Bean and Corn Salad with Havana spice mix

I can always go for something fresh and simple. This salad is a snap to put together and can double as a salsa when served with tortilla chips. Use any kind of bean you like and fresh or frozen corn instead of canned if you prefer. Double the recipe to serve more than four.

What you need:
1 can black eyed peas or other bean - drained and rinsed
1 can corn - drained
1/2 green bell pepper - diced
1/2 C diced tomato
1/2 C diced cucumber
1/4 C sliced black or green olives
1 avocado - cut into cubes
1/4 C chopped cilantro
juice of 1 lime
1/4 C olive oil
1 tsp Havana spice mix
salt/pepper to taste

What you do:
Stir the lime juice, olive oil, and Havana spice mix in a medium sized bowl. Add everything else. If you want it spicy, dice a seeded jalepeno or thai chili in there too. Season with salt and pepper to taste. That's it! Now eat it like a salad, a veg taco filling, or as a salsa with chips. 

Swirly Bread with Signature Spiced Sugar

Let's get this squared away right up front - there is no shame in buying a tube of refrigerated bread dough, rolling it out, and following this recipe with it if you are just not into making bread from scratch. But, in case your car is in the shop, like mine, and you have nothing else to do.....
I'm pretty sure there is nobody on earth who doesn't like fresh bread. Swirl some butter and spiced sugar through it and you have the stuff they must certainly eat in heaven.  I like the citrus notes in Signature Spiced, but you really could use any of our specialty sugars except Peppermint. I think Granulated Chocolate or Gingerbread Sugar might make something extra special.

What You Need (makes 2 loaves):

For the dough -
6 C all-purpose flour
1 pkg active dry yeast
2 1/4 C milk
2 T plain white sugar
1 T butter
2 tsp salt

For the swirl -
1 stick butter (sliced into tablespoons)
1/2 C Signature Spiced Sugar (or any of our other specialty sugars)

What You Do:

In a standing mixer bowl, combine 3 C flour + the yeast.
In a med saucepan, stir and heat the milk, butter, white sugar, and salt over low heat until it reaches 120 degrees. This part is very important.
Add the hot liquid to the flour+yeast and beat on low to combine. Then beat on high for 3 minutes.
Switch to the kneading hook, or turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 5-10 minutes until it is elastic and smooth.
Lightly oil a large bowl and let the dough rise for an hour with a damp tea towel over it.
Punch down the dough, divide it into two equal pieces, and roll each of them out onto a floured surface into 6X18" rectangles.
Place the butter pats all over the tops of the the rolled-out dough. Now sprinkle 1/4 C of spiced sugar on top of each one.

Starting from the short end, roll each rectangle up jelly roll style and place them into greased 4X8 loaf pans.
Cover the loaves with a damp tea towel and let them rise 30 more minutes - or until they have doubled in size.

Bake the loaves in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.
Remove them from the pans (or they will get soggy) and allow them to cool on a cooling rack before slicing. Serve toasted with butter or all by itself. While it takes a long time, it's really not that hard and so very worth the effort for a special occasion or to share with a friend. The loaves last up to a week (in theory - they will get gobbled up before that) and I suggest storing them wrapped up in the fridge.

Gingersnap Sandwich Cookies (with Vanilla-Chai cream cheese filling!)

My favorite flavor of the Autumn season is, by far, ginger. Gingerbread, gingersnaps, candied ginger, ginger tea....I love the warm spiciness of it all!
Here is a super simple gingery treat that literally comes together in minutes.  You can make your own ginger cookies or you can simply buy a bag of your favorite brand. I like Stauffer's because they are crispy and spicy, which works well for this filling.

What You Need:
24 gingersnap cookies
1/4 C cream cheese (softened)
1 T Vanilla-Chai sugar (also works well with Signature Spiced)

What You Do:
Whisk the cream cheese and Vanilla-Chai Sugar in a bowl.
Spread about a tsp of cream cheese mixture on the back side of a gingersnap and gently press another one on top.
Presto! This should make about 12 sandwich cookies.

This mixture is also amazing on toasted bagels and apple slices! In that case you could use almost any of the specialty sugars we offer. I just think the Vanilla-Chai and the Signature Spiced work best against the ginger in the gingersnaps, but on apples and bagels...anything goes! Get creative! Enjoy!

Spiced Fig Butter

With the summer fig season just behind us, my sister was looking for some way to use up the  rapidly ripening fruit from her tree.  She found a wonderful crock-pot recipe for spiced fig butter, jarred it up, and gave it to family and friends. It's so delicious! 
Here is that recipe, which I have adapted for use with almost any of our specialty sugars as well as with a variety of similarly textured fruits: apricots, plumbs, peaches, berries...pumpkin???, apples??? Give it a try!

