Believe it or not, summer is almost over and thoughts sometimes jump ahead. When entertaining, these are to be considered a gift from heaven…..even your hips will agree!
- 8 oz. good quality milk chocolate
- 4 oz. good quality bittersweet chocolate
- 1/3 cup whipping cream
- 2 tbsp. unsalted butter
- pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup Irish Cream liqueur
- 1 glass for you (just kidding)
- 1/3 cup pure cocoa
- 1/3 cup icing sugar or finely chopped pistachios
Chop the chocolate and put in a food chopper, process until fine.
In a saucepan, combine the cream, salt and butter until boiling. Add the chocolate and stir until combined. Place in a plastic container and cover, putting in the refrigerataor to chill and become firm.
Use a fruit baller or tsp, drop onto parchment paper lined cookie sheet, gently roll until completely round and roll in the cocoa or icing sugar or nuts. Yumm.
You can only test 1……okay 2…..quality control calls for 3….get my drift? WOW!
** you can use any yummy liqueur you like – white chocolate, kahlua, whatever you prefer.
Don’s Tomato Sauce From Scratch
We are blessed to live in such an area of bounty, both in fruit and vegetables. Okay, wine too! Don makes this, freezes some, and all throughout the winter we can enjoy this in so many different dishes.
- 10 lbs of tomatoes (this time Heritage tomatoes)
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion
- 6 garlic cloves
- coarse salt and pepper
- 2 tbsp. tomato sauce
- small bunch each of :
- fresh oregano, basil, tarragon, thyme and italian parsley, all finely chopped
- 1 tbsp. oil
Cut an X in the bottom of the tomato. In a big pot with boiling water, add the tomatoes and boil for 30 seconds. Remove and plunge in an ice bath. Peel the skin from the tomatoes and chop to a medium consistency.
Heat oil and add the onions, cooking until transparent. Add the garlic and cook for a moment but be careful not to burn the garlic.
Add the tomato paste, cooking for another 1-2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, and herbs, bring to the boil and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
Add the salt and pepper. Cool completely and store in freezer bags as much as you will need for each time you make a recipe up. eg. 1 cup or 2 cups .
When making spaghetti sauce, simply cook 1 lb ground beef and then add to the sauce. Voila!!!
Lemon Ice Cream Pie
With summer coming to a close and the long weekend coming, this would make a great dessert for that bbq you are planning.
- 1/2 gallon best quality vanilla ice cream (Tillamook or Chapman’s)
- 1 6 oz can lemonade
- 2 8 inch pie crusts (graham)
- cracker crumbs for garnish
Soften the ice cream – not melt
Thaw the lemonade. Beat them together to a creamy texture. Fill both pie shells and freeze until needed. Be sure to cover with parchment then tin foil.
When ready to serve, sprinkle with graham crumbs and, of course, whipping cream. Well? Whew, another hard dessert done. HAH!
West Texas Baked Beans
Don says to tell you this is “our” style. They are good…just not as good as mine. Now, how’s that for competition? No, truly, they are really tasty. I am only teasing him.
- 3 cups navy beans
- 1/2 lb. bacon
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 tsp. chile powder
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 can beer (your choice)
- 1/8 cup molasses
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1/4 tsp dry mustard
- 1 tbsp. worchestershire sauce
- pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper
Soak beans overnight. Bring to a boil for 30 minutes, let stand and then drain.
Cook bacon until crisp and set aside, reserving 3 tbsp. of fat. Add the onion, chile powder and garlic and saute for about 5 minutes until the onions are soft and set aside. Deglaze the pan with 1/4 cup of beer.
Return the beans to the stockpot, adding water at least 2 inches higher than the beans. Add the sauteed onions and deglazing liquid. Add the remainder of the beer (I hope you didn’t drink it already) and the remaining ingredients.
Simmer on the stove for about 3 hours, stirring occasionally. Finish in a 250 degree oven for a further 1 1/2 – 2 hours until the beans are nice and thick).
