Spicy Roasted Chickpeas

I have actually wanted to try making these for a few months but lost the recipe so I was glad to see it on Our Best Bites today. Normally I don't really like chickpeas, but when they're cooked this way they get crispy and highly munchable. My kids were even eating them. In fact Cameron took the bowl for himself and told me not to get his balls and that he's not going to let me have any. (Fine with me kiddo! You eat all the chickpeas you want since you're potty trained now! Ha ha!) He's keeping his water bottle nearby because they do have a little spice to them, but it must not bother him too much! You can alter the spiciness to your tastes. I used 1/8 tsp rather than 1/4 tsp of the cayenne.

The original recipe actually comes from a site called What's Gaby Cooking. I've included her original spices as a variation. (I haven't tried that combo yet).

Spicy Roasted Chickpeas
1 15-oz can chickpeas
1 1/2 tsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. cumin

Preheat oven to 400. Drain and rinse chickpeas and pat dry with paper towels. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine the oil and spices. Toss the chickpeas in the spice mixture and spread the seasoned chickpeas over a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes and then use a spatula to stir the chickpeas around a bit. Return to the oven and cook for another 15-20 minutes or until browned (but not burned) and crispy. Allow to cool.

Spice Variation:
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. paprika

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies Supreme

I really like chocolate chip cookies with oatmeal. As a kid, I always got the oatmeal chocolate chip cookie for my free cookie from the grocery store. Oddly enough, I've had this recipe since we got married and I've never tried it until this week. Duh! Probably because it takes more ingredients than I typically put into a chocolate chip cookie - it has a grated chocolate bar as well as chocolate chips. But, that being said, I think these would still be good without the grated chocolate bar.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies Supreme

1 c. butter, softened
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. flour
2 1/2 c. oats (measure it then blend dry in a blender to look like a flour)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 bag (12 oz) chocolate chips
1 8-oz Hershey or Symphony bar, grated, optional
1 1/2 c. chopped nuts, optional

Cream butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Add chocolate chips, grated chocolate and nuts, if using. Roll into balls. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes.

Yield: About 100 cookies, depending on the size you roll.

Spring-form Fiasco

Becky spent a lot of time making a lemon tart thing in the spring-form pan. While we were eating dinner the timer alerted us that the tart was finished baking. I told Becky that I'd get it out of the oven and show it to her so she could make sure it was done. With both hands in oven mitts I picked up the pan. Left hand holding the pan and right hand under the pan apparently applying too much pressure on the bottom of the pan. The bottom of the pan tipped up, the tart spilled out all over the bottom of the oven. The same oven I'd just cleaned a week ago.
I gasped! The oven sizzled as the filling poured out all over! I cried "Oh no!" Everyone wanted to know what happened. I showed them what was left of the tart and admitted that perhaps I didn't actually know how to pick up a spring-form pan properly. However, I do think it might be a good idea to place a spring-form pan on a cookie sheet in the oven. Just sayin'.


We did try what was left of the tart and Becky will be posting the recipe soon......

All that filling burning onto my clean oven. How sad.

The next day, Alan cleaned all the sticky mess out of the bottom of the oven. At least he thought he got it all. Apparently it leaked over the sides of that bottom piece and onto the elements. Late that night, J turned on the oven to make a pizza and smoke began to pour out of the oven and then flames erupted! He ran upstairs and pounded on our door and Alan went down and they put the fire out and J had to throw the pizza away :( The house STILL smells like smoke - Gag! I opened two windows and turned on the attic fan and the temperature outside was a chilly 22 degrees. I would say this little spill has earned the title - Fiasco!

Roasted Tomato Soup

This is absolutely the best tomato soup I've ever had. Jeremy really doesn't like tomato soup (he was so excited to see this on the menu!) but he even admitted that this is pretty darn good.

Roasted Tomato Soup

1 1/4 lb. Ripe Tomatoes (about 4 Large Tomatoes)
1/3 Medium Yellow Onion
4 Garlic Cloves
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 tsp. Salt
Pepper
1 1/2 Cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth
1 Tbsp. Tomato Paste
1/4 Cup Heavy Cream or Half and Half, optional


1. Preheat the oven to 350′. Cut the tomatoes and onion into wedges. Spread them on a rimmed baking sheet – don't separate onion pieces too much or the thin pieces will burn. Drizzle with the olive oil (I didn't measure this, I just drizzled some from the bottle) and sprinkle the salt and a generous amount of pepper on top. Tuck the garlic cloves somewhere in a tomato, so they don’t burn. Roast on the middle rack for 30-40 minutes until the tomatoes have broken down and everything is looking roasted. Remove and cool slightly.
2. Warm the broth and stir in the tomato paste to dissolve. Add the all of the ingredients from the roasting pan into the broth and let it gently simmer for 5-10 minutes. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup in the pan – if you pour the soup into a regular blender, hold the lid on very tight when you start to blend because the steam will force the soup up and it will splatter everywhere! The soup should be smooth, with a tiny bit of texture. Return it back to the pot, and add the cream to taste (I didn't use this), if using. Taste for salt and pepper.
3. Serve with some garlic bread or broil a few slices with a piece of mozzarella on top.

