Chocolate Ice Cream

One of my granddaughters, Lily, is allergic to eggs.  In order to allow her to enjoy ice cream at Thanksgiving, I developed this recipe for chocolate ice cream.  It has a very low sugar content and very few calories.  Enjoy!

Pre-chill  two (2) ice cream maker inserts in freezer for 24 hours.

Chocolate Ice Cream

8 oz. of unsweetened  chocolate (Ghiradelli)

4 oz. of Hershey’s chocolate sauce

1 Bailey’s nip

1 Kahlua nip

2 tbl. of Nutella

1 tbl. of coffee (Kona brewed strong)

Pinch of Chili pepper or paprika

14 ounces of Eagle sweetened condensed milk

Melt the unsweetened chocolate squares with the chocolate sauce,  Nutella, nips and coffee.  Mix all ingredients and chill until you put them into your ice cream machine.  This makes about 3 quarts of ice cream.

Antipasto

Antipasto

Baby romaine lettuce
Salami
Prosciutto
Baby tomatoes
Black olives
Pepperoncini
Italian Dressing


Add whatever suits your fancy

Steak and Cheese Sandwich

Steak and Cheese Sandwich

Two pieces of toasted, buttered Italian bread

Leftover steak

Shredded parmiagiana reggiano

mayo

steak sauce

Slather toast with mayo.    On one piece of bread, shake some steak sauce.  Add steak slices.  Add grated cheese.  Reheat so that the cheese melts .

Basic bread

Bread is very easy to make.  The basic recipe is failproof.  There are only two things that will affect your attempt to make bread:  temperature inside the household and proving the yeast.  Do not try to make bread on a humid day...it simply will not rise.  Also, the yeast can be tricky.  Remember always that the temperature of the water added to yeast can be no hotter than lukewarm.  If you have a Kitchenaid, use your dough hook.  If you make your bread in a food processor, the blade should be plastic.  It is really smart to go down to Home Depot or Lowe's and buy six unglazed tiles (very cheap) and bake your bread directly on those.  You will also need a baker's peel before you attempt to make homemade bread.  I always bake with unbleached flour (King Arthur).

You will need a deep bowl that has been generously rubbed with warm butter or extra virgin olive oil and a linen towel.

Recipe:

3 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of sugar
a pinch of salt
1 pkg. of active yeast
1/4 cup of tepid water
1/4 cup of butter at room temperature

Put baking stones in oven and preheat the oven to 400F

Put all ingredients in food processor.  Process until dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl.   Put dough in deep bowl.  Cover with the linen towel.  Allow the dough to rise for about an hour.  Punch it down with your fist and kneed it a few times, then put it back in the bowl for the second rise.  Kneed it on a floured surface and then bake it for about 45 minutes.  I usually throw a cup of hot water in the oven.

Spinach Souffle

This recipe is terrific with anything and never fails.  This souffle will not collapse...  developing this was fun and this truly can be served with just about anything.  Freshly ground nutmeg rounds this out.

1 pkg. of frozen spinach, thawed

2 eggs

½ cup of butter

1 cup of Stouffer’s Chicken flavored stuffing mix, made into crumbs

½ cup of heavy cream

1 cup of parmesan cheese

freshly ground nutmeg

Salt, pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350F.

Butter a glass soufflé dish and put half of the crumbs in to keep the soufflé from sticking.

Mix all other ingredients.  Put in soufflé dish.  Bake for 30 minutes or until the soufflé rises.

Fried Chicken

Fried chicken is probably America's greatest contribution to the culinary world and regionally, hats off to the south for putting a wonderful twist on this classic dish.  This recipe reduces the calories slightly...don't eat five pieces of it of course, but it does offer a healthier twist on the original version.

Preheat oven to 400F

In a very large rectangular baking pan, put one cup of butter flavored crisco to warm up to oven interior temperature.  You will need two deep pie plates to dredge the chicken.  Have two brown paper bags and a cake rack on hand for when you remove the chicken from the oven.

Oven Fried Chicken
8 pcs. of chicken, room temperature, dried with paper towels
2 large eggs
1 cup of chicken stuffing mix (I use Stouffers)
1/4 cup of semolina flour (finely ground)
1 cup of Tri Sum original potato chips (actually, using just the Tri Sums is also fun)
salt, pepper and garlic powder

Mix the eggs with a fork adding a pinch of salt, pepper and garlic powder.  Put the egg mixture in one of the pie plates.  Put the flour mixture in the other pie plate.  Dredge each piece of chicken in the egg wash and then in the flour mixture.  Shake off excess flour.  Put on a plate and season with salt, pepper and garlic powder.

Remove baking dish from oven.  Place each piece of chicken skin side down.  Bake at 400 for half an hour.  Open oven, turn each piece of chicken over and reduce heat to 350F.  Chicken is done when golden brown (about an hour cooking time and allow chicken to rest for 15 minutes).  Remove from pan and put each piece of chicken on brown paper to absorb excess grease).

Substitute Tri Sum original style potato chips for breadcrumbs in any recipe.

White Lasagna

This lasagna is for vegetarians.  It consists of a ricotta filling, a vegetable filling and a mornay sauce.  It is rich with subtle flavors that enhance the vegetable layering.  I usually do the ricotta filling and the vegetable filling ahead and allow each to chill in the refrigerator overnight.  This allows the flavors of each filling to marry.  It is not a complicated recipe but it does take two days to complete so allow ample time for each step.  Actual cooking time for the lasagna is short because the vegetable layer is already cooked and the noodles are partially cooked.

Ricotta Filling:

32 oz. or 1 large container of fresh ricotta (please use whole milk ricotta)

4 to 6 large eggs

1 cup of parmiagiana regianno cheese --- grate another 1/4 cup for assembly

salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste

In a large mixing bowl, put ricotta.  Using a fork, add one egg at a time, beating lightly until incorporated in cheese.  Continue until all eggs are added.  Add the parmiagiana cheese.  Beat lightly.  Cover and refrigerate until assembly time.

Vegetable Filling:

2 pkgs. of frozen chopped spinach (allow to thaw out before preparing filling and run through a strainer to remove water)

2 bunches of scallions, chopped

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 pkg. of dried mushrooms, reconstituted in water (soak for about fifteen minutes)

Put 1 tbl. of butter and 1 tbl. of olive oil in a  skillet.  Over lowest heat, saute the scallions and onions.  Add the spinach and salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste.  I also minced three cloves of garlic and added them to the mixture at the end of cooking time.  Allow to cool and refrigerate overnight.

Mornay Sauce:

1 cup of heavy cream

1 stick of butter

1 cup of parmiagiana reggiano (grated cheese)

Prepare this just before assembly by putting all ingredients in a microwave bowl.  Nuke at low heat and stir well with a fork until all ingredients are blended.

Lasagna Noodles:

Prepare noodles according to box directions but undercook by three minutes.  Drain water out and then replace with cold water.  Drain noodles on paper towels.

ASSEMBLY

Preheat oven to 350F

Spray rectangular lasagna pan with non-stick spray.  Put a layer of noodles on the bottom.

Spread half of the cheese filling over noodles.  Spread more noodles.  Spread the whole vegetable filling over noodles.  Cover with remainder of cheese filling.  Drizzle half of mornay sauce over the filling.  Cover with noodles.  Drizzle remainder of mornay sauce.  Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of parmiagiana reggiano.  Bake for 30 minutes at 350F.

Easy Baked Beans

Baked beans are a wonderful side dish for any barbecue.  The easiest way to make home-made style baked beans is in a crockpot.  Start off with two large cans of your favorite canned baked bean.  Add the following ingredients to the crockpot:

1 to 2 tbl. of black strap molasses

1 tbl. of ketchup

1 pkg. of fried onion rings

1 yellow onion, chopped

chopped bacon or cooked pancetta  (if no vegetarians are attending)

Allow the beans to absorb the additional flavors for at least an hour over the lowest possible heat.  If you do not have a crockpot, you can preheat your oven to 200F and do the beans in the oven (make sure you put the beans in a covered casserole dish or beanpot).  Alternatively, if you have a warming oven, you can put the beans in there as long as they are covered.

You can add other ingredients such as chopped pineapple, thinly sliced carrots, etc.  Use your imagination.

This savory sidedish is always welcome!

Sausages and Potatoes

If you live in Leominster, the only sausage you should be using (Italian sweet) is Chet's.  The original recipe from Chet's is now made by Chet's daughter, Debbie, who sells the sausage at Paisano's.  This recipe, which came from the old country, is really good.  Here is my grandmother's original recipe with one adaptation (I do not use onions ... I substitute McCormack's fried onions instead.  It does not change the flavor of the recipe and the fried onions are more tolerant for folks who are not fond of onions.   Use a hearty potato (I prefer Yukon gold) and serve with a good loaf of Italian bread.

