Thursday, August 27, 2015

S'mores Bars


S’mores Bars
(15 bars)

 
Ingredients:

½ cup Unsalted Butter
2 oz. Unsweetened Chocolate, chopped
1 cup Sugar
2 large Fresh Eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla
¾ cup All-Purpose Flour
9 squares Honey Graham Crackers
1 cup Mini Marshmallows

Directions:

In a medium sauce pan over low heat, melt butter and chocolate.  Remove from heat.  Stir in sugar, eggs and vanilla until well combined.  Stir in flour next.  Using a 7x11 baking dish, lightly grease or line dish with parchment paper.  Spread half of the chocolate mixture in prepared pan.  Top this with graham crackers (divide as needed to cover completely).  Sprinkle marshmallows over the graham crackers but not going to edges of pan.  Carefully spread remaining chocolate mixture on top of marshmallows, covering completely to edge of pan.  Place in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 25 minutes or until set.  Cool completely on a wire rack.  Cut 3x5 to make 15 bars.

Note:               If you want to make more bars, try using a 9x13 pan.  You will need to increase ingredients by half the recipe.  You will also need to adjust baking time.  About 35 minutes give or take depending on your oven.  Cut 4x6 for 24 bars.

Ideas for Future Efforts
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Lemon-Lime Bars


Lemon-Lime Bars
(24 bars)

 
Ingredients:

2 cups All-Purpose Flour
½ cup Powdered Sugar
2 tbsp. Corn Starch
¼ tsp. Salt
¾ cup Unsalted Butter, cut-up
4 large Fresh Eggs, lightly beaten
1½ cups Sugar
1/3 cup Half & Half
3 tbsp. All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp. Fresh Lemon Peel, finely shredded
1/3 cup Fresh Lemon Juice
1 tsp. Fresh Lime Peel, finely shredded
1/3 cup Fresh Lime Juice
1 drop Green Food Coloring
as needed Powdered Sugar for dusting
as needed Lemon & Lime Peel, thin strips for garnish

Directions:

Grease a 9x13 baking dish and then line it with parchment paper pressing into corners.  Set aside.  In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, powdered sugar, cornstarch and salt.  Using a pastry blender, cut butter into mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.  Press this mixture into prepared baking dish.  Place in a 350 degree pre-heated oven for 15 minutes.  In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, half & half and 3 tablespoons of flour.  Divide mixture equally between two bowls.  To the first bowl add the lemon peel and juice incorporating completely.  To the second bowl add the lime peel and juice along with the food coloring and mix completely.  Pour the lemon filling over the warm crust and bake in the same temperature oven for 10 to 12 minutes.  Then carefully pour lime mixture over the lemon mixture and bake another 10 to 12 minutes or until set.  Cool completely on a wire rack.  Use parchment paper to lift it out of dish.  Cut 4x6 to create 24 bars.  Then sprinkle with powdered sugar, lemon and lime peel.  Serve immediately or refrigerate until needed.

Note:               You can just zest the lemon and lime if you want finer pieces of the peel.

Ideas for Future Efforts
 
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
____________________________________________


Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Dessert Bars for the Fall

I might not be the norm, but when fall starts to arrive I'm looking for dessert bars.  I think it started in my childhood.  My mother baked all day on Wednesdays and Saturdays.  She made a lot of cookies as there were 11 children in the house.  But my memory says with the start of school in September, she was too busy to be making cookies and would make many of them into bars.

One of my favorites was her "Blonde Brownies" which was just chocolate chip cookie dough spread out in the same pans she used for cookies.  I'm not sure what it was but they gave a different taste or feel from the usual cookie.

The fun thing about the blonde brownies was you could change out the chocolate chips.  Other flavored chips like butterscotch and white chocolate along with M&M's gave you a totally different tasting bar to eat.  Today there are many more flavors to try.  If you have never tried this before, be sure to take the time and check it out.

This week I have two recipes for you to try.  Tomorrow's is "Lemon-Lime Bars" and they have just the right bite to them.  On Thursday, try the "S'mores Bars" and continue that summer taste into the fall.

