O is for Olive

Orange you glad I'm back.

Once upon a time, the Mrs wouldn't eat olives. I am happy to announce to you all that today that all changed, with these. She says, "Even the non-olive eater would enjoy this one!" One point for me (but who is keeping score, right.)

Oh how I love olives. They are just so dang tasty. Not to mention that this is where we get olive oil from. Without olive oil, my kitchen wouldn't function.

I always think about olives when I eat fruit salad, and tomatoes too but that's not the point.. They say that you are smart if you know that olives and tomatoes are fruits. And you are even smarter if you know that olives and tomatoes do not belong in fruit salad.

Olive and Provolone Tart

• 2 shallots, thinly sliced
• 3t olive oil
• 1t salt
• 1/2t sugar
• 1/3 cup of sliced Kalamata Olives
• 1 sheet of puff-pastry dough
• 3 slices of Provolone cheese
• 2t light brown sugar

Heat a skillet on medium high heat with olive oil. Caramelize the shallots seasoned with salt and sugar, ~25 minutes.


Roll out puff-pastry dough over the tart pans, and press the dough into the sides. Place a slice of Provolone on the bottom of the tart, spread a layer of shallots evenly on top of the cheese, and arrange the yummy Kalamatas on top.

Sprinkle a little brown sugar over the olives and bake at 375 degrees for 12-14 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown.

They are delicious, I mean what could be better than flaky buttery pastry with sweet caramelized shallots and the salty Kalamata Olives. To tell you the truth, the tarts didn't last long at our house. They were too good, but we did save you a bite.

-J

O is for Orange

Quick post:

On the off chance you made those Nutella cookies,

and you have the other half of the cookie dough to use.

Or if you just want some orange cookies. 

Roll out the dough, use what ever cookie cutter that you want, or don't use a cookie cutter. One could just roll a some dough balls in one's hand and press them into disks. Bake at 375 degrees for 7 minutes. Place cookies on a wire rack with a sheet pan underneath.

Then take 1 cup of powdered sugar and 3 tablespoons of fresh squeezed orange juice. Whisk it. 

Spoon the orange glaze on top and let the cookies.

 Let them dry.

Eat 'um.

That's it and that's all. For now.

Off to another Other things O.

-J

N is for Nutella

Never in my life have I had a bite of Nutella.

Until now of course.

Not only do I have a new ingredient in the kitchen, I have a new island!! I cannot express to you how much I needed and wanted this. My kitchen is large in square footage, but the counter space is lacking.  I had to stack pans and plates on top of each other. There was nowhere to put nothin'. But with the island, my counter space is tripled.

This weekend, me and The Mrs. traveled to my uncle's house in West Alabama to pick up this masterpiece. Uncle Bill made the island in his spare time. It has a butcher-block top made out if red oak, yellow oak and accents of mahogany. The base is yellow oak, and it has casters so I can cart this around anywhere in the kitchen. And the best part - it is tall! Since I am 6'5", Uncle Bill wanted to make it at a comfortable working height for me. I Love It!

While we were there he gave us some of his homegrown goodies. Habanero peppers, a watermelon, and a jar of his homemade pickles were packed up in the truck and are just waiting to be devoured. 



Now, the food - Nutella. For those of you that like me until recently have never had Nutella, let me explain. Nutella is a chocolate-hazelnut spread almost the consistency of creamy peanut butter. It is made with no artificial preservatives, and has less grams of fat than peanut butter per serving size. For those of you that have had Nutella, back me up, it is delicious. On February 5th, you should all celebrate National Nutella Day with me by making these cookies.

Nutella Thumbprint Cookies

**Note you can use a premade cookie dough or follow the recipe below.

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4t baking powder
• 1/4t salt
• 1lb butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar plus 1/4 cup for topping
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1t milk
• 1/2t vanilla

• 1/3 cup Nutella
• 1/4 cup mascarpone cheese
• 1/4 cup toasted almonds, chopped

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together and set aside. Cream the butter and sugar together for ~2 minutes. Add the egg and mix until incorporated. Add the milk and vanilla. Turn the mixer down to a lower speed and slowly add the flour mixture. Stop the mixer once a dough ball forms. Scrap down the mixer and split the dough half. Form the dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.
Mix the Nutella and mascarpone cheese in a small bowl.


Roll out the dough to 3/4" thick and cut out cookies. Press you thumb in the center of the cookie and dip the cookie in sugar. This will rim the edges of your cookies in sugar, making them sparkle and shine.


Fill the center of the cookie with the Nutella mixture, and bake for 7-8 minutes. As soon as you remove the cookies from the oven sprinkle them with chopped toasted almonds.

 As always ALPHAbiteICAL readers, N-joy! I'm off to outline a plan for O.

-J

N is for Nectarines

Now that it is a good four days since my last post and promise I am pleased to bring you something new.

Nice to be back readers and non-readers alike. I know that there are some of you that are skipping over these words as I speak and notice nothing but the pictures that I post. No worries. There are some blogs that I look at only for the photos. Nobody judges you.

I realized a little too late that there are a limited number of 'N' ingredients, that I was stuck scrambling for a flavor to feature. When I struggle, have a few things that I do. First I brainstorm. If that doesn't work I call my family. We chat it out and usually that solves that, but if that doesn't work I go back to basics. I hop in the car and walk around the grocery store.

I've been wanting to do a dessert since the last dessert I left you with was maybe not the best. Even after my brainstorming and my family phone calls, I navigated to the store for a little N-spiration. I found these nectarines and another N-gredient that you will just have to wait for.

N case you were wondering, nectarines are similar to a peach, but not fussy and the fruit is firmer than a peach. I like to think of it as half way between a peach and an plum. A nectarine is not in the orange family, as my N-laws seem to think. (Love you all.)

Nectarine and Blueberry Crisps 

For filling:  

• 2 nectarines, pitted and sliced
• 1/2 cup blueberries
• 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
• 3T sugar
• 3T all purpose flour
• 2T Amaretto liqueur*
• 1t light brown sugar

For topping:

• 1/4 cup Nilla wafers, crushed
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup toasted oats
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/8 cup sugar
• 4T butter, finely cubed

Combine all of the filling ingredients in a bowl and mix until a thin paste covers the fruit. Split the mixture into four ramekins.

Combine the topping ingredients, except the butter. Mix them together well. Add in the butter with your hands until you make large clumps of Nilla oatey goodness. Crumble the topping on all the ramekins** and bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.



*If you don't have, or just don't want to use Amaretto, substitute with a little agave nectar or honey.

** At this point you can cover and refrigerate until you are ready to bake. This makes it ease if you are N-tertaining  for guests because you can make it ahead. You're welcome.

 N-joy!

The Next dessert is on it's way. I am excited about working with it because it is something that I have never had before. 

-J

N is for Nothing....

Nil...

Nada...


At least not right now.

I know, I know...shame on me and all that.There will be a post soon, around Noon tomorrow I am going to navigate my way into the kitchen 'N' cook up a storm. I promise.


While you wait, I wanted to announce the winner of the magnificent mustache.

 And the winner is:

Betty Martha, of Running With The Devil(ed)....Eggs That Is. As we read, that fun little corkscrew is on its way to Canada. I'm so excited that Betty Martha won. She told me,  
"I am a fan of the mustache - fake ones anyway."

Thank you all so much for entering! Betty Martha, Congratulations again and for those of you didn't win, hang N there. We just might have another giveaway someday soon.

See you back 'N a little while!

-J