A SAVORY BAKERY TREAT

Not all items served up at Just Desserts are sweet. Today's feature was inspired from a similar version I enjoyed at a "foodie" party this evening. The party was hosted by our local food and wine cognescenti couple. Their newlywed daughter and son-in-law are off to the Big Apple to start new careers and will be sadly missed by many folks. Thus, we had a big, swinging send-off to quell any thoughts of homesickness.

The food, wine, friends and good cheer abounded. (We were even treated with tunes from a professional, resident blues band that included the new bride's father on the harmonica!) As I grazed the appetizer table filled with smoked salmon pate, stuffed grape leaves, deviled eggs crowned with shrimp, Emmenthaler and Gruyere cheese fondue, dark chocolate fondue and assorted dips, I simply could not resist the bite-sized spinach pies. They were divine and I came home well sated, secure in the fact my friends were about to start a wonderful new adventure. After all, behind Paris, I can't think of a better place for fellow foodies to light. Bon vivant, mes amis!

INDIVIDUAL SPINACH PIES

2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup of cottage cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 Tablespoon minced Italian flat-leafed parsley
1 teaspoon grapeseed or other neutral oil
8 ounces of assorted mushrooms very thinly sliced
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon pepper
10 ounces of fresh spinach, chopped in food processor
Grated nutmeg to taste
1 Tablespoon minced fresh chives
1/4 cup minced fresh dill

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Combine egg, cheeses and parsley and set aside
3. In a large preheated skillet over medium heat, saute mushrooms, lemon juice and pepper until the liquid has evaporated. Add the spinach and nutmeg. Cover and saute for one minute.
4. Combine the vegetables and egg mixture and pour into muffin tins lined with filo dough or traditional pie crust.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly browned on top. Let cool 5 minutes before removing from tins to serve.

Tips:

1. You may use any size muffin tin you prefer for this recipe, but adjust the baking time acordingly.

2. These pies may be made "crustless" for a lower fat and calorie option. Low-fat cottage cheese may also be substituted.

3. If you prefer a whole crustless pie, bake in a 9 inch pie pan for 25-30 minutes.

SINK COOKIES

Although these litle cookies do not have a delicate name, they are nonetheless the most interesting and tasty combination of buttery shortbread to pass the lips. They have a little bit of "everything except the kitchen sink" in them which is why they have earned such a distinction.

Sink Cookies will surprise your family and friends because they will only be left guessing what makes them so rich and crunchy. The answer lies in the unique combination of Rice Crispies cereal, oatmeal and nuts. However, the best part about this recipe comes in its preparation where the only required tools are: a one cup measure, a half-cup measure, a teaspoon, a big bowl and mixing spoon. With that short list, there won't be a lot of mess left in your kitchen sink to clean up afterwards!

SINK COOKIES

1 cup of pure cane sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup oil
1 egg
3 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon REAL vanilla
1 cup of oatmeal
1 cup Rice Crispies
1 teaspoon of cream of tartar
1 cup coconut
1 cup nuts
1 12 ounce package of chocolate chunks

In a very large bowl mix sugars, oil and butter. Add egg and vanilla. Sift together the flour, baking soda and cream of tartar and and gradually mix in with the sugar mixture. Then mix in the remaining dry ingredients and roll into balls. Flatten onto a ungreased cookie sheet and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes.

In honor of National Hot Tea Month, enjoy these cookies with a cup of Sunset Chai tea available for purchase from www.coffeeroastersoflasvegas.com. It is the most delicious decaffeinated chai tea I have sampled and is made from a blend of organic rooibos tea, cardamon, cinnamon, ginger,cloves and pink pepperberries. A good friend of mine gave this tea to me as a gift, and ever since then, each night before bed I enjoy this lovely the' au lait steeped with skim milk, a touch of buckwheat honey and a Celyon cinnamon stick for good measure. Merci beaucoup un ami, c'est fantastic!

