Top Ten Cookbooks

I am perhaps as big a cookbook fanatic as one can be. This year, I have been surprised at how many lists there out there that feature ten books -- and not a single book I care about. Perhaps I am getting old and out of touch? Well, I don't think so. We will be giving you a few of this years favorites over the next few weeks. In the meantime...

Noma seems to be on quite a few "BEST" lists out there. It is one of those books that I care nothing about. I do not equate big and expensive with great. But if any of my readers out there want to change my mind, go ahead, you write the review and we will post it.

Until someone steps up, here are some "Top Ten Lists" to peruse.


StarChefs.com gives Noma their top nod. My only pick on their list: Heston's Fantastical Feasts


The irascible or rascible or curmudgeonly or nasty or lovable (depending on your personality and perhaps his) Jeffery Steingarten has his list for Vogue. He too, gives highest honors to Noma. He give a place of honor to Jessica Harris's High on the Hog. I'm sure that this would be on my list, however it will not be published until 2011. So really it should be on next years list, Jeffery. He is also anticipating, as am I, Blood, Bones, and Butter, by Gabrielle Hamilton. I have been looking forward to a book by Hamilton for years now, so lets get it published already. So it would seem, Jeffery and I already have a pretty good "Top Ten List" for 2011!!


Let us know what's on your list!

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Williams-Sonoma Salads

I am a big fan of Georgeanne Brennan. Williams-Sonoma Salads is another one of her delightful compilations.
After everyone has over indulged in Thanksgiving festivities, I though a nice light salad would be fun. Actually, this recipe has often found itself on many a Thanksgiving and Christmas table.

If you served it, try adding a bit of leftover turkey for an interesting alternative to a sandwich.

Celery Root Remoulade

1 large or 2 medium celery roots(celeriac), peeled and cut into rounds 1/4 thick

Salt

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 cup mayonnaise

2 to 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

In a saucepan, combine the celery root, 1 teaspoon of salt, lemon juice, and water to cover by about 2 inches.
bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook 3-4 minutes. The celery root should be tender but not mushy. Drain well and, using a sharp knife, slice into thinner rounds, then cut into very thin strips. Alternatively, stack the slices and use a mandolin to shred the,. Place in a bowl.

In a small bowl, stir together the mayonnaise and 2 tablespoons of the mustard. Taste the mixture. it should be well seasoned with the mustard but still taste of both ingredients.. Add mote mustard as desired. Pour the dressing over the celery root and mix well. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 12 hours before serving.

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Happy Thankgiving

From our favorite Turkey and Pilgrim

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STURDY BUTTER CREAM FROSTING

Traditionally, butter cream frosting is made with butter, powdered sugar and flavorings, however, I find the recipes that use all butter, tend to be heavy tasting, hard to work with (it melts and sags too easy) and not the light fluffy frosting people expect.
.

I've decorated cakes for years and I keep coming back to this easy, user friendly and fluffy frosting recipe, made with half butter and half white Crisco. Don't freak out about using Crisco in your frosting, you won't be able to tell it is there (100% shortening is what most commercial bakeries use to make that fluffy frosting we all love) and, as you can see, it pipes nicely.
.1 cup white Crisco shortening
1 cup butter (room temperature)
6 to 6½ cups of powdered sugar
½ cup whipping cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract (important)

In the large bowl of a stand mixer, whip the shortening and butter together for about 3 minutes on high. Add 6 cups of powdered sugar, the extracts and whipping cream to the butter mixture and whip ON HIGH for about 8 to 10 minutes.

After that amount of time, check the frosting for consistency. Usually, the frosting is perfect, but if your climate is different from my climate, you may want to add an additional ½ cup of powdered sugar.

Once you frost your cake, put it in the fridge to let everything "set". Remove your cake from the fridge about an hour before serving.

NOTE: This frosting works best in a stand mixer, although you can make it with a hand held mixer (it will just take a little extra time).

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Stuffings

Since we couldn't find a new Thanksgiving book, we thought we would give you a cookbook featuring a popular "Thanksgiving" item -- stuffing. I am a bit of a Thanksgiving purest. (I know what I said in the last post and I am willing to change, but no one has given me reason to change.) Thanksgiving at my house is static -- I cook the same thing, every year, year in, year out.

