Christmas Spread

I was looking for a hand-full of snacks to bring over to Christmas day at my parents. Something we could munch on before dinner and during the game. I made the Sesame-Chile Kettle Corn, the Sweet and Spicy Walnuts, and I found this new herb cheese dip recipe.


Herb Cheese Dip
From allrecipes.com


1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp prepared mustard
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill weed
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup chopped black olives - Greek olive would also be a good alternative
1 1/2 Tbs lemon juice
Sliced pepperoncinis - highly recommended, optional garnish

• In a medium bowl, mix cream cheese, garlic, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, parsley, dill weed, basil, olives, and lemon juice.
• Transfer to desired mold and chill in the refrigerator at least 2 hours before serving.

I waited until Christmas eve to buy the ingredients and every food store was closed so I had minimal options for what to buy. I had to resort to Walgreens and our pantry. Luckily, we had all of these herb dried because I wasn't able to buy fresh.

Stay thirsty my friends

A while back, I had my first hot buttered rum and I thought it was amazing, a little strong but really good. I never got that original recipe but a few years ago my cousin's girlfriend made a hot rum cider and I thought it was great and remembered to get the recipe right away!


Hot Spiked Cider

Spices in the cheese cloth*

7 cups apple cider
1/3 cup brown sugar
4 cinnamon sticks 
1 tsp whole allspice
1 tsp whole cloves
1 lemon peel, but into strips
1.5 cups rum
Cheese cloth
Apple slices, for garnish

• Wrap the cinnamon, allspice, and cloves in the cheese cloth.
• Combine apple cider, brown sugar, rum, lemon peel, and cheese cloth in a pot.
• Warm on the stove over low heat for about 20 min.

This is a great drink to sip but it seems to cool quickly so I would recommended just drinking small cups.
*The picture does not show the accurate amount of spices called for in the recipe. We doubled the recipe but only had 4 cinnamon sticks.

2011 Top Posting

My top ranked post from 2011 is from a few months ago and it is called Cherryland's Best - Cherries 2.5 ways. I had an opportunity to buy some fresh Door County cherries right in Milwaukee if I agreed to write a blog about them. We ended up making cherry pie, cherry clafouti on the campfire, and started a batch of Chocolate Milk Cherry Stout beer. Well, I never completely finished that entry because I wasn't able to review the beer until it was finished. The beer has been done since about October and we have been drinking it ever since. Luckily, there is one bottle left that I can use for my final review.

Chocolate Milk Cherry Stout

The beer turned out good but not great. The batch ended up very inconsistent; some bottles you could really taste the cherries and in other bottles you couldn't. We had dumped whole cherries into the carboy about two weeks before bottling. After talking to other, more experienced, home brewers we found out that it would have been better if we extracted the juice from the cherries instead of putting them in whole. The whole cherries ended up soaking up some of the flavor and alcohol of the beer which is one of the reasons it tasted inconsistent. Overall, for a basic box kit the beer turned out well but the cherry aspect didn't come out as expected.


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Well, that's it for me this year! I think it's been a pretty successful blogging year. Thank you very much to all of my readers, those who subscribe and those who just past through. I hope you've enjoyed reading and have been inspired to try new things.


Happy New Year! ~ Steph Snack

Quick! I need a cheap and exciting snack!

I hope my title says it all. I was invited to my cousin's place to watch the Packer game and I was behind on my snack planning. We didn't have much time to run to the store so I was hoping we could make something with whatever we had in the house. I remembered a few days earlier I read this recipe in my F&W magazine for a form of kettle corn.

My husband and my cousin both love popcorn and it was easy to make so we had a winner!


Sesame-Chile Kettle Corn

from Food & Wine Magazine Nov '11

2 Tbs canola oil

2 tsp toasted sesame oil

1/4 cup, plus 2 Tbs popcorn kernels

8 dried chiles de arbol - I used a basic chili we dehydrate

2 Tbs sugar

1 tsp black sesame seed

Salt 

• In a large, non-stick saucepan, heat the canola oil, sesame oil, popcorn, and chilies over high heat - until sizzling.
• Reduce the heat to moderate.
• Add the sugar then cover.
• Cook, shaking the pan constantly until half of the kernels are popped - about 4 min.
• Carefully remove the lid and add the sesame seeds. Stirring once or twice.
• Cover pan and finish cooking. Shake until popping nearly stops.
• Pour kettle corn onto a baking sheet and sprinkle lightly with salt - toss with your hands.

This recipe can be made up to 2-3 hour ahead if stored in an airtight container.

This recipe is a great one to keep in your back pocket. For most home cooks, you will always have these ingredients on hand and it's very easy and quick to make, feeds a lot of people, and is addicting!

