Flotsam / Jetsam, National Blog Posting Month

In search of a Christmas-shopping elf

11/16/2010 Nichole 9 Comments

It’s been years and years since I went to my dad’s family’s annual Christmas party. I think Rockford and I have been there once since we’ve been married. (And the time I’m remembering might have been before we were married.) My dad has three brothers, and when they and my cousins all show up it’s a big group of people. When I was a kid, it was noisy and chaotic, and there was always a lot of food. Noisy and chaotic has never been My Kind of Thing, even when I was a kid. Even so, it was maybe my favorite day of the year growing up, and I’m very much looking forward to being there this year.

"Presents" by Alice Harold — Alice Harold photo

What with it being a largish family, it would be tough to buy presents for everyone. They used to draw names for gift-giving, but a few years ago they decided to do a Yankee Swap sort of thing instead. Everyone brings a gift, then they draw numbers to determine who picks the first present from the pile. When the next person’s turn comes, they can “steal” the first person’s gift or pick something from the remaining wrapped presents.

The little kids don’t participate — they’ll have something specifically for them under the tree — so I need to come up with two gift ideas for the exchange. I have an idea for one present, but I’m having trouble coming up with a second. And what do I do when I’m having trouble deciding on a thing? I ask the internet. The first gift will be food-related, so I’d like to come up with something else that isn’t.

So, people of the internet, what’s a $25-or-less-present for which you’d gently shove your grandma? (Note: I don’t think it’ll come to that. But that’s just because Grandma won’t be there.)

menu plan Monday, National Blog Posting Month, recipes

Now we’re cooking with hummus

11/15/2010 Nichole

Last night we had a few people over for a hummus party sponsored by Sabra. It was the second event I’ve done with HouseParty, and it was fun. We didn’t really party like it was 1999 — no confetti or paranoia about Y2K — but we did have hummus-stuffed chicken. I’d never made any sort of stuffed chicken, and I’d never cooked with hummus before. It was surprisingly good.

Monday: Leftover hummus-stuffed chicken: I made a lot of chicken yesterday, and I’m pleased to have enough left for dinner tonight. I am not often pleased to have leftovers, because I don’t always like to eat them. And then they sit in the fridge making me feel guilty for days, until I ignore them long enough for them to turn into a science experiment and then Rockford throws them away. But this was a really tasty dish, and I’m looking forward to having it again tonight. Here’s the recipe:

Hummus-Stuffed Chicken
Recipe from Sabra
1/2 cup Sabra hummus — I used the “Luscious Lemon” variety, and it gave the chicken a great lemony flavor
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 5-6 ounces each, tenderloins removed
1 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
4 large eggs, egg whites only
1 tablespoon water
1 1/2 cups Panko bread crumbs
Salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup olive oil

Place trimmed chicken breast in a large zippered plastic bag. Pound with a meat pounder or a rolling pin until 1/4-inch thick. Repeat with all chicken breasts; each breast should be about 8 inches long and 6 inches wide.
Lay the chicken breasts smooth-side down on work surface and season with salt and pepper. Spread evenly about 2 tablespoons hummus on the chicken breasts leaving about 1/2-inch border all around. Roll each chicken breast and wrap each rolled breast in a sheet of aluminum foil or plastic wrap. Twist the ends like a candy wrapper and chill in the refrigerator about 45 minutes.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Using 3 pie plates or shallow dishes, pour the flour in one, lightly whisk the egg whites and water in the other and place the breadcrumbs in the other. Unwrap the chicken breasts roll in the flour (shake off excess), then submerge in the egg whites (let the excess drip off) and then place in the breadcrumbs, use your fingers to press the breadcrumbs so that they stick.

Heat 1/4-cup olive oil in a large non-stick skillet until shimmering, about 4 minutes. Place the rolled chicken breasts in the oil, seam side down. Cook until golden, about 2 minutes on all sides. Put the chicken breasts (seam side down) in a baking dish and cook about 25 minutes or until thermometer registers 175 degrees. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes. Using a sharp knife, slice on a bias into 4 or 5 pieces.
Tuesday: Chicken sausages and scalloped potatoes: I like the bangers & mash combo, but I didn’t want to make mashed potatoes this week. So Betty Crocker will be coming by to make some scallopeds for us.
Wednesday: Baked chicken & sweet potatoes: I haven’t had a baked sweet potato in a long time. Poppy ate them like crazy when she was a baby, but she rejected them the last time I served them. We’ll see what happens. (I’ll bet I can guess.)
Thursday: Grilled cheese sandwiches: I’d like to say I’m making some fancy gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches, but that would be lying. It’ll be American cheese all the way.
Friday: Pizza: I’m thinking I’ll try a fajita-inspired pizza this week, maybe with grilled chicken, beans, onions and peppers. And of course we’ll have a plain cheese one, for the picky among us.

National Blog Posting Month, recipes

How to make a butterscotch sundae

11/14/2010 Nichole 2 Comments

Every now and again, someone wanders over here looking for a recipe for a butterscotch sundae. That’s a pretty reasonable thing to expect to find here, I think, and it’s not like I don’t like cooking, butterscotch or ice cream. So here it is:

The Official Butterscotch Sundae of ButterscotchSundae.com
two generous scoops of vanilla ice cream
A healthy handful of crumbled toffee
Butterscotch sauce, and lots of it
Whipped cream (optional)
A maraschino cherry

Warm butterscotch sauce. Put the ice cream in a bowl. Sprinkle half the toffee over the ice cream, pour on the butterscotch sauce, and sprinkle the rest of the top over that. Add a dollop of whipped cream and top with a maraschino cherry.

No component of The Official Butterscotch Sundae of ButterscotchSundae.com is particularly difficult to make, but you’d have to be pretty dedicated to DIY to make your sundae entirely from scratch. I don’t know that I’ll ever be inspired to make my own maraschino cherries, but this sauce is so very easy that I could make it every day. (But I won’t. I do have some self-control.)

The Official Butterscotch Sauce of ButterscotchSundae.com
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons rum
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
a wee dash of coarse sea salt
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Bring sugar, corn syrup, water and rum to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. OK, now put down the spoon/whisk/stirring device. Let the mixture boil, swirling it occasionally, for about 8 minutes, until it turns a light caramel color. Take the saucepan off the heat and drop in cider vinegar, butter and salt. Don’t stir. Swirl it around until the butter melts, then add the heavy cream and vanilla and swirl some more. Return to heat and whisk for about a minute. Let the sauce cool for about 30 minutes before you do anything else with it. (Especially: Don’t taste it yet. Ouch.)

The butterscotch sauce will get really thick once it’s in the refrigerator. I suggest scooping some out and ~~eating it with a spoon~~ warming it up in a separate bowl to pour on to your sundae. Ten seconds or so is sufficient in my microwave, but your results may vary. I didn’t have the ingredients for the Official Sundae on hand when I last made the sauce, so I used a little crumbled Butterfinger bar. But really, that’s not necessary either. Just the sauce over some vanilla ice cream is dreamy.