Sweet Popcorn Mix

I could say that my family comes from a long line of bakers and the pressure is just too high to present beautiful cookies, however, the long line is really just one--my Grandma Gorscak. She worked in catering for years and as her grandchild, I was treated to various cakes and unique cookies over the years. From ladylochs to Serbian cookies with jam, her desserts never disappointed. While many of her recipes have been shared and my aunt has made some of them at the holiday times, I have yet to attempt them myself. For fear of not doing them justice. 

We celebrated her 90th birthday earlier this month and several guests had mentioned her amazing baked goods, further solidifying that I wasn't the only one to benefit from her treats.

So in my continuing series that I like to call "Why I opt to make cookies at the holidays" I present another simple sweet snack. This is a great gift to bag up for friends, which is exactly what I did.

Sweet Popcorn Mix

 

 

Ingredients/Directions:

 

First, in a large roaster, combine:

6-8 cups of popcorn (large microwave bag makes 5 cups)

1.5 cups of peanuts

2-3 cups of Cherrios

2-3 cups of Crispix

 

Set aside.

Second, in a small pot, combine the following & bring to a boil for 5 minutes (do not stir)

1 stick margarine

1/4 cup of white Karo syrup

1 cup of sugar

Remove from heat & quickly stir in

1/2 tsp of vanilla

1/4 tsp of baking soda

Drizzle the liquid mixture over popcorn/cereal mix.

Bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour, stir every 15 minutes.

 

Let cool and then serve, or package in bags for friends.

PB Pretzel Crack

I'm not the best holiday cookie baker. Often times I don't quite read the directions carefully, or am missing cookie molds, or some other pertinent ingredient to get things just right, and it often ends in disaster. Take the madeleines I tried to make this weekend. I had all the ingredients, but assumed cake/cookie molds were the same as cookie cutters. I was wrong. I couldn't use the cakey dough with a cookie cutter, so I ended up making them round. And they ended up flat. Nothing I care to share with the office as evidence of my culinary skills.

This recipe, on the other hand, never fails. I'm not sure where I got it originally (other than my mom, who I managed got it from someone else), but I can say that it is never meant to look pretty, it's super easy to make, and I never get complaints on it. Even from people who claim to not really care for peanut butter-based sweets. So consider making this for your holiday party or to just have around the house this December. It's so addictive, I call it my PB Pretzel Crack.

PB Pretzel Crack

Ingredients:

• 6-8 cups of thin pretzels
• 1 10-ounce bag of vanilla morsels
• 1 10-ounce bag of peanut butter chips
• 2 TB peanut butter

Directions

Melt the morsels, chips and peanut butter in microwave. Do this in short increments and stir on occasion, to make sure that it doesn't burn or get clumpy.

Add the pretzels into the bowl and mix thoroughly. This will break the pretzels into smaller pieces.

Spread out thinly on a baking sheet covered with foil or wax paper. Refrigerate until candy hardens (1 hour will do it) and then break the candy into smaller pieces. Serve.

Food Porn: The Pig

I'm never shy about my appreciation of pork. I even have a kitchen towel that says "Bacon: The Gateway Meat."  Because if anything is going to turn a vegetarian, it'd have to be bacon.

Earlier this year, a restaurant opened in Logan Circle called "The Pig." As you would have guessed, probably 80 percent of the food on the menu contains some sort of pig. And it's fabulous.

I finally got around to checking it out last weekend. Ironically on the first day of Hanukkah, with a non-practicing Jewish person. But I digress.

He found "swine fine" so we went on to eat a ridiculous amount of the good stuff, including the "little pig platter" complete with three types of pork products like prosciutto, housemade pickles, and baked crostinis. We also sampled, as picture above, the Carolina-style pulled pork with mac and cheese. Some may see the oil in the picture and think "why on earth would I eat something so meaty and oily" and I say, "why the hell not?"

Check it out. The food is great, service is awesome, and even the bathrooms are covered in pictures of pigs.

Bison Burgers with Gruyere Cheese and Caramelized Onions

As I've written in this blog before, I'm very fortunate to live within walking distance to several farmers' markets. The best of these markets is a bit of a hike from where I live, but when you're on a mission for meat, it's the place to go. The target meat for that trip? Buffalo.

I think I first had buffalo meat when I traveled to Montana for a friend's weekend shortly after graduating from college. But the experience stuck with me and when I've found a crafty bison burger on a menu in DC, I've opted to give it a try. One of my favorite burgers at one of the local restaurants here in DC offers a bison burger with goat cheese and carmelized onions.

