Caramel Sauce w/Summer Fruit

Originally for Tartine's Bread Pudding, but hey...it'd be awesome warmed up a little and then served on ice cream or any dessert, really.

1/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 of one vanilla bean
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbs cup water
1/8 tsp salt
1 Tbsp light corn syrup
1/4 tsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp unsalted butter

Pour the cream into a small, heavy saucepan. Split the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and use the tip of a sharp knife to scrape the seeds from the pod halves into the cream. Place over medium-high heat and bring to just under a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to low to keep the cream warm.

In a medium, heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, water, salt and corn syrup. Use a good-sized pan because the caramel will boil vigorously and the volume will increase dramatically as soon as the hot cream is added. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Then let the mixture boil, without stirring, until the mixture is amber colored. Watch the sugar mixture carefully as it cooks to avoid burning the sugar. From the time the mixture started to boil, it took over 15 minutes to reach an amber color. Remove from the heat.

The mixture will continue to cook off the heat and become darker, so make sure to have the cream close by. Carefully and slowly add the cream to the sugar syrup. The mixture will boil vigorously at first. Let the mixture simmer down, and then whisk until smooth. Add the lemon juice and let it cool for about 10 minutes.

Cut the butter into 1-inch chunks and add them to the caramel one at a time, whisking constantly after each addition. Then whisk the caramel periodically as it continues to cool.
Pour the caramel sauce in an airtight container such as a glass jar and store in the refrigerator. This will keep for up to a month.

Makes about 1 C

Charmoula Pork Chops

Lamb is not universally accepted so I opted to use pork. Still worked really well! Heard you can also use shrimp, salmon or chicken. Whatever meat you choose, you can also cook in a hot, lightly oiled, seasoned grill pan or a cast iron skillet over moderate heat.

Definitely needs salt. Try out the marinade before adding the pork to make sure it's salty enough for you.

Serve with couscous and grilled veggies or a light salad. The salad in the photo is a failed attempt at a salad we shall not speak of any more.

1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup fresh cilantro sprigs
1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
6 garlic cloves
1/4 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
salt and pepper to taste (at least 1 tsp salt)

2 (1 1/4-inch-thick) loin lamb chops (10 oz total), trimmed (or pork)

Blend all ingredients except chops in a blender (or food processor) until smooth, about 1 minute. Pat chops dry and transfer to a plate, then rub chops all over with 2 tablespoons charmoula and marinate, covered, at room temperature 30 minutes.

While chops marinate, prepare grill for cooking. If using a charcoal grill, open vents on bottom of grill, then light charcoal. Charcoal fire is medium-hot when you can hold your hand 5 inches above rack for 3 to 4 seconds. If using a gas grill, preheat burners on high, covered, 10 minutes, then reduce heat to moderate.

Grill chops, covered only if using a gas grill, on lightly oiled grill rack, turning over once, until medium-rare, about 8 minutes total. Transfer to a plate and let stand, loosely covered, 10 minutes.

Charmoula keeps, its surface covered with plastic wrap, 1 week. It will lose its bright green color after a couple of days.

Adapted from Epicurious.com

Fresh Berry Sauce

This makes more than enough for a pancake breakfast for 12. Surprisingly, and sadly, most people only drizzle like 2 tablespoons on their breakfast! Still worth making for that special breakfast/brunch. If you wanna makes sure people eat it (because it's really quite good) plate it on the pancakes before you serve it. I can also imagine this would be great with pound cake or any even a chocolate cake.

2 C fresh berries

1/2 C water

1 C orange juice

½ C sugar

¼ C ice cold water

3 T cornstarch

¼ tsp almond extract

¼ tsp cinnamon

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the blueberries, 1/4 cup of water, orange juice, and sugar. Stir gently, and bring to a boil.

In a cup or small bowl, mix together the cornstarch and 1/4 cup cold water. Gently stir the cornstarch mixture into the blueberries so as not to mash the berries. Simmer gently until thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the almond extract and cinnamon. Thin sauce with water if it is too thick for your liking.

A-Cup-A-Cup-A-Cup Dip

Anna and I can devour this rich, creamy dip in hours. Yes, this kind of eating is the stuff legends are made of.

1 C mayo (Best Foods, please)
1 C sour cream
1 C chopped green pepper (bell pepper? Anna adds 1 serrano chile pepper, minced)
1 Tbsp instant minced onion
1 Tbsp dried parsley flakes
1 tsp dried dill

Combine all the ingredients by hand and place in a 3 or 4 C bowl suitable for serving. If possible, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours for the flavors to blend or serve immediately.

