Food goodness

I've made this cheesecake plenty of times, but it's been a while. It was requested for a dinner in April and I figured I'd better find it sooner rather than later. I'll be making it again soon, just to make sure my technique hasn't suffered in the last few years. from Food and Wine 1 1/2 cups walnut pieces 1 3/4 cups sugar 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 2 cups sour cream 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract 2 pounds cream cheese, softened 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped 4 large eggs, at room temperature 1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract 1/2 cup heavy cream Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter a 10-inch springform pan. In a food processor, pulse the walnuts with 1/4 cup of the sugar until finely ground. Add the butter; pulse until the mixture resembles moist sand. Press the crumbs into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 12 minutes, or until browned around the edges. In a small bowl, mix the sour cream with 1/4 cup of the sugar and 1 teaspoon of the vanil

From: The Food Network I made half of these as appetizers according to the instructions, and the remaining half I made into 4 larger entree-size "pies." Rather than rolling the puff pastry out into the large 12 x 24 rectangle per the instructions, I first cut it in half (much easier to work with a smaller portion). I rolled out two 12 x 12 squares - made half into appetizers, and cut the other half into 4 big rectangles. 1 (10-ounce) package frozen spinach 1/4-pound firm feta cheese, coarsely crumbled 2 cloves garlic, pressed About 20 grinds black pepper Small dash nutmeg Flour, for dusting 1 (10 by 9.5-inch) piece of packaged puff pastry Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Thaw frozen spinach in microwave according to package directions or by running under warm water. Drain spinach, squeezing the excess liquid from it. In a bowl, mix the spinach, feta, garlic, pepper, and nutmeg together. Flour a clean, dry countertop or other flat working surface (I used a large cutting b

In our house, everything is made better by bacon. At least, that's the theory according to my dad and Ernie. We didn't have any pancetta, so we used bacon instead. And a happy Christmas dinner was had by all. From Giada 8 large garlic cloves 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 (3 1/2 to 4-pound) tied boneless pork loin roast Salt and freshly ground black pepper 4 ounces thinly sliced pancetta 1 1/2 cups chicken broth 1 1/2 cups dry white wine Blend the garlic, rosemary, thyme, and oil in a small food processor, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally, until the garlic is minced. Sprinkle the pork roast generously with salt and pepper. Arrange the pancetta slices on a work surface, overlapping slightly and forming a rectangle. Spread half of the garlic mixture over 1 side of the pork and between the 2 loins that meet in the center of the tied pork roast. Place t

From: All Recipes One of my favorite appetizers. Mm. Bacon. 1 (8 ounce) can water chestnuts, halved 1/2 pound sliced bacon, cut in half 1/4 cup mayonnaise 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar 1/4 cup tomato-based chili sauce 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). 2. Wrap each water chestnut with a piece of bacon. Place the rolls seam-side down in a baking dish. 3. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until bacon is crisp and cooked through. Drain off the grease. In a small bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, brown sugar and chili sauce; pour over the bacon-chestnut rolls. Return to the oven and bake for another 30 minutes.

Yum! This was delicious, and makes a great gift. You can also just do one type of chocolate, rather than layering like this recipe calls for. A single layer would be easier, as you would not have to worry about freezing the bottom layers completely so they don't swirl when you add the top layers of warm melted chocolate. Either way, delicious. I used this recipe for the layered bark. Here is a recipe for a single layer bark. 17 ounces high quality white chocolate, finely chopped 6 ounces peppermint candy canes, crushed (this was 12 candy canes, but I think 8 would be plenty.) 7 ounces high quality bittersweet chocolate 5 1/2 tablespoons whipping cream 3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract Turn large baking sheet bottom side up. Cover securely with foil. Mark 12 x 9-inch rectangle on foil. Stir white chocolate in metal bowl set over saucepan of barely simmering water (do not allow bottom of bowl to touch water) until chocolate is melted and smooth and candy thermometer registers 110

These are still baking, so I'm not sure what they taste like, but they sure smell good! From Betty Crocker 1 cup hazelnuts, coarsely chopped 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup butter or margarine 1 teaspoon almond extract 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 large eggs 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1. Heat oven to 350F. Spread hazelnuts in ungreased shallow pan. Bake uncovered for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden brown. Cool. 2. In large bowl, beat sugar, butter, almond extract, vanilla and eggs with electric mixer on medium speed. Stir in flour, baking powder and baking soda. Stir in hazelnuts. Place dough on lightly floured surface. Gently knead 2-3 minutes or until dough holds together and hazelnuts are evenly distributed. 3. Divide dough in half. On ungreased cookie sheet, shape half of dough into 10x3in rectangle, rounding edges slightly. Repeat with remaining cookie dough on same cookie sheet if room or second sheet. 4. Bake about 25 min

