TWD - Chocolate Banded Torte

I had SO much fun making this! Maybe it's my love for ice cream, or cool looking desserts, but I had noooo problem with the waiting game that some people weren't crazy about. I loved making my layers! Of course, I loved digging in even more, so the pictures were quick and therefore not so stellar. I didn't bother re-freezing it after the unmolding, so it got a little messy. My chocolate layers really started to melt down.

I halved the recipe and filled 3 (7 oz) ramekins with plenty of ice cream and ganache leftover. I used the saran warp method, which resulted in less than desirable wrinkling, but the parchment paper was not playing nice that day. I used my homemade vanilla ice cream, combined with mixed berries instead of just raspberries. My ice cream is designed to be lower in fat, and I think that contributed to the crystallization from all the freeze-thawing that took place. For the best texture, you really need a full fat ice cream. Taste-wise, this can't be beat. The strawberries really came through in the ice cream, and the ganache was like a great hot fudge. Next time, I think mint ice cream would be great in this! YUM!

Chocolate Banded Torte
From Baking: From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan
Chosen by Amy of Food, Family and Fun.
Check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers here.

Cherry Limeade Sour Cream Ice Cream

As promised, I played around with the idea of making cherry sour cream ice cream. It took a few trials to get right, because I decided... what would be better than cherry sour cream ice cream? Cherry LIMEADE Sour Cream Ice Cream! The amount of lime juice/zest took some tweaking, but thanks to the goddess, I got it figured out.
Cherry Limeade Sour Cream Ice Cream
Adapted from Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream, Baking: From My Home To Yours by Dorie Greenspan.

~20 cherries, pitted and halved
~1/3 cup sugar
~pinch of salt
~grated zest of 1 lime
~juice of 1.5 limes
~3/4 cup heavy cream (or, if you are like me and trying to slim things down, 1/4 cup heavy cream and 1/2 cup fat free half and half)
~1/2 cup sour cream

Put the cherries, sugar, salt and lime zest and juice into a medium nonreactive saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring, until mixture boils and the cherries soften, about 4 minutes. Turn the cherries into a blender and whir until you have a fairly homogeneous puree, about one minute. (It will never be completely smooth, and that's just fine.) Add the heavy cream and sour cream and pulse just to blend. Pour the custard into a bowl and refrigerate until it is chilled before churning it into ice cream. (I recommend at least 4 hours) Scrape the chilled custard into the bowl of an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions. Pack the ice cream into a container and freeze for at least 2 hours, until it is firm enough to scoop.

JM Blueberry Muffins

As I mentioned, my parents were just here visiting and I had made some blueberry muffins for them. My mom mentioned that she had the recipe from Jordan Marsh... a recipe for which they were famous. Of course I told her to send it to me, and of course I used the leftover blueberries to make the Jordan Marsh recipe as soon as I had time!

Despite the fact that I just didn't bring my A-game to the kitchen that day and they don't *look* spectacular.... they certainly do *taste* spectacular! I planned to take just a bite of one, as I had already had breakfast, but couldn't help but to eat the whole thing! If you are in the market for blueberry muffins, this recipe, at the very least, deserves to be on the short list!

Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins
Makes 12

~2 cups sifted all purpose flour (I used 1/4 whole wheat flour)
~2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
~½ cup butter
~1 ¼ cups sugar
~2 eggs
~½ cup milk
~2 ½ cups blueberries
~2 tsp sugar, for dusting tops

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease well muffin pans (bottom and top).

In large bowl, cream butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition until well blended.

Sift flour with baking powder and salt. Then add flour mixture to butter/egg/sugar mixture alternately with milk, beating by hand just until combined.

With a fork, mash ½ cup blueberries and add into mixture. Add rest of blueberries, mixing in gently. Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full and sprinkle with sugar. Bake 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool in pans about 1/2 hour before removing.

Stuffed Zucchini

My parents were visiting us for a long weekend, and my Dad's garden is notorious for overproducing tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini. Much to my surprise (as they spent 4 days driving out to our place), he brought some zucchini and cucumbers for us to enjoy. I decided to take advantage of the larger zucchini (they ones in the store are so tiny!) and make stuffed zucchini. A friend had sent me a recipe that I struggled to find (unsuccessfully), so I turned to google.

We thought they were great, and certainly something different. They came together quite easily, as well. I can't wait to make them again! (which will probably be a long time from now, since I typically can't find zucchini big enough to stuff!)

