New Blog!

It's finally time to move my blog on to another domain that is more user-friendly. You can find my new site (with all the old entries) at:

http://annieseats.wordpress.com/

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Heavenly Cinnamon Rolls

I saw these cinnamon rolls from the Daring Bakers challenge in September and knew immediately that I had to try them. I first tried my hand at homemade cinnamon rolls this past summer when my brother- and sister-in-law were visiting, but I was not thrilled with the result and felt they left a lot to be desired. I'm glad I decided to give it another go because this recipe turned out amazingly! These taste exactly the way I think cinnamon rolls should taste, and the texture was very light and airy. The only thing that didn't come out quite right was the glaze, but that was no fault of the recipe - I simply didn't have nearly enough powdered sugar on hand. I just used what I had and my glaze was very thin, but still super tasty so I'm not complaining!

The original recipe has variations for both cinnamon and sticky buns, as well as options for using several different ingredient options. I saved a more streamlined version of the recipe which is what I will post here, but click here for a link to the original recipe.

Cinnamon Rolls
Yield: 8-12 large or 12-16 smaller cinnamon rolls

Ingredients:
6 ½ tbsp. granulated sugar
1 tsp. salt
5 ½ tbsp. unsalted butter or margarine
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1 tsp. lemon extract or 1 tsp. grated lemon zest
3 ½ cups unbleached bread or all-purpose flour
2 tsp. instant (rapid rise) yeast
1 1/8 to 1 ¼ cups whole milk or buttermilk, at room temperature

For the filling:
6 ½ tbsp. granulated sugar
1 ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
other spices to taste (ginger, cardamom, allspice, etc.)

For the white fondant glaze:
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. lemon or orange extract
6 tbsp. to ½ cup warm milk

Directions:
Cream together the sugar, salt, and butter on medium-high speed in an electric mixer with the paddle attachment. Whip in the egg and lemon zest/extract until smooth. Then add the flour, yeast and milk. Mix on low speed until the dough forms a ball. Switch to the dough hook and increase the speed to medium, mixing for approximately 10 minutes, or until the dough is silky and supple, tacky but not sticky. (You may have to add a little flour or water while kneading to achieve this texture.) Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

Ferment at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size.

Mist the counter with spray oil and transfer the dough to the counter. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin, lightly dusting the top with flour to keep it from sticking to the pin. Roll it into a rectangle about 2/3 inch thick and 14 inches wide by 12 inches long for larger buns, or 18 inches wide by 9 inches long for smaller buns. Don’t roll out the dough too thin, or the finished buns will be tough and chewy rather than soft and plump. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar filling over the surface of the dough and roll the dough up into a cigar-shaped log creating a cinnamon-sugar spiral as you roll. With the seam side down, cut the dough into 8 to 12 pieces about 1 ¾ inches thick for larger rolls or 12 to 16 pieces about 1 ¼ inches thick for smaller rolls.

Line one or more sheet pans with baking parchment. Place the buns approximately ½ inch apart so they aren’t touching but are close to one another.

Proof at room temperature for 75-90 minutes, or until the pieces have grown into one another and have nearly doubled in size. You may also retard the shaped buns in refrigerator for up to 2 days, pulling the pan out of the refrigerator 3-4 hours before baking to allow the dough to proof.

Preheat the oven to 350° with the oven rack on the middle shelf.

Bake the cinnamon rolls for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool the rollss in the pan for about 10 minutes and then streak white fondant glaze across the tops, while the rolls are warm but not too hot (see instructions below). Remove the buns from the pan and place them on a cooling rack. Wait for at least 20 minutes before serving.

White fondant glaze for cinnamon rolls:
Sift powdered sugar into a bowl. Add lemon or orange extract and 6 tbsp. to ½ cup warm milk, briskly whisking until all the sugar is dissolved. Add the milk slowly and only as much as needed to make a thick, smooth paste.

When the rolls have cooled but are still warm, streak the glaze over them by dipping the tines of a fork or a whisk into the glaze and waving the fork or whisk over the tops.

