Daring Bakers Takes On Tuiles

This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Baking Soda and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.

I love tuiles, they are so light and make the perfect dessert, they look fancy and they are all around good. You can add all sorts of flavors and for this challenge I went with almond extract instead of the cocoa powder. As soon as they came out of the oven I flipped them onto the bottom of a glass and let them cool in order to get the "bowl" shape. I also folded some slightly to make a "taco" shape. Once cooled I filled them with yogurt and topped them off with some fresh fruit. These puppies didn't last long and were gobbled up as soon as they hit the plate! The recipe below is for the butterfly shape, but the beauty of this recipe is you can do anything with them.

Following is a recipe taken from a book called “The Chocolate Book”

written by female Dutch Master chef Angélique Schmeinck.

Recipe Yields: 20 small butterflies/6 large (butterflies are just an example)

Preparation time batter 10 minutes, waiting time 30 minutes, baking time: 5-10 minutes per batch

65 grams / ¼ cup / 2.3 ounces softened butter (not melted but soft)

60 grams / ½ cup / 2.1 ounces sifted confectioner’s sugar

1 sachet vanilla sugar (7 grams or substitute with a dash of vanilla extract)

2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork)

65 grams / 1/2 cup / 2.1/4 ounces sifted all purpose flour

1 table spoon cocoa powder/or food coloring of choice

Butter/spray to grease baking sheet

Oven: 180C / 350F

Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (low speed) and cream butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste. Keep stirring while you gradually add the egg whites. Continue to add the flour in small batches and stir to achieve a homogeneous and smooth batter/paste. Be careful to not overmix.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. (This batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week, take it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it).

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with either butter/spray and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will help spread the batter more easily if using a stencil/cardboard template such as the butterfly. Press the stencil on the bakingsheet and use an off sided spatula to spread batter. Leave some room in between your shapes. Mix a small part of the batter with the cocoa and a few drops of warm water until evenly colored. Use this colored batter in a paper piping bag and proceed to pipe decorations on the wings and body of the butterfly.

Bake butterflies in a preheated oven (180C/350F) for about 5-10 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Immediately release from bakingsheet and proceed to shape/bend the cookies in the desired shape. These cookies have to be shaped when still warm, you might want to bake a small amount at a time or maybe put them in the oven to warm them up again. (Haven’t tried that). Or: place a bakingsheet toward the front of the warm oven, leaving the door half open. The warmth will keep the cookies malleable.

If you don’t want to do stencil shapes, you might want to transfer the batter into a piping bag fitted with a small plain tip. Pipe the desired shapes and bake. Shape immediately after baking using for instance a rolling pin, a broom handle, cups, cones….

Suite Tasting

I don't have a recipe for this post, but I do have food talk and pictures. Last night we attended the annual suite menu for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Basically they invite all of the suite holders to come in and taste a lot of the items on the menu for the upcoming year and being that our office is a suite holder it's a pretty fun event to go to. Some pictures are a little blurred, but I didn't want to draw attention to myself by using flash.

You know you're in Texas when we have our own carpet.

We started out with the shrimp display which had a really nice ice block.

Then moved on to the Southwest Ranch Salad, Chipotle Potato Salad, Baby Back Ribs, Blackend Catfish and Tamales.

Next we tasted the Peppered Tenderloin and Wild Cherry Chipotle Smoked Turkey Breast, Twice Baked Potatoes and Grilled Vegetables at the carving station.

The also had an open bar with beer and wine. Not too bad of a dinner if I say so myself. My favorite is always the Chipotle Potato Salad and Peppered Tenderloin which was cooked perfectly. It always amazes me as to how much they charge for food in a suite. Just to give you a sample a 6-pack of soda is $12, seven layer dip is $90, apple pie is $80 and a buttermilk pie is $70. Now if any of you are willing to pay me that I will make you all the pies you want!

So since I slacked off and got out of making dinner last night it's back to the kitchen for me. I'll have a new recipe tomorrow, have a great week!

