Alice in the Kitchen

Go Ask Alice – How to Melt Chocolate

Received a question from a blog reader tonight that I thought was worthy of sharing with y’all.  The reader is having trouble with melting chocolate for dipping the truffles – the chocolate is seizing up and not smooth.

So here’s your answer:

Chocolate is very finicky – and white chocolate is the worst.  I have ruined many batches of chocolate when I get impatient and try to melt it too quickly.  There are two key components to getting smooth melted chocolate.  The first is the type of chocolate, and the second is method of melting.

Type!
I use the Baker’s semi-sweet baking chocolate squares and white chocolate bars.  This type of chocolate melts more easily and evenly than chocolate chips, for example.  Chocolate chips have stabilizers in them (like wax!) which make for less that perfect melting, which would be a problem if you’re trying to get a smooth dipping chocolate.  This is VERY important when using white chocolate as white chocolate has a high cocoa butter content – which means the chocolate can seize easily, resulting in a lumpy, ruined mess.  The baking squares melt better than the chips, and if you are near a craft store, they sell chocolate wafers which are designed for candy making and almost impossible to screw up (I don’t like their flavor as well – but they really do melt perfectly.)

Method!
The key step in melting chocolate is patience.  Always remember to melt them over a double boiler or if you use a microwave like me, cook the chocolate in short, low power intervals (I use 50%) of no more than 30 seconds.  You will near to stir at each interval.  Other pointers – avoid any and all contact with water, as this will also cause the chocolate to seize up.  And once the chocolate has turned, there’s no going back.  Throw it out, get a new bowl, and start over.

Lundi Gras Red Beans and Rice!

With Mardi Gras tomorrow and a trip to New Orleans on the horizon,  I wanted to make red beans and rice for our Monday night dinner.

Red beans and rice is traditional creole dish traditionally made on Mondays with red beans, veggies, spices, and pork bones as left over from Sunday dinner – an old custom from the time when ham was a Sunday meal and Monday was washday, as a pot of beans could sit on the stove and simmer while the women were busy scrubbing clothes.

BUT given that we didn’t have a ham dinner yesterday and I had to make this after I got home from work today, I made the following simplified version, which still kept me in the “holiday” spirit!  I hope you will enjoy it too.

What you’ll need:

2 cups uncooked white rice, prepared as you like
1 (16 ounce) package turkey kielbasa, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 white onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 clove chopped garlic
2 (15 ounce) cans canned kidney beans, drained (I used one can of dark and one can of light)
1 (16 ounce) can peeled tomatoes, chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon pepper
cajun seasoning to taste

Directions:

First, make the rice to your liking so that can cook while you’re prepping your veggies and starting on the red beans.  Chop up your green pepper, onions, and kielbasa.

Now, once you’ve got all your ingredients ready to go, in a large skillet over low heat, cook sausage for 5 minutes.  Stir in onion, green pepper and garlic; saute until tender.

Pour in beans and tomatoes with juice. Season with oregano, salt and pepper.

Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.

You may decide you want to add some water or milk, depending on how thick you’d like the consistency.  I added about a half cup of each.

Serve over rice.

Pretzel Turtles

There couldn’t be an easier candy/dessert to make than these pretzel turtles.  They’re so easy, it’s embarrassing, but they’re yummy, especially if you are a sweet and salty person.

All you need is some caramel filled chocolates – Rolos would work, but I used Dove Promises, some small pretzels, some whole pecans, and some white chocolate to drizzle over top.  You don’t even need the white chocolate.

First, unwrap your chocolates.   Preheat your oven to 300.

Next, lay out your pretzels.  Top them with the chocolates.

Next, top with the pecans.

Pop them in the oven for about 4 minutes.

Pull them out and gently press the pecans down into the chocolates.  Some caramel will run out, and that’s okay!

Drizzle with melted white chocolate and cool!

And you’re done!

Incredible Turkey Meatloaf

Tonight for dinner we had some yummy turkey meatloaf.  To be honest, I haven’t made meatloaf in a long time, and although I was in the mood for it tonight, I wanted to make something a little more healthy.  I honestly did not have high hopes for this recipe, and when I took my first bite, I was more than pleasantly surprised – it was delicious, and I would definitely make this again!  Now you can make it too.

You’ll need:

Blueberry Crisp Bars

These bars are a versatile treat – you can serve them for dessert or breakfast!  They taste like a little bite of blueberry pie!

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup butter
1 egg
1 pinch ground cinnamon
4 cups blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar
3 teaspoons cornstarch

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, and grease a 9×13 inch pan

In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, cinnamon and baking powder.  Use a fork, blend in the butter and egg – the dough will be crumbly.

Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.

In another bowl, stir together the sugar and cornstarch.  Gently mix in the blueberries.  Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust.

Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.

Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown.

Cool completely before cutting into squares.  Seriously, completely, or you will have a runny mess on your hands!

Yum!

