Cream Pralines

My mother-in-law makes the best pralines in the world! They literally dissolve the second you put them in your mouth. Every Christmas she makes several batches of pralines for friends and family. A couple of years ago I brought some to my family's Christmas Eve gathering, and one of my uncles said they were the best pralines he has ever had. He also said that she could easily sell them.

My in-laws are in the process of remodeling their kitchen, so my MIL came over to my kitchen last week to make a couple of batches. I took advantage of that time so I could learn how to make them. I also took some pictures along the way.
According to my MIL, the key to these pralines is the cold dry weather. Candy is a weird thing... it really likes the cold weather. I suppose you could probably turn up the air conditioning if you live in a hot and humid climate. She also says that an iron skillet is a must!


Jenny B's Pralines

Ingredients:
1 (1-pound) box light brown sugar
1/3 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1 Tablespoon butter
1 1/2 to 2 cups chopped pecans
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
In an iron skillet, combine sugar, salt, milk, and butter. Stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved.

Stir in the chopped pecans.



Increase heat to medium; continue cooking and stirring to soft ball stage (234-degrees on a candy thermometer).

Whatever you do, don't drop the candy thermometer in the mixture. If you do, the mixture may splash on your knuckle and make a blister. I spared you from a grosser picture. Trust me!


Once mixture has come to 234-degrees, remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and cool for about 5 minutes.
(Meanwhile, place a large sheet of parchment paper on the counter.)
Stir mixture rapidly until mixture begins to thicken and coats pecans lightly.

Drop RAPIDLY from spoon (1 Tablespoon for large or 1 teaspoon for small patties). If mixture becomes too stiff, add a few drops of hot water.

Let patties cool before removing from parchment paper.
Yield: about 5 dozen small patties

Source: Jenny Bishop

Chocolate Covered Toffee Bark

If you like to make things homemade for Christmas gifts, this is something that you can't skip out on. I think this is the best candy I've ever put in my mouth. Chocolate and toffee are some of my favorite combinations of flavors.
I made this for some people at work, and they all raved about it. I also sent some with my husband so he could let everyone at his job munch on it. It's really been a big hit with everyone that's tasted it.


This was actually pretty easy to make. The only things you really need that you may not have is a candy thermometer and some parchment paper.

Ingredients:
4 sticks salted butter
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 ounces of water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
24 ounces good quality semi-sweet chocolate (I used Baker's brand)
8 ounces chopped nuts (I used hazelnuts)

Directions:
Tear off 2 large pieces of parchment paper (about 24-inches long each). Silicone baking mats also work, if you have them. Place them on the counter for later use.
Combine butter, sugar, water, and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook over moderate heat, stirring gently, until candy thermometer registers 298-degrees (this is the hardball stage for the toffee). Remove from heat and stir in vanilla until well combined.

Pour half of the mixture on the 1st sheet of parchment paper. Use a heatproof rubber spatula or offset spatula to spread QUICKLY before the toffee sets. Spread thin. It's okay if it's not all even. Repeat with the 2nd half of toffee mixture.

Allow toffee to cool completely... about 30 minutes to 1 hour. Blot the surface to remove excess oil. Congratulations! You have just made toffee!

Now let's cover it with chocolate.

Chop the semi-sweet chocolate into small pieces. I used a food processor to save my hands from the aches of chopping. Put chocolate in a heat proof bowl and then set on top of a pot of boiling water (this creates a double boiler). Make sure the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl. Otherwise, it could burn the chocolate. I usually put about 2 inches of water in a saucepan and boil. Then I put the bowl of chocolate on top. Stir, and the chocolate will melt.

Once the chocolate has melted, let it sit on the counter until it has cooled off a bit. It should feel slightly warm to the touch, but it should obviously be spreadable.

Pour half of the chocolate over the 1st sheet of toffee. Spread the chocolate with a heatproof rubber spatula or offset spatula to cover the toffee. Immediately sprinkle chopped nuts over the chocolate. Repeat with the other half of the melted chocolate.
*Note: I made this on a really cold night. My chocolate was still a little sticky after 45-minutes, so I took it outside. It didn't take long to harden/set in the cool air.

When chocolate has totally set, carefully flip over. It's okay if it falls apart a bit. Coat the other side with the rest of the chocolate. Sprinkle on topping. Allow to set (again, I let it sit outside).

Once the chocolate is set, break into bite-sized pieces. Store in an airtight container.

Pack up in tins to give away. Try not to eat it all!

Source: adapted from Pioneer Woman

Greek Chicken and Slaw Pita

This is always what I order when I go to Zoe's Kitchen. I tried to recreate my own version of this pita, and I think it turned out quite delicious. I used chicken tenders, but you could use regular chicken breasts and slice them thin after cooking. This will definitely be a meal that I repeat again and again.