Sausages and Potatoes

1-2 lbs. of sweet Italian sausage (if no Chet's sausage, use Johnsonville)

1 tbl. of extra virgin olive oil and 1 tbl. of butter

1 lb. of fresh portabella mushrooms

4 cloves of crushed garlic, minced

1 can of fried onions

2 cups of chicken broth

In a deep saucepan, put olive oil and butter.  Over low heat, put in sausage and mushrooms and sear to golden brown.  Cut sausages into bite size pieces after the saute.  Return sausages to pan.  Add remaining ingredients:  potatoes, garlic, onions and chicken broth.   Yummy!!!

For crockpot, just put everything into a crockpot without searing the sausages and mushrooms.  Equally yummy.

Bert's Pie

My buddy Bert was visiting from Virginia.  He loves chocolate so I came up with a recipe for a chocolate pie.  If you want to make the low calories version, use fat-free instant pudding and Cool Whip.  This pie takes roughly five minutes to make and is now one of the faves of my family.

This is decorated for the 4th of July barbecue.

One pre-baked pie shell

1 pkg. of chocolate fudge pudding

1 cup of heavy cream

2 tsps. of strong brewed coffee (I use  Kona from Hawaii)

2 tbl. of Nutella

2 tbl. of Hershey's chocolate sauce

2 tbl. of Ghirardelli unsweetened cocoa powder

Whipped cream and 2 tsps. of grated Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate for topping

Mix pudding, heavy cream, coffee, Nutella, Hershey's chocolate sauce and cocoa powder in mixing bowl.  Mix well until blended.  Cover with heavy whipped cream (sweetened lightly with sugar).  Sprinkle grated chocolate over top.  

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

When rhubarb becomes plentiful, it combines wonderfully with strawberries or other berries to make a good pie.  Preheat the oven to 425F...

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Pie dough

6 stalks of rhubarb

juice of one lemon

2 tsps. of white vinegar

1 cup of sugar

freshly ground nutmeg

2 cups of strawberries in syrup

Put all ingredients except strawberries in a glass bowl and nuke for six minutes.  Add strawberries.  Mix well.

Sift two tbl. of flour into mixture and mix well.   Line pie plate with pie dough, fill with the berry mixture and crimp crust.   Bake for 30 minutes or until pie crust is golden brown.

Easy Trifle

Trifle is simply cake, fruit or chocolate bits, and something to bind it together like pudding or whipped cream. Variations are as endless as your imagination.

Trifle

Leftover pound cake

1 can of sliced peaches in syrup

fresh raspberries

Whipped cream

Break up the cake into pieces with a fork.  Add peaches in syrup.  Add whipped cream and fresh fruit.  Toss together lightly with your fork.  Refrigerate until serving time.

Beef Stew

Beef Stew is one of those recipes that depends on how you were reared...if you are of Italian descent, your family stew recipe probably contains tomatoes and tomato paste.  Each nationality has it's own version of stew and there are variations culturally.  This stew recipe is from my mother-in-law, Elizabeth Marshall.

Do this in a crock pot. 

Ingredients:

2 lb. of chuck, cut into cubes and dredged in flour

2 stalks of celery, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 potatoes, peeled and chopped

64 oz. of beef stock

1/2 can of tomato paste

1 bay leaf

In a small saute pan, brown chuck pieces slowly with 1 tbl. of extra virgin olive oil and 1 tbl. of butter.  Remove from pan and put in bottom of crock pot.  Add all remaining ingredients.  Remove bay leaf before serving.

Lentil Soup

My grandmother, Lucy Tocci Piermarini, taught me how to make lentil soup.  For vegetarians, it is the greatest comfort food.  (If making the vegetarian version, substitute water for chicken stock and use vegetarian sweet sausage.)  You must soak the lentils overnight so allow time for that.  

Ingredients:

1 lb. of lentil beans (soaked overnight in a large bowl of cold water with two tsps. of baking soda)

1 yellow onion, diced

2 stalks of celery diced (get the kind with celery leaves)

2 carrots, chopped

1 tbl. of butter

1 tbl. of extra virgin olive oil

tomato paste

1 lb. of Italian sweet sausage

64 ounces of either water or chicken stock

In a large stockpan, saute onions, celery and carrots until onions are translucent.  (This is a battuto in Italian.)  Put the battuto in a slow cooker.  Pour in liquid. Add can of tomato paste (I use Cento).  Add three cloves of crushed garlic.  Add one bay leaf.  Add sweet sausage.  Slow cook for a minimum of four hours.  Serve with a crusty bread....delicious!