Best Ribs Ever

Best ribs ever.  That’s bold, I know.  But I mean, these really are the best ribs.  I honestly don’t even really like ribs, and these ribs are to die for.  Look here – no meat on the bones – it just falls off!!

You can make these too, and you will definitely be getting requests for the recipe!

All you need is baby back ribs, some rub seasoning (whatever kind you like), 1 cup of liquid smoke (usually two bottles), and water.

Score the back of the ribs.

Season the rib with a 1/8 cup of seasoning on each side.  It might get a little messy.

In a shallow pan mix 1/2 cup of liquid smoke and 2 1/2 cups of water.

Place the rib into a shallow pan with a drain grate inside.  The grate will keep the rib from sitting in the liquid smoke.   Wrap the top of the pan with about three layers of aluminum foil. Make sure you wrap it tightly because you are basically steaming the ribs.  Cook at 275 degrees for 5 hours.

Now you can cool the ribs for future use, or you can throw them on the grill.  I like the cut them into smaller, more manageable pieces for grillings.

Sauce them on one side and throw them on the grill.

Grill for about 5 minutes, then sauce the other side and flip them over.  Grill the other side for about 5 minutes.  You might lose a few bones through the grill grates – they are that tender!

Now you’re ready to serve!

Potato Chip Chicken

Once upon a time, I was going to make Michael Chiarello’s Chicken alla Vendemia, an elaborate chicken recipe with fennel seeds and grapes.

But then I got stuck working late, and by the time I got to the grocery store, I knew it was too late to make anything that elaborate.  So on the way home, I had been thinking about what ingredients we had at home that I wanted to use up,  and I remembered that I had just opened a bag of cheddar sour cream potato chips that would surely go bad before I could finish the bag (ha ha, suuuure).

So I picked up some chicken breasts (which I cut into strips), dipped them in melted butter, and rolled the chicken in the crushed potato chips!  Not amazing, but pretty good and leaves open lots of room for your own variations!

Ingredients:

• chicken breasts
• melted butter
• 1-2 cups of crushed potato chips, any flavor

Dip the chicken into the melted butter, then coat in the crushed potato chips.

Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes.

Serve!  I did serve a green vegetable, but this is Matt’s plate, so don’t judge me!

Hasselback Potatoes

Once upon a time, I bookmarked a recipe I saw on Foodgawker for something called Hasselback or Accordion Potatoes.  How could you not want to try to make these gorgeous creatures?

Well, I tried, and I’m here to tell you, they were just so-so.  Definitely pretty to look at, but it was like potatoes with an identity crisis.  Are they baked potatoes?  Are they roasted potatoes?  I never could figure it out.  They definitely are attractive little side dishes though, so don’t write them off entirely.  Looks obviously count for somethin’!

Preheat your oven to 425.  Take your baking potato and slice it into thin strips, almost all the way through the potato.  (My strips don’t look thin because they were sticking together a bit, but in the final result you can see how they fan out.)  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and any other seasonings you like.  I used garlic.

Put your potatoes on a baking sheet and drizzle them with melted butter or olive oil.  I used a little of both.  Make sure it gets down into the slits.

Bake your potatoes for about 45 minutes to an hour, depending on their size.  The skin should be crispy while the inside of the potato should be soft.

I sprinkled these with a little grated Parmesan for the last few minutes of baking.

and serve!

Grandma Kelly’s Hot Dog Stuffing

When Matt and I first started dating, somehow the topic of Thanksgiving stuffing and dressing was broached.  My dad has cooked a number of different types of dressing in my lifetime, like oyster dressing and cornbread dressing.  We don’t have a standard family recipe but instead have experimented with a variety of recipes.

Matt told me emphatically that there was only one kind of stuffing worth eating, much less cooking, and that was his family’s recipe for stuffing made with hot dog buns.

(Hot dog buns?  Did you just wrinkle your nose up like I did when I heard this?  It’s a good thing you are not Matt’s girlfriend.)

So for our first Thanksgiving together, I tasted, with some trepidation, a batch of this stuffing made by Matt’s mom.  And it was delicious!  You would never know it is made with hot dog buns, but I think that hot dog buns provide the perfect amount of bread “crust” to soft bread ratio, which makes it just right for stuffing.  Now I am a believer.
Ingredients:

• 1 ½ dozen hot dog rolls (12 cups)
• 2 sticks butter
• 1 ½ cup chopped onion
• 3 cups chopped celery
• 1 ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp pepper
• 2 tsp ground sage
• 2 chicken bouillon cubes stirred into 2 cups boiling water
• 2 eggs

Tear the buns into quarter-size pieces and throw them into a bowl.  You may need a large bowl, but the buns will shrink dramatically once you have added the liquid.

Sauté onions and celery in the butter and add to buns with the seasoning and toss.

Add liquid slowly, making sure the stuffing isn’t too runny.  Beat eggs and add to mixture.

Stuff turkey and bake leftover stuffing in a greased baking dish for 30-45 minutes (or bake all the stuffing)!  For the record, this is a double batch below.