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Dec 9 2010

Mulled Wine

Posted by ThreeManyCooks in Holidays, Step-by-Step Recipes

There are two kinds of people in the world: those who love red wine and those who love white. But when the temperature drops and the snow flies, a whole lot of white lovers turn red. ‘Tis the season for warm, bold, sweet and spicy. And come holiday time, mulled wine amps up the best qualities of a good red.

All you need for this hot toddy is cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, whole peppercorns, an orange, sugar, port and two bottles of ~~cheap~~ inexpensive, full-bodied red wine like a cabernet or shiraz (the fact that you can use inexpensive wine and port makes this recipe even more delicious!).

Start by peeling the orange with a vegetable peeler.

Then have a little contest with yourself to see how long you can make the peel before it ends. Just kidding. I didn’t do that.

Okay, I did.

Add three cinnamon sticks. It’s best to do this in a small saucepan, but I don’t have one (crazy, I know) so I just put this all in my Le Creuset and it worked fine.

Then add 1 teaspoon of whole cloves.

Next add 1 teaspoon of whole peppercorns. You don’t have to add these, but I really like a little spicy heat in my mulled wine. If you like a lot of heat, just add more than a teaspoon.

Then put the orange peels into the pot.

Add 1 cup of water to the spice mix and bring to a boil. Simmering the spices in a little water first means you don’t have to overcook the wine to infuse it with flavor.

Reduce heat and simmer until cinnamon sticks start to unfurl and spices have released their flavor, about 15 minutes.

Add 1/2 cup sugar …

And 1/2 cup port. Doesn’t that look pretty? Makes me feel Christmas-y just lookin’ at it.

Once you’ve mixed those ingredients together, add the wine. Bring to a simmer over low heat, then turn off heat. At this point, you may strain the mulled wine if you like, but the cinnamon sticks, cloves and peppercorns will fall to the bottom of the pot.

Ladle into mugs and serve immediately (in your Dollar Store Christmas mugs!)

Mulled wine, you bring joy to my world.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Printable Recipe

Mulled Wine

by ThreeManyCooks on December 7, 2010 in Drinks, Holiday

5.00 Mitt(s) 3 Rating(s) 3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5

Description

Quick Mulled Wine.

Ingredients

3 sticks Cinnamon (2-3 Inches Long)
1 teaspoon Whole Cloves
1 teaspoon Whole Peppercorns
1 whole Orange Peel, Removed With A Vegetable Peeler
1 cup Water
½ cups Sugar
2 bottles (750ml Bottle) Full-bodied Red Wine, Such As Cabernet Or Shiraz
½ cups Port

Preparation Instructions

Bring cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns, orange peel and water to boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat and simmer until cinnamon sticks start to unfurl and spices have released their flavor, about 15 minutes.

Bring contents of saucepan, sugar, wine, and port to simmer over low heat in a Dutch oven or large saucepan. Turn off heat. Ladle into mugs and serve immediately.

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Three Many Cooks is the always-entertaining food blog of Pam Anderson and her two daughters, Maggy and Sharon. Pam is a well-known and much-respected food writer and author, Maggy is a “hippy adventurer meets 1950s housewife,” and Sharon refers to herself as a recovering food snob learning to survive on a graduate student’s budget. Theirs is a strong relationship both inside and outside the kitchen, and it shows in the food they create and the stories they tell.

Mar 23 2010

Murphy’s Hot Hamburger

Posted by Ree | The Pioneer Woman in Step-by-Step Recipes

I almost fell over when I came across this recipe on Tasty Kitchen. Submitted by AlishaGibb, the recipe’s from an old (and still open!) haunt in my hometown called Murphy’s.

I can’t even begin to adequately summarize what it is about Murphy’s that’s so wonderful. The burgers…the garlic salad dressing (I have that recipe, too)…the incredibly delicious French fries. A meal at Murphy’s is a treat, a splurge (calorically speaking), an unparalleled burger experience. Anyone who’s ever eaten there knows exactly what I mean. Kids come home from college? They go straight to Murphy’s. Adults come to town to visit their parents for Christmas? They pick up Murphy’s to go on the first night they’re there. Murphy’s is simply a part of the soul of anyone who grew up there.

