Creme Anglais

Ingredients:
2 cups cream
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla or 1 vanilla bean

Directions:
Separate egg yolks and let sit at room temperature for at least an hour.

Prepare an ice-water bath and set aside. Bring cream to a boil (with vanilla bean scrapings) in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat.

Meanwhile whisk yolks and sugar until well combined and slightly thickened. Slowly whisk in 1/3 of the hot milk mixture (removing from heat) until egg mixture is slightly heated, then continue whisking remaining milk mixture into egg mixture. Return mixture to saucepan and place over medium heat; cook, stirring, until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and reaches between 170º-180º.

Remove from heat and pour into a bowl and place in ice bath, adding vanilla (if you didn't use a bean). Let cool about 20 minutes. Cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours and up to 3 days before using.

Source: adapted from Martha Stewart

Angel Food Cake

Ingredients:
1 dozen egg whites (at least 1 2/3 cups)
1 cup cake flour
1 3/4 sugar, blended fine in vitamix
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract (optional)
1/3 cup warm water (optional)

Directions:
Separate eggs and let stand at room temperature for at least one hour. Preheat oven to 350º. Sift together flour and 3/4 cup sugar.

Beat egg whites in mixing stand and add salt, cream of tartar, vanilla, (almond), and (water). Once eggs are stiff slowly add remaining 1 cup of sugar until stiff peaks form.


Fold in flour mixture and spoon into angel food cake pan. Stir batter with spatula, once, or don't. Bake for 35 minutes. Invert immediately and let cool completely.

Serve with whipped cream, berries, and creme anglais.

Notes: I've made it with and without almond extract, both ways are good. I've made it with and without the warm water, but I can't remember which way is better. Who knows.

Grilled Asparagus and Shiitake Tacos

Ingredients:
3 TBS Canola Oil
4 Garlic Cloves, crushed with press
1 tsp ground chipotle chile
1/2 tsp salt
8 oz shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded
1 bunch green onions, trimmed
8 corn tortillas, warmed
1 cup homemade guacamole
Lime wedges
Cilantro sprigs
Hot sauce, for serving

Directions:
Heat grill on medium. In a large baking dish, combine oil, garlic, chipotle, and salt. Add asparagus, shiitakes, and green onions; toss to coat. Grill asparagus until tender and lightly charred, turning occasionally; 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer vegetables to cutting board. Cut asparagus and green onions into 2" lengths and slice shiitakes. Serve with corn tortillas, guacamole, lime wedges, cilantro, and hot sauce.

Notes: We just cook the asparagus and shiitake mushrooms in butter and salt, and we cut before we cook. The original recipe is good, but this way is easier, and tastes so much better! We heat up the tortillas on a cast iron skillet with butter. The green onions we just chop up and serve raw. The homemade guacamole we just use avocados mixed with Herdes salsa, lime, and salt. Also, we smoke chicken tenderloins and chop them up before serving.

Source: Good Housekeeping

Quiche

Ingredients:
1 uncooked pie dough
1 TBS unsalted butter
2 cups diced yellow onion
6 large eggs
3/4 cup heavy cream
salami
ham
1 cup shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano
Salt
Pepper

Directions: Preheat oven to 375º. Lightly flour a rolling pin and roll out dough to a 12-inch round. Place in a 9-inch pie plate, or tarte tin. Place parchment paper with weights or dry beans (or just fork it). Bake until edge is dry and light golden, about 20 minutes.



Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high. Add diced onions, season with salt and pepper, and cook until light golden, 8-10 minutes. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and cream. Add onion, bacon, and cheese and season with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Whisk to combine, pour into crust, and bake until center of quiche is just set, 40-45 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. To reheat, place in a 325º oven, cover with foil, and cook for 15 minutes or until warmed.

Swedish Meatballs

Ingredients:
1 lb beef
1 lb lamb
1/2 cup grated onion
1 cup rice panko
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 egg
salt
pepper
Korean Buckwheat Soba
parsley

SAUCE:
4 TBS butter
3 TBS - 1/4 cup flour
2-3 cups beef stock
1 cup cream
(1 TBS Worcestershire sauce)
(1 tsp dijon mustard)
salt
pepper


Directions:
Cook meatballs in TBS olive oil and TBS butter. Make sauce from drippings.

Notes:
We made this by 2 recipes, whatever we thought looked good, and since that was over a month ago, not sure which parts we used-which is why some measurements have a range. Pretty sure we used Worcestershire sauce and pretty sure we did not use the dijon mustard. We served it with asparagus sautéed in butter. It was so amazing. We used Buckwheat soba instead of rice or noodles, and it complimented the flavors soooooo amazingly.

Suprêmes de Volaille aux Champignons

We made this Julia Child recipe last night. Our thermometer was broken so it gave us the wrong reading on our chicken, and it was way overcooked. We thought smoking the chicken would taste delicious with the flavors of the sauce. Also the sauce was so amazing, we thought it should be doubled (or even tripled, who knows! It was amazing). So here is our adjusted version.

