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oreo cheesecake

oreo cheesecake

I made an Oreo cheesecake last night. It was SOOOOOOOOOO good. That is, it was good if you like Oreos. Because the recipe used 42 of them. As well as 2 pounds of cream cheese and 8 ounces of white chocolate and a half cup of butter. Not very diet friendly (not at all!) and very rich, but oh, it was GOOD.

Icebox Oreo Cheesecake
serves 12 (and I made for 2! what was I thinking …..) taken from Cook’s Country
Oreo Cookie Crust
30 Oreo cookies, broken into rough pieces
7 tbls unsalted butter, softened
Cheesecake Filling
1 cup milk
4 egg yolks
1/4 flour
8 oz white chocolate, chopped (or 1 1/3 cups white chocolate chips)
2 lbs cream cheese, cut into 1″ chunks and softened
1/3 cup powdered sugar
2 tsps vanilla
1/8 tsp salt (omit if using salted butter in the crust)
12 Oreo cookies, broken into rough pieces
Process cookies and butter in food processor until finely ground (I crushed the cookies and butter together in a bowl using the bottom of juice glass instead). Press cookie mixture evenly into the bottom and sides of 9″ springform pan. Refrigerate until set, at least 1 hour.
Heat 3/4 cup milk in a saucepan over medium heat until simmering. Meahwhile, whisk yolks, flour and remaining milk in a bowl until smooth. Slowly whisk hot milk into yolk mixture. Return mixture to saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until very thick and glossy, 1 to 2 minutes.
Off heat, whisk in white chocolate until melted. Translfer pudding to bowl, press plastic wrap directly on surface, and refrigerate until cold and set, at least one hour.
With electric mixer on medium-high speed (or in a bowl with a heavy whisk) beat cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and salt until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low and mix in chilled pudding until just combined, about 30 seconds. Pour one-quarter of cream cheese mixture evenly into prepared pan and sprinkle one-third of cookies over surface. repeat process twice, then top with remaining filling. Refrigerate until set, at least six hours (I got impatient after two and stuck it in the freezer for half an hour). Serve.
apple pie

apple pie

We made an apple pie the other night, and a day and a half later, this was all that was left. Between the two of us, we ate 7/8 of a pie in a day and a half. It was that good.

It was very good. The apples were good, the crumb topping was good, but the crust was very good. I have never made a crust that tasted that good. I found the recipe for the crust in A Homemade Life (a memoir/cookbook that I’ve been reading. The memoir part is okay, but the recipes are wonderful) and the pie recipe was from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook (1965 edition).So, here are the recipes, edited slightly.

Crust
4 tblsp ice water
3/4 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tblsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
9 tblsp butter

In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine the water and vinegar.
Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Cut the butter into the flour until it resembles coarse crumbs; there should be no pieces bigger than a pea.
Sprinkle the water mixture over the flour mixture, stirring just until moist clumps form. If you pick up a handful of the dough and squeeze it in your fist, it should hold together. If the dough seems a bit dry, add more ice water by the teaspoon.
Turn the dough out onto a wooden board or a clean countertop, and gather it, massaging and pressing, until it just holds together.
(At this point the recipe says to form it into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for two hours, but I just went ahead and rolled it out)

Apple Crumb Pie
5 apples, sliced (5 cups)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup suage
3/4 flour
1/3 cup butter
Arrange the apples in the pie crust. Mix 1/2 cup sugar with the cinnamon and sprinlke over the apples. Drizzle lemon juice over the apples. Lightly toss.
Mix 1/2 cup sugar with the flour; cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinle over apples.
Bake in a 400 degree oven for 35-40 minutes.

And that’s it! John cut the apples while I mixed the crust, and between the two of us we had the pie in the oven in 20 minutes.
It was so very good. Maybe it was all the butter.
So glad that John had the idea.

