Monday, November 2, 2009

Chocolate Crunch


Crunchy wheat cereal, pretzels and almonds coated in bittersweet chocolate makes an addictive sweet-salty snack.


Ingredients


1 cup Wheat Chex cereal, (2 ounces)

1 cup pretzel sticks broken in half, (2 ounces)

1/4 cup salted roasted almonds, (2 1/2 ounces)

3 tablespoons bittersweet chocolate chips, melted (see Tip)
 
Preparation


1.Combine Chex, pretzels and almonds in a medium bowl. Drizzle with melted chocolate; stir to combine. Spread the mixture on a wax paper-lined baking sheet and refrigerate until the chocolate is set, about 30 minutes.

Tips & Notes

Make Ahead Tip: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Tip: To melt chocolate: Microwave on Medium for 1 minute. Stir, then continue microwaving on Medium in 20-second intervals until melted, stirring after each interval. Or place in the top of a double boiler over hot, but not boiling, water. Stir until melted.

Nutrition

Per serving: 218 calories; 8 g fat (2 g sat, 3 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 35 g carbohydrates; 5 g protein; 3 g fiber; 397 mg sodium; 176 mg potassium.



2 Carbohydrate Serving



Exchanges: 1 starch, 1 carbohydrate (other), 2 fat

Pumpkin Party Overdose


Marble Cake Recipe



Marble Cake Recipe




Ingredients:



3 sticks (12 oz) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

2 cups sugar

6 extra-large eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

3 cups (15 oz) bleached all-purpose flour

1/2 cup plain yogurt, full fat preferred

1/2 cup whole milk

100g (3.5oz) semi-sweet chocolate

1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (optional)

1 Tbsp Grand Marnier (optional)



Method



1. Preheat oven to 325 F.

2. Put chocolate in a dry, clean bowl and melt in microwave oven in 30-second intervals, stirring till you get a smooth paste. Remove and let cool.

3. In a stand mixer, or a hand mixer, cream together butter and sugar till mixture is fluffy and sugar has been cut in well.

4. Add eggs, one at a time. Beat on med-high speed for about 20 seconds after each egg, and scrape down before adding the next one.

5. Add the vanilla and mix to combine.

6. Add dry ingredients in three portions, interspersing with the yogurt and milk and stir gently. So basically, this means 1/3 dry ingredients, yogurt, 1/3 dry ingredients, milk, final third dry ingredient. Stir till all traces of flour is gone.

7. Take out half of the vanilla cake batter and drop it into the baking pan. Add the melted chocolate and cocoa powder and Grand Marnier (if using) to the remaining batter and stir it.

9. Interspersing globs of vanilla batter with chocolate batter, drop batter into pan.

10. Using your spatula, twirl the batter together using a figure-eight motion to mix the batter up to get that nice pretty marble design. Don’t overmix.

11. Smooth out the top of your pan and put cake in oven to bake. If you’re using loaf pans, start to test the cake after about 40 minutes. If using your bundt, it will need about 1 hour (test after 55 minutes). Cake tester should come out clean when it’s done

Cranberry Applesauce


Ingredients


3 to 4 pounds of peeled, cored, roughly chopped Granny Smith apples (or other good cooking apple such as Golden Delicious, Fuji, Jonathan, Mcintosh, or Gravenstein)

1 1/2 cups to 2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup of brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 cup water

1/2 teaspoon salt

Method

1 Place all of the ingredients in a large (5-quart) pot. Bring to a boil, lower heat to a simmer and cover. Cook 20-30 minutes, or until the apples can easily be mashed.

2 Remove from heat. Mash the apples and cranberries with a potato masher to the consistency you want
Serve hot as a side to pork or turkey. Or serve hot or cold as a dessert with some vanilla ice cream.
Store in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks. Or freeze for up to a year.

Makes 1 1/2 to 2 quarts.