Author: chanie

Blogoversary Funfetti Pecan Turtles

Happy 5th Blogoversary!!!! Will somebody pinch me?! I honestly cannot believe that I have been blogging since my first post back on January 19th, 2011. That is FIVE WHOLE YEARS of posting consistently 1-2 times a week. 260 weeks, 1,825 days of committing myself to this foodie journey. A journey that has taken me to places I never dreamed.

I never imagined this blogging thing would become a life’s passion and so much more than just a hobby. I’m so proud of the progress I have made as a chef (I had some embarrassing moments like these and these) and the strides I have taken as a food photographer (with hands-over-eyes emoji moments like this and this). I’ve thought about updating old recipes with better photos, or removing some posts that didn’t go over well, but the truth is, my blog is not just about the recipes and the photos, it’s about my journey.

I love when I meet up and coming foodies who are thinking about starting a blog. I always tell them to go back to the old days of BIB, and they’re always wowed by my progress. I think it’s such an important lesson for all of us, in whatever stage we find ourselves – as mothers, daughters, teachers, musicians, you name it – we can all get better at what we do, we just have to practice!

This is so true of photography, my photos are constantly evolving as I’m learning to find my photography voice. But as a foodie too – I’ve learned never to say no to anything, and my willingness to try new things has really opened up my palate. I’ve learned to love foods and spices I used to hate (like fresh ginger and brie) and not to be afraid of making my own bread or learning new cooking techniques. I have become quite fearless in the kitchen and for that I am thankful.

I’m so grateful to you, my loyal readers, who encourage me to challenge myself and wow you with fun and original twists on traditional foods, healthy spins on comfort food, and delicious baked creations which I used to detest. It’s all you. {Insert emoji kisses here}

To show my appreciation, I decided to ride the funfetti wave, because you all seemed to love last year’s funfetti cake which was so popular, it went viral! I love the idea of using the same theme for my Blogoversary each year (I wish I had thought of it sooner), so I’m going to stick with the funfetti thing for many more Blogoversaries to come!

These cute little funfetti pecan clusters are made with 5 pecans, to celebrate my 5th year of blogging! They’ve got the most incredible artisan caramel and I hope you give them a try!

In the meantime, as we head into my SIXTH YEAR (ahhhhh!), I’d love to hear from you. What would you like to see on the blog this year? What are some of your favorites from years past? Have there been any BIB kitchen fails? Please share in the comments below!

Happy Blogoversary! Cheers to many more, and hopefully a cookbook too, very soon!

Blogoversary Funfetti Pecan Turtles

2 cups pecan halves
1 recipe caramel 
12 oz. good quality white chocolate
colored sprinkles

Method:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread the pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake until warm and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Cool and set aside.

Prepare the caramel as per instructions and allow to cool for 20-30 minutes until caramel has thickened and is no longer runny.

Melt the white chocolate over a double boiler.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spoon small dollops of white chocolate onto the baking sheet, using the back of the spoon to smooth it into a small circle. Arrange 5 pecan halves onto each chocolate circle, as pictured. Continue making circles of chocolate, then adding pecans until you have used up your pecans. Place the baking sheet in the fridge for a few minutes, until the chocolate has set up.

Remove the pecans from the fridge and top each cluster with caramel. Refrigerate again until caramel sets.

Place a spoonful of white chocolate over the caramel and top with colored sprinkles. Return to the fridge or set aside until chocolate is firm.

VARIATION: If you don’t want to make caramel from scratch, you may use store-bought caramels. Melt the caramels over a double boiler with a splash of heavy cream or milk and stir until smooth.

NOTE: If you make the caramel from scratch, you will have some left over. Pour the leftover caramel into a parchment lined pan and make caramel chews as per instructions.

Related Posts:

1st Blogoversary Mulled Wine
2nd Blogoversary BBQ Brisket
4th Blogoversary Funfetti Cake

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Artisan Caramels (NO CORN SYRUP)

New Years may have come and gone, but I’ve still got a lot of foodie resolutions to accomplish. Besides for the typical “I’m finally going to lose those stubborn 20 lbs. I’ve been struggling with” promises, I decided to tackle some things in the kitchen this year, and I don’t just mean cooking diet food.

