Just a squirrel and a nut

Browned Butter Candied Bacon Rice Krispy Treats

2010-02-28T22:56:00.000-06:00

Last Christmas, as a gift for some friends I created my own Bacon-of-The-Month club. The whole thing started when I decided to see what I could add bacon to that would be delicious and easy to pack up and ship to friends on the East coast. The existing Bacon of the Month clubs that I found online were pricy and all you got was a pound of artisan bacon each month without any inspiration on what to do with it.... not my idea of a worth while investment...

So, for February, month #2 in the rotation I decided on Rice Krispy bars. But, what could I do to make them different? I decided on browned butter and candied bacon... yum!

I started by making the candied bacon. I put the bacon on a broiler pan so that it doesn't have to cook in its own fat (ish!)

Sprinkle 8 oz of bacon evenly with a nice layer of brown sugar. Pop it in the oven at 400F for 15 to 20 minutes turning it once and sprinkle the other side with more brown sugar.

Bake until the sugar dissolves and starts to caramelize and turn a deep golden brown.

Meanwhile, gather the rest of your ingredients.

3/4 cup butter

1 1/2 bags (10 oz each) marshmallows

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

6 cups rice krispy cereal

In 5 quart dutch oven melt butter on medium heat, stirring frequently until it browns and begins to smell nutty. Remove from the heat.

Stir in the marshmallows until they are completely melted.

Chop the candied bacon, stir it into the marshmallows. Add in the salt and rice krispy cereal, folding gently until everything is coated with a nice thick layer of marshmallow.

Press into a lightly sprayed 13x9 baking dish. Let it stand for about an hour to cool completely. Cut into small squares. Enjoy!!

Browned Butter Candied Bacon Rice Krispy Treats

8 oz bacon
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 (10 oz bags) marshmallows
1/4 teaspoon coarse Kosher salt
6 cups Rice Krispies Cereal

Heat oven to 400F. Line a broiler pan or 10x15 pan with parchment paper or foil. Place bacon on pan in single layer. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake 7 to 10 minutes until the sugar is dissolved, turn bacon over, sprinkle with remaining brown sugar. Bake an additional 7 to 10 minutes or until bacon is crisp and sugar is dissolved. Set aside to cool, chop.

In 5 quart dutch oven melt butter on medium heat, stirring frequently until it browns and begins to smell nutty. Remove from the heat. Add in marshmallow, stir until melted. Add in bacon, salt and rice crispy cereal, stir until well coated.

Spoon into 13x9-inch glass baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Wet your hands slightly with water and press the mixture evenly into the pan. Cool completely, about 1 hour. Cut into small (1-inch) bite sized bars.

Homemade S'mores - Part 3 Graham Crackers

2009-12-31T12:47:00.000-06:00

I found this recipe for graham cracker on SmittenKitchen and was extremely excited to try my hand as making my own crackers. To be honest, I had a lot of trouble with this recipe.
I refrigerated the dough overnight like the recipe said to do yet the dough was still extremely soft and impossible to work with. I ended up freezing the dough for about 30 minutes and only working with a quarter of the dough at a time. Yet, I still ended up with different results each time I took the cookie sheet out of the oven. Over puffed, misshappen and just plain fugly. Next time I would increase the amount of flour for sure but... I'm making s'mores so looks don't matter right now.

Roll out the dough onto a generously floured cutting board or counter to about 1/8 inch thick. I cut mine into 1 inch squares because I wanted smaller little graham cracker bites. Place dough squares on parchment lined cookie sheet and poke holes in dough with flat end of a wooden skewer to make them pretty. In a small bowl mix 3 tablespoons sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.

Sprinkle crackers with cinnamon and sugar mixture. Heat oven to 350F. Freeze for 15 minutes or until dough is firm. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet. Remove to cooling rack and cool compeltely.

Puffy, ugly and nothing like the photos over at SmittenKitchen but ya know what? They still taste delicious!

Once your graham crackers have cooled completely, and your marshmallows are cut and ready to go then you get to do the fun part... toasting! It's 7 degrees F outside today, cold and windy. I'm not starting a fire outside even though I am a Minnesotan I just don't have the desire to freeze my butt off. So, I roasted my marshmallows inside on my gas stove top... classy, I know.

I just used a wooden skewer and some patience and ended up with these roasted beauties. Now to put it all together I made a velvety chocolate ganache.

In a small saucepan over medium low heat, heat 1 cup heavy cream just until it begins to bubble, being careful not to burn the cream. Pour hot cream over chocolate in a small metal bowl. Let stand 5 minutes or until the chocolate is softned. Whisk cream and chocolate together until smooth. Refrigerate 15 to 20 minutes stirring every 5 minutes until thickened slightly.

Spoon ganache over graham cracker and top with a roasted marshmallow. See... the ugly duckling graham cracker isn't so ugly anymore is it?

A fun, festive way to bring in the new year.... Happy New Year!!

Ganache

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup heavy whipping cream

1. Place chocolate in small metal bowl, set aside.

2. In 1 quart saucepan, heat cream over medium low heat until cream just begins to simmer. Remove from heat and pour over chocolate. Let stand 5 minutes or until chocolate is softened. Whisk mixture until smooth.

3. Refrigerate 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or until thickened slightly.

Homemade S'mores - Part 2 Vanilla Marshmallows

2009-12-31T11:45:00.002-06:00

The most essential piece to the perfect S'more is the fluffy sweetness that melts in your mouth with a crispy crunch of the toasted, flame kissed edges... (drum roll please) the toasted marshmallow.

To make the fluffy pillows of sweetness, start with 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons cold water and 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Sprinkle 2 envelopes of gelatin over the water.

While that blooms, in a 2 quart heavy saucepan mix 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons water, 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons corn syrup and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Over medium heat, cook sugar mixture until dissolved, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium low and cook until sugar mixture reaches 234 to 240F about 15 minutes.

Turn mixer on low to blend water and gelatin mixture.

Remove saucepan from heat and slowly pour hot sugar mixture into bowl while beating on low speed.

Cover mixer with mixing guard or a kitchen towel to prevent splatters. Increase speed to High and beat the sugar into submission for 8 to 10 minutes or until mixture is light and fluffy and doubles in size.

Meanwhile, lightly grease 11 x 7 in baking dish or pan with butter and dust with powdered sugar. If you want teeny tiny cute marshmallow cubes, go for a 13 x 9 baking dish.

This is just about right, doesn't it look gorgeous? You want it to be fluffy and full, sort of pillow top-ish.

This is a hard job for your mixer, look at how its sweating. Ok seriously, that's just the steam but it sure does look like its getting hot and sweaty. Don't try this at home with a hand mixer... I can't guarantee you or your mixer will survive it.

Perfect! Wet your fingers slightly with cold water and the marshmallow fluff is super easy to work with.

Dip a rubber spatula into cold water and spoon the marshmallow fluff our into prepared baking dish, spread top out evenly. The cold water is your friend here. It will make this much easier to manage otherwise you might find yourself stuck to the counter top in a blob of marshmallow fluff.

This is perfect to make while your graham cracker dough is in the fridge because this will need to sit overnight as well. So, just let it chill out uncovered on the counter top until you're ready for super S'mores.

Generously sprinkle a cutting board with powdered sugar. Turn out marshmallow slab onto cutting board and dust with powdered sugar on all sides. Again, wet your knife with cold water to help prevent sticking. Cut crosswise into strips, then cut each strip into small bite sized pieces. Dip each side of the bite sized marshmallow in a small pile of powdered sugar to prevent them from sticking to eachother. You can keep them covered on the counter top for a while but if you want to keep them for more than 2 weeks you can easily freeze them for a few months.

But that wouldn't be much fun now would it? I have bigger and better plans for these tasty morsels....

Basic Vanilla Marshmallows (1/2 recipe)

Butter for greasing
1/3 cup powdered sugar
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons cold water
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons cold water

1.    Generously grease bottom and sides of 11x7-inch (2-quart) glass baking dish with butter; dust with 1 tablespoon of the powdered sugar. In bowl of stand mixer, sprinkle gelatin over 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons cold water and vanilla to soften; set aside

2.    In 2-quart saucepan, heat granulated sugar, corn syrup, salt and 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons water over medium heat, stirring constantly, until sugar is dissolved. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to medium low, cook without stirring about 20 minutes to 240°F on candy thermometer or until small amount of mixture dropped into cup of very cold water forms a ball that holds its shape but is pliable; remove from heat.

3.    Slowly pour syrup into softened gelatin while beating on low speed. Increase speed to high; beat 8 to 10 minutes or until mixture is white and has almost tripled in volume. Pour into baking dish, patting lightly with wet hands. Let stand uncovered at least 8 hours or overnight.

4.    Dust cutting board with about 1 tablespoon powdered sugar. Place remaining powdered sugar in small bowl. To remove marshmallow mixture, loosen sides from dish and gently lift in one piece onto cutting board. Using sharp knife greased with butter or wet with cold water, cut into 1-inch squares (11 rows by 7 rows). Dust bottom and sides of each marshmallow by dipping into bowl of powdered sugar. Store in airtight container at room temperature up to 3 weeks.

Homemade S'mores - Part 1

2009-12-30T12:55:00.003-06:00

Meet Nugget. Our puppy pooch, a labradoodle just 4 months old. She likes graham crackers.

Can you tell? See how excited she was when I told her what I wanted make... Bah, more for me!

Cut 7 tablespoons butter into 1 inch chunks and pop in the freezer.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix 2 cups all-purpose flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour.

Add 1 cup packed dark brown sugar. But I ran out of brown sugar so I just mixed 1 cup white sugar and 2 tablespoons molasses in a medium bowl. Stir it all together. Ditch the rubber spatula and go with a fork... believe me it. Do it.

... Yes. That is a beer in the background. I'm on vacation and loving it.

Add in 1 teaspoon baking soda and 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt. Blend it all quickly in the mixer. Then toss in the butter that has been shivering in the freezer. Mix on low until crumbly....

Meanwhile in a medium bowl whisk together 1/3 cup honey, 5 tablespoons milk and 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract until smooth.

Slowly pour honey mixture into mixer bowl while beating on low just until well combined.

Dust flour on a sheet of wax paper. Turn out dough on wax paper. Press into a rectangle with floured hands to about 1 inch thick.

Wrap and refrigerate overnight or until firm... then go snuggle with the most delicious thing in the house.... a puppy with bed head!

Stay tuned for part 2 - making marshmallows and baking graham crackers

Canning Crab Apples

2009-12-04T18:40:00.001-06:00

We have a very large crab apple tree in our backyard that was aching under the weight of the hundreds of tiny apples this fall.

The apples were so heavy that the branches were almost skimming the ground.

They were still firm and a little on the green side yet but someone who shale remain unnamed said they were pretty sweet.

... ahem... it might have been me

We picked 4 gallon ice cream pails of apples to play with in the kitchen. Last year I made crab apple jam so I knew I had to try something different this year.

Pickled Crab Apples

6 lb ripe crab apples

2 cups cider vinegar

2 cups white wine vinegar

2 cups packed brown sugar

1 stick of cinnamon

1 tablespoon whole cloves

1 tablespoon whole allspice

Soak apples in a sink full of warm water and 1/4 cup white vinegar to clean them up a bit.

In a 6 quart dutch oven mix remaining ingredients. Oven medium-high heat bring mixture to a boil.

Meanwhile, using a skewer or fork puncture skin of each apple and place in large bowl. Add apples to boiling spice mixture. Cook; 10 to 15 minutes stirring occasionally or until apples are softened.

Using a slotted spoon, remove apples and pack in hot sterile jars. Cover with hot syrup and seal using a hot water bath. **Check with your local extension services for detailed directions.

Allow to stand in a dark cool place for at least 1 month before serving.

The end product isn't as glamorous as I had hoped but... we'll wait and see what it's like in a month

Multitasking Vegetables

2009-08-25T11:45:00.002-05:00

Often times we forget the vegetables are just as pretty as flowering plants but they are more functional. What can you do with a daisy besides admire it? Sure its nice, don't get me wrong I do love flowers and enjoy having fresh flowers around during the summer but vegetables are great because they can multitask. I'm all about multitasking. If a plant can provide me with dinner and be beautiful I'm all the happier.

Take a pepper for example. This is a heritage pepper; an Aurora Pepper. It's a spicy pepper that starts off purple then brightens to a deep red color.

Before - Pretty flowers; nice to admire

After - functional peppers; that will end up on my dinner plate.

I love it. Beauty meets function. Nature never ceases to amaze me.

Where do babies come from?

2009-08-11T00:36:00.003-05:00

I don't think we want to go over that right now but I will show you where baby cucumbers come from!

The flowers appear first as skinny little arms from the base of the plant peeking out from between the large broad leaves. The base of the flower is where the cucumber will develop. As it begins to ripen the flower will wither and die but leave you with a tasty treat to enjoy.

She'll grow up to be a beautiful cucumber, and maybe, just maybe become a pickle when she grows up.

Busy Bees, Bumble Bees and Crazy Bees

2009-08-11T00:02:00.009-05:00

Our bee's loooove these tiny delicate little purple-y blue-ish flowers; if I was a farmer I'd actually know what this is... buckwheat maybe? It's actually a weed to me because its growing in my garden but ya know what? Its serving a purpose for the bees so I'll let it be for a while.

They also seem to really love this horribly awful yet so mysteriously beautiful weed... the dreaded thistle. I know its cute isn't it? But it's sharp and really hard to yank out of the garden no matter what. Actually I think of Eeyore every time I see one and I just can't help but smile. Oh, you dopey little old donkey.

As I yanked weeds left and right from the garden I heard this deep doning hum around me and looked up to see this big beauty buzzing around. Everytime she sat on a flower to nibble a snack the flower sagged under her weight. Check out her pollen sacs on her legs - she's been busy!

Its almost honey harvesting/extracting time!!! Look at what my bees have been busy doing recently. The ladies have been busy.

There was extra room in the hive because we didn't have all 10 frames in so they decided to make their own frame. It was solid honeycomb that they were filling with honey.

Pretty neat huh?

Garden Update

2009-08-10T23:30:00.006-05:00

What the hell is this?

Do you know? I don't know.

It looks like a weed to me.

I don't know what it is but I'm crossing my fingers that it's my eggplant but who the hell knows. By this time in the season I guess it doesn't matter one way or the other because I won't get much from it anyway. I started about 5 eggplants from seed, babying them as they sprouted and cooing to them as they grew. This is what I get in return? Boooo. Ok I'm done belly aching.

I did get enough goodies from the rest of the garden to rival a well established CSA!

Beans, snap peas, summer squash, zucchini, kohlrabi, cucumber and red potatoes, oh my.

The corn is coming along well too. The ears are still a bit small and underdeveloped (are we still talking about corn? I sure hope so)

Beans! I decided to plant 3 types of beans this year. This is the Empress bean. It's my favorite of the three so far because it goes in a bush so that I don't have to do all the work to stalk it up AND if I get lazy and can't keep up with harvesting it, I can leave the beans on the plant and let them dry to harvest dry beans. The perfect solution for the busy *Read: Sometimes Lazy* gardener.

These beans were harvested though and they do have another life in the future as "Dill-y Beans" Stay tuned.

Dandelions

2009-08-06T17:27:00.004-05:00

Damn. Dandelions are so deceiving. Their delicate wispy tops carry the devil's seed as they angelically float along my garden. I've decided to take matters into my own hands this year.

I've been loosing the war against the weeds in the garden so I figured 'hey, if I can't beat them I might as well eat them.' They are after all in many fancier dishes.

Yuck.

Pitewy.

Blah.

Ish.

They are bitter and... ick I can taste it now just thinking about it.

Not a good idea. So, now I can't beat them or eat them.

... the fight goes on...

Photo of the Day

2009-08-05T08:00:00.000-05:00

Almond Berry Cupcake

Photo of the Day

2009-08-04T08:00:00.000-05:00

Gremlin

Photo of the Day

2009-08-03T08:00:00.001-05:00

Mini chocolate raspberry cupcakes with raspberry liqueur ganache... yum!

Photo of the Day

2009-08-02T21:02:00.004-05:00

Tying up Tomatoes

Garden Bounty

2009-07-26T22:57:00.010-05:00

So much to harvest, so little time...

I was so excited this weekend to find a bunch of goodies waiting for us in the garden. As I began the never ending job of weeding my massive garden I looked down and spied this little beauty peeking back up at me...

Red Potatoes!

They were beautiful, just the right size, a bit lumpy and silly looking but they're my silly looking spuds!

I tugged up a few of the carrots to see what was going on under there (ya really never know what they could be doing down there!) This year we planted dragon carrots which are a deep purplish-red on the outside and an orangish-yellow on the inside. They are actually quite pretty.

I pulled about 3 carrots, also pretty silly looking and a bit small still so I'll let them be for a few more weeks. I don't really know what I'm doing wrong, my carrots always look like little gremlins when I yank them out of the dirt - little scrappy legs and rollie-pollie arms.

They are still pretty small but wow they are funky shaped.

