bouffe e bambini: June 2011

Shrimp and Crab Au Grautin in Crepe Beggars Purse

Ingredients for Crepes:

2 eggs
1 cup milk
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 pinch salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil

Directions

In a blender combine eggs, milk, flour, salt and oil. Process until smooth. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.
Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and brush with oil. Pour 1/4 cup of crepe batter into pan, tilting to completely coat the surface of the pan. Cook 2 to 5 minutes, turning once, until golden. Repeat with remaining batter.

Ingredients For Au Grautin:

2 egg yolks
12 fluid ounces heavy cream
1/4 cup butter
1 large yellow onion, minced
1 stalk celery, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Creole seasoning
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups shredded Fontina cheese
1/2 cup shredded Sharp White Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded American cheese
1 pound cooked crabmeat
1 pound cooked shrimp
1 bunch green onions
1 bunch chives

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x9 inch baking dish. In a bowl, whip together the egg yolks and heavy cream.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute the onion and celery about 5 minutes. Season with salt, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and Creole seasoning. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until very tender.
Mix the flour into the saucepan, and cook and stir continuously for 5 minutes. Mix in the egg yolk mixture. Stir in the Fontia, Cheddar cheese and American cheese until melted. Remove from heat and fold in the crab meat. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish.
Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until bubbly and lightly browned. Remove from heat and top with the sharp Cheddar cheese and green onions.
Fill crepe with about 1 cup of au grautin and tie with chive. Serve immediately.

A little inspiration

Happy Sunday friends. My dear friend Jessica over at {civetta} posted this the other day and I just love everything about it so I thought I would share it with you today!

Have a wonderful holiday weekend lovelies. I am making homemade ice cream sandwiches, beer battered coconut shrimp and maybe grilling up some burgers too.

xoxoxo

Most of my day to day outfits consist of leggings, tunics and work out clothes. I kid you not, my ENTIRE closet is a size 6/8. I've lost 31 pounds so far and I've still got 29 pounds until I will be happily fitting into all my cute, stylish clothes. SO for now it's leggings and tunics.

Tank Top: Forever 21

Leggings: Forever 21

Shoes: Payless

I Hope you will link up! I would love to see what your wearing!!!

Fresh Fig Pizza

I L*O*V*E figs. I saw these fresh black figs at the grocery this week and bought them with not the slightest idea what I would make. Then I thought PIZZA!!! And I knew it would come out amazing and it did.

I have used {THIS}recipe for pizza dough from Closet Cooking several times and had success.

I added garlic, butter sauce for the base then topped it with mozzarella cheese, Gorgonzola cheese, bacon, caramelized onion and fresh fig. It turned out perfect, a wonderful combination of flavors, perfect for balancing each other out.

For the pizza I made all the topping ahead of time and set them aside until I had the dough ready. You can cook the bacon is a skillet and use some of the bacon grease to caramelize the onions afterwards; extra delicious!

Ingredients:
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1/4 cup olive oil
1 3/4 cups water (ice cold)
1 tablespoon sugar
cornmeal (or semolina flour) for dusting

Directions:
1. Mix the flour, salt and yeast in a large bowl.
2. Add the oil, water and sugar and mix until it forms a sticky ball of dough.
3. Knead on a clean surface for 5-7 minutes adding flour if it is too wet or water if it is too dry.
4. Cut the dough into three pieces and form them into balls.
5. Place the dough balls on a pan, spray them with oil and cover them with plastic.
6. Place the dough in the fridge and let it rest over night or up to three days.
7. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and form it into discs. Lightly flour the discs, spray them with oil, cover them with parchment paper and let them rest for 2 hours.
8. Flour (or oil) your hands and lay the dough across your knuckles. Lightly bounce the dough on your knuckles, turning it and stretching it until it reaches the size that you want.
9. Place the dough on a baking pan dusted with cornmeal.
10. Add your pizza toppings.
11. Bake in a preheated 500F oven until golden brown on top, about 5-10 minutes.

Patriotic Pretzels

If you are looking for something fun and EASY to whip up for the 4th of July these are fantastic. They were really easy to make and turned out so cute. I think I'll send these to work with my hubby.

You will need:

1 bag pretzel sticks

2 cups peanut butter

2 cups melted white chocolate

red, white and blue sprinkles (I got mine at Hobby Lobby)

Recipe:

Melt white chocolate in a paper cup or plastic tupper wear container in the microwave. Spread the top half of the pretzel stick with peanut butter then dip into chocolate. Lay pretzel stick on a piece of wax paper and add sprinkles to the top. Put in freezer to set.

Ginger Snap Cheesecake and The Handmade Hog Linky Party

Please join me and link up ANYTHING handmade or homemade. I would love to see recipes, DIY projects, party planning, and craft projects of all kinds!!!

And if you didn't make anything this week, no worries, link up an old favorite!!!

There are no rules! Feel free to grab the Handmade Hog button and place it in your post or on your sidebar but it is absolutely NOT required!! EVERYONE is welcome to participate!!! This is just supposed to be a fun way to share your ideas and pick up some new ones !!

So, please join me! LINK UP!!! I can't wait to see what you have in store!!!

<a href="http://www.bouffeebambini.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_n0iddNFH3dQ/TOvTMNeXGGI/AAAAAAAADig/5Nth6ulYQSM/s1600/hog_button.png"/></a>

My Mother's Cheesecake Recipe:

The following recipe is my mother's famous cheesecake recipe! It is too die for. The beaten egg whites makes for a very light, fluffy cheesecake.

The recipe below is the recipe for one 9" cheesecake.

