Food Lust People Love

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Whiskey Raisin Oatmeal Bars

Raisins soaked in warm whiskey will plump up nicely, absorbing quite a bit of the liquid, thereby adding a sweet touch of whiskey flavor to every bite of these chewy oatmeal cookie bars. Top them with a glaze made from the leftover raisin-y whiskey for extra oomph.

The Irish are known for a few things including, wrongly or rightly, the talent and skill to make great whiskey and a propensity drink it in prodigious quantities. Also, Irish oats seem to come up a lot online when one is researching Irish baked goods. When our illustrious Creative Cookie Exchange leader, Laura from The Spiced Life, suggested that we think ahead to St. Patrick’s Day for this month’s Drunken Cookies theme, I decided to find a way to combine the two without just baking drunk. Although that option had the allure of a personal challenge, I was thinking it wasn't quite what Laura had in mind.

My Drunk Kitchen, anyone? **objectionable language warning for the sensitive**

I promise I did not drink a drop while baking these. The shot that accompanies the photos was purely for quality control. Someone had to do it.

Ingredients
For the cookies:
3/4 cup or 170g unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup packed or 150g dark brown sugar
1/4 cup or 50g granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup or 125g flour
1 1/2 cups or 120g oats
1 cup or 170g raisins of your choice (Optional: extra for decorating)
1/2 cup or 120ml Irish whiskey (I used Bushmill’s. Not a whiskey drinker? Sub apple juice.)

Optional - For the glaze:
1 tablespoon leftover whiskey from raisin soaking
Icing sugar
Pinch salt

Method
Warm your whiskey briefly in the microwave and pour it over the raisins in a small bowl.

Allow to soak at least one hour. If you have the raisins in a microwaveable bowl, you can gently warm them once more during that time. Stir them occasionally. Mine soaked up a little more than half the whiskey. The golden ones plumped up better than the dark ones.

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Prepare an 8-inch or cm square baking pan by lining it with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, blend together butter, sugars, egg, salt, and cinnamon until smooth.

Add in the flour and mix well.

Drain the raisins, reserving the leftover whiskey, and add them to the bowl, along with oats. Stir until just combined.

Spread the soft dough out into your prepared pan. I like to put a piece of cling film on top and use my hands to get the dough nice and even, even into the corners.

Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs attached.

Cool the bars completely in the pan and then remove the whole square with the parchment paper. Use a great big knife to cut it into 18 bars.

If you want to make the glaze, put your whiskey in a small bowl and add a tiny pinch of salt. Add icing sugar a few spoonfuls at a time and stir well after each addition, until you are happy with the consistency.

Put a spoonful on each of the cooled cookie bars and spread it around a little with the back of the spoon.

Decorate with a few more raisins while the glaze is still soft. Allow the glaze to set before trying to stack or transport them.

Wouldn't these be great with a tot of whiskey or, if that's not your cup of tea, perhaps a cup of tea?

Enjoy!

If you are looking for a great way to add alcohol to your baked goods - and, really, who isn’t? – check out these great cookie recipes.

If you are a blogger and want to join in the fun, contact Laura at thespicedlife AT gmail DOT com and she will get you added to our Facebook group, where we discuss our cookies and share links.

You can also just use us as a great resource for cookie recipes--be sure to check out our Pinterest Board and our monthly posts (you can find all of them here at The Spiced Life). You will be able to find them the first Tuesday after the 15th of each month!

Monday, February 16, 2015

Blood Orange Ricotta Muffins #MuffinMonday

Fresh ricotta, scented with blood orange zest and mixed with brown sugar is a softly sweet filling for these lovely blood orange muffins.

Yesterday I popped into my local grocery store, which in the spirit of full disclosure, I should tell you is actually part of a large French chain, and I came across blood oranges. They were part of a great big display of citrus of all kinds from many countries. The sign said they were red oranges from Spain, but the fruit itself bore this sticker.

I must have wasted the better part of half an hour on the internet, trying to determine if they were indeed Spanish or, perhaps, Italian. Because, if you were a Spanish company, would you choose the Mona Lisa for your logo? Seems odd. Anyway, here I am, none the wiser about the provenance of my citrus, but I do have a lovely muffin to share.

I’d be delighted to hear from anyone who knows more about the Mona Lisa oranges. Enigmatic, they are. Just like her smile.

Ingredients
For ricotta filling:
3/4 cup or 180g fresh whole-milk ricotta
1/4 cup or 50g dark brown sugar
1 large egg white (Save the yolk for the muffin batter.)
1 tablespoon blood orange juice
Zest of one half blood orange
Pinch of salt

For the muffin batter:
2 cups or 250g flour
3/4 cup or 150g sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Zest of one half blood orange
1/2 cup or 120ml canola oil
1/4 cup or 60ml milk
1/4 cup or 60ml blood orange juice
1 large egg
1 egg yolk (Because what else are you going to do with one yolk?)

Optional for decorating: 2-3 teaspoons pearl sugar

Method
Zest your blood orange and divide the zest into two small piles.

Put one pile in a small bowl with all of the other ricotta filling ingredients and mix well.

The blood orange juice is a gorgeous red, isn't it?

Put the filling in the refrigerator to keep cold.

Not the prettiest filling but so rich and delicious.

Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare a 12-cup muffin pan by greasing well or lining it with muffin papers.

