Bolognese Sauce

Your pasta will thank you!! :)

In a large saucepan, heat 4 Tblsp. olive oil, add:

4 tblsp. chopped bacon (pre-cooked)

1 cup grated celery

1 cup grated onion

1/2 cup grated carrots

6 cloves smashed, minced garlic

Saute over med. heat until fragrant and vegetables are cooked & translucent.

Add 1# ground round & 1/2# ground veal or pork (or combination)

Continue cooking, breaking up meat as it browns, stirring often.

Once meat is cooked, add a large can (16 oz) of crushed tomatoes and a large can (16 oz.) of plum tomatoes (with juice), breaking up tomatoes .. and a small can (6 oz) of tomato paste. ( If desired, add a half cup of wine - I leave it out.)

Season with a couple tsps. of basil (fresh or dried), salt & pepper to taste, 1/2 tsp. oregano, couple tsps. of chopped parsley, a few shakes of cayenne.... Cover and simmer on med-low heat for 1-1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Check for seasonings - stir in 1/2 cup cream (heavy cream or half and half) to sauce. Add some sauce to cooked pasta, tossing to cover - add more after plated. Serve with or without shaved parmesan.

Spritz Cookies

These are my daughter's  (Amie) favorites!! The browned butter in the icing gives the cookies a rich, nutty-like flavor.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a mixing bowl, combine and mix well:

1-1/2 C. (3 sticks) butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. baking powder

3-1/2 cups flour

When thoroughly mixed, put dough in a cookie press (I use a Pampered Chef 'gun') & squeeze onto cookie sheets, leaving a little space between each one. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges begin to turn golden.

Remove from oven and cool before frosting.

Browned butter icing:

In a medium saucepan, on med-low heat, melt 6 Tblsp. Kick the heat up to medium, stir the butter as it's heating up, watching it CLOSELY. After a few minutes, it will begin to foam. Stir and continue to watch VERY closely (the butter goes from golden brown to BURNED in no time!!) and the second the butter gets golden brown (little speckles will form on the bottom of pan) remove from heat and stir - it will continue cooking. Don't wait for butter to cool; add 3 cups powdered sugar and stir ... add a teasp. of vanilla extract. Add milk SLOWLY, a Tblsp. at a time, mixing well, until a spreading consistency is reached. You might need to add a bit more powdered sugar or a bit more milk, depending on how thick you'd like the icing. It will harden rather quickly, so shake sprinkles on the cookies immediately after frosting each, unless you want to keep them plain.

Individual PB Cup Cheesecakes

These are individual cheesecakes, baked in cupcake papers, with a crust, a Reese's cup on top of the crust, then covered with cheesecake batter. After they're baked & cooled, a spoonful of chocolate ganache puts the proverbial icing on the cake!! Recipe will be posted soon! :)

Heat oven to 350º - line muffin pans with cupcake papers.

2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
unwrap a couple dozen mini Peanut butter cups

Beat cream cheese, 2/3 cup sugar, 3 eggs, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla with mixer until smooth. Put a spoonful into each muffin paper- top with a mini PB cup.  Put another larger 
spoonful of batter over (completely cover PB cup).  

Bake 13-16 minutes, until the cheesecake is set.

Remove from oven. Cool completely.

Make a chocolate ganache -

Heat 1 cup of heavy whipping cream (LOW heat - do NOT boil!!) - add 2 cups of chopped up semi sweet chocolate (can use half semi sweet and half bittersweet)  and stir continually until chocolate is totally melted & incorporated.

Spoon chocolate over each cheesecake. Refrigerate.

Baked Apple French Toast

This is a WONDERFUL 'overnight' french toast that can be prepared in the evening & tossed into the oven the next day -- perfect for a holiday morning breakfast!! This version reminds me of caramel apples and autumn!!

Grease a 9 X 13" pan.

Tear/dice up 6 large (or 8 small) croissants or any buttery type of dinner roll.  Lay them in the pan.

Spoon 2 cups chunky applesauce over the cut up bread and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp. cinnamon.

In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and whisk together:

6 eggs

2 C. milk

1/3 C. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/8 tsp. salt

Pour over bread/apple mixture evenly.  Cover tightly and refrigerate at least 4 hours - preferably overnight.

When ready to bake - let sit on the counter for 1/2 hr. to remove chill.

Heat oven to 350º.

While oven is heating prepare topping.

