The Hungry Excavator: XO Fried Noodles

Well, it's a brand new year, and I'm trying to keep the home cooking going, so I needed to start making some dishes to carry me over the next week.  A little while ago I had picked up a very fancy package with XO sauce inside of it, but it wasn't until I got home that I realized I wasn't entirely sure what to use it with.  Cue me googling frantically.  While I don't have a wok, per se, I do have something wok-ish, and it turned out this plate of yum.  I was afraid the chili oil would be too spicy, but I honestly kinda wish I had used the full 2 tablespoons.  Season as you wish.  You could also dump in some sliced mushrooms, chopped cabbage, whatever suits your mood.

XO Fried Noodles

Adapted from The Hungry Excavator blog

XO Sauce (see below)
2 tablespoons canola oil
3 large eggs
Dash of kosher salt
¾ cup diced yellow onion
1 pound ground pork
7 ounces rice vermicelli (soaked for 1 hour, then drained)
1 cup shredded carrot
1½ cup chopped green onions (approximately 12 green onions)
Fried shallots, for garnish (optional)

For the XO sauce:
5 tablespoons XO sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1½ teaspoons light soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 to 2 tablespoons chili oil (optional)
3 tablespoons water

Mix all the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl and set aside.

Heat up a wok with the oil on high heat. Once hot, add the eggs and salt and scramble the eggs with your spatula until cooked. Dish and set aside.

In the same wok, fry the onions until fragrant. Stir in the minced meat and fry until almost cooked while breaking up the meat with your spatula continuously (so that it doesn't lump together).

Add in the drained rice vermicelli and carrots. Stir in half of the sauce mixture. Stir everything until evenly coated. Sometimes, doing this with chopsticks might be easier. Stir in remaining sauce until completely even.

Add the scrambled eggs and chopped spring onions before giving it a final stir. Serve while hot and garnish with fried shallots, if using.

Makes 5 servings

Bread Booze Bacon: Bourbon Bacon Roast Beef Sliders

I told you I was going to make something else out of the candied bacon I did back in November.  And it was difficult, I promise you, keeping that bacon frozen and out of my mouth hole.  Because it is fantastic.  But so are these sandwiches.  If there is a pack of hungry meat-eating guys in your family, I highly recommend you feed them this.  It will go over well.

Bourbon Bacon Roast Beef Sliders
Adapted from Bread Booze Bacon blog

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided use

1 large sweet onion, chopped

Kosher salt, to taste

1 (12-ounce) package King's Hawaiian rolls

1 pound thinly sliced roast beef
4 slices Whiskey Candied Bacon, chopped
6 sharp Cheddar cheese slices

½ teaspoon granulated garlic

½ teaspoon onion powder
Black poppy seeds

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Heat three tablespoons of butter in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat.  Once the butter is melted, add the onions.  Lower the heat to medium or medium-low, and cook the onions, stirring often, until brown and caramelized, possibly up to an hour.  Season with kosher salt while cooking.  Set aside.

Cut the rolls in half to form tops and bottoms, and place the bottom half of the rolls in a greased 13x9-inch baking dish.  Place a layer of roast beef over the bottom rolls.  Top with a layer of cheddar cheese slices, about half a slice per roll. Finish with a layer of Whiskey Candied Bacon pieces and a spoon of the caramelized onions. Place the top of the rolls on the sandwiches.

Cover the dish with foil and bake for 10 minutes, then remove the foil.  Melt the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter and mix it with the granulated garlic and onion powder. Brush the rolls with the melted butter mixture and sprinkle with poppy seeds.  Continue baking for another 10 minutes.

Makes 12 sandwiches

Serious Eats: Gideon's Bakehouse Kris Kringle Cookie Knockoff

As my second Christmas cookie this year, I wanted to replicate a cookie that I had seen online, but have never actually eaten.  So I honestly don't know if this is what they taste like.  But these were super delicious, big as your hand, and just this side of too sweet.  Lots of white chocolate going on, and all the other flavorings working in the background for a pretty delicious cookie.  One of these is probably the same as 3 regular cookies, so take your time.

Note: For the finely ground coffee, I used the contents of a couple of Keurig K-cups in the flavor Green Mountain Caramel Vanilla Cream.

