Amber's Ham Biscuits

Nothing says Christmas like a little ham in my life. Being a VA girl I feel it is in my blood to celebrate the Christmas season with some good ol VA ham biscuits. I know these are not the classic VA salty ham biscuit but they are delicious and a great party food to serve up to your family and friends over the holidays. You can prep them in advance and then pop them in the oven as you run through them at your events. I am sad to say that I burned mine a bit today (a bit of a hostess malfunction) but my guests didn’t seem to mind so that goes to show you just how delicious they truly are.

These biscuits are the perfect addition to any of your holiday parties from a brunch buffet to late night appetizers before watching the ball drop. My only suggestion is that you make plenty because these babies go fast!

Amber’s Ham Biscuits

1 Onion, chopped

½ C butter, melted

2 tbs Dijon mustard

2 tbs Worchestershire sauce

2 tbs poppy seeds

24 party rolls (I use the kings Hawaiian because they are THE BEST)

1 lb ham shaved thin

20 slices of swiss cheese, thinly sliced

Heat the oven to 400. To make your sandwich spread you will sauté onion in butter until tender but not brown. Add mustard, worchestershire sauce and poppy seeds to the onion mixture being sure to mix well. Place spread in the refrigerator to cool. Slice the rolls in half and smear the cooled spread on to each piece of the roll. Top the spread with a slice of cheese and then ham. Since the Kings rolls come in a sheet I slice the entire top half of the sheet of rolls away from the bottom at once. I follow the entire process as if I am making one large sandwich and then fold it back together. Heat the biscuits at 400 for 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the rolls are slightly brown. Once the sandwiches are heated I slice them along the edges with a bread knife which quickly cuts them into perfect bite sized pieces! Be sure to serve these warm, they are by far the best when the cheese is gooey and delicious.

Sausage Rolls

Katie here!  Here is a great recipe that I've used for finger food at parties.  The best part is that you can make this in advance and freeze it for later.  This recipe is pretty easy and packs some great flavors.  I found the recipe on Epicurious.com.  If you want to make this in advance freeze the rolls prior to cooking.  Thaw 24 hours prior to cooking in the fridge and then follow portion of recipe below to cook.

1 1/2 lbs pork sausage
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper
1 (17oz) package frozen puff pastry thawed
2 eggs beaten

Preheat oven to 375.  In a large bowl mix together the sausage, basil, oregano, thyme, and salt and pepper (to taste) until all the seasoning are well mixed.

Roll out all the pastry into one large rectangle, about 1/8 inch thick.  Put the wide side of the rectangle to your left.  Form the sausage meat into a log, about 1 inch thick and long enough to fit the width of the pastry.  Lay this log along the whole edge.  Roll the pastry around the sausage, brush the beaten eggs at the join and cut so that the pastry has just enough room to slightly overlap.  Repeat the process with the remaining sausage meat and pastry.  Line up all the sausage rolls making sure the seam on each is at the bottom and not showing.  Brush the tops with the eggs and cut the sausage rolls into either 1 1/2 or 3 inch logs.

Spread about on inch apart on baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes until meat is fully cooked and pastry is golden brown.

Spicy Praline Pecans

Tis the season of gifting galore and this year I am making mine from scratch! Our family always spends Christmas Eve with some of my parents closest friends. It has been like this for years… ever since my parents decided that the annual Christmas pilgrimage from VA to WI was just not worth the hours of snow driving stress. Part of the tradition is an exchange of  little trinkets, many of them unusual, sometimes hysterical and always from the heart.

This year I decided that I would make some of our gifts in an effort to keep things personal. Since we are a group who loves food I figured why not make something that will be sure to keep the bellies satisfied. On the short list were homemade caramels, truffles, spiced nuts and pickles, while I decided on spiced nuts… I am still thinking I might be giving pickling a try.

These spicy sweet nuts look just as beautiful as they taste. Presenting them in ribbon wrapped mason jars makes the final product look like a boutique worthy gift at only a fraction of the price. 

Ingredients:
2 lbs pecan halves

1 ½ C dried cranberries or cherries

¼  C light corn syrup
¼ C packed light brown sugar
2 tbs butter (melted)
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp baking soda

1 tsp kosher salt

½ tsp ground cumin

½ tsp cayenne pepper

½ tsp ground cinnamon

Mix all ingredients (except nuts and fruit) together in a large mixing bowl and microwave until boiling (about 1-2 minutes). Toss nuts in the mixture being sure to coat them evenly. Pore nuts onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 250 for 45 minutes being sure to toss the nuts every 15 minutes to keep them from burning.

Nuts will stay fresh in an air tight container for up to 3 weeks.

