That is….just in case I get the urge to make something sort of sinfully delicious and then give it away to people I know.  You know, lead me not in to temptation, and all.  (Sorry, friends, you’re in charge of your own temptations).

Kat was not a fan of these.  She actually said there wasn’t enough Nutella.  In a certain way, she’s right.  The caramel is clearly the star in these squares of chewy, crumbly deliciousness.  There’s just more of it.  If you feel the urge to add more Nutella, have at it, but I thought it was just the right amount.  The original recipe calls for 1/4 cup, but I followed the recipe as adapted and used closer to 1/2 cup – just eyeballing it.

The pastry is truly more of a shortbread – crisp and buttery, and I thought that was delicious, too, since there’s plenty of chewy goodness in the filling.  Although Kat’s review wasn’t glowing, I gave some away to her first grade teacher and the Caramel Nutella Crumble Bars drew raves.

If you can’t resist the temptation, February 5, 2012, is apparently World Nutella Day, so be prepared.  If you click on the link, you’ll find another link to over 700 more Nutella recipes.  Lead me not in to temptation, yes.  But it doesn’t say anywhere I shouldn’t lead you into temptation. Enjoy!!

Caramel Nutella Crumb Bars
recipe courtesy: Buns in My Oven

For the crust & topping:

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

For the caramel & Nutella filling:

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup Nutella, depending on how thick you want your Nutella layer

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 13×9 baking dish with parchment paper.

For the dough, beat together butter, sugar, and salt (on medium speed w/paddle attachment if using a stand mixer) until creamy. Add vanilla and beat until combined.

Slowly add 2 1/4 cups of the flour, beating (on low) just until the dough becomes smooth and the flour is incorporated.

Evenly press 3/4s of the dough in the prepared baking dish to form the bottom layer. Refrigerate while you prepare the crumb topping and filling.

Add the remaining 1/4 cup of flour to the remaining dough and work together (I just used my pastry blender for this) until coarse and crumbly. Do not over mix.

For the caramel filling, place the butter, corn syrup, brown sugar, and condensed milk in a saucepan over medium low heat. Bring to a simmer, whisking occasionally. When the mixture begins to boil, whisk frequently until it darkens and begins to thicken, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes.

Remove the crust from the refrigerator and spread with Nutella. You may need to warm the Nutella in the microwave for a bit to soften it up enough to spread easily.

Pour the caramel filling over the Nutella layer and spread evenly with a spatula.  Sprinkle on the crumb topping and bake for about 30 minutes or until the filling is a dark brown color and hot and bubbling.

Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes and then cut into 24 2″ squares.

• 2 cups whole or low-fat milk, plus more for serving
• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
• 3 tablespoons light-brown sugar, plus more for serving
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more for serving
• 1 banana, sliced
• dried tart cherries, optional
• toasted walnuts, optional

This recipe came to me via the fine ladies at the North Scottsdale Farmers Market, but it originated at a wonderful site called Umami Girl, which is chock-full of amazing recipes!  This one is no exception.  The lentils are beautiful and nutty, the arborio rice gives the soup great texture – a thick, hearty meal.  A squeeze of fresh lemon adds a bright finish.  Everyone loved it!  Well, Kat ate it and put on a happy face, but she’s in the midst of a 30-days-of-complaint-free-meals campaign to earn herself an American Girl doll.  Minus the opinion of a marginally picky 6 year old, the soup was a major hit.  It’ll definitely be going into the rotation.  Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion, finely diced
2 carrots, diced
1 cup dry red lentils, picked over and rinsed
1/4 cup arborio rice
3 cups water + 3 cups low-sodium chicken stock
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Lemon wedges, for serving

Preparation

In a medium pot with a heavy bottom, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and carrots and cook, stirring occasionally until starting to soften, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to prevent browning. Add lentils and rice and stir to coat with oil. Add water, salt, cumin, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to maintain a simmer. Cook, lifting the lid occasionally to stir, until lentils and rice are completely tender and the soup is of uniform and moderately thick consistency, about an hour. Serve hot with lemon wedges to squeeze overtop.

