Roasted Garlic Soup

2 large garlic heads, whole, unpeeled


1 clove(s) garlic, minced

3 tablespoon(s) olive oil

1 tablespoon(s) unsalted butter

2 cup(s) onion, minced

1 tsp oregano leaves

1 large (1 1/4 cups) potato, peeled and cubed

4 cup(s) chicken stock

1/2 cup(s) dry white wine

1 teaspoon(s) salt

1/2 teaspoon(s) fresh-ground pepper

1/4 cup(s) heavy cream

Directions

1.Roast the garlic: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Using a serrated knife, cut the top off each garlic head so that the tip of each clove is exposed. Place the garlic heads on a large piece of aluminum foil and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Fold the foil to form a packet. Place the packet in the oven and bake for 45 minutes. Cool slightly. In a small bowl, squeeze the garlic head until all of the roasted flesh is released. Discard outer husks and bay leaves.

2.Make the soup: In a large heavy-duty saucepan, heat the remaining olive oil and butter, add onions, and cook over medium heat until translucent--about 4 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the potato, chicken stock, white wine, roasted garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper. Cover and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and continue to cook for 35 minutes.

3.Finish the soup: Using a blender, purée the soup in small batches until smooth. Return the soup to the saucepan over medium heat and whisk in the heavy cream. Heat until warmed. Ready to serve.

40 Clove Garlic Chicken

Ingredients
1Tbsp Butter

2 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2-3 lbs. Roasting Chicken, washed and cut into pieces

to taste Salt and Freshly Ground White Pepper

4 Tbsp. Fresh Rosemary

1 Cup Flour

40 Cloves Garlic, Peeled

1 Cup Dry White Wine

4 Cups Chicken Stock

1/2 Cup Heavy Cream


1. Heat butter and olive oil in a deep, heavy skillet.

2. Season the chicken with salt, pepper and rosemary. Toss in flour.

3. When the pan is hot, but not smoking, add the chicken, skin side down.

4. Sauté chicken until golden brown on both sides. Remove from pan.
5. Add garlic cloves and sauté until light brown.
6. Add white wine and chicken stock. Return chicken to pan.
7. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
8. Remove chicken and keep warm, turn heat to high and reduce liquid by 66%. Remove to blender, add cream and puree sauce. Adjust seasoning and serve over chicken.

Recipe from  the stinking roses website

Caramel Corn

Ingredients:

7-8  cups popped popcorn

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

6 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons light-colored corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1.Remove all unpopped kernels from popped popcorn. Put popcorn into a 17x12X2 inch baking or roasting pan. Keep popcorn warm in a 300F oven while making caramel mixture.

2. Butter large piece of foil; set aside For caramel, in a medium saucepan combine brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture boils. Continue boiling at a moderate, steady rate without stirring, for 5 minutes more.

3. Remove sauepan from heat. Stir in baking soda and vanilla Pour caramel over popcorn; stir gently to coat. Bake in a 300F oven for 15 minutes. Stir mixture; bake 5 minutes more. Spread caramel corn on buttered foil; cool. Store, tightly covered for up to one week.

Recipe from Better Homes & Gardens New CookBook.

Olive Garden Inspired Tiramisu

Tiramisu

Ingredients: 


3 egg yolks

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup mascarpone cheese

16 ounces cream cheese

1/4 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

20 to 24 lady fingers

1/2 cup cold espresso

1/2 cup Kahlua coffee liqueur

2/3 cup cocoa powder



1. Fill a medium saucepan halfway with water and bring it to a boil over medium/high heat, then reduce heat so that the water is simmering. Whisk egg yolks, heavy cream and sugar together in a medium metal bowl, then place the bowl on top of the saucepan (you can also use a double boiler for this step). Stir the mixture often for ten minutes. After the sugar dissolves the mixture should begin to thicken and turn light yellow. Remove it from the heat to cool.

2. Use an electric mixer to combine mascarpone, cream cheese and vanilla in a large bowl. Mix until mostly creamy, but with a few small chunks remaining.

3. Add egg yolk mixture to the cheese mixture and mix just until well-combined.

4. Combine espresso and Kahlua in a bowl. Pour this mixture onto a dinner plate. One-by-one touch the bottom of each lady finger in the espresso. The lady finger will quickly soak up the espresso/Kahlua mixture, but you don't want the entire lady finger soaked. The top half of each lady finger should still be dry. Arrange the soaked lady fingers side-by-side on the bottom of an 8x8-inch serving dish or baking pan.

5. Spoon about half of the cheese mixture over the lady fingers, then add another layer of soaked lady fingers on top of the cheese mixture.

6. Spoon the remaining cheese mixture over the second layer of lady fingers and spread it evenly.

7. Put two teaspoons of cocoa powder in a tight-mesh strainer and gently tap the side of the strainer to add an even dusting of cocoa powder over the top of the dessert.

