12 Treats of Christmas: #2 Razz-Ma-Tazz Bars

Wow! Each year our cleaning lady brings us Christmas cookies and treats on the last cleaning she does before the holiday. Usually when she comes, I can’t wait to get home to see our house all clean, all at the same time. On Treat Day, however, I can’t wait to get home because I know the treats are waiting! Thankfully, she shares the recipes! You, too, will fall in love with this raspberry-y, almond-y, white chocolate-y concoction!

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RAZZ-MA-TAZZ BARS

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

2 cups ( 12oz pkg.) white chocolate chips - divided

2 large eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam

1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds

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1. Grease and sugar 9" square baking pan. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Melt butter in a medium-sized microwave safe bowl; stir.

3. Add 1 cup of the white chocolate chips; let stand. Do not stir.

4. Beat eggs in a large mixing bowl until foamy.

5. Add sugar; beat until light lemon colored, about 5 minutes. Note: do NOT skip this step, or even decrease the 5 minutes to 4 or 3. The bars will come out heavier and gooier. I know from experience. While the flavor is not affected, if you follow the directions precisely, the bars taste all the more heavenly!

6. Add the chocolate chip butter mixture to the beaten egg mixture. Stir until combined.

7. Add flour, salt, and almond extract; mix at low speed until combined.

8. Spread 2/3 of batter into prepared pan.

9. Bake 15 to 17 min. or until light gold brown around edges. Don't be afraid to wait until golden brown around edges. Each time I have made this recipe, I have had to increase this cooking time anywhere from 2 – 5 minutes. When done, remove to cooling rack.

10. While you’re waiting, toast the almond slices. I use my toaster oven…but you really have to watch and check—I have allowed the almonds to go beyond toast stage on a couple of occasions…and almonds aren’t cheap! You can also use a dry frying pan—toast the almonds over medium heat, stirring frequently, again keeping a close watch. Set aside.

11. Heat jam in small bowl in microwave for 30 seconds; stir.

12. Spread jam over warm crust.

13. Stir remaining white chocolate chips into remaining batter. Drop spoonfuls of batter over jam.

14. Sprinkle with sliced almonds.

15. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until edges are brown. Cool. Cut into bars.

16. You can easily make a double batch and use a 9x13" pan!

12 Treats of Christmas: Treat #1 Two-Second Turtles

So it's the Christmas season and you've agreed to be part of a cookie exchange. But you have three kids (OK, you really have two kids plus a husband, but who's counting anyway), a dog, a full-time job, and you haven't done any Christmas shopping yet. This shall be your go-to recipe.

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I've seen many variations and various ingredient substitutions, but this EXACT combo is still my favorite. The most difficult part of this recipe is unwrapping each Rolo candy. And these will freeze very well in a Ziplock bag after they have been cooled completely.

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Ingredients

Equal numbers of the following:

Rolos candies (chocolate covered caramel)

Snyder's Butter Snaps (the square shaped grid-looking pretzels)

Pecan Halves

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Decide the number of treats you wish to make and purchase ingredients accordingly. I wouldn't recommend substituting caramel Hershey's kisses--the caramel is runnier than Rolo. Anyway....

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Instructions

Preheat your oven to a very low temperature --200 - 250 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or Silpat. Lay out as many pretzels as will fit. Place a Rolo on top of each pretzel. Put pan in oven for just a few minutes. You only want to soften...NOT melt. When the Rolo chocolate starts to glisten, remove from oven and press a pecan half into each Rolo. If the Rolo doesn't "give" easily, toss the cookie sheet back into the oven for one or two more minutes. Allow to cool completely.

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Now, try not to eat them all at once!

Harvest Scalloped Potatoes

Are you in charge of bringing the potatoes to Thanksgiving dinner? Are you responsible for making the entire dinner? Either way, why not try the most delicious scalloped potatoes you and your Thanksgiving dinner guests have ever had?

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My very favorite spice store, Penzey’s, displays free recipes throughout their spice shelves that I collect as I browse. This is my all-time-favorite free recipe. As you read the recipe, you’ll soon realize why it is so delicious. Uh…hello: half & half and heavy cream?! Be still my beating heart. Literally. Hmmm….maybe that’s not the best cliché to use here.

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Anyway…looking for comfort food? Look no more.