One of the things I always cook is my cornbread dressing. You see, Southerners are not big "stuffers" we are more the dressing type because our dressing is wonderful and we don't want it contaminated in some turkey cavity. Besides a turkey can hold about 1 1/2 cups of stuffing and we want much, more than that.

Carole Lalli was once editor-in-chief of Food & Wine. She wrote Stuffings which is a nice book that will give you all sorts of ideas and not just for turkey. As a child, we always had dressing with pork, and it was wonderful.


Her is Carole's cornbread stuffing. (It is not my mother's recipe, and Lalli is from Connecticut, but we are going to let that slide in the spirit of the holiday.)

Corn Bread Stuffing

2 pounds unseasoned bulk sausage meat
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 large shallot, minced
3 inner ribs of celery, leaves included, diced
kernels from 4 ears of corn
4 fresh sage leaves, chopped
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
12 or so broken-up pieces of day-old corn bread
1 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
1 cup or less chicken broth
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Put the sausage in a heavy skillet and cook over medium-high heat until it loses its pink color, about 5-7 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon, set aside on paper towels to drain.

Pour off the fat from the skillet, but do not clean the skillet. Return the skillet to the heat. Turn the heat down to medium and add the butter to melt. Add the onion, shallot, and celery, and cook, stirring, for 8-10 minutes, until they are soft but not brown; scrape up any of the sausage bits clinging to the skillet. Add the corn, sage, and thyme, and cook for 1 minute. Set aside the mixture to cook for about 10 minutes.

Place the bread in a large bowl. Add the ingredients from the skillet, along with the parsley. Combine the ingredients into a rough mixture (your hands are the best tools for this task). Do not over-combine or break up the bread more than is necessary. If the mixture seems very dry, add enough chicken stock to hold it together loosely. Season with pepper and, depending on the saltiness of the sausage, salt.

We don;t often have the chance to see into the kitchens of the authors we feature on Cookbook Of The Day, but
House Beautiful has a lovely slide show and interview with Carole Lalli. It is definitely a kitchen to die for!

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NO YEAST CINNAMON ROLLS

These cinnamon buns have NO yeast in them, but they sure taste like they do. I have to admit that when I first saw this was a baking powder dough, my first thought was, "uh oh, a heavy biscuit texture", but I was wrong; these are FAR from the standard biscuit taste. The dough has cottage cheese and buttermilk in it and it is super flaky, light, sweet and tender. I have tried a lot of cinnamon roll recipes over the years and I can honestly tell you that this recipe was a total surprise. It is SO tasty, SO easy and SO fast.

Don't freak out about the cottage cheese in the batter. You won't taste it, but it is totally essential do NOT leave it out. If you don't want to SEE the cottage cheese, pulse it in the blender a time or two.

MAKE THE FILLING FIRST1½ tablespoons melted butter
2/3 cup brown sugar (packed)
1½ teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon allspice (I left out)
¼ teaspoon ground cloves (I left out)
1 cup chopped pecans
Mix well and set asideDOUGH¾ cup cottage cheese(4% milk fat)do not leave out1/3 cup buttermilk (do not leave out)
¼ cup white sugar
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 TABLESPOON baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
Preheat the oven to 400 and grease the sides and bottom of a 9" or 10" spring form pan with cooking spray. In a food processor, combine the cottage cheese, buttermilk, sugar, melted butter and vanilla; process until smooth (10 seconds). Add the flour, baking powder & baking soda and pulse in short bursts just until the dough clumps together in a ball (don't over-process). The dough will be soft and moist. Dump the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and knead it four or five times with floured hands (this is a beautiful dough, very easy to work with). Roll dough out to a 12" x 15" rectangle.

Brush the rectangle with a very light coating of melted butter (be skimpy & leave a half inch border unbuttered around the edges. Sprinkle the filling over the buttered area and pat lightly.

