Strawberry-Watermelon Sorbet

On my drive back to New Orleans from Lafayette, I stopped at a roadside stand and picked up a flat of strawberries. Louisiana's strawberries are wonderful and I'm always sad to see the end of fresh, local berries.

I decided to start using them up by making Strawberry-Watermelon Sorbet. I watched John Besh's New Orleans the other day and saw him making this for dessert. It is a super easy recipe and is like eating summer!

WATERMELON-STRAWBERRY SORBET

1 pint strawberries, hulled

1 cup diced, seeded watermelon

1 teaspoon lemon juice

About 1/2 cup granulated sugar

1. In a blender, purée strawberries, watermelon, lemon juice and sugar until smooth. Taste to make sure the purée has the correct amount of sugar. Add more sugar or fruit if necessary.

2. Transfer to the canister of an ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's instructions. Keep the sorbet in the freezer until ready to use.

Such beautiful color!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

I bought the smallest bag of carrots I could find in the grocery store for a stew I was making and still had plenty left over. I had enough to make a carrot cake. As what I like best about carrot cake is the cream cheese frosting, I decided to make cupcakes so I could get lots of frosting per bite.

If you want to kick it up a notch, replace 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract with 2 teaspoons of Praline Liquor.

Carrot Cake

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 3 cups grated carrots
• 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

Frosting: 

• 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 stick butter, room temperature
• 2 lbs powdered sugar 
• 4 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two muffin pans with cupcake liners.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add eggs and vegetable oil. Using a mixer, blend until combined. Add carrots and pecans.

Pour into pans. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes. Remove from pans, place on racks and allow to cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting:

Add all ingredients, except nuts, into a medium bowl and beat until fluffy. Stir in the nuts. Spread frosting on top of each cupcake. 

Chewy Chocolate Cookies

It's that time of the month for chocolate cravings. I had nothing ready made that would satisfy my sweet tooth so I decided to make cookies. But what kind of cookies? Chocolate chip weren't going to be chocolatey enough for my hunger. Going through my baking supplies I found a bag of Reese's Peanut Butter chips.
The recipe on the back of the package was a start but the 3/4 cups cocoa wasn't going to be sufficient. I made a couple of tweeks to it and they were nearly perfect.

Chewy Chocolate Cookies with Peanut Butter chips
2 cups flour
 3/4 cups cocoa
 1 tsp baking soda
 1/2 tsp salt
 1 1/4 cup butter (2.5 sticks)
 2 cups sugar
 2 eggs
 2 tsp vanilla
 2 cups peanut butter chips
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Mix together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt and set aside. Cream together butter and sugar. Add in eggs and vanilla and mix well. Gradually all flour mixture and beat until combined. Stir in chips.
Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cookies will puff while baking and flatten while cooling. Cool slightly before removing from sheet and letting cool on wire racks.

The mason jar is filled with strawberry wine that went remarkably well with the cookies.

Trailer Truffles

I was craving fudge the other day and pulled out a jar of marshmallow fluff only to realize that, even if it were 'never fail fudge,' I didn't want to make that effort. That's when I realized I had a block of Velveeta cheese product in my fridge.

Cheese fudge is creamier than fluff based but just as good. Because this recipe uses Velveeta, I call it Trailer Truffles.

Trailer Truffles

8 ounces of Kraft brand Velveeta Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product
2 pounds Powdered Sugar (aka Confectioner's Sugar)
1/2 pound (2 sticks, or 1 cup) unsalted butter
1/2 cup Cocoa Powder
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 cup chopped nuts (I use pecans)

Cut the Velveeta and butter into cubes and melt in a double boiler. Sift together the cocoa powder and powdered sugar. After the butter and Velveeta are melted, stir in vanilla and nuts.

Pour buttery cheesy mixture into the cocoa and sugar. Stir thoroughly. Once completely mixed, pour mixture into a 9x13 pan covered in aluminum foil. Let fudge set in the refrigerator before cutting.

Hummingbird Cake

It may be a failing of my Southern upbringing but I've never had Hummingbird Cake. However, when a good friend asked for one for her birthday dinner, I went searching for a recipe to suit.

This old style cake has the flavors of pineapple, banana and pecans, with just a hint of coconut. The recipe I used came from Southern Living and, after I made a couple of changes, resulted in a moist cake that was not overly sweet - sort of a dessert banana bread.

Hummingbird Bundt Cake

adapted from Southern Living

For the cake:

1 cup toasted pecans, chopped

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (3 large)

1- 8 oz can crushed pineapple (do not drain)

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the glaze:

4 oz cream cheese, softened

2 cups sifted powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tablespoons milk

1/2 cup flaked coconut

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and flour a bundt pan; set aside.  In a large bowl stir together the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Next stir in the eggs, mashed bananas, pineapple, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. 

Sprinkle chopped, toasted pecans into the bottom of the bundt pan, spoon the batter over the pecans. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. 

Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes; remove from the pan and allow to cool completely on the wire rack. 