Scalloped Harvest Potatoes

2 lbs baking potatoes (russet)
2 T butter, divided
2 c half & half
2 c heavy cream
1 tsp Chicken soup base
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp rubbed sage
1/3 c Parmegiano-Reggiano cheese, grated
½ tsp salt
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Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 baking dish with half tsp butter. In large pot, heat half & half, heavy cream, Chicken Soup Base, garlic powder, onion powder, and sage over medium heat. Warm until the soup base is completely dissolved. Cut potatoes into thin slices – no more than ¼ “ thick. I am the lucky owner of a mandoline, so the slicing part is actually fun! Layer 1/3 potatoes in bottom of pan, sprinkle with half the cheese, salt and pepper. Repeat. Top with last third of potatoes. Pour cream mixture over potatoes until it just reaches the top of the pan. Dot with remaining butter. Bake for 60 minutes or until potatoes can easily be pierced with a fork and crust begins to form. Serves 8-10.

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Now THAT, of course, is the original recipe. It is divine even without the changes I make. However, here are some additional notes from yours truly:

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1. The recipe should read: 2 lbs of potatoes OR enough potato slices to make three single layers in a 9x13 pan. The amount of potatoes really depends on how thin or thick you make the slices. So I like to have at least 4 medium-to-large sized potatoes on hand and whatever I have left over can become breakfast potatoes or something else.

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2. I always go a little heavier on the Soup Base…like a heaping tablespoon.

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3. I always go heavier on the sage, too…like ½ to 1 teaspoon. I want to taste it!

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4. Extra cheese is a must for me. You’re already using half-n-half AND cream…it’s not like you’re trying to cut fat. I like to sprinkle a light layer of cheese over each layer, so it really ends up being more like 1/3 cup of parmesan PER layer (so about 1 cup total).

BBQ Bacon-Chicken Bites

Counting calories? Vegetarian? Don't read further. You probably didn't make it past the title. But, if you're NOT counting calories--or at least not during parties you host or parties you attend, and if you're NOT afraid of a little chicken and pork dancing a jig in your mouth, then this recipe is for you!

You are well aware of how much I like Penzey's spices. This recipe hails from the Penzey's catalog. In addition to holding the ordering information for all of Penzey's products, the catalog also publishes little gems of recipes...and the following recipe is a gem! The product being highlighted in this recipe is Penzey's BBQ 3000. It is a dry spice combination--it smells like a dry rub you would use before grilling meat. For those of you who don't have access to a Penzey's store and are too lazy to get online and order up some of Penzey's wonderfulness, here is the list of ingredients on the back of the BBQ 3000 jar: salt, paprika, black pepper, nutmeg, mustard, allspice, citric acid, garlic powder, ginger, sage, thyme, white pepper, cinnamon, natural smoke flavoring. I am surprised that there is no mention of cayenne pepper, because there is a little "kick" to the flavor profile.

The assembly is the most time-consuming part of this recipe. Otherwise, these little bites are a super simple appetizer BIG on taste!

BBQ BACON-CHICKEN BITES

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 lb. sliced bacon
2 tablespoons BBQ 3000 (or whatever concoction you come up with on your own)
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
Wooden toothpicks

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line a cookie sheet with foil (to catch drippings).
3. Spray a cooling rack with non-stick spray. Place rack on top of cookie sheet.
4. Cut the chicken breast into small cubes (bite-sized...ONE bite...like 1" or so).
5. Combine the BBQ 3000 and brown sugar in a mixing bowl.
6. Cut each bacon slice into thirds. **It's easiest to do this BEFORE separating the pieces.
7. Wrap a bacon slice around each chicken cube and secure with a toothpick.
8. Drop each meat skewer into the spice/sugar mixture and toss gently to coat.
9. Arrange the skewers on the rack and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, until the bacon is crisp and the topping is browned.


MY NOTES:

• When I first started wrapping the bacon, I could tell my chicken bites were too big. You'll know yours are too big if the 1/3 slice bacon doesn't fit all the way around.
• I had more chicken than bacon, so I cooked some of my cubes without the bacon--they were still very delicious.
• This recipe would also be good with some sort of honey-mustard combination to season (instead of the BBQ 3000).

Now find yourself to a party and bring these to share!

