Grownups' Mocha Hot Chocolate

This is a grownup's kind of hot chocolate, full of cream and whiskey and other good things. It's great on ice or heated. At Christmas, we all walked out to my dad's pole barn, which used to house his collection of antique tractors, but now holds all his O-scale train tracks. I think we all become kids again when we play with his trains.

This was perfect for sipping by my parent's wood stove after we walked back through the woods and shook off the snow.

Ingredients

1 cup light cream
1 (14 oz.) can evaporated milk
3 tsp instant coffee
1/2 cup chocolate syrup

1 2/3 cups of Irish Whiskey
1 tsp almond extract
Marshmallows (optional)

Instructions

In a medium saucepan, heat the cream and evaporated milk until hot but not bubbly. Stir in the rest of the ingredients. Pour into four mugs. Sprinkle with marshmallows, if desired.

Makes 4.

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Candy Cane Lollipops

On Thursday, I was going to my friend's holiday cookie exchange, and I really wanted to do something different this year. Twenty or thirty ladies get together for this party, all wonderful cooks and creative women, so these cute little lollipops were the perfect thing to bring.

I didn't know that if you put mini candy canes into a warm oven for a few minutes, they soften enough to mold around lolly sticks. It turns out there is about a ten-second window between "softened enough to mold" and "melted into a flat red-and-white blob".

It took us quite a while to figure out the correct moment to pull them out of the oven. What I can tell you is that candy canes vary in softness so that temperatures and times are just suggestions. Try testing one or two first so that you don't ruin an entire pan (or two) and have to run back to the store for replacement candy canes. Yes, we had to do that the other day.

Don't let this intimidate you, though. These are super easy to make and I got SO many compliments at the cookie party.

Ingredients

32 mini candy canes
16 6-inch lollipop sticks
12 oz almond bark or white chocolate chips
3-4 drops peppermint oil
Christmas-colored candy sprinkles

Directions

Heat the oven to 235 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange pairs of candy canes into a heart shape, leaving room underneath each one to insert the stick after they come out of the oven.

Heat the candy canes for 4-7 minutes, until just soft enough to press a stick into each heart. We noticed that our canes developed little candy bubbles along the surface at just the right moment.

Slide the parchment and candy onto a counter and quickly press the lollipop sticks upward into the curved center of the two canes, then pinch the two bottom edges around the stick. If they don't stick securely, don't worry - the chocolate will hold the whole heart together. Let cool for a few minutes.

On the stove over low heat, or in the microwave, heat the almond bark or white chocolate until melted smooth, stirring frequently. If you heat it too long, it will become grainy with sugar crystals; just stir in a bit of coconut oil or shortening and beat it until smooth. Stir in the peppermint oil. Spoon a little chocolate into the center of each heart, then decorate with the candy sprinkles. Let the chocolate harden before serving.

Makes 16 lollipops.

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Risotto Milanese (Saffron Risotto)

Joe taught me how to cook risotto, which is a much different technique than cooking rice. You put rice and water and seasonings into a pan and simmer it for 20 minutes or so, then fluff it up at the end. Risotto is cooked with small amounts of liquid stirred in here and there while the short fat grains become tender and creamy in the sauce.

This risotto with saffron (ground or in threads) is perhaps the most classic preparation. I intended to look up the reason why this recipe is called Milan-style and why it uses saffron and onion together. But Thursday I had a photo shoot on Chicago L trains and a French small plates cooking demonstration.

Commuter on the Skokie Swift

L train pulling into the Merchandise Mart stop

Waiting for the L, Chicago

Train platform stairs, Chicago

This weekend we cooked Thanksgiving casseroles to freeze for a busy holiday week, then made pretzel bread and cheddar-beer fondue soup (recipe to come). Sunday we were at church all morning, attended a meet & greet with our new pastor and had a long worship band rehearsal, then created a slide show of charities we helped for the Thrivent Chapter Board annual dinner that night, and came home late.

I'm not complaining a bit. I love this kind of busy - the kind with lots of good food and great company and a long rainy Saturday cooking companionably with my love. Actually, we're lucky this recipe was written this weekend at all. I bet the Milanese would love the risotto Joe cooked Friday night, though I still don't know why they prepare it this way.

Ingredients

3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup onion, minced
6 cups hot chicken broth
2 cups Arborio rice
1/4 tsp ground saffron
1 cup grated Romano cheese
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

Directions

Melt together the butter and oil at medium heat in a large saucepan. Add the onion and salt and saute until tender. Add the rice and saute until white and covered with oil, about 2 minutes.

Slowly stir in 1/2 cup broth, allowing the rice to start to absorb the broth and thicken it. Stir in the saffron.
Continue adding the hot broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly until the broth thickens before adding the next 1/2 cup. After 5 1/2 cups of broth are absorbed by the rice, taste for tenderness. If rice is still hard, continue stirring and add the rest of the liquid. The risotto is ready when the grains are tender on the outside with a small firm al dente core.

When the rice is ready, stir in half the Romano cheese and the parsley. Divide into 6 portions and top with the remaining cheese.

Serves 6.

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