Classic Tiramisu

Recipe from Epicurious. DELICIOUS. I cannot get over how utterly perfect this recipe is.

Both hard and soft ladyfingers work with this recipe. Just be sure to thoroughly soak them, if using hard ones.

Don't worry if your sugar has not dissolved after cooking the yolks. It will be fine after mixing it into the cream.

Coffee flavored liqueur can be substituted with 1 part espresso to 1 part brandy, rum, or milk.

6 egg yolks
1 1/4 cups white sugar
16 oz. mascarpone cheese
1 3/4 cups heavy whipping cream
2 (7-12 ounce) packages ladyfingers*
1/3 cup coffee flavored liqueur
optional garnish:
1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting
1 (1 ounce) square semisweet chocolate

* If using hard ladyfingers, the proper amount will be closer to 14 oz total. Soft will be closer to 24 oz. Basically you just need enough to cover the pan or bowl twice.

1. Combine egg yolks and sugar in the top of a double boiler, over simmering water. Reduce heat to low, and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and whip yolks until thick and lemon colored.
2. Add mascarpone to whipped yolks. Beat until combined. In a separate bowl, whip cream to stiff peaks. Gently fold into yolk mixture and set aside.
3. Split the lady fingers in half, and line the bottom and sides of a large glass bowl or 13x9 inch pan. Brush with coffee liqueur. Spoon half of the cream filling over the lady fingers. Repeat ladyfingers, coffee liqueur and filling layers. Garnish with cocoa and chocolate curls. Refrigerate several hours or overnight.
4. To make the chocolate curls, use a vegetable peeler and run it down the edge of the slightly softened chocolate bar.

Homemade Nutella

This is more on the Nutella side of chocolatey hazelnut spreads than most.

2 cups hazelnuts
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup nut, canola, or vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Process hazelnuts in food processor until finely ground. Add cocoa, salt, and sugar. Process until combined. Slowly add milk and oil, and blend until smooth. Add vanilla, and process until as smooth as possible.

Pasta Chips

These could also be referred to as fried pasta or puffed pasta, but those seem misleading to me. The first because "fried pasta" is generally still a cooked pasta texture; maybe slightly crispy, but still limp. This pasta seems to not be quite as puffed as "puffed pasta" implies, but it does puff when fried slightly.



1 lb. penne, rigatoni, macaroni, or other hollow pasta
salt
1-3 cups corn, canola, or peanut oil for frying
seasonings*

Boil pasta in salted water until tender.

Dehydrate in dryer for several hours at about 130˚F until fairly dry, but not completely hard.

Deep fry in oil (heated over low to medium heat), until pasta puffs, and turns golden.

Remove from oil, and toss with seasonings*


* Any spice combination will likely work quite well on this pasta. I've tried an Italian mixture (rosemary, thyme, and tarragon) and a chili mixture (chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin). Also, dehydrated cheese powders, marinara sauces, or other sauces are great seasonings.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Sage and Brown Butter

This recipe comes directly from Bon Appetit, and has been used by my family for Christmas Eve dinner every year for nearly 5 years. It is time consuming, but always worth it.



Ingredients:

2 1-pound red-skinned sweet potatoes (yams), rinsed, patted dry, pierced all over with fork
1 12-ounce container fresh ricotta cheese, drained in sieve 2 hours
1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 3 ounces)
2 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar
2 teaspoons plus 2 tablespoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
2 3/4 cups (about) all purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
6 tablespoons chopped fresh sage plus whole leaves for garnish

Preparation:

Divide gnocchi and sauce among shallow bowls. Garnish with sage leaves.

Line large baking sheet with parchment paper. Place sweet potatoes on plate; microwave on high until tender, about 5 minutes per side. Cut in half and cool. Scrape sweet potato flesh into medium bowl and mash; transfer 3 cups to large bowl. Add ricotta cheese; blend well. Add Parmesan cheese, brown sugar, 2 teaspoons salt, and nutmeg; mash to blend. Mix in flour, about 1/2 cup at a time, until soft dough forms.

Turn dough out onto floured surface; divide into 6 equal pieces. Rolling between palms and floured work surface, form each piece into 20-inch-long rope (about 1 inch in diameter), sprinkling with flour as needed if sticky. Cut each rope into 20 pieces. Roll each piece over tines of fork to indent. Transfer to baking sheet.

