mushroom bisque w/ crispy shallots

Baby it's cold outside! Too early in the season to say that? But hear me out. I'm freeeezing! I'm not one of those fall-winter type of gals. I'm a summer-babe, I love my sun and love my heat. Well, I don't really like humidity, but I love the dry heat. I don't think I've ever met someone who loves the humidity, have you?
Our summer on Cape Cod was a very very short one. We did not get a spring, instead we got rain--pure rain for a month. Seriously it was a record rainfall and record sun-less days on the history books jotted down somewhere with those weather-fanatics. Our summer was only about a month long, then bam, right into fall. So, I did not get enough sun to warm my bones up enough for winter. You know I'm so looking at the caribbean right now...
Last week I jokingly told my friends that summer was officially over-- I had eaten my first bowl of Ramen.
Another first for this already chilly season is my famous mushroom bisque. It has all the good stuff in it, like booze, mushrooms, cream, and those irrestible little gems I love: crispy shallots. This will warm your bones and your blood, well depending on how much sherry you put in it.
If you have a home in the caribbean and aren't using it I'm here to help. Yes I am. I'm available to go check on it and make sure it's safe & sound. Or if you are there I can easily cook for you. LOL

mushroom bisque
print recipe

2 tb of evoo
1 cup yellow onion, chopped
1 cup portobello mushrooms, chopped large chunks
½ cup shiitake mushrooms, chopped large chunks
¾ cup cremini mushroom, chopped large chunks
¾ stick of butter, unsalted, chopped into 1-inch pieces
1 can (14 oz) beef broth
¼ cup of AP flour
½ +/- cup of good quality dry sherry
1 quart of half & half
1 cup heavy cream
salt & pepper to taste

In a small bowl take the ¼ cup of flour and mix about 3-4 tb of the beef broth; whisk to make a nice slurry; set aside.
In a large stockpot, heat up the evoo, and saute the onions till translucent. Add in a few pinches of salt. Add in all the mushrooms, add in the chopped butter, and a few dashes of ground black pepper—scattering it about.
Let the mushrooms cook down a bit, about 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring mushrooms. Add in the dry sherry, let that cook down a bit, by bringing it to a boil. Add in the remaining beef broth, add in the half & half, the heavy cream, and then the slurry you previously made (of the flour & beef broth).
Turn up heat a bit and keep stirring. Ideally you want to bring this all to just a boil. Give it a taste and see if it needs any pepper. I doubt it will need salt.
Top with the crispy shallots.
Should make about 4 hearty bowlfulls. It freezes nicely too.

crispy shallots
semi-adapted from Barefoot Contessa

1 cup light olive oil
3 tb unsalted butter
5 to 6 shallots, sliced into medium-thin rings

Heat the oil and unsalted butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat until it reaches about 250 degrees F. Reduce the heat a bit then add the shallots. I did this in two batches. You really do not want to crowd the pan at all. The shallots will brown perfectly if they have plenty of room in the hot oil to swim and get happy. Cook until nice and brown. Make sure to stir the shallots once in a while to get all sides brown. Once down remove them from the oil with a slotted spoon, and drain, then place on paper towels. They should stay at room temp., don't put them in the fridge as they will go soft and lose all that nice crispiness.
Should make less than ½ cup.

it's about that time.....for a giveway!

You know it's about time for a giveaway--a good giveaway! I don't want to giveaway a tube of this or a bowl of that, no I want to giveaway a pretty good prize. So, since we're all foodies here, cookbooks -- good cookbooks are a pretty good giveaway.
This giveaway will be your choice of one of these fabulous books:

Tartine


Baked: New Frontiers in Baking


How to Cook Everything

All fabulous cookbooks with the best recipes around, to help inspire you to get your own creative cooking juices flowing. If you win, choose whichever one tickles your fancy.
All you have to do to enter is leave a comment at this post and tell me what recipe you have taken in the past or would like to take on, and how have you 'kicked it up a notch'. I want to hear about your creative cooking school skills and to possibly get you wanting to try something new with a kicked up flare.
On October 10, 2009, I will draw a random number and announce the winner. Sorry no anynomous comments allowed, for obvious reasons. Please make sure you have your email or website in your signature or name, so I can get a hold of you.

feta & raisin dip

That George Michael song: "Too Funky" is playing in my head as I write this. How ironic is that? OK, so this is a funky dish, but it's good-- I mean really good. The feta cheese melded great with the sweetness of the raisins and sun dried tomatoes. Kevin and Peter keep making these wonderful feta dips & salads, so naturally I had to follow with my own take. Plus I'm a huge fan of feta cheese, so salty and rich. Those chips you see in the photo are from Whole Foods, it's deep fried tortillas. You can make them at home if you want, I was lazy and picked up a bag. They go wonderfully with this dip. I think corn chips might work with this or even Ritz cracker, or nothing.
Thank you my sweet friends for all the birthday wishes. My b-day was good, I got spoiled, ate way too much cake(s) <---see the plural oh yeah.

feta & raisin dip
print recipe

6 ounces kalamata olives, pitted & diced
Sun dried tomatoes in oil; drained & diced (about 3 ounces +/-)
2 green onions (tops only), thinly sliced
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Handful of raisins (golden is best)
4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
Extra-virgin olive oil, about 1 TB +/-
Salt & pepper

Combine the olives, sun dried tomatoes, onions, lemon juice, olive oil, raisin, black pepper, except feta. Check, taste, and see if you need more lemon juice, olive oil, and salt & pepper. Then gently stir in the crumbled feta cheese.