8. Cover and chill for several hours. To serve, slice the dessert twice across and down creating 9 portions.

Pesto Chicken Panini

Pesto Chicken Panini

8 Slices Sourdough Bread, Buttered

1 Cup Pesto

8 Ounces Ricotta

1 1/2-2 Cup Parmesan Cheese

2 Tomatoes, Thinly Sliced

2 8oz Chicken Breasts, Cooked & Sliced

Directions:

Combine Ricotta Cheese, pesto, and 1/2 parmesan cheese in a small bowl; set aside. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on the buttered side of each slice of sourdough bread and press down so cheese sticks. Place one slice of bread butter side down on a nonstick pan. Spread a thin layer of pesto mixture, top with sliced chicken (about 2 ounces), add three slices of tomato, and sprinkle evenly with parmesan cheese; top off the sandwich with the other slice of bread. Heat pan to medium heat and cook sandwiches 3-4 minutes on each side until the cheese has melted and the outside of the sanwich is golden brown. Slice and enjoy!

Valentine Sugar Cookies

This is another Alton Brown recipe off of foodnetwork.

Ingredients

1 recipe Sugar Cookie Dough, at room temperature

1 teaspoon red gel paste food coloring

4 ounces white chocolate, melted

Pink gel paste food coloring

Directions

Start with sugar dough recipe.



Equipment: 2 1/2-by-3-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Place butter and sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer and beat until light in color. Add the red food coloring, egg and milk and beat to combine. Proceed with recipe and chill for 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Sprinkle a work surface and rolling pin with confectioner's sugar and roll out dough to 1/4-inch thick. Move dough frequently to prevent it from sticking and add more confectioner's sugar to the work surface and rolling pin as needed. With a 2 1/2-by-3-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut 36 hearts, re-rolling dough as needed. Place at least 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets, and bake until cookies are set but not brown, about 7-8 minutes. Let cool on the pan slightly before transferring to a rack to cool completely. To make striped Valentine hearts, transfer half of the melted chocolate to a disposable pastry bag, twist the end closed, and using scissors, snip a very small opening in the tip. Starting at the bottom of the cookie, apply gentle pressure to the pastry bag and drizzle lines of chocolate back and forth over the cookie, moving up as the chocolate flows. Allow chocolate to set before eating or packaging.
To make polka-dot Valentine hearts, color the remaining chocolate with pink food coloring to the desired shade of pink. Transfer to a disposable pastry bag, twist the end closed, and using scissors, snip a very small opening in the tip. Hold the pastry bag perpendicular to the cookie and apply gentle pressure to pipe a dot of chocolate. Release the pressure on the bag until the flow stops, and continue over the surface of the cookie, piping different sized dots, if desired. Gently tap the cookie to settle the chocolate and allow to set before eating or packaging.

Cook's Note: If gel paste food colorings are not available, add liquid food coloring until you achieve desired color. For pink, simply use a little red.

Sugar Cookie Dough

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 tablespoon milk

Powdered sugar, for rolling out dough

Directions

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Place butter and sugar in large bowl of electric stand mixer and beat until light in color. Add egg and milk and beat to combine. Put mixer on low speed, gradually add flour, and beat until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl. Divide the dough in half, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Sprinkle surface where you will roll out dough with powdered sugar. Remove 1 wrapped pack of dough from refrigerator at a time, sprinkle rolling pin with powdered sugar, and roll out dough to 1/4-inch thick. Move the dough around and check underneath frequently to make sure it is not sticking. If dough has warmed during rolling, place cold cookie sheet on top for 10 minutes to chill. Cut into desired shape, place at least 1-inch apart on greased baking sheet, parchment, or silicone baking mat, and bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until cookies are just beginning to turn brown around the edges, rotating cookie sheet halfway through baking time. Let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes after removal from oven and then move to complete cooling on wire rack. Serve as is or ice as desired. Store in airtight container for up to 1 week

Pesto Lasagna

Pesto Lasagna

Ingredients:

1 Package  (16ounces) Uncooked Lasagna Noodles

3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

1 Cup Chopped Onions

3 Cloves Garlic, Finely Chopped

3 Packages (10 ounces each) Frozen Chopped Spinach, Thawed and Squeezed Dry

Salt and Pepper

16 Ounces Ricotta Cheese

1 1/2 Cups Pesto

3/4 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

16 Ounces Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray 13x9 inch casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray. Partially cook Lasagna noodles according to package directions.

2. Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Cook and stir onion and garlic until translucent. Add spinach; cook and stir about 5minutes. Season with salt and peppe. Transfer to large bowl.

3. Add ricotta cheese, pesto, and parmesan cheese  to spinach mixture; mix well.

4. Layer 5 lasagna noodles, slightly overlapping, in prepared casserole. Top with one-third of ricotta mixture and one-third mozzarella. Repeat layers twice.

5. Bake for about 35 minutes or until hot and bubbly.