Real Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats

Craving chocolate I kicked myself for not buying cocoa krispies to make the treats.  I was so focused on holiday rice krispies that when I didn't find them, I didn't think about anything but plain.

Then a thought occurred to me to try using actual chocolate, who knows what they put in cocoa krispies to make them taste chocolaty.  So I searched on-line for a recipe and discovered a few things.  Most people who tried adding chocolate chips mistakenly use the whole bag (12 oz./2 cups) instead of just using enough, 1/2 cup.  Secondly, hardly anyone thought about how adding chocolate would mean a need to increase liquid to make it work/easier to mix.

So I came up with this recipe and I think it's a winner, if not a little more labor intensive.  Next time I may use the microwave and mini-marshmallows.  Because it took so long for the big marshmallows to dissolve, it slightly turned the mixture into candy, allowing the treats to get stiff enough to cut only an hour or so after I made them.  Great if you need them in a hurry.

4 Tablespoons of Butter
1/2 cup (120 grams) of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 10-oz. bag of marshmallows
6 cups of plain rice krispees

On the stove, over a very low heat, stirring constantly, melt the butter and chocolate chips, then add in the marshmallows.  Stir constantly until marshmallows dissolve.  Stir in rice krispees until well coated, spread out into a greased glass dish.  Let cool and cover.

Calories: 2,494    Per 1/24: 104

Frozen Cranberry Salad

This "salad" has been a mainstay in our family during the Holidays for as long as I can remember. I've seen other recipes that include cream cheese and nuts but this is the recipe handed down to me from my grandmother.

1 bag (12 oz.) fresh, raw cranberries rinsed and sorted
2 cups white sugar
16 oz. of mini-marshmallows*
1 can (20 oz.) crushed pineapple
2 cups whipping cream (evaporated milk for lighter, heavy whipping cream for heavier, but I think regular whipping cream produces the  best results)

In a food processor pulse the cranberries and in a bowl combine with the sugar. In a separate bowl stir the crushed pineapple into the marshmallows. Cover and let rest in the fridge overnight. In a much larger bowl combine the cranberry mixture with the pineapple marshmallows. Whip the cream and fold into the lot of it. Spread out into a container with a lid, cover and freeze. It should be ready to eat in 8 hours.

*If you are gluten free make sure your marshmallows are as well.

Calorie counting:   Pineapple: 315, Cranberries: 150, Sugar: 1440, Marshmallows: 1350, Whipping Cream, Regular: 1440, Total: 4695 / 24 Servings = 195 Calories

Wild Rice Stuffing

This is a great gluten free alternative to traditional stuffing.  It was incredibly easy and delicious.  It could easily be made vegan if you substitute oil for the butter.

2 cups of Lundberg dry Wild Rice Blend
1 quart of chicken broth
1 Tablespoon of minced fresh sage, or 1 teaspoon dried
1/4 cup of minced fresh parsley, or 1 rounded Tablespoon dried

Cook the rice according to the package using the broth, herbs, and 1 teaspoon of salt if broth is not salted.

4 Tablespoons butter, divided
1 onion, diced
5 large ribs of celery, diced
1/2 lb of mushrooms, halved and sliced

Saute the onion in the butter till translucent, add the celery, then the mushrooms, waiting a few minutes in between.  Stir every minute or so, cooking till all the liquid has steamed off and the veggies are starting to brown.  Add in to the cooked rice and serve.

"Stuffing" Herb Bread

I came up with this recipe for the markets when I was preggers.  It is just my same old Challah bread recipe, but not braided (although you could for Thanksgivukah), and seasoned with herbs.  I also marketed it under Scarborough Fair Bread, if you remember the Simon and Garfunkel song, which reminded me which herbs to use, although I don't remember the exact amount.  Whatever didn't sell I would turn into stuffing.  Mind you none of this is gluten free.  It makes the most amazing sandwiches, or just plain buttered toast.  Making bread isn't as much work as it sounds, and you'll have 4 beautiful loaves.

7 cups of bread flour*
2 Tablespoons of instant rise (no proof) yeast
3 Tablespoons of sugar
2 cups of hot water (105 F)
1 Tablespoon of salt
1/4 cup Oil
3 Eggs

2 Tablespoons dried Parsley
4 teaspoons dried ground Sage
2 teaspoons dried Rosemary
1 teaspoon dried Thyme

Blend the flour, yeast and sugar.  Pour in the hot water and stir slightly.  Add the remaining ingredients, make sure to break the yolks.  Stir slightly till somewhat incorporated.  Using the dough hook, and a stand mixer, beat on medium-low for 5 minutes.  The dough should be slightly sticky, but not runny.  Pour a couple of Tablespoons of oil over all and flip and turn to grease under and all around.

