Sticky Road Chocolate Bars...

Has it really been 6 weeks since I posted anything from Marsha's Kitchen? Yes, I have been cooking but it always seems like we eat before I remember to take a picture. I'll try not to be so slack since I have 2 more new cookbooks added to my collection since the last post so there will be lots of new recipes to try.
Today was a rainy day so I cleaned up the house and did some baking. I tried a new recipe I saw on tv last winter, Sunny Anderson's Sticky Road Chocolate Bars.
By the time they were done the sun came out so I took some out to the garden to snack on - it's tulip time so I knew just what plate to use :)


Sticky Road Chocolate Bars
as printed on the FoodNetwork site - recipe by Sunny Anderson, 2008

Ingredients
For the chocolate bar:

* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* Pinch salt
* 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature, plus extra for the pan
* 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
* 1 egg
* 5 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
* 1/4 cup chopped pecans

For the glaze:

* 3/4 cup butter
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
* 3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
* 1 cup chopped pecans
* 1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes

Directions

Special Equipment: off-set spatula, parchment paper, 12 by 8 1/2-inch sheet pan

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt together. In a large bowl using a handheld mixer on medium high speed, cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and mix until well combined. Add flour mixture in batches and blend until combined and crumbly. Fold in melted chocolate and the pecans. Butter a quarter sheet pan. Line the pan with a piece of parchment paper and butter the parchment. Press dough evenly into the sheet pan and prick surface evenly with a fork. Bake until firm in the center, about 20 minutes. Let cool and prepare the glaze.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter, then add sugar, corn syrup and condensed milk. Cook until all ingredients are dissolved and a golden color is reached, about 10 to 12 minutes. Fold in the pecans and coconut. Pour the hot glaze over the cooled chocolate bars and quickly chill in the freezer to let glaze set. Cut into bars and serve.

My notes: after reading the online comments about the crust being bitter I used Baker's semi sweet squares. I also don't like to waste things so I used the whole can of sweetened condensed milk because what was I going to do with the little that was left :) The topping still turned out great.

Marsha - Thumbs Up though they will probably not be made again - too much butter in this recipe and there are other bars I like better.

Jeff - Thumbs Up

wearing of the green...

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all my Irish heritage friends especially Barb and Kathleen! Today, I am joining Kathleen on her 2nd annual St. Patty's blog crawl - head on over to her blog HERE to see all the other amazing participants.

I didn't have a lot of time to prepare a party worthy dish and I don't own any shamrock themed dishes but I did manage to find some paper shamrock doilies as well as some shamrock cupcake liners. That's about as Irish as I get these days :)
Last week the bag of powdered sugar got damaged in the cupboard (what a mess) so while I was cleaning out the cupboard I found a lemon poppyseed muffin mix that I purchased a while ago for overnight guests and it didn't get used. That is a flavor that isn't as popular with J or I so since I was cleaning up powdered sugar I used what remained in the bag as my inspiration to sweeten them up a little. I prepared the muffins according to the mix directions and then made a thin mixture of fresh lemon juice and powdered sugar. As soon as the muffins came out of the oven - I poked them all over with a fork and poured the lemon sugar mixture over them so that it soaked into the muffins.
After soaking all the muffins I used more powdered sugar to thicken the lemon mixture into icing and used some zest as a flavorful topping.
What we ended up with was more of a rich pound cake flavor and very delicious.

a brownie for Kathleen...

1410.08 miles - that is what mapquest tells me separates me from my friend Kathleen - so since it wasn't possible for me to pop on over and enjoy birthday cake with her today - Jeff & I celebrated without her by enjoying some flower brownies with whipped cream...her cake topping of choice.
Kathleen's an Irish Lass
Full of sweetness and plenty of sass;
She often writes witty prose
And is beautiful, like a rose;
As a baker, she is a darling
always smiling, never snarling...

Who am I kidding - I can't write a poem like she does! Let me just tell you a few of the things I admire about her...
Her loyalty to her friends
Her willingness to always help those in need
Her joy and pride for her grandchildren
The ability to find more bargains while out shopping then anyone else I know and then to put them all together in the most amazing tablescapes
but most of all I appreciate her sense of humor and quick wit - sometimes something she says just makes my day!

Happy Birthday Kathleen - I wish you good health and lots of happiness in the coming year.

I hope everyone will join in with Kathleen on her blog, Cuisine Kathleen, for her second annual St. Patrick's Day blog crawl.

Mar.16th..Please join in! Anything Irish..a table, a recipe, a poem, , whatever you'd like!

blueberry cream cheese ebelskivers...

I know I have been showing a lot of ebelskivers lately but we just love them. Yesterday, we drove to St. Cloud for work and as we drove by Ihop I said to Jeff that I should try to make stuffed french toast my favorite dish there. I realized when I got home I didn't have raisin or cinnamon bread in the house so I went for the next best thing ebelskivers.

Ebelskivers "filled pancakes" (recipe from the back of my William Sonoma pan packaging)
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
4 eggs, seperated
2 cups milk
4 Tablespoons butter, melted (plus more for cooking)

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. In a small bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks, then whisk in the milk and the 4 TB of melted butter. Whisk the yolk mixture into the flour mixture until well combined; the batter will be lumpy.