**I didn't use the cream and I didn't miss it.

Poppy Seed Waffles with Lemon Cream

I made these for breakfast this morning and we were all fans of them. Carrie and I especially enjoyed the lemon. :) Jeremy didn't love the lemon, but he put maple syrup on them and said they tasted just like a poppy seed muffin with syrup.

Poppy Seed Waffles with Lemon Cream

Lemon Cream:
1 large egg plus 2 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp lemon zest

Poppy Seed Waffles:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp poppy seeds
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
3 large eggs, separated
4 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 tsp almond extract

For the Lemon Cream, in medium sauce pan, whisk together egg, yolks, and sugar. Slowly add cream, whisking until well blended. Heat over medium heat, whisking the entire time, until mixture thickens (about 8-10 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and zest. Refrigerate about 2 hours or until cool (you can also put it in the freezer now and it should be cool by the time the waffles are ready).

For the waffles, in a medium sized bowl whisk together the flours, sugar, baking soda and baking powder. Stir in poppy seeds. In another medium sized bowl, whisk the sour cream, milk, egg yolks, butter and almond extract. Pour mixture into dry ingredients and mix just until wet batter is formed (lumps are okay). Meanwhile, in a small bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold egg whites into batter. Cook according to manufacturer's instructions on waffle iron. Top with lemon cream.
Yield 8 - 10 waffles

**These were not difficult, but they were a bit time consuming. It also makes quite a bit of the lemon cream. I think next time I do these I'll double the waffle recipe and then freeze the extras along with the extra lemon cream.

Gingerbread with Lemon Sauce

This is so yummy! I haven't made it in a while so I'm glad that Becky asked me to track down the recipe for her so I know where it is now! I use a gingerbread recipe from Pillsbury and a lemon sauce from Betty Crocker. As a side note, gingerbread is also really good with whipped cream!

Gingerbread with Lemon Sauce

Gingerbread
1 1/3 c. flour
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. boiling water
1/2 c. molasses
1 egg, slightly beaten

Lemon Sauce
1/2 c. sugar
2 T. cornstarch
3/4 c. water
1 T. grated lemon peel, optional
1/4 c. lemon juice
2 T. butter

Heat oven to 350.  Grease bottom only of 9-inch round pan.  In large bowl, combine dry ingredients.  Add remaining gingerbread ingredients; blend well. Pour into greased pan. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

For the sauce: Mix sugar and cornstarch in a 1-quart saucepan.  Gradually stir in water.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils.  Boil and stir1 minute; remove from heat.
Stir in remaining ingredients.

Serve warm with the gingerbread.

Choco-Berry Tarts

We found this recipe in Family Fun over Thanksgiving and decided it sounded rather tasty! We're thinking that it would be good with other berries too. Our raspberries were huge so we cut them in half. Since it only uses some of a can of sweetened condensed milk, you could use the rest to make Escamochas! So buy some extra fruit!

Choco-Berry Tartlets

Crust:

1/2 C butter, softened

3/4 C sugar

1 egg

2 tsp vanilla

1 2/3 C flour

1/3 C unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

Filing:

3/4 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

3/4 C sweetened condensed milk

1/2 C seedless red raspberry jam

36 fresh raspberries

Powdered sugar

Heat oven to 350°.  LIghtly grease 36 mini muffin cups. 

Crust:

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until creamy, about 2 minutes.  Beat in the egg and vanilla until well blended, about 1 minute.  Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and beat on medium-low speed until just blended, 1-2 minutes.

Transfer dough to a clean work surface and divide it into 36 equal pieces.  Shape each piece into a 1-inch ball and press it evenly into the bottom and up the sides of the prepared muffin cups.

Filling:

In a medium saucepan over low heat, stir together the chocolate chips and condensed milk until the mixture is smooth, about 2 minutes.  Remove it from the heat and stir in the jam until well blended, about 2 minutes.  Place a raspberry in each cup, then cover it with about 2 teaspoons of the chocolate mixture.

Bake the tartlets until the crust is set, about 15 minutes.  Set the pan on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes then transfer each tartlet to a rack to cool completely.  Once cool, sprinkle tartlets with powdered sugar.

For maximum freshness, store in the refrigerator.