Lotsa yummies for a new year!

Phew! I'm back! Happy New Year everybody! Sorry about being away for so long-- my camera never recovered from the shaking-toddler syndrome and had to be put to rest (and replaced by a shiny new one). But instead of lame excuses I'm going to make it up to you. I'm going to catch you up with everything thats been going around here since October, yep, 4 whole months of catch up. Ready? Here goes...

So October was my munchkin's bday month and since his birthday was on a weekday just before the start of the real COLD cold, we stretched out the celebration through the entire week. He had 3 cakes only one of which (thank goodness!) came out of our home kitchen. Given his current obsession with Toy Story and the release of the 3rd sequel, I thought I'd be clever (Toy Story 3 and its the little guys 3rd birthday, get it? my creativity is shocking at times ;) )Thanksgiving was in November and this is usually spent between the two homes-- my parents and in-laws. Lucky for me though this year I didnt have to make the turkey for either homes. I did however make this outrageous cheesecake. Deep breath. A kahlua- chocolate ganache cheesecake with a chocolate cookie crust. It was delicious! I don't know what Deb was talking about but I had no trouble whatsoever polishing off a huge honking slice. But maybe skipping the turkey completely helped a little (was only able to get pics of this one on my phone and am too lazy to upload pictures from two devices in one day).

December was of course Christmas month. Aside from the constant sickness in our home, I made my directoral debut with a nativity skit in church, including a special appearance as the camel. My little Joseph had to be taken to the doctor for an emergency visit (ear infection) on the day of so we had to borrow a substitute for the next class. Its a blurry picture for a reason but if you look real close there is a camel head somewhere!

And then there was my cousin who notified us just 4 weeks before his December wedding (why in the world would you get married in winter!!) in CANADA! But the wedding was great and turns out said cousin is actually pretty connected-- we got to rub shoulders with Roger Mooking of Cooking Channel's Everyday Exotic.


Back to Christmas. The general season was fun with a boat load of parties, an award for (second) best dessert at the office party (my three layer peppermint-chocolate cheesecake lost to green rice krispie treats, go figure!!), and some fun times with family and friends (again pics on phone, sorry!).

New Years eve was real quiet with hubby grilling us a surf and turf dinner of herbed lamb chops and crabcakes accompanied by a gorgeous bottle of bubbly while the little guy feasted on Toy Story mac and cheese and sprite. For dessert, I had to, had to, HAD to try Georgetown cupcake's peppermint-white chocolate and strawberry champagne cupcakes so I went to their Bethesda location on New Years eve and came back with a dozen and a half. You know, half for the eve and a dozen for New Years day when we had to spend time with family. Those cupcakes btw were divine! 4 cupcakes later, the frosting got to be a bit too much, but I think those of you with normal appetites, ie who can stop at one, will be fine-- the cake to frosting ratio is cupcake perfect (1:1) and completely yummy.

How can you not start a new year with a breakfast of champions. The grown ups had french toast made with fresh brioche while the little man feasted (read: barely nibbled on) blueberry waffles. I'll give you recipes for these real soon too, they were sooo good.



January is almost over and I'm such a slacker but I promise you with many many new recipes that are itching to be seen! Here's wishing you a wonderful and prosperous 2011!

Christmas Post- 4, Chocolate dipped chocolate cookies

I found this recipe in Home and Garden's Christmas edition. The original asks for a tree cookie cutter and the pictures of that were simply adorable. Unfortunately I couldnt find a fir shaped cutter and just made them regular rounds. Never having worked with dough of this consistency I was a little baffled at first but had it down by the second batch. More below.

You will need

For cookies:

1 cup butter

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

2 1/4 cups all- purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

In a saucepan combine butter and brown sugar. Heat on low heat until butter is melted. Remove saucepan from heat and stir in vanilla. Stir in egg, flour and cocoa powder until mixture is combined. Divide dough in half and cover and chill for 30 mins.

Preheat oven to 350F. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough (half at a time) to a 1/4 inch thickness. Now, heres the tricky part, the dough has a tendency to crumble, so continuous rolling will NOT work. I had to press the dough flat (uniformly) with the rolling pin till about 2 inch thick and then use a combination movement of rolling and pressing till the dough is 1/4 inch thick. Cut out shapes using cookie cutter. Place cutouts 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie shee.

Bake in preheated oven for about 9 minutes or until edges are firm. Transfer to wire rack and cool.

For chocolate dip:

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate pieces

1/2 cup ground pecans

1/2 cup grated coconut

1 tbsp butter

In a small heavy saucepan combine chocolate pieces and butter and mix till chocolate and butter melt together. Remove from heat.

Dip each cookie into chocolate mixture and then into either coconut or ground pecans.

Christmas post 3: Cherry Cheesecake

This deliciously sinful dessert made its debut the past thanksgiving when my mom who rarely tries ANYTHING that her mother and her mothers mother didnt make, decided to break the shackles of tradition. Her poor cheesecake had survived so many mishaps during the course of its creation from the loss of the original recipe to being overcooked the first time around to being almost burnt when absentmindedly the oven was reheated for an hour! Not only was it a wonder that the soul-less beauty made to the afternoons spread, it was a miracle that it tasted as good as it did. Overcooking actually caramelized the sugar in the crust and gave it a yummy almost creme brulee flavor. Even health nut hubby couldnt resist throes of temptation!
Heres moms hit cheesecake recipe (minus the oven overtime :) ):

You will need:

For crust

1 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter (melted)

Mix crumbs and sugar and then add in butter. Line mixture, pressing hard, on bottom and sides of a springform cake dish or (since I didnt have one, be warned of irregular slicing) just a regular cake pan. I used a 9X9 inch pan. Preheat oven to 350 F.