Soup-er Sunday: Cream of Chicken & Potato Soup

This is a "here's-what-I-had, so-here's-what-I-did" recipe. Interestingly enough, after my post about Classic Chicken Noodle Soup, I had a conversation with my mom about the soup that she used to make when we were under the weather. So delicious, so comforting, just the smell of her soup cooking in the house healed us. My mom is kind of a potato freak. So instead of using pasta or noodles, her chicken soup contains potatoes. And so last Thursday, five minutes after I had dropped my little ones off at daycare, my provider summoned me back for poor little Drew, who was shivering uncontrollably. "I cold, Mama!" he kept saying. Not too long after we pulled into the driveway, my sweetie was sporting a nice fever. He hunkered down on the couch, snuggy in hand (and mouth) and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the tube. How can you deny a little guy some TV when he's feeling down?! Just few minutes after that...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
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And luckily, the stars had aligned just perfectly in terms of my refrigerator. It contained all the necessary ingredients for a healing chicken soup. There was a left over rotisserie chicken waiting to become stock, as well as some fresh chicken breast that hadn't been marked for anything else yet. And a few potatoes I had purchased at the farmer's market that hadn't seen the oven yet. Now we were cooking--literally and figuratively!
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The finished product on Thursday was lovely--and it was even "BC": Before Cream. My husband asked me, "Did you make this soup from scratch?" On Friday, at home again with sick kiddos, I made a roux, added some Penzey's Chicken Soup Base, some milk and half-n-half, and Thursday's Chicken & Potato soup became Friday's Cream of Chicken & Potato soup!


Here's What I Had & Here's What I Did (THURSDAY):

3 chicken breasts - I seasoned them with S&P, then put them in the crock pot with about an inch or two of water. I also added about 1 - 2 tablespoons of Penzey's Chicken Soup Base. If you can't get your hands on Penzey's, try substituting boullion cubes, or better yet the paste-type of boullion. I turned the crock on high.
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1 leftover rotisserie chicken - I put it in a stock pot to make broth. I also added some baby carrots, onion, garlic cloves, and a couple bay leaves simply because I had them.
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After the rotisserie chicken had simmered for a couple of hours, I strained out all the discard pieces, and added the strained broth and usable meat and carrots to the crockpot chicken.
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At this point, the crockpot chicken was well on its way to being done, also, so I diced up a couple of potatoes, and tossed them into the crockpot, too. When the chicken breast in the crockpot were done cooking, I pulled them out, shredded them, tossed them back in.
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When the potatoes came to a "fork-tender" state of being, it was time to eat!

AND THEN ON FRIDAY...
...the sickness saga continued, so I made a roux: Cook equal parts of butter (3 T) and flour (3 T) in a saucepan over medium heat for about 3-4 minutes, stirring--I use a whisk--constantly. You will have a pasty mixture. Gradually add 2 cups of milk, again whisking constantly, until you have a smooth white sauce. More milk = thinner sauce, less = thicker. In this case, thickness doesn't matter a whole lot, because you're adding it to a brothy soup to make it creamy. I also added...wait for it...MORE PENZEY'S SOUP BASE to the roux before I added it to the soup. Because...I am in love with it. And I'm in love with this soup. "BC" was great. "AC" - "After Cream" was even greater! I am my mother's daughter and I can make Cream of Chicken & Potato Soup.

Weeknight Cooking: Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu

I am all about authentic dishes. Long, tedious prep times? Not scared. Multi-step recipes? No sweat. Head to the store to get a specialty ingredient I don't normally keep on hand? Why not! Except during the week. Monday through Friday during the school year I'm all about fast and furious. First, when I come home, I am famished. If I don't think a meal will be ready anytime soon, I am going to eat whatever is in sight--and it probably isn't low-fat. Second, I'm mentally and physically exhausted from a day of dealing with high school students. Third, I've got two very young children. Enough said.

So, while I would love to be making my own bread crumbs, pounding out chicken breasts, rolling up ham and gruyere cheese in them, lightly sauteeing them and then finishing the cooking process in the oven--like you might do if you were making authentic chicken cordon bleu--it's Monday night, people. Please.

Good thing I found a quick and easy recipe to fake it! I had barely begun and I was already done! (That rhymes by the way.) The original recipe comes from the Kraft Food & Family magazine. I am going to tell you the original recipe, then how I changed it, and why.

