You know that feeling at the end of a filling meal when you want just a little something sweet? TIRAMISU is the perfect solution. Although it looks rich and creamy, it’s actually very light. In fact, give me a fork and I could easily ingest the entire pan. (Thank goodness for will power.)
While it’s extremely fast to prepare, and no-bake, it needs to be made at least 6 hours before serving to chill and set. To me, this is perfect for company. If I can get one thing done ahead of time, then mama’s a happy camper! (And you know what they say if mama ain’t happy!)
NOTE: This recipe can be doubled, using a 9″x13″ casserole pan.
TIRAMISU
- 1¼ cups coffee (brewed or instant)
- 4 T dark rum, divided
- 3 egg yolks
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 3/4 lb mascarpone, cold
- 6 T heavy cream
- 26 ladyfingers – DON’T buy the soft kind – they turn to mush. Buy the hard ones, such as Savoiardi.
- 2 T Dutch process cocoa, divided
- optional: chocolate shavings for decoration
NOTE: I would be remiss in my Queen of Freeze duties if I didn’t remind you that the unused egg whites removed from the 3 egg yolks can be frozen for future use!!!
In a bowl wide enough to dip the ladyfingers sideways (such as a cereal bowl), combine the coffee and 2 T of the rum. Set aside to cool. 
In the small bowl of your electric mixer, put the egg yolks. Beat on low speed about 5 seconds, just to break them up. 
Add in the sugar and salt. Turn mixer to medium speed and beat 1 minute. The yolks will turn pale and thick. 
Pour in the remaining 2 T rum and beat on medium 30 seconds. Add in the cold mascarpone and beat on medium for about 30 seconds, until there are no lumps. 
Empty mixture into a large bowl.
In the now-empty mixing bowl (you don’t have to clean it), pour the cream. Beat on high until soft peaks form. 
Stir 1/3 of whipped cream into mascarpone mixture to loosen texture. Fold in remaining whipped cream. 
Have ready an 8″x8″ pan (or it’s equivalent), the ladyfingers, and the coffee mixture. Holding a ladyfinger at the midsection, quickly dip one long, flat side into the coffee (submerge less than 1/4″ – don’t go midway), turn it over and dip the other side. Shake off any excess liquid. (The goal is to get just the outside portion of the cookie wet so it will remain crispy in the center – you want the coffee flavor, but not the mush.) 
Then place the dipped ladyfinger in the pan. Continue on, lining up the ladyfingers in the same direction, until the bottom is covered. By the time you get to the last one, they will have become somewhat softer. You can probably shove them together to make room for one more in each row. 
Cover ladyfingers with half of the mascarpone, smoothing evenly. 
Place 1 T cocoa powder in a small sieve. Stir the cocoa with a spoon to sprinkle cocoa evenly over mascarpone. (Cocoa tends to clump – the spoon breaks them up.)
Add the second layer of ladyfingers, dipping as above, laying them in the opposite direction of the first layer. Fit as many cookies as you can, although you may not need them all. Save the undipped ones for future use. 
Spread on remaining mascarpone evenly, then sprinkle on the remaining 1 T cocoa. 
Cover with plastic film and refrigerate at least 6 hours. (I make it the night before.) You’ll notice the cocoa will turn a deeper chocolate color due to condensation.
If you want to add chocolate shavings on top, run a sharp, non-serrated knife along the edge of a room temperature chocolate bar. I shave them onto a cold plate so they don’t get melty. (It’s easier to use a longer piece of chocolate, but this is all I had.)
Keep TIRAMISU in refrigerator until ready to serve.
Recently, I had a fabulous pasta salad topped with teriyaki sauce. The promised recipe never came, so I decided to create my own. The most difficult thing was developing the right taste for the dressing. (You can, of course, buy bottled teriyaki sauce, but as I keep saying, I like cooking from scratch so I know what’s in my food.)
Bring about 1½ inches of water to a boil in the now empty saucepan and add peapods. Let boil for 2 minutes – SET A TIMER! (You don’t want to over cook!) Drain and rinse to stop cooking process.
Pull the peapod body towards you. If there’s a string, it will come away from the peapod.
