Peanut Butter Crème Icebox Pie

Ingredients:

·       2 cups of graham cracker crumbs – or if you’re making the crumbs yourself from chocolate graham crackers, use about 1 ½ packages which should be about 14 graham crackers.

·       6 Tablespoons butter - melted

·      ¼ cup sugar

·       3.5 ounces good quality milk chocolate (optional, 1 or 2 extra ounces of milk chocolate, held aside)
·       ¼ cup heavy cream – plus 2 cups

·       1 cup peanut butter (smooth, not one that separates from the peanut oil)

·       8 ounces cream cheese

·       ½ cup fine sugar

·       1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

Preparation:

Crust: (preheat oven to 350)

If you’re not buying the graham cracker crumbs already prepared, you can break your graham crackers and pulse them in the food processor until they are a sandy consistency, or you can break them and put them in a large freezer bag and crunch them with a rolling pin.  If you have kids it’s a great way to include them in the cooking.

Put the sugar and half melted butter in a medium bowl and mix it

Add the graham cracker crumbs to the sugar/butter mixture and add the remaining butter.

Mix together well and empty it into a 9” deep dish pie dish.

Spread it around well and use the back of a spoon to push it evenly (more or less) up the sides of the pie dish.

Put the pie dish in the oven for about 8 minutes.  Take it out and put it on a rack to cool.

Chocolate

Heat water in the bottom piece of a double boiler – don’t let the water touch the top piece.

Break the chocolate (not the optional chocolate) into small pieces and when the water is just below a boil, put it in the top of a double boiler.

It won’t take long for the chocolate to melt, so keep stirring. 

Once the chocolate is melted take it off the heat, keep stirring and slowly add the ¼ cup of heavy cream – stir until it is smooth

Pour the chocolate mixture over the bottom of the graham cracker pie crust, tilting the pie dish a little to get it even all the way around. 

Let the chocolate and the pie crust cool completely on a rack.

Peanut Butter Cream

While the crust and chocolate are cooling, beat the heavy cream in the mixer using a whisk attachment on medium until stiff peaks form, about 10 minutes. Set aside

In another bowl, using the paddle attachment on medium-high and beat the cream cheese until it’s smooth. 

Once it’s smooth, add the sugar, peanut butter and vanilla and mix in well (use a rubber spatula to ensure that the bottom is well blended).

Gently fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture until combined.   

Spread the filling in the cool pie shell. Smooth the top.

Optional: Shred the remainder of the chocolate over the pie

Store in a covered container and refrigerate for about 5 hours (or overnight) before serving.

Cauliflower Puree

Ingredients:                            Difficulty Rating: Easy

·       1 good size head of cauliflower

·       ½ cup (or more) buttermilk (don’t use low fat)

·       ½ head or 1 head roasted garlic (to taste)

·       Kosher salt

·       Butter (optional)

Preparation:

Roasted Garlic:  preheat oven to 350.

Peel all the cloves of garlic, leaving them whole

Put the garlic on a piece of aluminum foil that is large enough to loosely close around them

Pour the olive oil over the garlic cloves, salt lightly

Close the aluminum foil to make a loose packet – make sure it is tightly closed.

Put it in the oven (or toaster oven) at about 350 for 20 minutes or until you can spread the cloves with a butter knife. Smush all the cloves with the butter knife until they are creamy.

 

 Cauliflower Puree:

Break off the cauliflower florets into small, even size pieces

Steam until you can easily stick a fork into the pieces

Put the steamed cauliflower into a food processor using the bottom blade

Add the buttermilk and the roasted garlic – add buttermilk until it is almost the consistency you like for mashed potatoes.

Using a rubber spatula, scrape the cauliflower into a serving bowl.  Add salt and butter to taste. Stir.

If you would like to, you can heat a little more buttermilk and stir that in. 

Mommy's Meatloaf

Ingredients:                                              Difficulty Rating: Easy

·       1 head of garlic

·       About ½ teaspoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil

·       Kosher salt (about 2 teaspoons or to taste)

·       1 medium size onion

·       2 lbs. chopped chuck (about 80% lean)

·       About 2 cups panko bread crumbs

·       2 eggs + 1 egg to hard boil (optional)

·       2 Tablespoons tomato paste

·       ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

·       1 teaspoon dried thyme (optional)

·       About 1 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper

·       Ketchup (preferably Heinz)

Preparation:

Roasted Garlic:  preheat oven to 350.

