Chocolate Pudding Light

 

 

My father is diabetic so I'm always looking for a way to lighten a dessert for him.  This version of chocolate pudding has a very rich flavor but is low in calories and contains very little sugar. 

 

 

1 box of fat-free chocolate fudge instant pudding mix

 

1/2 cup of Nutella melted in 1/2 cup of chocolate syrup

 

2 oz. of freshly brewed strong coffee

 

1 cup of lowfat milk

 

1 cup of Cool Whip Lite

 

1 tsp. of vanilla

 

1/2 cup of fresh raspberries

 

strawberries to garnish pudding

 

In a deep mixing bowl, put in pudding mix.   Using a hand mixer, mix the pudding, coffee and milk.  Add the vanilla and set the mixture aside.  Fold the Cool Whip and fresh raspberries into the mixture with a wooden spoon.  Fill dessert dishes with the chocolate pudding mixture, garnish with Cool Whip and top with fresh berries.  Refrigerate until serving time.  Makes four (4) servings.



 

APPLE CRISP

When apples are harvested in Massachusetts, there are some lovely choices for traditional desserts.  Apple Crisp was my mother's favorite.  This is her recipe...

Ingredients:

5 to 6 tart apples
1/2 cup of dark molasses
1/2 cup of superfine sugar
1/2 tsp. of cinnamon
1/2 tsp. of nutmeg
juice of one lemon
1/2 stick of melted butter

1 1/2 cups of Bisquick
1/2 stick of butter at room temp
pinch of sugar and salt
1/2 tsp. of cinnamon
1/2 tsp. of nutmeg


Peel, core and slice apples.  Place in a deep bowl.  Add molasses, superfine sugar, cinammon, nutmeg, lemon juice and butter.  Let the fruit soak in the juices for about 30 minutes to develop flavor.

Butter and sugar an 8" x 8" square pan.  After soaking time, put apples in bottom of pan.

Preheat oven to 400F while preparing the covering.

In a deep bowl, combine Bisquick, butter, sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Mix with fork and spoon over the apples.  Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until crust is golden brown.  Serve with freshly whipped cream.

 



Savory Pot Pie

 

Savory pot pie can be a culinary challenge since the dough must be made properly to develop the layer of flavors necessary to raise the bar on pot pie.  To make the dough more tasty, I used beef suet instead of lard for this crust and made an infusion of rosemary and chicken broth for the dough liquid.  I allowed the dough to refrigerate overnight to get a little more flavor and made the pastry dough with a combination of butter and suet.  I used some of the leftover pot roast and threw in fresh corn.  The result was really good.

 

Pastry:

 3 ounces of suet

3 ounces of butter
2 cups of self-rising flour
Salt and pepper

A little combination of rosemary infused chicken broth (as needed)

Cut the fats into the flour.  Add salt and pepper and drizzle the broth in as your food processor churns the dough.  Turn the dough into a buttered bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for at least eight hours.

Pie:

Warm the leftover pot roast to room temperature.  Preheat oven to 400F.

Roll out pastry dough and put on the bottom of a pie plate.  Cut pot roast into cubes.  Cover with corn.  Add dots of butter.  Cover with leftover gravy.  Roll out top crust and set over the pie plate.  Pinch edges of the dough.  Spray with butter flavored Pam.  Bake for 30 minutes or more until crust is golden brown.

Featherlight Biscuits

Featherlight Biscuits

 

 

Biscuits can be tricky.  Two important tips:  preheat the oven to 450F and don't work the dough more than necessary.  It is very important to remember that any dough you work with your hands is affected by the heat in your hands. 

 

 

Recipe:

 

2 cups of self-rising flour



1 stick of butter at room temperature

dash of salt

3/4 cup of buttermilk

1/2 cup of peccarino romano cheese (or any other cheese you like)

 

Cut butter into flour using two knives or a pastry cutter.  Add remaining ingredients (use a little more milk or cream if needed).  Turn dough onto surface, roll out and cut eight biscuits.  Place biscuits on an unbuttered baking sheet.  Bake for ten minutes or until golden brown.

Heavenly Biscuits

HEAVENLY BISCUITS

 

 

Preheat oven to 450F

 

2 cups of self-rising flour



1/2 cup of Butter Crisco

1/4 cup of domestic parmesan romano cheese

1 cup of buttermilk

2 to 3 tablespoons of soda water

Poppy Seeds (optional)

Blend butter Crisco into flour using two knives or a fork.  Add remaining ingredients.  Put a little flour on your work surface and cut out biscuits.  Bake for ten to fifteen minutes or until golden brown.

These are light, fluffy and delicious!

Beef Cacciatore

Beef Cacciatore

 

 

Beef cacciatore (just pick a protein) is nothing more than an Italian stew.   In Tuscany, where my grandfather was born, this would not be made with beef but instead, a simpler protein like chicken.  You throw a few things into a crock pot, or make it more traditionally in a heavy stew pot and throw it in the oven.  You add this and that, and it becomes a tender, lovely and inviting dinner.  You can serve it equally over pasta or rice.  I will give you the traditional way my grandmother, Lucy Piermarini, taught me how to make it and also offer you the crock pot version.  Either way, you end up with a delightfully flavored dish.

Ingredients:

2 to 3 lbs. beef

½ lb. of pork fat (cut into lardon shape)
½ lb. of pancetta
1 bitter onion, peeled and chopped
3 to 4 carrots, peeled and chopped
4 stalks of celery (with tops), chopped
1 head of garlic (throw in microwave for 20 seconds).  After garlic cools down, remove peels and crush all the softened garlic with a fork (reserve in a bowl).
3 bay leaves
3 cups of beef stock
1 can (8 oz.) of good tomato paste
1 tsp. of crushed black pepper
1 bottle of good red wine

In a very large stew pot (I use Le Creu

 

set), put a tbl. of extra virgin olive oil.  Over slowest possible heat, sauté the salt pork and the pancetta.  When browned, remove from the heat and place on paper towels to absorb fat.  Set aside the bacon and pork. 

In the same pan, over lowest heat, sauté the onions, carrots and celery until the onions turn translucent.    Remove the vegetables and set aside.  Turn the heat up slightly.  Add the wine and beef stock to deglaze the pan.   Stir for a few minutes until all the brown stuff at the bottom of the pan is now in the liquid. 

 

At this point, everything goes back into the pot and you can throw this in the oven at 200°F for several hours.  Alternatively, at this point, you could transfer everything into a crock pot.

For the crockpot version, simply sauté the pork fat and pancetta and the onion mixture and then throw everything into the crockpot.

To use other proteins, simply substitute chicken stock or white wine for a poultry or pork protein.  For dark meat, use the beef stock and red wine.

The most important thing to remember is that the longer it simmers, the better the flavor.  It also becomes much better if you freeze the remainder of the stew.  

 

My grandmother would have served this with polenta because polenta is less expensive than rice or pasta.  I also love to serve this with orzo.   

APPLE PIE

There is nothing more wonderful than the smell of apple pie when it is baking in the oven…the kitchen, perhaps the entire house, is filled with the overwhelming aroma of cinnamon, nutmeg and apples, inviting anyone and everyone to enjoy the finished pastry.

Traditionally, the best apples for making apple pie are tart, firm and varieties that meld well with the flavors imparted during the maceration process (read on).  My mother-in-law, Elizabeth Marshall, insisted (and rightfully so) that the best apple for apple pie is the Northern Spy.  Unfortunately for me, this apple is only available for a short window of opportunity in the fall.  I get by with Granny Smith apples.

If you are going to make the effort to make an apple pie, do several at a time and freeze two or three (unbaked) after carefully wrapping in plastic wrap (or a freezer pie box).  This ensures that you have a beautiful dessert just waiting in the freezer for drop-in company.

This recipe is one I’ve developed over the years and includes a process which gives the apples ample time to take on the flavor of the spices used in the completed pie.  I also prefer (I know I sound like a broken record) Butter Crisco®

for both the pie crust and the filling.  (See previous blog entry to learn how to make pie dough).   For this particular pie, you need a minimum of twelve apples and two crusts (ready made crust is fine).

Preheat oven to 400° F

Filling:

You will need a large deep, ceramic bowl and a potato peeler.

 12 tart apples

1 lemon (at room temperature)
1 ½ tsp. of cinnamon
1 ½ tsp. of nutmeg plus freshly grated nutmeg (if you have it)
1 ½ tsp. of ginger
½ cup of melted Butter Crisco®
2 to 3 tbl. of black strap molasses

Peel, core and slice apples.  Put in bottom of the bowl with the juice of one lemon and the remainder of the ingredients.  Stir occasionally.  Allow the apples to set at room temperature for at least an hour or two.  The longer you allow the apple slices to steep in the liquid, the better the filling will taste (the process of steeping fruit in a liquid is called maceration).

Assembly:

Take prepared brust and roll out one to two inches more than the circumference of your pie plate.  Put the dough in the pie plate.  Add the filling.  Dot with butter.  Top with second pie crust and crimp edges of the pie.  Brush the top crust with a little warm water using a pastry brush and sprinkle with granulated sugar (I use turbanado or bar sugar).    Bake for one hour or until knife inserted in pie is clean.