Month: August 2012

Things That Don’t Make It on the Blog

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I’m not sure what I did before I had a blog.  Did I just prepare food and eat it or give it away?  Wait, let me think back a few years…

Oh, yeah.  I guess not. I didn’t always try to attractively plate my food and photograph it.  (Duh, only crazy people do that)

Truth be told, I don’t always photograph things.  But friends, there’s another strange phenomenon that happens behind the Foodologie scenes…

Sometimes I make things, photograph them and DO NOT blog about it.

Gasp. You’re probably thinking, oh man what missed opportunities!

I know.   It breaks my heart too.

So obviously this raises the question: are other blogger doing this too?  Making things and then having the audacity to NOT share it with readers?  I might be the only jerk out there who withholds baked goods from the blog world.

So I guess it’s time for me to repent.  In the spirit of transparency, here are a few things that didn’t make the blog…

Exhibit A:  Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies

I baked and mailed them to a friend…

I think they were delicious; it was a while ago, but yes, I remember them being tasty.  I had this grand idea of a series of blog posts involving friends, sadly this friend did not follow through, neither did another one for whom I made some hazelnut pinwheel cookies.  Such is life.  I’m not losing sleep over it.

Exhibit B: Bourbon Apple Pie

Haven’t I given you enough pies with bourbon in them?  Sometimes I worry you all will tire of my pies.  I still make them and feed them to people, but sometimes I just don’t feel the need to repeat a recipe, change one thing then call it something new.  Hint: if you make my bourbon peach pie and replace the peaches with apples, you’ll get the pie photographed above.

Exhibit C: Peanut Butter Banana Caramel Bars (renamed by my office: Karmely Yum Bars)

Yes they were that delicious.  They even got named for their goodness.

I’m not sure why I never blogged about these.  Oh yeah, I completely forgot how I made them.  Note to self: write down your ingredients when you create a recipe.

I’ll try my best to remake these, because honestly, they were to die for.

Exhibit D: My quest to make the perfect lemon pound cake.

Really I’ve tried at least 10 times.  It’s still not perfect.  I’ve gotten close but not quite.  I refuse to post a recipe that’s anything less than divine.  The last one I tried, this past week, was close.  I took it to work and it was gone before noon.

That’s a good sign, but I wasn’t pleased. The quest continues.  If I post a lemon pound cake recipe on this blog, be assured that is really is the most amazing thing on Earth.

So there you have it.  I’ve let it all out.  No secrets here.  Isn’t that nice of me?

Truth be told: I can’t promise I won’t do this again…  Like with those ceviche spring rolls I made a few weeks ago…

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Passion Fruit Cream Pie

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There are a few things I’m certain about.

1. If you are at a party full of latinos and you want them to dance, play this song:

Everyone will be on the dance floor within 30 seconds.  Truth.

2.  My sister and I have a 20 degree temperature range of comfort.  Anything below 65F is too cold, and anything about 85F is far too hot.  I have no idea how I lived in central NY for 2 years.

3.  This is my new go to summer dessert.  Really this has to do with #2 and the fact that my apartment is an oven, therefore I refuse to turn on the oven.

Passion Fruit Cream Pie

For Crust:
1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 stick of butter
1/4 cup powdered sugar

For Filling:
8 oz cream cheese
1  1/4 cup passion fruit curd (recipe follows)
1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 Mango diced, or sliced strawberries, thinly sliced lemon, extra whipped cream or other fruit for topping

Passionfruit Curd
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/3 cup passion fruit pulp (Goya has some frozen, check out the freezer section or a latin grocery store)
4 tbsp butter

First prepare the passion fruit curd, it needs to cool completely before you make this.  In a glass bowl that fits over a saucepan, combine eggs, passion fruit pulp and sugar.  Place over a sauce pan with boiling water (make sure the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl).  Stir constantly until thick (this will take anywhere from 20-30 minutes).  Stir in butter and pass through a fine mesh strainer.  Set aside to cool and refrigerate until ready to use.  This can be made up to 3 days in advance.