Basic Macaroni Salad

Macaroni Salad is one of my favorites to serve in the summertime.  It is easy to make.  You can vary the ingredients for your own palate.  The original recipe comes from my Aunt Alice, my mother's sister.  I fondly remember her bringing this salad to family gatherings.  

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. of elbow macaroni (cooked in chicken broth), drained

1/2 cup (or more) of mayo

1/2 lb. of cherry tomatoes

2 cans of little shrimp (rinsed in cold water and strained)

1 sweet pepper (save top for decoration)

1/2 of a red onion, diced

1/2 cup of chopped carrots

2 large cloves of garlic, smashed

In a large mixing bowl, pour in strained macaroni.  Add all ingredients.  You may need more mayo ... it's all about flavor.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Cover and refrigerate.  This is best when made the day before.  

Pound Cake

Ingredients

• Pound cake is very easy to make.  Two rules of thumb when baking a cake from scratch:  have everything ready before hand...eggs should be at room temperature before mixing ingredients.  Second rule of thumb is to grease and flour your loaf pan well.  Originally, the pound cake got it's name because it contained one pound of butter, one pound of flour and one pound of eggs.  This Preheat oven to 350F.  Serve with fruit and whipped cream.
• 
  
• Ingredients:
• Two sticks of butter at room temperature
• 1/2 cup butter flavored Crisco
• 3 cups sugar
• 5 eggs
• 3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted and measured
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tsps. of Grand Marnier
• 1 tsp. of vanilla

Using dough hook on either a Kitchenaid or your food processor, cream butter, shortening  and sugar together.  Add eggs, one at a time, pulsing each time after you add an egg.  In a separate bowl, mix all dry ingredients together.  Put processor on slowest speed and add dry mixture slowly.  Remove bowl from machine and slowly blend in the flavorings.  Pour into prepared loaf pan.    Bake for one hour until toothpick inserted in cake comes out cleanly.

Fruit Topping:

Mix one package of frozen raspberries with one nip of Chambord.  Set aside for serving.

Whipped Cream:

Mix one pint of heavy cream with sugar (to taste) until you have a soft consistency.  Blend in one nip of Grand Marnier.  Set aside for serving.

Assembly:

Cut slice of pound cake, top with berries and whipped cream.  Garnish with a fresh raspberry and mint leaves.

Basic Yeast Bread

Bread is easier to make than pie crust and less intimidating.  The two key elements here are proving the yeast and patience (bread dough made by hand has to rise at least twice).  There is great satisfaction in kneading dough by hand but with today's appliances, unnecessary.  Please note that this recipe is not for bread machines (unless you want to use the bread machine to make the dough)...this recipe is for teaching technique.     Remember to allow ample time for kneading the bread if you are not using a machine.  You will need a food processor (if you choose to use one) with a plastic dough hook; a deep bowl for mixing if you are doing it by hand; a deep bowl that has been buttered or oiled; a linen towel; spatulas; and a warm resting place.  If you are baking the bread in a loaf pan, you will need to butter or oil the loaf pan and sprinkle it liberally with cornmeal.   Preheat the oven an hour before baking to 350F.

Tip for beginners:  two other things enhance a perfect loaf of bread...baker's tiles (scrubbed quarry tiles that have no glaze are perfect and inexpensive) and have a teapot full of boiling water ready just before baking the bread (this will ensure that the crust of the bread is perfect).

Proving the Yeast


Put two tsps. of active dry yeast (refrigerator section of market) in a deep, dry bowl
Cover with tepid liquid (water, stock, etc.) --- my grandmother always said the water for bread should be cooler than you would put a baby in but not cold...

Allow the yeast to sit for five to ten minutes (ten is better).  During this proving time, do not stir or shake the bowl.

