Lemon Pepper Pork Piccata

Thinly sliced pork cutlets that are breaded and sauteed - laid upon a bed of pasta along with a sumptuous sauce made from the pan drippings along with lemon juice and zest, capers and butter.  Soooooo gooooooood.  Fancy-schmancy with little effort.  It takes about 1/2 hour to pull this meal together - and well worth every minute!

Lemon Pepper Pork Piccata

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 lb Thinly Slices Pork Cutlets

1 Lemon

2 Tablespoons Capers

2 Green Onions (optional)

3/4 Cup Flour

1 Cup Low Sodium Chicken Broth

1/2 Teaspoon Pepper, Divided (in other words, 1/4 teaspoon and another 1/4 teaspoon)

1/4 Teaspoon Salt

2 Tablespoons Butter

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil, Divided

Pasta for 4 Servings (prepared according the package instructions)

Step 1:  Zest your lemon and set the zest aside for later.  Juice the remaining lemon and save the juice for later in the recipe.  Clean and slice the green onions.  Set aside for later.

Step 2:  Step 3:  In a large skillet, heat 1 TB olive oil over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, in a shallow bowl or dish, combine the flour, salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.  Dredge each thinly sliced pork cutlet in the flour.  

Step 3:  You will cook the pork in two batches. Place half of your dredged cutlets in the hot pan.  Let cook until the bottoms are browned - then flip them and let cook until browned on both sides.  Remove from the pan and set aside.  Add the remaining olive oil to the pan.  Let the oil heat for a minute or two and then cook the remaining pork cutlets.

Step 4:  It's time to make the sauce!  In the skillet, add the butter and let melt.  Next, add the chicken broth and stir, stir, stir - all the while scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen all those great tasty bits of pork.  Add the lemon juice, lemon zest and remaining 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.  Stir and continue to let the sauce cook and reduce to desired consistency.  Taste and adjust seasoning of salt/pepper to your desire.

Step 5:  To serve, place the prepared pasta on a large shallow serving dish.  Lay the pork cutlets on top.  Pour the sauce over the cutlets.  Top with the capers and green onion.

Tip:  Instead of using regular pasta - try using lemon pepper pasta for a little extra lemony kick!

Pistachio Cheescake

Still looking for a fabulous dessert for the upcoming holiday?  This may be it.  It is rich, creamy and absolutely divine.  Original recipe can be found here.  I changed up the crust, but the filling is the same in my version.  Yum.

Pistachio Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Crust:

1.5 Cups Graham Cracker Crumbs (approx. 1 sleeve, crushed)

1/3 Cup Sugar

4 Tablespoons Butter, Melted

Filling:

20 Oz. Cream Cheese, Softened

3/4 Cup Sugar

1/2 Cup Sour Cream

1/4 Teaspoon Almond Extract

4 Eggs

1 (3.4-oz.) Pkg. Instant Pistachio Pudding and Pie Filling Mix

1 (12-oz.) Pkg. (2 cups) White Chocolate Chips

1/2 Cup chopped shelled pistachios (optional) - I did not use them

Topping:

Whipped Cream, for serving

Step 1:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a bowl, combine the graham crumbs, 1/3 cup sugar and butter in a bowl.  Once well combined, press onto the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.  Bake for 1 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool.  As well, once removed from the oven - decrease the oven temp to 325 degrees.

Step 2:  For the filling, in the bowl of a mixer - combine the cream cheese and 3/4 cup sugar.  Beat until well combined.  Next, add the almond extract and sour cream.  Beat until smooth.  Now, add the eggs one at a time.  Continue to mix until the egg is well blended into the batter before adding the next egg.  Once all eggs are added, add the pistachio pudding dry mix and continue to mix until well combined.  Then, add in the white chocolate chips and stir to combine.

Step 3:  Wrap the springform pan in tinfoil (this will prevent leaking as well as help the cake to bake evenly).  Pour the batter into the pan and top with pistachios if using.  Bake at 325 degrees for about 1 hour and 20 minutes (until sides of cheesecake are set and slightly puffed but center still moves slightly when pan is tapped).  Once removed from the oven, remove discard the tinfoil and cool the cheesecake in pan on wire rack for 1 hour. Cover; refrigerate at least 3 hours before serving.

Step 4:  To serve, remove from pan by running a butter knife around the edge of the cheesecake to loosen it from the pan.  Removes the sides of pan, slice and serve with whipped cream on top.

