Category Archives: Dairy

Yogurt Parfait ~ Ellenos Real Greek Yogurt

23 Monday Sep 2013

Posted by in Breakfast, Dairy, Healthy, Nuts, Product Review

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Have you had breakfast yet?  For the last few days I’ve been eating Ellenos Real Greek Yogurt.  This locally hand crafted yogurt is exclusive to Pike Place Market and just might give you an extra reason to visit Seattle.  Super creamy and rich, it comes in many varities.  I enjoyed the passion fruit the most – extremely fragrant, with seeds from the passion fruit incorporated with the yogurt.  They pop and burst inside your mouth with every bite you take.

Today, I layered the lemon curd Ellenos yogurt together with their plain variety on the botton of the glass.  Then, sprinkled fresh raspberries and topped with granola.  Could breakfast get any better? 

Be sure to check out Ellenos the next time you are at Pike Place Market and let me know what your favorite flavor is.  Enjoy!

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Spinach and Mushroom Cream Sauce

29 Friday Jun 2012

Posted by in Cheese, Cooking, Dairy, Recipe, Vegetarian

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Oh Yum! This delicious, rich and cheesy Spinach and Mushroom Cream Sauce served as a landing pad for the Roasted Butternut Squash Ravioli with Three Cheeses and Basil I posted earlier this week.  I’m not going to argue against the calories contributed by the half and half, but I will point out that spinach is high in fiber, and you get plenty of calcium in each serving of the sauce, so go ahead and make a batch!


Spinach and Mushroom Cream Sauce


Ingredients


2 teaspoons olive oil

1/2 large onion, finely diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 container sliced mushrooms

9 ounces fresh spinach leaves

1 cup half and half

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup chopped basil

2-3 teaspoons lemon juice


salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1.  Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add onion, garlic, and mushrooms.  Saute, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables become tender and golden brown.

2.  Stir in spinach, in batches, if necessary.  Cook until spinach wilts completely, about 3 minutes.

3.  Pour in half and half, lower the heat, and simmer the sauce until it thickens, 10-15 minutes.

4.  Add Parmesan cheese and basil and season with lemon juice, salt and pepper.

5.  Ladle the sauce on the bottom of the plate and serve with Roasted Butternut Squash Ravioli or your favorite pasta.

Can you think of another use for the sauce?  Do share!

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Boozy Sour Cherry Tiramisu ~ Sweet Recipe for Success for Mother’s Day

22 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by in cherries, Cooking, Dairy, Dessert, Mother's Day, Recipe

≈ 2 Comments

A few years ago, I wrote a simple post for Mother’s Day that turned this blog of mine upside down.  That recipe for Sausage and Broccoli Egg Muffins brought thousands of you to my site and fed thousands of hungry mouths.

Every Mother’s Day that follows, I try to create a new recipe that will bring joy to my mom and live up to the popularity of that initial post.  I can’t guarantee the latter, but the former is definitely true!

This year, I whipped up Boozy Sour Cherry Tiramisu ~ my adaptation of one of Italy’s most popular dessert.  You will find mascarpone and ladyfingers in my version, but the coffee is replaced with delicious sour cheerry juice, that’s not so sour! Won’t you give this one a try?  And if you are looking for more tiramisu recipes, check one made by MangoTomato with pomegranate!  But if cherries are more to your liking, you will also want to make Sour Cherry Crustless Cheesecakes ~ baked inside your muffin tin!

Boozy Sour Cherry Tiramisu



Ingredients 

1 pint whipping cream

16 ounces mascarpone cheese

1/3 cup cherry liqueur (I used the bottle of Ginja I brought from Portugal)

2 tablespoons powdered sugar

24-ounce jar pitted sour cherries

2 cups sour cherry juice

3 packs Italian ladyfingers

Directions

1.  Beat together whipping cream, mascarpone cheese, cherry liqueur and powdered sugar in a large bowl, until stiff peaks form.

2.  Drain cherry juice from the jar of cherries and combine with the other two cups of juice.  Quickly dip ladyfingers into sour cherry juice and line them on the bottom of the 9×13 glass dish.

 3.  Spread the first layer of ladyfingers with 1/3 of the mascarpone and sprinkle with 1/3 of the sour cherries.

 4.  Repeat with two more layers of ladyfingers and mascarpone, leaving the cherries off the last layer.  Cover the Boozy Sour Cherry Tiramisu with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

 
5.  Remove the cake from the refrigerator and garnish with the remaining cherries.  Eat up!

The cake gets better as it sits and the layers of ladyfingers absorb the rich, boozy, sweet mascarpone cream.  Enjoy a slice (or two) with a cup of tea or a shot of cherry liqueur!

What did you make this year for Mother’s Day?

