There's nothing that speaks "Holidays" to me like Irish Cream. It seems to be the only time of the year when I even think about buying it!
I love Irish Cream in a nice cup of freshly brewed coffee, it warms from head to foot. These days in the Rogue Valley, we need warming. The temperature has barely budged over 40 degrees and the fog has settled in good and thick.
I also love baking Holiday cookies, it is November 30 and I'm already devising my baking schedule to accommodate copious amounts of cookie baking. Not one to leave well enough alone, I fiddled with a Sugar cookie recipe today and turns out Irish Cream is really good in a Sugar cookie!
This recipe is adapted from my favorite cookie book of all time; The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion.
2 sticks Smart Balance 50/50 Butter Blend (or 1 stick Butter & 1 stick margarine)
1 & 1/3 cups granulated white sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup Irish Cream Liqueur (such as Bailey's Irish Cream)
2 tsp vinegar (white or apple cider)
1 tblsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (or ground nutmeg)
4 cups AP white flour (King Arthur Flour is the best!)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt (heaping)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl with a hand mixer or bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter, sugar and vanilla until smooth.
In a small bowl combine milk, Irish cream and vinegar, pour into creamed butter mixture.
Mix until well blended, it's OK if it looks curdled.
Combine the nutmeg, flour, baking soda and salt and add to creamed mixture, mix until it all becomes a cohesive dough.
Drop by the tablespoon full, or use a small cookie scoop onto the parchment. Lightly butter the bottom of a water glass and dip into granulated sugar and press cookies flat to about 1/4 inch. Dip glass in sugar for each cookie and flatten all of the cookies.
Bake cookies for 20 minutes or until just beginning to get barely golden around the edges.
Remove to a cooling rack.
These cookies are absolutely out of this world as is....however.... there is a way to make them even more incredible.......Irish Cream Glaze!
1 cup confectioner's (powdered) sugar
1 tblsp Irish Cream liqueur
1 tblsp milk
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
Combine all ingredients and mix until very smooth. Add Irish Cream, milk or a dab more of vanilla if it needs to be thinned. Add more confectioner's sugar to thicken. You are looking for a honey like consistency for drizzling over the cookies.
Happy Holidays!
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Foodcrush Best Thanksgiving Recipes
I was just poring over my list of recipes accumulated and there are quite a few to enhance your Thanksgiving Holiday already posted!
Main Dish
BBQ'd Turkey Breast w/ Gravy
Lamb Meatballs with Smokey Blue Cheese
Buffalo Meatloaf
Appetizers
Oregon Blue Cheese Crostini w/ Fig Jam
Polenta Bites
Salad
Harvest Pear Salad with Pear vinaigrette
Sides
Easy Stuffing
Roasted Butternut Squash
Yam & Rum Souffle
Rolls
Manchego Cheese Knots
Desserts
Chocolate Hazelnut cheesecake
Classic Pumpkin pie
Cranberry Bread
Pumpkin Bread
....and don't forget the delicious Mulled Cider recipe!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Main Dish
BBQ'd Turkey Breast w/ Gravy
Lamb Meatballs with Smokey Blue Cheese
Buffalo Meatloaf
Appetizers
Oregon Blue Cheese Crostini w/ Fig Jam
Polenta Bites
Salad
Harvest Pear Salad with Pear vinaigrette
Sides
Easy Stuffing
Roasted Butternut Squash
Yam & Rum Souffle
Rolls
Manchego Cheese Knots
Desserts
Chocolate Hazelnut cheesecake
Classic Pumpkin pie
Cranberry Bread
Pumpkin Bread
....and don't forget the delicious Mulled Cider recipe!
Happy Thanksgiving!
BBQ Turkey Breast and Gravy
We normally do a turkey as a matter of tradition in our house, we have deep fried our turkeys for several years in a row, and the results are truly amazing. My husband is the "deep fried turkey" king in our family and has yet to set anything on fire, including himself, of which I am very grateful!
Just to mix things up a bit, we are storing the deep fryer in favor of the BBQ this year, must be a outdoors thing with him? We are working on a recipe for a BBQ'd turkey breast that I'm sure will make everyone drool.
