Dark Chocolate Ice Cream
As I have written before, I'm sort of addicted to my ice cream machine. I really think at least half the fascination is that it literally makes ICE CREAM in about a half hour. I personally can't think of a better way to spend a half hour! =] Anyway, this was my first actual ice cream (everything else I've made has been a sorbet, which is must less labor intensive). Dark Chocolate ice cream is another recipe that is simple....but what I've had to realize is that simple is not necessarily synonymous with easy. So, that said, let's talk about some of the more difficult aspects of dark chocolate ice cream:
1. First, when cooking any type of milk or cream, don't turn away from it FOR A SECOND! Not to sneeze, not to flip your hair out of your face, not even if the kitchen drapes catch fire! If you do, the milk/cream will burn to the bottom of your favorite pan faster than you can say "ice cream."
2. When pouring ridiculously hot milk/cream mixtures from pots into bowls, etc., do so far away from still hot burners. Or be prepared to clean your stove of sticky, burned-on ice cream base, which will not clean off easily.
3. When chopping bars of chocolate, be sure to stick your hands in the freezer first, otherwise, you will melt said chocolate with the heat of your hands...and then, again if you're me, you'll accidentally wipe the side of your face and leave a streak of chocolate that your husband will make fun of later.
All that being said, this stuff is good, very good. And this is coming from someone who was a strict milk chocolate-eater (I've always considered dark chocolate just a bit to bitter for my taste). But somehow in ice cream,the bitterness is softened, and dark chocolate cuts through some of the over-sweetness that characterizes ice cream. Overall, I give this recipe two thumbs up and can't wait to make more.
Ingredients:
2 ¼ cups whole milk
2 ¼ cups heavy cream
1 vanilla bean
1 1/8 cups granulated sugar
1 1/8 cups Dutch process cocoa
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
12 oz. Bittersweet chocolate, chopped (preferred: Ghirardelli’s)
Directions:
In a large saucepan, combine the whole milk and heavy cream over medium-low heat. With a sharp knife, split the vanilla bean lengthwise; use the blunt edge of the knife to scrape out the "seeds" of the vanilla bean.
Stir the seeds and bean pod into the milk/cream mixture. Simmer the milk/cream mixture over low heat for 30 minutes. Remove the vanilla bean pod and discard it or rinse and reserve for another use.
Combine the sugar, cocoa, eggs, and egg yolks in a medium bowl; using a hand mixer on medium speed, beat until thickened like mayonnaise.
Measure out 1 cup of the hot milk/cream mixture. With the mixer on low speed, add the cup of hot milk/cream to the cocoa mixture in a slow, steady stream and mix until completely incorporated. Stir the chopped chocolate into the saucepan with the hot milk/cream. Stir the egg mixture into the hot milk/cream. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and begins to resemble a chocolate pudding. Transfer the chocolate mixture to a bowl and stir in vanilla. Cover with plastic wrap placed directly on the surface of the chocolate mixture, and refrigerate until completely cooled.
Pour the chilled custard into the freezer bowl, turn the machine on and let mix until thickened, about 25 to 30 minutes. The ice cream will have a soft, creamy texture. If a firmer consistency is desired, transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and place in freezer for about 2 hours. Remove from freezer about 15 minutes before serving.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
My New Friend Herb
Last night I went on an all-out cooking blitz. I got home from the grocery store (one of my favorite field trips) around 4:30, changed out of my school clothes (sad experience has taught me not to try new recipes in nice clothes), rolled up my sleeves and began our meal. Now, in previous blogs I've stated that I don't really like blogging about things that I just "throw together" for dinner. While they are delicious and fairly healthy (for the most part), I don't know that I'd always called them "blog-worthy." Last night, however, I outdid myself (if I do say so myself), and feel I must tell you about it.
I made chicken scarpariello and herbed potatoes for dinner and we had dark chocolate homemade ice cream for dessert (the dark chocolate ice cream will be the subject of my next blog...stay tuned!). Anyway, the recipe for chicken scarpariello comes from my mother-in-law, who found it at allrecipes.com. If you aren't on this website, you should be. I love it. You can maintain an online recipe box, post your own recipes, comment on ones you've tried, all sorts of things. It's great for days when I decide what to make for dinner while at school and then am faced with the choice of winging it at the grocery store, or driving home for the recipe, then back to the store, then back home. Several rather...interesting meals later, I posted/filed a bunch of stuff on allrecipes.com and now can just look things up before heading to the store. Excellent!
Anyway, not only is chicken scarpariello super yummy, it's also very simple to make in large or small quantities.
Ingredients:
1/2 pound chicken breast meat, cut into 1x3 inch pieces
Flour, for dredging
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons minced garlic (2-3 cloves -- I like it extra garlicky!)
2 Tablespoons minced shallots
1/2 cup white wine (I used a chablis)
1 cup hot water
1 chicken bullion cube
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
Salt and pepper
Directions:
Put olive oil and butter in a 10-inch skillet (I use one with high sides for less-messy stirring).
While the oil and butter heat up/melt, cut the chicken into pieces. Dredge the chicken in flour right before laying carefully in the skillet (this is usually when I get burned with little oil pops -- evil MUFA). Brown the chicken on all sides and lay on a paper towel-covered plate to drain. While the chicken is browning, fill a measuring cup with 1 cup of hot water and add the bullion cube so it can dissolve. After browning the chicken, turn the heat down on the skillet and add the shallots. Cook until shallots are softened and translucent. Add the garlic a few minutes before the shallots are done to avoid burning the garlic. After sauteing the shallots and garlic, add the white wine to deglaze the pan. Next, pour in the chicken bullion/water and add salt and pepper to taste (I add about 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon salt and lots of pepper (probably about a teaspoon -- I like it spicy!). Standing over the skillet, rub the dried rosemary vigorously in your hands to "crush" and release it's aroma as it drops into the sauce. Stir and bring sauce to a simmer. Re-add the chicken to the sauce and simmer until sauce is thickened and reduced by half.
This can be served over pasta or brown rice, but I made it with mini herbed potatoes. I found the recipe for the potatoes on foodnetwork.com. It's one of Ina Garten's recipes (she's one of my favorites -- I LOVE her kitchen!!). This was also the first time I had invested in fresh herbs. I was a little apprehensive -- would it really be as easy as it looks on TV?? YES! It was! And the difference in taste was unbelievable!!! I have been busily making plans ever since to have an herb garden on my back patio this spring/summer. I would dearly love to grow my own rosemary, thyme, dill, parsley, and chives -- to name a few. I would love to know if I could also grow oregano -- how great would that be on homemade pizza?!?!? More on the possibility of an herb garden later, however. For now, back to the herbed potatoes.
As I mentioned above, I stopped at the grocery store on my way home. I knew that I would be making chicken scarpariello, and was planning to serve it over angel hair pasta, as I have in the past. But I'm really trying to be better about eating more veggies, so I browsed through the produce section to see if something caught my eye. And while I know that potatoes aren't the all-time healthiest veggies...these mini potatoes looked too good to pass up. Imagine a bin filled with little Easter egg-sized Yukon Gold potatoes. They were adorable and practically screaming, "Choose me!" What's a girl to do? So I grabbed a bunch of them, already thinking of herbed potatoes. And since I was buying herbs I wanted to be able to make at least one other batch of the potatoes to "use up" the rest of my herbs. Then the fun began: choosing my herbs. First I grabbed a big bunch of Italian flat leaf parsley. From what Ina Garten writes, that's a classic combination with potatoes. Then, I headed down to the rest of the herbs...for some reason, in my grocery store, parsley is in with the lettuces instead of with the rest of the herbs...weird. Anyway, for my other two herbs, I choose rosemary (I use the dried kind when we grill potatoes for barbeques) and thyme. Ina recommends chives as more traditional than thyme in herbed potatoes, but since I already had an oniony thing going on with the shallots in the chicken sauce, I didn't want to double up. Here's the recipe I used for *my* herbed potatoes. For the record, my husband, who is possibly the world's harshest food critic, and picky besides, said these were "really good." And believe me, that's high praise indeed. =]
Herbed Potatoes:
Ingredients:
1/2 lb. of potatoes
1/4 - 1/2stick of butter (it depends on how healthy you want to be...or how bad) =]
Finely chopped herbs (parsley, rosemary, thyme)
Directions:
Scrub the spuds carefully (and slice in half if needed) and then place in a deep saucepan or stock pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes. Dump into a colander and cover with a clean kitchen towel to "steam" the potatoes. In the meantime, melt the butter in the pot you just used. Return potatoes to the pot and allow them to begin to brown, stirring and turning often. While the spuds are browning, chop the herbs to your heart's content (chopping is another favorite cooking technique of mine -- especially mincing -- with my biggest chef's knife, of course). Add the herbs when the spuds are almost done browning. Savor the aroma!
Serving:
I put a few of the potatoes on a big white plate (very appetizing -- I actually ate one before I finished serving dinner) and then added the chicken. I finished the plate by scooping the scarpariello sauce over everything. It was steaming hot and delicious. Great meal to eat while watching the NCAA Tourney games.
I made chicken scarpariello and herbed potatoes for dinner and we had dark chocolate homemade ice cream for dessert (the dark chocolate ice cream will be the subject of my next blog...stay tuned!). Anyway, the recipe for chicken scarpariello comes from my mother-in-law, who found it at allrecipes.com. If you aren't on this website, you should be. I love it. You can maintain an online recipe box, post your own recipes, comment on ones you've tried, all sorts of things. It's great for days when I decide what to make for dinner while at school and then am faced with the choice of winging it at the grocery store, or driving home for the recipe, then back to the store, then back home. Several rather...interesting meals later, I posted/filed a bunch of stuff on allrecipes.com and now can just look things up before heading to the store. Excellent!
Anyway, not only is chicken scarpariello super yummy, it's also very simple to make in large or small quantities.
Ingredients:
1/2 pound chicken breast meat, cut into 1x3 inch pieces
Flour, for dredging
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons minced garlic (2-3 cloves -- I like it extra garlicky!)
2 Tablespoons minced shallots
1/2 cup white wine (I used a chablis)
1 cup hot water
1 chicken bullion cube
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
Salt and pepper
Directions:
Put olive oil and butter in a 10-inch skillet (I use one with high sides for less-messy stirring).
While the oil and butter heat up/melt, cut the chicken into pieces. Dredge the chicken in flour right before laying carefully in the skillet (this is usually when I get burned with little oil pops -- evil MUFA). Brown the chicken on all sides and lay on a paper towel-covered plate to drain. While the chicken is browning, fill a measuring cup with 1 cup of hot water and add the bullion cube so it can dissolve. After browning the chicken, turn the heat down on the skillet and add the shallots. Cook until shallots are softened and translucent. Add the garlic a few minutes before the shallots are done to avoid burning the garlic. After sauteing the shallots and garlic, add the white wine to deglaze the pan. Next, pour in the chicken bullion/water and add salt and pepper to taste (I add about 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon salt and lots of pepper (probably about a teaspoon -- I like it spicy!). Standing over the skillet, rub the dried rosemary vigorously in your hands to "crush" and release it's aroma as it drops into the sauce. Stir and bring sauce to a simmer. Re-add the chicken to the sauce and simmer until sauce is thickened and reduced by half.
This can be served over pasta or brown rice, but I made it with mini herbed potatoes. I found the recipe for the potatoes on foodnetwork.com. It's one of Ina Garten's recipes (she's one of my favorites -- I LOVE her kitchen!!). This was also the first time I had invested in fresh herbs. I was a little apprehensive -- would it really be as easy as it looks on TV?? YES! It was! And the difference in taste was unbelievable!!! I have been busily making plans ever since to have an herb garden on my back patio this spring/summer. I would dearly love to grow my own rosemary, thyme, dill, parsley, and chives -- to name a few. I would love to know if I could also grow oregano -- how great would that be on homemade pizza?!?!? More on the possibility of an herb garden later, however. For now, back to the herbed potatoes.
As I mentioned above, I stopped at the grocery store on my way home. I knew that I would be making chicken scarpariello, and was planning to serve it over angel hair pasta, as I have in the past. But I'm really trying to be better about eating more veggies, so I browsed through the produce section to see if something caught my eye. And while I know that potatoes aren't the all-time healthiest veggies...these mini potatoes looked too good to pass up. Imagine a bin filled with little Easter egg-sized Yukon Gold potatoes. They were adorable and practically screaming, "Choose me!" What's a girl to do? So I grabbed a bunch of them, already thinking of herbed potatoes. And since I was buying herbs I wanted to be able to make at least one other batch of the potatoes to "use up" the rest of my herbs. Then the fun began: choosing my herbs. First I grabbed a big bunch of Italian flat leaf parsley. From what Ina Garten writes, that's a classic combination with potatoes. Then, I headed down to the rest of the herbs...for some reason, in my grocery store, parsley is in with the lettuces instead of with the rest of the herbs...weird. Anyway, for my other two herbs, I choose rosemary (I use the dried kind when we grill potatoes for barbeques) and thyme. Ina recommends chives as more traditional than thyme in herbed potatoes, but since I already had an oniony thing going on with the shallots in the chicken sauce, I didn't want to double up. Here's the recipe I used for *my* herbed potatoes. For the record, my husband, who is possibly the world's harshest food critic, and picky besides, said these were "really good." And believe me, that's high praise indeed. =]
Herbed Potatoes:
Ingredients:
1/2 lb. of potatoes
1/4 - 1/2stick of butter (it depends on how healthy you want to be...or how bad) =]
Finely chopped herbs (parsley, rosemary, thyme)
Directions:
Scrub the spuds carefully (and slice in half if needed) and then place in a deep saucepan or stock pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes. Dump into a colander and cover with a clean kitchen towel to "steam" the potatoes. In the meantime, melt the butter in the pot you just used. Return potatoes to the pot and allow them to begin to brown, stirring and turning often. While the spuds are browning, chop the herbs to your heart's content (chopping is another favorite cooking technique of mine -- especially mincing -- with my biggest chef's knife, of course). Add the herbs when the spuds are almost done browning. Savor the aroma!
Serving:
I put a few of the potatoes on a big white plate (very appetizing -- I actually ate one before I finished serving dinner) and then added the chicken. I finished the plate by scooping the scarpariello sauce over everything. It was steaming hot and delicious. Great meal to eat while watching the NCAA Tourney games.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Oh, Sweet Addiction...
So, based on most 12-step program models I've ever heard of, the first step is admitting you have a problem. So noted.........and I don't care (which is not step 2 of any 12-step program I could find, so maybe I'll have to start my own).
"Why this confession?" you might ask with interest? "To what substance are you slavishly devoted?" you might wonder with concern. I'll be happy to tell you. Because I'm not stopping. No, if anything, I'm increasing my use.
That's right -- my new obsession is........(wait for it)........homemade ice cream. It could very well be the most addictive drug known to mankind, or at the very least, the most delicious.
In all seriousness now, I must start at the beginning:
I received an ice cream machine for Christmas (I actually returned an immersion blender to get the ice cream machine...no doubt one of the best decisions of my life). Until now, I haven't had a chance to use it. But I had been keeping busy scouring the internet for interesting ice cream recipes. I even went so far as to buy a book on the subject (Ice Cream and Frozen Desserts by Peggy Fallon). But on Monday, I came home and actually made a frozen dessert.
To be on the safe side, I started small and attempted one of Cuisinart's recipes: fresh lemon sorbet. Although it was one of the simpler recipes in the Cuisinart booklet, it seemed pretty complicated, but since it was my first experience with the machine, I figured that I would just learn as I go and that things would get easier with time. Which has proven to be true. Since Monday (and currently it's THURSDAY), I have made another ice cream and prepared the ingredients for a third (if only I had several of those freezer bowls I could make ice cream at a nearly constant rate!). But for today's post, I will limit myself to the fresh lemon sorbet, which is delicious and extrememly tart (it makes my lips smack when I eat a scoop -- that's how tart it is). I do, however, have one improvement that I will make in future batches: no more lemon zest! The instructions called for finely chopped lemon zest. Now, as far as cooking techniques go, I'm kind of a fool for anything that requires me to zest. I don't know why I think it's so fun, but I do. Now, normally I zest with a microplane (which I would argue is the way God intended us to zest our citrus). But this time the recipe called for the zest to be removed in strips and then chopped. Well, I figured I should be open to trying new zesting techniques, so I dutifully retrieved my vegetable peeler and carefully removed only the yellow part of the lemon skin (the white pith beneath is very bitter). That was actually great: quick, easily done, and already the kitchen smelled like lemon (one of my favorite kitchen smells -- I also love the Kitchen Lemon antibacterial soap from Bath and Body Works -- similar smell). Anyway, once I had the zest of all the lemons, I stood pondering how to finely chop it. I supposed that I could hand chop it vigorously until an appropriately fine zest was achieved. But it was a Monday night, I had tests to grade, and, let's face it, I'm not the world's most patient person...so I whipped out my handy dandy food processor, roughly chopped the lemon zest, threw it in, and pulsed to my little heart's content. Here's the thing: the pieces came out in a variety of different sizes. Some were what I would call fine, but others were downright coarse. Next time, I will either have to "man-up" and just put some elbow grease into using my microplane, or I will simply leave out the zest component of the recipe. Either way would probably be an improvement. Although the sorbet is delicious, after you swallow a cold, fresh, tart bite of sorbet, you then get to chew on...chunks of lemon peel. Bleh.
Anyway, here's the recipe as printed by the Cuisinart people:
Fresh Lemon Sorbet
Preparation: 10 minutes + cooling time, 25-30 minutes chilling time; optional 2 hours to "ripen" in the freezer.
Makes 8 half-cup servings.
Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
1 1/2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice (7-8 lemons for me)
1 tablespoon finely chopped (minced) lemon zest
Directions:
1. Combine the sugar and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
2. Reduce the heat to low and simmer wihtout stirring until the sugar has completely dissolved, about 3-5 minutes. Cool completely. This is called a simple syrup, and may be made ahead in larger quantities to have on hand for making this and other frozen desserts. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.
3. When cool, add the lemon juice and zest; stir to combine.
4. Pour the lemon mixture into the ice cream machine's freezer bowl and mix until thickened, about 25-30 minutes.
Nutritional Information:
Calories: 204 (0% from fat)
Carbs.: 52 grams
Protein: 19 grams
Fat: 0 grams
Saturated Fat: 0 grams
Cholesterol: 0 milligrams
Sodium: 2 milligrams
As I mentioned above, I have made several desserts with my ice cream machine. Stay tuned for even more deliciousness! =]
"Why this confession?" you might ask with interest? "To what substance are you slavishly devoted?" you might wonder with concern. I'll be happy to tell you. Because I'm not stopping. No, if anything, I'm increasing my use.
That's right -- my new obsession is........(wait for it)........homemade ice cream. It could very well be the most addictive drug known to mankind, or at the very least, the most delicious.
In all seriousness now, I must start at the beginning:
I received an ice cream machine for Christmas (I actually returned an immersion blender to get the ice cream machine...no doubt one of the best decisions of my life). Until now, I haven't had a chance to use it. But I had been keeping busy scouring the internet for interesting ice cream recipes. I even went so far as to buy a book on the subject (Ice Cream and Frozen Desserts by Peggy Fallon). But on Monday, I came home and actually made a frozen dessert.