Place in the center of a tray and surround with sturdy chips, crackers, and vegetables for dipping.

Makes about 3 cups

(Rum Raisin) Caramel Sauce

I made this caramel sauce to sweeten up a bread pudding I made from the Moosewood Cookbook. The sauce was good, the bread pudding, no good. Run and the raisins are optional.

¾ C sugar
¼ C water

½ C heavy cream
3 T rum or 1 tsp vanilla
½ C raisins

Bring sugar and water to a boil and continue until the mixture turns a light amber color. Do not stir. If parts of the syrup are turning darker than others, gently tilt the pan to even out the cooking.

As soon as the syrup is a uniformly amber color, stir in the heavy cream. Be careful the mixture will bubble up. When the cream has stopped bubbling, remove from the heat, and stir in rum and raisins. Let the sauce cool slightly before spooning over anything.

The sauce can be made up to 2 days in advance, refrigerated, and reheated in a double boiler or microwave before serving.

Tzatziki Sauce

5.11.08 Part of the Adamo Feast. The garlic really infuses flavor the longer it sits, so this ends up tasting better and better as the hours go on. Susanne and I made it maybe 6 hours before it was served.

2.4.09 Fresh dill is so important and really worth it. At Von's it's either a jar of dried dill for $7-8 or a package of fresh dill for $1-2. Hmm...it wasn't that hard to choose. I made it for my Wednesday family again. This time, it included the girls up there in the photo. That's Claire, Amber, Cici and Rachel munch munch munching away and pretending to study German. Later that night we did learn a few words like "fart". Amber says that means to go. Yes. Yes it does.

4 cloves of garlic, finely minced (let sit for 15 minutes before adding to yogurt)
4 T minced fresh dill
1 medium cucumber
16 oz labne OR yogurt cheese OR plain greek yogurt OR plain yogurt, strained in a cheesecloth overnight or at least 4 hours
1 t olive oil
1 t lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

Peel cucumber, and seed with a spoon, then chop. In a colander, sprinkle cucumber with salt and let sit 15 minutes to drain. Squeeze excess liquid out a few times during the 15 minutes.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate at least a couple hours. Serve with falafel, pita, naan, tortillas, chicken, etc.

Ghirardelli's Hot Fudge Sauce

I love the chewiness of this sauce. Mmm!! Just like in the fountain shop. Tasty on ice cream or with crepes.

1/2 bar (2 oz) of bittersweet chocolate baking bar (or regular chocolate with 1/4 C sugar)
2 T butter
1/3 C sugar
1/4 C water
1/4 C light corn syrup
1/2 t vanilla extract

Combine all except vanilla. Stir continuously on low heat until all is melted. When it comes to a low boil, lower heat continue to simmer for 10 minutes

Remove thickened sauce, stir in vanilla, let cool. Store covered in the fridge, but definitely warm up a little before serving!

Makes about 1 Cup, which is more than enough for 12 people

Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

It's so moist and light and fluffy! I was very excited when Adalis brought this cake and recipe home from work.

4 eggs
1 1/4 C sugar
1 C canola oil

15 oz can of pumpkin

2 C (10 oz) sifted flour
2 t baking powder
2 t ground cinnamon
1 1/4 t salt
1 t baking soda

Preheat oven 350. Grease a 13x10" baking pan.

Beat eggs, sugar, and oil with mixer until pale yellow, light and fluffy. Add pumpkin and beat till fluffy.

Mix the rest of the ingredients in a separate bowl, then add to pumpkin and mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth. Spread batter into pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.

Let cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese frosting

1 8 oz package of cream cheese, softened
1/2 stick (1/4 C) butter at room temp
1 1/2 C powdered sugar
1/2 t vanilla extract

Beat beat beat it all.

Cilantro, Pepita, Pignoli and Almond Pesto

Don't let the fancy names fool you...
Pepita = pumpkin seeds
Pignoli = pine nut
Almond = ...almond

You can use this little sauce:
- mixed with yellow split peas or garbanzo beans as a vegetarian side dish salad. To cook the dried yellow split peas bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan, add 2 cups (rinsed) dried split yellow peas and cook for 20 -30 minutes, or until tender. Drain, salt to taste and set aside.
- on top of steak or chicken on a bed of butter lettuce and tomatoes as a main dish like so:

1 cup of the mixed nuts (sold at TJ's as), or just pepitas toasted (divided)
1 cup cilantro leaves and stems, well washed and lightly packed
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
3 medium cloves garlic, peeled
juice of 1 medium lemon
1 serrano chile pepper, minced
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Make the cilantro pesto by blending 1/3 cup of the toasted nuts, the cilantro, Parmesan cheese, garlic, lemon juice, and chile pepper with a hand blender (food processor or standard blender) until smooth.

Continue blending as you gradually drizzle in the olive oil until the pesto comes together into a vibrant green sauce. Taste and add a pinch or two or salt if needed.

Serves 6, adapted from 101cookbooks.com

Baked Brie and Cranberry Relish

Make sure to follow the directions on the puff pastry package. I let my dough sit out for too long and it got really sticky inside the package. I'm sure that affected the dough's ability to puff and flake too. Also, instead of a baby brie, I just bought a wedge, which doesn't look as pretty but does the job.

What else was super tasty that Vicky, Mom and I had in Tucson was brie baked with mushrooms on the inside and the sauce plated on the outside with the baked pastry on top. Also, the pastry was gathered on the top like a little package so that the layers really came out!

Relish
1 red bell pepper

1 C fresh cranberries

1/2 C finely chopped onion
6 T sugar
1/2 jalapeno chili, seeded and minced
1/8 t crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 t salt

OR
1/4 C finely chopped onion
1 t minced jalapeno chili
1/2 jar of Trader Joe's Apple and Cranberry Chutney
1 T brown sugar

OR
Any type of jam would be tasty, but I imagine apricot or raspberry

Brie
1 baby brie round 8 oz.
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed (TJ's sells it for about $4.50)
1 egg, beaten

To make relish, mix all ingredients together in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and then lower heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture thickens to a jam like consistency, about 30 minutes. Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate until cold. Keeps for a week.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Trim some of the brie rind off with a flat cheese slicer. Roll the puff pastry out large enough to wrap around the brie. Top the pastry with 1 C of the cranberry relish, reserving the rest for another use. Lay the brie on top and bring the dough up over the sides and on top overlapping and sealing well. Gently flip over. Any scraps can be used to decorate the top, but don't brush it with egg otherwise the edges of the decoration won't puff up pretty.

Lay wrapped brie on a parchment lined baking sheet and brush with egg. Bake for 20 minutes or until pastry is puffed and very brown. Let stand on rack for 15 minutes to go down to room temperature before serving. Let guests cut into wedges to serve.

Serves 8-12

Food Processor Salsa

This was my first time using the food processor for salsa. Sure, it was less time chopping, but the cleanup was definitely more. I can see if I were to make tons of this stuff how wonderful the food processor would be time-wise. Fun-wise, it was excellent as always.

5 roma tomatoes
1/2 white onion
1/2 medium jalapeno, seeded and ribbed for less spice
1/4 C cilantro
1 t lime juice
1/2 t sugar to taste
salt to taste

Process the onion first in pulses until chopped finely and then scrape into a bowl. Do the same with the jalapenos alone, and then add the cilantro. Finally pulse the tomatoes. Add the salt, sugar and lime to taste.

German Chocolate Cake Frosting

For 1 2-layer 8" cake. I used this frosting with the Chocolate Beet Cake (this frosting is also pictured in that entry), which obviously automatically makes the cake non-vegan.

4 large egg yolks
One 12-ounce can evaporated milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
1/8 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/3 cups sweetened shredded coconut
1 1/2 cups finely chopped pecans, toasted

Whisk the yolks in a medium saucepan, gradually whisk the milk in. Add the sugars, butter, and salt and cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until mixture is boiling, frothy, and slightly thickened (about 6 minutes).

Transfer the mixture to a bowl, whisk in the vanilla, then stir in the coconut. Cool until just warm, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until cool or cold, at least 2 hours or up to 3 days.

When cool, stir in pecans right before assembly.

Port & Fig Sauce

Especially tasty with caramelized onions, goat cheese, and walnuts (as shown un-assembled in the photo above).

1/4 lb dried figs
1/2 C pomegranate juice or cranberry juice
1/4 C port
1/8 C honey

Chop figs into quarters, removing any knobby stems that might remain. Put the pieces in a medium bowl or Mason jar and cover with the liquids. Soak the figs for 24 hours or at least overnight.

Blend figs in the blender and slowly add juices to it till it reaches the desired consistency.

Can be used as:
* topping for ice cream
* filling inside cookies as a replacement for jam
* spread for crackers, breads, or savory tarts