Desserts, Sweet Snacks

Meyer Lemon Bars with Olive Oil, Rosemary
and Sea Salt

These are Lemon Bars. Well, to be more precise, they are Olive Oil Sea Salt Meyer Lemon Bars with Rosemary. In my infinite search to “do something different” (I think that they call that “intensify the depth of flavor” in the recipe development biz), I decided to add some fruity and bright olive oil to the curd, finely chop some fresh rosemary and put it in the shortbread and then add just a touch of sea salt to the sprinkle on top (with the powdered sugar). Result: the most intense and flavorful lemon bars you’ll ever taste. Seriously.
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25. January 2015
Cookies, Sweet Snacks

Apricot White Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies,
with Toasted Pine Nuts

Every week I make something that can be eaten “out of hand” (i.e. cookies, brownies, etc), but this week was a bit of an uninspired week, and somehow I wasn’t ready to bake something this afternoon, so just ended up making something with ingredients that I had in the house. Ended up being these Apricot White Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies, with Toasted Pine Nuts. Still good for a snack on on a cold January.
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23. January 2015
Dinner, Lunch

Cowboy Chili

What did you have for lunch? Here in my kitchen, it was leftover Chili. It may never win a Chili Cookoff, but it is pretty yummy. I think that most people I know use ground beef (or a combination of ground beef and ground pork) when they make chili. I use sirloin or flank / skirt steak and dice it myself with a knife or if I am making a lot, I pulse it a few times with the food processor. Also, I use andoille sausage for some extra kick. Is this “True American Chili”? (whatever that is) I don’t know. But this is (one of) my Chili recipes and it’s yummy.
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21. January 2015
Dinner, Lunch, Sides

Hasselback Potato Skillet Bake

Comfort food — this time in the form of garlicy, cheesy potatoes. Nothing Better than this Hasselback Potato Skillet Bake. While intended as a side dish, this also would work great as an alternative to hashbrowns for breakfast (though you might want to cut back on the garlic early in the morning … or maybe add some bacon!) or add chili, or salsa and jalepenos, and monterey jack cheese for some game day potato nachos. These are seriously delicious, even though I think that the neighbors will be mad at me for the extreme garlic smell for a little while!
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18. January 2015
Cookies, Sweet Snacks

Pistachio and Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies
with Bourbon Smoked Sea Salt

I am given unique ingredients as presents and this Christmas was no different as I was gifted a tin of Bourbon Smoked Sea Salt. It is great as a finishing salt on meats and such, but in my constant search for adding more depth of flavor to my baking, I decided to add some to these cookies. They didn’t turn out particularly “smokey” or “boozy” or even “salty”, but they did add a nice flavor.
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16. January 2015