TWD Slacker-Style: Chocolate-Crunched Caramel Tart

I have a confession to make. I can't get anything in my personal life done in a timely manner. My house looks like a tornado just touched down in the middle of it. I completely forgot to get some work done for our church's annual chili supper that's coming up on Saturday. My continuing education hours (10!) are due by the end of October, and I haven't started on them. And I didn't get my TWD assignment done on time. That's just the beginning. There's more, but it's too depressing to discuss. Let's move on to the food!
Anyway, I actually completed the Chocolate-Crunched Caramel Tart last night at about 10pm, after a really long day of training and being on the road. My daylight was long gone, so I waited until this evening to get some pictures. While baking is my very favorite thing to do, I just wasn't feeling it last night...but I was feeling obligated to participate. My heart wasn't in this one, and I could tell by the final product...
I was able to make my tart dough made ahead of time, before I went out of town Sunday night. But this tart dough gives me fits every time I use it. I need some kind of a tutorial before I make it. I just can't get the texture that I think I'm supposed to have, and I can't get it pressed into the pan evenly to save my life. I usually just succumb to defeat and jam it in the pan and call it "good enough."
This was the first time I've ever made caramel, and it's always been one of those things that I've been intimidated to try, but it was surprisingly easy, thanks to Dorie's directions. I just don't think it had enough intensity of flavor, though. I think it's because I was so terrified of burning it that I didn't let it boil long enough. It kind of got lost in the chocolate ganache layer. About the ganache...Dorie's recipe called for 8 oz. of bittersweet chocolate, which I used. Next time, I'd use 4 oz. of bittersweet and 4 oz. of semi-sweet. It just needed a little bit of sweetness, but part of that may be because my caramel wasn't quite right.
All in all, I think it was a nice dessert. It was definitely a challenge to me, but it wasn't a challenge I needed after a long (and somewhat emotionally-exhausting) day. I'd like to try it another time with a double batch of caramel and more rest (for me!).
This recipe was chosen by Carla, of Chocolate Moosey. She's waited 16 months for her turn to pick the recipe! I'm pretty sure we'll have finished the book by the time it's my turn to pick (I'm number 254 in the recipe rotation...Carla was #82), but I'm having a great time baking along! If you'd like to try your hand at the Chocolate-Crunched Caramel Tart, Carla has it posted on her blog. Have fun!

Taco Soup

It's been another wild week at my house. Last Monday and Tuesday, David and I took a couple of vacation days and visited Jenny Wiley State Park. That left Wednesday, Thursday, and part of Friday to prepare for the weekend class I was scheduled to teach. Friday night and all day Saturday were spent teaching. Monday and Tuesday of this coming week, I have to be out of town for work-related stuff. Whew! I think I only made one home-cooked meal last week, and it was a grilled chicken salad...hardly anything to blog about! I feel like I've neglected David in the food department, so on Saturday evening, while he was settling in for the UK-Florida massacre, I set about making a big ol' part of soup for him to have while I'm out of town.
I decided on Paula Deen's Taco Soup for a number of reasons. It's quick. It's easy. It's hearty. It's man-friendly. It's full of fiber (okay, so that reason is a stretch). And it's super-tasty!
Please forgive me for the less-than-perfect photo. I was on my way out the door tonight and snapped a quick picture. This soup is a staple in our house during the fall and winter, because it's just that good...I mean, what else would you expect from Paula Deen? Anyway, give this recipe a try on the first chance that you get. You won't be disappointed!

Taco Soup

Paula Deen

Ingredients:
Jalapenos

Chopped green onions

Grated cheese

Sour cream

Corn chips

1 1-ounce package ranch salad dressing mix

1 1 1/4-ounce package taco seasoning mix

1/2 cup green olives, sliced (optional)

1 small can black olives, drained and sliced (optional)

2 4 1/2-ounce cans diced green chilies

1 14 1/2-ounce can tomatoes with chilies

1 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes

1 14 1/2-ounce can mexican tomatoes

1 15 1/4-ounce can whole kernal corn, drained

1 15 1/2-ounce cans pink kidney beans

2 15-1/2 ounce cans pinto beans

2 cup diced onions

2 lb ground beef

Directions:
Brown the ground beef and onions in a large skillet; drain the excess fat, then transfer the browned beef and onions to a large crackpot or a stockpot. Add the beans, corn, green onions, tomatoes, chilies, olives, and seasonings, and cook on low setting all day (6 to 8 hours) if using a crockpot, or simmer over low heat for about 1 hour in a stockpot on the stove. To serve, place a few corn chips in each bowl and ladle soup over them. Top with sour cream, cheese, and jalapenos.