To be on the safe side, I started small and attempted one of Cuisinart's recipes: fresh lemon sorbet. Although it was one of the simpler recipes in the Cuisinart booklet, it seemed pretty complicated, but since it was my first experience with the machine, I figured that I would just learn as I go and that things would get easier with time. Which has proven to be true. Since Monday (and currently it's THURSDAY), I have made another ice cream and prepared the ingredients for a third (if only I had several of those freezer bowls I could make ice cream at a nearly constant rate!). But for today's post, I will limit myself to the fresh lemon sorbet, which is delicious and extrememly tart (it makes my lips smack when I eat a scoop -- that's how tart it is). I do, however, have one improvement that I will make in future batches: no more lemon zest! The instructions called for finely chopped lemon zest. Now, as far as cooking techniques go, I'm kind of a fool for anything that requires me to zest. I don't know why I think it's so fun, but I do. Now, normally I zest with a microplane (which I would argue is the way God intended us to zest our citrus). But this time the recipe called for the zest to be removed in strips and then chopped. Well, I figured I should be open to trying new zesting techniques, so I dutifully retrieved my vegetable peeler and carefully removed only the yellow part of the lemon skin (the white pith beneath is very bitter). That was actually great: quick, easily done, and already the kitchen smelled like lemon (one of my favorite kitchen smells -- I also love the Kitchen Lemon antibacterial soap from Bath and Body Works -- similar smell). Anyway, once I had the zest of all the lemons, I stood pondering how to finely chop it. I supposed that I could hand chop it vigorously until an appropriately fine zest was achieved. But it was a Monday night, I had tests to grade, and, let's face it, I'm not the world's most patient person...so I whipped out my handy dandy food processor, roughly chopped the lemon zest, threw it in, and pulsed to my little heart's content. Here's the thing: the pieces came out in a variety of different sizes. Some were what I would call fine, but others were downright coarse. Next time, I will either have to "man-up" and just put some elbow grease into using my microplane, or I will simply leave out the zest component of the recipe. Either way would probably be an improvement. Although the sorbet is delicious, after you swallow a cold, fresh, tart bite of sorbet, you then get to chew on...chunks of lemon peel. Bleh.
Anyway, here's the recipe as printed by the Cuisinart people:
Fresh Lemon Sorbet
Preparation: 10 minutes + cooling time, 25-30 minutes chilling time; optional 2 hours to "ripen" in the freezer.
Makes 8 half-cup servings.
Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
1 1/2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice (7-8 lemons for me)
1 tablespoon finely chopped (minced) lemon zest
Directions:
1. Combine the sugar and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
2. Reduce the heat to low and simmer wihtout stirring until the sugar has completely dissolved, about 3-5 minutes. Cool completely. This is called a simple syrup, and may be made ahead in larger quantities to have on hand for making this and other frozen desserts. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.
3. When cool, add the lemon juice and zest; stir to combine.
4. Pour the lemon mixture into the ice cream machine's freezer bowl and mix until thickened, about 25-30 minutes.
Nutritional Information:
Calories: 204 (0% from fat)
Carbs.: 52 grams
Protein: 19 grams
Fat: 0 grams
Saturated Fat: 0 grams
Cholesterol: 0 milligrams
Sodium: 2 milligrams
As I mentioned above, I have made several desserts with my ice cream machine. Stay tuned for even more deliciousness! =]
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Black-and-White Cheesecake Squares
Lately, with the weather behaving in a typically Midwestern, bipolar fashion, I have found myself getting grumpier and grumpier as I alternate from one day to the next from my winter coat to wearing sandles and skirts to school. While I will stipulate to the fact that the day is somehow brighter when I'm not waddling into school wearing all the clothes I can possibly get onto my body, I also hate the task of "testing" the weather every morning. Because I don't know about you, but I don't trust my friendly local weather forecaster. CBS has Kent Earhart, and boasts that "You can count on Kent." Like hell I can. Last night I was told the weather today would be in the mid-60s. Accordingly, I wore a springy skirt, but paired it with a slightly heavier cardigan just to be safe. Cut to me, halfway through the day, sweating bullets and feeling slightly pissy about meteorologists. And what a dumb name for the weather guy: meteorologist. That name would be appropriate if he perdicted when those meteors the size of Texas will hit the earth and cause massive global extinctions, dinosaur-style. But until then, let's get real: you're the weather guy. So stop with your fancy-schmancy charts and pseudo-scientific babble and just give me the darned 5-day forecast already so that I can go to sleep.
Hmmm...that was a little more hostile-sounding than I had first intended. However, after a moment of indecision, I've decided that I enjoy being hostile about the biploar Midwestern weather. It's just not normal to go from nearly 80 degress on Tuesday to a predicted 40 degrees on Wednesday. I mean, what the heck?? It's like we all did something so wrong that we're being punished on a cosmic scale. Bah Humbug!
So to cheer myself up, and as a treat for my loving husband, who has listened to my weather rants, I decided to try making a new dessert recipe (which I generally favor). Desserts are always *real* recipes, whereas I feel bad calling something I threw together for a dinner a "recipe."
