Meal Type Archives - Page 35 of 61 - Food & Wine Chickie Insider

28 May 2013

No-Bake Blueberry Cheesecake

May 28, 2013 By Veronique Deblois

When I saw this beautiful dessert from the July 2003 issue of Bon Appetit, I knew it would be perfect for me Memorial Day barbecue. I’ve made some changes to the recipe and it’s light, pretty and delicious. I had the perfect quantity of blueberries from a giant container from my local Costco.

Crust with Butter

Crust Ingredients:

9 whole Graham crackers or 1 ¼ cups Graham cracker crumbs
½ cup old-fashioned oats (I used 2 envelopes of instant oatmeal and it was fine)
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
5 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Filling Ingredients:

1/4 cup water
2 envelopes of unflavored gelatin (about 1 tablespoon)
12-ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. freshly-squeezed lemon juice
3 cups fresh blueberries

Whipped Cream Over Cheesecake

Topping Ingredients:

1 cup chilled heavy whipping cream
1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
2-3 cups blueberries
2/3 cup blueberry or strawberry jam

Crust Baked

Crust Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Pulse first 4 ingredients in a food processor until mixture is finely ground.
Add butter and vanilla to the crumb mixture and pulse a few times until moist crumbs form.
Press crumb mixture onto bottom and 1 inch up sides of 9-inch-diameter springform pan. Bake crust until deep golden brown, about 12 minutes. Cool.

Blueberries with Jam

Filling Directions:

Pour 1/4 cup water into small saucepan and sprinkle gelatin over. Let stand 10 minutes.
Stir over very low heat just until gelatin dissolves. Set aside.
Blend cream cheese, cream, sugar, and lemon juice in a food processor until smooth. Add blueberries and puree until smooth with some blueberry bits, about 20 seconds.
With food processor running, add warm gelatin mixture through feed tube and blend well.
Pour filling into crust. Cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight. (Can be made 2 days ahead).
Run knife around pan sides to loosen cake. Release pan sides. Transfer to platter.

Topping Directions:

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat cream and sugar until firm peaks form.
Spread cream mixture thickly over top of cheesecake.
Place blueberries in a medium bowl.
Heat jam in microwave for 20 seconds or until just melted.
Pour jam over blueberries and toss to coat. Mound coated blueberries in center of cream, leaving 1-inch plain border. Chill cake at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.

Serves 10.

Filed Under: American, Cheese, Desserts, Fruits Tagged With: blueberry dessert, easy cheesecake, no bake blueberry cheesecake, summer dessert

21 May 2013

Family, Friends and Food in Quebec

May 21, 2013 By Veronique Deblois

Beet Salad

Last weekend, I flew up to Quebec to surprise my dad for his birthday. As always, the weekend was filled with an abundance of food and adult libations.

Lobster Dinner

Friday, the weather was nice and we opted to grill pork tenderloin kebabs that my brother-in-law, Etienne, had marinated in his special concoction a good part of the afternoon. Since it was also my mom’s birthday a couple days prior to my arrival, my nieces and me made my Chocolate Éclair Squares, an easy-to-fix, tasty and light dessert (perfect for Memorial Day celebrations).

Wines for Lobster Dinner

Saturday, my sister Josée, her daughters and me decorated her home for dad’s party and began cooking for the memorable dinner party. On the menu was a springtime salad of roasted beets, heirloom tomatoes, red onions, Mozzarella and basil. My brother-in-law boiled some lobsters and made his now-famous Lemon Butter Cream for dipping – fantastic. Dessert was a plate of vanilla bean cupcakes and my Zesty Key Lime Tart (minus the meringue and topped with whipped cream instead). The wine lineup wasn’t half bad either.

Poutine

Sunday morning, mom fixed us a big breakfast of eggs benedict with homefries and after spending the morning at our horse ranch, I headed back to the airport to catch my flight back to New Jersey. As I’ve grown accustomed to doing when I fly out of Quebec, I had a poutine to mark the end of my wonderful weekend.

Hope your weekend adventures were as delicious as mine were.

Cheers,

Veronique

Filed Under: American, Canadian, Chocolate, Cuisine Type, Culinary Travel Tales, Desserts, Entrees, Seafood, Sides, Vegetables Tagged With: beet salad, memorial day dessert, poutine, quebec vacation, wines for lobster

13 May 2013

Cremini and Spinach Crustless Mini Quiches

May 13, 2013 By Veronique Deblois

I’ve been doing the South Beach Diet for a few weeks and found that making breakfast from scratch each morning wasn’t very convenient so I started making crustless quiches for the whole week on Sunday afternoons and it’s been great.

While you can vary what vegetables and cheeses you add to the egg cups, this is one of the versions I enjoy the most. Feel free to serve with a little salsa – it’s delicious.

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. butter, divided
1 8-ounce package Cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 10-ounce bag fresh baby spinach
12 large eggs (sounds like a lot, but it’s really one egg per quiche)
¼ cup water
½ tsp. each salt and pepper
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Coat a 12 muffin pan with cooking spray, be generous.
In a large skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of butter over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes, until lightly golden, stirring frequently. Set aside.
In the same skillet, melt the remaining butter and cook the spinach for 3 minutes, or until fully wilted. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl (I use an 8-cup measuring cup for easy pouring), whisk the eggs with the water, salt and pepper until fully blended, about 1 minute.
Divide the mushrooms among the 12 muffin cups. Divide the spinach between the 12 muffin cups. Pour an equal amount of the egg mixture into the muffin cups over the vegetables. Sprinkle the cheese equally over the egg mixture.
Place the muffin pan on a sheet tray to catch any drips and bake for about 25 minutes, or until the egg is no longer runny.
Allow the quiches to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes then unmold and let cool completely.
Store in an airtight container. To reheat, place two quiches on a plate, cover with a paper towel and microwave for 60-90 seconds.

Makes 6 servings (2 quiches each).

Filed Under: American, Breakfast, Cheese, Eggs, Vegetables Tagged With: carb free breakfast, Cremini and Spinach Crustless Mini Quiches, easy breakfast dish, egg cups, no carb breakfast, south beach diet breakfast

Founder’s Fizz

April 22, 2013 By Veronique Deblois

It’s Springtime and it makes me want to start fixing cocktails to celebrate the nice weather. I just came across a delicious-sounding drink that I thought I’d share with you. It’s main ingredient is Sandeman Founders Reserve Porto. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Sandeman, it’s the world’s leading port and sherry company.

Sandeman is also encouraging Facebook fans to enter their own carbonated concoctions in the Sandeman CO2 Cocktail Challenge for the chance to win a trip for two to Tales of the Cocktail 2013. How neat a trip would that be!?

Ingredients:

2 oz. Sandeman Founders Reserve
1/2 oz. Ballentine’s Blended Scotch Whisky
3/4 oz. blood orange juice
3/4 oz. sweet honey-cucumber water (honey that has been diluted with water that has cucumber slices marinating in it)
Cucumber slice for garnish

Directions:

Add ingredients to your carbonator of choice and carbonate. Then pour over ice into a tall glass.

Cheers,

Veronique

Filed Under: Cocktails Tagged With: Founder's Fizz, Sandeman CO2 Cocktail Challenge, Sandeman Founders Reserve Porto, Tales of the Cocktail 2013

20 April 2013

Divine Squares

April 20, 2013 By Veronique Deblois

When I was a young kid growing up in Quebec, my mom and my friends’ moms tried to outdo each other by making scrumptious treats for our birthday parties. Not only were the birthday cakes over-the-top, but moms typically sent kids home with baked treats that they wanted to be sure other moms checked out an envied.

One of my friend’s mom out-shined all the other moms’ baked treats, and I’ve perhaps never had a better baked treat, than her Divine Squares.

The buttery base is chewy, the caramel layer is gooey and decadent and the chocolate topping provides just a bit of chocolaty crunch that’s hard to resist.

These could become the best treats you’ll ever make.

Crust

Crust Ingredients:

5 Tbsp. butter, melted
½ cup all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. baking soda
Pinch salt
1/3 cup light brown sugar
¾ cup Rice Krispies

Caramel

Caramel Layer Ingredients:

½ cup butter
1 14-ounce can of condensed milk
½ cup light brown sugar

Chocolate Topping

Chocolate Topping Ingredients:

½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1¼ cups Rice Krispies

Crust Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine all the crust ingredients in a medium bowl. Once the butter has been absorbed, press the mixture onto the bottom of an 8×8 pan.
Bake for 10 minutes.

Caramel Layer Directions:

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the caramel layer ingredients to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook the mixture for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Pour the caramel over the baked crust.