Note: you can mold it into a ceramic dish, chill for a bit, then place onto dip plate. Serve with crackers (not too salty) or serve with fried tortilla chips.

bucatini all’amatriciana

One of my favorite pasta dishes of all. I've seen this made several ways in food blogger-land and in restaurants, and I even have my own take on it. I use a basic recipe from mario batali at babbo. Mario has some of the most perfect Italian dishes ever; yes I know he's Italian, but he truly has the perfect touch on Italian cuisine. Have you ever been to babbo in nyc? You must go, if you are an avid Italian-foodie. They have this dish called " sweet potato lune with sage and amaretti" that is, the oh, how do I describe it in words for you? Heaven, heavenly, perfect pairing of pasta, sweet potato and a touch of amaretti? And before I forget, this is important, mario batali has the best basic tomato sauce I've ever come across. I make it all the time when I want a fresh tasting tomato sauce. That same sauce is used in this recipe and is a perfect sauce for making large batches and freezing and/or canning; you can use it on almost all of your Italian red sauce recipes. Something about his tomato sauce is just right: the right balance in acidity with sweet. Try it sometime, I think you might grow to like it as I have done over the decade, plus it's very easy for anyone just starting out in cooking Italian cuisine.

What I do to this recipe, which can be found here, I add chopped roasted red peppers to this right after I sauteed the red onions. I've always like the extra taste of the roasted peppers. If you can find guanciale please use it; if not then pancetta will do. Please note my changes.

Bucatini all’amatriciana
From babbo

¾ pound guanciale, or pancetta, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves
1 red onion medium size, halved & sliced ½-inch thick
1 roasted red pepper, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1 ½ teaspoons hot red pepper flakes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 ½ cups basic tomato sauce (I used 1 cup, see below for recipe)
1 pound bucatini
1 bunch of flat-leaf parsley, leaves only
Pecorino Romano, for grating

Being 6 quarts of water to a boil and add 2 tablespoons of salt.
Place the guanciale slices in a 12- to 14-inch sauté pan in a single layer and cook over medium-low heat until most of the fat has been rendered from the meat, turning occasionally.
Remove the meat to a plate lined with paper towels and discard half the fat (I never discard the fat, only a 1/4 of it; you need some of the fat for flavor), leaving enough to coat the garlic, onion and red pepper flakes.
Return the guanciale to the pan with the vegetables, and cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, or until the onions, garlic and guanciale are light golden brown. Season with salt and pepper, add the tomato sauce, reduce the heat, and simmer for 10 minutes.

Cook the bucatini in the boiling water according to the package directions, until al dente. Drain the pasta and add it to the simmering sauce. Add the parsley leaves, increase the heat to high and toss to coat. Divide the pasta among four warmed pasta bowls. Top with freshly grated Pecorino cheese and serve immediately.

Basic Tomato Sauce

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 large Spanish onion, chopped in 1/4-inch dice
4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves, or 1 tablespoon dried
1/2 medium carrot (I use one large carrot), finely shredded
2 (28-ounce) cans peeled whole tomatoes, crushed by hand & juices reserved
Salt, to taste

In a 3-quart saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, and cook until soft and light golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the thyme and carrot, and cook 5 minutes more, until the carrot is quite soft. Add the tomatoes and juice and bring to a boil, stirring often. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes until as thick as hot cereal. Season with salt and serve. This sauce holds 1 week in the refrigerator or up to 6 months in the freezer. Should make 4 cups.

devil's food cake w/ chunky pb-cream cheese filling topped w/ ganache & salty peanuts

I'm not going to write out a post with these photo's....no one's going to read it.









devil's food cake w/ chunky pb-cream cheese filling topped w/ ganache
print recipe

I used the devil's food cake recipe from here--david lebovitz. Then I made the chunky pb filling (below). Then I used a ganache topping over the cake (below) and topped the cake with salty cocktails peanuts, chopped.

chunky peanut butter-cream cheese filling
8 oz cream cheese, very soft/room temp
½ stick salted butter, at room temp
¾ cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
A good pinch of sea salt
a dash of good quality vanilla extract
½ cup smooth peanut butter (not all natural)
handful of salty peanuts, rough chop

In a large bowl use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese and butter together. The slowly add in the confectioners’ sugar—don’t forget to scrape the sides and bottom of bowl during mixing. Continue to beat till nice and fluffy, then add in the salt, vanilla extract, and peanut butter. I prefer to fold the peanut butter in by hand then added in the peanuts in.

ganache (so many ways to make this, here's my way)
12 ounces 70% cacao bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
½ cup heavy cream
2 TB unsalted butter

For the ganache, melt the chopped chocolate with the heavy cream in a double-boiler. Make sure to stir occasionally until fully melted. Once melted, take off the heat and add in the butter. Make sure to whisk this up good. The better you whisk the glossier and smoother the ganache. I waited about an hour and a half for it to cool to pour onto cake.
And just so you know, ganache keeps very well in the fridge overnight if covered very well. You must let it come to room temp before using and whisk it, A LOT.

assemble:
Bake the cake using the recipe link above. Let cakes cool in pans. Then once cooled use pb filling and spread on one layer of cake, be sure not to let the filling get too close to the edges. Once done filling, place the other cake on top. Pour on the ganache, then sprinkle with roughly chopped salty peanuts (optional but wonderful) or sprinkle whatever you wish on top.

