Need a knife?

Every kitchen needs a good knife. There are few things worse than trying to chop things with a dull blade. You shouldn't have to saw through a potato or an onion. But I have to admit, until recently, I only had one knife that was worth using, which made poor Caroline miserable whenever I made her use the dull ones from one of those knife sets with a dozen different knives that I got as a wedding gift. While practical in theory, I would have take one sharp one over the set. What good are 12 knives if none of them can cut anything?

Image from www.bedbathandbeyond.com 

I would say all you really need is a good carving knife (or maybe a chef's knife if you prefer), a serrated knife, and a small paring knife. Once you've got those three, the rest are superfluous.

So what do your knives look like? If, like most kitchens, they're in need of an update, you're in luck! To show our appreciation to our readers, we're offering this 2 piece carving set to one lucky person. The knife is delightfully sharp and comfortable in one's hand, while the meat fork will come in handy for your Christmas goose (or turkey or roast or suckling pig or whatever you have). Simply leave a comment on this post before MONDAY December 13th. The winner will be randomly selected using random.org.

Cookie Contest Winners!

After much deliberation (and a lot of cookie eating), the winners of the cookie contest are...

Rebecca Krueger for the Lemon Kiss Cookies. Here's what she said about them: "I first had these cookies from an old roommate in graduate school who was quite a perfectionist baker. She made these around Christmas time and I made them for a Christmas party because they remind me of elegant little snowballs. Yum."

Lemon Kiss Cookies
1 1/2 cups butter
3/4 cups sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 cups almonds, chopped
1 (14 oz) package milk chocolate candy kisses
powdered sugar
1 tablespoon shortening
1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. In a large bowl beat butter, sugar and lemon juice until light and fluffy. Add flour and almonds. Beat at slow speed until well mix. Cover and refrigerate, at least 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Shape a tablespoon full of dough around each chocolate kiss, covering it completely. Roll in hand to form ball. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake 8-12 minutes or until set and the endges of lightly golden brown.
3. After removing from oven allow to partially cool on baking sheet until firm enough to lift (about 10 minutes) then cool completely on racks.
4. Meanwhile, melt chocolate chips and shortening in a small pan on medium heat. Stir until smooth.
   
5. Lightly dust cookies with powdered sugar. Then drizzle chocolate over each cookie.
   

Kristi Lopes for the Italian Jam Cookies. She said "I like these cookies because they taste good. And because we ALWAYS make them for Christmas. The recipe comes from a children's magazine with Christmas cookie recipes from around the world. We thought they looked good, so my mom and I made them...and liked them ever since!"

Italian Jam Cookies
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1 egg yolk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup plus 2 tablespoon flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg white, slightly beaten
1 cup flaked coconut
jam (raspberry, apricot, or blackberry)

1. In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Mix in egg yolk and vanilla.
2. In a separate bowl, combine flour and salt. Add slowly to butter mixture, stirring well. Chill the dough 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Dip each ball into egg white, then roll in coconut. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet and then make a small well in the center of the ball with your thumb. Fill the wells with your favorite jam.
   
4. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until slightly browned. Cool and serve.

And Michelle and Kari Krueger for Christmas Cookies (this was pure coincidence to have two Kruegers win. As we baked and judged each cookie, we didn't have any idea who submitted each recipe. Honest). They said "Our mom tried this recipe years ago and it has since become our family's favorite holiday treat. The mint candy sets it apart from other chocolate cookies and the bright sprinkles give it a distinctive festive appearance."

Christmas Cookies
3/4 cups butter
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
2 tabelspoons water
2 cups semisweet chocolate pieces
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 lb Andes mintes
Colored sprinkles

1. In a large heavy saucepan over low heat, heat butter, sugar, and water until melted. Add chocolate pieces and stir until partially melted. Remove from heat and continue to stir until chocolate is completely melted. Pour into large mixing bowl and let stand about 10 minutes to cool slightly.
2. Add eggs, flour, and baking soda. Beat just until blended. Chill dough 1 hour.
3. Roll into balls and bake at 350 degrees F for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and place an Andes mint on each cookie when hot; immediately swirl mint over cookie. Add sprinkles.
   

Enjoy!

