Honey Nut Pretzel Graham Bars-Dessert Challenge

It is the second Thursday in March, and time for another Dessert Challenge hosted by Sheryl at Lady Behind the Curtain.  The ingredients that Sheryl chose for this month are honey and walnuts.  Our assignment is to create or find a recipe to post that uses those ingredients.

When searching for a new recipe idea, I usually turn to my trusty recipe file on my computer.  I have 15 years of recipes there, so it is quite extensive.  Fortunately, I remembered that my daughter has an old laptop of mine with my recipe file on it, so I only lost a couple of years of recipes when I had my computer crash.  Now I have Windows 8 and have the file stored securely (?) in the cloud.

In the bar cookie file I ran across a recipe called Honey Pecan Triangles, and I thought, “Yipee!” that is a place to start.  I could easily change the pecans to walnuts, no problem.   Soon other changes began to occur, however.  The original had a brown sugar, shortbread type crust, and I wanted something easier.  So why not just use graham crackers as some of those recipes floating around on the net do?    OK, that was decided.

Next challenge.  The original recipe called for 4 cups of chopped pecans.  Well, in my neck of the woods, that equates to one pound.  I don’t know about where others live, but here, a pound of nuts, whether walnuts or pecans, is upwards of $8.  That is a little rich for my budget just for a pan of cookies, no matter how delicious they might be.  As I was giving this some thought and looking around my kitchen, I spied part of a bag of pretzel sticks.  I remembered that, a couple of years ago, I did a recipe using broken pretzels instead of nuts.  That was an idea I got from Southern Plate.  I can buy a bag of pretzel sticks at Dollar Tree for $1.00.  So how about replacing some of the nuts with broken pretzels and how about throwing in some coconut for good measure?  Seemed like a good idea.

The topping ingredients included whipping cream.  Well, guess who forgot to get whipping cream when she went to the grocery store.  I live 20 miles from town so it is no easy fete to just pop over to pick something up I forgot.  I always have evaporated milk on hand so decided that it would just have to stand in for the whipping cream.  When I added the milk to the hot brown sugar/honey/butter mixture. the mixture thinned down quite a bit.  I remedied that by putting the mixture back on the burner and cooking it another 3 to 4 minutes.  The mixture thickened back up so that fixed the problem.

With all that and no further asides, I present to you Honey Nut Pretzel Graham Bars.

Honey Nut Pretzel Graham Bars
24 double graham crackers
1 1/2 c. coarsely chopped walnuts
1 1/2 c. broken stick pretzel pieces (about 1/4-inch pieces)
1 c. sweetened, flaked coconut.
1 c. brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 c. butter
1/4 c. honey
1/2 c. evaporated milk
1 t. vanilla

Line a 10x15-inch baking pan with foil and spray foil with non-stick spray.  Place two double graham crackers across the width of the pan.  Repeat until all graham crackers are placed in the pan.  There may be a little room at the end of the pan not covered with graham crackers.  Fold the foil back next to the last row of graham crackers to form a wall.  Combine nuts, pretzel pieces and coconut in a medium bowl and set aside.  Place brown sugar, butter and honey in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, watching carefully and stirring often.  Boil and stir for 3 minutes.  Remove pan from heat and add evaporated milk and stir well.  Return pan to heat and continue to boil and stir another 3 to 4 minutes.  Remove from heat and add vanilla.  Mix well.  Pour over nut mixture and stir well.  Quickly turn onto center of graham crackers and spread out in an even layer.  Place pan in oven and bake at 325 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown and bubbly.  Remove from oven and let cool to lukewarm.  Using a cookie sheet, flip crackers over and remove foil.  Cut bars apart between crackers and at the indentations in each double graham cracker.  Turn right side up and let cool completely.  Makes 48

If all this sounds like fun, you can find the schedule and all the information about it here  Check out the links below to see what other bloggers have made with honey and walnuts.

DIY Hoisin Sauce-The Battle

It is no secret that I am delighted when I find I can make a homemade version of a commercial product.  Several months ago I found a recipe for Hoisin Sauce in a microwave book.  The author indicated that the recipe had come from Recipezaar which is now Food.com.

I thought I would go check the recipe out on the site.  When I got there I found that there were two very different recipes for making Hoisin Sauce.  The one in the book which makes quite a bit and another one that made a smaller amount.

I decided to make both recipes and see if I liked one better than the other, and, of course, I had to make my own changes, too.  The results were mixed.  They were both easy to make and used ingredients that I keep on hand.   I didn’t really like one that more than the other one.  The shortcomings in both recipes were that, as written, neither of them had the thick, paste-like texture like the commercial Hoisin sauces I have purchased.  I have adjusted my recipes for that.

