Grand Marnier Crepe Cake

// September 18th, 2009 // Comments // amatuer chef

I found this recipe on epicurious and have made this cake two times it is delicious and very easy to make! The crepe are light and the creme has nice subtle orange flavor.  No crepe pan necessary,  just a simple frying pan and some patience.

Ingredients:

6 eggs

1 cup whole milk

3 cups of heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup of flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup confectioners sugar

2 tablespoons grated orange zest

2 tablespoons unsalted melted butter

1 tablespoon Grand Marnier

Preparation:

In a blender combine eggs, milk, 1/2 cup of cream, 1 cup of flour, 1/4 cup of confectioners sugar, salt and 1 teaspoon of orange zest. Blend until smooth, you don’t want any lumps in your crepes.

Heat skillet to medium-high heat and brush the pan with melted butter.  Pour into pan enough batter to cover the surface of the pan (a little less that 1/4 cup). Cook until golden brown on each side. Remove from skillet and place on a plate while you cook the rest.  Let them cool while you are making the creme.

In a large bowl beat 2 1/2 cups of creme, 3/4 cup of confectioners creme, 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla, 1 teaspoon of Grand Marnier, and 1 teaspoon of orange zest.  Beat with an electric mixer until the creme forms soft peaks.

Now comes the fun part.  On a large plate place one crepe and cover completely with cream. Place down another crepe and once again cover with cream. So you probably see where this is going keep stacking the crepes and covering with creme ending with a crepe on top.  Cover with plastic wrap and let cool in the fridge for at least 4 hours.

Enjoy:

Remove plastic wrap and cut cake into triangle pieces.  If you have creme left over put a dollop on top of each slice.  To get a little fancy with this you can add raspberries to the top or strawberries would also be delicious. This is really a base recipe that can be jazzed up.

Pomegranate-Mango Guacamole and Plantain Chips

// September 18th, 2009 // Comments // amatuer chef

This past weekend my brother in law, Tony was visiting and we of course decided to have a rooftop barbeque.  One of Tony’s favorite things to eat is guacamole so I figured I would make guacamole but with a little twist.  This guacamole has a hint of sweetness from the fruit and just enough acid from the lime juice.

Ingredients:

4 avocados

1 mango

1 pomegranate

1 cup diced red onion

2 diced serano chilies

1/4 lime juice

1 teaspoon salt

8 green plantains

1 lime

sea salt

5 cups of vegetable oil

Preparation:

Guacamole

Dice the onion, serrano chiles and mango into small cubes and remove the seeds from the pomegranate.

Halve and coarsely mash the avocados in a bowl.  Then mix in onions, lime juice, peppers and salt.  Fold in the mangos and pomgranate.  Allow guacamole to chill in refrigerator to chill for a couple hours to allow the flavors to combine.

Plantain Chips

Cut off the ends of the plantains and score them lengthwise.  Soak them in hot sink water for 5 minutes.  Peel the plantains and slice them 1/16 thin into long strips.  A potato peeler works well for this. Pour oil into a large skillet and heat it for about 4 minutes.  Fry each plantain strip for about 45 seconds turning continually with wire metal tongs.  Remove from oil top with fresh lime juice and sea salt.

Enjoy:

Spoon the guacamole into a nice serving dish.  I finally used my old school lava rock serving dish (for lack of a better word) that I bought from Mexico City in 2005.

Guinness & Black

// September 11th, 2009 // Comments // amatuer chef

My husband and really good friend Mikey LOVE Guinness.  So when I found this concoction I just knew I had to make it for them.  Guinness and Black is an Irish drink featuring blackberry brandy, vanilla ice cream and of course Guinness.  A very simple thing to do for the Guinness lovers!

Ingredients:

3 cold 12 ounces bottles of Guinness

4 tablespoons of Blackberry Brandy

1 pint of premium vanilla ice cream

Preparation:

In each mug put a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Top with 1 tablespoons of blackberry brandy.  Then slowly pour in 8 ounces of cold Guinness.

Enjoy:

This is like the grown up version of the root beer float.  You can use a spoon or straw whatever you wish but most of all enjoy this Guinness flavored dessert.

Summer Cream Crunch Salad

// September 7th, 2009 // Comments // amatuer chef

The last thing I made for our rooftop barbeque this Labor Day Weekend was a salad I like to call the Summer Cream Crunch Salad.  I had a salad similar to this once before at an all day conference at a school I used to teach at.  This salad is perfect for the summer because it uses nice ripe peaches and raspberries, creamy goat cheese and crunchy walnuts topped with balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

Ingredients:

spring mix salad

1 peach

1 box of fresh raspberries

2 ounces of goat cheese

1/4 cup of walnuts

balsamic vinaigrette

Preparation:

Lay the lettuce in a large bowl.  Slice the peaches thin and place on top of the lettuce.  Add in the raspberries and walnuts.  Drop in the creamy goats cheese in small chunks.

Enjoy:

Drizzle on top the balsamic vinaigrette dressing and enjoy!

Cranberry Granita with Orange Cream

// September 6th, 2009 // Comments // amatuer chef

We … let me just explain when I say we I am referring to the 5 of us that live together in the East Village – Me, my husband AJ, my 2 younger brothers Brian and Cheese and my good friend Mikey.  So we decided to have one of our infamous rooftop barbecues this weekend.  As usual we have a ton of food that Mikey will be grilling, one of the things I am making this weekend in the dessert.  I wanted to make something light (as we will be stuffed) and refreshing because if how hot it has been outside.  So I searched and found a recipe on epicurious for a Cranberry Granita with Orange Cream.  Sounded delicious so I though I would give it a try and … it was a HIT, everyone loved it!

Ingredients:

2 cups of Cranberry Juice Cocktail

1/2 cup of sugar

1 1/2 cups of cranberry sauce (like everyone eats for Thanksgiving)

1/2 cup of Orange Juice

2 teaspoons of orange peal

3/4 cup of chilled cream

Preparation:

Bring the cranberry juice and sugar to a boil.  Stir often so that the sugar doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.  Remove  from heat and let it sit.  Puree cranberry sauce for 1 minute.  Then add cranberry juice and sugar mixture and puree for two minutes more.  Pour into an 8×8 pan and freeze until firm or at least 4 hours.  (I used two smaller pans and it worked just fine)

Remove from freezer and scrap with a fork make the frozen cranberry mixture it a flaky goodness.  Now its time for the orange cream.  I have to admit, I ruined mine at first because the ornage syrup I put in was too hot and curdled the cream.  So make sure that the orange syrup is cooled before you put it in the cream to whip.

For the orange syrup combine orange juice and 3 tablespoons of sugar and bring it to a boil in a small saucepan.  Boil the mixture until is reduces to about 1/4 of a cup.  Remove from heat and let it cool.

Now its time for the cream.  In a bowl whisk together cream and 3 tablespoons of the cooled orange syrup.  Whisk for about 4 minutes.  You will know the cream is ready when you remove the whisk and the cream has soft peaks.

Enjoy:

Place a generous amount of cranberry granita into a glass top with a spoonful of cream drizzle a bit of orange cream on top and garnish with some shredded orange peel.

Rose Sangria on Labor Day Weekend

// September 6th, 2009 // Comments // amatuer chef

The summer is starting to sizzle down and this weekend we are having a barbecue on the roof once again.  Barbecues on the roof have become something that we do at least twice a month now.  I have made sangria several time before, but this week I have made a Sangria with Rose Wine.  This drink refreshing and very fruity.  What makes it partiuclarly delicious is the gauva juice!  I love sangria so I use 2 bottles of wine to make it last longer, but this recipe could be done with one bottle of wine.

Ingredients:

2 bottles of Rose Wine (any pink wine will do)

1 16 oz. can of pineapples in 100% pineapple juice

1 can of guava nectar

1 orange (cut into slices)

1 lime (cut into slices)

Preparation:

Slice lime and oranges and place in a large pitcher with pineapples and juice.  Pour both bottles of wine over the fruit and refrigerate for a few hours or until cold.  When mixture is nice and cold and you are ready to serve add the can of guava nectar and stir it all around.

Enjoy:

Fill your glass with ice, spoon in some fruit and cover with the delicious, tropical, fruity Rose Sangria.