S'mores Krispies

I'm still not entirely sure what to call these things. They're like a Rice Krispie treat, only with graham cracker stuffs instead of rice krispies. And they're so much better and not bland. Seriously, you should make them now.

S'mores Krispies
Originally found at Country Cleaver

6 Tbsp butter
1 package marshmallows (10 oz)
5 cups Golden Grahams cereal
3/4 cup chocolate chips, divided

Liberally grease a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick spray. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Stir in marshmallows and heat until consistency is even. Turn off heat, and add in the cereal, mixing until well covered with marshmallow mixture. Add in 1/2 cup chocolate chips, mix lightly, then pour into the baking dish. Press lightly into pan and top with remaining chocolate chips. Allow to cool and serve. Store in a covered container.

My Notes:
I've seen a lot of people complain that when they initially add the chocolate chips and stir them in that the chocolate chips melt and they just end up with chocolate marshmallow goop covering the Golden Grahams. The key to getting them to remain mostly solid is to only stir enough to spread them out throughout the mixture, then dump it into the pan. They'll still melt a little, because you are dumping them into essentially boiling marshmallow goo, but you should still get chunks.

I brought this to a potluck the other day, and everyone fell in love with it and told me the recipe was a keeper. Even the woman who makes the most amazing brownies in the world. High praise indeed.

Cinnamon Apple Challah

This past week was Rosh Hashanah. For those of you who aren't Jewish, or familiar with Jewish customs, that is the start of the Hebrew calendar. Traditionally, sweet things are eaten on Rosh Hashanah to celebrate and to hope for a 'sweet' new year. Apples and honey is a favorite combination. I ran across this recipe for cinnamon apple challah on Pinterest not too long ago, and it seemed oddly fitting, especially since Rosh Hashanah ran into Shabbat this year.

Cinnamon Apple Challah
Modified from ReformJudaism.org

2 1/2 tsp instant yeast (1 envelope)
1/2 cup warm water (100 degrees)
1/4 cup sugar, plus 1 tsp sugar
2 1/2 - 3 cups bread flour
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp cinnamon, divided
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 small apples, or 1 medium-large apple

In a large bowl, mix yeast, water, and 1/4 cup sugar. Allow to sit for 10 minutes, until frothy. Mix in 2 eggs, oil, vanilla, 1 tsp cinnamon, and salt. Add flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until it forms a soft ball. It should be firm enough to handle without being sticky, but still soft and pliable. Knead dough for about 10 minutes until smooth, adding more water if dough is tough or flour if it is sticky. Place the dough in a clean, warm bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise in a warm place for 1 hour until about double in size.

Meanwhile, core and chop apples into bite-sized pieces. Sprinkle on 1 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp sugar.

Once dough has risen, divide into three sections and roll each into a long, wide strip. Sprinkle some apples along the long edge and roll up, taking care to avoid air bubbles. Avoid placing the apple-cinnamon liquid into the dough, as this will make it much more difficult to handle. Repeat with remaining two sections of dough. Braid strands together, tucking ends under. Place on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until triple in size, about an hour and a half.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk the remaining egg with a small amount of water to create an egg wash, and brush the challah with the egg. Bake 25-35 minutes, until golden brown. The bread should sound hollow when tapped. Serve with honey!

My Notes:
So, I had too many apples. It didn't work so well. One of my rolls ended up falling apart, so I skipped the step to braid and just did tree spiral rounds. The original recipe called to bake for 35 minutes, but I was skeptical, so I set my timer for 30, and ended up taking the bread out with about 8 minutes left. Likely this was because it wasn't braided.

It's not a bad recipe. I'm not sure how much of a fan I am of the chunks of apples--I was expecting them to be a bit softer and melt into the batter a little more, but they kept their form and crunch fairly well. Still, it's got a nice flavor.

Raspberry Cream Coffee Cake

So, it's my roommate's birthday this weekend, and since I actually like this one, I figured it was high time to make a treat. Having taken a 5 hour afternoon nap (or as some of my friends would call it, an afternoon 'sleep'), I was pretty awake last night, so I decided to comb through my list of pending recipes. I had looked at this one a few times, and decided to give it a go, since I had everything I needed on hand (I love it when things work out like that).

I've simplified the ingredients list, so be sure to read through the recipe carefully.

Raspberry Cream Coffee Cake
Adapted from Food Wanderings in Asia

2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar, divided
1/2 cup butter, cold and cut into chunks
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup Greek yogurt (plain or vanilla)
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
6oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup raspberry preserves

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease the edges of a 9" springform pan. Beat the cream cheese at medium speed until smooth, about 30 seconds. Add 1/4 cup sugar and 1 egg and beat until just well combined. Do not overbeat. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour and remaining 3/4 cup sugar. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter (or 2 forks), until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside 3/4 cup of this mixture. Add the baking soda and baking powder to the remaining flour mixture, and mix well.

