Salad dressing...

With the holiday eating season upon us, I though I would throw in a little healthy blog in here to counter balance the shear amount of tasty treats I'm going to be eating in the next few weeks!  So, I decided upon salad dressing.  Why salad dressing?  Well, I think that it is the easiest way to make or break a salad.  Nothing turns me off of a salad more (aside from wilty lettuce) than gross, thick fatty salad dressing.  I've been through my fair share of store-bought dressing that has tons of MSG and preservatives, and all sorts of ingredients that have more than 15 letters in them.  

I had always wanted to make my own dressing, but I had always relied on the special bottles that had all the measurements on the side, built-in-mixer-things and "stay fresh" lids.  I always ended up making like 5 times as much as I needed and most of it would go bad. 

 

What really amazed me was how a little Grey Poupon jar helped it all change.  All you need to make great salad dressing at home is a small (8 oz or so) jar.  It's the perfect size to make dressing in-I was always making what seemed like a gallon of it.  I actually use an old mustard jar that is square, it helps me out with the "measuring".  The best part about these jars is I always seem to have one on hand, they're free, clean up nicely in the dishwasher and if you break it, well, it's replaceable!

So, after all this talk of salad dressing, I'm not even going to give you a recipe.  What my whole goal is for this blog is to give you a start on how to make your own dressings, with only a few little ratios to remember, some hints, and let you go to it!  I should admit here, that I figured a lot of this stuff out with the help of Jamie Oliver and his "Cook with Jamie" cookbook.  But I've found that nearly every recipe I've come across, has a similar foundation for building dressings.

• 3:1. By that I mean your ratio of Oil to Vinegar (or another acid).  It doesn't matter what oil you use, or what vinegar or acid you use.  You could use olive oil and red wine vinegar like I did here or even Balsamic or white wine vinegar. Or skip vinegar all together and use lemon juice.  Go Asian style and use canola oil with a little sesame oil (it's a little stronger flavor, so you need to cut the sesame oil with something neutral like canola) and rice vinegar.

• Emulsify.  Sounds complicated but isn't.  A little Dijon mustard goes a long way in preventing the dressing from separating.  I just use a little scoop (like for the above amounts, 1/4-1/2 of a dessert spoon).  For a creamier dressing add sour cream or yogurt.

• A little sweet.  Now, don't go adding scoops and scoops of sugar!  I add about the same amount of honey as I do the mustard.  It rounds out the flavors a bit and takes a little of the bite out of the acid.

• Season.  All you need now is a little salt and pepper.  I couldn't even begin to tell you how much to add.  For the amount above, a pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper.  If you have a favorite spice blend, add a few pinches here, too. Fresh herbs, garlic, anything goes...

• Shakey shakey. No fancy blenders or food processors here, shake away (just be sure your lid is on securely).

 

• Taste for seasoning.  Take a leaf of lettuce (or your finger) and test it.  Does it need more salt/pepper?  Is the vinegar too much/not enough?   Just add whatever you think it is lacking and go from there.

• Dress the salad.  Sounds simple and obvious, but this is the most important. Have you ever had a salad that was just swimming in dressing or had been sitting in the dressing for an hour or so?  Yuck.  The key in this is not to drown the salad.  It's best to dress the entire salad at once in a large serving bowl.  Just a light coating is all you need.  Pour a little over, toss gently with your fingers (or salad hands, which are my favorite). And serve.

So don't be afraid to make up your own combination of flavors/seasonings/ingredients.  You've got a basic ratio to start out with, and just run from there.  It is just so simple and delicious, you'll never want to buy another bottle again.

Double Chocolate Biscotti

Hello everyone! I must first apologize for being so absent the past month or so.  Life got a little ahead of me...and all of a sudden its the 2nd of November and I don't know where most of October went!  But I went on a cooking spree yesterday, and have plenty of raw material for posts and I'll be back with more tasties more frequently--that's my goal!

I rummaged around through all of my cookbooks for some good treats, and found some good ones in the old plaid stand-by.  That is the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.  The very first cookbook I ever owned.  I've been caught up recently in the celebrity chefs, restaurants, fanciness of the Food Network recently, that I've forgotten my "roots" as it were.  This is the very first cookbook I can remember seeing. My mom still has it in her pantry with her cookbooks, too!

So I randomly flipped to the Cookie tab (OK, maybe not randomly.  I really wanted to make some cookies).  This recipe sounded fantastic to me and I figured it would travel well, since (most of) the cookies will be headed to Afghanistan for my brother's enjoyment.

These turned out really well, nice and crispy, and chocolate-y.  I've never been successful with biscotti before, but I think it was because I had a bad recipe.  I didn't realize that these actually get baked twice: once as a loaf and once as slices to crisp up.  They are great with a cup of coffee, and standup well to being dunked.  I hope you all enjoy them with a nice hot cup o' Joe!


