Parisan Warm Chocolate

I made hot chocolate last night. It was amazing. It walked that line between drinking melted chocolate and drinking milk with chocolate flavoring beautifully. Yes, it might shorten your heart's lifespan by a few months, but it's totally worth it.

1 cup whole milk (starts off well...)
1/3 cup cream (getting even better...)
1/4 cup sugar
5 oz. semisweet chocolate

Simmer the milk, cream and sugar until just boiling (scalded). Stir in the chocolate until melted. Don't let it boil.

I made adjustments to it for my taste as follows:
*I didn't have whole milk, so I used a variety of 2%, half and half and cream to get the desired amount of dairy product... you can vary it if you're being health conscientious, but as the recipe said, "No need for spices or other flavors when you have real chocolate and cream."
*I also lessened the sugar by about one third. Jon thought it needed more; I thought it was perfect.
*For the chocolate, I used about half 60% cacao Ghirardelli chocolate chips and half semisweet chocolate chips. It gave it more of a dark chocolate flavor.
*I added extra milk to the mug as I served it to thin it out a bit.
It even tasted good reheated this morning for breakfast.

I know you people are baking. Now start posting...

Cranberry Mousse

We did the Thanksgiving spread pour deux this year, and Jon wanted to try a new dessert. I usually eat pumpkin pie in an obligatory holiday gesture (a carryover from my "squash should stay out of dessert" days), so I agreed. I didn't do anything for this but whip the cream that went on top, but it was pretty good. I'd serve it in small portions and sweeten the whipped cream quite a bit because this mousse is true to its tart, cranberry flavor.



1/2 lb. fresh cranberries, washed and picked over

1/2 cup sugar, divided

1/4 cup orange juice (about 1 orange)

1 T orange zest

2 T orange liqueur (we used Grand Marnier)

1/2 T unflavored gelatin (half an envelope)

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1 cup whipping cream

Whipped cream and cranberries for garnish

Put the cranberries in a small saucepan with 1/4 cup sugar, oj, zest and liqueur over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the cranberries break down -- about 15 minutes.

Remove from heat, sprinkle with gelatin, and allow gelatin to bloom. Transfer to a blender or food processor and process until smooth.

Force cranberries through a sieve, discarding solids. Cool, then refrigerate until it just begins to thicken.

In a bowl, whip the cream to soft peaks. Add the sugar and beat to stiff peaks. Gently fold in cranberry mixture. Spoon into small dishes and chill for 3 hours. Serve with more whipped cream and cranberries. (I had to get my chocolate in the dessert somehow, so I added mini chips.)

Leave the gun; take the cannoli

We had a murder mystery dinner on Saturday, speakeasy-style. You can't have a Chicago mobster dinner without cannolis, so I attempted to make them using a conglomeration of recipes I found online. The result was pretty tasty. Measurements weren't exact. The amount I used made about 10-12 cannolis.

16 oz. part-skim ricotta cheese
1 cup cream, whipped
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 -1 tsp. almond extract
mini chocolate chips
phyllo dough
4 T. melted butter
sugar
1 egg white, beaten

For the shells:
Thaw the phyllo and place one sheet on your working surface. Spread butter over the surface with a pastry brush then sprinkle lightly with sugar. Repeat with a second sheet. Cut the dough into about 4-inch strips.

If you don't have cannoli molds, using heavy duty aluminum foil, cut it into 6-inch strips and loosely roll, jelly-roll fashion, with a 1-inch opening. Pinch part of one end to keep it rolled up. Spray well with cooking spray.

Roll a strip of the dough around a mold and brush with egg whites. Place it, seam side down, on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Cook at 375 degrees for 12 minutes. Cool completely before removing the mold or filling.

For the filling:
Beat the ricotta with powdered sugar, vanilla and almond until smooth. Add half of the whipped cream and beat until mixed well. Fold in the other half of whipped cream and a handful of mini chips. Put the filling in a pastry bag or ziploc bag and cut the tip off. Fill the shells right before serving. Dust with cocoa and/or powdered sugar. (If you use the normal ricotta, most recipes said to drain it in cheese cloth for a few hours, but the part skim shouldn't require it.)

This wasn't much more time intensive than cookies, and it makes a fun alternative to the usual cookies/cakes dessert.

~L

Beef Stew with Winter Vegetables

Really? I'm posting a stew recipe? Yes, because it's really, really good... I think owing to the Balsamic vinegar and red wine. I adjust the veggie levels depending on how many I'm trying to feed.

