This recipe came together much easier than I thought it would. It's best if this is shared with a group of people rather than noshing on it yourself. It is a sugar, fat, and calorie-dense food item that I plated as one of the appetizers for this year's Stragglers Thanksgiving. The calorie penalty shouldn't be too bad split among 20+ guests.
There are two stages to this. First, make the toffee. The second stage involves melting dark, semisweet or milk chocolate chips on the toffee while it is still hot. Better start with your chocolate chips at room temperature.
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| Chocolate Covered Toffee |
Ingredients
1 c unsalted butter, cut into chunks (melts faster)
1 c organic granulated sugar
1/4 c filtered water
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions
1. Butter a 13" x 9" glass baking dish and set aside. This is so that the toffee comes out smoothly.
2. In a heavy-bottomed pot, attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pot and bring the butter, sugar, water, and salt to a rolling boil. This should take just under 10 minutes to bring the mixture to a boil. Stir occasionally. When the thermometer reads 300 degrees F, remove it from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
Total cooking time is roughly 18-20 minutes.
3. Pour the hot toffee into the prepared pan. Tilt the sides of the pan to evenly distribute the toffee. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top and let this sit for about 5 minutes so that the chips melt from the residual heat. Using an off-set spatula, spread the chocolate over the toffee.
When the toffee cools, it'll set. You can hasten its cooling but setting the entire pan in the fridge to cool. To remove, invert the pan onto a cutting board or parchment paper-lined cutting board. Use a sharp knife to cut into bite-sized pieces.
This is my first time cooking with green lentils. I originally bought a bag of lentils (12 grams of protein per serving) as an ingredient to make protein powder for a smoothie; but alas, the weather turned really cold and I haven't been in the mood to make it. Despite their small size, I am still baffled by how long these cook to become tender. Since the green ones usually are sold whole, I wonder if they're easy to grow. Apparently you can also sprout them indoors for fresh sprouts.
Serves 1.
Ingredients
1 1/2 c water
1 tsp Organic Better than Bouillon (beef flavor)
1/4 c whole green lentils
1 sausage, any variety, cut into pieces
Directions
Bring everything to a boil, then simmer partly covered over low heat for 25 minutes. Lentils should be done. Give it a stir every so often so the lentils don't burn.
Serve hot.
[update] Wow, this is really salty. Maybe no almost-instant bouillon next time, just a good hearty broth.
My folks make this soup the traditional way...with a pork bone broth. Traditionally, it is cooked with other earthy ingredients such as shitake mushrooms, some fresh ginger, and maybe a carrot or two for color. The broth itself should be clear, if you're using a meat broth. This version did not come out looking all that clear since I used store bought vegetable broth.
Ingredients
1 large daikon radish, peeled and cut into chunks
1 quart vegetable broth
2 cups water
2 organic carrots, chopped into 1" pieces
4 dried shitake mushrooms, rehydrated and sliced
1 tsp kosher salt
Directions
1. Bring ingredients to a boil, including the reserved mushroom dashi and exclude the carrots.
2. Simmer on low for an hour or until the radish is fork-tender. Add carrots to the last 15 minutes of cook time.
3. Remove from heat and serve hot.
I picked up a daikon radish at the market today. What you're looking for in this particular radish is that it is fat, white, and has really smooth skin with few roots. This is a water-dense vegetable, so keep that in mind with the prep steps. I used a large hole grater to grate the radish; but you can also cut the radish into matchstick sized pieces. I opted for the former because it took less time. I also drained and squeezed out as much of the water from the grated radish before adding it to a pickling brine.
This makes 1 pint of pickled radish.
Ingredients
1 pint Mason glass jar, cleaned
1/2 lb daikon radish, peeled and sliced
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp organic granulated sugar
1/2 c rice vinegar
Directions
In the pint jar, add salt, sugar, and vinegar. Stir to dissolve salt and sugar. Add daikon radish and stir to combine. Cover with lid and refrigerate overnight before using.
This dish is quick, easy and requires just a little preparation. I use an oven safe stainless steel skillet for this. It does not reheat well by stovetop or oven; so keep that in mind when planning for leftovers. Depending on the saltiness of the kimchi, there is no need to salt this dish. At the same time, you could make oven baked rice to complement the chicken. I've been using chicken thighs and other cuts could be used instead, except for skinless chicken breast. It has a different cook time than bone-in chicken meat. If you want to be extra creative, you can reserve the chicken bones from this recipe to make chicken stock later. Simply gather all the chicken bones and freeze them until needed.
I've had mixed results cooking with skinless/boneless chicken meat. If you are using skinless chicken, you may just want to stir-fry the chicken meat (cut into 1/2" pieces) with the kimchi instead of baking.
Ingredients
1 lb raw chicken parts, with skin and bone-in
1 c homemade kimchi
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
1. In a skillet, add kimchi to the bottom then arrange chicken in a single layer on top.
2. Bake for 40 minutes, or until a meat thermometer measures 160 degrees F in the thickest part of the chicken.
3. Remove from oven and serve hot.
Plate with oven baked rice or baked sweet potatoes (these also cook for the same amount of time at the same heat setting).