Oh. We also made brownies to go with the pie.

quick and easy pizza dough

quick and easy pizza dough

I found this recipe on cooks.com last night, and John and I were both surprised at how good it was. It also was quite easy, with no “rise time” for the dough. I think we spent a total of 1/2 an hour in the kitchen (not including baking time, of course) starting with defrosting the tomato sauce and cooking the chicken and ending with washing the prep dishes.
It was the perfect meal for a warm evening.

dough:
1 pkg. active dry yeast
1 c. warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 1/2 c. flour
cornmeal

topping:
Jar of pizza sauce or make your own
Grated Mozzarella (about 8 oz.)
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
2 tsp. oregano
Any other topping you prefer – pepperoni, mushrooms, sausage, onions, etc. We used chicken, bacon and pineapple.

Dissolve yeast in warm water.
Stir in remaining dough ingredients; beat vigorously, about 20 strokes.
Allow dough to rest (about 5 minutes). That’s all the time it needs. Really.

Heat oven to 425 degrees.
Prepare topping/sauce.
Divide dough in half.
On lightly greased baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal, pat each half into a 10 inch circle. (Continue to flour fingers when patting dough into circles.) You may want to prepare the second pizza while the first is baking, allowing less time for the center of the second to “poof”.
Spread sauce on each circle. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and oregano. Arrange your choice of topping on top and sprinkle with Mozzarella cheese.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until crust is brown and filling is hot and bubbly.
Makes 2 pizzas.

mother’s day recipe

mother’s day recipe


criss-cross, originally uploaded by Lizi Beth.

The main dish was chicken satay, and I got the recipe (which I sort-of followed) from Katie at Good Things Catered. I doubled the recipe, and substituted white onion for the green. We chunked the chicken instead of cutting it into strips, and grilled it instead of broiling it (because it gives a better flavor, you know). Sarah (thank you again!!!!) did an awesome job of skewering the chicken and cherry tomatoes, and the combination was perfect. We have made this recipe several times before, and always loved it, but have never tried it with the recommended peanut sauce. So, this time – because it was Mother’s Day – we bought a bottle of Thai peanut sauce at the last minute from Meijer, and it was amazing. So. Good.

Anyway, here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:
3 large chicken breasts, sliced lengthwise 1 – 1 1/2 inch wide
1/4 c. soy sauce
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 Tbsp sesame oil
juice of 1/2 lime
1 Tbsp curry powder
1/8 c. packed brown sugar
1/4 c. fresh cilantro, minced
2 green onions, white and light green portions sliced

Directions:
-In large bowl, combine soy sauce, oil, lime, curry, brown sugar, cilantro and green onion and and stir to combine.
-Add chicken pieces and toss to cover completely.
-Cover bowl and place in fridge for 1-2 hours.
-Remove chicken from fridge, line baking sheet with foil, top with cooling rack, and turn broiler on low.
-Weave chicken strips through bamboo skewers and place on cooling rack-topped baking sheet.
-Place in middle of oven and broil until tops begin to brown slightly, about 5-7 minutes.
-Remove from oven, flip chicken over and place back in to cook.
-Broil on low until cooked through, about 5 more minutes.
-Remove, let cool for 3 minutes, and serve with Thai peanut sauce.

cranberry cinnamon rolls

cranberry cinnamon rolls

YUM.

I found a bag of cranberries in the freezer left over from Thanksgiving/Christmas (we bought a large bag – they’re so much cheaper that way!) and hunted around on Good Things Catered for something delicious to bake. And found ………… cranberry cinnamon rolls. Oh, so good. We are enjoying them for breakfast, dessert, snacks … and snacks in between snacks. They are sweet, but the cranberries offer a refreshing little tang. I added some cream cheese to cut the heavy sweetness of the icing, and now they’re almost addicting. Oh yum.