Chocolate Topping Directions:

Melt the chocolate chips by microwaving them for 30 seconds. After stirring the chips, if they’re not quite melted, return to the microwave for 15 seconds. Add the Rice Krispies to the chocolate and stir gently to coat.
Sprinkle the chocolate Rice Krispies over the caramel mixture to mostly cover the caramel.
Allow to cool for an hour then refrigerate at least 12 hours.

Makes 12 squares.

Filed Under: Canadian, Chocolate, Desserts Tagged With: carres divains, chocolate squares, chocolate treats, dessert du quebec, Divine Squares, quebec dessert, rice krispies treats

17 April 2013

Hasselback Potatoes

April 17, 2013 By FoodandWineChickie

Hasselback potatoes seem to be everywhere on Pinterest lately (are you following my boards on Pinterest?) and I loved the concept so I decided to use leftover cheeses from a recent cheese course to create my own version.

The accordion-fanned potatoes get their name from the Stockholm, Sweden restaurant that first served them – Restaurant Hasselbacken. While I use Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar and some aged Swiss cheese in this version, any kind of flavorful, melty cheese would work.

Ingredients:

4 baking potatoes (I used Russets)
1 stick of butter, very cold and cut into 16 slices
1 8-ounce bar of cheese, cut into 16 slices
1 tsp. kosher salt
4 Tbsp. olive oil
4 Tbsp. sour cream (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Scrub the potatoes and pat them dry with paper towels.
Using a sharp paring knife, carefully slice the potatoes very thinly, without cutting all the way through.
Tuck butter and cheese slices into each of the slits in the potatoes. Sprinkle each potato with salt and drizzle with olive oil.
Place the potatoes in a baking pan, cover with aluminum foil and bake for about 60 minutes or until tender. Remove the foil, baste potatoes with any butter that sits at the bottom of the pan and bake for an additional 15 minutes to crisp up the potato skins.
Remove the potatoes from the oven and serve with sour cream (optional).

Makes 4 servings.

Filed Under: American, Cheese, Potatoes, Sides Tagged With: baked potatoes, best potato dish, cabot seriously sharp cheddar, cheesy potatoes, Hasselback Potatoes

14 April 2013

Chocolate Bundt Cake with Chocolate Ganache

April 14, 2013 By FoodandWineChickie

A couple weeks ago, the nice people at Laura Secord, Canada’s largest Chocolatier, sent me a gift basket (read about it here). In the basket were premium-quality semi-sweet chocolate chips that I decided to use to bake a cake worthy of Laura Secord’s 100^th anniversary.

Cake Ingredients:

2 ½ sticks butter, softened, divided
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, divided
1/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 cup water
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
1 ½ tsp. baking soda
2 large eggs
½ cup sour cream
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

Ganache Ingredients:

8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
2 Tbsp. butter, softened
½ cup whipping cream

Cake Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Using ½ stick of butter, completely coat the inside of a 10-12 cup Bundt cake pan. Using ¼ cup of flour, completely cover the butter in flour.
Add the 2 sticks of butter, cocoa powder, water and salt to a small saucepan over medium heat. Stirring constantly, cook the mixture until melted and combined. Set aside.
Whisk together the 2 cups of flour, the sugar and the baking soda in a large bowl. Add the butter/cocoa mixture to the flour mixture and whisk to incorporate. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking after each one, until fully incorporated. Add the sour cream and the vanilla and whisk until smooth.
Pour the cake batter into the Bundt pan. Sprinkle the chips in the batter around the cake and push them down towards the center, not allowing them to touch the pan walls. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with just a few moist crumbs.
Remove the cake from the oven and cool in the pan for 20 minutes. Gently remove the cake from the pan and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Ganache Directions:

Add 6 ounces of chocolate chips and the butter to a heat-proof bowl. Heat the cream in a heat-proof bowl in the microwave for 2 minutes. Add the cream to the chocolate and butter and whisk until fully melted and smooth. Allow to cool for 2 minutes until the mixture has thickened slightly.
Pour the ganache over the top of the cake, allowing it to drip down the sides of the cake.
Sprinkle the remaining chips over the ganache.

Serves 10.

Filed Under: American, Chocolate, Desserts Tagged With: best bundt cake, best chocolate cake, Chocolate Bundt Cake, chocolate ganache

31 March 2013

Chocolate Éclair Squares

March 31, 2013 By FoodandWineChickie

Gooey éclair yumminess that you can eat with a fork!? Brilliant. Don’t feel like making pudding and whipped cream from scratch, no issues, just take a look at the “notes” section for shortcuts.