In another bowl, using and electric mixture fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff but not dry peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, gently stir the whites into the batter in two additions.

Put 1/4 tsp butter in each well of the ebelskiver pan. Set over medium heat and heat until the butter begins to bubble. Pour in 1 TBs of batter into each well, put in 1-2 tsp of your choice of filling and top with 1 TBs of batter. Cook until the bottoms are golden brown and crispy, 3 to 5 minutes. Using 2 wooden skewers, flip the pancakes over and cook until golden and crispy about 3 minutes more. Transfer to a plate and repeat with remaining batter and filing. Makes about 40.

My notes: I always halve this recipe with no problems. Up until this batch I always used the 2 wooden skewers to flip them but yesterday I discovered we were out of them. While I was panicking on what to use Jeff took out 2 plastic forks and broke off all the prongs except one on each fork - they worked so much better and now are washed and will be stored with the pan :)

The blueberry filling was "winged" - I used one half of a block of cream cheese so about 4 oz and whipped it with several tablespoons of powdered sugar and a tsp of vanilla. Then I added blueberries and used the remaining blueberries to cook down with some sugar for the syrup topping.

Marsha - Thumbs UP
Jeff - Two Thumbs UP - yes, he thought they were that good :)

Fiesta Ravioli and Wonton Kisses...

I have never been disappointed with any recipe I have gotten off the blog, The Sisters' Cafe, and this Fiesta Ravioli was no exception!
While mine doesn't look quite as festive since I forgot to buy the sliced ripe olives...I used a valentine's plate to make it fun.
Fiesta Ravioli from Melanie of the Sisters' Cafe

1 package (25oz) frozen beef ravioli
1 can (10 oz) enchilada sauce
1 jar (8oz) salsa
2 cups shredded Cheddar-Monterey Jack cheese
1 can (2oz) sliced black olives drained (optional)
sour cream and lettuce for garnish

Cook ravioli according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet combine enchilada sauce and salsa. Cook and stir over medium heat until heated through. Drain ravioli, add to sauce and gently stir to coat. Top with cheese (and olives, if desired). Cover and cook over low heat for 3-4 minutes or until cheese is melted. Bring to the table and enjoy with lettuce and sour cream. Approx. 6 servings You can see their full post HERE.

This one got a big thumbs up from both of us!

For dessert we had Wonton Kisses which was listed on the Taste of Home website as a Valentine dessert. Good thing because while very tastey I think I could only eat them once a year - unless I tried the baked version as some reviewers suggested.


Wonton Kisses from the Taste of Home website

* 24 milk chocolate kisses
* 24 wonton wrappers
* Oil for frying
* Confectioners' sugar

Directions
* Place a chocolate kiss in the center of a wonton wrapper. (Keep remaining wrappers covered with a damp paper towel until ready to use.) Moisten edges with water; fold opposite corners together over candy kiss and press to seal. Repeat.
* In an electric skillet, heat 1 in. of oil to 375°. Fry wontons for 2-1/2 minutes or until golden brown, turning once. Drain on paper towels. Dust with confectioners' sugar. Yield: 2 dozen.

The recipe and photo from their website can be found HERE.

They list one as a serving size - now really who only eats one! This recipe also got a Thumbs UP from both of us.

chocolate sugar cookies...

It snowed all weekend so to pass the time I made cookies. Normal sugar cookies made in the cookie mold pan I mentioned in the last post and chocolate sugar cookie cut outs. I was never the type of mom that made cute cut out cookies for every holiday - frankly no one in our family really cared for sugar cookies, they would rather have chocolate chip cookies so it wasn't worth the effort. In my browsing of recipes this weekend I came across a recipe for chocolate sugar cookies on the Joy of Baking.com site that looked worth trying. They were definitely the favorite of the two types of cookies made. I look forward to tweaking the chocolate recipe for even more fudgy goodness. You can find the full recipe for the chocolate sugar cookies on the Joy of baking site HERE. I did not use the royal icing as they recommend but our favorite glace icing which does not get as hard from the Our Best Bites site. You can find that recipe HERE.

Marsha - Thumbs UP
Jeff - Thumbs UP

herbed crackers...

I received a Wilton Valentine cookie pan as a gift last weekend and the recipe for herbed crackers on the back of the label intrigued me.


Herbed Crackers - (recipe from Wilton)
Ingredients:

* 1/2 cup butter softened
* 8 ounces Monterey Jack or white cheddar cheese, shredded
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon oregano or basil
* 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1/8 teaspon pepper

Makes about 1 dozen crackers.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray pan cavities with vegetable pan spray.

In medium mixing bowl cream butter with cheese. Stir in flour, salt, oregano, garlic powder and pepper.

Bake 11-13 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely.

My Notes: I didn't have white cheddar on hand so I used regular cheddar thus giving the crackers an orange tinge.

Marsha - Thumbs UP
Jeff - Thumbs Down

Though I probably won't be making these again given Jeff's rating - the cookie molds are fun and you'll be seeing those again!