Chicken Stew with Cornmeal Dumplings

Hey look - a post that's about something besides dessert! I DID make one or two meals this month - and this is one of them. I came across this recipe on Maryanna's blog and thought it looked like the perfect winter meal. It was very easy to make and turned out to be hearty and comforting. We really liked the "stew" part of this meal but thought the dumplings left something to be desired. It may have been the cornmeal element, they seemed a little gritty. I think next time I make this I will do it with regular dumplings instead of the the cornmeal ones. But it was a good meal for a cold winter evening and a nice change from all the cookies, candies and other sweets of the month.

Chicken Stew with Cornmeal Dumplings

1 (14-ounce) can chicken broth
1 (10-ounce) package frozen mixed vegetables
1 cup frozen small whole onions (I omitted)
1/2 cup water
2 tsp snipped fresh basil, oregano, or dill, or 1/2 tsp dried basil, oregano, or dill, crushed
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 cup milk
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups cubed cooked chicken or turkey
1 recipe Cornmeal Dumplings (below)

In a large saucepan combine broth, frozen vegetables, onions, water, dried herb (if using), salt, garlic powder, and pepper. Bring to boiling.Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine milk and flour; stir into vegetable mixture. Stir in chicken. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Stir in fresh herb, if using.Drop dumpling dough from a tablespoon into 4 to 8 mounds on top of the bubbling stew. Simmer, covered (do not lift cover), over low heat for 10 to 12 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in a dumpling comes out clean.

Cornmeal Dumplings:In a medium bowl stir together 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese, 1/3 cup yellow cornmeal, 1 tsp baking powder, and a dash black pepper. In a small bowl combine 1 beaten egg, 2 TBSP milk, and 2 TBSP cooking oil; add to flour mixture, stirring with a fork just until combined.

Merry Minty Christmas

My favorite night of the year is probably Christmas Eve. Joe's aunt Linda hosts the family at her house for dinner and Santa gifts. Everything about the night is just plain fun, from the big spread of food to the ridiculous gifts that come out of Santa's grab bag. Linda asked me to bring some desserts to the party this year and I was happy to oblige. I knew right away I wanted to reprise the pumpkin gingerbread trifle that I made earlier this month - it's perfect for Christmas! But I also wanted to bring something chocolatey as well. I recalled this recipe for chocolate-mint bars that was on the cover of the March issue of Cooking Light. I've had the recipe since then but hadn't gotten around to making it, so I thought Christmas Eve would be the perfect opportunity to try it out. After all, you need a little mint at Christmas!

These bars are very easy to make, although I feel as if I may have done exactly what the recipe warns against and baked the bottom layer a tad too long - they were more cake -ike than fudgey, but in the end that was okay! The mint layer is sweet with just the right amount of mint flavor and the chocolate glaze is a great topper. Everyone enjoyed these bars and they made a sweet ending to a wonderful Christmas Eve.

Chocolate-Mint Bars

Bottom layer:
1 cup all-purpose flour (about 4 1/2 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup egg substitute
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, beaten
1 (16-ounce) can chocolate syrup
Cooking spray

Mint layer:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons fat-free milk
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 drops green food coloring

Glaze:
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 350°.
To prepare bottom layer, lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and salt; stir with a whisk. Combine granulated sugar, egg substitute, 1/4 cup melted butter, 2 tablespoons water, vanilla, eggs, and chocolate syrup in a medium bowl; stir until smooth. Add flour mixture to chocolate mixture, stirring until blended. Pour batter into a 13 x 9–inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 23 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out almost clean. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
To prepare mint layer, combine powdered sugar, 1/4 cup melted butter, and next 3 ingredients (through food coloring) in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer until smooth. Spread mint mixture over cooled cake.
To prepare the glaze, combine the chocolate chips and 3 tablespoons butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at HIGH 1 minute or until melted, stirring after 30 seconds. Let stand 2 minutes. Spread chocolate mixture evenly over top. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Cut into 20 pieces.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and I wish you a fantastic new year! Happy Holidays!

A Gingerbread Tree for Christmas

Last Christmas Eve my cousin Adam came over in the afternoon and we decorated a gingerbread house. He must have enjoyed it because he asked if we would be doing it again this year. I told him sure, but that we should mix things up a little and do something besides a house. I picked up a gingerbread tree kit instead - it came with pre-baked gingerbread stars, icing mix, candy presents and a candy star and some little candies for decorating. I also bought a tube of sparkly red icing gel that I thought would make good garland.

The tree was fun to assemble if not a little messy. I blame the foggy headed-ness of my nasty cold on the fact that I did not assemble the little pastry bags correctly and ended up having to Scotch tape the nozzles onto the bags. Whoops. Still, in the hands of a 9-year-old boy it was bound to get a little messy anyway. With Tucker's help, Adam and I make a pretty nice looking gingerbread tree to kick off Christmas!

