BB Bonus: Coeur a la Creme with Raspberry and Grand Marnier Sauce
The Barefoot Bloggers June Bonus Recipe Challenge Winner was Becke of Columbus Foodie. That gave her the opportunity to choose the first ever BB bonus recipe. These picks are optional for all the bloggers to make but once I took a look at the Coeur a la Creme with Raspberry and Grand Marnier Sauce, there was no way I was sitting this one out.
I did some research and found that Coeur a la Creme is a classic French fresh cheese dessert that translates to “Heart of Cream”. It’s traditionally made in a heart shaped porcelain mold with holes in the bottom so any excess liquid can drain out while it sits overnight. However, I didn’t have one of the molds so I got to thinking what could work and came up with this:
PLUS
= It worked out fine. All I did was put a cheesecloth inside the cookie cutter, filled it up with the creme and then turned it out. Maybe my heart would have been more beauteous had I used the mold but I’m not complaining. I already owned the colander and the cookie cutter cost me 59 cents at AC Moore. Works for me.
Let me just say that this was one of the best things I have ever made. My boyfriend agreed, he couldn’t stay out of it. It’s so easy to make but then comes across totally fancy. The Raspberry and Grand Marnier sauce is soooo good.
Ina Garten’s Coeur a la Creme with Raspberry and Grand Marnier Sauce
Show: Barefoot Contessa Episode: Birthday Gift Dinner
12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 1/2 cups cold heavy cream
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon grated lemon zest
Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean
Raspberry and Grand Marnier Sauce, recipe follows
2 half-pints fresh raspberries
Raspberry and Grand Marnier Sauce:
1 half-pint fresh raspberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup seedless raspberry jam
2 tablespoons orange-flavored liqueur
Directions
What I did: Used a colander and cookie cutter instead of the porcelain mold. No excess liquid drained out overnight though, maybe it’s common with other versions, just not Ina’s.
What I changed: I used extra vanilla instead of the scraped vanilla beans. I only had one pint of raspberries so I didn’t have enough after making the sauce to serve fresh raspberries with the Creme.
What I thought: Fabulous. I will make this again.
Thanks to Becke for picking such a great bonus recipe. Be sure to stop by Columbus Foodie to check out her Coeur a la Creme and then make your way over to Barefoot Bloggers and see how everyone else’s turned out. I know I can’t wait to see them.
Summer Fruit Galette – TWD
It’s Tuesday again! This time, Michelle of Michelle in Colorado Springs chose Summer Fruit Galette for this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie. I’ll admit that I let out a little whimper on this choice because I knew it called for pie crust. And me and pie crust don’t get along that well. It doesn’t seem to matter how many tips and tricks I study up on, I just don’t have the magic touch for it yet. But I’ll keep trying.
The Summer Fruit Galette consisted of a free form pie crust, jam/preserves, fruit and a custard that’s added towards the end of baking. This recipe gave the group many choices of what fruit and jams to use. I ended up going with peaches and Dorie’s suggestion of ginger preserves. This was a good flavor combination as the ginger preserves added a nice contrast.
I didn’t use as much fruit as the recipe called for (I only used five peaches) but there was a huge pile in the center anyway. I folded up the crust edges as best as I could but I did have some trouble and it didn’t fold up all nice and neat. I made the custard, then poured it over the galette towards the end of baking. It smelled great the whole time it was baking. It did leak a lot in the oven though, the leakage burned and things got a little smoky in the house. 
Oh well, what can you do?
I couldn’t wait for it to cool down to try a piece. It may not win any beauty pageants but damn this was good.
Thanks to Michelle for picking out this wonderful recipe, stop by Michelle in Colorado Springs and check out her version of Summer Fruit Galette. Then, like I always say, make your way to the Tuesdays with Dorie site to see everyone else’s.
For next week, Ashlee of A Year in the Kitchen has picked The Black and White Banana Loaf.
My Kitchen, My World: Greece
This week, the My Kitchen, My World bloggers went to Greece. Susan of She’s Becoming doughMESStic bestowed upon me the wonderful opportunity to choose the country for Week Six. Without hesitation, I knew that Greece was my choice.
When I was about fifteen, I lived with my best friend and her Greek family for a little less than a year. I was having troubles at home and they took me in with no questions asked and treated me like I was one of their own. I have many great memories from this time from being exposed to so many of the family’s Greek customs, traditions and ways of daily life. I eventually learned how to follow the language, they mostly spoke only Greek at home and I got good at being able to understand conversations even though I couldn’t speak the language very well myself.
