Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Red fruit with mascarpone vanilla bean dip

This creamy vanilla dip tastes somewhat like a thick whipped cream.  It is the perfect complement to red fruits such as cherries and strawberries.  It tastes best when the dip is maxed together several hours in advance so that the flavors have time to blend together.  This is a good item to use as part of a brunch, dessert or picnic spread.

Ingredients:
1 8 oz. container mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbs. heavy cream
Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 lb. strawberries
1 lb. cherries






















Directions:

In a small mixing bowl, mix together mascarpone cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla extract and seeds.  Add cream in two batches and mix.  Add more cream if necessary to get desired consistency.  Refrigerate of serve with red fruit.





























Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Honey-Balsamic Shallot Tart!

This tart is the perfect appetizer to serve with wine.  It makes 9 squares, and people often like it well enough to go back and get a second piece. One is enough to serve four to six people.  If you're having a bigger party, make two!

Ingredients:
3 Tbs. butter
10 shallots, quartered lengthwise
3 Tbs. honey
3 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
1 sheet frozen puff pastry dough
2 oz. crumbled goat cheese
















Directions:
Preheat oven to 400. Unfold pastry dough onto a buttered baking sheet.  Fold about 1/2 inch of each edge in to make crust.  Bake for 15 minutes, or until edges turn golden brown.





Meanwhile, melt the butter in a pan over medium heat.  Add shallots and honey, and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until shallots are slightly caramelized.














 Add vinegar, and cook for about 10 more minutes, until liquid is syrupy.  Remove pan from heat.  Spread shallot mixture over baked pastry dough. Top with crumbled goat cheese, and bake at 400 for about 5 minutes.  Remove from oven, cool for 5 to 10 minutes, cut into squares and serve.



Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Last Day of School Lemonade

Summer is almost here!  Make this tasty fresh-squeezed lemonade to celebrate the last day of school.  It's made with seltzer instead of water, so it's refreshing and fizzy.  The lemon slices that float in the pitcher are optional of course, but they make it festive.  For those of us who are out of school, or at least 21 or older, this also tastes good with vodka or gin added in.  Serves 4.

Ingredients:
3 small lemons
1/2 cup sugar
1-liter bottle unflavored seltzer water, chilled
Ice cubes















Slice one of the lemons crosswise to make circular slices.  Squeeze the juice from the other two and place in a small mixing bowl.  Add sugar, and mix until thoroughly dissolved and not grainy.  Pour into pitcher, add seltzer water and stir to combine.  Add ice and lemon slices.


Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Pasta with Garlic Browned Butter

I discovered this dish by accident, when I let the pan get too hot and accidentally browned the butter.  My husband loved it.  It's a regular on our dinner menu, but is definitely meant for garlic lovers.  This is a good complement to a plain chicken dish.  Makes 4 side-dish servings

Ingredients:
4 oz. angel-hair pasta, cooked and drained
4-6 cloves garlic, chopped
4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) butter, cut into 8 slices
Salt to taste


Directions:

Take a small metal pan, and place it, dry, over medium-high heat, for 5 minutes.  Then put butter in pan, one slice at a time, and let each slice sizzle and completely melt before adding the next.  Swirl the pan slightly while doing this.  When all the butter has been added, remove pan from heat and add chopped garlic to pan all at once.  The pan will sizzle and foam. 



Pour warm garlic-butter mixture over pasta and stir to combine.  Serve immediately.



Saturday, May 4, 2013

Milk Chocolate Lovers Cookies with Hazelnuts

I have long felt that milk chocolate lovers are discriminated against in the chocolate chip cookie world.  Sure, you can make chocolate chip cookies with milk chocolate chips, but there is no chocolate chip cookie recipe I know of that is tailored milk chocolate.  So, I decided to make one.  I took a basic chocolate chip cookie recipe, added more vanilla, traded in some of the brown sugar for white sugar to make it crisper, and used hazelnuts, the perfect nut complement to milk chocolate (think Nutella).  Check it out!  Makes 4 dozen

Ingredients:
2.5 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups milk chocolate chips (I prefer Ghirardelli)
1 cup chopped hazelnuts















Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.   Mix flour and baking soda together in a small mixing bowl; set aside.  Beat butter, sugars, and vanilla together until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs, one at a time.  Add dry ingredients, about 1/4 cup at a time, beating to combine.  Add nuts and chocolate chips and stir to incorporate.  Using a cookie scoop, drop onto an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake each sheet for about 10 minutes, or until cookies are browned around the edges.  Cool on the sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack.