Meal Planning for Xmas and the New Year / White Chocolate Cranberry Toffee
I'll be cooking for one for the two upcoming holidays, and want to make a couple of special meals, but I don't want to stress out by doing a LOT of cooking ... nor do I want to end up with a TON of leftovers. So, I've come up with the two tentative menus below.
No fancy sauces or multi-part dishes to assemble. Just good, wholesome meals.
My challenge to myself when planning these menus, on Friday evening, was to use only things I had already bought. Though I will have to replace the broccoli as it won't last until New Year's day. :)
Christmas dinner
Appetizer - bacon wrapped dates stuffed with almond and cream/goat cheese
Main - lamb shoulder chops
Side Dish - couscous with asparagus, buttered corn carrots REVISED
Dessert - mini cheesecakes with blackberry coulis
Candy - toffee with white chocolate and dried cranberries DONE
New Year's dinner (Romanian themed)
Soup - chicken with semolina dumplings (supa cu galuste)
Main - pork chops
Side Dish - duck fat roasted potatoes, steamed broccoli, honeyed carrots
Dessert - plum dumplings (galuste cu prune) with buttered bread crumbs and sugar
White Chocolate Cranberry Toffee
2 cups/4 sticks/1 lb unsalted (or salted) butter
1/2 tsp salt (if using salted butter, use 1/4 tsp salt)
2 cups white sugar
6 tbsp water
2 tbsp corn syrup
2 cups white, milk or dark chocolate chips
Toppings
1 cup roughly chopped dried cranberries, blueberries, candy canes, or 1 1/4 cup chopped toasted almonds
Line a jelly roll pan with heavy duty foil and spray lightly with non stick spray.
Over medium heat, and in a large heavy bottomed saucepan, at least 4 or 5 times the capacity of the contents, melt the butter, with the water, sugar, corn syrup and salt. Stir gently until the sugar melts.
Allow the mixture to come to a boil, and stir occasionaly and gently from this point on. This takes a little time and patience (at least 18-20 minutes), but the bottom of the pan will scorch if you use higher heat.
Cook the mixture until a candy thermometer reaches 290-300 degrees Fahrenheit, the hard crack stage. It will be an amber/peanut butter/brown paper bag color.
NOTE: If the mixture splits (the butter comes out of the mixture and is found around the central mixture) before the toffee reaches the desired tempterature, add a couple of tablespoons of warm water to the mixture and stir well until it comes back together again. It will spit and bubble up but keep stirring. This is why it's important to use a LARGE saucepan. Repeat as needed.
When the mixture comes to temperature, carefully pour the toffee into the prepared pan.
Pour the chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl and cook at 50%/medium/setting of 5 for one minute. Then stir the chocolate for 30 seconds or so. All of the chips should be melted. If they aren't, return the bowl to the microwave and cook for another 15 seconds and then stir again until the chocolate mixture is smooth.
Pour the melted chocolate over the toffee and spread it evenly with an offset spatula (or an offset butter knife if you have one). Sprinkle the dried cranberries over the top. Gently press them into the chocolate.
Put the pan into the fridge to help the chocolate set more quickly. When set, break the toffee into jagged pieces by dropping the toffee sheet from about 6 inches above the pan or by hand. If you want more regular edges chop the toffe into the desired size using a large, sharp knife.
No fancy sauces or multi-part dishes to assemble. Just good, wholesome meals.
My challenge to myself when planning these menus, on Friday evening, was to use only things I had already bought. Though I will have to replace the broccoli as it won't last until New Year's day. :)
Christmas dinner
Appetizer - bacon wrapped dates stuffed with almond and cream/goat cheese
Main - lamb shoulder chops
Side Dish - couscous with asparagus, buttered corn carrots REVISED
Dessert - mini cheesecakes with blackberry coulis
Candy - toffee with white chocolate and dried cranberries DONE
New Year's dinner (Romanian themed)
Soup - chicken with semolina dumplings (supa cu galuste)
Main - pork chops
Side Dish - duck fat roasted potatoes, steamed broccoli, honeyed carrots
Dessert - plum dumplings (galuste cu prune) with buttered bread crumbs and sugar
White Chocolate Cranberry Toffee
2 cups/4 sticks/1 lb unsalted (or salted) butter
1/2 tsp salt (if using salted butter, use 1/4 tsp salt)
2 cups white sugar
6 tbsp water
2 tbsp corn syrup
2 cups white, milk or dark chocolate chips
Toppings
1 cup roughly chopped dried cranberries, blueberries, candy canes, or 1 1/4 cup chopped toasted almonds
Line a jelly roll pan with heavy duty foil and spray lightly with non stick spray.
Over medium heat, and in a large heavy bottomed saucepan, at least 4 or 5 times the capacity of the contents, melt the butter, with the water, sugar, corn syrup and salt. Stir gently until the sugar melts.
Allow the mixture to come to a boil, and stir occasionaly and gently from this point on. This takes a little time and patience (at least 18-20 minutes), but the bottom of the pan will scorch if you use higher heat.
Cook the mixture until a candy thermometer reaches 290-300 degrees Fahrenheit, the hard crack stage. It will be an amber/peanut butter/brown paper bag color.
NOTE: If the mixture splits (the butter comes out of the mixture and is found around the central mixture) before the toffee reaches the desired tempterature, add a couple of tablespoons of warm water to the mixture and stir well until it comes back together again. It will spit and bubble up but keep stirring. This is why it's important to use a LARGE saucepan. Repeat as needed.
When the mixture comes to temperature, carefully pour the toffee into the prepared pan.
Pour the chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl and cook at 50%/medium/setting of 5 for one minute. Then stir the chocolate for 30 seconds or so. All of the chips should be melted. If they aren't, return the bowl to the microwave and cook for another 15 seconds and then stir again until the chocolate mixture is smooth.
Pour the melted chocolate over the toffee and spread it evenly with an offset spatula (or an offset butter knife if you have one). Sprinkle the dried cranberries over the top. Gently press them into the chocolate.
Put the pan into the fridge to help the chocolate set more quickly. When set, break the toffee into jagged pieces by dropping the toffee sheet from about 6 inches above the pan or by hand. If you want more regular edges chop the toffe into the desired size using a large, sharp knife.