And, of course, I was exposed to the cuisine.
At the young age of 15, I had never experienced foods like Grape Leaves, Lamb, Feta Cheese and even Olive Oil. So it was a great experience to try so many new and unheard of things. My favorite meal would hands down be Chicken and Potatoes with Lemon and Herbs. Especially the potatoes. You just can’t go wrong there. And that’s what I decided to make for this week’s event. It’s a simple recipe, but it tastes great. And it brings together traditional Greek ingredients such as Olive Oil, Lemon and Oregano in just the right way. I haven’t had this dish in almost fifteen years, that just doesn’t seem right!
Update: Don’t cook and serve your chicken upside down like I did. I’m just sayin’.
Greek Lemon Chicken and Potatoes
1 whole chicken
3/4 lemons
half a cup of olive oil
2/3 pinches of oregano
Salt & pepper to taste
4/5 potatoes cut in half
Click here for directions and to see where I originally found the recipe.
And dinner just wouldn’t be complete without dessert, now would it? And my favorite Greek dessert is Rice Pudding. So of course I had to make that, too.
Ryzogalo (Rice Pudding)
1 1/4 cups of water
3/4 cups of short grain rice
2 1/2 cups of whole milk
3/4 cup of sugar *
3 3/4 tablespoons of cornstarch
3 egg yolks
For the topping: ground cinnamon
Click here to see the directions.
Things I learned this week: I’ve always been a fan of the boneless, skinless chicken breast variety so I had never cooked an actual whole chicken before. I will say that it was kind of strange and I felt kind of guilty as I was preparing to cook it. Now that it’s all said and done, I guess it wasn’t that bad.
Thanks again to Susan of She’s Becoming doughMESStic for starting this awesome blog event. Both weeks that I’ve participated have challenged me in the kitchen in different ways. See you next Saturday for the next installment of My Kitchen, My World. For now, head on over to the MK,MW site to see all of the Greek dishes the other bloggers created.
Barefoot Bloggers: Smoked Salmon Spread
Here we go with another Barefoot Bloggers recipe. This time, Ashley of The Spicy Skillet has selected Smoked Salmon Spread for everyone to try.
About three or four years ago, I was on a huge kick with making different dips. I think I was trying to get perfect recipes down for all these huge parties I envisioned having in the new home I had just bought (for the record, I have yet to have a huge party at my house). This Smoked Salmon Spread was one of the first dips I tried out during that period. It may have also been my first ever Ina recipe but I’m not entirely sure. I definitely didn’t mind making this again with the group. It tastes good and it’s easy, too. It comes together in all of about five minutes, there’s really not much to it.
What I did/changed/thought: Used Atlantic Nova smoked salmon and 1/3 of a tablespoon of dried dill instead of 1 tablespoon of fresh. I didn’t skimp on any of the ingredients, real cream cheese and real sour cream all the way – no light versions. I will admit I did not drain the horseradish like Ina told me to. I might cut the salt down a little if I make it in the future. Or try Norwegian salmon like Ina says since it’s supposedly less salty.
Make sure you stop by The Spicy Skillet to see how Ashley’s Smoked Salmon Spread turned out. Then head over to Barefoot Bloggers Who’s Turn Is It? list to see everyone else’s.
Smoked Salmon Spread
from Barefoot Contessa Family Style, page 35
TV Show: Barefoot Contessa, Episode: Sunshine Food
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon minced fresh dill
1 teaspoon prepared horseradish, drained
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 pound (4 ounces) smoked salmon, minced
Click here for directions!
Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler – TWD (My 20th)
This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie selection of Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler comes from Amanda of Like Sprinkles on a Cupcake. The TWD group just recently made a Cobbler back in June (see Mixed Berry Cobbler) but I definitely didn’t mind making another one. These are the types of desserts my boyfriend will eat. Any time I don’t have to severely cut down a recipe to try to get as few servings as I can for just myself, it’s a good baking day. Plus, this cobbler recipe is very different from the last one we did. The obvious difference is the fruit that’s used but maybe less obvious is how different the topping is. The Mixed Berry Cobbler topping was plainer and was rolled out like a pie crust. The Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler topping is 1/2 whole wheat, jazzed up with ginger, rolled into little balls of dough and placed over the filling.
