TWD - Chocolate-Crunched Caramel Tart

The first thing I do when I get a new cookbook is scan the entire book and look at all the pictures. I really like to know what something is supposed to look like before I attempt to make it. Otherwise, I may really screw it up.

Dorie's book was no different. And the one picture that really caught my eye the first time I looked was the one for this week's recipe....the Chocolate-Crunched Caramel Tart. It soooo looked like something I would like to be able to make. I'm glad it wasn't chosen until now, because if it was picked earlier I may have been too intimidated to try. But, I feel like after almost a year of desserts, I'm not afraid to at least give it a shot!

Isn't that gorgeous?? And, yes, it tastes just as good as it looks.

That caramel-nut layer is vital. Without it the ganache would be over-powering and just too rich, but that nutty, caramely, gooey layer makes everything better!

Charlotte thought so too!

Thanks to Carla of Chocolate Moosey for this pick. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

TWD - Cottage Cheese "Flop"lets

They were supposed to be Pufflets. Cottage Cheese Pufflets.

Not. So. Much.

I wasn't overly thrilled about these in the first place. Anything that starts with cottage cheese doesn't exactly doesn't generate a lot of excitement in the ole saliva glands. Don't get me wrong. I actually like cottage cheese. It has it's uses.....along side a fresh from the garden tomato, for example. But in a dessert? I wasn't convinced, but since I've been such a blogging slacker lately, I was making these.

So I made the dough and put it in the fridge overnight. I got up the next morning and planned on rolling these out, adding strawberry preserves to some and some Nutella to the rest, baking them and taking to my tennis match to share. This dough does not roll out. What a nightmare.

I tried, people. Really I did. I just could not get the dough to cooperate. Mine was just too soft. I kept putting it back into the refrigerator to try to get it to harden, but as soon as I started working with it again, it stuck to everything in sight.

So, I have no Pufflets to show you. All I had were Floplets. So instead I'll just post a cute picture of Bram. Baby pictures always work!

Thanks to Jacque of Daisy Lane Cakes for this week's pick. Head over to her site for the recipe and to see what these were supposed to look like. The other, more accomplished bakers of TWD had success with these, so don't let my failures scare you away!

I'm Baaaack!

So, I've taken a little sabbatical the past couple of weeks. I apologize to those of you that come here looking for Tuesday's with Dorie, Barefoot Bloggers, Craving Ellie, and Cooking Italy....I needed a break and wanted to re-evaluate what exactly I wanted this space to be. Unfortunately, I'm going to be quitting a couple of these groups....Ellie and Cooking Italy. I found that I was cooking more of what I was "supposed" to rather than what I "wanted" to cook and blog about. I want to get back to more of ME.

So I took one week off from cooking.....

And the next week, I just took off.

To Sea Island, GA with my girlfriends!

Yup...we've been here all week totally enjoying this beeeeeautiful place. We took up residence in one of Exclusive Resorts newest properties. They've, once again, really done things right.

There are 20 four-bedroom units and I predict these will become some of the hardest reservations to get.

There's something here for everyone and the grounds are absolutely stunning.

The Cloister hotel, itself, built in 1928 and renovated in 2006, is truly one of a kind and the quintessential Southern masterpiece. The only thing I can compare it to is The Greenbrier in West Virginia, but this just might be more impressive.

The interior lobby of the hotel...

The back patio of the hotel which backs up to the Black Banks River.....

Ahhh...and then there's the spa....

I could have moved in there......

And I practically did when I went to get my eyebrows waxed. Let's just say that my eyebrow waxin fella was quite thorough...

We played a LOT of tennis.

We also may or may not have purchased many items from the fabulous pro shop. I've got to hide those receipts from Mr. B.

Then there were the pools. That's right, plural. I lost count. We had one at the house, but there were about 37 other ones at the Beach Club. And this seemed to be a perfect week to come since we had all 37 pools to ourselves (except for one day when we had to deal with a really DRUNK, OBNOXIOUS father of three really well behaved kids.....felt sorry for that wife. But that's another story for another day)

Those are the BFF's enjoying a cold beverage and their own lap pool.

And there's the huge beaches...which were also pretty empty. Nice.

They went on forever.

But the real entertainment is just walking around the property and taking it all in.

This is the chapel. I'll bet there have been some beautiful weddings held there.

Thanks to my bestest girlfriends for spending the week with me. It was, as usual, a blast!

