Recipes

Goat Cheese Puff Pastry with Raspberry Chili Chutney

3 · Jan 24, 2013 · 2 Comments

Goat Cheese Puffs with Raspberry Chili Chutney // Morning everyone!! I don't know if you happened to see yesterday's post about my Raspberry Chili Chutney? Today, I have the perfect appetizer made with puff pastry, goat cheese and topped with my chutney, and it's SUPER easy!!

This recipe couldn't be easier… It was inspired by Marcela Valladolid from Food Networks Mexican Made Easy show. I had been watching her show and this recipe caught my attention. Earlier in the month I had been invited to a cooking club here in Lincoln. The challenge for January was appetizers and decided I wanted to give this recipe a go. I loved that it was a little different, not your normal boring cheese and cracker type appetizer. It's light and classy with a lovely burst of flavor from the chutney. Frankly, it's divine!

Goat Cheese Puff Pastry with Raspberry Chili Chutney

1 package frozen Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry

11 oz. goat cheese

1 1/2 cups of Raspberry Chili Chutney

Agave

Directions

Thaw the puff pastry according to package directions. Flour your rolling and cutting surface. Gently unfold the pastry and roll it out a bit just to smooth out the dough. Using a round 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter cut the pastry dough into rounds.

I used a jumbo decorator tip from Sweet Baking Supply, generally used for decorating cakes as a round tool to score the tops of the rounds. You don't want to cut all the way through the dough when scoring. You just want to create a neat round that will make it easier to fill your pastry once baked. Place the pastry in the oven and bake according to package directions. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack to cool for a few minutes.

Once cool, gentle with your thumb push down on the scored round section of your little puff pastry bite. It will neatly push through and create a perfect little cup for you to add a bit of goat cheese. Take your goat cheese which has been sitting out at room temperature for about an hour and place little bite sized spoonfuls into the round center of the puff pastry. Top with a little dollop of the raspberry chili chutney and drizzle with a little bit of agave.

This recipe yields approx. 40 bite sized appetizers.

If you are a puff pastry lover like I am, here is another recipe that I know you are going to love… Nutella Marshmallow Puffs!

What are some of your favorite appetizers? Do you like to be adventurous or do you like to stick with the classics?

Raspberry Chili Chutney Recipe

26 · Jan 23, 2013 · 11 Comments

Raspberry Chili Chutney Recipe // I was recently invited to a cooking club here in Lincoln and it gave me the perfect opportunity to try out a recipe that I saw not too long ago on the Food Network… Raspberry Chili Chutney.

I have to admit, I am a totally Food Network foodie. I love to have the various shows on in the background when I'm working or getting ready for they day. I don't often have a chance to cook some of the recipes, but I feel like I learn so much just from listening to all the different chefs talk about their special recipes and techniques. The other day I had the show Mexican Made Easy on in the background and a recipe caught my attention. It's a recipe that's perfect for a cocktail party or a tasty hors d'oeuvre for a dinner party. The Goat Cheese Squares with Raspberry Chili Chutney recipe looked just divine, so I thought I would give it a go. Before you can make the tasty little bite you have to make the chutney first and that's what this post is about.

Ahhhhh the chutney, it's so amazing… I actually made another batch after my first go to keep in the fridge to use as a condiment for other meals. Yea, it's that good. Here is my version of the recipe. It has been inspired by Marcela's recipe, but with a few little tweaks for my taste.

Raspberry Chili Chutney Recipe

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup low-salt beef broth
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup honey
1 tablespoon ginger paste or fresh peeled and minced ginger
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce, left whole
1 teaspoon adobo sauce from the chipoltle pepper can
1 cup frozen rasberries
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Add oil to large sauce pot and heat on med-high heat. Add chopped onions and cook for 5 minutes or until the onions become translucent. Add garlic and cook for another minute. Add broth, bell pepper, honey, ginger, vinegar and chipotle pepper with adobe sauce. You can leave the chipolte chili whole, It will break down durning the cooking process. Add salt & pepper to taste. Simmer on medium low until the sauce thickens, this can take up to 2 – 2 1/2 hours. Keep an eye on the sauce and stir occasionaly. Once the sauce has thickened and the chili pepper has broken down, add the raspberries and cook for another 15-20 minutes. Let the chutney cool and then store in an air tight container in the fridge. It should keep for up to a month in the fridge.
I'm actually thinking about making this my holiday gift this next Christmas. It tastes lovely with chicken, on crackers and I'm sure given a little more time, I will come up with a few more uses for it. It also looks amazing in a jar… I should work on some packaging for it and have it ready for the next holiday season… yep, it's that good! Tomorrow I'm going to post the recipe for my version of the Goat Cheese Puff with the Raspberry Chili Chutney, so stay tuned!

Pineapple Surprise Cake // Recipe

12 · Jan 16, 2013 · 17 Comments

Pineapple Suprise Cake // Who's ready for a trip to the tropics? Not that I'm complaining about the cold weather… I'm actually kind of liking it. I'm a winter girl at hear, however… I also, love to escape to the tropics every once in a while. I have a few recipes that can definatley help with that. One of them is one of my husband's favorites… A tropcial Pineapple Surprise Cake. It's actually Pineapple Upside Down Cake that I of course had to create a "in a jar" version.

I played around a bit, added a couple of ingredients and left it right-side up. I know… SHOCKER! Adding it to the JAR genre makes for a fun presentation.