Now, add your own steak, pulled pork sandwich, hot dog….you get the picture.
Last Moment Pickles
Company’s coming in the hour, table set, dinner under control……almost. You need pickles and the fridge is bare. Try this recipe…takes only a couple of minutes. It is fresh! It is different! Everyone will want the recipe.
- 6 large radishes, very thinly sliced crosswise
- 1 cucumber, very thinly sliced, crosswise
- 1 sweet onion, peeled, thinly sliced crosswise
- 1 tsp. dried pink peppercorns
- 1 tsp. grated ginger
- 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
- pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp. sugar
In a medium bowl, combine the radishes, cucumber, onion and peppercorns. Place the ginger in a small piece of cheesecloth and squeeze the juice into the vegetables, discard all the flesh.
Combine vinegar, salt and sugar in a saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring until all the sugar has dissolved and it just comes to the boil.
Pour the dressing over the vegetables, toss well. Remove the veggies from the liquid and transfer to a serving bowl. Serve right away.
Did I just hear you mutter “damn I did this?”
Blackberry and Lime Muffins
I am so used to making muffins that, since we moved, I don’t make them as much but I still make them whenever and as often as I can. This one is a really nice recipe. It is actually a take on my blueberry muffins (from my cookbook).
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 tsp. baking powder
- pinch of salt
- grated rind of one lime
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter, not margarine
1 pint of fresh blackberries (I use 1 -2 tbsp. sugar sprinkled over the top and lighty tossed) to eliminate the really sour bite. Omit it if you wish.
Preheat oven to 425 and spray Pam on your muffin tins and set aside.
In a medium size bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, grated lime, salt and baking powder. Melt the butter in a glass measuring cup and add the milk. Whisk in the egg and, after making a well in the dry ingredients, add the liquids all at once.
Carefully, fold this together (do not over mix). Fold in the blackberries. I use an ice cream scoop to fill the tins. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. They should be lightly golden on top. Test to be sure they are cooked.
Turn out on a cooling rack and place a large dollop of cream cheese icing mixed with 1 tbsp. whipping cream over the top to melt and slide down the sides of the muffin. The use of the whipping cream takes away the sweetness attack from the icing.
Absolute heaven and your house smells fabulous. Now…..what do you take in yourcoffee?
** Splenda size envelopes as what you would find in restaurants for your coffee.
Chocolate Torte
Years ago, we were in a Mediterranean Shop and I found the Torte Wafers or Tarte Gaufrettes and I fell in love with the concept of this dessert.
One thing I found out for sure.. they didn’t give the exact instructions (at least not in English) and the first one I thought I was whipping this stuff for about 2 hours. Not so..little soon-to-be-damn-I-can-do-this cooks.
- 7 oz. melted chocolate
- 6 egg yolks
- 1 1/2-2 cups whipping cream
- 8 oz. butter
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 7 oz. ground roasted hazelnuts
Mix the sugar, egg yolks and cream in a pre-heated pot and warm them up. Stir well with a wooden spoon until foamy. Stir in the butter, add the melted chocolate and ground hazelnuts. Mix well.
Cool this down a bit – and on high, beat in the electric mixer until light, fluffy and will hold soft peaks. Don ‘t panic…it make take a while.
Cut the wafers in half with a very sharp knife. Fill the wafers, one on top of the other. Press lightly together and chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Make sure you had enough of the filling to cover the outside completely. Sprinkle more nuts on top and with a SHARP knife, slice.
Corn on the Cob Soup
Gotcha! This soup is absolutely perfect this time of year. Tis the season for corn. Try this and you will absolutely love it.
- 4 tbsp. butter
- 1/2 cup onion
- 4 cups corn, just cut from the cob
- pinch of kosher salt
- 1-2 tbsp. sugar
- 2-3 cups milk
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg, plus additional for garnish
In a saucepn, melt the butter and gently saute the onion for about 5 minutes until tender. Do not brown.
Add 3 1/2 cups of the corn and sprinkle with a pinch of kosher salt. Stir well and cook for about 5-6 minutes. Now stir in the sugar.
In a medium saucepan combine the milk and the cream and warm over medium heat until heated through. Pour the corn mixture over the milk and over medium heat, cook to just a simmer. Remove from the heat and let it cool slightly.
Pour about 1/3 of the soup in a blender and puree until smooth. Pour a fine strainer over a bowl and allow the soup to drain through. Repeat until all done. Transfer all the soup back into the saucepan and reheat, this time whisking in the nutmeg.
The corn is its own thickner but if you want it thinner, add a touch more milk. I love a nice thick soup so I find it quite lovely as it is.
Pour into warm soup bowls, and again lightly grate some nutmeg over top and place a tsp or two of the remaining corn on top. OMG this is yummy.
Serve with warm slices of honey corn bread and a chilled glass of white wine. If this is heaven, send me there!
Rum Cake-The Best
This is one of my very favourite cakes to make. The flavour is wonderful.
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1 pkg yellow cake mix (18 1/2 oz. size)
- 1 pkg Jello Vanilla instant pudding/pie filling
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 cup cold water
- 1/2 cup cooking oil
- 1/2 cup amber rum
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 10 inch tube pan. Sprinkle the nuts over the bottom of the pan.
Mix all ingredients together. Pour batter over the nuts and bake for 1 hour.
Cool and invert on a serving plate. Prick the top with a fork and drizzle the smooth glaze all over the top. Allow the glaze to be soaked in and repeat until all the glaze is gone.
Glaze
- 1/2 lb. butter
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup amber rum
Melt butter in a saucepan.Whisk in the water and sugar. Boil for 5 minutes, constantly stirring. Remove from heat. Stir in the rum.
Serve with great flair and add a dollop of whipped cream…..just ‘cuz.
Broccoli Casserole
This is definitely a different way to serve broccoli and might be super good for children to eat their vegetables.
- 1 1/2 lbs. chopped broccoli
- 1 slice of bread, torn into pieces
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 cup cubed cheese
- 2 tbsp. flour
- pinch of salt
- 1/8 tsp dry mustard
- pinch of pepper
- 2 hard cooked eggs, chopped coarsely
- 2 tbsp butter, melted
Steam broccoli until tender, and drain well. Set aside
Place bread in a blender and blend until coarse crumbs and set aside. In the blender now combine the milk, cheese, flour, mustard and pepper. Blend until smooth.
Combine this with the broccoli and hard cooked eggs. Turn this into a greased casserole dish. Combine the reserved bread crumbs with the melted butter and sprinkle over the casserole.
Bake for 35-40 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Tastes pretty good when served with ham.
Quick and Easy Cheese Sauce
For the Blue Cheese Lover….this is for you. This is absolutely delicious over broccoli. Any leftovers can be reheated with no harm done.
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
- 3 – 4 tbsp. cream
- dash of tabasco
- pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp thinly sliced green onions
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until the onion is finely chopped.
Heat through but do not boil. This makes 1 1/4 cups.
Coconut Eggnog – Puerto Rico style
This is a great homemade drink to offer guests. The glasses are small and cold when serving and absolutely delicious.
- 4 cups unsweetened coconut milk
- 6 tbsp. sugar
- 8 large egg yolks
- 2 tsp. vanilla
- 6-8 tbsp. dark or spiced rum
- 1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
Combine the milk and sugar in a saucepan and bring to scalding.
In a medium bowl, beat the yolks with vanilla. beat 1/4 of the milk mixture into the yolks and whisk all the yolk mixture in the milk. Stirring constantly, cook over low heat until it coats the back of a spoon. Do not let this boil.
Strain in to a bowl and stir in the rum. Let stand to cool down to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until completely chilled.
Chill the glasses as well. When serving sprinkle a whisper of nutmeg on top. Enjoy!
What a wonderful way to make friends.