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Archive for the ‘Recipes’ Category

Broccoli Cauliflower Salad (Christmas Salad)

Posted in Recipes, Salads, tagged , , , on October 21, 2011| Leave a Comment »

A few years ago, I was looking for a festive, fun salad to make for a holiday dinner. Coming across a recipe for a broccoli cauliflower salad it sounded good right up to the raisins.

I’m not so fond of raisins. Apparently the feeling is mutual. So we avoid each other at all costs. The last time I ate a raisin was when I was 8-years-old and my mom made me eat a bowl of Raisin Bran. I was so sick all day. And we happened to be in Disneyland. It goes without saying, I’ve held a long and ardent grudge against raisins.

I also wasn’t wild about the dressing used on the salad which involved onions (ick!).

So I improvised and this is what I came up with. Even Captain Cavedweller likes it and that is saying a lot!

The colors are fun and festive and really do look pretty on a holiday table.

(Yes, I realize it is a bit early to be thinking about Christmas but I am in the downhill slide of finishing up my Holiday Entertaining tips book so my head has been firmly entrenched in the holidays for weeks, now).

 

 

Broccoli Cauliflower Salad (Christmas Salad)

2 cups of fresh cauliflower, chopped into bite-sized pieces

2 cups of fresh broccoli, chopped into bite-sized pieces

1/2 cup toasted sunflower seeds

1 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup buttermilk ranch dressing

Cut up broccoli and cauliflower florets, stir in cranberries, sunflower seeds and dressing (I just use the bottled dressing, but you could make your own if you are feeling the need to work extra hard). Sprinkle a few extra seeds and cranberries on top in the center and serve.

She Who Likes Easy Recipes

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Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars with Crumb Topping

Posted in Cookies, Desserts, Entertaining at Home, Recipes, tagged , , , on October 14, 2011| 2 Comments »

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars with Crumb Topping

The other day I had a craving for pumpkin cheesecake which somehow morphed into the idea of pumpkin cheesecake bars which turned into pumpkin cheesecake bars with crumb topping. Unable to find a recipe I liked, I made up my own.

So there!

It actually turned out pretty good, or at least that is what the taste testers told me. Some asked for seconds, but I only brought a limited few to work. Sorry guys! Next time there is taste testing to be done, I’ll make sure I bring extra samples!

So, without further ado…

Ingredients

Crust Mixture

Crumb mixture in the pan. Press in lightly.

Mix up the pumpkin filling.

Pour filling over cooked crust.

Sprinkle with crumb topping.

Bake for 25 minutes.

When cool, cut into bars. Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to two days - if they last that long.

If you want to make these even better, drizzle on a little (or a lot) of caramel sauce.

Then enjoy! Sharing is optional.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars with Crumb Topping

Crust

1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats

1 1/4 cups flour

3/4 cups brown sugar, firmly packed

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup butter, room temperature

Filling

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature

3/4 cup canned pumpkin pie filling

1/2 cup sugar

1 large egg

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine oats, flour, brown sugar, salt, baking soda, and butter. Beat until mixture is crumbly. Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the crumb mixture, pressing the remaining mixture into a greased 13 x 9 x 2- inch baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes.

Mix cream cheese, pumpkin pie filling, sugar, egg, and cinnamon. Beat until well blended and smooth. Spread filling over hot crust then top with remaining crumb mixture. Return to oven and bake 25 minutes.

Cool and cut into bars. You can make this a couple days ahead of time but keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

If you want to get wild and crazy, drizzle the tops of the bars with caramel or chocolate sauce, or both. Also, try serving bars with Dulce de Leche ice cream. See if that doesn’t make you melt in a puddle.

Note – if you like nuts, you can add 1/2 cup of finely chopped pecan to the crust mixture. You could also put toasted pecan halves on top of each bar before you drizzle with caramel.

She Who Loves Pumpkin Sweets

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Vanilla Panna Cotta with Raspberry Coulis

Posted in Desserts, Puddings and Custards, Recipes, tagged , , , , on September 30, 2011| 3 Comments »

Captain Cavedweller and I were invited to an Italian themed potluck last week. Trying to think of a fun dessert to make, I finally decided on Panna Cotta. The custard is so yummy, especially when paired with one of my other favorites – raspberries!

I didn’t have any leftovers, so I guess it was a hit!

The cast of characters

Begin by sprinkling gelatin over 1/4 cup cold milk.

Add sugar to the cream

Add in vanilla, stir well and cook for about four minutes or until sugar is dissolved.

Side Note: This is where I must fess up. I had a brilliant plan to make mini panna cotta molds using a  muffin-tin and cupcake papers. That plan was not so brilliant in reality as it was in my head. Which is why there are no photos between this point and the point of making the coulis. I just couldn’t bring myself to show you the disaster. I ended up taking the panna cotta to the potluck in espresso cups, which actually turned out quite lovely and fun, but I did manage to salvage one of the molds to take the photo you see here today. If I was going to go the mold routine again, I’d opt for silicone cupcake molds. I think that might work quite well. Maybe. Or paper cups – little Dixie cups. Or not…

Okay, on with the recipe…

Set aside a handful of raspberries for garnish. Sprinkle with sugar (I tried Raw Sugar and that was a good choice!) and let set over night along with the panna cotta. Cover with plastic wrap or put in a resealable bowl.

Mix berries, sugar and lemon juice in a heavy pan and cook on medium heat until berries are thick – about 10-15 minutes.

Cook until thick and bubbly and the delicious berry smell makes your knees a bit wobbly.

Run the berries through a strainer to get all the seeds and pulp out. Use the back of a spoon to press the juice through. Or if you are one of those lucky people with nifty kitchen gadgets that I drool over, you can do this whole process in your food processor.

Pour over Vanilla Panna Cotta and enjoy! You can save the coulis, tightly covered in the fridge for about four days. It is also yummy on ice cream, pudding, yogurt, pound cake, a spoon…

Vanilla Panna Cotta

A silky custard, made without egg…

1 3/4oz envelope unflavored gelatin

1 cup cold milk, divided

1 ¾ cups heavy cream

¼ cup granulated sugar

1½ tsp. vanilla extract

Sprinkle gelatin over ¼ cup milk in a small bowl. Stir until moistened. Let stand five minutes (it will be lumpy).

Cook heavy cream, granulated sugar and vanilla in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally for about four minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add gelatin mixture, stirring until completely dissolved. Add in  remaining ¾ cup milk. Stir in then pour mixture into six 4-ounce dessert glasses or wineglasses. Cover with plastic wrap and chill eight hours. If you have some forms that are easy to get treats out of, you can pour panna cotta into them. I would recommend silicone or something that is easy to work with.

Top with Berry Coulis, and  fresh raspberry or two for garnish. If you wanted to go wild, you could also shave some chocolate on top or drizzle a bit of chocolate sauce.

Berry Coulis

2 cups fresh raspberries

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

Rinse berries then cook with sugar and lemon juice over medium heat in  heavy saucepan until sauce is thick, stirring occasionally. This is going to take about 10-15 minutes.

When the berries have cooked down and thickened, run through a strainer to remove the seeds and pulp. Press it through with a spoon. The end result is a magically wonderful sauce that you literally want to eat with a spoon.

Enjoy!

She Who Liked this Way Too Much!

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Pigs in a Blanket

Posted in Easy Recipes, Entertaining at Home, Fast Recipes, Kid's Food, tagged , , on September 23, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Pigs in a Blanket

Any of you who have high cholesterol, high sodium issues, are on a diet or your arteries could explode if you eat too much butter, please ignore today’s post and check back next week for a delicious dessert.

For those of you who feel like living on the edge, read on!

We’re making Pigs in a Blanket today!

These are easy, fast and when you make them wickedly calorie-laden, so yummy!

Ingredients

Unfold crescents so you have individual triangles. Place one brat on the fat end and roll dough all around the brat, pinching dough to seal any openings. The camera battery died at this point and I had to switch to the old not-so-fancy camera, so I apologize in advance for the rest of the photos!

 

Once your little "pig" is wrapped up tightly in the "blanket" brush melted butter all over the outside of it.

 

Sprinkle on some chunky sea salt.

 

Pop in the oven and bake about 15 minutes until golden brown.

 

Pigs in a Blanket

 

Pigs in a Blanket

Package of Beef Brat Sausages

Tube of Crescent Rolls

Butter, melted

Salt

Roll Brats in crescent dough. Brush with melted butter. Sprinkle with salt. Bake in 375 degree oven until golden brown and enjoy!

She Who Should Not Eat These Ever

 

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