**Note: I did a double layer of ganache; did one layer, let it cooled/harden then another layer to kick it up another notch.

sweet potato fries w/ caramelized onion-horsey dip

Are you tired of the sweet potato and carmelized onion themes? No? Cool. Seriously, ask any foodie out there, isn't it always all about the sauce, the dip, marinade, the drippings, etc..? Truth be told I am one of those people that when in a restaurant or in my own home I always want extra sauce; have no problem asking for extra sauce on the side. And you know it's nice to meet other foodies out there that share my same affinity for 'extra sauce'. Since I've started blogging, I've noticed and adore how many foodies out there that love extra sauce. In my last post, banana custard tarlettes, I talked about how as a young child I loved my extra sauce--I still do. A good sauce that has depth of flavor, as well as many flavors mingling inside, not just one or two, but many flavors in the beginning of the bite and at the end of the bite. This dip is one I created from my deep love for truly good caramelized onions. You know the kind of caramelized onions that take hours to caramelize and develop? I wanted to try and incorporate these caramelized onions into a spicy horsey creamy dip. I mean come on, caramelized onions and horsey sauce--Onwards I say! This also has fire/heat to it and it has that horsey heat to it as well (double the fun). Of course I need a vehicle to eat this dip, I mean you could use your fingers, but the sweetness of the sweet potato fries does add a really nice contrast to the two types of heat in the dip. I would imagine this dip would taste good with potato chips (might be kind of salty and hide the deep heat), but I prefer the sweetness of the sweet potato fries. Carrots or cukes would go very well with this.

Oh BACON, baaaaaconnn should be added to this! Quick write that down!

caramelized onion & horsey dip
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¼ cup mayo (Hellmans)
¼ cup sour cream
Couple pinches of cayenne pepper
Couple pinches of chili powder
3 TB or more of horsey sauce
3-4 dashes of hot sauce
2 TB of catsup
3 TB caramelized onions

Mix all together. You might want to puree the caramelized onions if you don't want chunks in the sauce--up to you. Please let this chill at least 3 hours before serving so all the flavors meld nicely together and get all nice and happy.
And add some real, crisp bacon chunks to this; I must try that next time.

hamburg-cheddar-onion pizza w/ fig jam

I seriously need to open my own pizza shop. :::ring ring::: "Hello Vanilla Sugar Pizza House may I take your order?" That doesn't have a pizza ring to it does it?


But seriously my constant craving for strange and unusual pizza is never ending.
I would love a big old kitchen with massive brick pizza ovens to test my funky recipes.
Would you all come? Would you even go so far to try the funkiest of funkiest that I create?
Give me your funkiest pizza that you would love to try?
What toppings? What sauce? What kind of dough?
You need to try that multi-grain pizza dough from Whole Foods. It's so chewy, bakes up nice and crisp on the edges, with a hint of chewy in the middle.
But the key is to have a scorching hot oven to bake.  The faster you bake the multi-grain dough the better it tastes and the better the texture too.

cheddar-hamburg-onion pizza w/ fig jam
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your favorite pizza dough recipe or use this
sharpcheddar cheese, shredded (don't know if mozza would work here)
3/4 cup +/- caramlized sweet Vidalia onions
cooked hamburg (1 lb. pre-cooked), optional but wonderful
fig jam (see below)
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450/500 degrees. If you have a pizza stone use it, they make all the difference in the world when making a thick hearty pizza like this one.
Top the pizza with a nice layer of the fig jam- get those edges! The jam makes a killer crust.. Not too thick nor too thin. Sprinkle on the shredded aged cheddar cheese, then the hamburg (if using), then the caramelized onions.
Bake till nice and crispy! About 12 +/- minutes. I know it's hard, but let this bad boy rest before cutting into it. Serve with a side of the fig jam for dipping.
Here is my fig jam recipe (below). It's funky, but good. The next time I make this I want to add in some mustard seed--I felt it was missing it.

Fig Jam

1 cup of pureed figs (sweet mission figs-the insides only, not the skins, only puree for a couple pulses)
¾ cup of good balsamic vinegar
1 heaping TB of dark brown sugar
3 TB orange juice
Salt & pepper
1 TB pure vanilla extract
Couple dashes of curry powder
¼ cup caramelized onions

Combine the pureed figs, dark brown sugar, 3 TB of orange juice, and vinegar in a saucepan and simmer over low heat, not boiling, but a tiny bit of bubbling. Simmer until mixture reduces down about halfway of its original mixture--maybe 40 minutes? Keep an eye on this, you don’t want this to burn. At the last 5 minutes of simmering add in the curry, salt & pepper (to taste), caramelized onions, and the pure vanilla extract.
Once it’s reduced down let it cool. When cooled, place in blender and puree. Pour through a sieve/chinois to get out the little funky bits and seeds.

sweet potato hash

I truly don't have anything to write as I just made this literally a mere few hours ago and wanted to get it posted ASAP. You must make this. If you are a fan of the 'hash family' not hashish, although that might be kinda good..no don't go there! Let's stick with the fact that this is one very tasty hash. It truly melds perfectly with fresh hollandaise sauce; wow do they go together! So many flavors in this hash all melding together nice and cozy. Have you ever seen sweet potato hash? I've never seen this before, but had it in the back of my mind for a while and finally put it to the hot, greasy skillet this morning.

sweet potato hash
by vanillasugarblog.com
print recipe

2-3 sweet potatoes, chopped into 1-inch cubes
extra virgin olive oil
a few TB of butter
salt & pepper
caramelized onions
few dashes of worcestershire sauce
couple dashes of Tabasco sauce, optional but wonderful

Caramelize some onions (about 1 giant sweet yellow onion) after it's done caramelizing add a few drops of the Worcestershire sauce, set aside. Heat up skillet with some EVOO and fry up the sweet potatoes until nice & crispy, season with salt and pepper. Towards the end of cooking add a few tablespoons of butter to the skillet to melt into the hash. Then add in a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce, mix until combined.

I served the hash with a fried egg and a touch of fresh hollandaise sauce (as seen in the background of the pic). Love my sauces; sauces are my friend. I'm a true sauce-junkie. Raise your hand if you are a sauce-junkie!

tomato & spicy corn relish on puff pastry with horsey sauce

An easy post today as I had my butt kicked at the gym today, so I am exhausted, but it's a good kind of exhausted; a kind of exhausted that will make you sleep like a baby. I had a workout session that was easy in the beginning, harder in the middle because I wanted to give up and say that's enough for now, but no I pushed harder and made it to the end thus feeling like a million bucks. Don't you love that after workout feeling? Good stuff. But most times when I workout like crazy I get like 'prison hungry' afterwards. Ever get that? I try not to overeat and look like a pig eating four meals at once because I get the strangest looks from friends and family. Speaking of the gym, you know what's the worst? Those meatheads who make all those grunting noises. What's up with that? Why all the noises? I know it's hard lifting weights, but why all the excessive grunting and then "slam!" of the weights after each set? And a constant stare at me in between sets? Are you trying to get me to notice you? You're scaring me away...

Tomato, cheddar & spicy corn relish on puff pastry
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2 large tomatoes, thinly sliced, left to dry out a bit on paper towels
1/4 to 1/2 cup of spicy corn relish (see below)
1/2 cup shredded cheese (your choice)
Puff pastry
Horsey sauce (see below)

I don't know about you but I do love working with puff pastry. Some times when I'm not in the mood to make my own puff pastry I use my go-to pre-made puff pastry Dufour's. Which I find at Whole Foods in the frozen section. Always keep your puff pastry frozen till ready to use, then defrost according to directions on package. Puff pastry does not keep in the fridge long after it's been thawed. Here's is the recipe I use for spicy corn relish. Or I use this pre-made relish, which is just as good, it's from Stonewall Kitchen who make wonderful products.

So all I did was slice the tomatoes thin and let them drain a bit on paper towels. Rolled out the puff pastry onto a greased cookie sheet, layer the puff pastry with a thin layer of cheese of your choice (I used cheddar) then a thin layer of the spicy corn relish, then the tomatoes.

Sprinkle with a bit of salt & pepper and bake in preheated oven (375 degrees) for about 15-20 minutes, making sure to turn pan at midpoint. Let cool and slice. You can top with the horsey sauce. Puff pastry, once cooked, does not keep well after a day, really should be eaten straight away--which is no problem in my house.

Horsey Sauce

1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup horseradish
1 ts of white wine or vinegar

In a small bowl stir together the sour cream, heavy cream, wine, and horseradish.
Makes about 1 ½ cups sauce; you can halve this or even quarter this recipe.

pineapple-bacon crackers

You know I made these little savory gems back in winter--the season where my cheese cravings are at an all time high. Why I crave cheese so much in the winter is beyond me; a lack of calcium maybe?
So I'm just going through the "food porn" pictures archives and noticing how much I have not shared with you. I am fixing that stat. :::cue rap music::: "I'm gonna fix that stat, yeah you know that!..." OK, that's great, so much for the rap career.
I hate seriously hate to call these crackers as they are not thin and crispy. They are crispy and thick, and cheesy, and baconey, and pineapplely. Another wonderful savory sweet with the salty creation. Not diet food at all. These do go well with a nice crisp, dry white wine. What kind? I haven't clue what kind I just get whatever is on sale or prosecco, I'm easy.
I am back to being good at exercising. Little time off, but now I'm back to going to the gym every other day and doing my weightlifting routine. Getting my killer abs, legs, and guns back (and chest because I don't want my boobs in my shoes when I'm older). I'm kinda excited about this, I have finally found the perfect way (for me) to do my squats. To be honest, for years I avoided squats like the dentist. I hated them because they hurt so much and I was never seeing progress. Well, the hurt part made me stop more so. But now I do my squats with the aide of two chairs to help give me a little support as I plunge down and to watch myself in the gym mirrors to make sure my form is spot on. What I learned was I was never plunging down far enough in a squat. You need to plunge down further in a squat in order for all the muscles (upper & lower) in the leg to get worked. So now with the help of two of the gym chairs I can go down further and eventually get strong enough where I don't need the chairs. No wonder I never saw results! How did I figure this out? Well, first never seeing results and getting frustrated and second, my workout buddy Adam at Baking with Dynamite cued me in on how to properly do a squat. He's an all-natural professional bodybuilder who used to compete. If anyone knows best exercise forms and methods it's him. Thank you for all your help/advice past and future. My squats, although it's only been a couple + weeks, I'm already seeing results and the knees are definitely getting stronger: that, is the part that keeps me going to do more and more and more.....
Just out of curiousity what exercise are you bad with or let's say you neglect because of _______?



