Chocolate Dipped Gingerbread Biscotti

I saw this recipe on Allrecipes.com and just had to try it. The recipe was for Gingerbread Biscotti and I made it even better by dipping it in chocolate. It is just perfect for this time of year and would be wonderful in a gift basket to a coffee lover.

I had never made biscotti before. I have to admit that I had some doubts in the beginning, but everything worked out just fine. As long as the biscotti are cut while still warm, the loaf won't crumble to bits on you.

Here's the recipe from Allrecipes.com with adapted directions:

Gingerbread Biscotti

1/3 cup vegetable oil (I used Canola)
1 cup white sugar
3 large eggs
1/4 cup molasses
2-1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 Tablespoon ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1-1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg


1. Stir together flours, baking powder and spices. Set aside.
2. Stir together the oil, sugar, eggs and molasses. Whip for about 30 seconds.
3. Slowly add the dry mixture into the wet mixture. A very stiff dough will form. Refrigerate the dough for about 30 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and grease a large cookie sheet (or line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and spray with oil like I did).
5. With well greased hands, remove 1/2 of the chilled dough from the bowl and pat it into a ball. With your hands, lengthen the ball into a roll that is about the width of the cookie sheet. Place on the prepared sheet and pat down to a loaf that is about 1/2 inch thick.
6. Repeat with remaining dough. You should be able to fit both loaves on one baking sheet. If not, just put the rest of the dough back in the refrigerator until you are ready to shape it.
7. Bake the log for 25 minutes. Remove from the pan and let cool about 10 minutes on a wire rack.
8. Place the baked loaf on a cutting board and cut into 1/2 inch thick slices with a very sharp knife. Arrange on cookie sheet, cut sides up. Bake an additional 5 to 7 minutes per side to make the biscotti crunchy (I baked them for 7 minutes).
9. Cool to room temperature before coating with chocolate.

Chocolate Dipping:
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided

1. Place 1 cup of the chocolate chips in a microwave bowl. Microwave on high for 30 seconds. Stir well, then microwave an additional 20 seconds. Stir until smooth.

NOTE: I used mini chocolate chips because that was all I had on hand. Regular chocolate chips may take an additional 20 to 40 seconds to melt.

2. Spoon a bit of melted chocolate onto one side of the biscotti and spread into a thin layer using a small spatula or the back of a spoon. Let cool, chocolate side up, on parchment paper.


If you would like, sprinkles, shredded coconut, or chopped nuts could be added while the chocolate was still wet.



I can't wait to try other Biscotti recipes! I'm having one right now with my morning coffee. Have a great weekend!

Thanksgiving Dinner Rolls

The story begins on a farm. We called it 'the fat farm'. It was the place we went every Thanksgiving when I was growing up. The enticing aromas of roasting turkey, cooking potatoes, and yeast greeted you as soon as you walked in the door. Soon after, you were enveloped in a hug so tight you could barely breathe!



I would hang up my coat in the closet and follow the other ladies in my family to the kitchen. There, I would help form the Parker House rolls and get them into the oven. The rolls cooked while the turkey was resting and the gravy was being made. As soon as they came out of the oven, they were lovingly coated in salted butter. These were the best rolls on the planet and they were made by my Great Grandma Minnie.



Grandma Minnie passed away in 2007 at the age of 102. She cooked Thanksgiving dinner for her family for over 50 years in a row. Imagine that! I tried to learn how to make rolls from her, but she never measured anything. If you asked her for a recipe, she couldn't give you one. She could tell you what was in the food, but couldn't tell you how much.



"How much flour should I add, Grandma?"

"Enough so that it feels right."



Ha ha! I miss her so much. Well, today I ran across a recipe on the Martha Stewart website and decided to try it. I read through the recipe, gathered the ingredients, and put everything together. What came out of the oven tasted just like Great Grandma Minnie's rolls! Hooray! I will confess-- I messed up on the recipe but it turned out wonderful! So, here is my recipe for Thanksgiving Dinner Rolls, Great Grandma Minnie style (adapted from Martha Stewart).