Gideon's Bakehouse Kris Kringle Cookie Knockoff
Adapted from Serious Eats

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup packed light brown sugar

1½ teaspoons finely ground coffee

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
½ teaspoon coconut extract

½ teaspoon caramel extract

¼ teaspoon white chocolate extract (optional)
2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt
1¾ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 large eggs, straight from the fridge
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white chocolate chips, divided use

Coarse sanding sugar

Edible glitter  

Combine butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, coffee, all flavoring extracts, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.

Mix on low to moisten, then increase speed to medium and beat until soft, fluffy, and pale, about 8 minutes; halfway through, pause to scrape bowl and beater with a flexible spatula. With mixer running, add eggs one at a time, letting each incorporate fully before adding the next. Reduce speed to low, then add the flour all at once. When flour is incorporated, add 1 cup of the white chocolate chips and keep mixing until dough is homogeneous.

Divide dough into 6 equal portions (about 5 ounces each) and round each into a smooth ball. Dip the tops of the dough balls in the remaining 1 cup white chocolate chips, pressing to ensure they adhere. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 12 hours before baking.

Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat to 350°F. Line an aluminum half-sheet pan with parchment paper.

When the oven comes to temperature, arrange up to 4 portions of cold dough on the prepared pan, leaving ample space between them to account for spread. Sprinkle evenly and generously with the sanding sugar.

Bake until cookies are puffed and lightly brown, about 22 minutes, or to an internal temperature of between 175 and 185°F. The ideal temperature will vary from person to person; future rounds can be baked more or less to achieve desired consistency.

Cool cookies directly on baking sheet until no warmer than 100°F before serving. Sprinkle with edible glitter.  Enjoy warm, or within 12 hours; these cookies taste best when freshly baked.

Makes 6 very large cookies

Houston Chronicle: Spumoni Refrigerator Cookies

I'm a little embarrassed that I'm making Christmas cookies after Christmas, but here we are.  I knew that I wanted to make something very retro and obnoxious this year, and what could be more retro and obnoxious than cookies that are bright pink and green?  And I got to throw those ultra-red maraschino cherries into the mix.  These are about as 70's as anything else I could find.  And they're actually pretty good.  Not very sweet, lots of interesting things going on, and as a slice-and-bake cookie, not terribly hard to make.

Spumoni Refrigerator Cookies
Adapted from the Houston Chronicle, December 8, 2020, as submitted by Cindy Cannon Albert for the Great Holiday Bake contest

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
½ cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon almond extract
2 large eggs
2¼ cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup chopped unsalted pistachios
4 drops green food coloring
1 (1-ounce) square unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
¼ cup mini chocolate chips
3 tablespoons drained and chopped maraschino cherries
1 drop red food coloring

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy. Add extracts and mix to combine. Add eggs, one at a time, until well combined. Add flour and salt, and mix on low speed until partially combined, then increase speed back to medium to finish incorporating.

Line the bottom and ends of a 9x5-inch loaf pan with aluminum foil, allowing the ends to extend over the edges of the pan. This will make removing the dough easier.

Divide the dough into three equal portions, approximately 9 ounce each. Combine one portion with the chopped pistachios and green food coloring, the second portion with the melted chocolate and chocolate chips, and the third portion with the cherries and red food coloring. Mix well to insure the ingredients are fully incorporated and there are no streaks in the dough.

Press the green dough evenly in the bottom of the prepared loaf pan. Press the chocolate dough directly on top of the green dough in an even layer. Follow with the cherry dough, ensuring everything is even. Cover the top with plastic wrap pressed directly onto the dough and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, but not longer than 6 hours.

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and remove the plastic wrap. Pull the dough out of the loaf pan using the foil to assist, then remove the foil. Using a sharp knife, cut ¼-inch slices from the loaf and then cut those slices in half. Place slices about 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake until set, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove and let cool.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

Darius Cooks: Creamed Spinach Tortellini with Shrimp

When I saw the picture of this dish on Pinterest, I knew what I needed to do with the shrimp and the spinach tortellini I had sitting in my fridge.  I didn't quite follow the original recipe since I had some fresh spinach and some beautiful Gruyere that I needed to find a home for, but I think it still turned out beautifully.  The seasoned shrimp are the perfect foil for the creamy sauce and tender pasta.