pineapple-bacon crackers
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1 & ½ sticks unsalted butter, room temp.
1 1/2 cups extra old (at least 3 years old) cheddar, finely grated
1 3/4 cups white flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ cup finely chopped dried, unsulphured pineapple
2 TB finely chopped cooked bacon (you can add more, I just wanted a hint of bacon)
¾ cup rice crispies
(I also used a dash of half & half as the dough was really dry)

Cream the butter and cheese together at high speed in your stand mixer.
In a separate bowl sift the flour, salt and baking powder together.
To the flour mixture, add in the pineapple, bacon and rice crispies, and mix.
By hand, add the flour mixture to the butter/cheese mixture; gently combine. If the end result is too dry add in drops of half & half, bit by bit. Remember these are dry by nature, so don't make them too wet when adding in the half & half.
Turn dough out onto a large piece of waxed paper. Roll the dough into a log shape, roll the paper around it and twist the ends shut. Refrigerate for at least 45 minutes. You can freeze the dough at this stage as well.
Preheat oven to 375F. (these cook fast!)
Unwrap the dough log and, using a very sharp knife, slice the log into rounds 1/2 cm thick. Place rounds on parchment lined or greased cookie sheets and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the bottoms of the cookies are golden brown. Remove to a cooling rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
Note: when they're cooking don’t wait for the tops to turn brown, it will be over-cooked by then. You want them lightly brown. They cook fast, so when the 10-minute mark comes up keep an eye on them.

Should make about 30.

mint chocolate Oreo chunk ice cream

Back in the beginning of spring I finally broke down and bought an ice cream maker. Of course it sat in the box unopened for a good two months before I finally used it. Why did I wait so long? To be honest, I truly though ice cream making was hard, very hard. Slaving for hours over the stove, stirring till your arm is numb, then chilling, reheating, then chilling again, then churning to finally freezing. That was so not the case. My friend the ice cream expert, Ms. Esi told me ice cream making couldn't be easier (kiss my hips goodbye!). I fell in love with the whole process of making ice cream; I can now make my own ice cream MY WAY. I don't know about you, but I am a stickler for having lots o' junk in my ice cream. I cannot eat boring smooth ice cream without some sort of texture and flavor combo. And my dear friend Ben & Jerry has, over the years, gone way down in the amount of stuff they put in their ice cream. I mean you're lucky if you get a whole smashed up cookie in their ice cream pints. What's up with that? Why all the decrease in stuff in ice cream? Is there a cookie shortage somewhere?
I will say this, ice cream is super hard to photograph! Tips I found out, thanks to my buddy Manggy, is too make sure the bowl the ice cream will be sitting in is kept in the freezer for a while before you put the ice cream in it. And get a good ice cream scoop! I bought one of those cheapy crappy ones at the grocery store and it broke on the third scoop! Which brings me to my photo; this is the only good photo I got as my ice cream scoop broke. I was lucky to get this one photo.
The easiest recipe people I promise! And it really tasted very rich and creamy just like a homemade ice cream should. I started with is Alton Brown's chocolate ice cream. And from there all I did was add in a hint of mint and lots of crushed up Oreo's. Mmm hmm.
So, the recipe is found here Alton Brown. What I did: I used only half the amount of vanilla extract; and before it goes into the fridge to chill that's when I added the peppermint flavoring or peppermint oil (1 tsp); lastly during the last 3 - 5 minutes of churning in the ice cream maker I added about 1 & 1/2 cups of crushed Oreo's. You can add as much or as little as you like.

banana-coconut cheesecake bars w/ rum soaked cherries

Any Cheesecake Factory lovers out here? Yes? Really the only reason I go there is for the crabcakes and then a big dessert. Small meal, big dessert. And personally I love the way they keep their restaurant so clean and shiny (cleanest bathrooms too). You know what cracks me up? They have a weight management menu, I mean seriously, The Cheesecake Factory and a diet menu are like an oxymoron. But hey you have to give them credit for appealing to all types.
They have the best tasting banana cheesecake. I have yet to find a similiar great tasting banana cheesecake, and they serve it with freshly chopped bananas. They do need a bit of help on their whipping cream though--it's really not that fresh tasting, does taste like it came out of a can. But that's ok, since I love the banana cheesecake so much. I have tried like the devil to recreate their banana cheesecake at home with no luck. On my last failed attempt I made these little gems. I'm still on my coconut kick so I had to add it to the base for these bars and I also wanted to add in some rum, but was afraid so I made rum-soaked cherries. Rum, can be at times a little overpowering, so I didn't want to chance it and ruin the cheesecake, after all all that cream cheese is expensive, so I added the rum to the cherries instead. It was a nice little hint of rum.
And if you do make this, make sure to grease your pans/tins. I forgot and it was impossible getting them out. Impossible. (as you can see in this photo the edges are frayed).

What is your favorite cheesecake?

banana-coconut cheesecake bars w/ rum soaked cherries
print recipe

for the base:
Butter, for greasing pan or tarts
2 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
9 graham crackers
¼ cup of dried coconut flakes (not the sweetened/moist kind)
1 stick unsalted butter, melted

for the filling:
16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2 eggs
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 lemon, the zest of and all it’s juice
1/2 cup superfine sugar

topping:
¼ cup +/- of cherries, split in half or pitted, soaked in a bit of dark rum (soaked overnight is best)
Powdered sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Make sure to pit your cherries, slice them in half, place in a bowl and sprinkle with a bit of dark rum; just a coating. Cover and store in fridge until ready to use; they should marinate overnight or at least 5 hours.