Maybe I've never mentioned this before, but I'm a *huge* Martha Stewart fan. I mean, I realize that she's unethical and probably scary as hell in person, but darned if she can't do pretty much ANYTHING in terms of cooking, interior design, crafts, etc. In fact, perhaps the only thing she's ever really failed at is insider-trading. =] Anyway, since I'm married and no longer have access to my mother's subscription to Martha Stewart Living, I have had to procure my own (Note: procuring my own consisted of begging my Mom to get it for me every year as my birthday present.). Anyway, each month when I get my Martha, I sit down and read it from cover to cover. This month though, I have had the head cold to end all head colds. As a result, I found reading bothersome (that's a real problem when you're a self-proclaimed bookworm *and* and English teacher who teaches from novels every day and thus must read every day). Basically, every time I bent my head to read, my nose started running. Not pretty. You know, you can always tell if someone really loves you if they love you even when you're sick. I mean, not pretty sick, like you just have the sniffles and still look reasonably human, but really, disgustingly sick, and unable to speak properly, much less stay awake long enough to have a meaningful conversation. So once again, major props must go to my awesome hubby.
But I digress...anyway, what with the head cold, I didn't get around to finishing my Martha until a couple of days ago. One of my favorite parts in the whole magazine is the very last page. Every month, Martha publishes one recipe from her Cookies! cookbook. For those of you unfamiliar with this tome (that's English teacher for "book") it weighs about 5 pounds and costs around $40-45 at Borders...and as much as I love cookbooks, I can't see myself buying a book that expensive for myself. Especially since the only recipes in it are for cookies (I mean, I love cookies, who doesn't; but they're a treat, not something you eat constantly if you want to be able to fit through the doors). So anyway, these recipes published in the back of the magazine rock. I know they're just there to tease us into buying a gazillion dollar cookbook, but I can withstand the pressure...I think. =]
In the back of the April issue, Martha highlighted her black-and-white cheesecake squares. The pictures in the magazine looked divine. I couldn't wait to try them. So after school today I hustled home and prepared my ingredients. While the recipe was easy to prepare, it involved several separate steps, and multiple bakings. Frankly, this was waaaay too labor intensive for an after-school project. I would have been better off baking these on a Satruday afternoon when I have plenty of time to work. As it was, I felt I was rushing the steps. That being said, however, the recipe was very elementary, if messy, to make. In the recipe below, I make special note of the particularly messy parts.
Ingredients:
Vegetable cooking spray (I use Pam.)
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder* (See note below.)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 ounces (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Coat a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together into a large bowl. Cream butter and granulated sugar in a stand mixer until smooth. Add 2 eggs and 2 teaspoons of vanilla, and beat until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl at least once. Reduce the speed of the mixer to low and gradually add the flour mixture. Increase speed to medium (I only increased the speed one click on my Kitchenaid Artisan, but it's a little psycho, speed-wise) until incorporated.
3. Reserve 1 cup of the dough, cover, and refrigerate. *Messy Alert!* Press the remaining dough into the bottom of the prepared dish (I used the cooking spray on my hands and even had to reapply to finish patting down the dough -- this stuff re-defines sticky!). Refrigerate for 30 minutes (not sure what this accomplished, but I did it) and then bake for 25 minutes, or until the edges of the brownie layer are puffed and the base is set. Let cool before proceeding (which means go watch TV, take a nap, get a mani/pedi, because this part doesn't go by quickly).
4. Mix cream cheese, confectioner's sugar, the remaining egg, and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla in a medium bowl. *Messy Alert!* Since I had already used my stand mixer, and I'm not one of those people who buys an extra bowl for the stand mixer (where do you store it??), this part meant I had a choice of washing the mixer bowl by hand (not fun at all!) or busting out the hand mixer. So despite the additional dirty dishes (let's hope my dishwasher doesn't go on strike!), I ended up using both the stand and hand mixer (hey, that rhymes!). Anyway, spread the cheese mixture over the cooled base and crumble the remaining cup of brownie dough over the top of everything (also extremely messy -- if you've done it right, you'll look like you've been making mudpies...for 12 straight hours).
5. Bake again until the filling is set, 25-30 more minutes at 325. Let cool (again). Cut into squares and serve. Leftovers will keep in the refrigerator for about 3 days.
*Dutch-process cocoa powder is cocoa powder with alkalines added as a stabilizer, unlike natural unsweetened cocoa powders like those distributed by Hershee's, Ghiradelli's, etc. Dutch-process cocoa should be used in every recipe that also calls for baking soda as a leavening (rising) agent. Popular brands of Dutch-process cocoa powder include Lindt and Pernigotti, among others. I LOVE Pernigotti cocoa,but couldn't find any, so I took a chance and used Sacco, which combines Dutch-process cocoa with natural cocoa powder. Honestly, I couldn't tell a difference. Also, I went through my recipe file and found a bazillion recipes that call for natural unsweetened cocoa powder and also use baking soda. Hmmm...could this be a plot to force us to buy fancy-pants cocoa powders?? =]
**This recipe claims to make 24 bars. I'm not sure what Martha considers an appropriate size for these, but 24?? Considering my husband's considerable sweet tooth, I'll be lucky to get 12 out of the pan!