2 lbs. stew meat
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 T butter
1 large onion, cut into 1/2" thick wedges
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup red wine (burgundy was awesome)
3 cups beef stock
1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar
1 bay leaf
1/2 -1 tsp sage
1 lb. butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1" pieces
1/2 lb. parsnips, peeled and cut into 1" pieces
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1" pieces
2-3 potatoes, peeled, and cut into 1" pieces
Cornstarch

Combine flour, salt and pepper in a plastic bag, and toss the meat to coat with mixture. Place the meat single layer in a wide saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook until browned on all sides, and transfer meat to the crockpot as pieces are cooked.

In same pan, melt the butter. Saute the onion and garlic until translucent. Add to the crockpot.

Deglaze the pan with red wine and bring to a simmer, scraping up all the browned bits from bottom of the saucepan. Pour into the crockpot. Add all of the other ingredients to the crockpot and cook on low 6-8 hours or high 4-5. I like a thicker stew, so I add cornstarch mixed with water during the last 30-45 minutes of cooking.

I always cook in a crockpot even though the recipe doesn't call for it, otherwise stew meat is always too chewy for me. It melts in your mouth if you cook it all day. If you want to do it on the stove, just simmer the meat and onions for 1 hour then add the veggies and cook until tender.
~L

Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana

I'm glad to see we are both back into this. I made this soup the other day and LOVED it. It's probably cheaper and easier just to go to Olive Garden, but the pot lasted awhile.

1 lb Italian sausage (I thought this was a bit much. I'd cut it down a link.)
2 large potatoes (Again a change: I'd do more), cut up
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 can bacon bits (REALLY? A CAN? That made me laugh really hard. I fried up some bacon until it was about 1/2 a cup, crumbled)
2 cloves minced garlic
2 cups kale (This was the first time I'd used kale. I didn't even know if it was animal, veg, or mineral. I had to ask.)
2 cans chicken broth
1 quart water
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Cook sausage in a 300 degree oven for 30 minutes. (Yeah, that didn't work. I cooked it as stated, and then ended up frying it to finalize the cooking.)
Drain sausage and cut into slices (I would say cut into SMALL chunks...smaller than you think)
Place onions, potatoes, broth, water, and garlic in pot, and cook on medium heat until potatoes are done.
Add sausage and bacon
Salt and pepper to taste
Simmer for 10 minutes
Turn heat to low and add kale and cream

Creamy Lowfat Pesto

Because I like pesto but hate paying for expensive nuts and because I had leftover ricotta cheese, I made this pesto. Add pasta, cooked chicken, a can of drained, diced tomatoes, and a can of great northern beans to make a fairly easy dinner. I think I'll use the leftover pesto on sandwiches, too.

4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
3 cups fresh basil leaves (no stems)
1 oz Parmesan cheese, grated (1/2 cup)
1/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1 shallot, minced (3 T)
2 T olive oil
salt and pepper

Toast the garlic in a small skillet over medium-heat, shaking the pan occasionally, until the color of the cloves deepens slightly, about 7 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool, then peel the cloves and chop.
Place basil in a bag and pound with a rolling pin until leaves are slightly bruised. (This deepens the basil flavor.)
Process the ingredients and ½ tsp salt until smooth, about 30 seconds, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed. Transfer to a small bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Thank you, ATK.
~L

Ricotta Cookies

2 1/2 cups cake flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
Measure together and set aside.

10 1/2 Tbs butter, softened
1 1/3 cups sugar
Cream together.

1 cup ricotta
1 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
Add to butter and mix well.

Add dry ingredients and mix.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

I've had this recipe for years and finally tried it. It's good, but you can't really taste the ricotta. It seems like it mainly affects the texture. You can do a bunch of variations on it, so I also tried the lemon poppy seed (add lemon zest and poppy seeds to dough), which was voted as the favorite, and chocolate marble (add a few tablespoons melted chocolate to half the dough). I iced the plain and lemon cookies with a cream cheese frosting, and put a chocolate glaze (melted chocolate with butter added) to the chocolate marble ones. Makes very soft and moist cookies.

The Winner?

Chocolate Chip Cookies
By Our Foods Teacher Lisa

2/3 C shortening
2/3 C butter
1 C sugar
1 C brown sugar
2 eggs
3 C flour
1 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
12 oz chocolate chips (I like mini)

Cream shortening, butter, sugars. Add eggs, mix. Add dry, mix. Then chips. Drop onto greased sheet. 350 for 8-10 minutes.

