Tis the Season

Because your Deb has been considerably more busy this year than last, Deb has realized that she has not accomplished as much baking as she'd like for the Holiday season. So the Deb has made an executive decision -- if you're going to bring baked goods to the office, it's acceptable to use boxed items. SO LONG AS you also add in your own ingrediants and put some genuine love and care into the presentation. No flopping the cookies down on the communal snack table on a paper plate. It's untidy.

That being said, I realized that there are several "Quick Bread" options in the grocery store, and I've been using these to create Holiday Breads for my faculty lounge and for my husband's office. Here are some ideas for quick and delicious ways to look like a gourmet to your friends at work!

Holiday Bread

Preheat oven according to box's instructions.

1 box Cranberry Quick Bread (or similar -- I've been using Pillsbury because they've been on sale)
2 T. honey
1/4 C. dried cranberries
1/4 C. chocolate chips
1/2 C. chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans work best)
2 eggs, oil and water (again, follow the directions on the back for this part)

Combine all ingrediants and bake (usually around 35 -- 45 minutes). When bread is cooled, combine 4 TBS. of powdered sugar with 2 T. lemon juice. Whisk into a glaze and drizzle over finished bread. This is like a fruitcake except moist and edible.

Tonight I'm making a banana bread with real mashed bananas stirred in, topped with pecans and caramel frosting. I'll let you know how it turns out!

Cuttin' Up with Cookies

For the first few years of my cooking life, I could not, for the Deb of me, figure out how to make decent Christmas Cut-Out cookies. And what's the point of a holiday without the sugary pleasure of biting off the head of a reindeer? At long last, though, and after many tragic attempts in the kitchen (once I made a dough that could easily have entered the Olympics... as a trampoline), I figured the following recipe out. Here's why it's awesome: it's really easy because you make the food proccessor do the work, and it's fool-proof. I am proof of that fool.

Cuttin' Up Cookies
You'll need plastic wrap and two hours to refrigerate the dough! THEN you can preheat to 350.

2 sticks softened butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 C. flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder

Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy in a food processor. I like pulsing my food processor in time to the commercials of whatever my husband is watching. Because that's real love.* Add in the egg and vanilla and pulse until just mixed. Gradually add in your flour and baking powder until a smooth dough forms. Divide the dough into two balls and squash into circular disks. Wrap in plastic wrap and stick in the fridge for 2 hours. Then it'll be a Grinch cinch to pull 'em out, roll em out and cut your decapitated-destined reindeer out from. They're really light and delicious, and I can never eat too many Christmas cookies after making 9 dozen of them, so I don't count the calories. They're a labor of love, and for me the fun part is honestly making them, rather than eating them... well, until I see those irresistably frosted antlers...

Classic Cookie Cantos

"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindder" (though it fails to mention how delicious he is...) by Gene Autry
"Santa Baby" by Eartha Kitt
"It's Cool to Love Your Family" by Feist
"Ava Maria" by Andrea Bocelli



*Of course, my food processor dates back to 19-dickity-2. My mother bought it for "me" (that is, she bought herself a backup machine, myself not being born yet) in the 70s.

Melba Canapes

Because the Dainty Deb loves the Food Network, I watched it pretty incessently throughout the holidays. And cooks notoriously love Thanksgiving, since the focus is so much more on the food than the gift-giving. Well, I can't say that my Thanksgiving meal was too terribly dainty, but I have come up with a few nice ideas for hors d'ouerves thanks to Paula Deen's unflagging enthusiasm for all things buttery.

Melba Canapes

1 box (any flavor) melba toasts, each toast halved
1 large onion, sliced in rings
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. Sugar
8 oz fat free cream cheese
dash worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. Old Bay

Heat a skillet over medium high and heat the oil up to good and hot. Add the sugar and onions and let them carmalize. Mmmm. When they're nice and brown and soft, remove from heat. Meanwhile, mix your cream cheese with the sauce and Old Bay. Spread about 1 Tbsp. per melba half onto the little toasts, then top with the warm onions. You can garnish these with green olives for a festive look. They're really delicious, and because of the seasonings, you can't even tell the cream cheese is fat free! So HAH, Paula Deen! I made something delicious AND will be remaining dainty for the coming season of parties and fetes!

PS Thanks for all the warm wishes in my absence. It's very good to be back. Thanks for missing me!!

Choices!

The Dainty Deb is very sorry. She has been MIA for quite a while.

It's not that the Deb has not been cooking up healthy deliciousness -- she has! But she's had to make the very serious choice between taking the time to cook and taking the time to blog. And, beloved Dainty readers, one should always choose the actual act of cooking over writing about the process of cooking!