***Also, I thought the cheesecake layer in the magazine was much thicker than the cheesecake layer in reality. Next time I plan to double the cheesecake part of the recipe.
These are totally yummy -- fudgy and gooey, well worth the mess factor!
Hmmm...that was a little more hostile-sounding than I had first intended. However, after a moment of indecision, I've decided that I enjoy being hostile about the biploar Midwestern weather. It's just not normal to go from nearly 80 degress on Tuesday to a predicted 40 degrees on Wednesday. I mean, what the heck?? It's like we all did something so wrong that we're being punished on a cosmic scale. Bah Humbug!
So to cheer myself up, and as a treat for my loving husband, who has listened to my weather rants, I decided to try making a new dessert recipe (which I generally favor). Desserts are always *real* recipes, whereas I feel bad calling something I threw together for a dinner a "recipe."
Maybe I've never mentioned this before, but I'm a *huge* Martha Stewart fan. I mean, I realize that she's unethical and probably scary as hell in person, but darned if she can't do pretty much ANYTHING in terms of cooking, interior design, crafts, etc. In fact, perhaps the only thing she's ever really failed at is insider-trading. =] Anyway, since I'm married and no longer have access to my mother's subscription to Martha Stewart Living, I have had to procure my own (Note: procuring my own consisted of begging my Mom to get it for me every year as my birthday present.). Anyway, each month when I get my Martha, I sit down and read it from cover to cover. This month though, I have had the head cold to end all head colds. As a result, I found reading bothersome (that's a real problem when you're a self-proclaimed bookworm *and* and English teacher who teaches from novels every day and thus must read every day). Basically, every time I bent my head to read, my nose started running. Not pretty. You know, you can always tell if someone really loves you if they love you even when you're sick. I mean, not pretty sick, like you just have the sniffles and still look reasonably human, but really, disgustingly sick, and unable to speak properly, much less stay awake long enough to have a meaningful conversation. So once again, major props must go to my awesome hubby.
But I digress...anyway, what with the head cold, I didn't get around to finishing my Martha until a couple of days ago. One of my favorite parts in the whole magazine is the very last page. Every month, Martha publishes one recipe from her Cookies! cookbook. For those of you unfamiliar with this tome (that's English teacher for "book") it weighs about 5 pounds and costs around $40-45 at Borders...and as much as I love cookbooks, I can't see myself buying a book that expensive for myself. Especially since the only recipes in it are for cookies (I mean, I love cookies, who doesn't; but they're a treat, not something you eat constantly if you want to be able to fit through the doors). So anyway, these recipes published in the back of the magazine rock. I know they're just there to tease us into buying a gazillion dollar cookbook, but I can withstand the pressure...I think. =]
In the back of the April issue, Martha highlighted her black-and-white cheesecake squares. The pictures in the magazine looked divine. I couldn't wait to try them. So after school today I hustled home and prepared my ingredients. While the recipe was easy to prepare, it involved several separate steps, and multiple bakings. Frankly, this was waaaay too labor intensive for an after-school project. I would have been better off baking these on a Satruday afternoon when I have plenty of time to work. As it was, I felt I was rushing the steps. That being said, however, the recipe was very elementary, if messy, to make. In the recipe below, I make special note of the particularly messy parts.
Ingredients:
Vegetable cooking spray (I use Pam.)
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder* (See note below.)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 ounces (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Coat a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together into a large bowl. Cream butter and granulated sugar in a stand mixer until smooth. Add 2 eggs and 2 teaspoons of vanilla, and beat until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl at least once. Reduce the speed of the mixer to low and gradually add the flour mixture. Increase speed to medium (I only increased the speed one click on my Kitchenaid Artisan, but it's a little psycho, speed-wise) until incorporated.
3. Reserve 1 cup of the dough, cover, and refrigerate. *Messy Alert!* Press the remaining dough into the bottom of the prepared dish (I used the cooking spray on my hands and even had to reapply to finish patting down the dough -- this stuff re-defines sticky!). Refrigerate for 30 minutes (not sure what this accomplished, but I did it) and then bake for 25 minutes, or until the edges of the brownie layer are puffed and the base is set. Let cool before proceeding (which means go watch TV, take a nap, get a mani/pedi, because this part doesn't go by quickly).
4. Mix cream cheese, confectioner's sugar, the remaining egg, and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla in a medium bowl. *Messy Alert!* Since I had already used my stand mixer, and I'm not one of those people who buys an extra bowl for the stand mixer (where do you store it??), this part meant I had a choice of washing the mixer bowl by hand (not fun at all!) or busting out the hand mixer. So despite the additional dirty dishes (let's hope my dishwasher doesn't go on strike!), I ended up using both the stand and hand mixer (hey, that rhymes!). Anyway, spread the cheese mixture over the cooled base and crumble the remaining cup of brownie dough over the top of everything (also extremely messy -- if you've done it right, you'll look like you've been making mudpies...for 12 straight hours).
