Making Homemade Orange Marmalade

I fell hopelessly in love with orange marmalade during a trip to Scotland in the same way that I fell in love with clotted cream while living in Oxford.  I knew from the first bite of each that they would be permanent fixtures in my kitchen, and I had hoped to one day learn to duplicate these British delicacies.

Inasmuch as I thoroughly enjoy, and am a prolific prolific maker of relishes and chutney, the skill involved in successfully making jams and jellies has always eluded me.  So when I saw this can of Seville oranges at Williams-Sonoma and read the very simple instructions, I knew I had to give it a try.  I was very pleased with the results.  This can makes an excellent and very fresh tasting marmalade reminiscent of what I had each morning in Edinburgh, and the process is astoundingly easy.  A can of Seville oranges, sugar, and a "knob" of butter are all it takes to get wonderful results.

I encourage anyone who loves marmalade the way that I do, but who has always been a bit hesitant to make it, to buy yourself a can of these Seville oranges and plunge right in.  I knew I had it right when my brother-in-law said he disliked this as much as he disliked the Keiller Dundee brand from Scotland.  Success!

Another resolution to check off of my list!  

Of course we had to have the marmalade for breakfast this morning, so I made a batch of Mile High Biscuits in order to try it out. DELICIOUS!

MILE HIGH BISCUITS

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
1 egg, beaten
1 1/4 cups milk

Whisk together first five ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add egg and milk; mix until dough forms a ball. Do NOT overmix. Turn dough out on a lightly floured surface and knead 10-12 times, only. Roll out to 3/4 inch, cut with a 1-1/2" round floured biscuit cutter. Place on lightly greased baking sheet and bake at 475 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until golden.

Soul-satisfying Steel Cut Oats

It was with great anticipation that I awaited the arrival of this morning's New York Times, as the Wednesday issue (like the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and presumably every other national paper) has the beloved Food Section.  At this time of the year it usually means the year-end wrap-up of the best of the best recipes of 2010.  Boy, was I wrong!  While they may have been top recipes in the NYT the very thought of eating broiled sardines, codfish fritters with lamb sausage ragu, chili lobster (Really?  Lobster, in chili?  Why?!), or celery sorbet (Now come on!), made me want to hurl.


Do people really eat this?  And by people I do include the adventurous New Yorkers who, it would seem, are willing to intrepidly devour anything in the name of fashion.  I'll never forget watching, in horror, a food program featuring a New York restaurant that served not only beetles and other insects, but live worms to its willing patrons, the latter of which were cultivated by the proprietor on his apartment balcony.  Surely, I thought, the waitstaff must be peering out of the kitchen, holding their sides with laughter, as diners who paid top dollar in an effort to be trendy, consumed items that used to get my hands slapped by my mother along with the admonish, "Put that slimy thing down!"  (I can't say I disagree.)


So, instead of planning a special meal of recipes from theTimes, I fixed myself a bowl of soul-satisfying steel cut McCann's Irish Oatmeal, and ate it while I watched the rain fall.  Drizzled with cream, studded with raisins, and topped with brown sugar, I thought that nothing could be more appealing on this wintry day.

Ritz Cracker Thin Mint Clones

"Remember, a balanced meal is a cookie in each hand!" - Anonymous

Just before Christmas a friend asked me if I had a good recipe for cookies that tasted like the popular Girl Scout cookie, Thin Mints. My only experience, up until now, was a recipe that Sandra Lee of the Food Network had provided some years ago which was coating vanilla wafers with mint-flavored chocolate.  So, one year I tried this, and put the cookies out on the tray.  My oldest son grabbed one, bit into it and said, "What is this, a Vanilla Wafer covered with chocolate?"  Umm, yes, it was, and it was obvious that it was.

This year, however, my daughter-in-law (different son) told me about a very simple recipe to make an amazing clone of the beloved cookies.  I tried it and am hooked. These are wonderful and the recipe couldn't be simpler.