Winners, please send us an email with your desired prize. Click here to see the prizes.

It's a Contest!

To celebrate our new facebook page, and in preparation for the Christmas season, we are having a cookie contest!

Here's what you do:

1. Find your favorite Christmas cookie recipe (and we mean COOKIE, not cake, bread, candy, pie, etc). It may be a bar cookie, rolled cookie, dropped cookie, or whatever form you can think of. But make it a cookie!
2. To enter, become a fan on our facebook page (click on the link in the Fan Box on the right side of this page). Then send an email to twolittlechefs@gmail.com with the recipe. Please include the story behind the recipe. Is it a family recipe? Where did it come from? Why do you love it? The deadline for entry is November 30 at midnight.
   
3. We will test the recipe and determine a winner based on taste, appearance, texture, and originality.
   
4. The winners (1st, 2nd, and 3rd place) will be announced the morning of December 14th.

If you win, you may have your choice of one of these items (which happen to be some of our favorite kitchen accessories):









Microplane Grater - Silpat Baking Sheet - Candy Thermometer - Garlic Press - Silicone Oven Mitt
Images from amazon.com

Good luck!

Contest Winner - Chocolate Turtle Cookies

After MUCH deliberation, we have finally picked a winner for our 100th Post Contest. There were recipes of all sorts and sizes from appetizers to desserts to dinner and breakfast submitted. Many of them were very good, making this a very tough decision for us, but we finally picked the winner.

We picked these cookies because they are first and foremost delicious. In addition to the taste they are unique and aesthetically original. So congratulations to our loyal reader and commenter, Jessie who submitted this recipe for Chocolate Turtle Cookies. She will be receiving The Essential Baker: The Comprehensive Guide to Baking with Chocolate, Fruit, Nuts, Spices, and Other Ingredients by CCP Carole Bloom.

Chocolate Turtle Cookies
Recipe submitted by Two Little Chefs reader Jessie
Picture by Caroline
Yield: approximately 2 dozen

1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
8 T (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg, separated, plus 1 egg white
2 T milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup pecans, chopped fine
14 soft caramel candies**
3 T heavy cream

1. Combine flour, cocoa, and salt in bowl. With electric mixer on med-high speed, beat butter and sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg yolk, milk, and vanilla and mix until incorporated. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture until just combined. Refrigerate dough until firm, at least 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment (hint from twolittlechefs: you need to line your tray or spray with a non-stick spray, otherwise the egg whites will firmly attach to your baking sheet). Whisk egg whites in bowl until frothy. Place pecans in another bowl. One at a time, roll dough into 1-inch balls, dip in egg whites, then roll in pecans. Place balls 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Using teaspoon measure, make indentation in center of each ball. Bake until set, 10 to 12 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, microwave caramels and cream in bowl, stirring occasionally, until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Once cookies are removed from oven, gently press existing indentation again with teaspoon measure. Fill each with 1/2 teaspoon caramel mixture. Cool 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool completely.

**Note: the only adaption I would make to this recipe would be to add more caramel, and I would suggest making your own caramel, which will have a stronger flavor - mixing equal parts of brown sugar, butter, and a tablespoon or two of milk.

Contest Update

Because we received so many delicious recipes, we have decided to postpone the announcement of the 100th Post Contest winner until Monday August 10th.

Our 100th Birthday Contest

To celebrate our 100th Post Birthday we are hosting a contest and giving you the opportunity to win one of our all-time favorite cook books, The Essential Baker: The Comprehensive Guide to Baking with Chocolate, Fruit, Nuts, Spices, and Other Ingredients by CCP Carole Bloom. Here is what you need to do in order to win:

1. Send us your favorite recipe by July 22nd. Be sure to include ingredient’s, directions, and where you got the recipe from. Also include why this is your favorite recipe. Examples, your Mom always made it for you as a child; it is your best party recipe that everyone raves about, or you just love it and can’t get enough of it.
2. To submit your recipe or recipes (three submissions per person), email us at twolittlechefs@gmail.com.
3. We will be picking our favorite and announcing a winner on July 31st. We will post the winning recipe and notify the winner by email.
4. Be sure to submit your recipe by July 22nd.