Pumpkin Praline Custard

I’ve been promising you, all my loyal readers (thank you, by the way), that I’d post this recipe. I mentioned it way back last Fall, saying that I had this low calorie, low fat dessert, perfect for the autumn months. I’m sure I’ve mentioned, I’m a big fan of anything pumpkin. Pumpkin pie is my most favorite pie. But I don’t make it, really, except at Thanksgiving. My will power is about zilch when it comes to pumpkin pie. I have an entire stack of recipes in my archives devoted just to all-things-pumpkin. Pies, cakes, tortes, breads, muffins, cookies, tarts, pudding, etc. But I try to stay away from them as much as possible.

The recipe came from Cooking Light, back in 2001. And the writer/developer raved about the flavor, telling readers it was worth making. I couldn’t agree more. This little number satisfies my yearning for pumpkin pie, but without all the calories, without the crust, and with a lot less fuss. And with very little fat. And it’s easy on top of it.

You’re wondering . . . where’s the praline? I ran out of time, so this time I served the custards with just a little covering of heavy cream (less than a tablespoon each). I make these in custard cups, espresso cups, or ramekins. If you use small cups, rather than ramekins, you’ll be able to serve more.

Whipping this together takes all of about 10 minutes (yes, really), then you bake them in a water bath for about 50 minutes, cool, serve. You whiz up the custard in the blender, to make sure the cinnamon gets distributed (ever noticed how cinnamon kind of floats everywhere it goes, especially liquid?). You definitely want it to disburse in this custard, so do use a hand mixer or a blender. But the ingredients can all fit in the blender bowl and takes but a few seconds to combine. Then you pour it into spray-covered ramekins and bake. I started the tea kettle to boil before I started the custard prep and by the time the water was boiling, I was all ready. But be sure to preheat the oven first – my oven wasn’t even hot when I was ready to put these in. That’s how quick they are to make.

A little bit about nutmeg here. I can’t stress enough, that there is real value (taste value) in using freshly grated nutmeg. Here’s a photo of a nutmeg pod. It’s about ½ inch in diameter, and I’ve had my nutmeg for years and years. I don’t think they go bad as long as they’re still in the whole form. So I bought this little gizmo, a nutmeg grinder, some years ago. It’s nothing fancy, comes apart in a jiffy, and contains the whole pods in a compartment in the top (you can see one pod inside) and the bottom part is the grinder. The flavor is so enhanced with fresh nutmeg. If you like to bake, you’ll find it worthwhile to have one of these grinders. As an aside, I went online and was going to give you a recommendation of a grinder, but having read reviews of several brands, I’m not sure which one I’d buy. They range in price from about $15 - $75. My little plastic one was under $10 when I bought it. Do read the reviews, though, before deciding on any of them. It appears the William Bounds ones get better write-ups.

Cook’s Notes: Make these enough ahead so you can cool and chill them. I serve them at room temp sometimes, and they’re fine, but the recipe indicates chilling time. You can make the praline pecans ahead of time.

Pumpkin Praline Custards
Recipe: From Cooking Light, 2001
Serving Size : 6
CUSTARD:
1 1/2 cups 1% low-fat milk -- or vanilla soy milk
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg -- freshly ground
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
PRALINES:
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1. Preheat oven to 325°. To prepare custards, combine the first nine ingredients in a large bowl and stir well with a whisk, or combine in a blender. Divide the mixture among six 6-ounce custard cups coated with cooking spray. Place the cups in a 9x13 pan, add hot water to a depth of one inch. Bake for 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove cups from the water bath and cool completely on a wire rack. Cover and chill.
2. To prepare the praline: combine the sugar and water in a small skillet (nonstick is preferable). Cook over medium heat for about 4 minutes, or until the mixture has turned a golden brown color, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and add the chopped pecans and stir to coat them. Then, QUICKLY scrape the mixture out onto a baking sheet that's been coated with cooking spray, spreading out as thinly as possible to cool completely. Break up the pralines into small pieces and use about 1 tablespoon on top of each serving.
Serving Ideas : If you don't have time to make the praline, you could also serve the custard with a thin film of heavy cream.
NOTES : This custard - or almost a pumpkin pie filling - is really, really good. And it's surprisingly very low in fat too. It's hard to believe it has so few fat grams! And the best part is that you can whip this up in such a short time. If you have the pralines on hand (or even candied walnuts would be fine too) it's a snap to make this. If there is any leftover batter, just pour it into another larger dish and bake a little longer than the cups.
Per Serving: 221 Calories; 6g Fat (23.1% calories from fat); 6g Protein; 38g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 73mg Cholesterol; 163mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain (Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 1/2 Non-Fat Milk; 1 Fat; 2 Other Carbohydrates.

