St Patrick's Day Colcannon and kale recipe

St Patrick's day is coming up soon, and that's when I like to enjoy an Irish American tradition....corned beef and cabbage. But I get tired of the same old boiled potato side dish and started making colcannon.  Originally I searched for ideas and recipes from the internet, but ended up making some changes to a recipe that looked interesting.  This version has kale and bacon.  If you are not a fan of kale, even my husband likes this one and his idea of kale is that it should line the bottom of the trash can.  You can also use spinach if you must.

Here's one of our new family favorite recipes:

 

St. Patty’s Day Colcannon

Serves 4-6

 

1 ½ lb	Russet potatoes
½ tsp	Kosher salt
6 slices	Bacon
½ medium	Onion or sliced green onions
1 ½ cups	Kale
⅓ cup	Milk, or more as needed
¼ cup	Unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for drizzling
	Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Peel potatoes and cut into 1” dice.  Place potatoes in a saucepan with enough cold water to cover. Bring to a boil.  Add ½ tsp kosher salt.  Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until tender.  Drain and when the potatoes are cool enough to touch, place through a potato ricer to make them perfectly smooth.  You can also mash the potatoes by hand to get out all the lumps. 

Meanwhile, cut bacon into 1” pieces and place in a large, deep skillet.  Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown.  Remove bacon but leave the drippings in the pan.   

Dice the onion and set aside.   

Remove stems from kale and chop kale into small pieces.  Place both onion and kale into the pan with the drippings.  Sauté until onions and kale begin to brown. 

Add warm milk and melted butter to potatoes.  Add in the crispy bacon and stir to mix well. Stir in kale and onions to potatoes. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

To serve, melt additional butter and drizzle over the top, if desired. 

 

 

Try a delicious and very simple scratch made cookie even toddlers can help make

I love to bake during the holidays.  Some of my favorite cookies are more difficult to make.  But what if I want to bake with kids....small kids?  I have the perfect recipe for that. 

Kids always seem to love making cutout cookies, but with all the fabulous cookies I make, I do not enjoy making cutouts.  So in my hunt to find something that tasted like a sugar cookie but did not require that I spend hours rolling, cutting and worst off, decorating them, I found a recipe for No Roll Sugar Cookies.  The original recipe was different and still required a little patience to complete.  I do not remember the original source of the recipe, but we made several changes to it anyway.

The recipe is simple and uses ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry.  You can use sprinkles, colored sugar or leave them plain.  You can also color the dough with food coloring if you like. 

To show you how easy these are to make, my friend Tram Mai who is on Channel 12 in Phoenix prepared these cookies with her twins. 

There are a few hints that will make these cookies successful.  First, you can use the heel of your hand to press the cookies from a ball into a disc.  Be sure to press hard enough so they are about 1/4 to 1/2" thick.  Not pressing them hard enough will make the cookies very thick and may not bake as nicely.  If 'little hands' are doing this, you may want to assist with the pressing to make sure they are not too thick.  Second, and I learned this from my friend, Tram, it works really well to use sprinkles that are in a shaker top.  It certainly creates less mess.

This picture was taken for a TV segment with Tram and her adorable twins Zak and Zoey actually making the cookies.  They are about 2 1/2.  I told you they are easy...and tasty too.

Here's the recipe.  They are delicious and will be wonderful on your cookie platter.  One other plus; we are at 5700 feet altitude and no adjustments are needed for these.

No Roll Sugar Cookies 

Prep time 30 minutes;

Bake time 10 minutes

Makes 42 cookies 

• 2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter softened
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup powdered 10x sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp cream of tartar
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 cup sprinkles (jimmies) or colored sugar 

Heat oven to 375°. 

Beat butter, margarine and both sugars in a large bowl until fluffy.  Beat in egg and vanilla until well blended.  Beat remaining ingredients in with mixer on low until just blended.  Do not overmix. 

Roll tablespoons of dough into 1 inch balls.  Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.   

The easiest way I found to shape these is to press the balls with the palm of your hand, then put sprinkles on the cookies, lightly pressing sprinkles into the dough.   

