Artichoke Dip Puff Pastry Tarts

Bubbly cheesy artichoke dip makes a wonderful filling for a puff pastry tart. Artichoke Dip Puff Pastry Tarts are the perfect, easy appetizer for your Christmas party.

Artichoke dip is a staple at our house for Christmas Eve, when we eat only appetizers and drink Champagne. The tradition started many, many years ago when my older sister would come to visit and somehow we all got busy and many gifts remained unwrapped the night before Christmas. So preparing a big dinner was out of the question but nibbles would be perfect.

Early in the evening we sit around the heavily laden coffee table, sip Champagne and eat our appetizers while staking out a good position to wrap gifts with a little bit of privacy. Behind the bar is always a popular spot, which allows someone to be in front of the bar. Another person might be behind the couch and yet another behind the living room chair or over in the open plan dining room, when we have one. We can hear each other, if we talk loudly, but most importantly, everyone can hear the Christmas music. And everyone can take an extra little plate with them as well, for sustenance.

Artichoke Dip Puff Pastry Tarts

I have no idea where the classic artichoke dip recipe came from, although for us, it was always Tanya’s artichoke dip since my sister brought it with her originally. In the years since, I’ve also heard it referred to as Lizann’s dip, after another friend who introduced it to the school parents in Malaysia. I’d love to know who created it in the first place and thank them. Some years we add crabmeat, other years cooked shrimp or crispy bacon before baking the dip to bubbling richness. We usually serve it with crackers or sliced baguette. This year, making it for a completely different event, I had a brainstorm. And artichoke dip puff pastry tarts were born!

Ingredients
For the dip aka filling:
1 cup or 240g mayonnaise (NOT Miracle Whip or salad cream – they are too sweet.)
1 1/2 cups or about 190g finely grated Parmesan
1 can (14oz or 400g) artichoke hearts, drained weight 8 1/2oz or 240g
1 small hot red chili, optional but highly recommended (I think the original recipe called for a small can of mild green chilies.)

For the tart crust:
3 sheets already rolled puff pastry (about 8in x 8in or 20cm x 20cm each)

Method
Preheat your oven to 410°F or 210°C and cut the puff pastry into 12 reasonably even squares.

Tuck each piece into a muffin pan cup, folding in the edges to make them fit so the squares don’t touch between the muffin cups. Remember, they are going to puff up.

Chop the artichoke hearts roughly and the chili very finely and mix all the filling ingredients together thoroughly.

Spoon the filling into the prepared puff pastry crusts.

Bake in your preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until the filling is golden and bubbling and the puff pastry is golden and puffy.

Allow the tarts to cool for about 10 minutes and then run a knife around the outside of the tarts to loosen them and then remove them to a serving plate.

Serve warm if possible but they are delicious even at room temperature.

Enjoy!

Visit all the other Christmas Week Peeps for more Holiday Baking Goodness:

• Ginger Bears by Cravings of a Lunatic
• Artichoke Dip Tarts by Food Lust People Love
• Bebinca – Layered Goan Cake by Masala Herb
• Bourbon Barrels by The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen
• Chocolate Chip Collapsidies by Try Anything Once Culinary
• Chocolate Dipped Baked Potato Chips by Dizzy Busy and Hungry
• Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcakes with Nutella Frosting by Rants From My Crazy Kitchen
• Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti by Noshing With The Nolands
• Gingerbread Bread Pudding with Salted Caramel Sauce by See Aimee Cook
• Gingerbread Linzer Cookies by Chocolate Moosey
• Layered Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Midori Melon Cupcakes by Ninja Baking
• Peanut Brittle by Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker
• Peppermint Chocolate Cupcakes by The Dutch Baker’s Daughter
• Santa’s Favorite Holiday Bark by The Weekend Gourmet
• Toasted Almond Shortbread by The Messy Baker
• Wine Poached Pear and Almond Rugelach by The Little Ferraro Kitchen

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Mo's Easy Homemade Eggnog

It only takes four ingredients to make quick, easy, creamy, delicious homemade eggnog!  But bourbon is a highly recommended fifth.

Christmas at my grandmother’s meant a huge pot of her homemade eggnog at least one of the nights of our holiday.  The original called for one gallon of milk and 10 eggs!  I’d like to tell you how it kept and whether we rewarmed it successfully the next day but I honestly don’t remember having any leftovers!  It’s that good.  As a child, I drank it plain.  No nutmeg, and, of course, no bourbon.  Now I love adding both.

Ingredients
8 1/2 cups or 2 liters whole milk
5 eggs
1 1/2 cups or 300g sugar
1 heaped tablespoon cornstarch
Nutmeg and bourbon or rum (Optional for serving but highly recommended)

Method
Remove 1/2 cup or 120ml from your measured milk and set aside in a small bowl.

