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Monatsarchive: May 2011

Mini Smores Cheesecakes

If we asked everyone who grew up in America to write down the dessert that most reminded them of summer, I’d bet some good cash that Smores would end up on top. Since memorial day is the unofficial kick off of the summer season, I wanted to reinvent this iconic treat to welcome in the season.

Ingredients:

Batter:

20 oz cream cheese

1/4 cup Greek yogurt

3/4 cup of sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup melted chocolate (I used 56%, because that’s what I had)

2 tbs unsweetened cocoa

Crust:

9 graham crackers

1 tbs brown sugar

1/2 stick of butter, melted

Topin:

3 cups mini marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350

In a stand mixer (this is what I used, if you want to use a hand mixer, it’ll be OK) combine the cream cheese, Greek yogurt and the sugar, beat until well combined. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend well.

scc-kitchenaidIna food processor, add the graham crackers and the brown sugar and pulse until nothin is left but crumbs

scc-crust-crumbsThen add the melted butter and pulse until it looks like wet sand

scc-crsut-wet-sandAdd 1 tbs of the crust to each well of a muffin tin and pack well into the bottom (you can use cupcake papers to make it easier to get them out of the pan, if you’d like)

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scc-crust-in-pan

Top the crust with 1/4 cup of the batter, making the batter nearly flush with the top of the muffin pan, slightly below

scc-batter-in-pantop with mini marshmallows, about 1-2 tbs, making sure to keep clear of the far edge so that the marshmallows don’t adhere to the pan. Press down slightly on the marshmallows

sccmarshmallos-in-panBake for 25 minutes. Allow to cool completely before attempting to remove them from the pan. If you are having a hard time getting these little suckers out of the pan, place the entire pan in the freezer for about 15 minutes and then run a butter knife under hot water for a few minutes and run it around the edge of the cheesecakes to loosen them up.

To give them that campfire taste, run a kitchen torch over them for a few minutes.

scc-finished-bruleeOK, so you don’t actually need to light them on fire, unless you are one of those charred marshmallow types.

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scc-final-3

Savory French Toast

I love french toast. I’ll take it in any form I can get it. Here is my version for those of you who don’t want to start your day with a large dose of sugary goodness. Although you are free to cook your eggs as you see fit, I have a strong urge to beat the people who like a well cooked yolk. After all, it’s natures perfect sauce.

Ingredients:

2 cups of whole milk

2 eggs + additional 8 eggs

½ tsp onion powder

¼ tsp smoked paprika

1/8 tsp sea salt

½ tsp black pepper

Cooking spray

8 slices of bread

8 slices of bacon, cooked

Serves 4.  In an appropriately sized bowl, add the milk, 2 eggs, onion powder, paprika, salt and pepper and beat until well combined. Heat a pan over medium high heat, lightly coat with cooking spray. Soak the bread, one at a time, in the milk mixture for about 30 seconds.  Cook the bread on each side until goldeny brown, about 2 minutes per side. Cook eggs over medium so that the whites are mostly cooked and the yolks are still runny. Top the bread with one slice of bacon, cut in half and then an egg.

Downloadable recipe

Savory French Toast

Drunken Southern Scones: Bourbon Peach

I came across these adorable small little white peaches at my local market. Beautiful, firm, fragrant and adorable. I walked around the store muttering to myself, “Peaches, Peaches, what goes with peaches…” Ginger? Too trite. Blueberry? Too expected. Tequila? Hmmm…too “Spring Break Hangover.” Bourbon just seemed to fit the bill. I love cooking with bourbon, the sweetness is a perfect complement to the peaches. The vessel for my bourbon soaked peaches? Scones. Drunken Southern Scones.

scone-peach-bourbon-bottle

If you don’t have the adorable small versions, a regular size peach is fine.  I leave the skin on, but feel free to take it off if that’s what you like. While cutting these little guys, the peach seeds broke in half more often than not. Out came the mellon baller, a perfect sollution

scones-peach-pit-baller

Preheat oven to 375.

