Tiramisu

This desert went along with the gnocchi dinner for my sister's birthday. I didn't change a thing. I snagged this little gem from Sandra Lee on the food network.......

Ingredients

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 cup sugar, divided
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 (7-ounce) package ladyfingers
• 1 cup strong black coffee
• 1 teaspoon cocoa powder

Directions

Have 4 (8-ounce) wine glasses ready.

In a chilled bowl combine 3/4 cup of heavy cream and 1/4 cup sugar. Whip with a hand mixer until soft peaks form. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

In a large bowl combine the cream cheese, 1/4 cup heavy cream, vanilla and the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar. Whip with a hand mixer until light until fluffy.

Reserve 4 ladyfingers for garnish. Using1 lady finger at a time, snap or cut in half, then dip it quickly into the coffee, and drop it into the bottom of a wine glass. Repeat with the other 3 glasses. Put a heaping tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture on top of the ladyfingers in each glad. Do another layer of ladyfingers dipped in coffee, another of the cream cheese mixture, then 1 more layer of ladyfingers. Top with remaining filling and dollop with the whipped cream. Break the reserved 4 ladyfingers in half and insert 2 halves into the top of each glass.

Put the cocoa powder into a small sieve and tap it gently over each glass to dust the tops. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

Peanut butter Chocolate Cupcakes

Now we all know that chocolate and Peanut butter and the most perfect combination of food in the world. They where definitely a fan favorite at work.

I used the same frosting recipe as the white chocolate and used peanut butter chips instead and used fudge chocolate cake mix for the cake and put half a reeses on top...so easy and very tasty

Cupcake time!!

These came at the request from my co-worker Krista for her birthday. These are my Pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting I found this cake recipe from realsimple.com and creamcheese frosting from Martha Stewart

For Cake:

Ingredients

• 1 18.5-ounce box yellow cake mix (plus the ingredients called for in the package directions)
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350° F. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners. Prepare the cake mix as directed but with the following change: Add the pumpkin pie spice and substitute the can of pumpkin puree for the water called for in the package directions.
2. Divide the batter among the prepared muffin tins and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 18 to 22 minutes. Let cool. 

For Frosting

Ingredients

• 8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 pound (4 cups) confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Beat butter and cream cheese with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add sugar, 1 cup at a time, and then vanilla; mix until smooth. Frosting can be refrigerated for up to 3 days; before using, bring to room temperature, and beat until smooth. 

Crispy Thai Pork and Shrimp Wontons

 These Wontons where amazing and was so surprised that I could get them crispy without frying them. Michael loved them and they where simple to make...

My Notes:
I omitted the lemon grass and I didn't make the sauce. I had a jar of Mao Poy (which is a citrus ginger sauce that worked perfect for dipping)

Ingredients
1 Tbsp Ginger root, raw
1 medium Garlic, fresh
1 Tbsp Lemon grass (citronella), raw
2 medium Scallions
2 oz Shellfish, shrimp, cooked
3 oz Pork, chop, cooked, lean, without bone
½ tsp Oil, sesame
2 Tbsp Soy sauce (shoyu), low sodium
20 item(s) Wonton skins (wrappers)
2 spray(s) Cooking spray
2 Tbsp Jams and preserves, apricot
2 Tbsp Water
1 Tbsp Juice, lime, fresh
1 Tbsp Sauce, fish, ready-to-serve

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400ºF.
2. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a chopping blade, place ginger, garlic, lemon grass and scallions; pulse until finely chopped. Add shrimp, pork, oil and soy sauce; pulse to combine. Spoon mixture into a small bowl and mix well to combine.
3. Lightly coat a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place wonton wrappers on prepared baking sheet so they look like diamonds.
4. Fill a small bowl with water and using your finger or a small pastry brush, coat edges of wrappers with water. Spoon a heaping teaspoon of shrimp mixture onto middle of each wrapper; fold each wrap over filling to make a triangle and press to seal edges.
5. Coat tops of wontons with cooking spray and bake, flipping once, about 3 minutes per side. If wontons are not crispy enough, cook for 1 to 2 minutes more.
6. Meanwhile, while wontons are baking, in a small bowl, stir together preserves, water, lime juice and fish sauce. Serve wontons with dipping sauce on the side. Yields 4 wontons and about 1 tablespoon of sauce per serving.

