Welcome Guest Joelle Charbonneau

Please join me in welcoming Joelle Charbonneau to the kitchen.  If you've ever had the pleasure of meeting Joelle, you know she's every bit as delightful as her books.  Speaking of which, End Me a Tenor (the 2nd Glee Club Mystery) will be out this Tuesday ... yep, in just two days!  So treat yourself to this Apple Cinnamon Cheesecake and a great mystery by Joelle ...

Apple Cinnamon Cheesecake

I admit that I’m not always a fan of dessert.  I think I’m the only author that doesn’t use chocolate for moments of anxiety or celebration.  (Eeek! I probably shouldn’t have admitted that.  They’re going to throw me out of the club now.)  If a dessert has heaps of frosting or large quantities of cake involved, I have no problem turning it down.  (Yep…I’m getting tossed out on my butt.)  Perhaps it isn’t surprising that my heroine from End Me A Tenor, Paige Marshall, isn’t a huge dessert eater either.  Salty snacks, well that’s another story.

However, that being said, there are some desserts that I absolutely love.  My grandfather (aka Pater) was the baker in the family while I was growing up.  He had a spare oven in his basement and was known to bake dozens of pies or cakes in one day.  He even made homemade jelly from the grapes that grew in his backyard.  Pretty awesome grandpa, right?  One of the desserts he made that everyone in my family loved (including me and especially my father) was cheesecake.  It was an old fashioned recipe with a slightly sweetened sour cream layer that gave the dessert just the perfect amount of tang. 

I still make that cheesecake and think of him every time I do, but as any good third generation baker does – I’ve branched out and made new and different versions of cheesecake.  Trust me when I say Pater would have approved.  In fact, he would’ve been the first at the table ready to taste the results of my efforts.  Over the years, I’ve made a lot of different cheesecakes.  But one has stood out as my absolute favorite…perhaps because it also includes two of my other favorite things: apples and cinnamon.  Pater would have loved it.  My mom, another non-dessert eater, does.   I hope you do, too.

Apple Cinnamon Cheesecake

Crust:

1 cup crushed graham crackers

3-4 TB butter

3 TB sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Cheese mixture:

2 packes of cream cheese - softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

Topping:

4 large granny smith apples sliced thin

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup halved pecans

Preheat oven to 350

Mix graham crackers, melted butter, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Press mixture into a 9" spring pan. Bake for 10 minutes.

Mix cream cheese, sugar and vanilla together. Add eggs one at a time - beat until creamy. Pour mixture on top of crust.

Toss apples, sugar and cinnamon together. Place on top of cheese mixture. Sprinkle pecans on top.

Bake for 70 minutes. Remove from oven and use a knife around the edge. Wait for the cake to cool before releasing the spring pan. Chill before serving. Enjoy!

