Toffee Pecan Blondies

Heath Bar Blondies

makes 12-16

courtesy of  Smitten Kitchen

1 stick butter

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup heath bar crumbles

1/2 cup roughly chopped walnuts

Preheat your oven to 350 and butter an 8-inch square pan.

Brown your butter by melting it over medium heat on the stove until it becomes a golden caramel color. Be careful not to burn the butter—you only want to brown it. This will take several minutes and it’s easiest to keep swirling the pan with your hand while it browns.

Pour the browned butter into the bowl of a kitchen aid and add the brown sugar. Beat for about four minutes, until creamy. Add the egg and beat again. Then, add the flour, salt and vanilla extract (or seeds). Beat until combined.

Fold in the heath bar bits and chopped walnuts. Spread out mixture in your buttered pan and bake for 25 minutes, or until edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Let cool before slicing into squares.

Naan \ˈnän, ˈnan\

“STOP IT!” As soon as put the Naan (nän) in the oven, the fire alarm started to beeeeeeppp. Obviously I opened the back door and let the kitchen air out a bit. It didn’t help. The fire alarm continued to beep for the 20 minutes that it took to bake the naan. It then beeped for 10 minutes after I turned the oven off! Fortunately, the naan turned out to be absolutely delicious.

I was just very annoyed and turned up The Shins to full volume.

I have been wanting to try making naan from scratch for a while. It is an oven baked flat bread that originated in Southern Asia. So usually you find it in a lot of Indian, Mediterranean, or Pakistani restaurants. It is delicious and very simple. You just have to have time to knead it & let it rise (for 2 hours). After you bake it for ten minutes you get to brush it with a flavorsome garlic butter. Yep. That’s right.

I made the couscous with leftover zucchini & red bell pepper. It paired quite nicely with the naan.

music pairing: The Shins, New Slang

Couscous with Zucchini & Red Bell Peppers

serves 2

1 cup water

3/4 cup couscous

1/2 tsp salt

2 TBSP diced red bell pepper

3/4 cup chopped zucchini

1 TBSP olive oil

Cavender’s all purpose Greek seasoning

Salt

Feta cheese, garnish

Bring water to a boil. Add the couscous & salt. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes. Meanwhile heat 1 TBSP olive oil in a pan. Saute the zucchini & red pepper until tender. Mix in with the finished couscous. Season with Greek seasoning & salt. Garnish with feta cheese.

Roasted Garlic Naan

Inspired by Baking with Julia via Eat, Live, Run

makes 4 naan breads

1.5 cups warm water, about 100 degrees Fahrenheit

1 tsp active dry yeast

3-3.5 cups all purpose flour

1.5 tsp salt

1/2 tsp sugar

roasted garlic:

2 TBSP butter

1 TBSP minced garlic

Combine the yeast, water and sugar and stir gently. Let sit for about five minutes so the yeast can dissolve.

In the bowl of a Kitchen Aid, combine the water/yeast plus a cup and a half of the flour. Mix on low speed for about three minutes. Add the rest of the flour and the salt and increase the speed to high. Let ‘er rip for six minutes, or until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl and, when pulled, is elastic.

Remove the dough from the bowl and place in a new, lightly oiled, bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for about two hours. It should double in size.

After the dough has finished rising, turn it out onto a floured counter-top and divide into four equal sections. Flatten each section down into a rectangular shape and then sprinkle with water and prick your fingers in each. This gives it classic naan “dimples”. Lay each on a lined baking sheet and bake at 475 for ten minutes.

While it’s baking, Melt the butter in a pan and add the garlic. Saute until the garlic is golden brown.

Let cool for ten minutes and then brush each naan with garlic butter. Broil for four minutes.

Gala Apple Crisps & November Blue

November.

It brings my favorite holiday & the final color changes of Fall. Beautiful

The Avett Brothers are coming next week!

It is finally chilly. No more Chacos.

Anyways, You should try this recipe. It is simple and honestly just requires a little time and a good (Cutco) knife.

You could bake them to a crisp apple chip. However, I think they taste better if you under cook them just a bit. They are a mix between dried apples and apple chips.

music pairing: The Avett Brothers, November Blue

Apple Chips

Ingredients

• 2 red apples (Gala and Pink Lady apples are great for making crisps as they are low in moisture to begin with)
• cinnamon for sprinkling

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 120 C (250 F) and use the fan element if your oven has it. The circulating air will facilitate the drying of the apple slices.
2. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper (I just lined my oven racks as I didn’t have baking sheets large enough).
3. Using a mandolin or food processor, slice apples to 1/8-inch thickness (3 mm). If slicing by hand, core the apples to facilitate slicing and slice the apples as thin as you can.
4. Arrange the apple slices on the parchment paper and lightly sprinkle with cinnamon.
5. Bake on the lower part of your oven (away from the heating elements) for 20 minutes, then gently turn the apple slices over and bake for another 20 to 30 minutes. Keep an eye on them towards the last 10 minutes or so to make sure they don’t burn.
6. Remove baking sheet or rack from oven and allow the apple to cool. The apples will come out a bit soft but will crisp up as they cool.
7. Store in an airtight container or bag.