Stuffed Zucchini
from Kalyn's Kitchen

~2 large or 4 small round zucchini (or use regular shaped zucchini)
~1/2 onion, chopped
~1/2 red bell pepper, chopped (we omitted)
~2 tsp. olive oil
~1 lb. very lean ground beef (less than 10% fat) (we used ground turkey)
~1 tsp. Spike Seasoning (we used Mrs. Dash)
~1 tsp. chopped garlic
~1/2 tsp. ground fennel seed
~1 cup cooked brown rice
~1/2 cup finely chopped fresh basil
~3/4 cup coarsely grated parmesan cheese
~1/4 cup chicken stock (we used white wine)
~1/4 to 1/2 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms (our addition)

Preheat oven to 375 F. Cut stem and flower ends off zucchini, trimming off the smallest possible amount of the skin and taking care to cut it off evenly, since this will show. Cut zucchini in half lengthwise, then using a pointed teaspoon or melon baller, scoop out and discard most of the zucchini flesh and seeds, leaving an even 1/2 inch of flesh attached to the skin. If your zucchini are rolling around a lot, you can cut a thin slice on the bottom side of each to make them sit up. Microwave zucchini 3-4 minutes on high. (I think I forgot to microwave them - we had no issues after accidentally skipping this step!)

Heat olive oil in heavy frying pan and saute chopped onions and peppers until they are just starting to soften, about 5 minutes. (They will cook more in the oven, so they don't need to be fully cooked at this point.) Remove onions and peppers to large mixing bowl, then add ground beef to hot pan and cook until starting to brown. When meat is about half cooked, season with Spike Seasoning and ground fennel and add garlic, and continue to cook until meat is well browned, breaking it into small pieces with the side of your turner. Remove cooked ground beef to mixing bowl. Add cooked brown rice, chopped basil, parmesan cheese, and chicken stock to meat and vegetable mixture, and gently combine.

Choose a roasting pan with slight sides, just big enough to hold the zucchini. Spray pan with nonstick spray or a light misting of olive oil. Stuff zucchini with stuffing mixture, packing in as much as you can into each zucchini, and mounding it up as high as you can, until all stuffing is used. Put zucchini into roasting pan, putting them close together so they hold each other stuffing-side up. Roast uncovered 20-30 minutes, until zucchini is tender-crisp, and filling is hot and slightly browned. Serve hot. This will keep well for a few days in the refrigerator and can be reheated in the microwave.

Soon...

...very soon... you will be MINE!

TWD - Granola Grabbers

I was so excited to be making cookies this week. They tend to be quick, easy, and so yummy! These Granola Grabbers were no exception! The batter came together in a few minutes (while my stand mixer was working the butter and sugar, I got everything else together). I overfilled a 2 tsp cookie scoop to make my cookies, and just popped them in the oven. I went slightly over the suggested cooking time for my tray of larger cookies. I did notice that mine flattened right out. I'm not totally sure why. It didn't really bother me though because they were really good! I made a few adjustments... omitted the almonds and peanuts because my granola had almonds in it. I was cutting the recipe in half, but forgot to halve the egg (may have contributed to my spreading problem). Either way, YUM. As a side note, I found a granola I love! I had tried Bear Naked granola before, years ago, and at the first bite definitely noticed how little sugar there was. Maybe I have gotten used to lower sugar foods, or maybe this is just that good, but I LOVE their Vanilla Almond Crunch and almost didn't want to make the cookies and use up 1.5 cups of it! (Photo from Bear Naked website)
Granola Grabbers
From Baking: From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan
Chosen by Michelle of Bad Girl Baking.
Check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers here.

Homemade Protein Bars

I am always looking for something that packs a lot of bang for your buck for my husband to eat. He needed something to give him a good jump start in the morning, and when I saw these protein bars over at It's Melissa's Kitchen, I thought they looked great! I made them once, and my husband was hooked! He requested them all! the! time! and wanted them bigger (of course). So I tweaked the recipe and added a few things. We each have one everyday for breakfast! Here is my version:

Homemade Protein Bars
from It's Melissa's Kitchen
Makes 20 regular or 16 large bars

~1.5 cups natural peanut butter (I use Smuckers Natural, Crunchy)
~3 cups chocolate whey protein powder
~6 cups oats
~6 tablespoons ground flax seed
~6 tablespoons toasted wheat germ
~1 cup milk (plus additional as needed to blend)

Combine protein powder, oats, flax seed and wheat germ in a large bowl, stir with a wooden spoon until mixed. Add peanut butter and milk, and stir with spoon or mix with hands (messy, but the most effective method!) until thoroughly combined. Add additional milk as necessary to bring all ingredients together. Line a 9x13 pan with parchement paper. Press mixture into the pan evenly. Place pan in the freezer until bars are set. Remove from pan using parchement paper, then peel the paper off. Cut into 20 regular bars or 16 large bars.

Nutritional Information for 1 regular sized bar:
Calories - 290. Total Fat - 11g. Sat. Fat - 2.1g. Carbohydrates - 29g. Fiber - 4.5g. Sugar - 4.4g. Protein - 22g.

BB: Panzanella

Panzanella is a bread salad. I had never even heard of it before, but it definitely sounded interesting! My parents were visiting last weekend, and it turned out to be the perfect light lunch before we headed south for a Cubs game. I made the full recipe, and it was great for 4 adults. I only used 1/2 to 2/3 of the dressing, though, as I didn't want it saturated in oil. We all thought it was great! It came together very quickly, I can definitely see us having it again!

Panzanella
from Barefoot Contessa Parties! on page 102
Chosen by Melissa of It’s Melissa’s Kitchen
See the other Barefoot Bloggers here.

