Closet Cooking

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Hot Caramelized Onion Dip

When entertaining over the holidays it is a good idea to have some tasty appetizers on hand. Although the holiday cookies are always welcome it is also nice to have something savoury and it is hard to go wrong with a melted cheesy dip! A while ago I made a hot sweet onion dip that was so good! The sweet onion went surprisingly well with the melted cheese! While I was enjoying the hot sweet onion dip I thought, why not caramelize the onions first? I had to try the caramelized onion version of the dip so I filed the idea away for later and now was the time to finally try it. Properly caramelizing onions can take a bit of patience as it takes several hours to slowly cook them down until they have turned a nice golden brown colour but the final result is so worth the effort. After cooking for all of that time the onions that started out pretty pungent mellow out and in fact become quite sweet. These sweet caramelized onions worked amazingly well in the savoury, creamy dip covered in melted cheesy goodness! I enjoyed the hot caramelized onion dip on a sliced fresh whole grain baguette but chips or even vegetables would also make for some great dipping pleasure.

Hot Caramelized Onion Dip

(makes 4 servings)
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon oil
4 large sweet onions (sliced)
1 4 ounce package of cream cheese (softened)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup parmigiano reggiano (grated)
pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Melt the butter and heat the oil in a pan.
2. Add the onions and slowly caramelize on med-low heat for about 1-3 hours.
3. Mix everything and place it in a baking dish.
4. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until the top is nice and browned, about 30-50 minutes.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Cranberry and Pistachio Biscotti Dipped in White Chocolate

Cranberries and pistachios are a great combo that and it is the perfect combo for the holidays with the red and green colours. White chocolate is the third component of this amazing flavour combination and I often enjoy making it in chocolate chip cookie form. While I was making the chocolate and pistachio biscotti I was thinking about a cranberry and pistachio version. I figured that I already had some biscotti on my holiday cookie platter and that I did not need a second one but days later I was still thinking about it so I had to whip up a batch. Normally I would just add the white chocolate chips or chunks to the biscotti but this time I thought that I would change things up a bit and dip the biscotti into some melted white chocolate. I could barely wait for the white chocolate to cool before photographing and digging into the biscotti. The cranberries and pistachios work really well in biscotti form and I am certainly glad that I made them. I also really liked the white chocolate dip and I look forward to experimenting more with chocolate dipped biscotti. My holiday cookie tray is looking more complete every day now!

Cranberry and Pistachio Biscotti Dipped in White Chocolate

(makes 12 biscotti)
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
6 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup pistachios
4 ounces white chocolate

Directions:
1. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
2. Mix the sugar, eggs and oil in another bowl.
3. Mix the dry and wet ingredients until they come together.
4. Mix in the cranberries and pistachios.
5. Form the dough into a rough oval about 10 inches by 3 inches on parchment paper.
6. Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 30 minutes.
7. Cut it into 1/4-1/2 inch slices.
8. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes per side at 325F.
9. Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler.
10. Dip the biscotti into the white chocolate and set aside to cool.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Apple Pie French Toast

I often find myself looking forward to breakfasts on the weekend. During the week breakfasts are always rushed and I don't usually have the time to do anything special. On the weekend however I like to take the time to make a real breakfast and one of my favorites is french toast. Although plain french toast is always nice I often like to play around with french toast by adding different flavours and I am always on the lookout for new ideas. Recently I came across this apple pie french toast on Judy in here Natural Habitat: The Kitchen that sounded so amazingly good that I just had to try it! This apple pie french toast uses apples in a caramel sauce along with candied walnuts as a topping. You just can't go wrong with the apple and caramel combo and having it for breakfast sounded decadently good and it was! Caramel sauce can sometimes be a bit tricky to make but the one in this recipe was nice and easy and it tasted great! Of course, with all of the caramel sauce there is certainly no need for syrup and I even licked my plate clean to make sure that none of it went to waste. This is easily my favorite french toast so far and it is just like eating apple pie for breakfast!

Apple Pie French Toast

(makes 2 servings)
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
2 granny smith apples (peeled,cored and sliced)
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup water
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
4 slices bread
butter
1/4 cup candied walnuts

Directions:
1. Simmer the apples, butter, sugar, flour cinnamon and water until the apples are tender, about 10-15 minutes and set aside.
2. Mix the eggs, milk and vanilla in a wide dish.
3. Dip the bread into the egg mixture to coat on both sides.
4. Melt some butter in a pan and fry the slices of bread until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes per side.
5. Serve the french toast covered in the caramelized apples along with some candied walnuts.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Candied Walnuts

A recipe that I wanted to make called for some candied walnuts which sounded really good. I have candied pecans in the past and I was looking forward to candying a new type of nut. A quick search brought me to this recipe for candied walnuts on Simply Recipes that candied the walnuts in nothing less than a simple caramel! You pretty much just melt some sugar, let it caramelize, mix in the nuts, pour them onto a baking sheet and let them cool. After that it is just a matter of breaking them apart and then its time to start enjoying them. Candied nuts have many uses from simply snacking on them to using them as ingredients in other recipes and they go well in sweets like ice cream and even in salads.

These candied walnuts are so good! They remind me of caramel popcorn and they are disappearing almost as quickly! Just like a pinch of salt in caramel sauce works well, it also works really well in these candied walnuts where the salt contrasts with and balances the their sweetness nicely. I have been snacking on them since they cooled enough to eat, though I will have to stop soon if I want any left for tomorrow to use in the recipe that I made them for.

Candied Walnuts

(makes 1 1/2cups)
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups walnut halves
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt (optional)

Directions:
1. Spread the walnuts out in a single layer on a baking sheet.
2. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until nice and toasted, about 5 minutes, and set aside. (Watch them carefully.)
3. Melt the sugar in a sauce pan and wait for it to turn a nice shade of amber.
4. Add the walnuts and mix to coat.
5. Pour the walnuts onto a sheet of parchment paper, quickly separate them, sprinkle them with the salt and let them cool.

Similar Recipes:
Maple Candied Pecans
Caramel Sauce

Use in:
Apple Pie French Toast

Friday, December 18, 2009

Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Apple Chutney

I did not mean to brig you another grilled cheese sandwich so soon after the last one but as I was cleaning out the fridge, like I do every Friday night, I came across some of the apple chutney that I made a while ago. Since it had been busy day I had been looking for something simple for dinner anyways, a grilled cheese sandwich with apple chutney was a perfect fit. I really like the way that sweet, tangy, hot and spicy chutneys work with the melted cheese in grilled cheese sandwiches and I enjoy them fairly frequently. I also enjoy adding apple slices to grilled cheese sandwiches so adding some of the apple chutney sounded like a win win situation and it was! I think that this apple chutney grilled cheese sandwich is now my favorite chutney style grilled cheese sandwich so far. It is always fun to find things that you had forgotten about when cleaning out the fridge and this time it turned into a quick and easy meal on a busy Friday night.

Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Apple Chutney

(makes 1 sandwich)
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
2 slices bread
1 tablespoon butter (room temperature)
2 slices cheese (cheddar, gruyere, etc.)
2 tablespoons apple chutney

Directions:
1. Assemble the sandwich and grill until the bread is golden brown and the cheese has melted.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Chocolate and Pistachio Biscotti

Biscotti is a cookie that I tend to associate with the holidays. Perhaps that is because I generally only see it during the holidays but none the less I wanted to make some this year. Biscotti is a twice baked cookie where you form the simple dough into a long oval and bake it. Once it has baked long enough to cut it you pull it out and slice it into long fingers and bake them until they are nice and crisp and golden brown. One of the things that I like most about biscotti is that there are so many different thing that you can put in them form nuts, to chocolate, to dried fruit to spices, etc. This year I was thinking that a chocolate biscotti with pistachios would be nice. I often like to combine green pistachios with red dried cranberries but with the cookie being chocolate you would not be able to see the cranberries too well so I decided to double up the chocolate with some chocolate chips. With the chocolate biscotti, my holiday cookie platter is now starting to look more complete!

Biscotti, by its nature it a hard and dry cookie which makes it perfect for dipping into warm drinks like coffee, tea or a mug of hot chocolate which is perfect for getting into the holidays.

Chocolate and Pistachio Biscotti

(makes 12 biscotti)
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
6 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup pistachios
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Mix the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
2. Mix the sugar, eggs and oil in another bowl.
3. Mix the dry and wet ingredients until they come together.
4. Mix in the pistachios and chocolate chips.
5. Form the dough into a rough oval about 10 inches by 3 inches on parchment paper.
6. Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 30 minutes.
7. Cut it into 1/4-1/2 inch slices.
8. Bake the slices in the oven for 10 minutes per side at 325F.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Mushroom and Prosciutto Grilled Cheese Sandwich

With the holidays quickly approaching my days have been busy and I have been looking for quick, easy and light meals. When I think about quick and easy meals one of the first things that always comes to mind are sandwiches and recently I have been enjoying playing around with grilled cheese sandwiches stuffed with more than just the cheese. I have not have a mushroom fix in a while and I had been craving them! The two ideas collided to form something magical in my mind. I decided to cook the mushrooms in my favorite way, to saute them along with some onions, garlic and thyme until they are nice and golden brown and caramelized. From there of course came adding the to a sandwich with some cheese for which I went with a mild cheese, mozzarella, so as to not steal the show from the mushrooms. I also happened to have some leftover prosciutto on hand and you can never go wrong by adding salty cured ham products to a grilled cheese sandwich. The mushroom and prosciutto grilled cheese sandwich, or the mushroom melt, turned out really well! The crispy, buttery, lightly toasted bread wrapping the ooey, gooey, melted cheese and caramelized mushrooms was amazing! These mushroom melt sandwiches certainly satisfied my mushroom cravings.

Mushroom and Prosciutto Grilled Cheese Sandwich

(makes 1 sandwich)
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 small onion (sliced)
4 ounces mushrooms (cleaned and sliced)
1 clove garlic (chopped)
1/2 teaspoon thyme (chopped)
2 tablespoons broth (or white wine)
1 tablespoon parsley (chopped, optional)
2 slices bread
3 slices prosciutto (optional)
2 slices mozzarella cheese
1 tablespoon butter (room temperature)

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a pan.
2. Add the onion and mushrooms and saute until caramelized, about 20-30 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and thyme and saute until fragrant, about a minute.
4. Add the broth, deglaze the pan and saute until the liquid has been absorbed.
5. Remove from heat and mix in the parsley.
6. Assemble sandwich and grill until golden brown on both sides.