Author Archives: robinr

Sweet & Salty Valentine Cookie Bars.

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Adapted from Guittard Super Cookie Chip Cookie Recipe.

Ingredients:

1 cup of all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup of butter, softened
5 tablespoons granulated sugar
5 tablespoons of light brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
10 ounces of Guittard Super Cookie Chips
1/2 cup of pretzel pieces, salted
1/4 cup of M&Ms
Sprinkles (optional) Valentine Day oxoxo sprinkles used.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, soda and salt.  Spray the 9×9 glass pan with baking spray. Set aside.

In your stand mixer, paddle attached, cream butter and sugars.  Then beat in the egg and vanilla until creamy.  Add the flour mixture, blend.  Blend well.  By hand, stir in the chocolate chips.   Spread the dough into the pan evenly distributed.  Then press in pretzel pieces and the m&m’s throughout the top.  Bake for 20 minutes or so (until the edges are golden brown).  Let cool and then store in a container with a lid.

 

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White Wine Braised Chicken with Thyme.

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Braising meat, if you’ve never done it, is so easy and such a flavorful way of cooking a typically low cost meat (red) but I opted to use some chicken for this recipe.  It’s flexible, work with what you have on hand.  You can braise this on the stovetop or in the oven, like I did, for a minimum of 2 hours but up to 4-6.

Ingredients:

Olive Oil
Chicken breasts and thighs (one piece per person as a guide)
1/2 roughly chopped yellow onion
1 large or 2 medium carrots, chopped
6 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
3 tablespoons of all purpose flour (I used King Arthur’s)
Several sprigs of fresh thyme
8 olives, various Mediterranean, pitted
(2-3 cups) White wine, I used Pinot Grigio (anything you would drink)
Salt & Pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

First your going to start by browning the meat.  In a large Dutch oven heat some olive oil in the bottom of the pan.  Let it get hot and then add the meat.  AVOID overcrowding, working in batches, and let the meat sear on each side for at least 5-6 minutes.  You want a good crust on the meat, which adds the deep flavor to the final dish.  Then flip and repeat.  Remove and set aside.  Working until all of the meat is completed.  Then add the onions, carrots and garlic.  You may need to add additional olive oil, if so, splash some in.  Cook the veggies for 6 minutes.  Then add the tomato paste and flour.  Give it a good stir.  Then add the chicken back in, now is okay to overlap and overcrowd.  Add the olives, thyme and white wine (don’t be shy with the wine).  Cover.

Add to the oven and let it braise for hours.  I let it go all afternoon (6 hrs) just checking on the liquid level every hour.  Add additional wine as necessary.  You don’t want to the meat to dry out.  I would suggest having at least 4 inches of liquid in there at all times.  Remove and let rest for 10 minutes.  Then serve.  I served with sesame zucchini slices.  It is heavenly!

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Zucchini Sautéed in Sesame Oil.

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I wanted to demonstrate another feature of the Magimix food processor that I’m giving away next Sunday.  Today I thinly sliced yellow and green zucchini that I will sauté in sesame oil right before dinner.

I’ll take you on a photo by photo how-to.  This machine was literally thinly slicing without me even having to push the veggie through the spout.  It’s incredibly powerful!  Slices like a dream.  Took me about 15 seconds to slice up 4 medium zucchinis!  Take about efficient!

First, I used the larger bowl no blade in the bottom.
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Next, you’re going to add the long tubal piece to elevate the blade that will slice the zucchini.  This piece gets placed right in the center and fits perfectly.

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Then select the slicer blade that you wish to use.  I used this one to create paper thin zucchini slices for a light salad sautéed in sesame oil and topped with some sesame seeds right before dinner. It fits nicely right over the extension rod you added previously.

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Place the lid on top and turn until it locks.

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Next step, place the plastic insert into the top.

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Then place the zucchini into the opening.  It started slicing without me even using the plunger to push it down towards the blade.  Talk about fast!

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Quick and efficient.  Love that!  Uniform slicing at it’s finest.