If you go to the "Desserts & Baking Recipes" tab above, you will find other bars to try if you haven't already done so when they were originally posted.

If you have a recipe for a good bar, please let me know.  I'd be happy to try it and post it on a future blog post.

Thanks for your support of my food blog and please pass on to family and friends.  "Happy Cooking" until next week and remember you have over 400 recipes on "Cabana Boy Cooks" to help you for any occasion.

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Apple-Stuffed Crepes


Apple Stuffed Crepes
(8 filled crepes)

 
Ingredients:

1 cup All-Purpose Flour
1/8 tsp. Salt
2 large Fresh Eggs
¾ cup Whole Milk
½ cup Sweet Cider
as needed Unsalted Butter
4 large Fresh Apples (your choice)
4 tbsp. Sugar
8 tbsp. Honey
as needed Whipped Cream

Directions:

Sift flour and salt into a large bowl.  Add eggs, milk and beat until smooth.  Stir in the cider and let stand for 30 minutes.  While batter is resting make filling.  Core and slice apples into thick wedges (about 8 per apple).  In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoon of butter over medium heat.  Add apples and cook to golden brown.  Remove apples using a slotted spoon to a bowl and sprinkle with the sugar. To make crepes heat a small heavy non-stick skillet over medium heat.  Add a little butter to coat and then ladle just enough batter to cover the bottom with a thin coat.  Cook about 1 minute or until golden and then flip and continue on other side.  Remove to a plate and repeat process making a total of 8 crepes.  Keep crepes warm in a 200 degree oven.  To assemble crepes, take one and fill with 4 pieces of apple and a little of the juice.  Then roll up and place on a platter.  Repeat process with the other 7 crepes.  Drizzle honey over the finished 8 crepes, top with the whipped cream and serve.

Note:               For best results, use whole milk or half and half to make the batter.

Ideas for Future Efforts
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
____________________________________________

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Caramel Apple Pie


Caramel Apple Pie
(1 pie)

 
Ingredients:

6-7 large Granny Smith Apples, peeled, cored & sliced
12 oz. Apple Cider or Apple Juice (save a little for corn starch slurry)
1 tsp. Fresh Lemon Juice
½ tsp. Kosher Salt
1-1½ tsp. Cinnamon (extra for topping crust)
¼-½ tsp. Ground Nutmeg
¼-½ tsp. Ground Cloves
½ cup Brown Sugar
½ cup White Sugar (extra for topping crust)
2-3 tbsp. Unsalted Butter
½ cup Caramel Syrup
 ¼ cup Corn Starch (give or take a little)
1 pkg. (2 crusts) Refrigerated Pie Crusts (or make your own)
1 large Fresh Egg, beaten

Directions:

In a large non-stick skillet over medium heat, combine ingredients from apples through caramel syrup.  Cook until apples are almost tender.  Taste filling and adjust as need with cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.  Whisk together the corn starch and remaining apple cider/juice to make a slurry.  Add slurry to apple mixture and continue to cook until thickened.  Remove from heat and let cool completely.  Once apple mixture is cool, place one pie crust in pie pan.  Place apple mixture in crust and top with remaining crust, remove excess and crimp edges.  Brush top crust with beaten egg and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.  Cut one slit in middle of crust before placing in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for about 60 minutes.  Remove from oven to a rack and let cool a little before serving.  Serve warm with a little vanilla ice cream.

Note:               You can try other types of apples but should stick to the ones that are better for baking.

Ideas for Future Efforts
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Apple Season is Coming Soon

It's getting to be late August and I've noticed green apples on trees as I drive.  As a kid there was nothing better than to sneak into a yard with green apples ready for picking.  Most people gave you permission but a few didn't want anyone in their yards or at their trees.

In fact I remember one summer that I would go out and get apples for a pregnant lady (and close friend) next door.  It was her craving that summer.  We got those apples from the yards we shouldn't have been in because they just seemed to taste better.