Enjoy!!

Chocolate Truffles

This is the one that started it all . . .I don't know where it originated, but I have been using this basic recipe for almost 20 years.  Wow.  

This recipe produces a very rich, decadent, velvet-like truffle center.  You will be sure to enjoy!

Chocolate Truffles

Yield:  approx. 30 (1-inch) truffles

Ingredients:

3/4 Cup Butter

1 Tablespoon Vanilla

3/4 Cup Cocoa 

1 (14oz) Can of Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 LB Vanilla Candy Coating 

Sprinkles or Colored Candy Coating (optional)

Part 1:  In a heavy saucepan over low heat, melt the butter.  Add the cocoa and stir until smooth.  Add the sweetened condensed milk and vanilla.  Stir until thick and glossy.  This usually takes about 5 minutes for me.  Remove from the heat and pour into a bowl.  Cover and let chill in the fridge for a 3-4 hours so that it can set-up.  I often leave this overnight.

Part 2:  Prepare a cookie tray by lining it with wax paper.  Once thoroughly chilled, form the dough into balls.  You can do this by using a very small cookie scoop (which is what I use) or you can just spoon a portion out and roll in your hands.  Be sure to work swiftly and quickly so that you do not let your body heat from your hands melt the dough.  Once shaped, place on the tray.  Repeat until all dough is formed.  Place tray in the fridge until ready to dip or coat.

Part 3:  To coat or dip, in a double boiler, melt 1 pound of vanilla candy coating.  Let cool slightly.  You want it to be fluid, but not too hot to the touch.  To dip, remove the dough balls from the fridge and one by one, using a fork, dip a ball into the vanilla candy coating, remove with a fork, shake the excess off and then place on a wax paper lined tray to let dry/harden.  To decorate, top with sprinkles or a zig-zag of a contrasting color in vanilla candy coating.  Repeat the dipping process until all truffles are coated.  Place in fridge to harden.  

To store, place in an airtight container and keep in the fridge.  They will last up to 8 weeks.

Tip:  You can flavor these easily by omitting the vanilla extract and adding your favorite flavor.  

Dulce de Leche Chocolate Truffles

The son of a friend of ours recently graduated high school.  And guess where he is going to college . . . .to my Alma mater!  I'll give you a hint . . . 

"Hail the Bison, Hail the Bison .. . ."

Still no clue?  Well, it's North Dakota State University.  And I'm pretty excited that he is going there.  Well, I'm excited when anyone I know decides to go to school there - not just him.

To celebrate, I made some truffles in school colors:  Green and Gold.  

How could I resist?  

I've made thousands of truffles . . .I've been rolling them now for almost 20 years.  I certainly have my favorite recipes.  however, whenever it comes to summertime - I get a little nervous about the weather:  specifically the heat and the humidity.  

And then I had a thought.  I love this blog - Hungry Happenings - this lady is my hero.  She makes such cool stuff .. .and is so incredibly creative!  I've had my eye on this recipe for a while.  I was intrigued by using the dulce de leche . . .and wondered if it could double as a filling for a truffle.  And so I tried it.  And it was wonderful.  

And don't be intimidated by these tasty morsels - they are very easy to make!  

Dulce de Leche Chocolate Truffles

Yield:  approx. 40 truffles using a 1-inch scoop

Ingredients for the Truffle Centers:

1 (13.4 oz) can of Dulce de Leche (I found it in the Hispanic section of our grocery store)

14 oz Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Ingredients for Coating:

1 lb and 4 oz of Vanilla Candy Coating

Optional:  Colored Candy Coating for decorating

To make the truffle centers:  

Step 1:  In a double-boiler, melt the the chocolate chips.  

Step 2:  Once the chocolate is melted and smooth, add in the Dulce de Leche.  Keep stirring until it is completely blended.  This may take a little work, but it will come together. Cover and let rest for about a 1/2 hour.

Step 3:  Line two baking sheets with wax paper.

Step 4:  Pinch off small pieces of the chocolate dough or use a small scoop.  Roll it into a ball.  Experiment with a variety of sizes to decide what size you like best.  I have a small, 1-inch scoop that I've used for years.   With your hands, roll the dough into a smooth ball and the place on the wax paper.  Repeat until all dough is rolled into balls.

To Dip:

Step 1:  In a double-boiler, melt the vanilla candy coating until smooth.  Let it cool down until you can easily touch it without it being too hot.   You want it to be fluid and warm, not hot.  

