Seeded Breadsticks

New Year's is upon us already.

The year has gone by so fast!  What happened?  It's been like a whirlwind of activity since October!  Onward and upward...and I'm looking forward to a bright and shiny 2012.   For New Year's Eve I love to make an array of appetizers, or finger foods that people can munch on while socializing.

One easy dish is my Seeded Breadsticks.  They are perfect with soup, salad, or along side your lunch or dinner.  Cut cut these babies in half and your have "mini" breadsticks...perfect for appetizers!  The best part, they are easy and quick to make!

 

 






Try my seeded breadsticks and let me know what your favorite appetizer to serve is.

Seeded Breadsticks

Serves 12

1  14 ounce can refrigerated pizza dough

1 ½ teaspoons each: pumpkin seeds, poppy seeds, flax seeds, plain sesame seeds, and black sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Spray a large baking sheet with cooking spray.  Unroll pizza dough on a lightly floured surface.  Gently roll dough into a 12x9-inch rectangle. Sprinkle with seeds.  Using a pizza cutter cut dough crosswise into 12 strips.  

Twist dough several times and place strips on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Makes 12 breadsticks.  Note:  As an appetizer cut breadsticks in half before baking, making 24 mini breadsticks.

Candy Cane Joe Joe’s Cheesecake

Merry Christmas

and

a Happy 1 year anniversary

 to the start of my blog!

I'm amazed that a year has gone by since the start of my blog.  It's been an amazing experience, cooking so many tasty dishes, meeting so many bloggers, and having you as my audience!  I am truly honored to be able to bring my family's recipes to life and to share them all with you.

I think this calls for a celebration and the best celebrate is with a decadent dessert!

I got this idea talking to my mom about cheesecakes, and the recipe that she used for years.  Since it's holiday time I wanted to make one that had a hint of peppermint.  I love peppermint, it's so refreshing in a dessert!  Mom and I discussed peppermint options, and both of us mentioned the ice cream in the stores this time of year that has the chunks of hard peppermint candies in it.  Neither of us like that...nope.  One thing I don't like is to bite into a hard piece of candy in a soft ice cream, or cake.  Nope, can't do it.

So then I light bulb went off...Trader Joe's sells peppermint flavored Oreos, called Candy Cane Joe Joe's. Yippee!  Have you had them?  They are awesome.

So this was my inspiration to make an oreo type of cheesecake that is peppermint in flavor.  It is a chocolate lover dream, with a chocolate crust, and topped with a chocolate ganache.  Rich...rich...rich...and decadent!

 

 

For those that want a more lower carb cheesecake or to just reduce the carb count you can substitute the sugar for Splenda, and you can use Sugar free oreos for the crust.  You will still have some carbs with the Joe Joe's and the chocolate, however, the overall count will be reduced.  I've also added neufchatel cheese instead of the cream cheese to keep the fat grams down as well.  But trust me, this is still a very rich dessert!

Enjoy your holiday season and try a slice of my cheesecake!

Candy Cane Joe Joe’s Cheesecake

A Slice of Southern original

Crust:

2  cups Oreo cookies, crushed

2  tablespoons butter, melted

Filing:

4 (8-oz.) pkg neufchatel cheese, softened

1 ½ cups sugar or Splenda equivalent

1/3 cup whipping cream

2 T flour

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 large eggs

2  cups coarsely chopped Candy Cane Joe Joe’s cookies

1/3 cup whipping cream

Ganache:

1 ¼ cups semi-sweet chocolate morsels

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  In a medium bowl, combine the crushed cookies and melted butter.   Firmly press the mixture (use the base of a glass) evenly in bottom and up the sides of a lightly greased 9-inch spring form pan. Bake for 12 minutes and set aside.

In a large bowl beat cream cheese at medium speed until creamy. Gradually add the sugar, beating well. Add the whipping cream, flour and 1 tsp. vanilla beating well. Add the eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.

Pour 3 1/2/c. of batter onto prepared crust. Top with coarsely chopped cookies. Pour in remaining batter. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Turn oven off, and leave cheesecake in oven with door closed 45 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack. Cover and chill for 8 hours. Run a knife along the edges of the pan.  Remove sides of pan.

