Thursday, December 29, 2011

Whipped Orange Nutmeg Butter

I apologize for the lack of post lately! I have been immersed in the holidays, as well as tending to our litter of puppies born October 12.... all 15 of them!
I hope my photography skills will begin to improve as well! I received a DSLR camera from my husband as a Christmas present! I am looking forward to higher quality photos to put on my blog!

For dinner tonight, I decided to roast some sweet potatoes. I simply make a couple of small slits in the sweet potatoes, then place them in a 350 degree oven until they are tender. I usually put a piece of foil underneath them while they roast, since they will caramelize and "ooze" a bit of goodness onto the bottom of your oven.

To make the whipped butter, I decided to try something my sister had told me - whipping butter with coconut oil. But, as is my nature, I couldn't make plain butter! Here is the recipe...

1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup coconut oil (I didn't use extra virgin)
Pinch of salt (I used Himalayan pink salt, ground to a powder in a mortar and pestle)
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest (I used satsuma zest)
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Place butter in a bowl, and beat for a second to smooth the texture out. Add the coconut oil, and whip together until fluffy looking.  Season to taste with salt. You can stop here and have just a plain whipped butter. Simply stir in the flavors (zest and nutmeg) and scoop into a serving dish. Chill until service time. For softer butter, simply remove from the fridge about an hour before service.

Coconut oil is a very healthy oil and by mixing it with the butter, it still retained the buttery flavor and creamy texture. The salt is optional, but I felt that it made it taste like true butter. As with most compound or flavored butters, you can change up the flavor combinations.  Different citrus zests, herbs, spices - endless possibilities!
Whipped Orange Nutmeg Butter

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Red Hot Cinnamon Candy Popcorn

I thought some of you might enjoy this... It's very festive for the holidays! Though it's not my recipe, I did alter it slightly...

In case any of your are interested, I thought I would share a favorite recipe of mine... I didn't make this up, it's out of a cookbook, but it's a fun change from your normal caramel corn!
Red Hot Cinnamon Candy Popcorn
8 quarts popped popcorn
12 oz package red cinnamon candies
+ enough sugar to fill up a 2 cup measure
1 cup butter
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Spread Popcorn onto a lightly buttered roasting pan; bake at 250 degrees while preparing syrup. Pour cinnamon candies into a 2 cup measure, then fill remainging space to the top with sugar. Place in a heavy saucepan and add butter and corn syrup. Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and carefully stir in baking soda. Pour over popcorn and stir to coat. Bake in a 250 degree oven for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Break apart and store in an airtight container.
I hope you all enjoy! I love this recipe!