Nuts For Christmas!

It's time to start playing catch up all my Christmas themed exploits from the kitchen. As promised, I'm taking a break from posting truffle recipes so I thought it would be a good idea to get some 'nibbles' posted at long last. I don't know about you but our Christmas is not complete without some mixed nuts ~ as in the shelled variety and not the odd bod type, although come to think of it there are a few of them circulating at the moment too ... I count myself in this category by the way, who else would spend the best part of the Sunday before Christmas, battling through sleet, snow and black ice (lots and lots of black ice!) on what we have now dubbed 'The Great Duck Hunt'. I finally managed to track down the essential, if not elusive, Christmas Day Lunch ingredient in shop number 5, four duck breasts with skin on. Of course I paid over the odds for them but by that point I didn't care how much they cost just so long as I had them!

But I'm getting off the beaten track, the duck is for Christmas Day not today! Back to the nuts ...

Spiced Christmas Nuts

1 tbsp cumin seeds

2 tsp coriander seeds

1/4 tsp dried crushed chillies

1/2 tsp celery salt

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 tsp sugar

2 tsp olive oil

250g natural mixed nuts

1 tsp sea salt

Crush the cumin, coriander seeds and chillies using a pestle and mortar. Stir in the celery salt, pepper and sugar. Heat the oil in a small frying pan, add the seed mix and heat for 1 min. Add the nuts and stir over a gentle heat for a couple of mins until they are coated in the spices and are starting to turn golden. Sprinkle with sea salt and leave to cool. If giving as gifts, pack into cellophane bags or small jars.

Makes 250g

Can't recall where this one came from.

The Spiced Nuts get made every year and is my personal fave. Hubby's Mum doesn't really care for spices all that much though so I make her these one's instead.

Caramelised Nuts

200g mixed nuts

140g icing sugar

3 tbsp grand marnier

Mix together all the ingredients in a pan and place over a moderate heat. Stir constantly, allowing the mix to caramelise and turn brown and making sure all the nuts are well coated.

Pour the nuts onto some greaseproof paper. Don't worry if they are stuck together, as they can be separated when cool. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Makes 200g

I can tell you this is a Tana Ramsay recipe but where I got it from ... (Hmm, I'm starting to notice a theme developing!)

Of course I said that I make this for Mum-In-Law, in reality everyone else helps themselves to them as well so I'll have to make another batch once I manage to get some more icing sugar.

This year I thought I might try another recipe which caught my eye, it had all the kinds of spices and flavours in it to really appeal to Hubby.

Spiced Party Nuts

40g butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp cayenne

350g mixed unsalted nuts

Preheat oven to 130C/fan 100C. Heat the butter and oil gently in a pan, until the butter melts. Then add the Worcestershire sauce, spices and 1 tsp salt.

Cook the mixture for 1 min, then add the mixed nuts and stir well using a wooden spoon to coat evenly. Tip the nuts onto a non stick lipped baking tray and cook in the oven for 1 1/2 hours. Put to one side to cool completely and store in an airtight container or jar for up to 1 month.

Makes 350g

Good Housekeeping - Dec 09 (woo hoo!)

These didn't quite have the kick I thought they would and Hubby prefers the first recipe when it comes to savoury and spicy. That said, we did demolish the whole lot while watching Twilight last night, I didn't even get the chance to take a photo of them once they came out of the oven. All in all they are defo worth a try but they aren't making it to this year's Christmas table for us.

Feel The Fear and Do It Anyway!

Just like the cupcake craze I feel I have now resisted the Macaroon fad for as long as possible. Often I have drooled over the macaroon's on offer over at Tartelette but always managed to tell myself that it required more dedication to the cause than I have to make these little morsels. Then Josie over at Daydreamer Desserts got in on the act and I found the pressure mounting! The final nail in the coffin came when the April edition of Delicious magazine landed in my letter box. The front cover piled high with pretty pastel coloured macaroon's ... what was I to do? Especially when I found myself with three spare egg whites that were just begging to be used rather than put int he freezer to save for a rainy day. It was a conspiracy, I'm sure!

Research was required. I'd read enough through various blogs and magazine articles to know that these sweet treats were more easy to scoff than they were to make. There is a great article over on Tartelette which helped ease the pain, apparently it can even go wrong for the professionals! I needed to know more so I headed over to David Lebovitz's blog but I'm afraid to say that his post did little to install confidence in me.