In a large mixing bowl, combine your flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and the other small pile of zest.

In a smaller mixing bowl, whisk together your oil, milk, juice, whole egg and yolk.

Pour your liquids into your dry ingredients and fold until just combined. There should still be a little flour showing.

Spoon or scoop a generous tablespoon of batter into your prepared muffin pan.

Top the batter with another good tablespoon of the ricotta filling.

Finish by dividing the remainder of the batter between the muffin cups.

Use a sharp knife to cut two or three ways through the batter to mix it up a little bit with the filling.

Sprinkle with a few pieces of pearl sugar, if desired. I like pearl sugar because it makes plain things pretty. This muffin is pretty special on the inside but fairly plain on the outside otherwise.

Bake in your preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes or until the muffins are golden.

Cool the whole pan on a wire rack for a few minutes then remove the muffins and continuing cooling them on the rack.

Enjoy!

See what I mean about the filling? You'll have to trust me that it tastes good!

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Piperies Yemistes me Pligouri - Bulgur Stuffed Peppers

These colorful roasted peppers are stuffed with a hearty filling of nutty bulgur wheat and tomatoes, seasoned with onion, parsley and cilantro, perfect as a side dish or main course.

Growing up in a Catholic family, I understood about not eating meat on Fridays, especially during Lent – those 40 days before Easter Sunday – but I never thought of it as fasting. Fasting was when you didn’t eat at all. Perhaps it was just my ignorance but, turns out, in the Orthodox church, it’s considered fasting when you abstain from meat as well and there are certain sects that will eat no meat, fish, dairy or eggs for the whole of Lent.

How did I learn this? Well, about five years ago a girlfriend had to go into the hospital for treatment, nothing too serious – I think it was gallstones perhaps, but it meant being away from home for several days and leaving her husband and daughter to fend for themselves.

So a group of us decided we should make and deliver meals to help out. I asked if there were any dietary restrictions and she said her husband was fasting. Her husband is Greek Orthodox and, since it was Lent, that meant no meat, no poultry, no fish, no dairy, no eggs! There went my plans for several cheesy casseroles that travel and reheat well. Thank God for the internet! A search for Greek Orthodox Lent recipes led me to several very useful sites, which I shared with the other ladies who were cooking.

Note: If you are actually cooking for a strict Greek Orthodox friend, double check whether they also abstain from olive oil during Lent, and substitute canola or the like.

These stuffed peppers were so good that after I had made a batch for my friend’s family, I made a batch for us. And, still do, every once in a while. When this week’s Sunday Supper theme of Heart Healthy was announced, I knew these would be perfect. Meatless, cheese-less but, oh, so tasty! And I think they are quite pretty as well.

I adapted this recipe and serve them as a main course, with a salad on the side.

Ingredients
6 large bell peppers (Any color will do but the red and yellow are sweeter than the green.)
1/4 cup or 60ml olive oil, plus more for sautéing the onion and drizzling on the peppers before roasting
1 large onion (Mine weighed 7 oz or almost 200g)
1 cup or 210g bulgur wheat
1 can (14.5 oz or 400g) tomatoes (crushed or chopped)
1 teaspoon of sea salt or to taste
1 vegetable stock cube
1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground pepper
Small bunch fresh parsley
Large bunch fresh cilantro
Optional: 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Method
Cut the caps off the top of the peppers and remove the seeds and any lighter colored fibers from inside. Set the caps aside for later.

The original recipe says to put them in a tight-fitting baking pan and to add crunched up parchment paper to fill any gaps but I like to use foil instead. Wedge them tightly together so they stand upright.

Peel and quarter your onion and put it in a food processor with the 1/4 cup or 60ml olive oil. Process until very finely minced or pureed. (If you don’t have a food processor, you can grate the onion for almost the same effect.)

In a large skillet, add a drizzle of olive oil and sauté the onion for a minute or two.

Add in the bulgur wheat and stir well to coat it with oil and onions.

Stir in the canned tomatoes along with the salt, vegetable cube, black pepper and 1 1/4 cups or 300ml water.

Bring to boil over a medium heat then turn the fire down to simmer and cover the pan loosely with a lid.

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and chop your parsley and cilantro roughly.

Cook the bulgur for about 10 minutes and then taste to see if it needs more salt. I don’t usually have to add more salt, but I do add some crushed red pepper for a little spice.

Remove from the heat and stir in the chopped parsley and cilantro. Allow to cool for about five minutes.

Fill your peppers with the stuffing and top with the reserved pepper caps. If you have a little stuffing left over, consider that the cook’s treat and eat it straight from the pan with a spoon. Delicious!

Food Lust People Love: These colorful roasted peppers are stuffed with a hearty filling of nutty bulgur wheat and tomatoes, seasoned with onion, parsley and cilantro, perfect as a side dish or main course.

Drizzle on a little olive oil and roast the stuffed peppers in your preheated oven for about one hour or until the peppers are softened enough for your liking. Check part way through and cover the tops with foil if they are browning too much.

The original recipe said to allow the peppers to cool and serve them at room temperature but we prefer them warm.

Enjoy!

Please join my Sunday Supper group and today’s hosts, Lori from Foxes Love Lemons and Ethel from eating in instead, as we celebrate National Heart Month with loads of delicious heart healthy recipes!

Better for you breakfasts: