Homemade Tortilla Chips ~ With Recipe

Here's something that would go nicely with the spring pea guacamole (or salsa, or sour cream, or plain...): fresh tortilla chips. These are so simple to make and so worth it!

Baked Lemon Tart with Really Easy Tart Crust~With Recipe

I prefer a lemon curd tart to a baked lemon tart, but every once in a while I like to mix things up. This recipe seemed worth trying. The filling was very lemon-y with a surprisingly creamy texture for a baked tart--sort of like lemon curd but lighter and a bit tangier.

Chocolate Chip Brownie Cookies~With Recipe!

These aren't quite as brownie-ish in texture as the name implies, but the flavor is quite like a brownie. A brownie with chocolate chips. Who doesn't like that? I hope you like that because below is the recipe for these moist chocolate cookies.

Triple Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies~With Recipe

These are exactly what they sound like: oatmeal cookies with three types of chocolate. I used one of my favorite normal chocolate chip cookie recipes (I like the recipe because you don't need an electric mixer) and substituted steel cut oatmeal for some of the flour. Instead of one type of chocolate chip, I used white, milk and dark chocolate chips. And a lot of them.

They were chewy and delicious! Not too oaty, but still noticably an oatmeal cookie. Plus you can't go wrong with three types of chocolate crammed into one cookie!

And because I'm so sweet, here's the recipe:

Mint Hearts (with Recipe)

These mint hearts are a really simple Valentine's Day treat. I made an extra stiff cream cheese mint dough, rolled it out between two sheets of parchment and cut it with a heart shaped aspic cutter (aspic cutters are smaller than most cookie cutters--I usually use mine to cut the centers of linzer cookies).

Almost Healthy Pantry Apple Crumble ~ With Recipe

The last weekend I was with my friend Sophie we went to her place upstate. It was lovely and we picked up some beautiful peaches and apples at a local farm stand. I picked up some oatmeal at the store and planned to make a peach crumble, but it turns out all the peaches had been eaten...oops! So I decided on apple crumble instead.

Fresh Red Currant Scones (with recipe)

Sophie loves red currants. Apparently when she was young there was a giant currant bush near her house and she used to nosh on them until her tongue went numb from the tartness. So when her mom found gorgeous fresh currants at a famers market she got them for Sophie. Unfortunately, Sophie's tolerance for tart isn't what it was and she couldn't eat them raw.

What to do with fresh berries? Muffins or scones. She had some blueberries that were going to turn and I wanted to make them into muffins, so I figured currant scones. I based my recipe off the strawberry and chocolate scone recipe from Alice's Tea Cup, but with the fresh currants instead of strawberries (obviously) and no chocolate. They were excellent! The sweet(ish) scone dough contrasted nicely with the tart currants (which were not overly tart since they were slightly over ripe and slightly baked from the oven).

Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Buttercream~with recipe

My friend Sophie's birthday was a few days before I went to visit her so I had to make her a (belated) birthday cake. I knew I wanted to make chocolate cake (because who doesn't love chocolate birthday cake?) but I was torn between coconut buttercream (since it was such a hit with the coconut macaroons) and peanut butter buttercream. I thought the coconut and chocolate would be nice, sort of mounds bar like. But of course chocolate and peanut butter is a classic combination. I was leaning towards coconut, but I figured I'd let the birthday girl decide. I'm glad I did and I'm glad she chose peanut butter. It was delicious! The peanut butter buttercream was perfect. The taste was sweet and rich and perfectly peanutty--it reminded me of the peanut butter nougat I made in class and for my final exam. The texture was surprisingly fluffy for something made primarily of butter and peanut butter.

The buttercream recipe is:

Strawberry Pancakes~with recipe!

I had a pint of strawberries that got really smashed up on the walk home (oops). I salvaged about half the pint and macerated them with balsamic vinegar and sugar and served them on a toasted spelt croissant spread with some vanilla mascarpone. Yum! The other half the pint was good for nothing but purée. I am currently without an ice cream maker, so there was no point in saving it for sorbet. Berry sauce would have been nice, but no fun. So I figured something with the berry purée in the batter (kind of like the way you can use apple sauce instead of oil with boxed cake mixes). What to do? Pancakes!

They were perfect! They were fluffy and light. They tasted very much like normal pancakes with pieces of strawberry added in, but better, because every bite had strawberry in it and there were no pockets of uncooked batter (as there can be under chunks of fruit.) Best of all they are pale pink! Okay, that's probably not the best thing, but they really are pretty.