EASY CHICKEN CORDON BLEU
from Kraft Food & Family Magazine (not sure month or year)

2 cups Stove Top Stuffing Mix for Chicken from the multi-serving canister
** I used a regular box of S.T. stuffing (6 oz) because it's what I had on hand.

4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (about 1 lb.)
**I have a 6'4" husband and I like to have leftovers to take to work for lunch the next day, so I used 2 lbs.

4 slices Oscar Mayer Thin Sliced Smoked Ham
**I had leftover ham from the deli, so I used that. It wasn't smoked. No big deal. AND sinc I had more chicken, I needed more ham, too. If you're following my amounts, you'll need about 6 - 8 slices of ham.

1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup
**I doubled this part because we like to have plenty of sauce at our house.

1 tablespoon dijon mustard
**First I doubled the dijon, because I doubled the soup. Then I added 2 more tablespoons because the flavor wasn't coming through enough.

1 cup Kraft Shredded Swiss Cheese
**I used Meijer brand, which comes in a 6 oz. package, and I used the whole thing.


Regardless of what measurements you use, the cooking instructions will be the same:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare stuffing mix as directed on package; set aside.


2. Place chicken in a 9x13 baking dish; cover with ham. Mix soup and mustard; spoon over chicken. Top with swiss cheese. Spread prepared stuffing evenly over top.


3. Bake 30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. (I had to cook an additional 10 minutes because the chicken breasts weren't small, and they were on the thicker side.)


4. Original makes four servings


5. OR the original would feed one hungry 6'4" husband + 1 wife + 1 picky 2 1/2 year old with NO leftovers.


6. If you follow my measurements, you can feed all of the above, and have one leftover portion size for wife to take to lunch and two decent-sized portions for the husband to eat at 11:00 p.m. while watching hunting shows!

Soup-er Sunday: Soup Vocabulary

I didn't really feel like making soup today, given our very warm October temperatures. We had the windows open, the thermostat said 70 degrees (almost turned the air on), and even though all of the ingredients for a lovely Cauliflower Soup had been purchased, I just didn't feel like gettin' to it. I mostly wanted to sit on it.

So I pondered the difference between some soup titles. What would be the difference between Cauliflower Bisque or Cream of Cauliflower or Cauliflower Chowder? I know when I see "bisque" or "chowder" in the title of the soup that I will be served a thick, creamy (heavy...calorie-filled...high fat...) soup. I also am already mildly familiar with "consomme" -- something to do with broth. So exciting.

Instead of grading papers, cleaning the house, taking a shower, or doing one of a million other things on my to-do list, I am here, telling you about soup vocabulary. I have problems!

Here are some of my findings:

BISQUE
Bisque, the food--not to be confused with bisque, the color--is a thick, creamy soup made from pureed seafood or vegetables. My hypothesis would be that it's the act of puree-ing that makes a bisque differ from a "cream of whatever" soup. If you're a history buff, or maybe planning to be a Jeopardy contestant someday, you can check out how the history of how bisque got it's name here. In 2006 my husband and I road-tripped through New England all the way to Maine. There, in Bar Harbor waiting for our whale-watching tour, we ate the best Lobster Bisque on the face of the planet. We still talk about it. Too bad I can't remember the name of the restaurant.

CREAM OF...
The Wikipedia definition says "Flavored broth thickened with a white sauce." Hmm. While I totally understand it, I really thought there would have been more mention of cream. To make a white sauce, you use milk or cream, so perhaps it would be redundant. For me, adding more cream is never redundant--it's intelligent.

CONSOMME

In the wise words of Wikipedia, "a consommé is a type of clear soup made from richly flavored stock or bouillon that has been clarified usually through a fining process involving egg protein. It usually requires an advanced knowledge of cooking and past experience to create a high quality consommé." Seriously? You lost me at "fining process involving egg protein." Clearly I will not be using any such process. Attempting to make a "high quality consomme" is not on my bucket list. Give me Penzey's Chicken Soup Base, I give you broth. Period.

CHOWDER

Chowders are thick soups that traditionally contain potatoes, milk and cream. Most popular might be the seafood variety -- think New England Clam Chowder. Also pretty popular might be Corn Chowder. My definition of "chowder" would be "put on a red-checkered-bib and chow on this big ol' bowl of thick soup." Get it? Chow? Never mind.

And so ends today's Soup Vocabulary 101. Any questions?

I have one: Got Soup?