Homemade Nutella

One of the most important parts of a party is the food- obviously :)  This weekend was my grandpa's 90th birthday, and all the family and friends who came celebrated with lots of food.  One of my favorite parts was roasting giant marshmallows over the fire and making s'mores on Saturday night...after we sang and made wishes over several cakes and pies.

 

 If you haven't seen these giant marshmallows yet, you should look for them! Bigger is always better...especially when it comes to dessert.

Anyway, on Friday I posted a 'sneak peek' of a recipe I stumbled upon a while back and fell in love with- homemade Nutella! One of my cousins is getting married soon and there was a 'Pantry Party' bridal shower for her on Friday.  My mom was giving some of her homemade jam and granola, and I decided to give a jar of this.  It comes together quickly and easily, which is all the more reason to double it.  And to make a batch of Big and Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies to go along :)

Homemade Nutella

from Oh Nuts

2.5 oz (about 2/3 cup) hazelnuts

3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk

3 ox baking chocolate, finely chopped

3 Tbsp honey

Toast hazelnuts on a baking sheet for about 12 minutes at 350 degrees.  You'll get a nuttier taste the longer you leave them in.  

Place the hazelnuts in a food processor and process until almost liquid.  In a double boiler, melt the chocolate and add sweetened condensed milk and honey.  When combined and smooth, add to hazelnuts and process to desired consistency.  

A note on storage: I don't think this needs to be kept in the refrigerator, because the milk has been cooked.  It certainly won't hurt to keep it in the fridge, although you'll need to let it sit for a while at room temp before spreading.

Risotto with Shrimp and Peas and Easy BBQ Sauce

Since the AP World History test is over, the class has been...a little less rigorous than it was before the test. That's not to say we don't do anything, but things move a little more slowly.  Actually, we finished watching "Hotel Rwanda" today, and it was excellent.  But I didn't find the movie we started after to be as intriguing, and I spent several quality minutes on Rachael Ray's website looking for a good dinner recipe.  I found one that I liked the looks of, and since we already had everything it was a go.

This was my first time making risotto and I'll be honest that I was a little concerned about the delicate little grains of rice having to absorb so. much. liquid.  But it turned out beautifully, and made a delicious dinner :) I made sure to double it, so we have plenty of leftovers!

Risotto with Shrimp and Peas


adapted from Every Day with Rachael Ray

(These are the original, undoubled numbers.  I made a few changes though- the original recipe calls for
3 tablespoons of butter and when I doubled everything else I didn't double the butter.  I also ignored the set shrimp amount and threw in as much as I thought would go well.  Additionally, I eyeballed the onions and lemon zest.  The numbers for the add-ins are pretty forgiving, but I stuck to the rice/liquid measurements very closely.)

1 (14.5 oz) can chicken broth
3 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 cup arborio rice
salt and pepper
8 oz peeled, cooked small shrimp (just as much as you want)
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
1 lemon, zested

1.  In a small saucepan, heat the chicken broth and 1 3/4 cups water over high heat until steaming; cover and keep warm.  Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, melt 1 tbsp butter over medium heat and add onions.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft (about 5 minutes).  Add the rice and 1/2 tsp salt and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes.

2.  Stir in 1 cup of the broth mixture, bring to a simmer and cook, stirring until the liquid is absorbed, 2 or 3 minutes.  Maintaining a low simmer, continue to add the broth mixture 1/2 cup at a time, stirring frequently and allowing the rice to absorb the liquid.  Cook until the rice is creamy and tender, 20 to 25 minutes.  add the rest of the butter, shrimp, peas, and half the cheese and cook and stir until the cheese has melted.  Stir in the lemon zest.

I found that it was very creamy and there was plenty of flavor, but I did add a but of pepper.  Season yours with the remaining cheese, salt, pepper, and butter if you like!

My aunt told me how to make a super easy barbecue sauce that tastes great and takes about 30 seconds to whip up.  You probably already have everything you need- ketchup, worcestershire sauce, and liquid smoke.  We also added a little Tabasco for a little kick, and it was great.  The nice thing about this sauce is that you can adjust it as much as you want to get the exact taste you want, and make it as spicy or as mild as you want.  And it is delicious on a pulled pork sandwich! :)

Successful Caramel Sauce and an Aioli Flop

Often the best day of the week is Saturday, because of all the food :) Instead of shoving a bowl of cereal down my throat like I do every weekday morning, I have time to make something exciting for breakfast (which I didn't do today, but Jessica's waffles make the best Saturday morning breakfast).

Lunch can be an assortment of all the food that's hard to make resemble a brown bag lunch for school, although today it was frozen yogurt from Red Mango.  I was at the mall all morning trying to find slacks, and how on earth can you drive all the way to the mall without eating at Red Mango? I decided on a cup of swirled raspberry cheesecake and original with blueberries and kiwi, and it was a much more satisfying lunch than the sandwich I take to school every day :)

I came home from the mall and saw a single Granny Smith apple in a bowl on the counter.

Naked.

Without caramel sauce.

Believe me when I say it got dressed in a hurry.  That caramel sauce made for the food success of the day, and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it really was to make!  I spent a few minutes looking for a recipe that looked relatively quick and easy and this one is a definite winner.   I imagine you could stick some in a pretty jar for a fabulous Christmas or housewarming gift :)

Easy Caramel Sauce

from Lynda's Recipe Box

1/2 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
dash salt


Over medium heat, melt the butter and add brown sugar, stirring constantly, until the mixture reaches a rolling boil.  Slowly add the cream and keep stirring until all the cream is incorporated.  Continue stirring and bring to a boil before adding vanilla (I added the salt here as well, it wasn't mentioned in the original).  Remove from heat and pour into a clean glass jar.  Let cool before covering.

I had a recipe from Real Simple that I wanted to try- Asparagus with Lemon Aioli, which looked delicious in the magazine.  I got the asparagus boiling and started working on the lemon aioli, which called for mustard, one egg yolk, olive oil, lemon juice, and a little salt.  The aiolis that I've had have had a creamy color and a consistency just thicker than fresh whipped cream, but mine looked more like a bright sunshiney yellow vinaigrette.  We ate it with the boiled asparagus anyway, but mine tasted more like citrusy olive oil than anything.  It was still fun to try, and maybe one of these Saturdays I'll give another aioli recipe a go.  Have you ever made aioli? How did it turn out?

The Granny Smith is gone, but I'm thinking some homemade caramel sauce might go nicely with the cheesecake bars I'll be making to complete my sunny Saturday evening :)