BREAKFAST IN BED

Every Sunday morning I curl up with the newspaper and news magazine TV to enjoy a delighful breakfast in bed. Among the items on my breakfast tray each week are a French press pot of Pete's Coffee and an assortment of freshly baked scones. However, during the waning months of winter when it is too bleak to enjoy the outdoors, we bakery babes must get our sweet tooths in check so we may tastefully don the latest beachware for the upcoming spring and summer.

Keeping that in mind, this Sunday's scone got heart and "hip" healthy with the addition of whole grains and a sometimes overlooked luxury, the sweet blue poppyseed. Blue poppyseeds are usually available at your local health food haunt or can be delivered straight to your door from Penzey's Spices. I hope you enjoy your Sunday with the following Blue Poppyseed & Cranberry Scone recipe and dream of the beach!

Blue Poppyseed & Cranberry Scones

Ingredients:
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
5 tablespoons grapeseed or expeller-pressed canola oil
1/4 teaspoon orange zest
1/2 cup rolled oats (not instant)
1/4 cup Rob's Mill steel cut Scottish Oats
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
2 tablespoons blue poppy seeds
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of fresh ground nutmeg
1/2 cup skim milk

Orange Sugar Glaze:
3 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup sifted confectioners sugar
1/2 teaspoon REAL vanilla

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Whisk the egg, sugar, and oil together in a large bowl. Mix the orange zest and all of the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl until all ingredients appear evenly dispersed. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the egg, sugar, and oil, and mix to create a thick dough. Add the skim milk and cranberries. Mix well.

3. Lightly grease a baking pan or line with parchment paper. Scoop up tablespoonfuls of the dough and drop them one by one in mounds onto the baking sheet, leaving 2 inches of space between. You should have about 16 scones. Bake for 15-20 minutes, just until the crust is barely golden brown and the dough is dry, they will appear underbaked. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. With a fork mix the orange glaze topping ingredients until the sugar is completely melded within. Drizzle 1 tablespoon ever each scone. Savor!

GOURMET NIGHT'S ELEGANT ENDING

My friend Diva Leigh and I have been sharing "Gourmet Night" on Thursday evenings for the past five years. This weekly repast originated from a Thursday night Conversational Spanish class we elected to take in the summer of 2000. After class number 3 and a hefty scolding from the instuctor for our poor vowel pronuciation, we decided that "nos encontramos bien", or "we are just fine" without conversational Spanish. We left the class, went to a local restaurant known for fine wine and cuisine, and sat out on the veranda enjoying the summer evening. It was at that point that "Gourmet Night" was born. It has evolved over the years and taken on many faces, but the day of the week and time have never changed.

Scaled down from a three course meal complete with wine, appetizers, dessert and coffee, our girlish figures now prefer a single good glass of wine, a light salad and the delicious reward of dessert as a grand finale. Tonight's indulgence was the Frrozen Hot Chocolate from the Sweet Serendity post below. Diva Leigh and I transported that dessert from Sweet Serendipity to an Elegant Ending by making the frozen concoction with Frango Mint Chocolates. The mixture was poured into latte mugs that were chilled in the freezer, topped with cinnamon whipped cream and Guittard real chocolate sprinkles. All of this was accentuated with a chocolate hazlenut marshmallow and slowly savored in front of the fireplace.

Here is the Cinnamon Whipped Cream mixture to enjoy during your own Gourmet Night. Start a new tradition, because when desserts are consumed in moderation and with family and friends...the calories and fat don't count!

CINNAMON WHIPPED CREAM

1 cup of very cold heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon of best quality, fresh Vietnamese cinnamon
splash of real vanilla extract

Sift the sugar and cinnamon together. Pour the cream into the chilled bowl of a stand mixer and add the rest of the ingredients. Using the wire whisk attachment, whip on high speed until the mixture becomes light and fluffy, but not until stiff. Watch constantly while the mixture is forming because it can turn to butter quickly. Serve on Frrozen Hot Chocolate and Enjoy!

