The Cooking Channel

Sometime in the last few weeks, a new channel was unceremoniously added to our cable line-up. It's called the Cooking Channel, and we've been watching it religiously for days now - it is wonderful!

Don't get us wrong, we still enjoy the Food Network, but the programming on the Cooking Channel is a refreshing palette cleanser, and it's giving us some incredible ideas for 2011.

Check your listings and see whether you've been given the gift of a new television obsession!

Chipotle Peanut Brittle

Ladies and gentlemen, we have pictures! Don't ask us how we managed this feat with the most high-maintenance recipe of the holiday, but we pulled it off with our Chipotle Peanut Brittle (Cooking Light, May 2009).

When we say high-maintenance, we mean it. This recipe moves fast, so be sure to have all of your ingredients AND all of your implements out, measured, and ready before you fire up the stove.

Particularly, make sure you have a rolling pin that fits the jelly roll pan you plan to use. Do not - we repeat, do NOT - use the trick of an aluminum can, because the can conducts heat! (We're embarrassed to say that we learned this lesson the hard way) Also, be sure you have 2 sheets of parchment paper cut and coated with cooking spray at the ready.

First, the sugar, corn syrup, and sugar are combined in a saucepan over medium high heat. The recipe recommends a temperature, but if you don't have a candy thermometer, just be watchful of the mixture as it caramelizes. It should start to turn a little brown, the color of a light, milky mocha, but not dark. The picture at right is a good yardstick for those flying solo.

Next, the peanuts are added and the mixture is stirred constantly for 3 additional minutes. Then, the chipotle pepper and baking soda are added, which should cause the mixture to bubble - it's quickly removed from the stove and poured out onto one of the waiting sheets of parchment.

The other piece of parchment is placed on top, oiled side facing the brittle mixture, and the brittle mixture is rolled out with a rolling pin. (Not a can - we're serious!) The top piece of parchment can then be removed to ensure that it doesn't stick. The mixture will require about 30 minutes to cool, at which point it can be broken into pieces and stored in an air-tight container.

The ground chipotle imparts a fiery heat to this brittle, so unadventurous eaters beware! It can easily be omitted or cut in half, if preferred, but trust us, your holiday guests will get a kick out of the unexpected kick.

Mini Caprese Bites

When planning any party menu, we like to make sure we have a couple of vegetarian options available for those who are living la vida meatless, or just trying to be extra disciplined. The trouble is that the veggie appetizers we find are often boring and uninspired. That's why, when we saw the image accompanying Mini Caprese Bites (Cooking Light, May 2008), we knew we had found a winner.

Sure, a caprese salad isn't mindblowingly unique, but it's definitely a step above a crudités platter. And showcasing brilliant red cherry tomatoes, it adds a whimsical pop of color to any buffet table.

A pint of cherry tomatoes is halved, then each pair of halves is threaded onto 4-inch skewers, with a slice of a mozzarella ball placed in between. The Popsicle-like presentation wowed our guests; we stood some up in a glass just as the photo editors at Cooking Light did, then fanned and stacked the rest out across a platter. With all the skewers assembled, we drizzled them with a mixture of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and fresh basil.

Aside from the color, the most beautiful thing about this dish is that the preparation can easily delegated to a random house guest. You know how it is - you're doing last-minute set-up, and the doorbell rings. Your guests rush in, chatting, and offer a well-meaning, "What can I help you with?" Rarely is there ever an easy answer, but from now on, just hand them a package of skewers and a pint of tomatoes, and say, "I've got just the thing...."

Williams Sonoma 30 Minute Meals

Williams Sonoma just Tweeted an introduction to a new "What's for Dinner" 30-minute meal special! Some of these look fantastic and we can't wait to try them in 2011.

What on this list catches your eye? Let us know and we'll put it on our menu!

Tiny Twice-Baked Potatoes

Our next recipe comes from an appetizer issue of Fine Cooking that we picked up in the grocery line one day: Tiny Twice-Baked Potatoes. As we skimmed through the pages for inspiration, these tiny taters caught our eye, perfectly evoking the home-style appetizer theme of our party.

Regrettably, we only managed to capture a single picture, but it should give you an idea of the scale you'll be working with before you begin. Our grocer was out of small Yukon gold potatoes, so we grabbed some new red potatoes instead.

First, the potatoes are roasted in olive oil, thyme, salt, and pepper. Once out of the oven, they're cooled to room temperature and the top one-quarter to one-third of each potato is removed. (Try not to eat the tops as you slice them off - we dare you!)

Scooping out the potato flesh is a time-consuming operation. We did it with a tea spoon, but we'd be willing to bet that a melon baller would have been much easier to work with. The flesh is reserved in a small bowl and, once all of it has been collected, it's mixed with bacon, chives, and sour cream (or creme fraiche, which is the path we chose). The mixture is spooned back into the potatoes, topped with grated Parmesan, and baked for about 10 minutes in a 450-degree oven.

