A yummy Christmas dessert!

The big finish from my family's Christmas dinner!

Recipe was from Southern Living, can be found here:

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1940908

I made a different frosting for my cake. Mine was a white chocolate buttercream.

Update on my last post...

The to-die-for recipes are now up at Rachael Ray's magazine:

http://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipes/rachael-ray-magazine-recipes/rachael-ray-30-minute-meals/Eggplant-Parm-Bread-Pizza

http://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipes/rachael-ray-magazine-recipes/rachael-ray-30-minute-meals/French-Onion-Mac--n---Cheese

YUM.

I made my pizzas a bit differently- instead of canned tomatoes, I used thin slices of fresh roma tomatoes. And for my own pizza, I used slices of hard salami.

Still cooking.

Just haven't posted much lately. I've been trying out several recipes. I found two really good ones in the latest Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine- French Onion Mac and Cheese, and an Eggplant Parmesan Pizza. They should be up on the website in a couple of weeks, so I won't post them here. I will say that both are keepers- the Mac and Cheese is to die for. It's my new favorite pasta dish. It's just what it sounds like- French Onion soup flavors in pasta form, with carmalized onions and Gruyere cheese (I also used ordinary Swiss).

The pizzas were thinly sliced eggplant and fresh mozzerella cheese on chibata bread, with fire roasted tomatoes. I used French bread instead, and for the non-eggplant loving members of the family (me), I used salami.

I love this magazine!

Mom gave me a new cookbook- Swedish cakes and cookies. There are some very interesting recipes in it. I gave the "Princess Torte" a try:





It's a layered sponge cake with custard and whipped cream in between the layers, covered with a thin coating of tinted marzipan. Fairly simple- any recipe for sponge cake and custard could be used for it.

Pie!

I tried this recipe out yesterday. I love chess pie, but I've never made it.

Classic Chess Pie

from Southern Living Comfort Foods

½ package refrigerated pie crusts
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons cornmeal
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter, melted
¼ cup milk
1 tablespoon white vinegar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 425°. Fit piecrust into a 9-inch pieplate. Fold edges under and crimp.

Line crust with aluminum foil, and fill with pie weights or dried beans.

Bake at 425° for four to five minutes. Remove weights and foil, and bake for two more minutes until golden. Cool.

Reduce oven temperature to 350°. Stir together sugar and next seven ingredients until blended. Add eggs, stirring well. Pour filling into pre baked crust.

Bake at 350° for 50 or 55 minutes, shielding edges with foil after ten minutes to avoid excessive browning. Cool completely. Serves 8.

I think the cornmeal is what makes this pie so amazing. It rises to the top of the filling to make a sweet crust.



My dad couldn't wait to try it!



Inside the pie- a nice, smooth, golden custard.




http://www.amazon.com/Southern-Living-Comfort-Food-Delicious/dp/0848732669/ref=sr_1_71?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253406329&sr=1-71

Yum. Comfort food.

Hash brown casserole...easiest thing in the world- thrown together, really.



Pre-heat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, stir together one bag of shredded hash browns, 1 cup each cream of mushroom soup and sour cream, 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese, and one cup of sliced onions and bell peppers (more onions than peppers). Pour into a lightly greased 13x8 inch glass casserole dish, and bake at least an hour, or until edges are brown and crispy.

Oops. I've neglected this blog again.

I had family in from out of town this week, and had to cook for everyone. One night I made choucroute garnie- an Alsasian dish served in Germany, France, and Eastern Europe. It's a dish with no real recipe- but always has sauerkraut and several types of meat. Mine had pork chops and four different kinds of German sausages.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choucroute_garnie

I browned the meats, and then put them in a crockpot covered with sauerkraut. I added a bit of white wine, and just let it cook all day!

I personally don't like the dish, but everyone enjoyed it.

Cocktail time.

Mom had a party last weekend, and this drink was the big hit of the night: Bananas Faster. It's basically a Bananas Foster in drink form!

It's from In the Land of Cocktails by Ti Adelaide Martin and Lally Brennan.

For one cocktail:

2 packed teaspoons dark brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 orange wedge
1/2 cup vanilla ice cream
2 ounces dark rum
1 once créme de banane (we couldn't find any, so we used banana rum/banana schnapps)
1/2 banana, peeled and sliced lengthwise

Combine one teaspoon of the sugar and the cinnamon on a saucer and mix well. Wet the rim of a brandy snifter with the orange wedge and dip the rim into the sugar mixture. Set aside.

Combine the ice cream, rum, créme de banane, banana, and remaining sugar in a blender and blend on high speed until smooth, about 20 seconds.

Pour into prepared glass and serve immediately.

This drink is addictive!