Greek Chicken Pasta Salad

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! We had a busy one as usual. It seems like this time of year starts to fill our calenders up. We wanted to take the dog to the dog park, but we had some cold weather come out of no where. We ended up going to a birthday party, the annual home and garden show and visited the Houston auto show. To say the least I enjoyed coming home and enjoying the peace and quite of my own home after being around so many people.

This dish comes from Sarah who is a full-time working mom and still finds the time to do a lot of canning and gardening. I admire her for all she does and she has some very tasty things on her blog Today's Menu Take it or Leave it. She plans out her menu for the week and then shares her recipes as the week goes on. I'm lucky if I can even come up with the general idea for the week like this week I feel like chicken, so I really look up to people that can plan out meals like that.

I really loved this recipe! My husbands first impression was "where's the sauce". He's used to the traditional pastas and I can't blame him what that's all I make. There's a light sauce, but more then anything this pasta is packed with flavor. I can't wait to make it again!

Greek Chicken Pasta

(Adapted from Today's Menu Take it of Leave it)

1 pound uncooked pasta

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cloves garlic, crushed (I chopped mine finely)

1/2 cup chopped red onion (I used a half yellow onion, medium-sized, but will probably use a whole one next time)

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast meat - cut into bite-size pieces

1 (14 ounce) can marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

1 large tomato, chopped (I used a can of diced tomatoes with green chilies)

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (I used dried)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons dried oregano

salt and pepper to taste

2 lemons, wedged, for garnish (I skipped this)

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente; drain.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and onion, and saute for 2 minutes. Stir in the chicken. Cook, stirring occasionally, until chicken is no longer pink and the juices run clear, about 5 to 6 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium-low, and add the artichoke hearts, tomato, feta cheese, parsley, lemon juice, oregano and cooked pasta. Stir until heated through, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat, season to taste with salt and pepper, and garnish with lemon wedges.

P.S. Mary I love the platter that I won from your Anniversary giveaway! Thank you again!!!

Mocha-Chocolate Trifle

With the new year starting in full swing and everyone wanting to eat light I came across a good looking trifle that caught my eye. I couldn't decide on if I wanted to change it up and use Amaretto instead of Kahlua so I did 1/2 and 1/2. The only problem is I didn't remember which side was which so when you get a spoonful you never know what flavor side you got. Both sides are tasty so it works well with either one. You can't tell it's low-fat, light or whatever term it is to use. I would make this again to bring to a party, you can't go wrong with pudding and cake!

Mocha-Chocolate Trifle

(Adapted from Cooking Light April 1998)

Ingredients
1 (18.25-ounce) package light devil's food cake mix
1 1/3 cups water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large egg whites
1 large egg
Cooking spray
3 cups cold fat-free milk
1 (5.9-ounce) package chocolate instant pudding mix I used fat-free
1/2 cup Kahlúa (coffee-flavored liqueur) or 1/2 cup strong brewed coffee I did 1/2 the trifle with Kahlua and 1/2 the trifle with Amaretto
1 (8-ounce) carton frozen fat-free whipped topping, thawed
1/2 cup chopped reduced-fat chocolate toffee crisp bars (about 4 bars) (such as Hershey's Sweet Escapes) I could only find Hershey's Nugget Extra Creamy Milk Chocolate with Toffee and Almonds

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; beat at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended.

Spoon batter into a 13 x 9-inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Combine milk and pudding mix in a medium bowl; prepare according to package directions.

Tear half of cake into pieces; place in a 3-quart bowl or trifle dish. Pour half of Kahlúa over cake pieces; top with half of pudding, whipped topping, and chocolate bars.

Repeat procedure with remaining cake, Kahlúa, pudding, whipped topping, and chocolate bars. Cover; chill at least 4 hours.

It might not be the prettiest, but it taste really good!

Shrimp and Cheese Croquettes

I'm still in shock that I was the one who won! Thank you all for your kind comments and well wishes. I will be posting about the trip for sure. With yesterday being a holiday we enjoyed our day off and took Mocha to the local dog park. She was in heaven! They had a swimming pond for the dogs and even with that being freezing cold it didn't stop her from jumping in. She's a wuss when it comes to taking a bath, but give her a pond and she's all about getting in.

