Category Archives: recipe

Recipe Review: Chocolate Balls

I belong to a fun group of friends over on Live Journal called My Flist Cooks. We post recipes to share with each other. While there aren’t loads of recipes posted on a regular basis, what is posted is usually really tasty!

One of my favorite things about My Flist Cooks is the opportunity to try recipes from friends around the world. Many of the recipes are family favorites and come highly recommended. I love knowing that people I know and like enjoyed a recipe enough to post it on MFC.

As a treat for my family, I tried ‘s hardhatcat’s Chocolate Balls from her Truffles post.

Chocolate Balls
by hardhatcat

250g packet plain biscuits, crushed (from Cat: I crush mine in the blender, but a plastic bag and rolling pin will do the same thing)
1 cup desiccated coconut
2 tbsp cocoa powder
400g tin of condensed milk
extra coconut

Add dry ingredients to bowl and blend well. Add condensed milk and mix well. roll into balls and roll in extra coconut. Store in airtight container.

Jen’s notes:

I Americanized my batch a bit by using most of a 12 oz box of Vanilla Wafers in place of the plain biscuits. I did weigh them out so that I had 250g and I’d estimate there were about 10 cookies left in the package when I was done.
The sweetened condensed milk I bought came in 396g cans. I didn’t adjust the recipe for that, but it didn’t seem to hurt anything, on the contrary, they were really moist.
I crushed the cookies in my food processor and then added all the ingredients right to the processor.
Having killed my last cookie scoop, I used a teaspoon to scoop out the mixture and roll it in coconut. I think it was a little too sticky because they went flat and looked more like cookies than truffles. After some time in the fridge, I was able to roll them into a nice ball shape. If I make them again, I’ll pop them in the fridge first, and then roll out the balls.

My family LOVED them. They’re super rich and very yummy! Thanks for sharing the recipe, Cat!

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Recipe: Make Your Own Damn Pizza

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Mmmm, pizza!

With the changing economy, ordering pizza for a family of four has been out for quite a while. What to do, what to do? Well, make our own damn pizza!

Since I started making my own pizza, pizza family night has become a tradition every Friday. We watch t.v., eat pizza, and just laugh and talk together. Pizza night makes the world go round!

This is my own recipe for pizza dough, made to satisfy that pizza craving without crashing my wallet.

Make Your Own Damn Pizza (Crust!)

3 cups flour + 1/2 – 1 c
1/2 cup cornmeal
2 1/2 tsp. instant yeast (not quick-rise)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar, honey or agave nectar
1 egg plus enough room-temperature water to make 1 1/2 cups
2 tbs olive oil

Hint: Use a stand mixer if you’ve got it! You can also do this by hand, it just takes a little longer.

Mix dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl (or stand mixer bowl). Mix wet ingredients together, adding slowly to the dry ingredients until a sticky dough forms. Slowly add additional flour 1/2 cup at a time until dough is no longer sticky. (It usually takes me about 1/2 c.)

Knead for approximately 5 minutes (by hand or with a dough hook in a stand mixer).

Allow to rest for about 1 hour or until double in size.

Punch down and split in half, forming two balls of dough. Allow to rest while preheating oven and preparing pizza pans or baking sheets.

Preheat oven to 425°.

Oil two round pizza pans (12 – 15″) or baking sheets with olive oil. Using your hands, slowly stretch one ball of dough to cover pan.

Just keep working with it and it will eventually cover the pan. It will shrink a little after you stop working with it, but that’s okay. As you’ll see in the “after” photo, the pizza will plump right up to the edges! Repeat for the second pan.

Add toppings of your choice. I recommend 3 tablespoons of Exquisite Pizza Sauce or sauce of your choice.

Mozzarella and feta with pepperoni or Canadian bacon are my favorites!

Cook for 18 – 20 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown.

Optional: for a crispier crust, remove pizza from pan and cook directly on the oven rack for the last 5 minutes OR cook the pizzas on a pizza stone.

Allow to rest at least 5 minutes before slicing. Makes enough for 2 12-15″ pizzas, which serves four nicely. Enjoy!

All told, and depending on toppings, it costs between $8 and $10 to make two fresh-from-the-oven pizzas!

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Applesauce Raisin Bread

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I love making bread, any kind of bread. Yeast bread, savory or sweet quick breads. ANY bread. It makes my house smell like home and feeds my family.

This Applesauce Raisin Bread is slightly sweet and is lovely toasted with butter. Enjoy it as a desert or with your coffee.

I think I’ll have another piece right now!

Applesauce Raisin Bread

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg (fresh, if you have it!)
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup seedless raisins
1 cup oatmeal, uncooked (quick or old-fashioned)
2 eggs
1/3 c vegetable oil
1 cup applesauce (I like unsweetened, but you can use either)

Preheat oven to 350°

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. Stir in spices, sugar, raisins and oatmeal. In a small bowl, beat 2 eggs with vegetable oil and applesauce. Add to dry ingredients and stir until moist, being careful to not over-stir.

Pour into greased loaf pan. Bake 40 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool for at least 1/2 an hour before slicing. Enjoy!

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Recipe: Rice In The Box

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Rice.

It should be one of the easiest things in the world to make. And it is, really. Mainly, because I’ve started cooking it in the microwave.

Seriously! It works brilliantly and you can tweak the rice to go with whatever you like.

Rice In The Box

1 cup of white rice, any length grain (I’ve tried it with brown rice…it DOES NOT WORK, just fyi!)
1 3/4 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbs butter (optional…for that yummy, buttery flavor & shine!)

Add all ingredients to a round casserole dish with a lid. If you don’t have a round casserole, you can use a flat-bottomed round vessel with plastic wrap on top. Poke holes in the plastic for venting.

Microwave for 5 minutes on high, then 15 minutes on 50%. Leave the rice in the microwave for at least five minutes. Remove the lid carefully – there will be steam, so be careful.

Fluff with a fork or spoon and serve!

Variations:

Use chicken, beef or veggie broth instead of water, reduce salt to 1/4 tsp.

Add to cooked chicken

top with veggies or sauce

Use rice cooked with water for Rice Pudding!

My Mom’s Rice Pudding

1 c. rice, cooked
1 ½ c. milk
2 eggs, beaten
½ c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. nutmeg (optional)
1/4 tsp. cinnamon (optional)

Instructions: Boil rice and milk over low heat, stirring often so you don’t scorch the milk. Slowly add eggs, sugar and vanilla, stirring constantly. * Pour into 1 ½ quart casserole. Mix spices and sprinkle on top. Place dish into a larger pan containing ½” water.

Bake 35 – 40 minutes at 350 degrees (F) or until knife inserted near edge comes out clean.

*optional – you can skip the oven and continue to cook until it’s a thick consistency. It gives the pudding a slightly different texture, but it’s still delicious!

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Recipe Review: Tortilla Soup

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The holy grail of soups in my world is Tortilla Soup (yes, capitalized, it’s that important!). We spent a very brief stint in the 1990s living in Southern California. The one thing I miss that I have never been able anywhere else is a Tortilla Soup as delicious as the variety I ate at Spoons in Tustin, CA.

I spent years ordering Tortilla Soup from every restaurant that we’ve visited. I’ve had some really good soups, including a creamy jalapeno tortilla that was eye-water and extremely delicious, but I’ve never found anything to rival Spoons’ recipe.

This is one of the versions I make at home. It is nothing like the fabled Spoons’ soup, but it’s still pretty darned good. It takes about five minutes to cook, too, which makes it even better on busy nights with music lessons and such that require the mom taxi to be on call.

Six Can Tortilla Soup

I first came across this recipe on allrecipes, but have since seen it in a number church and community cookbooks (something I collect). Wherever you find the recipe, it’s really hard to go wrong with!

1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth (I prefer using 1 32 oz carton of organic free-range chicken broth)
1 (10 ounce) can chunk chicken (I typically use leftovers, but this works, too!)
1 (15 ounce) can black beans
1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers, drained

Garnish: (not listed in the original recipe)

tortilla chips
grated cheese (sharp cheddar or Monterrey Jack are both excellent)
jalapenos (optional)
sour cream (optional)

Empty first five ingredients into a large cooking pot. Allow to simmer a couple of minutes and then ladle into bowls. Serve topped with garnish. This makes a fantastic side or starter. It’s great served with enchiladas, rice, or just by itself!

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Cooking: Whole Wheat Pancakes

Recipe Review: White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cheesecake

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I love trying out recipes and crafts I find online and it just occurred to me that I’ve never shared any of those with you. Hmm, it’s about time!

If you like cheesecake, but you’ve never made one before, this is a FANTABULOUS recipe to start with. The recipe includes minutely detailed step-by-step details. Cheesecakes take a bit of patience and a springform pan. Follow each and every direction and your cheesecake will come out perfectly.

You’ll find my comments in italics.

I’m trying out using larger photos in my posts. Let me know if you like that and I’ll keep it up!

White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cheesecake
clone of a Cheesecake Factory recipe
found at Top Secret Copy Cat Recipes

Crust:

1 1/2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs (filling removed) or 20 crumbled Oreo sandwhich cookies (filling removed)
1/3 cup margarine, melted I used real butter

Filling:

1/2 cup raspberry preserves I used low-sugar preservses
1/4 cup water
4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese at room temperature use real cream cheese, not lowfat or fatfree or your cheesecake won’t set properly
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup sour cream at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 eggs at room temperature
4 ounces white chocolate, chopped into chunks I used white chocolate chips

Garnish:

2 ounces shaved white chocolate (optional) I used white chocolate chips
whipped cream (optional) Redi Whip works, too

Before preheating oven: prepare a 9″ springform pan by lining the sides and bottom with parchment paper and then covering the bottom with aluminum foil. This step comes later in the recipe, but it takes a little bit to get it just right and I found that my oven was on for a silly amount of time while I wrangled with the parchment paper.

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees.

2. Place a large pan or oven-safe skillet filled with about 1/2-inch of water into the oven while it preheats.

I used a large Pyrex baking dish. Whatever you use, test it first to make sure the springform pan fits inside with a little room to spare.

3. This will be your water bath.

4. Combine the raspberry preserves with 1/4 cup water in a medium microwave-safe bowl.

5. Heat for 1 1/2 minutes on high in your microwave.

6. Stir until smooth.

7. Strain to remove the raspberry seeds, and discard seeds.

8. Allow strained preserves to cool, then put the bowl in the refrigerator until later.

9. Measure 1 1/2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs OR crush 20 Oreo cookie wafers (with the filling scraped out– in a resealable plastic bag) into a medium bowl.

If using Oreos, you want 20 sandwich cookies or 40 wafers. Now, what to do with all that Oreo filling?

10. Mix in 1/3 cup melted margarine.

I used real butter.

11. Press the crumb into a 9-inch spring form pan that has been lined on the bottom and side with parchment paper.

12. Use the bottom of a drinking glass to press the crumb mixture flat into the bottom of the pan and about 2/3 the way up the side.

I didn’t do the 2/3 part, ’cause I like my crust just on the bottom.

13. Wrap a large piece of foil around the bottom of the pan to keep the cheesecake in the water bath and prevent it from leaking.

14. Put the crust in your freezer until the filling is done.

15. Use an electric mixer to combine the softened cream cheese with the sugar, room temperature sour cream, and vanilla.

You don’t have to use a stand mixer, but if you have one, it makes the work much easier. You could also use a large food processor.

16. Mix on the lowest setting for a couple minutes or until the ingredients are smooth and creamy.
17. You don’t want to beat too much air into the mixture, or it will fall and be grainy.

18. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

19. Whisk the eggs in a medium bowl and then add them to the cream cheese mixture.

20. Blend the mixture just enough to integrate the eggs.

21. Remove the crust from the freezer and sprinkle 4 ounces of white chocolate chunks onto the bottom of the crust.

I chose to use white chocolate chips.

22. Pour half of the cream cheese filling into the crust.

23. Drizzle the raspberry preserves over the entire surface of the filling.

24. Use a butter knife to swirl the raspberry into the cream cheese.

25. Just a couple passes is fine, you don’t want to blend the raspberry and cream cheese together too much.

26. Pour the other half of the filling into the crust.

27. Carefully place the cheesecake into the water bath in the oven.

Be very careful here. By this point, the oven is hot and the water is HOT. If much of the water evaporates while you’re making the cheesecake, add a more and close the oven for about five minutes before adding your cheescake.

28. Bake for 12 minutes at 475 degrees, then turn the oven down to 350 degrees and bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until the top of the cheesecake turns a light brown or tan color.

Leave the oven door closed for at least 30 minutes. The water bath helps keep the humidity in the oven high which will help the cheesecake cook evenly and will help to minimize cracking.

29. Remove the cheesecake from the oven to cool on a cooling rack.

Again, work carefully. You’re going to have hot water dripping from the bottom. I put a towel under my cooling rack for just that reason.

30. When the cheesecake is completely cool, cover cheesecake with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator to sit overnight.

Don’t be tempted to remove the springform pain for at least a couple of hours. The cake will shrink as it cools and will pull away from the sides. As long as you’ve used parchment all the way around, the cake will come out perfectly once it’s cooled. It can take four hours or more for a cheesecake of this size to cool enough to go in the fridge. Don’t be tempted to put it in too early, or you’ll end up with condensation all over your cake!

31. Before serving, sprinkle the entire top surface of cheesecake with 2 ounces of shaved white chocolate.

White chocolate chips!

32. To serve, slice the cheesecake into 12 equal portions.

33. Apply a pile of fresh whipped cream to the top of each slice and serve.

I like to add the whipped cream to the individual slices. Not everyone wants it and it also ensures you have lovely stacked whipped cream and an not oozy deflated whipped cream.

Makes: 12 servings

Optional: if the birthday girl has the flu, put birthday candles in the bottom of a paper plate with holes punched in.

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Faux Rocher

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I love chocolate.

It’s possibly unhealthy how much I love chocolate, but there you are!

Ferrero Rocher are one of my favorite indulgences, so much so that my lovely sister gave me a lovely heart shaped box full of them for Valentine’s. I haven’t opened them yet…letting the anticipation build!

A friend of mine shared a recipe for a clone recipe. The original came from Australia (love my Aussie friends!) and asked for packs of nuts and other ingredients without specific amounts included. With my friend’s help, I worked out the “how much” and then gave the recipe my own U.S. touch.

These aren’t identical to Ferrero Rocher, but they’re a darn good facsimile and will be a lovely Valentine’s treat for me and my sweetie!

Faux Ferrero Rocher

1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1 tbs shortening
1 cup chopped lightly roasted peanuts, chopped
½ – 1 cup hazelnuts or macadamia nuts (the real thing uses hazelnuts)
1 (13 oz.) jar of Nutella
miniature muffin tins and liners (approx 1 1/4″ size)

I used Hershey’s, but you can use any combination of milk and dark chocolates.

Line miniature muffin tins with wrappers.

Place chocolate chips and shortening in a microwavable bowl. Cook for 3-4 minutes. Remove from microwave and stir, adding chopped peanuts. Mix thoroughly.

Place small teaspoon chocolate nut mix in base of pan or wrapper.

Place a nut in center.

Cover with about ½ tsp. Nutella.

Cover with chocolate nut mix.

Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

Eat!
Makes approximately 30 really yummy candies.

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Recipe: Pull-Apart Bread

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*sniffs*
Do you smell that?

Ooooo, baking bread! I can’t think of anything that makes a house feel more like a home than the smell of baking bread. My mom is a bread baker and I am always reminded of coming home from school on cold days and smelling her sourdough bread baking. Nomnomnom…nothing better!

This is a favorite recipe of mine originally from a very old community cookbook. I’ve edited and changed it until it’s just the way we like it. If you’ve never made homemade bread before, this is an easy recipe to start with.

Pull-Apart Bread
sometimes called Monkey Bread

1 pkg dry yeast
1 c lukewarm water
1 egg
1 tsp. salt
4 Tbs. sugar
1/2 c. (1 stick) melted and cooled butter + another 1/2 cup
3 1/2 – 4 cups flour (AP works just fine)

In a large mixing bowl*, dissolve yeast and lukewarm water. In a small bowl, beat the egg, add salt, sugar and 1/2 cup of melted and cooled butter, beating well. Add to yeast mixture. Mix well.

Slowly mix in flour, about 1 cup at a time, mixing well as you go. Mix until the dough is elastic and pulls away from the edges of the bowl.

*If you have a stand mixer, add ingredients into the mixer bowl, using the standard attachment through the first two cups of flour. Change to the dough hook and mix until dough pulls away from the bowl.

Cover and let rise until double in bulk. Time will vary based on the room temperature. Approximately 2 hours.

Once the dough has doubled, place remaining 1/2 cup of butter in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave 30 seconds at a time until just melted. Stir to help any unmelted bits finish melting.

Prepare two loaf pans by spraying lightly with non-stick cooking spray.

Place dough on a large piece of parchment paper. Roll out to about 1/4″ thickness. Use a pizza cutter or a dough knife and cut into 1 1/2″ to 2″ pieces. Dip each piece in melted butter and place in loaf pan, evenly distributing pieces between the two pans.

Cover with a towel and let rise until double again, approximately 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Bake loaves for about 35 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes and then turn out on a plate or cooling rack.