Garlic Knots

If you love garlic and bread, well here is an awesome combination.  I had these years ago in an "authentic" Italian restaurant.  Here's the recipe ...

Garlic Knots

Makes 12 knots

You'll need 2 tablespoons minced garlic.

10	garlic cloves , minced (see note)
6	tablespoons  unsalted butter
1	teaspoon plus 3/4 cup  water , heated to 110 degrees
1 1/8	teaspoons  instant or rapid-rise yeast
2	cups  all-purpose flour
1	teaspoon  salt

1. WARM OVEN Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 200 degrees. When oven reaches 200 degrees, turn it off. Grease large bowl.

2. MAKE GARLIC BUTTER Cook garlic, 1 tablespoon butter, and 1 teaspoon water in small nonstick skillet over low heat, stirring occasionally, until garlic is straw colored, 8 to 10 minutes. Add remaining butter, stirring until melted. Let stand 10 minutes off heat. Strain garlic butter through fine-mesh strainer into small bowl; reserve garlic solids.

3. MAKE DOUGH Whisk remaining water, 1 tablespoon garlic butter, reserved garlic solids, and yeast in liquid measuring cup until yeast dissolves. In bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook, mix flour and salt until combined. With mixer on low, add water mixture in steady stream and mix until dough comes together, about 1 minute. Increase speed to medium and knead until dough is smooth and comes away from sides of bowl, about 6 minutes. Turn dough onto clean work surface and knead briefly to form smooth, cohesive ball. Transfer dough to prepared bowl and turn to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and place in turned-off oven until dough has doubled in size, 40 to 50 minutes.

4. SHAPE KNOTS Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Punch down dough on floured surface. Roll dough into 12- by 6-inch rectangle and cut into twelve 6-inch strips. With flat hands, roll each strip into 12-inch ropes. Tie ropes into knots, tucking tails. Place on prepared baking sheet. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and return to turned-off oven until doubled in size, about 20 minutes.

5. BAKE Remove knots from oven and discard plastic. Heat oven to 500 degrees. Return knots to oven and bake until set, about 5 minutes. Remove knots from oven and brush with 2 tablespoons garlic butter. Rotate, return to oven, and bake until golden, about 4 minutes. Brush knots with remaining garlic butter and cool 5 minutes. Transfer to wire rack. Serve warm.

MAKE AHEAD Shaped knots can be refrigerated, covered, for 24 hours. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oven to 200 degrees and turn off. Put knots in turned-off oven until doubled in size, about 20 minutes. Proceed with step 5

Christmas 2010

Christmas dinner was a little different for us because I swayed a little ... well a lot from the usual one I traditionally have.  Our usual Christmas dinner would include a delicious bread covered leg of lamb and a delectable picture perfect ham.  This Christmas I cooked a standing rib roast (only cooked that one other time before), Yukon potatoes, oven roasted brussel sprouts with parsnips, garlic bay scallops (for my vegetarian daughter) and for the first time, Yorkshire Pudding (which isn't pudding in the sense we know it).  It was really a great dinner although I had a little trouble with my timing, but it all worked out. Check it out ...

Standing Rib Roast with Yukon Potatoes

Oven roasted brussel sprouts with parsnips

The pecans added a welcoming dimension to this simple dish

Garlic Bay Scallops

Yorkshire Pudding rising

Final product light & delicious

Christmas Eve 2010

Although I'm writing this post on New Year's Day ... I'm playing catch up.  It's been a crazy December for me.  I know there are only 24 hrs in a day, but it seems I'd been burning 28!  Well, here's what I cooked for Christmas Eve and Christmas Dinner.  Of course, it was all delicious (that's what the family and friends said).  It was a lot of work.  Let's start with Christmas Eve.  We usually have every year our "Christmas Eve Table."  I (with a little help) make every one's favorite and we eat and play games and eat and play games...."oh what fun it is to ...." I digress ... so here's the eve's delights.  As you can see below, we did have veggies...carrots and celery with Blue Cheese Dip!!!

Paula Deen's Hogs in a Sleeping Bag

The Spread

Mini Meatball Panini

Beef/Sausage Meatballs

Almond Rocha (Homemade of course)

Getting Ready for the Eats

3 Cheese Platter

Cookies, Cookies, Cookies

The mini meatball panini's are from the Mad Hungry Cooking Show.  They are phenomenal!  I usually don't like meatballs at all, but these are so good.  I mixed ground beef and hot sausage with a few other ingredients.  They were moist and very tasty!

