Alice in the Kitchen

Pumpkin Butter… pumpkin pie in a cup!

I love the fall for a lot of reasons, one of which is all the pumpkin flavored goodies you can make and buy right now.  Although I have a few pumpkin recipes that will get made several times during the season (pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin gooey cakes), I knew I wanted to make pumpkin butter at least once this fall.  This weekend afforded me the perfect opportunity, mostly because I had all the ingredients on hand INCLUDING apple juice because it was brought over to a party hosted at my house on Tuesday.  Normally I would never buy apple juice, nor would I be able to drink a whole container, but there was just enough left after the party to make a full batch of pumpkin butter – and if that’s not a sign it was time to make it, I don’t know what is!

This recipe is super easy and would make a great holiday gift.

• 1 29 ounce can pumpkin puree
• 3/4 cup apple juice
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar (could substitute with brown sugar but I’d use a little less to avoid getting it too sweet)
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Combine all the ingredients into a saucepan.

Stir well.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for at least 30 minutes.  The color will turn a little darker and the consistency will become more smooth.  Pour into containers and let chill.

To serve (assuming you don’t just want to eat it with a spoon), just spread it on muffins, bread, graham crackers – anything you like really.  This will keep for about a week in the fridge or for months in the freezer.

Happy Fall!

Red Velvet Cheesecake

If I end up making a recipe twice within a month, it must be pretty good. (If it gets made a few times in two weeks, it must be awesome, for the record.) This red velvet cheesecake is definitely pretty good, since I’ve made it twice in September! This is adapted from a Southern Living recipe, and it’s attractive and unusual and would be lovely to serve to company.

When made in a 9 inch springform pan, each slice turns out quite pretty.

When made in a mini cheesecake pan, they make a great “finger food” dessert.

If you’re looking for a good mini cheesecake pan, I have the Norpro one, and I like it pretty well.

Crust:
1 package of oreos, ground fine in the food processor
1/4 cup butter, melted

Cheesecake:
3 8 oz. packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whole buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 oz. bottle of red food coloring

For the topping:
1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Garnish: fresh mint sprigs

Stir together oreo crumbs and melted butter; press mixture into bottom of a 9-inch springform pan OR press about 1 tablespoon of mixture into bottom of each mini cheesecake hole

Beat the 3 packages of cream cheese and 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar at medium-low speed with an electric mixer 1 minute. Add eggs and next 6 ingredients, mixing on low speed just until fully combined. Pour batter into the crust (or mini crusts).

Bake at 325° for for 1 hour and 25 minutes or until center is firm. Run knife along outer edge of cheesecake. Cover and chill.

Beat 1 package cream cheese and 1/4 cup butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth; gradually add powdered sugar and vanilla, beating until smooth. Spread evenly over top of cheesecake (or pipe a dollop onto each mini cheesecake).  Store covered in the fridge!!

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Lasagna

I really wish I could remember where I first heard about this recipe.  I owe a debt of gratitude to the forgotten person who shared it with me!

It was described to me as an “ice cream sandwich cake,” but the first time Matt had it, he dubbed it “Ice Cream Lasagna.”

It is truly the world’s easiest way to make an ice cream cake, and the layers are so pretty when it is cut.  This particular version was for the birthday of a friend who likes mint chocolate – so it is modified slightly from the original.  Basically, whatever flavors and toppings you like will work, so be creative and enjoy!

25 ice cream sandwiches (these were mint chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches)

1 jar of hot fudge

1 large tub of cool whip, softened

chopped candy for the topping (I used Andes mints)

1 package of Oreos, crushed in food processor to powdery consistency

Line the bottom of a 9×13 pan with aluminum foil.  Unwrap the ice cream sandwiches and arrange them tightly in the bottom of the pan – cutting them if necessary to fit.

Next, top the layer of ice cream sandwiches with about half of the cool whip.

