Caramel Pecan Bars

Last Christmas I received a magazine subscription to Food & Wine magazine. Although the magazine has so many great recipes, it seems that their end-of-year issues tend to have the most delicious recipes, probably so that their readers can make them for the holidays.

This recipe is straight out of the magazine and, like a science experiment, nothing was changed or tweaked. The bars are slightly gooey yet crunchy. If you want the bars to be slightly less gooey, you can place them in the fridge. The recipe says it makes 16 bars, however they are quite sweet that we cut them into smaller pieces and we got more like 24 bars.

INGREDIENTS

Crust

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes
• 1/4 cup ice water
• 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar

Topping

• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
• 1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon curry powder (optional)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 pound pecan halves

DIRECTIONS

1. Make the crust: In a food processor, pulse the flour with the sugar and salt. Add the cubed butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle on the ice water and vinegar and process until the crumbs are evenly moistened. Turn the crumbs out onto a sheet of wax paper and knead just until the dough comes together. Pat the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate until slightly chilled, about 15 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 375°. Line the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch metal baking pan with parchment paper. Roll out the dough between 2 sheets of wax paper to an 11- by-15-inch rectangle (1/4 inch thick). Trim the dough to a 9-by-13-inch rectangle and place it in the baking pan. Cut the remaining dough into 3/4-inch-wide strips and press them up the side of the pan to form a rim all around. Refrigerate the dough until firm, about 30 minutes.
3. Line the dough with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for about 25 minutes, until the dough is just set. Remove the parchment paper and weights and bake the crust for about 12 minutes longer, until lightly golden and set. Let cool.
4. Make the topping: In a large saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar, honey and salt and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until foamy and slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Add the curry powder (if using) and cream and cook, stirring occasionally, until a candy thermometer inserted in the caramel registers 240° (soft ball stage), about 10 minutes longer. Add the pecans and cook for 2 minutes longer. Pour the filling over the crust, spreading it evenly. Bake for about 15 minutes, until the crust is golden and the topping is bubbling. Let cool completely. Slide the parchment onto a cutting board. Cut into bars and serve.

Make Ahead

The bars can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

Matt's Oatmeal Cookies

My hubby is the baker in the family and he's perfected this oatmeal cookie. Be warned, though, because they are very addicting. You can use a walnuts or a mixture of walnuts and pecans. Also, he sometimes uses half cup of raisins and half cup of currants in the batter and the cookies simply come out scrumptious.

INGREDIENTS (makes about 30 cookies)

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups quick cooking oats
• 1 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup of raisins

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

In a large bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla.

In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in oats, nuts and raisins until just blended.

Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Cookies should be at least 2 inches apart.

Bake for about 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool cookies on a wire rack.

Leftover Recipe: Potato Croquettes

I made mashed potatoes last night and had leftovers so I decided to make these croquettes tonight. The picture is not mine; it's from the Food Network, but they looked just the same. I wanted a sauce for them and developed one by combining a little mayo, a little cranberry sauce, a little bit of finely chopped jalapeno and lime juice with salt and pepper and mixed it. It was quite tasty with these croquettes. This is a great recipe for Thanksgiving or Christmas leftovers.

INGREDIENTS (makes about 15 croquettes)

• 2 tablespoons milk
• Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon chopped green onion
• 2 egg yolks, beaten
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 4 cups mashed potatoes
• 1 egg, beaten
• Sifted dried bread crumbs (I used Panko bread crumbs)
• Vegetable oil, enough to fill pan 1/2-inch

DIRECTIONS

Add milk, salt, pepper, chopped onion, beaten egg yolks and flour to mashed potatoes. Chill and then shape using an ice cream scoop. Dip in the beaten egg, then roll through bread crumbs. Fry each croquette in shallow oil until brown on all sides.

Cook's Note: Cook in small batches, giving each croquette at least 2 inches of space around it to not overcrowd the pan. This prevents the croquettes from crumbling while frying.

Rosca de Reyes

Dearest readers (or should I say reader?):

I apologize I have not updated my blog in a while but I'm still under the weather, although I'm feeling much better. Unfortunately my appetite has not come back full force yet, so I haven't had the urge to cook anything.

