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12 Days of Holiday Food Gifts to Make {Revisited}

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Happy Holidays!
Twelve amazing days of Food gifts for memorable giving.

Last year for the holidays I did a series of 12 food gifts for making and giving. A bunch of folks have been asking about them, so here they are in the order that they were posted in. Just click on the title to take you directly to the original post. Also be sure to check on the page bar at the top of the post for resources for jars, containers, ribbons, etc.

White Chocolate Candies

Day 1- White Chocolate Candies– easy to make drops.

Day 2- Candied Fruits- Sweet and Savory. This post contains recipes for the candied pears shown above, candied spicy tangerines and candied ginger.

Day 3- Rosemary Lemon Biscotti and Dark Chocolate Cherry Biscotti– two classic cookies.\

Day 4- A Tradition Renewed- Marzipan– instructions on how to make cherries, pears and plums.

Day 5- Cowboy Candy- sweet pickled jalapeños that have the added bones of a beautiful syrup leftover that makes the dang best margaritas you’ve EVER tasted!

Day 6- Flavored Oils– Two infusion methods: Hot and Cold. Recipes for Lemon Oil, Basil Oil and Smoked Paprika Oil.

Day 7- Mixed Drinks~Pre-made cocktails. These are the bases for some delicious cocktails. Just add ice a spritz of tonic or soda water and you can kick back and enjoy the evening.

Day 8- Fruit Compotes~ Red & Blueberry Mint, and Orange Lavender– Send along with a batch of homemade scones for a special Christmas morning breakfast.

Day 9- Fregolotta- An Italian tradition. It’s a large cracker like cookie, full of almonds, that is broken and eaten after dinner, served here with a ruby port.

Day 10- Homemade syrups to make your own exotic soda or create a cocktail. Blueberry Thyme, Ginger Ale, and Fresh Mint

Day 11- Apricot Tapenade with Rosemary. A sweet and savory fruit sauce that pairs beautifully with cheese and makes a colorful and sparkling addition to your holiday table.

Day 12- NUTELLA!!!!!!

Happy making and sharing everyone!

Healthy Hash- Smoked Trout and Perfectly Poached Eggs

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Personally I find breakfast the most awkward meal of the day. We all know a healthy start is the best thing we can do for ourselves, but man it is so much easier to grab a bagel or be tempted by the mounds of calorie bomb muffins or sweet rolls on every corner. I’ve never been a cold cereal fan really, and as much as I love sweets (and DO I!), I don’t prefer sweet for breakfast. Aside from making me feel edgy early in the day, I just don’t like the idea of being in the nutritional hole right off the bat.

But preparing breakfast takes time. A commodity most of us have less and less of. Who wants to make a mess of the kitchen, or add 20 minutes to the morning rush? But maybe that is the problem right there. Why the rush? Why do we drag ourselves through late night TV so that we feel we must squeeze out every minute of sleep, and then power push through our morning routine to get out the door? How civilized would it be to actually awake with grace, rouse with ease, and start the day with a sense of calm and well being? 20 minutes. Really, that’s all it takes.

For this breakfast I used leftover potatoes from dinner and pre-chopped my orange peppers and spinach the night before. Then it’s just a matter of boiling water, warming some oil in a pan and quick cooking off the smoked trout hash. Easy, fresh, and you’ve gotten a healthy serving of vegetables and quality protein to really start your day off well.

Those who know me know that I am a big fan of eggs. The poor egg has been so harshly maligned that it almost strikes terror in some folks. Yes- eggs have a large dose of cholesterol, and saturated fat, so you would want to balance that out with the rest of your day- but they are also power packed with vitamins and minerals that are hard to get in other places. The AND (previously ADA) now says that one egg a day is fine and I agree. I’m not suggesting that you go hog wild here, I just want to quell some concerns and allow you to feel good about eating eggs from time to time.

Poaching is a great way to prepare eggs, both in terms of nutrition but also when it comes to clean up. The trick to poaching is there is no big trick. Fear not. Simply simmer some water in an adequate sized pan and add a Tablespoon or two of white vinegar. The vinegar helps bind the proteins in the white so that it contains itself and makes a pretty egg. Then gently crack and add an egg into the water and just let it gently simmer for  4-6 minutes, depending on how cooked you like your yolks, and then scoop them out. That’s all there is to it.

