Christmas Bark

Christmas Bark

(People Magazine)

1 sleeve of Saltines

1 cup (2 sticks) of butter

½ cup brown sugar

1 package chocolate chips 

1 cup of chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350.

Line Saltines on baking sheet (with sides) lined with parchment paper.

Cook butter and brown sugar over medium heat, stirring constantly for 3 minutes.

Pour butter/sugar mixture over Saltines. Be sure all are covered evenly. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Pour chocolate chips over saltines…wait until they start to melt and then spread evenly over the crackers.

Sprinkle pecans over top.

Allow to cool for 1 hour in fridge. Break into pieces and ENJOY! 

White Chicken Chili, NYT

From: NYT Cooking 

Hot Mama Grade: B+

Hot Mama Notes: I used cannelloni beans, and I forgot to add the green Chiles to be sautéed, so I put them right into the crockpot. This chili is good. Acceptable. Not the best I've had, but not the worst either. It didn't wow me, though, so not sure I will make it again soon. 

chocolate chip walnut cookies

INGREDIENTS (8 COOKIES)

• ½ cup (112g) butter, slightly softened

• 1 cup (200g) light brown sugar

• ¼ (50g) cup granulated sugar

• 2 eggs, cold

• 1 tsp vanilla extract (imitation works just fine)

• 2½ (300g) cups flour, sifted

• 1½ tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt (or 1 tsp kosher salt)

• 2 cups (250g) walnuts, roughly chopped
  (if omitting walnuts, you can add roughly 50g extra AP flour)

• 2 cups (325g) dark chocolate chips (I enjoy Guittard’s Extra Dark or anything 65% and higher)

RECIPE

Preheat your oven to 375ºF. If you’re going to bake all 8 cookies now, line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. If you’re going to only bake 4, line one. If you only have one pan but want to bake all 8, line-bake-and-reuse-it.

Beat the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until creamy smooth (about 3 minutes).

Add the first egg and beat on low-medium speed until fully incorporated. Repeat with the second egg. Then the vanilla extract.

Mix together the sifted flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Carefully pour it all into the mixing bowl. Pulse the mixer/beater a few times to prevent flour from exploding in your face.

Mix in the walnuts and chocolate chips.

Now this next step should not be neat. Form and place eight (or four if you want to refrigerate half the dough for later) 6-ounce rough/messy balls of cookie dough into your lined baking sheet. I weighed them so that I would actually yield 8 cookies. Depending on the chocolate chips and walnuts, yours might not come out to 6 ounces each, but that’s the general goal/guideline. 

Also, if the edges of the cookie dough ball are rough/not smooth, that’s better. In my video, I formed them kind of neatly. In my experience, if you like craggly crispy tops, it’s best if you barely mush it together and smack it onto the pan.

At this point, if your dough seems like it has softened due to your kitchen's temperature or too much handling with hands, refrigerate the dough-balls for about half an hour before baking. When baking in winter, the dough tends to be pretty stiff and solid and doesn’t require chilling.

Pop the pan(s) into the oven for 12-16 minutes. This time variation depends on your oven (I’m using conventional top and bottom heat, not convection) as well as whether or not you chilled your dough (and for how long). I recommend checking (look, don’t touch) the cookies every minute after hitting the 11 minute mark. Ideally, you want patches of deep golden brown and lighter golden brown.

No matter what, you need to let these cookies set! Similar to steak, you’ve gotta take the cookies out while they’re 

technically a bit undercooked, and let them finish cooking in the still-hot pan in order to achieve the cooked-but-gooey center. The amount of walnuts/chocolate chips will make it hard to really check the inside without just breaking a cookie in half.

If you need to reuse your baking sheet for the second batch of 4-cookies, you can do so. Just make sure the pan is clean of grease and has cooled down before you place the dough-balls on it.

NOTES 

FREEZING DOUGH: If you’d like to freeze the dough for later use, go right ahead! To be completely honest, I don’t know how long the dough stays good in the freezer (at least a month for sure from my own experience). Wrap the dough balls individually in plastic wrap and freeze them. You can thaw them for about 20-30 minutes prior to placing on a parchment lined sheet and baking them.