Peel all the cloves of garlic, leaving them whole

Put the garlic on a piece of aluminum foil that is large enough to loosely close around them

Pour the olive oil over the garlic cloves, salt lightly

Close the aluminum foil to make a loose packet – make sure it is tightly closed.

Put it in the oven (or toaster oven) at about 350 for 20 minutes or until you can spread the cloves with a butter knife. Smush all the cloves with the butter knife until they are creamy.

Meatloaf:

Dice the onion and sauté in olive oil until translucent. 

Put the panko bread crumbs in a blender and pulse until they are a fine consistency

Add the cayenne (if you decide to use it) the salt, black pepper and thyme and pulse a few more times

Put the beef in a large bowl 

Mix 2 of the eggs in a small bowl

Add eggs, roasted garlic, onions, tomato paste and bread crumb mixture to the beef

Combine the ingredients, but don’t press it together with your hands.  You can use your hands to combine it, but don’t press it because it will get too dense. It should be well combined.

Divide it into 2 pieces, one slightly larger than the other.

Put parchment paper on the bottom of a large pan

Form the larger piece of meat into a large rectangle in the pan.

Place the hardboiled egg in the middle.

Form the other piece of meat into a rectangle on top of the other piece.

Cook the meat for about 10 minutes, then spread the ketchup over the top.

Bake for about 35 minutes and check with an instant read thermometer (or you can use a regular meat thermometer) in the center (be careful not to touch the bottom).  It should read about 155. It will probably take about 10 more minutes to reach 155, but I like to check it at this point just in case. 

Butter - Easy, Fast, Delicious!

Ingredients:                                           Difficulty Rating:  Super Easy

·       1 pint heavy cream

·       Pinch Kosher salt (optional – no more than ¼ teaspoon)

Tools

·       Either a, b, or c below

a)     Food Processor (with bottom metal blade only)

b)    Mixer (with whisk attachment but regular beaters will work too)

c)     Jar – clean and dry

·       Strainer

·       Cheese cloth (optional – if you don’t have it, just use the strainer)

·       Bowl to hold the strainer

·       Ice water (you can throw in some ice cubes if you want, because it has to be very cold)

·       Butter containers – you can use ramekins, small bowls with lids, butter molds – be creative, but if you want to store it for up to a week, make sure your container has a tight lid.

If you use a jar, the time increases from about 4 or 6 minutes to about 15-30 minutes,
but if you have kids, it’s a great family project.

Preparation

Step 1:

Using a jar:

Pour in the cream.

If you’ve got a couple of kids working with you use a couple of jars and
divide the cream evenly.  Shake, shake, shake!  Keep shaking the jars
for about 15 to 30 minutes until chunks of butter start to form.

Using a mixer or food processor:

Pour in the cream

Process or mix until you pass the point of whipped cream.

In the food processor: When the butter turns into little balls pour in
about ½ cup of the ice water (it won’t hurt if the cubes go into the food processor)

With a mixer: When the butter separates from the liquid – it will gather around

the beaters or whisk attachment.

Step 2:

Transfer the butter mixture into the strainer over a bowl – the liquid that is strained
out is buttermilk

If you’re using cheese cloth, put the butter into the cheese cloth – pull it together into
a ball and squeeze to get the liquid out. Unwrap the butter, putting it back into the
strainer.

If you’re not using the cheese cloth, just skip that step and press the liquid out of the
butter using a rubber spatula or your clean hands. 

Rinse with ice water until it runs clear, kneading the butter and folding it into itself. 
The rinse step keeps the butter from turning sour.

Once it is rinsed, if you want to add ¼ teaspoon of Kosher Salt – this would be the
time to do it.  You might even want to add some cut up sundried tomatoes or herbs. 
Get creative if you’d like! 

Step 3:

Although it is best to refrigerate the butter overnight, sometimes the wait is just too
difficult.  You can get creative here too.  You can:

• put it in a jar that can be tightly sealed
• put it in a butter mold
• put it in waxed paper or plastic wrap and roll it into a log

Granita di Caffe con Panna - A real eye opener!