Creamed Spinach Tortellini with Shrimp

Adapted from Darius Cooks

1 (8.8-ounce) package spinach and cheese stuffed tortellini
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1½ cups half-and-half

3 teaspoons Badia complete seasoning, divided use
1½ teaspoon roasted garlic powder, divided use
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Pinch red pepper flakes
1 cup grated Gruyere cheese

2 tablespoons Parmesan

2 tablespoons Pecorino Romano

Kosher salt, to taste

8 ounces fresh baby spinach or 1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, cooked and well drained
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined, tail left on if desired

1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning

Olive oil, for frying the shrimp

Cook the tortellini according to the package directions, drain, and set aside.

In a saucepan, over medium heat, melt the butter. When the butter is melted, whisk in the flour and cook for about 90 seconds until the flour taste has cooked out. Then, add in the half-and-half and whisk well to combine. Add 1 teaspoon of the Badia seasoning, ½ teaspoon of the garlic powder, the black pepper, nutmeg, and red pepper flakes. When the sauce has thickened, add the cheeses and check the seasoning for any additional salt that might be needed.  Fold in the spinach and stir until the fresh leaves have wilted, or if using frozen, until well distributed. Fold in the cooked tortellini and keep warm while preparing the shrimp.

Toss the shrimp together with the Old Bay, the remaining 2 teaspoons of Badia seasoning, and the remaining 1 teaspoon of garlic powder. Get a skillet hot, add in the olive oil, and then sauté the shrimp on both sides until they’re cooked through. Serve immediately on top of the pasta.

Makes 4 servings

Greedy Gourmet and Lirim Gula: Amaretto Cherries and Lirim Gula: Bourbon Godfather

I originally saw this video somewhere - maybe Pinterest? - but apparently it originated on TikTok, and the drink looked right up my alley.  The author calls this an Old Fashioned, but with the amaretto, it's more of a Godfather, hence the name change here.  The amaretto cherries can definitely also be used as a topping for ice cream or pound cake if you're looking for ways to use them that don't involve alcohol.

Note: Yes, cherry pits contain cyanide, but it's only really a danger if the pit is cracked.  If you're pitting your cherries and you crack open a pit by accident, toss it.  Only use complete pits with no cracks.  If it really bothers you, just make the syrup without the pits.  I used the pits, and I'm still kicking.  For the simple syrup, I used some vanilla bean syrup I had around, but it's not absolutely necessary to go that far.

Amaretto Cherries

Adapted from Greedy Gourmet blog and Lirim Gula of Tasty UK

1 pound sweet cherries
1¼ cups water

2 cinnamon sticks
Peel of one orange, in large strips
¾ cup maple syrup
1 cup amaretto

Pit the cherries and retain the pits, except for any that are cracked or otherwise compromised. Place the cherries in a jar.

Cook the cherry pits in the water, adding the cinnamon stick, orange peel, and maple syrup, until syrupy.  Remove from the heat, strain the liquid, and then mix the syrup with the amaretto.  Pour the syrup over the cherries in the jar, then refrigerate for at least a week before using.

Bourbon Godfather
From Lirim Gula of Tasty UK

2 to 3 dashes chocolate bitters
¾ ounce simple syrup
3 ounces bourbon
1½ ounces amaretto

Toasted orange peel

2 to 3 Amaretto Cherries along with a spoonful of the syrup

Combine all ingredients in a glass with a couple of ice cubes.

Nigella Lawson: Ultimate Christmas Pudding and The Daring Gourmet: Hard Sauce

Final recipe of the day, this is #5!  I have wanted to make a traditional British pudding for quite a while, and had honestly intended to do it last year, but my suet took months to arrive from the UK.  And I wanted it to be authentic.  So this year it is!  I went with Nigella Lawson's recipe, and it's everything she promises - flavorful but not super heavy.  I also wanted to do a hard sauce for the first time, and it melts into the hot pudding in the best way.  For what is essentially a fruit cake, this was surprisingly good.

Ultimate Christmas Pudding
Adapted from Nigella Lawson

1¼ cups currants
1 cup golden raisins
½ cup roughly chopped pitted prunes

¾ cup Pedro Ximenez sherry
⅔ cup all-purpose flour
2⅓ cups fresh breadcrumbs
14 tablespoons grated suet or coarsely grated vegetable shortening (freeze overnight to make it easier to grate)
¾ cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon baking powder
Grated zest of 1 lemon

¼ cup candied orange peel

¼ candied citron
3 large eggs
1 medium apple (peeled and grated)
2 tablespoons honey
½ cup brandy (to flame the pudding)

Hard Sauce (for serving, below)

Put the currants, golden raisins, and scissored pitted prunes into a bowl with the Pedro Ximénez, swill the bowl a bit, then cover with clingfilm and leave to steep overnight or for up to 1 week.

