If chocolate can’t be incorporated into Thanksgiving, then I am not sure what this country has come to. Check out this recipe I stumbled onto:
3 pounds yellow-fleshed potatoes, peeled
1 1/2 ounce white chocolate, chopped
3/4 teaspoon salt
6 dashes hot red pepper sauce, such as Tabasco sauce
1 1/2 cup fat-free milk
Directions:
Place the potatoes in a large pot, cover with cool water to a depth of 2 inches, and bring to a simmer over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer until tender when pierced with a fork, about 25 minutes. Drain in a colander set in the sink and return the potatoes to the pan.
Add the white chocolate to the still-hot potatoes; stir until the white chocolate starts to melt. Stir in the salt and hot red pepper sauce.
Use an electric mixer at medium-low speed to mash the potatoes slightly. Pour in the milk and continue mixing until creamy, about 1 minute. Serve at once.
If that’s not good, I don’t know what is. What chocolate treats will you have at your festive board?
Mashed Potatoes by sweetbeetandgreenbean.
Now that the madness and fun of Halloween is behind us, I am looking forward toward holiday baking season and am excited about getting my hands dirty in the kitchen, making some delicious treats. However, I feel a bit wistful and sad that summer has gone. The shadows are already long across the DC landscape and I didn’t really get much time away to just play this summer.
However, I can still recapture some of summer’s fun by making these s’mores cookie bars and pretending to be outside, camping or something. It’s not much, but what the heck – you have to do what you can as the days get short and the cold sets in.
From the Candy USA Web site:
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 (1.55 oz. each) HERSHEY’S Milk Chocolate Bars
- 1 cup marshmallow creme
Instructions:
- Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 8-inch square baking pan.
- Beat butter and sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt; add to butter mixture, beating until blended. Press half of dough into prepared pan.
- Arrange chocolate bars over dough, breaking as needed to fit. Spread with marshmallow creme. Scatter bits of remaining dough over marshmallow; carefully press to form a layer.
- Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. 16 bars.
S’more by terren in Virginia.
No, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with Thanksgiving standards like turkey, potatoes, dressing, cranberry sauce, football and green beans. It’s all great stuff. However, there are a few things we could do differently to add a new flair to some of these traditional dishes.
Main Dishes. Add a glaze on your turkey made from jelly orange slices. Put the slices in a pot with a little water and melt them. Stir over low heat until the liquid is a good consistency. Pour it over your turkey toward the end of the baking.
Side Dishes. Okay – this is where the candy really shines. How many sweet things can you put on the table? It depends on how big your table is.
- Dressing – Mix in a tablespoon or two of powdered cocoa for a rich flavor.
- Carrots – Glaze them with a caramel-ginger sauce.
- Sweet potatoes – No need to make a big deal out of these. Instead of putting normal marshmallows on top, try using Peeps or even circus peanuts. They will melt as easily as the regular marshmallows will and will have a unique flavor.
Dessert. No, I am not an advocate of abandoning pies. My stepmother makes the best pies I have ever had. Thanksgiving at her house is a multi-day mouthwatering event, each meal ending in pie. However, we can out a twist on some old classics:
- Apple pie – Add some caramels to the pie right before installing the top crust. The gooey caramel will drip down into the pie and add a delightful flavor.
- Pecan pie – This one is my favorite. I wonder how it might be with a little chocolate in it. It might even be good with peanut butter cups. That would be daring but would certainly pay off!
- Cake – Walk on the wild side and make a chocolate-maple glazed turkey cake. No turkey required!
- Coffee – Try using M&Ms or a fun size chocolate bar instead of sugar. Not only will it become quite sweet, but it will also have a rich chocolaty taste.
Turkey Basting by my good friend Steve Garfield.
Cocoa butter is the oil in chocolate that gives it that melt-in-your-mouth feeling. Because white chocolate contains large amounts of cocoa butter, it tends to melt easily – even easier than “regular” chocolate – and special care should be taken to handle it properly.
If you are going to cook with white chocolate or else mold it, you don’t need to have the double boiler going at full blast. Simply boil the water in the lower part, remove it from the heat, then place the top part in and add your white chocolate. Stir to mix it around and get all of it exposed to the heat. It will stay good and warm like this and keep the chocolate melted for a long time – certainly long enough to do whatever you need to do.
I will be adding recipes later but for now one great place to find some recipes involving white chocolate is at the Food Network. I have not checked every recipe for relevancy, but it appears that they have no fewer than 928 recipes involving white chocolate. It’s certainly a great first stop, at any rate!
White Chocolate Bar by Chotda.
