The end of a long search

Truffle Pie
The Deen Bros. Cookbook Copyright 2007

Truffle Filling:
2/3 cup heavy cream
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips I used semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (9-inch) prepared graham cracker crust I used the larger crust they sell now

Whipped Chocolate Filling:
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips I used semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Whipped Cream Topping:
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

Garnish:
1 1/2 ounces milk chocolate
1 1/2 ounces white chocolate
1 1/2 ounces semisweet or dark chocolate
I used chocolate jimmies

For the truffle filling, in a saucepan, bring 2/3 cup cream to a simmer. Place the 6 ounces chocolate chips in a bowl and pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Let stand for 1 minute, then gently whisk until smooth. Spread truffle filling over the bottom of the prepared piecrust. Freeze for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, for the whipped chocolate filling, in a double boiler or a microwave set on low power, heat the 6 ounces chocolate chips with 1/2 cup of the cream until the chocolate is just melted, stirring often. Let cool to room temperature. In a chilled bowl, beat the chocolate mixture, remainint 1 cup of cream and the vanilla until soft peaks form (tips curl). Spread the whipped chocolate mixture over the truffle filling in the crust. Refrigerate overnight.

For the topping, just before serving, beat 1 cup cream on medium speed of an electric mixer until it begins to thicken. Add confectioners' sugar and whip until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight). Spread the whipped cream over the top of the pie. Using a grater or vegetable peeler, make pieces or shavings of milk chocolate, white chocolate, and semisweet or dark chocolate. Garnish pie with chocolate pieces. Serve immediately.
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Years ago my sister made a great chocolate pie but by the time I asked her to make it again, she couldn't remember which recipe she had used. I never forgot that pie. It's been so long since I ate that pie, I probably don't accurately remember what it was like but that hasn't stopped me from searching for a chocolate pie recipe that lived up to that one. In my mind it was something fluffy, yet not too fluffy. That's about all I could say about it. Otherwise, it was one of those 'I'll know it when I eat it' kind of thing.

I've tried many chocolate pie recipes and most were good but none could replace that long, lost chocolate pie. I think I have finally found 'the one'. It has the perfect consistency that I wanted - fluffy but firm. It was so simple - basically just chocolate and cream. I even used a premade graham cracker crust which I usually don't do because they seem so small but they make a larger size now. I used semi-sweet chocolate to make it a bit more kid-friendly. My son LOVED this pie. He insisted very firmly that we take leftovers of this pie home. He woke up asking for it the next day. Yes, I will be making this pie again and again and again.

Question of the Day: Do you like chocolate pie? Do you have a favorite recipe for it?

Let's talk pies

Traditionally we usually enjoy many different pies on Thanksgiving. I thought I would review some of my favorites but not as many stood out as I thought might. I don't necessarily think I've made a lot of bad pies but I don't think they get judged fairly after a heavy meal.

These are the few I've made (for Thanksgiving and at other times) that I enjoyed the most.

Butterscotch Pie - my brother's favorite but he won't be at Thanksgiving this year so I won't be making it. It's not the traditional butterscotch pie, instead it's made with melted ice cream.




Chocolate Buttermilk Pie - a Sandra Lee recipe but a from-scratch recipe.



Strawberry-Mallow Pie - tastes like a strawberry sundae.



Key Lime Pie




Washington State Granny Smith Apple Pie



Grandpa Boyen’s Famous Belgium Rice Custard Pie - I didn't like the prune layer but I made a substitution for that so it might be better if you follow the recipe.

Gearing up for the holidays

It's not even Thanksgiving and we've already make our annual trek to Candylane at Hersheypark to see Santa. It seems like we're not the only ones getting an early start this year - many people have already decorated, taking advantage of the mild weather we've been having.

I thought this would be a good time to recap my holiday baking recipes. Last year I had three posts:

Holiday Recap 1
Holiday Recap 2
Holiday Recap 3

And here's a review of the new recipes I made for the holidays last year or discovered during 2009:

Elfin Bites - These are so easy and colorful.

Gingerbread Men - I can't wait to make these again. They are a non-traditional gingerbread man made with butterscotch pudding.

Rum Balls - These are a nut-free version that I loved. They are really rum-spiked brownie bites.



Peppermint Bark and Oreo Truffles

Vanilla Popcorn - This is actually something I tested out recently that I might make this year.

