Sponsor Spotlight~ The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen

November 30, 2012 By 7 Comments

Happy Friday!

Can you believe that tomorrow is December 1st? Holy hockey pucks, time flew by. Christmas will be here before you know it.

Today, I’d like to introduce you to Susan from The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen. Do you know Susan? Well, I do. I know all about her delicious, award winning Belgian Supreme Ice Cream, her warm Chicken Tortilla Soup, and her drool-worthy Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Biscoff Cream. I frequent Susan’s site every chance I get. I go there to drool over all of the food I wish I had.

Can you guess what Susan’t favorite color is? Red, of course. She cooks in an eighty square-foot red kitchen (hence the name of her blog) in her New York apartment. She even has an obsession with red Le Creuset cookware. Susan learned to cook from watching some of her favorite chefs in action:  Julia Child, Jacques Pepin, Alton Brown, and Sara Moulten. Seems that Susan and I have something in common, we both enjoy Alton Brown’s quirky cooking show, Good Eats.

Susan is one of the sweetest and talented gals I know, and she can churn out ice cream with the best of them. Because cookie season is upon us, I chose to bake and feature Susan’s Speculoos Cookies. I’ve never actually had a Speculoos cookie before I made these, but I’ve become obsessed with Speculoos butter ever since I found it at Trader Joe’s. I literally smear the stuff on everything; it’s so good.

These cookies are made with some of my favorite warm spices like, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger. All the spices that warm you up during the cold months of winter.

I made these cookies for my annual tree decorating festivities, and my family adored them. As soon as I took the sheet pans from the oven, I had hands plucking them off of the cooling racks. Impatient? Yup, that’s my family.

I proceeded to eat three of these as soon as they came out of the oven and a few more as I was decorating the tree. I had an ornament in one hand and one of these delicious cookies in the other. Hang an ornament, take a bite. It was a good day.

These cookies only took me five minutes to whip up- super easy! I wrapped the dough in some saran wrap and rolled it into a log for easy slicing, then plopped it into the freezer to chill for a bit before slicing. Freezer=less time I have to wait before I get to eat cookies. I’m impatient, too.

I plan on making these cookies for holiday gifts. They package wonderfully and taste absolutely delicious. And, since these cookies go nicely with tea, I’m going to pair them with a tea bag.

Click here to get Susan’s delicious Speculoos recipe. You can also stalk Susan on Facebook and Twitter.

 

Filed Under: Cookies/Brownies, Sponsor Spotlight Tagged With: , , , , ,

#SundaySupper ~ Apple Cider Glazed Meatballs

September 23, 2012 By 98 Comments

Happy #SundaySupper! This week the #SundaySupper crew went apple picking and brought back tons of juicy apples for some delicious fall recipes.

Now, I didn’t actually pick my own apples. I may have cheated a bit (gasp!) and took a trip to my local orchard, Weber’s, and grabbed an already picked basket of honey crisp apples and a half gallon of fresh apple cider. It’s always nice when someone else does the hard labor for you.

When I heard this week’s theme was apples, I instantly thought dessert: apple pie, caramelized apples, stuffed apples, apple crisp, apple this, and apple that. It all sounded delicious, but I wanted to create something outside the box, so I decided on apple cider glazed meatballs. They’re savory, sweet, and just plain old yummy. They’re also extremely versatile. You can serve them as a main course for dinner, stick a tooth pick in them for Sunday night football (our favorite way to eat them), or pile them on a piece of crusty bread for a sandwich. Either way, they’re delicious.

Honey crisp apples are my apple of choice in the fall. They’re the perfect balance of sweet and tart with a crisp, juicy center. When I go apple picking, I head straight for the red-green orbs dangling from the apple trees.

I decided to use ground turkey for this recipe since it goes so well with apples. I mixed ground turkey with a generous amount of garlic, cayenne, and shredded honey crisp apples. They  get baked until they’re perfectly brown and crispy on the outside, then tossed in a sweet apple cider glaze. The result is a sweet and savory tender meatball.

Enjoy!

Make sure you visit the other #SundaySupper members for more apple recipes:

Soups, Salads, Starters and Breads

Main Meals

Sides

Desserts

Beverages

Join us around the family table for our #SundaySupper Twitter chat at 7 p.m. EST tonight to talk about our favorite apple recipes. You can follow us all day using the #SundaySupper hashtag for delicious dinner ideas.  

Apple Cider Glazed Meatballs

Meatballs:

1 1/2 lbs. ground turkey
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup shredded apple (see note)
3 tbs. onion, finely diced
1/3 cup bread crumbs
1/2 tsp. cayenne
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large bowl, add all of the ingredients. Mix to combine. Roll into 1-inch balls. Place the meatballs on a cookie grate on top of an aluminum foil lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes.

Note- After shredding the apple, place in a paper towel of clean kitchen towel and squeeze out juice.

Glaze:

1 cup apple cider
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp. freshly grated ginger
1 tbs. apple butter
3 tbs. brown sugar
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tbs. chili garlic sauce
1 1/2 tsp. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup chopped scallions

In a small bowl, add all of the ingredients, except the scallions. Whisk to combine.

Add the mixture to a large sauté pan over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil and let simmer for 2 minutes until the glaze thickens. Add the meatballs to the pan and let cook for 1 minute to coat. Top with chopped scallions.

Adapted from Better Homes & Gardens

 

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