Chocolate Chip Cookies by Nat's friend

2 1/2 C flour
1 tsp soda

Mix, set aside

1 C butter
3/4 C brown sugar
1/4 C white sugar
2 eggs
cream, but not too much (That's what she wrote, go with it!)

Add 1 packet instant vanilla pudding powder mix (she didn't say, so I went with the small or half the big)
2 tsp vanilla

Mix a bit
Add dry stuff and chocolate chips (I have noticed that mini-chips are the best in these)

Bake 350 for at least 8 minutes, then watch carefully. She says to take them out when they barely start to turn brown, then leave on the cookie sheet another 4-6 minutes. I thought they were too flimsy (Not enough flour?), so I left them a little longer in the oven and less time on the sheet.

Cake Ball Goodness

God bless the woman who gave me this recipe. She made them for the nursery teachers as a thank you, and I dreamt about them for a week after I had snarfed down the last one. I seized the first opportunity I could to make them again when I helped throw a baby shower this week and made them as a party favor. They are a-ma-zing. It's less work than you'd think and good for any occasion, so without further ado, I give you cake balls:




1 package red velvet cake mix (Duncan Hines makes it)
1 can cream cheese frosting (I made it from scratch, needs to be 2 cups)
Chocolate bark

Make the cake in a 9x13" pan according to package. Cool it completely and crumble it into a bowl. You want the crumbles to be fairly small. Add the icing and mix it all together with a spoon.

Roll the cake into quarter-size balls and place on wax paper on a cookie sheet. I get about 60 balls, give or take a few, per cake mix. Refrigerate for several hours, or speed it up by placing it in the freezer.

Melt chocolate in a double boiler or microwave and use spoons to roll the chilled cake balls in the melted chocolate to cover completely. Place on wax paper and let chocolate harden. They can be stored in the fridge or at room temp in an airtight container. I prefer them cold. You can also dye white chocolate and drizzle it over the top for an added effect, though I didn't include a picture of that.

I originally used chocolate chips to dip the balls, but it was really thick and I didn't want to add too much butter because you want it to harden, so I bought chocolate bark at Krogers. You could definitely taste the difference in chocolate (Kroger chocolate bark isn't as good), but it coated easier. I don't think there's a right or wrong way.

~L

NY Black and

These were a hit at book club, for sure. They were very soft -- almost TOO soft to pick up off the tray and definitely too soft to layer on top of each other. I wonder if cooking them a smidge longer would help. Hard to frost, but I'm retarded. VERY tasty. Martha has a recipe for a mini-version that I'll post and we can compare, which, after all, is the purpose of this blog, right?

Martha's version:

1 1/4 c flour
1/2 baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
6 TBS butter, room temp
1/2 sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 c low-fat buttermilk (Do they make such a thing?)

Oven 350. Sift dry together. Mix butter until creamy, add sugar. Mix until fluffy. Mix in egg and vanilla. Mix in dry in 3 batches, alternating with buttermilk. Roll tablespoons of dough into balls, drop onto baking sheets lined with parchment. Bake until bottoms turn golden, about 10 minutes. She says to rotate sheets half-way through, but she's neurotic about this throughout the book.

Icing:
2 c powdered sugar
1 TBS plus 1 tsp light corn syrup
2 1/2 tsp lemon juice (think you could omit?)
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 TBS water, plus more if needed
1 TBS cocoa

Whisk powdered sugar, corn syrup, lemon juice, vanilla, and water in small bowl until smooth. Get it to a consistency slightly thicker than honey. Transfer half out. Stir coca into half; thin with water if needed. Frost white first?

The thing I liked about your recipe was the sour cream in the dough. We'll see if it matters...
1/4

Jack of Cakes

Someday, I'll work my way up to the ace of cakes, but for now I'm lucky if I make it in the face card region at all. I finally finished taking my last cake decorating class, and this was my final cake. The class was lame because all of the cakes they wanted you to make looked like something grandma would have done in the '80s (think pink handkerchiefs and Easter bonnets) so I came up with this one, which hopefully looks a bit more modern. There you have it – an example of my cake skills... or wannabe skills.

Melting Moments (non-Lauren style)

Ok, no pic, but I thought I'd put this down for the record. They tasted good but were a crumbly mess and very dry. I liked the addition of the oats. I wouldn't let them cool on the pan for more than a second because it seemed to cook them longer than necessary, and I like them as less-dry as I can get them. I like that she used the verb "to dredge" with the powdered sugar portion, but I'll tell you this -- dredging makes a mean mess of your kitchen. All in all, kind of a lame recipe.

