Category Archives: Recipes

Frozen Peanut Butter Pie

28 Thursday Mar 2013

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“Frozen Peanut Butter Pie”
http://www.merrygourmet.com/2011/08/for-jennie-for-all-of-us-frozen-peanut-butter-pie/

Ingredients:
11 ounces chocolate sandwich cookies (such as Oreos), ground fine in a food processor
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup milk
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups whipping cream
4 ounces chocolate chips (semisweet, bittersweet, or dark chocolate), optional

Directions:
In a bowl, combine the cookie crumbs and melted butter. Press into the bottom and sides of a deep dish 9-inch pie plate. Chill.

In a heavy saucepan, dissolve sugar and milk over medium-high heat, stirring, and remove pan from heat once sugar is dissolved. Whisk in peanut butter and vanilla until well-blended. Cool in a bowl set in a larger bowl of ice water, stirring occasionally.

In another bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat cream until it just holds stiff peaks. Fold whipped cream into peanut butter mixture. Turn mixture into pie crust, smoothing the top.

For garnish (optional), melt chocolate chips using a double boiler: place chips in double boiler over a saucepan of simmering water so that the double boiler doesn’t touch the water. Stir until the chocolate is melted; place melted chocolate into a plastic baggie and cut a small piece of the tip off. Pipe into swirls or other designs on top of pie.

Freeze pie, uncovered, until frozen hard, about 5 hours. Pie can be made up to 2 days ahead and frozen, covered with plastic wrap and foil after 5 hours. Let pie stand in refrigerator for 30 minutes prior to serving.


Adapted from this recipe from Gourmet, May 1995.

Meyer Lemon Cake

28 Thursday Mar 2013

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“Meyer Lemon Cake”
http://www.foodgal.com/2013/01/a-load-of-lemons-part-i-meyer-lemon-cake/

Ingredients:
1 pound Meyer lemons, plus 1 tablespoon Meyer lemon juice and 10 thin Meyer lemon slices (or substitute regular lemons)
1 1/2 cups whole almonds
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 large eggs, separated
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 cup candied or crystallized ginger, finely diced
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions:
Put whole lemons in a large pot over high heat, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium and simmer until soft, about 30 minutes. Drain; transfer lemons to a bowl of ice water. Cut lemons into quarters when they have cooled and gently remove seeds, retaining as much juice as possible. Blend lemons in a food processor until they’re a smooth, thick puree

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pulse almonds in a food processor until nuts resemble coarse cornmeal. Put in a large bowl and add flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine.

Butter and flour a 9-inch pan with a removable rim. Whisk together egg yolks and sugar in another large bowl until thick and pale yellow. Stir in lemon puree and almond extract. Add almond-flour mixture and stir to combine. Stir in candied ginger. Set aside.

Beat egg whites in another large bowl until they form firm peaks. Gently fold egg whites into lemon batter. Spread batter in prepared pan.


Bake until edge of cake begins to pull away from side of pan, about 1 hour. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely.

Combine powdered sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl. Spread glaze over cake. Garnish with lemon slices.

Per Serving: 333 calories, 36 percent (119 cal.) from fat, 8.3 g protein, 13 g fat (1.9 g sat.), 51 g carbo (4.7 g fiber), 209 mg sodium, 106 mg chol.

From “The Sunset Essential Western Cookbook”

Blueberry Lemon Buttermilk Bundt

28 Thursday Mar 2013

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“Blueberry Lemon Buttermilk Bundt” 
http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2012/07/03/blueberry-lemon-buttermilk-bundt-cake/

Ingredients:
For the Cake:
2½ cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1¾ cup granulated sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 eggs, at room temperature
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup buttermilk
3 cups blueberries

For the Glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, very soft

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (reduce temperature to 325 degrees F if your pan is dark/non-stick). Grease and flour a 10-cup Bundt pan; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together 2½ cups of the all-purpose flour, the baking powder and salt; set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or large mixing bowl), use your fingertips to rub together the sugar and lemon zest until the zest is completely incorporated and the sugar is evenly moistened. Add the butter and cream together on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes.

4. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs one at a time, mixing for a minute after each and scraping down the bowl before adding the next. Add the vanilla and mix briefly to combine.

5. With the mixer still on low, add 1/3 of the flour mixture, beating until just barely combined, followed by ½ the buttermilk, another 1/3 of the flour mixture, the remaining buttermilk and the remaining flour.


6. In a large bowl, combine the blueberries and the remaining 2 tablespoon of all-purpose flour, tossing together so they are evenly coated. Use a rubber spatula to gently fold the blueberries into the cake batter. Spread the cake batter in the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool the cake on a wire rack for 30 minutes, then turn it out onto a serving platter and let cool completely.

7. Once the cake is cool, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk and butter until smooth. The icing should be quite thick (if you’d like it thinner, you can add more milk, a teaspoon at a time, until you get it to the consistency you want). Use an offset spatula to spread the glaze on top of the cake, giving it a little nudge down every so often. The cake can be stored, covered, at room temperature for up to 4 days.

(Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

Easy Key Lime Pie with Gingersnap Crust

28 Thursday Mar 2013

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“Easy Key Lime Pie with Gingersnap Crust” 
http://www.instructables.com/id/Easy-Key-Lime-Pie-with-Ginger-Snap-Crust/

Ingredients:
Crust
2-1/4 cup mixture of crushed gingersnap cookies and graham crackers
1 stick of unsalted butter (melted)

Filling:
1 (14-oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup Key lime juice
4 egg yolks
2 drops of green food coloring (optional)

Garnish:
1-2 limes (zest or small slice)
whipped cream

This is all the recipe said, LOL. So, I would mix the crushed gingersnaps with the melted butter and press into a pie plate. For the filling you mix all the ingredients until smooth. Refrigerate for several hours. Then garnish with whipped cream and lime slices, if desired.

If anyone is worried about the raw egg yolks, we’ve eaten them in lemon icebox pie that my grandmama use to make with never any problems. Just make sure you use fresh organic eggs.

Chocolate Cream Pie

28 Thursday Mar 2013

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“Chocolate Cream Pie” 
http://www.onceuponachef.com/2011/06/chocolate-cream-pie.html

Ingredients: For Crust
28 Nabisco FAMOUS Chocolate Wafers (or 1-1/2 cups finely crushed crumbs)*
1/3 cup sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

For Filling:
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large egg yolks
3 cups whole milk
5 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate, best quality such as Ghirardelli
2 ounces chopped unsweetened chocolate, best quality such as Ghirardelli
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For Topping:
3/4 cup chilled heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon sugar
1 ounce bittersweet chocolate, grated or shaved

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Make filling: Combine sugar, cornstarch and salt in a heavy medium saucepan. Whisk gently until combined. In a bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together milk and egg yolks. Add milk mixture to saucepan in a slow and steady stream, whisking until mixture is smooth. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture starts to bubble and thicken, about 6-8 minutes. Immediately turn heat down to a simmer and cook, whisking constantly, for one minute more until thick. (The constant stirring and low heat prevents the eggs from scrambling. Be sure to stand attentively at stove and keep scraping whisk against the bottom and edges of pan where mixture is more likely to overheat.) Off the heat, immediately whisk in chopped chocolate, butter and vanilla extract.** Transfer filling to a bowl. Press a piece of saran wrap directly over surface of filling to prevent film from forming and refrigerate until cool, 1-2 hours.


3. Make crust: Combine chocolate wafers, sugar and butter in bowl of food processor fitted with blade attachment and pulse until cookies are finely crushed. Press mixture firmly into 9-inch pie pan (spread it with your hands first, then use the back of a spoon or bottom of a measuring cup to press and even it out). Bake for 10 minutes until crisp. Set on rack to cool completely.

4. Once filling and crust are cooled, spoon filling into crust and spread evenly. Cover with saran wrap, pressing directly against surface of filling, and chill for at least 6 hours or up to one day.

5. Up to 3 hours before serving, make topping: Place heavy cream in chilled mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer, whip on medium-low speed until whisk or beaters begin to leave tracks in the cream. Add sugar and whip until the cream holds medium, silky peaks. Go slowly towards the end; if it gets grainy or curdled, you’ve gone too far. Spread whipped cream over pie, leaving some of the chocolate filling showing around the edges. Sprinkle with grated chocolate and refrigerate until ready to serve.