Ingredients:                                                   Difficulty Rating:  Easy

·         1 ½ cups brewed espresso

·         2 cups of water.   (1.5)

·         about 1/2 teaspoon lemon

·         1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·         about 1/3 c sugar (to taste)   (1/4)

·         1 cup heavy whipping cream   3/4

·         1 Tablespoon powdered sugar.

Preparation

  Make a simple syrup - this can be made ahead of time and stored to use it as needed.

-           Mix the sugar with 1 cup water and bring to low boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.

When the sugar is dissoved add the coffee and then the last cup of water, lemon and vanilla. 

-           Pour it into a baking dish that is big enough to be sure the coffe mixture is not more than 1 inch deep. 

-           When it is cool, put it in the freezer.

-           After about 45 minutes, check the mixture.  If the top has any ice, drag a fork through it to break up the ice. 

-           Continue doing this every half hour for about 3 hours.  Keep dragging the fork through the mixture to keep it from forming into a big hunk of coffee ice.  Instead it will be like rich coffee snow.

-           Right before you serve it, whip the cream with the powdered sugar until peaks form.

-           Serve in chilled dessert bowl or chilled cocktail glass topped with a dollop of whipped cream.

Alternative - if you just can't spend the time scraping the ice, pour it into an ice cube try.  Pop out the cubes as you want to use them  and  pulse them in a blender.  Don't 'blend' or you'll just get very cold espresso, pulse until it is snowy.

Granita di Limone

Ingredients:                                                         Difficulty Rating:  Easy

·       5-6 lemons (about 1 ¼ cup lemon juice, and zest from all the lemons)

·       1 ½  cups sugar

·       2 cups water

Optional – 2 Tablespoons Limoncello.  If you add the Limoncello, lower the amount of sugar to 1 ¼ cups.

Preparation:

1st make the Simple Syrup - you can make this part ahead of time.  I often make enough to make a 2nd batch later in the week

Usually when making simple syrup it is equal parts sugar and water, so this isn’t true simple syrup, it’s a ‘mock’ simple syrup.
  - Boil the water and sugar, stirring to make sure the sugar is totally dissolved. 

    You can do it with both cups of water, but it takes longer to cool, so I like to dissolve

     the sugar with 1 cup water and remove it from the heat and add another cup of cool water.

Zest & juice the lemons.  I like to use the zester that makes strips of zest on about 3 of the lemons and the regular zester on the others - I zest about 5 of the lemons.  There should be about 1 1/4 cups of lemon juice.

When the lemons are zested and juiced, and the water is cool, combine and then pour into a baking dish or cassarole.  You want to be sure it is not more than one inch deep - if you can keep it to 1/2 inch that's even better.


As an alternative, you can pour the lemon mixture into ice cube trays and pop the cubes into a blender and pulse - make sure you use rapid, very short pulses or you'll end up with lemonade.Put the mixture into the freezer and every half hour, as soon as the top starts to freeze, scrape it with the prongs of the fork, through the length

Keep scraping every half hour until it is snowy all the way through

Pasta al Limone - a Taste of Sunshine

Ingredients:                                                     Difficulty Rating: Easy

• 1 lb spaghetti, I use DeCecco – the pasta really matters, this is good.
• About 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil – and a little more if needed   
• 3 large lemons – juice (should be about ½ cup) Zest one or the lemons (I’ve been mixing the zest in, but for special  dinners it is attractive to sprinkle some of the zest over the pasta when you serve it) Plus some lemon slices or halves for the individual servings.
• 1 cup finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano (don’t substitute regular Parmesan Cheese) – with a few extra pieces very thinly shaved (I also like to add about 1/3 cup Pecorino Romano, its got a really buttery flavor – up to you)  Have some extra grated cheese available for the individual servings.
• 1 Tablespoon chopped Italian flat leaf parsley (optional) 
• 4 Tablespoons sweet butter  
• Kosher (course) salt

Preparation:

Juice the lemons, and zest one of them. I like most of the lemon zested with a grater, and some pieces in tiny strands – it looks very pretty.

 

Whisk the olive oil and lemon juice together. Add salt – about 2 teaspoons

Add about ½ teaspoon of Kosher salt to the water in a large pot and bring it to a fast boil

 

Add pasta – spaghetti doesn’t need to cook very long, so don’t overdo it or it gets very mushy (about 7 minutes) Cook it only until al dente which is a bit firm when you bite into it.

