My friend Bridget asked me if I would donate cookies to her school’s fundraising event. One of the challenges of being a food blogger is finding a home for all the desserts that I bake, so these kinds of opportunities are a great excuse to try a new recipe. Bridget specifically wanted me to donate a few already-baked cookies along with a couple of bags of frozen cookie dough so that the lucky winner would not have to eat 4 dozen cookies at once. I flipped through my must-make-cookies and came across this recipe that a friend had forwarded to me months ago.

After reading the directions, I realized that their assembly was way too complicated for me to ask someone else to prepare at home. It involved dividing dough balls into disks, mashing cream cheese between the disks and pinching the dough balls together while hoping that the cream cheese would not ooze out any cracks that formed. A tester batch was in order. I prepared one cookie as directed in the recipe and two cookies with a small amount of cream cheese pressed into the center of the baked cookie. A friend dropped by randomly and we taste tested the results. The cream-cheese topped cookies were a clear winner. My friend declared these cookies some of the best snicker doodles she has ever had. I’m not usually a snicker doodle fan, but I could see why she liked them so much. They are crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, and the cream cheese topping is really something special.

Don’t tell anyone, but sometimes, I like spying on people. 

Not in a dirty way! I promise! Sheesh….

Anywho, this is a story about one of my spy missions. Â

Continue reading: spicy stuffed mushrooms

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I posted on Facebook asking the question, “What in the world should I do with the swiss chard growing in my garden?” Boy, oh boy did my readers have soooooo many suggestions! Eggs to soups to lasagnas to pizzas… the list goes on! I whipped up this scramble for lunch that day and I was surprised. I liked it! I really liked it! I liked it so much, in fact, that I made it a week later as a special breakfast for my husband. He loves anything savory for breakfast, so eggs doused in cheese is a real winner. I encouraged him to try these even though his negative sentiments towards swiss chard surpass mine! Brant loved this egg scramble and gobbled it up, swiss chard and all! And so we have a swiss chard winner!

Is your ideal breakfast sweet or savory? Because I’m *totally* a sweet person. In fact, I couldn’t eat this scramble for breakfast. For lunch? Divine. For breakfast? Ick. I gave my portion to Brant and reheated a strudel topped peach muffin for myself. How about you? Sweet or savory to start your day? 

Continue reading: egg, cheese, and swiss chard scramble

Hey! Remember that post a couple days ago where I told you how simple it was to make your own ricotta? Well, I kind of shot myself in the foot because I ended up with almost a pound of ricotta and no plans for it. Ricotta doesn’t last forever, so I froze mine while out of town this weekend (shhhh… don’t tell the cheese gods this… they would strip me of my foodie status immediately!). Today I thawed it for this ricotta gnocchi recipe. Gnocchi is usually too pasty for me. This ricotta gnocchi was totally different and was a real winner! With mostly cheese and only a bit of flour to hold it together, these little pillows stayed fluffy all the way to the table! And did I mention that from start to finish this recipe takes only 20 minutes to make? Weeknight meal score!

I went to Trader Joe’s the other day to buy ricotta and experienced hefty sticker shock. That stuff is expensive! And it’s not even organic. I decided it must be cheaper to make my own, so I did. I can make the same amount of organic ricotta cheese for less than the cost of a container of non-organic ricotta! And better yet, it’s sooooo easy to make! Just heat your ingredients, add some lemon juice, and let sit for an hour. Voila! Homemade ricotta!

Continue reading: ricotta cheese

Before we begin, I have a confession. I did not make these. I delegated the task to two of my favorite students who were here baking with me to prep for this shower. I figured that this recipe was easy enough to leave them to do on their own. Sure enough, they handled it like champs. If high schoolers can make this, YOU can make it. And you won’t at all regret the decision to do so.

Just like the chocolate things, these need a new name. I’ve been calling them cheesecake truffle bombs when talking with my friends about them, but I didn’t want you to think that I called them that because they were a bomb. Quite the opposite! They were a hit! Who doesn’t love mounds of cream cheese dipped in chocolate, sprinkled with pecans, and drizzled with hot caramel?

My mom and dad, some of my biggest food critics, wanted these to have a more pronounced cream cheese flavor. I would recommend using the smaller amount of graham crackers in the cream cheese mixture to start, and then adding more to taste. You want the mixture to have some tang because the chocolate and caramel add plenty of sweetness. I also might suggest sprinkling these with a few flecks of fleur de sel before serving. You know me… I love adding salt to just about anything.

mixed greens with grapes, goat cheese, avocado & candied pecans
inspired by Joylicious, as featured on www.6bittersweets.com

(please note… this is a *salad* folks… add as much or little of any particular ingredient as you want!)

1/2 cup pecans
1/4 cup white or brown sugar
1 tbsp butter
several handfuls of mixed spring greens
red grapes (I used a small bunch for our two salads)
goat cheese (I used about 1 tbsp per salad)
1 medium avocado, peeled, cored, and sliced into 1/4″ slices (I used about 4-5 slices per salad)
1 tbsp good quality olive oil per person
1/2 tbsp white balsamic vinegar per person (we used a cranberry pear infused white balsamic, but I think it would be fine with a regular white balsamic as well)
sea salt and pepper for sprinkling on top

In a sautee pan over medium heat, add the pecans, brown sugar and butter and stir until caramelized. Remove and place on a sheet of wax paper in a single layer. Let cool while you assemble the rest of the salad.