Girl Scout Thin Mint Clone

1 12-oz. bag chocolate chips

3-4 drops peppermint oil

A sleeve of Ritz Crackers

Melt the chocolate over simmering water in the top of a double boiler.  Add peppermint oil to taste.  Dip crackers, coating well with chocolate, and place onto waxed paper to set.

I made these after midnight the evening before our Boxing Day dinner.  I used 60% cacao Ghirardelli chocolate chips and whatever happened to be left in the bottle of mint extract (my guess is probably 1/4 teaspoon). After letting them set, I decided to give them a more festive look by melting about 1/2 cup of green mint Ghirardelli chips and drizzling this over the top.

Delicious!

I'll never buy a Thin Mint again (but don't worry, Girl Scouts, there are plenty of your other offerings that I will buy!)

Lacquered Short Ribs with Spicy Ginger Sauce

During this very busy time of the year, quick, but delicious, hearty, strengthening meals are a must.  With so many errands to run, gifts to buy, and chores to do I find I rely more on my Crockpot now than during any other season.  So, when disaster struck two weeks ago in our Fibber McGee Closet when the electric skillet plunged to its death, landing on top of the Crockpot, cracking the bowl, I knew I had to do something fast.

Coupon in hand, I was off like a shot to Bed, Bath and Beyond where I purchased a newer model with a timer (Yay!), and made this delicious recipe for tonight.  (I also made Dorie Greenspan's Parisian Mushroom Soup - more about that later.)

I was lucky to have found seriously meaty, dense short ribs.  I bought only 1-1/2 pounds of meat, so halved the recipe (but not the cooking time, and chose the low setting over the high one).  As frequent preparers of ethnic foods I happened to have all of the ingredients in our pantry, but if you don't, this recipe is worth the purchase.  It is a bit spicy, so if a little heat bothers you, consider cutting back on the pepper flakes and Sriracha sauce.  It is tasty and different from any other short rib recipe I've tried.

It goes together in the morning before you head out, and is the perfect meal for a frigid day, warming you both inside and out.

Lacquered Short Ribs with Spicy Ginger Sauce

Cuisine at Home, Slow Cooker Menus

(Printable Recipe)

For the short ribs:

3 lbs. short ribs, seasoned with salt and pepper

1 T. olive oil

For the spicy ginger sauce:

1/2 cup chopped scallions

1/4 cup minced fresh ginger root

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1/4 Sriracha sauce

1/4 cup molasses or cane syrup

1/4 cup hoisin sauce

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1 tsp fennel seed

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Brown ribs in the olive oil over medium-high heat. Work in batches and don't crowd the ribs. Transfer the ribs to your crock pot.

Combine the scallions, ginger root, brown sugar, Sriracha sauce, molasses or syrup, hoisin sauce, lime juice, fennel seed and pepper flakes. Pour the sauce over the ribs. Cover and cook on high for about five hours or low for 8 hours.

Serve over rice or noodles.

SURPRISE COOKIES

If this picture doesn't make you want to lick the screen then you don't like chocolate, and to me, nothing says a really good cookie like chocolate. A chocolate cookie with chocolate icing, oh boy, heaven! Toss a marshmallow into the mix and you have bliss. Well, what you actually have is the recipe for Martha Stewart's Surprise Cookies from her book COOKIES, and it's no surprise that they are delicious.

This was an easy and fun cookie to make, destined to become a regular on the holiday cookie tray. The end result was a chewy cookie with an almost cake-like interior. The marshmallow topper was very good, and the frosting deliciously chocolaty. I poured my frosting into an icing bottle and squirted it on in a circular motion which made this a quick and easy way to get the job done. Rich and delicious, one of these makes an excellent dessert.

MARTHA STEWART'S SURPRISE COOKIES

(Printable Recipe)

Makes about 2 dozen

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

12 large marshmallows, cut in half horizontally

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg, milk, and vanilla, and beat until well combined. Add reserved flour mixture; mix on low speed until combined.

Using a tablespoon or 1 3/4-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto ungreased baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies begin to spread and become firm, 10 to 12 minutes.