Then top the layer of cool whip with the slightly warmed hot fudge.

And gently spread the hot fudge all over the layer.

Cover this layer with the chopped up Oreos.  I mixed a little chocolate sauce in with the Oreos because I was afraid it might be too crumbly out of the freezer, but it probably wasn’t necessary.  And now you’re ready for the next layer of ice cream sandwiches!

Cover the Oreo layer tightly with ice cream sandwiches, cutting them to fit as before.

(At this point, you could frost the top with cool whip, top with candies, and put it back into the freezer to freeze before serving, but since this was for a special occasion, I proceeded a little differently.)

Now, I played a foil covered piece of cardboard on top of the pan and flipped the cake upside down.

Now I covered the whole cake in a layer of cool whip.

And topped it with the chopped Andes mints and a drizzle of chocolate.

Now back into the freezer to harden up before serving!  And cut to serve.

Look at the pretty layers!!

The end.

Matt’s Favorite Chicken

Matt’s Favorite Chicken!

This chicken doesn’t have a name or a real recipe because I can’t remember where it came from.  But it is good, and you should make it, and then it might become (Insert Your Name Here)’s Favorite Chicken.

• boneless chicken breasts (2-6)
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons (or so) lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• a generous amount of garlic salt (2-3 teaspoons – I used low sodium soy sauce so I was very generous!)
• Pepperidge Farms herb seasoned stuffing mix, crushed into fine crumbs

Preheat oven to 350.  Combine sour cream, lemon juice, soy sauce, and garlic salt.

Set up an assembly line of chicken, sour cream sauce, breadcrumbs, and your foil lined pan.

Dredge the chicken in the sour cream mixture and then cover in bread crumbs.  Place on baking sheet.

Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes.

Ready to serve!

Makes super moist, super tangy chicken!

Cookie Dough Truffles

I came across this recipe awhile back, and it is a crowd favorite, so these went with Matt to a potluck at work today.  I have to admit – I think making them is a little like childbirth in that you need to forget how long/arduous/terrible the process is in order to be willing to make them again.  But please, don’t let that deter you from giving these a try.  Obviously the whole childbirth  memory loss has been working for awhile – I’ve made these no less than five times.

So with no further ado, cookie dough truffles!

• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar (I prefer light brown sugar)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 pounds semisweet chocolate baking squares, ready to melt

Cream the butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer, then add the vanilla. Gradually beat in flour and condensed milk.  Add chocolate chips.  Put the mixture in the freezer for about a half hour to make it easy/possible to roll into balls.

Shape into 1-inch balls.  Put them back in the freezer.

Melt chocolate squares in the microwave.  Dip each ball in the chocolate, then place on wax paper to set.  I like to drizzle them with a lighter colored coating at this point – these were drizzled with peanut butter candy coating.

Store them in the fridge for at least an hour before they are ready to serve (or in the freezer for 15 minutes if you’re desperate).  And enjoy!

Quick substitution – if you like nuts, which we don’t especially, you can substitute 1/2 cup chopped nuts for 1/2 cup of the mini chocolate chips!

Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries (God Bless America)

God Bless America.  In honor of the Fourth of July (and in light of the fact that we were moving and unpacking boxes on the holiday weekend), I wanted to make something patriotic (and easy) to take to a BBQ before the fireworks.  The standard.  I decided on cheesecake stuffed strawberries, topped with blueberries, and they were delicious.  And easy.  And festive.

But don’t limit yourself to the Fourth of July for this dessert – Matt said, “Feel free to make those anytime.”  How’s that for Independence Day?  Feeling free indeed…

I hope the feeling inspires you too.

a pint of strawberries
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla (or vanilla bean paste)

chopped pecans
blueberries

Beat together cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla (I used vanilla bean paste – I love that stuff!) until combined.  Spoon the mixture into a large bag and cut off the corner.

