Murrini Monday

These are cookies I made yesterday - they are not murrini. But they kind of look like murrini, don't they? Pretty pink cookies with cherry slices, rolled in sugar - mmmm. The sugar could be the sparkly dichro, the cherries could be, well, cherries. I've eaten way to many of these.

Here's the recipe for Christmas Criss Cross Cookies (or as I call them: Pink Cookies):

1 cup butter

5 T. sugar, plus more for coating

2 cups flour

1 t. vanilla

candied cherries cut in half or pecan halves

red food color - a few drops

Cream butter, sugar and vanilla. Add flour. Add a few drops of red food color until the dough turns pretty pink. Roll into balls the size of small marbles. Dip a fork in flour and press the cookie in both directions (hence the name Criss Cross - but I don't bother with that part). Place a pecan half or cherry half in the center of each cookie. Bake at 350 about 10 minutes. Let cool until you're able to handle them (they are fragile). Then coat in sugar while still warm.

These are so festive and simple, and they are buttery and sugary and delicious! My mom made them when I was a kid, and now my kids love them, too.

It wouldn't be Murrini Monday without some actual murrini, so here's a pair of mismatched mini murrini owl earrings - super cute and awesome murrini from Lori and Kim!

Coconut Cranberry Bars

Here's a festive recipe to add to your holiday baking - Coconut Cranberry Bars. A brown sugar crust and orange in the filling are a yummy combo in these bars. I have a picture of them cooling in the pan, but I forgot to take pics after I had cut them into bars.

Coconut Cranberry Bars

Crust:

1/4 pound butter

1/2 pound brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup flour

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans (I didn't use them because I didn't have any)

Filling:

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 tablespoons flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 eggs, beaten

1 tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon finely grated orange rind

1 cup fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup faked coconut

1/2 cup pecans, chopped (again, I didn't have pecans so our bars were nutless)

Crust:

In medium bowl, combine butter, brown sugar and salt. Mix well. Add flour. Blend well. Stir in nuts. Press mixture into bottom of 9 by 13-inch baking pan. Bake in preheated 350-degree oven 15 to 20 minutes.

Filling:

While crust bakes, combine sugar, flour and baking powder in medium bowl. Mix well. Add eggs, milk, vanilla and orange rind. Blend well. Fold in cranberries, coconut and pecans. Spread mixture over hot baked crust. Return to 350-degree oven and bake 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in pan on rack. Cut into bars.

This recipe is from the Noteworthy Two cookbook (a new recipe collection from the Ravinia Festival)

Hump Day Recipe ~ Focaccia Bread

I hadn't made this in a long time, and all of the sudden I remembered this recipe and decided to make it last week. The recipe is called Italian Focaccia - Onion Bread, and it is from The Frugal Gourmet by Jeff Smith (remember him?). I changed it a tiny bit after I made it the first time. Notice there aren't any onions on mine.

Focaccia Bread

2 packages dry yeast, dissolved in 1 cup lukewarm water

3 cups unbleached flour

olive oil

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1 yellow onion, peeled and chopped

6 green onions, chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

OR what I use - thinly sliced tomatoes, oregano chopped garlic

Fresh-cracked pepper

Place the water and yeast in a mixing bowl. Add half the flour, 1/4 cup olive oil, sugar and salt, and mix with electric mixer until smooth. Add the remaining flour, and blend in by hand. Place the dough on floured board and knead for 5 minutes. Place the dough on a Formica countertop or on plastic wrap, and cover with a large metal blow. Allow to rice about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.

When it is doubled, punch the dough down and knead it for 1-2 minutes. Roll out to fit a greased 9 by 13" shallow pan (I used a round cake pan) and place in pan.Let rise until not quite doubled in bulk, then punch hoses all over it using a fork. Brush the top of the dough with some olive oil, and then the tomato paste. Mix together the yellow onion, green onions and garlic and sprinkle on top OR place thinly sliced tomatoes on top, maybe a little garlic and some oregano. Preheat oven and bake at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes or until lightly browned.

The Frugal Gourmet says this bread is great on a buffet, or slice it in half and use for Italian sandwiches. I've never done this, but it sounds good! A little salami, a few green olives, red wine on the side . . . mmmm.

Family Favorites

Are you baking for the holidays? I am. We have certain family favorites that would be terribly missed if I didn't make them at this time of year. Who really wants peanut brittle in July anyway? So today I'm sharing two of my family's top-rated sweets recipes ~ shortbread logs (nice name) and peanut brittle. One is a cookie, one a candy. Both are delicious.

