Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies

 

Wanted to make Molasses cookies today as they're a favorite and it's that time of year. Kids pulled out the ingredients and we didn't have what we needed. PIVOT. So I found this recipe we had everything we needed (almost) but made it work. These have now become probably my all time favorite Christmas cookie. They're almost on the verge of savory. Because no one wants to read an entire book before the recipe. I present to you the best cookie you've ever made. 

Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies

3/4 cup salted butter, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar (not packed)

1 egg

1/4 cup molasses

2 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp cinnamon 

Powdered sugar

*When ready to cook, preheat oven to 375° and line cookie sheets with parchment paper

1) Cream butter and brown sugar until completely combined

2) Add in egg and molasses, mix until the dough is fluffy

3) Add in baking soda and spices

4) Mix the flour in, 1/2 a cup at a time

5) Refrigerate for 1-2 hours (do not skip this part)

6) Roll the cookie dough into a ball, then roll in powdered sugar

7) Bake the cookies @ 375° for 9-10 minutes. 

8) Place on wire rack to cool

Mangia! Mangia!

Instant Pot Giardiniera

 

I know everyone loves a really long intro prior to a recipe, but I don't. I want to just read the recipe, not the hour long story about the recipe. So I keep these short.

We love a good pickled anything. All time family favorite is cauliflower, but it's hard to find in stores. I found a recipe in an Instant Pot cookbook that I've been trying and perfecting. So now I'll share it with you. I'll leave the recipe to include other vegetables so you can test other favorites.

Giardiniera

1 1/3 cup cold water

1 1/3 cup white wine vinegar

1 1/3 cup white vinegar

8 garlic cloves peeled, left whole

20 black peppercorns

2 tsp garlic salt (can sub for regular salt)

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp fennel seeds

2 small bay leaves

1 head of cauliflower left whole

2 medium carrots, left whole

2 celery ribs, left whole

1 small fennel bulb, sliced in half

Place all vinegar, water, garlic, salt, sugar, fennel seeds, bay leaf and peppercorns in bottom on Instant Pot. 

Place a steamer basket in the bottom of the pot, then layer with the denser vegetables on bottom, carrot, cauliflower, then celery and fennel. 

Place IP lid on and close, select the pressure cook option (I have 2 IP's, one has a manual button I use, the other has the Pressure cook button). 

Pressure cook on High for 0 minutes (yes....that is correct 0 minutes)

Once pot is done, do a quick-release of pressure. 

Bring all the vegetables out while steaming hot, slicing them into bite-size pieces

Place all vegetables in a sterilized jar and pour the hot brine over the top. You may not need all the liquid, if you don't have quite enough make sure to get at least 3/4 full and you can top off with filtered water. 

Let stand 10 minutes and then cover and place in the refrigerator. 

Mangia! Mangia!

These can be stored in the jar for up to a month. Ours never last two days, as they're eaten so fast. But good luck to you

***I put the peppercorn, fennel seeds and bay leaves in a cheesecloth as when you use the remaining liquid in the jars I like to omit those, you could also strain at the end if you don't want them in your jars.

Pickled Radishes & Finnochio

Pickled Finnochio

2 medium bulbs Finnochio

1 cup white wine vinegar

1 cup water

2 Tbsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp fennel seed

1/2 tsp coriander seed

1)Thinly slice Finnochio with mandoline, cuisinart or by hand if you're very talented. 

2) In pot add all other ingredients and bring to boil until sugar dissolves

3) Strain out coriander and fennel seeds

4) Place finnochio inside jars, pour liquid on top to cover

5) Twist on lid and place in fridge

Mangia! Mangia!

Pickled Radishes

1 bunch radishes

3/4 cup water

3/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbsp honey

1)Thinly slice radishes with mandoline, cuisinart or by hand if you're very talented. 

2) In pot add all other ingredients and bring to boil until honey dissolves

3)Place radishes in glass jar, pour liquid on top to cover

4) Twist on lid and place in fridge

Mangia! Mangia!