Rhubarb was a challenge to find. I went a couple places around here looking for it, but no rhubarb. Then I thought about trying a store near where I worked instead. The town I work in is a little fancier than the town I live in and the store I went to down there had absolutely EVERYTHING. Rhubarb, Dulce de Leche, Grape Leaves, Figs, Mascarpone, all kinds of jams and spreads… everything I’ve needed that I’ve had serious trouble finding. All in one place. The rhubarb I got was expensive but it was as big as a sword. I could’ve had a good old fashioned rhubarb fight. I’ve only ever seen it little celery sized stalks so that kind of surprised me.
What I changed: I used soy milk instead of regular milk in the topping. I used frozen cherries instead of fresh.
What I did: I followed the recipe exactly, except for using soy milk. One tiny mistake I made was I added the milk to the topping mixture before I was supposed to. I just dumped all the ingredients in and mixed at the same time. This gave me no problems, it turned out fine. Dorie says to peel the rhubarb but I only peeled it a little bit. I just took off any of the outside that looked like it needed to be removed. It just seemed like too much of a hassle to do the whole thing.
What I thought: I preferred this at room temperature instead of warm. The ginger gave it a real kick and a little bit of an aftertaste, but it wasn’t too much or overwhelming. I liked the addition of whole wheat flour in the topping a lot. The rhubarb and cherries together was an interesting flavor combo. I’ve only ever had strawberry and rhubarb. At times, the filling was kind of tart (which I expected it would be), but the crust did a nice job of evening out the taste.
This marks my 20th completed Tuesdays with Dorie recipe (which brings my total to 23 recipes made from Baking From My Home to Yours). I still have every intention on catching up on recipes that I wasn’t a member for, but I’ve taken a couple weeks off on the “Blast from TWD Past” posts. I’m getting extremely busy now that summer is in full swing and my stomach is pooching out a bit more than usual from all the good food that’s been created in my kitchen lately. Once things slow down and my three mile long walks become a habit, I’ll get back to the catching up posts. I’ve only got ten more recipes to go. That’s nothin’.
Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler comes from page 415 of Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home to Yours. Head on over to Like Sprinkles on a Cupcake to see how Amanda’s Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler turned out and to see the recipe. Then make your way to the Tuesdays with Dorie site to take a look at everyone else’s Cobbler creations.
Next week, Michelle of Michelle in Colorado Springs has chosen Summer Fruit Galette. See you next Tuesday!
My Kitchen, My World: Italy
My boyfriend and I are very adventurous when it comes to eating different cuisines, yet we don’t cook like that at home. So when I found out that Susan of She’s Becoming Doughmesstic has recently started a new blogging group called My Kitchen, My World, I knew I wanted to join. I figured it would be a great way to challenge myself in the kitchen. Each week, MKMW members cook and blog their way through cuisines from different countries. One big difference with this group from other groups I belong to is that once the country is announced, you have seven days to pick whatever it is YOU want to make. The recipes are not selected by someone else. This was actually really hard for me since my first week of participation was Italy… and there’s TONS of awesome Italian dishes to choose from.
I researched, and then researched some more, and some more. And then I couldn’t make a decision at all. I was originally going to prepare a full meal but life got in the way and time ran out. As it is, I’m already posting this entry a day late.
I’ve never been to Italy but it’s definitely on my list of places to go. A few years ago, my boyfriend lived in Rome for a few months while on a job assignment. I didn’t get a chance to visit him over there at that time. Of course I regret that now. Hopefully soon I’ll get to experience Italy for myself and figure out my favorite part. I’m sure food will be one of my top answers.
Anyway, I finally settled on Penne All’Arrabbiata, a well known Italian pasta dish with a spicy tomato sauce. Arrabbiata translates to “furious”, “angry” or “enraged”. I looked across the internet and found plenty of recipes calling for crushed red pepper for the heat. But I’ve had this one pasta book for a few years that I’ve never made anything out of so I decided I was going to use that book no matter what. This recipe called for dried red chiles, not crushed red pepper. I couldn’t find dried mushrooms or dried chiles so I just used fresh (which I know is not the same flavor profile as dried). Honestly, while very good, the version I made could have been a bit spicier. I was pretty conservative and the sauce tasted semi spicy all by itself, but not when it was mixed with the pasta and cheese. I don’t even think you can see the chiles in the sauce from the pictures. Still though, it was a great introduction for me to other homemade Italian recipes besides lasagne and spaghetti and meatballs. I definitely want to try this recipe again and perfect it to just that right level of “arrabbiataness”. 
