Sweet 'n Savory Panini

Featuring Stonewall Kitchen's Fig & Walnut Butter (a Maine food I can't live without!), I introduce you to an amazing savory 'n sweet panini!  It is Fig Walnut, Mozerella and Prosciutto Panini that will make you melt entirely!  The combination of sweet Fig & Walnut butter with the salty Prosciutto is perfect.  Add oozing mozerella with a crisp ciabatta roll, and well, what more could you want? You don't even have to turn this into a panino, as the combination works well as antipasto at room temperature.  Chris thinks I should recommend it to Duckfat!

By the way, did you know that Panino is singular, and Panini is plural? Similarly, antipasto is singular, and antipasti is pural?  Aha!

Also, we enjoyed this Fig & Walnut Butter the other night with Ina Garten's Herb Marinated Pork in her new Back to Basics book.  It also went very well with the roasted butternut squash that we served on the side.  I would have posted pictures, but it was gone in a flash!

Stay tuned! And, please if you would be so kind, leave me comments on the blog (versus facebook!). Also, I am working on improving picture quality on this blog.

Homemade Granola

Cherry, Almond, and Cinnamon Granola is a fantastic breakfast treat for this time of year.  The smells of cinnamon and toasted almonds emanating from your oven will make you happy that it is fall.  This  recipe is Ina's own variation, featured on her Food Network show.  It is based on her granola recipe in The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook.  

Here are few changes I make.  I thoroughly mix the dry ingredients before adding the vegetable oil and honey.  Instead of a sheet pan, I use a my roasting pan so that the granola doesn't spill over when it is stirred.  In addition, after reading some of the comments on the Food Network website, here are a few things to try next time.  Adding the coconut and cherries late in the cooking process since they have a shorter cooking time.  Lowering the oven temperature and doing more of a slow bake.  I will also try adding some brown sugar to make it a little sweeter. 

I have made this recipe probably a dozen times, and it is generally a big hit, but even the best of things can be improved upon, right?  This recipe makes a nice hostess gift or holiday gift wrapped in a cellophane bag with a piece of raffia. 

les Mendiants

Inspired by a blog I discovered recently out of New Zealand, and with an invitation to a Girls' Night-In, I put my efforts yesterday afternoon into making les Mendiants, a french confection - pure gourmandise,  At Down Under.  Gorgeous desserts and fantastic photography.  What more could you want when you are in the middle of a boring afternoon.  It is almost like you can put your hand into the picture and have a bite.  That failing, I decided to try a recipe.

The recipe for les Mendiants?  Easy!  Melt 120g dark chocolate, pour into silicone muffin pans, let set a bit, and then delicately place nuts and dried fruits on top.  Throw them into fridge to set further, commend yourself for being awesome, and then just pop them out of the pan.  This is the trick for a fabulous, chic and artistic dessert.   I tried making some with Callebaut white chocolate, and they were amazing as well. Because were were going to be a bunch of American moms drinking wine, I decided that a few chocolate covered pretzels would be a nice complement to les mendiants.

Ina has a recipe for French Chocolate Bark in her Back to Basics book, with dried apricots, dried cranberries, and cashews.  She actually doesn't do this with her bark, but next time I will try adding a teaspoon of instant espresso to the dark chocolate to intensify the flavor.  Ina likes using a combination of semi-sweet and bittersweet chocolate.  Will make a note to try that as well.

Entertaining with Brunch

Brunch makes a great party, especially when there are bellinis and lots of hearty comfort food.  In Barefoot Contessa Parties! Ina Garten says "A good party is not about the food, it's about the people."  What she is saying is that you don't want to put all of your effort into the food and leave other details like spending time with meaningful guests out as you entertain.  The great thing about a brunch party is that it is the perfect time to serve foods that can be prepared in advance, such as coffee cake and quiche, as well as purchased items such as biscuits and fruit.  You don't want to have to get up at the crack of dawn to make everything from scratch that morning, right?  Here is the menu along with some photos of the food I served at Finn's Baptism Brunch recently.  Below you will also find the recipe from my mother-in-law Meredith (aka Bene) for the Cheddar-Jack Quiche.  Note that this menu was for a pretty special occasion with about 20-25 guests.  It could easily be scaled back for entertaining just a few more casually.

