Pomegranate Cheesecake

Source

INGREDIENTS:
Crust:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

Filling:
4 8-oz. packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup sour cream (reduced fat worked great)
1 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel
3/4 cup pomegranate seeds

Topping:
1 1/2 cups sour cream (again, reduced fat worked great)
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Pomegranate Glaze:
1-16-ounce bottle pomegranate juice (usually found in the refrigerated section of juices)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 cup pomegranate seeds (tutorial on de-seeding here)

DIRECTIONS:
For the crust: preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl beat butter on medium high speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar. Beat until combined. Add egg; beat well. Beat in flour until combined. Divide dough in half. Cover one portion and set it aside.

Remove the sides from a 10-inch springform pan and set aside. Spread first portion of dough onjust the bottom of ungreased springform pan base, spreading dough to edges. Place on baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool completely. When cool, attach sides of pan. Press chilled dough onto the sides of the sprinform pan to a height of 1-3/4 inches, using a thin metal spatula, like an offset spatula, to spread dough.

For the filling: reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. In an extra-large mixing bowl beat cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the flour on low speed until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla all at once, beating on low speed just until combined. Mix in sour cream and lemon peel. Then, using a wooden spoon or a spatula, gently fold in pomegranate seeds (if you use the electric mixer for this part, the seeds will burst and stain the filling with the juice – and it won’t look as pretty).

Pour filling into crust-lined pan. Place on baking sheet. Bake for 65 minutes or until edges are puffed and center jiggles slightly when gently shaken. Remove from oven. (It doesn’t matter if the cheesecake cracks on top since it will have a sour cream topping.)

For the topping: stir together sour cream, sugar, and vanilla. Spread sour cream mixture over top of baked cheesecake, spreading gently to the edges. Return to oven; bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Cool on wire rack for 15 minutes. Loosen crust from sides of pan. Cool for 30 minutes more. Remove sides of pan; cool completely. Cover; chill 4 hours or overnight.

For pomegranate glaze: in a medium saucepan bring pomegranate juice to boiling; reduce heat and boil gently, uncovered, until reduced to 1 cup (12 to 15 minutes). In a separate bowl, stir together brown sugar and cornstarch. Add to juice. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 2 minutes more. Transfer to a medium bowl; cover surface with clear plastic wrap. Cool to room temperature. Store, covered, in refrigerator until serving time.

When ready to serve, remove cheesecake and pomegranate glaze from refrigerator 15 minutes before serving. Spoon some sauce over top of cheesecake; pile remaining pomegranate seeds in center of cheesecake. To serve, slice cheesecake. Pass remaining sauce. Makes 16 servings.

NOTES: I needed a fancy-ish dessert to serve some foodie friends of mine and this was just the ticket. The crust was sublime, the cheesecake was decadent (I omitted the seeds, and only used them in the glaze), and the glaze was eye-opening. Note that the longer you refrigerate the glaze, the harder the stems of the seeds get, so I suggest keeping that at room temp before serving, if possible. 

Vanilla and Cinnamon Candied Nuts

Vanilla and Cinnamon Candied Nuts
2 c nuts of choice
3/4 c white sugar
1/3 c water
2 tsp vanilla**
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F. Place nuts on cookie sheet. Toast for 10-15 minutes, shaking the pan once or twice to stir. Alternately, in a frying pan without any oil, cook nuts over medium-high heat until browned.

Combine sugar, water, vanilla and cinnamon in deep saucepan. Heat to a boil. Add toasted nuts and stir, continuing to cook until water has evaporated and nuts are coated in a sticky syrup {10 minutes over medium~high heat}. Remove from heat and spread on a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper or foil to cool.

 

You must continue to stir and cook the nuts in the sugary syrup until it is ALL gone,  just candied nuts.
This happens after about 10 minutes from adding the nuts to the boiling syrup while continuing to cook over medium~high heat, though it may take 15 minutes or more.  
The nuts will be difficult to stir because of the lack of liquid and the sticky coating, but it will not be burnt.  
REMOVE the pan from the heat before they burn once the liquid is gone, and spread them out to cool and harden.
 