The top cookies are made with puff pastry and filled with almond paste.  The middle ones are double ginger and the bottom are my brown butter shortbread cookies.  I usually make a "butt load" more for Christmas Eve, but like I said earlier....I was crazy busy!  No time...no time.  Okay, now let's talk about Christmas Dinner, shall we?  

Thanksgiving Eats

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Mine was absolutely amazing.  Love family ... love cooking!!  Here is a look at what we had.  I cooked my turkey in my roaster and finished it (browned) in the oven ...



Before



After

Okay, it was yummy.  I did my own brine and it came out just suculent.  Very tasty! 



Next it was a warm potato salad with green beans.  This is "Chuck's Day Off" recipe and the first time I made it.  A great recipe so I've made it a second time.  Check out "The Cooking Channel" for the recipe.

 I also tried another new recipe.  It was Bobby Flay's macaroni and cheese.  Here it is ...



It was with four cheeses, onions and pancetta.

It was good...I probably won't make it again.  I like my recipe better (mine was creamier).  Now for the desserts. 

 This is something I came up with.  It's a pumpkin/vanilla trifle with ginger cookies.  It was very tasty, however, I think the cookies I used were too thin.  Maybe ginger snaps would be better.

The infamous chocolate walnut pie.  This is my most requested pie I make, especially during the holidays.  It's a very decadant, rich pie.  So goooooood!

Apple Caramel pie

Next Holiday is Christmas!  Working on the menu now!!

Comforts from home

Thanksgiving is such a wonderful time of the year for my family, and we each share our favorite dishes to make. Of course, there's many dishes and sides that I always provide during this special day, but the fact that we are all together makes it worthwhile. Here is one of my simple recipes that I absolutely love to cook, and I hope that you do the same.
Most people cook a traditional green-bean casserole (which I do as well). However, we have many people attending dinner this year and I want to have another option. You may also add bacon to top this tasty dish!

• 2- 10 ounce packages of frozen broccoli (cuts, florets), thawed
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 1 cup canned mushrooms, slices or pieces, drained
• 1 cup Swiss cheese, shredded
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 cup of mayonnaise
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 2 stacks of butter-flavored crackers, crushed, separated

Preheat oven to 425° F. Mix all ingredients with broccoli and 1 stack of crushed crackers. Smooth in baking dish and top with the remaining crushed crackers. Bake for 30 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Makes 8 servings.

Blessings!
~Joan

Fall into a Stew

Fall, it's one of my favorite times of the year.  It's the time you make soups, stews, casseroles ... stick to your ribs kind of dishes.  The comfort food time.  I love seafood, so I made one of my favorite stews, cioppino.  My first taste of this was during a Christmas vacation visiting my daughter in San Francisco.  What a treat it was!  I think I ate it three or four times (different restaurants) while we were there.  My seafood of choice here is bay scallops, tiger prawns, cod, and of course from my region, dungeness crab.  However, you can use whatever seafood you like to eat.  Here's a quick version of the recipe:

4 tablespoons of olive oil

1 1/4 cups onions, chopped
2 tablespoons garlic, chopped
4 teaspoons oregano, dried
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 1/2 cups of seafood stock or bottled clam juice
6 1/2 ounces minced or whole clams (reserving the liquid)
1 cup dry white wine
1 lb shrimp, shelled and deveined
6 ounces crabmeat or whole crab claws
2 tablespoons dried basil
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
 
Heat oil. (Medium heat)
Add onions, garlic, oregano and sweat onions until tender.

Add tomatoes, clam juice, wine and liquid from canned clams.

Cook for about 12 - 15 minutes (stew consistency).

Add shrimp, clams, and crab meat.

Cook on medium heat about 2 minutes.

Add basil, cayenne,and black pepper to taste.

Stir and simmer 2 more minutes.

Felt a little of "Naw Lins" (New Orleans) Today

  Made a seafood gumbo tonight and it was very good!  I used my own seafood stock, sauted the trinity (chopped onions, celery, green pepper), and added okra. Then I made a roux and  cooked it until it was golden brown.  Poured the stock in  and added shrimp when it thickened (I just put shrimp in this one), but it all came together!  Yummy, Yummy!