Step 2:  Dip each chocolate ball into the white coating (one at a time).  I like to do so by tipping the bowl slightly side-ways, tossing the ball in it, retrieving it with a fork and then tapping the fork to remove any excess coating.  Place on wax paper to set.  Repeat until are truffle centers are coated.

Step 3:  Decorate at own will :)  I melted a little green candy coating and also gold candy coating to drizzle atop the candies.  

Caprese Salad with Balsamic Glaze

Now that (I think) summer has finally arrived, I thought I'd share one of my favorite recipes:  Caprese Salad with Balsamic Glaze.  Just thinking about it makes my mouth water.  

It's a great summer salad:  cherry or grape tomatoes, fresh basil, fresh mozzarella and a sweet/tart balsamic glaze.  Very simple, very elegant and always delicious.  It makes a great side salad or a meatless meal.

Enjoy!

Caprese Salad

1 pint Cherry Tomatoes

1 fresh ball Mozzarella

5 large Basil leaves

3/4 Cup Brown Sugar

1/4 Cup Balsamic Vinegar

1/4 Cup Water

In a small saucepan, combine the brown sugar, water, and balsamic vinegar.  Stir together and heat over low until in comes to a boil.  Let boil for 30 seconds and remove from heat.  Let cool.  This will make enough glaze for 3 or 4 salads.

Wash and  prep the tomatoes by cutting each cherry tomato in half.  Place in a medium-sized bowl.  Next, prep your mozzarella by cutting the ball into small bite-size pieces.  Add to the bowl with the tomatoes.  Now, shred the basil and add to the tomatoes and mozzarella.  Use your discretion on the basil - you can always add more if you like.

Once balsamic glaze is cool to touch, drizzle over the salad and toss to combine.  A little of the glaze goes a long way.  Sprinkle with black cracked pepper before serving.  Delicious!

To save the extra glaze - place in sealed container (like an old small jar) and it should keep for 3-4 weeks on the shelf.

Pineapple & Cream Cheese Upside Down Cake

First things first:  I love holiday meals desserts.  I always find myself planning out the dessert first . . .and then the meal afterwards.  And truth be told, it was my hubby who found this luscious recipe from Dole. He was perusing the Sunday paper circulars and in the coupon section - there it was.  A coupon, a recipe, and a fabulous picture . . .

And yes, the above picture is from the Dole website.  I would have totally taken a picture of the one I made, but my camera is on the fritz.  I think that it's time to buy a new camera (any recommendations?!?)  BUT - the recipe did truly turn out like the photo above.  I was skeptical at first . . really, are the layers going to look that great?  And yes, they really did.  

Man, now that I am blogging about this, I really could go for a piece of this cake.  Except, it's all gone.  :(  It was that good . . .it disappeared quickly.  

And now for the actual recipe (as printed by Dole):

Pineapple & Cream Cheese Upside Down Cake

Ingredients:

1/4 Cup (Unsalted) Butter, melted

1/2 Cup Packed Brown Sugar

1 Can (20 oz) of Dole Pineapple Slices, drained

7 or 8 Maraschino Cherries (stems removed)

1 pkg (9 oz) Yellow Cake - plus the ingredients to prepare it

2 pkgs (8 oz each) Cream Cheese, softened

1 pkg (3 oz) JELL-O Brand Lemon-Flavored Gelatin

2 Eggs

Step 1:  Preheat oven to 350°F.  Spray 9-inch cake pan or spring form pan with nonstick cooking spray.  If using a spring form pan, wrap foil around the bottom.

Step 2:  Stir together melted butter and brown sugar in pan.   Place 7 or 8 pineapple slices in sugar mixture.  Place cherry in center of each pineapple slice; cut remaining 2 slices of pineapple in half and place decoratively around slice in center of the pan.

Step 3:  Prepare cake mix according to the package directions (if using cake mix larger than 9 oz., a 10 or 12-inch pan is recommended).  Pour half cake batter evenly over pineapple.  Beat cream cheese, lemon gelatin and eggs in bowl of an electric mixer until smooth.  Spread cream cheese mixture gently over cake mix.  Pour remaining cake mix over cheese cake in pan.

Step 4:  Bake 65 to 75 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Step 5:  Cool 5 minutes.  Loosen edges and turn out onto serving platter.