Cut a slice across the bottom of each strawberry so that they stand upright.  Place berries, cut side down, on your plate.  Carefully cut the berries into 4 wedges from the point, cutting close the bottoms.  Next, spread the wedges with your fingers just a little so you can get the tip of your cheesecake filled bag inside!

Now.. fill the strawberries with the cheesecake!

Top with blueberries and pecans as you like.  These would also be delicious sprinkled with graham cracker crumbs!

Champagne Shrimp Pasta

I’ve made this twice in the last week, so it’s definitely worth a blog entry. It also reheats really well since it doesn’t have any butter and just a little bit of oil. I didn’t take any pictures as I was making it, but it’s fairly simple and delicious!

Ingredients:
olive oil
salt/pepper
2 lbs. shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 cups champagne
3-4 tablespoons shallots, chopped
2 cups light cream
parmesan
parsley
1 lb. angel hair pasta

Heat water for pasta.

Add a tablespoon of olive oil, salt, pepper, shrimp, and champagne to a skillet over medium high heat. Bring champagne to a boil. As soon as the champagne is boiling, remove the shrimp with a slotted spoon.

Add the shallots to the champagne. Continue cooking and reduce the champagne to about 1 cup. Add 1.5 cups of the light cream and bring to a boil. Cook for 4 or 5 minutes and let the sauce thicken.

Add the noodles to the boiling water and cook for 4 minutes. Drain the noodles and add the remaining cream to keep the noodles from sticking.

Add the shrimp back to the champagne cream sauce and heat. Pour the shrimp and sauce over the noodles and sprinkle with parsley.

Serve with parmesan.

Do It Yourself Danish

Do It Yourself Danishes!!

My boss’s birthday was last week, and I wanted to bring something in to celebrate that we could eat in our morning meeting.  There was the obvious choice – muffins.  Good, yes, but a little boring, I thought.  Then I considered breakfast casserole – delicious, but sort of complicated for a meeting – would require plates AND forks AND napkins.  I considered scones.  Could be good, but could be dry.  Then I actually thought, I’ll just order a tray of danishes.  We have an amazing pastry shop here in Arlington, Heidelberg Bakery, so I went to their website and got ready to order a tray of danishes.  I was ready to confirm the order when I decided that I really wanted to take in something homemade.  But I didn’t have a lot of time to mess around with pastry dough.  What to do??

A found a recipe that worked out just perfectly – crescent danish rolls!

So I bought a few packs of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls – big and flaky variety.

I popped them into the freezer for about 30 minutes.  Took them out, and sliced them into 12 pieces, as you would if you were making slice and bake cookie dough, and pressed indentations into them with a large spoon.

For the filling, I mixed together:

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons sour cream

I spooned this, along with a bit a jam (I used raspberry and apricot), into the indentations, and baked them for about 20 minutes.

Once these were cool, I mixed a little powdered sugar and water and drizzled it on top for a real danish look:

These were so easy and really cute.  A perfect alternative to muffins, and a definite crowd pleaser!

Top Chef DC

Tonight is the premiere of the newest Top Chef, and this season was filmed right here in our Nation’s Capital.  In honor of the premiere, Dave and Lizze whipped up a delicious feast of glazed salmon, spice rubbed potatoes and roasted asparagus, and I made roasted rosemary cashews as an amuse-bouche.  They were really easy to make and pretty tasty.  They would make great holiday gifts too.  Credit to the Barefoot Contessa for this treat!

Roasted Rosemary Cashews

• 1 1/4 pounds cashew nuts (raw, unsalted)
• 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 2 teaspoons dark brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon melted butter

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Place the nuts on an ungreased baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes until they are warmed through.  They will get slightly browned.  Pour them into a large mixing bowl.

Melt the butter and pour it over the cashews; stir to coat.

Combine the rosemary, pepper, sugar, and salt in a small bowl.

Toss the warm nuts with the rosemary mixture until the nuts are completely coated.  Serve warm.