Both of these recipes require a a little extra time and a equipment. For the peanut brittle, you will need a candy thermometer. For the shortbread logs, a cookie gun or press is necessary. You can get both of these at stores like Bed Bath & Beyond or Wal-Mart. Or maybe you have a baking neighbor who would lend you hers/his.

Let's start with peanut brittle. I make a lot of this, and it's obvious by the way my cookbook pages are stuck together on the peanut brittle page. This recipe comes from my Noteworthy cookbook.

Peanut Brittle:

1/2 c. cold water

2 cups sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 cups raw peanuts or other nuts

2 teaspoons baking soda

salt

Lightly spray a cookie sheet (the recipe doesn't give a size, but a large one is good if you want your brittle fairly thin so the peanuts stick out).

In a heavy pan, combine water, sugar, syrup and butter. Stirring constantly, cook over low heat until candy thermometer measures 250 degrees. Add nuts (after you add them, the temp will likely go down. This is ok.). Continue stirring until the thermometer reads 300 degrees. Immediately stir in soda. Stir quickly, blending well.

Pour mixture onto baking pan. Spread candy as evenly as possible. Let harden. Salt brittle lightly. When completely cool, break into pieces.

This is what it will look like as its heating up, before the nuts are added.

Here the nuts are already in the pot, and the baking soda has just been added. The mixture will foam up and start turning a caramel color. Be sure to use a large enough pot. I didn't for this batch and it overflowed onto my stove. :(

Here is the brittle cooling in a pan.

Now for the cookies. There are very few ingredients in these and no eggs. They are really buttery and delicious, and the presentation is very impressive. They're very easy to make, too, for cookies that look kind of fancy. This my mom's recipe. Thanks, Mom!

Shortbread Logs

Mix 1/2 c. powdered sugar with 1 cup butter. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla, then 2 cups flour. Mix until smooth. Use a cookie gun to form logs on a lightly sprayed cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for about 13 minutes (watch them so they don't turn brown). Let them cool completely. They are kind of fragile at this point. Melt some semi sweet chocolate chips (you can do this on low in the microwave), then dip a cookie in the chocolate, and then in sprinkles or crushed nuts. Put in the fridge to cool.

This recipe does not make a lot, so I double it. I got my sprinkles in the dollar section at Target. It's become harder to find the finely crushed nuts, but my kids like the sprinkles better anyway.

This is the disc from the cookie gun that makes the log shape.

People will think you went to a bakery for these. But you didn't - you made them yourself!

Hump Day Recipe ~ Pineapple-Mango Chutney

I got this recipe years ago when I used to go to cooking demos at a local gourmet grocery store. The store would bring in area chefs to make recipes from their restaurants. It was a great night out for me and my mom because we got to try foods from some really wonderful Chicago-area restaurants, and I remember the demos were only about $8 each. Plus, they paired the food with wine or beer (but I was pregnant most of the time, so my mom made out well with that).

This recipe is one that I make a lot. It's from a chef from Shrimp Walk, in Highwood, IL. It's very easy (a key part of my favorite recipes), and yet it is sophisticated and so flavorful. You might not imagine some of the ingredients going so well together, but it definitely works!

Pineapple-Mango Chutney

2 cups diced fresh pineapple (I've used Trader Joe's frozen pineapple - just as good!)

1 cup diced fresh mango (again, frozen mango is a good substitute & easier to dice)

1/2 cup raisins (I've subbed cranberries - tasty and pretty!)

1/2 cup diced red onion

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup white vinegar

2 T. lime juice

1/2 t. chopped garlic

1/2 t. cinnamon

pinch of cayenne, turmeric, ground clove, ground ginger (these might not be spices you have on hand, and you only need a pinch. See if a neighbor can spare a pinch if you don't want to invest in a full container of turmeric. But don't skip them! They all add lots to the dish).

Combine all ingredients in large skillet and cook covered 15 minutes. Serve hot or cold.

Easy, right? I serve this with salmon, but the chef recommended snapper. I imagine it would taste good with chicken, too. Or over ice cream.

Hump Day Recipe ~ French Coffee Cake

Need a little something indulgent to get you through the rest of the week? I do! How about a nice slice of sour cream chocolate chip coffee cake?

This recipe is so easy, and you probably have everything in your house already (the only thing I didn't have was the sour cream). Grab a cup of coffee and dig in.

French Coffee Cake

Filling/Topping

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (these are optional at our house)

1 cup chocolate chips (I use semi sweet)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9-inch round pan or springform pan. Combine all the filling/topping ingredients, mix well and set aside. In a medium-sized blow, mix together the flour, baking powder and soda, and salt. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar, then beat in the eggs. Beat in the sour cream and vanilla until creamy. Beat in the dry ingredients. Pour half the batter in to prepared pan. Sprinkle half the filling/topping mixture over it. Pour in the remaining cake mixture, and top with remaining filling/toping mixture. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes on a wire rack before removing.