~3 tablespoons good olive oil
~1 small French bread or boule, cut into 1-inch cubes (6 cups)
~1 teaspoon kosher salt
~2 large, ripe tomatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
~1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and sliced
~1/2-inch thick 1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
~1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
~1/2 red onion, cut in 1/2 and thinly sliced
~20 large basil leaves, coarsely chopped
~3 tablespoons capers, drained

For the vinaigrette:
~1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
~1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
~3 tablespoons Champagne vinegar
~1/2 cup good olive oil
~1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
~1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a large saute pan. Add the bread and salt; cook over low to medium heat, tossing frequently, for 10 minutes, or until nicely browned. Add more oil as needed.

For the vinaigrette, whisk all the ingredients together. In a large bowl, mix the tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, yellow pepper, red onion, basil, and capers. Add the bread cubes and toss with the vinaigrette. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Serve, or allow the salad to sit for about half an hour for the flavors to blend.

TWD - Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream

I sorta feel like I am cheating a bit here. I made this over a month ago and just never posted about it. I have all intentions of either making it again tonight or making cherry sour cream ice cream tonight... so hopefully you'll see the latter (if I make it) tomorrow. I really liked this ice cream, despite my probably going overboard with the sour cream. It was very pronounced for me. I will definitely be measuring more carefully in the future!

Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream
From Baking: From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan
Chosen by Dolores of Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity.
Check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers here.

PCC8 - Plum Squares and Roasted Eggplant with Tofu and Olives

Today I present my entries for Platinum Chef Challenge #8: Plum Squares and Roasted Eggplant with Tofu and Olives. I really enjoyed hosting this round, be sure to look for a wrap up of all the great entries towards the end of the week!

I tried a few different ideas that kind of flopped, and eventually found two great recipes that I was very happy with. The plum squares turned out a little different than I was expecting, but I was really proud of my first attempt at making fruit preserves. They were so good! I chose eggplant as an ingredient because I had never cooked with it before. I had a great time experimenting with it! The final dish came together with great flavor and would be great with either rice (as I served it) or pasta.

Roasted Eggplant with Tofu and Olives

~1 small eggplant
~about 1 tbsp olive oil
~3 cloves garlic, minced or grated
~1/3 cup diced onion
~12 oz firm or extra firm tofu, chopped into cubes
~about 20 kalamata olives, chopped
~1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes (I used homemade ones!)
~1/2 cup artichoke hearts, quartered
~1/2 cup white wine
~1/2 cup chicken broth
~1/2 tsp chili powder
~1 tsp dried thyme
~1/2 tsp dried oregano
~1/2 tsp coriander
~pepper to taste
~juice of 1/2 of a lemon

Dice the eggplant into 1" cubes. Place in a colander in the sink and salt well. Let drain for one hour, then rinse the eggplant well and dry by pressing between paper towels. Prepare a pan (jelly roll works fine) with a little olive oil or cooking spray. Place eggplant on pan in a single layer and roast at 350 degrees F for about 30 minutes, until golden.

When eggplant is done, heat olive oil in a large pan. Saute garlic and onions 1-2 minutes, until onion softens. Add tofu, olives, sundried tomatoes, and artichokes to the pan and cook 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add white wine, allow to reduce by half. Add chicken broth and spices, allow to reduce by half, stirring to coat other ingredients. Add eggplant and toss to coat and heat the eggplant through. Add lemon juice, toss to combine. Service over rice or pasta.

Plum Squares
Makes 16 squares

For the plum preserves:
~12oz plums (about 3)
~4oz of cherries (about 10) (or an additional 4 oz plum)
~2 tsp lemon juice
~5 Tbsp sugar
~1/8 cup water
~pinch salt
~1/2 tsp vanilla

For the bottom crust:
~1 1/4 cup flour
~3/4 cup oats
~1/4 cup brown sugar
~1/4 cup white sugar
~1/2 tsp cinnamon
~1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
~1/8 tsp baking soda
~1/8 tsp salt
~8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces

For the upper crust:
~1/2 cup oats
~1/2 cup brown sugar
~1/4 cup flour
~1/2 tsp cinnamon
~1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
~4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces

To make the plum preserves: Wash and pitt the plums and cherries. Quarter the plums and halve the cherries. Combine with other ingredients in a saucepan and cook for about 45 minutes, until fruit is soft. Blend into a puree with a blender, food processor, or immersion blender. Set aside to cool slightly.

To make the squares: Make the bottom crust by combining the flour, oats, brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Whisk to mix thoroughly. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients using a pastry cutter, until there are pea sized bits. (Alternately, use a food processor). Press into an 8x8 pan that has been prepared with a baking spray or lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350F for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the top crust. Combine the oats, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients using a pastry cutter, until there are pea sized bits. (Alternately, use a food processor).

When the bottom crust is done, spread the plum preserves over the bottom crust. Sprinkle the top crust over the plum preserves. Place back in the oven for 30 minutes more. Cool in the pan on a wire rack. Cut squares once fully cool.