Homemade Starbucks (kind of)

As you can tell from my Kahlua post, I'm a coffee drinker. I broke my Starbucks, Bella Latte, Hub City Coffee habit a while back, but I still prefer to drink better coffee than Folgers or Maxwell House (that is unless I'm supplying it for the office).

So, I found this little gem of a recipe, and I would love to give credit where credit is due, but honestly, I copied it down and now have totally forgotten where it came from. Instead of scraping it due to lack of credentials, I feel obligated to share because it sounds great.
No, I haven't tried it yet, but I will.

Mexican Hacienda - Hot coffee with chocolate and brown sugar and other spices.
Mixing your spices before you brew can add flavor so easily. This is a particularly sweet way to serve up a cup of coffee, with generous amounts of chocolate and brown sugar.
Ingredients:

* 125ml ground coffee
* 80ml chocolate syrup
* 1 tbs cinnamon
* 250ml milk
* 60ml brown sugar
* 1/4 tsp nutmeg
* 1 tsp vanilla

Preparation:
Before brewing, combine coffee, cinnamon and nutmeg. Brew however you like. In another small saucepan, heat brown sugar, syrup and milk. Stir until sugar is melted and dissolved. Pour sugar mixture into hot coffee, and add vanilla.

So, the key to making your coffee flavored without using heavy syrups is to mix the coffee grounds and the spices BEFORE brewing. I would have never thought of that.

Cinnamon Watermelon Rind Pickles

Tonight I’m venturing into completely new territory. Not only am I trying a brand new recipe of a dish I’ve never tasted before but I’m also trying a new technique which I’ve never done before.

I am attempting to create pickled watermelon rind. First, I’ve never tasted it, but I’ve heard and read through other blogs that apparently if it’s done right, it’s extremely tasty. I’ve found three, very different recipes, and I choose what honestly just appealed to me the most. The first recipe I found was from About.com and probably is the one I should have tried, but I couldn’t get past the mustard seeds. The second recipe is truly intriguing and I would love to try it some time but I really wanted to try this recipe this weekend and getting ingredients such as pink peppercorns wasn’t exactly convenient. I decided to go with the third recipe because it was easy and was the most detailed on the process.

However, I did deviate from the recipe slightly, and not really on purpose. All the recipes, although they don’t specifically state it, assume you are using red watermelons. Considering all of them said to cut away the pink flesh. Well, I picked up yellow watermelon. Yes, I know the difference and I certainly can read labels but my husband really wanted to try it, so I figured, “hey, what the heck!” So, I’m going with yellow watermelon.

I had to alter the recipe because I had no where near the amount of rinds that it called for, so hopefully I’ll get to fill an entire quart jar.
I’ll post the recipe in its entirety and then post my changes at the end.

Cinnamon Watermelon Rind Pickles
Makes about 4 to 5 (16 oz) pints


You will need:
 16 cups sliced peeled watermelon rind* (about 2 medium)
 1 cup pickling or canning salt
 8 cups cool water, divided
 6 cups granulated sugar
 4 cups white vinegar
 3 cinnamon sticks, broken in half
 4 to 5 (16 oz) pint glass preserving jars with lids and bands


*To prepare watermelon rind, remove dark green peel from watermelon rind and discard. Cut rind into 2- x 1-inch slices.

Directions:
DAY 1
1.) LAYER watermelon rind and salt in a large crock, glass or stainless steel bowl. Add 4 cups of the cool water. Place a large clean inverted plate on top of the rind and weigh down with two or three quart jars filled with water and capped. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean towel and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

DAY 2
1.) TRANSFER rind to a colander placed over a sink. Drain and rinse in cool running water. Drain and rinse again. Drain thoroughly.

2.) COMBINE rind with remaining 4 cups cool water in a large stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and boil gently until rind is fork-tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.

3.) COMBINE sugar, vinegar and cinnamon stick halves in a clean large stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Reduce heat and boil gently for 5 minutes, until cinnamon has infused the liquid. Add drained rind and return to a boil. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour, until watermelon is translucent. Discard cinnamon sticks.

4.) PREPARE boiling water canner. Heat jars and lids in simmering water until ready for use. Do not boil. Set bands aside.

5.) PACK hot rind into hot jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Ladle hot pickling liquid into jar to cover rind leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Apply band until fit is fingertip tight.

6.) PROCESS jars in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down when center is pressed.