 You can also put plastic on the cookie ball and press with a glass, then spread sprinkles on top. 

Bake about 10 minutes or until cookies are lightly golden.  Cool on a wire rack. 

Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk now in caramel flavor

Recently while I was shopping I noticed that Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk came in 2 new flavors.  I was waiting to determine what holiday baking I was going to do before I bought the new flavors.  Lucky for me, they sent me a few cans to try out. 

If you are reading this, you probably know that I make homemade caramel several times during the year.  But if you do not, you probably end up buying the little caramel squares with the cellophane wrapper on them.  They are quicker than making it homemade but still a pain to unwrap and melt.  So I was really excited to try the canned caramel flavor sweetened condensed milk.

I have seen many recipes where people boil or steam a can of regular sweetened condensed milk to make caramel.  I understand it tastes wonderful, but worry that this can be dangerous because the can may explode.  This is a much safer method to get that delicious caramel flavor easily.  If you need your caramel thicker, you should be able to empty this into a glass bowl and cook down in the microwave. 

I decided to make my samoa cookies which use about a pound of caramel anyway.  I opened the can and in it was a nice liquid texture caramel.  No unwrapping or melting required.  What a timesaver.  But would it taste good?

I have to say it was an easy swap and the taste was fantastic.  Here's the recipe that I previously posted but modified to use Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk in caramel flavor.  The flavor was wonderful and it cut quite a bit of time out of my recipe.

Samoas Cookies copycat recipe
Makes about 4 dozen

Shortbread recipe

¼ cup	Confectioners’ sugar
¼ cup	Granulated sugar
1 ¼ cups	Unsalted butter (1 ½ sticks) refrigerated and cut into 8 to 10 pieces
2 ½ cups	All purpose flour
Dash	Kosher salt

 
Preheat oven to 325°

Place both sugars in food processor and process until very fine. 

Add butter, pulse until sugar disappears.  Add flour and salt, pulse until no dry particles remain.  (Mixture will be moist and crumbly.)   

Cookies w/hole in center

Make balls about 1 inch and place on a cookie sheets 2 inches apart.  Flatten each ball with the bottom of a glass or a rolling pin.  Each cookie should be about 2” when flattened.  Using the back of a round wooden spoon, make a small circle in the middle of the cookie.  My circles were about ½ to ¾”.   Optionally you can try to roll out this dough…but it can be difficult to roll out nicely. 

Bake 20-25 minutes until pale golden.  Remove from cookie sheets; cool completely on wire racks. 

 

Topping recipe:

·       2 ½ cups          Shredded unsweetened coconut, toasted

·       1  can               Eagle Brand caramel flavored sweetened condensed milk

·       Dash                Kosher salt

·       ½ lb.                Dark or semisweet chocolate chips

·       1-2 tbsp           Shortening (such as Crisco)

·       4 dozen           Shortbread cookies

To toast the shredded coconut, put it in a large frying pan on medium to low heat.  Stir the coconut until it is toasted.  Do not look away or it goes from perfect to burned in seconds.  Remove from heat and place on a plate to cool.  See the video for easy instructions.   

 

Pour the caramel into a medium sized bowl, then stir the toasted coconut into the caramel. 

Gently spread the caramel/coconut mixture on top of your cookies.   

Melt the chocolate chips and shortening in the microwave 15 seconds at a time, stirring well after each interval.  When the chips are almost melted, remove from the microwave and stir, using the residual heat to melt the remaining chips.  DO NOT OVERHEAT or you will ruin your chocolate. 

Bottom of cookie dipped in chocolate.
Top has caramel/coconut, then
 drizzled with chocolate

Now, be prepared to get messy.  Spread some of the chocolate on a plate.  Hold the cookie on the edges and dip the cookie into the chocolate to cover the entire bottom.  Place the chocolate cookie on either parchment paper or a Silpat.  Continue with the remaining chocolate.  (Do not discard the remaining chocolate as you will use it in a few minutes.)  If your kitchen is really hot, you may want to put the cookies in the refrigerator for a few minutes.

