My new home away from home

New Job!

I am really excited to announce that I am now working at Tri Delta at NC State! I am cooking their dinners M-Th and then lunch on Fridays.  Heidi is the chef.  She does breakfasts and lunches M-Th, plus all the ordering, meal planning, etc.  I am really looking forward to cooking all year round.  I will do this job during the school year and then head back to the Mudcats when that ends.  Yay me!

Baked Cheese Olives

Dinner Club again.  I made oven fries, which were well - received but nothing special.  Big  hit of the night was from Cathy & Rich: baked cheese olives! They were awesome.

Ingredients

• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 24 pimento-stuffed green olives

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. In a small mixing bowl, combine cheese and butter or margarine. Stir flour and cayenne pepper into the cheese and butter mixture. Blend well. Wrap a tablespoon of dough around each green olive. Arrange the wrapped olives on a cookie sheet.
3. Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving  Calories: 110 | Total Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 20mg

We polished this recipe off very quickly. For a large party, I'd recommend doubling it for sure!

Best.Dessert.Ever

Our last dinner club featured a beer theme and I did the dessert.  It was absolutely fabulous & I will definitely make it again!  I used my new ice cream maker for it & that worked wonderfully.  The kids & I are looking forward to making our next batch of ice cream in a few days.  Even they loved the mascarpone ice cream, once they got over the fact that it was made out of cheese...

Framboise Lambic & Mascarpone Ice Cream Float

This recipe is by Will Fausser, Pastry Chef at the Fuego restaurant at La Posada de Santa Fe Resort & Spa, A RockResort. He uses the homemade Mascarpone ice cream in a float made with Cantillon Framboise Lambic beer. [We used a peach lambic from East Wake Wines.]   Serve it in a burgundy glass for a truly delightful dessert.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Mascarpone Cheese
• 1 cup Milk
• 1½ cups Sugar
• 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
• Framboise Lambic Beer

Preparation:

Combine the first four ingredients and blend them in a food processor. Proceed as usual following the instructions for your ice cream maker.

Fill burgundy glass around half-way with Lambic. Add a scoop of the ice cream. Serve with a small spoon and straw.

Sweet Potato Latkes

Sweet-Potato Latkes  

Gourmet | December 2001

Yield: Makes about 26 pancakes Active Time: 30 min Total Time: 30 min 1 lb sweet potatoes, peeled and coarsely grated 2 scallions, finely chopped 1/3 cup all-purpose flour [I used more like 2/3 cup of flour] 2 large eggs, lightly beaten [I used 3 eggs] 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 3/4 cup vegetable oil Stir together potatoes, scallions, flour, eggs, salt, and pepper. Heat oil in a deep 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Working in batches of 4, spoon 1/8 cup potato mixture per latke into oil and flatten to 3-inch diameter with a slotted spatula. Reduce heat to moderate and cook until golden, about 1 1/2 minutes on each side. Transfer latkes with spatula to paper towels to drain.

* I found this recipe to be too wet so added the additional egg & flour to it to make it stick together better.  I served with sour cream as well.

Read More here at Epicurious

Apple Latkes!

Joan Nathan's recipe from The Jewish Holiday Kitchen

Makes approximately 36 latkes

• 2 eggs, well beaten
• 1 1/2 cups orange juice, yogurt or milk [I used milk]
• 1 tsp baking powder
• dash of kosher salt
• 1/4-1/2 cup sugar, depending on taste [I used 1/2 cup]
• 3 medium apples, peeled & coarsely grated [I used my food processor, which works wonderfully]
• Vegetable oil for frying
• confectioners' sugar

Mix eggs with the orange juice, yogurt or milk in a bowl.

In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder, salt & sugar.  Add dry ingredients to the egg mixture, along with the grated apples.  Heat a thin layer of oil in a skillet.  Allowing 1 large tablespoon of batter per latke or pancake, drop into the hot oil. Cook about 2 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.

Drain on paper towels, sprinkle with confectioners' sugar and serve.

*If you have leftovers, let cool completely and then freeze in a single layer in a ziploc bag.  Do not put in the refrigerator as they will become soggy.  To reheat, you can put in the toaster or on a cookie sheet in the oven.*

My New Knife

My husband got me a Henckels 7" Santoku knife for Hanukkah.  Yay me!  Here it is w/my other two Henckels knives.  One of the great things about working in a professional kitchen is that you get to use professional knives.  One of the bad things is that my Harris Teeter knives had to go. ;)