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No-Thrills Butternut Squash Soup Recipe

15 Thursday Mar 2012

Posted by in Cooking, Dairy, Gluten Free, Recipe, Soup, Vegetables, Vegetarian

≈ 2 Comments

Me: “Hey, do you want to come over?”
Alla: “Yes! Will you feed me?”
Me:  “I suppose so. How about some butternut squash soup?”
Alla:  “Yes! And Anna’s famous grilled cheese?”
Me:  “Sure, but I don’t have bread or cheese, so can you pick some up on your way?”
Alla:  “Oh, I have some tortillas and cheese, I’ll bring those and we can have quesadillas.”
Me: “Perfect! And you’re in luck – I don’t have any onions on hand either, so they won’t go into the soup.”
Alla:  “Cool! And don’t put any other icky stuff into the soup either, please.”
Me:  (rolling my eyes) “Ok, fine! See you soon.”

And that’s how I made this No-Thrills Butternut Squash Soup.  Had I been making the soup for myself, I would have thrown in some extra ingredients: cayenne pepper, coriander, perhaps some onions.  But this “no-thrills” version was delicious on its own!  Serve the soup with Green Olive, Banana Pepper, and Cilantro Quesadillas. 

Extra! Extra! Please notice the beautiful additions to this post: towels from my sister MangoTomato and a plate from my friend Priya – thank you girls!

No-Thrills Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded, chopped
6 garlic cloves, peeled
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground sweet paprika
1 teaspoon coconut sugar
4 cups water (or liquid of your choice)
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup milk
chopped cilantro, for garnish
Directions

1.  Heat olive oil over medium heat in a heavy-bottomed soup pot.
2.  Add butternut squash, garlic, and spices.
3.  Saute, stirring occasionally, for 5-10 minutes.
4.  Cover with water, bring to a boil, and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the butternut squash is tender.
5.  Remove soup from heat.  Puree soup until smooth using a stick blender.
6.  Whisk in milk and reheat the soup to temperature.
7.  Season with salt and pepper to taste and garnish with cilantro.  Serve with Green Olive, Banana Pepper, and Cilantro Quesadillas.

The next day, when reheating some of the soup for lunch, I threw in a handful of shrimp and let them cook gently while the soup was simmering away.  The shrimp were perfectly tender and flavorful!



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Lemongrass and Ginger Panna Cotta with Mango Chutney

16 Friday Sep 2011

Posted by in Cooking, Dairy, Dessert, Iowa - Cuisine at home, Mango, Recipe

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I can’t recall the first time I tried panna cotta, the Italian dessert that translates to cooked cream. I do, however, remember the first time I fell in love with panna cotta.  Of all the places to fall in love, my was in the test kitchen of Cuisine at home magazine in Des Moines, IA where I worked for 4 months.  We were cooking a sit down meal for the lucky winners of a fundraiser, and dessert was panna cotta with a fruit compote.  Oh how sweet it was!  Thank you to my favorite Cuisiners, and especially to Sue Hoss!

Panna cotta is a deceivingly simple and light dessert.  In reality, it is quite easy to make, but it is rich in flavor and calories.  This year, I made my first panna cotta, based on the recipe from Cuisine at home magazine – I added lemon grass and ginger, slightly changed the methodology, and quickly cooked mango chutney.  This Lemongrass and Ginger Panna Cotta was part of the 30th Birthday Celebration dinner MangoTomato and I cooked for our dear friend Lera.


Ingredients



Panna Cotta
3 cups heavy cream
3-4 stalks lemon grass, sliced in half and bruised with a knife
5-6 slices of ginger
2/3 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
pinch of salt
2 teaspoons gelatin
2 tablespoons cold water
3/4 cup sour cream

Mango Chutney
2 teaspoons butter
2 mangoes, peeled and diced
4 slices crystalized ginger, diced
2 tablespoons brown sugar
splash of Sparkling wine

Directions


1.  Heat heavy cream, lemon grass and ginger in a heavy pot over medium heat.  Stir occasionally, do not boil.  Continue to simmer for about 20 minutes to infuse the cream with lemon grass and ginger aroma.  Strain the cream, and return to the pot.  Add sugar and continue to heat for a few minutes until the sugar melts.  Remove the cream from the heat and whisk in vanilla and salt.

2.  Combine gelatin and water in a small bowl and allow the gelatin to bloom (it will resemble jello once it’s done).  Whisk in bloomed gelatin into warm cream.

3.  Slowly, whisk the cream mixture into sour cream.  Pour the panna cotta mixture into 6 ramekins.  Cover the ramekins with plastic wrap and refrigerate until completely set, about 4 hours or overnight.

4.  Prior to serving the panna cotta, melt butter in a pot.  Add mangoes, ginger and sugar.  Cook about 5-10 minutes until the sugar melts.  Add a splash, or 2, of sparkling wine and reduce to desired consistency.

5.  Remove panna cotta from the refrigerator.  Run a small pairing knife around the edge of the mold and gently dip the mold in a hot water bath, to release the panna cotta.  Invert the panna cotta onto a dessert plate and garnish with mango.

We toasted Lera’s birthday with Novelty Hill Late Harvest 2007!  Happy birthday 🙂

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