Bread Dough Ingredients
3 to 4 cups of all-purpose flour  --- measure three into the bowl; the other cup is for kneading
proven yeast
1 tsp. of salt
1 tsp. of sugar
ice water

(I prefer unbleached flour but it's a personal choice)

Making Bread Dough with a Machine
If using a dough hook, put dry ingredients in the processor bowl.   Scrape the yeast into the processor bowl. Put cover on machine but leave feeding tube uncovered.   Start machine and slowly drizzle the ice water into the machine until the dough no longer sticks to the bowl.  (This will probably take less than a minute.)  If you do not want to knead the bread, you may need to kneed it a little bit more in the machine.  Put the dough in the prepared bowl.  Cover with linen towel.   See below for finishing instructions.

Making Bread Dough by Hand
Put three cups of flour into the largest bowl you have.  Add the yeast.  Use one hand to balance the bowl and the other to mix.  Add a fourth cup of the cold water, mixing the dough as you go along.  Add water and mix with your hand until the dough forms a mass that no longer sticks to the side of the bowl.  Take the dough out of the bowl and put in the prepared bowl.   Cover with linen towel.  See below for finishing instructions.

Finishing Instructions
Allow the dough to rise for one hour.  Take the linen cloth off the bowl.  Punch the dough down.  Knead the dough until you get a round ball a put the seam of the dough on the bottom of the bowl.  Cover the bowl with the linen.  Allow the dough to rise again for another hour.

On your counter, sprinkle the other cup of flour.  Knead with your hands until you can make a smooth, round ball of dough.  Put the dough in the prepared pan, seam-side down.  See baking instructions below.

If you are baking on the baker's tiles, knead the same way.  However, the top of the dough needs to be slashed with either a baking razor or a sharp knife.  Several slits will help the bread bake better.

Baking Directions:


Preheat the oven to 350F.  If you are using baker's tiles, put these in before you start the oven.

If you are not using baker's tiles, put the loaf pan in the oven and bake at 350F for about an hour or until bread is golden brown.

If you are using baker's tiles, throw the dough on the baker's tiles seam-side down.  The slashes will be seen.  Throw one cup of boiling water on the bottom of the stove.  This will help the bread form a nice crust.
Bake for same amount of time.

Summer Stew

Crockpots are marvelous....I own five or six of various sizes...look for unopened ones at yard sales.  This recipe is easy and can be done quickly before you leave for the day.  I like chicken thighs for this dish but substitute whatever...the chicken can be frozen...makes no difference to the finished dish.  I reconstitute the dried mushrooms in chicken broth.

Chicken Stew

6 chicken thighs, boned

1 can of cream of mushroom soup

32 ounces of chicken stock

1 cup of dried mushrooms

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 bay leaf

1 tsp. of ground rosemary (if dried) or 1 sprig of fresh rosemary (you can use more if you like the flavor of rosemary)

freshly ground nutmeg

Throw all ingredients in the crock pot.  Cover, set on lowest heat for eight hours and leave.  Savory meal awaits you when you get home.

Easy Summer Salad

Summer Salad

When Gove's Farm is in high season, everything in the kitchen is fresh. Their award winning tomatoes and corn-on-the-cob make any meal special. This light summer salad highlight's the Farm's tomatoes and cucumbers. It's a very simple recipe that was taught to me by my grandmother who believed (and rightfully so) that every vegetable deserves to be a star without the need for any fancy dressing.  This works equally well adding shredded chicken; cooked shrimp; etc.  for a light supper meal.  Pair it with your favorite bread and iced tea.

Summer Salad
2 tomatoes, cored and sliced
1 cucumber, peeled and sliced
4 ounces of chopped bacon

Freshly grated parmesan cheese
salt, nutmeg and garlic powder 

Veal Parmiagiana

There is nothing my husband loves more than an Italian meal so his Father's Day gift is a delightful menu...veal parm, pasta and brownies.

VEAL PARMIGIANA

2 lbs. of fresh veal cutlets

Two or three fresh eggs at room temperature

Italian flavored breadcrumbs

All purpose flour

Parmiagiana Regiano cheese

extra virgin olive oil

Your favorite tomato sauce

Preheat oven to 350F

Rub a good baking dish with butter flavored Crisco.  Set aside.

Put three pie plates on your counter.  Put breadcrumbs in one; put flour in one; mix the eggs and a little cream in the third.  Add salt, pepper and garlic powder to the egg mixture.

Dredge cutlets first in flour, then in the egg mixture and then dredge them in the breadcrumbs.  On stovetop, have a deep fry pan filled with extra virgin olive oil.  Fry each cutlet for two minutes on each side.  Set on brown paper on a baking rack until assembly time.