Pudding Mixture Ingredients:

2 cups milk
1/2 cup white sugar
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. butter
2 cups of heavy or whipping cream

Chocolate Topping Ingredients:

1/3 cup cocoa
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 stick butter
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Assembly Ingredients:

1 – 14.5 ounce package of Graham crackers

Pudding Mixture Directions:

Heat the milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat until it begins to simmer, about 2 minutes.
Combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a medium bowl. Add the sugar mixture to the hot milk stirring well until fully incorporated. Cook the milk mixture, stirring often, until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 3-4 minutes. Don’t allow to boil.
Remove the pudding from the stove and add the vanilla and butter.
Pour the pudding into a bowl, place a sheet of plastic wrap on the surface of the pudding and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the cream until stiff, about 4 minutes.
Gently fold the whipped cream with the pudding until fully homogenous.

Chocolate Topping Directions:

In a medium heavy saucepan, bring the cocoa, sugar and milk to a boil. Allow the mixture to boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from the stove and cool for one minute.
Add the butter and vanilla to the chocolate mixture and stir until the butter is completely melted.

Assembly Directions:

Place Graham crackers in a single layer on the bottom of a 9” x 13″ pan. Break crackers as need to cover the surface.
Spoon and spread half of the pudding mixture over the Graham crackers. Add another layer of Graham crackers over the pudding then top with another layer of pudding then Graham crackers.
Pour chocolate mixture over the top layer of Graham crackers.
Refrigerate at least 12 hours.

Notes: If you want to skip a few steps, simply use two (3.5 ounce) boxes vanilla instant pudding mixed with 3 cups of milk to create the pudding then add a 12-ounce container or thawed whipped topping instead of whipping cream.

Makes 6-8 portions.

Filed Under: American, Chocolate, Desserts, French Tagged With: Chocolate Éclair Squares, easy eclair dessert

17 March 2013

Michael Psilakis Gyro Spiced Sliders

March 17, 2013 By FoodandWineChickie

I sampled these sliders at the Morristown Buick Discovery Tour event last weekend. These are by far the most flavorful sliders I’ve ever had and a very good example of how delicious Michael Psilakis’ food is.

Gyro Slider Spice Ingredients:

12 tbsp. Cumin
2 tbsp. Coriander
8 tbsp. Yellow Mustard Seed
2 1/2 tsp. Cloves
2 tbsp. Black Cardamom
4 tbsp. Fennel
2 tbsp. Cinnamon

Tsatziki Ingredients (makes one pint):

1/2 English cucumber, peeled
5 cloves garlic, smashed and finely chopped
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
2 shallots, thickly sliced
1/2 cup fresh dill
1 1/4 cups strained Greek yogurt
1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
Kosher salt and cracked black pepper

Gyro Slider Ingredients:

12 2-ounce beef patties
12 slider potato rolls
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper
12 cornichons (optional)
12 frilly toothpicks

Gyro Slider Spice Directions:

Combine all spices in mixing bowl, transfer to airtight container.

Tsatziki Directions:

Cut the cucumber into very small pieces, even dice. Transfer to a mixing bowl.

In a food processor, combine the garlic, vinegar, shallots, and dill. Pulse until finely chopped, but not pureed.
Add the mixture to the cucumbers; add the yogurt. Fold together with a rubber spatula, adding the olive oil and lemon juice.
Season liberally with kosher salt and pepper, starting off with 1 tablespoon salt.
You can store the Tsatziki in a covered, clean jar in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Gyro Slider Directions:

Preheat a large cast iron skillet on medium high heat and coat bottom of pan with olive oil.
Season sliders on both sides with salt and pepper and dredge sliders in Gyro Slider Spice mixture.
In small batches of 3-4 patties sear sliders for approximately 1 minute per side. Allow to rest once cooked.
Remove excess grease with paper towel and repeat until all sliders are cooked.
To serve, place each slider on bottom of potato roll and top with dollop of Tsatziki sauce and cover gently with bun top and cornichon. Spear with toothpick.

Makes one dozen sliders.

Filed Under: Beef, Entrees, Greek, Sandwiches, Sides Tagged With: greek sliders, gyro spiced sliders, michael psilakis