inexpensive holiday recipes

Chocolate Covered Butter Cookies Recipe

October 16, 2009 By PoorSanta

Here the basic butter cookie is elevated to a luxurious treat, by sathering it with chocolate.

chocolate_covered_butter_cookies

Chocolate Covered Butter Cookies Recipe

Basic Butter Cookies (Double Dough Batch):

2 cups softened butter (I use salted, if you use unsalted add a 1/2 tsp of salt to recipe)

1 1/3 cup of granulated sugar

3 lg. egg yolks

2 tsp vanilla extract

4 3/4 cups flour

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Cream butter & sugar (and salt if needed) at high speed. (Use a large bowl this is a double batch of dough)

3. Add vanilla and yolks. Beat til smooth.

4. Turn mixer down to slow speed and slowly add flour, just til mixed in.

5. Separate dough into 2 or 3 manageable sized balls, for rolling out.

6. Lightly flour your counter and roll out dough to about 1/4″ and cut your shapes.

7. Place on Parchment lined baking sheet, and bake for approximately 12-13 minutes. (if you don’t use parchment cookies will cook a minute or 2 faster).

8. Let cookies rest a couple minutes, before removing from baking sheet, to avoid breakage.

Chocolate Coating:

The chocolate used on these cookies is basically just a thick ganache.

8 oz. semi sweet baking chocolate squares

2 1/2 tbs of milk

1. Chop the chocolate into smaller pieces to speed melting.

2. Combine milk and chocolate in microwavesafe dish.

3. Heat chocolate in microwave for 30 seconds, then stir with fork. Repeat, until the chocolate mixes smoothly (it will still be a little thick). Add a little milk if you need, but do so sparingly.

4. Let Chocolate sit for a couple minutes, just til not steaming hot.

5. Place cookie flat down on chocolate. With smaller cookies, twisting while lifting may give you a nice swirled effect. Larger cookies will probably require the chocolate be spread out with icing spatula or the back of a spoon. (You can sprinkle nuts or crushed candy cane on at this point if you like).

6. The cookies will need several hours to “set-up”. I usually leave them overnight.

The chocolate will not be enough to cover all the cookies, as it is a single batch recipe and the dough is a double recipe. I usually serve the plain butter cookies along side the chocolate covered ones as shown here, or use half the dough for another cookie style.

Puff Pizzettes : Inexpensive Holiday Appetizers

October 5, 2009 By PoorSanta

puff-pizzettes

Puff pastry and fresh ingredients, make these bite-size pizzas a step above the common fare.

Puff Pizzettes Recipe:

Frozen Puff Pastry

Grape Tomatoes (sliced thinly)

Fresh basil leaves(sliced into 1/4″ ribbons)

Shaved Parmesan Cheese

2 tbs olive oil

1 clove of garlic (crushed & minced)

salt

Thaw the puff pastry dough thoroughly.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Sweat the garlic in the olive oil over medium heat with a pinch of salt
Smooth out the dough and cut into 1” by 3″ strips. (A shortbread cookie cutter this size will produce the slightly ruffled edges seen in the pic. above)
Baste the top of the strips with the garlic oil.
Pick each strip 3-4 times with a fork.
Top with 3 slices of grape tomato.
Sprinkle on shaved Parmesan .
Top with a couple pieces of basil.
Place the strips on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake for approximately 12 minutes, on middle rack.

Filed Under: Recipes Tagged With: frugal holidays, holiday recipes, inexpensive appetizers, inexpensive holiday appetizers, inexpensive holiday recipes

Curried Chicken Skewers w/ Cilantro Mayonaise : Inexpensive Holiday Appetizers

October 1, 2009 By PoorSanta

Big flavor, on a small budget, is not hard to achieve, when you spice it up a bit. This simple inexpensive appetizer is packed with taste.

inexpensive_appetizers_chicken_curry_skewers

Recipe: Curry Chicken Skewers with Cilantro Mayonaise

2 large chicken breasts

2 dozen wooden skewers (soaked in water for at least 15 min.)

grape tomatoes

Marinate Ingredients

1/4 cup of olive oil

1 tbs. of curry

1/2 tbs. of cilantro ( I use dried)

1 small clove of garlic (crushed & minced)

1 tsp of ginger (crushed & minced)

1 tsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp kosher salt (if substituting table salt, use a little less)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Slice chicken breasts into thin strips, then cut strips into 1-2 ” long pieces.
Mix marinate ingredients in glass bowl.
Add chicken, and make sure it is fully covered in marinate.
Skewer chicken & grape tomatoes.
Bake for 10 minutes, make sure oven is fully preheated and flip the skewers at about the 6 minute point.

Cilantro Mayonaise

1/4 cup of mayonaise

1/2 tsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp cilantro

Simply mix and serve aside the skewers. If you prefer a sweeter mayo, just add a little honey and mix well.

Filed Under: Recipes Tagged With: frugal holidays, holiday recipes, inexpensive appetizers, inexpensive holiday appetizers, inexpensive holiday recipes

Poor Santa’s Lemon-Walnut Biscotti

September 25, 2009 By PoorSanta

Lemon Walnut Biscotti are a delicious addition to any holiday festivity. Here Poor Santa presents you with an elegant biscotti recipe which will yield gourmet results, and not hurt your wallet. The bright buttery lemon flavor of this biscotti, will stand out against the usual holiday cookies. Lemon Walnut Biscotti are great with tea, or as a light dessert after a rich meal, and make a wonderful hostess/Christmas gift.

Poor Santa’s Lemon-Walnut Biscotti

3 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 1/4 stick room temp. unsalted butter (if you want to use salted only use 3/4tsp. of salt)
1 1/3 cups sugar
Shaved peel of 1 large lemon (or 2 small)
2 lg. eggs
all the juice of 1 large lemon (aprox. 3-4 tblsp.)
1 3/4 c. chopped walnuts (8oz. bag)
Confectioners sugar for dusting

1. Mix flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
2. Beat butter, sugar, and lemon peel in separate bowl until blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just to blend after each addition. Beat in lemon juice.
3. Slowly add flour mixture, while still beating, then stir in walnuts.
4. Split the dough into 3.
5. Use plastic wrap to help form dough into 8-inch-long logs. Flatten them slightly, to about 2 ½ inches wide.
6. Keep in plastic wrap and chill until firm, (min. 3 hours / max. 3 days)
7. Preheat oven to 325°F & line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
8. Transfer flattened dough logs to prepared baking sheet, spacing evenly.
9. Bake until golden brown and just firm to touch (approx. 45 min.).
10. Transfer to cooling rack , and allow to cool completely.
11. Lower oven temperature to 300°F.
12. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
13. Cut the logs crosswise into 3/4 to 1″ thick slices.
14. Arrange the slices on prepared baking sheets.
15. Bake until golden brown around edges ( approx. 20 min.).
16. Dust the biscotti with confectionary sugar while still warm. Allow to cool completely, before storing to ensure crispness of the biscotti.
These can be stored at room temp, in an airtight container, for several days.