I meet people all the time and one of the questions I’m often asked is, “Are you a chef?”, and I never quite know what to say. Sure I’m a recipe developer who develops custom recipes for companies, writes for food magazines and teaches cooking classes, but am I a CHEF? To me, being a chef is not about the certificate (although I did go to culinary school) or which restaurant you work in. Being a chef means food is your passion, and you are constantly striving to keep with the times and get better at what you do.

Being a chef, to me, means you watch cooking shows and read food magazines in your free time. It means you experiment with cooking techniques and ingredients and you’re never satisfied with the status quo. It means you must try the latest sous vide machine and keep up with the ever-changing food trends. It means you don’t say “I don’t do pastry” or “Smoking is not my thing”.

So when I thought about my foodie resolutions this year, I decided that I have to try everything at least once. There’s no more “I don’t bake” or “I don’t do dough”. If food is my passion (it is!), then I want to be well versed in all things food. Over the past few months, I’ve been taking this commitment to heart, and I’m happy to say I’ve mastered these things in 2015:

✔️ made my own sourdough bread
✔️ learned to cook sous vide
✔️ made a variety of pickled vegetables
✔️ Used fondant for the first time
✔️ Created my own blend of dukkah
✔️ Cooked with plantains
✔️ Made homemade krembos
✔️ Made bread bowls for soup
✔️ Spiralized everything!
✔️ Learned to tolerate cilantro (this is a real victory for me!)
✔️ Made cauliflower everything (rice, couscous, buns, pizza crust, nachos chips)

Now for 2016, some of my foodie resolutions included:

✔️ Learn to smoke meats
✔️ Make kimchi
✔️ Make homemade soft pretzels
✔️ Make my own laffa and pita
✔️ Experiment with flavored sugars and salts
✔️ Deep fry a poached egg
✔️ Make egg yolk ravioli
✔️ Make caramel
✔️ Bake with kataifi

I’m happy to say that as of this writing, I’ve already made homemade pita, and obviously I’ve mastered the art of homemade caramel!

I have to hand it all to my dear foodie friend Melinda Strauss of kitchen-tested, the caramel queen! ‘Mels are even part of Melinda’s name, that’s just how much caramel runs through her veins. She used to sell the most incredible nondairy caramels, aptly named caraMELS, and when I decided to take on the caramel challenge, I knew just who to turn to!

The truth is, this dedicated caramel post was never supposed to happen. Instead, I was working on a special PECAN TURTLE recipe for next week’s blogoversary post, and when I posted pics of the caramel making process, everyone went gaga with requests. And since the caramel making process was a journey in itself (it took three tries to get it right), I decided it deserved a dedicated post.

Melinda gave me a basic recipe to work with, and she really held my hand through the process. Mel and I both have a passion for health-minded recipes, and we both decided that pulling off a corn-syrup-free caramel would be an amazing feat. Most homemade caramel recipes call for corn syrup, and they are a lot easier to make, but I was up for the challenge. After my second batch burnt though, I was feel frustrated and almost ready to give up. But I persevered and boy was it worth it!

The best part about working on three batches of these babies was being able to play around with the ratios to make the perfect combination of chewiness and buttery flavor. Mel was kind of worried when I wanted to add more cream and butter but the proportions worked out perfectly in the end. #thirdtimesacharm.

Stay tuned for a special blogoversary post next week featuring this caramel!

Homemade No-Corn-Syrup Artisan Caramel
adapted from kitchen-tested

YEILD: 30 small caramels

2 cups sugar
½ tsp cream of tartar
1 cup water
1/3 cup heavy cream, room temperature
3 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
fleur de sel, for finishing (I prefer this brand)

Special Equipment: candy thermometer

Line an 8×8 baking dish with parchment paper so that the excess hangs over the edges. Spray the parchment and the sides of the dish with nonstick spray.

In a large pot, combine the sugar, cream of tartar and water and set over low heat to caramelize. Whisk continuously until the sugar dissolves completely and the syrup is clear, around 5-8 minutes. To prevent crystallization, do not rush this step! If sugar crystals appear above the surface of the syrup, wipe down the sides of the pot with a damp pastry brush.