I promise to be back to regular posting next week. Hopefully I haven't lost everyone!!

Barefoot Bloggers - White Pizzas with Arugula

Yeah, I know this a about a week late. Get over it, things have been busy around here! I am trying to catch up, however. I still have two Cooking Italy posts to conquer and I hope to get those done sometime this weekend.

But.......these two will be here. Doesn't bode well for extra time. They're our high-falutin lawyer friends from Dallas and boy-howdie do we have a great time with them! They've helped my husband's companies out on more than one occasion so there's usually lots of business talk, which is when I politely keep my mouth shut, chug my wine and act like I know what they're talking about!! It's all good.

But my intention is to get caught up before Labor Day. There.....I put that in writing.

But on to the White Pizza. I have to admit right up front that I cheated on the dough. Why would I spend time making pizza dough when all I have to do is walk up to the pizza counter at Whole Foods and ask for a little bit of theirs? It's a little like pie crust to me! I'll make it from scratch someday.....maybe.

As you can see, I grilled these. L.o.v.e. me some grilled pizza. I don't think I'll ever buy pizza shop pizza again. Other than the fact that my kitchen looks like a cyclone went through it when I make them, grilled pizza's are perfection. I really should have taken a picture of my kitchen. I don't know what it is, but I can make a huuuuuuge mess.

These are really good. I wish I would have used a little more goat cheese and a little less mozzarella because that tangy bite of goat cheese mixed with the crispy crust and spicy arugula was pure heaven.

You must try these. You don't have to grill them....you can bake them on a pizza stone in your oven....but if you've never grilled pizza before, you really should try it. I'll bet you can do it with a lot less mess than I can!

Thanks to Andrea for the pick. Sorry I didn't get it done on time!

Here's the recipe:

White Pizzas with Arugula

Recipe courtesy Ina Garten for Food Network Magazine

Ingredients:

For the dough:
1 1/4 cups warm (100 to 110) water
2 packages dry yeast
1 tablespoon honey
Good olive oil
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading
Kosher salt
4 cloves garlic, sliced
5 sprigs fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

For the topping:
3 cups grated Italian fontina cheese (8 ounces)
1 1/2 cups grated fresh mozzarella cheese (7 ounces)
11 ounces creamy goat cheese, such as montrachet, crumbled
For the vinaigrette:
1/2 cup good olive oil
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
Freshly ground black pepper
8 ounces baby arugula
1 lemon, sliced

Directions:

Mix the dough.

Combine the water, yeast, honey and 3 tablespoons of olive oil in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. When the yeast is dissolved, add 3 cups of flour, then 2 teaspoons salt, and mix on medium-low speed. While mixing, add up to 1 more cup of flour, or just enough to make a soft dough. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until smooth, sprinkling it with the flour as necessary to keep it from sticking to the bowl.

Knead by hand.

When the dough is ready, turn it out onto a floured board and knead it by hand a dozen times. It should be smooth and elastic.

Let it rise.

Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl and turn it to cover it lightly with oil. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Make garlic oil.

Place 1/2 cup of olive oil, the garlic, thyme and red pepper flakes in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat. Cook for 10 minutes, making sure the garlic doesn't burn. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. (Be sure your oven is clean!)

Portion the dough.

Dump the dough onto a board and divide it into 6 equal pieces. Place the doughs on sheet pans lined with parchment paper and cover them with a damp towel. Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes. Use immediately, or refrigerate for up to 4 hours.

Stretch the dough.

Press and stretch each ball into an 8-inch circle and place 2 circles on each sheet pan lined with parchment paper. (If you've chilled the dough, take it out of the refrigerator approximately 30 minutes ahead to let it come to room temperature.)

Top the dough.

Brush the pizzas with the garlic oil, and sprinkle each one liberally with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the pizzas evenly with fontina, mozzarella and goat cheese. Drizzle each pizza with 1 tablespoon more of the garlic oil and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until the crusts are crisp and the cheeses begin to brown.

Make the vinaigrette.

Meanwhile, whisk together 1/2 cup of olive oil, the lemon juice, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

Add the greens.

When the pizzas are done, place the arugula in a large bowl and toss with just enough lemon vinaigrette to moisten. Place a large bunch of arugula on each pizza and a slice of lemon and serve immediately.

TIP Make sure the bowl is warm before you put the water and yeast in; the water must be warm for the yeast to develop.

TIP Salt inhibits the growth of yeast; add half the flour, then the salt, and then the rest of the flour.