Fighting Hunger

This is the time of year most of us overindulge in food (myself very much included), but it's also a great time of the year to start helping hungry Wisconsinites get food in their belly.

For the past few years my company has worked with the House of Peace to put together holiday food boxes. Normally, we do a good job but this year we did a great job! We turned it into a competition and split into teams to see which team could donate the most food. Typically, each person donates about three items but this year we each donated an entire box or more. In the end, my company ended up donating 50 boxes of food and feeding 350 families! This is the largest single donation the organization has ever had!

If you are looking for a more social way to help, look into FoodFightMKE (@FoodFightMKE). In their own words, FoodFightMKE "is a movement initiated by young adults dedicated to educating, engaging, energizing and inspiring local citizens to beat hunger in Milwaukee." This organziation was started by a group of OrangeAid interns who teamed up with the Hunger Task Force of Milwaukee to start a more socially engaging way to fight the hunger of Milwaukee families.

FoodFightMKE has teamed up with #MKEfoodies and local food bloggers to start creating really FUN events to get people out, aware, and helping! This past weekend they held a Cookies for Kids' Cancer bake sale at Best Place and served specialty drinks at AJ Bombers.

If you missed either of those two events, this Thursday, Dec 15th they are holding a Soup & Bread Event at the Riverwest Public House (815 E Locust St, Milwaukee). The event will be held from 6 - 8:30 PM. Local chefs and foodies are donating soup, bread, and their time for this event; so you know it will be good! FoodFightMKE will be on-hand to collect free-will donations for the Hunger Task Force.

FoodFightMKE is hoping to end the year strong so please come out and bring your friends to these events. If you can't make it, you can also text "FOOD" TO 52000 to donate $10 to FoodFightMKE or email Marie at the Hunger Task Force if you would like to volunteer.

Oh yeah, and who doesn't love a Fash Mob?!

Beat Hunger Flash Mob - FoodFightMKE from MakeOrangeAid on Vimeo.

Recipe(s) from Greece!

This past spring I went to Greece with a friend of mine and her roommate. I expected the typical gyro and lamb food-heaven, but I actually found a lot of chicken dishes and various cheeses! Most of the cheese I am not familiar with but the first one I noticed of course was feta. 

It was our first night of the trip and we were in Santorini. We asked for recommendations for dinner and the woman at the front desk of our hotel recommended an inexpensive place to eat within walking distance. The restaurant is called the Kypa Nikh. I saw something on their menu called "baked feta"... I had no idea what to expect and it ended up being amazing! 

The baked feta is served warm, topped with tomatoes and pepper, and I think it's typically eaten with a fork. I however, asked for a loaf of bread to eat it with. For the remainder of the trip we tried to order this or some other form of baked and/or grilled cheese.

Baked feta dish at Kypa Nikh

Unfortunately, when I got home I couldn't find a good recipe that seemed to replicate what we had. BUT I did find another Greek cheese recipe I want to share :-)

Whipped feta with cucumbers

from Food & Wine Magazine Nov '11

1 lbs feta cheese, cut into 2 pieces - room temp

1/4 lbs cream cheese - softened

2 Tbs heavy cream

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 Tbs fresh lemon juice

2 cucumbers - halved, seeded and cut into 1/2" dice

1 Tbs chopped oregano

Salt and fresh pepper

Toasted pita for serving - I used sea salt crackers

Cracker topped with whipped feta
and marinated cucumber

• In a bowl, cover feta with water and let stand for 30 min
• Drain and crumble feta
• Transfer to food processor and puree - I made this in the KitchenAid stand mixer
• Add cream cheese, heavy cream, 2 Tbs olive oil, and 1 Tbs lemon juice
• Process until smooth
• Refrigerate for 1 hour
• Meanwhile, in a bowl, toss cucumbers with remaining 2 Tbs of olive oil, 1 Tbs lemon juice, and oregano
• Season with salt and pepper
• Cover and chill for 1 hour
• Serve feta lightly chilled with the cucumbers and toasts

I've never really been a huge fan of Greek food but it's my new obsession. Since I've been back, I've been enjoying Greek yogurt topped with honey almost every day for my work breakfast. For just a few moments, it really brings me back to the experience.

Milwaukee Winter Farmer's Market

The CSA baskets have been empty for a while and the garden is going into hibernation, so that must mean fresh food is nowhere to be found. That's what I thought until a few weeks ago when a couple of MKE food bloggers sent out the official press release to kick off the third season of the Milwaukee County Winter Farmer's Market. To be honest, I've never been but I definitely need to go!

The market runs every Saturday from 11/5/11 - 4/14/12 at the Tommy Thompson Youth Center at the State Fair Park from 8am - 12pm.  For more details, please see the official press release.