Ingredients:
1 cup Greek Slaw, divided
8 chicken tenders
Greek seasoning
4 pita pocket

Directions:
Season the chicken tenders with Greek seasoning. Coat a grill pan or nonstick skillet with olive oil and heat pan on medium. Cook chicken a few minutes on each side until cooked throughout. Put 2 chicken tenders inside each pita pocket and top with 1/4 cup Greek law.

Source: Inspired by Zoe's Kitchen

Greek Slaw

Zoe's Kitchen is a Greek restaurant that I'm obsessed with right now. I travel for business a good bit, and I always eat there for dinner. I love it! They make their own amazing dressing out of red wine vinegar, oil, and Greek spices. I recently bought a bottle so I could recreate their slaw. My mom told me that I could recreate Zoe's slaw by mixing a bag of chopped cabbage and chopped green onions with some of their dressing and some feta cheese. I followed her directions, and it turned out just right! It's much better once the slaw has a chance to marinate for several hours.


Ingredients and Directions:

Place chopped cabbage in a large bowl. Drizzle the dressing on top of the cabbage, and sprinkle feta cheese and about 1 cup chopped green onions on top. I also added a little black pepper. Stir to combine and let slaw marinate in the fridge for several hours or overnight. Enjoy!

Source: Inspired by Zoe's Kitchen

Eggnog Ice Cream

It's 30-something degrees outside, and I'm eating ice cream. Burrrr!
Aubrey grew up with eggnog around the house during Christmas time, so he loves it! I, on the other hand did not grow up with it around. I guess I just assumed that it was like drinking raw eggs. Even though I still haven't developed an appetite for the liquid stuff, I do love desserts that have an eggnog flavor. This ice cream tastes exactly like spiked eggnog. It's delicious. I'll definitely be repeating this recipe next winter.

Ingredients:
1 cup whole milk
2/3 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
2 cups heavy cream
6 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
2 Tablespoons brandy
2 Tablespoons dark rum
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
**Note: I substituted 4 Tablespoons of Crown Royal for the brandy and rum).

Directions:
Warm the milk, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan. Pour the cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top.

In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream to cool. Mix in the nutmeg, brandy, rum, and vanilla and stir until cool over an ice bath.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator. Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Source: The Perfect Scoop, by David Lebovits

Sweet Potato Casserole

This is always one of the stars on my plate during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. I never know whether to eat it for dinner or dessert. Most of the time I eat it with my main meal, but it would be a good dessert, as well since it's so sweet.
Many people eat the sweet potato casserole that has toasted marshmallows on top. However, I grew up with my family always making the one with the crunchy praline topping. Thankfully my hubbie did, too! In fact, this recipe was given to me by his mom.

Jenny B's Sweet Potato Casserole

Ingredients:
4 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs, beaten

Praline topping
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup butter, cut in cubes and softened
1 cup chopped pecans


Directions:
With an electric mixer, mix together mashed sweet potatoes, 1/2 cup melted butter, evaporated milk, sugar, vanilla and eggs. Spread sweet potato mixture into a greased 9x13-inch baking dish.

In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar and flour. Cut in 1/3 cup butter until mixture is crumbly, and stir in pecans. Sprinkle pecan mixture over the sweet potatoes.

Bake for 25 minutes in a preheated oven at 350-degrees.

Source: Jenny Bishop

Sugar's Sugar Cookies

Do certain foods bring you back to your childhood? There are a few that bring me back to my childhood, and these cookies are one of them. My grandmother (whom we call "Sugar") would usually have a batch of these sugar cookies at her house when we came to visit. They are crispy cookies, but they literally melt in you mouth.


When my grandmother made these, she dropped them by teaspoonfuls on the baking sheet. She didn't roll them into balls... she just dropped them down. I used a cookie scoop, so mine were round, but I think next time I'll drop them like my grandmother did. I kinda like the rustic look.




If you need a creative, but inexpensive way of wrapping your Christmas goodies, you can use fabric scraps and/or ribbon to wrap around the brown paper bags. Make sure you stick your goodies in a Ziploc bag first so you don't get oil spots on the paper bag.


Recipe for the best "melt-in-your-mouth" sugar cookies in the world:

Ingredients:
2 sticks butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
With an electric mixer, cream sugar and butter until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and beat well. Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl and add to the butter mixture just until combined. Add vanilla. Chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes or so. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 350-degrees for 6-8 minutes.
Yield: about 6 dozen small cookies

Source: Sugar

Crockpot Santa Fe Chicken

I brought my trusty crock pot out again to take care of supper for us. The trick to making meat fall-off-the-bone-tender is to cook it low and slow, and that's exactly what the crock pot does. This chicken definitely fell apart when taking it out of the pot, but that was exactly what I wanted it to do. I served this on top of rice, but it would also be a great filling for enchiladas and burritos. I think I may try that sometime soon.