 Tips and Tricks~
*Double the recipe to have some on hand for holiday guests.
*Store nuts in air tight container for snacking or tossing in a salad.
*Use different spices. Perhaps cocoa and chili powder for a spicy blend.
*Soak pan for an hour to make clean~up easy.
**If making gluten~free, make certain vanilla is gluten~free.

 

Anne-Marie made these and served them at a Christmas Party at Shawn and Ann's, they were wonderful!

 

http://aliceandthemockturtle.blogspot.com/2011/12/vanilla-and-cinnamon-candied-nuts.html

The Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie

Source

Ingredients:
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. high-quality tub margarine (we just use more butter)
3/4 c. white sugar
1 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3 c. flour
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 12-oz. bag chocolate chips (we only use 1/2 because we prefer the higher cookie-to-chocolate ratio)

Directions:
1. Cream together butter, margarine, sugars, eggs, and vanilla.
2. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking soda.
3. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture and beat well.
4. Stir in chocolate chips.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes - optional ;)

Notes: To cook or not to cook - the ultimate chocolate chip cookie question. Bret is a dough boy, I'm a baked girl. Most recipes are better in one form or the other, but not this one. It knocks the ball out of the park in both. The really is the best chocolate chip cookie recipe that I've ever tasted!

Italian Wedding Soup

Original Source, Adapted by Me

Ingredients:
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1/2 package frozen Italian meatballs
1/2 bunch celery, thinly sliced
5 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
3/4 cup orzo pasta
5 cups shredded fresh spinach
grated parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions:
1. Combine onion, meatballs, celery, broth, water, garlic, Italian seasoning, and pepper in a large crockpot. Cook on high 4-5 hours.
2. For last 20-30 minutes of cooking time, add orzo.
3. Stir in spinach and sprinkle with parmesan cheese just before serving.

Notes: Years ago I ate a bowl of "Italian Wedding Soup" that Aunt Kathleen made and I fell in love with the dish. Since I don't see her very often, I felt uncomfortable asking for the recipe after the fact, so I've been on the hunt for a similar dish since then. As it turns out, that title is a a very loose one and refers to just about any type of soup with Italian-ish seasonings. It has been so long since I have eaten Kathleen's that I can't remember the ingredients that she used, but when I found this recipe, it seemed like it would be a similar result. After making and tasting it, I don't think that it's the same, but it sure is delicious! Simple and mild enough to be a "sick soup," yet flavorful enough to be an enticing winter comfort food. This has been officially added to our go-to meal list.

Snickerdoodles

Source: my mom's recipe box - I'm not sure where it originally came from (maybe a Family Fun magazine?)

Ingredients:
2 2/3 cups flour
1 ½ tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 or less tsp. salt
½ cup butter
½ cup shortening (I'm sure you could substitute this for butter if you're not a shortening-eater)
1 ½ cups sugar
2 large eggs

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°.  Mix shortening, butter, sugar and eggs.  Add soda, salt and cream of tartar.  Mix together well.  Add flour 1/3 cup at a time.  Roll into small balls (about the size of a shooter marble - like an inch in diameter).  Roll in cinnamon sugar.  Flatten slightly with bottom of a glass.  Bake for about 7-10 minutes (but watch them - you don't want them to really be brown, just barely golden at the edges).  Makes over 60 cookies.

Notes:
Last night I got the hankering for something sweet and I had just bought some cream of tartar this weekend with the hopes of using it for snickerdoodles sometime soon.  Turns out, a chilly Sunday evening in December is a perfect time to make snickerdoodles.  We inhaled these warm out of the oven with a mug of milk.  Mmmm-hmmm.  So delish!  Why do I only ever make snickerdoodles around Christmastime?  Hmm.