Ingredients:

Chicken tenderloins

Salt

Pepper

10 TBS butter

2 TBS minced shallots

1/2 lb sliced mushrooms

1/4 tsp salt

Fresh, minced parsley 

Lemon Juice (maybe)

For the sauce:

1 cup pinot noir

1 cup beef stock

2 cups whipping cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400º. Season chicken with salt and pepper and put on the smoker. Heat the butter in an oven proof pan until it is foaming. Don't brown. Stir in the shallots and sauté, without browning. Then stir in the mushrooms and sauté lightly for a minute or two, without browning. Cover and place in oven for 15 minutes. (I'm sure you could skip this, this is where the chicken was cooked, but I am keeping this step in because it made the mushrooms this amazing texture).

Remove pot/pan and add the stock and wine. Boil down quickly over high heat until liquid is syrupy. Stir in the cream and boil down again over high heat until cream has thickened slightly. Off heat, taste the sauce and add salt, pepper, and lemon drops to taste. Pour the sauce over the chicken and sprinkle with parsley and serve. Serve with steamed green beans and possibly rice. (Although we were glad we didn't make rice as planned because the sauce was that amazing)

Source: Julia Child

Bit of Heaven Brownies

Ingredients:

1 pkg German Chocolate cake mix
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1/3 cup canned milk
1 pkg Kraft caramels (35)
1/3 cup canned milk
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)


Directions:

Mix the first 4 ingredients together and spread half of the mixture in a 9x13 pan. It will be very thick. Bake 350º 6-8 minutes. Melt caramels and add 1/3 cup canned milk. Spread caramel mixture over baked mix. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the caramels. Sprinkle 1 cup chopped pecans over the chocolate chips. Dot the rest of the cake mixture on top. Bake 350º for 15 minutes. After 5 minutes open & spread softened cake mix around to cover top. This is better made 24 hours ahead.

Source: Mom

Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:

1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups plus 2 TBS flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
14 TBS butter
1 3/4 cups dark brown sugar
1 TBS vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350º. Pour the granulated sugar in a pie dish and set aside. In a medium bowl, stir the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and baking powder.

In a large bowl melt 10 TBS butter in the microwave until just melted. Add remaining 4 TBS and allow to sit until melted and cool, about 5-10 minutes. Should read at 90-95º on a thermometer.

Whisk the brown sugar, vanilla, and salt into the melted butter until the mixture is completely smooth. Whisk in the egg and egg yolk until smooth. Stir in the flour mixture until just combined.

Roll the dough into balls, about 2 TBS for each cookie. Roll the balls in the granulated sugar and place on cookie sheet. Flatten the cookies. Sprinkle with more sugar, if you want.

Bake the cookies for 9 minutes, or until they have puffed and have cracked running through the top.

Notes: Original recipe calls for 12-14 minutes in the oven, but I don't make my cookies into 2TBS balls, that's huge! I like smaller, normal sized cookies.

Source: Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Molasses Crinkle Cookies

Makes 2 dozen (almost)

Ingredients:

3 cups flour
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
4 tsp. ginger
1 TBS cinnamon
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup molasses
1 TBS whole milk
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

Place flour, brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment; beat at medium speed until combined. Add butter; beat 2 minutes, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Add molasses and milk; beat until just combined. Divide dough into 2 portions; wrap each portion in plastic wrap. Chill in fridge 2 hours or until firm.

Preheat oven to 350º. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Shape dough into balls, size of tablespoon. Place granulated sugar in a small dish, place powdered sugar in another small dish. Roll each ball in granulated sugar, then powdered sugar. Place 2 inches apart on baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes or until set but slightly soft in the center.

Source: online

Knot Rolls

Ingredients:

3 cups milk
1 1/2 cubes butter
1 cup instant potato flakes
3/4 cup sugar
1 TBS salt
1 heaping TBS Saf-Instant Yeast
4 eggs
7 cups flour

Directions:
1. Heat milk in a large glass bowl in the microwave for about 7 minutes. Add the butter, potato flakes, sugar and salt. Let sit for five minutes. (Put the other 1/2 cube of butter out to get soft, you will need this to spread on top of dough)

2. Beat four eggs in mixer or by hand. Add the above milk mixture to eggs, make sure it is not too hot or it will cook the eggs. Add the yeast. Mix and add seven cups of flour.

3. Let rise for about 1 1/2 hours. Divide dough in half and roll one half into a large circle. Spread butter on the top of the dough. Take the bottom half of the dough and fold to the center of the circle. Take the top half and place tot he fold so you have three layers of dough. Your dough should be a long rectangle about four to five inches wide and about twenty inches long. With a pizza cutter, cut 1-inch strips and tie in a knot. Let rise for three hours and then bake at 375º for 11 minutes.

For cinnamon rolls:
Mix 3/4 cup sugar, 3/4 cup brown sugar, and 1 heaping tsp. cinnamon. Follow instructions for step 3. Mix the cinnamon/sugar mixture and sprinkle on top of the large buttered circle. Fold dough as stated above and cut and tie. Let rise for three hours and bake at 375º for 11 minutes. Add another minute in the oven if the cinnamon rolls aren't brown enough.

For orange rolls:
Mix 3/4 to 1 cup sugar and the rinds from 1 to 2 oranges. Follow the same instructions for the cinnamon rolls.

Frosting:
4 cups powdered sugar
2 TBS butter
1 tsp vanilla
milk or cream

For the orange rolls add 1 to 2 TBS grated orange rind and about 2-3 TBS orange juice to the above mixture.

Spread onto rolls when they come out of the oven.

Source: Vanessa