In another bowl, combine the yogurt, 1 egg, and vanilla extract until well blended. Slowly incorporate into the flour mixture. The batter will be thick, like a loose cookie dough.

Pour the batter into the springform pan and spread, bringing it up the sides to form a shallow well in the center. Pour the cream cheese mixture into this well, being careful not to spread all the way to the edge of the pan. Heat the raspberry preserves in the microwave for about 20 seconds, then pour over the cream cheese mixture. Top with the reserved flour mixture. Bake for 50-55 minutes. Cool in pan for 20 minutes before removing the cake. Enjoy while warm, or store covered in the fridge for 2-3 days.

My Notes:
So I did make a few adjustments to the original recipe, notably using raspberry preserves instead of making strawberry jelly, but I like raspberries better anyway. I also didn't have a full block of cream cheese, so I just used 6 oz and it turned out fine... more than enough to fill the cake 'crust'.

A note about the butter. You want it to be cold, so I cut the butter into largish chunks, then put the flour, sugar, and butter into the freezer for about 10 minutes, while making the rest of the parts. I tried to use my immersion blender to mix in the butter, but the butter just stuck to the inside of the blender instead of dispersing through the batter. Then, I tried to do the two fork method, and it was just very difficult to do. Ultimately, I mixed it in with my hand, but you should be careful to keep the butter relatively cold if you do this method, as melted butter in the batter will disrupt the texture of the final product.

The verdict? This cake is amazing. My roommate was in heaven eating it (she got the first slice, of course), and I pretty much agreed with her verdict when I bit into it. I do think the cake was a little overdone along the edges, but that was due to my uncertainty over the goldenness of the crumble on top. Overall, a winner and something I will make again and again.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Sweet Potato Gnocchi
Originally found at All About Gluten Free Cooking and Living

1 sweet potato, rinsed and pierced with a fork
1 Tbsp brown sugar or maple syrup
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2-3 cups flour

Wrap the sweet potato in foil and bake in a 350F oven until done, about an hour. Allow to cool slightly, then peel and mash. Mix in brown sugar and nutmeg, then slowly incorporate flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until a dough ball forms. It will be slightly sticky, but should be able to hold some shape. Place a pot of water on medium-high heat to boil.

Place on a floured surface and roll into a snake about 1 inch wide. Cut the snake into chunks about 1/2 inch wide. If desired, you can roll the gnocchi on the tines of a fork; this will allow it to soak up more sauce.

Working in small batches, drop the gnocchi into the boiling water. Stir it a bit after dropping them in, as sometimes they can stick to the bottom of the pan. When they start to float, remove them with a slotted spoon.

Top with your favorite sauce, and enjoy while warm! If desired, you can freeze them in a single layer and reheat later with the sauce.

My Notes:
I'm not entirely sure how much flour I used. I kept adding small amounts until I got the right consistency, and it took a little bit of time. But, I had three people try it, and they all enjoyed the gnocchi itself. Perfect consistency and just a bit of sweetness. I made the sage sauce recommended at the link above, but wasn't overly impressed with it... it just needed more flavor. I think I'll try it with pesto at some future point. The recipe was easy enough that I'll probably make it again, and may not be so inclined to buy regular gnocchi at the store from now on. It's just so easy to go ahead and make it yourself!

Buffalo Fries

I did my Surgery rotation at a different hospital than my home hospital a few months ago. Because they had us stay in a wing of the hospital, they had to provide us some sort of food, so we got a daily stipend to use in the cafeteria. It wasn't something I recommend, eating in the cafeteria for every meal for a month straight, but they did have some pretty awesome foods.

One in particular I enjoyed was their buffalo fries. Really simple to make, but really, really good. I had forgotten about them until I was on a rotation with one of my classmates who eats terribly. As in, he eats out at every single meal, and somehow is not the size of a house. I don't understand how he isn't broke either, but that's a whole other discussion. Anyway, he mentioned he had rotated at this hospital for something else (I think it was Internal Medicine), and how he was obsessed with these fries.

So, naturally, I had to experience them again.



Apologies for the poor picture quality. This is what happens when you use your phone to take pictures and can't figure out if it's focused or not before the snapshot. One of these days I'll try a whole lot harder to make my pictures look more appetizing.

Buffalo Fries
More or less Original Recipe

Fries
Frank's Wing Sauce
Ranch Dressing

Cook the fries to desired crispness*. Allow to cool slightly, then toss in generous amount of wing sauce. The spiciness of the fries will be determined by how much sauce you throw on, so adjust according to your own tastes. Drizzle with Ranch dressing to cool the heat a bit. Serve immediately.

My Notes:
*You can either get pre-packaged fries, as I clearly did, or you can make your own by slicing up some potatoes and tossing them with a bit of cornstarch, then baking them at 350 until they're cooked through and crispy, about 20 minutes.

Amazing, and just like I remember. I may be a bit obsessed with this recipe right now. Maybe it'll stop when I run out of the wing sauce :)