SMALLER COOKIES: The only alternative size I’ve tried for these cookies is 3oz (half of my original). I would bake them at 375ºF for 10-12 minutes. Again, the time will depend on the oven. When baking a single chilled dough ball in my toaster oven, 375ºF for 11 minutes is perfect. Any more time and the center is overbaked.

Spicy Chickpeas

Nyt

Quinoa Salad

From nyt

Chicken Souvlaki

From NYT Cooking

Hot Mama Grade: A

Hot Mama Notes: This is a very tasty recipe. Will definitely make again. I marinated overnight with no issue but people online made a big deal about the yogurt over - tenderizing the chicken and making it mushy. That didn't happen to me, but maybe next time I will follow the recommendation of marinating only 2 hours. Delicious flavor. We ate this with tzaziki and the carrot soup. Yum. 

Carrot Soup

From NYT Cooking.

Hot Mama Grade: B+

Hot Mama Notes: This soup has a lot of flavor. I'm just not sure carrot Soup is my favorite, but it is tasty. I also think it was a bit longer/involved than advertised. My kids liked this soup. I was surprised! Next time I might add slightly less jalapeño because I'm a wimp! 🤣

Turkey Chili

From: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/7985-turkey-chili?smid=ck-recipe-android-share

Hot Mama Grade: A

Hot Mama Notes: I used 1 can black beans and 1 can black eyed peas, as that is what I had in my pantry. I also used fire roasted tomatoes for the same reason. 

This was a crowd pleaser! My entire family ate this up, coming back for second and thirds!  This chili is really flavorful. I used 8 cloves of garlic, plus the black eyed peas were seasoned and the fire roasted tomatoes really added to the overall flavor. 

Roasted Carrots & Cauliflower with Thyme

Originally from:

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/239717/roasted-carrots-and-cauliflower-with-thyme/

Ingredients:

1 pound carrots, peeled and sliced

1 head cauliflower, trimmed and cut into bite-size florets

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, or more to taste

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

Combine carrots, cauliflower, olive oil, thyme, garlic, salt, and pepper in a roasting pan; cover with aluminum foil.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Remove foil, stir vegetables, and continue cooking until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes more. Toss vegetables with Parmesan cheese.

Hot Mama Grade: A

Hot Mama Notes: These vegetables were very tasty. I will be making them again! I used dried thyme instead of fresh, as that is what I had available. This recipe is easy, and I believe any vegetables could be used. 

Tasty Lentils

Originally from:

https://www.aheadofthyme.com/easy-20-minute-one-pot-lentils/#tasty-recipes-9300-jump-target

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups dry brown lentils

1 teaspoon olive oil

½ cup onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

¼ teaspoon turmeric

3 cups boiling water, divided

½ teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon Italian seasoning

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

fresh cilantro, chopped (optional, for serving) 

Directions:

Add lentils to a large mixing bowl and sort out any debris, then rinse and drain. Pour in some boiling water on top, enough to cover the lentils, and let it sit for 10 minutes. Set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large pot or 4 quart Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, and turmeric. Sauté until the onions are soft and translucent, about 2-3 minutes. Pour in 1 cup of boiling water into the pot and stir together.

Drain the lentils that have been soaking in water, then rinse and drain again. Stir the lentils into the pot along with the remaining 2 cups boiling water, cumin, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Turn the heat up to high and bring to a boil. Then, turn to low and simmer covered for 15 minutes.

Season with more salt and pepper to taste. Serve over brown or white rice, coconut rice, or a rice pilaf with a sprinkle of fresh cilantro on top. You can also serve on its own with a naan bread, pita bread, biscuits or dinner rolls for dipping.

NOTES

Soak the lentils: The secret to preparing the best lentils, and one that I learned from my mother, lies in the way that you prepare the lentils before cooking. Most lentil recipes call for a quick rinse and draining of dry lentils before placing into the cooking pot. But to get the best results, the key is to soak the lentils for about 10-15 minutes in hot water. This not only cleans the lentils (you will notice the dark brown coloured-water when you drain the soaked lentils), but it actually removes the gassiness from them. Meaning, they will be easier to digest and will cause less gas issues once you have at them. You could call it an old wives' tale, but it works.

Hot Mama Grade: A

Hot Mama Notes: These lentils are delicious, and I look forward to making them again soon! :) I used 2 cloves garlic. For Italian seasoning, I used Penzeys frozen pizza seasoning.