In a small bowl, combine:

6 T. flour

1/2 C. brown sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

and 

CUT in 6 Tblsp. cold butter using a pastry blender (or knives), cutting it in until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Sprinkle the crumbs evenly over the bread in the pan.

Bake loosely covered for 40 minutes.  Remove from oven, uncover and bake another 10-15 min. until topping becomes golden and the center is completely set.

Serve with warm syrup or caramel topping (& chopped, toasted nuts, if desired).  We had ours with Trader Joe's caramel sauce, which was an excellent choice!! This tasted like FALL!!!

Buttery Pecan Crisps

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, cream together:

1/2 cup soft butter

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup flour

1 cup chopped, toasted pecans (before making cookies, bake pecan halves for 8-10 min. @350... cool & chop up)

Form cookies in 3/4" balls, place on ungreased sheets, leaving a little bit of space (but these cookies don't spread out). Flatten them slightly. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until the edges are golden. 

While still warm, put a cup of powdered sugar in a bowl & gently toss warm cookies in the powdered sugar. Cool.

Meat Pies (bridie, pasty...)

These little meat pies are called many different things, have many variations & you can alter the filling in a million ways!  And do NOT think of Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd when you hear 'meat pies'. :D The little pies I baked may not LOOK fantastic, but they are delicious.  I have not perfected pie folding, so bear with me. 

This makes approx. a dozen. 
For the filling, in a pan, heat a tblsp. cooking oil and add one to 1-1/4# ground round.
Saute for 5 minutes and then add 1/2 cup minced onion and a clove of minced garlic, 2 shredded carrots, 1/4 cup shredded green pepper.
Stir and continue cooking another 10-15 minutes until vegetables are soft and meat is totally cooked. Drain completely.

Add 1 heaping tsp. beef base (comes in a jar - it's like a bouillon paste and MUCH better!!), 1/2 tsp. Trader Joe's 21-season salute (or all-season like Ms. Dash), 1/4 tsp. black pepper, 1/4 tsp. salt, 4 Tblsp. worcestershire sauce.  Pour 2/3 cup water over everything and stir. If it looks like there isn't enough liquid (you don't want it swimming in water!), add a tad more.  Cover and simmer for an hour.  If you like vegetables (like peas, potatoes, turnips), add them mid-cooking time.

In a small cup or bowl, stir together 2 tblsp. flour and enough COLD water to make a smooth paste.  Add to the pot - stir to thicken the meat/gravy.  Once it's thickened, taste & adjust seasonings if needed.
Cool down until the meat isn't steaming hot - it won't work if you put hot meat into the cool pie crust.

Heat the oven to 400º.

Have pastry ready (enough for a 2 crust regular pie), rolled out and divided into 10-12 equal pieces.  You can cut these in circles (then add filling and fold over) or squares (same thing, but make triangles).

Put a Tblsp. (or more) of filling into the centers of each pc. of pastry.  Fold the top half of the pastry over the filling, pressing down the edges to seal.  You can crimp it with a fork.

Put on ungreased baking sheets, leaving a little space between each meat pie.  Bake for 18-24 minutes, until the crust turns golden colored.  

Remove from the oven and cool on racks.  

Cauliflower Bacon Frittata

A frittata is an Italian 'open faced' omelette, a quick, easy & satisfying meal for ANY time of day or night!

Have ready: 3-4 cups cooked, chopped cauliflower.

Saute 8 slices of chopped bacon - half way thru cooking time, add 1/2 cup diced onion and continue cooking until onion is soft & bacon is done. Drain and pat grease. Set aside.

Crack a dozen eggs in a bowl, add 4 Tblsp. water & season with S&P, pinch of cayenne & any blend herbs/spices you like. With a wire whisk, beat eggs thoroughly. Stir in a tblsp. chopped parsley.

Heat a nonstick 10" pan that's been sprayed with nonstick spray. Pour in the eggs and as they're cooking, 'lift' the sides of the cooked eggs, allowing the uncooked eggs to slide underneath. Carefully continue this, making sure the eggs don't get TOO scrambled up.

When eggs are fairly cooked, spoon the cauliflower mixture evenly over the top of the eggs. Place under the broiler (not TOO close to the heat) and continue cooking until the top is set, checking often to make sure it doesn't overcook. Remove from heat. Top with shaved colby-jack, cheddar or whatever kind of cheese you like (and as much as you like!) and return to broiler until the cheese melts.

Slide frittata onto a plate - wait a minute or 2 and then slice into wedges.