Beautiful, easy, delicious and healthy- just the way I want you to start every day.

Smoked Trout “Hash” with Perfectly Poached Eggs
preparing the vegetables while making dinner the night before is a big help. 
serves 2
 
1.5 c diced and boiled potatoes- leftovers are perfect
.5 c diced orange peppers
1c chopped fresh spinach
3oz smoked trout- or smoked salmon- in small pieces
1 clove garlic
1T olive oil
S&P
4 large eggs
 
Set a 5 qt pan on the stove half filled with water and bring to a simmer. Add 2T of white vinegar.
 
Carefully crack eggs into the water and bring back to the simmer. Cook for 4-6 minutes or until desired doneness. Remove with a slotted spoon and blot on a tea towel.
 
Meanwhile heat a medium frying pan on medium heat and add the oil. Add the garlic and sautee for 2 minutes. Add the potatoes and cook until you get a crisp to the edge. Then add the peppers and cook for 1 minute, toss in the spinach and trout and cook another minute until spinach is wilted and trout is warmed through.
 
The trout is salty, so taste before adding any extra- or just salt the eggs. Top off with some freshly ground pepper.
 
 

Heavenly Roasted Peppers with Artichoke Puree

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Fall colored roasted peppers with a light green artichoke puree.

Taking the time to make fresh roasted peppers is well worth it in my book. Not only do I appreciate the better flavor, but I don’t drown them in oil either- which they simply DO NOT need! Peppers are packed in oil are to preserve them, but I eat mine right away. Instead of all that oil, I dress them with this fantastic artichoke spread, that will steal the show the next time you serve it.

Roasting peppers is a little time consuming, I won’t kid you. I usually throw mine into the oven when I’m in the midst of doing other things. If I can’t get to skinning them right away I’ll do it later- though between you and me- skin-on ain’t no bad thang either.

For company I’ll do them up right, but once a week I throw in a nice big tray of roasted peppers to keep them in the fridge for a great afternoon snack- or an addition to a sandwich.

This batch was a result of falling in love with all the colors at the farmer’s market. Seriously, how could I resist? I pulled them into my arms like I was arranging flowers. Once they were roasted I had a blast arranging them into a contemporary painting of colors on the platter.

I’m also really loving this artichoke dip. This was a bit of stroke of serendipity when I came up with this. At Fairway they sell lovely little jars of artichoke puree for a mere $9 each. On the other side of the aisle are the bins of pickles, olives and- artichokes. Do I need to explain my thinking?

The addition of the rosemary is just stellar. The pine flavor rosemary makes the artichokes sparkle and it compliments the peppers too. I make myself a good batch of this. It’s so good on so many things.  Rather than mayo I use this garlicky spread on my sandwiches. The flavor is amazing and it’s just as satisfying.

Strips of bright colored peppers with a nice addition of artichoke puree

So now you can add a brightly colored serving of delicious and healthy vegetables into your weekly menu.

Roasted Peppers with Garlicky Artichoke Puree
If you prefer to use pre-made peppers, that’s fine. Drain off the extra oil and reserve for salad dressing. The artichoke dip is also wonderful with other veggies too. You’ll fall in love, I promise.
 
serves 3 plus one cup of dip
 
6 peppers of varying types
1 can of artichoke hearts packed in water
1 small clove of garlic, crushed and rough chopped
2t fresh lemon juice
S & P
1T olive oil 
1T fresh rosemary
 
Preheat oven to 350˚ and line cookie sheets with foil
 
Slice peppers in half and deseed. Arrange top down on sheets. Roast until blistered and a bit shriveled. Abt 45 mins.
 
Allow the peppers to cool, then peel off skins. Slice into thin strips and arrange on a plate.
 
 
In a food processor combine drained artichokes, garlic, S&P and olive oil.
 
Puree until smooth. If necessary you can add a little water to reach desired consistency.
 
Spoon puree over the peppers and top with chopped fresh rosemary.
 
Store leftover puree in the fridge for up to a week.