructions for firm pasta:

• 1 lb pkg of elbow macaroni (or any other shaped pasta you have on hand)

In a medium size pot:

• Melt 4 tbsp butter
• Stir in 4 tbsp flour
• Pinch of salt and pepper
• Continue to stir this mixture for 1 or two minutes to cook out any raw flour taste

Add to this mixture (called a roux)

• a couple dashes of hot sauce
• 2 cups of half and half cream (you can use milk but then you risk the milk curdling as it cooks and curdled milk does not make a nice textured sauce!)

Stir/whisk quikly as you add the half and half to keep lumps from forming
Keep the heat on medium and continue to stir fairly often whild it thickens.
You will soon notice the mixture is thick enough to coat a wooden spoon and some thick but slow ripples appear in the pot as you stir.
At this point add and stir at the same time:

• 1 can of evaporated milk

This won't water down the sauce too much and it will thicken again quickly.  I find waiting to add the evaporated milk helps to prevent it from curdling.

You have now made a bechemel sauce!!
To your wonderfull bechemel sauce, add:

• 4 cups of shredded cheese

This is one of those time where you can really play with the recipe!  This can be all chedder, just make sure you use a sharp or old cheddar.  Or you can use any mixture of cheeses you like.  Be creative.  Tonight I used sharp cheddar but that was what I had on hand.  Some cheesy ideas"

• provolone
• mozzarella
• monteray jack
• colby
• havarti
• gouda
• asiago
• parmesan

 Mix the cooked pasta with the cheese sauce and pour into a baking pan.  Make the crumb topping to put on top before you bake:

• Melt 2 tbsp butter and add:
• 3/4 cup panko bread crumbs

Mix together until the crumbs are all coated in melted butter (add a little olive oil if the crumbs look dry)

Sprinkle the crumbs evenly on the top of the macaroni and cheese.

Bake in a 350 degree F oven until the topping is golden brown (about 30 minutes).

That's just souper!

Today is a good soup day! Nice outside but slight chill in the wind.  Since I made tons of tasty turkey stock yesterday, making turkey noodle soup was a breeze.  Especially since I was outside watching my son's baseball practice until about 9:00 tonight!  Brrrr.

Souper Turkey Soup

First I sauted in a little bit of olive oil:

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise and sliced
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 2 small potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and pepper to taste
• poultry seasoning to taste

(Realistically, you can use any veggies you have on hand to create different tastes and textures in your soup.  This is the basic leftover turkey soup that my Mom used to make.  Don't be afraid to change the recipe to suit your need/tastes)

Let the veggies cook for a few minutes.  The onions should be translucent.  Then add:

• 6 to 7 cups of that tasty turkey stock

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to finish cooking the veggies.  Just before the veggies are fully cooked add:

•  a handful or two of uncooked noodles (tonight I had soba noodles on hand so I used those.  You can use rice or which ever noodles you have)
• leftover turkey, chopped

Let the soup simmer until the noodles (or rice) are cooked and turkey is heated through.
Taste the soup and adjust the seasonings to taste.

Things to do with your souper creation:

• Enjoy a bowl with a nice piece of crusty bread
• Pack some for lunch tomorrow
• Take some to a friend who isn't feeling well (or has just had their wisdom teeth pulled)
• Enjoy another bowl with another piece of crusty bead

I froze the rest of the turkey stock in 2 to 3 cup portions for future use.  I still have lots of leftover turkey to work through though....what to make next?
Any suggestions?