I'm so happy with how they came out I'm going to share my recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups AP flour
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• Pinch salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Scant 1/2 pint strawberries, puréed (it will make about 1/2 cup purée)

Directions:

• In a large bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients
• In a second bowl, beat the eggs, milk, vanilla, and strawberry purée together.
• Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until it forms a thick batter.
• Let the batter sit for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, heat and butter a frying pan or griddle.
• Ladle out about a 1/4 cup of batter onto the pan, making 1 or 2 pancakes at a time.
• Cook for about 2 minutes, until the underside is golden brown and the bubbles break the surface of the pancakes.
• If you want to add more fruit or chocolate chips (I recommend chocolate chips!) drop them on the surface of the pancakes now, before you flip them.
• Flip and cook the flip side for about a minute, until golden.
• If you aren't serving right away, put the finished pancakes on a foil lined pan in a warm oven.
• Repeat, buttering the pan as needed.
• Serve with real maple syrup.
• Makes about 20 fluffy, pinkish, perfect pancakes!

Simple Pita Chips

In my endeavor to make non-desserts for guests, I decided to make pita chips to complement the hummus (with toasted pine nuts, yum) that my mom made. They are really very simple. Just cut a pita into wedges--the pita I was working with was on the larger side so I did eighths, but sixths or even quarters may work better if the pita is small to start. You can split the pita wedges in half or leave them like pockets, it's up to you. I left the pockets this time but splitting them would be good too. Then spread them on a parchment paper lined, lightly oiled baking sheet. Then lightly drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bake until lightly browned and crispy, flipping them half way through and drizzling with a bit more olive oil. Serve warm or room temp. It's that easy!
 

Almond Joy Fudge~With Recipe

I love fudge but I don't always feel like dealing with the typical candy making exceed sizes like making cooked sugar, so I really love "fake" fudge made with a condensed milk base. I know it isn't fudge in the strictest sense, but it is close enough. I have made this fake fudge before, but this is my own recipe (based very loosely on a Nigella Lawson fudge recipe from Nigella Express, I believe.)

Ingredients:

• 14 oz good dark chocolate, chopped
• 1 14oz can condensed milk
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
• 3/4 cup slivered blanched almonds
• Pinch salt

Procedure:

1. Line a 9x9in pan with foil and lightly butter the foil.
2. Combine the condensed milk, butter, salt, and chopped chocolate in a saucepan. Put over low heat and warm until the chocolate and butter is melted, stirring occasionally with a rubber spatula.
3. Promptly but not too vigorously, stir in the coconut and almonds.
4. Pour into the pan and even out the top.
5. Allow to set on the counter for at least 30-60 min and then transfer to the refrigerator to chill for another 2 hours or overnight.
6. Slice into one inch squares with a sharp knife and store in one layer or in multiple layers with wax paper between them in an airtight container in the fridge.

This fudge should be stored cold but it can be left out for hours, which is convenient if you want to give it as a gift. And fudge makes an excellent gift!

Apple Chamomile Bread Pudding~with recipe!

The great thing about bread pudding is that it is the perfect vehicle for whatever's you have lying around. You can use any stale bread you want: white bread, rye bread, brown bread (although probably not the grainy kind), pecan bread, croissants, etc. The custard is versatile as well. Want a coffee bread pudding? Stir in some brewed coffee or even instant espresso granules. How about vanilla or orange or cinnamon? Use extracts or scald the milk, steep with vanilla beans, orange peel, cinnamon sticks, you name it, and allow to cool before stirring in the eggs. Then you can add any number of things, from coconut to cocoa powder from raisins to fresh apple.

In this case I had a half a loaf of stale sourdough bread and a new box of chamomile, honey, vanilla tea that smells delicious but is a bit odd to drink plain. I thought it needed something to cut the sweetness of the tea and sugar so I sliced up a Granny Smith apple to mix in. Delicious!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 loaf stale crusty white or sourdough bread
• 2 large eggs
• 1 firm, tart apple (such as Granny Smith)
• 1 cup milk (skim is fine)
• 2 camomile, vanilla, honey tea bags (or camomile tea bags, plus 1 tsp honey and 1/4 tsp vanilla extract)
• 1/4 cup sugar

Method:

1. Lightly butter a loaf pan or spray lightly with cooking spray
2. Scald milk, take off heat, put in tea bags (or tea, honey, and extract), cover with plastic wrap and allow to steep for 15 min)
3. In the meantime cut bread into approx 3/4 inch cubes and place in medium bowl
4. Beat eggs lightly to break yokes and whites
5. Put bread and eggs into a bowl and mix to coat
6. Add milk and toss to coat every piece, making sure to add enough to have a bit left over in the bottom of the bowl (you may have left over flavored milk or you may need to add a bit extra milk depending on the staleness of the bread)
7. Let sit for 30 min on counter (or if you are squeamish about leaving raw egg mixture at room temperature, in the fridge for 60 min)
8. Slice the apple into very thin (approx 1/8 inch) slices, just before you are ready to use the bread/egg mixture
9. Add 1/2 the sugar and the sliced apple, toss
10. Stuff into the prepared pan and sprinkle the top with the rest of the sugar
11. Bake at 350 until browned and crisp on top and cooked throughout, about 25-35 min

Peach Icebox Pie Recipe

The icebox pie before I put the peaches on top.

