Peppermint Bark

My little sister likes peppermint bark. I found this "recipe" several places, including the food network website. It really only has 3 ingredients. It's very easy and you don't need any special stuff. I recommend using a food processor for the candy canes but you can just crush them with a rolling pin or hammer. I like the uniformity you get with the food processor.


I got a box of 12, what I would call "regular-sized," candy canes. I crushed 10 of them to get a cup of pieces to mix in with the chocolate. I crushed the remaining 2 to sprinkle on top. As a misguided, last minute tweak, I added some chocolate chips to try to make some white chocolate swirled with dark chocolate. So half of it came out a sort of muddy brown. In retrospect, the best way to get the marbled effect would probably be with two double-boilers, mixing the chocolates together on the baking sheet.

Ingredients:
Crushed candy canes, to yield 1 cup
2 pounds white chocolate
Peppermint flavorings, optional (I used 4 tsp.s but I like it minty)

Directions:
Place candy canes in a plastic bag and hammer into 1/4-inch chunks or smaller.


Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. (I used a stainless steel mixing bowl on top of a saucepan full of water to make a double-boiler to melt the chocolate).


Combine candy cane chunks with chocolate (add peppermint flavoring at this point if desired).




Pour mixture onto a cookie sheet layered with parchment or waxed paper (sprinkle remaining candy pieces on top at this point) and place in the refrigerator for 45 minutes or until firm.


Here are the muddy ones. They don't taste terrible but I'll have to melt the two separately and mix them on the sheet together next time.

Guilty Carnitas

I haven't made a big meaty meat dish in a long while. Even though I am ambivalent about eating meat, to say the least, I have mostly given up on my youthful ideals in order to eat choice mouthfuls of my favorite meat, pork, every now and then. I keep waiting for the day to come when I will say "No more!" and stick to tofu and broccoli like I used to, out of guilt and shame and love of animals, but when you really get interested in cooking it's very hard to eliminate animal proteins entirely.

With that, I excitedly yet guiltily bring you another recipe that I stole from smittenkitchen.com. A dish that seems remarkably easy to do well.

Homesick Texan Carnitas
Stolen from smittenkitchen and
Adapted, just barely, from The Homesick Texan Cookbook

3 pounds boneless pork shoulder or pork butt, cut into 2-inch cubes
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lime juice (from about 2 to 3 limes)
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon Kosher salt, plus more to taste

Corn tortillas, for serving plus
Avocado slices, chopped cilantro and fixings of your choice (we love pickled jalapenos or onions, lime wedges and a bit of slaw)





Place the pork in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot. Add the orange juice, lime juice, garlic, cumin, salt and enough water to just barely cover the meat. Bring the pot to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer uncovered for two hours. Don’t touch the meat.



After two hours, increase the heat to medium-high and while occasionally stirring and turning the pieces, continue to cook for about 45 minutes, or until all of the liquid has evaporated, leaving only the rendered pork fat. Let it sizzle in this fat long enough to brown at the edges, turning pieces gently (they’ll be eager to fall apart), only as needed.





When pork has browned on both sides, it’s ready. Adjust seasonings to taste and serve on warmed tortillas with fixings.



*After browning all of the meat the bottom of my dutch oven looked like a bleak map of the world after the ravages of global warming:


It came out perfect aside from sticking a little bit too much to the bottom. We used flour tortillas and habanero hot sauce and a little sour cream.

You Always Keep Me Waiting, Madeleines

I am getting in the mood for baking Xmas cookies. I love Madeleines because they are simple to make and so bright and fresh with the lemon zest. Maybe not the most Xmas-y cookie, but something magical happens when you mix lemon zest with sugar and butter and apply heat, although even without the heat the batter is impossible to resist. I put away spoon fulls of it and wonder why my yield is so low...I made this particular batch to give to my brow-waxer. Anyone who can be bothered to look at this mug on a monthly basis for two years in a row deserves some special recognition.

You definitely need the special pan with the shell indentations if you want anyone to have even the slightest clue as to what you just made. I have had prior success making these in a mini cupcake pan though the effect isn't quite as elegant.

*I can't stress this enough, butter and flour the heck out of your pan. There is nothing more frustrating than a perfectly adorable, golden Madeleine that has been entombed in a pan and the only way you can dislodge it is by ruining it entirely.

When they are done you can do several treatments depending on your mood. There is the classic sprinkling of powdered sugar. I prefer to either leave them as is or dip them into chocolate so dark that light cannot escape its surface. This is an especially good way to preserve their moisture if you plan on keeping them around for more than a day or giving them as a gift. You can then roll the still-warm chocolate dipped Madeleines in chopped roasted pecans or almonds or even tiny chocolate chips if you are feeling a little insane. Defy logic!


Ingredients:
1 tsp baking powder
2/3 c. sugar
1 c. flour
2 large eggs
10 tbsp unsalted butter (melted then cooled slightly)
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Yield: about 2 dozen cookies. I got about 20 but then I ate a lot of batter and overfilled some of the shells because I'm out of practice.

1. Preheat oven to 375. Butter and flour pan.

2. Beat eggs and sugar just to blend. Beat in vanilla, lemon peel, salt.




3. Add flour and baking powder, beat until just blended. Gradually add melted butter in a steady stream, beating until just blended (This step is impossible to photograph yourself doing, btw).


4. Spoon one tbsp into each indentation. Bake until puffed and brown, about 13-16 mins. Cool for 5.