Thanksgiving Dinner Rolls

Great Grandma Minnie Style

1/4 cup warm water (115 degrees F)

2 tsp rapid rise yeast (2 envelopes)

1-1/2 cups warm whole milk (115 degrees F)

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the bowl and pans

1/4 cup sugar

2-1/4 tsp salt

3 large eggs

3 cups bread flour

3-1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 Tbsp salted butter, melted

1. Place warm water in a small bowl with a little bit of the sugar (1 tsp). Sprinkle the yeast over the water and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. In the bowl of a standing mixer or in a large bowl, whisk together the milk, butter, remaining sugar, salt and the eggs. Whisk in the yeast mixture.

2. With the mixer on low or with a large wooden spoon, mix in the 3 cups of bread flour. If using a mixer, give it a good whirl, then switch the whisk attachment to a dough hook. With the mixer on the lowest speed, add the remaining 3-1/2 cups all purpose flour a little at a time. The resulting dough should be a little shaggy. You can also do this my hand with a large wooden spoon, but the mixer is a lot easier! Once all the flour is incorporated, let the dough rest for about 10 minutes.

3. Mix on medium speed for 6 minutes. Turn it out onto a lightly floured counter and knead for another 2 minutes. If kneading by hand, knead it on a lightly floured counter for 5 to 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic. Form into a large ball.

4. Coat a large bowl with melted unsalted butter. Place the large ball of dough in the bowl and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Set in a warm place for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until doubled in size.

5. Butter two 13x9" pans. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Deflate the dough by gently pushing it down and turning it over in the bowl. Pinch off golf-ball-sized pieces and make into balls. Place the balls of dough in the pan, 3 across and 5 long so each pan holds 15 rolls. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.

6. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Put the oven racks in the bottom third and top third of the oven. When the rolls are done rising, remove the plastic wrap and place one pan on the bottom rack and one pan on the top rack. Cook for 10 minutes, rotate the pans top to bottom, back to front, and continue to cook for another 10 minutes or until evenly golden brown.

7. Remove from oven and place the pan on cooling racks. Lightly brush with salted butter and allow to cool. After 10 minutes, remove the rolls from the pans and allow to cool completely on the cooling rack. These rolls are HEAVENLY when devoured while still warm with fresh melted butter.

Love you and miss you, Great Grandma Minnie!

Butternut Squash Salad and Soup

Say Hello to Bella! She's one of my parents' new pups. My parents adopted Bella and her sister, Gracie, a couple weekends ago. I haven't EVER seen my Dad giggle so much. :) Ralfie and Tobie had the joy of spending a week at their house while I went on a business trip to Pittsburgh. Ralfie was the best cousin! He was really good with the girls.

Tobie was scared to death of them! He spent most of his time on the couch or ottoman where the girls couldn't get to him.

Here's Mr Ralfie making sure the girls are playing nice. Bella just loves cuddling up in that lion neck pillow that my mom found. Ralfie was a little nervous about the girls playing with his bear or his bone, but other than that he made a very good cousin!

And Mr. Ralfie again after his haircut yesterday. Tried to get a pic of Tobie but it didn't turn out. Darn!

And now on to dinner. I made this Butternut Squash Salad last night. There are a few suggestions I have for making it better. As is, it was ok. I learned something-- Butternut squash is MUCH easier to peel once its cooked!

I served it along side a grilled chicken breast with a bit of blue cheese crumbles.

Interesting flavor combo! Here's the recipe:

Cut a butternut squash in half lengthwise, scoop out all the seeds. Cut the 'Bowl' part off of the top part. Then cut into 1"x1" strips. Put these in a pot and add just enough chicken stock/broth to cover. Add 1/2 of a chopped onion. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove the squash from the liquid (but save the liquid!) and let cool. Once cool enough to handle, peel and cut the squash into bite-size pieces. Save 2 cups for the salad and add the rest back to the broth. The squash should be just underdone.

For the dressing, whisk together 2 Tbsp cider vinegar, 1-1/2 Tbsp apple juice or apple butter, 1 Tbsp canola oil, 1/2 tsp dried parsley or 1 Tbsp fresh chopped parsley and 1/4c chopped red onion. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Let stand for about 10 minutes. I used dried parsley but I think fresh chopped parsley would have been much better.

Add the cooked squash pieces and toss. Serve with grilled chicken and blue cheese. Blue cheese would make a GREAT addition to this salad, along with dried cranberries and toasted sliced pecans. Yum!