Printer-friendly recipe.

Heavenly Cream Cheese Brownies

It all started when I was sifting through my file for cookies to bake. Our son-in-law, Todd, asked about the chocolate-chocolate chip cookies I blogged about 2 weeks ago. I don't suppose Todd reads my blog normally. But my laptop that lives here in the kitchen is the one he uses in the evenings to catch up on his email. My blog was up, front and center last night, so he started glancing through it, spying things he's eaten in the last couple of weeks. He spotted the picture of the cookies. There's just one measly cookie left in the freezer, I was sad to tell him.

So I wanted to make something for him to snack on while he's here. Nothing jumped out at me amongst my stand-bys, so I went to my file. The 100+ clippings I have from over 40 years of saving recipes. I used to be in an annual Christmas cookie exchange, so I have all those recipes. And little slips of paper from friends and acquaintances. Plus the bulk of magazine and newspaper clips, and a few taken from the internet. I had so many that some years ago I had to divide them up by cookie type (chocolate, bars, brownie type, holiday, spice, candy-type, etc.).

(this is my old recipe notebook circa 1965)

But, in looking through the very large stacks, I spied a photo of a cream cheese brownie which brought back a flood of memories. I went to my old binder where I used to hand-write all my favorite recipes. Went right to the page where I had my recipe for "Heavenly Cream Cheese Brownies." The recipe is not there. The yellowed scotch tape is still there, but the recipe, a magazine clipping, is missing.

I knew the name was exactly "Heavenly Cream Cheese Brownies. Figuring I'd find hundreds of listings on the internet, I put in exactly that phrase into my google search box. Nothing. Huh? How can that be? There's a site that tries to recreate or house archives of "lost" recipes. It's called astray. I was certain it would be there. No, not by that name. After spending far too much time looking at various "cream cheese brownie" recipes I went to my cookbooks and figured some of those home-spun cookbooks I have would list this. Nada.

I don't remember what type of chocolate the recipe used, but it seems to me that it was German's sweet chocolate. The method: you poured some of the brownie mixture in the bottom of an 8x8 pan, then poured on the cream cheese batter that had a tad of flour in it (there wasn't enough to cover the chocolate layer), then you blobbed on the last of the chocolate batter, which also didn't cover completely. Then you ran a knife through it to swirl it around. Bake, slice and eat. I always loved that recipe.

I dug out my box of chocolate ingredients. Actually I have more than one, but this one contains the myriad of bar chocolates I use for baking. Thankfully, there was a bar of German's sweet chocolate amidst this pile. I do eat chocolate too. But I diligently limit myself to about 1 ounce when I do. My preference for eating is the low-effective carb bars from Trader Joe's. The dark chocolate type. I wanted to stock up on them (to take on our upcoming trip), but TJ's is currently out of them. Hope that's not permanent.

My guess is that the cream cheese brownies recipe was first published (in a magazine ad) in the 1970's. My recollection is that it was an ad for Knudsen Philadelphia style cream cheese. I remember reading it and thinking, what a novel idea. I tried it right away, and was very pleased with it. Over the years I probably made it more than 20 times. Now, of course, that I don't have the original recipe, I was feeling bereft.

I finally found a recipe on allrecipes for a cream cheese brownie. It does use the German's chocolate, and looks much like the one I remember. And the directions seem to ring a bell. Many of the recipes I found used a brownie mix. I didn't want to do that, since I was sure the chocolate wasn't cocoa, or Hershey's liquid. So I wanted the real thing. So this one, submitted by a gal named Rosina, fit the bill. I also found a couple of recipes on the astray website that called them German's sweet chocolate cream cheese brownies. They're identical to this one, so I think I found the recipe. I'll hope so. Here's the batter all ready for the oven. I did use about 7 ounces of cream cheese. The original recipe calls for just a 3-ounce package. So mine have more of that light cheese swirl.

The report: excellent. They were exactly what I remembered. Bereft no longer, am I.

Cream Cheese Brownies
Recipe: allrecipes.com
Serving Size : 16
4 ounces chocolate -- German sweet bar
5 tablespoons butter
8 ounces cream cheese -- softened
1/4 cup sugar
3 whole eggs
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. Melt chocolate with 3 tablespoons of the butter over very low heat. Stir constantly until smooth. Set aside to cool.
2. Cream remaining 2 tablespoons butter with cream cheese until smooth. Gradually add 1/4 cup sugar. Cream until light and fluffy. Blend into this 1 of the eggs, 1 tablespoon flour and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Set aside.
3. Now beat the remaining 2 eggs until light and fluffy. Gradually beat into them 3/4 cup sugar. Continue beating until thickened. Stir in the baking powder, salt and 1/2 cup flour. Add to this the cooled chocolate mixture. Blend well. Stir in the nuts and 1 teaspoon vanilla.
4. Spread half of the chocolate batter into an 8x8 inch greased baking pan. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the top. Then drop the remaining chocolate batter by tablespoons over the top of the cream cheese mixture. Swirl through batter layers with a spatula for a marbled effect.
5. Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool in the pan. Cut into squares or bars.
Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 221 Calories; 14g Fat (56.9% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 21g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 65mg Cholesterol; 142mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 2 1/2 Fat; 1 Other Carbohydrates.
To view a PDF recipe, click title at top.

Grandgirl's Fresh Apple Cake

My friend Linda emailed me one day just to tell me about this glorious apple cake. With the most unlikely name: Grandgirl’s Fresh Apple Cake from Georgia. Huh? She mentioned it again a few weeks later. We do share recipes all the time, and she’s a good cook. She still works full time, so can’t go to cooking classes much, if at all.

She has the MasterCook software also, and I’ve taught her how to use it, how to capture recipes off the web and easily import them into the software. It’s really quite easy. MasterCook is not expensive software, but it’s a very powerful program that accomplishes nearly everything I need to do to save my recipes. I have over 400 recipes in My Cookbook within MasterCook 9. It has a lot of functions that aren’t exactly "advertised," but are subtle enhancements the program offers if you learn how to use them. Like scaling recipes. You’re having 10 for dinner and the recipe serves 6? No problem. Two keystrokes and you have the recipe re-sized for 10.

One of the things I like the best is the fact that I can create my own custom cookbook design. In other words, I’ve set up a pretty design for all of my recipes. If you have printed out one of the recipes from my blog, the recipe was entered into MasterCook 9, then I converted it to a PDF file (for Adobe Acrobat) so you can print the exact recipe, with picture, in the format I’ve chosen.

I love working with MasterCook. One of its better features is how easy it is the copy and paste a web-based recipe into the program. It takes about 3 keystrokes to get to the import assistant, a small help screen that requires very little to get the recipe into MasterCook. I move a few things around sometimes (the program likes the recipe to be in a certain order), I hit a couple more keystrokes and the recipe is there. Sometimes a photo is available; if so, I import that too. I never forget that adage - a picture speaks a thousand words. Or, I use a fairly new feature called the Web Import Bar which will help you transfer a web recipe into the program. Also very easy. I highly recommend MasterCook 9. You can buy it here at Valusoft for $19.99 or here at Amazon for $18.99.

