Today's Special: Egg Nog Oatmeal

Source::http://nutritionella.com/2010/12/14/eggnog-oatmeal/?tpref=foodpress

When I woke up this morning it was 16 degrees in Chapel Hill!  I wanted a warm breakfast before heading off to work and had an ingenious idea: egg nog oatmeal! With the holidays right around the corner, last weekend I picked up some light eggnog made with reduced-fat milk, no artificial flavors, colors or preservatives. (Thank you Trader Joe’s!)

Here’s  what I combined:

¼ C low-fat milk ¼ C light egg nog½ C old-fashioned oats

Old-fashioned oats take a bit longer to cook.  I microwaved for 4 minutes on medium heat, stirred well, & let it sit for 2 more minutes to soak up all of the good egg nog flavor.

I topped it off with a fist-full of raisins, half of a sliced banana and a couple shakes of cinnamon.  This  breakfast is a good source of fiber, protein, calcium & even includes a serving of fruit!

It was delicious. I highly recommend it if you like a slightly sweet oatmeal.

Last night I met a friend at Spice Street in Chapel Hill. Picture a lavishly cozy restaurant with a lounge-feel to it. I’m a sucker for atmosphere and I can say that this place has it right! Here’s a picture from their website. The menu is a refreshingly unique fusion of Asian & Mediterranean dishes.  Our server recommended the Seafood Risotto… so I went with that. It had shrimp, lobster, scallops & chorizo served over saffron risotto. Heavy, yes, but so delicious! I saved some for lunch today.

My evening tonight is a bit less calorically indulgent.  After work, I’m headed to my favorite power yoga class. I recently started going 1-2 times per week and love it because I always leave a little bit stronger, calmer & totally exhausted! 

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Today's Special: Steamy Whole Wheat Squash Rolls

Source::http://thegastrognome.wordpress.com/2010/11/30/steamy-whole-wheat-kabocha-rolls/?tpref=foodpress

The heat in our apartment appears to be controlled by martians so the cool days have been inspiring me to do something I fear like the reaper: Bake. By martians, I may actually mean the girls that live below us. Point is, its cold during the day so instead of being productive with work, I want to bake.

I had an idea in mind; though stumbling across this post confirmed to me that it was a good idea. I also had a Kabocha squash, my very favorite kind, sitting on the counter.

Squash

Winter

Warm

Bake

Visions of warm, buttery rolls floated through my head, emitting puffs of steam when you pulled them apart, letting pats of butter melt into their every crevice.

Knowing that baking isn’t my forte, I set out to make something involving flour, eggs and squash.

And then, a few quick hours later, there they were, too hot to handle, ready to fulfill all of my bread related fantasies.

If you still have giant amounts of cranberry sauce left (as I do) it makes a great compliment to these.

Whole Wheat Kabocha Squash Rolls

1 small to medium Kabocha squash
Canola oil
1/2 cup warm water
1.5 tsps. baking yeast
2 tsps. brown sugar
2 eggs
2 cups white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 tsps. salt
More flour for the board

Rub the oil on the outside of the squash and roast it until soft. For me, this was about 30 minutes in a 375 oven. Cut it open, scoop out the guts and toss, then scoop out the ‘meat’ and save. Put the water and the yeast into the bowl of a food processor, then add the sugar. Leave it for a few minutes, then add the eggs and squash (about 2 cups) and process until smooth. At this point, add the salt and leave the processor going on low and add the flour through the tube. Once all three cups are in, let it process until it forms a ball or close to it. You’ll probably want at least a little more flour, but I err on the low side, its easier to add than subtract!

Once you’ve got it in a ball, place on a floured board, cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let rise for an hour. Roll in to balls (I got ten out of this), cover and let rise another 45 minutes to an hour. If your house is freezing, you can turn on the oven and let it come up to 375 degrees while you sit in front of it during this time.

Either way, place on a floured pizza stone or baking sheet and put it in the oven. After about 5 minutes, open the oven and splash a little water in–this gives the rolls a crustier exterior. Let it keep baking for about 25 minutes in total. Then cool and eat. or don’t cool. and eat.

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Today's Special: Dark Chocolate and Hazelnut Semi Freddo

Source::http://mammyskitchen.wordpress.com/2010/12/15/christmas-cookalong-part-one-dark-chocolate-and-hazelnut-semi-freddo/?tpref=foodpress

Well the first Friday of December has been and gone and that means only one thing – the Irish Foodies monthly cookalong.  This month’s theme was of course Christmas (well how could it be anything else?) and rather than cook an elaborate dinner, I decided to do a dessert and a bit of baking instead.

So the first recipe I decided on for the cookalong was Dark Chocolate & Hazelnut Semi Freddo from Rachel Allen’s Home Cooking book.  Although (technically) its not actually cooking, this is one of the desserts I made last year to follow Christmas dinner.  Instead of freezing in a loaf tin as suggested, I lined a pudding bowl to give it a more Christmassy shape.

I was lucky to get the picture above as about 5 seconds after it was taken, child#2 somehow managed to knock the plate off the table sending it crashing to the floor!

Dark Chocolate & Hazelnut Semi Freddo

What you need:

3 eggs, separated

150g caster sugar

500ml cream

100g dark chocolate finely chopped

100g chopped hazelnuts

What you do:

Line the base of a loaf tin with parchment or cling film, leaving the excess hanging out over the edges.Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until pale and fluffy.In a second bowl, whip the cream until it forms soft peaks.Finally, in another (spotlessly clean) bowl, whisk the egg whites (with a clean whisk) until they form firm peaks.Gently fold the whipped cream into the egg yolk mixture then carefully fold in the egg whites.Sprinkle a third of the chopped chocolate & hazelnuts evenly into the base of the prepared tin.  Pour half of the semifreddo mixture over the chocolate, followed by the next third of the chocolate.  Finally, pour over the remaining semifreddo and top with the remaining chocolate. Cover with the excess hanging parchment or cling film and freeze for at least 6 hours until solid.Once it is set, carefully remove the semifreddo from the tin by turning upside down onto a plate and remove the parchment/clingfilm and cut into slices.

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Today's Special: Custard Slices

Source::http://thecompletecookbook.wordpress.com/2010/12/10/custard-slices/?tpref=foodpress

I am starting to think I should have called my book – All of Mandy’s Favourites.  Custard Slices are one of those yummy treats that I love seeing on the table at tea parties, next to the quiche, you know, just to balance the sweet and savoury taste buds in one go along with the ever important cup of tea.

Ingredients

1 packet cream crackers
1 litre milk
250ml sugar
60g butter
120ml cake flour
80ml custard powder
2ml salt
100ml water
3 eggs separated
10ml vanilla essence
500ml icing sugar
± 40ml boiling water

Method

Grease a shallow 35x25x5cm glass dish.Arrange 15 of the cream crackers in the base in 3 rows of 5 each, lining up the centre perforations of the biscuits.Bring the milk to the boil in a large saucepan and then add the sugar and butter and stir until melted and remove from the stove.Mix the cake flour, custard powder salt and water together.Add the egg yolks and beat well.Gradually fold in some of the milk mixture.Add this to the remaining milk mixture in the saucepan and stir over a low heat for 5 minutes or until thickened.Remove from the stove and stir in the vanilla essence.Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form and then fold them lightly into the custard mixture.10.  Pour the custard mixture over the crackers in the dish.Cover the custard mixture with another 15 crackers making sure the centre perforations line up with those of the bottom layer.Allow the filling to cool then refrigerate until completely cold.Mix the icing sugar and boiling water to a spreading consistency.Pour over the crackers and spread evenly.Store in the fridge.  

To serve, cut the custard slices along the perforations.

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