As for the rest of that squash in the pot, make soup! Let it simmer another 5-7 minutes, then remove from the heat and zip with an immersion blender until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and whatever spices you have around. Curry is nice, fresh rosemary would be good. This makes a silky flavorful soup! I think I'll use a few Tbsp of pumpkin butter in mine. Yum!

A Boo-tiful Graveyard!

We had a 'Creepy Treats and Sides' contest at work as part of our Halloween party. It was sooo much fun! My entry won 2nd place in the 'Tasty' category. I put together a graveyard using cupcakes. It was a lot of fun to decorate. Here's what I did:

1. Bake cupcakes. I used a small can of pumpkin (about 15 oz.), 2/3 of that can of water and a spice cake mix for the first batch. Just mix them up, use some fancy Halloween cupcake wrappers, and bake them according to package directions. Very good with chocolate icing. I also baked up a batch of Butter Pecan cake mix and paired it with caramel frosting. Just bake the cupcakes-- Don't frost them yet.

2. Buy a box/bag of oreos or equivalent. Twist apart the cookies and scrape off all the frosting. Put the chocolate wafers in a large ziploc bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible, then bash the bag with a rolling pin or the bottom of a small saucepan until they are completely crushed. This will be your dirt.

3. Buy a bag or two of Milano cookies. I used the kind with dark chocolate. Using a small piping tip, pipe the letters 'RIP' on each. They should look like this:



4. Frost the cupcakes. I used chocolate frosting for the pumpkin cupcakes and caramel frosting for the butter pecan cupcakes. Once the cupcakes are frosted, press the Milano cookie tombstone halfway in and sprinkle with dirt. Place a few bone sprinkles on each (I found those cute bloody bones and Target) and viola-- a Bootiful Graveyard. Here are a few pics of the finished product:

Pumpkin Chocolate

Butter Pecan Caramel

Hope everyone had a great Halloweekend! Now we can look forward to Thanksgiving in a few short weeks. What will you be cooking?

Marinara Sauce and how to cook Brown Rice

This weekend was nice and relaxing! Friday night, I took Ham Fried Rice using brown rice over to Tamra's for dinner with her family. It's always fun to see Alan, Peyton and Amelie. Amelie always has stories to tell! I making this recipe, I found a new way to prepare brown rice that will make it perfect every time! Sorry, but no photos. You'll just have to take my word that it looks and tastes great!

Saturday, I went to Tamra's for lunch and spent the afternoon shopping with Tamra and Amelie. I picked up some cute Halloween decorations at Target. I just couldn't help it! I've been going through withdrawls. After that, I went to dinner with my neighbor Corby, then got some things done around the house.

Sunday, I went to the Home & Garden Show at the Idaho Center in Nampa. The one in Idaho Falls is better in my opinion. After that, I came home and made marinara sauce from scratch. I had to do something with all the donated tomatoes I've been getting!

Hope you all had a great weekend as well. Until next time.... Cheers!

Best Brown Rice
2-1/2 cups water
1 Tbl butter
1-1/2 cups brown rice (the slow cooking kind)
1 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring the water and butter to a boil on the stovetop. Place the rice and salt in a heat-proof 2.5 Qt casserole.
2. Pour the water/butter over the rice and stir briefly. Cover tightly, and bake for 50 minutes.
3. Remove from oven and let stand for 5-10 minutes.
4. Fluff with a fork and serve!

Ham Fried Brown Rice
1 Tbl butter
2 Tbl soy sauce
2 stalks celery
4 oz. mushrooms, chopped
8 oz. lean ham, cubed
1 small can bamboo shoots, drained and rinsed
4-5 cups cooked brown rice
3 scallions, chopped
2 eggs, scrambled and chopped up
Sesame oil (optional)
Soy Sauce (optional)

1. Heat butter and soy sauce in a LARGE skillet over medium heat. I used my deep 12-inch skillet. Add the celery and mushrooms. Cook until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.
2. Add ham and cook until the ham is very warm. Add the rice and bamboo shoots, cook another 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
3. Fold in the scallions and eggs. Cook another 5 minutes or until heated through. I stirred in another couple Tbl of soy sauce and a couple Tbl of sesame oil at the end. Serve with soy sauce on the side.

Home-Made Marinara

5 lbs tomatoes, washed
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp dried basil
4oz. can tomato paste
salt and pepper to taste

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Fill one half of your sink with cold water and some ice cubes.
2. Cut a shallow 'x' in the bottom of each tomato. Drop the tomatoes into the pot of boiling water and let it cook for about 1 minute. Remove the tomatoes and immediately immerse them in the cold water bath. This should make the skins very easy to peel off. I did half my tomatoes at a time. When they are in the cold water bath, they should look like this:


Peel the skins off. They should come off very easily and the tomatoes should look like this:



3. Cut each tomato horizontally in half (be careful because they are slippery) and de-seed them over a 'garbage bowl' or over the sink. This is what you should be left with:

4. Chop the seeded tomatoes up.

5. In a large pot, heat a few Tbl of good olive oil. Add in the onions and garlic. Cook for a few minutes until the onions are soft and the garlic is fragrant.

6. Add the salt, sugar, basil and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and cook for about an hour. After an hour, it should look like this:

7. Use a stick blender to blend the veggies up to the desired consistency. I like mine pretty smooth. Add the tomato paste and stir until completely dissolved. Cook another 10 minutes or so. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Trust me-- you will need to add salt.

8. It's ready! Use it as a sauce over pasta with some meatballs (that was dinner tonight).

I have a lot of sauce left over-- about 5-1/2 cups. I'm going to freeze a pint, give a pint away, and use the rest as pizza sauce later on in the week. If you're in the mood for a really good soup, take a pint of sauce and add a can (14.5 oz.) of chicken or vegetable broth. Stir in some Parmesan cheese and a Tbl or two of cream and serve with garlic bread. Yum!

Chicken Noodle Soup

Finally feeling better after having a 2-day stomach flu. Yuck! Yesterday, I made some chicken noodle soup. The soup was warm and comforting-- just what I needed. When I was little, Grandma Rapp would fix me chicken broth with a pinch of cayenne in it when I was sick. The cayenne wasn't overly hot, but gave the broth a warming sensation that immediately made you feel better-- especially if you had a sore throat. I made my soup the quick way but it was still really good. Here's the recipe:



Chicken Noodle Soup:

1 large carrot, sliced

2 stalks celery, sliced

1/4 onion, chopped

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. dried thyme

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 quart chicken stock (low sodium)

1 cup Home style Egg Noodles

1 can chicken meat (the larger one, I think its 8 oz or so)



1. Saute vegetables, thyme and black pepper in a couple tsp of oil until onion is soft and translucent, about 10 minutes over medium heat.


2. Pour in the chicken stock and add the cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil, then add the noodles. Cook according to the directions on the noodle package (mine took 18 minutes).

















3. Add the can of chicken during the last 5 minutes of cooking the noodles. Use a wooden spoon to break up the meat. Leftover chicken could be used here, but I didn't have any so I used the can!


4. Once the cooking time is up, taste for seasoning to see if you needed any salt. There was enough in the stock and canned chicken for me.


5. Ladle into a big bowl and eat. Here's to a happy and healthy Fall!!

Pampered Chef Party and Recipes (Almost No Knead Bread, Artichoke Dip, Carmel Pecan Chocolate Ganache Cups)

Tobie in the kitchen. Look at his back feet! He cracks me up.

Chicken grilling in the grill pan.

Almost No Knead Bread stuffed with Artichoke Dip. Heaven!

We had a great time last night. It was interesting to see how everyone fit into the tiny little townhouse kitchen, but it was a beautiful night and we mostly gathered outside.

The food was GREAT! I made two recipes of Almost No Knead Bread (Cooks Illustrated, one white and one wheat), artichoke dip to go inside one of the loaves of bread, Harvest Grains from Trader Joes with garlic, parmesan and tomatoes, steamed broccoli, and grilled chicken in the grill pan. We finished it all off with Caramel Pecan Chocolate Ganache Cups (went very well with the Cupcake Vineyards Shiraz).

As promised, here are the recipes. I will post pics of the artichoke dip in the bread bowl a bit later, but the pics of the dessert really didn't turn out very well.

Almost No Knead Bread (Cook's Illustrated)
3 cups all-purpose flour**
1/4 tsp rapid-rise yeast
1-1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup + 2 Tbl water, at room temperature
1/4 cup + 2 Tbl mild flavored beer (I used Rolling Rock because that's what Ty drinks)
1 Tbl white vinegar

1. Whisk flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Make a well or dip in the middle and pour in the water, beer, and vinegar. Using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, fold the mixture from the bottom of the bowl until a shaggy ball forms. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit at room temperature for 8 to 18 hours. I usually do this just before I go to bed and let it rise overnight.