Use the remaining melted chocolate to drizzle over top of the cookies once they're all dipped. We used a fork to drizzle uneven strokes of chocolate on the top of the cookie.  Let the chocolate harden and enjoy.  Store in an air tight container for up to a few days. 

 

 

 

 

 

Today's Kitchen Tip: What can I do with my leftover ham

Many of us have ham for the holidays.  We love ham, but they are usually much larger than our family can eat.  Like turkey at Thanksgiving, I can only eat it for so many days before I say 'enough already!).

While I like to enjoy a meal or two exactly as we ate it on the holiday, there are so many other things to do with that ham to make it different. 

Sure, we can make au gratin potatoes with ham.  We love that.  But why not try something a little different.  A few of my favorites are ham and asparagus frittata and ham and asparagus pizza.  Obviously we have asparagus around for these dishes, but there are great with other veggies, too.

You can also make Eddie Matney's green chile and ham stew. 

While I do not like the texture of ham that has been frozen, we do freeze just a little so we can make ham and eggs during the year.

So do not fret with all that ham you have left.  Use your imagination to turn it into something awesome.

Today's Kitchen Tip: Pass on holiday food traditions

Do you have some dishes that you absolutely must make for the holidays?  Those dishes are your holiday traditions. 

If you have the recipes written down, use them to prepare a cookbook to pass on to your children.  If they are not written down, try writing the recipe down when you make the dish again.  It is a great way to share your family's traditions.

In our family, we must have cioppino on Christmas Eve and it wouldn't be right if we did not.  Make sure everyone has your recipe so when you are turning over the reigns for making holiday meals, your family can prepare it exactly as you did.

The same goes for side dishes.  Do you have your own spin on green bean casserole?  Write it down!  How about your creamed spinach that dinner wouldn't be complete without.  Write that down, too.

Take photos of your dishes if you can, and include them with the recipes.  This will be a great family gift and your dishes will be remembered forever.

Today's Kitchen Tip: Remember to leave cookies for Santa

Everybody will be leaving cookies for Santa on Christmas eve, but you want yours to be memorable.  If you are not a baker, try using refrigerated cookie dough.  They make really nice sugar cookies.  You can decorate them if you wish, but I usually don't do anything fancy with them.

I hate decorating sugar cookies.  Those of you know that I have a lot of skills, but piping cute outfits on those cookies is not my thing.  I make my cookies memorable by making simple cookies, such as brown sugar shortbread, that I can shape with my hands.  Then I dip them in chocolate and nuts and they look (and taste) like they came from the fanciest bakery.

The cookies pictured here are brown sugar shortbread (in the back) and pecan tassies.  Both are very easy to make and are sure to make Santa remember your house.

If all else fails, leave a nice cup of homemade hot chocolate.  Santa will like that, too.

Today's Kitchen Tip: Spread the work out over a few days

Holiday meals can be so stressful.  It seems like we spend the entire day cooking for a meal that is over in 20 minutes.  By the time dinner is ready, you're already exhausted. 

Rather than prepare everything at once, see which items can be made ahead of time and spread out the work.  For example, if you are making mashed potatoes, you can make them the day before, then heat them up right before you serve them.  Desserts are another good option for making ahead of time.  We love cheesecake as a holiday dessert so things like that can be made a day or two ahead.

Many veggies can be made the day before, too.  If you are serving appetizers before dinner, try making them beforehand, then either baking them or heating them up right before service.

I often make my salad the day before.  I just do not add 'stuff' to it and I never dress it beforehand.

Look at what you are serving and see what can be made early.  You will have a much more enjoyable holiday and might even have a few minutes to put your feet up during the day.

Today's Kitchen Tip: How to assure your prime rib roast is cooked perfectly

During the holiday season, many people like to serve prime rib roasts.  If you do, you know how expensive they can be.  It would be a shame to ruin your prime rib because you do not know how to  cook them. 

My best tip is to make sure you do not over or under-cook your roast.  To assure your meal cooks perfectly, you should use a meat thermometer.  It is best to cook your roast by temperature rather than time.  Cooking by time does not account for the exact size of your roast, nor does it account for the differences in ovens.