Heat the rest of the milk over a low fire.   Do be careful not to let it scorch.

While your milk is warming:  In a very large mixing bowl, beat the eggs until they are light yellow.  Add the sugar to the eggs and beat until creamy and almost fluffy.

Dissolve 1 heaping tablespoon cornstarch into your reserved cold milk.

Use a fork or small whisk to make sure there are not any lumps of cornstarch left.

When the pot of milk comes to the boil, slowly add the cornstarch/milk, stirring quickly.  (When I looked up the boiling point of milk, most references said it was close to the boiling point of water which is 212°F or 100°C but mine bubbled gently at about 190°F or 88°C.  In case you are the thermometer-using type.)  Cook for a few more minutes until it thickens slightly.

I need three hands!  I stirred like crazy before and then after I took the photo, as I kept pouring.

Add a couple of cups of the hot milk to the egg mixture by pouring it in very slowly and whisking quickly.

This is actually the second cup I am pouring in.  I was whisking like a mad woman when
the first hot cup drizzled in.  You should do the same!  In fact, don't stop to take photos at all. 

If you have a friend to help, one can whisk, while the other pours.  If you are alone, set your egg bowl on a towel so it won’t spin and whisk quickly with one hand while pouring slowly with the other.  If you rush this step, you risk cooking your eggs in the hot milk, which will make the eggnog eggy and lumpy.  It’s not a pretty sight.  It can be somewhat rescued by straining it through a fine mesh sieve but just don’t go there to start with.  And, yes, I know all this from sad experience.

Add all the now-warm egg/milk mixture back into the pot with the rest of milk.

Bring it to a gentle boil and let it thicken slightly.

Serve in mugs, topped with a sprinkle of nutmeg.

Go ahead and laugh but I wanted to show you my fake fireplace.  In Dubai.
 It looks like flames from an inside light but it does actually have an air blower that puts out heat too.

Bourbon or rum can also be added, if desired. If you are adding alcohol, give the mug a good stir before drinking and, of course, don't share with your kiddies.

My cup!  Get your own. 

Enjoy!

Visit all the other Christmas Week Peeps for more Holiday Baking Goodness:

• Chewy Brownies by Juanita’s Cocina 
• Peppermint Hot Chocolate with Peppermint Wands by Cravings of a Lunatic 
• Bacon Bark by Cooking In Stilettos 
• Chocolate-Peppermint Puff Pastry Bites by The Weekend Gourmet 
• Cranberry Bliss Bars by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks 
• Flourless Nutella Marshmallow Cloud Cookie Cups by Cupcakes & Kale Chips 
• Gingerbread Cheesecake Cupcakes by Chocolate Moosey 
• Gingerbread Sugar Cookies by Rants From My Crazy Kitchen 
• Gingerbread Whoopie Pies with Maple Poached Pears and Maple Buttercream by Pineapple and Coconut 
• Hot Chocolate Biscotti by Home Cooking Memories 
• Mo’s Easy Homemade Eggnog by Food Lust People Love 
• Peanut Butter Cup Cookies by Try Anything Once Culinary 
• Pear and Dried Cranberry Baked Custard by See Aimee Cook 
• Pomegranate Margaritas by Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts 
• Reindeer Cookies by Noshing With The Nolands 
• Snowflake Cake by Dizzy Busy and Hungry 
• Spiced Madeleines by The Dutch Baker’s Daughter 

Nanny's Pecan Pie

Louisiana pecan pie is chewy and gooey, full of pecans and sticky goodness, in a flakey short crust. Nanny's pecan pie recipe is the best of the best. Christmas is not Christmas without it!

We were there! After five hours of driving dark highways in the bitter cold, the whole family piled into the warmth of my grandmother’s yellow kitchen. As usual, everyone talking at once. Following shortly behind us, coming from the opposite direction on Interstate 10, my aunt’s family banged through the old screen door, arms laden with luggage and goodies.

Nanny had a stack of pecan pies, all baked in foil pie plates and wrapped in more foil, a tower of shiny as welcome as any star on the nearby Christmas tree. Pecan pie was one of her specialties and this year, she claimed, she had perfected the recipe. Baking pie after pie until the mixture was just right. We laughed when she said 7/8 cup of Karo, because how do you even measure that!

In southern Louisiana, your godparents are your nanan and parran, the Cajun French words for godmother and godfather. Aunt Karen was not my godmother but she was my older sister’s and since I was three years younger, I called her Nanny as well. That was just her name and it never occurred to me until I was much older that she wasn’t my godmother too.

On Christmas Day, 20 years ago, we lost Nanny to breast cancer, after a few years’ hard fight. She was only 49. She lives on through her children and grandchildren and in the cherished memories we have of the most generous and loving aunt, sister, mother, friend anyone has ever known. I eyeball that measuring cup each time I make this pie and channel her precision for 7/8 cup. Her recipe hasn’t failed me yet.

