The Food Thread

I futz with the spices. I use adobo (the seasoning mix, not the saucey stuff chipotles are in), extra garlic and some cayenne and chile arbol. I always add extra Worcestershire and butter. (Though not three times as much! I also like to use Archer Farms' Tex Mex Trail Mix in place of mixed nuts or whatever.

Last year it was Crispix, Wheat Chex, Trail Mix and Gardetto's, but this year I'm using Corn and Rice Chex, Cheerios, Trail Mix, Spanish peanuts and Cheez Its. The seasoning blend will remain about the same.


As for the caramel pretzel brownies, it's sort of ridiculously easy since I'm too lazy to make brownie batter from scratch. I buy the dark chocolate brownie mix that strikes my fancy, plus a bag of caramels and a bag of pretzel sticks. (The skinny little ones, but you could use any smallish bite size ones.) I break up the pretzels and scatter them on top, then melt the caramels and swirl it all a bit, and add a scatter of sea salt. Extra yummy with minimal extra effort.

Oooh!  I'm planning to make an effort this year, and actually make some goodies to give as stocking stuffers. 

Current plan:
--two kinds of caramel (the butterscotch caramel recipe from Joy, and a bourbon caramel I want to try)
--chocolate-dipped candied citrus peel
--maybe two kinds of truffles?  I'm thinking a rosewater-flavored white chocolate ganache dipped in dark chocolate and topped with rose petals (I bought a packet last year and haven't used 'em for anything) aaaaaaand.....oh, I was going to do some kind of dark chocolate ganache, but I just remembered I also have some lemon oil I've never tried, so maybe I'll do lemon-flavored white chocolate ganache with lemon oil, dipped in milk chocolate.

I've been slacking since I moved to DC.  I used to put together gift bags for Massachusetts family members with had assorted candies of the type above, plus hearty slices from fruitcakes and winter cakes.  But cake doesn't mail well, and anything I take with me when I visit family has to fit into my suitcase and survive the flight intact.

I miss making Christmas cakes, but I don't have enough people to share them with, and I certainly can't eat a whole one myself.

I got motivated when I read this.  I have some brownies in the oven right now, and I swirled some English toffee bits on one half.  I'm going to throw some sea salt on there in a few.  This is really a genius idea! 

I missed latkes at home being out here, but maybe my dad will take pity on me and make them again.

I tried making pepernoten (little spice cookies) last year but I made them too big, I might just stick with the massive bag of them I'm hauling home even though no one needs that many dang pepernoten. Now it's too late to buy a smaller bag, though. Oh well.

I haven't had any gluhwein yet this year and I feel like I need to rectify that ASAP.

Swear to god I'm gonna come back and read the thread and reply, but I have THE WORLD'S BEST GINGERBREAD in the oven and had to share the recipe because it smells fucking amazing and every damn one of y'all should make it because it's goddamn delicious.

I use sour cream instead of buttermilk because I never have buttermilk.

Rosettes!!!! I used to always make those growing up. Like the cornballer, I burned myself every damn time. But it was worth it.

There's only been one and it was in August. 

My Food Consumption Agenda for December

-My mother's Latkes because I went all of Hannukah with no Latkes.
-The marzipan fruit my mother makes every year in December.
-My mother's making a fruitcake for the first time ever, so I will probably try that.

Food I'll Cook

-My wild rice with wild mushrooms, which I usually make as a side dish for Christmas.

Is anyone familiar with a garlic sauce or dip called something like "banya"?

A long time ago I worked at a two-way radio shop that was located next to a car dealership.  The car folks would invite the radio folks to their Christmas party.  The highlight of the party was this sauce, or dip, or fondu that had a name pronounced something like "banya".  The people making it said it was some kind of eastern European dish and that their immigrant parents  sometimes had it for breakfast as children, back in the old country.  It had such a strong garlic aroma that you could smell it down the block.  After just being in the room where it was served (and eating a bunch of it) when I got to my parent's house later that night for Christmas, my mom made me take a shower and leave the clothes I was wearing down in the basement to be washed.

The stuff tasted heavenly.  It was a thick  sauce, server hot as a dip for veggies or bread.  I have never found or heard of it again, and a Google search turns up nothing. It is possible that the story was just made up, but I hope there is some recepie somewhere for it that I can eventually find.

I make The Easiest Fudge In The World and it is very well-received wherever I take it. I always make orange, and I usually make it with cayenne as well. Gives it a lovely little afterbite.

Fruitcake is pretty much just a punchline now, but it can be delicious. My stepmom's was excellent; she'd bake it weeks ahead of time and pour booze over it every couple of days.

Damn, I miss that cake.

Does she make marzipan shaped like fruit, or marzipan-covered fruit?

As I said earlier in the thread, i do alot of Italian cooking this month and last night I made gatto, a savory potato cake, from Mario Batali's Holiday  Food cookbook. I made it on a lark one year, liked it so much it got added to the holiday repertoire, to the point where now it's not Christmas time until I make it. My daughter's been asking about it every night.

It's fairly easy, and veg-friendly if you omit the salami.

Bake two or three large baker potatoes at 425 for an hour or so until easily pierced by a knife. Peel, then mash or put through a ricer/food mill.

Mix in a couple eggs, a pint of ricotta, a cup of grated parm and pecorino cheee, some nutmeg, and finely diced or minced salami. Season well.

Grease a large springform pan. Add breadcrumbs and turn over and about to coat the pan. Put in a layer of the potato mixture. Sprinkle the top of this layer with cubed mozzarella cheese. Add the rest of the potato mixture. Top with breadcrumbs. Put in a 400 F oven for 35-45 minutes. Take out and let rest for 15 minutes before portioning and serving with a nice salad.

I'm gonna message you my address.

We were lazy and just got the Trader Joe's frozen latkes this year (although I did make homemade applesauce to go with it).  They were quite good, actually.