This recipe is from my Mr. Food cookbook.

Incredible Chicken

What are you having for dinner tonight? We're having Incredible Chicken. I'm not bragging - that's the name of the recipe, and believe me, this chicken lives up to its name. It is SO easy, it's almost ridiculous that it's an actual recipe in a cookbook. It's from Noteworthy, a collection of recipes from the Ravinia Festival. Ravinia is a nearby venue for outdoor summer concerts, and it's very popular to pack an elaborate picnic and a couple of bottles of wine to take to the concerts. Every recipe in this book has been good, so I couldn't pass up one called Incredible Chicken. Here it is:

INCREDIBLE CHICKEN

This unlikely combination of ingredients is delicious (it says this in the book)

1 chicken, quartered

garlic salt

1/4-1/3 cup brown sugar

Arrange chicken skin side up in a lightly oiled baking pan. Season fairly heavily with garlic salt. Sprinkle generously with brown sugar. Bake in preheatd 375 degree oven 1 hour. Cover with foil after 30 to 45 minutes if chicken appears too dry. May be served hot or cold.

Instead of one whole chicken, I use bone-in, skin-on breasts. It comes out great every time, smells delicious, and is really good with rice and veggies.

Chocolate on the Brain ~ Random Book Review

You may sense a theme here. The last (and only other) book I reviewed was a novel called Eat Cake. And now here I am with Chocolate on the Brain, Foolproof Recipes for Unrepentant Chocoholics. This one is an actual cookbook (though the picture above is of the recipe notecard version, the book goes for $18). Written by the mother-son team of Nancy and Kevin Mills, this book is choc full of chocolaty goodness. I've owned this cookbook for several years (a gift from my mom, who knows me so well), and it's obvious by looking at the chocolate-stained pages that the book is loved. For me, a cookbook is a hit, or worth the money spent on it, if you get one really good recipe out of it. I can tell you that is more than true with this book. I'm obviously coming off a chocolate high - I made the Chocolate Oatmeal Brownies last night - as I write this.

Kevin Mills writes an introduction to the book that is spot on. He says, "I don't trust people who say they don't like chocolate. To me, it's like saying you don't much care for oxygen, or you're tired of living aboveground. I just can't relate to people like that. They should be closely monitored, if not rounded up an reeducated." Kevin's humor and family stories are sprinkled throughout the book. So even if you don't intend on making the Mexican Hot Chocolate recipe, you'll still be amused by his story about his sister's trip to Mexico.

Every recipe is rated in difficulty and the prep and baking times are given at the top. There are lots of "Mom Tips" throughout, too, where Nancy recommends types of chocolates or explains where some ingredients can be found in the store.

I have yet to try most of the recipes in the book - I tend to stick with the old standbys: brownies & cookies. But there's everything from Chocolate Chip Mini Bagels (Not So Easy) to Mississippi Mud Pie (Easy). One of these days I'll venture into the chapter on pies or puddings. For now, I'm extremely satisfied with Intensely Chocolate Cocoa Brownies (Very Easy). Here's what Kevin says about them:

"When regular brownies don't give you the chocolate fix you need, it's time to move on to the harder stuff. Intensely Chocolate Cocoa Brownies are the next best thing to injecting chocolate syrup into your veins."

Intensely Chocolate Cocoa Brownies

Makes: 25 (1.5 inch squares), Prep time: 15 minutes, Baking time: 15-20 minutes, Rating: Very Easy

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter + more for greasing

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Place an oven rack in the middle position and preheat to 350. Lin an 8- or 9-inch sq. pan with aluminum foil, making sure two ends of the foil overhang the pan by about 2 inches so you can easily lift the brownies out of the pan later. Lightly rub the bottom and sides of the foil with butter, set aside.

Melt the butter in a medium pot over low heat. When it has melted, turn off the heat and stir in the cocoa. Add the sugar, eggs and vanilla, mix thoroughly.

Add the flour, baking powder and salt and mix just until combined. If you are adding walnuts, stir them in now.

Pour the batter into the foil-lined pan and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the top feels firm. These brownies taste better underbaked rather than overbaked. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Carefully lift the ends of the foil and remove the brownies from the pan. Cut into 25 squares and serve. Store in an airtight container or wrapped in foil or plastic wrap.

~ from Chocolate on the Brain, by Kevin Mills and Nancy Mills

And here is my photo of the finished product - I added chocolate chips to the top. :)