Noona Cher's 5 Minute Toffee

Howdy folks!  Our long national nightmare is now over... I'm finally posting my toffee recipe!  The star of many a get-together over the past 30 years, shipped all over the world!  So strap yourselves in and let's GO!

Noona Cher's 5 Minute* Toffee

1 cup toasted slivered almonds (I use Trader Joe's brand)
1 stick cold salted butter (if you use unsalted, add 1/4 tsp. of salt)
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tbsp. light corn syrup (no substitutions!)
6-8 oz. chopped dark chocolate
extra chopped almonds or sprinkles for garnish (optional)

1 quart saucepan
1 8" round cake pan

Heat-proof spatula or wooden spoon

 

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Take everything listed above and throw it into a 1 quart saucepan (non-stick preferred) since it will boil over in a smaller pan.  Set a timer for five (5) minutes and turn on the heat to Medium.

Boil everything uncovered for 5 minutes without stirring.  The butter will have not melted completely, and there will only be a few bubbles on top of the mixture.  At the end of 5 minutes, stir the mixture until combined.  Set the timer for another 5 minutes.

Let it boil during the next 5 minutes without stirring, and then stir at the end again.  The mixture should be boiling vigorously and start turning a light nutty brown.  Set the timer for another 5 minutes.

Let it boil during the next 5 minutes, keeping an eye on the color until it becomes a darker brown.  Stir a few times to keep from scorching, but remove from the heat before the time is up if it starts browning too fast.

Immediately take the pan off the heat and scrape the mixture into the 8" cake pan (protect your counter first with a hot pad).  Some excess melted butter may rise to the surface, so lightly dab that away with a paper towel.  Just don't dab away too much, because that extra butter helps it from sticking to the pan.

Immediately sprinkle the chopped chocolate on the top of the hot mixture and let everything sit for another 5 minutes.  (Use 6 ounces of chocolate if you like a thin layer; 8 ounces if you prefer a larger ratio of chocolate-to-toffee.)

Take an offset spatula (or your choice of utensil) and spread the melted chocolate evenly all over the cooling toffee.  Don't worry if it hasn't completely melted, as your garnish will cover any chunks left over.

While the chocolate is still wet, sprinkle your garnish across the top, and then set aside to cool completely.  If you're in some sort of freakin' hurry, you can also plop the pan in the fridge to chill instead. (I used colored Wilton sprinkles this time around since I made this pan for a birthday party this weekend.)  When cooled, run a small spatula around the edge of the pan to loosen and then turn the toffee out onto a cutting board or plate.  Break into pieces and ENJOY!!!

*See why I call it "5 Minute" Toffee now?  HA.

Nutella Cake (Gluten Free)

Hello chingus! This is my first post on this blog - thanks for adding me! I'm based in Switzerland, which means I'm used to metric measurements (like dl, cl, kg, g ...) and confused by that other stuff! Lucky for my American (and British) friends, however, the Nutella Cake recipe I've got is in oz and cups etc. and I had to go on the internet to "translate" everything into my measurements.

The basic ingredients

Saying that the Nutella Cake has a long tradition in my family would be a lie - no, a (male) friend of ours made this cake for his son on his birthday, where I first had it 3 years ago. Last year, I made it for my daughter's birthday (first time) and this year, I made it again. Unfortunately, it's for daycare ... so I will not get a single piece of it!!!!!!

Licked clean ^^

Prep Time: 30 min
Bake Time: 40 min (9" cake pan // 24cm )
Cool Off Time: 2-3 hrs

Ingredients: 

13 oz (370g) Nutella
1/2 cup (120g) Butter (unsalted)
6 Eggs
3 oz (85g) Chocolate, 85% Cacao (make sure to use Swiss chocolate! :)
3 oz (85g) Hazelnuts (I buy them ground, but grinding them yourself is much better)

MakeTheCake:

1. In a non stick pan, quickly roast the hazelnuts then set them aside in a plate to cool off. Be careful, they burn easily!
2. Melt the butter and the chocolate (broken into pieces) in a pan, mix with a (wooden) spoon until melted, then let it cool off a little.
3. Butter a 9" cake pan and preheat the oven to 350º F (= 180º C)
4. Take a big bowl, and mix the Nutella and the Hazelnuts
5. Separate the egg whites and the yolks, add the yolks to the Nutella-Hazelnuts mix, and mix the mix!
6. In another bowl, whip the whites with a pinch of salt (using a mixer). The whites should have a firm consistency but still look wet, don't over do it!
7. Add the butter-chocolate mix to the Nutella-Hazelnut mix, and mix the mix again!
8. Carefully, in small increments (about 1/4 at a time), fold in the whipped egg whites. 
9. You can add a tiny bit of baking powder if you want, but it is not necessary. 

Work until completely absorbed, then pour into the cake pan. Place in the oven and cook for 40 minutes, or until the sides of the cake will start separating from the sides of the pan. There is no need to poke with a toothpick to check if the inside is ready or not.