So back to the fresh apple cake. Last weekend Linda drove up to our house (she lives about 50 miles south of us) on Sunday JUST to fix a wonderful dinner for us. Bless her heart! DH was delighted not to have to cook. I was delighted to finally eat two of Linda’s favorites that I’d not gotten around to trying. Grandgirl’s Apple Cake from Georgia was one of them. We’re still eating off the cake 5 days later. It’s SO SO good.

The recipe came from Paula Deen, and unfortunately it’s no longer available online at the food network, but you can find it at a couple of other sites if you do a search on the web for the title. It doesn’t need any changes or embellishments. It’s perfect just the way it is. It’s a dense, nutty cake. Just overflowing with apple flavor. And once the cake is baked, you pour over it this luscious buttermilk sauce that takes a bit of time to soak in. Please try this recipe. It doesn’t need anything to serve with it, but it’s good with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, or even a drizzle of heavy cream too. So, thanks Linda, for another winning recipe.

Grandgirl's Fresh Apple Cake from Georgia
Recipe By: Paula Deen via my friend Linda
Servings: 20
CAKE:
Butter -- for greasing pan
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 ½ cups vegetable oil
1/4 cup orange juice
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups apples -- peeled and finely chopped
1 cup coconut -- shredded
1 cup chopped pecans
SAUCE:
½ cup butter -- (1 stick)
1 cup sugar
½ cup buttermilk
½ teaspoon baking soda
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Generously grease a tube pan.
2. For the cake: in a large bowl, combine the sugar, eggs, oil, orange juice, flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and vanilla extract; and mix well. Fold apples, coconut, and pecans into batter.
3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a tester comes out clean, about 1 ½ hours.
4. Shortly before the cake is done, make the sauce: Melt the butter in a large saucepan, stir in the sugar, buttermilk, and baking soda, and bring to a good rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minute. Pour the sauce over the hot cake in the pan as soon as you remove it from the oven. Let stand 1 hour, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.
To view a printable recipe, click title at top.

Peppered Pecans

I suppose seasoned and/or sugared nuts have been around for a long time. Nut companies surely try to devise any way they can to entice us to buy more of their product. And I've tasted a variety of caramelized nuts, either walnuts or pecans, that go onto different dishes, most often salads. I've even tried the packaged ones from the grocery store. Didn't like them. Too sweet.

So when Cathy Thomas, the Food Editor of our local daily newspaper, The Orange County Register, gave a cooking class at Sur la Table several years ago, I signed up. I've taken several of her classes - she's fun and entertaining. She even leads food tours in our local Vietnamese community a couple of times a year. I've done that too.

But this particular class she prepared some kind of salad with THESE nuts. The only thing I remember about the salad is that it had sliced pears and blue cheese crumbles in it. But I'll tell you, my taste buds were all over these nuts. You know the word addicting. Addiction: at dictionary.com it's explained as the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming.

Oh my. That's me with these nuts. If you can stay out of the nuts, you're a better person than I am.

I've made them dozens and DOZENS of times. I usually start out with the original recipe size, thinking oh, these will be enough to last for several salads. DH loves them too. We'll enjoy having these for a week or so. WRONG. After I've made them I have to taste them to make sure they're not too hot (what kind of lame reasoning is that for snacking?) Usually I'm cooking other things, making the salad. You know, the usual kitchen detail for any dinner. One more nut. Set the table. Another nut. Maybe two. Start the vegetable. Another nut. Measure out the 1/4 cup I think is appropriate for the salad and leave the rest to continue to rest on the foil. Another nut. And so it goes. I think you've got the picture.

These are not overly sweet, although they surely do have some sugar in them. The pepper is what's a bit different. Addicting. Spicy. Lovely. And I highly recommend you double the recipe!

