PW's Potato Skins

Hmmm, let me think of a time that wouldn't be good to serve these...no-I can't think of a time that these would not be well received and promptly devoured.

8 slices thick-cut bacon, cooked and crumbled

8 russett potatoes, scrubbed clean

canola oil

kosher salt

1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 cup sour cream

4 green onions, sliced

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Rub the potatoes liberally with canola oil. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour; until the potatoes are fork-tender.

Slice the potatoes in half lengthwise. With a cookie scoop or spoon, scrape out the inner flesh of the potatoes, leaving a small margin of potato in the skins.

Brush both sides of the potato skins with canola oil. Salt both sides liberally.

Place the skins cut side down on the pan and return to the oven. Bake for 7 minutes and flip the skins to the other side. Bake for 7 minutes more, or until the skins are crispy.

Sprinkle potato skins with cheese and bacon and return to oven just to melt the cheese.

Just before serving, spoon 1 tablespoon of sour cream on each skin and sprinkle with sliced green onions.

S'mores Bars

The many forms that S'mores can take on pleases me very much. These are a super fast, crowd-pleasing dessert.

3 tbsp. unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
¾ cup sweetened condensed milk
1 1/3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1½ tsp. vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
2 whole graham crackers

Directions:
Line an 8 x 8-inch baking dish with aluminum foil. Lightly butter the foil. Place the butter in a heatproof bowl and microwave until melted. Mix in the graham cracker crumbs and stir with a fork until the crumbs are evenly moistened. Pour the crumb mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan and press firmly into an even layer on the bottom of the pan.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the condensed milk and chocolate chips. Heat, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth. (You can also do this in the microwave stirring after 15-second increments). Off the heat, stir in the vanilla and salt. Pour the chocolate mixture over the graham cracker base. Working quickly, spread the chocolate into an even layer and smooth with a spatula. Sprinkle the marshmallows over the top of the chocolate. Gently press down so that the marshmallows become partly embedded in the chocolate. Break the whole graham crackers into small pieces and stick into the chocolate mixture between the marshmallows.

Cover and refrigerate the bars until firm, about 4 hours (can also put in freezer briefly to cool faster). Use the foil to lift the bars out of the pan and transfer to a cutting board. Use a large sharp knife to cut into squares or rectangles. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Recipe from Williams Sonoma

Roasted Chicken Provencal

This was so delicious, I think I could commit to eating it once a week for life. That's saying something considering I have a hard time repeating recipes. Aside from the fact that this calls for chicken thighs rather than breasts it's really quite healthy. We did feel a couple changes were in order from the original recipe; namely, increase the amount or carrots and tomatoes. The tomatoes became so amazingly sweet I could eat a whole bowl of them on their own. I tend to always want for more veggies. The original recipe called for Nicoise (or Kalamata) olives which would have made me go over my weekly budget so I opted for capers, and they were perfect in this dish.

3 pounds small red potatoes, quartered

6 plum (or Roma) tomatoes, seeded and cut into 6 wedges

4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks

Cooking spray

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary, divided

2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme, divided (I used dried--just use a bit less)

1 teaspoon salt, divided

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided

6 (6-ounce) skinless chicken thighs

24 niçoise or Kalamata olives or 2 tablespoons of capers

Rosemary sprigs for garnish (optional)

Preheat oven to 425°.

Place potatoes, tomatoes, and carrots on a rimmed cookie sheet coated with cooking spray. Drizzle vegetable mixture with olive oil; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon chopped rosemary, 1 teaspoon thyme, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Toss gently, and spread into a single layer on pan. Bake at 425° for 30 minutes. Remove vegetable mixture from pan, and keep warm.

Sprinkle chicken with remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped rosemary, remaining 1 teaspoon thyme, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add chicken and olives/capers to pan. Bake at 425° for 35 minutes or until chicken is done. Garnish with rosemary sprigs, if desired.

This recipe was adapted from Cooking Light.

Chocolate Chip Pie (Toll House Pie)

Oh man. This picture is torturing me. I long for another piece of this delectable pie.

This is a standard in our family--it wouldn't quite be Christmas without this rich and buttery treat. I thought perhaps my taste buds were outgrowing this pie that we have been making for more than fifteen years; enter the homemade 'pat-in-th-pan' pie crust. BOOM! I am back on the chocolate chip pie train!

How could I have ever thought we were through?

Toll House Pie

1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell (or the wonderful 'pat-in-the-pan' pie crust-recipe follows )
2 large eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup butter, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, for serving

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Ready the pie shell (if using a frozen pie shell, you do not need to thaw it).