Reflections:  I made this recipe exactly as it states above.  Reflecting back, there are a few things I would suggest doing differently:

* Prepare your cake batters first and then set them aside.  After that, proceed with the brown sugar/butter and pineapple step.In the time it took me to make the yellow cake batter, spread 1/2 in the pan and then prepare the cheesecake batter etc etc - my brown sugar/butter started to leak out of the pan.  I was a little disappointed in losing some of that caramelly goodness!  

* The recipe says to "cut remaining 2 slices of pineapple in half and place decoratively around slice in center of the pan".  With my spring-form pan, there was no extra space - so I didn't do that.  However, in hindsight, I realize that the pineapple shrinks up a bit  when baking.  So, if you can wedge those pieces in there - you won't regret it!

* I know my oven temp is off by about 3-5 degrees.  And my spring-form pan is dark-coated, but it took me almost 90 minutes to bake this cake.  Granted, it was well worth the wait!  Be sure to plan-in that extra time (don't be thinking this will be baked in 65 minutes and then run off to pick up the kiddo from hockey).  Be sure to "toothpick" check the doneness and keep baking as needed.

* Experiments to Try:  as my husband oooooooh'd and awwwwwwww'd eating this wonderful leftover cake on Easter Monday, we had a few thoughts.  That's us - always thinking of the next cake :)  

What if you . . .

- replaced the water in the cake mix ingredients with the pineapple juice

- Somehow added coconut to this recipe.  We are at a controversy here:  hubby says that using coconut extract in the cream cheese batter would be best.  I think that adding unsweetened, shredded coconut into the yellow cake batter would be awesome.   Or, could you somehow use coconut milk in the recipe?  There is definitely room for experimentation here! 

- And then, what if we experimented with different flavors altogether different?  Could this method be used for other cake combinations?  I was pondering the possibilities this week when I wandered over to Jo and Sue's blog - only to find they did a Carrot Cake Cheesecake Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting.   I wonder if this method combined with that carrot cake would work?  Oh the possibilities!

Three Cheese Manicotti

It's Friday.  It's the second Friday in Lent.  What's for dinner?  Good question.  It's 4pm here and this is what I am craving:  Three Cheese Manicotti.

Of course, I have none of the ingredients on hand, it's snowing (hasn't stopped all day) and I really don't feel like going to the grocery store.

However, I am going to blog about it :)  It's a pretty killer manicotti recipe   It's one of those recipes you file under "fancy".  Even if it really isn't fancy, it was definitely fancy when I first learned how to make it over 15 years ago.  It was the first from-scratch recipe that I really mastered.  It was always the recipe that you made when you wanted to impress someone.  As well, you can assemble it a day ahead of time - which is especially nice if you are short on time or plan to serve this to guests.  Just put it in the fridge and then bake the next day.  Serve this with a green salad and a nice red wine and voila!  Dinner.  Or, if you have hearty carnivores in your household - use the manicotti as an accompaniment to a good steak (that's how I prefer it).  Or, if you enjoy a meatless meal - have at it!  Enjoy.

Three Cheese Manicotti

3/4 Cup Chopped Onion

1 Clove Garlic, Minced

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1-16oz Can Diced Tomatoes

1-8oz Can Tomato Sauce

1 Teaspoon Sugar

1 Teaspoon Oregano

1/4 Teaspoon Thyme

1 Small Bay Leaf

8 Manicotti Shells

2 Eggs, Beaten

2 Cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

1 and 1/2 Cups Ricotta Cheese

1/2 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

2 Tablespoons Parsley

1/2 Teaspoon Oregano

For the sauce, in a medium saucepan, cook the onion and garlic in hot oil until tender but not brown.  Add the undrained tomatoes, tomato sauce, sugar, 1 teaspoon oregano, thyme and the bay leaf.  Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 20-25 minutes until thickened.  Remove from heat and discard the bay leaf.

Meanwhile, cook the manicotti shells according to package directions;  drain.  Rinse the shells in cold water.

For the filling, in a mixing bowl, stir together the beaten eggs, the ricotta cheese, the Parmesan cheese, parsley, a 1/2 teaspoon of oregano, a dash of pepper and 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese.  Spoon the filling into the manicotti shells.

Pour half of the tomato mixture into a 2 quart rectangular baking dish.  Arrange stuffed manicotti in the baking dish.  Pour remaining sauce over the shells.  Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella over the top of the sauce.  If desired, cover and chill the manicotti for up to 1 day.

To serve, bake the stuffed manicotti covered in a 250 degree Fahrenheit oven for 35-45 minutes or until heated through.