Tips and Tricks Archives - Page 2 of 2

Caramelized Lace – For any dessert!

Posted on by Jenny MacBeth

For my Mother’s Day dinner, I served baby back ribs and shrimp scampi along with this sweet delight for dessert.

This idea came to me when I heard the story of Glen and his mom loving a dessert, they once shared, with a crunchy lace topping. They tried to explain it several times to me, but I turned to a friend for advice. It’s not exactly what they once shared, but I’m told it’s pretty close.

I wasn’t sure what to call it because you can use it in many dessert recipes. It is definitely caramelized and has a lace texture to it. So, as clever as I am (haha), I’m calling it caramelized lace.

Let’s get started…

You’ll Need:

4 3/4 cup of Special K Oats and Honey
1/4 cup of dark brown sugar
1 stick of unsalted butter (do not use salted butter)
A small pinch of kosher salt
2 container of Dolci Frutta (sold with four small containers)
Parchment paper

To Do…

Preheat oven to 275.

Gently crumble cereal in a mixing bowl.

Toss in your brown sugar, salt and melted butter. Mix it all together.

Place the parchment paper over a cookie sheet. The mixture will stick to your pan if you do not use parchment paper. Trust me. I learned the hard way.

Spread the yummy mixture over it. Don’t worry if it doesn’t spread out evenly. – As it cooks, the butter will do that for you.

Cook for 15 minutes. Once cooled, you can start to pinch off chunks.

You can serve it this way, or…

I loved dunking it in dark chocolate, but it’s not necessary. The caramelized lace can stand alone.

Glen found Dolci Frutta at Sam’s Club. It’s advertised to use on fruit, but I thought why not add it to the lace. Just follow the instructions on the box. Hint: You have too work fast, it hardens quickly.

Crumble a few pieces of the lace in the bottom of your serving dish then top with ice cream. I served it with Breyers Pure Vanilla ice cream. Heat another Dolci Frutta and drizzle a spoon full over the ice cream. The chocolate will harden even faster over the coldness of the ice cream. Add in your caramelized lace.

It’s a sweet and salty dessert. Tastes like chocolate caramel turtles. Enjoy!

Any cool tricks or recipes you want to share? Let me know because this girl likes to eat.

use crushed potato chips for all sorts of toppings

Potato Chip Topping

Posted on by Jenny MacBeth

As I mentioned in one of my muffin recipes,

I use potato chips as my topping for just about all my muffins. Some people use cornflakes, but if you are like me, I always have a bag of chips in my cupboard. Rarely, do I have cornflakes.

Here I’m using the crushed chips mixed with Havarti cheese as a muffin topper.

I use crumbled potato chips on muffins, casseroles, macaroni and cheese, soups, breads, cakes, or any other recipe I want to add a little crunch and salt.

What foods do you use potato chips as a topper? Please share because this Girl Likes to Eat.

Bacon, Egg and Smoked Gruyere Sandwich

Posted on by Jenny MacBeth

Who doesn’t love breakfast for dinner? I was craving a good bacon, egg and cheese sandwich. After work, I headed over to the grocer and saw, “Apple Smoked Gruyere.” Boy, did that pull me in. -Snatched it and tossed it in the cart without a second look.

This is such a simple sandwich, yet you can do so much with it. Everything taste delicious with bacon.

Side note: Did you know that Bacon, Egg and Cheese has its own Wikipedia? It’s a popular food group.

A Cast Iron skillet is the secret ingredient to making yummy eggs and bacon. I love the bubbly-crispy edges you get around the egg white. It’s perfect every time.

For my bacon, I love apple smoked, or peppered, thick-cut bacon. I like all bacon, but I seem to buy those two flavors the most. I must be sucked into the marketing gimmick of “Apple Smoked.” It just sounds so heavenly, right?

You can make your sandwich anyway you want. Top it with all your favorites, but this is what I did.

For the bread I used leftover Pain de Campagne from the weekend. Whatever you use, make sure it’s nice and crusty. – A rustic bread helps make a plain sandwich gourmet.

Instead of lettuce, I used basil leaves and chopped up some chives. Using fresh herbs also helps make a plain sandwich pop.

