The weather was too nasty to travel, so we had Christmas on our own. I got let out of work early on Christmas eve, and we had a nice early cocktail hour – Jon made Corpse Revivers and we finished off the sweet potato and beet chips from our last dinner party, with dangerously addictive spinach dip from the co-op deli.
I’d been ogling recipes for salted butter caramels for a while, but it wasn’t until I found myself writing an article recently that I got around to actually making some. I was sorely tempted to make Alice Medrich’s honey caramels from Pure Dessert, but felt that I should really start with something basic, so I eventually found a recipe on Epicurious that seemed like a good guide.
Not being very experienced in candymaking, I was a little concerned over choosing just the right pot for the job. I ended up choosing my four-quart Le Creuset Dutch oven, which turned out to be perfect: any smaller and the caramel would have bubbled up and gotten all over the stove (and wouldn’t THAT be fun to clean up), any bigger and it would’ve been hard to work with. Continue reading
Food on the Brain 