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When I’m ready to cook, I’ll add a tablespoon of olive oil and a drizzle of sesame oil to a hot pan, toss the zucchini in for a few minutes.  Season with salt and pepper and top with toasted sesame seeds.  Can serve hot or at room temperature.

Make sure you sign up for the Magimix food processor giveaway!

Click here to enter:

https://kneadtocook.com/?p=2794

 

 

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Guinness & Beef Stew in the Crock Pot.

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There’s nothing quite like a beef stew on a cold winter day.  This is a wonderfully easy crock pot recipe but it does require a little prep work.  Well worth it once you taste this dish!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of flour
Salt
Pepper
2 lbs or so of lean stew meat
2 tablespoons of olive oil
3 sweet potatoes, chopped into bite-sized pieces
3 carrots, sliced
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
1 large onion, diced
2 bottles of Guinness Beer (or whatever dark beer you have on hand)
Salt/Pepper
Parsley, garnishing

Directions:

Into a large ziploc baggie, add the flour and some salt and pepper.  Then add the rinsed off beef and seal the bag.  Give a good shake until all of the beef is covered properly.  In your Dutch oven, add the olive oil and let it get nice and hot.  Cooking in batches to avoid overcrowding, add several pieces of the beef to brown on each side then promptly remove.  Set aside on a paper towel lined plate.  Repeat.  Once all of the meat is cooked, discard the bag and add the potatoes, carrots, garlic and onions and cook for about 4-6 minutes.  Add additional oil if necessary.  In the meantime, add the meat to your crock pot on the low setting (if cooking for 6+ hours) if less than that turn the heat to high.  Once the veggies have softened a bit, remove them and top the beef in the crock pot.  Turn your flame to medium and gently (very cautiously) add one bottle of beer and deglaze the pan (scraping up the bits of meat and veggies that have stuck to the bottom of the pan).  Once this is complete, pour on top of the meat and veggies.  Add the additional beer to the mixture.  Cover and cook.

I serve with pasta but you can with other noodles, quinoa etc.  Season the gravy prior to serving.

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Oat Chobani PB2 Cookies. {no flour & gluten free}

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I had an old recipe that I wrote down on a notepad – totally random that I discovered it and I thought I would tweak it and mess around with the ingredients and see what would happened.  I made the batter two days ago and refrigerated it, only because the dough was really loose, and forgot about it.  Ha ha.  Life is just too busy lately.  So I remembered it today before I headed out to pick up my daughter and made the batch.

I haven’t been eating cookies or really anything “sweet” that I’ve been making because my weight is down 15-16ish lbs and I’m afraid eating something sweet will open the flood gates to the sweets again.  You know what I mean, right? So I reserved them for my dad and my girls to review.  Everyone LOVES them.  Hey, who would’ve thought. They look funky and a bit healthy but the reviews are glowing hence me sharing it with you.  Now bare with me on this recipe… You MUST be flexible.

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Ingredients:

1 stick of Smart Balance butter or regular butter, room temperature
1/4 cup of Chobani (vanilla)
1/4 cup of white sugar
3/4 cup of light brown sugar
2 tablespoons of PB2 powdered peanut butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1.5 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
3 cups of old fashioned oats

Directions:

In your stand mixer, blend the butter, Chobani, PB2 and sugars together.  Don’t panic if it looks weird!  Then add the eggs and beat well.  Add the vanilla extract.  Then in a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients and then add them to the wet mixture.  Blend together.  It will be ooey, gooey and a mess!  Scoop this mixture into a bowl and cover. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or more (I let it go up to 2 days) so it can firm up.  Trust me, you need to this or they will be impossible to work with :)

Then preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  On your cookie sheet line with parchment or a Silpat liner.  Scoop and place the dough about 1.5-2 inches apart.  Now the baking time will vary.  Normal cookies take 8-10 but I thought they were still too loose.  I baked them for about 14-16 minutes or until crispy and brown around the edges.  Trust me, I kept testing them and taking them out – inspection and then back in.  Your oven make take a bit longer so be patient.  This recipe makes a ton of cookies!  36 or so (small scoop sized).