Starting with the long side, roll up the dough into a jelly roll shape and pinch the long seam to seal (leave the ends open). Cut into twelve equal pieces with a sharp knife (a sharp serrated knife works well). Set the rolls in the prepared pan, cut side up. The rolls should touch slightly, but its OK if there are small gaps. Bake at 400 for 20 to 28 minutes (mine took the full 28 minutes) or until golden brown. Set the pan on a cooling rack for five minutes. Remove the spring form ring and drizzle the glaze over the rolls. Yum!!!

GLAZE2/3 cup powdered sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons of cold milk (I used whipping cream)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon of maple extract (not necessary but YUMMY)
Whisk all ingredients together. If it seems too thick to pour, add a little bit more milk (or cream).

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Thanksgiving Question???

Bear with me here...

One of my favorite movies is About A Boy based on the Nick Hornsby novel. It is quite literally about a boy and a young man that befriends him. That man, Will Freeman has never worked a day, yet he lives comfortably, in fact, better than comfortably. Why? Because his father wrote a Christmas song and every Christmas it gets played over and over and Will is set for the year.

This is probably why every Christmas anyone who can carry a tune does a Christmas album.

We started writing this blog several Thanksgivings ago. In that time, we have noticed a trend in holiday cookbooks much like albums. Every "celebrity" chef with at least two books eventually writes a CHRISTMAS cookbook. Yet, if you read about food, you will know that Thanksgiving is the holiday that everyone gathers together and cooks. So my question is...Why aren't there more Thanksgiving cookbooks. Last year we resorted to re-posting our faves and frankly, I would hate to do that again, but what am I to do?

Any ideas from my readers out there?

Interestingly, chef Marc Forgione won the title of The Next Iron Chef this week by preparing an "Ultimate Thanksgiving Feast." Forgione made five course and not a one of them was turkey.

Creative Thanksgiving are out there people, so some write me a cookbook!

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FUDGE FILLED PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

This impressive (but very simple) cookie will be great for the holidays. It consists of a sweet peanut butter cookie shell, filled with a rich fudge filling. When you first make the cookies, the filling is soft enough to pipe (or you can spoon it into the shell). However, after it completely cools, the filling is the consistency of a soft fudge. They are delicious, and look so pretty!!!

 

1/2 cup butter (room temperature)
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
.
Cream the above ingredients together until smooth, then add:
.
1  1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
.
Beat everything until very smooth. Shape dough into 1" balls (makes about 4 dozen) and place each ball into the bottom of a mini muffin tin (ungreased) like this:

Bake in a preheated 375 oven for about 10-11 minutes or until they look like this:

After they are baked, find something in your kitchen that has a round end that you can use to press down on the center of these HOT cookies (to make the shell shape). I used the large rounded end of my mortar and pestle, but anything will work. Just be careful not to press so hard that you break through to the bottom. They should look like this:

Let these cookies cool (in the pan) for 10 minutes, then use a thin (but pointed) paring knife to assist you in lifting the cookie shells out of the pan (they come out pretty easy). Cool shells on a baking rack.

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FILLING
 

1 cup milk chocolate chips

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 

.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over simmering water (I just used the microwave). With an electric mixer, beat in the sweetened condensed milk and vanilla until smooth. Fill the cookies.

 

The fudge dries to the touch

after it is completely cooled.

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She Came In Throught The Kitchen Window

In honor of iTunes and the Fab Four reaching a tuneful agreement (and frankly moving into the 21st century after fighting like schoolboys over a stupid thing like the name "Apple", gee I'm surprised they haven't sued Gwyneth Paltrow for naming her kid "Apple" but then who names their kid "Apple" though Truman Capote named a character "Apple" which is probably where Gwyneth got the idea... but I digress).

Yes, Virginia, there is a Beatles cookbook, though I am here to say the Beatles had little to do with it, but given today's news, we just couldn't resist. She Came In Through The Kitchen Window by Stephen Spignesi features dishes that were "inspired" by Beatles songs. OK, it is not for everyone, but if you have a cookbook bent... here is...

Biscuits to Ride

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon (or more) black pepper
3/4 cup olive oil
1 1/8 cup water

Preheat oven to 450 F. Mix all of the ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl until consistency is thick. Roll out the dough in long strips and cut into bite-sized (or larger) pieces. Bake on an ungreased baking sheet for 25 to 30 minutes.

