Alice in the Kitchen

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.

Strawberry Margarita Dessert

Mom hosted Book Club at our house last week.  She served this dessert, and I tasted it, and it was delicious, so we’ll start with that!!

Frozen Strawberry Margarita Dessert

This delicious recipe has a pretzel crust for great salty, crunchy contrast. Prepare just as directed and freeze. Let stand at room temperature for 10-15 minutes before slicing and serving.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup finely crushed pretzels
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup finely chopped nuts
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 2 Tbsp. orange juice
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
• 10 oz. pkg. frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 2 Tbsp. powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Preparation:

Eskimo Bars – Best Thing I Ever Ate?

A few weeks ago, a friend challenged me to make something he had seen on the Food Network’s “Best Thing I Ever Ate.”  The theme of the episode he watched was “Chilled Perfection” and the item he was interested in was something called “Eskimo Bars,” which Giada claimed to have been just out of this world treats.

He described it to me.  Brownies, topped with ice cream, dipped in chocolate, served with hot caramel sauce.  Sounds great right?  He really wanted to try them, but unfortunately, they were only served at a restaurant called the Snake River Grill in Wyoming.  So, he asked, could I make that?  And I guess I’ve become a little arrogant about my cooking because I  responded confidently, “Yes, absolutely, no problem, I could make that.”  Ha. Ha. Ha.

I told him I was going to give it a try for a Memorial Day get together, and he enthusiastically provided me with a link from the show, which I think you’ll agree, makes it seem like these little Eskimo Bars are going to be a snap to make.

Well the joke was on me.

The brownie part was easy – I just baked a thin batch of brownies in a 9×13 pan.   I think it was about an inch thick.

The ice cream part?  That was easy too – I just spread a half gallon of softened vanilla ice cream over the brownies and stuck them in the freezer to harden up.

Cutting them into “piano keys” as described in the video??  Not bad either.  I used a pizza cutter which I warmed up with hot water and it sliced right through.  I was so optimistic at this point.

I mean truly, I was feeling like a pro.  So, I melted the chocolate chips, let them cool, and added a little shortening.  I was ready to start dipping!!

Massive fail.  The chocolate, cool as it was, instantly melted the ice cream, which in turn, made the chocolate curdle.  Or something.  But whatever happened, it was bad.

I threw away a lot of chocolate.  And the bars were looking like this:

The ice cream was running out, the chocolate was hard as a rock once you put them back in the freezer (not to mention WAY too thick), and this whole Eskimo Bars thing was quickly turning into a disaster.   This is what they looked like in my trash can:

I was really frustrated.

So I quit for awhile and tried to brainstorm how I could make these DANG ESKIMO BARS.  Then it hit me.

Magic Shell.

For those of you unfamiliar with Magic Shell, it essentially a chocolate syrup that hardens quickly into a “shell” when poured on a cold surface.  It’s main ingredients are chocolate and coconut oil, which is what makes it liquid at room temperature but solid when cold.  And Magic Shell saved the day.  I squirted some in a small dish and started dipping my “piano keys” of brownie and ice cream.  And finally…

Perfect!!  I actually got better at dipping them too, but I was so excited that I forgot to take any more pictures!!  Except for this one, which is missing a bite.

We ate them with hot caramel sauce served in a mini crockpot.  And they just might be the best thing I ever ate!

Thanks to Giada for the suggestion and Jamie for the challenge.  I’ll try not to hold it against either of you.

Well Dressed Fruit

Fruit loves getting dressed up.  Especially when the event calls for black tie attire.  So for the big engagement party, it seemed only appropriate to make some chocolate tuxedo strawberries!
I didn’t take any pictures while I was making these, so here’s a basic tutorial, starting after you’ve washed and dried your berries and melted your chocolates!

1. Dip the front side of the berries in white chocolate or bark.  Let dry on wax paper.
2. Hold the strawberry by the green leafy part, and dip the sides in a ‘V’ pattern in milk chocolate to make the tuxedo jacket. Leave some white showing on the front for the tuxedo shirt.   Put them back on the wax paper.
3. Using a toothpick, make a small bow with the dark chocolate. Add a row of 3 buttons underneath.
4. Let dry and serve!

If you don’t have a ton of time, make half of the strawberries in tuxedos and do plain swirls on the other half.  Still looks great.