The lettuce is beautiful and tasty too.

Eeekk! Look at these cute pear tomatoes can't you see them on your plate in a few weeks? I have big plans for you little pretties!

Farm Garden... The beginning of something big

2009-07-22T22:46:00.007-05:00

Sometimes. I think I can take on the world.

Last spring, I came up with this grand idea that I wanted to start a garden at the farm. My recent gardening past consisted of small basil plants turned wild bushes and tomato plants poorly staked that turned into piles of underdeveloped green tomatoes. It's not that I didn't know what I was doing, well I guess I really didn't totally know what I was doing but I just got kinda lazy. Mother Duck is a great gardener - flowers, decorative plants, herbs, vegetables, rocks gardens... this lady can make anything grow and flourish. I helped out a bit as a kid and unsuccessfully fought it as a bratty teenager so I did know the basics. Last year, with an unfounded cocky confidence that I could plant anything and it would survive, I began marking the area for my farm garden.

Yep, thats me. The plot is 100 x 30 feet. It took us a day to till the ground, mark it out and get it ready for the many, many seedlings that I had started about a month earlier.

I planted so many things I can't remember it all. Plus, I guess the garden was camera shy last year because I can't seem to find a picture of our garden bounty.

This year I took a more methodic approach. I purchased seeds while there was still snow piled up to the windows. I found this fun seed company Seed Savers Exchange where I found all sorts of heritage variety vegetables to choose from. Now don't get me wrong, I like flowers but they just aren't as practical when I'm a foodie. Sure you can eat some flowers but you can't feed a bunch of hungry 20-somethings with pansies and rose petals. So, my garden is all veggies.

I started my entire garden from seed this year - much more economical than the alternative. I sunned them under their own lights on a timer, I fanned them to strengthen their stalks, and I entertained them with talk radio. It may sounds silly but a happy seed is a hardy, productive plant. When I ventured out the the garden this spring to see what I was up against this is what I saw...

There's a garden under that mess of wicked weeds somewhere. oh look here it is...

It took another full day to transplant all of my seedlings and sow in the remaining seeds but so far it's been worth it.

Tomorrow, you'll get a peak at some of the goodies from the garden this year

The Breakfast of Champions

2009-07-19T12:07:00.003-05:00

I get a huge sense of accomplishment when I sit down to eat a meal and I realize that I've made or grown everything on my plate. This morning it was homemade plain yogurt swirled with my rhubarb berry jam and my very favorite brown bread with peanut butter and honey. Pretty soon we'll be able to extract our own honey; now I just have to figure out how to make my own peanut butter....

Homemade Yogurt

4 cups (1 quart) milk (I use 2%)
1/2 cup powdered milk
2 tablespoons "live culture" plain yogurt (your starter)

1. In a medium saucepan, mix milk and powdered milk over medium-low heat stirring frequently, bring the mixture just to a simmer. Remove from heat and cool to 110°F; about 30 minutes.

2. Mix in yogurt, with wire whisk. Pour mixture into small mason jars or one large glass container with a lid. (I use a 2 quart pyrex bowl).

3. You have to keep this mixture at about 110°F for about 6 hours. I wrap my bowl in a towel and stick it in the microwave. I leave the light on in the stove top hood (that is under the microwave) and the microwave door unlatched but closed as much as possible so the inner light is on too. The lights help to keep it really warm in the microwave and I just leave it overnight.

5. Your yogurt is done when it has firmed up. Refrigerate. There are many ways to enjoy your yogurt: stir in jam or jelly or fresh fruit. Drizzle with honey and top with a few toasted almonds or just enjoy it plain.

Have fun!

Hey Look I've got a Blog!

2009-07-18T13:50:00.010-05:00

Yippie! My first blog post!

It's unseasonably cool today and quite cloudy - the perfect weather for making and canning jam!

I wish I had smell-o-vision technology. The kitchen smells wonderfully fruity and sweet. We are making rhubarb-berry jam with the rhubarb from our farm garden.

You should see all of the rhubarb we've harvested so far this season. I found this great recipe. It's so simple that I'm almost embarrassed to share it! It's a freezer jam but I've been wanting to try my hand at canning. I don't have all of the right equipment but we made it work anyway. It was kind of fun, a bit messy but we ended up with 8 pint and 6 half pint jars of some very tasty jam. Not bad for our first adventure in canning.

Yum!