For the glaze, in a bowl combine the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon milk; mix with a hand mixer until smooth, adding an additional tablespoons of milk if needed. Immediately pour the glaze over the cooled cake, and sprinkle coconut over the top.

Rumkugeln - Rum Balls

My family gathered for a German feast last night. We dined on bratwurst, hot German potato salad and sauerkraut with brochen (hard rolls) and scharfer senf (hot mustard).

I decided to keep with the Deutch theme for dessert and made rumkuglen (rum balls). Like truffles with alcohol, these little bites are devilishly good.

Rumkugeln - Rum Balls

7 oz bittersweet chocolate



4 oz unsalted butter (room temperature)



2 tablespoons of cocoa powder, sifted



2 tablespoons Rum



7 oz pecans, ground



powdered sugar, chocolate sprinkles, cocoa, cinnamon sugar

Melt the chopped chocolate in a double boiler, then let the melted chocolate cool a bit.

Whip butter and add the sifted cocoa powder and rum a little at a time while mixing. Add the ground pecans and cooled melted chocolate to the butter rum mixture. 


Add powdered sugar by tablespoons at a time to the mixture while kneading the dough, until the mixture absorbs it well and begins to firm up.

Form small balls and roll them in an assortment of coatings - powdered sugar, chocolate sprinkles, cocoa and cinnamon sugar. Use wax paper to separate the layers. Let the balls air dry then refrigerate in an airtight container. 

Poppy Seed Pound Cake

I've been craving poppy seeds lately so I decided to go ahead and make a poppy seed pound cake. There is enough batter for two loaf pans, so I will be able to freeze one to enjoy later. This cake is killer, especially when you lightly toast a slice and enjoy it with a nice cuppa tea on a cold morning!

Sour Cream Poppy Seed Pound Cake

3 cups sugar

1 cup butter, softened

3 cups flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

6 eggs, separated

1 cup sour cream

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup plus 2 tsp poppy seeds, divided

Beat egg whites to soft peaks. Cream butter, sugar and egg yolks. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Add to the butter mixture, alternately with the sour cream (start with the flour). Add the vanilla and the 1/4 cup of poppy seeds.

Fold in the egg whites. Pour into two buttered and floured loaf pans. Sprinkle a tsp of poppy seeds on the top of each loaf.

Bake 1 hour and 10 minutes in a 325 degree oven.

Cookies!

I was in a baking mood today, so I did two batches of cookies this afternoon. The first were pecan sandies from an Ina Garten recipe and the other were my favorite ginger cookies from Maida Heatter.

Here are the recipes:

Pecan sandies

by Ina Garten

1 cup pecans, lightly toasted

2 cups all-purpose flour, divided

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

30 whole pecan halves

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the toasted pecans plus 1/4 cup of the flour in a food processor fitted with the steel blade and process until the nuts are finely ground.

Place the mixture in a medium bowl and add the remaining 1 3/4 cups of flour, the salt and the baking powder. Stir to combine. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed for 2 minutes, until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, add the vanilla and the flour mixture, mixing just until the dough comes together.

Using your hands, form the dough into balls about 1 inch in diameter (1 ounce on a scale). Place the balls 1 inch apart on sheet pans lined with parchment paper. Press a pecan half into the center of each ball, pressing the pecan halfway down into the cookie. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the cookies turn golden brown around the edges. Cool for 5 minutes. Place on a wire rack and cool completely.

Note: The cooled cookies may be stored in an airtight container for several days.

Ginger Snaps
by Maida Heatter

2 1/2 cups sifted, unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
3/4 stick of butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup molasses
Granulated sugar

Preheat over to 375 and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon and cloves. Set aside.

Beat the butter and brown sugar together until creamed. Add the egg and molasses and beat until smooth. Gradually add the flour mixture and mix just until incorporated.

Place 1 cup of granulated sugar in a small bowl. Form the dough into small balls. The dough will be very soft so handle it gently. Roll each dough ball in the granulated sugar and place on the cookie sheet about 3 inches apard. Sprinkle additional sugar on top of each ball.

Back for 9 minutes, rotating the sheet about midway during baking. The cookies will be cracked but not look done but do not over bake. They are best if they are soft. Cool cookies on the sheets for at least a minute before moving to wire racks to cool completely.

Store the cookies in an airtight container.

Apple-Cranberry Cobbler

Cranberries should be for more than just a side dish on Thanksgiving. Here is a cobbler recipe that is pretty well balanced of flavors with the tartness of the apples and cranberries balanced by the rest of the filling. The topping is a little bready. If you like that, cool. Otherwise, I have a cobbler topping cheat from Bisquick that can be used instead.

8 T butter

5 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped

1 cup fresh cranberries

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

2 tsp cornstarch

Juice of 1 lemon

Pinch of salt

Topping 1:

3/4 cup milk

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp baking soda

2 pinches salt

Topping 2:

1 ¼ cups Original Bisquick® mix

½ cup sugar

2/3 cup milk

1 T melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place butter in a 9 inch deep dish pie plate or 2.5 quart casserole dish and place in the oven until butter melts. 

