Smoked Mozzarella, Tomato & Basil

This post is courtesy of my wonderful hubby Joe. For my birthday this year he came home from work early to make me dinner and did a wonderful job. We had this as an appetizer and it looked so good and tasted even better that I just had to feature it here on my blog. Although it is a pretty simple presentation, the taste profile of using smoked fresh mozzarella instead of regular fresh mozzarella really makes it different. If you are looking for something that looks wonderful and is very easy to put together, this can be one of your go to preparations.


Smoked Mozzarella, Tomato & Basil
From Colleen's Kitchen Therapy

Ingredients
1 1-lb ball smoked fresh mozzarella
2 vine ripened tomatoes
1/2 fresh basil, shiffonade
Extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper

Directions
Slice the mozzarella into 12 slices. Slice each tomato into 6 slices. Top each slice of tomato with a piece of mozzarella and some of the basil. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Caramel Cheescake

My birthday was a couple of weeks ago and I decided to make myself and cake and bring it into the office to share with my coworkers. I think if I have to choose my favorite type of dessert it would be cheesecake. I love the thick, rich, creamy decadence. I also love caramel. So I decided to put the two things together and it created one of the best cheesecakes I have ever made. I had a few people in the office say that it was one of the best they have ever eaten. The cheesecake was so moist and creamy, almost light and fluffy if that is possible. There wasn't a crumb leftover by the end of the day. I loved it so much that I am making again for Christmas Eve so if any of my family is reading this, make sure you save room for dessert on Saturday!

Caramel Cheesecake
Adapted from Cheesecake Supreme recipe in Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups finely crushed chocolate graham crackers

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk
3 slightly beaten eggs
7 oz caramel candies, unwrapped (I prefer the ones from Kraft)
1/3 - 1/2 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. For crust, in a bowl combine crushed chocolate graham crackers and melted butter. Mix until combined. Press crumb mixture into the bottom and 2 inches up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Set aside.

For filling, in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat cream cheese, sugar, flour and vanilla with paddle attachment until fully combined. Mix in milk until smooth. Stir in eggs and mix on medium-high speed for 1 minute until the mixture is fully incorporated.

Pour filling into crust-lined pan. Place pan in a shallow baking pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes for until a 2 1/2 inch area around the outside edges appears set when gently shaken.

Cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Using a sharp small knife, loosen the crust from the side of pan. cool for 30 minutes more.

While cheesecake is cooling, combine the caramels and 1/3 cup of the heavy cream in a small saucepan over medium heat. Melt and combine, stirring occasionally until all the caramel candies are melted. Add the additional cream to the mixture if it seems to hard. Pour warm caramel over top of the cheesecake. Let stand for 15 minutes. Cover and chill at least 4 hours before serving.

Split Pea Soup

Last Sunday was a soup cooking kind of day in our house. Joe was feeling a little under the weather and slept most of the day away on the couch. So I decided to kill two birds with one stone and make two kinds of soup for dinner and then use the leftovers for lunch during the week. I made chicken soup for the patient and a pot of split pea soup. I wish I had made a double batch of the split pea like I did for the chicken soup because it was so good but alas I did not. The recipe as is makes about 4 2-cup servings so if you are serving a crowd you definitely might want to double it. I can't wait to make it again.

Split Pea Soup
Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Soup Book

Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 celery stalk, thinly sliced
2 small carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 cup dried green or yellow split peas, picked over, rinsed and drained
4-5 cups chicken broth
8 slices bacon
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
1/4 tsp dried marjoram
1/2 tsp fresh thyme
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper

Directions:
In a dutch oven, over medium heat, warm the oil. Add the onion and saute until softened, 3-5 minutes. Add the celery and carrots and saute until just slightly softened, 3-5 minutes. Add the split peas, 4 cups of the broth, 3 slices of the bacon, parsley, marjoram and thyme. Reduce the heat to medium low and bring to a simmer. Cover partially and cook until the peas are tender, 55-65 minutes, adding the additional cup of stock if too much of it gets absorbed before the peas are tender. Discard the bacon.

Meanwhile using kitchen scissors, cut the remaining 5 slices of bacon into small pieces and cook in a frying pan over medium heat until crisp. Transfer to a paper towel to drain.

Use an immersion blender to puree some of the soup, leaving it as chunky as you would like (I like to leave some chunks). Alternately you can use a blender or a food processor to puree the soup if you don't have an immersion blender. Season with salt and pepper to taste, return the soup to medium heat, and simmer for 5 minutes longer. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Ladle the soup into warmed bowls and garnish with the bacon pieces. Serve immediately.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

This is another recipe that I have been making for many years that I just haven't gotten around to blogging about yet. I forget what I first made these cupcakes for but they were an instant hit. The original recipe came from allrecipes.com and I have since tweaked it here and there. I top them with cream cheese icing. When I first started making these, I did not own a food processor so let me tell you that grating the carrots by hand was quite an adventure and not something I looked forward to doing often. Now that I have my wonderful food processor with grating disc, that part is a breeze. Joe's coworkers had been clamoring for him to bring in a treat for awhile so the Monday before Thanksgiving I decided to send him in with something for the upcoming holiday. He requested these cupcakes since he had been telling everyone about them for awhile. He said they were a hit and gone very quickly.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups shredded carrots
1, 8 oz. can crushed pineapple, partially drained
1 batch cream cheese icing

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake pan with liners (recipe will make 18-24 cupcakes depending on size).

Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon & nutmeg on low in bowl of stand mixer with paddle attachment. Add sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla. Mix on medium-low speed until combined. Add in carrots and pineapple and mix until just incorporated, do not over-mix batter at this point.

Fill cupcake liners 2/3 - 3/4 full. Bake for 21 minutes. Cool completely on wire racks and ice when cool. Store in air tight container in refrigerator when not serving.

Mini Apple Pies

For the first time in a few years, I didn't host Thanksgiving. I gave the task over to my mom and she only gave me a few kitchen tasks for the day. One of them was apple pie. I have become the apple pie maker in my family for Thanksgiving. It just kind of happened. I think I was in high school the first time I decided that I wanted to make an apple pie and ever since then it hasn't been Thanksgiving without apple pie. Even when I am not going to be with my family for Thanksgiving, I still make them apple pie. I remember one time I sent one with my mom to upstate New York when she was going to have Thanksgiving with my uncle and his family. The tradition must go on. I have done different kinds of apple pies, traditional, dutch apple, etc. Since I had so few responsibilities this Thanksgiving I though I would take on a little bit of a challenge and make individual apple pies for everyone attending. I found the idea on Pinterest (which has become my new obsession by the way) and then set out to gather together everything I needed to make them. After all of these years, I am still in the hunt for the perfect pie crust. This year I tried one from Pioneer Woman and I think it worked out really well. At least everyone at Thanksgiving dinner said the pies were good. I didn't actually get to taste my own pie this year though, I don't know what happened, I just realized as I was driving home from my mom's that I never got to taste it. Oh well, I guess that means I will have to make it again.

Mini Apple Pies
Crust from Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:

For the pie crust:
2 ½ cups all purpose or pastry flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 cup cold butter, cut into chunks
¼ cup cold water

For the pie filling:
4 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into small chunks
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
4 tbsp butter, cut into 18 pieces

Directions:

Mix the 2 cups of the flour, salt and sugar together lightly in a mixing bowl or in the bowl of a food processor. Add the butter and lard chunks and cut into the flour using a pastry cutter or by pulsing the food processor. The mixture should look like large crumbs and begin to cling together in clumps. Add the remaining ½ cup of flour and mix lightly or pulse the processor two or three times. Do not over mix this flour. It should coat the clumps. Sprinkle the water over the dough and with hands or a wooden spoon mix in until dough holds together. Shape the dough into two discs. Chill in refrigerator for 1 hour or up to overnight.

In a separate bowl, combine the apples, sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg and stir to combine.

Roll one of the discs out to about 1/8" thick. Using a large round cookie cutter (I used a 4 1/4" round), cut out individual circles. Using a regular size muffin tin, line each cup with a piece of pie crust (I was able to get 18 mini pies using one pie crust recipe). Fill the crust with the apple mixture. Place a piece of butter on top of each pie. Top the pies with the leftover pie dough pieces. I used pie crust cutters in the shape of leaves, acorns and pumpkins but you could use anything. Bake in a 400F degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes until the pies are brown and bubbly. Let cool in the muffin tins for 10-15 minutes. Run a knife around the outside of each pie and remove from tins. Serve immediately or store in an air tight container until ready to serve. Serve with your favorite ice cream.

Chicken & Biscuit Pie

I think one of favorite feel good meals is chicken pot pie. It is great on a cold winter night, really kits the spot. A number of years ago I set out to create my own version so I didn't have to buy the pre-made ones in the store. This recipe has undergone many revisions over the years. It started with a typical pastry crust, then it moved on to biscuits in a can as the topping and I liked the biscuits better than the pastry crust. I think they soak up more of the sauciness when you are eating it but I didn't love using the pre-made biscuit dough. So recently I began experimenting with making a drop biscuit dough and using that on top. I am hooked. I am now able to season the biscuit dough bringing even more flavor for the dish. I think this is it for this recipe. All is good with it but I don't promise that it might take another turn in the future and redefine itself again. We shall see.

Chicken & Biscuit Pie
From Colleen's Kitchen Therapy

Ingredients:

3 large chicken breasts, cut into strips

1 medium onion, chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

2 cups low sodium chicken broth

1 cup milk

4 tbsp butter

4 tbsp flour

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp marjoram

1/2 tsp thyme

salt and fresh ground pepper

10 oz frozen mixed vegetables

10 oz frozen chopped broccoli

For the biscuit top:

2 3/4 cups bisquick mix

1 cup milk

1 large egg

1/4 tsp rosemary, crushed

1/4 tsp marjoram

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions:

Preheat the over to 375 degrees. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Season chicken strips with salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika. Cook in olive oil until brown on all sides and cooked through. Remove from heat. Let cool slightly, then shred. Set aside. After removing the chicken from the pan, add the onion and cook until soft and slightly browned. Add butter to the pan and melt completely. Add flour to melted butter and cook for 2-3 minutes until all the butter and flour are incorporated. Add chicken broth, milk, marjoram and thyme and stir to combine with the butter/flour/onion mixture. Continue cooking on medium high heat, stirring frequently scraping the bottom of the pan until the mixture comes to a boil and begins to thicken. Add the chicken, mixed vegetables and chopped broccoli and stir to combine. Pour into an oven safe casserole dish.

For the biscuit top, in a separate bowl, combine the bisquick, milk, egg, rosemary, marjoram, salt & pepper. Stir until all ingredients are well incorporated. Drop mixture in large spoonfuls over the top of the casserole. Bake, uncovered 25-30 minutes until biscuit topping is golden brown and casserole is bubbly. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.