Source: The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart

My Holiday Party

The holidays are possibly my favorite time of year. I love all the festivities, the pretty decorations, picking out gifts for people and of course the cooking and baking! I have been hosting some form of holiday party for several years now, but it has morphed from a smaller family get together with more of a sit-down dinner to a large party with lots of friends and appetizer/dessert fare. It is always a feat of my organizational skills to pull this off while still working a full week for school but somehow I manage it by planning every detail and prepping as much as possible in advance. This year the party was definitely a success! The food was a big hit and by the end of the night it was all completely gone! That made all my hard work worth it.

My menu included:
Stuffed mushrooms
Chipped beef ball with crackers
Crab Rangoon
Spinach and goat cheese phyllo cups
Veggie tray with roasted red pepper dip
Gougeres
Shrimp with cocktail sauce
Stuffed strawberries
Peppermint bark
Mini red velvet cupcakes
Assorted truffles (Oreo, Bailey’s Espresso, and Raspberry)
Baklava

In an effort to not write the longest blog entry ever, I will simply link recipes as much as possible and add my comments or changes as well.

Crab Rangoon
This was my first attempt at crab Rangoon and it was awesome! This was one of the most popular things I served and many guests commented on how much they enjoyed it. I loved it and can’t wait to make it again.
Source: Joelen’s Culinary Adventures

Stuffed Mushrooms
I have been making these stuffed mushrooms for quite some time now, and have become somewhat “known” for them among my friends. Several of the guests last year went a little crazy over these tasty bites so I knew I could not leave them off the menu this year. I was glad I made them again because one of my friends showed up and said, “I’ve been looking forward to these since last year!” The recipe linked below is the one I follow, with a few changes. I only make half the amount of filling per mushroom than the original recipe, otherwise you end up with a ton left over. Also, I use the food processor to chop the mushroom stems and garlic, which is a huge time saver.
Source: Allrecipes

Gougeres
The blurry pic really does not do these little bites justice, but they are delicious. I had never made these before but was pleasantly surprised at how flavorful they were. Ben and I both thought they had a taste reminiscent of Pepperidge Farm goldfish crackers – but way better. I got this recipe from Beth’s blog and followed it almost exactly, except that I took her advice and added some herbs (thyme, parsley) for a bit more flavor. I did use Gruyere cheese for mine and the flavor was great.
Source: Our Sweet Life

Spinach and Goat Cheese Phyllo Cups
These savory pastry cups were easy to whip up and so very yummy. Unfortunately I don’t have an exact recipe for these, as I just threw the ingredients together. I basically mixed up chopped spinach, crumbled goat cheese, shredded mozzarella cheese, grated Parmesan cheese, minced garlic, salt and pepper to taste. I used frozen phyllo cups, filled them with the spinach mixture and baked for maybe 10 minutes at 350°. I had tons of leftover filling and didn’t end up using it due to being out of town for the holidays, but I’m sure it would be wonderful if used to stuff chicken for dinner.

Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes
These were served on a red platter which is why the pic is so dark, but they were really delicious. I used a cake recipe from ThatSweetAng and a frosting recipe from Foodie Bride. The cake recipe was a bit odd with the order and method of combining ingredients, and though it turned out well in the end, I would recommend adding ingredients in a more traditional manner (i.e. not adding the eggs and vinegar to the flour mixture but to the wet ingredients instead, etc.) The frosting was absolutely perfect and will probably become my default recipe for cream cheese frosting from now on. To make the mini cupcakes I halved the batter recipe, filled the cups 2/3 full and baked for 14 minutes. This yielded about 35 mini cupcakes.
Source: cake from ThatSweetAng, frosting from Confections of a Foodie Bride

Stuffed Strawberries
I love these cute little things! Strawberries, cream cheese and sugar – what’s not to love? These were super simple to make but impressive to look at. Plus, I got to use my mechanical pastry bag, one of my most favorite kitchen tools :) My only change from the original recipe was to leave the stems on the berries (I think they look prettier) and to cut two slices down the berry rather than just one giving them a more symmetrical appearance and making filling easier.
Source: Allrecipes