Bring large pot of water to boil; add 2 tablespoons salt and return to boil. Working in batches, boil gnocchi until tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer gnocchi to clean rimmed baking sheet. Cool completely. DO AHEAD Can be made 4 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.

Preheat oven to 300°F. Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook until butter solids are brown and have toasty aroma, swirling pan occasionally, about 5 minutes.

Add chopped sage (mixture will bubble up). Turn off heat. Season sage butter generously with salt and pepper.

Transfer half of sage butter to large skillet set over medium-high heat. Add half of gnocchi. Sauté until gnocchi are heated through, about 6 minutes. Empty skillet onto rimmed baking sheet; place in oven to keep warm. Repeat with remaining sage butter and gnocchi.

Yuh-ummmmmmmmm

Boerenkool Stamppot (Kale and Potatoes)

2 lbs. yellow potatoes
1/2 yellow onion
5 cloves garlic
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp sour cream
1 lb. fresh kale
salt and pepper to taste

Dice potatoes and onion and toss into a pot. Cover with water, and cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Mince garlic, and add to pot. Cook for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, finely chop kale, and place in a separate pot, with about a 1/4 cup of water. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until wilted.
Drain water from potatoes. Mash with potato masher, until relatively smooth. Add butter and sour cream, and stir until melted. Toss potatoes with kale. Season with salt and pepper.

Homemade Blender Mayonnaise (Joy of Cooking)

Mayonnaise is not worth consuming unless it is homemade, in my opinion.
This fabulous recipe is from the Joy of Cooking.

1 egg
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1 dash cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice

Put in the blender container: egg, mustard, salt, cayenne, sugar and olive oil.
Cover and blend on high until thoroughly combined.
With blender still running, take off the cover and slowly add 1/2 cup vegetable oil,
and then the lemon juice until thoroughly blended.
Add slowly the remaining vegetable oil and blend until thick.
You may have to stop and start the blender to stir down the mayonnaise.
Yields 13/4 cup.

Spring Greens Salad with Pesto and Poached Eggs

Miners Lettuce, cucumber, green pepper chopped and sprinkled over a base of lettuce leaves.
A nest of chopped tomatoes combined with fresh pesto.
A poached egg with parmesan, salt, and pepper sprinkled on top.

Crepes with Pesto and Caramelized Onions

For Crepes:

1/2 c buckwheat flour
1/2 c all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
3 eggs
1/2 c milk
1 tbsp butter plus 1 tsp, melted
1/2 seltzer water

Combine flours, salt, egg, milk, and 1 tbsp butter in blender. Blend until smooth. Let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes, or refrigerate overnight. Meanwhile, prepare fillings.

When ready to cook the crepes, heat 1 tsp butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Whisk seltzer water into crepe batter. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter onto pan, and swirl around to cover pan with an even layer of batter. Cook for 1 or two minutes on each side, until cooked through and edges begin to brown. Stack crepes on plate until ready to fill.

For filling:

Caramelized onions:
3 large onions, halved and sliced thinly
3 tbsp butter
1 tsp salt
pepper to taste

1/2 cup pesto (homemade or pre-made)
3 cups spring greens

For onions, heat butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add onions. Cook covered until soft and translucent. Remove lid and add salt and pepper. Cook until edges begin to blacken and onions are a light caramel color.

To prepare:
Spread a thin layer of pesto onto each crepe. Spoon a line of onions down the middle, and top with greens. Roll up or fold into quarters. Serve!

Baguette

1 1/2 cups room temperature water, milk, or whey
4 cups all purpose flour (or 3 c white flour and 1 c whole wheat, rye, or other flour)
1 tablespoon salt
1 packet yeast (2 1/4 tsp)

Combine flour, salt, and yeast in large mixing bowl for a stand mixer (if you don't have one, you can stir and knead by hand). Pour in water (or milk or whey). Mix on low speed for 12 minutes. If you don't have a stand mixer, stir the dough until it gets too hard to stir, then slap knead for 12-15 minutes, by slapping the dough against the counter and stretching it up, then folding it over, turning it, and repeating. Let rise in a greased bowl covered with a damp towel for 2 hours, or until doubled (a warmer air temperature will result in a faster rise. Do not exceed 90˚F).
Form into two baguettes by patting dough into a 16 inch long rectangle and rolling the long edge into a log shape. Place on 1 or 2 greased baking sheets (leave room for bread to double). Let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 400˚F. Bake bread for 15 minutes, decrease temperature of oven to 350˚F, and bake for 30 minutes longer.

