Half Baked

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

It's World Nutella Day

Grab a spoon and prepare to celebrate!

Sara from Ms. Adventures in Italy and Michelle from Bleeding Espresso solemnly declare Sunday, February 5th “World Nutella Day 2013″ – a day to celebrate, to get creative with, and most importantly, to EAT Nutella!

My submission to this fun event are these cute and delicious Nutella Meringue Cookies. This recipe comes from Cream Puffs in Venice one of the bloggers that first inspired me to join into the food blogging world and start a blog of my own. Thanks Ivonne! That was way back in 2007. Which is also about the same time that Sara and Michelle started World Nutella Day. A day for flooding the internet with all things Nutella. Thanks ladies for making the internet more delicious!

Happy World Nutella Day!

Crispy on the outside, chewy chocolaty on the inside, divine!

Nutella Meringues
Source: Cream Puffs in Venice

INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup Nutella
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
a pinch of salt
a pinch of cream of tartar
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon, granulated sugar

METHOD:
Heat oven to 300°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Warm the Nutella in a microwave safe bowl in 15 second intervals until just barely melted.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, place the egg whites. Beat on medium-high speed until they are completely foamy.
Add the cream of tartar and the salt and continue whipping at medium-high speed until when you lift the whisk attachment, soft peaks form. This will take a few minutes.
Once you have reached the soft peak stage, increase the speed to high. At this point, start adding the sugar, slowly, a few spoonfuls at a time.
Once all the sugar is in, the meringue should be very thick. When you lift the whisk stiff peaks should remain.

Drizzle in the Nutella. Gently fold the Nutella into the meringue three or four times. You want the meringue to to be streaky and not to deflate, so don't so over-mix.
You can either pipe the meringues onto the parchment-lined trays using a pastry bag fitted with a large open round tip or using two spoons, drop the meringue onto the baking sheets in large dollops.
Place in the oven for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, immediately lower the heat to 200°F and rotate the trays. Bake for one hour.
After an hour, check the meringues. They should look and feel dry. If you see any shine or moisture on them, continue baking them for another 10 minutes. Shut off the oven and leave the meringues to cool with the oven for a few hours or overnight. When you remove them from the baking sheet, they should release easily from the parchment and sound dry when you tap them.
The meringues will keep in an airtight container for about a week.

Feel free to make these into sandwich cookies with more nutella!

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Sweet and Spicy Party Mix

Tomorrow is Super Bowl Sunday. A big day for football and partying for many. I'm not really into NFL football, (college football is another story!) I'm not even sure which two teams are playing this year. So for me the Super Bowl means two things: funny commercials and tailgate food. It's really just an excuse to break out the chips and dips, chicken wings, and see how many foods can be made into the shape of a football. I stashed this recipe away for just such an occasion. The combo of sweet and spicy make this party mix the perfect addition to your Super Bowl parties. Make a big bowl of this or it might not last until halftime. (like how I threw in that football reference?!?) Whether or not you watch the game or just the commercials, grab a handful of this party mix and enjoy!

*full disclosure: Hubs won't be home for the Super Bowl this year so I'll actually be munching this while watching Downton Abbey. I'm still upset/angry about last weeks episode, so party food will be needed!

Sweet and Spicy Party Mix
Source: Hannah Klinger, Cooking Light DECEMBER 2012

INGREDIENTS:
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme, divided
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/2 cup pecan halves
1/2 cup plain whole almonds
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
3 cups mini pretzels
1 cup crispy rice cereal squares
2 tablespoons maple syrup

METHOD:
Preheat oven to 350°.
In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, 1 teaspoon thyme, salt, cinnamon, and red pepper.
Put the pecans and almonds on a jelly-roll pan. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes or until the nuts begin to brown. Keep an eye on them because the nuts can burn quickly! In a medium bowl, combine the nuts with the butter ,stirring until butter melts.Stir in pretzels, cereal, and syrup. Sprinkle the sugar mixture over pretzel mixture; toss gently to coat. Spread pretzel mixture in a single layer on jelly-roll pan. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes, stirring once. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 teaspoon thyme. Cool completely.

Sunday, January 20, 2013

White Chocolate Strawberry and Lime Cheesecake Bars

Want to be a hero at your next gathering? Make these cheesecake bars. The combo of lime, strawberry, and white chocolate is outstanding. The bars are creamy, slightly tart, really really good, oh, and super easy to make. You don't even have to turn on the oven. Feel free to keep that info to yourself and just bask in the praise and adoration from the lucky recipients of these bars. Big pay off for minimal effort...pretty perfect!

White Chocolate Strawberry and Lime Cheesecake Bars

printable recipe

For the filling:
6 ounces high-quality white chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup chilled whipping cream
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
Zest of 2 small limes
1 cup thinly sliced strawberries

For the crust:

1-1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter, melted

Method:
Line 8x8x2-inch square baking pan with foil, extending over all sides. Mix all the crust ingredients together. Press firmly into the prepared pan. Chill for about 15 minutes in the freezer or 1 hour in the refrigerator.

Place the white chocolate into a microwave safe bowl. Put your bowl in the microwave and heat for about 1 minute. Stir. (Your chocolate will not look melted until you stir it.) If still lumpy, heat in 15-30 second intervals until it stirs smooth and creamy. Do not overheat or chocolate will burn and be unusable. Set aside while you make the filling.