As the recipe suggests, you can do most of this prep ahead of time, provided that you diligently wrap the potatoes and filling separately in plastic so they don't dry out. We wrapped out filling bowl a little too loosely, so it was a little difficult to work with when we went to spoon it into our spuds.

We've had several guests from our party call and e-mail us for this recipe, some of them planning to use it for their own holiday meals. We'd guess that makes it a success, although we couldn't provide a ruling ourselves - by the time we made it to our buffet table for a sample, the potatoes were already all gone! So we're relying on reviews from our critics as we proudly bestow upon this appetizer the label of "YTK Favorite"!

Mini Roast Beef and Horseradish Panini Triangles

First off, we'd like to apologize for the lack of pictures on this particular recipe. It was about this time that our first guests arrived, and in the midst of all the commotion, we simply forgot about blogging!

In search of hearty appetizers to prepare for this year's Christmas party, we ran across Mini Roast Beef and Horseradish Panini Triangles from Williams-Sonoma. We were enticed by the quick prep work, bulk quantities (we doubled our batch for even more), and flavorful ingredients - and our guests just lapped them up!

These tasty little sandwiches take very little work to assemble, but you'll be best served to prepare them assembly-line style, with 2 or more people. We broke up our workload by having Mrs. Yuppie prepare the sandwiches for the panini grill, and our new roommate, Tom, handle the pressing and slicing. Working in such a way, we cranked out about 40 of these suckers in less than half an hour.

A side note: Although the recipe says to serve these warm, they were still delicious at room temperature. Actually, the next time we make these, we may try to prepare and refrigerate them a few hours to one day in advance, then warm them up quickly in the oven before placing them on a tray for service.

Sugared Pecans

Let's start with an old standby, shall we? Well, old might be an overstatement - we found this recipe for Sugared Pecans (Southern Living, Dec 2007) while preparing for last year's Christmas party and were blown away by how easy and tasty they were. An added bonus is that you'll have most of these items on-hand already. (And if you're like us, you'll probably already have the pecans, too!)

This recipe is such a cinch to put together - simply whisk together the egg white and sugars, then fold in the pecans. Spread the coated pecans out on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and into the oven they go for about 20 minutes. You'll want to check on them once or twice and stir them around, to make certain that the pecans bake evenly and don't begin to burn. They'll need to cool for 30 minutes prior to storage.

According to the recipe, these can be stored in plasticware for 3 days before serving. (Bonus: Make double or triple batches and freeze some for later!) Good luck keeping them around for 3 days, though - Mr. Yuppie just can't keep his mitts off of them, and they're usually polished off by holiday guests within an hour of their arrival!

For an inexhaustible list of reasons, these pecans are most definitely on the short list of YTK Favorites. Try them this holiday week and let us know what you think in the comments!

Happy Holidays, Everyone!

We've been on an unplanned hiatus these past two weeks due to busy jobs, illnesses, weddings, and run-of-the-mill holiday prep. Rest assured, one of our New Year's Resolutions is already decided: to get back to posting more regularly.

We also are feeling a little ashamed that our picture-taking hasn't been so diligent! If you can excuse some skimpy posts, we still have a lot to share with you from our annual Christmas party. We'll start posting those tomorrow, which hopefully will keep your Google Reader feeds merry and bright.

We appreciate your company in the kitchen this fall and look forward to sharing more cooking adventures with you in 2011!

XOXO,

The Yuppies

Crunchy Pecan Pie Bites

Howdy, y'all! Sorry for our recent AWOL status, but we've been whipping up goodies for our annual Christmas party and now we're ready to start sharing! Every year we pick a specific cuisine around which to build our menu, and this year, bite-sized southern treats were the star.

True to our life philosophy, we're starting off this entertaining series right: dessert first! And our inaugural treat is a little something called Crunchy Pecan Pie Bites (Cooking Light, Nov 2008). We were drawn to this recipe for its simplicity, and hoped that the taste wouldn't suffer. Let us be the first to tell you: We were NOT disappointed!

These little nuggets of joy kept our guests nibbling all night, and required little more than mixing some ingredients in a bowl. The mini pie shells are store-bought, flaky phyllo cups. We found them in packages of 15 at our specialty grocer. With 5 boxes, as the recipe recommends, we ended up with a whopping 75 pies to feed our guests!

First, the nuts are toasted, a step that could be skipped in a pinch but which lends some extra depth to the flavor. While they're cooling, mix together the sugar and dark corn syrup, then add the nuts, melted butter, eggs, vanilla, and salt. Then grab yourself a tea spoon!

Arrange the phyllo shells on a baking sheet (you can re-use the one you toasted the nuts on), and fill them with a heaping teaspoon of the pecan mixture. Be cautious as you work - the shells are very light, and some of them will be lopsided, and you'll want to use the pecans to even them out so they stand upright. You'll also want to make sure that you don't overfill with the liquid part of the mixture, as that will expand slightly as the pie bites are baked.

About 2 packages worth of shells can fit on a baking sheet, and each sheet will need to spend about 22 minutes in the oven to achieve maximum deliciousness. When they come out, place the pan on a wire rack (or your stove top burners, if they're raised) to cool.