Super Quick Paella

This paella is not actually baked, but retains the same delicious flavors of traditional paella in much less time.

2 tbsp olive oil
About 6 chicken parts, each cut into three pieces (breasts, thighs, legs etc... Preferably whatever was leftover from a whole roast chicken consumed a previous day)
2 large andouille or other spicy sausages
2 bell peppers, sliced
1 zucchini or other summer squash, sliced or cubed
1 large onion, chopped
6-8 cloves of garlic, minced
1 24 oz. can chopped tomatoes (or 4 fresh)
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1/4 tsp saffron
1-2 tsp salt
1 cup wine
3 cups broth


In large pot, heat oil over medium heat. If chicken is raw, saute in oil for about 10 minutes, turning once (if chicken is already cooked, add it last, after the rice has been cooking for about 10 minutes). Add sausage, peppers, squash, and onions. Saute 10 more minutes, adding oil if necessary. Add garlic and cook for a minute. Toss in the tomatoes. Meanwhile, heat broth in microwave until almost boiling. Stir in salt and saffron and let sit. Stir rice into tomato-vegetable-meat mixture. Pour the saffron broth over and bring to a simmer. Add wine. Cook covered for 20-30 minutes, or until rice is fully cooked and liquid is mostly absorbed. Serve!

Brie Danishes

These can be made with any variety of jam, or no jam at all. I found this bread dough to be quite satisfying in these pastries, but different doughs would work too (like brioche or laminated doughs).


Dough

5-6 cups flour
1 tbsp yeast
1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 cups very warm water
1 egg
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter

Filling

1 wedge of brie cheese (6-8 oz)
1/2 cup jam or preserves (my favorites are apricot and strawberry)

Glaze

1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp vegetable or walnut oil
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 or more tbsp water

Combine 2 cups of flour, yeast, and 1 tbsp sugar. Stir in water. Let sit 12-24 hours unrefrigerated. In mixing bowl, combine the egg, butter, salt, and 1/3 cup sugar. Add yeast mixture. Add remaining flour in 1/2 cup intervals until dough is soft but not sticky. Knead for 8 minutes. Let dough double in the refrigerator (at least 8 hours).

Grease 2 cookie sheets. Separate the dough into 12 pieces. Form each piece into a disk. On each flattened piece of dough, place 1 slice of brie cheese and a spoonful of jam in the middle. Pull the edges of the dough over the filling so that it is completely covered on all sides, forming a little bun. Make sure the edges are sealed, and place face down (sealed edges down) on prepared cookie sheets. With a very sharp knife, score X's onto the tops of each bun. Let rise at least 1 hour.

Brush tops with oil.
Preheat oven to 350˚. Bake pastries 30 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Brush glaze evenly over each pastry while still warm. Let cool on racks, or consume while hot!


For glaze:

Combine sugar and salt in small saucepan. Add oil, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons of water. The glaze should be thick, but still liquid (not frosting-like). Heat slowly, stirring constantly, until the glaze loses its opacity and becomes clear.

Spring Paella

The original recipe I tried from Bon Appetit for paella included zucchini and bell peppers. I have also made it with eggplant in the winter (much cheaper), but this recipe is best for spring produce. Most of the produce in this recipe will be the first vegetables of the year you will find in your garden or at a farmers market. It's not as traditional, but its just as delicious! If possible, use locally raised and processed chicken. If you cannot find a local source, look for the words pastured or grass fed. The label "natural" means only that artificial ingredients like coloring have not been added. The label "free range" only promises that the chickens had access to an outdoor pen, no matter how small. Even better would be to find locally processed sausage, although this can be tricky due to USDA regulations.

