Lemon Souffle with Raspberry Sauce

Katie and I pulled this desert together from a few recipes. It was very tasty, but the sauce was too sugary for the two of us. Total prep and cook time: about 1.5-2 hours (because some of the steps require allowing the mixtures to cool).

Lemon Souffle
some raspberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup half and half
1.5 tsp lemon zest
3 eggs, separated
2 Tblsp flour
1/4 cup lemon juice
dash of salt
dash of cream of tartar
powdered sugar (optional)

You can find the directions that we followed here: http://find.myrecipes.com. We added whole raspberries to the bottom of the ramkins before we filled them with the lemon mixture. This souffle turned out quite lovely. As they come out of the oven, immediately grate some dark chocolate on the top of them (stay away from that milk chocolate stuff). We would suggest letting the souffles sit for 5-10 minutes after taking them out of the oven, as they will continue to set. They'll be more like pudding if you eat them right out of the oven. You could wrap them in foil to keep them warm after you take them out of the oven.

We also made a raspberry sauce to go with the souffles; here's a modified version of a recipe we found at allrecipes.com

Raspberry Sauce

1 package (a pint) of raspberries
1/8 cup sugar (see note below)
2 Tbl orange juice (we just squeezed an orange)
2 Tbl cornstarch or potato starch
1 cup cold water

Combine 90% of your raspberries, sugar, and orange juice in a saucepan. In a dish whisk cornstarch into the cold water until dissolved and then add to the saucepan and bring to boil. Simmer for 5 minutes, while stirring constantly. Remove from heat and transfer to another bowl and let it sit for 5 minutes while it cools and thickens. While the sauce cools, chop up the remaining raspberries you have and place them atop your souffles, to add a little texture to them. Put a spoonful of raspberry sauce atop the souffles as well (and powdered sugar if you want: we didn't) and you're ready to eat.

Enjoy with a few glasses of fruity white wine and some Chet Baker and you're set!

Note on the sugar. We found that 1/4 cup of sugar was just too much for our preferences so we'd suggest to use between 1/8 and 3/16 cups.

Chocolate Amaretto Truffle Torte for Valentine's Day!

Sachin has perfected a decadent chocolate dessert. It is surprisingly easy and incredibly rich. We served a dinner party of 12 one recipe of this dessert and it worked out perfectly. You can make it the night before too (just wait to dust with cocoa powder). We give it a solid 5 stars for taste and fancy appearance to easy preparation ratio!

Happy Valentine's Day to all!

Ingredients

Crust:

1 C flour

1/3 C butter

½ C sugar

2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder (like scharffenberger)

Filling:

2 ½ C whipping cream

2 Tbsp milk

3 Tbsp amaretto liqueur

8 oz semisweet chocolate (I like 60-70% cacao)

3 oz bittersweet chocolate (about 82%)

Topping:

Unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions

To make the Crust:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Melt butter. Stir in sugar and cocoa powder.

Mix in flour until well mixed and mixture resembles fine crumbs. (I like to cut this with a pastry blade)

Press mixture into bottom of 10 inch springform pan. (do not use all of mixture if using a smaller springform)

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Remove and cool. (don’t overcook this or it will turn out like a Frisbee. I used 15 minutes the last time and it was perfect.)

To make the filling:

Melt chocolate (after rough chop) in double boiler and remove from heat.

Mix whipping cream, amaretto, and milk in a bowl and whip just until the mixture begins to firm up and hold shape. (?soft peaks?)

Fold chocolate into the whipped cream mixture until just mixed.

Pour filling over the cooled crust and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Sprinkle with cocoa powder and serve.

Serves 12 small pieces.

Valentine's Day Deserts

Your challenge this month is to CREATE a Valentine's Day desert. You can interpret the word 'create' however you wish. Good luck and may your cooking contain lots of love.

Winter Delights!

Venezuelan Christmas Bread
The bread that you see on the left is a traditional Venezuelan Christmas food called "pan de jamon" or "bread of ham." Gustavo's mother, Glenis, prepares this dish every year, and it is eaten at all times of the day. The bread includes raisins, olives, and prosciutto. It is delicioso!


Mussels in a Lemongrass-Ginger Tea Broth
When Jason and Katie were in Beantown visiting us, they cooked New England mussels for dinner. They prepared the mussels in a broth of lemongrass-ginger tea and served them with a baguette and a carrot, broccoli, fennel salad with a soy dressing. Super tasty!

Spaghetti Squash Calzone

This recipe was inspired by two recipes in the Moosewood Cookbook that happened to be on adjacent pages.

For the dough: Soften 1.5t dry yeast, 1T honey and 1 C warm water. In a separate bowl combine 1.5t salt, 2.5-3C flour (I used 1.5C whole-wheat and 1C bread flour). Add the water mixture to the flour along with 1/2t olive oil and knead for 10-15min. Cover, and place in a warm place until double in size (1hr). This makes 4 large/6 small calzones.

For the filling: Microwave 1 small spaghetti squash until soft, ~6min. Once cooled, scoop out squash and puree in food processor. Place in colander to drain. Gently press to push out excess water. Saute 1 small onion chopped, 1-2 cloves garlic, and mushrooms until nearly cooked. Add fresh spinach until just welted. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2C ricotta, Parmesan cheese, black pepper, and any combination of (oregano, basil, thyme and parsley). Add the squash and stir.

Preparing the calzones: Roll dough into rounds 1/4in thick on a surface lightly floured with cornmeal. Fill one half of the center with filling leaving a 1/2in rim. Moisten rim with water and fold the empty side over. Crimp the edges with a fork and prick the calzone a few times. Bake at 450 on an oiled pan for 15 min.

Serve with warm marinara sauce and sprinkle with parmesan. Make the dough in the morning or the night before and refrigerate it during the day. The filling and baking only takes about 30min! Provecho!

Spaghetti Squash Delight!

This was a yummy side dish. We had goat cheese and used it instead of the feta, but it could have used the saltiness so we would suggest no substitutes for the cheese. Jason found the recipe on allrecipes.com. We served it with a delicious maple syrup pork chops (recipe follows the squash) which we found on simplyrecipes.com.

Spaghetti Squash Mediterranean Style

Ingredients

• 1 spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise and seeded
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes
• 3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 3 tablespoons sliced black olives
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet.
2. Place spaghetti squash cut sides down on the prepared baking sheet, and bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a sharp knife can be inserted with only a little resistance. Remove squash from oven, and set aside to cool enough to be easily handled.
3. Meanwhile, heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Saute onion in oil until tender. Add garlic, and saute for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, and cook only until tomatoes are warm.
4. Use a large spoon to scoop the stringy pulp from the squash, and place in a medium bowl. Toss with the sauteed vegetables, feta cheese, olives, and basil. Serve warm.

Vermont Maple Syrup Pork Chops

Ingredients

• 6 pork chops (we used only 2 but kept most of the flavorings the same quantity and they were juicy!)
  
• Oil as needed for browning
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 Tbsp apple cider or white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• Salt to taste
• Flour as needed to thicken the gravy

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly brown the pork chops in a small amount of oil, then place them in a flat baking dish with sides.

2 Combine the other ingredients in a small saucepan and heat until warm; pour over chops. Cover and bake for 45 minutes, basting occasionally.

3 Place the pork chops on a warming platter and pour the sauce into a saucepan. Thicken it slightly with flour to make a gravy, salt to taste, and serve it over the chops.

Spaghetti Squash it is...

Hey guys,

Since Jason came to visit this weekend, we jumped on the opportunity to pick the ingredient of the month and cook it....so here it is...
Spaghetti Squash!

Stringy and yummy...can't beat it.

Katie