Raspberry Tart

Our neighbor gave us some fresh raspberries from his mother's garden. I seized the opportunity to make a delicious summer treat. I had never made a tart before but often have admired their beauty.

I got this tart recipe from the Joy of Baking website. I followed most of the directions. I do have to say that the pastry cream had me worried for a bit. I tasted it when it was warm and it lacked flavor. All put together, the tart ended up tasting good, but I think I will use a different cream recipe next time.

Not so for the crust, this sweet pastry crust is delicious. I had some extra dough so I sprinkled it with cinnamon sugar and baked it as a separate treat. Yum!

Ingredients:
Sweet Pastry Crust:
1 1/2 C flour
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 C unsalted butter (I used margarine)
1/4 C sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Pastry Cream:
1 1/4 C milk
1 tsp vanilla
3 egg yolks
1/4 C sugar
2 Tbs flour
2 Tbs cornstarch

2-3 Cups of fresh fruit: raspberries, strawberries, kiwi, blackberries, etc. Can be a mixture or all of one.
1/2 C Chocolate chips

Directions:
First prepare the crust. In a small bowl, sift together flour and sugar. In your mixing bowl, beat butter until softened. Beat in sugar until fluffy. Then gradually add the beaten egg (do not overmix). Add the flour mixture all at one and stir until just blended and dough balls up.

Lay out a piece of plastic wrap. Flatten the dough into a disc on top of the wrap. Cover with another sheet of plastic wrap. Refrigerate 20 minutes.

Have a 8-9 inch tart pan with removable bottom ready. I don't have a tart pan so I used a springform pan and it worked out just fine. removing the bottom isn't really necessary so a pie dish would work as well.

Roll out the pastry to an 11-12 inch circle. I like to roll mine out while it is between the plastic wrap so it doesn't stick to the counter or my rolling pin. If you don't, make sure the surface is well floured. Once the pastry is an inch larger than your pan, place it in the pastry pan. Push down the edges and make a lip about an inch up the sides. Any extra dough can be discarded or made into cinnamon sticks!

Now, poke holes in the crust with a fork all over the bottom of the pan. This will prevent bubbles from forming as it bakes. Refrigerate the crust another 20 minutes, while preheating the oven to 400 degrees.

Bake the crust for 20-25 minutes or until dry and golden brown. You can put rice or bean weights into it if you prefer but I did not and the crust was fine. Cool crust before filling.

Pastry Cream:
In a medium bowl, mix the sugar and egg yolks. Sift the flour and cornstarch together then add to the eggs, mixing until smooth.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan combine the milk and vanilla. Put over medium heat until boiling (the milk will start to foam). Remove from heat and slowly add to egg mixture, stirring constantly to prevent scrambling the eggs. Once fully incorporated, put the mixture back in the saucepan over medium heat. Whisk continuously until boiling. Then whisk for another 30-60 seconds until it becomes very thick. Remove from heat and place in a clean bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, pushing it down to touch the surface and prevent a skin from forming. Cool. Refrigerate for up to 3 days if not using immediately.

Before you add the cream to the crust, melt 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and spread a think layer over the crust. Refrigerate for 10 minutes or until hard. This helps keep the crust from getting soggy once you put the filling in. And it is tasty!

Assemble the tart on the day it will be served. Place in the cream filling. On top arrange the fruit. If desired brush on a glaze (I did not). The recipe said to serve at room temperature, which I did.

New York Cheesecake

I actually made this cheesecake some time ago. It is one of the best I have ever made. Cheesecake is one of those great foods that tastes better and better as it ages.

This is a "New York" cheesecake because it is made with cream cheese and is taller than most (4 packages of cream cheese as opposed to 3 in other recipes).

I made 1 and 1/2 times the crust recipe because the crust is one of my favorite parts of cheesecake and there never seems to be enough to truly coat the bottom and sides. I might have actually made a little too much though because some pieces had a fairly thick corner crust.

Ingredients:
Crust:
2 C of Graham Cracker Crumbs (ground up in food processor)
1/4 C sugar
1/2 C unsalted butter, melted (I honestly can't remember if I actually used this much. Use enough to get the proper consistency)

Filling:
4 8 oz packages of cream cheese, room temperature (use full fat, does not turn out well with fat free)
1 C sugar
3 Tbs flour
5 eggs, room temp
1/3 C heavy whipping cream
1 Tbs lemon zest (do not leave this out, it adds the most beautiful hint of lemon taste to the final product)
1 tsp vanilla

Topping:
1 C sour cream (recipe I used said full fat, not sure if that is important)
2 Tbs sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Grease 9 inch spring-form pan (I have made cheesecake in a 9 inch cake pan before but it overflowed so make sure you dish is big enough). Place pan on baking sheet to catch any leaks. Preheat oven to 350.

Combine the crust ingredients and press on bottom and sides of spring-form pan. Place in fridge to harden while you prepare the filling.

Mix cream cheese, sugar, and flour on medium speed until smooth (about 2 minutes). Make sure you scrape the bowl so no pieces go unmixed. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each. Add the whipping cream, lemon zest, and vanilla. Again, make sure the sides of the bowl are scraped and everything is incorporated together.

Take the crust out of the fridge and pour in the filling. Place the spring-form pan on a baking sheet and into the oven. Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees then turn the heat down to 250 and bake for another 1 1/2 hours. The cake should be firm around the edges but still a bit wobbly in the center. Avoid over baking. Remove from oven and set on rack to cool.

You want to put the topping on a warm cheesecake so immediately prepare. Mix the topping ingredients and spread over the warm cheesecake. Return to the oven to bake for 15 minutes.

When you remove the cheesecake from the oven, run a knife around the rim to loosen the cake from the sides. This will prevent cracking as the cake cools. Wait until it has cooled completely to cover and store in the fridge. Refrigerate at least a day. I am not kidding when I say it tastes much better after a day or two in the fridge. This lets the flavors settle.

This cheesecake is so rich that you will easily get 16 slices so invite some friends over to share the goodness!

The cheesecake can also be frozen for several months is wrapped in aluminum foil and placed in a freezerbag. Thaw in fridge overnight.

Carrot Bread Muffins

These low-fat muffins were surprisingly sweet and moist. They also kept really well stored in a ziploc bag. I got the recipe from allrecipes.com and it said it made 10 servings. However, I was able to make a dozen muffins from the recipe.

I had originally purchased some applesauce to use in some chocolate chip cookies. The cookies turned out okay, but not very cookie like. They were more spongy. So I decided to make something else with the rest of the applesauce. So instead of butter or oil, these muffins were made with 3/4 cup of applesauce. You can't even tell! They are a great treat. Plus, since there are real carrots in them, you are getting some veggies in too! Win win!

Ingredients:
1 C sugar
1 C flour
1/2 C whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 C unsweetened applesauce
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 C shredded carrot
1/4 C chopped walnuts (optional, I did not use)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix sugar, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl. In a separate bowl beat together applesauce, eggs, and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients, stirring until just moistened. Fold in carrots and walnuts (if desired). Spoon batter into muffin tins. Bake for 20-25 min or until done.

If you desire a carrot bread loaf, put batter in an 8 x 4 x 2 inch loaf pan and bake for 50-55 min.

French Bread

This is a recipe I got from my friend. She does weight watchers and loves this bread recipe because it doesn't have any fat it in. I made it yesterday and it was yummy! I had some for breakfast too.

Ingredients:
1 C warm water
1 1/4 tsp yeast
1/2 TBS sugar
1/2 Tbs salt
3 1/2 C flour

Directions:

Mix the water, yeast and sugar. Let yeast develop for 5-10 min. Sift together salt and flour. Slowly add to yeast mixture. Once combined, knead dough for a minute or two. Place in greased bowl, cover with wet towel, and let rise 1 1/2 hours.

