Homemade Oreos . . . oh, yes!

Oreos...my child learned to stop asking for the real ones at the grocery store years ago.  I like to blame it on preservatives and all the words I can't pronounce on the package, but the truth is, I buy Oreos only once or twice a year because I can't resist them.

Once the package is open, all bets are off...there is a path worn in the kitchen tile from my feet going back and forth to the pantry to get just "one more."

Now, Homemade Oreos, I don't feel so bad about. I know exactly what's in them. They're a little softer the the packaged variety, but so satisfying that one, well two, will be enough for one sitting.

{It doesn't hurt to make them the "Double-Stuff" variety.}

Homemade Oreos

1 batch of chocolate roll-out cookies (minus the espresso powder)

 

{It's going to get messy.}

I cut these out using a 1 and 3/4" cutter and baked for 9 minutes.
{I also pressed a small heart cutter into the top, but not all the way through, before baking.}

Let cool.


Cream Filling
{source: The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion: The Essential Cookie Cookbook }

1 tsp. plus a heaping 1/4 tsp. unflavored gelatin
2 TBSP. cold water
1/2 c. shortening
1 tsp. vanilla
2 and 1/2 c. powdered sugar

Combine the gelatin and water in a small bowl or cup.  Place the cup into a larger bowl of hot water and leave it there until the gelatin is completely dissolved and liquid transparent.

Remove the cup from the hot water and let the liquid cool to room temperature, but hasn't begun to set...about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat the shortening with a paddle attachment until fluffy.  Beat in the vanilla.  Add the sugar a little at a time, beating until the mixture comes together.  Scrape the bowl as needed.  Beat in the gelatin.  Use immediately, or store, well-wrapped at room temperature.

To make the sandwiches, flip one cookie over.  Make a teaspoon-sized ball of filling and place on upside-down cookie.  Press another cookie, right-side-up, down on top of it.

{Makes 26 or so sandwich cookies if you don't eat too much of the dough.}

Remember I'm driving that new, 2011 Chevy Malibu this month? Well, they sent us on a mission to the grocery store.  Normally I'm in my SUV, would the Malibu trunk be able to handle all the groceries?  YES!  It held ALL my groceries...and I did BIG shopping, all the usual suspects, including everything I needed to make these Oreos...

....and did I mention the remote start had the AC on and the car cooled off by the time we got inside?  No?  Well, it did and it was heaven in the 90 degree heat.

The mission got me thinking, though...what items are on your grocery list every week?  I tried to narrow mine down to the top 5:

1. tortillas (you can't live in Texas and be without tortillas),
2. milk
3. OJ
4. flour (always more flour),
5. bananas

What's in your top 5?  Oreos?

the Difference Between Regular Whole Wheat Flour and White Whole Wheat Flour?

Has this happened to you? You're in the baking aisle of the supermarket looking for whole wheat flour. You locate it and grab one. As you're putting it in your carriage, you notice a another bag of flour marked "white whole wheat flour." You pause and think, "What’s the Difference Between Regular Whole Wheat Flour and White Whole Wheat Flour?"

Since you can't go grocery shopping with Dorie Greenspan, here's what you need to know about the differences between regular whole wheat flour and white whole wheat flour:

Regular whole wheat flour is milled from hard red spring wheat which results in a flavorful, tan colored, high-fiber flour. It creates heavy, denser, nuttier flavored baked goods.

White whole wheat flour is milled from white whole wheat, not red, which makes it lighter in color and less bitter in flavor. Yet it’s got the same nutritional value of regular whole wheat flour, which is great! It creates lighter, sweeter baked goods.

Are regular whole wheat flour and white whole wheat flour interchangeable in recipes? Yes.

Are white whole wheat flour and all-purpose bleached white flour interchangeable in recipes? No. Because of the difference in gluten, the texture will be affected. Start by replacing 1/3-1/2 of the all-purpose flour with the white whole wheat flour, then work your way up from there to make sure you like the texture, color, and flavor.

White whole wheat flour is ideal for people who want the sweeter flavor of all-purpose bleached white flour with the nutritional punch of regular whole wheat flour. Use it in muffins, breads, scones, waffles, pizza and more. You'll be glad you did.

More on white whole wheat flour from:
Dani Spies
The Kitchn
Bon Appetit
Kalyn's Kitchen
The Perfect Pantry

Here are whole wheat flour recipes you might enjoy:
Whole Wheat Pie Dough recipe from Andrea's Recipes
White Whole Wheat Biscuits recipe from Baking Bites
Whole Wheat Vanilla Pancakes recipe from Cooking With Amy
Whole Wheat Orange Spice Muffin recipe from Pinch My Salt
Healthy Cherry, Banana, and Oatmeal Breakfast Bread recipe from Food Blogga
Savory Butternut Squash Muffins with Apples, Caramelized Onions, and Cheddar Cheese recipe from Food Blogga

Guest Post from my 10-year-old Neighbor :) *Mini Pecan Pies*

You guys may remember I live next door to a real-life blogger and all-around wonderful person, Kristen from We Are THAT Family. Her precious 10-year-old daughter is guest posting here today.