The base:
Grease the bottom of a mini cheesecake square tart pans or muffins pans (or you could use a 9 by 9-inch baking pan) with butter. Spray with non-stick cooking spray. In a food processor, process the sugar, cinnamon, and graham crackers until you have the texture of bread crumbs. Then add in, by hand the coconut and mix.
Add the melted butter and pulse a couple of times to fully incorporate.
Scoop out the mixture and press into the tart pans or baking pans. Make sure to press down good and get into all the corners. I used a small spoon for the corners of the mini tart pans.
Bake in the oven for 12 minutes until golden. When done set aside to cool.

The filling:
Add cream cheese, eggs, mashed banana(s), lemon zest, lemon juice and sugar to the food processor and mix until well combined; you want a nice smooth, lump-free consistency. I then transferred the mixture to a pouring cup and poured the mixture on top of the cooled graham base.
Gently put about 3-4 of the rum soaked cherries on the top of each of the mini tarts—don’t push them down, just let them sit on the top. They might sink a little during cooking. Bake in the oven for 35 minutes, rotating pan halfway through or until the center only slightly jiggles. The baking time might be more if you are using a pan. The square tarts that I used only took 35 minutes. But I could have gotten away with cooking them 30 minutes as they were a little over-done.
Remove from the oven and cool completely before refrigerating for at least 3 hours.
Once set, they should remove easily from pan. If using the 9 x 9 pan, cut them into rectangular bars. Dust with powdered sugar.

I'm back... and I have pie (peach pie)

You know how you read a title of a story that says "I'm back..." and what follows is "did you miss me?" I hate that. That is NOT what I'm going to say. You know why? I missed YOU guys. Holy smack-a-doodles did I miss you guys! I mean seriously, I felt like I was gone for a year. I know I led you all to believe that I was away on a nice, peaceful, relaxful vacation. I wasn't really. Something at home happened that made our lives just stop and go "whoa". It wasn't anything life threatening, but it was truly scary enough.
To make a long story short, all is fine now, our lives are back on track and things are finally coming around to a normal schedule again. Grateful. A HUGE thank you to all my friends for your emails and phone calls--you know who you are and I love that you cared about me and my family. Thank you, that meant the world to me and the hubster.
On to the good stuff! Let's talk about food and whats happening. Have I been the only one pigging out this summer? Tell me (lie please) you've been pigging out too? Make me feel better. The gym, my workouts have been non-existent. Bad, very bad. But I have been swimming, so that counts a bit. I've been swimming daily and nightly watching Shark Week on TV (in HD too--super wild that way). So while I'm in the water swimming away what thoughts go round and round in my head? Yes, those thoughts of humans getting bit by sharks! Always a ton of sharks in the water while I swim; this is whats played through my head as I swim back to the shore. Well, it gets me swimming faster, so........ Amazing what your brain will do when you let it ride on it's own, unsupervised.
I didn't know which latest food creation to share with you first so I picked the one I ate the most of this week: peaches. Lately those peaches at Whole Foods have been fabulous! So flavorful, so plump and huge. I've been eating a lot of them and saved a few for this wonderful peach and creme fraiche pie I saw over at Martha Stewart's website.

This is a peach & creme fraiche pie. The recipe is found here. Changes I made were adding double the crumb topping and serving it with fresh whipped cinnamon cream (just add a couple teaspoons of cinnamon sugar to your whipping cream while you're whipping it). Also, before you're ready to whip your cream add the bowl and beaters to the freezer. This way they'll be nice and cold when you go to whip it up--wonderful little tip. This pie was really good, I mean really good. I truly thought this pie would be heavy and dense, not at all. It was very light tasting, I'm sure it's not so light in calories, but the overall texture was light--surprisingly.

Peach & Crème Fraiche Pie
recipe from martha stewart
print recipe

My notes: Changes I made were doubling the crumb topping. Her version there was hardly any crumb. I also served this with fresh whipped cinnamon cream (just add a couple teaspoons of cinnamon sugar to your whipping cream while you're whipping it). Also, before you're ready to whip your cream add the bowl and beaters to the freezer. This way they'll be nice and cold when you go to whip it up--wonderful little tip.

FOR THE PATE SUCREE
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons ice water, plus more if needed

FOR THE STREUSEL
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup cold (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

FOR THE FILLING
1 1/2 pounds ripe (4 to 5 medium) yellow peaches, pitted and quartered
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
5 tablespoons creme fraiche

Make the pate sucree: Pulse flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor to combine. Add butter; process until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. add egg yolk, and pulse. With machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream through feed tube until dough just holds together. Turn out dough onto a work surface; shape into a disk. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate at least 1 hour (up to 2 days).

Make the streusel: Sift together sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Using your hands or a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to about 1/8 inch thick. Fit into a 9 1/2- or 10-inch pie plate (about 1 1/2 inches deep). Trim edge to 1 inch; fold under, and crimp as desired. Pierce bottom of dough all over with a fork. Transfer to freezer for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cover edge of crust with foil. Line crust with parchment paper, and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake, covered, 10 minutes. Remove weights and parchment (keep foil on edge).
Bake until pale golden brown, 5 to 8 minutes more. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly; remove foil; reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees.