 

Pickled Onions

Three weeks in a row our farm box sent Pompeii Onions, think a small red(ish) onion growing with the green onion tops. I love a good onion but wasn't using them as fast as we were getting them. Truth be told I forgot we had them until the next week when I put them back in the fridge. Tuesday seeing I had 6 of these onions I decided to try my hand at pickling. Not knowing which would be our favorite I mixed it up a bit and tried different variations of vinegar.  Our favorite was the White Wine vinegar as well as ACV, I honestly wouldn't make the white vinegar one again. Also I did add the "green onion" part of the onion and one jar I even added cilantro (next time I'll use the whole bunch of cilantro)

Here's my super simple recipe:

Pickled Onions

2 medium size onions

4 cups boiling water

1/2 cup vinegar of your choice (White Wine, ACV, White, Rice, etc)

1/2 cup water

3 Tbsp sugar (can sub honey)

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp peppercorns

1.) Peel the onions and slice thinly, I used my Cuisinart.

2.) Add sliced onions to the boiling water and let sit for 5 minutes

3.) Drain onions

4.) Place onions in bell jars (or whatever you're going to keep them in)

5.) Place vinegar, sugar, peppercorns, 1/2 cup water and salt in a container that you can close and shake. 

6.) Pour liquid over onions completely to cover, place on lid and refrigerate.

*Mangia! Mangia!

 

Korean Chili

We recently bought a bag of Taekyung Red Pepper Powder to make Hot & Sour soup, it was a 1lb bag and had no idea what other uses for this powder. Well we found another use and it is so good and so versatile. So here it is.

Korean Chili

1/3 cup Taekyung red pepper powder

1/4 cup coconut aminos

4 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

1 Tbsp Honey

2 Tbsp Sesame oil

1 clove garlic

Place all ingredients in saucepan and cook until warm. Serve on anything and everything!

Mangia! Mangia!
 

Persimmon Burrata Salad

Our favorite Thanksgiving and Christmas dish. Just make enough for the crowd you're feeding
 

Persimmon Burrata Salad

Persimmon
Fennel
Pomegranate seeds
Burrata

Balsamic Glaze (I use Trader Joe's)

Slice Persimmon and Fennel thinly. Add Pomegranate seeds and burrata. Drizzle with balsamic glaze to taste. 

Mangia! Mangia! Mangia!

Hot & Sour Soup

In interest of changing things up around here during Fall & Winter. I tried my hand at a Hot & Sour Soup. I can tell you it surprised me how well it turned out. We made it just spicy enough, next time we're going to do two batches one normal spice and one with extra heat for those who want it. The kids loved the way this one turned out, so I'll leave the recipe as is. I would consider this a 2-3 on the spice level, not burn your lips spicy but a nice warmth in the stomach. 

 Hot & Sour Soup

3 cups bone broth (or veg. I used chicken)

3 cups water

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup vinegar (rice, apple cider or white) 

1 whole head of garlic sliced in half (leaving skin on)

1 finger of ginger (about 1 inch long, sliced, skin on)

1 tsp Taekyung red pepper powder (or 1 Tbsp Sriracha to taste for spice)

Salt & Pepper to taste

2 eggs well beaten

Sliced green onions

1) In Instant pot place water, bone broth, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, ginger and Taekyung red pepper or Sriracha. Close and turn to "soup" cook for high for 20 minutes.

2) When done, strain and place broth back into IP. Taste and season as necessary 

3) Turn IP to Saute, when nice and hot pour in beaten eggs stirring constantly. 

4) Serve with green onions on top

Mangia!

Bread Dumpling Soup

Wanted to mix things up a bit, Fall season is upon us and the weather was calling for soup but I wanted something new. Something we haven't tried before. So I pulled out all my cookbooks for inspiration. It came to me in the form of Mario Batali, Bread Dumpling Soup. Try it yourself you won't regret it. I tweaked the recipe, as it originally called to pan fry the dumplings, I just don't have time for that when I have 4 hungry kids to feed, plus hubby and myself it would've taken me an hour to do all the dumplings. So, I made this super fast and easy, I placed all the dumplings on a parchment covered cookie sheet and baked in the oven. You're welcome! I also added fresh sliced cabbage to the soup but any green (spinach, arugula...) would do, it added the perfect texture, not to mention nutrition.

