The Charmed Kitchen

Cherry and Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes

I had some cherry pie filling left over from making Danish. I needed to use it up. I also needed a dessert for dinner with a friend. I came up with these. Really nice recipe, especially in a pinch.  To start with, it’s cheesecake, which is always a good thing. It is also a really quick recipe, and simple to make. Finally, it just makes 6 little cheesecakes. Perfect for when you don’t need a whole cheesecake. Nothing stopping you from doubling, or tripling the recipe, if you need a few more. I used cherry pie filling (homemade), but you could top these with almost any pie filling or fresh fruit you liked, or even eat them plain.

Cherry and Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes

6 vanilla wafers

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/3 c. sugar

1 t. vanilla

1 egg

chocolate syrup or sauce

cherry pie filling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place paper liners in 6 muffin tins and place a vanilla wafer in each one. Set aside. In medium mixing bowl beat together cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Beat in egg until just mixed. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins.  Bake for 15- 20 minutes. Cheesecakes will puff up and then deflates a little when cooled. Once cooled top each cheesecake with a little chocolate syrup and a spoonful of cherry pie filling. Chill. Makes 6. Serves 2-3.

Fricassee of Lamb with Lettuce

I love lamb and enjoy cooking it different ways. This recipe uses lamb shoulder, cooked with onions and Romaine lettuce- yes lettuce. The lamb is browned and then cooks gently until tender. The lettuce also cooks down and adds a nice green flavor to the dish. The real magic is the lemon egg sauce, used to top the lamb once finished. It is creamy and has just the right amount of tang from the lemon juice.  You could also make this dish with pork or even chicken, but my favorite version is with lamb.

Fricassee of Lamb with Lettuce

2 1/2-3 lbs. lamb shoulder, or use pork

3 medium onions, chopped

2-3 heads romaine lettuce, washed and sliced thin

1/2 c. olive oil

Egg and Lemon Sauce -recipe follows

Cut the meat into serving pieces. Heat the oil in a pot and sauté the meat. Add salt, pepper, the onions, lettuce and a small amount of water. Cover the pot and let the fricassee simmer for about an hour. Prepare the egg and lemon sauce, pour it over the fricassee and serve.

Egg and Lemon Sauce

1-2 c. stock

2 eggs

juice of 1 lemon

flour, about 1-2 tablespoons, depending on how thick you want the sauce

Bring stock to the simmer. Beat eggs well. Mix the flour with the lemon juice.

Add to the eggs and keep beating. Add the hot broth slowly while you keep beating. Pour the egg and lemon sauce in the pot and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. Makes 1-2 cups. For a thinner sauce eliminate the flour.

Biscuits Supreme

Biscuits are easy to make. They really are. Fast, too. You can mix up  a batch of biscuits in the time it takes the oven to preheat.  Yet, I know  people who seem to struggle with them. The other night in class we were talking about the secret to  a light and flaky biscuit.

So what goes wrong? How do you make light, flaky biscuits every time?

For the moment I’ll assume you have a decent recipe. There are a lot of great biscuit recipes out there. I know people that have treasured family recipes. Biscuits that have been made the same way for generations.

Assuming also, that the baking powder is fresh*, there has to be some other reason that some folks just seem to struggle with biscuits.

The problem is – more than likely- over-mixing the dough. When I talk to someone who tells me that their  biscuits are always heavy or tough I first ask about how they are put together.

Once the dry ingredients have been mixed and the fat cut in, there is just liquid to be added. At this point the dough should be handled just enough to hold together. A light hand means a light biscuit. The same is true for making scones. The more you knead the dough, handle the dough and roll the dough, the less flaky biscuits become.

Don’t treat biscuit dough the way you would a yeast-based dinner roll. The two are very different in how they are handled. Yeast based doughs benefit from kneading and “working” the dough. Biscuits are the opposite.

Even when cutting out the biscuits, it will help if you cut  them out as close together as you can. That way you have fewer scraps to re-roll. Every time you roll the dough out- it becomes a little tougher.

Here is a recipe for one of my favorite biscuits. They are light and very flaky. Is there anything better than a fresh, warm biscuit with some butter?

Biscuits Supreme

2 c. flour
4 t. baking powder
2 t. sugar
½ t. cream of tartar
½ t. salt
½ c. shortening- or cold butter or coconut oil – you can even use lard.
2/3 c. milk

Stir together dry ingredients and cut in shortening to resemble coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center and add milk all at once. Stir until dough sticks together and knead on lightly floured surface 10-12 strokes. Roll or pat to ½ inch thickness. Cut with 2-21/2 inch biscuit cutter and place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake in 450-degree oven for 10-12 minutes. Serve warm. Makes 10-12.

*If your baking powder might be old, you can test it. Place a couple of tablespoons of boiling water in a cup. Add a teaspoon, or two, of baking powder. The mixture should bubble vigorously. If there are no bubbles, or very few bubbles, you might want to get a new container of baking powder.