Peppered Pecans
Recipe: Cathy Thomas, Food Editor of the Orange County Register
Servings: 8
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground pepper -- coarsely ground
1 cup pecan halves

1. Place a baking sheet or jelly roll pan next to your range before you start.
2. In a small bowl combine sugar, salt and pepper, and stir to combine.
3. Heat a large wok or heavy skillet over high heat. Add pecans and toss until pecans are warm, about 1 minute.
4. Sprinkle pecans with HALF of the sugar mixture and toss until the sugar melts. Add remaining sugar mixture and toss again until sugar melts, then IMMEDIATELY pour out onto the baking sheet. Spread nuts out and allow to cool. These will keep, stored in a plastic bag, for about 3-4 weeks. (They'll never last that long.)
NOTES : These nuts were served in a lovely green salad garnished with blue cheese crumbles and pears at a cooking class I attended.
Per Serving: 115 Calories; 9g Fat (67.4% calories from fat); 1g Protein; 9g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 235mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 2 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

To view a printable recipe, click on title at top.

Classic Brownies (aka: the Best Brownies Ever)

I'm an avid reader of Cooks Illustrated. The magazine, founded and edited by Chris Kimball, is about recipes, of course, but the interesting difference is the fine tuning the developers do with each and every subject. Now you can buy special book editions of Cooks Illustrated recipes.

I've been a magazine subscriber, though, for probably 20 years. They take no advertising whatsoever, and each issue is about 24+ pages long. Each contains maybe 10 articles altogether, so it's not overwhelming. They take a subject -- like cabbage, let's say, or brownies in this case -- and they not only develop the recipe or a group of recipes, but the writer explains the process in great length and detail. I like that - I enjoy reading about the trials and errors. That may not be for everybody, however. So they talk about the ingredients process, sometimes the chemistry behind food combinations, and explain why using something in the recipe didn't work and how she/he/they finally found the "right" recipe. Of course, it's just their opinion, but I've rarely been disappointed by any of C.I. recipes. They also do taste tests of canned or bottled items - like tomatoes, (Muir Glen won the last time they tested them) or paring knives, or pie crust shells. That kind of thing.

So, back to brownies. This recipe was printed in April, 2004. The recipe developers and authors, Erika Bruce and Adam Ried, worked on this recipe for awhile to come up with their combination. After reading the article I just had try it. I was doing a dinner party that weekend for a fairly sizable crowd, and wanted something like finger food for dessert. The brownies were prepared, baked, and about an hour before the guests arrived I carefully cut them up and delicately balanced rows of them on an elevated cake stand and covered them with plastic wrap so they wouldn't dry out before people got around to eating them. People began to arrive and someone oohed and aahed over the large stand full of brownies. She reached in and grabbed one and ate it right then. She was in ecstasy, she said. So, someone else had to have one. Then someone else. About a third of the brownies were gone before I'd even served appetizers (*$%!+$). But the consensus was that these were the best brownies. Do I agree?Absolutely. I've made them several times since then, just not recently.

So when I was telling my younger daughter, Sara, about the creation of my blog a couple of months ago, she immediately piped up and said,"Mom, the Best Ever Brownies have to go on your blog." Now she's an affirmed chocoholic from wa-a-ay back. But, this being 2007, I'd almost forgotten about them, lo these many years ago (3). Since I had a hankering for some chocolate today, and I'm meeting my friends Joan, Janet and Darlene later this afternoon for coffee, I thought I'd surprise them with a little treat. We have a new Peet's that's opened up about 4-5 miles away (we have another one closer, but it's small). The new one is large and has lots of outdoor seating. And it's not that crowded yet. I do love Peet's coffee - they have a corner on the foam market in my book. I know, some people don't like or want foam, but I love it. Theirs is dense and flavorful. Always. We buy our regular drinking coffee from Peet's and have for years. I make espresso mostly, but Dave drinks Peet's Decaf Sumatra nearly every day.