Pumpkin Pie Dip

After my whirlwind weekend of cookie baking and candy making, I wasn't really in the mood to bake yet another treat for the pre-holiday get together being held at Joe's aunt's house. However, I didn't want to show up empty handed so I started thinking of alternatives to baked goods. I remembered my friend Lauren mentioning a pumpkin pie dip when she was getting ready for her son's birthday party last month and I thought that sounded like a great idea, especially since I had two big cans of pumpkin in my pantry. I hit Google and came up with this recipe on RecipeZaar. This mixes up in no time at all, and let me tell you, it is good! It tastes just like the center of a pumpkin pie - I could have eaten it with a spoon! Instead, I did the civilized thing and served it with gingersnaps and graham cracker sticks for dipping. This was a hit for sure - I definitely plan on making this again. It's a great dessert alternative to the usual cakes and brownies.

Pumpkin Pie Dip

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cups confectioner's sugar
15 ounces canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Beat cream cheese and sugar at medium speed of an electric mixer until smooth.
Add pumpkin, cinnamon, and ginger, beating well.
Cover and chill up to 5 days.

Hazelnut Fudge

I never really thought about making fudge. It always seemed like quite the effort, plus I don't own a candy thermometer. However a few weeks ago while I was watching Food Network on the elliptical at the gym (yes, I watch food while I exercise) I saw Nigella make this super easy fudge and decided to give it a go for my holiday treat bags. This could not be easier. It literally took about 3 minutes to make from start to finish. And it SO good! Creamy and chocolatey - yum! Nigella used pistachios in her fudge but I chose hazelnuts for mine - any nut would work fine. This is a wonderful simple treat and makes a great gift. I packaged mine with Oreo truffles - that says "Happy Holidays" to me!

Hazelnut Fudge

12 ounces 70 percent dark chocolate, chopped or 12 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 (14-ounce) can condensed milk
Pinch salt

1 cup chopped hazelnuts

Melt the chopped chocolate, condensed milk and salt in a heavy based pan on a low heat.
Add the nuts to the melted chocolate and condensed milk and stir well to mix.
Pour this mixture into a 9-inch square foil tray, smoothing the top.
Let the fudge cool and then refrigerate until set. You can then cut into small pieces approximately 3/4 by 1 3/4 inches or cutting 8 by 8 lines in the tin to give 64 pieces.
Once cut you can keep it in the freezer, no need to thaw just eat straight away. (I stored mine in the fridge.)

Oreo Truffles

So by now, almost everyone has either heard of, tasted or made Oreo truffles. Still, they seem to be a big favorite so I decided to make them this year for my holiday treat bags. I had it in my head that these were going to be messy and time consuming, so I was pleasantly surprised when they turned out to be neither! I made the filling on Friday afternoon, rolled it into balls and put them in the fridge on cookie trays to set. I left them in there for about 24 hours so they were nice and firm by the time I got to dipping them in the chocolate. Joe helped me with this part, and I'm glad I did. We made a good team and the whole process went more quickly with two people. Joe stuck toothpicks in each truffle and then we dipped them in the chocolate. Joe then went to work drizzling chocolate over the little toothpick holes to make sure they were completely enrobed in chocolate. Tucker helped too!

We finished them off with some red and green sprinkles then stuck them back in the fridge to harden. I was thrilled with how nice they looked, and of course they tasted fantastic! If you're one of the few people who have not tried these awesome treats, you better get in the kitchen! You don't know what you're missing!

Easy Oreo Truffles

1 pkg. (1 lb. 2 oz.) Oreo Cookies, finely crushed, divided
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
2 pkg. (8 squares each) Baker's semi-sweet chocolate, melted

Mix the cookie crumbs and the cream cheese until well blended. Shape into 42 (1-inch) balls.
Dip balls in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. (Any leftover melted chocolate can be stored in tightly covered container at room temperature and saved for another use.) Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm. Store any leftover truffles in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

Chocolate Chubbies

Chocolate and nuts - it's one of the greatest taste combinations, so you know these cookies have to be good. They are so loaded with goodies - chocolate chips, pecans and walnuts - that there are more mix-ins than dough. And that's okay! Speaking of dough, the dough for these cookies seemed awfully thin when I was done mixing it - it looked more like cake batter than cookie dough. So I added about 1/4 cup more flour and that seemed to help a bit. Plus I froze the dough and defrosted it about 2 weeks later to bake these, so that may have helped firm it up a bit.

These came out great - chewy and dense and full of all those delicious extras. I made them on the small side so they are like little brownie bites. They'll make a great chocolatey addition to your Christmas baking!

Chocolate Chubbies

6 (1-ounce) semisweet chocolate squares, chopped
2 (1-ounce) unsweetened chocolate squares, chopped
1/3 cup butter
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate morsels
2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts

Combine first 3 ingredients in a heavy saucepan; cook, stirring often, over low heat until chocolate melts. Remove from heat; cool slightly.
Beat eggs and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth; add chocolate mixture, beating well.
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; add to chocolate mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in chocolate morsels, pecans, and walnuts.
Drop batter by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto lightly greased baking sheets.
Bake at 325° for 12 to 15 minutes or until done. Cool cookies on baking sheet 1 minute. Remove to wire racks; cool.