The recipe we have been working with is an inspiration from Ina Garten, otherwise known as the Barefoot Contessa. Ina has some of the most classic, yet approachable recipes on the Food Network, her style is impeccable, her recipes are not too exotic, even my husband thinks she rocks, because there is always a nice cocktail to start the meal.
Ina's recipe is very classic, whereas I always seem to fall into the familiar flavors I grew up with. Paprika, cumin, garlic, celery salt are all flavors my family use on a regular basis when preparing meat dishes. The smoked paprika and cumin lend a particularly smoky flavor to the turkey, which will be enhanced by the BBQ.
A BBQ'd Turkey breast will feed 4-6 people with leftover turkey sandwich fixin's for the next day.
Start this recipe Wednesday evening and refrigerate overnight for a nicely flavored turkey breast.
BBQ'd Turkey Breast
1 whole turkey breast - bone in (approx. 6 lbs)
2 tblsp melted butter
2 tblsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic- minced
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp celery salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tblsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tblsp lemon zest
Place your Turkey breast in a small roasting pan with rack. Combine all of the ingredients above and rub into the turkey breast, rubbing some of this mixture under the skin as well.
Cover breast with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Preheat your BBQ grill to 400 degrees F. My grill has a temperature gauge, you can also use an oven thermometer placed inside the closed grill as it heats. Place the entire roasting pan with turkey in your grill and close the lid. Grill for 15 minutes at 400 degrees F, then lower the grill to 325 degrees F and let the breast grill for 90 minutes.
Turn your grill to it's lowest setting, remove breast from roasting pan after 90 minutes and place directly on your grill rack, skin side down. Grill for 5 minutes to crisp skin.
Turn breast back over and take it's temperature, 165 degrees F in the thickest part of the breast is what you are after. Remove from grill and place on a board to rest.
Meanwhile, your luscious turkey drippings are dying to be made into GRAVY.
Place your roasting pan over medium heat (or pour drippings into a saute pan). Depending on the volume of drippings, feel free to add 1/2 stick butter or so to increase the fat volume.
Add 2 tblsp of flour to drippings and butter, stir constantly over heat until a nice roux is achieved.
Add water or broth to thin out roux until desired gravy consistency is reached.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Just to mix things up a bit, we are storing the deep fryer in favor of the BBQ this year, must be a outdoors thing with him? We are working on a recipe for a BBQ'd turkey breast that I'm sure will make everyone drool.
The recipe we have been working with is an inspiration from Ina Garten, otherwise known as the Barefoot Contessa. Ina has some of the most classic, yet approachable recipes on the Food Network, her style is impeccable, her recipes are not too exotic, even my husband thinks she rocks, because there is always a nice cocktail to start the meal.
Ina's recipe is very classic, whereas I always seem to fall into the familiar flavors I grew up with. Paprika, cumin, garlic, celery salt are all flavors my family use on a regular basis when preparing meat dishes. The smoked paprika and cumin lend a particularly smoky flavor to the turkey, which will be enhanced by the BBQ.
A BBQ'd Turkey breast will feed 4-6 people with leftover turkey sandwich fixin's for the next day.
Start this recipe Wednesday evening and refrigerate overnight for a nicely flavored turkey breast.
BBQ'd Turkey Breast
1 whole turkey breast - bone in (approx. 6 lbs)
2 tblsp melted butter
2 tblsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic- minced
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp celery salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tblsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tblsp lemon zest
Place your Turkey breast in a small roasting pan with rack. Combine all of the ingredients above and rub into the turkey breast, rubbing some of this mixture under the skin as well.
Cover breast with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Preheat your BBQ grill to 400 degrees F. My grill has a temperature gauge, you can also use an oven thermometer placed inside the closed grill as it heats. Place the entire roasting pan with turkey in your grill and close the lid. Grill for 15 minutes at 400 degrees F, then lower the grill to 325 degrees F and let the breast grill for 90 minutes.
