Three-Ingredient NUTELLA Brownies {Gluten-Free}

It's World Nutella Day!  WHAT?!? That should be every day.  It's a holiday devoted to the globally sensational cocoa hazelnut treat.  I made these brownies for the Super Bowl, simply because they are made with almond flour so they are gluten free.  I took a platter full to the party hoping they would be overlooked and I would have leftovers.  NOPE!  They were gone in a flash.  The texture of a rich, fudgy brownie with that Nutella flavor we all know and love.  You would never ever know these are only made with three ingredients and the almond flour is a great alternative to regular all-purpose flour and gluten.  I've been using almond flour a lot as I've been dabbling in Macarons, and I really like baking with it.  (Stay tuned once I get those suckers perfected!) Super easy, super tasty, Super Bowl festive and totally worthy of an international holiday celebration.  Pour the milk and party!

World Nutella Day here I come...

A thick, fudgy brownie sans gluten.

Only 3 ingredients to a tray full of treats!

Break out the milk and enjoy.

Homemade Ranch Dressing

Ranch Dressing is the quintessential Okie condiment.  I'm not positive but I think the trend of putting ranch salad dressing on pizza started in Oklahoma.  I remember doing it in high school much to the chagrin of my parents and Pizza Hut waitresses everywhere.  As I've gotten older though my tastes have changed and while you'll still catch me grabbing a bottle of Ranch Dressing when we order a pizza, it's not something I really put on a salad anymore.  Mainly because I like to make things from scratch.  In fact, we make so many things from scratch around here when I do eat something like a store bought cookie all I can taste is preservatives.  So the other night we made lovely salad for dinner.  I brined and baked some chicken breasts, fried and crumbled some bacon, chopped some hard boiled eggs.  We had Romaine lettuce, chopped celery and carrots.  It was quite colorful and refreshing and lovely to look at and then I realized I had no dressing to put on it.  What would have been perfect was Mr. DD's Blue Cheese Dressing but I didn't have any blue cheese on hand and I sure wasn't changing out of my pajama pants to make a trip to the store.  So I came up with a quick little version of Homemade Ranch Dressing that was an absolute hit.  The secret ingredient?  Pickle Juice. Mr. Devilish Dish loves anything with lots of dill and while I did add dried dill to the recipe, I wanted to boost the dill flavor and thin the dressing just a little.  The result was delicious and we ate salad for days.  This is my new favorite go-to dressing and I just might have to order a pizza for old times sake and try it out! 

Oklahoma's favorite condiment: HOMEMADE!

Delicious on salads, veggies, as a dip
and of course on pizza!

Firecracker Chicken

When Little Devil lived at home our menu consisted of constant Asian recipes.  When we became empty nesters Mr. Devilish Dish said, "Can we take an Asian Food Hiatus?" so we did for a while and after a break I can report we are now enjoying some Asian meals now and then.  I made a version of this recipe a couple of weeks ago and while it was good, it wasn't great so I made it again last night because I wanted to tweak the sauce.  Both Mr. DD and I were really happy with the way it turned out.  Warning, it does have a little kick, hence the name Firecracker Chicken.  I'm super excited to have something that is crispy and fried that is gluten-free so it is a winning recipe all around.  I served it over rice and garnished it with some crisp green onions.  Skip the take out and make your own at home, it's that easy!

Better than Take Out!

Fry your chicken in a small amount of
oil until crispy.

Coat with sauce and bake until thick.

Garnish with green onions.

Serve over hot, steamed rice and enjoy!

The BEST Cold Brew Coffee Featuring the Toddy Cold Brew System

Back in December, my pal Ginger and I had our Annual Holiday Pop-Up Shop where Mr. Devilish Dish was kind enough to teach a workshop on how to put together a charcuterie board for the holidays.  He also demonstrated the Toddy Cold Brew System for making cold brew coffee.  We purchased this system earlier this year and he has been hooked on this coffee ever since! Iced coffee is brewed hot and served cold. ... Cold-brew coffee, however, is made by steeping coarsely ground coffee beans in room-temperature water for six to 24 hours. This creates a coffee concentrate you mix with hot water, cold water or milk.  The biggest benefit to cold brew is its acidity level. As one study points out, cold brew is almost 67 percent less acidic than hot coffee, which means it's better for your teeth as well as your stomach. There's a taste benefit to this type of coffee as well.  I'm not even a huge coffee drinker and I love this coffee.  It is so smooth and tasty, it really doesn't even require a lot of cream or sugar (bonus if you are watching your calories) BUT, I especially enjoy it as an after dinner Carajillo Cocktail when it's mixed with Tuaca or Licor 43.  One of the biggest things we enjoy about brewing our coffee at home this way is the savings.  The coffee concentrate lasts us about ten days or two weeks using only 3/4 pound of coffee, which is a big money saver compared to buying expensive coffee drinks.  I should let you know at this point, that I have not been compensated in any way by the Toddy folks, we just really like the coffee made this way and I thought I would share it with you! 

The BEST Cold Brew Coffee.
There is the finished concentrate.
Ready for hot or cold water.

We use about 3/4 pound of coffee (coarsely ground)
per batch.  Mr. Devilish Dish
likes to weigh it out.

Place the coffee in the filter.