Ingredients:
24-ounces (1 1/2 pounds) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
14.4-ounce can diced tomatoes with mild green chilies
15-ounce can black beans
8-ounces frozen corn
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
14.4-ounce can fat free chicken broth
3 scallions, chopped
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (omit or decrease if you don't like spicy; increase if you love spicy)
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
Combine chicken broth, beans, corn, tomatoes, cilantro, scallions, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, cayenne pepper and salt in the crock pot.
Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper and lay on top. Cook on LOW for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours. About 30 minutes before serving, remove chicken and shred with two forks. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in. Adjust salt and seasoning. Serve over rice or a warm tortilla.
Yield: 8 servings (1 cup per serving)

Nutritional Info (per serving): 172 calories; 1.6g fat; 3.8g fiber

Source: Gina's Skinny Recipes

Sweet Potato Ice Cream with Maple-Glazed Pecans

Sweet potato casserole is one of my favorite things to eat at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Those are the only two days out of the year that I eat it (except for leftovers). I don't like the one with marshmallows on top; it has to have the crunchy praline topping to make me happy. This ice cream is very similar to the sweet potato casserole that I love so much, especially since it has the pecans mixed in.


And it's an added bonus with the Whiskey Maple Cream Sauce on top. It's very rich, so it doesn't take much to satisfy my sweet tooth and tummy. That's a good thing!

Sweet Potato Ice Cream with Maple-Glazed Pecans

Ingredients:
1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons whole milk
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Few drops of lemon juice
Wet Pecans (recipe below)

Directions:
Cut the sweet potatoes into 1-inch cubes. Place the cubed potatoes in a medium saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook for 20 minutes, or until tender when poked with a sharp knife. Drain the sweet potatoes and let cool to room temperature.

Pour the milk into a blender and add the brown sugar, sweet potato pieces, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt. Puree until very smooth, at least 30 seconds. Add lemon juice to taste. Press the mixture through a mesh strainer, using a flexible rubber spatula.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. During the last few minutes of churning, add the pecans and their syrup.


Wet Pecans

Ingredients:
1/2 cup plus 1 Tablespoon dark amber maple syrup
1 1/2 cups pecans, toasted and very coarsely chopped
Big pinch of salt

Directions:
Heat the maple syrup in a small skillet or saucepan until it just begins to come to a full boil. Stir in the pecans, then cook until the liquid comes to a full boil once again. Stir the nuts for 10 seconds, then remove them from the heat and let cool completely. The nuts will still be wet and sticky when cooled.

Source: The Perfect Scoop, by David Lebovitz

Black Bean Soup

Aubrey and I got a crockpot for a wedding gift, and we haven't even used it until this past week. I can't believe that we've been married for 3 1/2 years, and the crockpot has been collecting dust that whole time. Well, the dust is gone now, and I've put it to use twice in the past week. I'm not sure why I've waited so long to use it. It's so nice to come home with dinner already cooked.

My in-laws are in the process of renovating their kitchen. They don't have an oven or dishwasher right now, and their microwave is set up outside under the carport. I wanted to help out with some meals, so I had them over for supper tonight. I made this soup and some cornbread. The soup was really good and filling.

Ingredients:
1 pound dried black beans
4 cups fat-free, less sodium chicken broth
2 cups chopped onion (1 large onion)
1 cup water
1 Tablespoon ground cumin
3 bay leaves
1 serrano chile or jalapeno, finely chopped (optional)
1 Tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 Tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream
Cilantro sprigs, for garnish (optional)

Directions:
Sort and wash beans; place in a large bowl. Cover with water to 2 inches above the beans; cover and let stand 8 hours. Drain.

Combine beans, broth, and next 5 ingredients (through chile) in an electric slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 10 hours. Discard the bay leaves. Stir in lime juice and salt. Ladle 1 1/2 cups soup into each of 6 bowls; sprinkle each with 2 teaspoons chopped cilantro. Top each serving with 1 1/2 teaspoons sour cream. Garnish with cilantro sprigs, if desired.
Yield: 6 servings

Nutritional Info (per serving): 288 calories; 2.3g fat; 2.9mg cholesterol; 87mg calcium; 50g carbohydrate; 581mg sodium; 18.5g protein; 17.5g fiber; 4.6mg iron

Source: adapted from Cooking Light