Orange-Rosemary Buttered Mixed Nuts

Oh, hey guys! Remember me? I used to hang out here a whole lot more often than I have been the past month and a half? I post recipes from time to time? It's me, Rachael.


Look guys, I'm super sorry about my utter negligence of this blog since early December. The truth is, I just had way too much going on. Let's start from the beginning: first I had finals, then my little sister flew out to visit me for a week, then I flew home to Florida for Christmas, then I flew back to Seattle to celebrate my boyfriend's birthday, our anniversary, and New Year's with him, and then school started. WHEW! See? Plus school has been more than a little stressful this quarter as I have to write an average of two papers each week.


Well, now that we've got that out of the way, let's talk about these super tasty mixed nuts. I made them for Mikey's parents' dinner party they had a few nights ago as an extra little surprise as I was only asked to make dessert (which I will be sharing here in the near future).


These make a great snack, or an easy, delicious appetizer. They are salty and sweet and smell uh-mazing. Orange and rosemary make a wonderful combination that ends up being positively addictive.

I highly recommend these nuts because not only are they scrumptious, little morsels, but they take less than ten minutes to whip up!

Orange-Rosemary Buttered Mixed Nuts

recipe adapted from here

These should keep for about a week in a sealed tupperware

ingredients:

• 3-4 cups salted mixed nuts (a 17-ounce can)
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 3-4 tbsp granulated sugar (depending on how sweet you want them)
• 2 tbsp fresh rosemary, coarsely chopped
• zest of one orange

1. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add in the remainder of the ingredients and cook, stirring, until the sugar is melted and the mixture is fragrant (no more than 5 minutes).
2. Pour the mixture on a baking sheet and allow to cool.

Pomegranate and Mango Guacamole

So, this is one of the appetizers that I made for Thanksgiving. Yes, I'm still sharing Thanksgiving recipes. I told you I made a TON of food- and I still have 5 more posts of things I made to get up! However, this particular recipe isn't exactly typical Thanksgiving fare and you could serve it whenever.

It might seem odd to consider adding pomegranate or mango to guacamole- and even stranger to add both- but I assure you, it is beyond delicious! The mango and pomegranate add a sweetness that is offset by the spicy chiles and acidic lime juice. Another thing that I love about this guac is the multitude of textures. The familiar creaminess of the avocados is cut with the little balloon-like pomegranate arils and juicy mango chunks; and, when piled on a crunchy plantain chip, you are left with pure texture-heaven!

I got quite a few compliments on this appetizer and I will definitely be making it again! It's also quite easy to throw together. Honestly, the most difficult part is getting the arils out of the pomegranate- which admittedly can be rather time-consuming. I've found the best way to go about it is to cut the pomegranate in halfway through and then pull it apart. Do the same to separate it into quarters. Next, grab a large bowl of water and hold the quarters under the water and pull out the arils.

Pomegranate and Mango Guacamole

recipe slightly adapted from here

ingredients:

• 4 ripe avocados
• 1/2 large white onion, diced
• 2 fresh serrano chiles, finely chopped, seeds removed from one but left in the other
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
• Arils (seeds) from 1 pomegranate
• 1 large mango, peeled and diced
• sea salt
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

1. Halve, pit and peel the avocados. Coarsely mash them in a large bowl.
2. Stir in the onion, chiles, and lime juice. Season with salt to taste.
3. Fold in the pomegranate seeds, leaving a small amount left over to garnish. Add in the mango and cilantro.
4. Garnish the top with lime wedges and the leftover pomegranate arils. Serve with plantain chips. I also served mine with multigrain tortilla chips.

*This can be made 4 hours ahead of time. Just press plastic wrap onto the surface of the guacamole and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Maple Caramel Sauce and Creme Fraiche Whipped Cream

As I've said before, I absolutely despise Pumpkin Pie. This is terribly odd as I LOVE everything else pumpkin. Anyways, because of this hatred, every year for Thanksgiving I make a dessert that includes pumpkin, but is not a pumpkin pie. Last year I made a Pumpkin Banana Cream Pie that was positively scrumptious, but this year's pumpkin pie substitute was, dare I say, TWICE as good!

This cheesecake filling was luxuriously creamy with hints of spice throughout. I've left the whipped cream topping unsweetned as I think you will agree that the cheesecake and caramel are plenty sweet enough and the slight tang that the creme fraiche adds is a delightful compliment.

My two absolute favorite parts of this cheesecake were the crust, which was totally awesome with the mixture of the nutty pecans and gingersnap cookies, and the maple caramel sauce which I have to refrain from drinking straight out of the squeeze-bottle, and which I can say from experience is AWESOME when heated up and drizzled over ice cream (by the way, homemade vanilla ice cream post is coming in the near future!).

I would have loved to get some pictures of slices of this cheesecake but unfortunately Mikey and I were not given much time to take pictures as everyone was ready to dig in!

Pumpkin Cheesecake

recipe adapted from here

ingredients:

crust:

• 1 1/2 cups ground gingersnap cookies
• 1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) pecans, toasted
• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

filling:

• 4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 2/3 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups canned pure pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup whipping cream
• 1-1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 4 large eggs

for crust:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a food processor, fine grind the ground cookies, toasted pecans, and brown sugar. Add in the melted butter and whir to combine.
3. Press the crust onto the bottom and sides of a 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2-3 inch sides.
4. Bake for 8 minutes.

for filling:

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the cream cheese and sugar until light and creamy. Remove 3/4 cup of the mixture and do with it what you will. (The original recipe uses this as a topping but instead I used the creme fraiche whipped cream.)
2. Add in the pumpkin, whipping cream, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg. Beat until well combined. Add in the eggs 1 at a time, beating until just incorporated after each addition.
3. Wrap the bottom and sides of the springform pan with 2 layers of aluminum foil. Place the springform pan in a large roasting pan and fill with cheesecake filling. Place the roasting pan in the oven and fill the roasting pan with enough hot water to come about halfway up the sides of the springform pan (it's much easier to fill it with water when it's already in the oven).
4. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 45 minutes, until the top is set but the cheesecake still jiggles when lightly shaken. Refrigerate overnight.
5. To serve, spread the Creme Fraiche Whipped Cream (recipe below) over the top of the cheesecake and top with drizzles of the Maple Caramel Sauce (recipe below). Serve with extra caramel on the side.

Creme Fraiche Whipped Cream

ingredients:

• 1/2 cup creme fraiche
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

1. Chill the bowl and whisk attachment of an electric mixer for at least 15 minutes before making whipped cream.
2. In the cold bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat together the creme fraiche and whipping cream until stiff peaks form.

Maple Caramel Sauce

recipe from here

ingredients:

• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/4 tsp maple flavoring

1. Combine the cream, sugar, and syrup in a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves.
2. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sauce is caramel-colored and reduced to 1 3/4 cups, stirring occasionally, about 35 minutes. (Don't be alarmed in the mixture bubbles up. Stir it and it will subside. If it gets too high you can turn down the heat until it subsides.)
3. Stir in the maple flavoring. Cool slightly, cover, and chill.

Bubble-Top Brioche Rolls

Out of all of the things that I made for Thanksgiving dinner, it was these that I was the most proud of! Having never ever made bread before (or anything including yeast aside from this Gooey Butter Cake), I was positively thrilled with the final result!


I've always been desperately afraid of making bread because I thought it seemed far too complicated and I was sure that I would screw it up, but after making these, I am convinced that it is far easier than I ever imagined!


These rolls were, in my opinion (and Mikey's), perfect. They were pillowy-soft, slightly sweet, and gorgeously golden-brown. After my success with these rolls, I can't wait to try my hand at all sorts of bread recipes. On my immediate list is: cinnamon rolls, pizza dough, and Christmas Stollen.


Though this dough requires quite a bit of babysitting (as you have to pretty much be around to watch it for 4 hours after making it), it is worth all the effort!

Bubble-Top Brioche Rolls

recipe from here

makes 24 rolls

ingredients:

• 1/2 cup warm water (110-115 degrees)
• 1/2 cup warm whole milk (110-115 degrees)
• 2 tbsp active dry yeast
• 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp salt
• 6 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/4 cup + 2tbsp granulated sugar
• 3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 large eggs beaten with 2 tsp water, for glaze

1. Combine the water and milk in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Sprinkle the yeast over and stir to fully moisten. Let stand for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Add in the flour and salt to the yeast mixture. Blend at medium-low speed for 1-2 minutes, until shaggy lumps form (though the term "shaggy lumps" confused me at first, I knew exactly what it meant when it happened and hopefully you will too).
3. Add in the eggs one at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat until the dough is smooth, about 3 minutes.
4. Reduce the speed to low and add in the butter one tablespoon at a time, blending after each tablespoon (this process may take a while).
5. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and beat until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and climbs the paddle, 8 to 9 minutes.
6. Butter a large bowl. Scrape the dough into the bowl and cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size (I put mine by the fireplace!).
7. Gently deflate the dough by lifting around the edges and letting the dough fall back into the bowl.
8. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator, deflating the dough the same way every 30 minutes until t he dough has stopped rising, an hour and a half to two hours. Chill overnight.
9. When ready to bake, butter 24 standard muffin cups. Divide the dough into 24 equal pieces and cut each piece into thirds. Roll each small piece into a ball. Place 3 balls in each muffin cup. Cover the muffin tins with waxed paper and place in a warm area to rise for 50-60 minutes until almost doubled.
10. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush the top of each roll with the egg glaze, being careful not to let the glaze drip down between the dough and pan.
11. Bake the rolls until golden, about 20-25 minutes. Cool rolls for 10 minutes before serving.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Pomegranates and Vanilla-Pecan Butter

For this year's Thanksgiving I took on almost more than I could handle in terms of cooking (which you will clearly see in the next several posts as I share with you everything that I made), but it all certainly payed off because the food was great and everyone had a wonderful time!

I always think of brussel sprouts as a quintessential side dish for Thanksgiving. I'm not really sure why considering they were never around my Thanksgiving table growing up, but I just think they ought to be there. They are truly a great fall vegetable despite the bad rap they are disposed to.

This side dish is quite unique and extremely tasty. It's also very easy to make if you aren't trying to make 5 separate dishes at the same time like I was on Thanksgiving. Somehow I managed to forget about my poor sprouts in between the potato water catastrophe and vigilantly watching my rolls in the oven, and thought that I had burned them to a crisp, dooming them to the depths of the trash can. But, after being assured that they were quite tasty and not at all charred to death, it was smooth sailing!

The pomegranates add a wonderful sweetness, but also a delightful crunch. The vanilla-pecan butter smells absolutely out-of-this-world, and I found that a little goes a long way. I found these brussel sprouts to be a great addition to the feast we devoured on Thursday, and I can't wait to make them again when I can devote my full attention to them.

By the way, yes, I am aware that the "correct" spelling is Brussels sprouts, but, you know, no one ever says BrusselS sprouts. Thus, I am inclined to drop the "s" and, as a consequence, the capitalization.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Pomegranates and Vanilla-Pecan Butter

recipe adapted from here

• 3 tbsp unsalted butter, slightly softened
• 1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
• 2 tbsp toasted pecans, chopped
• 2 lbs brussel sprouts, trimmed and halved
• 3 tbsp canola oil
• sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses (it's simple to make your own by boiling down pomegranate juice, sugar, and a touch of lemon juice)
• seeds from 1 pomegranate
• zest from 1 orange

1. Combine the butter and vanilla bean in a bowl. Fold in the pecans. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, toss together the brussel sprouts and canola oil; season with salt and pepper. Pour the brussel sprouts onto the prepared baking sheet. Roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until browned.
4. Remove the brussel sprouts from the oven and toss with the pomegranate molasses. Return to the oven for 5-10 minutes longer.
5. Transfer the sprouts to a large bowl and add in the pomegranate seeds. Top with as much of the vanilla-pecan butter as you desire.