The MIXED Dixie Crystals Pre-Conference Baking Contest 2014! {#MIXEDCon}

A little over three weeks ago, the day that the MIXED conference

announced the third annual, Dixie Crystals Sugar pre-conference

baking contest, I whipped up a batch of my husband's favorite cookies

and vowed to enter. But then I remembered... I've attended MIXED two

years in a row and have therefore tasted the awesome talent of the baking

geniuses who tend to enter these types of recipe contests... So I naturally

talked myself out of entering... Like 500 times. But tonight, with literally

less than sixteen minutes left on the entrance deadline, I've decided that...

Even if my Pecan-Cranberry Florentine cookies don't win this

year's MIXED sugar showdown, you still deserve to be introduced to

the cookies my husband always tells me taste like an autumn sunset!

Next to the incredible taste, these cookies are

super easy to make and don't even require a mixer!

Preheat oven to 350°. Then, in a heavy-bottom sauce pan, melt

three tablespoons unsalted butter and 2/3 cups Dixie Crystals
granulated sugar. Add 1/2 cup whipping cream and stir...

Bring mixture to a boil very slowly and when it just begins to bubble,

remove pan from heat and stir in: One and a third cups chopped pecans,

one tablespoon dried cranberries, the zest of one and a half oranges, 2

teaspoons crystallized ginger, chopped and one-half cup sifted AP flour!

Smells like an autumn sunset, I promise!

Stir mixture with a wooden spoon or rubber scraper until fully combined...

Then drop by tablespoons onto a greased cookie sheet...

Or onto a Silpat mat...

Bake cookies 10-12 minutes or until edges turn golden brown...

While cookies are still warm, use a spoon or off-set

spatula to shape them back into rounds if necessary...

And, allow cookies to cool on baking sheet or move them to a

cutting board covered with a sheet of wax or parchment paper

Melt ten ounces of dark chocolate in a heat-proof bowl set
over a pan of boiling water. When chocolate is completely
melted, add one teaspoon vegetable oil and stir...

Then, coat the smooth side of your cookies with it! I've

also added caramel to some of the cookies and popped them

into the freezer to set the caramel before coating with chocolate...

Which always makes my sweetie extra happy! Either

way, with or without caramel, sprinkle cookies with

more chopped pecans before chocolate sets and enjoy!

I'm excited to be attending MIXED again this year and if you'd like to join the fun tickets are still available here. 

If you need a little encouragement, (as if the outrageous give-aways, swag, people you meet and blogger education weren't enough...) you can read about my experiences at MIXED here! 

(When in Rome) Idaho® Potato Pizza with Goat Cheese and Fresh Thyme

 

The things I remember about the experiences our family shared during the twenty years the Captain served in the Army could fill several books... Traveling throughout Europe in our Ford Country Squire, my parents seemed fearless to me - Never missing an opportunity to take the roads less traveled in hopes of discovering something completely undisclosed within the pages of the travel guide books that littered the front seat. Every wrong turn was a new adventure and more often than not, resulted in our stumbling across something or some place that left us laughing, amazed... Or both!

 

Discovering new cultures and cuisines to become immersed in during those month-long summer vacations and every-weekend jaunts was the highlight of my youth... They are the experiences that shaped who I am today and they are the gifts I will always cherish and be most grateful for.

 

One of those memorable trips is the summer our family went to Italy. I remember we drove all night, arriving at Piazza S. Pietro, (Saint Peter's Square, in the Vatican City) just after 3AM. My father, ever the rebel and always first in line, created a parking spot right there in the middle of the square, telling us to get comfy because that's where we'd be spending the night! I also remember being awaken by a knock on the window, delivered by a somewhat humorless man holding a garden hose who was trying to shoo us away like the pigeons in order to spray down the Piazza before the other tourists arrived! I was eight, going on nine and remember the moment as if it occurred this morning...

Other memories of that trip live on in my kitchen to this day. Which just happens to bring me to the point of this post. You see, it was in Rome where we as a family discovered Pizza di Patate or potato pizza! Traditionally made with white potatoes, onion, mozzarella and rosemary, it's pizza we ordered by the slice in pieces cut according to how wide we held out our hands! These were pizzas that emerged from the wood-fired ovens smoking... With crust that was slightly burned, crisp and salty on the outside but soft, tender and light as air on the inside. The potatoes were as delicious as the crust, crispy around the edges with velvety smooth centers that melted as easily on my tongue as the cheese did. It was pure pizza heaven!

So, when I was invited to contribute my favorite holiday potato recipes for the Idaho® Potato Commission a few weeks ago, I knew the first recipe I wanted to share was my own version of Rome's potato pizza - What I affectionately call my, When in Rome Potato Pizza with Goat Cheese and Fresh Thyme! 

Let's start! Or as they say in Italy... Cominciamo!

To make this recipe super easy... Something you might throw together to

nibble on this weekend while watching the game or serve as an unexpected

but impressive appetizer before your upcoming holiday meals, I recommend

using refrigerated pizza crust. Dressed up with a little of the best extra

virgin olive oil, sea salt, and fresh thyme leaves, it's a fine substitute for

homemade. Besides, these gorgeous slices of Idaho® Potatoes are the

real stars of this pizza! So... Preheat your oven according to the package

directions and unroll a can of pizza crust onto a rectangular pizza stone

or baking sheet you have first lightly dusted with corn meal. Using your

fingers, spread a thin coating of extra virgin olive oil over the crust. Then,

sprinkle with coarse sea salt and fresh thyme leaves removed from the stem!

Bake crust for 5 minutes or just until it lifts away from the baking

stone without tearing. Set aside, leaving oven on. Using a sharp knife

or mandolin, slice a combination of Idaho® red and russet potatoes

lengthwise to a thickness where you can almost see through them. By

the way, to keep your potatoes looking bright-white, always place cut

potatoes into a bowl of cold water with 2-3 teaspoons of lemon juice

concentrate or fresh lemon juice added. Also, to prevent browning of

shredded potatoes for dishes such as hash browns or potato cakes, I've

found alternating between onion and potatoes on your grater works too!

After all potatoes have been sliced, arrange the slices onto a

rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt and cover with

enough cold water to come 1/4" up onto sides of the sheet pan...

Bake potato slices 10 minutes. While potatoes bake, prepare other
toppings. I love to add everything from sautéed artichokes to crispy

pancetta to my potato pizzas; however, today, I'm using red onion

rings, minced shallot and garlic, goat cheese and more fresh thyme!

Spread minced garlic and shallot over pizza crust. Then, carefully remove

potato slices from oven and pat sides of each slice dry using paper towels...

Arrange potatoes over pizza crust in a shingled pattern and dot with

as much creamy goat cheese as you'd like! Finish with red onion slices

and more fresh thyme leaves. As you can see, I didn't work quite fast

enough, so a few of my potato slices discolored before I could get them

arranged onto my pizza crust. Again, this can be prevented by returning

even cooked slices to the lemon-water bath until you're ready for them!

Bake pizza 12-14 minutes...

Until edges are dark and goat cheese begins to brown...

Serve sliced up into pieces as big as you want...

And, if you'd like...

Drizzle with a bit more olive oil... Just like they do in Rome!

For a printable copy of my When in Rome Potato Pizza recipe as well

as many other fantastic potato recipes, please do visit the Idaho®

Potato Commission's website. You'll find this one and two of my

other recipes, (posts to be published very soon) listed right here!

 

 

Disclosure:

I was compensated for the recipes I contributed to the Idaho® Potato Commission's website. However, this did not influence the fact that I believe the finest potatoes in the world can only be Idaho® Potatoes!