How about you?  Do you have a special dessert that makes you think of a special family member?  What dessert tastes just a little better because it’s sprinkled with memories?

~~~~~

Joelle Charbonneau has performed in opera and musical theatre productions across Chicagoland.  She now teaches private voice lessons and uses her stage experience to create compelling characters in her books.  She is the author of two mystery series:  The Rebecca Robbins mysteries (Minotaur Books) and the Glee Club mysteries (Berkley).  Joelle’s also the author of The Testing young adult trilogy that debuts with THE TESTING (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s) June 4th.  Learn more at www.joellecharbonneau.com

Lemon Cake

 By Peg Cochran

We’ve never had a “traditional” Easter dessert the way we have at Christmas (Buche de Noel), and every year I seem to make something different.  I wanted a dessert that was light with a spring feel to it (desperately trying to channel spring here—for a moment it looked as if we would have a white Easter when we didn’t have a white Christmas!)  I remembered that my mother used to make a cake that involved pudding and a tube pan.  Some searching on-line brought up this recipe.  Her cake was pink so I’m guessing she used a berry flavored pudding.  I decided to go with lemon becomes it seems so fresh.

My mother never frosted her cake in any way (we weren’t big dessert eaters) but this recipe came with the suggestion of a lemon glaze so I decided to try that to dress it up a bit.

Right now my husband and daughter are trying to convince me that we need to cut a piece of this cake for this blog!  I'm trying to tell them we need to save it for Easter dinner.  Stay tuned--we shall see who wins!

Lemon Cake

4 eggs
1 package white or lemon cake mix
¾ cup oil
1 package instant lemon pudding mix
¾ cup water

Mix and beat well.  Bake in a greased and floured pan (I used a tube pan but you could use a 9x13 inch pan) at 350 degrees.  (Approximately 45 minutes for the tube pan and 30 minutes for the other.)

While the cake is still hot, poke holes in the top with an ice pick or large fork.  Pour glaze over cake (see below) and let it seep in.  Can be served as is or with whipped cream or ice cream.

Glaze

Combine:
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon water
1/3 cup lemon juice

Pour your batter into a greased tube pan

Bake until nice and browned

Finished product complete with glaze!

  

Coming June 2013!

 

Irish Brown Bread

by Sheila Connolly

I've been racking my brain for any memories of Easter family dinners, but so far all I've come up with is chocolate.  Lots of chocolate.  I suppose my sister and I were too stuffed with bunny ears and foil-wrapped eggs and jelly beans and the like to eat much at the table.  I do, however, have a fond memory of my engineer father trying to drill holes in eggs with his electric drill so we could empty them, with mixed results.

Brown bread, or arán donn in Irish, is a staple of Irish meals, everywhere in the country. It appears from breakfast to dinner, usually accompanied by butter. It does not contain yeast, and any rising comes from the chemical interaction of buttermilk and baking soda.  It's quick to make, and it should be eaten the same day as it's baked.

I have been trying to make it on my own—and I've been having little luck.  I've collected, at last count, thirteen recipes, from Irish cookbooks (both high-end and pub food, and including one from the famous Ballymaloe cooking school in County Cork), friends, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, and the back of the Irish wholemeal flour package.  Guess what:  they're all different. No two alike. (And I'm not even counting the one from my former Irish teacher, an lovely older woman from Connemara, who doesn't even measure her ingredients.)

How can there be so much confusion about something that in its simplest form contains all of five ingredients?  The basic recipe has:  wholemeal flour (preferably coarse and stone-ground—Odlum's is the favored Irish brand, available by mail order), white flour, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk.  You combine the dry ingredients, make a puddle of buttermilk in the middle, and mix with your hands (but not too much or it gets tough).  Shape it into a round loaf, cut a cross in the top, and bake in a hot oven.  That's it.

In a perfect universe, maybe.  Me, I've ended up with a lot of chewy, doughy lumps. Great exercise for the jaw.

Then many sources start adding things to the basic recipe:  oat bran, oatmeal (both rolled oats and steel-cut), sugar, brown sugar, eggs, butter, honey or molasses.  Suggested cooking temperatures range from 375 to 450, in one stage or two.  And the proportions of wholemeal flour (which really does make a difference—using regular brown flour is definitely not the same) to white flour are all over the map too:  ratios range from  1:2 to 3:1 brown to white. The average ratio is just under 2:1 brown to white flour, but given the consistency of the Odlum's wholemeal flour, I'd tip it toward 1 1/2 to 1 (and the Odlum's package agrees; Ballymaloe pushes it even closer to half and half).

Irish Brown Bread (1 large loaf)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

3 cups wholemeal flour

2 1/2 cups white flour

1/4 tsp of salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 cups (full fat) buttermilk (plus more if needed)

Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Make a well in the middle and pour in the buttermilk.  Mix quickly with your hands just until blended (overwork it and it will get gluey), adding more buttermilk if needed.  The dough should not be too sticky.

Make the dough into a ball and place it on a an ungreased baking sheet. Flatten it until it is about 2" thick.  With a sharp knife make a cross in the top (do not cut through).  Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 400 degrees and continue baking until done (you'll know it's done when it sounds hollow when you tap it). 

Cool on a rack.  Serve with lots of butter! (It's good with blackberry jam too.)