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Cilantro Spinach Lime Pesto.

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Since I have received my Magimix by Robot-Coupe 3200 XL Food Processor, I knew I wanted to whip up some pesto in it.  It’s a favorite!  I chose the larger of the 3 bowls to prepare it because the cilantro is a bit of a wild herb.  Everything tucked in nicely and I have to admit, with only a few pulses it does the job.  See the pics below.  Drizzling the olive oil through the large spout also allows me to gauge the consistency of the pesto quite easily v. my old processor.  The machine is powerful yet very quiet.  Cleans up perfectly and I love that the larger bowl comes with a larger blade making my job much easier.

We adore pesto but it doesn’t always have to be the classic basil version.  I made a similar pesto for a pizza sauce and my kids went wild over it.  I mixed it up and thought I would serve this over grilled chicken and whole wheat pasta tonight for dinner.  Would be great over pasta or mixed with grilled fish or chicken.

Ingredients:

1 cup of fresh cilantro
1/2 cup of baby spinach leaves
3/4 cup of raw almonds (pistachios would work well too)
1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese
4 garlic cloves
1/4 cup of fresh lime juice
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Optional:  Jalapeño

Directions:

In my new Magimix Food Processor, I added the cilantro, spinach, almonds and garlic to and pulse until it looks like this:

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Then add some salt and pepper.   Parmesan cheese then place the lid back on and drizzle olive oil through the spout with the machine running until it resembles this:

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Give it a taste and adjust the salt and pepper as necessary.  Put in a tupperware container until needed.  If using over pasta, reserve a bit of the pasta water off to the side.  Add the cooked pasta back to the pan with a small bit of the reserved water along with a few tablespoons of the pesto.  Add additional pesto until you achieve the amount you wish to have in the dish.  Refrigerate or freeze the pesto until needed again.  A little goes a long way!

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Organic Beef or Buffalo Chili.

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Sunday’s are a perfect day for chili especially during football playoffs.  This can be made ahead of time or earlier in the day and left simmering on the stovetop.  I’ve used both organic lean beef and ground buffalo with this recipe and both work perfectly and are a bit healthier if you’re watching your weight.

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs of beef or buffalo (leaner the better)
Olive oil
1/2 of a large yellow onion, diced
1 large bell pepper (you choose the color)
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cans (16 oz) dark red kidney beans (I use reduced sodium)
1 (14 oz or smaller) can of diced tomatoes
1 – 6 oz can of tomato paste
3/4 cup of water
2 teaspoons of ground cumin
2 teaspoons of chipotle chili powder
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1 jalapeño, finely diced (remove the seeds if you want less heat/spice to your dish)
Salt
Pepper

Directions:

In a large deep stock pot or Dutch oven, add a drizzle of olive oil to the bottom of your pan.    Turn the heat to medium.  Once hot, add the meat and break it up and cook until no longer pink. Add the onions, peppers and garlic.  Cook for about 4 minutes.  Then add the remaining ingredients.  Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to very low and cover.  Simmer, stirring occasionally, until ready to serve.  Right before serving, taste and adjust your spices.

Serve with cornbread muffins and top the chili with sour cream, Chobani plain yogurt, jalapeños, diced spring onions, cheddar cheese or whatever you like :)

 

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Knead to Cook’s Biggest Giveaway EVER!!! Magimix by Robot-Coupe 3200 XL Food Processor.

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The MAGIMIX by Robot-Coupe – North America Food Processor NEXT WINNER IS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1470 Lisa Schlingman Like Knead to Cook on Facebook

Name: Lisa Schlingman Facebook.  You have until Thursday, Feb. 1st, 2013 to email me at robin@kneadtocook.com to provide shipping information for your prize.  

 

Magimix by Robot-Coupe 3200XL Food Processor (Chrome)2

Robot-Coupe, the French company that developed the first food processor, applies the technology of its commercial models to this high-performance processor for home use. This versatile machine includes many components and accessories for a wide variety of uses.  Chrome finish.