At this point I decided it was best to just dive right on in and make a batch ... so that is what I did. And I'm really pleased I did because the thought of making Macaroon's is actually much more daunting than the actual making of them. And when you manage to produce a tray or two of them for yourself then the sense of satisfaction far outweighs any 'stress' that making them may have induced in the first place ... or as one of my favourite quotes says 'feel the fear and do it anyway'! (Susan Jeffers)

Peppermint Macaroons with Nutella Filling

175g icing sugar

125g ground almonds

3 large free range egg whites

75g caster sugar

Peppermint flavouring

Green food colouring (I used liquid because that's what I have to hand but I think I'll treat myself to a stash of powdered ones from now on as they produce more vibrant colours)

Nutella

Preheat the oven to 160C/fan 140C. Whizz the icing sugar and ground almonds in a food processor to a very fine mixture, then sift into a bowl.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt to soft peaks, then gradually whisk in the caster sugar until thick and glossy. At this point you can stir in the flavouring and food colouring.

Fold half the almond and icing sugar mixture into the meringue and mix well. Add the remaining half, making sure you use a spatula to cut and fold the mixture until it is shiny and has a thick, ribbon like consistency as it falls from the spatula. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm plain nozzle.

Line 2 baking sheets with baking paper. Pipe small rounds of the macaroon mixture, about 3cm across, onto the baking sheets. Give the baking sheets a sharp tap on the work surface to ensure a good 'foot'. Leave to stand at room temp for 10-15 mins to form a slight skin. This is important - you should be able to touch them lightly without any mixture sticking to your finger. Bake for 15 mins. Remove from the oven and cool.

When the Macaroon's have cooled use 1 tsp of Nutella to sandwich pairs of them together.

Makes 20 (I got 16!)

Adapted from Delicious - April 2010

OK, so they aren't perfect. But I'm chuffed to bits with them for a first effort. Having never actually eaten a Macaroon before either I'm not sure if the texture is spot on or not but they have a nice thin crunchy crust (note the 'foot' - how pleased am I!?!?!?!) and what we think is a lovely chewy middle. Hubby doesn't like meringues or pavs normally so i didn't think he would be that keen on Macaroon's but to my surprise he asked me not to take any of them into work to share, he wanted them all to himself!

Chocolate Nut Shortbread

Does this bowl mug of hot chocolate look like it is missing something to you?  I'll give you a hint, its actually a strawberry flavoured white chocolate hot chocolate, so it isn't missing any chocolate!

Maybe this picture will give you another clue?

Oh yeah!  Hot Chocolate in this house is no longer complete without a slab slice of shortbread.  This is a recipe that I actually book marked for last month's We Should Cocoa challenge, but what can I say, the Chocolate and Caramel Brownies were too much to resist!

This was a very simple recipe to put together and makes a lovely buttery, crumbly shortbread.  Perfect for the side of a cuppa!

Chocolate Nut Shortbread
115g unsalted butter, room temperature
50g caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
130g plain flour
2 tbsp corn flour
Large pinch of salt
80g toasted and chopped mixed nuts
50g chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 190C with the rack in the middle of the oven. Have ready a 21cm (ish) square baking pan that is either buttered or lined with parchment paper.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar until smooth (about 2 minutes). Beat in the vanilla extract. In a separate bowl whisk together the plain flour, corn flour and salt and then stir through the chocolate chips.  Add the flour mixture to the butter and sugar mixture and mix just until incorporated.

Transfer the dough into the baking pan and pat down. Gently press the chopped nuts into the dough and gently score cutting lines into the raw dough, this makes it easier to cut once baked.

Place in the preheated oven and bake until it is golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Makes approx 8 shortbread fingers
Joy Of Baking [dot] com

Jane's Granola Recipe

Are you wondering who Jane is?  Well she is the food editor of the magazine that this recipe came from and kudos to her, this has quickly become one of our most favourite granola recipes.  In fact it is the granola recipe that all others are compared to, which is why we still call it Jane's Granola!  It is very versatile, you can add in or leave out what you have or don't have in the cupboard and the granola always turns out well.  We enjoy this sprinkled over fruit compote and yogurt, Kilner Crunch style!

