Friday, April 13, 2012

Chocolate Panini

Ingredients:
1/4 cup fat-free evaporated milk
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/2 T whipped sweet butter, softened
8 slices of Brother Juniper's Struan bread
3 T bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips

Optional: 2 T chopped toasted hazelnuts

Preparing the panini:
Heat evaporated milk just until boiling. Add chocolate, let stand for 1 minute, then whisk until smooth. Let cool slightly.

Spread butter on one side of each slice of bread. Divide the chocolate mixture on the unbuttered side of 4 slices, leaving a little border. Press chocolate chips and nuts, if using, into the chocolate. Cover with the remaining slices of bread, buttered-side up, and press lightly.

Place the sandwiches in a panini press and grill at medium-high for 1 to 2 minutes or until nicely browned and the chocolate is barely melted.

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Fig and Goat Cheese Panini

Ingredients:
2 slices walnut or multigrain bread
3 ounces soft mild goat cheese, like Laura Chenel
3 T fig preserves
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons aged balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon olive oil

Preparing the panini:
Spread cheese on both slices of bread. Top one slice with preserves, pepper, and balsamic. Lightly oil outside of bread.

Place in panini press and close. Cook over medium-low heat for 4 minutes. Flip press over and cook 3 to 4 minutes longer or until bread is crisp and cheese has melted.

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Grilled Cheese, Ham and Jam Panini

Ingredients:
brioche bread slices
ham, thinly sliced
gruyere, thinly sliced
1/2 cup strawberry jam, with 2 T red wine mixed in
whipped sweet butter, softened to room temperature

Preparing the panini:
Lightly spread one side of brioche slices with the softened butter. Spread the red-wine strawberry jam on the other side of brioche slices. Layer ham and cheese on one slice of the brioche (jam side) and place the other slice of brioche on top, buttered side up. Grill until gruyere melts, about 2 minutes each side.

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Chocolate Parmesan Panini

Ingredients:
2 slices country bread or artisanal bread, like ciabatta
2 ounces dark chocolate (64%), coarsely chopped
6 thinly shaved slices parmesan cheese
cooking oil spray

Preparing the panini:
Layer one slice of bread with the chocolate and then with parmesan cheese and top with second slice of bread. Microwave for 30 seconds.

Heat a panini press, grill pan or skillet. Spray the surface and the outside of the bread with cooking oil spray. Grill until bread is golden brown and chocolate and cheese are oozing.

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Whiskied Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
4 cups all purpose flour
2 sticks butter
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup white granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 T vanilla extract
1 T whiskey
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3 eggs
1 12-ounce package mini semsisweet chocolate chips

Preparing the cookies:
Cream the butter with the brown white sugars. Add salt, vanilla, whiskey, baking powder and blend thoroughly. Add eggs and blend thoroughly. Add chocolate chips. Blend than add flour.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 18 minutes.

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Sweet and Salty Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
14 T unsalted butter, sliced
1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 T vanilla
1 T sea salt [fleur de sel, Hawaiian sea salt, or other coarse salt]
1 egg
1 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips [Ghiradelli bittersweet, 60%, preferred]

Preparing the cookies:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Stir together sugars, eggs, vanilla and salt. Brown the butter. Put 10 tablespoons of sliced butter into a hot skillet. As the butter starts to melt, it will foam up. Watch closely as the foaming starts to subside. You are looking for a caramel color and a nutty aroma. If the butter starts to burn, toss it out and start over. Add the browned butter into a bowl with the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter and stir. Add the brown butter to the ingredients in Step 1 and whisk for 2 to 3 minutes. Whisk in flour and baking soda. Fold in the chocolate chips. Using a 2-tablespoon scoop, place on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and move cookies to a cooling rack.

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3-Star Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1 T vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 1/2 cups flour, unsifted
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups semisweet or other dark chocolate bars, chopped into chunks

Optional: 4 cups of coarsely chopped walnuts

Preparing the cookies:
Beat sugar, butter and vanilla in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs until well blended. Add flour, salt and baking powder. Beat just until mixed. Stir in chocolate chunks and walnuts, if using. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 24 hours. This enhances the flavor significantly. [The dough can also be freezed for up to a couple of weeks, either in a large ball or after scooping out the individual cookies.]

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Drop cookie dough by 1/3 to 1/2 cup balls onto parchment-lined baking sheets, leaving plenty of space in between. For larger, flatter cookies, use the bottom of a glass) to flatten each cookie slightly. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes. [The cookies continue to cook a bit after you take them out of the oven.]

Cool on the baking sheet 2 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack. Cool completely.

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Thursday, April 12, 2012

Chocolate Covered Macaroons

Ingredients:
2/3 cup plus 2 T all purpose flour
1 14-ounce bag sweetened shredded coconut
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
2 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate, melted

Preparing the macaroons:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Place flour, coconut and salt in a mixing bowl and gently toss together. Stir sweetened condensed milk and almond extract together and fold into the coconut mixture until fully incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours.

Using a small (about 1 1/2 tablespoon) cookie scooper scoop spoonsful of the mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment. Bake macaroons for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the outside shell begins to brown.

Allow to cool completely, about 30 minutes before dipping the bottoms in the melted chocolate. Drizzle the tops with chocolate, and place on wax paper until the chocolate sets.

Makes 20 macaroons

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Sunday, April 1, 2012

Chocolate Cream Finger Pies

2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large egg yolks
1 1/2 cups whole milk
8 ounces chopped dark chocolate
1 T unsalted butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

* * * * * *

Ingredients for the topping:
stabilized whipped cream or 1 cup heavy cream whipped and sweetened slightly
grated chocolate or chocolate sprinkles or toasted coconut or other decorative topping

* * * * * *

Ingredients for the pie crust:
1 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 T butter
3 T vegetable shortening
3 T ice cold water
flour for dusting

Preparing the pie crust:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, mix flour and salt. Cut 4 tablespoons of butter into flour until it looks like coarse meal, and then cut in shortening until well blended. Add ice water and stir with fork. Then use your hands to gently work the dough into a ball.

Flour a rectangular sheet of wax paper, place dough ball in the middle, flour the ball, and cover with another rectangular sheet of wax paper. Roll dough out to a thickness of about 1/8-inch. With a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut dough roughly into 1.5-inch by 1.5-inch squares or other shapes

Place dough pieces on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Prick each piece a few times with a fork. Bake at 400 degrees F for 11 to 13 minutes, or until browned on the edges. Remove from oven. Cool completely.

* * * * * *

Preparing the chocolate cream:
In a heavy medium saucepan, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt.

In a separate bowl or large measuring cup, whisk milk and egg yolks until combined. Pour milk mixture into pan while whisking. Whisk until smooth.

Place pan on burner set to medium heat and cook, whisking constantly, making sure to scrape bottom and edges of the pan, until mixture starts to thicken, about 7 to 9 minutes.

Remove from heat and immediately whisk in chocolate, butter, and vanilla. Transfer hot filling to a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap so that the wrap rests in contact with the filling so a skin does not form. Refrigerate filling until cool, 1 to 2 hours.

Once filling and crusts are cool, spoon filling into a pastry bag fitted with a star tip or a quart or gallon size zip top bag. Also place whipped cream into pastry bag fitted with a star tip.

Squeeze about 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons of filling onto each little crust. Then top with about a teaspoon of whipped cream. Top it all off with sprinkles, grated chocolate, or toasted coconut. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Makes 60 to 70 bite-sized pies

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Stabilized Whipped Cream

Ingredients:
1/2 teaspoon unflavored gelatin powder
2 T cold water
1 cup whipping cream
pinch of salt
2 T confectioners' sugar

Preparing the whipped cream:
Sprinkle gelatin over cold water in small bowl to soften.

Scald 2 tablespoons of the cream; pour over gelatin, stirring till dissolved.

Refrigerate until consistency of unbeaten egg white. (This takes about 10-15 minutes.) Then, with a whisk, beat until smooth.

In a stand mixer with a whip attachment, or with a hand beater, whip remaining cream, salt and sugar; whip in the smoothed gelatin mixture, stopping to scrape the bowl twice.

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