When the sugar dissolves, clip an instant-read thermometer to the side of the pan so that the heat sensor is immersed in the sugar (it must be immersed or it will not read the temperature correctly!). Raise the heat to medium-high and bring the syrup to a boil, whisking until bubbles begin to form, then stop stirring. Continue cooking the sugar without stirring, brushing down the sides of pot if crystals form. Because this is a no-corn-syrup recipe, this process can take 10-15 minutes, do not attempt to rush it by raising the heat!

Once the sugar starts to caramelize, it will quickly darken. Watch it carefully to make sure the caramel does not burn, and if it starts to darken more around the edges, lower your heat a bit, and swirl it with the thermometer to keep the color even throughout. When the syrup reaches 350 degrees F and is a medium-dark amber color, remove it immediately from the heat and add in the heavy cream and butter. Be careful because the mixture will sputter and foam at this point.

When the mixture settles, stir with a silicon spatula until smooth. The caramel will begin cooling down so return the pot to the stove and boil until the mixture reaches 248 degrees F, around 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat, add the salt and vanilla and stir.

Pour the caramel into the parchment-lined dish and knock the pan against the counter to remove air bubbles. Let the caramels set for 2 hours – overnight in a cool, dry place.

Lift the caramels out of the dish using the parchment paper and sprinkle with fleur de sel. Cut into desired shape with a sharp knife. If the caramels stick to your knife, spray your knife with a little nonstick spray.

Cut squares of wax or parchment paper a little larger than the size of your caramels and wrap each caramel, twisting the edges closed.

Caramels will keep at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

NOTE: If you store the caramel in an airtight container to use later (for turtles, cookies etc), you will need to place it in a bowl of boiling water to warm before pouring.


Related Recipes:

s’mores toffee bark
speculoos toffee party mix

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Banana Nut Greek Yogurt Bowl

Bowls are all the rage right now, at least that’s what everyone’s calling them! They’ve got grain bowls, smoothie bowls, salad bowls and soup bowls. Of course these are foods that have gone into bowls before, but now instead of mixing stuff together, the food is neatly organized on a base of smoothie batter, grains, greens or broth. It’s prettier and we all love seeing so many different options on our plates, right?

I’m not a big fan of smoothies, and the idea of topping off a fruit soup with more fruit just doesn’t do it for me, but yogurt I can take. I love to start with a base of plain tangy Greek yogurt. I almost feel like I’m indulging in soft serve (if I dream a little, ok?) and topping it off with some of my favorite toppings makes it feel like a treat. And since muffins or pancakes or scones are not happening around here, I’ll take it!

OK I may have just said that I don’t like smoothies, but the truth is, there is one smoothie that I love and that’s what inspired this yogurt bowl. So if you are into smoothies, give it a try too!

Banana Nut Greek Yogurt Bowl

1 container plain Greek yogurt
1 banana, sliced
2 medjool dates, chopped
toasted oats or granola
heaping spoonful of almond butter
drizzle of silan (date honey) or honey
pinch of cinnamon
fresh figs, optional

Method:

Add the Greek yogurt to a medium sized bowl and top with sliced bananas, dates, oats, almond butter, silan and cinnamon. Enjoy!

Related Recipes:

banana, date, almond milk & honey smoothie
blueberry sweet potato granola salad with strawberry yogurt dressing
banana oat pancakes
strawberry banana yogurt parfait with homemade granola

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Veal Marsala Bolognese with Turnip Noodles

It’s almost New Year’s and stigmas aside, I really want to get back into healthy eating. The December donutfest threw me off the wagon, and I’ve been having a hard time getting back on! I’m back to the “I’ll start tomorrow”,  or just after the weekend, or my favorite, “Monday is a new day”. Except Monday comes and goes and it’s already time for the ball to drop.

So here I am, heading into New Year’s Eve and I’m renewing my commitment to pull out my spiralizer and eat more veggies and less carbs. Who’s in for the ride?

We’ll start with these turnip noodles and this amazingly rich bolognese made with veal (my favorite protein), mushrooms and marsala wine, a twist on the classic chicken marsala.

I’m a big fan of marsala (it’s got wine and mushrooms, hello?!), but bolognese? Not so much. Classic bolognese is made with ground beef (not my fave) and dry red wine, and the good stuff is usually simmered for hours. Truth be told, I usually just make my split-second bolognese by browning my beef and adding store-bought marinara, which is probably why I don’t like it very much. My kids, on the other hand, love it over spaghetti with a side of zoodles. It’s by go-to whenever I need a quick and easy dinner, and eating it over zoodles makes it guilt-free too.