Jane's Granola Recipe
250g rolled oats
200g mixed nuts, roughly chopped (such as pecans, brazils or hazelnuts)
2 tbsp each of sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, linseed, pumpkin seeds
6 tbsp clear honey
75g raisins
75g dried apricots, roughly chopped
75g dried cranberries or cherries

Preheat the oven to 150 C / 130 C fan. Mix together the oats, nuts and seeds in a large bowl. Put onto two baking sheets lined with baking parchment, drizzle over the honey and mix together until little clusters form, but not totally mixed.

Place the trays in the preheated oven and cook the granola for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the fruit and mix well. Cook for another 8 to 10 minutes. Leave to cool completely, then transfer to a lidded container. Serve with sheep or goat’s yogurt and a drizzle of honey or fresh berries
 
Makes 20 x 40g servings
Feel Good Food Mag

Momofuku's Compost Cookie Bars

Last year Momofuku seemed to set quite a buzz around the blogosphere.  It was David Lebovitz who first brought the phenomenon to my attention with Compost Cookies.  A simple concept, a cookie that acts as a compost heap ... a bit of this ... a touch of that ... whatever happens to be kicking about at the time.  I was hooked by this concept, except for one thing ... David Lebovitz found them difficult to make.  I saved the recipe and decided it was something I would try on a rainy day when I had plenty of patience and fridge space.

Then I stumbled upon a recipe using the same concept as the cookies but in bar form.  Excited much?  Again, I saved the recipe for the next time I had a rainy day.  Only problem this time was I couldn't seem to remember where I saved the recipe to and a google search didn't help me either - arghhhhhhhhhhhh!  I gave it up as lost for good and moved on.

On Tuesday afternoon I decided to flick through my bookmark links for cookie recipes and guess what I found!!!  See, patience is a virtue ;0)

The inspiration came from the misfit Christmas chocolates, you know the ones that are always lurking at the bottom of the chocolate tin after everyone has picked out their favourites and then their second favourites and then when forced to they pick out the ones that they'll eat but only when their first picks are no longer an option.  In this case the misfits were lurking in the bottom of a tin of Mingles, I'd eaten the gold (white chocolate) ones and then the blue (truffle) ones and then the green (crunchy stuff of some description) ones ....  which left the brown and red ones.  Dark Chocolate and Peppermint Cream are not my chocolates of choice.  Usually they would go into work or they would sit in a bowl on the table for visitors to snack on but this time their fate was sealed when I rediscovered the Compost Cookie Bar recipe!  I also took the opportunity to rid the cupboard of some other Christmas leftovers like the Peanut M&M's I bought by mistake when I thought they were normal M&M's, salted and roasted peanuts and some shortbread biscuits and this is what they all turned into;

Compost Cookie Bars
250g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp salt
230g unsalted butter
200g caster sugar
125g light brown sugar
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp instant coffee mixed with a drop of water to make it a paste
350g of 'Compost goodies' (think of things like chopped chocolate, chocolate covered raisins, rollos, crisps, pretzels or nuts)

Preheat oven to 190C. Line a 9 x 13 x 2 - inch baking pan with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter, sugars and corn syrup on medium high for 2-3 minutes until fluffy and pale yellow in color. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula.

On a lower speed, add eggs and vanilla to incorporate. Increase mixing speed to medium-high and start a timer for 10 minutes. During this time the sugar granules will fully dissolve, the mixture will become an almost pale white color and your creamed mixture will double in size.

When time is up, on a lower speed, add the flour mixture. Mix 45-60 sec just until your dough comes together and all remnants of dry ingredients have incorporated. Do not walk away from your mixer during this time or you will risk over mixing the dough. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula.

On low speed, add in the coffee and your compost goodies. Mix for 30-45 sec until they evenly mix into the dough.

Spread batter in your prepared 9 x 13 x 2 - inch pan. Sprinkle the top of the batter with about 1/2 tsp fine sea salt (optional). Bake at for 30-35 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars when cooled to room temperature.

Adapted from Alpineberry Blog

I think the best way to describe these is like the meeting of a Brownie and Rocky Road.  The cake mixture never really cooks through and all the 'Compost Goodies' lend a very chunky texture.  In this case the flavour is both sweet and salty but also has a very powerful mint kick.  If I'm being honest, they aren't quite my cup of tea but I'm not sure if it would depend on what is added in at the goodie stage.  Hubby, on the other hand, is more than happy to take them along to work with him for his mid afternoon sugar rush!