Books... and recipes of course

So, I impulsively decided to buy myself an early birthday present (my birthday is next week, hint, hint, nudge, nudge) and got myself a Nook. YAY!

I have been putting off getting an e-reader because I really like the look and feel of actual books. But, being realistic, my library takes up a ton of space in my apartment as it is and I rarely buy books because I have no place to put them, plus in the day and age of instant gratification, I never take the time to go to the library to get a book when I have the urge to read one, just takes too long. BUT, if I can just "click, click" whenever the mood strikes, I am sure I will read a lot more. 

So, in the last week, I have been lost in my new Nook and have rarely surfaced for air. It is a huge time suck, but at least I feel smarter than when I just waste time online. When I have pulled myself away from my fictional bliss, I have found myself in the kitchen. With Memorial Day and the end of the Community Goups for the year, there have been some food gatherings. This weekend, I made peanut butter cookies with Reese's Pieces in them, which were super yummy. Pulled pork in Dr. Pepper, which was good but not as phenomenal as I read online. The reviews made it sound like the Dr. Pepper gave it a much better flavor, but I honestly didn't notice a difference. I also made my mom's baked beans, which are really good. Baked beans sound kind of blah, but trust me, these ones are delicious at a BBQ. Anyway, here are the recipes:

Peanut Butter Cookies

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

(optional: 1 1/2 cups Reese’s Pieces)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside.

Beat butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Beat in peanut butter, egg and vanilla, craping down side of bowl once.

Gradually stir in flour mixture with mixing spoon, blending well. (Optional: add in Reese’s Pieces) Roll heaping tablespoons of down into a ball and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Press down until flattened into a cookie shape. (dough doesn’t spread out much while baking, so if you don’t press you will have round cookies that aren’t done in the middle)

Bake at 350°F for 10 minutes. Let stand on cookie sheet for 2 minutes, Remove cookies with a spatula to a wire rack and cool.

BBQ pulled Pork with Dr. Pepper

7-8 lb. pork butt (also known as a pork shoulder)
1-2 cans of Dr. Pepper (enough to fill your crock pot)
2 yellow onions, cut into large chunks
6 garlic cloves, minced
4 tsp. dry ground mustard
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
9 Tbs. Worcestershire Sauce
1 bottle Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce

Place the chopped onions in the bottom of the slow cooker.  Place the pork butt on top of the onions and add the garlic, ground mustard, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, apple cider vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. Pour the Dr. Pepper on top and cook on low for 8 hours.

Very carefully, remove the meat from the slow cooker and place on a large cutting board.  Using two forks, shred the pork by pulling away from each other.  The meat should be very tender by this point.  Place the shredded pork back into the slow cooker and continue to cook for an additional hour. 

Drain the remaining juices and toss the meat and onion mixture in the BBQ sauce.  I don't have an exact amount listed- just add a bit at a time until you get to your desired sauciness! 

Baked Beans

1/4 lb. bacon

3/4 lbs. ground beef

1 1/2 medium chopped onions

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/3 cup beef broth

1 clove garlic

1/2 cup ketchup

1 1/2 Tbs. mustard

3/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

2 28 oz. cans Bush’s baked beans

Fry bacon until crisp. Remove and set aside. Pour drippings out. Brown ground beef, onion, and celery until meat is brown and onion and celery is soft. Add the rest of the ingredients and bake at 350°F for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Now we are getting fancy!

This week was Cheryl's birthday and when I asked her what she wanted she said something salty/sweet like a salted caramel something or other. Salted caramel is really popular right now and I have never tried it so I was kind of excited. I tend to geek out over trying new recipes so I enjoyed searching for the best salted caramel dessert. 

I decided to go for salted caramel cheesecake made with homemade dulce de leche. This recipe really isn't too difficult but has fancy sounding ingredients and looks super elegant so I highly recommend making it if you want to impress your friends. Plus it tastes pretty delicious!

Ok, so first of all, what is dulce de leche? It is a Spanish treat translated "candy of milk" or "milk candy". You can buy ready made cans of it apparently but I have been seeing people pinning it on Pinterest for a while so I just assumed I needed to make it. It is super easy to make though, and it made me feel pretty gourmet, so I think it was a good choice. 