Dice two cups of peaches

scones-2-cups

In a pan, over medium heat, add 4 tbs butter, 1 cup sugar and your diced peaches

scones-peaches-pan-start

Cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes. You will know that the peaches will be ready once the sauce leaves a track behind when you drag your spoon through it

scones-pan-track

Then add a 1/4 cup of bourbon (I like Buffalo Trace) and stir over medium heat until the sauce thickens again, about 3 minutes

scones-bourbon-pour

At some point while the peaches are cooking, start the dry ingredients. 3 cups of flour, 2 1/2 tsp baking powder, pinch of salt, 1/2 tsp baking soda, whisk together in a bowl and form a well in the middle.

scones-flour-well

After the peaches have cooled, add them to the middle of the well you have created in the dry ingredients,

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stir together until well combined with the dry ingredients. It will be flaky and crumbly. Add 1/3 cup Greek yogurt and stir until a soft dough forms.

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Mound the dough onto a floured surface and form a log that is about 14 inches long by 1 1/2 inches tall

scones-log

Cut into 6 to 7 equal sized  slices

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then cut the slices diagnoaly to form two triangles for each slice

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Bake in the oven at 375 for about 12-15 minutes or until goldeny brown.

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Mix 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tbs lemon juice and 1/2 tsp water in bowl

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Once the scones have cooled, drizzle glaze on top and allow to set.

scones-finishedscones-finished-bowlscones-finished-bowl-2

 

Doughnuts With Dark Chocolate Ganche Glaze

Mr. Fits loves the idea of homemade doughnuts. In fact, one of the first conversations I ever had with him was about how he wanted to own a bar that served high end doughnuts. And it only took us 15 years to make our first attempt at making these ourselves. I do have to pause a second to talk about the deep fryer. Mr. Fits is super excited about this deep fryer, he even did research. He’s more of an impulsive shopper when it comes to…well, just about everything so I was VERY impressed that he spent so much time reading product reviews before hitting the BUY button. I was NOT excited about the fact that he bought it about 3 months after I had Tater and was JUST about to lose that last 3 pounds of baby weight. Due to tempura batter and deep frying everything that wasn’t nailed down, those last three pounds did take me another 3 months. Totally Worth it.

Heat up your deep fryer to 350 or you can heat up oil in a big pot on your stove until it reaches that temp, adjusting the heat to maintain it.

First, proof the yeast. Yeast hates me, I always have trouble with it so I let Mr. Fits do it. Yeast likes him and always proofs for him. in a small bowl add 3 tbs of water that is between 100-110 degrees. sprinkle with 1 package of dry active yeast (.25 ounce) and let it get foamy, about 5 minutes.

Then in a large bowl combine:

your proofed yeast

3/4 cup  lukewarm milk

1/3 cup  white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 eggs

3 tablespoons shortening

1 cups all-purpose flour

doughnuts-mixing-bowl

Mix with a wooden spoon until just combined

doughnuts-in-bowl-mix

Add another 1 1/2 cups of flour to the dough, about 1/4 a cup at a time, until it is no longer sticky and is able to form a ball

coat the inside of a large glass bowl with oil. knead the dough a bit with your hands until soft and elastic, form into a ball and then place in your greased glass bowl.

doughnut-rise-cup

Cover it and allow it to rise until doubled in size

doughnut-dough-1st-rise

Then take your dough ball and roll it out on a lightly floured surface

doughnut-dough-rolled

Mr. Fits really wanted square doughnuts. He just used a knife to cut the dough, but you can use biscuit cutters if you want them in circles. I like the squares, no waste and they turned out pretty darn cute

doughnut-cut

Cover with a light cloth or paper towels and allow your little doughnuts to rise again until doubled in size, about an hour.

Drop the doughnuts in to the hot oil and allow to cook on each side for about 2 minutes or until puffy and golden. We used chopsticks to turn the doughnuts

doughnut-frying

Don’t crowd the fryer, just a few at a time.

doughnut-frying1

The glaze!! We used 12 ounces (1 1/2 cups) of 60% chocolate,1 tsp instant espresso powder, 2 tbs of butter, and 3/4 cup heavy cream. Put the chocolate chunks in a bowl with the espresso powder. In another bowl, add the cream and the butter and microwave until steamy. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and stir until combine. OK, if you have never made ganche the last step takes longer than you expect. at some point during the stirring your will look at the mess that looks like chunky hot chocolate and think “That girl lies!! This looks terrible, Did I do it wrong??” and then your will keep stirring, and stirring and then at some point you will think, “Oh…wait.. it looks great. I kinda want to lick it and give that Domestic Fits girl and big chocolaty kiss.” At that point, it’s done.

