Pumpkin Shortbread with Caramel and Pretzels

This weekend there are lots of events going on in our neighborhood!  I woke up to lots of barking from the 9th Annual Mutt Strut.  It took a LOT of restraint to not adopt the adorable 3 year old black pug the Chicago Canine Rescue group brought.  He was so cute and sweet.  Luckily I have my dad to call and bring me back down to reality instead of adopting puppies on a whim!

Then, the Lakeview Chamber of Commerce hosted a dessert potluck just around the corner.  I wanted to bring a fun fall dessert and I'd been eyeing this recipe all week.  It was the perfect excuse!



We all thought these were a delicious treat, and based on their tweet, I think the Chamber of Commerce and my neighbors enjoyed them as well.  They were sweet and a little bit salty, and plenty buttery.  I had these adorable apple napkins left from Rosh Hashana, which made them perfect for serving on.  Speaking of Rosh Hashana, I've been holding out on you with some really great recipes.  I promise, I will be posting my new favorite brisket recipe soon. It's amazing!!



Pumpkin Shortbread with Caramel and Pretzels
slightly adapted from Sugarcrafter

Ingredients
pumpkin shortbread
cooking spray
1 3/4 c AP flour
1/4 c sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
5 tbsp pumpkin puree
10 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1″ pieces
caramel
12 tbsp butter
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
4 tbsp honey
topping
1 c crushed pretzels

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 325F. Line an 8" square baking dish with foil and spray with cooking spray.
2. In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, pumpkin, and butter. Pulse until combined and when you press the mixture together with your fingers it sticks together like dough.
3. Press into the prepared dish and pierce all over with a fork. Bake 5 minutes, then lower the oven to 300F and bake and additional 30-40 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
4. In a deep glass bowl, melt the butter. Stir in the condensed milk and honey. Whisk until well combined. Heat in the microwave 7 minutes until boiling, stirring every 30 seconds. Don't walk away, because it can boil over! The caramel is ready when thickened and light golden brown.
NOTE: If you are multitasking and put the microwave on for 7 minutes and totally forget about it and don't stir it every 30 seconds, and when you remove it from the microwave it looks like butter with brown clumps at the bottom - don't think you TOTALLY ruined it. Sure it isn't perfect, but if you stir constantly with a spatula for long enough, it will still turn back into caramel. Not that I would know from experience or anything... oops.
5. Pour the hot caramel over the cooled cookie layer. Sprinkle the crushed pretzels over the caramel layer.
6. Cool to room temperature, then place in the fridge and allow to cool completely. Cut into small square and serve.

Blackberry Lemon Goat Cheese Squares

For this week's barbecue, I convinced my friend to upgrade her contribution from a simple fruit salad to these amazing puff pastry squares. Even though she ended up nearly catching her apartment on fire (wax paper is not a substitute for parchment paper. Don't bake it!), I am so so glad she went the extra mile.

Not only are these the most impressive looking dish that anyone has ever brought to our Thursday night BBQs, they were completely delicious. I love that they fell somewhere in between sweet and savory - they could really be a dessert or an appetizer. The goat cheese is perfectly tangy and tart mixed with lemon and the blackberry brings just the right touch of sweetness, brought out by balsamic vinegar, without being overly sugary. And puff pasrty is always a hit with me - it's so flaky and wonderful. The touch of green doesn't add much flavor but it's nice pop of color that takes these to the next level.

If you want to impress your friends, definitely try this recipe out. My friend definitely impressed me!

Blackberry Lemon Goat Cheese Squares

from Shutterbean

Ingredients

6 oz goat cheese, at room temperature
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 pint blackberries
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 sheets puff pastry, thawed
small handful arugula

Instructions

1. Preheat oven 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment (not wax) paper or a silicon mat and set aside.
2. In a small bowl, mix the goat cheese, lemon zest and honey together.
3. In another small bowl stir the blackberries with the balsamic vinegar and let sit for 10 minutes. 
4. On a lightly floured surface, cut the puff pastry into 2 inch squares. Place squares onto the parchment lined sheet  about 2 inches apart and score a square into the pastry, making sure not to cut all the way through to the bottom.
5. Place a dollop of lemon goat cheese on top of each square and top with a blackberry. Bake squares for 15-20 minutes until golden.
6. Let squares cool and place a leaf of arugula under each blackberry. Serve warm or at room temperature.

What we had for dinner this week

OK I'm still behind on blogging.  I have no pretty pictures for you.  But I wanted to share the recipes we made this week to give you cooking inspiration!

Sunday night: Bibimbop from Cooking Light  We used steak instead of tofu (the Monkey Scientist is from the Midwest, I can't just be feeding him tofu!).  Bibimbop is my favorite Korean dish.  My favorite is from Kang's in Ann Arbor - I love how the hot stone makes the rice at the bottom crispy.  This recipe simulated it well by crisping up the rice in the cast iron skillet.  Lots of wonderful Asian flavors.

Monday night: Roasted Chicken with Red-Skinned Potatoes and Carrots
Washed a 5 1/2 lb chicken, covered in olive oil, chicken seasoning from the Christmas Tree Shop, and freshly ground black pepper, inside and out. Stuffed it with a lemon, cut in half.  Filled a dish with quartered potatoes and carrots (did nothing else to them beside clean and cut) and then put the chicken on top.  Baked at 475 for 25 minutes and then at 400 for 45 minutes.  I cooked it breast-side up for the first 45 minutes and then flipped it for the last 25.  Perfection, and still eating leftovers for lunch.

Tuesday night: We ate at Tesoro in Van Ness.  Not overly impressed.

Wednesday night: Spicy Chicken Thighs with Cucumber Avocado Salsa from Cookin' Canuck  - I'm now completely obsessed with this recipe.  Took 15 minutes to throw together, including cooking time, and tastes AMAZING.  The ancho chili powder (which I got at World Market) and cumin have almost a cinnamon-like spice to them.  The honey in the salsa is the perfect amount of sweetness and the lime gives just the right tang.  I loved the load of vegetables on top of the chicken - I didn't even need to make a grain to fill us up.  We made it on a cookie sheet with sprayed with olive oil rather than a rack and it was fine.  Definitely give this one a try!

Thursday night:  BBQ night!  Our friends have been organizing barbecues every Thursday at my apartment building.  This week I'm bringing Peanut Butter Cup S'mores Bars from Mel's Sweet Life.  The assembly wasn't so easy (forming that last bit into an 8x8 square? All I had was crumbs.)  But they've been sitting on my counter overnight and I'm quite confident they'll be delicious.

Hopefully I can get you some full recipes and pics over the weekend... I will do my best!

Sweet and Fiery Pork Tenderloin with Mango Salsa

The Chinese New Year is today!  The blogosphere has been blowing up with lots of fun recipes for the Chinese New Year, so I thought it might be fun to bring you one.  I chose this recipe because it was healthy (I love Skinny Taste!), can be eaten all year long, and was a little bit outside of my comfort zone.

To be honest, I have never made pork tenderloin in my life.  I think I've only eaten it once before and it was so overcooked that I though I just didn't like pork tenderloin.  I'm the type of girl who orders my steaks on the rare side of medium rare.  I'm glad that I finally made it myself, because it turns out pork tenderloin is awesome!



I knew the Monkey Scientist would enjoy this recipe because it called for his favorite - Sriracha.  For Christmas, I got him the Sriracha cookbook.  We've only tried one recipe so far and it was so-so, but we're aiming to try many more.  Sriracha is so good on any type of meat, and this pork was no exception.  We also may or may not have drizzled more Sriracha on top of the meat before we ate it... and the Monkey Scientist might have also zipped his pork in even more like ketchup...don't judge us.  (But if you want to ship us a few more bottles, we are running low!)



So honestly, I didn't like the mango salsa in this.  I left out the cilantro because it's the worst herb ever I don't like it, but the Monkey Scientist convinced me to leave some jalapeno seeds in and it was way too spicy for me.  Also, I had lemon juice instead of lime juice and really that isn't a valid substitution.  I liked the idea of the mango salsa, but I need to work on the execution.  The Monkey Scientist liked it though, which means if you have a high tolerance for heat, you will too!



Even though the salsa wasn't great, I loved the pork tenderloin.  It was moist, sweet, a bit spicy, and absolute perfection.  This was such a great substitute for steak, which I almost never make because of cost and lack of nutrition.  I don't love to have a big hunk of meat every night, but sometimes I just crave something medium rare that I can sink my teeth into, and this totally did the trick.  I absolutely recommend drizzling it in some extra Sriracha and serving it up with a roasted veggie, like cauliflower.  I also think this is one you can trick your picky-eater kids to eat - it really isn't that spicy and you can always cut off the outside if they're super particular (and then you get to eat it, because it's totally the best part!).  Now I want to try more pork tenderloin recipes!



Sweet and Fiery Pork Tenderloin with Mango Salsa
From Skinny Taste

Ingredients:
for the salsa:
1 large ripe mango, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped
1-2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro (I obviously left this out because it's soapy and gross)
1 small clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp minced jalapeño, seeds removed and diced
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
for the pork:
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 lb pork tenderloin
1/4 cup Sweet Red Chili Sauce (I used Taste of Thai)
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp Sriracha sauce (or more to taste)

Directions:
for the salsa:
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, season to taste with salt and pepper. Refrigerate salsa until ready to serve.
for the pork:
1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Mix garlic salt and ginger in small bowl. Rub evenly over pork. Place pork on rack in foil-lined roasting pan. (I just used a tin foil roasting pan - easy clean up!)
3. Mix chili sauce, honey and sriracha in small bowl.
4. Roast pork in preheated oven 40 to 45 minutes* or until desired pork is cooked to your liking.  About 10 minutes before it is done (when your pork is maybe 5° away from the temperature you want it), brush the entire loin with the chili sauce mixture. (New pork guidelines allow pork to cook to 145°, if you prefer it cooked well, cook it until the internal temp reads is 160° with a meat thermometer.)  *My 1 lb loin was actually split in half, and it was cooked to between 145-150° after about 25-30 minutes.  It was medium rare perfection!
5. Slice pork and serve with pan juices and mango salsa on the side. (I also served with some roasted cauliflower)

Honey Cookies

Now I know I'm way late for Rosh Hashanah, but I debated whether or not I'd share these, since it isn't my favorite recipe of all time.  However, they are parve and do not contain eggs, so I thought they may excite those of you with egg allergies out there.