Now that I'm a little older, I still look forward to apple season.  Only now I  go buy them at apple farms.  There so many more varieties today than I can remember as a young person.  There are great ones for baking, salads and of course just eating.  I'm not going into which ones you should use for what today.  You can check that out yourself if you want to be precise on each use.  I tend to use the ones I like because of flavor.

One of the newer varieties of apples are "Honeycrisp" and they seem to be the most expensive too.  It doesn't matter what apple or apples you like as long as you enjoy them.  So get out there and check out this years crop as it arrives in your location.

I have two tasty recipes for you this week using apples.  The one tomorrow is "Salted Caramel Apple Pie" and it comes from my friend, Candee.  On Thursday I have "Apple-Stuffed Crepes" for you to try.

So enjoy trying these recipes and pass them on to family and friends.  "Happy Cooking" until next week and please share my blog link too.

Friday, August 14, 2015

Soft Gluten-Free Wraps/Tortillas (GF)


Soft Gluten-Free Wraps/Tortillas (GF)
(10 wraps/tortillas)

 
Ingredients:

1 cup Milk
2 ½ cups Tapioca Flour, plus more for sprinkling
¼ tsp. Kosher Salt
3 tbsp. Canola Oil
1 large Fresh Egg, room temperature & lightly beaten
7 oz. Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella, grated
2 oz. Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese, finely grated

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, bring the milk to a simmer over medium heat.  As soon as milk begins to simmer, remove from heat and add tapioca flour, salt and oil.  Mix to combine.  Mixture will look curdled and be difficult to bring together.  Let dough cool for 10 minutes before transferring it to the bowl of a food processor fitted with steel blade.  Pulse a few times to smooth out the dough.  Add the beaten egg and pulse until incorporated.  Now turn on processor and let run 2 to 3 minutes until is smooth. Dough will be thick and stretchy.  Add both grated cheeses and process about 2 minutes or until dough is very smooth.  The dough will be sticky but becomes less sticky as it cools.  Use a wet spatula to remove from processor.  Using wet hands divide dough into 2 equal portions.  Wrap each with film tightly.  Place in freezer for 30 minutes or refrigerator for at least 2 hours.  Overnight works just fine too.  When dough has been chilled, remove and unwrap.  Do one wrapped piece at a time.  Place on a lightly tapioca floured surface.    Divide into 5 equal portions (about 3 oz. each) using a sharp knife or bench scraper.  Dust each piece with tapioca flour and roll out into an 8 inch circle.  You will need to move dough about and sprinkle with tapioca flour while making circles to keep from sticking (See Note).  Be sure to heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat before cutting dough.  Use a non-stick skillet over low heat if you don’t have cast iron.  You may have to play with the heat because stovetops will heat differently.  Carefully place a flattened circle in hot skillet.  Cook about 1 to 1½ minutes or until wrap/tortilla moves easily and has lightly browned on bottom.  Flip and continue about 45 to 60 seconds on second side.  Remove from skillet and place in moist warm tea towel or a 200 degree oven.  Repeat process with remaining pieces of dough.  When done use immediately or wrap tightly and store.  Should be good in refrigerator for up to a week and freezer for 1 to 2 months.

Note:               Tapioca flour is the also called tapioca starch.  The best places to get consistent quality are “nuts.com” or “Authentic Foods.”  Bob’s Red Mill seems inconsistent.  Also don’t buy from Asian Food Stores as it is frequently contaminated for gluten-free.

Note:               Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese is expensive.  Try using any finely grated parmesan cheese for this recipe.

Note:               Yes this is a little work to make start to finish.  But it is well worth the effort.  I suggest making multiple batches and freezing them.  I would put parchment paper between each piece before putting in a zip-lock freezer bag.  Thaw them in the refrigerator.  Microwave them for a few seconds to make them pliable to use or reheat in a skillet for about 30 seconds.  You can also try heating them in the oven like you would a stack of flour/corn tortillas.

Note:               If you have a tortilla press use it.  Place dusted dough on parchment paper in press and then top with another piece before pressing.  Dust or spray parchment paper before placing dough.  It tends to stick a little to bottom piece of parchment.

Ideas for Future Efforts
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
____________________________________________