Double Chocolate Chunk Biscotti
Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook
printable version

Ingredients
1/3 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
4 ounces white chocolate chips
3 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Grease a large cookie sheet or line with parchment paper; set aside. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, cocoa powder, and baking powder; beat until combined. Beat in eggs. Beat in as much flour as you can. Slowly.  You don't want a huge cloud of flour in your kitchen. Stir in any remaining flour. Stir in the chocolate chips.

2. Divide dough in half. Shape each half into a (not entirely appetizing-looking) 9-inch-long roll. Place rolls 4 inches apart on prepared cookie sheet; flatten rolls slightly to 2 inches wide.

3. Bake in a 375 degree F oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the centers comes out clean. Cool on cookie sheet on a wire rack for 1 hour. Using a serrated knife, cut each roll diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Lay slice, one cut side down, on an ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Bake slices in a 325 degree F oven for 8 minutes. Turn slices over and bake 7 to 9 minutes more or until slices are dry and crisp. (Do not overbake.) Transfer to a wire rack; cool.

Cookies for the troops!

My brother left for Afghanistan about 3 weeks ago.  He's in the Marine Corps and will be there about 6 more months. I've been wracking my brain to figure out what sort of care package to send to him (and the guys he's with) that would bring smiles to their faces.   That's when it hit me.  Since I'm living overseas with the military, it should be fairly easy to send him some treats that will still be good in the time it takes to get to him...

I was pleasantly surprised when I got a note from him yesterday saying he had already gotten the package...it was only a week! That means, as long as I can find recipes for treats that can travel well, he'll be getting more.  The other great part of this, is I can enjoy making tons of cookies, blog about them, and I don't have dozens of cookies sitting around the house begging me to eat them!  So, Brother (and your guys), these (as well as my thoughts and prayers for a safe return) go out to you, and expect more!

These cookies actually turned out oh so tasty.  They are a chocolate cookie with both white and dark chocolate chips.  I think adding walnuts or pecans would be a good addition, too.  Or maybe even macadamia nuts.  Now I'm just brainstorming.  Anyway, without any further ado, here are the cookies...

Reverse Chocolate Chip Cookies
From Food and Wine Annual Cookbook 2009

Makes 28 large cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa, sifted
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped into chunks
12 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped into chunks

1. Preheat oven to 350F.  Line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper.  In a medium bowl, sift the flour with the cocoa, baking soda and salt.
2. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, beat the butter with the sugars at a medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Beat in the eggs and vanilla.  Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed until incorporated.  At low speed, beat in the chocolate chunks until they are evenly distributed.  This batter will be very thick.
3. Scoop eight 1/4 cup mounds of batter onto each of the prepared cookie sheets, leaving about 3" between them.  Flatten the mounds into 2" rounds.  Bake on the lower and middle racks of the oven for 20 minutes, until the cookies rise and then flatten slightly; switch the cookie sheets half way thru cooking.  Let the cookies cool for 10 minutes, then slide the parchment paper onto racks and let the cookies cool completely.  Line the cookie sheets with fresh parchment and repeat to make the remaining cookies.

Spiced Nuts

So after my nut butter post, I found myself with plenty of nuts left over and wondering what to do with them all.  I looked through my cookbook library, and found an old favorite that I couldn't believe I had forgotten about.  Now I love the mixed nuts you can get in the can at the store, don't get me wrong. But this is a big step-up from those.  The cayenne gives it a little heat, and the rosemary gives it a little freshness.  The brown sugar balances it all out.  It makes a quick and easy party snack...I've even given away small jars as gifts.

Some recipe notes: The more types of nuts you use, the better; I only used 3 types this time, and I wish I had included more (but that's what I had on hand, and didn't feel like making the trip to the store).  If you can't find unsalted nuts, salted are fine, just omit the salt in the recipe or this will be waaaaaaaayyyyy too salty.  These are awesome served warm, but that isn't necessary, they are pretty dang good at room temperature, too.

The Union Square Café Bar Nuts
from Nigella Bites by Nigella Lawson
for printable recipe click here

18 ounces assorted unsalted nuts, including peeled peanuts, cashews, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans and whole, unpeeled almonds (about 2 1/4 c)
2 Tbsp coarsely chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp dark brown sugar
2 tsp sea salt
1 Tbsp butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350F

Toss the nuts in a large bowl to combine and spread them out on a baking sheet.  Toast in the oven till they become light golden brown, about 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the rosemary, cayenne, sugar, salt, and melted butter.

Thoroughly toss the toasted nuts in the spiced butter and serve warm.