I decided to try something similar with two of the bison patties I picked up at the Dupont Circle Farmers' Market. Except I used some leftover gruyere cheese that I had handy. I'd put the recipe down here, but it was truly as simple as carmelizing some onions, and melting some gruyere cheese on these burgers, which I cooked in a skillet. One thing to note about bison meat is that it is extremely lean, and can get overcooked very easily. I cooked it about 3 minutes a side. Served with a side of sweet potato fries.

CFC Chili Cookoff

Last week, I participated in my first-ever chili cookoff. This was an event organized at our office to raise money for the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), a government-led initiative to raise money for non-profit organizations. I was one of 15 entries within our division at the Department of Health and Human Services.

We had a lot of different types of chili enter the competition, from super hot firewater chili to a savory turkey chili, carved right off the bone. I opted to make a Cincinnati-style chicken chili. You may remember me posting this recipe.

I decided to revisit this recipe, altering the ratio of spices a little bit and using a crock-pot to let it simmer overnight. I think this is the best version I've ever made of this chili. I believe a large part of it was the crockpot. I had to actually borrow one, as I typically use a dutch oven. But I may now be a convert.

While my chili didn't take home the big prize (but it did win second place for "People's Choice"), the big winner in this scenario are the charities that will benefit from our efforts. This competition raised nearly $400 for CFC. And I even managed to educate a few people who had never heard for a sweet and spicy chili. A win-win all around. Mission accomplished.


Creamy Butternut, Blue Cheese and Walnut Pasta

When I try to cook vegetarian, it usually ends up being a dish with a pasta base. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I'm trying to limit my carbohydrate intake, so I opted to try a recipe that uses pasta sparingly, almost as a side ingredient to the main act-butternut squash.

This simple butternut squash pasta dish can be made with any tipe of rounded pasta, I opted to make it with gemili, though the recipe called for cavatappi.

Creamy Butternut, Blue Cheese, and Walnut Cavatappi (serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

4 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash (about 1 1/3 pounds)

2 1/2 tsp olive oil, divided

1/2 tsp kosher salt, divided

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper, divided

Cooking spray

8 oz uncooked cavatappi/pasta

1 cup prechopped onion

1 TB minced garlic

1 cup 2% reduced-fat milk, divided

1 tsp all-purpose flour

2 large egg yolks

2 oz blue cheese, crumbled (about 1/2 cup)

3 TB chopped walnuts, toasted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425°.

Combine squash, 1 1/2 teaspoons oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper on a jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 425° for 24 minutes or until tender, stirring once.

Cook the pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain pasta; keep warm.

Heat a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add remaining 1 teaspoon oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion and garlic; sauté 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low. Stir in 1/2 cup milk, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Combine remaining 1/2 cup milk, flour, and yolks in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Slowly add egg mixture to pan, stirring constantly with a whisk. Cook 5 minutes or until thickened, stirring frequently with a whisk.

Combine squash, pasta, and milk mixture in a large bowl; toss gently to coat. Sprinkle with cheese and nuts.

Walnut Streusel Bread

Last week, I bid farewell to a colleague I have worked with on our department's anti-bullying initiatives since June. She is going on to a fabulus opportunity, but she will be greatly missed by our groups. For our final editorial board meeting, I organized a farewell breakfast, contributing this walnut streusel bread. This is the second quickbread I've made in a month and I still find that my oven takes a bit longer than instructed for it to finish baking. But I've included the regular cooking instructions, just adjust accordingly per your oven.

Walnut Streusel Bread (serves 16...very tiny people)

Ingredients:

Streusel

• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 TB all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• Dash of salt
• 2 TB butter, melted
• 2 TB chopped walnuts

Bread

• 9 oz all-purpose flour (about 2 cups)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 5 TB butter, softened
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup fat-free buttermilk
• Baking spray with flour (such as Baker's Joy)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare streusel, combine first five streusel ingredients in a medium bowl. Add 2 tablespoons melted butter, stirring until well combined. Stir in nuts. Set aside.

To prepare bread, weigh or lightly spoon 9 ounces flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Combine 5 tablespoons butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium-high speed until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition; beat in vanilla.

Beating at low speed, add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; beat just until combined. Scrape half of batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with baking spray; sprinkle with half of streusel mixture. Spread remaining batter over streusel; swirl. Sprinkle remaining streusel on top of batter.

Bake at 350° for 50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs clinging.

Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Remove from pan; cool completely on wire rack.