Fabulous Fruit Dip

We made this dip for a brunch a while back, and it was SO good! It is one of Paula Deen's recipes from the Food Network (so, of course, it's really healthy...ha ha).

1- 8oz. pkg Cream Cheese

1 C Powdered Sugar

1 C Whipping Cream

1/4 C Granulated Sugar

1 Lemon, zested and juiced

Pineapple Juice

Soften cream cheese and whip with powdered sugar. Whip cream and granulated sugar together until it forms soft peaks. Combine beaten cream cheese, whipped cream, lemon juice and zest. Continue to beat, adding just enough pineapple juice for desired consistency. Serve with a fruit tray or fruit salad. We served it as shown above, and it was real fun!

Rigatoni Martino

This is my take on Carrabba's Rigatoni Martino. Derrick cooked the chicken on our barbecue after seasoning it with olive oil, oregano, basil, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper.

8 oz. Rigatoni, cooked
1 1/2 C. Tomato Cream Sauce (recipe below)
1/2 C. Mushrooms, sauteed
10 sundried tomatoes, sliced
8 oz. grilled chicken breast, sliced
1/2 C. grated romano cheese
Grated Ricotta Salata (garnish)
Chopped green onions (garnish)


Heat mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes and tomato cream sauce in a skillet over medium heat. Add cooked rigatoni and chicken. Sprinkle Romano cheese on pasta and toss until sauce is a creamy consistency. Serve topped with ricotta salata and green onions.



Tomato Cream Sauce:


1- 28oz jar pasta sauce
1 C half and half
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1/4 t ground nutmeg
1 T. dried basil

Bring all ingredients to a simmer. This recipe only uses a portion, so you will have extra.

Brie in Puff Pastry

FANTASTIC and EASY appetizer! My sister-in-law made this as an appetizer at a book club night, and it was a real hit. So Derrick made it last night as part of our Mother's Day dinner with some friends, and it was a hit again! You can adjust the brown sugar to taste, but we like the sweetness of it.

1/2 package puff pastry, thawed
8 oz wheel of brie cheese
2-4 T Brown Sugar

Lay out the puff pastry on a pie tin or cookie sheet. Spread half of the brown sugar on the puff pastry where you will be placing the brie. Place the brie wheel on top of the brown sugar, then top the cheese with the remaining brown sugar. Wrap the brie wheel with the puff pastry and bake at 350 until the pastry is fully cooked. Serve warm.

Classic Creme Brulee

Recipe from Tiffany Grady. It always surprises me that such a simple recipe is so darn good!!!! Everyone I make this for loves it! Makes Four 1/2 Cup Servings:


















2 C Heavy Cream
4 Egg Yolks
1/4 C sugar
1 t High Quality Vanilla
8 t Brown Sugar

Preheat oven to 300. Have pot of hot water ready. In saucepan over medium, combine cream and 1/4 C sugar. Cook until steam rises (4-5 minutes). In bowl, beat egg yolks and vanilla. Pour a small amount of cream into eggs and whisk. Add remaining cream. Pour into 4 ramekin dishes. Put dishes into casserole dish and fill with hot water halfway up ramekins. Bake covered with foil 60 minutes. Remove and chill 3 hours. Sprinkle brown sugar on top and put 2-3 inches under broiler-WATCH CLOSELY-until sugar melts. Chill. Serve with fruit and powdered sugar, or alone.

Spinach and Pasta Bake

Note: Be sure to make this in a bigger baking dish than shown in the picture. I actually made two smaller dishes with this recipe and froze the second. Also, the hamburger/Italian sausage is optional. You could make this dish without the meat, or even substitute with prosciutto. We just had this tonight for dinner and it was so yummy!

















Bechamel Sauce:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch ground nutmeg



Pasta:
16 oz pasta cooked al dente
1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
1 lb cooked Italian sausage or hamburger
1 large egg, beaten to blend
3/4 teaspoon salt, plus more for salting water
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups marinara sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella (about 4 ounces)

To make the sauce: Melt the butter in a heavy medium sucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and whisk for 3 minutes. Whisk in the milk. Increase the heat to medium-high. whisk the sauce until it comes to a simmer and is thick and smooth, about 3 minutes. Whisk the salt, pepper and nutmeg into teh bechamel sauce.

Put bechamel sauce in bottom of a large buttered baking dish.

Whisk the ricotta, spinach, 1 C Parmesan, hamburger/sausage, egg, salt and pepper in a medium bowl to blend.

Layer noodles, ricotta mix, marinara sauce and mozzarella several times in baking dish, with top layer being the remaining parmesan cheese.

Bake covered for 25 minutes at 450, until sauce bubbles. Uncover and bake until cheese starts to brown.

Coconut Almond Sour Cream Pound Cake

FROSTING:

8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 C. unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 t pure vanilla extract
1/4 t pure almond extract
1/2 pound confectioners' sugar, sifted
3 oz. sweetened shredded coconut


CAKE: (Recipe by Paula Deen, taken from foodnetwork.com)

Note: I did not use the Orange Extract. Instead, I used a full teaspoon of Almond Extract. I also used a bundt pan, rather than the tube pan.