Anyway, never fear. The Deb is back and ready for the fires of the kitchen. She will have some particulary delicious and low-cal holiday recipes coming up, so stay tuned. Thanks for not giving up!

Bacon-ghetti

Lord do I love bacon. It was the absolutely worst part about my semester abroad in England -- I couldn't get good bacon. It was either unrecognizable or undercooked. Gah. First thing I did when I got back? Made me some bacon.

Here's a nice way to incorporate the smoky deliciousness of bacon even if you're watching your figure. I use Canadian-style bacon because I feel it imbues the sauce with more flavor, but I've also made this with pancetta and with regular bacon. They were also quite good, though I maintain that Canadian-style gives this sauce more oomph. Also, this recipe is cheap, easy and perfect with just a nice salad and maybe garlic bread. Great for the middle of the week when you want real food but aren't feeling like an hour in the kitchen. It's 257 calories per serving (it's 5 WW points), and this makes 4 nice sized servings.

Bacon-ghetti

You'll need:
8 oz. uncooked whole wheat spaghetti
1 t. olive oil
5 oz. Canadian-syle bacon, diced
1 onion, diced
1 tsp. minced garlic
14 1/2 oz can diced tomatoes
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
salt and pepper, to taste
freshly grated parmesan cheese, for garnish

Cook the spaghetti al dente and reserve 1/4 C. cooking water before draining and keeping warm.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat and add the bacon, cooking until browned. Add in the onion and garlic, also cooking until lightly browned. Finally, add the tomatoes and then red pepper flakes. Let simmer together for about 10 minutes.

Combine the sauce with the pasta, reserved pasta water, and salt and pepper to taste. Top each serving with a little parmesan cheese.

You can also always double or triple the sauce recipe and keep some in a jar in the fridge for a super quick meal in the future. It keeps forever... at least 3 months. But I'd try to use it within a month of making it.

Chicken Parmesan

I don't know many things better than fried meat baked under a layer of sauce and cheese. I make this dish with fewer calories than what you'd get at Olive Garden, but the key is using good, fresh ingredients (isn't it always?). Make sure you use freshly ground Italian seasoning, freshly sliced, good quality mozzarella and equally freshly grated, good parmesan cheese.

Chicken Parmesan
Preheat your oven and spray an 8" square bake pan with cooking spray.

You'll need:
1 lb. chicken breasts, boneless/skinless, pounded thin (about 4 4 oz. pieces)
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
1/2 C. dry, seasoned breadcrumbs
2 T. Italian seasoning
1 t. olive oil
2 8 oz. cans tomato sauce (I use the garlic and basil flavored kind)
1/2 C. part-skim mozzarella, sliced into thin strips
2 T. freshly grated parmesan cheese

Combine the breadcrumbs and seasoning in a shallow dish. Also, heat a skillet over medium high heat and add your olive oil. Pour 1/2 a can of tomato sauce into the bottom of the bake pan.

Coat each chicken breast with egg whites and then thoroughly dredge through the breadcrumb mixture. Turn to get all sides of chicken coated. Add the chicken to your hot skillet, and cook until lightly browned, about 4 minutes on each side. When the chicken is no longer pink on the inside, remove to bake pan and cover with remaining tomato sauce -- it's sort of a matter of taste. (My husband likes lots of sauce, which he spoons over the whole wheat pasta.) Then top with cheeses. Bake until bubbly and cheese is browning, about 25 minutes. Serves 4.

I serve this over pasta with a nice big salad. It's 256 calories (5 WW points) and it is one of our favorites. It's also not particularly labor intensive. Once you've dredged the chicken in crumbs, the hard work is over. I usually buy more chicken breasts so that Stephen has leftovers for lunch. This is a super easy recipe to double -- you just use a 9 x 13" bake pan instead of the little one.

Chicken Cha Cha

"That's Amore" by Dean Martin (it certainly will be "amore" after you serve him breaded, lightly fried meat under gooey cheese and warm sauce)

"Time to Say Goodbye" by Andrea Bocelli (time to say goodbye to those extra pounds with style and satisfaction)

Birthday! (More Non-Daintiness)

My husband had his birthday on Monday, which is rather lame, since it's not like you can take a boy out, get him shnockered and keep him up all hours with birthday lovin' when he's got to work in the morning. Well. I guess you CAN, but Debs tend to respect the sleep patterns of their bread winners. To do otherwise might disrupt any potential we have at becoming a trophy wife.