The most famous item on the Murphy’s menu has to be their Hot Hamburger. I…I…I can’t even describe it. And I won’t even try. Instead, I’ll just show you.

Before I begin, just remember one thing: “Gravy Over All“.

We’ll revisit that in a minute.

Thank you, Alisha, for sharing this!

Here’s what you need. I didn’t have any beef broth, so I did beef bouillon cubes in hot water.

First thing we’re gonna do is make some fries, baby.

I have this lovely little french fry cutter. It’s a miracle, and it gets fries into my mouth much faster than if I have to slice them by hand.

These are about the thickness of fries at Murphy’s, if I remember correctly.

Drizzle some canola oil all over the fries and toss them around with your hands.

Then sprinkle on some salt or seasoned salt. I used Slap Ya Mama Cajun seasoning.

Slap Ya Mama on fries is so, so good.

Now pop the pan into a 425 degree oven and bake for 45 minutes, shaking them around a few times here and there so they don’t totally stick to the pan.

When the fries have about 15 minutes left, mix the hamburger meat with minced garlic, onion powder, and seasoned salt (or just plain salt would be fine.) Note: I went a little heavy on the garlic for this one pound of meat. If you’re unsure, cut the seasonings by half.

Use your hands to knead the meat mixture together until it’s thoroughly combined.

Divide the meat into fourths, then make the hamburgers. But Murphy’s doesn’t have lovely, uniform patties.

They just slap a wad of meat on the grill and flatten it into a rustic shape. At least I think that’s how they do it.

Either way, these are not perfectly formed patties. Imperfection is the way to go.

Cook the burgers on both sides until done…

Then remove them to a paper towel-lined plate. Cover them with another plate to keep warm!

There should be plenty of grease in the pan, but if not, feel free to splash in a little oil. Turn the heat to medium-low.

Sprinkle on 4 to 5 tablespoons flour, whisking as you sprinkle it in to make sure the flour evenly distributes in the grease.

Whisk it all together until combined. Ideally, you would cook this roux for a good 3 to 5 minutes in order to get the color as dark as possible without burning. (Murphy’s gravy is very dark brown.) But I was in a bit of a hurry.

Then pour in the beef broth slowly, whisking as you pour.

Now you just need to cook the gravy until it bubbles and thickens, about ten minutes or so.

Whisk as you go, scraping the sides of the pan to make sure you loosen all the bits.

Sometime during the cooking process, throw in a bunch (ya THINK?) of black pepper. Black pepper is a must.

Cook and whisk until it’s nice and thick.

By now the fries are ready. And they’re divine!

And now…I need to talk to you brace yourself. Place some fries on a plate.

Then place one of the burger patties on top.

And then…and then…GRAVY OVER ALL.

Yes, I just poured brown gravy over everything on the plate. Who wants to know?

And that’s the beauty of a hot hamburger. And if you don’t want to go through all the steps, you can take a shortcut and buy a packet of brown gravy mix—or even better, buy the stuff in the jar! I won’t tell anyone.

I’m pretty sure Murphy’s serves bread underneath the burger patty, then the fries over to the side, then drowns it all with the delicious brown gravy. That way, the bread underneath is not only soft from the grease of the burger…it’s deliciously soaked with gravy. Perfect!

You have to experience it once in your life.

Another option would be to serve the burger in its normal state—with a bun and everything—then serve the fries with a bowl of gravy. When ballet season was over every year and I felt like I could eat something besides carrot sticks, I’d go straight to Murphy’s and order fries with a side of gravy. It was my own brand of teenage rebellion.

Whatever you do, the fries must go with the gravy.

It’s a universal mandate.

Enjoy, and thanks again to Alisha for sharing this hometown treat!