Make the filling: Put peaches into a medium bowl, and sprinkle with sugar and salt; gently toss to coat. let stand 15 minutes.
Spread 2 TB creme fraiche onto bottom of crust; sprinkle with one-third of the streusel. Arrange peaches on top; spread or dot with remaining 3 TB creme fraiche. Sprinkle with remaining streusel.

Bake pie until creme fraiche is bubbling and streusel is golden brown, about 50 minutes. Cover edge of crust with foil if it's browning too quickly. Let cool on a wire rack 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

a little break....

I will be taking a little time off from blogging for a while. I should be back in a couple months. In the meantime, I wish everyone a happy & safe summer. Keep on cooking and baking everyone!

morning glory muffin

There is a little bakery nearby where I live, and they used to be stellar--I mean really good. They had the best muffins--the best (as close as you can come to) croissants, and cookies the size of your head with oodles of flavor, textures and combo's.
But in the last few years they have seriously gone down hill. I think they've gone through about three different owners.

And with each new owner comes more 'scale-down' ideas; ways to save money, and also jack up the prices. Now this little bakery sits in the heart of tourist mecca; a perfect spot for any retailer to seize the opportunity to make money from the summer influx of tourists; plenty of parking and near all the other famous tourists attractions of the historic town. It's sad really to see such a beautiful spot (near the waters and marshlands) go downhill. Well, many years ago they used to have the best morning glory muffin. This is the muffin that used to make me go to the bakery in the early morning hours to get while it was still warm. They had perfected the 'muffin top': it was a huge top with crunchy edges, overlapping sides, and filled with fruit, carrots, coconut, nuts, etc... Today, sadly, this muffin is no more; a smaller version with no muffin top has replaced it, as well as being dry and fruitless. So with that said I had to recreate this at home, because every once in a while I crave a really good morning glory muffin. So, here is my latest re-creation or creation. If you adore the infamous morning glory muffin then you simply must try this recipe.




morning glory muffins
recipe by vanillasugarblog.com
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1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup oat bran 
½ cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 ts baking soda
1 TB baking powder
½ ts salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
¾ ts powder ginger
½ cup dark brown sugar, packed
2 medium size eggs
¾ cup vegetable oil
1 ½ ts pure vanilla extract
¾ cup half & half (or whole milk)
1 cup shredded carrots
½ cup raisins
½ cup chopped toasted walnuts
½ cup unsweetened flaked coconut
Granola for topping, optional but wonderful

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 6 jumbo muffin cups (or 12 regular muffins). You can use paper liners, but I’ve never used them for my morning glory muffins.
In a large bowl, mix together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and ginger.
In a separate bowl mix together the carrots, raisins, nuts, and coconut.
In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, dark brown sugar, oil, vanilla, and half & half. Whisk well.
Pour the liquid ingredients into the large bowl containing the dry flour mixture. Mix until just combined, do not overmix! It’s perfectly normal to have lumps. Lumps are good! Then add in the “add in” bowl mix and “gently” mix that until just incorporated. Don’t overmix!
Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups. Top with granola before baking (optional).
Bake in preheated oven for 30- 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Makes 6-8 jumbo muffins or 12-14 regular muffins (see note below).
Note: I used the oversized muffin pan; they make better muffin tops. I've made these muffins using regular muffin pans, but they just didn't taste right, too dry. I'm certain the jumbo muffins ones are a better fit for keeping it nice and moist.

chocolate-peanut butter bread

When grocery shopping I'm amazed at how many food things consisting of the wonderful combo chocolate & peanut butter I go for. Sports bars, ice cream, muffins, cookies, etc... Seriously. I am also still floored everytime I go to Whole Foods and look at the energy bar section and see how many bars NEW bars there are with chocolate & pb combo. The latest find was a chocolate and spirilina bar! Yeah, pretty wild. I thought oh ick, this has to taste horrible. And with that said, I went ahead and bought one! LOL. To be honest it wasn't that bad. Granted it did not taste like a candy bar, but it did not taste like chocolate covered lawn clippings. It wasn't bad, really, and it was good for me. It had an ingredient list I could relate to (no chemical degree necessary to read it).
Well with all these constant cravings of things relating to the "chocolate and peanut butter family" I've always wanted to do a bread. Hence, my latest creation. This bread came out great. It's not that moist like a banana bread would be, but it truly did taste amazing when it was sliced, toasted with butter on top.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Bread
(inspiration from Dinners for a Year)
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¾ cup dark brown sugar
¾ cup peanut butter (I used chunky)
1 TB vanilla
2 eggs, beaten
1 ½ cups buttermilk
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 cup whole wheat flour, sifted
4 ts baking powder
1/2 ts salt

¾ cup of milk choco chunks (I wanted chunks of choco in here)
3 TB of melted butter +/-
Raw sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a loaf pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a small bowl mix the buttermilk and eggs together. In another bowl sift the flours, baking powder, and salt.
In a large bowl, cream sugar, peanut butter, and vanilla; add in the buttermilk & egg mixture. Then beat in the flour mixture; beat well until just combined.
By hand add in the milk chocolate chunks.
Pour batter into greased loaf pan and bake for 50 - 55 minutes until golden brown and a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan 10 minutes before unmolding.
**note: on the last 30 minutes of baking I put a bit of melted butter on the top, then sprinkled some raw sugar chunks on the top of the bread, optional, but wonderful**