5. Bake again until the filling is set, 25-30 more minutes at 325. Let cool (again). Cut into squares and serve. Leftovers will keep in the refrigerator for about 3 days.
*Dutch-process cocoa powder is cocoa powder with alkalines added as a stabilizer, unlike natural unsweetened cocoa powders like those distributed by Hershee's, Ghiradelli's, etc. Dutch-process cocoa should be used in every recipe that also calls for baking soda as a leavening (rising) agent. Popular brands of Dutch-process cocoa powder include Lindt and Pernigotti, among others. I LOVE Pernigotti cocoa,but couldn't find any, so I took a chance and used Sacco, which combines Dutch-process cocoa with natural cocoa powder. Honestly, I couldn't tell a difference. Also, I went through my recipe file and found a bazillion recipes that call for natural unsweetened cocoa powder and also use baking soda. Hmmm...could this be a plot to force us to buy fancy-pants cocoa powders?? =]
**This recipe claims to make 24 bars. I'm not sure what Martha considers an appropriate size for these, but 24?? Considering my husband's considerable sweet tooth, I'll be lucky to get 12 out of the pan!
***Also, I thought the cheesecake layer in the magazine was much thicker than the cheesecake layer in reality. Next time I plan to double the cheesecake part of the recipe.
These are totally yummy -- fudgy and gooey, well worth the mess factor!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
St. Nick Sticks
Let me start by saying that I'm aware Christmas is several months past. Let me also note (I promise this will al make sense soon) that my husband and I *LOVE* shopping at the local Sam's club (home of my beloved mangoes...*sigh*). Anyway, this past Christmas, Adam and I purchased not one, but TWO bags of M&Ms from Sam's (plain and peanut -- Adam ate the plain ones, but I refuse to touch them because peanut M&Ms are so obviously superior). Anyway, I digress...so one of these *5 pound* bads of M&Ms gets eaten, but the other still contained about 4.9 pounds of candies. So one evening, I got out the big bag of M&Ms and attempted to eat a few. Adam joined me in this quest (hey, you try eating a 5 pound bag of candy -- any candy -- without help!) and before long Adam let out what can only be described as a gasp. At first I was worried that he had begun choking on the M&Ms, as his mouth was quite full at the time of the gasp. But by the time I had finished shaking him and hysterically screeching, "Are you all right?!?!" at the top of my lungs, he had managed to finish chewing and could tell me what was so important that he had to completely freak me out.
What he had noticed was a recipe for St. Nick's Sticks on the back of our gi-normous bag of Christmas Peanut M&Ms . These delightful homemade candies are yummy, and, depending on the type and quality of your ingredients, can actually be (*gasp*) figure friendly. And finally, and, when discussing candy, perhaps most importantly, these are darned tasty! But perhaps the best indication of the yum-factor for these treats is that when I made a double batch and offered them to my students, they were GONE before I could say "M&M!"
So without further ado, the recipe:
St. Nick's Sticks
Ingredients:
2 bags Dove milk chocolates (feel free to use bittersweet, or other chocolates)*
2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup peanut butter
2 sticks unsalted butter
Peanut M&Ms (to garnish)
**This would also be awesome with chopped dry roasted peanuts or almonds on the top instead of M&Ms. In fact, I think that is the variation I might try next. Also, I may try a peanut butter-free version...I thought the taste of the graham crackers got lost in the peanut butter.
What he had noticed was a recipe for St. Nick's Sticks on the back of our gi-normous bag of Christmas Peanut M&Ms . These delightful homemade candies are yummy, and, depending on the type and quality of your ingredients, can actually be (*gasp*) figure friendly. And finally, and, when discussing candy, perhaps most importantly, these are darned tasty! But perhaps the best indication of the yum-factor for these treats is that when I made a double batch and offered them to my students, they were GONE before I could say "M&M!"
So without further ado, the recipe:
St. Nick's Sticks
Ingredients:
2 bags Dove milk chocolates (feel free to use bittersweet, or other chocolates)*
2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup peanut butter
2 sticks unsalted butter
Peanut M&Ms (to garnish)
Directions:
1. Unwrap the chocolates and melt them in a double boiler.
2. Melt butter in the microwave.
3. Mix graham cracker crumbs, powdered sugar, butter, and peanut butter.
4. Pat graham cracker mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 pan.
5. Pour melted chocolate over the top of the graham cracker mixture and smooth with a spatula.
6. Decorate top with peanut M&Ms.
7. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes so the chocolate can set.
ENJOY!!
*I used Dove Chocolate because, in my "professional opinion," it melts better than say, Ghirdelli's, but again, use whatever you like most or are most comfortable with.**This would also be awesome with chopped dry roasted peanuts or almonds on the top instead of M&Ms. In fact, I think that is the variation I might try next. Also, I may try a peanut butter-free version...I thought the taste of the graham crackers got lost in the peanut butter.
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