These brownies aren't all that unusual, really. If you put the ingredients side by side with other brownie recipes you might not find much difference. It probably has more eggs - 4 - and not a lot of flour (although it is cake flour) which gives them a bit of a chiffon texture, so they're not as cakey as some. There is a punch of chocolate in these, but they make 24, so really 6 ounces isn't all that unusual. The color of the finished brownie is more like cocoa, or milk chocolate, but there isn't any of either in the brownies. The chocolate flavor is certainly there, but it's not like these are dense or chewy.
I've used Ghiradelli chocolate and Lindt too. And now I really like using Scharffen Berger. But in'04 people hadn't gotten into designer chocolate like they have now. When I entered the recipe into my recipe program I noted back then that I didn't have any unsweetened chocolate (which is what it calls for), so I'd used Valrhona dark instead and cut down on the sugar. Funny thing. I didn't have any unsweetened chocolate today, either, so I used Trader Joe's Bittersweet (it's a Belgian chocolate) and reduced the sugar by about 1/3. The pan preparation is a bit unusual - you line the pan in both directions with foil (leaving the edges hanging over the sides, which you use to grab ahold of when you're removing them), then spray the foiled pan with baking spray (the kind that has both oil and flour in it). I forgot to sprinkle the pecans on the top of these, as directed, but mixed them into the batter instead. Whatever you do, don't overbake these, and it's easy to do. I rely on my handy-dandy cake tester whenever I bake. My oven runs a few degrees hot, so I always cut down the temp by at least 5 degrees, sometimes 10, and reduce the baking time. These took 27 minutes today at 315 degrees.

You could make a half of a recipe, which might be less dangerous to have around. These freeze nicely, however. See how long these last in YOUR house! And Sara, these are for you.

Classic Brownies (the best brownies ever)
Recipe By :Erika Bruce & Adam Ried
Source: Cooks Illustrated, 4/2004
Servings: 24
4 ounces pecans -- chopped
1 1/4 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
6 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate -- chopped fine
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 325°. Cut 18-inch length foil and fold lengthwise to 8 inch width. Fit foil into length of 13 x 9 inch baking dish (preferably glass), pushing it into corners and up sides of pan; allow excess to overhang pan edge. Cut 14-inch length foil and, if using extra-wide foil, fold lengthwise to 12-inch width; fit into width of baking pan in same manner, perpendicular to first sheet. Spray foil-lined pan with nonstick baking cooking spray. If using nuts, spread nuts evenly on rimmed baking sheet and toast in oven until fragrant, about 4-8 minutes. Set aside to cool. Whisk to combine flour, salt and baking powder in medium bowl. Set aside.
2. Melt chocolate and butter in large heatproof bowl set over saucepan of almost simmering water, stirring occasionally, until smooth. (Alternatively, in microwave, heat butter and chocolate in large microwave safe bowl on high for 45 seconds, then stir and heat for 30 seconds more. Stir again, and if necessary, repeat in 15-second increments; do not let chocolate burn. When chocolate mixture is completely smooth, remove bowl from saucepan and gradually whisk in sugar. Add eggs one at a time, whisking after each addition until thoroughly combined. Whisk in vanilla. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, folding with rubber spatula until batter is completely smooth and homogenous.
3.Transfer batter to prepared pan; using spatula, spread batter into corners of pan and smooth surface. Sprinkle toasted nuts (if using them) evenly over batter and bake until toothpick or wooden skewer inserted into center of brownies comes out with few moist crumbs attached, 30-35 minutes. Cool pan on wire rack at room temperature about 2 hours, then remove brownies from pan by lifting foil overhang. Cut brownies into 2-inch squares and serve. Store leftovers in airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days (they won't last that long!).

NOTES : The first time I made them I didn't have the unsweetened chocolate, so I used Valrhona dark, which doesn't have as much sugar in it as some chocolate. In the same article the writers did a taste test of chocolates and the tasting team preferred Ghiradelli Bittersweet best. In 2nd place was Lindt Dark Chocolate. However, both of those contain sugar, so reduce sugar in the recipe if you use them.
Per Serving : 226 Calories; 14g Fat (51.6% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 26g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 51mg Cholesterol; 73mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 2 1/2 Fat; 1 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.
To view a printable file, click on title at the top.

Tex-Mex Jicama Salad

A week or two ago I mentioned Hugh Carpenter, a very talented chef, author and restaurant consultant. I think his name cropped up in the Los Angeles Times Food Section one year (this was back in the mid-80's) because he was consulting with several new restaurants, helping them develop their menus and specifically the food. Back then he was really into Asian food, but was one of the early advocates of fusion - Asian fusion - Pan-Asian, or Pan-Californian. We zipped up to L.A. on several occasions to try the food in these restaurant establishments and were very interested in the food combinations and layers of flavor. He lives up in wine country, but must spend some time in L.A. So when Carpenter began teaching at the Bristol Farms facility in South Pasadena, I drove up there to take some classes. I was impressed. He's a very engaging, entertaining guy, high energy and skinny as a rail. Still is. He must not eat a lot of the food he prepares, or else he's one of those kind of guys who has a very natural high metabolism. His wife, Teri Sandison, was there with him, and we learned that she helped in the kitchen, but her angle was pottery. More than one of the Carpenter cookbooks contains nothing but his wife's plates, platters, bowls, etc. and she's listed as a co-author.

This recipe was from one of the classes, although it could have been from a more recent one rather than years ago. I'm not sure, nor do I know which of his cookbooks this is from. I've made it several times, and it seemed very appropriate today since we're going to an afternoon barbecue with a group of friends. All I do know is that it's tasty. I happen to love watercress. It has a peppery tang that dances on my tongue. It's a little difficult to find these days . . . I don't know why, but it is. The salad is different (because of the jicama, the watercress, and the abundance of pecans), crunchy (also because of the jicama), and the dressing is a cloud of flavor with every bite (unique because of fresh lime juice and honey). But you just gotta use the walnut or pecan oil. Under no circumstances should you substitute olive oil or even vegetable oil. Actually I don't think I've ever seen pecan oil, but walnut oil isn't too hard to find these days. Just remember to keep the oil in the refrigerator - it doesn't have a long shelf life at room temp. Give yourself ample time for all the chopping and mincing. I think it takes about an hour from start to finish, but it's good to chill everything before actually serving, so if possible, allow an extra hour for that.

Tex Mex Jicama Salad
Recipe: Hugh Carpenter, cookbook author
Serving Size : 4

1 pound jicama
2 cups watercress
1 whole red bell pepper
1 cup pecan halves
1/4 cup lime juice -- freshly squeezed
3 tablespoons walnut oil -- or pecan oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon hot chili sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 whole garlic clove -- minced
2 tablespoons cilantro -- chopped

1. Advance Preparation: Preheat oven to 325°. Using a knife, trim off the jicama skin - hold the jicama on it's edge and slice away pieces of skin. This is much easier than using a potato peeler. Cut the jicama in small julienne pieces. You want about 4 cups total. Place in a plastic bag and refrigerate. Wash the watercress, discard any tough ends, and refrigerate. Char the red pepper over a gas flame or under the broiler. Just cook until the skin is charred on all sides. Transfer to a plastic bag, seal and set aside for 10 minutes. Then rub away any skin, stem it and cut into matchstick sized pieces. Refrigerate.
2. Place nuts on a baking sheet and toast for about 15 minutes. In a small bowl combine the lime juice, oil, honey, chile sauce, cumin, salt, garlic and cilantro. Refrigerate. All of the above can be done up to 8 hours in advance.
3. To serve: In a large bowl combine the jicama, watercress, red pepper, and nuts. Stir the dressing and pour over the jicama, then toss until evenly coated. Transfer to a salad platter or on individual plates.
Serving Ideas : Good with grilled meat. Since I have trouble finding watercress I have used arugula and it was just great.
NOTES : The dressing is sensational, and could also be drizzled on grilled salmon or halibut. Since jicama has very little taste, it's the dressing you DO taste. Give yourself plenty of time to julienne the jicama and red bell pepper. If you don't have Asian chile sauce, use some kind of hot sauce to give it a kick.
Per Serving: 361 Calories; 29g Fat (67.5% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 27g Carbohydrate; 8g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 281mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 5 1/2 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.
Click on the title at the top to print just the recipe.