  • Extremely powerful, extra-quiet motor.
  • Trio of work bowls allows you to carry out multiple tasks in rapid succession, without stopping to wash a bowl.
  • Small bowl is perfect for mincing herbs, chopping nuts or blending a sauce.
  • Medium bowl is ideal for slicing and grating.
  • Large bowl handles prep jobs like mixing batters, kneading dough and slicing a large batch of vegetables.
  • Motor automatically adjusts power and speed to suit job at hand.
  • Razor-sharp Sabatier stainless-steel blades and stainless-steel discs, strong enough for a variety of tasks including crushing ice.
  • Extra-large feed tube eliminates need to precut most ingredients.

Food Processor includes:

  • 6-cup, 10-cup and 12-cup mixing bowls.
  • 2 metal Sabatier blades, one for small bowl, and one for medium and large bowls.
  • Dough blade.
  • 2 grating discs.
  • 2 slicing discs.
  • Blender Mix attachment.
  • Egg whisk.
  • Spatula.
  • Recipe book and DVD.
  • Storage box.

This giveaway starts January 13th at 1 pm EST and goes through Sunday, January 27, 2013 at 12 pm EST.  US Residents only.  This promotion is run by Rafflecopter.

The winner must make contact with shipping address to robin@kneadtocook.com within 48 hours.  The suggested retail is $350.00 USD.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Cookie & Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Hummus.

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Magimix by Robot-Coupe 3200XL Food Processor (Chrome)2

 

This was my inaugural recipe made in my new Magimix Compact 3200 xl and oh how I love it!  It is by far the quietest appliance in my kitchen.  Worked efficiently and is a stunner in my new kitchen.  Plus love that I can select which bowl I need to use v. just using one large bowl to make a smaller batch of a recipe. Another great feature – it works quickly.  Within a few pulses, my hummus was creamy perfection.  I, like most, don’t have a lot of time to waste in the kitchen.  This certainly makes my life easier.   LOVE!  Okay now onto the recipe…

It was a really crazy day to say the least.  I wanted to make a super fun snack for my youngest daughter who started at a new private school today.  This has her name written all over it!!!  Cookie butter + peanut butter + chocolate = Instant JOY!  Plus it’s hummus and it’s packed with protein, potassium and fiber for the joy of mom/dad!

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Ingredients:

1 16 oz can of low sodium Garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup of cookie butter (Trader Joe’s or Biscoff)
1/4 cup of peanut or other nut butter
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon of coconut oil
1/4 cup of honey, agave or maple syrup
Chocolate Chips

Directions:

Into your food processor add the first 6 ingredients and blend until nice and creamy.  This will take about 2 minutes or so.  Then by hand, blend in the chocolate chip (mini chips work well too).

Serve with graham crackers, apples or vanilla wafers.

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Turkey Sausage & Pepper Calzone. Customizable.

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I used King Arthur’s Italian Style flour (but you can buy pizza dough at the grocery store).  I used their recipe on the back of their product to make the dough.  You can use other pizza dough recipes (I have several on my blog that you can search).

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. You can bake on pizza stone or a Silpat lined baking sheet (which is what I used).  From there, you will divide the dough into two balls.  Roll them out about 14×14 inches and about 1/4 inch thick.  Place your filling (I used turkey sausage and peppers/onions that was already cooked and cooled) in the center of the dough.  Make slices into the dough as pictured above.  Then starting at the bottom you are going to overlap the dough resembling a braid (although it isn’t a braid).  Maybe I should say criss-crossing.  Using two spatulas’ I gently lifted and placed on my baking sheet.  Bake until golden brown and heated through.  I baked it for about 35 minutes but every oven is different.  You want a nice light brown crust and heated ingredients.  I made one with mozzarella and one without (my youngest isn’t a fan).  I have marinara sauce for dipping.  Easy and can prepare ahead of time and reheat.  Also would be awesome for your Super Bowl party.  Fill it with whatever fun ingredients you love.  Pepperoni, sausage, beef, cheeses etc.

 

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