When the fruits have had their steeping time, put a large pan of water on to boil, or heat some water in a conventional steamer, and butter your heatproof plastic pudding basin (or basins), remembering to grease the lid, too.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all the remaining pudding ingredients (except the brandy), either in the traditional manner or just any old how; your chosen method of stirring, and who does it, probably won’t affect the outcome of your wishes or your Christmas.

Add the steeped fruits, scraping in every last drop of liquor with a rubber spatula, and mix to combine thoroughly, then fold in cola-cleaned coins or heirloom charms, if desired. If you are at all frightened about choking-induced fatalities at the table, do leave out the hardware.

Scrape and press the mixture into the prepared pudding basin, squish it down and put on the lid. Then wrap with a layer of foil (probably not necessary, but I do it as I once had a lid-popping and water-entering experience when steaming a pudding) so that the basin is watertight, then either put the basin in the pan of boiling water (to come halfway up the basin) or in the top of a lidded steamer and steam for 5 hours, checking every now and again that the water hasn’t bubbled away.

When it’s had its 5 hours, remove gingerly (you don’t want to burn yourself) and, when manageable, unwrap the foil, and put the pudding in its basin somewhere out of the way in the kitchen or, if you’re lucky enough, a larder, until Christmas Day.

On the big day, rewrap the pudding (still in its basin) in foil and steam again, this time for 3 hours. Eight hours combined cooking time might seem a faff, but it’s not as if you need to do anything to it in that time.

To serve, remove from the pan or steamer, take off the lid, put a plate on top, turn it upside down and give the plastic basin a little squeeze to help unmould the pudding. Then remove the basin — and voilà, the Massively Matriarchal Mono Mammary is revealed. (Did I forget to mention the Freudian lure of the pudding beyond its pagan and Christian heritage?)

Put a sprig of holly on top of the dark, mutely gleaming pudding, then heat the brandy in a small pan and the minute it’s hot, but before it boils — you don’t want the alcohol to burn off before you attempt to flambé it — turn off the heat, strike a match, stand back and light the pan of brandy, then pour the flaming brandy over the pudding and take it as fast as you safely can to your guests. If it feels less dangerous to you, pour the hot brandy over the pudding and then light the pudding. In either case, don’t worry if the holly catches alight; I have never known it to be anything but singed.

Hard Sauce

From The Daring Gourmet blog

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened but not liquid
1½ cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons brandy (can substitute rum, cognac, sherry, whiskey)
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract (optional)

Place the softened butter in a medium mixing bowl and beat for several minutes until pale and fluffy. Add the sugar and continue to beat until smooth. Avoid over-beating otherwise the brandy butter will become oily.

Add the brandy one tablespoon at a time, beating between additions, along with the vanilla. Beat just until combined.

Cover and refrigerate the hard sauce for at least two hours before serving, preferably overnight or maximum flavor. Remove it from the fridge at least a couple of hours before serving so it can come to room temp. The texture should be soft and spreadable. To store it keep it in the fridge where it will last for several months.

Makes a little over 1 cup

Bacardi Rum: Rum Cake

For recipe #4, we're moving on to dessert.  For some reason this rum cake has become a sort of holiday item, so I figured I might as well make one and see how it went.  While I don't normally use cake mixes, with the amount of other items on my list, I decided to stop being so picky and gatekeeping cake baking.  And you know what?  It's delicious.  And pretty easy to pull together.  It's fantastically moist, and not so overwhelming after all that other rich food.

Note:  I misread the recipe and used the 4 eggs and ½ cup oil it recommended for a regular cake mix (without pudding/super moist), and it was still delicious.  Use what you feel is right.

Rum Cake
From an old Bacardi Rum advertisement

Cake:
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 (15¼-ounce) package super moist yellow cake mix (with pudding)
3 large eggs
½ cup cold water
⅓ cup canola oil
½ cup Bacardi dark rum

Glaze:
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
¼ cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup Bacardi dark rum

Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan or a 12-cup Bundt pan.

Sprinkle nuts over bottom of pan. Mix all cake ingredients together.  Pour batter over nuts. Bake 1 hour. Cool.

Invert cake on serving plate. Prick top. Spoon and brush glaze evenly over top and sides. Allow cake to absorb glaze. Repeat until glaze is used up.

To make glaze:

Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in water and sugar. Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in rum.

The Essential New York Times Cookbook: Gratin of Sweet Potatoes and Chipotle Cream

This is recipe #3 (getting tired yet?), and it honestly turned out much better than I ever expected.  I was a little nervous making a new recipe for such a big dinner, but it seemed simple enough that even if it wasn't superb, it would still be "okay".  Well, I'm a doubter no more.  These sweet potatoes were pretty fantastic - tender, rich, and just the right amount of seasoning.  These will definitely happen again.

Note: The original recipe called for "yams", but since I wasn't about to go to a Caribbean grocery to find real yams, I figured they meant sweet potatoes.  I needed more than 4 servings, so I used 1½ times the recipe below: 2¼ pounds sweet potatoes, 1½ cups heavy cream, 1½ teaspoons adobo sauce.  I baked it in a large square baking dish, and it turned out beautifully.  Also didn't do the decorative cutting into squares - everyone just dug in.  I may have lost an arm if I tried to cut fancy squares while they waited.

Gratin of Sweet Potatoes and Chipotle Cream
Adapted from The Essential New York Times Cookbook

1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon adobo sauce from canned chipotles
1½ pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into ⅟16-inch slices
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oven to 375°F. Whisk together the cream and adobo sauce in a bowl until smooth.

Arrange a thin layer of the sweet potatoes in an 8½x4½-inch terrine or loaf pan. Season with a little salt and pepper and spoon over a little of the cream mixture. Repeat, layering the remaining sweet potatoes and cream mixture, seasoning every other layer. Press firmly on the gratin to compact the layers.

Cover the terrine with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking for 35 to 40 minutes, or until most of the cream has been absorbed and the yams are tender and browned. Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes.

Cut the gratin into 4 rectangular pieces and carefully transfer to serving plates with a spatula and fork.

Makes 4 servings

Meat Church BBQ: Garlic and Herb Prime Rib with Horseradish Cream

Here we have recipe #2, and let's be honest, the star of the show.  It seems like every grocery store had their beef roasts on prominent display, so I'm sure I'm not the only one who worked on one of these for the big day.  Once again, my fantastic pellet smoker did its thing with very little interaction required of me, and the results were delicious.  And the horseradish sauce was a surprise stand out.

Note: Mine took 4 hours, and it was only 2 bones.  I also cooked it to 125°F so that it would be approaching medium when cut.

Garlic and Herb Prime Rib with Horseradish Cream
From Meat Church BBQ

Bone-in ribeye roast, choice grade or higher
½ cup fresh rosemary leaves, chopped
½ cup fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
½ cup fresh tarragon leaves, chopped
¼ cup fresh thyme, chopped
½ cup garlic, minced
¼ cup olive oil
4 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 to 3 tablespoons Meat Church Holy Cow Rub
Horseradish Cream (below)

Prepare your smoker at 250°F with a medium smoke wood or pellets such as oak, hickory, or pecan.

Combine the oil, herbs, garlic, Dijon mustard, and Holy Cow rub. Add mustard as needed to obtain your desired consistency. Feel free to add more garlic as well. Slather the paste all over the rib roast. Allow to adhere for 1 to 4 hours.

Place your rib roast on the smoker, targeting medium rare in the middle, which is 130 to 135°F. Therefore, smoke the rib roast until you reach an internal temperature of 120°F in the middle, as it will carryover cook a few more degrees. The end result will be medium rare in the middle and medium on the outside ends. This will take approximately 2 to 4 hours, depending on size of roast.

Remove the rib roast from the smoker. Tent the meat with aluminum foil and allow it to rest at least 10 to 15 minutes. The meat will continue to rise another 5 degrees to a final internal temperature between 125 to 130°F. Slice the roast to serve with the Horseradish Cream and enjoy!

Horseradish Cream
2 cups mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
½ jar fresh horseradish
Squeeze of lemon
3 tablespoons Meat Church Holy Cow

Mix the mayo and sour cream. Add you in your desired amount of horseradish to taste. Add the Holy Cow. Then add a squeeze of lemon juice to brighten it up. Optionally you can add truffle oil if you like.