Creamy Goat Cheese Risotto

Source - http://iadorefood.com/recipes/creamy-goat-cheese-risotto/

Ingredients:

2 shallots, thinly sliced

1 half a red pepper, diced

4 mushrooms, sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 Cup of fresh baby spinach

6 big sun dried tomatoes, chopped

1 Cup of white wine

2 Cup of chicken broth (you might need a bit more)

1 Cup of risotto

14 Ounce can of diced tomatoes, drained

140 Gram of goat cheese

1/2 Cup of grated parmesan

1 Tablespoon of butter

Cooking instructions:

In a large saucepan, heat up the butter until metled and bubbling. Throw in your sliced shallots and cook for 3 minutes on medium heat, stir frequently. Add the garlic, the pepper and the mushroom and continue cooking for about 3 to 4 minutes. Throw in the risotto, mix well and bring the heat up. Cook on high for about 1 minutes and throw in the white wine. Deglaze the pan and bring the heat down to medium high. Stirring frequently, wait until the liquid has almost all been absorbed. At that point, stirring in 1 cup of chicken broth and bring the heat down to medium. Throw in the parmesan and the sun dried tomatoes. Continue cooking and stirring until the liquid has almost all been absorbed. Add in 1/2 cup of chicken broth along with the diced tomatoes. Continue cooking until there is almost no liquid left. Test your risotto. If it is still hard, add in the rest of the chicken broth and stir frequently until the liquid has been absorbed. Test your risotto again and do the same thing, 1/2 cup at a time until it is cooked o your liking. When the risotto is cooked, throw in the spinach and cover, on low heat for about 2 minutes. The spinach will wilt. Mix the spinach in and add the crumbled goat cheese and mix thoroughly. Keep cooking until the cheese has melted and is well incorporated.

Serve immediately!

Bacon, Bourbon and Peanut Butter Cookies

Source - http://www.theendlessmeal.com/bacon-bourbon-and-peanut-butter-cookies/

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 strips bacon

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup natural peanut butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

2 tablespoons bourbon (or 1 tablespoon vanilla)

1/3 cup bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Mix together with a fork.

Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp, about 4 to 6 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the drippings and set aside to cool. Crumble the bacon, remove (eat) any chewy bits.

Beat the butter and reserved bacon drippings in a large bowl with a mixer on until smooth, about 1 minute. Beat in the peanut butter until combined, about 1 minute. Beat in the granulated and light brown sugar until creamy, about 4 minutes, then add the egg and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 more minutes.

Add the flour mixture in 2 additions, scraping down the bowl as needed, until just combined.

Stir in bacon and chocolate chips

Form the dough into 1″ balls and arrange 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake for about 8 minutes for chewy cookies, 10 for crispier cookies.

Let cookies cool 2 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Notes

These cookies freeze well. Roll into balls and freeze on a tray in your freezer. Once the balls are frozen you can put them together in a ziploc bag. Bake from frozen but leave in oven for about 2 extra minutes.

Mojito Cupcake -  Spiced Rum Cupcake with Fresh Mint and Lime Buttercream

Source - http://sugarbombbakeryblog.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/mojito-cupcake-recipe/

You’re gonna need:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons arrowroot powder (or cornstarch)

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup almond milk

1 teaspoon white vinegar

1/3 cup canola oil

3/4 cup white sugar

3 tablespoons spiced rum [we used Sailor Jerry’s]

So you’re going to:

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line your muffin tin with liners that somehow evoke mojitos.  Maybe something tropical, or something lime green, or, well, you can figure it out.

2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, arrowroot, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk this mixture together for about thirty seconds, to make sure it’s evenly mixed.

3. Pour the almond milk into a glass measuring cup and add the vinegar to it. Let this mixture sit a few minutes, until the almond milk looks slightly curdled.

4. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the oil and sugar until very well combined. Add the rum. Now beat in the curdled almond milk.

5. Slowly pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and beat with a whisk until the batter looks very smooth. Don’t worry about over-mixing; it’s better to beat it until there are no lumps left.

6. Fill your baking cups two-thirds of the way full with batter (usually about a scant quarter cup of batter per cupcake).

7. Bake at 350ºF for twenty minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the biggest cupcake comes out mostly clean. A few moist crumbs on the toothpick are absolutely fine.