I wish I could tell you that this is the perfect recipe, but it's still not quite there (not gummy this time, but rather crunchy).  If anyone out there has a treasured recipe for Irish soda bread, I'll be happy to add it to my collection!

Marriage-Worthy Chicken Pot Pie with Cornbread Crust

LUCY BURDETTE: I dated my hub for about two years before we were married. At the time, my sister and a couple of her friends were gathering recipes for a homemade cookbook and I shared this chicken pot pie. Most of that period, I had been plying John with homemade meals and treats. I think this is the dinner that finally captured his heart:).



Marriage-Worthy Chicken Pot Pie with Cornbread Crust

Ingredients

Filling:

2 large carrots, peeled and sliced into 3/8" rounds
1 large potato, peeled (or not, your choice) and cut into 1/2" dice
1 onion, chopped (red is nice for the color contrast)
1 bunch leeks, cleaned, white parts chopped
1 cup (or more) frozen lima beans, thawed
4 cups shredded, cooked turkey or chicken
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp flour
4 tbsp butter
4 cups chicken or turkey stock
Tabasco sauce to taste

Crust:

1 cup flour
1 cup cornmeal
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup plus 1 tbsp milk
3 tbsp vegetable oil, like saffron

Preheat the oven to 425. Steam the carrots, then the potatoes, 5 minutes each. Melt the butter and cook the onions and leeks for 5 minutes. Then add the flour, cook that for a minute, not allowing it to brown, but stirring to be sure you don't leave lumps. Slowly whisk in the stock and cook over low heat until it thickens. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and Tabasco. (You may not need much salt, depending on your stock.) Set this aside.

In a 9 x 13 pan, layer in the chicken or turkey, carrots, potatoes, and limas. (three layers is nice!) Pour your thickened onion stock over the top.

In a separate bowl, mix together your dry ingredients. Then mix your egg, milk, and oil together, and whisk the wet ingredients into the dry. Pour the batter over the top of the casserole and bake until the top is golden and the sauce is bubbling, about 35-40". Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

And with this pot pie, may your dreams come true!

TOPPED CHEF  will be out on May 7: Preorder your copy here.

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The Devil in the Details

EASTER AND PASSOVER

Religion, faith, belief. These are personal to everyone. I wouldn’t even consider addressing those in a blog post.

However, traditions. Do you have them? I’m Christian and I married a Jewish man. It was an interesting dilemma raising a child who wanted all the “fun” things of the combined religions. We celebrate Christmas, but we light the candles for Hanukkah.

We don’t have an Easter dinner, but I go to church, and then we have an Easter brunch.  Until our son was grown, we always had an Easter egg hunt. And on Passover, if we did a Seder (which was never the long version), we hid the afikoman.

A few terms you might like to know:

Matzah, [matzoh, matzo] or “the poor man’s bread,” is bread that hasn’t risen, made from a simple dough. When the Exodus happened, and the oppressed Jews left Egypt, they relied on faith to carry them through. They didn’t have time to make leavened bread.  By eating matzah, they bring faith, healing, and humility into their personal lives.

Finding of the afikoman: In the Seder, the matzah was set aside to be eaten as dessert, or the afikoman. In many families, the head of the household will hide the afikoman. The children seek for it and win money or candy when they do.

Fun fact about Easter: Why an Easter egg hunt?  The egg was a symbol of rebirth in Pagan religions, and Christians it as a symbol of the rebirth of man.  The egg was likened as the tomb of Christ. The notion of the Easter Bunny bringing the eggs started as early as the 17^th century.

One of my son’s favorite things was decorating Easter eggs. And why not? It was a lovely, colorful mess. But what do you do with the dozens of eggs you make? You can’t settle for just one dozen, right? I couldn’t. We always made two. Luckily, we happen to like egg salad and deviled eggs.

Why are they called deviled eggs? Well, I checked out the Internet (my favorite source of misinformation, and this sounds right so… William Underwood, back in 1868, created a meat company and introduced a number of meat products, to which he had added spices; he called the process devilling.  Nowadays, to be considered deviled, a food has to have a kick from something like Dijon mustard, hot sauce, cayenne pepper or chopped hot peppers.

My recipe does.  Enjoy!

Oh, and I’m sharing how to make the perfect boiled egg. It’s an art.

DEVILED EGGS

Ingredients:

8 large eggs, hard boiled and peeled

1/4 cup mayonnaise

2 teaspoons sweet pickle relish

1 teaspoon prepared mustard

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

Paprika, for garnishing

Sweet gherkin pickles sliced, for garnishing

Directions:

To boil eggs perfectly…put cold eggs in saucepan and add cold water to cover. Bring to a boil (takes about 5-7 minutes). Turn to low and simmer-boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Pour off hot water. Rinse eggs with cool water. Then add a bath of ice water. Let cool completely (about 20 minutes).

Peel eggs. Halve 8 eggs lengthwise. Remove yolks and place the yolks in a small bowl.

Mash the yolks with a fork and stir in the mayonnaise. I use Best Foods. Add the pickle relish, mustard, and spices.  {Taste test}

Fill egg whites with yolk mixture. I like to pile mine a little higher. Garnish with paprika or pickle slices. Store covered in refrigerator.

PS  Use the exact measurements, otherwise the mixture can get too runny.

Daryl Wood Gerber also writes as Avery Aames, 

author of the Agatha Award-winning,

nationally bestselling CHEESE SHOP MYSTERY SERIES 

The 1st in A Cookbook Nook Mystery series is coming July 2013!!

FINAL SENTENCE.

You can pre-order the book HERE.

The 4th in A Cheese Shop Mystery series is out! 

TO BRIE OR NOT TO BRIE
You can order the book HERE. 

You can learn more about me, Daryl by clicking this LINK. "Like" my page on Facebook and "follow" me on Twitter. And if you haven't done so, sign up for the mailing list

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