1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, plus more for pan
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
3 cups sugar
1 cup sour cream
1/2 t baking soda
6 eggs
1/2 t orange extract
1/2 t almond extract

Preheat oven to 325. Butter and flour a tube pan and set aside. In the bowl of a mixer, cream butter and sugar together and then add sour cream. Sift flour and baking soda together. Add to creamed mixture, alternately with eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Add extracts and stir to combine. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Cool cake in pan for about 10 minutes and then unmold and cool completely on a wire rack.

Banana Cake

3/4 C Margarine
1 1/2 C Sugar
1 C mashed bananas
1 t vanilla
1/2 C chopped nuts (optional)
3 unbeaten egg yolks
3 C flour
3 t baking powder
1 1/2 C milk
2 t vinegar
1 t baking soda
3 egg whites, stiffly beaten

Combine margarine, sugar, bananas, and vanilla; beat until fluffy. Add egg yolks. Beat well. Add dry ingredients, milk and vinegar. Fold in egg whites. Bake in greased dripper pan at 350 for appx 40 minutes.

I like to top it with a cream cheese frosting. YUMMY!

Caramel Marshmallow Balls

1 lb Caramels
1/2 cube butter
1 can sweetened condensed milk (enough to thin the above mixture. I have to add more periodically the longer it sits on the burner)

Melt together, dip large marshmallows in caramel mixture, then roll in Rice Krispies.

Easy Tomato Pizza Sauce

1 large garlic clove, minced

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

28-ounce can italian plum tomatoes, including the juice (I actually used the crushed rather than whole tomatoes) *6/22/08-Today I used canned chopped tomatoes and added Italian spices including red pepper flakes, oregano and fresh basil. Blended it all. Tasted even better, I think.

In a large heavy saucepan, cook the garlic and pepper in the oil over moderately low heat, stirring for 2 minutes, or until the mixture is fragrant. Add the tomatoes, squashing them in your hand, with the juice. Bring the mixture to a boil, and cook it over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, for 20-30 minutes until the sauce is thickened and reduced to about 2 cups. Season the sauce with salt. The sauce keeps, covered and chilled, for 1 week.

Easy, Yummy Pizza Dough

(Makes 2 large pizzas or 4 thin pizzas)

2 packages yeast (or 1/2 oz or 4 1/2 teaspoons)

2 teaspoons sugar

4 cups of flour or more

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup olive oil

1 1/2 cups of warm water

Put yeast and sugar in a cup. Add 1/2 cup of water. Water should be between 100-110 degrees. Mix well. Wait about 5 minutes for the yeast and sugar to activate.

In large mixing bowl, add the flour, salt, olive oil and 1 cup warm water and the yeast mixture. Mix this with a fork to get all the liquid absorbed by the flour. Knead the mixture for 8-10 minutes or until the texture is smooth and uniform. (Or I just use my mixer with the dough hook).

Place the dough in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Let raise for about an hour. Punch down the dough and wait about 45 minutes. Your dough is now ready. This dough can be refrigerated for several days until ready to use.

Jambalaya Pasta with Penne, Chicken, Shrimp and Andouille

Recipe by Emeril Lagasse and taken from the Foodnetwork.com

















*Note: I don't use the andouille, and I like to add small scallops. I even do it without chicken sometimes. Also, instead of using the Essence, I have a creole seasoning that I have been using until it is gone. It has pretty much the same ingredients as the Essence.

1/4 cup plus 3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1 pound dry penne rigate
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 pound peeled, deveined large shrimp
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon Essence, divided, recipe follows
3/4 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, 1-inch diced
3/4 pound andouille sausage, diced into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup yellow onion, small diced
1/2 cup green bell pepper, small diced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon freshly chopped thyme leaves
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons freshly chopped basil leaves
1/2 cup grated Parmesan


Fill a large, 1-gallon stock pot with a pasta insert, 3/4 full with water. Bring to a boil over high heat and add 1/4 cup of the salt as it boils. Place the penne in the salted water and return to a boil, stirring occasionally. Cook the pasta until nearly al dente, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain and set aside, reserving 1 cup of the pasta cooking water.

While the pasta cooks, set a 14-inch saute pan over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, swirl the pan to evenly coat with the oil. Season the shrimp with 2 teaspoons of the Essence and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Place the shrimp in the pan and sear for 1 minute per side. Remove the shrimp from the pan and set aside. Add another tablespoon of the olive oil to the saute pan and season the chicken breast with 2 teaspoons of the Essence and 1/8 teaspoon of the salt. Place the chicken breast in the pan and sear for 3 minutes, turning to ensure even browning. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside with the seared shrimp.

Place the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in the saute pan and add the sausage, onions and bell peppers. Saute, stirring occasionally, until the sausage is lightly caramelized and the onions are translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic to the pan and saute for 30 seconds. Add the chicken stock to the pan and scrape with a spoon to remove any browned bits that have formed in the bottom of the pan, about 30 seconds. Add the diced tomatoes, fresh thyme, the remaining tablespoon of Essence and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook for 2 minutes. Add the heavy cream to the pan and cook an additional 2 minutes. Return the shrimp and chicken to the pan, as well as the nearly al dente pasta and the reserved 1 cup of pasta cooking water. Continue to cook the sauce and pasta, stirring occasionally, until the shrimp and chicken are cooked through, the pasta is al dente and most of the pasta cooking water has evaporated, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the basil and Parmesan. Toss to combine and serve while hot.

Emeril's ESSENCE Creole Seasoning (also referred to as Bayou Blast):
2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly.