Chocolate Apricot Bark

If I wanted to make this candy look super pretty then I would have to painstakingly place each piece of dried apricot, cranberry and cashew on top of the melted chocolate to give it color and presence. There's just one problem with that... see, I am critical of the way my things turn out.  Some people can toss upon their ingredients and create an elegant dish.  Alas, I am not one of them!  I sit there with my tweezers and place each piece gingerly down and still think it looks funky.  In all honesty, I tend to just give it up and toss the whole think into a bowl and mix it all up.... it keeps me sane.
The trick to making a good chocolate bark is using a good quality chocolate.  A rookie mistake is using the flavored barks that are often sold around the holiday season for candy making.  While they do melt nicely, they don't taste all that fabulous.  I like to stock up on the Ghiradelli candy bars when I find them on sale.
I like to use the 60% cacao bittersweet and their semi sweet chocolate for use in this recipe.

Chocolate Apricot Bark

• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 8 ounces very good bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 cup whole roasted, salted cashews
• 1 cup chopped dried apricots
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries or Craisins

Line a  small sheet pan with parchment paper; the bigger the sheet of paper, the thinner the bark will be.  I like to keep my paper trimmed down to about 9inch x 10inch.

Chop the chocolates and melt the 2 chocolates in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, melt completely. Add the cashews, apricots and cranberries and mix together.  

Pour the melted chocolate over the paper and spread to form a rectangle, drizzle with white chocolate if desired. Let set for about 2 hours. Cut the bark into desired size and serve.  Can be stored at room temperature in container with tight fitting lid.

stuffed peppers

I loved peppers...how I came to loving them I haven't figured out yet.  I was a serious vegetable hater as a child. Ok, I'll confess that it was even through most of my adult life.  It wasn't until I hit my forties that something clicked in my brain and suddenly that flavor bud turned on!  There are still some veggies I just don't care for (cooked cabbage, blech!) but I'm much more adventurous in my tastes these days.

That being said, my mother and I are the only pepper lovers in the house.  So when I make stuffed peppers I have to make the men unstuffed meals.  This recipe will stuff six peppers.  Obviously, I only stuff two and the guys the stuffing with other things to fill their tummy.

Stuffed Peppers
1/2 cup uncooked long grain white rice or brown rice (both work for me, just adapt the cooking time if you use brown rice)
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 bell peppers   which variety is up to you.... I like to use the red or yellow bell peppers
2(8 ounce cans) tomato sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 pound ground beef  
1/2 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste

Rice recipes vary, so follow your package directions.  With my long grain rice, I have to bring the 1 cup water to a boil and add the rice and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook for about 20 minutes.
While the rice is cooking, I put together the beef mixture for the stuffing. In a large skillet, brown ground beef with onion.  Just before the meat is done, I add the minced garlic.  When meat is nicely browned, remove the meat from the pan and let drain on a paper towel.
Remove and discard the tops, seeds and membranes of the bell peppers.  Arrange pepper in a baking dish with the hollow end sides facing up.  You may have to slice a bit of the bottom of, being careful not to remove so much that you make a hole in the pepper, so peppers stand up right.

In a bowl, mix together the drained browned beef and cooked rice. Combine tomato sauce and Worcestershire sauce; remove 1/2 for topping on peppers.  Add freshly ground pepper and salt to taste... always taste it first to see if more salt is needed.  Spoon in meat filling into each hollowed out pepper and top each pepper with the remaining tomato sauce mixture.
Bake for 1 hour in a preheated 350 degree F. oven.  Peppers should still have a bit of texture to them and not be "mushy."
As an added note, some of the time I leave out one can of the tomato sauce and do not put any sauce on top of my peppers leaving them "naked." I add just one can of tomato sauce and Worcestershire sauce to the meat mixture, stuff and bake.

Fresh Peach Cake

While I think this taste would be ideally suited for when peaches are ready for picking in your area, I was too tempted by the picture in my magazine to wait until late summer!  The June issue of FoodNetwork Magazine is full of great summer ideas and I have tons of pages ear marked for experimentation!  

I did make a few minor changes... I did not have quite enough sour cream so I used what I had and also a container of peach yogurt.  The recipe also called for two extra large eggs and I only had large eggs on hand.  The cake was still super moist so I don't think the egg difference made all that much of a difference. I did make one minor error... the recipe called for layering the peaches twice.  I was in a rush and skipped over that part... sigh.  It did still taste divine though!

Fresh Peach Cake

modified from the Food Network Magazine

1/4 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 extra large eggs, at room temperature  (I used 2 large eggs)

1 cup sour cream, at room temperature  (I added container of peach yogurt to the sour cream I had on hand,  since I was low on sour cream)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 large ripe peaches, peeled, pitted and sliced  (I used just a bit over a pound of ripened peaches)

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Sprinkled topping of nuts and cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 9-inch square baking pan

In a large size bowl, beat together the butter and 1 cup of sugar for 3-5 minutes on medium high speed, or until light and fluffy.  Reduce speed to low and add the eggs, one at a time, then the sour cream, vanilla and mix until the batter is smooth.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the batter and mix just until combined.

In another small bowl, combine the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and the cinnamon.

Spread 1/2 the batter evenly in the pan.  Top with half of the peaches, then sprinkle with 2/3 of the sugar cinnamon mixture.  Spread the remaining batter on top, arrange the remaining peaches on top and sprinkle with the remaining sugar mixture and the pecans

Bake the cake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Serve warm or at room temperature

fresh from the oven!

THE DARING COOKS’ JUNE, 2011 CHALLENGE: HEALTHY POTATO SALADS FROM AROUND THE WORLD!

Blog Check in Lines: Jami Sorrento was our June Daring Cooks hostess and she chose to challenge us to celebrate the humble spud by making a delicious and healthy potato salad. The Daring Cooks Potato Salad Challenge was sponsored by the nice people at the United States Potato Board, who awarded prizes to the top 3 most creative and healthy potato salads. A medium-size (5.3 ounce) potato has 110 calories, no fat, no cholesterol, no sodium and includes nearly half your daily value of vitamin C and has more potassium than a banana!

I'm not really a "huge" fan of potato salad, but I do enjoy a good recipe when I find one.  Right away I knew that I wanted to do something with sweet potatoes... they are so yummy!  I found this interesting recipe for a sweet potato salad using a rosemary honey vinaigrette here that had posted a Southern Living recipe.  

Although they say you should never try new recipes out on guests (Bah! I say!!) I do have a few foodie friends that are quite happy to be my Guinea pigs.  Had some friends over and was going to have brats for dinner and I though the potato salad would be a nice addition to the meal.  It is a very tasty recipe and my guests gave it two thumbs up.  Although the recipes called for 4 1/2 cups cubed sweet potato, I felt that the dressing recipe could easily have been halved as I only used about half the dressing and still felt that I could have used less.   

Sweet Potato Salad with Rosemary-Honey Vinaigrette

Southern Living 
4 1/2 cups peeled, cubed sweet potato

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1/4 cup honey
• 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Preparation

• Line a 15- x 10-inch jellyroll pan with aluminum foil. Coat foil with vegetable cooking spray.
• Toss together sweet potato and 1 tablespoon oil in pan, sprinkle with salt, if desired.
• Bake at 450° for 35 minutes or until tender... watch carefully as they can burn easily!
• Whisk together remaining 1 tablespoon oil, honey, and next 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Add sweet potato; toss well. Cool.

Low Sugar Rhubarb Jam

Some people consider Memorial Day Weekend to be the kick-off for summer, but for me it is when I make my first jam of the season.  My daughter had asked me to make rhubarb jam for her that was lower in sugar and didn't have strawberries.  After looking through dozens of recipes I found only one that used a lower amount of sugar... crazy.  I would have thought that there would be more than that!  Even the Sure-Jell website failed me at having a recipe!  So after doing a bit of experimenting I made nine successful half pints of rhubarb jam.... it is tangy with just a bit of sweetness to take off the harsh bite plain rhubarb can have. I was a bit paranoid making my own recipe without the use of pectin so I did include Sure-Jell and did a water bath.

Reduced Sugar Rhubarb Jam

12 cups fresh rhubarb cut into 1-inch pieces

3 cups granulated sugar

1 package Sure-Jell for less or no sugar need recipes

1 tablespoon butter (optional)

Directions:

Place rhubarb in a deep stainless steel pot (I get splattered with less hot jam using a deeper cooking pot!) and mix with the three cups of sugar.  Cover and let set overnight.

Over medium heat, cook rhubarb until tender and the mix has slightly reduced and thickened, about 15 minutes.  Add the pectin and mix thoroughly.  Cook for one more minute then remove from heat.

Immediately ladle into prepared jars, filling to within 1/8 inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids and lightly screw on the lid. Place jars on  rack in canner. Lower rack into canner making sure the jars are covered by water one to two inches above the jars..Bring water to a boil and process 15 minutes. . Remove jars and place upright on a towel to cool completely. After jars cool, check seals by pressing middles of lids with finger. If lids spring back, lids are not sealed  and product must be refrigerated.

Marshmallow flower cupcakes

Recently I had organized a ladies tea at our church. Each table was assigned a hostess that would decorate their own table. I knew that several young girls were coming (pre-teens) and wanted them to have their own special table.  I made them cupcakes and topped them off with marshmallow flowers then placed them inside tea cups.  I thought they turned out pretty cute and they were not that complicated to make.  I did cheat and used a cake mix for the cupcakes, but for the marshmallow flowers you will need...

1 marshmallow per flower

Colored sugar ( found that coarse sugar worked best)

M&M candies or Skittles

Take one marshmallow and cut into five pieces using a pair of dampened kitchen scissors. To get equal pieces, I found that if I cut off one slice first, then cut the marshmallow in half and cut each half into two pieces, it worked out best.  Sprinkle each piece of marshmallow with colored sugar.  Arrange on cupcakes in flower shape and place candy piece in center of each flower.

Lemon White Chocolate Cheesecake Bites

It seems like all the baking I've been doing these past few months have been for events.  Not that this has proven to be a problem... better that I get lots of people eating my goodies than just me!  Straight from the "Betty Crocker Best Cupcakes & Cakes" came the delightful little mouthfuls.  They were just perfect for the dessert table at our ladies tea!  There is just something about mini foods that I find just especially tasty.  Maybe its because I can get away with eating three (or four) of them as compared to one big piece of cheese cake.  I'm not saying it makes a whole lot of caloric sense - just that in my greedy little mind, more seems all the better!


Lemon White Chocolate Cheesecake Bites
Crust:
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, slightly cooled.
Filling:
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1/2 cup white vanilla baking chips
1 teaspoon vegetable oil


Directions:
Heat oven to 300 degrees F.  Place mini paper baking cups in each of 18 mini muffin cups; spray paper cups with cooking spray.  In medium bowl, mix crust ingredients until crumbs are moistened.  Spoon and lightly press 1 teaspoon mixture in bottom of each cup.

Add chips then add more mixture

In Large bowl, beat cream cheese and 1/4 cup sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended.  On low, beat in egg until smooth.  Add lemon peel and lemon juice; beat until smooth.  Spoon about 1 teaspoon cream cheese mixture into each paper cup.  Place 5 to 6 of the white baking chips on top of each (using 1/4 cup total).  Divide remaining cream cheese mixture evenly among cups (about 2 heaping teaspoons each).  Bake 25 to 30 minutes or just until filling looks set.  Cool on racks 30 minutes.  Refrigerate 1 hour.

after baking

 In Small microwavable bowl, microwave remaining 1/4 cup white baking chips and the oil uncovered on high 30 to 40 seconds until mixture can be stirred smooth.  Drizzle over cheesecakes.  Store covered in refrigerator.