Be aware: the cake will come out of the oven nice and fluffy, but it will deflate to half the size during its cool off period, so don't be shocked!

out of the oven, nice and fluffy

You can now garnish as you see fit (powdered sugar works, for example). I usually use a chocolate frosting (bought in the store)

Making Fresh Ricotta Cheese!

A friend and I are attempting to make Italian gnocchi for the first time later today.  I love my gnocchi baked with sauce and ricotta cheese.  So Meg and I decided to make fresh ricotta today.  It tastes SOOOOOO much better than store bought, and is very, very simple.  There are several different recipes online, but this is the one that has worked best for me, yielding the most cheese.  It takes time, but most of the time it's just sitting there doing it's thing while you watch a drama, so no biggie, right?

You need a big, heavy bottomed pot so that your milk won't scorch, and a thermometer (I used a candy thermometer).  Pour in 2 quarts of whole milk and 1 cup of heavy whipping cream.

Heat over medium heat, stirring so that it doesn't scorch, until it reaches 185 degrees F (85C)  It doesn't usually take very long.  

Turn off the heat and add 3 Tablespoons (44 ml) of either vinegar or lemon juice.  White vinegar is probably best, but I'm out, so I used cider vinegar.  This is your curdling agent.

As you stir, the curds should start forming. 

After stirring for a minute or two, cover the pot with a clean cloth and go watch a few episodes of Flower Boys Next Door.  Let it sit for about 2 hours.

Ok, now you're ready to pour off the whey.  Place a strainer in a bowl.  

Line the strainer with cheese cloth.  

 Use a slotted spoon to scoop out the curd and put it into the cheesecloth-lined strainer.  I usually scoop as much as I can into the strainer, then carefully, slowly pour all of the liquid through the strainer.  You can only do this if your bowl is big enough to catch all the whey BELOW the strainer.  This a really big stainless mixing bowl.

Stir it carefully...you don't want to press the curds into the cheesecloth too much, but it will help the whey to drain through.

Let it drain for 2-3 hours.  Time for a couple more episodes!  In between eps, or during commercials, pull up the four corners of the cheesecloth and gently squeeze the whey out.

There you have it, fresh ricotta.  This is ready for putting in your favorite lasagna, baked pasta, stuffed shell recipe. It's great with ANY recipe that calls for ricotta, including desserts.  It will keep for 3-4 days in the refrigerator.   If you are counting calories, this is a higher fat content than the part-skim ricotta that you find in the grocery store.  I've seen recipes for that, but you get so little curd from it that it's not worth the trouble.

Update May 2015:  After a couple of batches that didnt curdle right, I did some research and found that you can use up to 1/3 cup of your curdling agent.  I didn't want to start over, so I heated it back up, added 2-3 tablespoons more lemon juice (or vinegar) and it worked.  Didn't seem to affect the taste or consistency.  

Don't throw away the whey!  You can use it in any baked good recipe that you use milk in....pancakes, etc.  It has protein and you've just taken most of the fat out of it!

You can use the cheesecloth several times, just rinse it out really well and then I run it through the washer on hot without soap.

Thai Basil Lettuce Wraps

Hola, chingus!  As some of you know, my husband has been out of work since July.  As you may also know, I am an active member of the LDS church,  and as such, we have food storage.  A lot of people think it's for big disasters or a zombie apocalypse, but really it is for exactly this.  A time when we don't have an income to buy the necessities of life.  And yes, we store toilet paper, too.  I refuse to ever be out of toilet paper.  But, I digress.

SO....while we've been unemployed, we've been eating out of our extra freezer and our canned and dried storage and only buying fresh dairy and produce, and the occasional chicken when it's on sale.  Because I"m not buying groceries, and only eating out on date night (off the $2 menu at Dennys), we have cut our food bill enough to help pay other important things like the electric bill.  It is stretching our savings until we ever find a job.

The longer we go, the more challenging it gets.  We're pretty far from eating only rice and beans, but dinner-making time is getting more interesting around here.  This recipe is from a Cooking Light Recipe that we like, but I modified to stuff we actually had on hand, so I didn't have to go to the store.  It ended up even better.  I love it when that happens.

Thai Basil Lettuce Wraps 

4 teaspoons canola oil, divided
1/2 cup finely minced onion (I mince it really fine, so picky girl can't pick it out)
1/2 cup thinly sliced red bell pepper
4 teaspoons minced garlic (about 4 cloves)
1 lb ground chicken (I ground my own chicken breasts in the food processor cuz that's what I had)
2 Thai or serrano chiles, minced  (I only had one, two would have been better)
1 1/2 Tablespoons fish sauce
3 teaspoons dark brown sugar
3 teaspoons low sodium soy sauce
1 cup basil leaves (I do the roll them up and slice them thing, don't remember the french word)
1 T fresh lime juice (didnt have limes, used bottled lime juice)
4 lime wedges (didn't have those either, it was still good)

Here's my ingredients, all chopped up.  I didn't have a cup of basil, I only had about a 1/4 cups worth, it was still good, but it's better with more.  Be careful of the chili when you're cutting it up, use gloves if possible.