The Ultimate Compliment

If you're a regular around here, you know that I work for Lindsey Wilson College's School of Professional Counseling. I work at one of their many extended campus sites, and part of my job duties include teaching. All of our courses are offered on weekends, so that means that several of my weekends are spent teaching on Friday nights and on Saturdays. Today was the last meeting of one of the classes that I'm teaching during this semester, so we decided to have a potluck lunch. I brought corn pudding. Mmm...
It was during this potluck lunch that I received what I consider to be the ultimate compliment. One of my students said, "Erin, who taught you how to cook? Paula Deen?" Besides the fact that in my mind Paula Deen's food = delicious, it meant even more that it came from a woman who was raised in the deep South, where they know real, good Southern food. Several of the students really liked the corn pudding, which is easily in my Top 5 Favorite Foods list. A number of them even asked me for the recipe. But I didn't give it out, and I won't post the recipe here...for now. You see, I didn't get this recipe until I married my husband, so I kind of get the impression that it's maybe a secret family recipe. After all, the Klingenfus/Orr clan refers to it as "Aunt Lila's Corn Pudding." (Just as an aside...neither David nor I know who Aunt Lila is/was.) There's nothing difficult or labor-intensive about the recipe...in fact I put it together at 6am this morning while I was still half-asleep. But it's just perfect. It's wonderfully moist, but not runny. It's slightly sweet, but not too sweet. It's got a perfect corn to cornbread ratio. It's corn pudding perfection.
So, after listening to me wax poetic about the corn pudding, do you have a secret family recipe? Or your no-fail, go-to recipe that gets tons of compliments? Fill us in!

TWD: Cottage Cheese Pufflets

Yuck. Sorry...that's it. I was so disappointed in these things. They were a pain in my rear from the time I started, and by the time I was done, I was cranky.
Cottage cheese has its place, but it does not belong in dough. This has got to be the stickiest, most stubborn, temperamental dough ever in the history of the world. It seemed like I had it out of the fridge for a minute and a half, and it was goopy and sticking to everything. I let it chill overnight before I started working with it. Then I rolled it with about 4 passes of the rolling pin, then chilled it (repeat about 6 times). I cut my rounds with the cookie cutters, then chilled them. Then I filled them and chilled them. Finally, by the time I got the first batch in the oven, I had used up my patience quotient for the day (and those of you who really know me know that I don't have much to begin with). I had high hopes. I filled some with PB and Nutella (due to my recent addiction to the stuff) and others were filled with strawberry jam. I baked them just like Dorie said, and I dusted them with powdered sugar and let them cool. And they weren't good.
This was one of the PB/Nutella ones. Look at that stupid "pufflet". There's no puff involved, really. It's just a cottage-cheesy flop. These won't be on my "to-make" list ever again. I sure hope some of the other TWDers enjoyed them, but I didn't. Ugh. For the record, though, this is the first time I've been disappointed with a TWD recipe. And oh my goodness...I have high hopes for next week. Chocolate? Check. Caramel? Check. Honey roasted peanuts? Check. I'm gonna have to get some bigger pants.
Anyway, if you're feelin' froggy this week and have some cottage cheese you want to make cookies out of, head on over to Daisy Lane Cupcakes for the recipe. I hope Jacque had better luck and more patience than me!

Cinnamon-Walnut Spirals

I found the recipe for these tasty little morsels in the October issue of Country Living magazine, which was given to me by my Aunt Betty. She knows I love Halloween. For the record, the October issue of Country Living is by far my most favorite magazine issue every year. It's my favorite issue of any magazine, any year! And, for the record, Fall is my favorite time of year for baking. As I was browsing through this year's issue, I found this recipe in a little article called "Three Fresh Ideas for Frozen Puff Pastry." (Sorry, I can't find the recipe or article online.) I happened to have a sheet of frozen puff pastry leftover from making the Parisian Apple Tarts for Tuesdays with Dorie. The only thing the recipe called for that I didn't have was pecans. But I had walnuts, so I forged ahead!

These were so darn good, and so easy to make. I don't want anyone to be misled, though...these aren't anything like cinnamon rolls or sticky buns. They're more like a little breakfast pastry. They're crunchy and super-flaky. I couldn't really taste the orange zest as much as I would have liked, so I would add more of that in the future. These are tasty little treats that would be great with a nice cup of coffee and a good book. They're a perfect way to get ready for fall. Look out guys, I've got lots of pumpkin-laced recipes on my to-make list...I'm just waiting for the official start of fall...and that's Wednesday! Here's the original recipe from Country Living, which called for pecans. The only thing I changed was the substitution of walnuts.