In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the eggs on high until foamy--this will take several minutes. Add the flour, sugar, and brown sugar and mix well. Beat in butter and vanilla. Add the chocolate chips and walnuts, if using.

Spoon the dough into the pie shell and bake for approximately 1 hour until a toothpick inserted halfway from the edge and the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack and serve warm with whipped cream and ice cream.

You can rewarm in a 300 degree oven for 20 minutes.

Recipe from Nestle Toll House

Pat-in-the-Pan pie crust:

This makes one 9-inch pie crust or 10-inch tart shell.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Whisk together in a bowl or process in a food processor for 10 seconds:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

Add:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces, softened

Mash with the back of a fork or process until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Drizzle over the top:

2-3 tablespoons heavy cream

Stir or process until the crumbs look damp and hold together when pinched.

Pat the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of a pie pan. Evenly crimp or flute the rim. Thoroughly prick the sides and bottom with a fork.

Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven until the crust is golden brown, about 18 minutes.

Recipe from Joy of Cooking.

Gingerbread cookies

Up until a few years ago I thought that I didn’t like gingerbread. It turns out I just don’t like overly spiced gingerbread. These cookies are so chewy and delicious! I am so glad our friend/neighbor, Rebecca, brought these over to us.
These cookies are absolutely wonderful as is; however, in my house I quickly realized if I wanted to make this big pile of cookies disappear I needed to add frosting.

1 ½ cups molasses, a 12 oz. jar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2/3 cup cold water
1/3 cup butter, softened
6 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon allspice (I only use a ½ teaspoon)
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon

In a large mixing bowl, combine molasses, brown sugar, water and butter and mix thoroughly (I used my Kitchen-Aid). Mix dry ingredients together in another large bowl and slowly add to wet mixture until dough comes together. Chill dough for at least 30 minutes before rolling out. Roll dough out to either ¼” or ½” thick depending on how puffy you want your cookies to turn out. I did ¼-inch for the cookies pictured. Cut out shapes or do rounded tablespoonfuls, slightly flattened. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

Yield: This made 18 gingerbread men and two dozen round cookies. You may want to cut the recipe in half if you don’t need so many cookies…or take them to your neighbors!

For the frosting:
I just whipped up a quick thick frosting:
1 cup powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons heavy cream
A few teaspoons of milk
Orange or lemon zest (optional)

Stir the sugar and cream together, thin with milk to desired consistency. I added the zest from half an orange.

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are a real treat. They are perfect for things like Father's Day or a Sunday dessert because they are BIG (you can make them smaller if you prefer). These really are pretty darn near a "perfect" cookie. I can't say these are my favorite because I already have a favorite and I am loyal ;) .

2 cups plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
12 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
1 cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Adjust oven racks to upper and lower-middle positions. Preheat oven 325°. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl; set aside. With electric mixer (I use my Kitchen-Aid), or by hand, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly combined. Beat in egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Add dry ingredients and beat at low-speed just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Roll a scant half-cup of dough into a ball. Holding dough ball in fingertips of both hands, pull apart into two equal halves. Rotate halves 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces facing up, place formed dough onto cookie sheet, leaving ample room between each ball. Bake, reversing position of cookie sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy (approximately 11-14 minutes). Do not overbake.

Cool cookies on sheets until able to lift without breaking. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Recipe from Annies-eats.com, originally from Baking Illustrated

Chewy Granola Bars

I love having little satisfying snacks on hand for when I am too busy with life to make food and I just want to grab something. This was my go-to snack after Annie was born. Something to hold me over and give me a bit of energy and I just had to thaw it out. These are versatile too if you want to play with flavor combos. Obviously you could do raisins instead of chocolate chips--just increase the cinnamon to 1 teaspoon. I also think the kids would enjoy these with "no chunky stuff" and some quick icing on top.

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

• 1 egg
• 1 cup flour (I use white whole wheat)
• ¼ cup ground flaxseed (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1-1/4 cups rice crispies cereal

• ½ cup coconut (optional)
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (I use walnuts or pecans)
• 1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the honey, vanilla and egg; mix well. Combine the flour, flaxseed, cinnamon, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in oats, cereal, coconut, nuts and chocolate chips.
• Press into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until the top is lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars.
Yield 2 dozen.

I freeze the cut squares for a fast snack anytime, just pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds or so.

Adapted from Taste of Home