This week I'll start off with a Tapas recipe I made over the weekend. It's from a book I won from entering in a contest a while back. Read more about it in my post HERE. They were ok that's about it, in my opinion they needed more cheese, more shrimp and seasoning they seemed a little dough like. I'm sure they wouldn't hold together as well, but I think you could get away with adding more shrimp for sure.

Shrimp and Cheese Croquettes
(Adapted from Tapas by Penelope Casas)
Serves 4 (Makes 12) I made 4 little ones and 2 larger patties

4 tablespoons sweet butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon minced shallots (I left this out)
6 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup milk
3 medium (2 ounces) shrimp, shelled and finely chopped
5 tablespoons (about 2 ounces) Manchego cheese
kosher or sea salt
white pepper, preferably freshly ground
a grating of nutmeg
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup dried bread crumbs, preferably mixed with panko crumbs
mild Olive oil for frying

Melt the butter and oil in a saucepan, then saute the shallots for a minute of two.

Stir in the flour and cook, stirring, for another minute or so.

Pour in the milk gradually and stir constantly until the mixture is thickened and smooth and has reached the boiling point.

Add the shrimp, cook for another minute, then remove from the heat.

Stir in 3 tablespoons of the cheese, salt, pepper, and nutmeg (the mixture should be well seasoned.) Cool, then chill for several hours. (The chilling process may be speeded up by spreading the mixture in a think layer on a flat dish.) May be prepared ahead of time.

With floured hands, shape the dough into walnut-size balls. Cover with egg yolk, then roll in the bread crumbs, which have been mixed with the remaining 2 tablespoons of cheese. (Refrigerate)

Fry in hot oil (About 365 degrees F.) at least 1/2 inch deep until golden, turning once. Or, better, use a deep fryer. Drain. (May be kept warm in 200 degree F oven up to 30 minutes.)

I'M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!!!

I always wanted to scream that, but didn't think it would be on the radio! They called late yesterday and said stay by your phone because the DJ would be calling soon. Funny part was I was in the lobby of the station picking up my original prize that qualified me for the trip. A friend of mine taped the live interview so I'll post it as soon I get it. I don't have much details besides the rules from the site which say:

One (1) Grand Prize: a trip for two to Orlando, Florida (must take trip between 2/11-13/2009). Sponsor reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to change the dates of the trip up to 14 days prior to the event. Trip components include: roundtrip coach air transportation for two (2) from major U.S. gateway airport nearest the winner's residence to Orlando, Florida, a minimum of three (3)-days/ two (2)-nights standard double-occupancy hotel accommodations (one (1) room), ground transportation between airport and hotel, two (2) 3-day passes to the Walt Disney World Resort theme parks, an invitation to attend the Grand Opening show of “The American Idol Experience” themepark attraction on 2/12/09. Trip must be taken during the time frame determined by Sponsor or prize will be forfeited in its entirety. Winner and guest must both be 18 years of age or older. Expenses not specified are winner's responsibility. Winner will be required to present a major credit card upon check-in at hotel to cover any incidental charges not covered by sponsor. Approximate retail value $2,634.00. Actual value will be determined by winner's residence and seasonal rates. Travel and accommodations are subject to availability and certain restrictions; blackout dates may apply. Winner and guests must have valid U.S. government issued ID (license and/or passports) and will be responsible for all necessary travel authorizations and for any travel insurance.

So this has started a great weekend off for me!

Here's my friend Misty and I at the station. She's be going with me as the hubby can't get off of work. Our husbands will probably fly down to Florida after work and we'll stay the rest of the weekend.

I'll be back next week with some tasty treats!

Easy Sopapilla Cheesecake

While I was in Tyler, I had one of the most wonderful simple to make desserts. I rushed home and made it and while it didn't come out the same it tasted the same. I think the difference was I used the Pillsbury full sheet crescent rolls instead of the regular crescent rolls. The top is supposed to be more crisp flaky puff pastry like and mine turned out more like a coffee cake. Either way its easy to throw together and taste really good.

Sopapilla Cheesecake

2 tubes of crescent rolls

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 sticks butter

2 teaspoons cinnamon

In a 9×13 pan roll out 1 tube of the crescent roll dough, stretch to corners.

Cream the cream cheese, 1 cup sugar and vanilla; spread onto the crescent roll.

Unroll 2nd tube and put that across the cream cheese mixture.

Stretch as needed to get to edges as best as possible.

Dough will rise in oven.

Melt stick of butter and pour over the top.

Mix 1 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon together and then sprinkle over the top.

Bake at 350 for approx 30 minutes.

Basically look to see if the crescent roll dough is golden on the edges.

I'll post this weekend and let you know the outcome of the radio station if I won a trip to Disney World!

Lazy Gal's Grilled Zucchini

I ment to post this on Monday, but I was wrapped up on getting ready for an annual audit at our office on Tuesday, which we did great on woohoo! I had another busy weekend. We missed the hide party due to my husband getting sick so I don't have pictures but I hear it was another great party with lots of great food.

Saturday I spent the day finishing up taking down all of our Christmas decorations and while I was listening to the radio I decided to do one of those "be the 100th caller" and go figure I was that caller! I won the American Idol DVD game, David Archuleta's and David Cook's Cd's and I'm now in a drawing to win 3 day 2 night trip to Disney World for the grand opening of "The American Idol Experience" attraction. Since I'm a contester I rush to look online and read all the disclaimer and details and it looks like I have a 1 in 27 chance of being picked. The funny part is I'm still listening to the radio and then text a couple of friends a couple hours later telling them to call in and my friend calls in and wins as well. What are the chances? We figured we should have jumped on a plane and flew to Vegas, but I had to much stuff to do. So now we'll be listening on Friday between 3pm and 7pm to see if one of us gets the call.

Sunday I worked on 2 recipes for the mega mother contest of all contest PILLSBURY! My dream is to make it there one day so I've spent all my time trying to think up new stuff. I hope not to have too many flops and torture my poor husband with my experiments. So while I did this my husband was stuck making dinner. It's not all that bad since we ate steak and twice baked potatoes. I made a quick and easy side to throw in my helping hand since he had all the work to do.

Check out these monster size rib steaks my hubby found on sale!

Lazy Grilled Zucchini

zucchini

olive oil mixture

Olive Oil Dipping Mixture (This is a great dipping sauce with bread I mix up a big batch and use it on everything) Best if made ahead of time.

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon parsley flakes

1 teaspoon granulated garlic

pinch of salt

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

Combine all of the olive oil dipping mixture. Slice zucchini and drizzle on olive oil mixture. Grill until desired texture is reached.

I mixed up some twice baked potatoes and served the meal with a nice wine that paired really well with the food.

Almond Glazed Sugar Cookies

Wow it's already Friday? Time has flown by! The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo events are starting to pop up now that it's getting closer and closer. This will be my 5th year to serve on the Communications and Special Service Committee. Last year I got moved up to photographer and so now my only job function is to take pictures of the events and then during the rodeo I take pictures of the calf scramble kids who catch a calf with the money donors. It's been a blast and to see and talk to all the kids, it's the best thing. My brother in law is on the Steer Auction Committee and we have a Hide Party tonight where we pick up the hide from the steer we bought last year and eat a fancy dinner. Each year our family goes in together to buy a steer and it's been a lot of fun. I'll share more pictures on Monday.


Now on to another cookie. I'm lacking the process of making them pictures because I was too excited to use my new photo studio so I hurried along with putting them together. They are pretty tasty and almost seemed to come out like a lace cookie and seemed very fragile.

Almond Glazed Sugar Cookies
(Adapted from Land O Lakes)


Cookies:
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt


Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
2 to 3 teaspoons water
sliced almonds

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. In large mixer bowl, combine butter, sugar and almond extract. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy (1 to 2 minutes). Reduce speed to low; add all remaining cookie ingredients. Beat until well mixed (1 to 2 minutes).

Roll dough into 1 inch balls; place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Flatten balls to 1/4 inch with bottom of a buttered glass dipped in sugar. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until edges are very lightly browned. Cool 1 minute before removing from cookie sheets; cool completely.

In small bowl, with wire wisk, stir together all glaze ingredients. Decorate cooled cookies with glaze and sliced almonds.