Cinnamon-Pecan Spirals

Country Living Magazine

6 Tbs. sugar

1 1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1 Tbs. unsalted butter

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed

1/2 cup chopped pecans

zest of one orange

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Melt butter. Unfold the puff pastry. Lightly brush the puff pastry with melted butter and sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar. Press into dough. Fligh dough and repeat. Roll to 11- by 16-inch rectangle. Toss the pecans and zest; sprinkle half of this mixture over the dough. Fold dough in half to 11- by 8-inch rectangle. Press remaining nut mixture into dough, covering the surface. Starting from one of the long sides, roll into a tight log. Trim edge. Wrap in plastic and chill for 20 minutes. Cut log into 1/3-inch-thick slices. Place 2 inches apart on 2 parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake for 10 minutes.

Broiled Tilapia Parmesan

Usually, during one shopping trip at the beginning of each month, I purchase all of our meat for that month. I always get tilapia fillets, pork chops, flank steak, chicken and a little ground beef. Those are our staples, but if we have a recipe we want to try that calls for a different cut/type of meat, we'll probably go ahead and get it, but I try to keep fish, pork, flank steak, and ground beef because they're all so versatile. When I have those things in my freezer, I'm always confident that I can come up with a quick, tasty dinner in no time at all.

I noticed that we hadn't been eating much of our fish (probably because it was shoved underneath about 6 bags of frozen blackberries!), so I decided to look for something new to try. Our go-to fish recipe is Italian Tilapia, but I've blogged about that before, so I needed something new! I visited The Sister's Cafe because I knew I'd find something tasty there! Of course, they didn't let me down. When I found a recipe that called for butter, mayo, and parmesan cheese, I knew I was on to something good. I put this together in no time, and once again amazed my husband at how quickly I got supper on the table. Really, it took longer to gather the ingredients than it did to put them together and cook the fish! David and I enjoyed the fish; you'd think it would be "heavy" with the mayo, butter, and cheese, but it was surprisingly light. It's not exactly diet food, but if you monitor your intake all day, it's not a calorie budget-buster by any means. I won't repost the recipe...I'll just send you here so that you can get it straight from The Sisters! Enjoy!

Dangerous.

You see that stuff? That is a 13-oz bottle of danger. A jar of diet disaster. It's food of the gods. And how have I made it nearly 30 years without ever tasting the stuff?! The first time I ever heard about Nutella was from a college roommate, Emily. She used to keep a jar in the suite, but I never tasted it. Then, I saw Giada de Laurentiis using it on her show in several recipes. Most recently, I've noticed bloggers using it in a number of recipes. The common denominator in all of those people is that they all talk about how wonderful it is. How have I held out this long?!

Yesterday, I broke down and bought a jar. I bought it on a whim. I had to go to Kroger to buy 2 dozen eggs for David to take to the church men's breakfast this morning. On my way back to the dairy case, I made my way through the produce section, past the bread, and by the peanut butter/jam/honey aisle. And there it was. It was calling my name. It was on sale. I bought it. I just had to see what all the fuss is about.

Well...the fuss is well-founded! Oh my word, I thought I was in chocolate heaven. I expected a texture like peanut butter, but it's actually more like slightly melted frosting. And the taste? It tastes JUST LIKE those Ferrero Rocher chocolates that I adore. I ate 2 teaspoons full just standing at the pantry door. Then I had to put it away. Then David came home and I made him taste it (and I had a couple more teaspoons full). And ever since then, this daggum jar of Nutella has been on my mind. Seriously...it has a little voice, and I can hear it constantly, calling me from the pantry. "Erin...get a spoon...get some Nutella!" I'm trying to resist, but I swear ya'll, it's like those Sirens from Greek mythology. It's gonna be the death of me.

As I've been trying to resist the call of the Nutella, I've been thinking about ways to use it in baking. First and foremost, Nutella and peanut butter will be used as fillings in my Cottage Cheese Pufflets that you'll be seeing on Tuesday. I thought it would make a nice swirl in some homemade ice cream. And I thought you could maybe marble a cake with it. Pound cake, even. And then I Googled Nutella, and there are pages devoted to Nutella recipes. Oh, my. Someone's going to have to stage an intervention. Help.