Now, the changes I made:
I used only 6 cups of rinds because I only had a small watermelon. Because of that, I cut everything in half except the water amount to boil the rinds in, as 4 cups didn’t really cover the rinds, so I boiled the rinds in 6 cups of water.
The other change I made was to use 3 cups of vinegar instead of 2 (which would have been cutting the recipe in half) as again, it wasn’t covering all the rinds.


Ok, so I'm about 12 minutes away from actually getting the rinds into jars and packing them in the fridge. I know you can store them in the pantry, but something about watermelon (or rinds for this matter), just doesn't' seem right being eaten at room temperature. So, after the jars cool, I'll put them in the fridge and then when I get around to testing them, I'll be sure to post!

The Kahlua Experiment Update

Today as I was transferring my homemade Kahlua that I made last weekend into smaller jars, I just so happened to accidentally taste it. Being that the huge container it was in was taking up entirely too much space in my refrigerator and wasn't really made for holding things of the sort (as it was originally my pasta container!), I transferred my 9+ cups of homemade Kahlua into actual mason jars.

Of course, while transferring them I had to check the consistency of the Kahlua with a spoon, to see if the honey had actually thickened it up some. While checking the consistency, I really needed to smell the coffee concoction because I needed to see if it had changed, or something. So, while taking a big whiff, the spoon somehow ended up in my mouth and I must just say this.

I will indeed me making this again! Although it's only been 6 days since I made it, the flavor has definitely changed. It's gotten much deeper, the coffee is still the predominate taste but the honey is really coming through as well. I'll be very excited to taste it again next week and then try the final product in 30 days!

The Kahlua Experiment

Saturday night while most of my house was watching a great fight between GSP and Fitch, I was in my laboratory (read: kitchen) experimenting with my latest, most scientific concoction (read: homemade Kahlua).

I won't know the results of this experiment for another 28 days, however, I am having a very positive vibe about this. I did something totally unorthodox and actually taste tested my concoction before sealing it and storing it away for it's "setting" process. And I'll be damned, it tasted like Kahlua. So, I'm only certain that the "setting" of it will make it that much better.

So, let's get into the nitty-gritty of this fabulous recipe, shall we?

I carefully documented everything as far as ingredients and procedure went, because if this turns out to be something fabulous, I most definitely want to recreate it!

1/5 gallon Grain Alcohol
8C Water
2C Dark Brown Sugar
1C Honey
½C Instant Coffee (Don’t buy generic)
6 Tbsp Vanilla (Use real bourbon vanilla, not the imitation crap)

Heat water, sugar, and honey until melted.
Add coffee crystals and simmer 30 minutes.
Cool to 110 degrees and add vanilla.
Let set for at least 30 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add alcohol and stir well.
***Do Not Bring To A Boil***

After I was done I took a small taste just to see if it even resembled Kahlua and guess what? It did! So, hopefully within 2 weeks to 30 days (depending on how long I can wait), we'll see how good it is!

Quck & easy hors d'oeuvres

Last night was a typical UFC fight night in our house, it was filled with friends, family and food. I usually do some fight night food just because it gives me a chance to either try new recipes and get feedback (from entirely too honest people) or to put together my true-blue-favorites (for when I'm all needy for compliments).

Last night I did a little mix of new and old: "Best Bacon Dip Ever", "Wasabi Ham Rolls", "Bacon Ham Rolls", and "Fire Bites".

Ready? FIGHT! Oh wait, I mean COOK!

The "Best Bacon Dip Ever" I have to credit to my husband, he threw this together as a last minute dip and it turned out to be a popular choice.

Ingredients
1 tub Sour Cream (16 oz)
1/2 cup Fine chopped Green Onions
1/2 cup Bacon Bits or Crumbled Fresh Cooked Bacon
1/3 cup Finely shredded Cheddar Cheese

Directions
Mix all the ingredients and chill! How easy is that?

We served the dip with both tortilla and regular ruffled chips. I preferred the tortilla, but it seems to go well with either.

The "Wasabi Ham Rolls" and the "Bacon Ham Rolls" are a GREAT recipe in my eyes because it's so quick and easy. You can make them fancy or plain and you can fix them shortly before or the night before. It just gives you so many options and you can change up the filling to your liking that this is an hors d'oeuvre that you can totally customize depending on your mood. I've always gotten compliments on this one and I'm going to explain a few was to change or dress it up.