*Nabisco cookies available in the cookie aisle at most major supermarkets. Sometimes they can be hard to spot. At my local Giant, they’re on the top shelf near the Oreos.

*In a professional kitchen, you would push the filling through a fine mesh sieve to remove any tiny bits of scrambled eggs. As long as they’re minimal, this is not necessary at home.

Watermelon Pops

26 Thursday Apr 2012

Posted by in Family, Kids Lunches, Recipes

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I just had to share one of my newest ideas.  I did this at my daughters 4th birthday party.  It was a huge hit.  Because of that we have done it for our growth group as well.  It is just a cool way to hold and handle the watermelon.  The kids just love it.  It makes it so easy for them to eat it.  So give this a try this summer to have your watermelon pops!!!

Macaroni and Cheese…Yummy

28 Tuesday Feb 2012

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Ingredients

  • 4 cups Dried Macaroni
  • 1 whole Egg Beaten
  • ¼ cups (1/2 Stick Or 4 Tablespoons) Butter
  • ¼ cups All-purpose Flour
  • 2-½ cups Whole Milk
  • 2 teaspoons (heaping) Dry Mustard, More If Desired
  • 1 pound Cheese, Grated
  • ½ teaspoons Salt, More To Taste
  • ½ teaspoons Seasoned Salt, More To Taste
  • ½ teaspoons Ground Black Pepper
  • Optional Spices: Cayenne Pepper, Paprika, Thyme

Preparation Instructions

Cook macaroni until very firm. Macaroni should be too firm to eat right out of the pot. Drain.
In a small bowl, beat egg.
In a large pot, melt butter and sprinkle in flour. Whisk together over medium-low heat. Cook mixture for five minutes, whisking constantly. Don’t let it burn.
Pour in milk, add mustard, and whisk until smooth. Cook for five minutes until very thick. Reduce heat to low.
Take 1/4 cup of the sauce and slowly pour it into beaten egg, whisking constantly to avoid cooking eggs. Whisk together till smooth.
Pour egg mixture into sauce, whisking constantly. Stir until smooth.
Add in cheese and stir to melt.
Add salt and pepper. Taste sauce and add more salt and seasoned salt as needed! DO NOT UNDERSALT.
Pour in drained, cooked macaroni and stir to combine.
Serve immediately (very creamy) or pour into a buttered baking dish, top with extra cheese, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly and golden on top.

Tiramisu Recipe (My Original & Favorite)

28 Tuesday Feb 2012

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4 Eggs
1/2 cup sweet marsala wine
16 oz. mascapone cheese
12 ounces espresso
2 tbls cocoa powder
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 packages lady fingers (about 40)

I began by assembling four large egg yolks, 1/2 cup sweet marsala wine, 16 ounces mascarpone cheese, 12 ounces espresso, 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, 1 cup heavy cream, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, and enough lady fingers to layer a 12×8 inch pan twice (40). I stirred two tablespoons of granulated sugar into the espresso and put it in the refrigerator to chill.

In a heatproof bowl, I whisked the egg yolks until they became a light and fluffy cream.

Pour in the sugar and wine and whisked briefly until it was well blended.

Pour some water into a saucepan and set it over high heat until it began to boil. Lowering the heat to medium (enough to keep the water boiling), I placed the heatproof bowl over the water (a convenient double boiler) and stirred as the mixture began to thicken and smooth out. I stopped when the mixture began to slowly bubble.

Remove the mixture, which has now become a custard, from the heat and put it on the side. This custard by itself is a great Italian dessert called zabaglione (sabayon in French cooking) and can be served as is or made into a more complicated dessert by mixed with fruit, serving with cookies, or made into tiramisu (and many more possibilities).