As promised, here is the recipe for my peach icebox pie. It's quite easy to make and can be made and almost fully assembled a day in advance. Enjoy!

Crust:

• Aprox 1/2 box graham crackers, finely crushed
• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2-1 stick butter, melted
• 1 tbsp cinnamon (optional)

Filling:

• 8oz cream cheese
• 8oz mascarpone
• 8oz greek yogurt
• 1/4-1/2 cup superfine sugar (or to taste)
• 1 vanilla bean scraped or one 2tsp vanilla bean paste (note: if you have neither, you can use 1tbsp  vanilla extract, but you won't have the lovely flecks of vanilla bean)

Topping:

• 2 cans peach slices in fruit juice
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp peach schnapps (optional)
• 1 tsp cinnamon (optional)

To make the crust, mix the graham cracker crumbs, the pecans, the brown sugar, and the cinnamon (if you are using it) together. Mix in 1/2-1 cups melted butter, until the mixture comes together. Press the crumb mixture about 1/4 inch thick into a lightly buttered 9-in pie plate. If you have extra (I did) press it into the bottom of a few ramekins. Bake at 350* until golden and somewhat dry, about 10-15 min for the pie. Let cool.

To make the filling, whip everything together until it reaches soft peaks. You will have leftover, fill the ramekins if you have any, if not just put it in a tupperware and serve it with fresh berries when you've finished up the pie. Spread it into the cool pie crust and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. 

To make the topping, drain the peaches and mix them with the other ingredients. Put in a covered container and allow to chill until you are ready to serve the pie. 

To serve, either top the entire pie with the peaches or slice then top each slice (the best bet if you don't plan on serving the whole pie in one night, since it can make the pie a bit soggy if it sits too long.) To slice the pie, run a sharp knife under hot water, wipe with a towel, and cut. This allows you to have nice clean slices through the semi-soft filling. 

Philadelphia-style Orange Iced Cream~With Recipe!

A trial plate from my menu project, with the iced cream as
well as orange-basil salad and a brie, basil, and chocolate panini

Remember the panini I made for my menu project? This is the iced cream I made to go with it. I don't think this is officially Philadelphia-style ice cream, which I believe is still churned in an ice cream machine, but it is reminiscent of the icy texture and strong cream flavor. As I implied, this is not churned in an ice cream machine, which makes it slightly icy. The no-churn aspect coupled with the fact that it is cream based rather than custard based makes this very easy to make--so easy that you can make ice cream on a weeknight if you really want.

A quick suggestion, don't use extra cointreau no matter how tempting. Alcohol is an anti-freeze and if you add too much the ice cream won't set up. On the flip side, don't leave it out unless you have to--if you don't have an orange liqueur, you can use a clear liquor like vodka--because it does help keep it from getting too icy.

This is great served with a brie, basil, and chocolate panini and orange-basil salad. Or with a nice wafer cookie. Or plain. It's really good, whatever you want to do with it. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
Zest of one orange and one lime
Juice of one orange and two limes
1 cup 2 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp orange liqueur, preferably cointreau
pinch of salt
2 ½ cups heavy cream

Instructions:
Put zest in a bowl with the sugar and salt
Add the citrus juice and liqueur and stir dissolve the sugar
Add cream and whip to a medium-soft peak
Freeze for at least 3 hours to overnight and store covered
Temper in fridge for 30 min or on the counter for 5-10 min before scooping

Palmiers

   

These are a little burnt, so they don't look quite as pretty as they should.  Serves me right for forgetting to take a photo of the not burnt ones before I gave them all away.

Palmiers or Elephant Ears are a traditional French cookie made with puffed pastry and sugar.  I use store bought puff pastry.  I know using homemade is better, but I just can't bring myself to the trouble of making puff pastry from scratch for such an otherwise simple cookie.  If you use store bought puff pastry, they are exceptionally easy to make and produce a lovely result.  And they taste great!