Ingredients
1 package Oscar Myer Ham (thickly slicked squares), sliced in half
1 package Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup Bacon Bits or Freshly Cooked Bacon Crumbled
1/2 cup Finely chopped Green Onions
Wasabi, to taste
Toothpicks

For Wasabi Rolls, mix softened cream cheese and Wasabi. I used an entire tube in mine because I know that myself and my guests enjoy the punch of Wasabi. I suggest you taste this as you mix in and find your perfect mixture.

For Bacon Rolls, mix softened cream cheese, bacon bits and chopped green onions.

Directions
I spread a small block (about 1 inch by 1 inch) on one end of one slice of halved ham and then roll and hold closed with a toothpick. However, my mother usually will spread the mixture over the entire slice and then roll so it gets the layered roll look to it. That's just a preference. She goes for look and I go for ease.

Variations
The mixture can be a mixture of almost anything. Another popular mixture is cream cheese mixed with shredded cucumber and a little garlic. Let your imagination go with these, you can come up with some great variations to serve.
Also, you can fancy the ham rolls up by slicking the ham in half with a crinkle cutter instead of a regular knife. It gives it a very pretty edge on one end.
And in addition to toothpicks, you can sub them for slivers of carrot. I've run into a problem with that because I can't seem to find the perfect size to spike the roll with. It's either too small and can't penetrate the skin or it's too big and just creates a huge gash in it.

My "Fire Bites" are a fan favorite and I wish I would remember to make them more often because I forget how much I (I mean others!) enjoy them. They really aren't quite as hot as they sound but depending on the jalapeños you choose, they could really have a kick!

Ingredients
12 Jalapeños Halved (to make 24)
1 package Cream Cheese, softened
12 pieces of Bacon, Halved (to make 24)
Toothpicks

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 (for a light or thin baking sheet) or 375 for a darker sheet or stone.
After halving the jalapeños, remove the seeds and clean the core out. Be careful, you may want to wear gloves while doing this.
Fill each jalapeño with cream cheese. Wrap the jalapeño with a halved piece of Bacon and hold it in place with a toothpick.
Cook at one of the above temperatures (depending on the type of baking dish you use), I use a stone bar pan for mine. Cook for 30-40 minutes, depending on how crisp you want the bacon. I suggest not letting it get too crispy or you will loose a lot of flavor.

Let cool and serve!!

There you have it!! Super easy hors d'oeuvre for any occasion!

Rocky Road No-Bake Cheesecake

I will start this recipe off by saying, do not over chop your peanuts and chocolate. I did and basically after mixing it all together, I didn't get the real chunky-ness that I should have within the pie mix. Also, I wouldn't recommend using a stand mixer, no matter how low of a setting. I think I would have gotten the desired look if I would have just stirred things in instead. However, I think I can safely say that the taste is perfect. It tastes so much like rocky road ice cream!


So without further a due, I'll post the recipe, compliments of Kraft Foods.

Prep Time:
15 min

Total Time:
4 hr 15 min

Makes:
10 servings, one slice each

Ingredients:

3 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, divided

2 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup milk

2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

3/4 cup JET-PUFFED Miniature Marshmallows

1/3 cup chopped PLANTERS COCKTAIL Peanuts

1 OREO Pie Crust (6 oz.)

MICROWAVE 1 of the chocolate squares in small microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1 min; stir until chocolate is completely melted. Set aside.

BEAT cream cheese, sugar and milk in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add melted chocolate; mix well. Gently stir in whipped topping, marshmallows and peanuts. Coarsely chop remaining 2 chocolate squares; stir into cream cheese mixture. Spoon into crust.

REFRIGERATE 4 hours or until set. Store leftover pie in refrigerator.

See the picture below to see my finished product: You really can't see the great color it has!

Homemade Kahlua

I was intrigued today while talking to someone who mentioned that they make their own infused alcohol - such peach vodka, cherry brandy, etc. Not just "flavored" but infused. I think it's going to be something I definitely try, but before jumping into the big stuff, I'm going to try doing some homemade Kahlua.

I've found two variations, one semi-easy and one semi-easier. I plan on making both this weekend. Both recipes say to let it sit for 30 days to age, so I'm going to post the recipe this weekend as I make it to document the process, but the "Kahlua Taste Off" won't be for another 30 days.

So, stayed tuned for this Saturday!