Heat a large nonstick skillet (I used my wok) over medium-high heat.  Add 2 teas of oil to the pan, swirl to coat.  Add onions, saute 2 minutes, add bell pepper, saute 1 minute, add garlic go another 30 secs.  Remove mixture from pan and set aside.  I sauted the bell peppers separately, because I have a bell pepper hater.  I just serve them on the side and the non-haters can put them in their wrap.

Add remaining 2 teasp oil (I used a bit more because my chicken breast was very lean, usually ground chicken has more fat in it).  Add chicken, cook 5 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble.  Drain fat if you need to.  While the chicken is cooking, mix the fish sauce, brown sugar and soy sauce in a small bowl and stir to dissolve the sugar.  After chicken is browned and drained, add chilis, cook 1 minute, add soy sauce mixture, stir it in and remove it from heat.  Stir in basil and lime juice.

Serve with Boston Bibb lettuce, butter lettuce or some other kind of leaf lettuce.  Iceberg tastes ok, but tends to fall apart.  Take a lettuce leaf, fill with chicken and squeeze your lime wedge over it, and eat it fast before it falls apart, lol.   Today, we ate it with Teriyaki sauce (Meg), Gochujang (me) or both (Sam) and a side of steamed rice.  I think we liked it better than with just the lime.  

Other things that I like in the mixture when I have them are chopped water chestnuts (gives it a nice crunch) and mushrooms, which in my opinion make nearly everything better, but I live with haters.    If I put mushroom in it, I have to chop it tiny enough to not be detected.  It serves four as it is, but if you added the other stuff, I would also add a bit more soy, fish sauce and brown sugar, and then you could probably stretch it to 6 not-so-hungry people, or 2 teenagers.

Chianti Cookies, aka Italian Wine Biscuits

This is one of my father's favorite snacks, a hard cookie made with a generous amount of red wine.

I have since researched them online and found all kinds of different recipes (and shapes, for that matter), but I'm going to stick with what I know!

The recipe calls for a cup of red wine, but I have experimented with other liquid options such as fresh squeezed lemon juice for a tart cooler-style cookie, and different spices like ginger and cinnamon.

Also, the shape.  The traditional shape uses a double twist technique, but I do a single twist for two reasons: (1) It's easier; and (2) It makes an "S" shape like my name!  So without further ado, here it is:

Chianti Cookies

4 cups flour

1 TBLS baking powder

1 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

1 cup oil

1 cup red wine (Chianti or other sweet red)

Mix together until a dough forms.  Using a teaspoon-size amount of dough, roll into a rope, form a circle and twist it once to give it a “figure-eight” shape. Twist it twice for a more traditional shape.

Brush with egg yolk (optional)

Bake 400 for 18 to 25 minutes until brown.

Tortellini Soup - 8 servings

I lb sweet Italian sausage, casings removed (I use turkey sausage sometimes)
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic
5 cups beef broth
1  cup water
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 cup sliced carrots
1-1/2 cups sliced zucchini
1/2 tablespoon basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
8 ounces fresh cheese filled tortellini pasta
3 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Brown sausage in a large (5-6 quart) soup pot.  Remove sausage and drain, reserving one tablespoon drippings.

Saute onions and garlic in drippings.  Stir in beef broth, water, tomatoes, carrots, sausage, basil, and oregano.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat.  Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.

Skim fat.  Stir in zucchini and parsley.  Simmer covered for 30 minutes.   Add tortellini during the last 10 minutes.

Serve with a loaf of crusty Italian bread.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

This is one of my dad's recipes. He makes this every year for his work Christmas party. This year I made it for my work party, but it didn't turn out as good as when my dad makes it. I was really craving something pumpkin since the person who made pie this year forgot to add sugar to the pie. It didn't end up tasting good, but this is a nice alternative and I love the crust more than regular pie crust. 

1 pkg. white or yellow cake mix
3 eggs
2 TB melted margarine
4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
    (2 ½  tsp cinnamon 1 tsp ginger, ½ tsp cloves)
1 8oz. package softened cream cheese
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 16 oz. can pumpkin
½ tsp. salt
1 cup chopped walnuts

Combine cake mix, 1 egg, margarine, 2 tsp. of spices.  Mix on low speed until crumbly.  Press into bottom of 15” x 10” jelly roll pan.  Beat cream cheese until fluffy.  Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk, 2 eggs,pumpkin and remaining 2 tsp. spices and salt.  Mix well and pour over crust.  Sprinkle with nuts.

Bake 30 - 35 minutes on 350 degrees.

Cook, chill and cut into squares.

Store in refrigerator.

Note: 9” x 13” cake pan may be used, but baking time is increased by 20 - 25 minutes until knife comes out clean. Crust will be thicker.

(For this batch I used a large jelly roll pan and a single recipe of crust and a double recipe of pumpkin and didn't add the nuts. I should have added the nuts.)