Photo courtesy of the
Milwaukee County Winter Farmer's Market

Once my husband and I make a venture to the market I'll be sure to include an update!

Cherryland's Best - Cherries 2.5 ways

Near the end of July I went camping with my family and, at the last minute, came across an opportunity to buy fresh Door County Cherries from CherryLand’s Best delivered from Door County that morning! I couldn't pass up the opportunity! I picked up a huge pail and wasn't sure right away what to do with them all - since they would only stay fresh for a few days. I ended up finding three ways to use them, If you don't count dehydrating.

Cherry Pie
Filling adapted from a recipe on allrecipes.com
Crust from "The Recipe Encyclopedia"

Crust

1 1/4 cups bread flour (x2)
1/3 cup butter (x2)
1 tablespoons sugar (x2)
4 tablespoons cold water (x2)

• Mix ingredients in a bowl. 
• Knead by hand on counter top for 2mins (use flour to prevent sticking) 
• Place dough in bowl 
• Cover with plastic wrap and chill in fridge for 30min.
• Repeat all of the steps above to make the pie top (do not bake yet)
• Roll 1/8in thin. Place in pie pan and bake for 15min (or until golden brown).

Tips

• Pie Crusts are like a buttery cookie dough that doesn't rise. It is buttery enough by its self that you don't need to butter the pie pan.
• To guaranty that the crust doesn't have air pockets that rise, while cooking the crust, you might want to add a layer parchment paper (not wax paper) on top of crust and weight it down evenly with loose beans or rice.
• While the pie filling is cooking, the crust might brown to quickly. If the crust starts to brown too much, cover the pie with aluminum foil.
• Make your own whipped cream (using real cream!)

Filling
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup white sugar
4 cups pitted cherries
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 tablespoons butter

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a large mixing bowl combine salt, sugar, cherries, and extract.
• Let stand 15 minutes.
• Put filling over crust.
• Cover with top crust, flute edges, and cut vents in top. - We did the basket weave
• Place pie on a foil lined cookie sheet --- in case of drips
• Bake for 50 minutes, until golden brown.
  

Cherry Clafouti
Alton Brown

12 ounces fresh or frozen cherries - I used fresh of course!
2 large eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Butter, for the Dutch oven

• Prepare charcoal for cooking outdoors by heating coals in a chimney starter until hot and ashy.
• Butter the bottom and sides of a 5-quart Dutch oven. If using fresh cherries, rinse, stem, and pit the cherries. If using frozen, place the cherries into a colander and allow to thaw completely before using.
• Discard the juice.
• Spread the cherries evenly over the bottom of the Dutch oven.
• In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar until frothy and lightened in color.
• Add the milk, vanilla, and flour and whisk to combine.
• Pour the batter over the cherries.
• Place 18 to 19 coals on a Dutch oven table.
• Place a cooling rack, or other wire rack, that is at least 2-inches high, directly over the coals.
• Place the Dutch oven on the rack directly over the coals.
• Cover with the lid and place 22 to 23 coals on top.
• Cook with the lid on for 25 minutes.
• Remove the lid and cook for another 5 minutes or until golden on top and a knife comes out clean when inserted into the middle.
• Allow to cool for 30 minutes before removing from the Dutch oven.

It is way too easy to burn this on a fire, so I would suggest doubling the recipe (at least) in case the bottom burns, you can still cut it off and have enough left to eat!

The .5 way is Chocolate Milk Cherry Stout Beer

Typically, you would make a lambic beer with cherries but that is a little advanced for a second attempt at home-brewing. So, my husband and a few of his friends started making a chocolate milk stout beer from a standard kit with the intention of adding the cherries during fermentation. Let's hope you can't go wrong with chocolate and cherries! We should know the results around Halloween - I will update you of course on the results.

Thank you Burp blog and CherryLand’s Best for this opportunity!

Are you ready for some Football?!?!?!

It's about time to officially start the next Packer season and many more rounds of Packer parties. Last last football season I was introduced to the old fashion (as Wisconsin classic). It was the sweet version and I'm not really into sweet drinks, but I ended up having a ton of these! I have been drinking them even since.

Mr. Drew's Old Smashin' 

Sugar cubes
Korbel Brandy
Marichino cherries
7-up
Bitters

• Place two sugar cubes in the glass
• Cover the cubes in bitters (make the cubes brown)
• Add a splash of 7-up and a marichino cherry
• Muddle till cubes are disolved
• Fill glass with ice
• Add two shots of  brandy
• Fill the rest of the glass with 7-up and stir
• Add two cherries - optional 

Be sure to have these at your next Packer Party and you'll soon realize why these are called an old "smashin' ". :-)

New Drink "The Farrell"

Fill cup with ice
Silver spiced rum
Splash of SoCo
Lemonade
Stir