Trick for a perfect rise:  Fill a tea kettle with water and bring to a boil.  Set it and the dough in the greased bowl inside your oven.  The heat and steam from the kettle create the perfect environment.  If it is particularly cold in your kitchen, do slightly warm the oven, 105 F.

Let rise for 45 minutes.  Turn out dough onto a floured surface and divide into 4 pieces.  Knead slightly and shape into loaves, place in greased (and floured if metal) loaf pans.  Preheat the oven to 375 F.  Let the loaves rise (not in the oven this time) for another 25 minutes.

Bake for 25 minutes in the middle of the oven.  Give an extra 5-10 if the bread doesn't seem done (sounds hollow when you thump it).

*If you don't have bread flour, you can add 1 T. of gluten for every cup to your all-purpose flour.  If you don't have gluten on hand don't go buy it, just buy some bread flour, or else wing it.

Red Bean Curry or Rajma

While looking for recipes of things to do with my already cooked small red kidney beans, that isn't red beans and rice for the umpteenth time this year, I found this recipe, I modified the recipe I tried from the Smitten Kitchen, for ease of use in my kitchen.  Being without fresh ginger or green chilies, I used the paste I had.  And I also ended up using tomato paste and extra water instead of tomato sauce.  It turned out really well, so thought we all, including my 22 month old who wiped up the sauce and slurped it off her fingers.

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
 1 medium onion, finely diced

1 Tablespoon Green Chili Paste (I used Thai Kitchen)
OR
1/4 cup chopped fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large green chili, minced

1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 15 oz can of Tomato Sauce
3 cups cooked, and drained red kidney beans
1 cup water
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

Heat oil in a 8 quart pot over medium heat for one minute. Add onion and cook for a few minutes until just getting brown.  Add ginger, garlic, and green chili or the paste and saute for one minute. Add the tomato sauce, water, salt, kidney beans, and remaining spices and cook for an additional five minutes, stirring frequently.  Remove from heat.  Stir in cilantro.  Serve over, or stir in, rice.  Top with plain yogurt or sour cream for extra deliciousness.

Smokey Black Bean Chili

4 cups Cooked Black Beans, drained
1 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes
2 T. Bacon Fat
1 large yellow onion
Green and Yellow Bell Peppers
1 T. cumin
1 T. oregano
2 chipotles in adobo sauce, blitzed
1 teaspoon Salt

Saute onions in bacon fat until translucent or browned, add tomatoes and remaining ingredients.  As it was I had to add a little water because my diced tomatoes weren't very juicy.  Bring to a simmer.  Let simmer about 30 minutes.  I thought the flavor was good.  It didn't taste too much like chipotles, it had a good heat, but it seemed thin.  I think this would be best served with sour cream to round out the flavor.

Baba Ghanoush: Cold Eggplant Dip

A lot like Hummus, I mean exactly like it but instead of mashed chic peas there is roasted eggplant.  The literal translation means "spoiled father." 

About the same amount of effort as hummus too, but instead of making a pot (or opening a can) of beans, you will need to cook some eggplant.  I have never had success in oven roasting, and it's a lot of time to wait an hour for one or two eggplants to cook.  I always end up not cooking it long enough, and even then I can never get the peel off.  But what harm is there in blitzing the peel, if it's organic.  Often the most colorful part of the veggie is where all the nutrients are.  I imagine an easier way, and less time consuming-if not a bit more labor intensive, would be to peel the eggplant, cube and saute until soft. 

Otherwise:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Using a fork, poke holes all around the eggplant(s).  Roast for 45 minutes or until soft, timing depends on the size of eggplant.  Once they have cooled, scrape the inside into a bowl and discard the peel.  Even better if you can roast them over a charcoal grill or fire to achieve a smoky flavor.

For every 2 cups cooked eggplant add to it:

•  2 Tablespoons Tahini
• 1 large clove of garlic
• Juice of 1 Lemon, roughly 1/4 cup
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Put all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blitz, or else mash by hand, in which case mince or press the garlic.  Feel free to dress it with chopped fresh parsley and good extra virgin olive oil.