Oreo Truffles
By now I think just about everyone in the food blogging world has heard of Oreo truffles, but just in case you haven’t, give them a try. They are easy to make and a very sweet treat. I especially love homemade truffles because they are another thing that is simple to make but very impressive to guests.
Source: Good Eats n’ Sweet Treats

Bailey’s Espresso Truffles
Unfortunately I cannot vouch for the taste of these personally since both the espresso and the alcohol (even though it is a tiny bit) stopped me from trying them. However, these were definitely Ben’s favorite of the truffles I made. He said he couldn’t taste the Bailey’s in them so next time I will probably use 3 tbsp. but other than that these were a delicious and easy truffle.
Source: Elly Says Opa!

Raspberry Truffles
I decided to use my old standby truffle recipe but mix it up a bit to create a raspberry truffle. I was so thrilled with the end result and these were by far my favorite of the truffles. I omitted the bourbon and added 1.5 tsp. of raspberry extract and 2 tsp. raspberry jam to the filling. For the drizzle, I made a simple confectioners’ sugar glaze and added pink food coloring. I personally am not a huge fan of dark chocolate, but I think these would probably be even better covered in dark chocolate rather than semi-sweet.
Source: truffles adapted from Williams Sonoma, drizzle from Williams Sonoma

I did not include recipes for the chipped beef ball or the baklava in this post since I did not take individual pictures of these items. Leave a comment if you are interested and I can get the recipe to you. I also did not include the recipe for peppermint bark because it seems everyone on the planet has their own version already, so I will spare you :)

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and is looking forward to a very happy New Year!

Chicken Stuffed Shells and Garlic Bread

I have been joking throughout the past several weeks that the baby I am growing must be Italian (though we have no Italian heritage), because I have been craving Italian foods more than anything else. Pasta in any form - plain old spaghetti, layered into lasagna, or stuffed in this case - I want it all. This dinner was so incredibly good. The recipe makes a ton of food, and I would normally recommend halving it (as it would still feed you for about three nights), but I froze half for my brother who is in college and could use some good food every now and then. Of course, I loved this so much that for a split second I considered eating his frozen portion as well, but I was a good girl in the end.

There are many versions of this recipe floating around food blogs and message boards. I chose this one because of the large quantity and the use of the food processor, making the whole thing much faster. This has a lot of great flavor, and is delicious as leftovers.

Garlic and Chicken Stuffed Shells
Ingredients:
1 box (or more) uncooked jumbo pasta shells (about 50-55)
6 cloves garlic
2 chicken breasts, cooked and coarsely shredded
30 oz. part skim ricotta cheese
1/3 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1 ½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. black pepper
1 ½ tsp. dried parsley (1 tbsp. fresh, chopped)
6 large basil leaves, torn
1/3 cup half and half
approx. 28 oz. pasta sauce
¼ cup Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°. Cook pasta shells according to package directions and drain. Separate onto a cutting board or cookie sheet to prevent from sticking together. Add ingredients garlic through half and half to a food processor and process until just combined. Add more salt and pepper if necessary, to taste.

Spoon enough sauce into baking dish(es) to cover the bottom. Fill the cooked shells with the ricotta mixture and place open side up in a prepared baking dish. Spoon as much of the remaining sauce over shells as desired. Bake covered with foil for 15-20 minutes, remove foil and continue baking for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve.

If freezing extra shells, to cook from the freezer, thaw in refrigerator overnight and bake as directed above.

Source: adapted from Confections of a Foodie Bride, originally from Allrecipes

I decided to make homemade garlic bread to go along with this meal, and this was a great opportunity to try out this recipe I have been wanting to attempt for a long time. My swirl did not turn out as pretty as Amber's and the dough was slightly tricky to work with, but the end result was absolutely delicious. Ben is already begging me to make this again. The loaf didn't last long in our house :) Next time I may add a bit less flour or a little bit more liquid, as the dough really didn't come together easily and required a lot of hand-kneading despite my mixer's best efforts. It was definitely worth the work.