Penne All’Arrabbiata
adapted from The Complete Book of Pasta
serves 4
1 oz dried porcini mushrooms (I had to use fresh)
7 tablespoons butter
5 oz pancetta
1-2 dried red chiles, to taste (I had to use fresh)
8 ripe plum tomatoes, peeled and chopped
a few fresh basil leaves, torn, plus extra for garnish
3 cups fresh or dried penne
1 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated (or 2/3 grated parmesan and 1/3 grated Pecorino)
salt, to taste
Soak dried mushrooms in water for 15-20 minutes (if using dried), drain. Finely chop mushrooms. Melt 4 tbsp butter in skillet. Add pancetta and cook over medium heat until crispy. Remove pancetta from pan, set aside. Add mushrooms, cook over medium heat and then remove and set aside. Add chile and garlic and cook until garlic is slightly browned. Add tomatoes, basil and salt (to taste). Cook tomato mixture for 10-15 minutes, cooking the penne during this time. Add the pancetta and mushrooms to sauce, taste for seasoning and hotness and add more chile if necessary. Drain pasta, add remaining butter. Stir cheese into pasta then pour in tomato sauce. Stir to combine. Garnish with fresh basil. Serve immediately. Enjoy!
Stop by the My Kitchen, My World site to see the other member’s Italian creations. Tune in next week when MK,MW goes to Greece (country selected by yours truly). I can’t wait!
Chocolate Pudding – TWD
Me and Chocolate Pudding are best good friends. So Melissa of It’s Melissa’s Kitchen really picked a good one when she chose this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie selection.
A few years ago, I was eating a cup of Jell-O chocolate pudding every single day for months straight. I do that sometimes. I’ll get obsessed with a certain food and eat it day in and day out. So, there’s no doubt that I like chocolate pudding. A lot. I’ve never made it from scratch before although I’ve made plenty of chocolate mousse at home.
This recipe was super easy, but I will say that reading it all the way through before beginning would have been helpful. Going into it blindly and trying to watch Jeopardy at the same… not good. I have to say I was quite confused at one point by all the seemingly back and forth action between the saucepan and the food processor (as well as the Jeopardy questions). But I got focused and got it all straightened out eventually. I only had a little bit of 2% milk left and had to make up the difference with vanilla flavored soy milk. I used Nestlé Chocolatier bittersweet chocolate (62% cacao) since I found it on sale.
I cannot handle pudding skins so I definitely covered mine with plastic wrap to prevent that. I’m sure the skins are fine for some, they just aren’t for me. I could gag every time I see the Seinfeld where George has his idea for “Pudding Skin Singles”. 
This was good. Seriously. My boyfriend is not really open to trying anything sweet that I make anymore (he really doesn’t like sweet stuff to begin with) so I made half a recipe and poured it into a big margarita glass all for myself. That’s three servings just for me… shhh, don’t tell anyone. I used Dorie’s whipped cream recipe on page 456 and a little chopped chocolate and cocoa powder to top it all off.
Head on over to It’s Melissa’s Kitchen to check out the recipe and to see how her Chocolate Pudding turned out. Then stop by the Tuesdays with Dorie site to see everyone else’s. For next week, Amanda of Like Sprinkles on a Cupcake has picked Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler.
Barefoot Bloggers: Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread
It’s Barefoot Bloggers time again! For the fourth selection, Sabrina and Alexander of Cooking with the Kids have chosen Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread. I thought this was an interesting choice for the group. Definitely a recipe I have overlooked in the Barefoot Contessa at Home book and one I probably never would’ve made on my own.
The recipe is simple and straightforward. I made 1/3 of the recipe, and after a long day, I have to say my mathematical skills were really failing when it came to scaling down some of the ingredients. 
I added extra cheese because I figured everything is better with extra cheese. I also used canned jalapeños and dried chives in place of the fresh scallions. Instead of using two bowls like Ina says, I just dumped all the ingredients into one and stirred with a *plastic* spoon instead of wooden. Yeah, that’s right, I’m a rebel.
On a side note… does anyone have one of those Aero Gardens? Every once in a while, I consider getting one because A: I don’t think an actual garden would work that well in my backyard and B: I almost always use dried herbs instead of fresh because I usually can’t justify the cost of fresh herbs. Especially when I end up using just a little bit and then throwing the rest away.
Anyway, the cornbread smelled great once out of the oven. I let it cool off for a bit and then cut myself a small slice. The texture was really light. On first taste, I don’t know if I would call it Cornbread if I was eating it without knowing what the name of it was. It was more of an almost spongy, cakey texture. Though the second day, eating it at room temperature, it was more like a cornbread I guess. The jalapeños gave it a nice kick, but it wasn’t too spicy. I’m glad I tried this out, I could see myself making it again.
Thanks to Sabrina and Alexander of Cooking with the Kids for picking a great recipe. Be sure to stop by their blog and check out how things went with their Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread. Then head on over to the Barefoot Bloggers blogroll to see how the other members did. The Barefoot Bloggers group is up to 87 members now. If you’ve been thinking about joining but haven’t yet for some reason, what are you waiting for?
Next time, the recipe selection comes from Ashley of The Spicy Skillet.
Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread
Book: Barefoot Contessa at Home
Show: Barefoot Contessa – Episode: The Cat’s Away
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 cups milk
3 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, plus extra to grease the pan
8 ounces aged extra-sharp Cheddar, grated, divided
1/3 cup chopped scallions, white and green parts, plus extra for garnish, 3 scallions
3 tablespoons seeded and minced fresh jalapeño peppers
Check out the directions here!
Double Crusted Blueberry Pie – TWD
I love blueberries. I love everything about them. They’re good for you, they taste good, they’re blue. What’s not to like? So I was happy about this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie selection Double Crusted Blueberry Pie chosen by Amy of South in Your Mouth. Well, in all honesty, I did have one little fear about it. Pie Crust.
But I got over that fear pretty fast. Dorie’s pie crust recipe is nice because you make it in a food processor. All of my cold ingredients were frozen before I started. I had some problems working with the dough though, it wanted to stick to everything. I may have added too much water but I did add less than the recipe called for. I started out rolling the crust on the counter top but quickly switched to rolling it out in waxed paper. Doing that took care of all my issues and from there I was good to go.
The blueberries came from our local Dutch Market as well as the bread crumbs. I thought the bread crumbs were an interesting addition to the pie and they seemed to worked out great. I made enough dough for a single crust and used a small tart pan to make one mini blueberry pie. It only needed about 40 minutes in the oven.
Saturday, I picked up some blueberry soft serve ice cream to go on top. There is a small ice cream stand on the side of the road near where I live that has every kind of soft serve flavor you could think of. It is always extremely busy and the line is just usually ridiculous. But since it was POURING down raining Saturday… guess what? No line! Next on my list of kitchen gadgets to buy is an ice cream maker, I really would have liked to have tried the Blueberry Sour Cream ice cream recipe in the book.
So, what did I think about the taste of the pie? It was excellent. The crust tasted good and the blueberry filling was really nice. The blueberry ice cream also really added something to the overall flavor. I would make this one again for sure and wouldn’t change a thing.
This Double Crusted Blueberry Pie recipe can be found in Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home to Yours. Click here to see the recipe and to check out Amy’s Double Crusted Blueberry Pie. Then head on over to the Tuesdays with Dorie website to see everyone else’s. See you next Tuesday!
Blast from TWD Past: Pecan Sour Cream Biscuits
Six down, only ten more to go. I’m moving right along on catching up with all of the past Tuesdays with Dorie selections that were completed before I became a member.
I’m almost halfway there to catching up. I adjusted my numbers because originally I had it at 17 that I had missed, but really it was only 16. I found out that one week had a choice between two similar recipes and you could choose which flavor you wanted to make. I had included both recipes in my count. Eventually I will make the second recipe that I end up not choosing. But for now, I’m not going to include it in my numbers for Blast From TWD Past posts.
I thought I had gotten through most of the seemingly easier recipes but noticed I had looked over the Pecan Sour Cream Biscuits. I already had everything on hand so I decided to just go ahead with these instead of tackling the Hidden Berry Cream Cheese Torte which was my original intention for today’s post.
I’ve never actually made biscuits at home before. I cut the recipe in half and got eight instead of six like I was supposed to. So I would say mine probably turned out a little thin. I decided to underbake them for one minute and everything turned out fine.
I really don’t care for pecans that much. Or any kind of nut for that matter, except peanuts or Brazil nuts. But the pecans in this, to me, were not really front and center stage. I liked the way these biscuits tasted plain, they were a little sweet and the pecans did give a nice texture difference. But I liked them even better with butter and homemade blackberry jam from the Dutch Market. Oh yeah.
Ashley of eat me, delicious chose the recipe for Pecan Sour Cream Biscuits for the week of February 26th, 2008. Stop by here to see Ashley’s results from back then. And check out the rest of her site while you’re there, she has beautiful photography and interesting recipes.
Hope everyone had a great July 4th! I did, I went to see the movie Hancock and went to my Dad’s house for a party. He rented a dunk tank but I would NOT get in no matter how much people asked me to. Today I’m spending the day relaxing and getting ready to go back to work tomorrow. yikes, this weekend was too short.