You could use butter, of course, but to keep them parve I used Fleischmann's margarine.  Growing up my mom always called this "Dad's butter" because my grandfather is highly allergic to dairy and we always used it when we baked for him.  Every time I see the silver foil wrapper I think of him.

The margarine creams well enough, although it doesn't get that sugary crunch like when you cream sugar and butter.  Maybe the honey affects this as well.  Additionally, the recipe doesn't call for any eggs (even egg replacement) which is unique for me in a cookie recipe.

The dough itself is good enough.  It rolls out quite nicely so that you can cut it into any shape you like.  I loved this adorable apple shape for the Jewish New Year - it's a fun riff on "apples" with honey!  The apples are a little sticky so it may help to cut them right on the parchment paper or silpat where you're going to bake them. I didn't find a fantastic way to make this work but you probably can!

I have to admit, these cookies come out really dry.  They'd be good for sandwich cookies - spread the middle with apple jam, cream cheese frosting (if you didn't need them to be parve of course!), or you could dip them in chocolate.  I think it would help cut the dryness.  They do have a wonderful honey flavor, which you can alter using different types of honey.  It's a very easy recipe for a last minute parve dessert!

Honey Cookies

adjusted slighty from Chick in the Kitchen

Ingredients

2 sticks margarine, room temperature (I used Fleichmann's)
1/2 c. white sugar
4 Tbsp. honey (I used clover honey)
1½ c white flour
1 c whole wheat flour

Instructions
1. With a hand mixer, cream margarine, sugar, and honey in a large bowl. (If you spray your measuring spoon lightly with non-stick spray first, the honey will slide right out.)
2. Slowly add flour, continuing to mix, until dough is smooth. Form into a large ball and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 300° F.
4. Cut dough into thirds, and work with each piece individually. Roll out to 1/2-inch thick on top of waxed paper or foil. Cut out cookies with a glass or cookie cutter, and place on a non-stick baking sheet.
5. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until cookies are golden and edges have just begun to dark. Allow cookies to cool — they will harden as they do so. Use a flat, stiff spatula to remove them from the baking sheet.

My apologies to the vegan community - these cookies are not vegan - obviously veganism is not my fortay!

Majestic and Moist Honey Cake

L'Shana Tova!



It's Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year!  I'm very excited to let my readers know that I am collaborating with Gather the Jews, another DC based blog, to bring you this delicious Honey Cake recipe.

Honey is sweet, and symbolizes bringing in a sweet new year.  We typically dip our apples in honey, but I figured a little extra honey couldn't hurt at dessert time.  Especially when laced with a little booze, just the way my Mimi would have made it.



I am spending the holiday with my friend in Baltimore this year, and I'll bring a dessert up to her family as a big thank you for welcoming me in.  I also brought 2 of these cakes up to my family in New York this weekend, where they were met with much approval.  It keeps well enough for up to 3 days, so it's a great dessert to make ahead of time and bring to your Rosh Hashana host.

I also appreciate that this makes 2 cakes - perfect for each night of Rosh Hashana.  Growing up, we'd often celebrate with family one night and friends the next.  With this recipe, you can share the sweet honey love with everyone you love!



Please take a minute to head over to my post at Gather the Jews, where I share more about my Rosh Hashana traditions.  If you are Jewish and live in the DC area, this website is a great resource for Jewish News and Events here in the District, so definitely poke around.

Have a sweet New Year!



Majestic and Moist Honey Cake
from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup honey
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 large eggs at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup warm coffee or strong tea
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup rye or whiskey (optional)
1/2 cup slivered or sliced almonds (optional)

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously grease 2 9-inch round cake pans with non-stick cooking spray. (For extra protection, you can put a piece of lightly greased parchment at the bottom, too.)
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves and allspice. Make a well in the center, and add oil, honey, white sugar, brown sugars, eggs, vanilla, coffee or tea, orange juice and rye or whiskey, if using. (If you measure your oil before the honey, it will be easier to get all of the honey out.)
3. Using a strong wire whisk or in an electric mixer on slow speed, stir together well to make a thick, well-blended batter, making sure that no ingredients are stuck to the bottom.
4. Spoon batter into the prepared cake pans. Sprinkle top of cakes evenly with almonds, if using. Place cake pan(s) on two baking sheets, stacked together (this will ensure the cakes bake properly with the bottom baking faster than the cake interior and top).
5. Bake until cake tests done, that is, it springs back when you gently touch the cake center, 40-75 minutes.
6. Let cake stand fifteen minutes before removing from pan.