Once you’re ready to make your pie.  Melt butter in a bowl.  Add graham cracker crumbs and sugar.  Press into 9” pie dish.  Place in freezer while you prepare the filling.

In a medium bowl, beat together cream cheese and 1 cup of passionfruit curd.

In a separate bowl, beat heavy whipping cream until it holds firm peaks.

Fold whipped cream into cream cheese/passion fruit mixture.  Pour mixture into prepared pie dish.   Spread any remaining passion fruit curd (will be about 1/4 cup) on to the top of the pie mixture (that is if you haven’t eaten it already because it’s so deliciously good).

Top with your fruit of choice and refrigerate at least 4 hours or until ready to serve.    I topped one with mango and one with thinly sliced lemon pieces.

Note that decorating this with lemons is totally misleading.  Half the people at the party I took this to were expecting it to be a lemon dessert.

The good news is you totally can make this into a lemon dessert!  All you have to do is replace the passionfruit curd with lemon curd and TA DA! Instant no-bake lemon dessert!

Now, let me be honest, I’ve made both a lemon version and a passion fruit version… The passion fruit version wins.

Topped with mango.  To die for.

Either way, I’m thinking that this is my new favorite no bake dessert.

It might even beat the peanut butter banana cream pie… and that’s saying a lot.

Ok but we’re all friends here, turn on some music (or maybe the song I linked above), dance in the kitchen and make both the passion fruit cream pie and the peanut butter banana cream pie.  I’m certain you (and whoever you decide to share them with) will love them.

Almond Joy Biscotti: Almond-Coconut Biscotti Dipped in Chocolate

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Sometimes I have random cravings like a pregnant woman.  No, I’m not pregnant.  Trust me.  I’m not, but my sister is pregnant so this is my point of comparison.  At times, I think I crave things as often as she does.

Tonight, I really wanted crunchy, raw cabbage with lemon lime and salt.  It was wonderful (and pretty random, right?).

Last week, I wanted biscotti.

Also totally random right?  Except for that fact that biscotti is delicious, and really I can’t think of a time I wouldn’t want to enjoy some biscotti with a cup of coffee.

But this biscotti:

This biscotti is crazy-delicious.  Hard to believe but true.  So go ahead.  Write down the recipe and get in the kitchen….

Almond Joy Biscotti

adapted from All Recipes

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cups sugar, divided
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup shredded coconut
2 cups chocolate chips
1-2 tbsp oil

Pre-heat oven to 350F.

Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in one egg at a time then vanilla.  Stir in flour, baking powder and salt, until not quite combined.  Fold in almonds and coconut.

Line two baking sheets (or 1 large one) with parchment paper.  Flour your hands then take half the dough and drop it onto a baking sheet and try to mold it into a log-shape, more or less 3 inches wide and 12 inches long.  I say more or less because the dough will be very sticky and hard to handle but don’t worry it’ll all turn out fine once baked.  Do the same with the other half.  Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.  Once the logs have cooled, using a serrated bread cut slightly slanted into 1/2-3/4 inch thick cookies.

Turn oven down to 275F.  Lay on another parchment paper-lined baking sheets, bake for 5-10 minutes or until golden on the bottom.  Flip each cookie and bake another 5-10 minutes.  Keep a close eye on them you don’t want to burn them!

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.  Once the cookies have cooled.  Place chocolate chips in a bowl, microwave 30 seconds, then stir.  Microwave another 30 seconds, then stir.  Repeat until chocolate is melted.  Stir in 1-2 tbsp oil until the chocolate is slightly runny.

Dip one side of each cookie (Note: this makes about 40 cookies) in chocolate and lay on parchment paper.  Drizzle any remaining chocolate on top of cookies.  Refrigerate half an hour until chocolate sets.

Make a pot of coffee, serve and enjoy!

The good thing is if you’re not craving biscotti at this very moment, they stay good for about a week in an air-tight container.

So go ahead and preemptively give in to your cravings.

Make these, then snap a photo and send it to me!  No really, do it!