Remove baking sheets from oven, and place a marshmallow, cut-side down, in the center of each cookie, pressing down slightly. Return to oven, and continue baking until marshmallows begins to melt, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

Spread about 1 tablespoon of frosting over each marshmallow, starting in the center and continuing outward until marshmallow is covered.

FROSTING

Makes 1 cup

2 cups confectioners' sugar

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/4 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Place confectioners' sugar in a medium bowl. Whisk in butter and cocoa powder. Add milk and vanilla, and whisk until well combined.

 

This is linked to Cookbook Sundays, Seasonal Sundays and Tasty Tuesdays.

HOLIDAY PROJECT # 2 - Pretty Packages



A wrapped gift employing the use of florals, a glue gun, and a recycled bow.



I made quite a score at Michael's the other day when they put their florals on sale for half off and THEN had a coupon to get an additional 15% off of an entire order including sale items.  Can you say, giddy with excitement?

Just a  fraction of the items I got ON SALE at Michael's.

Looking at all of the beautiful winter flowers and greenery gave me an idea (helped, no doubt, by being stuck in a long and slow-moving line next to a rack of glue guns).  Why not skip the ribbons and bows on wrapped packages this year in favor of flowers and greenery? And wouldn't using a glue gun be so much faster?

Do you know what? It is!  And not only faster, but the packages are prettier and it looks like you've spent hours on them when essentially you've just spent minutes (plus the time it takes to you  heat up the glue gun and try to remember where you put the wire cutters).

In order to expedite things, it helps to snip all of the leaves and flowers from their stems using wire cutters, or a sharp and powerful pair of kitchen shears (The kind that cuts through a chicken carcass with ease works particularly well.).  Discard the stems, and divide into "leaf" piles and "flower" piles, then sort by color.

Warm up your glue gun while wrapping gifts so you'll be ready.  Then, assembly-line style, hot glue flowers securely in place with dabs of glue in the center and on about half of the outside petals.  Then put a dot of glue underneath the base of the leaves and place them where desired beneath the flower, pressing down until the glue takes hold. Voila!  A beautifully-wrapped, professional-looking package in no time and on a budget.

I used a bit of sparkly gold curling ribbon on this package to bring out the gold on the flower.

After a while you'll develop both a rhythm and a real eye for design.  If you need some inspiration, I recommend Carolyne Roehm's book, Presentations: A Passion for Gift Wrapping.

This is linked to Metamorphosis Monday.

Panettone French Toast

One of the many things I enjoy about this time of the year is the appearance of Panettone on the shelves of local markets and import stores.  This Milanese sweet bread is a favorite of mine when toasted for breakfast, but this morning I thought I'd try something new and turn it into French Toast.  Wow, was this ever a great idea!  I based my version on Ina Garten's Challah French Toast recipe that appears in her Barefoot Contessa Family Style Cookbook, substituting the Panettone for Challah, and scaling it down to serve two. It was delicious and a very special treat for the season.

Slice a fresh loaf of Panettone into 3/4" thick slices.

Soak slice in egg mixture for 5 minutes.

Flip slice after 2-1/2 minutes for even coverage.

Fry 2-3 minutes per side until golden brown.

Panettone French Toast for 2

(Printable Recipe)

2 extra-large eggs

1/2 cups half-and-half or milk

1 teaspoon grated orange zest

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon good honey

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

2 large slices Panettone
Unsalted butter

Vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.

In a 9" x 9" baking dish, whisk together the eggs, half-and-half, orange zest, vanilla, honey, and salt. Slice the panettone into 3/4-inch thick slices. Soak one slice at a time in the egg mixture for 5 minutes, turning once.

Heat 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon oil in a very large saute pan over medium heat (I used my Cuisinart Griddler). Add the soaked bread and cook for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until nicely browned. Place the cooked French toast on a sheet pan and keep it warm in the oven. Fry the remaining soaked bread slice, adding butter and oil as needed, until it's all cooked. Serve hot with maple syrup, raspberry preserves, and/or confectioners' sugar.