 

After a 6-8 minutes, taste a piece of pasta, if it is al dente it is done. Using tongs, lift the pasta out of the water and into a pasta bowl.  Save the pasta water.

 

Add the lemon, oil, butter and about 1/2 ladle of pasta water into your pasta bowl and stir it until the butter melts.  If it looks too dry add some more pasta water and another tablespoon of butter.  Keep stirring.   You don’t want it swimming, just nice and moist, with a little buttery sauce to pour over the servings. 

 

Add grated lemon zest, salt to taste and toss. Add the cheese and toss, leaving some extra for each individual serving.  If you’ve made some lemon zest silvers, decorate the top with them.

Serve the pasta with plenty of the grated cheese.

Garnish with a few pieces of shaved Parmigiano Reggiano, and serve with a large piece of lemon in case someone would like to add more.

 

 

Egg Islands - Any time of day or night!

Ingredients                                              Difficulty Rating:  Easy

• 2 egg, room temperature.  If you don't want to leave them out, put them in a cup and let them sit in   some warm/hot water for a little while. 
• 2 slices of bread.  We always had corn rye bread, and I still think that's the best. But you can use any bread you want.
• Butter or margarine (or Olive oil)
• Salt (to taste)
• Pepper (to taste)  I use freshly ground white pepper and sometimes I sprinkle a little cayenne over them as they cook.

Preparation:

Put some olive oil in a tick proof saute pan (you can use butter if you want, but I prefer olive oil)

Butter both sides of the bread and cut a hole in the center saving the cut out pieces of the bread.

When the pan is hot, place both pieces of bread, plus the cut out pieces, in the pan

When the bottom is golden, turn the bread over and let that side become golden.

Break the eggs gently into 2 cups I find doing it this way causes the yolk to break much less often

Turn the bread  again and put a drop (or spray) or olive oil in the hole

Gently drop the eggs into the holes and cover the pan for about 1 minute or until the white starts to cook, but it isn't all the way cooked.

Remove the lid, shut off the heat and gently turn each piece

Remove the Egg Islands after about 30 seconds so the yolk is still runny. 
Yum!

These Egg Islands are ready to turn

Orecchiette with Broccoli and Chick Peas

Ingredients:                                                    Difficulty Rating: Easy

1 head of broccoli

1 lb orecchiette (little ears pasta)

6 cloves of garlic

6 anchovy fillets

1 can chick peas, well rinsed

Kosher Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Percorino Romano

Some pasta water

Fill 2 large pots ¾ of the way with water and bring to a boil.

While the water is heating, cut the stems off the broccoli.  Peel the skin off the stems, cut into evenly sized bite-sized pieces.

Cut the broccoli flowerets into evenly sized pieces. 

When the water is boiling in 1 pot, add the broccoli and 1 teaspoon of salt.

In the 2nd pot, add the Orecchiette

Bring both back to a boil, then lower heat keeping the broccoli at simmer and the pasta at a low boil.

Add 2 Tablespoons of olive oil to a large sauté pan, and turn flame on medium

Add the garlic and sauté until garlic is clear, but not burned.

Then add the anchovies and stir around.  The anchovies will disintegrate in the hot oil.

Add the chick peas and toss

The pasta should be cooked al dente, very al dente. Keep in mind that it will cook again in the frying pan, and you never want mushy pasta. 

Keep the pasta water aside, and add the pasta to the sauté pan and toss it. Put the flame on high for a little while to try to crisp the little ears (it's worth it) then add ½ cup of pasta water and lower the flame.

When broccoli is tender enough for a fork to go through, and its still al dente, remove about 1 cup of the pasta water and set aside.

Drain the rest of the water from the broccoli and add it to the sauté pan and toss it.

Grind the pepper over the pasta, add the cheese and toss again.

Bring the sauté pan to the table to serve, or pour the pasta into a serving plate or bowl. But remember, the this pasta dish is always better the 2nd day.

Mangia!

Deviled Eggs are Back!

