What's your favorite recipe from 2009?

I did apple chips for the first time this year. With lime juice and curry. They didn't last long

enough for much of a comment to be made on them. And then the second requested batch disappeared just as quickly.

Next is to try beet chips. I do like beet chips.

 
Ricotta Pound Cake

In 2009, I made this more times than I can count.

Ricotta Pound Cake
Adapted from Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen (W.W. Norton & Co., 2007)
By Gina DePalma

The seal of approval in my house is a moment after the first bite. In my solitude, I have been known to shriek, "Damn! I made that?!" And so it goes with this pound cake. Light and full of flavor, I love it simple and unadorned; topped with a bit of lemon curd and berries; toasted with jam; or, in this case, with a side of minted fruit salad.


Makes one 9-inch cake.
Approximately 10 servings

1 ½ cups cake flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks/6 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
1 ½ cups fresh whole-milk ricotta*
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract
Zest from 2 lemons or limes

*Note: Please use a dry ricotta. Locally, I use Precious brand ricotta with excellent results. If your ricotta is not dry, strain it through a cheese cloth for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and position a rack in the center.

Grease a 9-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray or butter, dust it with flour, and tap to knock out the excess.

In a medium bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.

In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, ricotta, and sugar on medium speed until smooth and light, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Stir in the extracts & zest.

On low speed, beat in the dry ingredients to combine them, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and beat the batter for 30 seconds on medium speed.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and use a spatula to smooth the top. Give the pan a few gentle whacks on the counter to remove any air pockets. Bake the cake for 30 minutes, then turn the pan 180 degrees to ensure even browning. Continue baking until the cake springs back lightly when touched, the sides have begun to pull away from the pan, and a cake inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 30-45 minutes more, depending on your oven & ricotta moisture.

Allow the cake to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then carefully invert on the rack to cool completely. The flavor is best on the next day. Any leftover cake may be wrapped in plastic and kept at room temperature for up to 3 days.

 
I love these too - VERY crispy!

I love the biscotti with no butter - makes them very crunchy, but most people prefer softer ones, so I tend to make those more often.

But if I were making them just for me, these are the ones I'd make!

 
Roasted Asparagus with Feta from Pat-NoCal

I made this so many times this year. Even my MIL liked it. I love the infused olive oil.

Pat's note: The recipe calls for adding the feta before baking but I sprinkled the feta on the hot asparagus after removing it from the oven. Some coarsely chopped kalamata olives might be a nice addition at the end as well. I'll bet this treatment would work well on fresh green beans too, maybe blanched and shocked first to retain the bright green color.

Roasted Asparagus with Feta Recipe
Serves 3 - 4

1-3/4 - 2 lbs fresh crisp asparagus
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon lemon, zest of
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
3-4 ounces crumbled feta cheese
1 lemon (juice of, no seeds)

Preheat oven to 400F.
Heat olive oil, minced garlic, lemon zest, oregano, and red pepper flakes in a small pan over low heat until garlic becomes golden and oil becomes fragrant; remove from heat and allow to cool.
Bend asparagus gently until it breaks at a natural point and discard ends.
Toss asparagus pieces with infused olive oil and place in a single layer on a baking sheet (one with a side edge).
Season asparagus with salt and pepper.
Sprinkle asparagus with crumbled feta cheese.
Roast at 400F for 12 minutes or until cooked to your liking.
Sprinkle with chopped parsley and squeeze the lemons over the asparagus, being careful to catch the seeds.
Serve hot.

 
Why was my roasted asparagus so bitter this time? All I did was

snap off the ends, roll in good olive oil and roast for 8 minutes. So bitter we tossed them. Now I have the rest of the bunch and don't know whether to bother making them.

Any ideas?

 
Tiramisu Cupcakes

I made these for Valentines Day last year, they were so amazing my friends are still talking about them. This recipe shared with me from Susan in Kentfield, again Susan, they were awesome!



Tiramisu Cupcakes

By: BlondieItaliana
These are delicious tiramisu cupcakes. They are relatively easy to make as they use a boxed cake mix. Read recipe in entirety first - it sounds more complex then it actually is. You can decorate these to be quite elegant & fancy in presentation for Brunches, Bridal showers, or whatever suits your needs. These sell at gourmet bakeries, coffee shops & cafe's for a pretty penny. Note: I do use mascarpone to make these as that is more traditional, but you could substitute with plain cream cheese if needed. Also, I do use cupcake liners because I think they present better. Lastly, it's best to prepare mascarpone filling & chill about 4-6 hours in advance or night before. FYI: You can fill the cupcakes by using a icing decorating (piping) bag filled with the mascarpone filling or use an old fashioned ketchup or mustard plastic bottle with nozzle point tip
 
Cranberry curd ( the recipe making 3 cups) If you want the 5 cup look at Post #17336

Cranberry Curd
I was pleased to find this recipe in Nigella Lawson’s “How to be a Domestic Goddess,” as when I had the original idea for cranberry curd, I thought I’d have to make my own recipe. I followed Nigella’s recipe exactly, and it turned out perfectly. I’m providing volume conversions, but can’t guarantee them as I followed the weight measures provided in the cookbook. The only other change I made was to scale the recipe for the size of the bag of cranberries I bought, which was 350 grams, unlike the 500 called for in the book.

350 grams cranberries, fresh or frozen (this is the size of a package of cranberries in my supermarket–probably about 3 cups)
140 mL water (1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon)
70 grams unsalted butter (5 tablespoons)
350 grams granulated sugar (1 1/3 cups)
4 large eggs
a food mill or, if you’re me, a fine-mesh strainer

1. Combine the cranberries and water in a saucepan, and cook over medium-low heat until the cranberries split open.
2. Push the cranberries through a fine-mesh strainer with the back of a wooden spoon, or if you’re lucky and have a food mill, pass them through that. Return the seedless puree to the saucepan.
3. Add the sugar and the butter, melting them into the puree at low heat.
4. Next, add the eggs, which you have beaten in a separate bowl. Make sure the sugared puree isn’t too hot, so you don’t cook the eggs on contact (it’s a good idea to remove the cranberries from the heat to cool slightly while you beat the eggs).
5. Cook slowly over low heat, stirring constantly. Do not allow the mixture to heat up too quickly, and never allow it to boil, or your eggs will curdle. Your curd is ready when it coats the back of a spoon. Cool slightly before transferring to jars to keep in the fridge. This recipe makes about 3 cups of curd.

http://supperinstereo.wordpress.com/2008/12/13/cranberry-love-cranberry-curd-pavlova/

 
Fig Jam

FIG JAM
( I may have used only 5 cups of sugar instead of 7 cups, I'll check my notes)
I made this THREE times this summer 2009(I have a fig tree) and All the times I used 5 cups sugar instead of the 7 called for in the recipe. I had made fig jam years ago and didn't like it so never made it again until this year. (Fig-Glut Guilt)
This was so GOOD I'll be making it every year until I run out of jars!
Note: I am not a big fig fan either

http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com/2009/07/fig-jam.html

 
PS: i'm never going back to raspberry! I used orange zest & OJ in the galze.

and used GLaze instead of the above mentioned galze

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top