Saturday, February 20, 2010

Butter makes the world go 'round

Look in your fridge. 
Even if you don't consider yourself to be a cook, chances are you have butter in your fridge on a regular basis. 
(and NOT margarine!! If I ever willingly buy margarine I give you permission to commit me to a nervous hospital. That stuff is gross.)

But what kind of butter?
Most people believe that there is no difference between type of butter and another - and no difference between butter and (gasp!) margarine.
But there is. 
THERE IS A HUGE DIFFERENCE

The Hungry Hubby could open an otherwise barren icebox and think he was in Heaven as long as there is "good butter" waiting there for him. 
At the moment, we have THREE different types of butter on hand.

1. We have your basic Land-O-Lakes Unsalted butter that is reserved only for baking and greasing baking pans. 

 
This is the easiest to find, I can easily run into any grocery and grab this. Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy.

2. Pulgra European Style Salted Butter. 
This is what I consider REAL Butter. It comes in blocks, not sticks. AND IT'S SALTED. If you've never tried REAL salted butter, you don't know what butter is. You are missing out. 
 

Trust me on this. 

3. The newest addition to our little dairy family has been Kerrygold Irish Butter. Kerrygold is sweeter than normal butter, mainly because of the extra sweet cream they add to the mix. 

 

This is different than any other butter we've tried (and we try them all- which probably doesn't help The Hungry Hubby's attempts to keep his "sympathy belly" under control, but you have to have SOME luxuries!)and it's wonderful on breakfast goodies. (I just finished gobbling up some Gluten-Free frozen waffles DOWSED in Kerrygold. Oh. My. Goodness.)

Quality ingredients make quality dishes. Even if you are just making some plain pasta, the addition of "fancy" butter makes it a gourmet meal. 

I also want to add an important "honorable mention" to the mix. 
AMISH ROLL BUTTER

 

This is BY FAR The Hungry Hubby's ABSOLUTE FAVORITE butter in the whole-wide world. 

The only reason we do not have Amish Roll Butter in our pantry right now is that WE CAN'T FIND IT! 
Over the summer The Hungry Hubby and I moved to a new city and have been unable to find this delicious goody. (In our old city we could only find it in ONE TINY STORE.)

The First time I brought this butter home (which was the first time I made a foray into the realms of "fancy butter", I found the The Hungry Hubby happily eating a huge round of "that really good cheese you bought". 
Confused, I checked the fridge. 
The Hungry Hubby had sliced a huge round off the log of butter in the fridge! HE WAS JUST EATING A HUNK OF BUTTER! 

Even now, if we had some in the house I wouldn't be surprised if I found little bits chipped off the log. He loves this stuff that much! And did I mention it's AMAZING in scrambled eggs? because it is. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.
So, expand your horizons. Go get yourself some REAL butter!!!

 
 

 

Sunday, February 14, 2010

GF Chocolate Crinkle Cookies for Valentine's Day!

Ok, so I have not been cooking much this week- alot of repeat meals, leftovers, etc. The Hungry Hubby and I have been passing a FANTASTIC cold to each other! 

My amazing Hungry Hubby made sniffly, pajama-clad, coughing me a very romantic dinner last night (Filets! WOW!)
So, to return the cooking favor I made him some Chocolate Crinkle Cookies! Yummy!



(Adapted from CuisineNie)
2 cups sugar (I used half white and have brown sugar, but only because we didn't have enough plain sugar)
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup hershey's cocoa powder
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/3 cups Pamela's Gluten-free, all-purpose baking mix
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
powdered sugar

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar & oil. add cocoa; blend well. beat in eggs and vanilla. 

2. Combine baking mix, baking powder & salt; add to cocoa mixture blending well. 

3. Cover; chill at least 6 hours. 

4. After dough has chilled, heat oven to 350. 

5. Shape dough into 1 inch balls and roll in powdered sugar. 

6. Place 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheet. 

7. Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until almost no indentation remains when touched. remove from cookie sheet; cool on wire rack. 

makes 4 dozen.