Scotch Broth

After picking  up some lamb neck bones the other day, I knew I was going to make stock from them. It was unseasonably cold, and snow was in the forecast. Not that I need snow to be in the mood to make soup or stock. I make soup all the time. Still, with a couple of chilly days ahead, I knew I was really going to be craving some home made soup.  I used the lamb bones to make the stock and then used the stock to make Scotch Broth the next day. The house smelled so good.

There are a number of variations for Scotch Broth. Traditionally it is made with lamb stock. Barley is often added as well. I used what I had on hand and what I liked. I was very happy with the dish, in the end.

Scotch Broth

2 T. oil or butter- I used fat from the stock

1 red onion, diced fine

2-3 shallots, diced fine

1 c. pearl barley

2 qts. Lamb stock*

2-3 carrots, peeled and diced

2 ribs celery, diced

2 c. diced lamb meat

Parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

Hot sauce to taste

In soup pot, heat the fat up and sauté the onion and shallots until just turning golden. Add the barley and cook a few minutes longer. Add the lamb stock and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook until barley is pretty tender, about 45 minutes. Add the remaining veggies and lamb and cook until veggies are tender. Add seasonings to taste, simmer a few minutes longer and serve.

* To make the stock I started with a couple of packages of lamb neck bones. I browned the bones in a stockpot. Then I added a couple of chopped onions and browned them, too. I also added additional vegetables including some carrots, celery, a few cabbage leaves and garlic. I covered all of it with water and simmered it for several hours. I added salt, pepper, parsley, thyme and savory as well. I let the mixture cool down a little before straining it. I had almost 8 cups of stock. I also let the lamb cool down and removed the meat from the bones. I diced it up and set it aside to add to the soup later. I made this the day before I made the Scotch Broth, so it was easy to just remove the fat from the stock, before using it. I actually used a little of the fat I removed, to sauté the onions for the broth.

Blueberry Sweet Rolls

With snow in the forecast for this weekend- I needed something to remind me of a warm summer day. I  used some of the blueberries I froze last summer to make these sweet rolls. They are great for breakfast, but I think they make a pretty good dessert. Sweet, but not too sweet.  Studded with plenty of berries, too. Invited a neighbor over this morning for a cup of coffee- and surprised her with these. These rolls were just what we both needed. I sent her home with the rest.

Blueberry Sweet Rolls

3-3 1/2 c. bread flour
1 package active dry yeast
1 1/3 c. evaporated milk
6 T. butter
1/4 c. sugar
1 t. salt
1 egg
6 T. butter, melted

1/2 c. sugar
2 t. cinnamon
1 t. grated lemon or orange peel
2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries

In bowl combine 1 1/2 c. of the flour with the yeast, sugar and salt. Heat together the milk and 2T. of the butter until warm and add to the flour mixture, beating 2 minutes. Add egg and beat 2 minutes longer. By hand stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead, adding flour as needed until dough becomes moderately stiff. Place in greased bowl, turning once to coat and cover. Allow to double in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours. Punch dough down, cover, and let rest 10 minutes. Divide dough in half. Roll each half into a 14×8 inch rectangle. Brush dough with the melted butter. Combine the remaining sugar, peel and cinnamon and sprinkle over the dough. Top with the blueberries and press the berries into the dough. Starting at the long side roll up dough jelly roll fashion and seal edge by pinching. Repeat with second roll. Cut each roll into 12 slices and place 12 rolls in greased 9 inch round pans. Cover pans and allow to rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 20-25 minutes. While rolls are warm, you can top with a powder sugar glaze, if desired. Makes 24.

Spicy Beet and Tomato Soup

I had a bunch of fresh beets in my fridge and since it’s a little cool today I thought I’d make soup with them. I took inspiration from what I had on hand including onions, potatoes and home canned tomatoes. Adding the tomatoes was a last minute decision that worked out really well. The tomatoes added just the right amount of tart/sweet flavor.  The color was really pretty, too.

I must say this about working with beets. I love them. I love how they taste.  I love the color, and how everything I cook with beets turns out the most gorgeous color. I don’t, however, like the way my kitchen looks whenever I cook with beets. It’s like something out of a crime scene. Not blaming the beets. Just wondering how it is I can clean up everything, then walk in the kitchen the next day and find flecks of red all over?

Here is the recipe. It was a small bunch of beets, so I just made a small batch of soup, but it could easily be doubled.

Spicy Beet and Tomato Soup

1 bunch beets, about 1 lb.

oil

1 onion, chopped

1 t. cumin seeds

1 t. fennel seeds

3-4 c. stock- I used chicken

1 potato, cubed

1 pint canned tomatoes – or 2 c. diced tomatoes – or 14 oz. can of diced tomatoes

1t. dill

1/4 t. cayenne, or to taste

salt and pepper to taste

Wash beets and trim leaving about 1 inch of the stem attached. Reserve greens.  Place beets in a saucepan of boiling water and simmer for about 20 minutes. Remove beets and cool in cold water until you can handle them. While beets are cooling, cook onion in oil until tender. Add seeds and cook until they are toasted and onions are golden.  Peel and cube the beets. Add to the onions along with the stock, potatoes and tomatoes and cook until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Rinse and chop up about 1 cup of the beet greens and add them to the soup along with the seasonings. Cook until greens are tender, about 5 minutes. Adjust seasonings and serve. Serves 3-4.