Now, set your cupcakes aside and start making your rum glaze.  The recipe I used for the rum glaze is from the cupcake villains blog.

According to the Cupcake Villains, for the Rum Glaze, you need:

1/4 cup dark rum

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons margarine

So then you:

1.  Simmer together the rum and sugar until the sugar is full dissolved, and let cook together for a minute longer.

2.  Pull off heat, and mix in the vanilla and margarine until the margarine is fully melted.

3.  Drizzle a tiny bit (maybe a half a teaspoon) over the top of each cooled cupcake.

4.  Place cupcakes in the refrigerator or freezer to let the glaze set up a little.

Now, let’s make the frosting!  For Fresh Mint and Lime Buttercream Frosting, you need:

One bunch fresh mint

1-3 tablespoons lime juice

1/4 cup nonhydrogenated shortening

1/4 cup margarine

2 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar

Fresh limes, sliced very thinly

Paper straws, cut into one inch segments (you can find paper straws here)

So you’re going to:

1.  In a food processor or blender, blend all the mint leaves with one tablespoon of lime juice for three to four minutes, until mint leaves are very well minced.

2.  Scrape mint and lime mixture into a fine mesh sieve over a mixing bowl.  With a rubber spatula, press the mixture firmly to release the liquid.  Continue this until there is no more liquid being released.

3.  Measure this liquid, and add more lime juice until you have two tablespoons of total liquid.

4.  With a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat your margarine and shortening until thoroughly combined and fluffy.

5.  Sift in 1/3 of the total powdered sugar.  Add 1/3 of the mint/lime juice , and beat until thoroughly combined, scraping down the sides as needed.

6.  Repeat this process twice more, until all of the sugar is combined.  If the frosting looks really stiff, you can add up to one tablespoon more of lime juice, but make sure it doesn’t get goopy.  You definitely want it to stay firm.

4.  Now you’re going to beat the frosting for 2-3 minutes until thoroughly combined and fluffy.  This frosting really wants to be stiff, so it can hold the garnishes upright.  If you don’t care about garnishes, and you want really fluffy frosting, go ahead and beat the frosting for 3-4 extra minutes.

5.  Add a very small amount of green gel food coloring, and beat just until thoroughly combined.  This stuff is potent, so start with too little and  allow your frosting to get darker incrementally until the desired color is reached.

6.  Pipe your frosting on the cupcakes with a jumbo closed star tip, and garnish with a slice of lime and a paper straw segment

Lamington

Source - http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/24553/lamingtons

Makes15

Ingredients

125g butter, softened

1 cup caster sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 eggs

1 3/4 cups self-raising flour, sifted

1/2 cup milk

2 cups desiccated coconut

Icing

3 1/2 cups icing sugar mixture

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 tablespoon butter, softened

1/2 cup boiling water 

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Grease a 3cm-deep, 20cm x 30cm (base) lamington pan. Line with baking paper, leaving a 2cm overhang on all sides. Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition (mixture may curdle).

Sift half the flour over butter mixture. Stir to combine. Add half the milk. Stir to combine. Repeat with remaining flour and milk. Spoon into prepared pan. Smooth top. Bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in centre comes out clean. Stand in pan for 10 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack. Cover with a clean tea towel. Set aside overnight.

Make icing: Sift icing sugar and cocoa into a bowl. Add butter and boiling water. Stir until smooth.

Cut cake into 15 pieces. Place coconut in a dish. Using a fork, dip 1 piece of cake in icing. Shake off excess. Toss in coconut. Place on a wire rack over a baking tray. Repeat with remaining cake, icing and coconut. Stand for 2 hours or until set. Serve.

Notes

You’ll need to start recipe the day before.

damndelicious:

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. I cannot even begin to tell you how happy I am that I don’t have to work today. I don’t need to wake up at 4:45 AM and then sit in traffic for an hour going to and from work. Instead, I will be spending the day with Jason, cooking…

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Dessert Hummus

Source - http://www.baked-in.com/2012/05/27/dessert-hummus/

Yield: About 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients

1 (15 ounce) can white kidney (cannellini) beans, drained and thoroughly rinsed

1/4 cup smooth natural peanut butter

1/3 cup pure maple syrup

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions

Combine the beans, peanut butter, maple syrup and vanilla in the bowl of a food processor.