Love,
Pioneer Woman

Here’s the printable recipe: Murphy’s Hot Hamburgers, by AlishaGibb

May 11 2010

My Granny’s Chocolate Cobbler

Posted by missamy in Baking, Step-by-Step Recipes

This week, Ree’s in Orlando, ditching the boots for a pair of flip flops. Right now, she’s either lost in Wally World, hiding in the bathroom, or clutching the bars of some insane ride and crying for her mommy. So we have another special guest filling in for this week’s Tasty Recipe post! Today, missamy takes over with a decadent chocolate dessert that looks almost too good to be true. If you remember Amy from her feature some months back, then you know you’re in for a wild and delicious ride. It’s all yours, Amy!

When I was invited to guest post here I was filled with glee and honored to have been asked to fulfill such a task. Ree rocks the recipe rundown like no other. To try to fill her shoes (or boots) is an undertaking for sure. But I’ll do my best. And today, chocolate is involved, so how can I go wrong? Chocolate always covers a multitude of shortcomings in the kitchen. Burn a roast? Serve a chocolate pie and no one will remember. Running late and all you have on hand is sandwich fixings? Chocolate brownies will make it all better. You get the picture.

So when I saw this recipe, My Granny’s Chocolate Cobbler submitted by Tasty Kitchen member Susan Hawkins, I knew I had to give it a try. Ya know, for y’all. I’m a trooper like that. You can thank me later. Or rather, thank Susan and her Granny for the recipe.

This cobbler reminds of a Molten Chocolate Lava Cake, like the one Ree once shared. But I think it’s a little more ooey gooey with a crispy and crunchy top concealing a moist cake and rich chocolate syrup. Let’s get started and you can see for yourself!

The ingredients are simple. You’ll need flour, baking powder, salt, cocoa powder, sugar, milk, melted butter, vanilla extract, brown sugar and hot tap water.

Begin with the flour in a mixing bowl.

Next add the baking powder, salt, 3 tablespoons of the cocoa powder and 3/4 of the sugar.

Side note here: I used dark cocoa powder for this recipe, which can be found in most local groceries. I’m a dark chocolate fan. You can certainly use regular cocoa powder, but if you can find it, the dark cocoa powder gives it an extra kick of richness that would make Ree’s skirt fly up. I don’t wear many skirts but I felt a distinct breeze up my pant legs.

Okay, back to the recipe. Mix ingredients well.

Next add the milk, melted butter and vanilla extract.

Combine well until you have a smooth batter. At this point it looks much like a brownie batter. I suppose, if you wanted, you could stop here and call it day. But Granny has bigger plans for us, so hold your horses.

In an 8 x 8″ or equivalent size casserole or baking dish, evenly spread the chocolate batter and set aside.

Moving right along, in a bowl place the remaining white sugar, the brown sugar and remaining 4 tablespoons of cocoa powder.

Combine well. The mixture was a little lumpy due to my brown sugar clumping but I just broke apart any large clumps and didn’t worry about the others.

Evenly distribute dry mixture over the chocolate batter.

Now here’s where it gets a little wonky. You may wonder what was Granny thinkin’? I even checked the recipe, concerned I had missed a step. Pour 1 1/2 cups of hot tap water over the whole thing and don’t stir.

Again, don’t stir. Just let it be. It looks kinda wrong, I know, but some kind of Granny magic happens. Trust me. Or rather trust Granny. She knew what she was doing.

Bake in a 350° F oven for approximately 40 minutes or until the center is set.

And here ’tis!

A yummy, chocolatey goodness awaits below that crunchy shell.

All I can say is have some vanilla ice cream on hand because it’s the perfect accompaniment. The cobbler is rich and decadent but not too sweet. Ice cream, whipped cream or a tall glass of milk balances out the richness just fine. Mighty fine indeed.

Just so you know, while I don’t normally cook gluten-free, I did try a gluten-free version just by substituting Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour for the same amount of flour called for in this recipe. It turned out delightful. I took it to a get-together and it was gobbled up by kids and adults alike.

A big thanks to Susan for sharing her granny’s recipe with us all. It’s a keeper for sure!

Printable Recipe