Alice in the Kitchen

World’s Best Sangria

Matt has been slowly but surely converting me to a win0 wine appreciator, and we have visited many of northern Virginia’s local wineries during my “conversion” process.  Last summer, at the Winery at La Grange, at the end of their tasting flight, they offered me a taste of their sangria – and it was love!  This is assuredly one of the best sangria recipes out there – it is so delicious.

Here are the ingredients for my slightly modified version:

• 1 bottle LaGrange meritage (I substitute merlot)
• 1 cup Simply Orange Mango juice
• 1/2 cup simple syrup
• 3 T. lemon juice
• ginger ale
• 1 orange
• 1 lime
• 1 lemon

Mix the wine, juices, and syrup in a pitcher, and then fill with ice (or save the ice for the glasses if you don’t want it to get watered down).  Top with ginger ale and fruit slices!

Delicious!  Doesn’t that look refreshing?

Cherry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

I was in the mood for some fruity ice cream, and when I settled on cherry, I knew I had to add some chocolate to make a little imitation Cherry Garcia.  Since it’s eggless, this ice cream was a snap to make, and it was delicious!

Here are the ingredients:

• 1/2 cup grenadine
• 1 cup fat free milk
• 2 cups vanilla low-fat yogurt
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 2 cup frozen dark sweet cherries
• 1 tablespoon almond extract
• 1 cup mini chocolate chips

Add all of the ingredients except the chocolate chips to your blender.

Puree until all only small bits of the cherries remain.

Pour into your ice cream maker, add the chocolate chips, and freeze according to instructions.  This made a little too much for my 2 quart ice cream machine – I left out about 1 cup of the mixture and as you can see below – I still had a little “overflow.”

Transfer to freezer to let your ice cream harden up, and then serve!

Big Green Egg – Filets for Beginners

For my 28th birthday, Matt surprised me with a Big Green Egg, a kamado-style ceramic charcoal cooker – basically a smoker and a grill.  We were visiting friends in the Carolinas for the 4th of July and saw their Big Green Egg, which piqued my interest – and then 2 weeks later, voila:

So the first question was, what to do with this thing??  Seemed only right to break in the grill properly with some Filet mignon!  We fired up the grill and broke up the Big Green Egg recipe for the “perfect steaks.”

• 2 steaks, 1-1/2 to 2-inches thick
• 1/4 cup kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Trim the steaks of any excess fat. Mix all of the dry ingredients together and apply to both sides of the steaks. Allow to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before grilling.

Preheat the Egg for direct heat.

When the Egg is heated to 650°F, place the steaks on the grill and sear for two to three minutes.

Open the lid and flip the steaks onto a new section of the grid. After two to three more minutes, flip the steaks once more.

Completely shut down the Egg by closing the damper top and draft door. Let the steaks continue cooking for 3 to 4 minutes, until they reach the desired internal temperature.

Remove the steaks and let them rest for 5 minutes before serving.

YUM!!!

Cream Cheese Crescent Bars

I first had these cream cheese bars at a Superbowl party about 5 years ago, and since then, they have been a “go to” treat for parties because they are so quick to make, and everyone loves them!

Here’s what you need:

• 2 8 oz cans refrigerated crescent roll dough
• 2 8 oz packages cream cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and grease a 9×13 inch pan.  Press one can of the crescent rolls into the bottom of the prepared pan – I like to line my pans with foil because it helps to lift them out and cut them into squares.

In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese, eggs 1 cup of sugar, and vanilla until smooth and creamy.

Spread over the crescent layer.

Unroll the second can of crescent rolls and lay them on top of the cream cheese layer.  Don’t press down, and don’t worry about the seams – they will bake together.

Pour the melted butter over the entire pan.  Combine the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over the top.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the top is crisp and golden.

and slice!

Chicken Sausage Risotto

The last time I was at Costco, I (impulsively) purchased 3 pounds of Amylu Caprese Chicken Sausage.  Now that we have a fancy grill (more on that later), it seemed appropriate to buy something new to try out.

After we grilled a few links this weekend and declared it delicious, I started thinking of other ways to use up that sausage.  So I came up with a basic creamy risotto and mixed in a little over a pound of the sausage (and I could have used quite a bit less – it was very meaty).  Risotto is awesome because even with no butter, no milk, and no cream, this turns out super creamy and rich.  This was a change of pace for us, and we enjoyed it – so I think I will freeze the rest of that chicken sausage for the next time we are craving this!!

Here is what you’ll need:

• 1tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound of chicken sausage (any variety)
• 4 tablespoons minced fresh garlic
• 2 teaspoons italian seasoning
• a few cracks of black pepper
• 1 1/4 cups arborio rice
• 1 cup dry white wine (and I only had about 3/4 of a cup open,  so I filled it up with water)
• 3 1/2 cups chicken broth, low-sodium
• 1/4 cup parmesan

Slice up the sausage and heat it in a skillet – keep warm while you make the risotto.

In a saucepan, heat oil over medium heat.  Add garlic and italian seasoning and cook until garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Christmas (Penguins) in July!

It’s been ridiculous hot this July in the nation’s capital, and what could be more “chill” than some arctic penguins!