What you will need:
2 lbs ripe, pealed fruit (if you're using figs - that's about 20)
2 C specialty sugar: Gingerbread, Spice Cake, and Signature Spiced all work very well.
1/4 C molasses

What you do:
So easy.  Just stir all of the ingredients into your slow cooker, cover, cook on low for 4 hours, let it cool to room temp, break up any chunks with an emersion blender (or zip it up in a food processor), and transfer it to sterilized jars. It will keep in the fridge for 3 months.
Because the spices in this recipe are reminiscent of the Fall, utilize it for gifts and treats when the holidays come around by freezing that ripe, seasonal fruit you don't want going to waste and thawing it out for use in November!

       

DIY Spiced Olives

I'm a freak for all things pickled. The relish tray is my favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner. I frequent the fancy olive bar at Whole Foods. I pick out all of the spicy carrots in the jalepenos at Mexican restaurants. I have a problem - but it's not one I can't solve! I learned it's actually pretty easy to pickle your own veggies and olives.  The only real problem is restraining your temptation to open them early before they have cured. 
Here is a recipe for home-made spiced olives, but you could substitute the olives for fresh, sliced cucumber, carrots, zucchini, peppers, sweet red onions, okra, those little baby corns...really almost anything. If you want to make less than a quart, just remember there are 4 cups in a quart and reduce the ingredients accordingly. Enjoy!

What you will need per 1 quart jar:
1 quart size canning jar
3-4 C olives (any kind)
1 1/2 C vinegar
2 C water
1 T kosher salt
1/4 C of your favorite Boutique Treats spice mix (They all work! Just go with what you like)

Optional: any combo of sliced onions, garlic cloves, serrano pepper, red bell pepper, etc.

Directions:
Rinse the brine or oil off your olives. Heat the water, vinegar, salt, and spices just to a simmer on the stove and stir to dissolve the salt. Add your olives/veg plus any optional ingredients to the jar. Pour the vinegar mixture over the olives. Make sure they are covered completely by the liquid and leave 1/4" of space at the top of the jar. Tightly screw on the lid.
Let them cool at room temperature and then put them in the refrigerator to season. (Unless you are an expert canner, these need to be kept in the fridge). Let them sit 2 weeks in the fridge before eating them. It's so hard to wait, but I believe in you!

NEW!!! Limited Edition Summer Seasoning - the rub

Just in time for summer grilling, we are happy to introduce "the rub". Sweet and sour, smoky and spicy - this all-purpose spice rub is great on steaks, ribs, fajitas, and as a marinade for all things grilled. Sprinkle straight on roasted veggies or mix in potato salad! Best go ahead and grab one - after the lazy days of summer are gone, so is the rub!

Banana Fig Bread with Gingerbread Sugar

I'm one of those people who counts the over-ripeness of a banana in terms of hours instead of days. One hour past perfectly prime and I'm not eating it.   So, needless to say, we end up with a lot of left-over bananas. I'm always looking for good banana recipes so they don't go to waste, and adapted this one to include figs and gingerbread sugar. It's delicious. I think the texture is a bit more cake-like, which I prefer, and the figs and spices from the sugar really make it special.

What you will need:
2 C All-Purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 C softened butter
3/4 C gingerbread sugar
1/2 C sliced, dried figs (or nuts if you prefer)
2 eggs
2 C (4 smallish) over-ripe bananas

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9X5" loaf pan.
In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients.
In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs and bananas util it is all blended. Now stir in the figs. Slowly add the flour mixture to the banana mixture until it is all well blended, scraping down the sides. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for 60-65 minutes. 

Now you have a delicious, potassium-paked breakfast or snack. My kids even like it with a scoop of ice cream on top for dessert! 

Tips and Tricks:

- Waiting for butter to soften is something my patience quota is not built for.  I also seriously hate non-stick cooking sprays because they seem to go everywhere but the pan.  Instead, I put my cold stick of butter in my loaf pan and put them both in the pre-heating oven for 5 minutes. Now I have softened butter AND a lightly greased pan. boom.

- Don't have quite enough bananas? Add any kind of lunch box fruit cup (without the juice) or 1/2 C of applesauce instead. It won't be a bad thing to have little bits of pineapple or cherry floating around in there.

- Don't like figs? Don't worry about it! Add nuts, dates, raisins, or CHOCOLATE CHIPS!

- Don't have Gingerbread Sugar? You could use any of our specialty sugars in its place, except Peppermint...that would be weird.

*To order Gingerbread Sugar, please leave a message at www.facebook.com/BoutiqueTreatsSugar.