Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Lemon Raspberry Cheesecake

Last year at work we had a dessert contest, and this was the winning recipe. Corey's favorite flavors of dessert are lemon and raspberry, so I thought I would make this for him for Valentine's Day. He absolutely loved it, and I think you will too. I preferred mine topped with fresh raspberries or strawberries instead of the sauce (I thought it was a bit too lemony with the sauce and the lemon in the cheesecake) but Corey loved it with the sauce. Enjoy!


Lemon Raspberry Cheesecake

Crust
1 cup vanilla wafer cookie crumbs
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

Filling
3 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese softened
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 - 3 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 large eggs
1 large egg white

Topping
3/4 cup super
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup cold water
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 egg yolk, beaten
fresh raspberries

Crust: Mix crumbs, sugar and butter: press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan (sprayed lightly with baking spray). Bake at 325 degrees for 10 minutes.

Filling: Mix cream cheese, sugar, flour, juice, zest and vanilla with an electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add 3 eggs and egg white, mixing on low speed just until blended. Pour over crust. Bake at 325 degrees for 40-50 minutes or until center is almost set (but still a little jiggly). Run knife or metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim of pan. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

Topping: Mix sugar and cornstarch in saucepan; gradually stir in water and juice. Bring mixture to a low boil on medium heat, stirring constantly until clear and thickened. Stir 2 tablespoons of the hot mixture into egg yolks; then slowly mix the egg mixture into the sauce. Cook 1 minute or until thickened, stirring constantly. Cool slightly. Stir in raspberries Spoon topping over cheesecake just before serving. Refrigerate until ready to serve.


Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Best. Brownies. Ever.

Six months ago my friend Hannah brought these brownies to a barbecue we were having. I have literally been craving them ever since. I've been begging her for the recipe, and she finally brought it to me two weeks ago. I am not exaggerating when I say that I have made them three times since then. They're perfectly chewy and fudgy, which is hard to achieve when you are making homemade brownies with cocoa instead of baking chocolate. Just let me say this: try it and you definitely won't be disappointed.

Chewy Cocoa Brownies from Nestle

3/4 cup butter, melted
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
2 Tb. water
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup cocoa
1 1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9 x 13 baking pan with baking spray.
2. Whisk melted butter and sugar together until well combined. Add water, eggs, and vanilla and mix until smooth.
3. Add cocoa, flour, baking powder, and salt and mix until thoroughly combined. Batter will be very thick.
4. Spread batter in pan. Top with chocolate chips. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until slightly puffy and no longer jiggly in the middle. Enjoy!

Friday, February 5, 2010

Creamy Nutella Frosting


I love Nutella. On crepes. In pie. On sandwiches. In brownies. And now, in this frosting. It is completely amazing. I frosted some devil's food cupcakes with this frosting and topped it with fresh raspberries and chocolate shavings, and oh man, it was completely amazing. Trust me, if you like Nutella, try this. It is amazing.

Creamy Nutella Frosting

1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup Nutella
5 Tb. butter, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup heavy cream

1. Beat Nutella, butter, vanilla, salt, and sugar in electric mixer on medium-low speedy until creamy and well combined.
2. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth. Use to frost a 9 x 13 cake or 18 - 24 cupcakes.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Greek Style Kebabs



Greek Style Kebabs with Tzatziki and Spicy Tomato Sauces
Serves 3

Ingredients-
For the kebabs:
1 lb. meat (I used chicken, but you could use lamb, pork, or turkey too) cut into 1-1/2 inch cubes
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 bunch fresh oregano (or 1 teaspoon dried if you must)
2 teaspoons fresh thyme (1 teaspoon dried)
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
pinch of sweet paprika
1/2 cup milk (preferably whole milk if you've got it)
3 tomatoes, cut in half
1 onion, cut into eighths.
2 large cubanelle peppers (anaheim will work if you can't get cubanelle)

For the tzatziki sauce:
16oz (2 cups) of thick Greek style yogurt
4-10 cloves of garlic, minced (the amount depends on how garlicky you want it)
1/2 cup of diced or grated cucumber, peeled (English cucumber is best)
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 teaspoons of lemon juice

For the spicy tomato sauce:
1 small can tomato puree (2 1/2 oz size)
1/2-1 teaspoon of salt
1/2-1 1/2 teaspoons of white pepper
1/2-1 1/2 teaspoons of black pepper
1 teaspoon dried basil
pinch of dried oregano
ketchup (as much as you want- more will make it milder and sweeter)

Directions-
For the kebabs:
1- Mix the minced garlic, oregano, thyme, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, and paprika together in a large bowl to make a marinade. Reserve a couple tablespoons of the marinade in a smaller container to use for basting the kebabs.
2- Add the meat to the large bowl, making sure to coat it completely with the marinade. Add the milk (it's added last to prevent the lemon juice from curdling it), stirring it in with everything else, cover the bowl and put it into the fridge to marinate. Leave it in the fridge for at least 1-2 hours before cooking, but overnight is best.