I'm not going to give you a proper recipe, sorry, but here's an almost recipe:  

Basically you spread 1 cup of granulated sugar on a large, smooth, clean surface (if you have a pastry marble, this would be a good time to use it).  Then put a sheet of defrosted puff pastry on top of the sugar.  Evenly and thickly coat the pastry with another 3/4 or so cups of sugar.  Roll the pastry out into a 14- to 15-inch square (don't worry it doesn't have to be exact!)  Then fold in the left and right edges about a quarter of the way in.  Fold them over.  Fold again.  The folded rolls (for lack of a better word) should meet almost in the middle now fold them together, like closing a book.  Slice into thin pieces (I go with 3/8 of an inch).  Put on a baking sheet (far apart, they expand).  Bake on high heat (350* in a convection oven, 375* in a normal oven) until sugar starts to caramelize, about 5-8 min.  Flip them very carefully (the sugar is HOT).  Bake for another 3-6 minutes or until they are just golden but not burnt.  

For cinnamon palmiers, mix 1-2 tbsp of ground cinnamon (or to taste) to the sugar before rolling the puff pastry in it. 

It's hard to get them perfectly golden.  I tend to either have slightly under or over done palmiers.  But I don't mind, they are excellent either way!

Frozen Greek Yogurt~With Recipe!

  

Served on top of an oatmeal coconut cookie

I wanted to make frozen yogurt, but I only had greek yogurt in the house, so I gave that a try.  It is great, relatively healthy (as desserts go) and oh so simple!  It does use an ice cream maker, which I highly recommend investing in.  There are relatively inexpensive and good quality ones out there and they are soooo much fun to have!

A note on the ingredients: make sure you use good quality, natural extracts, if not they aren't as strong and can make it taste a little chemically.

Ingredients:

- 3 cups fat free greek yogurt (you can use higher fat content greek yogurt if you'd prefer)
- scant 3/4 cups sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp almond extract

Instructions:

1) Mix the ingredients together in a large glass bowl

2) Refrigerate the mixture for at least 30 minutes (an hour is better)

3) Put the mixture in an ice cream maker and freeze according to the ice cream maker's instructions.  Note: it took about 5 minutes less than making regular ice cream.

4) Put frozen yogurt into an air tight container (I use that flimsy grocery store tupperware that is sold next to the ziplocs) and keep in the freezer.  Note: the consistency will thicken up a bit.

Charoses/Charoset/Haroset~With recipe!

Ok, I realize that this is not a dessert, it is actually the apple nut mixture that is part of the Passover seder.  That said, it is really yummy and makes a good snack or even dessert.  Every year I ask, "why don't we make this during the year, not just at Passover." My mom replies, "I don't know, we should make it more often."  And then we don't.  We should though.  It's really quite good.  You can eat it on matzo or crackers (when it isn't Passover) as a nice afternoon snack.  It also works well on top of vanilla frozen yogurt (or ice cream).

My ingredients are just a starting point.  Play around with quantities and even different flavors if you want (for example a pinch nutmeg might add a nice taste).

Ingredients:
5 cups of chopped apple-this translates to about 4 apples, a mix of crisp green and red apples works nicely, but whatever you have lying around is fine.
1 1/2 cups of chopped walnuts-you can cut back by about 1/4 cup if you'd prefer, but I like it nutty.
9 tbsp red wine-we used a Rioja, because that is what we had.  If you use something sweeter, you might want to cut back on the sugar.
6 tsp sugar
5 tsp cinnamon
Zest of one small lemon, or to taste-or none at all if you'd prefer.

Mix all the ingredients together in a large glass bowl.  Taste it.  If it is too dry add a little more wine.  Too tart or winey?  Add more sugar.  When you have adjusted it to your liking, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge.  Let it sit for at least 2 hours before you eat it.  This give the flavors time to blend together and the apple to soak up some of the wine.

Baked Apples~With Recipe!

   

A few nights ago my mom asked me to make dessert (well, whined at me to make dessert), but she wanted it to be healthy-ish.  I was tired, so I didn't want to make anything that would be too much work.  What was I to do?  Then it hit me, baked apples!  They are quite easy to make and you can really get creative with the flavors if you want.  I used walnuts and dried currants, but you can substitute other nuts, or dried fruit or leave them out all together.