Pineapple Surprise Cake Recipe

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
6 slices pineapple
6 maraschino cherries without stems
1 1/3 cup AP flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup sweetened coconut (3/4 cup for the cake and 1/4 cup for garnish)
1/3 cup Crisco
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 egg

Directions:

Turn on oven to 350 degrees and prepare the jars. You will need 6 clean jars. Spray each jar with cooking spray and set aside while you make the cake batter.

Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add coconut and mix for a few seconds in order for the coconut to be covered with the flour mixture. Add the Crisco and mix for 30 seconds. Add vanilla, cream, and the egg and mix on high for 2 minutes.

Add a pat of butter to the jars and place in the oven. Once the butter is melted add a tablespoon of brown sugar to the jar and mix with the butter.

Add a ring of pineapple and a cherry to the bottom of the jar and then fill the jar half way with cake batter.

Place the jars on a cookie sheet and place in the oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees or until the top of the cake is slightly brown. Remove from the oven and let cool. Now you can make the coconut whipped cream to top off the surprise cake!!

Coconut Whipped Cream Recipe

2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 teaspoons coconut extract
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Pour cream into a chilled mixing bowl and mix on high for 1 minute. Add coconut extract and slowly add powdered sugar while the mixer is on low. Return the mixer to high until the cream becomes stiff. Keep a close eye on it. If it is over beaten it will become butter.

Prepare your Jars for Presentation

One of the things that makes desserts in jars so appealing is how you can decorate the jar for your guests. For this cake, I just tied a yellow jute ribbon around the jar to dress it up a bit. Then pipe the whipped cream on top with a star tip to give it a little pizzazz.

Ahead of time, toast up the 1/4 cup of the sweetened coconut in the oven under the broiler. Keep a close eye on it, it only takes a few minutes. Let cool. When you are ready to serve your cake sprinkle the coconut on top and place a cherry on top and voila, you have a lovely tropical treat to drive away the frozen winter (for a little bit at least!)

Vanilla Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies

8 · Jan 10, 2013 · 17 Comments

Vanilla salted chocolate chip cookie recipe // I don't know anyone who doesn't go weak in the knees when served a nice warm chocolate chip cookie… They are truly mom's love right on a plate. Now, there are many different recipes for this beloved cookie but I have stumbled across THE PERFECT chocolate chip cookies recipe…

I grew up with the classic Toll House cookie recipe that my Mom has made for decades and I'm a fan, but I also felt like there was something missing with this recipe. I stumbled across a chocolate chip recipe on Tidy Mom that challenged my idea of a good chocolate chip cookie. Cheryl's recipe is the New York Times chocolate chip cookie recipe adapted from the original recipe from Jacques Torres. This recipe calls for slightly different ingredients than your traditional cookie, like the addition of baking powder and for the dough to be chilled no-less than 24 hours before baking. The big new ingredient for this recipe is the addition of a sprinkle of course sea salt on top of the cookie before baking. It's kind of like the popular salted caramel concept. I decided to take the addition of sea salt to the next level… Have you ever heard of Vanilla Sea Salt?

I discovered Vanilla Sea Salt or Vanilla Fleur de Sel, last year when I was doing research for my homemade Vanilla Extract. I ordered a bottle because I thought it would be perfect for caramels, little did I know that it would also be wonderful with these cookies. I do believe we can make our own vanilla sea salt, I'm going to work on that and see what I come up with.

Vanilla Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies

Here is my adaptation of this famous New York Times recipe…

2 (minus 2 tablespoons) cups cake flour

1 2/3 cups of All-Purpose Flour

1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoon salt salt

2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (room temp)

1 1/4 cups of brown sugar

1 cup of sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

1 1/4 pounds of bittersweet chocolate

vanilla sea salt

Directions

In a large bowl mix sift the the dry ingredients together starting with the flours then adding baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer cream the butter and sugars together. Mix on high for 5 minutes until the mixer is really light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix on high for 1 more minute. Slowly combine the butter and sugar mixer with the dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Add the chocolate and place in a large storage container. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and then place the lid on the storage container. Place in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours, 72 would be best.

When you are ready to bake the cookies, pre-heat the oven to 350 degree. Prepare your baking sheet with parchment paper or a non-stick cooking mat. Scoop six 2 1/2 ounce dough balls. I used this one ounce scoop and placed two generous scoops together to create one large ball and then sprinkle a pinch of the vanilla sea salt on top of the dough.

Place in the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes, just until it starts to brown. When you take the cookie out of the oven it will look slightly underdone. You want them that way. That's what makes these cookies magical…

Let the cookies cool. You will find that after they have cooled a bit, these cookies have a crisp texture on the outside and are still soft and chewy on the inside.When you bite into one you will have that sweet taste of the cookie and every once in a while you will have a lovely burst of salt from that vanilla sea salt and you will be in heaven. Quite honestly this is the perfect chocolate chip cookie in my book!

What's your favorite cookie recipe? Have you found "the perfect" cookie recipe for your taste? Let us know, we would love to try some more idea!

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Today's Creative Blog

Recipes

Goat Cheese Puff Pastry with Raspberry Chili Chutney

Directions

Raspberry Chili Chutney Recipe

Instructions

Pineapple Surprise Cake Recipe

Ingredients:

Directions:

Coconut Whipped Cream Recipe

Prepare your Jars for Presentation

Vanilla Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies

Directions

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