And, the obvious…Bacon, eggs and grated Gruyere. – I just love saying Gruyere. I’m a big cheese fan, but this cheese is one of my all-time favorites. It melts so well, especially, freshly grated on top of the egg.

Just look at the edges of the egg start to bubble and get crispy. Moan-worthy.

Toast your bread and lightly butter. I used a normal toaster, but you can butter the bread and toss in the skillet, or even grill it.

Layer on your basil, tomato, bacon, egg and sprinkle with chives. Add your ‘cherry on top’ the grated Gruyere. Done!

This is dinner and not breakfast, right? I’d pair this Apple Smoked sandwich with a cold Woodchuck Cider. It has a light apple flavor that’s just the thing to wash it down. Enjoy!

How do you like your bacon, egg and cheese? Please share because this girl likes to eat.

Thanks for reading.

Belgian Ale Cupcakes

Posted on by Jenny MacBeth

Moan-worthy! I was doing a little dance in my kitchen when I was done. Soooo nom nom. – Words can’t even begin to explain it. I was so excited that when Glen was done exercising, I shoved a cupcake in his face saying, “TRY THIS.”

If your reading my blog, you know I’m not a baker. I’m more a salty and spicy kind of girl. However, if you mention beer in a cupcake, I’m definitely going to try it.

There are all kinds of beer cupcake recipes out there if you just Google it. I, however, can not begin to tell you that when it comes to baking sweet nothings, I screw up some part of the recipe. I’m not sure why. I just do. It makes me sad inside.

Anyhow…

I’d like to think that I simplified a complicated recipe. Go buy a box of Betty Crocker white cake mix, and follow the instructions on the back. ONLY – you will replace the water with an orange-citrus Belgian white ale. You can use Bluemoon, the popular choice, but when I was shopping at my local beer emporium, 1 For the Road, they recommended I try Shock Top. I just love saying, “Beer emporium.” It just makes me tingle, and I absolutely love having one close by. Pennsylvania needs to bend the laws to allow more establishments to sell beer by the bottle. There is no fun in buying 24 bottles of the same beer. Sorry! A little rant. Back to the recipe…add in the zest of one large navel orange. It gives it a boost in flavor and color.

Not good with separating the egg whites? Neither am I. Get some All Whites by Crystal Farms.

Pour in your batter 3/4 full – allow for the cupcake to swell up. Put in your already preheated oven by following the box instructions. The box says 18-23 minutes, however, mine took about 25 minutes. So, make sure to keep checking it with a toothpick.

While your cupcakes are brewing…

Start your frosting.

Now for the topping, I’m pretty picky. I followed an old recipe I had on hand that is perfect.

This takes quite a bit of time. I suggest using a standing mixer, so you can do other things, and your arms don’t get tired.

Start beating 2 egg whites, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, and 1 tablespoon of orange juice. Mix for 10 minutes until soft and fluffy.

While that’s mingling…

In a saucepan, mix 1 cup of sugar, 1/3 cup of Belgian white ale, and 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar. Cook on medium heat until…

Nice and bubbly. Doesn’t that just look like a fluffy cloud of all things heavenly?

Slowly add hot sugar mixture, beating continuously for another 10 minutes until it’s so stiff that you can’t get it off the spoon without serious effort. – Exactly like marshmallow creme.

The batter is easily manageable for the not so neatly creative bakers. I love this frosting because you can scoop and top allowing each cupcake to look divine.

Take the zest from another large navel orange for garnish. Serve with a Belgian White Ale. Done and delicious!

See! I suck at this and it looks awesome. If I do say so myself.

I had a few parties this weekend, so I doubled the recipe. It really didn’t take me long to prepare and bake; all the while taking pictures.

Tip: Keep these bad boys refrigerated. The frosting will start to melt on you, not to mention, it has egg whites in it.

Have any cool cooking tricks, let me know because this girl likes to eat.

Thanks for reading.

Meatloaf Twist

Posted on by Jenny MacBeth

A few months ago, I was watching Rachel Ray make a fabulous cob meatloaf. She finished it off with wrapping it in bacon. Since I love my meatloaf recipe, I simply stole the bacon idea, and added it to mine. It’s a great addition.

Try it!