3- When you're about ready to cook, cut the tomatoes in half and thread them onto skewers, cut side up (You can use bamboo or wood skewers if you want, but I really recommend investing in some metal kebab skewers. They're fairly cheap, and work so much better, particularly if you get either flat or square shaped ones.). Cut the onion into eighths, and thread onto skewers. Cut the peppers in half, remove the ribs and seeds and thread onto skewers cut side up. Set the vegetable skewers aside on a tray for later.

I know that you're thinking that kebabs should have the meat and veg on the same skewers alternating to make a pretty looking design. Get that idea out of your head! It's just plain stupid from both a food handling (cross contamination- gross) and a effectiveness standpoint. The meat and all the veggies cook differently, so they need to be on separate skewers. They can still look pretty that way, but it'll be safer and more delicious. So get the stupid ideas out of your head.

4- Make sure that your grill is clean and free of debris. Anything that's stuck on that grill will stick to your kebabs. Preheat the grill to high heat.
5- Take the meat out of the fridge and thread it onto skewers, placing each on a tray. Keep these separated from the vegetables so it doesn't cross contaminate! Try to put 1/2-1 serving of meat on each skewer, depending on the size of the skewers, leaving space at both ends to turn it on the grill.
6- Take a paper towel, or napkin, put a small amount of olive oil on it and, using tongs, use it to grease the preheated grill. Put the skewers of meat onto the grill (diagonally if possible, to prevent pieces falling in). Make sure you put them down where you want them the first time, leaving enough room for the remaining skewers, because if you try to reposition the skewers then there's a good chance chunks of meat will stick to the grill, tearing off.
7- After 12-15 minutes on high heat, turn the skewers over, brushing them with some of the reserved marinade to keep them moist. 12-15 minutes on the second side (24-30 minutes total for both sides) and your meat should be done. Remove the skewers of meat, place on a clean tray and tent with foil to keep them warm (I like to put them into a pre-heated 200 degree oven at this point to keep them warm).
8- Brush the bottoms of the tomatoes, peppers and onions with olive oil and put them on the grill. Put the onions on first, as they take the longest to cook. Make sure the tomatoes and peppers are cut side up. Coat the tops of the vegetables with olive oil. Turn or remove the vegetables as they reach your desired level of doneness. I like a bit of charring myself.
9- Remove meat and vegetables from skewers and combine. Serve with warm pita bread (easily grilled, just brush some olive oil on first), lemon wedges, fresh parsley, feta cheese and tzatziki and spicy tomato sauces. Hummus with pita chips and cucumber makes a delicious side.

For the tzatziki sauce:
1- Combine olive oil and lemon juice in the bottom of a large bowl, slowly folding in the thick yogurt (if you can't get Greek style yogurt then you can buy regular, plain yogurt and put it into a strainer that has a coffee filter laid in it, and let the liquid drain out into a bowl in the fridge for 4-5 hours), making sure to fully incorporate the oil and lemon juice into the yogurt.
2- Add the garlic and cucumber, gently combining it with the yogurt mixture.
3- Let it sit in the fridge for at least an hour. The longer it sits the more intense the garlic flavour will become.
Easily made variations include adding a little finely chopped mint, or dill to the mixture.

For the spicy tomato sauce:
1- Combine tomato puree, salt, white and black pepper, basil and oregano in a small bowl. Add in ketchup until you reach your desired taste.

Another easy thing that I think really tastes good with these kebabs is a simple saffron/lemon reduction syrup.
Ingredients-
2 1/2 cups water
4 cups sugar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon ground saffron diluted in 2 tablespoons hot water

Directions-
1- Bring water and sugar to a boil in a saucepan. Simmer for ten minutes. Add the lemon juice and cook for ten more minutes
2- Add the diluted saffron and lemon zest (if you want the yellow color to really pop, put just a little yellow food coloring in). Continue simmering until it reaches what you think is a good thickness. Let it cool, put it in a bottle and put in the fridge. As it cools down it will get thicker.
3- Serve a little of it on the kebabs, or with anything else that sounds good (I love it with deserts- like vanilla ice cream).
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