(Ew, that sounds DIRTY, that's what she said, etc. etc.) :) I am now officially Trying to Eat More Protein, so I started off by roasting a whole chicken tonight, which I have never done before. It wasn't as challenging as a turkey, and it turned out really well. I won't copy out the Bittman recipe I used because I think it's pretty basic, and also that most normal people have roasted chickens before, but here is a spice rub I found online somewhere that really made it delicious. 1/2 t of the following: salt ground black pepper dried oregano dried basil paprika 1/4 t cayenne Mix with 6 T olive oil. Before baking, I rubbed it under the skin and drizzled half of it on the potatoes and parsnips and garlic roasting beside the chicken; after the first 20 minutes at the high temperature, I flipped the chicken and poured the rest of it on top. Dee-licious.

from Everyday with Rachael Ray Magazine This was a nice change from the standard pasta dish. I served it as a side dish tonight, but it would also be good as a main dish. It was very easy and quick to throw together. 1 pound penne pasta (I used whole wheat) 2 T butter 1 onion, chopped (next time I'll add a clove or two of chopped garlic) salt & pepper 1 15-oz. can pure pumpkin puree 1 cup heavy cream (I used evaporated whole milk) 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese plus more for topping 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley Cook pasta until al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking water. In the same pot, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the onion (and garlic, if using) and season with salt and pepper; cook, stirring until softened, about 6 minutes. Stir in the pumpkin and heavy cream and bring to a boil. Return the pasta to the pot, along with the reserved pasta water, and toss. Stir in the parmesan; season with salt & pepper. Top pasta with parsley and more parme

Ok, so this is totally unhealthy, but delicious. Ellen brought this to a pot-luck lunch I attended this week. Apparently the church ladies ask her to bring this dish every time, so she never gets to make anything else. At any rate, it was tasty and she gave me her recipe. It specifically says not to use reduced fat ingredients, but I'm going to give it a try when I make it to see what happens. I'm guessing that reduced fat ingredients will probably be ok, but non-fat might not work as well. I'll report back. Ingredients: 4 whole chicken breasts 3 hard cooked eggs, diced (optional) ½ can condensed cream of chicken soup 2 cups finely chopped celery 1 cup mayonnaise - (do not use light or low fat) 1 cup sour cream - (do not use light or low fat) 1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained ½ cup slivered almonds 2 tablespoons minced onion 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon pepper 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese 1 regular size can French fried onions 1. Cook chic

This is from my new favorite cookbook, Mark Bittman's veg book (move over Nigella!) and I am obsessed with this recipe. No, it's not the lowest fat thing in the world but it is hearty and delicious and should very easily be able to be made in a crock pot. My problem with the crock pot is that by the time I get around to thinking about making dinner in one, it's usually too late. Oh, and this is vegan so for those of us trying to cut back on dairy, it's so yummy you won't even think about cheese. 3/4 C roasted peanuts 2 T oil 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced in half moons 1 T minced fresh ginger 1 T minced garlic pinch cayenne or so to taste (I also added red pepper flakes at the end) S&P 6 C veg stock or water 2 sweet potatoes (total of 1 lb), cut in thin half moons or small dice 1 can diced tomatoes (recipe says to reserve liquid for another recipe but I dumped both tomatoes and juice in the pot) 1/2 lb collards, kale or spinah 1/4 C chunky peanut butter

Geoff and I made this on Sunday, and had the leftovers on Monday, all because I was craving this dish after having a shepherd's pie tart when I was having tea with friends a few weeks ago. Awesome. If you've got leftover mashed potatoes from Turkey Day (or after Christmas in a few weeks), this is a good way to use them up. From The Joy of Cooking (75th Anniversary edition, page 102-3). If you've used Joy before, you know that ingredients are incorporated into the recipe, rather than listed at the beginning. Like Joy, I'm putting ingredients in bold, to make them stand out a little more. Place in a large pot of cold water over medium heat: 1-1/2 pounds all-purpose potatoes, peeled and quartered Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Transfer the potatoes to a bowl and mash with a fork or potato ricer or masher, adding the reserved cooking water along with: 1 tablespoon butter Salt and white pepper to t

When we were in Costa Rica for our honeymoon, we stayed at the Arco Iris (Rainbow) Lodge near the Monteverde Cloud Forest. We had breakfast at the lodge twice. The first day I tried a slice of a dark brown quickbread, but I wasn't entirely sure what it was. It looked like a date bread, but tasted like banana. It was a really dark color, and came in small squares about 2 inches in size. It was really good. The second morning I tried it again, and decided it was definitely banana bread. I went for a second piece, but it was gone. I waited about 20 minutes to see if the cook would bring out another one. She did, and it was still hot from the oven. I grabbed 4 slices, wrapped them in a napkin and slipped out the door. We ate the banana bread later that morning on our drive to the next town. I declared it the best banana bread I had ever had, and wished I had absconded with the whole loaf. A few weeks ago I emailed the Arco Iris Lodge and begged them for the recipe. I told