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Hard Cider Brittle

November 22, 2016 by Ginger Leave a Comment

Pistachio Brittle by D Fenwick, http://dfenwickphotography.com

Pistachio Brittle

I love Fall.  The changing colors of the leaves, the crisp mornings, and the fellowship of holiday season.  Our gifts to friends and family are usually small tins of baked yumminess, or a cookie variety plate.  This year in our quest to add to the gifting repertoire I considered brittle.  Hot sugar however requires a little extra minding than a mere oven timer.  Please be careful if you have little ones in the house, or are attending to chores elsewhere – a boiling pot of sugar needs to be watched!  You’ll also need a candy thermometer for this one. Let’s get cooking!

Ingredients

1 cup hard cider (I used a pumpkin flavored)
1 cup light corn syrup
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda
2 Tbsp butter (room temperature) + extra for baking pan
~1 cup roasted/salted pistachios (shelled of course)

Warm an oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.  Prepare a baking pan lined with tin foil (and lightly butter).  Place in oven.

Into a pot add the hard cider down to cinnamon.  Stir to combine and heat until 300 degrees Fahrenheit, which is Hard Crack stage.  You will be tempted to stir this as it boils, DON’T.  The sugar up the side of the pot crystallizes and can alter the consistency of your brittle.  It probably took my pot about 30 mins to hit hard crack so be patient.

As you get ready for Hard Crack to be reached on your candy thermometer, have the butter and baking soda standing by.  Once the magic number is reached, swiftly remove the pan from the oven and set close by.  Remove your pot from the burner and add the butter and baking soda to your pot.  Stir quickly and thoroughly to incorporate.  Add pistachios and stir – your mixture will be solidifying which is going to make spreading it in the pan difficult – hence the warm pan and your expeditious stirring skills!

Pour the mixture onto the pan and quickly spread out as best as you can.  This sugar will be VERY hot, please be careful.  Sprinkle more pistachios on the top as you like.  Set aside to cool.

The pot and any utensils you used should be soaked in hot water to help you clean up.

Once the brittle is cooled, break into bite sized or gift bag sizes. I angled sheet of cooked brittle and gently knocked it from the underside with a lemon squeezer so as not to damage the pretty face of the brittle.  🙂

Enjoy!

 

Filed Under: Photo, Recipe Tagged With: brittle, candy, hard cider, pistachio, pistachios, pumpkin

Jalapeno Artichoke Dip

November 12, 2016 by Ginger Leave a Comment

Artichoke Jalapeno Dip by D Fenwick, http://dfenwickphotography.com

Jalapeno Artichoke Dip

So there we were faced with a spicy food photography assignment.  Out of time, I resorted to a favorite family recipe.  Well, it’s my favorite and it’s my sister’s so I guess that makes it a family favorite.  🙂

Ultimately, the photo above didn’t have that epic spicy look to it; so we settled on a close up of me biting into a bright orange habanero.  Believe me, that WAS spicy, and the photo well received at the webinar.  But this post is about Dip!  Creamy, yummy Jalapeno Artichoke Dip, so let’s get started.

You’ll need:
1 jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained (I used 6.5 oz, but if you like artichoke hearts, use the bigger one!)
1 8oz package of cream cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup Parmesan cheese
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 jalapenos (I love the seeds, but most can’t tolerate them, so leave them or remove them, your choice)

Using a food processor, drop in the artichoke hearts and pulse a few times, then add the garlic and jalapenos.  Process till finely chopped then add remaining ingredients.  Pulse to combine fully.

Into an oven safe dish bake at 350 degrees F until it begins to bubble.  In my oven that’s about 40 minutes.  A slightly brown crust on the top will begin to develop.  Remove, let cool a bit and serve with crackers or sourdough bread.  Enjoy!

Filed Under: Photo, Recipe Tagged With: Artichoke, dip, Jalapeno, snack

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