Place a layer of greens on each plate. Add some grapes, crumble some goat cheese, and layer with some slices of avocado. Place several candied pecans on each salad. In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil and vinegar. Pour over individual salads, sprinkle with sea salt and pepper, and serve immediately.

blueberry-lemon cream cheese tart
adapted from this strawberry cream cheese tart recipe from Annie’s Eats

For the crust:
1 large egg yolk
1 tbsp. heavy cream
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the work surface
2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
¼ tsp. salt
8 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes

For the filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
½ cup + 2 tbsp confectioners’ sugar, sifted
zest of one lemon
½ tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. milk or cream

For topping:
Fresh blueberries (approximately 12 oz.)

To make the tart shell, whisk together the egg yolk, heavy cream and vanilla extract in a small bowl; set aside. Place the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor.  Process briefly to combine. Scatter the butter pieces over the flour mixture; process to cut the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about fifteen 1-second pulses.  With the machine running, add the egg mixture and process until the dough just comes together, about 12 seconds.  Turn the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and press into a 6-inch disc.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 48 hours.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator.  (If refrigerated for more than an hour, let stand at room temperature until malleable.)  Unwrap and roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to a 13-inch round.  Transfer the dough to a 9-inch tart pan.  Mold the dough to the sides of the tart pan and remove the excess off the top.  Set the dough-lined tart pan on a large plate and freeze for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, adjust an oven rack to middle position.  Preheat the oven to 375° F.  Set the dough-lined tart pan on a baking sheet, press a 12-inch square of foil into the frozen shell and over the edge, and fill with pie weights or dried beans.  Bake for 30 minutes, rotating halfway through the baking time.  Remove from the oven and carefully remove the foil and weights.  Continue to bake until deep golden brown, 5-8 minutes longer.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

To make the filling, beat together the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar in a bowl on medium-high speed until smooth.  Blend in the zest, vanilla and milk or cream.  Spread the cream cheese mixture over the tart shell.

Starting from the outside and working toward the center, place the blueberries in concentric circles slightly overlapping each other.  Gently press the berries into the cream cheese mixture to help keep them in place.  Chill until ready to serve.

The story of these raviolis begins once upon a time in Italy. (Don’t all great stories begin once upon a time in Italy? I do think so…) I was traveling with my husband and we went to a tiny region called Cinque Terra. Cinque Terra is Italian for Five Lands, named after the five adjacent and gorgeous towns built into the hillsides overlooking the ocean.

This region is not just renowned for its beauty. It’s also the birthplace of pesto, and believe me… their pesto is amazing. I made it my goal to eat pesto for every meal except breakfast. In one of the towns I ordered ravioli with pesto at the recommendation of the person seated next to me and it was the best meal I ate during my entire three weeks in Europe. I have always served ravioli with tomato sauce. Why had I not thought to try it with pesto?

As I served ravioli with pesto for dinner the other night, I thought it needed a little something extra to brighten the flavors. Our garden is overflowing with tomatoes, so I chopped up some cherry tomatoes and added that. And then it hit me: party appetizer perfection! Simply serve raviolis with a little dollop of pesto and a half of a cherry tomato on top! Easy to make, easy to serve, easy to eat. Perfect.

I served a hundred dishes at my husband’s birthday party including mojito watermelon, garbanzo bean salad, and dilled cucumbers, and yet everyone’s absolute favorite was these little ravioli appetizers. One of my friends exclaimed, “Even I could make this!” Yes, it’s true. Even *you* can make this!

ravioli bites
a Dishing the Divine original

*note: usually I add Parmesan cheese as the last step in making my pesto. Since these are being served on cheese ravioli, you could omit this extra cheese.

to serve 8 people:

32 cheese raviolis
2 batches of pesto
16 cherry tomatoes

Cook the raviolis according to package directions. Place one teaspoon of pesto on each ravioli. Top with a cherry tomato. Serve.

**By the way, if you haven’t entered our contest yet for the 12″ Cast Iron Pan, please do so!**

parmesan crusted goat cheese in basil infused olive oil
www.annies-eats.net

for the goat cheese:
½ oz. Parmesan cheese
¼ cup panko (available near the bread crumbs in your grocery store)
Freshly ground pepper
4 oz. semi-firm plain goat cheese
1 clove garlic
¼ tsp. coarse salt, plus more to taste

for the basil oil:
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
2 clove garlic
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Place the Parmesan in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until finely ground. Add the panko to the bowl and pulse a few more times so the cheese and crumbs have an even, fine texture. Season with freshly ground pepper to taste. Transfer to a shallow plate or bowl. Wipe out the bowl of the food processor.

Place the goat cheese in a small bowl. Finely mince the garlic. Sprinkle the salt over the minced garlic and smash the mixture together with a fork or the side of a chef’s knife until it forms a paste. Add the garlic paste to the bowl with the goat cheese and season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir the mixture together until smooth and well blended. Form the goat cheese mixture into a round ball. Roll the ball in the Parmesan-panko mixture until well coated. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate.

To make the basil oil, bring a small saucepan of water to a boil.  Add the basil leaves to the pot and boil for 30 seconds.  Drain and rinse immediately with cold water.  Blot the basil leaves with a towel to remove all of the excess water.  Add the basil leaves and the garlic to the bowl of the food processor.  Pulse until finely minced.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.  With the food processor running, add the oil through the feed tube in a steady stream.  Continue processing until the mixture is well blended and the oil takes on a green hue.  Strain the oil mixture through a fine mesh sieve onto a serving plate.  Place the ball of goat cheese in the center of the basil oil.  Garnish with additional fresh basil if desired.  Serve with baguette or ciabatta slices.