In the baking dish, put a spoonful of tomato sauce, then two cutlets, then sprinkle a little cheese.  Repeat each layer until finished.  Top with a generous amount of cheese.  Bake for twenty minutes.  

Perfect Pie Crust

There are two key components to making perfect pie crust:  shortening and resting.  To make a perfect pie crust, you must choose the right shortening for the crust and allow the dough to rest for a minimum of thirty minutes before rolling it out.  For a savory pie crust, you need a combination of lard and butter (or butter flavored Crisco) that works well with meat pies, poultry pies, etc.  For a sweet pie crust, you simply add a tiny bit of sugar to enhance the flavor of the filling.  My perfect combination for a crust is butter flavored Crisco and lard straight from the fridge (it is very cold).  Always use ice water.  You can do a decent pie crust by hand but I prefer to use my Kitchenaide with the dough hook.  Have a bowl set aside for the dough to rest (in the fridge).

Tips for rolling out dough:  if you have a granite or granite-type countertop, that's the surface you want.  A granite rolling pin is a plus.  If you have neither, put a linen on your countertop and roll out your pie dough on that.  Have your pie plate ready too.

Pie Crust
3 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour
3 tbl. of lard
3 tbl. of butter flavored Crisco
ice water (1/2 to 1 cup)
pinch of salt

Sift flour into mixing bowl.  Using dough hook, add lard and salt, pulsing until the dough is crumbly.  Add ice water by pouring into top of machine until the dough no longer sticks to the side of the mixing bowl.  Stop pulsing as soon as it reaches that stage.  Put the dough into the resting bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to chill for at least thirty minutes.  Cut the dough in half to roll out and put the rest back in the fridge.

Knead the dough with your hands for about a minute (the heat from your hands will make the gluten in the dough develop nicely).  Roll out and put on the pie plate.  If making a savory pie, put in your meat or poultry filling, dot with butter and roll out and cover the pie.  Most meat pies bake at around 400F for 30 to 45 minutes.  If making a dessert pie, roll out your dough, fill it, roll out second crust and cover.  Sprinkle the top of the pie with granulated sugar before baking.  Most dessert pies bake at around 375F (unless using apples or a firm fruit).  for 30 to 45 minutes.  Remember to vent the top of your crust by poking with a fork or a knife before cooking.  Most chefs brush the top of the pie crust before baking with either a mixture of egg (white or yolk) and water; cream or half and half, etc.  Be creative!!!

If you have time to make your own, here's the recipe for cherry filling...

Cherry Filling
4 to 5 cups of fresh cherries, pitted
1 cup of turbinado sugar (bar sugar)
2 tbl. of cornstarch
1/2 tsp. of extract (your choice:  raspberry; vanilla; almond, etc.)

Put cherries and sugar in a small saucepan and simmer over lowest possible heat until liquid develops.  Take some of the hot liquid and mix in a bowl with the cornstarch until you get a smooth paste.  Put that back into the cherry filling with the extract and shut off heat after mixing well.  Allow your filling to get to room temperature before making your pie.  I usually run this filling through a strainer to remove any unwanted pits or peels.

Busy Day Parfait

When you have a busy day, it’s easy to put together a quick dessert if you have instant pudding, Cool Whip and frozen fruit.  Take out the Cool Whip and put in the fridge to thaw out while you are at work.  Take the frozen fruit (strawberries or raspberries in sauce) and put in the sink to thaw out while at work.  When you get home from work, you can make this dessert in five minutes, put it in the fridge and it will be ready when you are done making dinner.

Ingredients:

1 pkg. of instant chocolate fudge pudding

½ cup of milk

1 cup of Cool Whip

In a deep mixing bowl, beat the above ingredients with a hand mixer.  Set aside.  Get out four parfait glasses or upright glasses. 

Assembly:

Thawed strawberries, Cool Whip and pudding mixture

Alternate layers of pudding, cool whip and strawberries until glass is filled.  Refrigerate until serving time.

Filled and Frosted Chocolate Chip Cookies

Preheat oven to 350F

Tools

Mini cupcake pan

Mixing bowls

Fork

Cake rack

spoon

2 pkg. of refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough

Cheese Filling

1 small pkg. (3 oz.) of cream cheese

3 oz. of white chocolate

1 tbl. butter

Melt these three ingredients together.  Mix well.  Allow to cool.

