Mexican Marshmallows

I've been in the kitchen a bit the past couple of days and as a result have a couple of recipes for y'all! Don't worry I have two separate recipes one for salsa and one for marshmallows! Unless you are completely disgusting daring and want to eat them together! ;)

Alright. First for the salsa. A week ago Monday, Megan brought some homemade salsa to TFC for our snack. It was de.li.cious! Immediately I asked for the recipe, and Chris agreed this was necessary. It is uber simple, uber delicious, and uber customizable--trifecta!

Here's the original recipe with my adaptations:
"Fresh" salsa
Combine the following ingredients in a large bowl:
     1 can whole kernel corn
     1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
     1 can black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
     1 pepper [red, green, whateve], diced
     1 red onion, diced [I only used 1/2 an large onion.]
     1 tomato, diced [I used 2 cans of diced tomatoes, drained.]
     1 c. cilatro [I used maybe 1/4 c. because cilatro makes me gag leaves a funny taste in the back of my mouth.]

Mix the following ingredients in a separate bowl and then add to large bowl:
     1 Tablespoon sugar
     1 pkg. Good Seasons Italian dressing, prepared OR 3 Teaspoons Italian Seasoning, 3 Tablespoons Vinegar, and 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
     2 teaspoons chili powder

Feel free to adjust ingredients to your preferences.

Colorful = Ah.mazing.

 Enjoy! It's best if you put it in the fridge for a bit to let the flavors marinate but totally not necessary if you can't hold yourself back! It makes a pretty large portion unless your name is Chris or Rachel, then it only makes a 2-person portion! ;)

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Marshmallows
Switching gears, awhile ago I came across a recipe for marshmallows. I'm not sure if it was on Pinterest or from blog hopping, but nevertheless, it perked my interest. Marshmallows are one of those things that if I really thought about it of course I knew there had to be a homemade method, but I guess I really never thought about it. [Very similar to when I put together that pumpkin pies were made from the same thing as jack o'lanterns. Don't judge. That revolution was in late high school...at least.]

We had all the ingredients on hand except geletin and I kept forgetting to get that at the grocery, so finally this weekend I remembered and took my hand at making marshmallows. The recipe I found uses beer so they have a bit of a malty-taste, but even non-beer drinkers aka me won't be turned off by that ingredient as it's not a strong flavor! I wasn't sure what I was going to do with the mallows, so I followed the suggestion of the recipe I followed and ended up dipping them in chocolate and putting some crushed pretzles atop. Again, don't judge, just try! :)

So without further ado, here's the recipe for Chocolate Covered Beer Marshmallows.

Beer Marshmallows
makes one 9 x 13 pan of marshmallows

2 tablespoons + 2 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin or 3 1/2 packets of Knox
1 cup cold, flat* beer, divided in two
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites [Make sure you have these before you start or your husband will have to run to the store and be your Mallow Hero! Not that that is from experience. :S]
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups dark chocolate morsels
2 cups milk chocolate morsels
pretzels, crushed

*Note: To flatten the beer, you can take the cap off the bottle and leave open overnight. Or if you don't want to plan ahead you can do what I did and pour beer into a bowl and use a whisk to remove some carbonation.*

Generously spray a 9 x 13 baking pan with non-stick cooking spray and sprinkle on powdered sugar to cover and coat. Set aside. In the bowl of your electric mixer with a whisk attachment, pour 1/2 cup cold beer and 3 1/2 packs of gelatin. Gently mixed with a spoon once, then let sit while you make the sugar mixture.

In a large-ish pot [I know that's real specific, but the original recipe called for a medium pot and that wasn't big enough for me and I had to switch over mid-recipe] combine sugar, remaining beer, syrup and salt. Heat over low heat and whisk until sugar is dissolved, about 3-5 minutes. Turn heat up to medium and let sugar come to a boil. Note: It will bubble up even though you used flat beer so keep your eyes on it or it'll overflow! Let it boil for 8-12 minutes, until it reaches 240 degrees (use a candy thermometer). The mixture may appear to be a lightish brown color depending on the beer you use, but your mallows will still be white.

Once mixture is at 240 degrees F, turn off heat and gently pour it in the mixing bowl with  the gelatin with the mixer on low speed. Once all of the sugar has been added, turn the mixer to high and beat for for 6-8 minutes. It will grow in size and be white and fluffy.

About 3-4 minutes in, add the egg whites to a separate bowl and beat until stiff peaks form. It's easiest if you have a hand mixer to use for this or else you'll have to take off the mallow-covered whisk, clean it or put on another one and then switch out your mixing bowl. It'd be sticky, messy to say the least. Once stiff peaks are formed, add egg whites and vanilla extract to the sugar/gelatin mixture and beat until just combined.

It's always important to taste test.
Don't worry the blue spatula didn't make another appearance
with the mallows once it touched out lips!
My momma taught me right!

Pour marshmallow mix into the 9 x 13 pan. Possibly an impossibly sticky task. :) Get as much as you can from the bowl and then spray a spatula with non-stick spray and smooth, if necessary. Dust powdered sugar on top and let sit to firm up for 3-5 hours.

Once firm, you may be able to turn the pan upside down on a cutting board to release marshmallow rectangle. I wasn't quite able to do such so I cut the mallows in the pan and then removed them in "strips" to remove much more easily. Cut them into pieces of whatever size you like.

Melt chocolate chips in microwave [or however you prefer] and in a separate bowl put crushed pretzels. Using a fork, toothpick or corncob poker holders :), coat marshmallows in chocolate then sprinkle with or roll in pretzel crumbs. Let sit at room temperature until chocolate hardens.

Enjoy! Marshmallows can be stored in an airtight container for 1-2 weeks.

[Recipe Taken from How Sweet It Is here.]

Have you tried any new recipes worth sharing lately?!

P.S. Now that I retyped this recipe, I realized that I used too much beer. 1 cup does not equal 12 ounces. Duh, math teacher! They still turned out well but now thinking about it it makes sense why they weren't as firm as I thought they should be! Guess I'll just have to make 'em again!