Yes, Biscuits to Ride, and yes all the recipes are like that. But here's a bonus -- something you probably never thought you might see:

Yoko in the Kitchen.

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HEINZ CHILI SAUCE CLONE

This is a clone recipe for Heinz chili sauce. It is so easy...takes every day ingredients and is even tastier than the original!! Chili sauce was never a pantry staple for me; I always found it on my shopping list for holiday and special occasion recipes, like this shrimp cocktail (which calls for Heinz chili sauce). I will never buy commercial chili sauce again because this is so much better (and cheaper)!!!

1 cup of tomato sauce

1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 teaspoons dry onion flakes
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Whisk everything together and bring to a boil in a small saucepan with a heavy bottom. Turn heat down to a low simmer and cook for 25-30 minutes, depending on how fast you are simmering it (mine was done in 25 minutes). Watch it towards the end so it doesn't scorch.

Cool to room temperature, then cover and chill.

It will get nice and thick like this.

NOTE: I made this recipe, exactly as it is stated above, I don't know how it would effect the final results if you use fresh onions.

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PEANUT BUTTER BON BON's

Today is our 40th Wedding Anniversary, where have all the years gone? We are celebrating quietly at home, with shrimp cocktail, filet mignon, cherry pie and these little peanut butter beauties!!

They are very easy to make and totally addicting. The filling was adapted from a recipe called Buckeye's, but I changed it a little bit...made them much smaller and completely covered them with chocolate, then decorated with a little white drizzle. These will be wonderful for any holiday gathering.
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1½ cups creamy peanut butter
½ cup butter (room temperature)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar (sifted into a cup)
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons shortening
.
Mix the peanut butter, butter, vanilla and powdered sugar with a stand mixer (or your hands) until you get a smooth dough (to measure sugar, sift it into a measuring cup and level it off with a straight edge).
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Shape the dough into 1" balls and set them on a wax paper lined cookie sheet and put them in the freezer for about an hour.
.In a double boiler, melt shortening and chocolate together over barely simmering heat. Remove balls from freezer (just about a dozen at a time) & poke a tooth pick into the top of a chilled dough ball (to use as a handle) and dip into chocolate, then sit on a wax paper lined tray & put in fridge (leave the toothpick in the candy until it's chilled again, it is easier to remove that way). Continue until all of the candies are coated (makes about 50 depending on how large you make them.

The chocolate will set (be dry to the touch) after about 10 minutes in the fridge. Remove from fridge, take out the toothpick and cover up the little toothpick hole with more chocolate. You can cover the little hole with chocolate or white chocolate.

These need to be kept in the fridge until you are ready to serve them. I dare you to eat just one!!

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Marilyn's Stuffing

While we strive to make Famous Food Friday to be a revelation to our readers, we felt the recent news of Marilyn Monroe cooking stuffing to be simply too good not to highlight.

Marilyn’s Stuffing

Time: 2 hours

No garlic

A 10-ounce loaf sourdough bread
1/2 pound chicken or turkey livers or hearts
1/2 pound ground round or other beef
1 tablespoon cooking oil
4 stalks celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 cups chopped curly parsley
2 eggs, hard boiled, chopped
1 1/2 cups raisins
1 cup grated Parmesan
1 1/4 cups chopped walnuts, pine nuts or roasted chestnuts, or a combination
2 teaspoons dried crushed rosemary
2 teaspoons dried crushed oregano
2 teaspoons dried crushed thyme
3 bay leaves
1 tablespoon salt-free, garlic-free poultry seasoning (or 1 teaspoon dried sage, 1 teaspoon marjoram, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger and 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg)
1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1 tablespoon pepper.


1. Split the bread loaf in half and soak it in a large bowl of cold water for 15 minutes. Wring out excess water over a colander and shred into pieces.

2. Boil the livers or hearts for 8 minutes in salted water, then chop until no piece is larger than a coffee bean.

3. In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef in the oil, stirring occasionally and breaking up the meat, so no piece is larger than a pistachio.