I did the next best thing -- I cooked him dinner. What did I make, you ask? Oh-ho. What DIDN'T I make.
1. Ceasar Salad
2. Roasted Squash
3. Blue Cheese and Portobello Stuffed Steaks
4. Tortellini in a browned butter sauce
5. Homemade Chocolate birthday cake with caramel frosting

The last three are the most impressive (especially considering that my ceasar dressing came out of a bottle), so those are the three I'll list here.

Blue Cheese/Portobello Stuffed Steaks

You'll need:
4 top sirloin fillets
5 oz. blue cheese
6 oz. drained jar of sliced portobello mushrooms
1 C. red wine (use a nice, drinkable wine)
2 T. Good Seasonings, divided
Freshly ground pepper, to taste

First things first, get your steaks marinating. Before they go into the bag, though, cut a 1/2" slit in the side of each steak, and use your knife to hollow out a nice space in the interior of the steak, like a little pocket. The bigger the pocket, the more cheese you can fit in later... but DON'T cut the initial slit any bigger than a 1/2" inch or you'll have a mess on your hands when it comes time to cook them. Trust me. I've spent hours scraping charred blue cheese off my Calphalon. Not a recommended activity for anyone's birthday. So. Once they've got their little holes/pockets, place them in a large zip-loc bag with the wine and 1 T. of the Good Seasons, using your pepper as desired. Make sure that you flip them once halfway thru the day so that both sides of the steaks get good and soaked.

Once they've marinated, then you want to pull them out before making your tortellini to let them get room temperature. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Once at room temp, you want to combine the cheese and mushrooms and last T. of Good Seasons in a small bowl, spooning this amply into each steak's pocket. Secure with a toothpick if necessary.

Then, let a skillet get good and hot. Add 1 -- 2 T. of olive oil and let this heat as well. Finally, add the stuffed, secured steaks to this hot pan. TURN YOUR FAN ON. It will be smooooky. Only let them sear on one side -- the crust side. About 4 minutes. Make sure the last of the oil cooks away (you don't want any left in the pan when you place it in the oven). Place the whole skillet into your heated oven and cook for about 10 minutes for medium. They should come out just perfect. Tent them with foil just prior to serving to let them settle and to keep them warm.


After placing the steaks in to marinate, I made the cake, because it has to chill for a few hours. The frosting is the same as for the Peanut Butter Cupcakes (see below), except I used caramels in the melting process, vs. chocolate chips.

Birthday Boy Cake

Preheat your oven to 350. Grease and flour a 9 x 13" bake pan.

You'll need:
2 C. sugar
1/2 t. salt
2 C. flour
1 stick butter
1/2 C. vegetable oil
1 C. water
1/4 C. cocoa
2 eggs
1 t. baking soda
1/2 C. buttermilk (You can also use 1/2 C. regular with either a 1/2 T. of vinegar OR lemon juice mixed into)
1 t. vanilla
14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
6 oz. jar caramel topping

Combine sugar, salt and flour in large bowl. In a saucepan, bring butter, oil, water and cocoa to a boil (this makes your house smell SOO good). Add to flour mixture. Beat eggs, baking soda, buttermilk and vanilla on medium, gradually adding in the dry ingredients. Pour into your bake pan when well blended, but not overmixed. Bake for 25 -- 30 minutes. When cake is out of the oven and still warm, pierce it all over with a toothpick, making sure you hit the bottom of the pan with each poke. Pour the sweet milk over top, letting it sink in and settle. Pour the caramel over top. Chill for about 3 hours before serving. Frost after chilling. I'm sure this is about a million calories, but he only has one birthday, after all, and I had only one tiny piece.

Next you can make your tortellini...

Tortellini (in brown butter sauce)

1 large refrigerated package of tortellini or tortelloni (I like the chicken and parmesan type with this recipe, thought three-cheese is a close second favorite)
1.5 sticks of butter
1 C. dried cranberries
1 C. chopped, toasted walnuts
1/4 C. fresh chopped parsley

Cook your torellini according to the package and keep warm. Don't drain it completely, it needs to be a bit damp to not stick. Then melt your butter in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Here it the trick -- you really have to watch the blasted butter. It's got to get nice and brown and smell nutty, but just as soon as it does (turns brown and smells nutty), yank it off the heat. You don't want it to burn because then it will be bitter, oily and just plain sad. Yank it off the heat and add in your nuts, berries and parsley, stirring rapidly to coat completely. Add in your warm, damp pasta and mix well. Again, about a million calories but DELICIOUS. I brought this to a reading club meeting once and there was a near bludgeoning over the last serving of it. Teeb (that's my husband, Stephen's, nickname) loves this almost more than the actual steak.

So they say it's your birthday -- it's my birthday too! At least, I'm going to eat like it is...