Ingredients:
Granny Smith Apples-I usually allow 2 per person, but 1 is fine if you are making dessert for a lot of people or just don't want to eat a lot
Brown sugar-2 tsp per apple, or to taste
Cinnamon-1/4 tsp per apple, or to taste
Chopped Walnuts (or any other nut you want)-1/2 tsp per apple, or to taste
Dried Currants (or other dried fruit)-1/2 tsp per apple, or to taste

1. Pre-heat the oven to 400*F and grease a pyrex dish or other oven proof pan.
2. Wash, dry and core the apples.
3. Score the apples' skin all the way around the center.  This will keep the apple from exploding.  Put them in the pan.
4. Mix the sugar, cinnamon, chopped nuts and dried fruit together in a small bowl.
5. Divide the mixture evenly between the apples, packing it into the cored hole in each.
6. Cook for 35-45 minutes, depending on the size of the apple.  Until the inside of the apple is soft and the skin is somewhat browned but still shiny.
7. Serve immediately, plain or with vanilla ice cream.  Or if you are being fancy, with a vanilla creme anglais.

Cream Cheese Mints (with recipe) a.k.a Christmas Cookies, con't

I made these mints for Christmas, but I also make them year round.  They are festive, but also delicious and not specific to the holidays, so why not!  They don't taste like cream cheese at all, it just acts as a nice base for the sugar and mint.

The only problem with them is the recipe is affected by the weather.  If it is dry out it takes as much as a cup less powdered sugar than if it is humid or damp.

Ingredients:
8 oz full fat cream cheese (yes it should be full fat, the low fat just doesn’t work quite as well)
6-8 cups powdered sugar
3/8 tsp good mint extract
Food coloring (optional)

With an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or by hand with a wooden spoon if you are feeling like a work out) mix together the cream cheese and the powdered sugar, adding the sugar in 1/2 cup at a time. Once about 75% of sugar is fully incorporated, add the mint extract.  Mix well and continue to add the last quarter of the sugar.  When the dough it finished, add food coloring if you want (I often just leave them plain, they are so pretty when they are a pure, snowy white).  If you don't think they are minty enough, you can add more mint extract now.  Mix on a very low speed until the color (and extra flavor) is mixed through.  The dough should be soft enough to mold into balls but not sticky--almost like play-doh.

Here’s where it gets fun. Using a small ice cream scoop or a melon baller or your hands make shooter marble size balls of the dough. Put them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet with a little space between them (you’ll need it later). Once you have done about a dozen, flatten the mints slightly with the tines of a fork to make them a thick disk with nice little ridges on them. Continue until you have used up all the dough.

Leave them to set on the counter for at least 4 hours. Once they have hardened on the outside (not like hard candy hard...in fact hardened may not be the right word, but trust me you’ll know when it happened, even if I’m not describing it well) feel free to stack them and store them on a plate covered with plastic wrap in the fridge. Don’t worry, you don’t have to get them in the fridge right away, in fact if you have the space, leave them out over night, then you’ll know they are set properly when you go to store them.

If you don’t have time to wait, throw them in the fridge on the baking sheets. They firm up enough to eat, but they don’t get the nice coating that makes them stackable and keeps them from turning back into soft pliable balls of dough when they are out of the fridge for any length of time.

What I do, is put a dozen or so in the fridge so I can have mints soon (about 30 minutes) and leave the rest to set on the counter (about 4 hours, give or take depending on the temperature of your kitchen). That way I have the instant gratification of eating what I’ve made in less time than it takes to bake a cake and still have the nicer, properly (and patiently) prepared mints too.

Makes about 90 1-inch diameter mints

Stovetop Baked Apples~With Recipe!

I used brown bread here, it's not quite as good as white bread
for this, but you can fool yourself into thinking it's healthy
since you are eating fruit and whole grains!

This amazing dessert can be eaten as breakfast as well. I cook thinly sliced Granny Smith apples in a frying pan over medium heat with some butter until they are soft and the skin is slightly discolored. Then I scoop them out, leaving as much butter in the pan as possible and fry up some white bread squares in the left over butter (and some extra if you want to add it). I pour some heavy cream over the apples, top them with the croutons and finally sprinkle a little sugar over the whole thing. If you want this for breakfast (something I highly recommend), just leave off the sugar and heavy cream and use whole grain bread instead of white bread. It also makes a great midnight snack, just leave off the cream and sprinkle about 1/2 tsp of cinnamon on the apples in the pan just as they start to get soft.

Ingredients for dessert version:
1 Granny Smith Apple, or other crisp apple, cored and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon unsalted butter for pan (plus extra if needed to add before the bread)
1 slice white bread, cut into small pieces
1/2 teaspoon sugar (or to taste)
2 tablespoons cold heavy cream (or to taste)

Serves 1 greedy person or 2 normal people for dessert and midnight snack, 1 for breakfast.

These quantities can be doubled easily (don’t double the butter), however if you do more than double you may need to make it in batches unless you have an exceptionally large sauté pan.