4. In your largest mixing bowl, combine the sourdough, livers, ground beef, celery, onion, parsley, eggs, raisins, Parmesan and nuts, tossing gently with your hands to combine. Whisk the rosemary, oregano, thyme, bay leaves, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper together in a bowl, scatter over the stuffing and toss again with your hands. Taste and adjust for salt. Refrigerate, covered, until ready to use as a stuffing or to bake separately as dressing.

Yield: 20 cups, enough for one large turkey, 2 to 3 geese or 8 chickens.

Read our favorites, Matt and Ted Lee in their New York Times article about cooking Marilyn's stuffing.

Over at Lucindaville, we posted a bonus with some of our favorite photos of Marilyn Monroe reading.

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KID FRIENDLY JELLO FROSTING!!

UPDATE: New sugar free option at the end of this post.

UPDATE: Since posting this on Pinterest, a few people have commented that  this frosting deflated on them after a day at room temperature. I've never had this problem, because I live in a DRY climate, but those of you living in HUMID climates are having this problem. So... if you live in a humid climate, you'll need to store the frosted cake in the fridge.

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This frosting recipe has a lot of things going for it. It is fast, super light, smooth and creamy on the tongue (very similar to a 7 minute frosting, but so much easier). Neatest of all, is that it is flavored with jello, so you can make it in ANY Jello flavor you like...watermelon? blueberry? pina colada? Kids will LOVE this frosting.

3 ounce pkg. of Jello (favorite flavor)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 egg white
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup BOILING water

Place the Jello powder, granulated sugar, egg white and vanilla in a GLASS OR METAL mixing bowl of a stand mixer. DO NOT USE PLASTIC and make sure your glass or metal bowl is clean of any grease or oil.

Turn the mixer on HIGH and immediately add the half cup of BOILING water. Whip on high for five minutes and you will get this:

 NOTE: This recipe only seems to work if you use a  stand mixer, with whisk attachment. Also, make sure you use a glass or metal mixing bowl, do not try this with a plastic bowl.

NOTE: Some people have commented that they don't think raw egg whites are safe for children to eat. The egg whites in this recipe are no longer raw after you add the BOILING WATER.

NOTE: This recipe makes enough to frost 24 cupcakes, or a 9 x 13 cake. If you are going to do any piping or edges, you might have to double the recipe.

NOTE: This frosting pipes beautifully and holds its shape well. Like any 7 minute type frosting, it does get a little sticky/tacky the second day, so its best if you make it the day you want to serve it. If you have to make it the night before, just store it in an airtight container that doesn't touch the frosting.


NOTE: This frosting has so many fun possibilities for birthday cakes/cupcakes. It would also make a wonderful filling.

SUGAR FREE FROSTING OPTION

Since putting this recipe on Pinterest, I have heard from several people who are wondering about the possibility of sugar free jello and Splenda...well, I had to try it.

First of all, we didn't like it as much as the original recipe (with regular jello and granulated sugar). The taste was good, but the texture of the sugar free version + Splenda was just a little too foamy for us (that didn't stop us from eating it though...lol)

I followed the original recipe, substituting exact amounts with the sugar free products

I used 2/3 cup of granulated Splenda, 1 egg white, 1 teaspoon vanilla and a small (4 serving) size box of sugar free jello.  I mixed those items together in my stand mixer and added 1/2 cup of BOILING (not just hot) water while the mixer was running on HIGH. Let the boiling water run down the inside of the mixing bowl, so it cools off a couple degree's before hitting the egg white.

Mix on HIGH setting for at least 5 minutes (will take longer if you are in a humid climate). After 5 minutes, my frosting looked like this:

It was very foamy, and almost tasted like a sweet fruity meringue.  It still pipes nicely, here's an example:

I'm  not sure whats up with the sparkle; the final frosting DID have a "fairy tale shine" to it, and I thought perhaps it might have a granular taste, but it didn't; it was very smooth.

I  let this frosting sample set out at room temperature for several hours to see if it would deflate (it didn't), but it did form a VERY THIN crispy crust (keep in mind I'm in a dry climate). I also put a similar frosting sample (uncovered) in the fridge and after a few hours, there was NO appreciable difference between it and the sample I kept at room temperature.