Once risen, roll out the loaf to roughly a 16x12 inch rectangle. Roll loaf and shape ends. Place on greased baking sheet. Brush with butter then cover and let rise 45 min.

Place a dish of water in lowest rack of oven. Preheat to 450. (The water creates steam, which helps make the crust nice and crusty, use this technique whenever you bake bread!) Bake loaf for five minutes at 450 then 20-25 min at 350.

Don't forget to remove the dish of water once your oven has cooled!

Chicken Pot Pie

Another frozen meal I made for my mom was a chicken pot pie. I usually make the Bisquick version but decided that the crust would be really soggy and might not work well frozen.

I usually am a purist and like to make everything from scratch. I have tried many pie crust recipies but simply never get the amazing flaky and delicious results of store bought crusts. So this time, I decided to try the Krusteaz Pie Crust mix where you just add water. LOVE IT! It was inexpensive and the crust was grand. Jeff and I liked it much better than the Bisquick filling which gets soggy. Plus it was really easy.

Okay, here is my recipe:

1-2 Cups Cooked, Cubed chicken (depending on how big of a dish you are making)
2 Cups of frozen vegetables, thawed (or fresh if you have them on hand)
1 Can cream of chicken soup
1 pie crust

Mix the first three ingredients and put in casserole dish. Cover with the pie crust. Bake at 450 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

To freeze: Freeze before baking for one hour. Remove from freezer and wrap with freezer wrap. When ready to eat, remove from freezer one and a half hours before cooking time to thaw. Cover edges of pie crust with foil to prevent over browning. Bake at 450 degrees for 1 hour and 15 min or until crust is brown and mixture inside is hot.

*note: if using potatoes in pie, do not freeze. Texture will be unpleasant.*

This is a great quick meal you can prepare any day. On days when you have more time and/or produce, use the fresh stuff because if takes the pie to a whole new level.

Pizza Casserole

For my mother's birthday this year, I decided to make her a few frozen meals. This way, she could just pull something out of the freezer but still enjoyed the homemade goodness of it. I, of course, doubled all the recipes so I could try out the food first and make sure it tasted good.

This pizza casserole tasted similar to one my family used to make growing up. However, we made that casserole without meat and this one has ground beef in it. So I imagine if you are in a vegetarian mood, this would turn out just find without the beef. If I were to change anything about the recipe, I would layer it. Put cheese and pepperoni in between layers of pasta, instead of just on top.

Ingredients:
1lb ground beef
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 jar (28 oz) spaghetti sauce
1 pkg (8oz) spiral pasta
2 cups (8 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese
4 oz pepperoni

Directions:
Prepare pasta as directed on pacakage. Meanwhile, brown ground beef and onion in a large skillet. Drain fat. Once noodles are cooked and drained, add them and the spaghetti sauce to the meat. Put contents in a 13x9 casserole dish. Sprinkle with cheese and pepperoni. (Alternately, put half of contents in a 13x9 dish, sprinkle with cheese and pepperoni, add the rest of the pasta and put on another layer of cheese and pepperoni.)

If you wish to freeze, allow to cool and then cover and freeze. Let thaw in fridge overnight. Bake in preheated oven at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until heated through.

If you do not want to freeze it, simple put in the oven until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Baked Pork Chops

Kudos to Nana for this recipe. I usually have a hard time deciding what to do with my pork chops so I quite enjoyed this dish, which gave them flavor and tenderness.

Ingredients:
1 envelope of dry onion soup mix
1 Tbs crispy fried onions
3/4 Tbs flour
1-2 tsp Garlic Salt or your choice of seasoning
1 Tbs brown sugar
1 egg
Pork Chops

Directions:
Combine the first five ingredients in a gallon ziploc bag. Beat egg and dip the pork chops in it to coat. Put pork chops, one at a time, into bag and shake to coat. Place on greased baking dish and bake in 375 degree oven for 20 minutes. Turn the pork chops and bake for another 20 minutes. If desired, place about 1 tsp of margarine on chops when turning. When done baking, let stand for a few minutes and then serve.