In a cupcake pan, line bottom of cupcake holes with cookie dough.   Add a tiny bit of the cheese filling.  Cover with another piece of cookie dough.  Bake for 15 minutes or until cookies are golden brown on top.  Cool.

Put wax paper under a cake rack.  Put cooled cookies on top of cookie rack.

Glaze

2 oz. of white chocolate

2 tbl. of butter

2 oz. of cream cheese

Nuke one minute, stir vigorously with a fork until the frosting is well blended and you have no lumps (you may need to add a little additional time in microwave).  Or, do in a mixing bowl over simmering water.

Cover the cookies with the glaze and allow to cool.

Deviled Eggs

Egg Preparation:


Put six to eight eggs in a pan and cover with cold water.  Bring water to a boil and allow to boil for five minutes.  Shut heat off and cover the pan.  Allow eggs to sit in the water bath for fifteen minutes.
Remove cover and add two cups of ice cubes.  Allow to rest for fifteen minutes or longer.  Peel eggs and slice them in half.

Filling:


Egg yolks
Poppy seeds (about a tablespoon)
1 can of deviled ham
Mayonnaise
1/2 cup of diced chives
6 oz. of bacon bits

In a large bowl, put all ingredients except mayonnaise.  Using a fork, break up egg yolks and mix with other ingredients.  Add two tbl. of mayonnaise.  Mix with fork.  Taste...if necessary, add more mayonnaise.  Refrigerate until serving time.

Chocolate Ganache

Chocolate Ganache

Chocolate ganache sounds fancy but is ridiculously easy to make and is the most versatile chocolate ingredient you can produce in your home kitchen.  It is like the glue that binds chocolate desserts together, making any chocolate dessert that much better.  My way of doing it is foolproof and requires no double boiler.  The key here is equal amounts of ingredients.  Since this is a base sauce, I do not add sugar.  Only add sugar if you are using it as a cake topping.  Otherwise, make this ahead of time and store in fridge (good shelf life) for making chocolate truffles, chocolate fondue, etc.  I use European chocolate.

Chocolate Ganache

4 oz. of bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate

4 oz. of Nutella (Italian hazelnut spread, imported from Italy)

4 oz. of heavy cream, cold from fridge

Place the chocolate and Nutella in a deep glass bowl.  Nuke in increments of 30 seconds until chocolate is melted.  Add heavy cream and stir until you have a creamy chocolate sauce.  Use immediately to coat a cake or allow to cool and put it in a fridge container for future use.  Please note that occasionally I add two pats of butter depending upon what I’m using my ganache for and/or super fine sugar (no more than a tablespoon) or alternatively, corn syrup.

Apple Cobbler

Apple Cobbler

Preheat oven to 375F

8 x 8 baking dish    Take room temperature butter and grease the baking dish, then pour superfine sugar over the butter, coating the butter with sugar.  Excess sugar can be put in the apple mixture.

Apple filling:

6 to 8 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced

½ cup of melted butter

1 tbl. of molasses

2 tbl. of sugar

½ tsp. of cinnamon

½ tsp. of nutmeg (I use freshly grated nutmeg)

Juice of one lemon

In a glass mixing bowl, put butter, molasses, sugar and lemon.  Microwave this mixture and allow to cool.  When cooled, add sliced apples.  Stir generously and allow the apples to macerate for at least thirty minutes.

Topping:

1 and ½ cups of self-rising flour

½ cup of butter (at room temperature)

½ tsp. of cinnamon

½ tsp. of nutmeg

Pinch of salt

¼ cup of sugar

1 egg, slightly beaten

In a separate mixing bowl, put flour and add dry ingredients.  Toss with a fork until well blended.  Add butter (not melted) and stir until you get a pebbly mixture.   Add egg and toss lightly.

Assembly:

Put apples in bottom of baking pan.  Dot with butter.  Add topping.  Bake for 30 to 45 minutes until topping is brown and you see the juices bubbling in the cobbler. 

Saturday Soup

The easiest way to accommodate all the leftovers in your refrigerator is to make soup.  My grandmother called this Saturday Soup.  Here is the easy way to make it:

Saturday Soup
2 large cans of chicken stock (64 oz. size)
2 celery stalks
2 large carrots, sliced
1 large bitter onion
1 bay leaf
All the meat, vegetables and starches left in the fridge after one week

Put everything in the stock pan.  For flavor, add wine.  Simmer for a couple hours until everything is cooked through.