I've been surviving on food my mom was bringing me (yes, sometimes even the grown up adults need a little mommy time) and leftovers tamales I froze. I'm happy to announce, though, that last night I was feeling good enough to go grocery shopping and it was the first time in years that I spent over $100!!!

So for the coming week I have some braised beef short ribs in mind; homemade Bolognese sauce; filet mignon wrapped in bacon, and a great spicy shredded beef recipe you will not believe how easy and good it is...but you'll just have to wait.

During my shopping excursion last night I stopped at Panchitas, our local Mexican bakery and I was happy to run into a plethora of Rosca de Reyes or Kings Cakes, they had for sale. I didn't buy one because they were quite big, but basically this is the history about the Rosca de Reyes (I'm going by what my grandparents told me): every year on January 6th (this is the date when the Three Kings arrived at the manger where Jesus was born) families get together to eat the Rosca de Reyes. Each person gets a piece of cake, but the catch is that there is a little baby Jesus hidden in the cake. So, the lucky person who gets the baby Jesus has to have a get together on Fat Tuesday (the day before Ash Wednesday). It's basically just an excuse to have a party and drink and eat...which is fine by me!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 packet yeast
• ¼ cup of lukewarm milk
• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 cups of sugar
• 7 eggs
• 125 grams butter, melted
• 1/4 tsp. aniseed
• 100 grams raisins
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
• Pinch of salt
• 50 grams candied figs
• 50 grams candied orange
• 50 grams candied lemon
• 50 grams candied cherries
• 50 grams candied citron
• 1 beaten egg
• sugar
• flour, for dusting

DIRECTIONS

Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm milk.

Mix the flour, dissolved yeast, sugar, eggs, melted butter, cinnamon, aniseed, raisins, vanilla and salt. Knead for five to ten minutes until pliable. Place in a bowl, cover with a tea towel and place somewhere warm to rise (1-2 hours). Meanwhile cut the candied fruits into strips.

Form the dough into a ring or rosca. Add the baby Jesus figurine.

Place the ring on a baking tray decorating the top with the candied fruit. Leave to rise again for 20-30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 360° F ( 180°C)

Brush the rosca with beaten egg and sprinkle over with sugar. Bake for 40-45 minutes.

Remove from the oven and serve to celebrate Christmas the Mexican way. Remember, tradition says that whoever finds the figurine of the baby Jesus has to host the next party!

Lussekatter (Swedish St. Lucia Buns)

Matthew has been on a baking kick lately. Yesterday he made (by accident) a brioche loaf, which was excellent after he sliced it and made it into French toast (recipe coming soon). So we have been looking for new bread recipes that are not very common for us, and this one caught my eye: Lussekatter, or St. Lucia Buns, which are traditional breads served in most Swedish homes on December 13th. These are moist, tasty and very yellow buns. I have no idea who St. Lucia was, or why Sweden celebrates this day--because I think St. Lucia is Italian--but I figured since Matt's family is part Scandinavian we'd give it a try. By the way, "lussekatter" translates to "Lucia cats." Meow!

INGREDIENTS (makes 12 buns)

• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1 package yeast
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon saffron
• 2 and 3/4 cups flour
• vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon water
• Raisins

DIRECTIONS

Place milk and butter in a small saucepan. Heat on medium until the butter melts.

In a large bowl mix the warm water and yeast and let stand 60 seconds. Add the warm milk and butter mixture. Then add the egg, sugar, salt, and saffron.

Add 1-1/2 cups of flour. Mix well. Add more flour gradually until the dough is stiff. Knead the dough on a floured surface for 5 to 10 minutes. Coat the bowl with a little vegetable oil and put in your dough ball. Cover with a towel and let the dough rise until it is doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Punch down the dough and divide it into 12 sections. Roll each section into a rope. Cross two ropes in the middle and curl the ends into circles (see diagram). Carefully place the buns on a greased cookie sheet, cover, and let rise until they are doubled in size. Mix and egg and water and brush the tops of the buns. Decorate with raisins on each end (see diagram) and bake at 350°F for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.