Add water.
We use filtered or bottled water here.
Brewed coffee is only as good as the
quality of coffee beans and water
you start with! 

Now sit it aside and let it steep anywhere
from 6-24 hours.

Mr. DD prefers 24 hours.

Now you've got several days worth of
concentrate.  At this point you can introduce
hot water if you want a cup of hot coffee, we
love it with cold water as a Cold Brew Coffee Drink.
There are endless amounts of recipes on the Toddy Website,
using the concentrate.  We also like the sparkling version below!

Gran Gran's Apple Dumplings

It's January 8th, surely those New Year's Resolutions have been blown by now right?  If not, then everything in moderation because you MUST try these!  I was asked to bring a dessert to Thanksgiving Dinner and Mr. Devilish Dish said, "Anything but pumpkin or pecan pie." (I know, I know *gasp* we don't like pumpkin or pecan pie) I rattled off several suggestions and we settled on Gran Gran's Apple Dumplings.  I cannot believe in 25 years of marriage I have NEVER made these for Mr. Devilish because I've made lots of her recipes over the years including Chicken Spaghetti (one of his favorites) and of course her famous Apricot Nectar Cake.  He was so intrigued when I made this.  In fact he said, "Who came up with this dessert and then said, 'You know what would make this better?  Let's pour a can of Mountain Dew over the top!" I'm not sure what the Mountain Dew actually does for the recipe, unless it helps create the sticky, syrupy, gooey goodness of a sauce.  I can honestly say I haven't bought a Mountain Dew since the last time I made this recipe, but I never omit it. These dumplings are incredibly rich as is, but you can up the indulgence factor by adding a scoop of ice cream or homemade whipped cream.  Bonus factor they are simple, travel well, and everyone loves them.  Just like the rest of Gran Gran's recipes. 

One of Gran Gran's Favorite Recipes!
So simple and delicious!

Peel and cut the apples into 8 wedges each.
Microwave for 2 minutes to soften.

Roll each apple wedge into a crescent roll strip.
You'll have 16 total.

Combine the granulated sugar, melted butter,
cinnamon and vanilla and pour this mixture
over the rolls.

Now pour a can of Mountain Dew
over the whole thing.
I know it's crazy but it's delicious.
  

Check out that golden, delicous
goodness.  Really indulge and add a
scoop of ice cream or whipped cream!

Peppermint Foot Soak

I mentioned in my last post:  Christmas Charcuterie Board about the great place I work.  It has been my hometown's gourmet and kitchenware destination since 1978.  Without admitting my age, I can honestly say I have been shopping at the international pantry since I was in kindergarten.  It is my favorite place.  What's not to love about quality cookware and gadgets, gourmet foods and cooking classes???  Well walking around on your feet, that's what!  Obviously holiday time is our busiest time and I know like me, my co-workers go home to aching feet at night, so I whipped up a refreshing little foot soak to rejuvenate their tired tootsies!  With all natural ingredients and an invigorating peppermint scent it's just the thing to get us through the countdown to Christmas.  I shared them a few days early so they could enjoy them after a long day of work. This would be a great gift for anyone, but especially teachers, hairdressers and ANYONE that spends a lot of time on their feet.  I was able to whip up 8 gifts with one batch of ingredients in just a few minutes.  If you're looking for a quick, economical last minute gift that is both useful and thoughtful, here you go:

A relaxing gift for friends with tired feet!

Peppermint is not only rejuvenating for sore feet,
but it's also refreshing and smells like Christmas!
I hope you whip up a batch of these to share
this holiday season.

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Peppermint Foot Soak

2 cups fine sea salt
2 cups Epsom salt
4 cups baking soda
Peppermint Essential Oil (I used about half a bottle-you want an obvious peppermint scent but you don't want the mixture to be wet or clumpy around 30-ish drops)

Combine the first 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Stir drops of peppermint oil in a little at a time unti you have an obvious peppermint scent.  You want the peppermint to be there, but you don't want the mixture to be wet or clumpy.  I was able to get 8 (half-pint) jars with this amount.  I found the little wooden scoops at Hobby Lobby and tied them on with baker's twine.

I hope you love this little homemade gift as much as I do.  Make some for yourself too.

Merry Christmas Foodie Friends!

Christmas Charcuterie Board

As you may know, my other hobby besides cooking is sewing.  I make scarves from repurposed threads.  A lot of team shirts, but if I can put a needle through it I'll try to make just about anything.   As I've probably told you before Mr. Devilish Dish is quite the cook and he has even taught cooking classes at the international pantry many times.  I've even roped him into helping me with some pop-ups and demonstrations when I've held craft shows there.  He always features some kind of delicious food item or kitchen tool available at the international pantry.  This year we decided to do something different.  As our gift to our loyal shoppers who come to our holiday show every year, we decided to have him teach a little workshop and our theme was Charcuterie Boards & Cold Brew Coffee.  The cold brew coffee was amazing and I will feature it soon in another blog post, but I wanted to share the charcuterie boards just in time for Christmas.

Charcuterie is the craft of preparing smoked and cured meats for preservation and flavor. Typical charcuterie meats are salami, ham, bacon, sausages, and pates. A selection of meats and cheeses are often accompanied by other yummy bites such as crackers, olives, pickles, jams, spreads, fruits and vegetables.  Think of it as the modern relish tray!