Once your cute doughnuts are out of the fryer and cooled,

doughnut-just-out-of-fryer

dip them in the chocolate and let them set

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Really cute, right?

Aqua + Black + White Bridal Shower

My Adorable little sister is getting hiched next month. My eqauly as adorable older sister and I planned a bridal shower using Little Sisters wedding colors.

We had the candy buffet:

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I made lables for the take away boxes that we gave to all the guests

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And of course, there were cupcakes

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The food was lovely,

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we had

Goat Cheese and Flank Steak Crustinis

crustini-with-label_0-2ts-crustini

Roasted Chicken Salad on Crosants

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Caprese Skewers

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Fruit Skewers

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Meatball Sliders with Pesto Sauce

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For the drinks we had a lovely Peach Sangria as well as Jones Soda’s that matched her colors

ts-sangria2ts-jones-3ts-jones-sodats-jones-soda2

My favorite of all was the photo banner that I made using a Chipboard Book Kit (http://www.stuff4scrapbooking.com/6-x8-with-8-pages-2-rings-chip-art-chipboard-bracket-book-kit-466594.html) I covered each page with paper that matched her wedding colors by tracing the shape, cutting it out, and then using spray adhesive to attach the paper to the book page. I then used pictures of the couple and photo corners on each page. I strung the pages up with a ribbon and put a color coordinating pinwheel at each end

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When the party was over, I used binder rings to make it into a book that she can put on the guest book table at her wedding

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I love you little sister and I wish you a long and happy marriage.

Braised Chipotle Orange Oxtails

Oxtails scare me a bit. Not really because of what they are, but the gamey-ness is hard to tackle at times. This recipe was inspired by Carne Asada, another cut of meat that finds a delicious outcome only after the right treatment. A reminder that there really isn’t a “throw away” cut of meat, just ones that need the right touch.

Braising just means you brown the meat first, and then slow cook it in liquid. Really similar to pot roasting, although much more fancy sounding.

You’ll need about 4-6 large oxtails. The most often overlooked step in successful browning is to pat the meat dry. Sounds really counter intuitive, to REMOVE moisture when you want your meet juicy, but its important, just trust me. After the patting, season the meat with salt, pepper, onion powder and smoked paprika and don’t be shy.

oxtails-seasonedRoll them in flour

oxtails-flouredCut up half of an onion and saute in a cast iron pot in about 1/4 cup of olive oil

oxtails-onions-sauteOnce they are translucent and soft, take them out and set them a side. You’ll be putting them back in the pot soon.

Brown the oxtails on all sides, it’ll take about 10 minutes, work in batches if you have to. Add more olive oil if the pot starts to get dry, you want a thin layer at all times

oxtails-browningAdd all of the following to the pot:

your previously sautéed onions

2 cups of red wine

3 cups of sliced tomatoes

3 cloves of garlic, minces

3 chipotle chilies (from a can in Adobo sauce) chopped up, plus about 1 tbs of the Adobo sauce

2 tbs cummin

juice from 3 large oranges

pinch of salt and pepper

oxtails-begining-braiselower the heat to maintain a low simmer and put the lid on. Cook for 2 1/2 hours, stir occasionally. Then take the lid off and add 1 tbs Grade B Maple syrup, juice from 2 more oranges and simmer uncovered until the sauce reduces and thickens a bit, about 20 minutes. Serve over rice

oxtails-done

Strawberry Basil Tart with Lime Curd

Strawberry season comes in fierce here in California. All of the sudden, those red little beauties are everywhere and so cheap, they’re practically free. This week, at my favorite local market, I bought 3 pounds for only $2.50. So let the baking begin!