Raspberry Crumb Cake

I have been trying to clean out my freezer. I came across some raspberries I froze last summer and decided to make a cake with them. I have made this cake with fresh berries, too. Either works, but I give the cake a few extra minutes to bake when I use frozen berries. The cake is delicate and not too sweet. The crumb topping really makes it special. It stands on its own, but is also good served with a drizzle of melted chocolate, some extra berries or a scoop of ice cream. This cake always makes me think of summer, even on a chilly day.

When I was a kid we had a patch of raspberries in the back of the yard. It was always a special treat to go out on a summer day and harvest the raspberries, warm from the sun. We did lose berries to birds and squirrels and it became my Father’s mission to save as many berries as he could. When we got a new dog, my Dad was sure berry theft would go down. But we seemed to be getting even fewer berries. One day, my Mom caught the dog eating raspberries right off the plants. Mystery solved.

Raspberry Crumb Cake

For cake batter:
2 c. flour
2 t. baking powder
½ t. salt
½ stick (¼ cup) butter, softened
¾ c. sugar
1 egg
½ c. sour cream
2 t. vanilla
2 cups raspberries – I like fresh but frozen work
For topping:
½ c. sugar
¼ c. flour
½ t. cinnamon
½ stick (¼ c. butter, chilled and cut into bits)

Combine dry ingredients and set aside. In mixing bowl with electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, sour cream and vanilla. Add flour mixture gradually until just mixed in. Fold in raspberries. Grease and flour an 8 or 9-inch pan and add prepared batter. Combine topping ingredients until they resemble coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over batter in pan and bake in a preheated 375-degree oven and bake for 35-45 minutes. Use toothpick to test.

Naan Bread

If you have ever eaten at an Indian restaurant, you probably had naan bread. The bread has a soft, yet chewy texture, and is often topped with seeds. I was invited to an Indian dinner with friends, and I offered to make the naan. I bake bread all the time, but somehow I had never made naan. I was excited to give it a try. I knew there would be some challenges.

The thin rounds of dough are traditionally baked against the wall of a tandoori oven. The clay of the oven walls  gets really hot, and cooks the bread quickly. Since I don’t have a tandoori oven, I baked my naan bread under the broiler. I was nervous that it would get burnt before it finished baking, but they turned out great. Soft, puffy bread pillows that I brushed with ghee right after baking. They came out even better than I had hoped. This is a bread I will be making again.

Naan Bread

1 t. sugar

1 pkt. Yeast

2/3 c. warm water

1½ c. flour

1 T. ghee*

1 t. salt

Oil for baking pans

Extra ghee for brushing breads

Sesame, fennel or poppy seeds, if you like

In medium bowl, combine sugar with yeast and warm water. Stir and allow to sit until mixture gets bubbly, about 10 minutes. In mixing bowl place the flour, ghee and salt and mix to combine. Add the yeast mixture and stir until a soft dough forms. You might have to add a little more water. Knead dough on a floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Return dough to mixing bowl, cover and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1½ hours. Turn dough onto floured surface and knead a couple more minutes. Unless you have a tandoori oven, you will need to cook the naan under a very hot broiler. Turn the broiler on. Line a baking sheet with foil and coat with some oil. Set aside while you prepare the dough for baking. Cut dough into 6-8 pieces. Roll each piece into a circle about 5 inches across and ½ inch thick. Place dough on the prepared baking sheet and place under the broiler. I set mine about 4 inches from the heat. Turn breads a couple of times. They will take about 7 minutes to bake. Remove from broiler, brush with extra ghee or melted butter and sprinkle with seeds, if you like. Makes 6-8. Best served soon after baking.

*Ghee is essentially clarified butter, or butter where all the solids have been removed. To make ghee, gently melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. After melting, the butter will separate into three layers. This should only take a few minutes. Foam will appear on the top layer, the milk solids will migrate to the bottom of the pan, and clarified butter will float between the two. Let the butter come to a simmer and hold it here until the middle layer becomes fragrant, more golden than when you started, and clear – push the solids on top out of the way to have a peek. The milk solids at the bottom will begin to brown. At this point it is a matter of preference, you can let the solids lightly brown, or let things progress a bit further. When the ghee is finished, skim absolutely all of the top layer of foam into a bowl with a spoon or strainer, turn off the heat, and allow things to settle for a minute or so. Next, carefully pour the golden central layer through a strainer, into a clean glass jar, leaving the milk solids at the bottom of the pan.  It can be used as a cooking oil, for flavoring all sorts of foods, and is amazing on popcorn.