Garlic Herb Swirl Bread
Ingredients:
3 ¼ cups bread flour, divided
1 tbsp. sugar
1 pkg. active dry or quick-rising yeast
½ tsp. salt
1 cup very warm water (115-125°)
2 tbsp. butter or margarine, softened or melted

For the filling:
4 tbsp. butter, softened
5-6 cloves roasted garlic
1 tsp. dried parsley
½ tsp. dried oregano
½ tsp. dried basil
¼ cup Parmesan cheese

Directions:
In a large bowl or in the bowl of a heavy duty mixer combine 2 cups bread flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Add in water and butter/margarine and mix by hand or on low speed for 1 minute. Add in remaining flour ¼ cup at a time until the dough is moist but not sticky.

Knead the dough for about 10 minutes by hand or with the dough hook on low to medium speed, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and turn it over to coat with oil. Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 40-45 minutes.

Grease a 9x5” loaf pan. Punch down the dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a large rectangle no more than 9” wide. Combine butter, garlic, parsely, oregano, basil and Parmesan cheese in a small bowl and mix until well combined. Spread the butter mixture over the surface of the dough rectangle. Tightly roll up the dough into a cylinder shape, pinching and tucking ends to form a tight seal. Place seam side down in prepared loaf pan. Oil the surface of the loaf and cover loosely with a clean cloth. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 20-45 minutes. Sprinkle the top of the loaf with Parmesan cheese if desired.

Preheat the oven to 450°. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350° and bake for about 30 minutes more. To prevent over-browning, cover with foil toward the end of baking if necessary. Bake until crust is golden brown and loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Transfer from pan to a cooling rack and let cool completely before slicing.

Source: adapted from Amber's Delectable Delights

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I made this soup over a week ago when we were snowed in. It was a nice meal to help keep warm while the wind and snow were going strong outside. This has a really great combination of flavors and was exactly what I was looking for in a tortilla soup recipe. I made a few adaptations to the recipe based on the fact that grocery stores in our area are absolutely awful at stocking remotely unique ingredients such as any variety of pepper other than bell or jalapeno. I also left out the corn because it turned out we didn't have any, and the avocado because I'm not a fan. This was definitely a full meal on its own. I just served it with rolls on the side. We are both looking forward to having it again!

Chicken Tortilla Soup
Ingredients:
4 tomatoes
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 ¼ cup yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ red bell pepper, diced (about ½ cup)
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
3 cups chicken broth
1-2 diced jalapeno peppers
½ (15 oz.) can peeled tomatoes
salt and pepper
cayenne, to taste (optional)
2 cooked, shredded chicken breasts

For garnish:
tortilla chips or strips
1 tomato, diced
chopped fresh cilantro
shredded Monterey Jack cheese
sour cream

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°. Slice the tomatoes in half. Spread 1 tbsp. of the olive oil on a baking sheet or pizza pan and arrange the tomatoes on top, skin side up. Drizzle the tomatoes with another 1 tbsp. of the olive oil. Roast the tomatoes for 35 minutes, until the skins wrinkle and the tomatoes are slightly brown around the edges.

Heat the remaining olive oil in a heavy-bottomed, 4-qt. soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and bell pepper and sauté about 5 minutes, until the vegetables become soft. Stir in the chili powder and cumin and cook for 1 minute. Add the chicken stock, 1 cup water, and half of the diced jalapenos. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then cover, decrease the heat and simmer about 15 minutes.

Place the remaining jalapenos, the canned tomatoes with their juices and the roasted tomatoes (included as much as possible of the juices and browned tomato bits) in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Puree the jalapeno-tomato mixture about 1 minute. Transfer the mixture to the soup and continue simmering, covered, about 1 hour.

Add salt and pepper to taste and ground cayenne pepper (if using) along with the cooked chicken. Allow to simmer a few minutes, until chicken is heated through.

Ladle the soup into medium bowls. Lean some tortilla chips against the edge of each bowl, partially sticking out of the soup. Sprinkle each bowl with a handful of diced tomatoes, some cilantro, and shredded cheese. Top with a spoonful of sour cream. Serve immediately.

Source: Confections of a Foodie Bride, originally from The Pastry Queen, 2004.