But I’m marinara’d out. I use it for my 2-ingredient lazy meatballs, my quick and easy shakshuka, my cheesy zoodle marinara and so much more. I wanted something different so I decided to create a bolognese that’s marinara-free. Something not so heavy, but rich and tasty, and oh so delicious. I hit the nail on the head.

Not only is this veal bolognese amazingly rich and satisfying, it’s virtually guilt-free when served with spiralized turnip noodles, a nice change from the overdone zoodles. Looks like January 2016 is going to be healthy and delicious indeed. Happy New Year!

Veal Marsala Bolognese

10oz. baby bella mushrooms, stems trimmed and sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/4 lb ground veal
3 tbsp flour
1/2 cup marsala wine
1 cup veal or chicken stock
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper, to taste
fresh parsley, for garnish

Method:

Saute the mushrooms in olive oil until all the liquid has evaporated and mushrooms start to brown. Add garlic and continue to saute until fragrant. Add veal  and cook until crumbly and no longer pink. Sprinkle the flour over the meat and cook until flour is incorporated. Add the wine, stock, bay leaf and seasoning and simmer, stirring, until the sauce has thickened, about 10 minutes. Continue to cook over low heat for an additional 10 minutes. Remove bay leaf and serve over turnip noodles. Garnish with parsley.

Turnip Noodles

1 turnip
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

Wash the turnip well (you do not need to peel) and spiralize into noodles (I use the 3mm blade on this spiralizer).  Saute the noodles in olive oil until tender and season with salt and pepper.

Related Recipes:

spaghetti squash bolognese
melt-in-your-mouth veal meatballs
veal shepherds pie with celery root mashed potatoes
caraway roasted turnips

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Bundt Pan Rotisserie Chicken

I have a confession to make. I used to be afraid of chicken. And I don’t mean of eating it.

Yes, you read that right. When I was a teenager, I wasn’t too fond of helping in the kitchen, and when I had to make chicken, lets just say it was an ordeal. I always wore gloves, but sometimes the chicken got the better of me and I would throw it into the sink, terrified that it would come to life and leap at me.

I mean, do you blame me? Look at that chicken sitting there all pretty. It looks so…well…human.

It took a few years, but I got over my fear. And just time in time for this GENIUS homemade crispy rotisserie chicken hack.

I can’t take credit for this stroke of brilliance. All credit goes to Justin Chapple, the senior editor of Food & Wine Magazine, who’s Mad Genius Tips constantly blow me away!

When I saw a short clip of this easy bunt pan rotisserie chicken on Instagram, I was all over it. I made it for Shabbat that week, and I’ve been making it ever since. It’s my husband’s favorite way to eat chicken, and we always fight over the crispier-than-ever chicken wings!

My favorite thing about this recipe is that it’s super healthy and indulgent nonetheless. You feel like you’re eating fried chicken (it’s that crispy!), but without those extra calories. It also makes a great one-dish meal when you add potatoes or other veggies.

Bundt Pan Rotisserie Chicken

1 whole chicken
1 medium onion, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and diced
2 sticks celery, diced
a few sprigs of thyme
1 lemon, cut in quarters (do not peel)
1 bay leaf
olive oil
salt and pepper

Method:

Preheat oven to 425. Place the vegetables and aromatics around the bundt pan and cover the hole with a piece of foil. Pat the chicken dry and rub with olive oil, salt and pepper and place the chicken cavity over the bundt pan stick. Roast for approximately 1 hour, until chicken is cooked through (internal temperature should be 165 degrees) and the skin is golden and crisp.

VARIATION: You may use other vegetables and/or aromatics, such as parsnips, turnips, potatoes, fresh garlic cloves (no need to peel), rosemary etc. If you are roasting vegetables that you’d like to serve with the chicken (such as potatoes) and they aren’t tender by the time the chicken is cooked, remove the chicken from the bundt pan and return the vegetables to the oven, baking until tender.

NOTE: Try to keep the chicken as raised as possible. This ensures that the skin gets crispy all around.

Related Recipes:

lemon & garlic whole roasted chicken

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