Crust:

1 cup crushed ginger snaps

3-5 tablespoons melted butter

Cheesecake:

3 8ounce packages of cream cheese at room temperature

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon of vanilla

4 egg whites

1 cup sugar

topping:

1 pint sour cream

4 tablespoons sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Mix crust ingredients in a small bowl and press into a 9" spring pan

Cream together cream cheese, salt and vanilla. In a separate bowl beat egg whites slowly adding sugar until stiff. Fold egg white mixture into cream cheese mixture. Pour into pan and bake @350 degrees for 25 minuets , lower over temp to 325 and bake another 15 minuets. Now remove and pour on topping and bake for 10 more minuets. Remove, cool and chill before eating!

Guest Blogging on Lee La La

Hi There Lovelies.

Today I have the pleasure of guest blogging on my dear friend Lindsay's blog Lee La La. I'm sharing my recipe for homemade donuts. They turned out A****MA**ZING!!

Go check it out.

Caramel Brownies

I saw this recipe and HAD to try it. I halved the recipe and made these in a 8X8 pan and it was perfect. These brownies are SUPER, rich!! They are over the top!!! My hubby took some into his work and the guys said they were "like food crack" Delicious and very rich!!!

This recipe originally found on Annie's Eats

For the brownies:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
12 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1½ cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. salt
1½ cups pecan, coarsely chopped (optional)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

For the caramel filling:
14 oz. caramel candies, unwrapped
1/3 cup heavy cream

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line a 9×13-inch baking pan with foil and grease the foil well with butter or cooking spray. Combine the butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Heat, stirring occasionally, until completely melted and smooth. (Alternatively, microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until completely melted.) Remove the bowl from the heat. Whisk in the sugar, eggs and vanilla until incorporated. Stir in the flour and salt just until combined. Spread about half of the brownie batter in the bottom of the prepared pan in an even layer. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, maintaining the oven temperature, and let cool for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, add the chopped pecans (if using) to a medium skillet over medium heat. Toast, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and light golden brown. Remove from the heat and set aside. To make the caramel filling, combine the caramel candies and cream in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Heat, stirring frequently, until melted and smooth. Stir in half of the pecans. Immediately spread the caramel mixture over the bottom brownie layer. Pour the remaining brownie batter over the caramel layer, taking care to pour and spread it evenly otherwise it will be difficult to spread evenly over the caramel layer. Sprinkle the chocolate chips and the remaining pecans on top of the final brownie layer. Bake for 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before slicing and serving. (To speed cooling, chill in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.)

Lift the brownies from the pan using the edges of the foil. Remove the foil and cut the brownies into individual squares. Store in an airtight container.

The debut of "The Haute Hog"

After doing a couple of "what I wore" posts I was hooked. I loved it so I decided to start a little what I wore party of my own and this is the very first edition!!

I hope you will join me and link up something you've worn lately. Please grab my button and include it in your what I wore post or on your sidebar so we can get more people to participate. The more the merrier.
This linky will be up all week long so take your time!!!
Have fun!

Here's what I wore.
You will soon find out that I have a very eclectic wardrobe. This Indian Caftan is perfect for summer and is just about the most comfortable thing I own so this is what I wore.

Caftan (dress): Cost Plus World Market
Sandals: Michael Kors
Sunglasses: Lauran Conrad for Kohls
Little Spoon Necklace: Beau & Stella
Bracelets: J. Crew

My Linky Parties

I have been really enjoying my Handmade Hog Linky party but I wasn't posting it consistently each week so I have decided to go ahead and lock down a schedule. The Handmade Hog linky party will always be posted on Wednesdays.

For this party I welcome all things handmade; recipes, DIY, Crafts, party planning, photography.

And I am soooooo excited to announce that I will be debuting my new "what I wore" party this Saturday called "The Haute Hog" It will post every Saturday. I was so nervous to do my first what I wore post and it turns out I loved it so I decided to start my own little party. I hope you will join me and link up what your wearing too.

Thanks so much for joining me. I hope you have as much fun as I do at these parties:)
I also wanted to give a shout out to my friend Kim at 733 Blog Design. She is the one who designed my blog and has made all these adorable buttons for me. If your looking for someone to help with blog design I HIGHLY recommend her. Thanks Kim!!!!

Hanna

Chocolate ice cream cake

My wonderful husband's birthday was last week and he is a H*U*G*E ice cream fan so when I asked him what kind of a cake he wanted me to make he said an ice cream cake.

So, I went to work. This is what I did.

First you will need 2 spring pans. The one's I used happen to be 7". I like this size because it's a little smaller than the regular 9" but any size spring pan will do.

Line the bottom with wax paper

Temper your ice cream and scoop into spring pan. (I used a pint for each layer)

Next cover the ice cream with wax paper and place in freezer to set. You should make 3 disks if making a 4 layer cake. Once hard, unlock spring pan and pop out ice cream disk. Place in a large zip lock bag in freezer until ready to use.

Bake your favorite kind of cake in 2 spring pans (the same size you used to make your ice cream disks.) Be sure to spray them generously with non stick cooking oil. Once they are completely cool, remove from pan and slice length wise to make 2 cake disks from each cake. This will give you 4 layers.

Next, slice off the top hump of the cake so all the layers will lye completely flat once stacked. Now place the 4 cake disks into the freezer as well. Once frozen you will be ready to assemble your cake.

The final step before assembly is to make your icing or ganache. I used {THIS}recipe for chocolate ganache frosting and it was perfect.

Place one layer of cake down and frost.

next place one ice cream disk.

frost and repeat

Now quick, get it back in the freezer before it melts!!!

Once the initial assembly of the cake has taken place and it has frozen solid again, you can frost the outside of the cake but don't try to do it while your assembling it because the cake will melt. You will not have enough time.