2. Lay a 12x18-inch sheet of parchment paper inside a 10-inch skillet and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Lightly flour your countertop and dump the dough onto the counter. Dust the top of the dough with flour as well. Knead 10 to 15 times with clean hands. Shape the dough into a ball by pulling the edges toward the middle. Place the dough, seam side down, in the middle of the parchment lined skillet and lighltly spray the top with nonstick spray. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and lest rise at least 2 hours (longer for wheat dough).

3. About 30 minutes before baking, adjust the oven rack to the lowest position and place a 6-8 quart heavy bottomed Dutch Oven with the lid on the rack. I use an enameled cast iron dutch oven and remove the knob on the lid. Heat oven to 500 degrees.

4. Lightly flour the top of the risen dough and use a sharp knife to cut a 6 inch long, 1/2-inch deep slash across the top of the dough. Carefully remove the preheated pot from the oven and remove the lid. Pick up the dough by lifting the edges of the parchment paper and carefully lower into the pot. Let the excess paper hang over the edge of the pot. Cover the pot and place in oven. Reduce the oven temperature to 425 degrees and bake, covered, for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and continue to bake until the loaf is a deep brown color, 20 to 30 minutes longer. Remove the pot from the oven, then carefully remove the bread from the pot and transfer to a wire rack to cool to room temp,about 2 hours. Enjoy!

**When making the wheat version, I use 2 cups all purpose and 1 cup whole wheat flour. The resulting dough will need to rise a bit longer than the white dough.

Artichoke Dip (Pampered Chef Recipe Card)
2-16 oz. bread bowls or two loaves of Almost No Knead Bread
4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup milk
14.5 oz can artichoke hears, drained well, chopped, and drained again
1 clove garlic, minced
1 envelope Vegetable Soup Mix (1.8 oz., I used Knorr)
8 oz. sour cream
1 Tbl lemon juice
Parmesan cheese (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Slice the top third off of one of the bread bowls. Using a small knife, carefully hollow out the bowl, leaving about a 1-1/2" bread border on each side and bottom. Place on a cookie sheet or baking stone. Cut the middle of the bread, top third, and second loaf into 1" cubes. Arrange the cubes around the hollowed out loaf and spray lightly with cooking spray.

2. In a medium sized, microwave-safe bowl, whisk cream cheese until smooth. Slowly whisk in milk, then stir in artichoke hearts, garlic, and veggie soup mix. Microwave on high 5 to 7 minutes or until hot but not boiling.

3. Stir sour cream and lemon juice into the warm artichoke mixture, then pour into the hollowed out bread loaf. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top of the dip and over the bread cubes.

4. Bake in oven for 13 to 15 minutes, or until the bread cubes are lightly toasted and the dip is bubbly. Serve immediately.

Caramel Pecan Chocolate Ganache Cups
9 Nilla Wafers
8 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces (I use Ghiradelli)
1 cup whipping cream*
1/4 tsp espresso powder or 1 Tbl strong coffee**
2 Tbl caramel sauce***
Extra caramel sauce
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted
whipped cream

1. Line 9 muffin cups with liners and place a Nilla wafer at the bottom of each cup.
2. In a medium sized bowl, combine the chocolate, cream and espresso powder. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir briefly, then microwave an additional 45 seconds.
3. Whisk until smooth and dark brown in color. This will take about 2 minutes to get everything completely mixed. Add the caramel sauce and stir well.
4. Using a 1/4 cup measure, fill each muffin cup 2/3 full. Refrigerate at least 4 hours.
5. Just before serving, add 1-2 tsp caramel sauce to the top of each cup. Top with whipped cream and toasted pecans. Serve with a spoon.

Notes:
*For a firmer texture, use whipping cream. For a light and soft texture similar to pudding, use half and half.
**This ingredient is optional, but highly encouraged. The coffee accentuates the chocolate and makes it taste more like chocolate.
***seedless raspberry preserves or orange marmalade may also be used.

Goodness! That was a lot of typing. Have a great weekend!