TIP To make sure yeast is still "alive," or active, put it in water and allow it to sit for a few minutes. If it becomes creamy or foamy, it's active.

CEiMB - Waldorf Chicken Wraps

Mr. B went back for his two week check up this morning and I'm glad to report that everything is healing nicely. They took the stitches out of his knee and slapped a new cast on and he's good to go back to Michigan next week! Yipee....err, I mean so sad....I'll miss him. We've had a LOT of together time the past couple of weeks. He needs to get back to work!

To celebrate the great doctor's report, I made him Ellie's Waldorf Chicken Salad. (Actually we'll probably celebrate with a nice Bordeaux a little later, but this makes for a better blog post.) I'm not a huge chicken salad girl. It never seems worth all the calories and extra workout time. Enter Ellie's version. The dressing base is fat free Greek Yogurt, which is now a staple in my fridge. I have no idea how I survived before discovering it and I could was poetic for hours about all of the virtues of Greek yogurt, but I'll zip it.

The addition of a small amount of mayo, some horseradish mustard, lemon juice and thyme and you've got yourself a delicious, light dressing. I used Ina's method of roasting bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts which I think produces a really moist and flavorful breast. I liked the addition of the green grapes and toasted walnuts, but since I didn't have an apple in the house, that didn't make it in.

I'd definitely make this again. Hubs and I both loved it. Now I'm off to the cellar for that bottle of Bordeaux!

Here's the recipe....thanks, Jessica, for a great pick.

Waldorf Chicken Wraps

2006, Ellie Krieger, All rights reserved

Show: Healthy Appetite with Ellie Krieger Episode: 5 Easy Dinners

Ingredients:

1 cup nonfat plain yogurt or 3/4 cups nonfat Greek-style yogurt
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons Dijon Mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon minced thyme
1 pound cooked, skinless chicken breast cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup seedless grapes, sliced in 1/2
1/4 cup toasted, coarsely chopped walnuts
1 medium apple, cored and diced (about 3/4 cup)
Freshly ground black pepper
5 large leaves Romaine lettuce, rinsed and patted dry
5 whole-wheat wraps, about 8 inches in diameter

Directions:

If using regular yogurt place the yogurt in a strainer lined with a paper towel. Put the strainer over a bowl and place in the refrigerator to drain and thicken for 30 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the thickened or Greek-style yogurt, mayonnaise, lemon juice, mustard, salt and thyme until smooth. Fold in chicken, grapes, walnuts and apples. Season with pepper.

Place 1 lettuce leaf on a wrap. Spoon about 3/4 cup of the chicken filling onto wrap and roll wrap around filling.

Nutrition Facts

Per Serving

Calories 420

Total Fat 15g

Saturated Fa t2g

Monounsaturated Fat 1.7g

Polyunsaturate Fat 3.5g

Cholesterol 80mg

Sodium 470mg

Protein 36g

Carbohydrates 35g

Fiber 3.5g

TWD - Espresso Cheesecake Brownies

I haven't been a very good blogger the past week, but the husband is starting to do a few more things for himself so I'm hoping to get back on track. One thing I did get accomplished was the Espresso Cheesecake Brownies.

Some good friends were nice enough to bring over dinner on Friday night and I offered these up as dessert. They got a 50% approval rating!! The friends loved them (or so they said!) but I thought they were a little dry. I probably baked them a hair too long. I knew Mr. B wouldn't like them.....he couldn't figure out why I'd ruin a perfectly good brownie recipe by putting some nasty cheesecake on top.

I actually thought the cheesecake part was the best....just didn't get a lot of flavor from the brownie. Oh well. I might try these again and include the topping. That would probably cure the dryness (and maybe not bake quite so long).

Thanks to Melissa for this week's pick. Make sure you check out her site for the recipe. She included the topping and her's look fabulous.

A couple of side notes: As I said, Mr. B is recovering nicely. He's getting around much better and learning how to operate the crutches so he can survive on his own when he goes back to Michigan after Labor Day. I've learned that I would never make a great nurse and that I have underappreciated how much he actually does around here when he's home.....like get himself something to eat, get a water out of the fridge all by himself, go up and down stairs without a spotter.....

Also, I finished up my beggining photography class yesterday. I think I learned quite a bit and just need to find the time to start practicing. My friend and I have decided that our next course will be Photoshop and that starts next week. That way, even if our pictures are shitty we can fake it!