I made these back in December when the weather was a bit cooler, and they are still one of the cutest holiday party appetizers I have ever seen.  And they require a little patience but less skill to assemble!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• a can of large olives
• a can of small olives
• a few carrots
• a block of cream cheese, softened
• red pepper strips (for decoration only)
• toothpicks

Slice open one side of a large olive.  Using a plastic zip bag filled with cream cheese, stuff the large olive with cream cheese.

Slice your carrot into small rounds, and cut out a pie sized notch from your round, which you will stick into the opening of the small olive.

Assemble the small olive on top of the large olive on top of the carrot base and skewer with a toothpick.

Repeat, and decorate a few of these bad boys with red pepper “scarves.”  What a cute idea!!

Blueberry Ice Cream

I love homemade ice cream.  This blueberry ice cream was so sweet, and I thought it was delicious.  I especially liked the rich purple color of this recipe.  Yum!

Here’s what you’ll need to make it:

4 cups fresh blueberries or 4 cups frozen blueberries (I used frozen)
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons water
4 cups half-and-half cream

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, combine the blueberries, sugar and water; bring to a boil.

2. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until sugar is dissolved and the blueberries are softened.

3. Cool the blueberries and process them in a blender or food processor.

4. Stir in cream.

5. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
6. Fill cylinder of ice cream freezer two thirds full and freeze according to the manufactur’s directions.

7. Allow to ripen in ice cream freezer or firm up in regular freezer for 2-4 hours before serving.

Oreo Cheesecake

We tested out a new cheesecake recipe for Father’s Day – and I think it was a success.  It is an Oreo cheesecake, similar to the one served at The Cheesecake Factory.

Interestingly – probably the best part was the cookies n cream cool whip that I put on top of the cheesecake – so you should make that too – just save a few cookie crumbs, stir them into the cool whip, and top it!

Here’s what you’ll need for the cheesecake:

Filling
1 1/2 pound cream cheese
1 cup sugar
5 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup flour
8 ounces sour cream
5 Oreo cookies, coarsely chopped for the batter
10  Oreo cookies, coarsely chopped for the topping

Crust
25 Oreo cookies, finely chopped (I chopped them up in a food processor until they were a fine cookie powder)
2 tablespoon melted butter
9″ spring form pan (buttered on bottom and sides)

1. Mix melted butter with Oreo crumbs and press in the bottom of the spring pan and 1 1/2″ up the sides, set aside.

2. Beat cream cheese with a mixer on low until fluffy.
3.  Slowly add sugar and continue beating cream cheese until mixed well.
4.  Add eggs one at a time and continue to beat until blended.
5. Measure the vanilla, salt and flour, pour into cream cheese and egg mixture and beat until smooth. Add the sour cream and beat.
6. Stir in the coarsely chopped oreo cookies with a spoon.

7. Pour cream cheese into the spring pan and place the nine coarsely chopped Oreo Cookies on to of the cream mixture.

8. Place pan on the top rack and in the middle of a preheated oven at 325 degrees F and bake for one hour and 15 minutes.

9.After that time, keep oven door open and let the cheese cake stay in the oven for one hour. Remove from oven and let cool enough to place in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

10. Decorate as you see fit – I highly suggest the doctored cool whip I mentioned above!

Yum!

The Best Cinnamon Roll Cookies

Matt has a very specific sweet tooth (unlike me, for example – if it’s sweet, I’ll eat it).  Thus, I’m always on the lookout for sweet things to cook that I know will pique his interest.  One of those things, pretty much without question, is cinnamon.  When we first started dating, I used to make these cinnamon chip cookies, which were kind of a pain to make, but good.  Since then, I’ve made cinnamon coffee cake, cinnamon ice cream, and cinnamon rolls, but I’d never gone back to “cinnamon cookies” – until today.

Although there are a number of  “cinnamon roll cookie” recipes floating around the Internet, you won’t find anything easier than these little bites of heaven.  Their slight pastry texture will make you feel like you got a home delivery from your local Cinnabon on a lazy Sunday morning.  (Or in our case, Tuesday night.)

And they take about 10 minutes to make.  Literally, from start to finish, you could have them ready to eat that soon – even a canned roll of cinnamon rolls can’t give you that!

So here’s what you’ll need:

•  store bought pie dough (or hey, make your own, but they won’t be ready in 10 minutes
• shortening (depends on how many cookies you are making, but about 2 tablespoons tops)
• cinnamon sugar – with white sugar (about 1/2 cup) and cinnamon (probably 1 tablespoon, depending on how strong you like your cinnamon sugar)

Now let’s get started!  Preheat your oven to 425.

On a clean counter, unroll your pie dough.

Cut your pie dough into a rectangle.  (You can use the excess pie dough to make another log of dough if you like.)

Spread with a thin layer of shortening.

Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over top.

Now roll up the dough into a log.

Once your log is rolled, slice the dough into quarter inch thick slices.

And lay out your slices in a lightly greased cookie sheet.  Sprinkle with extra cinnamon sugar if you’re really serious.

Bake for 8 minutes.

And you’re done!

Was that easy or what?!