Cookies for dogs???

Today's blog entry isn't actually something that I made, but rather, it's part of the Christmas presents that my dear friend Kelly is making for her family....well, at least the furry members anyway!  I went over to her place (she lives across the street) to hang out for a bit after the sad basketball game against Texas on Saturday afternoon, and she was busy in her kitchen.  She had borrowed my rolling pin, and I got to be her assistant while she was making "Human Friendly" dog treats. 

The first ones that she made were cookies. They did almost look like chocolate chip cookies, and I did sample one of the vegan "chocolate chips" (not Katie friendly in my opinion).  She also made a "biscotti"with peanut butter and melted the vegan "chocolate chips" to drizzle on top of them.  For some odd reason, I felt the need to sample these, too (maybe because this time, they did look exactly like biscotti), and they were actually pretty good.  Kelly found the recipes on foodnetwork.com.  Here they are!

Human Friendly Dog Cookies
Ingredients
2 cups whole-wheat flour, plus more for rolling

1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 large eggs
1/4 cup carob chips
1/4 cup honey
2 to 3 tablespoons water, as needed

Directions
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking sheets.


Put the flour, cornmeal, wheat germ, and cinnamon into a large bowl and whisk to combine. Add the eggs, carob chips, honey, and 1 tablespoon water. Use your hands to mix the ingredients together and form a smooth dough. If it feels too dry, add more water. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest 10 minutes. (Can be made ahead and refrigerated, just let it warm up a bit before rolling.)
Dust your counter with some flour and roll the dough out until it is 1/4-inch thick using more flour as needed so it doesn't stick. Cut into shapes using a dog bone shaped cookie cutter, or use a knife to make the same shape. You can re-roll the scraps and cut out more cookies. Place on the prepared baking sheets and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the cookies are well browned. Remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.



Peanut-Carob Isabooscotti
Ingredients
2 cups whole-wheat flour

1 tablespoon baking powder
2 pinches ground cinnamon
1 cup chunky peanut butter
1 cup milk
1 cup carob chips
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.


In a large bowl, combine that flour, baking powder and cinnamon. Place the peanut butter in a medium bowl and microwave at high power to soften, 5 to 10 seconds. Whisk in the milk, then stir the mixture into the dry ingredients.

Shape the dough into a long, flattened log and place on a greased baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes; remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Slice the log crosswise on an angle into 1-inch-thick pieces. Set the slices on their sides (they should look like biscotti) and bake until crisp, 10 to 12 minutes more. Transfer to a rack to cool.

Melt the carob in a microwave or on the stovetop over low heat. Thin the melted carob with 1 tablespoon water, if needed. Using a spoon, drizzle the melted carob over the biscuits

A Christmas favorite: Black Pepper-Crusted Standing Rib Roast

The first time I made this perfect dish was for Christmas. Instead of going to North Carolina, I had to stay in South Carolina that year, but luckily, my mom came into town so that I didn't have to spend the holiday alone. I love this recipe so much that I actually asked for an electric knife for Christmas one year so that it would be much easier to cut. The Roasted Red Onions are a must!!!!

And of course, I've made it for Rick. While I like my steak rare, Rick prefers his medium to medium well. Slowly but surely, I'm winning him over to the rarer side!!!  What I do with his is heat them up in the oven in a cast iron skillet to get his steak more done (note the differences in the pics!). When I make this, I always, always, always have to make horsey sauce (sour cream, horseradish, a little garlic powder). I don't really make many changes to them because they are so awesome! I do adjust the time so that my roast is on the rare side, and also, I usually use a smaller roast than the original recipe calls for.  Last night, I used a 3.6 lb one. 

You can find these recipes on epicurious.com here and here!

 
You can see mine here, and if you look closely, it just might twitch for you!  Rick's is in the background (note the burnt Texas toast--lol!)


The rib roast!!!

Bon Appétit | December 2002

Yield: Makes 8 servings Ingredients: 1 8 1/2-pound standing rib roast (weight with bones), top fat trimmed Vegetable oil 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature 2 tablespoons cracked or coarsely ground black pepper 4 large garlic cloves, minced 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 1/4 cups low-salt beef broth 1/2 cup dry red wine Preparation: Place roast, fat side up, in roasting pan. Brush exposed ends of roast with vegetable oil. Sprinkle roast lightly all over with salt. Mix 8 tablespoons butter, 2 tablespoons cracked pepper, minced garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in small bowl. Reserve 2 tablespoons pepper butter for sauce. Spread remaining pepper butter all over top (fat side) of roast. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover roast and reserved pepper butter separately; chill.) Position rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 350°F. Roast rib roast until instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of meat registers 125°F for medium-rare, about 2 hours 45 minutes. Transfer roast to platter and cover loosely with foil; let rest 30 minutes (temperature will rise slightly as roast stands). Strain pan juices from roasting pan into measuring cup. Skim off any fat from top of pan juices; discard fat. Return pan juices to roasting pan; set pan over 2 burners. Add broth and wine to roasting pan and boil over high heat until liquid is reduced to 1 1/4 cups, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pan, about 6 minutes. Whisk in reserved pepper butter and remaining 4 tablespoons plain butter. Season with more salt and pepper, if desired. Surround roast with Roasted Red Onions. Slice roast and serve with sauce.

The onions!!!

Bon Appétit | December 2002

You can cook the onions up to one day ahead. Just before serving time, rewarm them in the oven while the roast rests.

Yield: Makes 8 servings

Ingredients

3 pounds small red onions (about 9), halved through root end, then cut into 3/4-inch-wide wedges with some of core attached to each
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Preparation:

Position 1 rack in bottom third and 1 rack in top third of oven and preheat to 450°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with foil; butter foil generously. Arrange onion wedges cut side down on prepared sheets. Brush onions with melted butter. Mix thyme, salt, and pepper in small bowl; sprinkle over onions. Drizzle with vinegar. Cover baking sheets tightly with foil. Roast onions 20 minutes. Reverse baking sheets from top to bottom and continue to roast until bottoms of onion wedges are brown, about 20 minutes longer. Remove foil. Using spatula, turn onion wedges over; cover with foil and roast until bottoms of onions are brown and edges are slightly crisp, reversing position of baking sheets after 5 minutes, about 15 minutes total. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Refrigerate onions on sheets, covered. Rewarm uncovered in 350°F oven until heated through, about 15 minutes.)