The Charmed Kitchen

Black and White Cookies

These lovely cookies are always a lot of fun to make and to serve. The name comes from the mix of both white and dark frostings used to decorate them. Black and White Cookies are a classic.  They are tender, cake like cookies and one of my favorites. After the cookies are baked, you brush them with both white and dark chocolate frostings. The effect is dramatic and tasty. If you have never tried one, you really should.

Black and White Cookies

1 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup unsalted butter – room temp.
4 large eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. lemon extract or
2 1/2 cups cake flour
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
Frosting:
4 cup confectioner’s sugar
1/3 to 1/2 cup boiling water
1 ounce bitter or semi sweet chocolate

Preheat the oven to 350. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar and butter until fluffy. Stir in eggs, milk, vanilla, extracts, until smooth. Fold in flours, baking powder, salt and stir until mixed. Using a soup spoon (or a small ice cream scoop) drop spoonfuls of dough onto baking sheet, leaving 2 inches of room between them. Bake until edges are browned – 20-30 minutes.
Frosting: Place confectioner’s sugar in a bowl. Gradually stir in boiling water until you have a thick spreadable mixture. Remove half of frosting to a bowl and stir in melted chocolate. With a brush, decorate each cookie half with white frosting, half with chocolate. Let set until thoroughly dry.
About 2 dozen cookies.

Pineapple Rum

I make all sorts of homemade liqueurs. This is one of my favorites. Pairing pineapple and rum is such a natural thing to do. Their tropical flavors blend together so well.

You can flavor rum with any number of fruits, flowers and spices. I have paired rum with citrus fruit, vanilla and more.

I think my favorite is still pineapple with rum.  So simple to make- just cut up pineapple and put in a jar. Add the rum- light or dark- and leave the jar in a cool, dark place long enough for the pineapple to flavor the rum. The hardest part is just waiting for it to mature!!

Pineapple Rum

½ lb. fresh pineapple
3 c. rum

Cut  pineapple into chunks and place in a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Add rum, close jar, and steep for 3 weeks. You can leave it longer, if you like. Strain out the pineapple. You can just toss out the pineapple, or sweeten it and use it in desserts. Once you have strained out the pineapple, you want to filter the rum to make sure it is clear. I filter mine through coffee filters or you can use layers of cheesecloth. Mature at least 1 month for better flavor.  Makes 3 cups.

Minty Cocoa Hearts

If you are looking for a simple chocolate treat- that requires no cooking – try Minty Cocoa  Love Hearts. This easy to make candy is made with just a few ingredients. The “dough” is mixed and rolled out. Then you just cut them out into little hearts. They taste great and they are also a nice project for kids. There is no special equipment needed other than a tiny heart-shaped cookie cutter. So if time is short, and you really want to make something homemade this Valentine’s Day- these could be the answer.

Minty Cocoa Hearts

9 c. powdered sugar
1 c. cocoa
1/2 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. water
2 t. peppermint extract

In large bowl combine ingredients until well blended. You can add more water, if needed, 1 teaspoon at a time. Divide mixture into 2 pieces and shape in balls. Place each between sheets of wax paper and roll out to 1/4 -inch thickness. Cut out with tiny cutters and place on foil-lined tray. Chill several hours, then wrap up in colored foil or place in tiny candy bags. Makes 80 (1-inch) candies.

Chocolate Waffles

These waffles can make a great start to Valentine’s Day. Chocolate for breakfast? Why not? They also make a wonderful dessert.  Top them with whatever you like. I enjoy topping them with whipped cream and berries. You can also top with a scoop of ice cream and hot fudge.  If you like, you can even add some chocolate chips to the batter for a stronger chocolate taste.

Chocolate Waffles

 2 eggs, room temperature

1/2 stick butter, melted and cooled

1 t. vanilla

1 c. buttermilk

1 c. flour

3/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. cocoa

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 each baking powder and baking soda

1/4 t. salt

1/4 t. nutmeg

Beat first three ingredients until light and foamy, about 2 minutes. Stir in milk. Beat in dry ingredients just until blended. Bake until waffles are cooked through. Makes 4 cups batter. Serve with whipped butter or sour cream and fresh fruit. I like them just dusted with powdered sugar, too.

Cherry Chocolate Bread Pudding

We all make mistakes. It’s what we do about our mistakes that matters. Let me explain. I was making a bunch of mini brownies for a kid’s program. The kids are going to decorate them. There are 50 kids, so I needed quite a few. I was using my mini muffin pans, and when I was getting ready to remove a batch, they stuck. I was sure I had greased the pan, but I guess not enough. The others had come out easily enough. I made more, but had this pile of crumbled brownies. I was going to just dump them, but my frugal nature prevailed. I decided to turn them into a bread pudding. I wanted something to cut the sweetness/denseness of the brownies, so I thought maybe a fruit element. I had a can of cherries in the pantry. Just plain cherries, canned in water- not pie filling and not sweetened. Like the flavor combination in a Black Forest Cake. It was pretty simple after that. I make bread puddings often. I made a custard and poured it over the brownies and cherries in the baking dish and baked it. So here is a more detailed recipe, in case you want to make this. Now I have a yummy dessert to share with friends this weekend.

Cherry Chocolate Bread Pudding

5-6 c. crumbled brownies – stale brownies would be great in this recipe

1 (15 oz.) can plain, canned cherries, drained- or 2 cups pitted cherries

4 eggs

1 c. half and half- you could use milk

1 T. vanilla

1 t. cinnamon

Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a baking dish or casserole dish. Place the crumbled brownies in the prepared pan. Pour the cherries over the brownies- trying to spread them out as evenly as possible. Combine remaining ingredients in a medium bowl and beat until well mixed. Pour over the brownie mix and bake for about 40 minutes, or until bread pudding is set in the middle. Serve as is, or with some whipped cream or ice cream.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

If you are looking for a rich, chocolate dessert, this cake is it. It is made without any flour and trust me, you will never miss it. This is a dessert everyone seems to love whenever I make it. This is  also a great dessert option for those who can’t tolerate gluten. The texture is dense, but not heavy. With only 5 ingredients, it is also pretty simple to make.  While it can be baked in any cake pan, I chose a heart shaped pan this time. Once baked and cooled the cake can be served as is, or garnished with any number of things. Fresh berries are always a nice touch, or a light dusting of powdered sugar. Sometimes I’ll pipe some whipped cream around the edges.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

½ c. each sugar and water
1 stick butter
12 oz. bittersweet chocolate*
6 eggs
¼ dark rum or other liqueur

Butter an eight inch cake pan and line with parchment. In saucepan heat together water and sugar until they boil. Stir in butter and bring to boil. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate until melted. Beat in eggs until smooth and stir in rum. Pour batter into prepared pan and place pan in a roasting pan. Pour boiling water into roaster to come up sides of pan 1 inch. Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for 45 minutes. Cool, invert onto plate.
Serve cake topped with whipped cream and decorate with raspberries, other fresh fruit or even toasted nuts. Dense and rich this cake serves 8-10.

*You can use any dark, bitter sweet or semi sweet chocolate that you like. The better the chocolate, the better the cake.

Basque Soup

I taught a couple of classes earlier this week on vegetarian soups. This one was one of the favorites we had. It is  a favorite of mine, too. The soup is hearty and rich flavored. I used oil and almond milk, so the soup was vegan. You could use milk and butter, if you prefer.  It tastes great, either way. It also comes together quickly, with ingredients you can keep on hand, so it is a great homemade soup when you don’t have a lot of time. The combination of milk, tomatoes and corn also makes it a pretty dish to serve.

Basque Soup

1 c. chopped onions

1 1/2 c. chopped celery

1/4 c. oil or butter

1/4 c. flour

3 c. milk*

1 (16 oz.) jar stewed tomatoes, undrained

1 can whole kernel corn, undrained

3-4 cans butter beans, drained and rinsed

3-4 cups water and 1T. paste-type vegetable soup base

or 3-4 cups vegetable broth

pepper to taste

hot pepper sauce to taste

shredded mild cheese, optional

Sauté onions and celery in oil until tender. Stir in flour until smooth and add milk, stirring to keep lumps from forming. Stir over medium heat until milk has thickened and begins to boil. Stir constantly as mixture simmers for an additional minute or two. Add remaining ingredients, except cheese and bring up to a simmer. Adjust seasonings. Ladle into bowls and top with cheese, if desired. Serves 8-10.

Note: You can use almond, rice or soy milk in place of the dairy milk, if you like.

Mocha Cheesecake

If you want a  tasty chocolate dessert that requires no baking, this one just might do it for you. Rather than being baked, this cheesecake is frozen. It also pairs chocolate with coffee- a classic combination. This is a fun dessert when you don’t have a lot of prep time. You do need to allow time to freeze it, but you can make it days ahead, then just take it out when you are ready to serve. I often make this cheesecake in hot weather, but to be honest, I’d eat this one during a blizzard.

Mocha Cheesecake

1 ¼ c. chocolate cookie crumbs, you can use chocolate graham crackers

¼ c. sugar

¼ c. butter, softened

8 oz. cream cheese

1 (14oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

2/3 c. chocolate syrup

2 T. instant coffee crystals or espresso powder

1 t. hot water

1 c. whipping cream, whipped

Combine crumbs, sugar and butter and press into 9-inch springform pan. Chill. Beat cheese until fluffy and beat in milk. Stir in syrup and dissolve coffee in water. Add to cheese mixture and fold in whipped cream. Pour into prepared crust and freeze until solid, at least 6 hours. Garnish with additional cookie crumbs if you like or with shaved chocolate. Keep leftovers frozen and use within a week or two for best flavor.

Homemade Breakfast Sausage

These breakfast sausage are so flavorful. The nice thing about making your own sausage, is knowing all the ingredients that go into them. You can adjust seasonings to suit your taste.

Making sausage does not have to be hard. I grew up in a family that had a sausage stuffer. So making sausage seems pretty normal to me. But if you never made sausage, you really should give it a go.

I have a home movie, from before I was born, of my parents making Polish sausage. They were grinding the meat, seasoning it, prepping the casings and getting the meat into the casings. They made it look easy.

But if you make sausage without the casings, like these little breakfast sausages, the process is pretty simple. You don’t need any special equipment, either.

I often make patties, but if you want links, just take the prepared mix, roll it out into tube shapes, wrap in plastic wrap and chill. Then just slice to the length you want. You can use ground pork, turkey, beef, chicken or any combo you like. I even splurged once, and used ground duck.

Homemade Breakfast Sausage

2½ lbs. ground pork or turkey (leave on a little fat)
1 T. dried sage
2 t. salt
2 t. pepper
1 t. dried marjoram
½ t. dried thyme
¼ t. allspice
¼ t. nutmeg
¼ t. dry mustard
⅛ t. cloves
pinch of cayenne pepper
⅓ c. warm water

Mix herbs and spices with water and let stand 10 minutes. Add the water and spice mixture to the meat and blend thoroughly. Form into patties, and chill, or cook immediately.* Patties can be fried or baked. This sausage can also be frozen for later use. Makes almost 3 pounds.

* I have made my own brown and serve by cooking the sausage, over low heat in a large skillet. I add a little water and cover the pan, so they cook, but don’t brown. Cool and then freeze. When I want to have a few, I grab them out of the freezer and just brown in a skillet over medium-low heat.

Chili Stew

This would be a great dish to serve on Superbowl Sunday. We made this dish in class the other night. Everyone liked it a lot.  It’s a  great option when time is short.

I love this recipe, but didn’t quite know what to call it. It wasn’t quite a traditional chili, so I decided to call it Chili Stew.  It comes together in no time, and still has plenty of flavor. Of course, you can cook it longer, if you have the time. You can also move it to a crock pot, once the meat and veggies have been sauteed and drained.

It can be served as is, or topped with cheese, sour cream or chopped onions.  Perfect dinner for a “chili” night.

Chili Stew

1 pound ground beef or turkey

1 medium onion, chopped

1 small sweet pepper, chopped

1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

2 (16 ounce) cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained

2 c. corn, fresh, frozen or canned (drained)

1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies

3 tablespoons chili powder

1 T. minced garlic

1 t. paprika

1 t. cumin

1 t. oregano

1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

hot sauce to taste

In a Dutch oven or large saucepan, cook the meat, onion and pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for at least 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serves 4-5.