So, try them both.  If you need just a little Hoisin Sauce make the recipe the yields the smaller amount.  The recipe that makes the larger amount says that it keeps 2 weeks.  For longer storage, I don’t see why the sauce can not be frozen, so I would dollop recipe amounts out on a parchment paper-lined pan, flash freeze, and put the dollops in a freezer bag or container.

The first recipe uses black bean sauce or peanut butter.  I used peanut butter since I always have that on hand.  One recipe said 1 T., one recipe said 2 T.  I used 1 T.  I think that the peanut butter flavor may be a little too much with 2 T.

DIY Hoisin Sauce-small quantity
1/4 c. low-sodium soy sauce
1-2 T. black bean paste or creamy peanut butter
1 T.  molasses, honey, or brown sugar, firmly packed (I used molasses)
2 t. unflavored rice wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, or white vinegar (use use rice wine vinegar)
2 t. sesame oil
1 clove garlic, minced or 1/4 t. garlic powder (I used the powder)
1/8 t. onion powder
2 t. cornstarch
20 drops hot sauce, preferably Chinese (I did not use this much)
1/8 t. black pepper

Combine soy sauce, peanut butter, molasses, vinegar, sesame oil, garlic, onion powder in a glass measuring cup.  Microwave on high 30 seconds to melt peanut butter for easier mixing.  Beat with a wire whisk until well blended  and cool.  Stir in cornstarch, beating until well blended.  Microwave 30 seconds to 1 minute until mixture is thickened.  Stir well.  Add hot sauce and black pepper.  Makes about 1/3 cup.

DIY Hoisin Sauce-large quantity
1 c. beef broth (low sodium if possible)
1/2 c. low-sodium soy sauce
1/3 c. dry sherry
2 T. cornstarch
2 T.  molasses
2 T. brown sugar
2 T. tomato paste
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 t. ginger
black pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a 1 qt. glass measuring cup or microwave-proof bowl.  Stir with a whisk to dissolve cornstarch.  Partially cover with plastic wrap.  Microwave on high 2 minutes.  Stir with a whisk.  Microwave 1 1/2 to 2 more minutes until thickened.  Stir again with a whisk until smooth.  Let cool and store in refrigerator up to 2 weeks.  Ingredients may also be put in a small saucepan, and mixture cooked on the stove until boiling and thickened.  Makes about 2 cups.

Linking to these great parties:
Cast Party Wednesday
Wicked Good Wednesday
Show and Share Wednesday
Work It Wednesday
Wow Me Wednesday

Honey Roasted Sweet Potatoes-Secret Recipe Club

I am finally back.  Hopefully the ISP and life issues are behind me, and I can get back to the business of posting regularly.  Thanks to all for your patience with me.  As always,I appreciate that you are reading this blog.

Today is Secret Recipe Club’s group B reveal day.  In Secret Recipe Club we are assigned another blogger’s blog to visit and choose a recipe to make and post about.  On our assigned day we post the recipe and let the blogger know we had their blog.

This month I was assigned the blog “A Spoonfull of Thyme.”  Kate has been blogging since 2009, posting many delicious recipes.

I have actually made several recipes from Kate’s blog.  The Chocolate Peanut Buddy Bars rated a “10” with my coworkers.  I made the Lemon Sauce from this post to serve with some Chicken Schnitzel.  There are a number of other recipes I want to try.  One is General Tso’s Chicken which I think would be great with the Pineapple Rice in this post.

There are several reasons for choosing the recipe I am posting today.  I am trying to eat more veggies; and hubby and I like yams and eat them often.  In our area of the country, orange potatoes like this are called yams.  Second, through my Just4U at Safeway I can buy yams for a special sale price this month, so I am planning to buy them often.  Third, this recipe (very good as is) has great potential for variation.

My first variation to the recipe was to add 1/2 t. coarsely ground pepper; but there are many other spices and herbs that I want to try such as Chinese 5-spice, curry powder, cumin and rosemary.

I warm the honey slightly in the microwave to make it easier to measure and to make the glaze mixture a little more liquid so it is easier to mix with the potatoes.

After I made this the first time, Hubby said that he would like a little more glaze so I now use 3 T. each olive oil and honey.  Try it both ways to see which you like best.

Thanks, Kate, this recipe will be on our table often.

