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bemily

Christmas present for the In-Laws! Help!

Make Rainbow cookies from Epicurious.

No More Thanksgiving!!

I totally feel that way. After spending 3 days in the kitchen, prepping and cooking, I am ready for it to be over. I laid on the couch watching movies all day today and the family can help themselves to the leftovers. salad sounds great.

Help! I bought the wrong brie

Thank you so much for your responses. I'm going with it!
Off topic.....I'm making the most awesome black pepper almonds right now, from Epicurious. Don't let the amount of black pepper scare you. Yummy!

black pepper almonds Servings: Makes 2 2/3 cups.
1 tablespoon black pepper
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
3/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
4 teaspoons water
2 2/3 cups blanched whole almonds

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line large baking sheet with foil. Lightly butter foil. Mix pepper and salt in small bowl. Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Add sugar and 4 teaspoons water; stir until sugar dissolves. Add almonds; toss to coat. Cook over medium heat until syrup thickens and almonds are well coated, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle half of pepper mixture over.
Transfer almonds to baking sheet. Using spatula and working quickly, separate almonds. Sprinkle remaining pepper mixture over. Bake until deep golden brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer sheet to rack; cool. (Can be made 4 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.)

Help! I bought the wrong brie

Well I'm not strapped for cash but the last thing I want to do is go food shopping again! and I don't keep puff pastry/crescent rolls in the house. I like the small crock idea. Do you think it will make a nice presentation served that way, topped with cranberry sauce? or should I make myself go back out there for the round?

Help! Thanksgiving Appetizer

I've made this many times. This is fabulous and highly addictive. Its from Epicurious. Don't let the amount of black pepper scare you (like it scared me). It mellows out after cooling.

black pepper almonds
Servings: Makes 2 2/3 cups.
1 tablespoon black pepper
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
3/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
4 teaspoons water
2 2/3 cups blanched whole almonds

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line large baking sheet with foil. Lightly butter foil. Mix pepper and salt in small bowl. Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Add sugar and 4 teaspoons water; stir until sugar dissolves. Add almonds; toss to coat. Cook over medium heat until syrup thickens and almonds are well coated, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle half of pepper mixture over.
Transfer almonds to baking sheet. Using spatula and working quickly, separate almonds. Sprinkle remaining pepper mixture over. Bake until deep golden brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer sheet to rack; cool. (Can be made 4 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.)

Cocktail party stuffed mushrooms

I've made this many times. Its from Epicurious.
Sausage stuffed mushrooms
Makes 24, but with a lot of extra filling
3 Italian hot sausages, casings removed
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 3 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
1 large egg yolk
Olive oil
24 large (about 2-inch-diameter) mushrooms, stemmed
1/3 cup dry white wine
Sauté sausage and oregano in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat until sausage is cooked through and brown, breaking into small pieces with back of fork, about 7 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer sausage mixture to large bowl and cool. Mix in 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic powder, then cream cheese. Season filling with salt and pepper; mix in egg yolk.
Brush 15x10x2-inch glass baking dish with olive oil to coat. Brush cavity of each mushroom cap with white wine; fill with scant 1 tablespoon filling and sprinkle with some of remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. Arrange mushrooms, filling side up, in prepared dish. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.)
Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake uncovered until mushrooms are tender and filling is brown on top, about 25 minutes.

Lost Recipe for Almond (or Butter) Crescent cookies

Here is the recipe I've been making for years. I can't remember where I got it from. There is vanilla in it and no cinnamon.

Vanilla crescent cookies:
1c butter, softened
1/3c sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 3/4c flour
pinch salt
1/2c ground blanched almonds
1 pack Oetker vanilla sugar (I buy this at cost plus or its available on-line)
1/2c powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 325.
Cream butter and gradually add sugar. Add in the vanilla and almond extract and blend well. In another bowl sift together flour, salt, and ground almonds. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture. Mix until just blended. Divide the dough in half and shape into 2 cylinders. Refrigerate for 1 hour. On a plate mix the vanilla sugar with the powdered sugar. Cut 1" slices and shape into a crescent. Bake 7-10 min. (The cookies don't brown around the edges) While the cookies are still warm roll in the mixed sugars (but be careful because they are VERY fragile)

Thanksgiving disasters (funny only in hindsight)

Just moments before guests arrive.....
**The recipe says to blend the gravy so I put it in the food processor and it leaks through allover the counter down the cabinets and onto the floor and its HOT! So I scream to my husband to grab the blender and turn the whole leaking food processor (still attached to the base and plugged in) upside down and pour the gravy in the blender. We clean up the mess.
**Then I turn the blender on and that's right, its too full and spills out allover the place. That's where I say F-it and pull out the strainer. Who needs neck meat and onions anyway?
**I get back to the stove and realize i was supposed to use the same pan but already dumped it and had no butter mixture to pour my flour into (clocks ticking) so I grab a lump of butter and melt it in a new pan, add the flour and its really dry so I dump some canola oil into it (saw Rachael Ray do that once). It turned out okay. And nobody knew it happened.
**They also missed me carving (read butchering) the turkey. I have watched many videos, had a chef personally show me me how, had my knives professionally sharpened and can't seem to carve a turkey to save my life! The breasts are okay but the limbs never behave like they do in the videos and the meat ends up in shreds. ( I HAVE to do this before guests arrive) I put it on a platter nicely arranged with pretty kale and sage leaves and it tasted great (thanks to Alton Brown)
**I also baked Brie in a ramekin (bought a wedge instead of a round by mistake) and topped it with cranberry sauce. I guess the cold sauce cooled the brie and it was very rubbery. There were other cheeses, crackers, apples, grapes, spiced nuts, olives etc so it was okay.
**I also made enough food to feed an army. I put the food on big platters and I think they were to big and too heavy to pass around the table.
**Today I'm realizing that i left out saltine crackers from the Paula Deen cornbread stuffing recipe I made. Oops.
**Next year the plan is to simplify!

Help! I bought the wrong brie

Can I bake a wedge of brie (rather than a round)?I've tried to research this but every method I found is for a round, not a wedge,(which I've already purchased). Do I still cut off the top of the rind and put it in the oven? it would ooz all over the place, right? should I just warm it in the microwave? I want to top it with a cranberry sauce. What should I do now?

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