To make dulce de leche all you need to do is puncture 2-3 holes on the top of a 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk. Then you place the can in a pot and pour water up to about a half an inch below the top of the can. Then all you do is heat on medium/high and bring water to a simmer and let simmer for 3-4 hours making sure to add water periodically. When you are done, the milk has magically turned into a thick, creamy, caramel-y sauce.

The other fancy ingredient in this recipe is Fluer de Sel which is a flaky "finishing" sea salt that is more subtle than your typical salt. It is perfect for salting desserts. I decided that if I was going to do it, I would do it right, so I went to a specialty kitchen shop in search for this gourmet salt and found it. I am sure you can't see it from the picture but the texture is great and definitely distinct from regular sea salt. 

Ok, now for the actual recipe, I originally got the recipe from this blog. I changed it up a bit but not enough to claim it for my own. 

Salted Caramel Cheesecake

Ingredients

Crust:

2 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 cup butter, melted

Filling:

3 8-ounce pkg. cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 14 oz can dulce de leche (split in half)

2 tsp. vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract, but the paste makes it all fancy and speckley) 

Topping:

dulce de leche

10 caramel chews

Fleur de Sel 

Directions

Crust:

Mix graham cracker crumbs and melted butter until well blended. Press mixture into a 9” spring form pan. Bake at 375°F for 7-8 minutes.

Filling:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Beat cream cheese, sugar, 1/2 can dulce de leche, and vanilla bean paste in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended. Pour over crust.

Place tin foil wrapped pan in large pan filled with water. Bake 1 hour 10 minutes or until center is almost set. Run knife or metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim of pan. Refrigerate overnight.

Topping:

Once the cheesecake is cooled, pour the second half of the can of dulce de leche sauce into a glass bowl. Take about 10 caramel chews and heat them in the microwave for 15-20 seconds until just melted. Quickly dump the melted caramel chews into the dulce de leche and stir continuously until combined. The consistency should be pourable, but not too liquid. Pour over the top of the cheesecake. Sprinkle with Fluer de Sel. 

Now that I have made it once, I think I would do a couple of things differently next time. First, I would pipe a border around the edge with whipped cream and then pour the caramel topping on, that way it would be contained to the top of the cheesecake. By the time we ate this, much of the sauce and slid off and there was only a thin layer of caramel left. Still good, but I think if each piece had more caramel sauce it would have been even better. Second, I would be more generous with the salt. This was the first time I had ever salted a dessert and I was being very conservative. I think I could have sprinkled more on top and it would have given it more of the salty/sweet taste (which is the whole point of putting salt on dessert). 

All in all, this recipe was a winner. I think cheesecake is my favorite dessert and this one was delightful! Now go make it :)

Finally nailed it... the BEST chocolate chip cookie ever!

Chocolate chip cookies are such a basic thing to bake and everyone loves them. I decided that I really needed to have a good recipe to fall back on. My mom always made the best ones! I think she just used the recipe on the back of the Nestle bag but they were so good! I have since learned that cookies have to have just the right balance of flour or they spread everywhere just like my epic fail. 

Since then, I have been on the search for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. I finally found it! Seriously, these cookies are amazing. I guarantee if you follow this recipe, they will come out perfectly every time! I have made them a few times and am amazed at the fact that I get consistent and delicious results. The key is in using the two different kinds of flour. The cookies are perfectly soft and chewy. The chopped chocolate ensures that every bite is filled with gooey chocolatey goodness. Oh my... yum!

Worlds Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 sticks butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed light-brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups cake flour

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 Tbs. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 Tbs. vanilla

8 oz. semisweet chocolate, cut into chunks

8 oz. milk chocolate, cut into chunks

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats; set aside.

Cream together softened butter and sugars. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla.

Reduce speed to low and add both flours, baking powder, and baking soda. Add chocolate chunks; mix until well combined.

Scoop about a tablespoon of cookie dough and roll into a ball and slightly flatten. Place dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Refrigerate for about an hour. Bake until lightly browned, but still soft, 10-12 minutes. Cool slightly on baking sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.