Semi-Homemade Donuts

Hanukkah is here and while I havn’t been celebrating the festival of lights for long I am super excited about learning all sorts of traditions about the holiday. Last year cousin Deb taught me about the traditions of having donuts on Hanukkah to help remember the oil that burned for eight nights. So this year I decided to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah by making our own donut treats. Traditionally they are filled with Jelly but I couldn’t find my pastry tip so they ended up just sugar glazed treats. Because I used readymade biscuit dough the whole process took a lot less time (about 30 minutes from start to finish) for the entire batch. I wont say that they were "easy" since frying is never easy to me (I really need to get a thermometer for this stuff) 

I found a recipe for biscuit donuts on the blog How Does She and figured it would be way easy to adapt it to make donut holes which means I could use less dough and have twice as many treats!

1-2 packages of biscuit dough (I read the flaky dough does not work as well so I used buttermilk)

3 C of powder sugar

2 C coconut oil

Set up your cooking station. Have one area for your raw dough, one bowl full of powder sugar and then a cookie sheet or baking pan for the donuts to cool in. Heat coconut oil until liquid and glistening. For those of you who have not used coconut oil before, it comes in a jar and has s similar consistency to Crisco. Once you heat it, the solid will melt and you will have the perfect frying oil. I used a small deep pot for my oil to minimize splattering and oil usage. While you are heating the oil, open the biscuits and cut them into fourths. Lightly roll them in the palm of your hand to remove some of the corners. Drop the donuts into the oil one or two at a time. Since I did not completely submerge them in oil I rolled them from side to side until they were completely crispy golden brown on the outside.

I used a slotted spoon to remove them from the oil and roll them in the powdered sugar. Once completely covered with sugar, tap the access off and then set the donuts aside allowing them to cool completely. Repeat this process with all the other dough balls and then enjoy!

*If you would like to fill your donuts you will need a pastry tip and bag. Fill the bag with your filling of choice, poke a small hole into the center of your donuts with a knife or tooth pick and then fill with pastry bag through that hole.

Peppermint Chocolate Cookies

Katie here!  Tis' the season to start entertaining!  Last year I hosted our Parents only holiday Playgroup party.  Given that I had my hands full with a toddler I decided to find recipes for the party that I could stagger over a few weeks in making.  I hope to showcase a few of these over the next few weeks.  These cookies are my crack.  Seriously could inhale them all at once.  Self control is needed!  I found this recipe on Epicurious.com, taken from a Bon Appetit Recipe.  You can make the cookies at least three weeks in advance and freeze them.  I stacked them in Tupperware with wax paper in between each layer to freeze and pulled them out to defrost the day before the party.  This recipe yields approx 50 cookies.

2 1/2 cups bittersweet choc chips (do not exceed 61% cacao)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp instant espresso powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp peppermint extract
2 large eggs
4 candy canes

Preheat oven to 375.  Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.  Stir 2 cups of choc chips in medium metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until melted and smooth.  Measure 2/3 cup of the melted chocolate and set aside in a small metal bowl to reserve for drizzling.

Whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, espresso powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat the butter in a large bowl until creamy.  Add sugar and both extracts until smooth.  Add eggs until blended.  Beat in melted chocolate from medium bowl.  Add dry ingredients until just blended.  Stir in remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips. 

Measure 1 level tbsp dough and roll between palms to form a ball.  Place on prepared baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.  Space the cookies 1 1/2 inches apart.

Bake until cracks are all over the cookies and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with large moist crumbs, approx 8-9 minutes.  Cool cookies on baking sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer the parchment paper to cooling racks.

Rewarm reserved chocolate over a small saucepan of simmering water.  Using a fork, drizzle the chocolate over the completely cooled cookies.  Sprinkle crushed candy canes over the drizzled chocolate.  Chill for appox 20 minutes.

Maple Mustard Glazed Veggies

There is nothing like roast veggies in the winter months. The slow roasting process heats up your kitchen with the most delicious smell as the natural sweetness is brought out of each of the vegetables. I knew I wanted to serve up a vegetable medley on thanksgiving so I decided on a mix of carrots, parsnips and Brussels sprouts to bring beautiful color to the dish. I loved the way the maple mustard glaze accented their natural sweetness without completely over powering them and others must have felt the same way because they were the first thing we ran out of on the dinner table that night.

1 bag of parsnips, washed, trimmed and cut into large bite size sticks

1 bag of carrots, washed, trimmed and cut into large bite size sticks

1 lb of Brussels sprouts, washed, trimmed and quartered

EVOO

S&P

¼ C maple syrup

2 tbs Dijon mustard

2 tbs whole grain mustard

1 tbs EVOO

Splash of white wine vinegar

Toss veggies in EVOO, S&P and roast at 425 for 15 minutes, toss and then return to the oven for an additional 15 minutes. Combine the last 5 ingredients in a bowl and whisk together. Toss the cooked vegetables in the sauce and serve immediately.