Quinoa Hoppin' Johnny

Source: Inspired by a dish at Firefly Fare in Roanoke, VA

Ingredients:
1.5 cups dry quinoa [keen-wa], prepared (I used this method, with broth; easy, quick, and turned out great)
1 can Great Northern Beans, warmed
1 cucumber, diced
2 tomatoes, diced
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Directions:
Mix cucumber and tomoatoes in a bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and add salt and pepper to taste. Top quinoa with beans and then add the cucumber and tomato mixture on top.

Notes: Ryan and I got to go on a dinner date to Roanoke and when we were walking around downtown trying to decide where to eat, we grabbed a quick Quinoa Hoppin' Johnny at Firefly Fare in the Market Square. I asked them what a Hoppin' Johnny was and the server replied by asking me if I knew what quinoa was. I proudly answered yes, but she never really explained what a Hoppin' Johnny was. Thanks to a little internet research, I now know it is a dish created in SC traditionally eaten with collard greens and cornbread on New Year's for good luck (I knew collard greens were eaten that day, but had never heard about this dish). The original recipe uses rice, red beans, and bacon, so obviously this version is a big twist on that. It is delicious, filling, extremely filling, and best of all, does not contain wheat, egg, milk, peanuts, or tree nuts!

Pumpkin Spice Rolls

Source: The Sisters Cafe

Ingredients:
4 teaspoons active dry yeast, or approximately 2 envelopes
1/4 cup milk
about 5 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1  teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom (I didn't have any so I left it out)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 large eggs
1/4 cup melted butter
1 3/4 cup pumpkin puree, or a 15 oz can of pure pumpkin
egg wash (1 egg lightly beaten with 1 Tablespoon of water)

Directions:
Heat milk to between 110 and 115 degrees (feels slightly warm on the back of your hand) on the stove or in the microwave and pour into the bowl of your stand mixer (I don't have a stand mixer, so I just used a large mixing bowl); stir in the active dry yeast, and let stand for at least 5 minutes.  Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, spices, sugar, and salt - I only added about 3 cups flour to this mix, then added the rest bit by bit as I stirred and kneaded, so it wouldn't become too dry), and mix well.  In a separate large bowl, lightly beat the two eggs, then stir in the melted butter and the pumpkin puree.  After the yeast has been activated, add the wet ingredients directly into the bowl of your stand mixer, and stir to combine. Then add 1/2 of the dry ingredients from the other large bowl, and stir to mix the dry and wet ingredients together.  After it is well mixed, add the remaining 1/2 of the dry ingredients and mix again.  Using the dough hook, allow your machine to knead the dough for you until it is smooth and still somewhat sticky (3-5 minutes) (or just do it by hand - it's relaxing!).

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, and cover to let rise for approximately 1 hour (it will double in size).  Then, remove the dough from the bowl, place it on a lightly floured surface.  Lightly grease a bar pan cookie sheet.  Cut or pinch off 18-24 evenly sized portions (depending on how big you want them) and roll them into balls that can fit into your palm (they don’t need to be perfectly round).  Space them in the pan so they are just barely touching the sides of one another; they will expand during the second rising time and during baking to completely fill the pan.

After your dough is shaped, cover it loosely with a towel, and let it rise for another 1-1 1/2 hours.  Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350 F.  Once your bread is ready to bake, brush the top lightly with the egg wash, and sprinkle dinner rolls with chopped nuts or pepitas if desired.  Bake bread for approximately 30-35 minutes (mine took less - more like 25 minutes), until browned, or until an instant read thermometer inserted in center reads 190 degrees. Remove the bread from the oven and allow to cool on a rack.

Makes 18-24 rolls.

Notes:
I had seen this recipe on The Sisters Cafe blog around Thanksgiving time and thought it looked intriguing.  When we decided to have book group at my house this month, and one of the girls offered to bring soup, I knew I had to try them out.  As they were cooking the house smelled amazing - like pumpkin pie and gingersnaps.  I admit I was a little worried that these rolls would turn out more like dessert than a dinner roll, but when we ate them, the spice and pumpkin flavors were very subtle, even though the scent was strong.  They were very fluffy and soft and delicious, and everyone loved them.