Ingredients                                                                            Difficulty Rating:  Easy

• 1 dozen eggs                                                    
• 1 Tablespoon white vinegar
• 1 cup low-fat mayonnaise 
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons capers
• Kosher salt - to taste
• Cayenne - to taste
• Sweet papkria (I use Hungarian)
• Smoked Salmon cut into  1 to 1 1/2 inch by 1/4 inch slices (I use Scottish Smoked Salmon - your choice)

In a pot large enough for 1 dozen eggs to move around, fill with enough cool water to cover the eggs by about 1 inch.  

Add the vinegar.

Gently add the eggs and put on a medium flame  - covered.

When it comes to a strong boil, shut off the flame and leave it for 10 minutes - don't remove the cover.

When the 10 minutes are up, drain the pot and add enough cold water to cover the eggs and add a try or two of ice.  

When the eggs are cool tap all sides on the counter to shatter the shell, and peel.Rinse the eggs as you peel them to get the tiny pieces of shell off the eggs.

Cut the eggs in half lengthwise. 

To remove the yolks I use a small spoon, and gently scoop around the outside of the yolk.  Then I slide the small spoon under the yolk and drop it into a medium size bowl.  Be careful so you don't rip the egg white.

Putting the prepared egg yolks back into the egg

Cut the smoked salmon (lox) into strips about 1 - 1 1/2 inches long and 1/4 inch wide.

When you've scooped out all the yolks, add the mayo, cayenne, mustard and salt.  I use a potato masher to mas them, but a fork is fine.  Add the capers and mix them in well.

Using a teaspoon, or a small ice cream scoop that is about the size of a cherry, scoop out the egg yolk mixture and put it back into the egg.

Sprinkle with paprika.

Place the smoked salmon strips across the top lengthwise. 

If you don't serve immediately, cover with foil and refrigerate. 

They'll disappear fast, so if you're busy in the kitchen while you're serving appetizers, have one fast!

Nutella Crème Icebox Pie

                                                                                            Difficulty Rating: Easy
Pecan Crust (make the crust before you make the pie filling so it has time to cool)

·         1 ½ cups pecans (finely chopped)

·         1 1/2 T sugar

·         4 Tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted sweet butter – melted

Nutella Crème Filling

·         2 cups heavy cream

·         2 8 oz. packages of cream cheese – room temperature *

·         2 1/2 cups Nutella (hold about 1/3 cup of the 2 1/2 cups out)

·         1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar,10x

·         1 Tablespoon vanilla extract  

* Note - I made this on Sunday (8/5/12) for my sister Cathy's birthday.  My son Marc said that he would prefer it with less cream cheese.  I like it the way it is, but we each our own taste. He would like it 'mousse-ier', but I don't now if that could still be a pie - it might might have to served in individual glasses - nothing wrong with that! Up the whipped cream, lower the amount of cream cheese, chill the crust mixutre in dessert or wine glasses for an hour or so, spoon in the filling, chill and voila!

Preparation

Combine butter and pecans in a medium bowl and mix by hand

Pecan Crust

In a 9” pie dish, shape the crust by pressing into the pie pan, making sure you push it up the sides. It will be crumbly

• Bake for 10 minutes until the pecans are toasted – you’ll notice that the sides of the crust will look like it s   shrinks down the sides of the pie dish
• Using the back of a Tablespoon, gently push the pecan crust up the sides
• Cool to room temperature
• When the crust is cool, spread the 1/3 cup of Nutella on the bottom, well, you can't actually spread it, use a teaspoon to drop the Nutella around the bottom of the crust.  If you try to spread it, it will pull the crust up.

While the crust is cooling, beat the heavy cream in the mixer using a whisk attachment on medium until stiff peaks form, about 10 minutes. Set aside

In another bowl, using the paddle attachment on medium-high and beat the cream cheese until it’s smooth. 

Once it’s smooth, add the sugar, 1 cup of Nutella and vanilla and mix in well. 

When the Nutella is smoothly  combined with the cream cheese (use a rubber spatula to ensure that the bottom is well blended), add the second cup of the remaining Nutella - just a little don’t mix it in too thoroughly because people will want to taste big tastes of Nutella.

Gently fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture until combined.  While you're doing this, gentlry drop in 1 Tablespoon (this can be approximate) of Nutella at a time and fold with the whipped cream.  You don't want the Nutella blended. Do this until you've used all the Nutella. 

Spread the filling in the cool pie shell. Smooth the top.

Store in a covered container and refrigerate for about 5 hours (or overnight) before serving.