Tiramisu Obsession !

Okay, SERIOUSLY, drool. This recipe is amazing! I'm not going to lie, I did have some troubles in the beginning since the original recipe did not convince me. I made a couple of tweaks and if I do say so myself, made it into a FAN-TAS-TIC dessert! This no bake Tiramisu is a very popular Italian dessert that is made with ladyfinger cookies dipped in coffee and usually layered with a whipped mixture of mascarpone cheese and eggs.  In my recipe I replaced the mascarpone cheese with a less expensive ingredient, cream cheese! Give it a try and let me know what you think. Regardless, it's pretty outrageous!

Ingredients:

16 ounces Cream Cheese

1 1/2 cups Heavy cream

6-7 ounces Lady Fingers (One Package)

2/3 cups Sugar

2 cups of Coffee or Espresso

3 tbls. Baileys Cream (Rum or any other coffee flavored liquor works)

2 tsp. Vanilla Extract

1-2 tsps. of cocoa powder

Chocolate, for garnish

Directions:

1. Before anything else, I start by brewing my Espresso. 1 1/2-2 cups should be sufficient for your recipe. (Coffee works as well)

2. In a bowl, beat cream cheese, vanilla extract and liquor together. (It helps to have the cream cheese softened ahead of time.)

3. In a separate bowl, beat the heavy cream and sugar together with a mixer. Beating the heavy cream separately helps the cream to have a stiff consistency. 

3. Once the cream has formed into a whipped cream, add the mixture into the cream cheese. fold or beat together to combine. 

4. Once the creamy mixture is ready you can start assembling your dessert. Start by covering the bottom of your dish with cream. Dip the ladyfinger cookie into the espresso so that it can absorb the liquid. Place the soaked lady finger cookie on top of the cream and repeat the steps.

5. As you see in the pictures above, I started by making individual tiramisu desserts in mason jars. This is a bit more work to do. Since I was in a rush to get them into some hungry stomachs, I changed it and finished it off in a larger platter.

(Don't forget to sprinkle it with some cocoa powder and chocolate shavings for a chocolaty touch!)

Enjoy!

Stuffed Pasta Shells

Hello Everyone! 

Yes, PASTA NIGHT is tonight and I have the perfect recipe for you! The beauty about this dish is you can change it up as you please with your own preferences and make it as simple or as extravagant as you want. Vegetarian? Stuff it with some gooey cheese, spinach and favorite blend of veggies. Although all of that sounds DELISH, today I have decided to go the classical way and will be stuffin' my pasta with beef and cheese! Follow my recipe for an awesome weekend dinner!

PS: Don't panic, this dish is great on the weekdays too ;) 

Ingredients: 

Salt 

Pepper

1/4 Finely chopped carrots (or grated, whatever is easier)

1/4 Finely chopped celery

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1/4-1/2 cups of sliced mushrooms

1- 1 1/2 pounds of ground meat 

1 28oz. canned tomato sauce

1 teaspoon of dried Basil

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 12oz. box of jumbo shells

1/2-1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese (Depending on how much you love cheese! )

Instructions:
1. Get your veggies into a pan and sautee them for about ten minutes at a medium to high heat .

2. Once your veggies have cooked off add your ground meat. 

Meanwhile, in a large pot, bring some salted water to a boil and cook your pasta shells. DO NOT OVERCOOK!  I would suggest to cook them up a little bit over the halfway mark that the boxed instruction tells you to. Remember, you will finish off the dish in the oven to bake off. 

3. After the meat has browned, mix in the tomato sauce. Once the sauce has come to a boil add the dried basil, salt and pepper to taste and reduce to a simmer. 

4. Once your meat sauce has simmered off for about 15 minutes you can start stuffing the pasta. I placed some sauce on the bottom of the pan as well so that the shells don't get stuck. 

5. Once the shells have been stuffed, cover the dish with foil and bake them in the oven for about 20-25 minutes. 

(I add some Parmesan cheese and basil on top before it goes in the oven)

6. After the 20 minutes are up, take the shells out of the oven and place slices of mozzarella cheese on top (or shredded, whatever you have handy)

For a gooey finish, broil the the shells in the oven for a few minutes on high heat so that the cheese melts! KEEP your eye on them or they WILL burn. 

Buon Appetito! 

Alfajores Caseros!

Hello everyone!

Sorry I had to abandon everyone for a while but I'm here now! :) One thing I love about myself is my culture. My family comes from Argentina and one of the great things I love about this beautiful country is the food. I tried a great recipe for "Alfajores" which is basically a cookie sandwich with a dulce de leche (caramel) filling. Alfajores is a traditional confectioner in Argentina and in various other countries in South America. The original recipe is in Spanish and measured with the metric system so my conversions are not exact. Still turns out great so no worries. : )  

INGREDIENTS:

7 oz. butter

6.5 oz. powdered sugar

3 eggs

2 egg yolks

1 tbl. vanilla extract

1 tsp. lemon zest

7.5 oz. flour

400 grams cornstarch -> (a little under 16 oz.)    

I tsp. baking powder

Pinch of salt

FILLING:

Dulce de Leche (Caramel)

Coconut shavings

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven at 375 degrees. In a bowl, beat together the butter and powdered sugar until well combined and soft.

2. One by one, add the eggs and egg yolks. 

3. Once the eggs are added, combine the lemon zest and vanilla extract. 

4. Add all of the dry ingredients remaining, little by little, and blend together. I used a MIXER to help combine it faster and then finished off with a spatula so that the mixture begins to form into a ball and not remain liquid.

5. Once the mixture is completely blended together and formed into a ball, let it rest and cool in the refrigerator for about an hour. 

6. After the dough has cooled, use a roller and stretch it out on a floured work space to be able to cut little circles out of the dough. ( Make sure the dough is not stretched out too thin or too thick, thin cookies will burn and if they are too thick it will take longer to cook). 

 

Tip: If you don't have a cookie cutter you can use any small round shape to cut them out. I used a small shot glass to shape my cookie. 

7. In a lightly greased pan, bake in the oven for about 8-10 minutes. The cookie will come out white! Don't panic, that's the perfect color. 

8. After the cookies have cooled down, fill the sandwiches with dulce de leche and roll the sides on coconut shavings. 

9. Sprinkle some powdered sugar on the top and there you have some soft and delicious ALFAJORES !