For ganache topping, combine whipping cream and chocolate morsels in a small saucepan.  Stir over low heat until chocolate melts. Stir in vanilla. Remove from heat. Carefully spread mixture over cheesecake, allowing it to drip down sides. Store the cheesecake in refrigerator. Top with a dollop of whipped cream if desired.

Christmas Dinner Menu

Have you planned your Christmas Dinner Menu yet?

I sure hope so...

The stores are crowded and everyone is buying up the various cuts of meats like crazy.
Are you having a pork roast, or perhaps, a beef tenderloin, or maybe it's prime rib, turkey, or ham for you?


Typically I make a beef tenderloin, yum yum, but this year I'm going to change it up a bit with a different cut of beef.


So in planning my menu I kept some family favorites, and added a couple of new recipes as well.  It's a great tip to cook some items you know well and only add 1 or 2 new ones.  Keeps the stress down, and you don't want to experiment to much on a day where you want the food to shine!

Tips for Meat Portions for Parties:  
Whether casual or elegant the culinary centerpiece is usually the meat you serve.  Sometimes a selection of several.  Here's a great tip for determining meat quantities.  If you are serving one kind of meat, purchase 8 to 10 oz. of raw meat per person, or 6 to 8 oz of fish or chicken.  If you are serving two kinds, cut the amount to 5 oz of each per person.


Here's my Christmas Menu.  I hope you find some items you'd like to try.  Happy Holidays!

Christmas Menu

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Assorted Crackers

Seeded Breadsticks (recipe coming!)

Orange, Avocado and Fennel Salad (recipe below)

Homemade Egg Noodles (a family recipe)

Roasted Red Potatoes & Baby Portabella Mushrooms with Green Beans and Onions

Cheese Topped Acorn Squash (recipe below)

Grilled Flank Steak with a Shallot and Red Wine Reduction (recipe below)

Candy Cane Joe Joe's Cheesecake (recipe coming!)

Orange, Avocado and Fennel Salad


adapted from Williams-Sonoma
Serves 6 - 8


2 fennel bulbs
3 avocados
3 large navel oranges
2 t orange zest
3 T olive oil
2 T fresh orange juice
2 T white balsamic vinegar or champagne vinegar
1/2 t sea salt
1/2t fresh ground black pepper


Cut off the stems of the fennel bulbs.  Remove the outer layer and then finely slice the bulb crosswise into thin pieces.  Halve and pit the avocados.  Cut into slices or dice.  Peel the oranges and cut out the sections.  Cut sections in half.


In a large salad bowl mix together the orange zest, olive oil, orange juice, vinegar, salt and pepper.  Add the fennel slices, orange segments, avocados and toss gently.






Cheese Topped Acorn Squash 

serves 6

2 medium acorn squashes, halved and seeded

1 Tbsp margarine

1 Tbsp fresh sage, minced or 1 tsp dried sage, crumbled

1/4 tsp salt

¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/4 c shredded Parmesan cheese 1 oz.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat a 13- x 9-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Place squash halves, cut side down in dish. Cover loosely with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine margarine, sage, salt, nutmeg and pepper. Carefully cut each squash half into three wedges and set in baking dish, skin side down. Brush mixture on all fleshy sides of squash. Cover and bake about 20 more minutes or until squash is tender.

Transfer to a serving platter.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve. 

Grilled Flank Steak with a Shallot and Red Wine Reduction


Serves 6-8


2 1/2 lb flank steak
1 t dried thyme
1/2 t lemon zest
4 T olive oil
salt & pepper
3 T butter, divided
2 T minced shallots
1 c red wine


Place flank steak in a gallon sized plastic storage bag.  Add the thyme, zest, and olive oil.  Let marinate on the counter for 30 min while meat comes to room temperature.  Remove steak from bag and discard the remaining marinade.  Salt & pepper your steak.  Grill steak on a heated grill (indoor or outdoors) on medium high heat, 8 minutes per side for medium doneness.  Remove steak to a cutting board.  Tent with foil and allow to rest 10 min.


While the steak is resting, place butter and shallots in a separate small skillet over medium heat.  Saute shallots about 5 minutes, until translucent.  Add the wine and continue to cook until the wine is reduced by half.  Add 1 T of butter.  When butter has melted remove from the heat and cover to keep warm.


Slice beef against the grain in thin, long angled slices.  Serve with wine reduction.