One day, she mentioned that she loves cooking shows and LOVES Paula Deen & Rachael Ray. So, I loaned her my Paula Deen's Lady & Sons Cookbook.

I kid you not, two hours later she was on my doorstep with warm snickerdoodles. You guys, I got a little teary-eyed.

Here she is...my super sweet in every way, 10-year-old neighbor...

Hey Yall!

I'm Wearethatfamily's  oldest daughter!

 

My wonderful neighbor Bridget and I both love to cook. I made a yummy dessert (Mini Pecan Pies) from a Paula Deen cook book she let me borrow.

I served it  at my mom's jewelry party and it was a huge hit! They tasted just like real pecan pies!

Here's the recipe so you can make it too:

Mini Pecan Pies crust

8 tablespoons butter

1 cup all purpose flour

1 3-ounce package of cream cheese

Preheat your oven to 325.  Soften the cream cheese and butter in the microwave

and then blend it well. Now stir in the flour until you have a dough like mixture.

Let your dough chill for an hour.

While your dough is chilling, use this recipe to make the filling for your pies.

Mini Pecan Pies filling

1 egg
 3/4 c. brown sugar
1 tablespoon of butter

1 cup of all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon of vanilla

a dash of salt 

2 thirds of a cup of pecans

First beat your egg, sugar, vanilla, and salt until  it's smooth.  Once your 

dough is chilled,  roll  it into pecan size balls and squish them in the cupcake tins to cover the bottom. Pour your filling in the tins and top with pecans.

Bake for 25 minutes and enjoy!  They will make about twenty four!

I hope yours taste as good as mine did!

Isn't she adorable?!? I was lucky enough to sample a few, ok SEVERAL, of these and they were delicious!

Thank you, sweet neighbor, for guest posting at Bake at 350! I hope you'll come back soon!!!

Fighting Mexican Grandmas

CHILES AND CHEESE go together like a slice of lime with a Corona beer, like Cheech goes with Chong. Now imagine combining these two flavors when you stuff a fat Poblano chile with a great tasting melting Mexican cheese like Queso Enchilada, Asadero or Oaxaca. And it gets even better when you dredge it in a fluffy egg batter, frying it until it is golden brown, and finally topping it off with a fresh tomato and garlic salsa. You know, I can just feel my lips just pucker with the eager anticipation of chomping down on the creamy, hot enchantment of this beloved Mexican dish.

But I used to have a big problem with chiles rellenos.

You see, my chiles rellenos were sad, pathetic things: they reminded me somehow of self-exploding dark green rats with the tails still attached, their little cheese guts squishing out of their mushy little chile bodies. Uh-oh, perhaps I shouldn't mention dead rats in a food blog, but I think you get the picture. Every time I see a recipe for chile relleno casserole, I think it really started off as a chile relleno recipe gone terribly, terribly wrong. And believe me, my previous efforts to create the perfect chile relleno have resulted in a mess of a "casserole" more times than I care to admit. (That's what I get for fleeing the kitchen at every opportunity instead of watching my mamá cook—tsk, tsk, tsk! Poetic justice, indeed.)

Of course, my mamá sometimes did make them picadillo style with ground beef with tomatoes, onions and spices sometimes, but cheese-filled chile rellenos are my, and it appears, almost everybody's favorite. So here I am, facing down my chile relleno fears, challenging myself that if I am my mother's daughter, not only will I make one that tastes sabroso, but it must look beautiful, just like hers. So I decided to ask two very opinionated abuelitas—grandmas—how they make their superb chiles rellenos. And after annoying them to tears, I think I have finally found two idiot-proof ways of making them right.

Abuelita #1 told me to roast them and to put them in a plastic bag and covering them loosely with a kitchen towel so they can "cook" for no more than 10 minutes or so before taking them out and peeling off their charred skin. Test first before taking them out of the plastic bag. They should feel tender to the touch but not mushy. If they are mushy, then it's best to make something else out of them (like the aforementioned rat guts casserole which no one will eat).

Abuelita # 2 instructed me to parboil the Poblanos in rapidly boiling water for about 6 minutes. Then, taking a pair of metal tongs and the holding the chiles, one at a time, roast them over the gas burner of the stove. Quickly peel off the skin as fast as you can and store them in a plastic bag, covering them loosely with a kitchen towel until they are ready to be stuffed. The chiles will be tender-firm without being mushy. It was fun watching the skin popping and practically peeling itself off as soon as the Poblano touched the flame. This was my preferred method.

When I mentioned to each Abuelita the way the other roasted her chiles for the perfect chile relleno, they were aghast. Looking like opposing bookends, they threw up their hands and exclaimed a loud "¿Qué? ¡Así no se hace!—What? You don't do it like that!" By the look on their otherwise kindly faces, I saw that these two seriously doubted the other's sanity. To the Mexican Grandma, just the thought of making chiles rellenos differently from the way she was taught, well, don't you know that it borders on heresy?