There are many opinions on the best prime rib recipe.  Some start with a very high temperature then turn down the heat.  I like to keep my oven at 325 degrees F for the entire time.

This chart will help you figure out how long to cook your roast.  Keep in mind that once you remove your meat from the oven, it will continue cooking.  I take my roast out of the oven 10-15 degrees below the temperatures shown.  Once your meat has rested, it will reach the full temperature.

Type of Beef	Size	Cooking Method	Cooking Time	Internal Temperature
Rib Roast, bone in	4 to 6 lbs.	Roast 325°	23-25 min./lb. 27-30 min./lb. 32-34 min./lb.	Rare 140°Medium rare 145° Medium 160° Well done 170°
Rib Roast, boneless rolled	4 to 6 lbs.	Roast 325°	Add 5-8 min./lb. to times above	Same as above

 If you have attended my classes, you know that a meat thermometer is my favorite gadget.  It is the best way to assure your meat is cooked properly.  A $10 gadget can save a $50 piece of meat.

So do not be nervous.  A little knowledge can really help you make the perfect meal.

Today's Kitchen Tip: Easy hint when making candy

I love to make homemade candy...especially caramel.  If you have ever worked with homemade candies you know that they can stick to everything.  I used to grease the pans, use parchment paper and attempt using aluminum foil.  I tried everything to no avail.  My candies still stuck

Then my sister-in-law mentioned that I could use silicone pans to form my caramel and it would be easy to remove.  I tried it and absolutely loved that idea.  My candies pop right out of the pan.

This works with other candy, too.  I have used these pans with peanut brittle, bark, and several other types of candy.  I am not a fan of silicone for baking, but for candy making...it's the bees knees.

More tips on silicone later.

Today's Kitchen Tip: Is almond bark the same as white chocolate

I love 'chocolate' covered pretzels during the holiday season, but after a lot of recipe testing, I found that my absolute favorite version of covered pretzels is with almond bark.  Almond bark looks like white chocolate, but tastes a little sweeter.  It's also easier to work with. 

The combination of sweet and salty is one of my favorites.  You can dip pretzels, use it to make various barks, cover nuts with it and make little candies...the uses are endless.

They also sell this bark in a dark chocolate flavor.  I do not care for that and do not recommend using it, but I love the almond bark flavor.

If you have had difficulty working with chocolate in the past, you will find this is very easy to use.  Try it...you will definitely like it.

Today's Kitchen Tip: Making easy mini tart shells for cookies and appetizers

I love to make mini tarts and mini cookies.  One of my favorite cookies to make is a pecan tassie.  It has a shell and a sweet pecan filling.  It is fabulous but can be a pain in the rear to make.  Why?  Because the cookie needs a shell pressed into a mini muffin pan.

I used to do this with my fingers, but found a really simple tool that helps out with this task. It's a tart tamper.  I just put my dough in the muffin pan and use the tart tamper to press into the pan.  If extra dough 'hangs off', I use a knife to trim it.

This works well for cookie dough, but also works well if I have pie crust rounds that I want to press into shape.  It works for lots of things, just let your imagination be your guide.

Tart tampers are just a few dollars and can be found at places like Bed Bath & Beyond or any cooking place. 

You will find many uses for this helpful tool.

Today's Kitchen Tip: Watch for special holiday flavor products

We all have our favorite products that we use year round, but did you know that many of them come in special holiday flavors.  For example, Hungry Jack has several pancake mixes that are perfect for Thanksgiving and Christmas times.  Jell-O often sells a pumpkin spice pudding, and even Pringles has several holiday flavors.

Some manufacturers advertise the products, while others do not.  Make sure to look for special products at the grocery store.  You might find a new family favorite.

Today's Kitchen Tip: What to do with leftover pumpkin pie

Pumpkin pie parfait
using leftover pumpkin pie

If you have leftover pumpkin pie, you can make a delicious parfait that completely transforms your leftovers.

You may want to make our Pumpkin Pie Parfait. Watch the video from Sonoran Living to see how we made our delicious parfait using leftover pie.

If you would like the recipe, get it at Pumpkin Pie Parfait recipe.