Then rotate the peapod 180º and do the exact same thing to the other tip to remove string on the other side. (Sometimes there are strings on both sides – they’re unpleasant to eat.)
At serving time, add remaining 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce and cashews. Stir to combine. Serve immediately.
Add in soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and sesame oil. Turn on burner to medium and stir while bringing to a boil. Turn down heat to keep a simmer. Continue cooking until thickened – about 4-5 minutes.
There will be a little teriyaki sauce leftover. Save it to revive leftover Teriyaki Pasta Salad, freeze it, or use it on something else. (Waste not, want not!!!)
One thing I love about egg dishes is they can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, and dinner – kind of a one-size-fits-all meal of the food world. (Even though one size does NOT fit all in the clothing world!)
If you’re using fresh spinach, thoroughly wash, dry, and coarsely chop. If you’re using frozen, thaw.
Add in spinach, 1/2 tsp black pepper, and 1 tsp salt. 
Cook over medium heat, stirring until spinach is wilted – about 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.
In the now empty pan, pour in the white wine. Cook over medium/high to reduce it to 1/4 cup. This happens fairly quickly so keep an eye on it. Remove from heat.
Spread on half of the spinach. 
Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the cheese. 
Add another layer of bread, the remaining spinach, and 1/2 cup cheese.
In a bowl or large measuring cup for easy pouring, whisk the eggs, half & half, reduced wine, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/8 tsp black pepper. Pour on top of spinach/bread/cheese. 
Cover with plastic wrap, pressing directly onto food. Weigh it down with whatever will fit. (I use another 8″ x 8″ pan weighted with bowls). 
Refrigerate at least 1 hour.
Bake at 325º F for 50-55 minutes, until starting to brown (I bake for 50 minutes). Remove from oven and let set about 15 minutes before serving.
I love skillet dinners – everything is cooked in the one pan. They’re generally fast and easy, and this one is particularly tasty!
Cut into 1″ pieces.
In a 12″ skillet, heat 
Remove mushrooms and extruded liquid to bowl and set aside. 
Heat remaining 
Add in garlic and cook another 30 seconds. Turn off heat. Add oregano, red pepper flakes, uncooked pasta, vegetable stock, and the water.
Turn heat to high and let cook, uncovered, about 12 minutes (stirring now and then) – until most of liquid has cooked out. 
Add in the broccoli, sun-dried tomatoes, and Kalamata olives. 
Cover and cook over medium/high for 2 minutes to steam broccoli (it will turn bright green). Don’t overcook.
Decrease flame to low and add in cream and Pecorino. Stir to blend and let cook uncovered about 1 minute to heat through. Turn off heat and taste for seasoning (I like to add 1/2 tsp salt.) Cover, and let set 5 minutes before serving.
Put the chopped beans in the bowl and add in remaining ingredients. Stir to blend. 
Cover and refrigerate at least an hour, preferably several hours.
Flip burgers and add remaining 1 tsp oil to skillet. (I flip them onto another spatula then nudge them onto the skillet.) Cook about another 4 minutes, until well browned. Once both sides are well browned, the crust holds them together.
Is it possible to have too much chocolate cake? I ask this because in the last 2 weeks I’ve baked 4 chocolate bundt cakes.
Add in the coffee crystals and pour in the boiling water. Cover with a plate and let sit for 5 minutes to begin the melting process. After 5 minutes, stir. It probably won’t be completely melted yet. Cover with plate and let sit another couple of minutes. Stir again and let sit uncovered to cool. Stir in sour cream.
Into another bowl stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. (In the picture I’ve not stirred yet.)
Crack all 5 eggs into a tall glass. You’ll be adding the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Rather than cracking them one by one (and maybe getting bits of shell into the batter) as you beat the batter, you can just pour them from the glass – they’ll pour out one at a time quite easily. Set aside.
Into the large bowl of your electric stand mixer put the brown sugar and oil. 
Turn on low to start (so the sugar doesn’t fly out), increasing to medium speed. Beat for 1 minute on medium. 
Add in vanilla and 1 egg. Beat for 20 seconds. Continue adding eggs one at a time, beating 20 seconds after each.
Dump in about 1/3 of the flour mixture (you can just estimate) and beat on low to blend.
Add in 1/2 of chocolate mixture and beat on low to blend.
Add in half of remaining flour mixture and beat on low. Add in remaining chocolate mixture and beat on low. Finally, add in remaining flour mixture, beating until there’s still a little flour showing. Add in chocolate chips and beat on low, blending until all of flour is incorporated.
Into a small bowl put the extra 
Using a pastry brush, coat the entire interior of bundt pan (even if it’s nonstick!). Use all of it – your cake will slide right out when done.
Pour batter into prepared bundt pan. TIP: Cover hole in bundt pan to prevent batter accidentally spilling into hole. The lid from a spice bottle works perfectly. So does a Dixie cup. REMEMBER TO REMOVE IT BEFORE PLACING PAN IN OVEN!!! (If you look carefully, you can see an indentation in my lid caused by me forgetting to remove it. I remembered after about 10 minutes in the oven. It melted a little, but is still usable for this purpose. And, more importantly, the cake was fine. 
Bake at 350º F for 45 – 55 minutes, gently rotating after 30 minutes. (Mine is done at 45 minutes, but your oven may not be as hot as mine.) Check for doneness with a toothpick. 
Because of the chocolate chips, there may be a little chocolate on the toothpick. Try another area to be sure it’s not raw batter (crumbs are okay). Let set 20 minutes in pan.
Place a rack on top and flip. 
Remove bundt pan – the cake will have dropped to rack.
Let cool at least 4 hours.
Some things are just meant to be.
Set out package of pastry sheets for an hour or so to thaw. (Overnight in the fridge is best.)
When pastry sheets are soft enough to unfold, remove them from package. Cut a piece of parchment paper (NOT waxed paper!) to fit a rimmed cookie sheet. Lay just the parchment (not on the cookie sheet yet) on the counter. Very gently unfold one of the pastry sheets and place it on one side of the parchment. (If the pastry tears, repair by pinching dough together with wet fingers.)
Overlap the other square on top. Press dough together firmly with fingers.
Using a pizza cutter or knife, trim edges so they’re straight. (You may not need to do this step.)
Paint entire rectangle with egg wash, but not the strips.
Place long strips on top of long edges and paint them with egg wash. There will be an excess of dough, which will be cut off.
Place the short strips along short side edges and paint them with egg wash. Cut off and discard overhanging dough strips. To help the border to rise straight upward (as opposed to up and out like mine did), press dough along inside edge of border.
Using a fork, liberally dock holes through cheese and pastry, 
Bake at 425º F for 12 minutes. Remove from oven. If the center has puffed up, deflate by poking it with a sharp knife in a few places and gently pressing dough down with a fork.
Sprinkle mozzarella evenly in cooked pastry, excluding the border.
Layer on the tomato slices. Using a pastry brush, dab tomatoes with all of garlic/olive oil mixture.
To prevent the borders from over-browning, cover with strips of foil. Bake at 425º F for 13-15 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with basil. Let set a few minutes before slicing.
Into serving bowl (which could be the bowl from above), place the romaine, tomato, olives, capers, mint, parsley, feta, and marinade with cucumbers/onions. Toss together. Pass around croutons, if desired.
Good old mashed potatoes. Straight forward. Easy to prepare. And, most of all, filling. This last one is important if you have picky eater children (I speak from experience).
Bring to simmer and cook until easily pierced with fork – about 35 minutes.
Sauté 5 minutes – until they start to lose volume and become a little browned. Decrease heat to medium and continue cooking until well browned (about 20 minutes or so).
Add in the port and letter simmer for 5 minutes to evaporate the liquid. 
Set aside.
Gently fold in melted butter. Add in half & half, bleu cheese, remaining salt, and pepper. Very gently blend together. Taste for seasoning and adjust as necessary.
Summer’s here and sometimes I just don’t feel like cooking….but I want a homemade meal. Gazpacho is the answer! It takes only a few minutes to prepare, NO COOKING, extremely low in calories, and it uses ingredients that are fresh from the garden (or farmer’s market).
Vegetarian Cooking For Carnivores BLOG 