Beat whipping cream in medium bowl until peaks form, set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add in the sugar, lime juice, and lime peel, beat until smooth. Beat in the melted white chocolate. Fold in whipped cream in 2 additions. Gently fold in the sliced strawberries. Spread the mixture onto the prepared graham cracker crust. Smooth the top with an off-set spatula or knife. Chill until filling is slightly firm, at least 2 hours. Using the foil, lift cheesecake out of pan. Cut into 9 pieces for large bars. Garnish with chocolate curls and sliced strawberries, if desired.

These cheesecake bars would make the perfect Valentine's dinner dessert!

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Rice Pudding

I don't know if I've ever shared that I have a deep love for pudding. Not the kind that comes from a box on the Jello aisle and certainly not that goop that's in a cup and requires no refrigeration. *shudder* I'm talking about the real deal. cooked milk and eggs, kind of pudding. That's the kind of pudding that I adore. When I was about five I ate almost an entire bowl that my mom had made for our family of (at that point) five. In my defense, she did say there was pudding in the kitchen and I could have some if I wanted some. As it turned out, I wanted more than she had planned on me eating. Oops. Sorry to the rest of the family...That's one of my earliest pudding eating memories, and me love for it has carried over to adulthood.
My mom is a very skilled pudding maker. She makes all kinds and all are wonderful. She's been know to turn skeptical sons-in-laws into pudding converts. One of my favorites is her rice pudding. I've had many versions of rice pudding but my mom's is still the best one I've ever eaten. It's super easy but does cook for a long time. Trust me it's completely worth the hour and a half cook time. If you think you don't like rice pudding, give this one a try and I'll bet you'll be a convert too.

Rice Pudding
Serves about 6 (or one really hungry pudding lover!)

INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup of rice
1/2 cup sugar
4 cups whole milk
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
pinch freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

METHOD:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together in an 2 quart oven safe bowl or pot. Place into the oven and bake for 1 1/2 hours. Stir the pudding after the first 25 minutes, then stir 2-3 more times until the rice is tender and the pudding has a thick, creamy consistency. If you want the skin over the top, do not stir during the last 20 minutes of baking. Allow the pudding to cool. Then refrigerate until cold through.
*I don't like raisins cooked into pudding. For me they plump up too much in the pudding and...yick, not for me. If you like them, then by all means put them in! You can eat the pudding warm, but I think it gets even better if it has a chance to chill down.

Monday, January 7, 2013

Pita Bread

This year I plan on trying to become a better bread baker. I'm not much for making New Years resolutions, if you do that's great, but I never found that they are a real force for true change in my life. Goals, yes we all need them but deciding on January 1st to revamp everything is not realistic for me. Plus who needs the added guilt of not living up to something that sounded great on January 1st. Usually by February 1st I realize that I've already failed at 90% of what I'd resolved to do...blah... Anyway if you do make New Years resolutions, then more power to you. I plan on making a lot more bread this year and sharing it here...we'll see how that goes!

If you've every bought pita bread at the grocery store, then you know that it's hit or miss. It can fall anywhere between soft and light to tough and dry. More often than not I found it to be dried out and not very tasty. Pita is a simple bread to make. It's very similar to making pizza dough and just like homemade pizza dough, it tastes fantastic. A couple of months ago my sister convinced me to give making pitas a try. After eating some of her homemade pita, I knew there was no going back to that usually dried out store bought version. These are pillow-y soft and oh so tasty. They are great for sandwiches, but I really like them cut into triangles served with hummus or bean dip.

Pita Bread
source:The 75th Anniversary Edition of The Joy of Cooking Cookbook

INGREIDENTS:
3 cups bread flour
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 packages (1 1/2 tbsp) active dry yeast
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 1/4 cup water, room temp.

METHOD:
Combine flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the butter and water. Mix together, about one minute. Knead for about 10 minutes by hand or with the dough hook on low to medium speed until the dough is smooth, soft, and elastic. Add flour or water as needed; the dough should be slightly tacky but not sticky. Don't add too much flour or the pitas will not puff well. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and turn it once to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise at room temp until doubled in volume, 1 – 1 1/2 hours.

Set a rack in the lower level of the oven and place a pizza or baking stone on the rack. Preheat the oven to 450°F for 45 minutes. (If you do not have a pizza or baking stone, preheat the oven, place an inverted baking sheet on the rack, and heat the baking sheet for 5 minutes.)

Meanwhile, punch down the dough. Divide equally into 8 pieces, and roll the pieces into balls. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes.

On a very lightly floured surface, roll out each ball of dough into a thin round, about 6-8 inches in diameter and 1/8 inch think. Place as many dough rounds as will fit without touching each other directly on the hot surface.

I can only do one at a time on my stone, but they bake so quickly it's not a problem. Using a spray bottle of water, I lightly spritz the top of the dough rounds. You don't have to do this but I think it helps make the dough puff a little better. Bake until the dough rounds puff into balloons, about 3 minutes then bake 30 seconds to 1 minute longer. Immediately remove the breads to a rack to cool. If you leave the pitas in the oven too long, they will become dry and will not deflate to flat disks. Repeat with the remaining rounds.

Notes:
Roll the pitas out thin but not so thin that they tear or they won't puff well. I found that if I rolled mine about 6 inches in diameter they puffed better than the larger rounds. There's a little bit of a learning curve on rolling and getting them into the oven. My first one stuck to the pizza peel and came out wonky. By the third one I had it down. I spritzed the pitas with a little water after I put them in the oven. The ones I spritz seemed to puff a little better than the first 2 that I didn't sprtiz. They cook really fast so keep an eye on them.