Feel free to use this idea to come up with your own creative leftovers.  It's a great way to transform your meal without feeling like you're eating it for days and days.

Uh oh.  It's Thanksgiving morning and your sister just called to say she's bring 3 additional people.  Your meal is planned already and you're not sure how to handle these extra people.  What do you do? 

Here's some handy hints on how to stretch your meal:

• Bake a few potatoes or sweet potatoes to serve
• Make extra salad with mix-ins such as fruit and cheese
• Make a simple soup such as pumpkin soup or crab soup
• Find things in your fridge or pantry that you can ‘fancy up’ such as frozen corn
• If this still won’t be enough, make (or buy) a complete new side dish such as a lasagna or ham

Just remember that whatever you do will be perfect since Thanksgiving is so much  more than just the food.
.

Today's Kitchen Tip: No room in your oven for Thanksgiving dinner items? Grill your turkey

Photo by Toru Kawana
East Valley Tribune

Thanksgiving meals require a lot of oven space.  Once that turkey has gone into the oven, it's tough to get anything else in.  Rather than roasting your turkey in the oven, why not put it on the grill.  It's easy, delicious, and faster than oven roasting.

My preference is using a charcoal grill but you can use a gas grill, too.  It is really easy to do and gives the turkey a fabulous flavor.  To grill your turkey, place turkey on indirect heat over a drip pan.  You may want to use some smoker chips on your charcoal, but that is not required.  We used them in the photo so you can see how beautifully browned our turkey got. 

Grill the turkey for about 12 to 15 minutes per pound.  Use a  meat thermometer to make sure that the white meat is 160 degrees F and the dark meat is 175 degrees F.  Don't forget to let your turkey rest (covered in foil) for about 20-30 minutes before carving.






http://www.examiner.com/article/thanksgiving-turkey-recipes-grilled-fried-or-baked

Today's Kitchen Tip: Stuffing versus dressing

Since this was made outside of
the turkey, it's called 'dressing'

What is the difference between stuffing and dressing?  That question always comes up around Thanksgiving.  Some families make stuffing while others make dressing, but they all seem the same.

That's easy.  Stuffing is made inside the turkey while dressing is made as a side dish.  If you make yours both inside and outside of the turkey, then you can have it both ways.

Today's Kitchen Tip: Where do I get help on preparing my turkey

Source:  cbslocal.com

Making a turkey can be intimidating...especially your first time.  If you have any questions on preparing a turkey, just call the Butterball Help Line at 1-800-butterball.  They are even available to help you on Thanksgiving day.

You do not have to buy a Butterball turkey to get assistance.  They will answer your questions and help assure that your turkey comes out perfectly.

Today's Kitchen Tip: When should I start defrosting my turkey

If you are like many of us you are buying a frozen turkey.  We've already told you how to defrost a turkey and about how long it will take to defrost. 

If you have your frozen turkey, you might want to think about pulling it out of the freezer.  See our article on defrosting turkeys. 

Today's Kitchen Tip: How long does it take to defrost a turkey

Source: Butterball

If you are using a frozen turkey, you will need to start thawing it early.

If you are defrosting a frozen turkey in the refrigerator, it takes about 1 day for every 4 pounds to thaw.  So if you have an 18 pound turkey, give it at least 5 days to thaw properly.

Be sure to keep it in either a pan or bag while thawing so that the turkey 'goobers' do not get all over your refrigerator

Today's Kitchen Tip: Crescent roll sheets are great for appetizers and more

I love to use crescent roll dough to make appetizers and snacks.  It can be a pain in the neck to press all the seems together so they bake in a nice sheet.  Luckily Pillsbury came out with a crescent roll sheet that is the same dough as the triangles but is in a single sheet.

For me, it works well to fill it with whatever I want, and roll it up tightly.  Then I cut little rounds (also known as pinwheels).  I bake according to the package directions or until they are nicely browned.  I have made both sweet and savory items using these sheets.  I love, love, love them.

These save a lot of time.  They can be difficult to find so when I see them, I often buy a few.  Alas, if you can't find them, just use 'regular' crescent rolls and press them together.