tart-fruitPreheat oven to 350

The crust. My favorite part of any tart. I used lemon shortbread cookies, about three cups in my food processor

tart-lemon-cookiesAdd five tbs of melted butter and 2 tbs of brown sugar. The brown sugar will give you a nice caramel flavor that you won’t get with white sugar. Pulse away until it looks like wet sand

tart-crust-in-fpSpray the inside of your tart pan with butter flavored cooking spray. I like to dump the contents of my food processor into the tart pan (use a tart pan with a removable bottom) and then assemble the sides before packing the bottom, it makes it easier to get even, sturdy sides

tart-crust-sidesThen move on to the bottom and pack it really tight

tart-crustCook tart crust for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned, allow to cool.

Then make the curd. It’s really an unappealing term for such a lovely treat. Lime curd is:

2 tbs lime zest

5 egg yolks

1/2 cup white sugar

3/4 cup lime juice

5 tbs unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Add the first 4 ingredients to a bowl and mix well then add to a pan over medium/low heat along with the butter

tart-lime-curd-panWhisk until thickened, about 8 minutes

tart-lime-curd-pan2Pour the curd into the cooled tart crust and chill until set, about 15-20 minutes.

Then I made some whipped cream. Not because this was my original plan but because I felt there was a desperate need, and because I love homemade whipped cream. Now, you can add this to the top, but I didn’t want to hide the beauty of the berries under all of that fluff, so I added it to the middle.

3/4 cup whipping cream, 1/4 cup sugar, blend in a stand mixer on high for about 4 minutes or until stiff peaks form. Add this to the top of the cooled and set curd.

Cut the berries. I make two cuts down the center of the strawberry like this

tart-starwberry-4-cutThen chop them to make little triangle pieces, about 1 1/2 cups total

Then stack up about 5 basil leaves and roll them up tight like a cigar and chop them really finely to make skinny tiny ribbons

tart-basil-rollThen add the berries and the basil (about 1 tbs) to a bowl with 1/4 cup of powdered sugar

tart-strawberries-basil-bowlMix away until well combined and then add it to the top of the tart and serve fairly immediately.

If you plan to make the tart ahead of time, it really doesn’t sit well. You can make the tart crust, curd and whipped cream (store curd and whipped cream in Tupperware), cut the strawberries and basil but keep them separate, and assemble it all right before serving.

tart-finished2
tart-finished

Savory Bacon Garlic Cheesecake

Savory cheesecake. Really, an invention of necessity. I want cheesecake, but it’s not dessert time. The solution? Pre-diner cheesecake. Brilliant. Then add the candy of the meat world: Bacon. Yum. E.
    Prep time: 20 minutes | Cook time: 35 minutes | Total time: 55 minutes | Servings: 8
  • 5 Large cloves of garlic, unpeeled
  • 1 tsp. of olive oil
  • 1/8 tsp. of salt
  • 5 Strips of bacon
  • 1 1/2 cups of Ritz Crackers
  • 5 tbsp. of melted butter (unsalted)
  • 16 ounces of  Cream Cheese
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/4 tsp. of salt
  • 1/2 tsp. of pepper
  • 1/2 tsp. of smoked paprika
  • 1 tbsp. of fresh rosemary, minced
  • 1/4 cups of sour cream
  • 1 baguette, thinly sliced and toasted (optional, for serving)
Steps
  1. Roast the garlic: (your kitchen is about to smell SOOO good) Preheat the oven to 400. Place the five cloves of garlic on a small sheet of aluminium foil. Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with the 1/8 tsp salt. Fold up the aluminium foil into a tight pouch; you don’t want any of that goodness to seep out. Roast in the oven until garlic cloves are soft, about 20 minutes. Allow to cool (seriously, you really want to allow those suckers to cool) then remove the skins. Once garlic is done cooking, reduce oven temp to 350.
  2. Bacon time: While the garlic is roasting, cook the bacon in a skillet over medium heat, turning frequently. Again, your kitchen probably smells so amazing that you may need to lock your doors. Remove bacon from the pan once it is dark pink and the fat is mostly rendered, allow to cool on paper towels.
  3. Crust o’clock: In a food processor, add the crackers and pulse until reduced to crumbs and then add the butter, pulse until all that remains is a beautiful, buttery, crumbly pile that looks like wet sand. Press the cracker crumbs into the bottom of a 6 inch spring form pan.
  4. Blend well: in a stand mixer, add the cream cheese, your yummy garlic, eggs, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, rosemary, sour cream and mix the crap out of it. Seriously, don’t be shy, show that cream cheese who’s boss.
  5. Puttin’ it all together: Add the cream cheese mixture to the spring form pan. Chop the cooled bacon and sprinkle over the top of the cheese cake (it’s OK if you take a nibble or two of the yummy bacon).
  6. Bake: In the oven for 35 minutes or until top is golden brown. Allow to cool completely and serve with bread, or eat alone. And by alone, I don’t mean "by yourself" because, really, if you have a Bacon Garlic Cheesecake, you will never be lonely again. Enjoy!!