For filling

3 (8 oz) pkgs Philadelphia cream cheese
3 eggs
1 cup Breakstones or Knudson's sour cream(I used low fat)
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract

Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla together until creamy. Add eggs, beating each one individually till completely incorporated. Add sour cream, beat till smooth.

For cheesecake

1 can cherry pie filling

Pour cheesecake filling into the prepared cake dish. Place in preheated oven. Cook for 1 hour or till a knife that passes through the middle of the cake comes out clean. Leave in oven with door ajar for about an hour. Cool completely and refrigerate for a few hours befor pouring the cherry topping and serving.

Christmas post 2- Butter Biscuits

This recipe is in continuation of the Christmas sweet series. The dough used for these biscuits (no relation to the American variety served with fried chicken) is very similar to short crust pastry but is less sensitive to flakiness and for that matter, skill. A simple munchie to make but what can be more addictive than deep fried dough!

Butter Biscuits

You will need:

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 stick of unsalted butter (frozen)
2 tbsp sugar
A pinch of salt
Vegetable oil for frying

Mix together all the dry ingredients. Add butter to the dry ingredients and use your hand to incorporate it into the flour till it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add just enough water to make a pliable dough. Knead for about five minutes. Divide the dough into 4 equal parts and roll out into a sheet of about 1/2 cm thickness. Use a pizza cutter to make tiny (1cm x 1cm) square pieces. Repeat for all 4 portions. Pour oil into a small deep pan and fry as many dough squares as you can fit. Cook till golden brown, toss around pieces frequently to ensure even browning.

Christmas Post-1, Lemon Ricotta Biscuits

I've always thought lemons were a summer fruit, but its December and the grocery stores are selling lemons at throw away prices here in sunny Phoenix (today is quite chilly actually). Wait I lie, grocery stores WERE selling them at throw away prices the last time I went to one, which was before thanksgiving. Any case, the point I've been trying to get at is that I have a whole bunch of lemon that I'm finding fun ways to use. So, I was browsing through the pretty pictures of a Food network cookbook that I got as a bridal shower present and lo and behold, there was the perfect recipe, this posts namesake created by Giada de Laurentiis grandfather's mother (way too much information for me, but thought I should share the knowledge). I had everything for the recipe seemed like except for almond extract which was promptly substituted with vanilla and based on one devoured barely minutes ago, I can attest that they are absolutely DELISH. Super soft, flaky and melts in the mouth with a burst of lemony yumminess...goodbye boxed bake mixes.

So here's what you need:

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup sugar

1 cup whole milk ricotta

1 tbsp fresh lemon zest (use 2 lemon)

1/2 cup butter (at room temperature)

1 egg

1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2 tsp vanilla (original recipe called for almond) extract

1/3 cup sliced almonds

Sprinkle of sugar for garnish

Method:

Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin pan with paper cups.

Mix all purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt and keep aside.

In a large bowl, beat sugar, butter, lemon rind till light and fluffy. Add ricotta cheese and continue beating till incorporated. Add egg, extract and lemon juice and beat for a minute or so till blended. Add the flour mix and beat till just mixed evenly. Spoon into each paper cup, sprinkle with almonds and sugar. Bake till light golden brown (~25 mins). Cool for 5 minutes. Delicious warm.

Friday..WOHOOO!!

Its Friday and I'm doing a little Kokopelli dance in my office chair, limiting it to my lower limbs (of course) don't want to risk being caught by other overtly sociable people on the floor-- my officemate, sadly, has come to terms with the weekly ritual. Even more exciting is its the first weekend of December and time to (pardon the cliche) "deck the halls" and get our hitherto bachelor pad more family friendly.
So yesterday, gallant hubby ever so cooperative bared his flu, stomped out into frigid AZ temperatures (~37F, snort!) and hauled in a 7 foot Douglas fir. I'd have preferred a Colorado Spruce myself but since at the time, I was too busy fighting traffic in a shady gas station (yes, a gas station), I was advised to save my preferences for the following year. Next decoration. Promptly dismissing his proud booty of plastic (shoe, star, pine cone, pears, there was something that looked like a genetically mutated Santa too) decoration amassed from Christmas-es past, I now also have the duty to shop for appropriate tree tinsel! Not like I mind, I love Christmas.
Growing up in Kuwait, our tree (artificial, natural pine exports to the middle east not particularly profitable I hear) would be up and decorated the first of the month. Dashing home everyday after school, I'd run straight into the kitchen to see what goodies my mom had made in preparation, which she did around the same time. There always was fruit cake, doughnuts, mixture (a savory mix of indian crunchies and nuts), traditional Indian sweets called (unfortunately I only know their Telugu names) Kajalu, Kajikailu, finally ladoos! My mom always made loads of these because tradition was to visit family and friends on Christmas day with homemade sweets.
This being our first Christmas as a married couple, I just want to recreate a bit of that magic, to make it a tradition for our little family as well. Lets see how well that goes-- preparation begins today!