Warm Tasty Treat That Gets You Moovin!

Not much time this season for all kinds of reasons, so my "baking" is coming down to quick recipes which I can zip together between short spots of time. The temp has dropped down to the 40's today and that calls for a good cup of hot chocolate at my house.  Here is my version of Mexican hot chocolate.  Its warm and thick and spicy with only an appearance of  chili tang, but guaranteed to get the heart going bang-bang.  Enjoy!  (PS - The recipe calls for a cup of milk per serving, and once your finished heating, about a third of the milk steams off, so its a small serving, but potent enough that you could add warm milk to individual cups as-needed to thin it out and fill the cup.  I like it straight-dope myself, but to each their own.)  Hit this post's title to see the recipe...

Orange Pumpkin Muffins - Fall must be here

Baking weather is here and .... It's a tossup - Banana Muffins or Orange Pumpkin.  Both are delicious, but for some reason I only think to bake the Orange Pumpkin kind between Halloween and Christmas.  They would be good year round.  But since its time to have some, here is the recipe.

 

 

Preheat oven to 350

2/3 c butter

2 2/3 c sugar                  Cream together

1 orange                        Pureed w/ skin (I cut the thick ends a bit)

3 eggs                                       
16 oz pumpkin              Add to butter/sugar

1/2 to 1 c milk               Stir in to mixture

3 1/3 c flour

2 t baking soda

1 t cinnamon

1/2 t cloves or 1 t cardamom (I prefer  Cardamom) 

1/2 t salt

1/2 t baking powder    Mix all and add to batter

2/3 c chopped pecans

2/3 c chopped dates (or dried cranberries or raisins or cherries or?)    add to mixture

Mix and drop ice-cream scoop dollops into paper-lined muffin cups

Bake:  25 min for muffins / 15 min for mini muffins / 1 hr and 10 min for 2 loafs (my hot oven is only 50 min for loaves - test with toothpick)

 

Makes 24 muffins.  These are particularly good with cream cheese.  For breakfast. 

Alaina's Favorite - Chocolate Cheesecake

Well, Alaina loves anything chocolate.  But, today, she craved chocolate cheesecake.  She used the recipe from Taste of Home (http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Chocolate-Cheesecake).  Here is the recipe:

CRUST:

 1 cup crushed graham cracker crumbs (or chocolate wafer cookie crumbs/omit the cocoa)
 2 to 3 T cocoa (we used a mix of Dutch Process and Back Onyx)
 3 tablespoons sugar
 3 tablespoons butter, melted

 FILLING:

 2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips (I would use 1 cup to taste more CHEESEcake/Alaina says use 2 cups)
 2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
 3/4 cup sugar
 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
 2 large Eggs, lightly beaten
 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 Strawberries and white chocolate shavings, optional

Directions

• In a small bowl, combine cookie crumbs and sugar; stir in butter. Press onto the bottom of a greased 9-in. spring form pan; set aside. In a microwave, melt chocolate chips; stir until smooth. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and flour until smooth. Add eggs beat on low just until combined. Stir in vanilla and melted chocolate just until blended. Pour filling over crust.
• Bake at 350° for 40-45 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight. 
• Garnish slices with strawberries and chocolate shavings if desired. Refrigerate leftovers.

Yield: 12 servings.

Devilishly Good - Deviled Eggs

                                     

The first thing you will need is a dozen farm fresh eggs - Wild O Ranch eggs are best.  The only problem is that fresh eggs are difficult to peel.  So, you could age your eggs for a couple of weeks.  Or try tricks like adding salt, baking soda, or vinegar to the boil water (none of these methods work for me) or peeling them under running water (helps a little, I think).  So, somehow, cook/chill/peel a dozen eggs (I usually do eighteen so that trashed egg whites for several can be fed to the dog).  That leaves more egg filling for the remaining egg white halves and more is better...

1 dozen (or eighteen) hard cooked eggs, peeled, cut in half - mash the egg yolks in a big bowl; arrange the egg white halves in a plastic container designed for deviled eggs (this really makes transportation and storage easy but a regular plate will work.

To the egg yolk mash, add:
1/4 c mayonnaise
1/4 c Greek style plain yogurt
2 T sweet pickle relish
2 T chopped dill pickles (optional)
2 T chopped roasted peppers (this is the secret ingredient - Steve makes excellent roasted peppers for the purpose)
2 T grated onion (I like sweet onions)
cayenne pepper to taste
seasoned salt (Natures Seasoning or Lawry's or your favorite) to taste
paprika for topping

Mix all together well and taste for salt/pepper or other adjustments.  If the mixture is still to dry, add additional mayo/yogurt until the mix feels right.

Fill egg white halves with yolk mixture and sprinkle top with paprika.  Or, for a taste change, try sprinkling curry powder on top in place of paprika (curry was the flavor of deviled eggs from my childhood).  Chill and serve.

Bread Pudding - YUM

 

6 slices day-old bread

1/2 cup raisins (optional)

4 eggs, beaten

2 cups cream or half and half

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon cardomom

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Break bread into small pieces into a greased 8 inch square baking pan. I use cinnomon swirl bread and add a couple of peices of leftover corn bread if I have some.  Sprinkle with raisins.
3. In a mixing bowl, combine eggs, cream (or Half-and-Half), sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Pour over bread, and lightly push down with a fork until bread is covered and soaking up the egg mixture; let stand an hour.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes covered with aluminum foil; remove foil and cook 5 to 10 minutes longer, or until the top is lightly browned springs back when touched.

Sauce for Bread Pudding

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 c brandy, rum, or?  (optional); I like Harvey's Bristol Cream

 

Bring all ingredients (except vanilla and brandy) to a boil in a 4-c glass measureing cup in the microwave; cook and whisk alternately until the mixture starts to thicken. Add vanilla (and brandy) and whisk until smooth. Drizzle over bread pudding and serve.