Cranberry Cinnamon Rolls (adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook)
Ingredients:
For dough:
1/2 cup warm water (105–115°F)
5 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 cup sugar
5 cups flour plus additional for dusting
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup warm milk
2 large eggs at room temperature
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened

For filling:
1/4 cup water
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
2 cups fresh or thawed frozen cranberries (9 oz)
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoon cinnamon

For glaze:
2 cups confectioners sugar
3 tbsp milk
(I added about 3 oz of cream cheese for a bit of tang)

Directions:-In bowl of large stand mixer, stir together warm water, yeast, and a pinch of the sugar and let stand until foamy, about 5-10 minutes. (If mixture doesn’t foam, discard and start over.)
-Meanwhile, in large mixing bowl, combine 5 cups flour, salt, and remaining sugar and whisk to combine; set aside
-In small bowl, combine milk and eggs.
-With mixer and dough hook on low speed, add milk and egg mixture then slowly add flour mixture, stirring to combine.
-Beat at medium speed until a very soft dough forms, about 2 minutes.
-Add butter and continue beating at medium speed until dough is smooth, soft, and elastic (adding more milk or flour to achieve good consistency if needed), about 4 minutes (it will be quite sticky).
-Add dough to large oiled bowl and tightly with plastic wrap.
-Let dough rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Meanwhile, prepare cranberries by bringing water and 1 cup granulated sugar to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved.
-Add cranberries and simmer just until they begin to burst, about 2 minutes.
-Pour through a large sieve into a bowl and cool berries, reserving syrup for another use.
-Turn out dough onto a well-floured surface and dust with flour, then roll out into a 16-inch square.
-Stir together brown sugar, cinnamon, and remaining 2/3 c. granulated sugar and sprinkle evenly over dough.
-Dot dough evenly with drained cranberries.
-Beginning with side nearest you, roll up dough, firmly but not tightly, into a log, then pinch seam to seal.
-Cut log crosswise into 12 slices.
-Arrange slices, cut sides up, into prepared 9×13 pan, spacing evenly as they will bulk up.
-Cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge overnight to rise (you can also just let rise at room temp until doubled in bulk about 1 -1 1/2 hours).
-In morning, remove rolls from fridge and preheat oven to 350 degrees while they comes to room temperature.
-Bake rolls in lower third of oven until puffed and golden, 30 to 35 minutes, then cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes.
-Meanwhile, stir together confectioners sugar and milk with a fork until smooth. -Drizzle over buns while still relatively hot.
-Serve buns warm or at room temperature.

brownies – homemade

brownies – homemade

I found a recipe for very good homemade brownies on a blog that I’ve been following.
Pretty much every other brownie recipe I’ve tried has fallen far short of the wonderful chocolaty goodness of boxed brownies, but this one is quite good. After making it a few times, I have found that they turn out best if you use a heaping measure of cocoa powder, and under bake them by a few minutes. Oh, and if you sprinkle chocolate chips on top.
Yummmmmy.

breakfast yuminess – stuffed french toast

breakfast yuminess – stuffed french toast


spread two slices of bread with softened cream cheese
I put sliced strawberries in as well, but that’s optional
put the pieces of bread together, cheese side in
soak in a milk and egg batter – a good ratio is: 1 egg and 1 tbsp of milk per piece of bread


fry ….


… until golden on both sides


top with a bit of butter and syrup, and enjoy!

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grapefruit-vanilla compote – last night’s dessert

grapefruit-vanilla compote – last night’s dessert


I found this idea in Real Simple magazine: Lightly cook grapefruit segments in a hot skillet with a few spoonfuls of sugar and a drops of vanilla; serve with its sauce over ice cream or pound cake.


It is a warm, cold, quick, juicy and extremely fragrant winter dessert. In fact, it almost smells better than it tastes! I just wish that I had a room spray that captured the scent.

champagne chicken

champagne chicken

One of John’s co-managers gave us a bottle of sparkling white wine (domestic Champagne) for Christmas …….. and I found an amazing recipe to use it in! Mom used to use the extra red wine “gifts” from Dad’s farmer clients to make a grape jelly that had an amazing flavor. I thought of using the sparkling wine for something similar and realized that the flavor might be a bit odd. So, I chose a chicken dish instead. It’s flavor is amazing: light, but still a little too complex to be considered comfort food – possibly a “company” dish? Wonderful when served with a baked potato and some salad.
So, here’s the link to Chicken Breasts in Champagne.