Then para acabarla de fregar—to really mess things up, I them invited them over to the house. Remind me to never again put two Mexican abuelitas in the same kitchen—suffice to say that it was not pretty.

In the end, it really doesn't matter which method you choose. You will have the perfect chile relleno—they are a joy to behold and to eat as you savor every hot delicious cheesy little bite. And yes, this time they looked and tasted just like my mamá's.

Un millon de gracias to Abuelita #1 and Abuelita #2 for sharing your knowledge of la cocina mexicana. You have made this prodigal casserole-making daughter very happy.

Only just don't grab each other by las greñas (the mane) if I am not there, okay? I want to be there to enjoy the show.

The Fighting Abuelitas Chiles Rellenos with Tomato-Garlic Salsa

Unlike roasted Anaheim chiles, which are firm fleshed and hold their shape, Poblano chiles are thin skinned and need special care in the roasting process. It is worth testing to see which Abuelita's method for roasting the Poblanos you prefer. Either way, make sure to choose the "straightest" chiles you can find—not the "bent" ones that are hard to roast. If you can't find any Poblano chiles, then it is perfectly okay to use an Anaheim chile instead. (To learn more on how to roast chiles, including Anaheim, click here.) Make sure that you peel every last bit of the charred skin so the flour and egg batter will stick to the chile. Also, prepare the Tomato-Garlic Salsa beforehand and keep it warm on the stove as you are preparing the chiles. As I have mentioned many a time, measurements need not be precise, so this is a guideline.

What you need:

A non-stick frying pan

A pair of metal tongs if you are roasting over the gas burner of the stove.

A plastic bag and a kitchen towel

A couple of plates

2 medium-size to large-size bowls

Blender or food processer

A platter to hold roasted chiles rellenos

Paper towels to drain off fat after frying

A cheese grater

An egg beater of a whisk

A thin knife

Large spoon or spatula

Ingredients:
Poblano chiles (about 1 or 2 per person)
Eggs, with the whites separated from the yolks (about 1 egg per 2 Poblanos)
Grated Mexican cheese that melts easily such as Enchilado, Asadero or Oaxaca, enough to stuff the chiles. You can substitute Jack or Mozzarella cheese with a bit of grated Parmesan cheese thrown in to kick up the flavor.
Cooking oil
A pinch of cream of tartar (optional)
A pinch of salt
1 cup or more of all purpose flour
Tomato-Garlic Salsa (recipe to follow)

Instructions:
Take the Poblanos and roast them like Abuelita #1 or Abuelita #2—the choice is yours. The object is to roast them, but not to the point that they cannot retain their shape. Then, open a slit along one side of the Poblano and remove the seeds, but do not remove the stem. Take a generous amount of cheese and stuff the chiles with it (but do not overstuff.)
Sprinkle some all-purpose flour on a plate. Lightly cover the chiles with flour. Set aside.
Now, take a bowl and beat the egg whites and pinch of cream of tartar with a whisk or egg beater until stiff peaks form. In a separate bowl, beat all the egg yolks together. Then, fold the yolks into the egg whites.
Pour a generous amount of cooking oil (about 3/8 inch deep) into the frying pan and place over a medium-high heat.
While the oil is heating, dip the chiles into the egg batter to cover. Test the oil to see if it is hot enough by putting a bit of egg batter in the oil. If it sizzles, when gently slide the chile in. Immediately lower the heat to medium. When the bottom of the chile is golden-brown, about 1 or 2 minutes, carefully flip the chile to cook the other side.
Remove from the chile from the frying pan and place it on a platter with paper towels on it to drain off excess fat.
To serve, plate the chile rellenos and pour some hot Tomato-Garlic Salsa over them. Let them sit for a minute or two and serve immediately.

Tomato-Garlic Salsa

This super easy salsa, adapted from Mexico The Beautiful Cookbook, has no chile in it. If you want to make it hot, just put a little fresh jalapeño in the salsa when it is cooking. This recipe is for the minimum amount needed, so feel free to add more tomatoes and garlic if you need more salsa.

Ingredients:

Two or three large juicy tomatoes

2 cloves garlic

1 bay leaf

Salt and pepper to taste

About one tablespoon vegetable cooking oil

One jalapeño pepper (optional)

Coarsely chop the tomato and garlic and whirl in a blender or food processor. Set aside. Then heat the cooking oil in a saucepan until it is hot. Quickly pour the tomato mixture into the sauce pan. Add salt and pepper, jalapeño and bay leaf. Stir the salsa and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and cover. Continue cooking the salsa while you are making the chiles rellenos. When the chiles rellenos are done, fish out the jalapeño when you are ready to pour over the plated chiles rellenos. If you feel that it is too thick, put a little bit of water in it and heat it up again.

When serving chiles rellenos I like to keep it simple (and low carb) with a bowl of pinto bean soup, garnished with fresh chopped cilantro, green onion and ninced serrano chiles, and mashed avocado on corn or flour tortillas.