Caramelized Pineapple Shortcakes with Vermouth Whipped Cream

Why should strawberries have all the fun? Shortcakes are an amazing vessel for so many different types of fruit. Now that the fruit producing summer is almost upon us, the shortcake options are limitless. Blueberry Balsamic, Spiced Apple, Raspberry Apricot…great, now I just want to stop typing and go bake some more! There is a good chance there will be more bake good posts shortly.

Ingredients:

Shortcakes:

2 cups of flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/8 tsp salt (pinch)

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 stick unsalted chilled butter, cut into small cubes

3/4 cup heavy cream

2 egg yolks

1/4 tsp butter extract

Pineapples:

I large pineapple, rind and core removed, diced

2 tbs butter

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup white sugar

Whipped Cream:

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup white sugar

2 tbs vermouth

This is the Pineapple that inspired this dessert. He was delivered to me in my weekly produce delivery from Love Deliveries out of Venice Beach. He just sat on the counter begging to be used (cue Bill Withers “Use Me”)

shortcakes-pine-wholePreheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder together. Add the butter cubes and mash it through with your fingers until all the butter cubes are completely mixed.

shortcakes-flour-butter-bowlIn a small bowl, add the cream, yolks and butter extract and mix until well combined. Add the cream mixture to the flour mixture and stir with a fork until just combined, don’t over mix of your dough will be tough.

shortcake-dough-in-bowlThen put the big dough lump on a floured surface

shortcake-dough-lumpJust knead the dough three times. Three times? You ask. Yes, that’s my magic Shortcakes dough kneading number. Two isn’t enough and four may just be too many. Roll a rolling pin over Dough Lump, one or two times in each direction, or until the dough is about one inch thick. Then cut out circles with a 3 inch biscuit cutter. This will make about 9.

shortcakes-dough-cutPlace the shortcakes on a greased cookie sheet and bake until they are golden brown, about 12 minutes.

shortcakes-on-baking-sheetAdd all the pineapple ingredients to a large skillet over medium high heat.

shortcakes-pine-butter-sug-panStir constantly until the sugar and butter has reduced so much that it looks like the pan only contains pineapple and frothy bubbles, about 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat to check the consistency, you want the caramel sauce thick and to leave a large track when you drag your spatula through it.

shortcakes-pine-in-pan-endWhipped cream: In a stand mixer, add all the whipped cream ingredients. Mix on high with the whisk attachment until stiff peaks form, about 4 minutes. I love the subtle flavor of vermouth. It really is an over looked liquor with a nice finish and should not just be relegated to martinis. Next time your are looking for a nice smooth drinkin’ liquor, try vermouth on the rocks with a lemon. This is the one I use for baking and stressful days:http://www.melandrose.com/istar.asp?a=6&id=91496&utm_source=Vinquire&utm_medium=WineFeed&utm_content=Dolin+Blanc+Vermouth&utm_campaign=base&v_traceback=c0405_0531_f0501_0253

Once the shortcakes are baked and cooled, cut them in half the long way. I stacked them up in this order, using 3 shortcake halves: Shortcake, pineapples with sauce, whipped cream, repeat. Then top with a final shortcake.

shortcake-finished