Turn your grill to it's lowest setting, remove breast from roasting pan after 90 minutes and place directly on your grill rack, skin side down. Grill for 5 minutes to crisp skin.
Turn breast back over and take it's temperature, 165 degrees F in the thickest part of the breast is what you are after. Remove from grill and place on a board to rest.
Meanwhile, your luscious turkey drippings are dying to be made into GRAVY.
Place your roasting pan over medium heat (or pour drippings into a saute pan). Depending on the volume of drippings, feel free to add 1/2 stick butter or so to increase the fat volume.
Add 2 tblsp of flour to drippings and butter, stir constantly over heat until a nice roux is achieved.
Add water or broth to thin out roux until desired gravy consistency is reached.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Local Turkey.... with or without bullets?
Searching for local turkey isn't a easy process. There is a very timely column in the Medford Mail Tribune outlining some options for local turkey. Of course, one of those options involves a hunting license. If hunting is not your cup of tea (I prefer not to shoot the poor turkey) there is some good information in this column for Thanksgiving 2009.
So...for 2008, it seems as though if you know someone who hunts or raises turkeys, you are set. If not, try to buy the most natural turkey, grown in the Northwest.
Click on this link to view article
Medford Mail Tribune "Since you asked" Saturday November 22
So...for 2008, it seems as though if you know someone who hunts or raises turkeys, you are set. If not, try to buy the most natural turkey, grown in the Northwest.
Click on this link to view article
Medford Mail Tribune "Since you asked" Saturday November 22
Sunday, November 9, 2008
A Local Thanksgiving
Growing up in New England, our nation's history is everywhere you look. George Washington really did sleep here! A trip to Plimouth (Plymouth) Plantation as a child was very exciting. Actors in period costumes transport your imagination back to what it must have been like. Those Pilgrims who did survive the first year on the salty coast celebrated their hearts out with the bounty of their harvest.
Truly, the first stewards of our land, the Native Americans living on the Coast of Massachusetts educated the Pilgrims on the importance of being a "locavore". The Wampanoag tribes had been living on the bounty of the coast for generations, fish, eels, lobster, clams, wild turkey, squash, corn, and many indigenous foods were caught or cultivated. Without the help of one particular Native American named Squanto, the Pilgrims who survived the first year would not have survived the second.
Are you looking for a way to celebrate Turkey Day in a local way?
Luckily we live in an area of America that has so much good local food, it will be easy!
Check out my list of websites to the right, you will be able to locate purveyors of local foods very easily! Since our local artisan food community is so supportive of each other, several local products can often be found at one location!
Let's start with an appetizer that makes use of our locally available foods.
Appetizer Idea:
Rogue Creamery Oregon Blue Cheese
Pennington Farms Fig Jam
Deux Chats Bakery Crostini
Unwrap the blue cheese and let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes to "bloom".
Spread a little Blue Cheese onto the crostini and top with a dollop of Fig Jam.
Wash it all down with a stand -up red such as Roxy Ann Claret or Red Lily Temperanillo.
Truly, the first stewards of our land, the Native Americans living on the Coast of Massachusetts educated the Pilgrims on the importance of being a "locavore". The Wampanoag tribes had been living on the bounty of the coast for generations, fish, eels, lobster, clams, wild turkey, squash, corn, and many indigenous foods were caught or cultivated. Without the help of one particular Native American named Squanto, the Pilgrims who survived the first year would not have survived the second.
Are you looking for a way to celebrate Turkey Day in a local way?
Luckily we live in an area of America that has so much good local food, it will be easy!
Check out my list of websites to the right, you will be able to locate purveyors of local foods very easily! Since our local artisan food community is so supportive of each other, several local products can often be found at one location!
Let's start with an appetizer that makes use of our locally available foods.
Appetizer Idea:
Rogue Creamery Oregon Blue Cheese
Pennington Farms Fig Jam
Deux Chats Bakery Crostini
Unwrap the blue cheese and let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes to "bloom".
Spread a little Blue Cheese onto the crostini and top with a dollop of Fig Jam.
Wash it all down with a stand -up red such as Roxy Ann Claret or Red Lily Temperanillo.
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