Cranberry Noels - what? This is May isn't it?

Are all cookies seasonal in your book? Certainly I have a few cookie recipes that I don't make year around . . . like gingerbread men . . . or sugar cookies decorated with red and green. But otherwise, cookies are calendar universal. I had a bag of dried cranberries that needed to be used, and I remembered this recipe that's become a personal favorite since 2000 when my friend Darlene brought them to a Christmas cookie exchange.

If you haven't ever been to a cookie exchange, you should try it. These days, every woman's magazine blasts ideas for how to streamline our shopping, wrapping, decorating, cooking and entertaining during the holidays. Happily I've hostessed cookie exchanges for years. I had my first one in about 1971. And I've had them many times since - not every year, but every few. I love to have a variety of cookies to serve friends and family during the holidays, so what's easier than inviting a group of baking friends to share everyone's goodies. I can remember many times trying to figure out the math - okay, 11 people coming, everyone's bringing 5 dozen, how many of each cookie do we take? Got it. Oh, one gal didn't come at the last minute? Oops, change the number. Oh, another gal only got 50 out of her batch? Uhm, what do I change the number to now? Eventually we just took a bunch and if there were still lots of cookies, we'd make another turn around the cookie table adding a few more to our stashes.

I didn't intend this to be a lesson in cookie exchanges, but one thing I've learned is that each different cookie needs to go into its own plastic bag and sealed. Otherwise, someone's double mint cookies will infect all the other cookies in your container with mint. And all the bags go directly into the freezer after the exchange.

These Cranberry Noel cookies were the hit of the cookie exchange that year. Hands down. (Thank you, Darlene.) They came from Martha Stewart, but at the time they were the #1 winner of a Christmas cookie contest Martha had on her website. For this posting I did look it up and finally found it on one of Martha's forums here. I know they were originally part of a cookie contest because I wrote it into my recipe in 2000. She subsequently published it in a Christmas special issue, apparently. These are super simple - you mix up the batter, roll into two logs, roll the logs in shredded coconut, chill, slice and bake. And once they're cooled they go into Ziploc freezer bags and back into the freezer.

So, just because these contain dried cranberries, pecans and coconut, that doesn't mean you can't have them in May! I had one yesterday in the mid-afternoon with my cup of Earl Grey tea. Delicious.

Cranberry Noels
Recipe: Winner of MarthaStewart.com's online Cookie Contest, 2000
Serving: 48 Preparation Time 15 minutes

1 cup unsalted butter -- room temp
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract -- or rum (I always use vanilla)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup dried cranberries (sometimes I chop them a little)
1/2 cup pecans -- chopped
3/4 cup shredded coconut meat -- unsweetened

1. In a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about two minutes. Add milk, vanilla, and salt. Beat until just combined. Gradually add flour, cranberries and pecans. Mix on low speed until fully combined.
2. Divide dough in half and shape each half into 8-inch logs, about two inches in diameter. Roll logs in coconut, pressing firmly to coat the outside of the logs, but without misshaping the logs. Wrap logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about two hours.
3. Heat oven to 375°. Using a sharp knife, cut logs into 1/4 inch thick slices. Transfer to an ungreased cookie sheet, placing about 1 - 1.5 inches apart. Bake until the edges are just golden brown, about 12 minutes. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 78 Calories; 5g Fat (57.8% calories from fat); 1g Protein; 8g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 10mg Cholesterol; 23mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Fruit; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 1 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

To print just the recipe, click on the title of this posting.