Process until smooth – try to make sure the beans are fully pureed. This took me about two full minutes.

Transfer to a bowl and fold in chocolate chips. Serve with apple slices, graham crackers, and/or carrots.

No Bake Tim Tam Tart (serves 8 )

Source - http://www.niccooks.com/uncategorized/no-bake-tim-tam-tart/

395g tin of condensed milk
200g packet of original Tim Tams
100g butter
200g 70% dark chocolate

Start by making the caramel. Remove the label from the can of condensed milk. Pierce two small holes in the top of the can with a can opener. Place can in a pan slightly larger than the can. Fill the pan with cold water to about 1cm below the top of the can. Bring to the boil then simmer for 3 hours ensuring the level of the water does not drop below 1cm from the top of the can. I forgot about mine for about half an hour and let the level drop, which meant the top of the milk wasn’t caramelised when I opened the tin. Some of the milk bubbled out of the top of the can as it cooked, this is what it’s meant to do (I think!)

Once the caramel has cooked, remove from the water and allow to cool a little before opening the can. Spoon the contents of the can into a bowl and allow to cool. I did this part the day before and left to set over night in the fridge.

To make the tart base, place the Tim Tams in a food processor and blitz until it forms a fine crumb. Melt 50g of the butter and allow to cool slightly, then mix with the Tim Tam crumbs. Press the mixture into the base of a 20cm loose bottomed tart tin. Ensure you press the base firmly and push the mixture up the sides of the tin to make a tart case. Mine didn’t cover the full height of the tin, but I made sure it was an even height all round (about 1cm).

Put the base in the fridge to set for 15-20 minutes. While the base is setting make the chocolate topping. Melt the chocolate and the remaining 50g of butter in a small bowl set over a pan of hot water. Stir to combine the chocolate and butter and set aside to cool.

To assemble the tart, place a thin layer of caramel over the base of the tart (I didn’t quite use all of it ensuring there was some left so I could lick the bowl), then pour a thin layer of the melted chocolate over the top. Again I didn’t quite use all of it, as I wanted enough to cover the caramel, but not too much so it didn’t spill over the sides of the tart base. Put the tart in the fridge to set and serve as is.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups and Ice Cream

Source - http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2012/05/double-chocolate-chip-cookie-cups-and-ice-cream.html

Makes about 18 cups

1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 large egg

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (plus 2 tablespoons, if dough is sticky)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup white chocolate chips (or use butterscotch, peanut butter, or exclusively use all semi-sweet chocolate chips)

Häagen-Dazs® Ice Cream – I used the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough flavor

hot fudge or chocolate ice cream sauce, optional

whipped topping or whipped cream, optional

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a standard 12-count muffin pan with paper liners. In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, sugars, and cream for 2 to 3 minutes on medium-high speed, stopping at least once to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg, vanilla, and beat for 2 to 3 more minutes on medium-high speed, stopping at least once to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the flour, baking soda, and mix until just combined, no more than one minute. Add the chips and beat for 5 to 10 seconds or fold in by hand.

Place 2 rounded tablespoons of dough into each paper muffin liner and press down firmly to pack down the dough. The liners should be filled about three-quarters of the way full. Add more (or less) dough to each cup as needed, pressing down after each addition. (The dough does rise while baking, but not tremendously so, as with a muffin or cupcake.) Bake for 11 to 15 minutes or until the tops have risen and have barely begun to brown, taking care not to overbake. It’s okay if these seem a bit underdone as they will continue to set up as they cool and you want them gooey. Allow the cookie cups to cool in the muffin pan for at least 15 minutes before removing them.

Top each with cookie cup generous scoop of ice cream. Optionally, garnish with whipped topping or whipped cream; chocolate, caramel, or butterscotch sauce, maraschino cherries, sprinkles, coconut flakes, nuts, diced candy pieces, or other favorite ice cream sundae toppings.

Store extra cookie cups in an airtight container for up to one week on the counter or refrigerator or up to three months in the freezer.

Note: If desired, use refrigerated pre-made cookie dough rather than making your own cookie dough. I suggest doctoring up the dough by adding semi-sweet and/or white chocolate chips as premade dough tends to be a little skimpy on the chips. I estimate that you could make between 8 and 10 cups per standard flat package of dough. I’d buy two packages for a 12 to 15 cup yield (guesstimate).