Chocolate Malted Cookies - This was a cookie I tried this year that was very good.

Peppermint Patties - I made these for a bake sale and they were so easy to make and they were fantastic. I may make them for Christmas and add green food coloring.

Brown Sugar-Buttermilk Pound Cakes - These mini pound cakes would make great gifts.

Boring but good

Sliced Steak Sensation
Rachael Ray's Book of 10 Copyright 2009

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons hot sauce
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
1 top-round steak (London Broil),1 to 1 1/2 inches thick, about 2 pounds

Preheat the broiler on high.

Combine the Worcestershire, hot sauce, vinegar, EVOO, and some salt and pepper and coat the steak with the mixture. I let it marinate all day. Put the steak on a broiler pan and situate the pan on the rack closest to the flame; broil for 6 minutes per side. Remove the steak from the broiler and all ow to rest for 5 minutes, tented with a piece of aluminum foil. Then slice it thinly against the grain to serve.
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This is not much different from any of the other London Broil recipes I've tried, delicious but you've seen it before. It probably wasn't even worth mentioning again except to demonstrate that Rachael Ray occasionally does have a short ingredient list for a recipe. She listed this in the entertainment section of this book. It's a great recipe to entertain with because if you use the proper thickness of meat (and most top round where I shop is cut in the thickness that this recipe calls for), and follow the cooking instructions, the meat comes out beautifully. What you see is 6 minutes per side exactly (and those are slices from the center of the steak - the rarest section).

I was going to say that there isn't really anything else you can do with this cut of meat (besides marinate and cook to medium rare, at most) but then I remembered that I've used it in stir-fries with good results. In an only slight twist, this cut is also good to slice first, marinate, thread on skewers, and then broil or grill. It's too lean to cook it for very long, in my opinion.

I'm not sure what next week will hold for this blog. If I have time to make new recipes, I may not have time to blog about them but we'll see.

Question of the Day: Do you realize that there are only 6 more weeks left of 2009?????

Rediscovering an ignored cookbook

Tangy Pineapple Chicken
Better Homes and Gardens Biggest Book of Slow Cooker Recipes Volume 2

1 tablespoon cooking oil
2 pounds, skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch strips
1 20-ounce can pineapple tidbits (juice pack), drained
1 large red sweet pepper, chopped
½ cup bottled barbecue sauce
¼ cup clean Italian dressing
2 teaspoons dried oregano, crushed

1. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Cook chicken, half at a time, in hot oil until brown. Drain off fat.
2. Place chicken in a 3 ½- or 4- quart slow cooker. Top with pineapple and sweet pepper. In a small bowl combine barbecue sauce, Italian salad dressing, and oregano. Pour mixture over chicken in slow cooker.
3. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 5 or 6 hours or on high-heat setting for 2 ½ to 3 hours.
Makes 6 servings.

Per serving: 314 cal, 12g fat, 121 mg chol, 436 mg sodium, 20g carbs, 2g fiber, 31g protein
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I had sort of put this cookbook (and Volume 1) to the side. I did make a couple of minor successes from them, and one slight but not brutal disappointment. Sometimes a cookbook may not excite me at one point in time, but then I rediscover it later, which is what happened here. I realized these cookbooks had several boneless, skinless chicken thigh recipes. I wasn't interested in recipes for those when I first bought these books but now I'm very interested.

I thought this was going to be an 'eh' recipe but I found it very pleasing after all. Although my red pepper was a bit bitter. I find that to be the case with colored peppers (besides green) every now and then. They are generally milder and sweeter than green peppers but I often get colored peppers with a strange bitter taste. It didn't ruin the dish but I would prefer not to have that taste in my peppers. You could even use a jar of pimientos in this recipe.

This is not Asian at all - I'm not sure why I went with ramen and egg rolls. It just seemed like the right thing to do and it worked. I made it a couple of days ahead of time. I think this is one of those recipes that benefits from being made ahead of time.

So right now I'm stoked about using chicken thighs in the slow cooker. One thing that has never worked for me is chicken breasts in the slow cooker but I may go back and replace chicken breasts with chicken thighs in the chicken breast recipes I used to ignore.

I'll add this to my boneless, skinless chicken thigh recipe round-up.

Question of the Day: Do you know what I mean by that funny taste colored peppers can get or am I the only one experiencing this?