It's hard to explain the mouth feel of this sugar free frosting, maybe a photo will help:

I cut the frosting sample in half... it tasted sort of like a cross between a sweet meringue and a wet marshmallow whip... does that make sense?

My conclusion: We liked the original recipe better, however, if your dietary concerns require a sugar free frosting, this is worth a try!!



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THREE LAYER APPLE CRISP

Sweet, spiced, apples are tucked between two layers of oats, nuts and brown sugar. This is a classic apple crisp with a twist.

 1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg (see note)
¾ cup packed brown sugar
¾ cup cold butter
4 cups sliced and peeled apples
1 cup pecans chopped
.In a large bowl, mix the flour, oatmeal, cinnamon,nutmeg and brown sugar. Cut in the cold butter until mixture looks crumbly. Stir in chopped nuts.
.
Spread half of this mixture into the bottom of a 10" pie plate and pack it down.
.
In a heavy pan, saute the apple slices in a tablespoon of butter, ½ cup brown sugar and ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg, JUST UNTIL THE APPLES BEGIN TO SOFTEN. Place this layer on top of the crumb crust.

Top the apples with the rest of the reserved oat mixture and gently pat down. Bake in 375 degree preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Serve with ice cream.

NOTE: I have never been a big fan of nutmeg until I recently started using freshly grated nutmeg seed. It is an entirely different taste than you get in the pre-ground nutmeg. A jar of seeds has a LONG shelf life and they really make a huge difference in baked goods.

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CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE FOR TWO

Chocolate cheesecake for two, how tempting is that? Actually, this was rich enough that Hubby and I split a piece (technically making it cheesecake for 4). Served with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream, this was the perfect ending to a romantic dinner.

 Preheat your oven to 325F and line a mini loaf pan (6" x 3" x 2") with foil (leaving the ends long enough to grip on to) and spray with vegetable spray.

GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST
.
½ cup graham cracker crumbs
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon of melted butter
.
Mix well and pat firmly into prepared mini loaf pan, set aside.
.
FILLING.
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (see note)
4 ounces cream cheese (room temperature)
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 egg room temperature (slightly beaten)
1 teaspoon flour
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
.
Melt chocolate chips and beat them into the softened cream cheese; add the vanilla and sugar. Whisk in beaten egg and flour until smooth (don't over mix). Pour over the crumb crust.
.
Place the mini loaf pan inside of an 8" or 9" cake pan and add hot water to the bigger pan until it comes half way up the side of the smaller pan. Bake 30 minutes or until set.
.
Cool about 15 minutes, then put in fridge and chill for at least 3 hours (even better on day 2). To serve, grab edges of foil, and lift the cheesecake out of the pan. Fold foil back and cut cheesecake into pieces; serve with sweetened whipped cream.
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NOTE: Your chocolate cheesecake is only going to be as tasty as the chocolate that you use. I used Ghirardelli chocolate chips and they were excellent.
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NOTE: After baking for 30 minutes, gently tap the side of the smaller pan with a spoon. You should see just a little jiggle in the batter, but not much.

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TOASTED ORZO with PARMESAN & BASIL

This simple (and versatile) little side dish is just delightful. The orzo is toasted in butter before boiling, which adds an extra flavor, then it is tossed with Parmesan and fresh basil. Whether you use it as a side dish or a main dish, it is a very nice change.2 tablespoons butter

1 cup uncooked orzo pasta

2 + 1/4 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

pinch of red pepper flakes

.

Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed pan that has a tight fitting lid. Add the UNCOOKED orzo pasta and stir until completely coated with the butter. Cook on medium-high until the pasta turns golden to lightly brown (watch it because once it starts to turn, it turns quickly).

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Stir in the chicken broth, red pepper lakes, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer until the orzo is tender and liquid is (almost) all absorbed. This will take 15 to 20 minutes depending on how fast your simmer is.

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When orzo is tender, remove from heat and stir in Parmesan cheese and fresh basil. Serve hot.

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NOTE: Just about anything can be added to this recipe, next time I think I'll include a little crisp bacon some mushrooms!!!

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