While the zabaglione cools a bit, I whipped (with my stand mixer to save time) the heavy cream until soft peaks. Soft peaks is when the whipped cream can almost stand on its own. Dip your whisk or finger into the cream and see if the spike that forms when you withdraw just curls over at the tip. If so, you’ve got soft peaks. If it stands up by itself, you’ve over beaten and produced stiff peaks. If the peak just sinks back into the cream, you don’t have whipped cream yet. Keep beating.
Now, in a medium bowl, I beat the mascarpone cheese until smooth and creamy. I used alternated between beating with a whisk and mashing it with a spatula to make quick work of the cheese.
I poured the zabaglione onto the cheese and beat until smooth.
Then folded in the whipped cream. Folding prevent the whipped cream from continuing to progress on the path toward butter and separation (which is what happens when you over whip cream). To fold, simply use your spatula to cut into the mixture and scoop up mixture from below and “fold” it over the cream. Rotate and repeat. The final mixture should be have a fairly even distribution, but it’s okay to still see some patches of yellow and white.

Now, began to assemble the tiramisu. The recipe called for filling a 12×8 in. pan, but that’s not a readily available size. Quickly dipped each ladyfinger into espresso. Do each ladyfinger individually or you’ll have ladyfingers falling apart.

After the first layer of ladyfingers are done, I used a spatula to spread half the cream mixture over it. Then, I smoothed it out in preparation for the next layer.
Cover the cream layer with another layer of soaked ladyfingers.

The rest of the cream was spread onto the top and cocoa powder sifted over the surface to cover the tiramisu.
The tiramisu was now complete and would require a four hour chill in the refrigerator.

***Optional – You can shave chocolate over the top instead of cocoa powder.  Sometimes I use a mix of white and dark chocolate or a spicy chilly chocolate or lemon chocolate.  It is all up to you how you top it!!

Chicken Cacciatore

22 Thursday Dec 2011

Posted by in Dinner, Recipes

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Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, divided
  • 1 (3 1/2 to 4-pound) chicken, cut into pieces
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
  • 1 carrot, diced
  • 1 rib celery, diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 3 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 (28-ounce) can plum tomatoes
  • 1/3 cup dry red wine
  • 1/4 cup freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions

For the Chicken Cacciatore:

In a shallow bowl, combine the flour, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of the pepper. Rinse the chicken and pat it dry with paper towels. Working in batches, lightly coat the chicken with the flour mixture, shaking off any excess.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add some of the chicken to the pan. Cook until browned, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with the remaining chicken.
Add the onion to the pan and cook for 2 minutes. Add the carrot, celery, garlic, thyme, and bay leaf. Cook for 10 minutes.
Crush the tomatoes and stir them into the vegetables. Add the wine and the remaining salt and pepper and bring to a simmer. Add the chicken, reduce heat, and cover. Simmer for 45 minutes, turning the pieces occasionally. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Stir in the parsley and serve on individual plates.
This recipe was provided by professional chefs and has been scaled down from a bulk recipe provided by a restaurant. The FN chefs have not tested this recipe, in the proportions indicated, and therefore, we cannot make any representation as to the results.

Zeppole

22 Thursday Dec 2011

Posted by in Desert, Recipes

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Ingredients

  • 1 vanilla bean
  • 1/2 cup sugar, plus 3 tablespoons
  • 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 stick butter
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 4 eggs
  • Olive oil, for frying

Directions

Cut open the vanilla bean lengthwise. Using the back of a knife, scrape along the inside of the vanilla bean to collect the seeds. Scrape vanilla bean seeds into a small bowl. Add the 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon and stir to combine. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan combine the butter, salt, 3 tablespoons of sugar, and water over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Take pan off the heat and stir in the flour. Return pan to the heat and stir continuously until mixture forms a ball, about 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer the flour mixture to a medium bowl. Using an electric hand mixer on low speed, add eggs, 1 at a time, incorporating each egg completely before adding the next. Beat until smooth. If not frying immediately, cover with plastic wrap and reserve in the refrigerator.

Meanwhile, pour enough oil into a large frying pan to reach a depth of 2 inches. Heat the oil over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 375 degrees F.

Using a small ice-cream scooper or 2 small spoons, carefully drop about a tablespoon of the dough into the hot olive oil, frying in batches. Turn the zeppole once or twice, cooking until golden and puffed up, about 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Toss with cinnamon-sugar. Arrange on a platter and serve immediately.