Blueberry Crumble Bars

I'm not a big one for fruit desserts, but since I'm married to Jon, and as I went to pick fresh blueberries Thursday morning, I figured I should try these out. They are amazing. Highly recommended even for us chocolate folk.

Crust:

1 1/2 cups flour

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/14 tsp salt

11 T cold butter, cut into cubes

1 egg

1 tsp lemon zest

1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix flour, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Cut in butter until mixture is a course meal with a few pea-size pieces of butter. In a small bowl, whisk the egg, lemon zest and vanilla until blended. Add to flour mixture and stir until blended but still crumbly. Press into the bottom of a greased 9x13" pan.

Filling:

3/4 cup sugar

1 T cornstarch

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ginger

2 cups blueberries

In a medium bowl, compine everything but the blueberries. Add the berries and toss to coat well. Spread them evenly over the crust.

Topping:

1 cup flour

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

6 T butter, melted

In a medium bowl, stir the flour, sugars, cinnamon and salt until blended. Stir in the melted butter until the mixture comes together. Sprinkle evenly over the blueberry filling.

Bake bars for 48-50 mins. at 350 degrees or until the topping is lightly browned and the filling is bubbly. Cool completely. (Still good while warm, though.) Enjoy!

~L

First round: It isn't pretty.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

I hate to post if this isn't good, but here's the recipe. Let me know how it works out. It sounds yummy.

1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
14 oz. bittersweet chocolate, divided
2 T butter
2 eggs, at room temp (the baker swears this matters)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup chopped walnuts (ick)

Whisk flour and BP in a small bowl. Chop 6 oz of the chocolate into 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces.

Coursely chop remaining chocolate and place in double broiler with butter. Melt over barely simmering water, stirring occasionally. Remove the pan, and let it cool for 10 minutes.

In bowl, beat eggs, brown sugar and vanilla on high speed until doubled in volume (about 3 mins.) At low speed blend in chocolate. Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. With a wooden spoon, mix in chocolate chunks and walnuts (blech), dough will be thin. Cover with plastic wrap and refridgerate 1 hour.

She says to bake them 2 sheets at a time near the center of the oven. (I don't know whether this matters, but other recipes she bakes one sheet at a time.) Drop chilled dough 2 inches apart onto baking sheets with parchment or sprayed with cooking spray. Moisten your palm and flatten slightly. Bake 9-11 minutes at 350 degrees until they appear set, switching sheet positions halfway through baking. Don't overbake, or they will be dry. Cool for 10 mins on sheet, then switch to wire rack to cool.

Have fun!

Lion House Strawberry Shortcake

4 eggs
1 C sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 C flour
1/4 C cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

1 quart strawberries, mashed
1 C sugar
1 pint whipping cream, whipped and sweetened

Oven 350. Grease and flour 8-inch springform pan. Beat eggs until light and fluffy. Add sugar gradually, beating until thick. Add vanilla. Sift dry ingredients and fold gently into egg mixture. Pour into pan and bake 30 minutes. Cool and remove from pan. Split into three layers (I only got 2 out of it, which was plenty).

Mix mashed strawberries with sugar. Whip the cream and sweeten. Place the first layer of cake on a serving plate. Spread 1/3 of the strawberries on layer. Spread about 1/4 of the whipped cream on top of the berries. Repeat with second layer. Put cream on top, decorate with berries.

I mashed the berries, but it made it really watery, so I suggest chopping them kind of coarsely, and draining the juice so the cake doesn't get so soggy. This is one of those cakes you have to put together right before you serve it or at least have in the fridge until right before. It really tasted amazing -- worth the work.

Half Baked Goodness

You know how I love Ben & Jerry's Half Baked ice-cream, so why did I never think to try it in baked-good form? I don't have a satisfactory answer, but after finding this recipe during a recent blog-stalking spree, I decided to try it. Fan-didly-astic was the result.

It doesn't have a recipe per se, (the blog used Betty Crocker packages, which are nasty) so I just made my favorite brownie recipe and put it in the 9x9" pan, though a 9x13" would work just as well. I then made my favorite chocolate chip cookie dough recipe. Next, you drop cookie-sized balls of dough into the brownie batter and press them into it a bit. I baked it at the temp the brownies called for, though they ended up taking about 12 minutes longer than normal. Just use the toothpick test.

The picture shows them with a chocolate ganache topping, which I foregoed, but I'm sure it wouldn't hurt the brownies. Two words for you: To. Die. For.

~L