Bread Dumpling Soup

6 cups 1/2 inch cubes (day old bread)

2 cups milk

6 large eggs, 4 separated, 2 left whole

6-8oz of Prosciutto Di Parma, cut into small dice

1 1/2 cups Parmesan

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 cup finely chopped Parsley

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 cups breadcrumbs

6 cups chicken stock

1) In large bowl, cover the bread with milk. Allow to sit for 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 425°

2) Lightly beat the egg yolks in another large bowl. Squeeze the excess milk from the bread and transfer to bowl with the egg yolks. Add the Prosciutto, 1 cup of Parmesan, nutmeg, the 2 whole eggs, parsley and salt & pepper to taste.

3) In small shallow bowl beat the egg whites to a froth. Roll each ball in the egg whites, then dredge in breadcrumbs. 

4) Place balls on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Once all completed place in oven, and bake until browned on outside. Mine took about 20 minutes.

5) While baking heat chicken stock in a medium saucepan. 

6) Divide dumplings into soup bowls, add greens if using. Then pour hot broth over them and sprinkle with Parmesan. 

7) Mangia!! Mangia!!

 

Bread Sticks

We love our Focaccia recipe so I was trying to mix it up a little and find a different bread we could make that would be good with our dinner, and came up with bread sticks. I have to double this recipe and it makes about 25 breadsticks, depending on size obviously. But these were a hit, the first time I made them we made one cookie sheet sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar (planning ahead for an easy breakfast) and they were delicious, we tossed them in the oven in the morning for 5 minutes and they were soft and tasty. The rest of the batch we made sprinkled with garlic salt.


Bread Sticks
4 1/4 cups All Purpose flour (could sub bread flour but I didn't have any)
1 1/2 cups warm water (about 110 degrees)
2 1/4 tsp Quick Rise Instant yeast (the only yeast I use, you can't mess it up)
1 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp melted butter
***For the topping melt 1/4 cup butter, sprinkle with garlic salt or cinnamon & sugar

1) In large bowl whisk together flour, yeast, sugar, melted butter & water
2) Mix until it starts to come together in a ball and then knead for 5 minutes (careful to not over knead as it makes them dense)

3) Place dough in a warm place to rise for 1hr (or until double in size).

4) Punch dough down, knead a few times then divide dough into equal pieces and roll into bread stick form
5) Place bread sticks on a lined baking sheet and cover
6) Let rise 45 minutes
7) Preheat oven to 400 degrees, bake 12 minutes or until lightly brown
7) Brush each bread stick with melted butter and sprinkle desired topping

Mangia!

Blueberry Pie Bars

I don't like most pies, especially fruit pies I don't even like to think about Apple Pie. This however is my jam. I used frozen blueberries which I think was perfect sweetness. I ate way more of these pie bars than I care to admit, so beware they're addicting.

Blueberry Pie Bars
        Filling

• 2 Tbsp buttermilk (or 2 large eggs, I was out of eggs so I went with the buttermilk)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1 bag of frozen blueberries (about 3 cups fresh)

         Crust and Topping

• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar 
• 1 1/2 sticks chilled salted butter, cubed

1) Preheat oven to 350

2) Grease rectangular baking pan 

3) In KitchenAid stand mixer (or using electric hand mixer) Combine flour, sugar, salt and cubed butter, mix until a crumbly consistency

4) Set aside 3/4 cup of this mixture for the topping

5) Press remaining mixture into the bottom of your pan and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown

6) Whisk buttermilk (or eggs), sour cream, sugar and flour together.

7) Gently stir in the blueberries. 

8) Spoon mixture over the crust, sprinkle on remaining topping.

9) Bake for 45-55 minutes, cool for 1 hour before serving.

Mangia!!!