CHRISTMAS TREASURES

I love the holidays because they are all about desserts! Everywhere you turn there are cookies, cakes, candies, pies and new treats to sample. This Christmas many desserts abounded at the hoiday gatherings I attended, but the most noteable and worth sharing was the French Style Cheesecake I tried for the first time this year.

The only thing French about cheesecake though is its pure decadence. In fact, it is believed that the first cheesecake was enjoyed by the ancient Romans who created the cakes by pounding cheese with a mortar, then adding wheat flour and eggs. The molded cake mixture was placed on a bed of fig leaves and cooked under a brick until firm.

Cheesecake has come a long way since then and the version we are most familiar with today came to New York via Europe in the early 1900's. This festive holiday version evolved from my gormande grandmother's vast recipe collection and has the unique twist of a layer of fruit between the luxurious crumb crust and the cheese filling:

French Style Cheesecake
Serves 18

Crust for a 10 inch cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Crush or blend in a food processor until very fine:
1 1/2 cups of Zwieback toasts (available in the baby foods section of your grocery store)
6 tablespoons ground unblanched almonds
1/4 cup light cream
1/2 cup melted butter

Pat the dough into the bottom of the pan and slightly up the sides of 10 inch springform cheesecake pan. (The pan should be 3 inches deep.) Bake for 15 minutes. Let the crust cool to room temperature then add fruit filling

Fruit Filling:
12 ounce jar of sour cherry compote. Drain and the fruit and place the reserved cherries on top of the cooled crust.

The fruit filling I used at Christmas for this cheesecake was a sour cherry compote by D'Arbo French preserves. However, in the summer this cake would be fantastic with freshly sliced strawberries layered between the crust and filling.

Cheese Filling:
Scald in the top of a double boiler 1/3 cup of milk with a vanilla bean

Beat:
4 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Remove vanilla bean and gradually add the warm milk to the egg mixture. Heat and stir this custard over hot water until it thickens. This will take several minutes.

Soak:
2 Tablespoons of unflavored gelatin in 1/2 cup of water and stir this mixture into the hot custard until it is dissolved. Slightly cool the custard but do not allow the gelatin to firm up.

Beat in a separate bowl:
Three 8 ounce packages of room temperature cream cheese. Add the cheese to the custard until well blended.

Whip until stiff: 4 egg whites. Gradually whip into the egg whites 1/2 cup sugar. Fold the egg white mixture into the custard and beat until stiff.

Then fold in:
1 cup whipping cream.

Finally:
Pour the finished cheese mixture into the crust and refrigerate at least 2 hours. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve. This cake may be made a day in advance.

The steps in this recipe must be followed in the order listed above to ensure quality results. It is a true labor of love that is worth every bit of the effort. It is a real treat for Christmas, for a special Valentine or just because you deserve it!

SWEET SERENDIPITY

I have always wanted to have a bakery called Just Desserts. I got this blog as a Christmas gift from my good friend, Diva Leigh, so that I can have a virtual bakery even if I can't have one in real life right now!




She also gave me
Sweet Serendipity: Delightful Desserts and Devilish Dish so we could sample the cover featured recipe of frozen hot chocolate as the inagural bakery treat!





"Frrrozen" Hot Chocolate (Food T.V. version)

6 (1/2-ounce) pieces your favorite chocolates (can be a variety)
2 teaspoons store bought hot chocolate mix
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
3 cups ice
Whipped cream, for garnish
Chocolate shavings, for garnish

Chop the chocolate into small pieces and place it in the top of a double boiler over simmering water, stirring occasionally until melted. Add the cocoa and sugar, stirring constantly until thoroughly blended. Remove from heat and slowly add 1/2 cup of the milk and stir until smooth. Cool to room temperature.

In a blender place the remaining 1 cup of milk, the room temperature chocolate mixture, and the ice. Blend on high speed until smooth and the consistency of a frozen daiquiri. Pour into a giant goblet and top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

Enjoy!