Love is in the Kitchen

This past weekend, we celebrated the impending nuptials of not one, not two, not three, but FOUR lovely couples.  In honor of them, there were plenty of love-inspired desserts.  For a change, I’m going to post a treat that was not made by me, but is totally worthy of being shared because it was delicious!!  Every last bite of this was devoured.

Strawberry Brownie Shortcake!!

Ingredients

1 pkg Duncan Hines® Double Fudge Brownie Mix
1 (3.5 oz) pkg vanilla instant pudding and pie filling
1 1/2 cups milk
2 cups frozen non-dairy whipped topping
1 quart fresh strawberries

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease bottom and sides of two 9-inch round cake pans.

Prepare brownie mix according to package directions for cake-like brownies; pour into prepared pans. A baking tip to get the brownies out of the pan easier is to put a circle of parchment paper on bottom of pan.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until top springs back when touched. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely.

Meanwhile, stir pudding mix and milk in medium bowl; mix well. Chill 5 minutes or until thickens. Fold in whipped topping. Chill. To serve, place one brownie layer on plate. Top with half each of pudding mixture and strawberries. Repeat. Garnish as desired.

Look at these layers!!

Enjoy!

Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cheesecake

This is probably one of our most often made desserts – so much so that the cookbook pages around this particular recipe are covered with chocolate!  This is really very easy and very good.  To save time, I usually make the recipe as directed and pour the filling into two store-bought oreo crusts, rather than a springform pan – just as good and very simple.  You may have to adjust your baking time, but cheesecake is fussy anyway so you should be watching (through the oven door) all along.

Here goes:
Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cheesecake

1 9 oz package chocolate wafer cookies
3 T butter melted

(or two oreo crusts)

12 oz Semisweet choc chips
1 C heavy cream
3/4 C Raspberry jam
2 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 C sugar
4 Eggs
2 t vanilla

Grind cookies to a fine powder, mix with the butter and press into the bottom and up the sides about an inch of a 9″ springform pan (or 2 7″ pans).  Refrigerate while making the filling.

Combine the chips and cream in a microwave safe bowl and heat at high for 3 to 4 minutes or until smooth. Stir every minute. Mix in the jam, stirring until disolved, let cool 10 minutes.

Beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each egg. Add the vanilla and the chocolate/raspberry mixture.  Mix well.

Bake 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours at 325 or until cake is set around the edges but still jiggles slightly in the center. Cool and put in the fridge for at least 6 hours. Decorate as you like – but it’s just as pretty plain!

This is a nice dessert for company or to give as a gift.  Really, it’s that good!

Just in Time – King Cake

Today was the absolute last day to make a King Cake.  So keeping in line with my tradition of doing things at the very last minute, I made one, tonight.

King Cake can only be made after Twelfth Night (January 6) and before Mardi Gras day (today)… but is it okay to eat it tomorrow? I hope so. I will.

This wasn’t really too special, but the cream cheese filling was yummy.

Taking it into the office tomorrow!  Happy Fat Tuesday!

Spinach Balls

These were a surprise treat.  I had been holding on to the recipe for awhile and finally got a chance to make them before an impromptu holiday party at my folks’ house at Christmas.  I mean, they were really good!  And they’re made of spinach!  I mean sure, they’re loaded with less-than-healthy extras, but it’s mostly spinach!  Popeye would approve.  I think that these would be a nice cocktail appetizer for the vegetarians in the crowds, and carnivores will love them as well.  Matt, my resident non-vegetable-eater, ate 1/4 of one and declared it “actually pretty good” – and if I haven’t won you over yet, then I give up.

Here we go:

2 boxes frozen chopped spinach

2 cups herb bread stuffing mix (I used Pepperidge Farm – it’s better if you can run this through the food processor before mixing)

2 onions, chopped fine

6 eggs, beaten

3/4 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon garlic salt

2/3 teaspoon thyme

1/2 tablespoon black pepper

Rinse and drain spinach according to directions on box – squeeze out the extra moisture. Mix in remaining ingredients. Make into marble size ball (the directions say marble size, but I think golf ball size is more accurate.) Bake in 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.

And you know what’s clutch?  You can freeze these bad boys before baking and then thaw them for an hour before you need them.  I had a bag in the freezer that we took on two ski weekends and they still heated up and were delicious.  I even think these would make a nice holiday gift, maybe along with some sausage balls – a savory alternative to all the sweets at Christmas time.