BOLOGNESE SAUCE

Andrea introduced me to the greatness that is David Rocco, They air reruns of his cooking show on the cooking channel and She tried this sauce and it got such rave reviews I had to try for myself..and it lived up to it's reputation. Instead of pasta I served it with zucchini and squash pasta, but thinking that I'm going to do it over potato gnocchi next time as well...

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil  2 tablespoons unsalted butter  1 onion, finely chopped 2 celery stalks, finely chopped 3 carrots, finely chopped Sprig of fresh rosemary 200g minced pork  200g minced beef  1 cup white wine  2 cups tomato sauce 2 dried chili peppers, crushed 5 basil leaves, torn Salt to season

To start your Bolognese Sauce:

In a hot saucepan melt unsalted butter with the olive oil, and add carrots, onions, celery, and chili pepper. Cook the ingredients on medium heat until they are soft. Add sprig of rosemary. Add minced beef and pork and cook until golden brown. Remove rosemary sprig and add white wine. Let reduce. Add ‚salsa di 5 minutiç or puree tomatoes and let simmer on low heat for 1 hour. Before serving, add basil leaves and salt to season. Serve immediately.  NOTE: To cut on some calories I cut one tablespoon of olive oil and used 1/2 a pound of ground longhorn.

Simple Potato Gnocchi

So for my sister's birthday I wanted to make her something that her and her husband hadn't done before, well that I know of. I pre made the gnocchi ahead of time and froze it until i was ready for it. i got this recipe from my Martha Stewart Magazine... lots of work but very tasty!

Ingredients                                          

Serves 8

• 2 1/2 pounds russet potatoes (about 5 small)
• Coarse salt
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten

Directions

1. In a large pot, bring potatoes to a boil in salted water; reduce to a rapid simmer and cook until potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife, 35 to 40 minutes. Lightly dust two parchment-lined rimmed baking sheets with flour; set aside. Drain potatoes and peel while still hot with a paring knife (use a thick, dry kitchen towel or pot holder to hold them). Immediately pass potatoes through a ricer onto a work surface. Let cool completely.
2. Sprinkle potatoes with flour and 2 teaspoons salt, then top with egg. With your hands, work flour and egg into a dough.
3. Knead dough until smooth but not elastic, dusting with flour if it becomes too sticky, 4 minutes. Do not overwork dough.
4. Divide dough into 8 portions. Roll each portion into a rope (1/2 inch thick and 24 inches long). Cut each rope into 1/2-inch pieces.
5. Gently roll each dough piece against the back tines of a fork to make ridges, then arrange in a single layer on prepared baking sheets.
6. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. In batches, add a few handfuls gnocchi and cook until most have floated to top, 2 minutes. With a wire-mesh spider or a slotted spoon, transfer gnocchi immediately to a sauce.

Pork Lo Mein

And here is another Weight Watcher's Recipe that I love. They really have great Asian dishes.....


Ingredients
8 oz lean pork tenderloin
3 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
1 Tbsp minced garlic
2 Tbsp ginger root
8 oz uncooked linguine
⅛ tsp table salt
½ cup(s) carrot(s)
1 tsp canola oil
4 oz button mushrooms
½ cup(s) reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
⅓ cup(s) scallion(s)

Instructions:
In a medium bowl toss pork with two tablespoons of soy sauce, garlic and ginger, let stand 20 minutes

Cook linguine (I used Lo Mein noodles) in a large pot of lightly salted water according to the package directions. add carrots to the pot 5 minutes before the linguine will be done. Drain and set aside

Heat canola oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat add mushrooms and pork.  increase heat to high, stir-fry until mushrooms release their liquid and become lightly browned, and pork is cooked through, about 6 minutes.

Add drained linguine and carrots, broth remaining tablespoon of soy sauce ans sesame oil to the skillets toss over low heat until combined. Remove from the heat and stir in scallions, serve immediately . Yields about 1 1/4 cup per serving