Spotlight: Kernel Season's Barbecue

I have tried nearly all the variety's the great Kernel offers, but I can't get enough of the BBQ.  It has a nice balance of flavor's.  You will probably not find this in stores, but you can order it online.  I get mine though amazon in bulk.

Spotlight: Trader Joe's Freeze Dried Fruit

While I am thinking about Trader Joe's, I wanted to also showcase their freeze dried fruit.  Good stuff.  My favorite is the banana.  It reminds me of marshmallows in cereal.

Spotlight: Trader Joe's Pulled Chicken Breast

Need some healthy BBQ in a hurry? I recommend this stuff. It heats up in 3 minutes and surprisingly has a good taste.

Bridal Shower Eats

My wife asked me to make some goodies for one of her friends bridal shower last week. I made a couple of different cookies and by request, some more sausage cheese balls. The first cookies I a made were Mexican Wedding cookies. I followed The American Test Kitchen's recipe with the exception that I toasted the pecan's for about 10 minutes. These are one of my wife's favorite cookies.

I also made up my own cookie with a little help. I found a tart dough recipe on Chef Eddy's website, then turned it into cookies. After chilling, I rolled out the dough very thinly and cut it with a heart shaped cookie cutter. I baked them for about 10 minutes, cooled them, spread the hazelnut paste I made on half of them, sandwiched them, then dipped them in both white and semisweet chocolate. They turned out great.

Hazelnut Paste

Do you like Nutella? If so you might be interested in this stuff. I have made some hazelnut paste, not to be confused with hazelnut praline paste. I never caramelized the sugars, hence this is not a praline. I have made the caramelized version before. I like this version better, plus it's easier to make.

Ingredients:

hazelnuts
powdered sugar
hazelnut oil

Toast hazelnuts in a 350 degree oven for about 20-25 minutes. Don't over toast. Once out of the oven, cover with a towel for about 20 minutes. This step makes removing the skins easier. To remove the skins rub vigorously with the towel. If some skin won't come off, don't worry, it doesn't matter much. Next, weigh the nut's. Place in a food processor and turn on. Once you have hazelnut butter, add in an equal amount (by weight) of powdered sugar. Continue to process for about 3 minutes. If the mixture looks dry, add a tsp or two of oil until the paste looks like hazelnut butter again. That's it, you now have hazelnut paste. Next mission: don't eat it all at once. May not be as easy as it sounds.

Invert Sugar

I mentioned yesterday in my post about gelato that the next time I make it I will try using some invert sugar. To be prepared, I made some today. I found Eddy Van Damme's website using Google. He does a great job explaining its uses. Check it out if you are interested. I halved the recipe since I wanted to do a test run first. You can buy the stuff, but with the right tools, its very easy to make. I think it will come in handy.

Food Find: Shark Bites

I was surprised to find these at Woodman's the other day. They actually still make these things. Are they still advertised? Brings back memories.