 Honey Roasted Sweet Potatoes
2 lbs. sweet potatoes (yams), peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
2-3 T.  olive oil
2-3 T. honey
1-1 1/2 t. lemon Juice
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. or so coarse ground pepper or other spice or herb of choice

Place yams (sweet potatoes) in a 9x13-inch baking dish.  In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, honey, and lemon Juice.  Add the salt and coarse ground pepper or other spice/herb as desired.  Pour the mixture over the potatoes and toss to coat.  Bake at 350 degrees, stirring every 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.  Kate says this will serve 6, but to tell you the truth, this amount makes barely enough to feed the 2 of us.  I would make two pans if I was serving
6.

Improv Cooking Challenge-5-Spice and Honey Glazed Sweet Potatoes

Today is the third Thursday in November and time for Improve Cooking Challenge hosted by Kristen at Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker, so this is post number two.

The ingredients for the challenge this month were sweet potatoes and honey.  Sweet potatoes are one of those things that there is some confusion about.  Here in the northwest yellow fleshed sweet potatoes are called sweet potatoes, and orange fleshed ones are called yams but are, supposedly, actually a variety of sweet potato.  Confusing, I know.  Anyway, I chose to make my recipe with the orange fleshed potato as that is the one my family likes.

In searching the web for inspiration for this ingredient combination, I found a short video by Tyler Florence where he was making what he called sweet potatoes (they were the orange ones) roasted with honey and cinnamon.  The video was my inspiration for this recipe.  There were no ingredient amounts or oven temperature given in the video.

I love Chinese 5-Spice seasoning with its slightly licorice undertones so chose to use that in this recipe.  I will be trying other spices such as Pumpkin Pie Spice, Apple Pie Spice, Nutmeg, and Ginger (I probably will need to reduce the amount of spice for this one.).  5-Spice can be a little difficult to find in the grocery store, but I know that Spice Islands still makes it.

Although I used whole pecans in the dish I made for the photo, in the future I will use coarsely chopped nuts.  Any other nut of choice could also be used, or the nuts may be omitted.

All in all, I am very pleased with the result and have a recipe that I will use often.  The not-too-sweet glaze really lets the flavor of the sweet potato shine through.  Personally, I just kept eating these like popcorn and could not stop.  If you like true sweet potato flavor, I think you will like this.

5-Spice and Honey Glazed Sweet Potatoes
2 1/2-3 lbs. sweet potatoes or yams
1 1/2 T. olive oil or melted butter
1/3 c. honey
1 t. 5-Spice seasoning
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. coarsely ground pepper
1/2 to 3/4 c. coarsely chopped, toasted pecans or other nuts (opt.)

Peel and slice potatoes into 1-inch slices.  Quarter slices.  Place sweet potatoes in a large mixing bowl.  Drizzle olive oil or melted butter over the potatoes and mix until they are well covered.  Pour honey into a glass measuring cup and warm in microwave about 30 seconds.   Add 5-Spice, salt and pepper to the honey and stir well.  Pour honey over the sweet potatoes and mix until they are well covered.  Turn into a foil-lined 10-15-inch baking sheet and spread into a single layer.  Bake at 375 degrees 15 minutes.  Carefully stir and turn sweet potatoes so that they are well coated with the liquid (honey will still be quit liquid at this point).  Return to oven and bake about 15 minutes more.  Stir and turn potatoes again until they are well coated with glaze (honey will be glaze consistency at this point).  Sprinkle nuts over potatoes and return to oven for about 10 minutes until potatoes are tender.  Remove from oven and place in a serving dish.  Makes 6 to 8 servings  (Unless you are me, then it make a serving for one.)

 If you like to join in the fun of this challenge, you can find all the necessary information on Kristen's Improv Page.  December's challenge is chocolate and marshmallows.  The recipe does not have to be original.

Ingredient Spotlight-Honey Mustard Dip

The Ingredient Spotlight today over at Eat at Home is honey.  The recipe I am sharing today is short and sweet, quick and easy.  It can be used as a dip for chicken nuggets or fingers, or veggies, it can be used as a spread in sandwiches or as a dressing for salads.

It is easy to vary the taste of this by the kind of mustard that is used.  I have made this with all kinds of mustards.  I, personally, like to use a pineapple mustard that I can get here in the northwest.

Heating the honey slightly in the microwave will help to make it more pourable.  Also, grease the measuring cup to make getting the honey out of it easier.  Try to make this at least a few hours a head if you can.  It keeps well in the refrigerator.

Honey Mustard Sauce
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
Mix together honey, mustard, mayonnaise and Worcestershire sauce in a small bowl and whip with a whisk until smooth.  Makes about 3/4 c.  If you are having a party, it is fun to serve this in a hollowed out pepper. 

Linking to:  Ingredient Spotlight
Weekend Potluck