In a large bowl, toss together remaining filing ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk topping ingredients. 

Remove casserole dish from oven and gently fill with fruit mixture. Pour topping over fruit filling.

Bake for 1 hour or until juices are bulling and cobbler is golden. If topping is browning too quickly, tent with foil.

Pecan Tarts and Pecan Pie Brownies

I'm not a fan of pecan pie. I know, that is near blasphemy for a Southerner to admit but I find them too sweet. For years, I added a bittersweet chocolate ganache to the pie crust before pouring in the filling and that helped a lot but I still could only eat a slim slice.

This is the year I decided to do something different. I bought frozen tart shells and after pouring in the pecan filling, I had enough left over to cover the top of a pan of brownies. 

Recipe for Pecan Pie (from Karo Syrup bottle):

1 cup Karo corn syrup
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 T butter, melted
1 tsp  vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup pecans

Stir first 5 ingredients thoroughly. Mix in pecans. Pour into pie crust and back on center rack of oven for 60 minutes (45 minutes if using tart shells) at 350 degrees. Pie is done when center surface springs back from a light tap.

Pecan Pie Brownies

2 sticks unsalted butter
4 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 cup cocoa
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder 
1 tsp salt
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pecan pie filling

Preheat oven to 350F, grease a 9 x 13 pan.

In a small saucepan melt butter and unsweetened chocolate. When it is melted, mix in cocoa. Set aside to cool.

In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl beat eggs. Mix in sugar and vanilla extract. Mix in the chocolate and combine thoroughly--should look shiny. Then add flour mixtures and combine well.

Pour into pan and distribute evenly. Pour pecan pie filling gently over top of brownies.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. 

Cool completely before slicing.  

Cure - New Orleans Cocktail Bar

Lively Freret Street is not just for dinner anymore. These days, along the busy street can be found a number of cool nightspots like Cure, a New Orleans Cocktail Bar.

They do make it difficult to find, though. There is no sign and the street number (4905) is a bit hard to read when navigating the narrow street and busy traffic. I only had to go around the block once and then I luckily scored a great parking place.

I arrived just as they opened and found a great seat, although it did face a humongous poster of a bug. As they didn't decorate with an insect theme, I'm not sure why it was there but, whatever. Within 20 minutes, the bar was full and by six o'clock on a Friday evening all the other seats were taken and people were standing in the center aisle. Quite the happening place!

I started with the server recommended tequila based cocktail with an orange peel that was a nice combination with which to end the work week. For nibbles, I ordered  the Moroccan spiced nuts appetizer. Unfortunately, there were a lot of walnuts in the mix and my mild allergy kicked in so I wasn't able to enjoy it fully.

My friend arrived and barely glanced at the menu before ordering a champagne cocktail. We quickly got down to brass tacks and, in no time at all, we finished our discussion of board business and were able to think about refills and food options. 

She ordered the Shrimp and Snapper Ceviche served with sourdough crisps that looked very good. 

I was still full from lunch, so instead of ordering a small plate, I went straight for dessert. I ordered the Dark Chocolate Layer cake with a glass of Tawny Port. It was a moist, dark cake with a nice frosting that tasted like it had a hint of bourbon. I did eat the candied pecans but left the apple slices on the plate.

The server was very busy but she still made enough trips around our area that we never had to look for her. She was knowledgeable of the menu and made good recommendations.

Very much a cool place to wind down from work. A bit hip and trendy but the cocktail and wine selection means that there is a drink for every taste.

Chocolate Pecan Saltine Toffee

I had a busy day that started with two hours out in the yard. I went outside at 7am to beat the heat but was dripping wet by the time I finished bagging the last of the grass clippings. After showering and then spending hours running all over town, I was craving salt and chocolate.

There weren't a lot of options in my snack drawer. Then, I saw a single sleeve of saltines. That made me to remember a recipe I first did as a Girl Scout. Since those halcyon days, I have changed the method a little because, frankly, pouring the boiling sugar and butter into the pan and then transferring it to oven to bake always seemed to me to be a recipe for disaster.

Chocolate Pecan Saltine Toffee

1 sleeve saltine crackers

1 cup unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons corn syrup

10 oz pkg bittersweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup pecans, toasted and chopped

In a baking sheet pan lined with parchment paper, lay out saltine crackers, salt side down, in a single layer. Set aside.

In a medium-size sauce saucepan, combine butter, sugar and corn syrup. Place over medium heat until butter melts, stirring continuously. Increase to high heat and cook until mixture registers 325°F on a candy thermometer, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and carefully pour mixture over saltines, spreading evenly.

Let sit a few minutes (until the sugar stops bubbling) and then sprinkle bittersweet chocolate chips over toffee. Once chocolate melts, spread in an even layer over toffee. Sprinkle chopped pecans on top. Let cool slightly. Freeze until chocolate sets. Once the chocolate is set, break into pieces.