Kitchen Notes:  The original recipe called for 6 cups of water, which made it a truly vegetarian dish.  I opted for 3 cups water and 3 cups low-sodium chicken stock.  The option is yours.

Candied Cranberries

1 bag cranberries
2 cups sugar, plus extra for dusting
2 cups water

1) Mix the sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved and the liquid is clear and boiling.  Remove the pan from the heat and let the liquid cool until a single berry dropped into it doesn’t burst.  (If you have a candy thermometer, it will read about 170 degrees.)

2) Pour the cranberries into the sugar-water, stirring to coat, then weight the berries down with a plate or small lid.  Let them sit submerged until cool, or even overnight.

3) With a slotted spoon, remove the cranberries and set them on a cookie tray or sheet of wax paper until they are no longer dripping wet.  Before they dry completely, sprinkle the berries liberally with sugar, tossing to coat.  Let them dry completely.

Candied cranberries will last for about a week on the counter.  If you pack them in a sealed container, they will get soggy, but will dry out again quickly and become crunchy again when exposed to air.

So I can’t let what little fall we actually have slip by without making applesauce.  I love this recipe.  It’s a complete no-brainer: toss it in the crockpot and let it go.  The house smells amazing while the apples stew and I can go about my day without a care in the world.  Well, that’s a bit of an exaggeration but you know what I mean.  Enjoy!

It’s baaaaa-aaaack!  Pumpkin!  Pumpkin cookies, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin-spiced lattes, pumpkin soup, you name it.  It’s fall.  It’s pumpkin season.  And I’m a fan!

I started out down the path of pumpkin bread after I received a recipe in my inbox from Real Simple which, in turn, sent me a-Googling every yummy looking pumpkin bread I could find.  Believe me, there are piles and piles of them.  But what struck me about the Real Simple recipe was the inclusion of molasses in the ingredient list.

For whatever reason, I ended up not using that particular recipe (although, I will), and chose this one, instead.  It is FANTASTIC and delicious and addicting and irresistible and I don’t even know what more to say.  I should tell you, though, I made two slight alterations.  First, I halved the recipe.  Because what on earth am I going to do with TWO loaves of pumpkin bread?  Of course I could have popped it in the freezer for later, but I don’t think anything is quite the same after its been frozen.  You just can’t ever recapture “warm from the oven.”

The other thing I did, because I didn’t think the original recipe had nearly enough “spice,” was to substitute half of the vegetable oil with molasses a la the Real Simple version.  Now we’re talkin’ spice bread.  It was amazing.  So much so, I had to give some of it away….reluctantly, but it had to be done.

This bread is moist and dense and perfect for the season.  Enjoy it plain, or slather on a little apple butter.  Enjoy!

Pumpkin Spice Bread

Ingredients

• 3 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil (or, 1/2 cup vegetable oil and 1/2 cup molasses)
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 (16 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 cup water

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine sugar, oil and eggs. Add pumpkin and mix well. Combine dry ingredients; add to the pumpkin mixture alternately with water. Pour into two greased 9-in. x 5-in. x 3-in. loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 60-65 minutes or until bread tests done. Cool in pans 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack; cool completely.

Truth is, I had two slices and never saw another slice of this pizza again.  A certain someone (a-hem) called dibs on the leftovers for lunch the next day and that was that.  Next time I’ll make two.

Chicken and Herb White Pizza

Recipe courtesy Cooking Light, October 2011

Ingredients:

• 1 pound refrigerated fresh pizza dough
• Cooking spray
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh pecorino Romano cheese
• 1 tablespoon yellow cornmeal
• 1 1/2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken breast
• 1/4 cup diced red onion
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

When I have it all planned out, I can get a lot of the prep work done ahead, not stress over which veggie to serve, and (added bonus), I actually cook less – can you give me a woot woot for leftovers, and I have a lot less organic food waste.

This week was one of those great weeks when all the necessary interplanetary alignment occurred without interruption and I was able to sit down for a while with my old-fashioned recipe box, my computer, and the latest issue of Cooking Light.

This recipe is so simple and there’s very little to do once the brisket is browned and in the oven.  With that said, though, it’s not a slow-cooker recipe, so you can’t walk off and leave it cooking unattended, either.  There are a total of three turns of the meat, and the veggies go in during the last hour.  Serve immediately over the carb of  your choice.  I plated it with wide egg noodles for a very hearty, seasonal autumn dinner.  Enjoy!

Kitchen Notes:  My brisket was just over two pounds as compared to a slightly larger brisket used in the original recipe.  Even reducing the baking time accordingly, my brisket was so tender it practically shredded when I sliced it.  This is quite a departure from the photo in the magazine which clearly shows a very neatly, evenly sliced piece of beef.  Although the meat was delicious, if I’d been looking for a perfect and pretty slice of cooked meat, I’d have been disappointed.  On the other hand, the leftover meat made for a really nice improvised pulled beef sandwich.  Adjust your baking time accordingly.  Also, the gravy is very intensely flavorful.  Use it!

Beer-Braised Brisket

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons sweet Hungarian paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
• 2 1/2 pounds flat-cut beef brisket, trimmed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups pale ale
• 4 cups lower-sodium beef broth
• 5 garlic cloves, sliced
• 6 carrots, cut diagonally into 1 1/2-inch pieces
• 6 celery stalks, cut diagonally into 1 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 medium onions, each cut into 12 wedges
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup water

1. Preheat oven to 325°.
2. Combine first 3 ingredients in a small bowl; stir in 1 teaspoon salt. Rub spice mixture evenly over both sides of brisket. Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add brisket; sauté 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove brisket from pan. Add beer; bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add broth and garlic; return to a boil. Return brisket to pan. Cover and cook at 325° for 2 hours. Turn brisket over; cook an additional 2 hours. Turn brisket over. Add carrot, celery, and onion; cook an additional 1 hour or until brisket is very tender.
3. Remove brisket and vegetables from pan using a slotted spoon. Skim fat from cooking liquid; discard fat. Bring cooking liquid to a boil over medium-high heat. Place flour in a small bowl; stir in 1/2 cup water. Add flour mixture to pan, stirring until smooth; bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook 2 minutes or until slightly thickened. Stir in remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Serve the sauce with beef and vegetables.

My mom actually came for a visit recently with this recipe tucked in her carry-on bag.  I can’t recall the original source, but any recipe with the word “artichoke” in it is true love, in my book.  I’ve made it a couple of times and both times thought the flavor was really nice, but the texture of the “stuffing” is too dry.  That can probably be chalked up to my own choice of whole grain bread and my unswaying belief grainier is better.  This theory might not be true for this recipe.  I’d suggest going with a whole grain bread that’s a little less hearty and doesn’t stand up nearly so well to the moisture from the artichokes and the cheese.

The finished product (with a little tweaking on the stuffing) is delicious and a great, healthy meal.  Nutritional info on this recipe reported 241 calories, 40 grams of protein, and only 7 grams of fat.  Enjoy!

Artichoke-Parmesan Stuffed Tilapia

• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 thin (5-ounce) tilapia fillets
• 1 (6-ounce) jar water-packed marinated artichokes, drained and chopped
• 1 slice whole-grain bread, cubed
• 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 4 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley

Preparation:

• Preheat oven to 375°.
• Sprinkle salt and pepper over both sides of tilapia fillets; set aside.
• Combine artichokes, bread cubes, Parmesan cheese, and oregano in a medium bowl; mix well.
• Brush each fillet with 1/2 teaspoon olive oil; top with 1/4 of the artichoke mixture.
• Bake until fish pulls apart easily with a fork (about 15 minutes).
• Sprinkle each serving with 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley just before serving.

Tomato Onion and Cucumber Salad (recipe courtesy Eating Well)

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, or more to taste
• 2 medium cucumbers
• 4 medium tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch wedges
• 1 Vidalia or other sweet onion, halved and very thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh herbs, such as flat-leaf parsley, chives and/or tarragon

1. Whisk vinegar, oil, honey, salt and pepper in a large shallow bowl.
2. Remove alternating stripes of peel from the cucumbers. Slice the cucumbers into thin rounds. Add the cucumber slices, tomatoes and onion to the dressing; gently toss to combine. Let stand at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour.
3. Just before serving, add herbs and toss again.