This recipe and photographs are copyrighted and the property of Dawn Finicane

toasted coconut, blueberry-strawberry pie

Would you believe I have another coconut recipe? This one isn't so fancy or crazy, just a simple strawberry and blueberry pie with toasted coconut on top.
All of the flavors really did meld well very together.
This pie did not go to hubbys' work (sorry guys), it was devoured at home.
I must share with you that when this was baking there was the smell of blueberry pie throughout the house as well as toasted coconut; it was really a 3D-unique'ish smell. I loved it.





blueberry-strawberry pie w/ toasted coconut
print recipe
(basic blueberry pie sort of adapted from Gourmet )

For the dough:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
1 large egg yolk, beaten lightly with 1 1/2 tablespoons ice water

For the filling:
3 TB cornstarch
3 TB rum
2 TB fresh lemon juice
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 - 3 cups fresh blueberries (depending how thick you want your pie)
1 & 1/2 cup fresh strawberries, chopped into 1 inch pieces
about 1 cup +/- of sweetened coconut

some heavy cream as a pie wash for the top then sprinkle on about 1 1/2 TB coarse sugar

Make the dough: In a bowl stir together the flour, the sugar, and the salt. Add the butter, and blend the mixture until it resembles coarse meal. Add the yolk mixture, toss the mixture until the liquid is incorporated, and form the dough into a ball. Dust the dough with flour and chill it, wrapped in plastic wrap, for 1 hour.

Make the filling: In a large bowl stir together the cornstarch, the rum, the lemon juice, the sugar, and the cinnamon. Add the blueberries, and combine the mixture well.

Pour the filling into a 6- to 7-cup deep gratin dish or other shallow baking dish. (I used a deep dish/gratin). Roll out the dough slightly larger than the dish. Roll out the dough slightly larger than the dish on a floured surface and drape it over the filling. Fold the overhang under, pressing the dough to the edge of the dish, and crimp the edge decoratively. Make slits and holes in the crust for air vents, brush the crust with the heavy cream, and sprinkle it with the coarse sugar.
Bake the pie on a baking sheet in the middle of a preheated 375 degree F oven for 1 hour to 1 1/4 hours, or until the filling is bubbly and the crust is golden.
**Now, if you want a toasted coconut topping, during the last 15 to 20 minutes of cooking remove pie from over, gently brush the top of the pie with a beaten egg and then sprinkle on the sweetened coconut. (using an egg wash not heavy cream, this time around helps the coconut adhere). Make the coconut topping as thin or as thick as you like.**
When done baking, transfer the pie to a rack and let it cool.

chocolate-coconut covered Cheez Its

Another crazy craving of sweet and salty then sweet. The salty Cheez It's mixed with the sweet milk chocolate and then the coconutty coconut. Man, I'm telling you, a wonderful little flavor blast happening in the mouth.
I loved these little gems. Easy to make too.
All I did was use the large size Cheez It's, dipped them in good quality milk chocolate (I used ghirardelli), placed on wax or parchment paper and sprinkled with dried coconut (not sweetened coconut too wet, but dried coconut). Pop them in the freezer to harden up. Easy!



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cheeseburger pizza w/ bbq sauce

Friday right?
Pizza night?
Time to kick back, chill and sloooow the heck down from a hectic week. How do I like to spend my Friday nights? Well, since I'm an old fartknocker I like going to bed early, yeah I know totally boring. But there are some nights when I want to totally chill and have a couple glasses of ice cold Prosecco with pizza and maybe sit outside and look at the water.
Here on cape cod it's hard to find a good pizza joint.  We have a whole foods which does a really good job, but they haven't done a BBQ pizza....yet.
So you just need to make your own.
At least when you make your own you can put BBQ sauce on it and extra cheese, plus whatever else you fancy/crave.


For the easy recipe:
all I did was use the multi-grain pizza dough from Whole Foods, smeared a bit of spicy bbq sauce on it, then some mozzarella cheese, then some cooked bacon, then some thinly sliced sweet onions, then some cooked hamburger (don't put raw hamburg on as it might not cook all the way through).
Take a little bit of olive oil and rub the edges of the pizza crust with it.
Bake in 450-500 degree oven till nice and crispy (about 15 minutes +/-).


If you like this then you're going to love my hamburg & cheddar pizza with fig jam.
Yes fig jam--It goes so well with this pizza, you must try it.

Tasty looking right?

You need to try the fig jam on your next pizza.

tropical chicken salad

I am still on my coconut kick, err...addiction. I made a few other wonderful creations, but here's one of my favorites: chicken salad. Oh yes, my friend this is tasty. Not only is there coconut in here, but there is pineapple, walnuts, and raisins. I know there are a ton of you foodies out there that will love this. Best part? Tastes crazy-good the next day. Why? The flavors all intensify....oh food of love people, food of love!

I didn't write out the recipe, but here's what's in here:
roasted chicken breast, cut into chunks
handful of raisins
handful of toasted walnuts
about 2 TB dried coconut (not the sweetened kind but just dried)
3 - 4 TB dried pineapple chunks, cut up (I love pineapple so I added a lot)
a little bit of red onions, chopped,
Hellmans Mayo with a bit of salt & pepper.
served on a brioche roll w/ fresh spinach salad

Feel free to use whatever additions you crave. I bet this would be good on rye bread.