Nanny's Pecan Pie

Ingredients
For the filling:
1 large egg
1/2 cup or 100g sugar
7/8 cup or 207ml clear Karo corn syrup (Just do your best.)
Pinch salt
1 1/2 cups or 180g chopped pecans
4 small pats of butter (about 1 teaspoon each)

1 unbaked pie shell (I use this recipe. Stop when the crust has been pricked with a fork, and come on back here to make the filling.)

Method
Preheat your oven to 300°F or 149°C.

Put your pecans in a large baking pan and pop them in the oven as it preheats. Set a timer for five minutes and shake the pan every time it rings. Take the pecans out when they smell all toasty and nutty. Depending on your oven, this could take 10 minutes or even 20. Depends on how fast your oven preheats and the toasting can really start. Remove the pecans from the oven and set aside to cool.

Beat the egg and sugar until yellow and creamy looking.

Add the Karo and the pinch of salt and whisk again.

After thoroughly mixed, add your cooled pecans.

Pour into unbaked pie shell. Put pats of butter on top.

Bake in your preheated oven for 50/60 minutes. (I suggest putting a piece of foil under the pan, for easy clean up, in case it boils over a little.)

Remove from the oven when the pie is almost set. It might still be just a little bit wobbly in the middle.

Allow to cool completely before cutting.

Enjoy!

Visit all the other Christmas Week Peeps for more Holiday Baking Goodness:

• Coconut Hot Chocolate and Chocolate Covered Spoons by Cravings of a Lunatic
• Chocolate Shortbread Bars by Juanita’s Cocina
• Buckeyes byMy Catholic Kitchen
• Chocolate Cherry Hazelnut Fudge by Rants From My Crazy Kitchen
• Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies by Jen’s Favorite Cookies
• Chocolate Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies by Try Anything Once Culinary
• Chocolate Peppermint Donuts by The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen
• Chocolate Pumpkin Bundt Cake by Liv Life
• Coconut Cream Tres Leches Cake by The Dutch Baker’s Daughter
• Cranberry Pistachio Eggnog Bark by See Aimee Cook
• Cranberry Yogurt Cookies by Mom’s Test Kitchen
• Cranberry-Orange Gin Fizz by The Messy Baker
• Flourless Peanut Butter Nutella S’Mores by Cupcakes & Kale Chips
• Frosted Sugar Cookies by Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts
• Gluten-free Cinnamon Star Cookies by Masala Herb
• Holiday Pinwheels by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• My Mother-in-law’s Fudge by Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker
• Nanny’s Pecan Pie by Food Lust People Love
• Peanut Butter n’ Jelly Thumbprints by The Little Ferraro Kitchen
• Peppermint Brownie Pops by Home Cooking Memories
• Peppermint Fudge by Like Mother Like Daughter
• Peppermint Mocha Brownie Cookies by Homemade in the Kitchen
• Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
• Pokey Fudge by Ninja Baking
• Vanilla Wafer Holiday Bark by Dizzy Busy and Hungry

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Broccoli and Cheese Muffins #MuffinMonday

Cheesy muffins with broccoli make the perfect addition to a brunch menu.  They are equally welcome alongside a bowl of soup for a light lunch or dinner. 

Happy Sunday!  Your eyes are not deceiving you and don't bother to check your calendar thinking you have missed a day.  It is indeed a muffin recipe a day early.  Because this is a special week here at Food Lust People Love.  IT'S CHRISTMAS WEEK!  Which means that I have joined with a group of like-minded bloggers to bring you prizes to win from our generous sponsors and loads of great Christmasy recipes.  We'll have sweet and we'll have savory but we'll all have delicious!  It starts tomorrow so come on back and I hope to see you munching one of these wonderful cheesy broccoli muffins as you sign up for the giveaways!

Ingredients
3 1/2 oz or 100g fresh broccoli florets
Drizzle olive oil
2 cups or 250g flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Few good grinds of fresh black pepper (about 1/4 teaspoon)
8 1/2 oz or 240g extra sharp cheddar
2 eggs
1/4 cup or 60ml sunflower or canola oil
3/4 cup or 180ml milk
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (We prefer Lea & Perrins.)

Method
Cut your broccoli florets into tiny florets and chop the stem bits into small pieces.   Pan-fry them in a non-stick pan with a drizzle of olive oil for a just a few minutes.  Set aside to cool.

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and grease your 12-cup muffin pan liberally with canola, butter or non-stick spray.  I don’t recommend using muffin liners when baking with cheese because the muffins are hard to remove from the paper.

Grate your cheese.  Put aside a large handful of about one ounce or 25g for topping the muffins.  When the broccoli is cool enough to handle, count out 12 small florets for decorating the muffin tops and set aside with the handful of cheese.

Put your flour, baking powder, pepper and salt in a large bowl.  Add in the grated cheese and stir.

Now add the bulk of the cooled broccoli and stir to combine.

In another bowl, whisk together the oil, milk and eggs and Worcestershire sauce.

Pour your wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold them together until just mixed.  This is a really stiff batter, almost a dough.  But trust.  When the muffins bake, all that cheese is going to melt and you will end up with lovely tender muffins.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

Top each with some reserved cheese and a tiny floret of broccoli.

Bake in your preheated oven about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

All done!

Cool on a rack for a few minutes and then remove the muffins from the pan to cool completely.  If, despite liberal greasing, your muffins still stick to the pan, just run a knife around the outside of each muffin and they should pop free.

Enjoy!   See you back here tomorrow for the start of Christmas Week!

Dark Chocolate Orange Bundt with Dark Chocolate Orange Glaze #BundtaMonth

Orange and chocolate are a classic combination. Using dark chocolate and whole Mandarin oranges pureed in the batter brings a sweet, yet bitter tartness to this tender crumbed cake Dark Chocolate Orange Bundt with Dark Chocolate Orange Glaze.

For the British, especially, chocolate and orange are a treasured Christmas flavor combination and many would say that a Christmas stocking without a chocolate orange is half empty.  Even if it’s full.  But I must admit that it is not something that I grew up with.  Like all great relationships, it has taken a while to grow and mature.  Rather like my love of marmalade.  And Brussels sprouts, eggplant and cooked cabbage.  And other grownup things.  Such is the British influence here that the stores in Dubai are full of all kinds of candies in chocolate and orange so it was a natural choice for this month’s theme of Holiday December!

Where do you fall on the continuum of Love it (10) and Hate it (0)?  If you are somewhere in the lower half, perhaps this delicious cake will slide your opinion up the scale.

Ingredients
For the cake:
2 mandarin oranges (about  5 1/2 oz or 155g)
1/3 cup or 75g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
1 1/2 cups or 300g sugar
3 large eggs
4 tablespoons milk
1 1/3 cups or 170g flour, plus extra for the coating the pan
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup or 75g dark cocoa powder

For the glaze:
5 1/4 oz or 150g dark chocolate
2 tablespoons Grand Marnier
3 tablespoons canola oil

To decorate:  chocolate orange candies  and zest of one Mandarin orange

Method
Put the Mandarin oranges in a small pot and cover with water.  Bring to a boil over a medium heat and then simmer for an hour.  Keep checking to make sure the oranges are always covered, adding more water if necessary, and turning them over occasionally.

Meanwhile, butter your Bundt pan and coat it well with flour.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine your flour, cocoa, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda.  Set aside.

When the hour is up, remove the pot from the heat and leave the oranges in it until they are cool enough to handle.

Remove the oranges to a cutting board and preheat your oven to 350°F or 180 °C.  Use a sharp pointy knife to cut the oranges in half and use the pointy end to dig out all of the seeds

Puree both oranges, peel and all, with a hand blender, add in the milk and set aside.

With electric beaters or in your stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well in between.

Mix in half of the flour/cocoa and beat until combined.

Pour in half of the orange/milk and beat until combined.

Look at the gorgeous color of that orange puree! 

Repeat with the rest of the flour/cocoa and then the orange/milk.

Pour your batter into the prepared Bundt pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Let cool in the pan for about 10 minutes then turn out on a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

Meanwhile, to make the glaze, melt the chocolate in a microwaveable bowl and add in the Grand Marnier and canola oil and stir well.  The liqueur makes the chocolate thicken up and the oil helps it become pourable again.  If you would prefer not to add alcohol to the chocolate, you can skip the oil as well and drizzle on straight melted chocolate.

Once the cake is completely cool, use a piping bag to drizzle the glaze all over the cake.  Or put it in a plastic baggie and cut a small corner off to do the same.   Add the chocolate orange slices and orange zest, if desired.

Enjoy!

I hope you have all enjoyed the past year of Bundts from our BundtaMonth group.  Our fearless leaders, Anuradha from Baker Street and Lora from Cake Duchess have decided to disband.  I’d like to thank them for their support and hard work.

Meanwhile, I’ve got one last BundtaMonth list of cakes to share!

• Candy Cane Bundt Cake from Felice at All That’s Left Are the Crumbs
• Cranberry Walnut and Ginger Holiday Bundt from Deepti at Baking Yummies
• Double Chocolate Glazed Peppermint Bundt Cake from Laura at A Spiced Life
• Gingerbread Spice Bundt Cake from Jill at  Made with Love
• Red and White Marbled Bundt from Holly A Baker’s House
• Peppermint Pound Cake from Kate at Food Babbles