Spring Paella
(Adapted from Bon Appetit)


3 tbsp olive oil
6 fresh Cajun or hot Italian sausages
12 chicken parts with skin and bones excess fat trimmed (Or one whole chicken, carved into pieces. It may be easier to roast the chicken, then carve it. Do this by sticking in in the oven for about an hour at 400 degrees F. You will not need to cook it again when you cook the sausage.)
2 large vidalia onions, chopped (5 cups)
10 garlic cloves, chopped, plus 1 garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 c tomatoes, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 lb asparagus, cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 lb sugar snap or snow peas (with pod), cut into 1-inch-wide strips
2 cups baby spinach
1 1/2 pounds uncooked large shrimp, peeled, deveined (Preferably Pacific White Shrimp, farmed Fresh-water Prawn, or Wild-caught Ocean Shrimp)
1/2 tsp saffron threads
2 1/2 cups arborio rice
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
5 cups canned low-salt chicken broth
2 teaspoons paprika

Saute sausages and sauté until cooked through, turning often, about 10 minutes. Transfer to large bowl. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Working in batches, add chicken, skin side down, to pot. Cover and cook until brown, about 7 minutes on each side. Transfer chicken to bowl with sausages.

Saute onions and 10 chopped garlic cloves to pot about 8 minutes. Add tomatoes and bay leaves; stir 2 minutes. Stir in asparagus, pea pods, and spinach.

Toss shrimp with remaining 2 tbsp oil, 1 garlic clove and generous pinch of saffron in medium bowl.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Brush one 18 x 12 x 2 1/4-inch roasting pan with olive oil. Mix rice and salt into vegetable mixture. Spread rice mixture evenly in prepared pan. Cut sausages diagonally into 1-inch slices. Push sausage and chicken pieces into rice mixture.

Bring chicken broth, paprika and remaining 1/4 teaspoon saffron to boil in medium saucepan. Pour over rice mixture. Cover roasting pan tightly with foil. Bake 40 minutes.

Arrange shrimp atop rice mixture. Cover pan with foil; bake until shrimp are opaque in center, rice is tender and most of liquid in pan is absorbed, about 20 minutes longer.

British Flapjacks

Not seasonal, and certainly not pancakes, but one of the best, and simplest cookies I've ever tasted. With a caramely flavor very similar to that of Dutch Stroopwafels, they are about 1,000 times easier to make. Some people will tell you that quick cooking oats are the key, but some prefer the chewier texture obtained by using old fashioned oats.
Based upon a recipe from Bon Appetit.


British Flapjacks:
makes 16 cookies


Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/4 cup golden syrup* (if not available, use corn syrup or honey)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 1/3 cups quick-cooking oats (not instant or old-fashioned)
Pinch of salt

* A type of syrup popular in Great Britain; available at some supermarkets, specialty foods stores, and British import shops.


Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 8x8x2-inch metal baking pan. Combine first 4 ingredients in heavy medium saucepan. Stir constantly over medium-low heat until butter melts, sugar dissolves, and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat. Add oats and salt; stir until coated. Transfer mixture to prepared pan and spread out in even layer.

Bake until top is golden (edges will be darker), about 25 minutes. Cool in pan on rack 5 minutes. Cut into 4 squares; cut each into 4 triangles (mixture will still be soft). Cool completely in pan before serving.

Butternut Squash Risotto

Butternut squash is another hearty winter food. Sage is one of the best herbs to pair with squashes and sweet potatoes. Unfortunately, its prime season is summer and early fall, while squash is great in winter. So, ideally, this butternut risotto with sage would be seasonal in fall, but fresh sage can be found in most grocery stores any time of the year.

Butternut Squash Risotto:
6-8 servings

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 butternut squash, halved (about 1 lb.)
2 tbsp butter
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 cup arborio rice
4 cups vegetable broth, heated to near boil in microwave
1 cup white wine
1 tbsp fresh sage
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Drizzle oil over rimmed cookie sheet, and place squash on sheet. Pour water into pan until it covers the bottom, about 1/4 inch high. Roast for 15 minutes, or until squash is tender, but not soft. Remove the squash from the pan and let cool before cutting it into cubes, about 1 sq. inch.

Melt butter over medium high heat in large saucepan. Add onion and saute until transparent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and nutmeg. Cook for 1 minute. Stir in arborio rice.

Add squash cubes to the pot. Pour 1 cup of broth over rice, and stir until broth is mostly absorbed by rice. Add another cup of broth, and cook until absorbed. Continue with remaining broth. Add wine and cook until all liquid has been absorbed and the rice is tender and creamy.

Stir in the fresh sage, whipping cream, and parmesan. Season with salt and pepper.