We loved these so much that we're making them again for an office party tomorrow. For their ease of preparation and a production volume that's good for crowds, we hereby crown Crunchy Pecan Pie Bites a Yuppie Test Kitchen Favorite!

Have you tried these pie bites? What did you think? Let us know in the comments!

Cuban Flank Steak with Peppers and Tomatoes

We're so enamored of slow-cooker recipes that the other day at the grocery store, we picked up a copy of Cuisine at Home's special publication called "Slow Cooker Menus". Unfortunately, Cuisine at Home's online content seems to be for subscribers only, but we were able to find some of them posted on a blog called The Dinner Dish, and that's how we're going to share them with you!

Our first attempt from the menu guide was Cuban Flank Steak with Peppers and Tomatoes (Cuisine at Home Specials, "Slow Cooker Menus"). We selected this dish because of it's long cooking time - some of these recipes only take 3-4 hours, which is great, but not for us and our 9-hour or more workdays. We also thought it sounded festive, colorful, and different from our normal fare.

The prep work for this dish took us about 20 minutes, which was a cinch because we made sure to wake up a little early. First we chopped the vegetables, and as you can see, there's quite a bit to chop. If you want to reduce your workload, you can always substitute 2 cans of drained diced tomatoes for the chopped Roma tomatoes. (Nothing drives us crazier than chopping tomatoes!)

Once the vegetables were chopped and laid at the bottom of the slow cooker, we seared the meat. Thoroughness isn't a big deal here, so you can take 3-4 minutes for each side and call it a day. We added the meat to the slow cooker, then deglazed the pan by adding beef broth and bringing it to a boil while scraping up the drippings with a spatula. We then added that liquid tastiness to the slow cooker, which we then set on LOW for 7-8 hours.

One recommendation we offer is that you take your shower after handling the peppers! Mrs. Yuppie did the chopping and, despite washing her hands approximately 13 times before noon, spent half the day accidentally rubbing her eyes, then screaming incessantly. A coworker eventually offered up a great alternative to the post-prep shower - use hand sanitizer after you chop the peppers. According to him, the alcohol in hand sanitizer instantly removes the sting - and Mrs. Yuppie can vouch for that!

When we returned home, we found a delicious smell awaiting us, and meat that was so tender that shredding it required no effort at all! A bowl and two forks were all we needed; we didn't even work up a sweat. The meat was absolutely delicious, and the accompanying vegetables packed some unexpected heat. We served our dish with mashed sweet potatoes, as recommended by the magazine article.

As we mentioned, there are some ways to make this dish even more low maintenance than it already is. Apart from calling in reinforcements on the tomatoes, you can also do absolutely all of the prep work the night before, load up the slow cooker insert, and stash it in the fridge until morning.

We love this dish for its ease of preparation, punchy flavor, and walk-right-into-the-kitchen-and-grab-yourself-a-plate completeness. That's why we're making it a Yuppie Test Kitchen favorite!

Try it this month and let us know what you think in the comments!

Kung Pao Chicken

What's the opposite of traditional American Thanksgiving food? Without a doubt, the furthest you can get is halfway around the world in Asia. That's why, after a long weekend spent gorging ourselves on turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes, we decided to whip up some more Chinese food. Reaching into our pile of torn-out pages from Cooking Light, we found a recipe for Kung Pao Chicken (Cooking Light, Dec 2010).

Cooking Light claims that this recipe only requires 40 minutes prep and cook time. We're happy to say, since we chose this recipe for a work night, that they were right! The chopping of the vegetables is probably the most labor intensive part of the prep, so if you want to speed things up even more, we recommend taking care of that the night before you plan to cook.

A note on ingredients: This recipe calls for 1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken thighs. Normally, we don't mind a well-cooked piece of dark meat chicken, but for some reason, the taste in this dish was just off, in a slimy way. We'd recommend using cubed chicken breast instead, for a fresher, lighter taste.

Back to the recipe...

This one was a cinch to put together. The first step is to saute the onion in sesame oil for several minutes, then the garlic for 30 seconds, and then the chicken is added and cooked until it begins to brown. The recipe states that the chicken will take approximately 3 minutes to brown, but in our experience it took a touch longer. (We're also somewhat paranoid about undercooked chicken, so your mileage may vary.)

Next, we made the sauce, combining water, cornstarch, soy sauce, brown sugar, minced ginger, and crushed red pepper. The sauce was then added to the chicken and brought to a boil.

Finally the veggies were added in. Here's where, as with most stir fried dishes, improvisation can occur. This recipe called for bell peppers and snow peas, but other sturdy vegetables could be swapped in or added. These are cooked along with the chicken until crisp-tender (about 2 minutes) and then the entire mixture is removed from the heat and sprinkled with chopped peanuts.

There wasn't anything wrong with this dish, but it was far from outstanding, as some comments on CookingLight.com might have you believe. To quote one commenter, "With so many other good Cooking Light recipes to try, I doubt I'll come back to this one." Indeed, litgourmet - we concur.