Black Bean Enchiladas

I have been cooking up a storm lately but haven't had much time to update the blog and now I'm backed up with lots of great recipes to post! Now that I'm on break I should have plenty of time for posting so expect lots of updates in the near future.

I have had this recipe starred for a very long time now. I love black beans, I love enchiladas, therefore I knew I would love this dish. I also love how versatile the filling recipe is. It could be used for so many things - black bean dip, on top of nachos, mixed with rice, etc. We really loved it in enchilada form. I made the filling a day ahead so that I could have a pretty quick dinner by just assembling the enchiladas the next evening. I'm glad I did it that way because I doubt I would have had the energy for the whole process on a regular weeknight. I doubled the dip recipe and filled about 8 medium tortillas. We still had a fair amount of dip left over afterward, so that in addition to the leftover enchiladas fed us for a while. We will definitely be having this again.

Black Bean Enchiladas
Ingredients:
For the bean filling:
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp. oil
1 cup chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup corn kernels
1 ½ cups chopped tomatoes
1 cup salsa
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. chili powder
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
¼ cup fresh cilantro
2 tbsp. lime juice

For the enchiladas:
3 cups black bean filling (above)
8-10 medium flour tortillas
shredded Mexican cheese (about 2 cups)
1 can enchilada sauce

Directions:
To make the black bean filling, place the black beans in a medium sized mixing bowl. Partially mash the beans. In a medium sized skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Stir in onion and garlic and sauté for 4 minutes. Mix beans, corn, tomato, salsa, cumin, and chili powder into the skillet. Cook for 5 minutes or until thickened. Remove the pan from the heat, mix in cheese, cilantro and lime juice. Stir until cheese is melted.

Grease a 9x13” baking dish. Preheat oven to 350°. To make the enchiladas, spoon some of the black bean mixture down the center of a tortilla. Top with some cheese, fold sides over the filling and roll up. Place seam side down in the baking dish. Repeat with remaining tortillas. Pour sauce over the tops of the enchiladas. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil, sprinkle with remaining shredded cheese and bake 2-3 minutes more or until cheese is melted.

Source: Two Novice Chefs, One Tiny Kitchen (Julia and Tyler's blog)

Ultimate Triple Chocolate Cookies

I think the name says it all. This is for the true chocolate lovers out there (like me!) I saw this recipe in a recent issue of Food and Wine and I knew I had to try it. The recipe was in a Ghirardelli advertisement, and the picture looked divine. However, when I read the recipe I was surprised to see that the white chunks which I thought were white chocolate chips had actually been walnuts in the picture. So, I decided to make these cookies even better and triple (not just double) chocolate by subbing white chips for the walnuts. Good decision! These are awesome. I highly recommend enjoying these with a glass of milk on the side.

It was fun to form the dough logs and just slice the cookies off. I let my dough refrigerate a little bit before I formed the logs because the batter was a little too soft initially to make logs easily. I think it would also be fine to just let the dough sit in the refrigerator to firm up a bit and then drop onto the cookie sheets. I may try that next time just to see if it makes a difference. One nice thing about the dough logs is that you can freeze them for use later. That definitely seems like the kind of thing I want in my freezer :)

Ultimate Triple Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients:
11.5 oz. 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate chips
6 tbsp. unsalted butter
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking powder
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:
In a double boiler over hot water, melt bittersweet chocolate chips and butter. Remove from heat. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat eggs and sugar until thick; stir into chocolate mixture. Gently mix in semi-sweet and white chocolate chips. Using a sheet of plastic wrap, form dough into two logs, each 2 inches in diameter and about 12 inches long. The dough will be quite soft so use plastic wrap to hold dough in log shape. Wrap tightly; refrigerate at least 1 hour or until firm. (Dough may be frozen; thaw in refrigerator before proceeding with recipe.) Heat the oven to 375°. Unwrap dough; with a sharp knife, cut into ¾-inch slices. Place slices 1 ½ inches apart on greased or parchment-lined cookie sheet.

Bake 12-14 minutes or until shiny crust forms on top but interior is still soft. Cool on baking sheet.

Source: adapted from Ghirardelli