Another good tip:  call upon others to help!  Bene helped me make 5 quiches and nearly 50 cupcakes for this event.   Maybe I should have called this blog Cate & Bene?

Menu

bellini bar

oj, coffee
green fruit bowl with vanilla yogurt
spinach dip with parmesan crostini
new york style crumb cake
bene’s cheddar-jack quiche
rm cream cheese biscuits
sausage ‘n bacon
signature salad
heirloom chocolate cupcakes

 Bene's Cheddar-Jack Quiche

Line bottom and sides of quiche dish (9") with pie crust.
Layer 2 cups of shredded monterey jack cheese.
Next, layer 1 cup shredded orange extra-sharp cheddar
Beat 3 extra large eggs or 4 medium eggs.
Add 1 cup half & half to the eggs.
Pour egg mixture into the pie crust.
Layer pieces of provolone cheese (2 slices cut into pieces)
Sprinkle top with another 1/2 cup of cheddar.

Bake 375 degrees for about 30 minutes until center feels firm to the touch.

The quiche freezes very well, especially with individual slices wrapped in aluminum foil.  Very handy for lunch or a lazy Sunday morning.

Heirloom Chocolate Cake II

Since the Heirloom Chocolate Cupcakes were such a big hit at Finn's Baptism Brunch, I decided to try the recipe as a sheet cake for our recent Halloween Playdate.  It was also a fun opportunity to make spider webs.  I drew concentric circles with Wilton Sparkle Icing in black and then used a toothpick, starting from center and moving outwards, to create the web design.  I have to say that it was easy and fun to do!  For the spider, I used Wilton's orange icing color to dye some marzipan, or almond paste, and then turned it over to my husband Chris.  When given a task he doesn't mess around.  He is quite handy!

Heirloom Chocolate Cupcakes

This recipe was featured at a Baptism Brunch I recently had for my baby Finn.  It is a recipe from Finn's Great Great Grandmother Johnson, on his father's side of the family.  My mother-in-law found the recipe and we worked together to bring the cupcakes back to fruition.  The recipe called for sour milk, which we substituted with sour cream, and the original recipe also called for a smaller amount of chocolate than we thought would be best.  We suspect that the baking chocolate squares were larger during her time.  So we doubled the amount of chocolate.  Finally, Ina Garten recommends adding coffee to intensify the flavor chocolate.  So we added a teaspoon of instant coffee.  Result: splendid!  Packed with chocolate flavor without being overly sweet.  Light cake with nice density.

Sour Milk Chocolate Cake from Great Great Grandma Johnson (Modern Day version)

1/2 c butter, room temperature
1 1/2 sugar
1T vanila
3 large eggs, separated
1+ cup sour cream
4 squares unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 t instant coffee or espresso
2 cups cake flour, sifted
1T baking soda
1/2 t salt
1T baking powder

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2.  Butter and flour cupcake pan
3.  Cream butter and sugar (adding sugar gradually) until the mixture is fluffy.  Add vanilla and slightly beaten egg yolks and mix well.
4.  Add melted chocolate with 1 teaspoon instant coffee or espresso and combine.
5.  Sift dry ingredients together.
6.  Add milk and dry ingredients alternating 3 times, ending with the dry.
7.  Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites.
8.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes for 2 layer cakes, or 20 minutes for 24 cupcakes.

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 c butter, room temperature
2T vanilla
1 lb confectioner's sugar

1.  Beat butter and cream cheese
2.  Add vanilla
3.  Gradually beat in sugar.

This frosting recipe is the perfect amount for 24 cupcakes.

I used Royal Icing for decorating the cupcakes with green dots. The recipe was from an Ina Garten contemporary and acquaintance Sara Foster.  The book:   The Foster's Market Cookbook.  I substituted 1T water for the lemon juice.  The icing is great for decorating as it keeps a nice shine after in hardens up a bit.

* The cupcakes freeze very nicely for up to 2 months wrapped individually in wax paper and enclosed in a freezer ziplock bag.

Parmesan Roasted Broccoli

Delicious! Double the recipe because you will want seconds. A wonderful new way to make broccoli from Ina Garten's latest cookbook, Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics. Would pair well with a white fish or roast chicken. I only added Parmesan Reggiano shavings on top for garnish. What really makes this recipe different is the combination of Parmesan and lemon with the broccoli. The grated lemon rind and juice added just after roasting makes the broccoli surprisingly light and refreshing.