Justin & Meredith Winokur's Kitchen Cooking Notebook
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Home > dessert
All for 'dessert'
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Moussaka, French Onion Soup, Sides and Bread Pudding (company) -- back to top
We were having company over so we went for a full three course meal. Sadly, in the rush of getting everything out, I didn't get a good picture but that is fine because we didn't really do too much new stuff.
We made french onion soup just like we have in the past but we made a bit more. About 6 cups of broth (mix of beef and chicken) with about a cup of white wine. It came out pretty good. I do not remember if it was 2.5 or three onions. I will have to ask Meredith.
We made the moussaka as we have in the past (with points on that last one). It was good. We made it the night before and refrigerated it. I think that caused the bechemel sauce to crack differently but it was still good. It was actually nice because we did it such that as the sauce cooks down (the longest part), we ate dinner the night before. It made this a less intense meal for one night.
We also had roasted butternut squash and steamed broccoli. I think we over-roasted the squash but both Meredith and I like it mushy so it was not really a bad thing. The broccoli was normal and good.
For dessert we made bread pudding again from the same recipe. We again only used half brown sugar and half splenda. Meredith also added more splenda but I will have to check with her on how much. We also added raisins which was really good. This time we used bananas as the recipe calls for. Also, we used whole wheat bread to make it healthier. With the extra splenda, it was really, really good! We will have to do this again.
We topped it with Trader Joe's Frozen Yogurt.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 905, 2011-01-21_121252
Pomegranate Pumpkin Oatmeal Brulee -- back to top
We made a pomegranate pumpkin Oatmeal Brulee like we did last year except we were in a rush so I basically just made quick oats, added pumpkin, a bunch of seasonings, then I did the brulee thing. It was not as good so maybe next time I will follow the recipe better.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1475, 2011-10-22_135256
Red Velvet Cake -- back to top
This was for Thanksgiving so there was no attempt at making it any healthier. Anyway, Meredith had been looking at this recipe for a while and when making a cake for thanksgiving came up, she suggested we make this.
It is based on the recipe below. If you read the website, they talk about how classic red velvet cake was called that because of using brown sugar which used to be known as red sugar. Also, there is apparently some acidic reaction that goes on turning it red. This recipe uses that but also adds some red wine (we used red velvet cupcake wine to add to the name).
The cake was incredibly good! It was extremely rich but had a nice chocolatey flavor. The cake was rather dense but a nice texture. The icing, (which is based on a german buttercream) was also flavorful. It was surprisingly not too sweet and also had a really nice flavor.
The reviews were rather positive so I imagine we will keep this recipe in mind if we are asked to make a cake.
The recipe is below:
Red Velvet Cake (from Gilt Taste[Since Removed])
Local Copy -- password is the name of my dog, all lower case
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1579, 2011-11-24_085807
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread -- back to top
My mom made banana bread from the recipe below. I do not know what it is based on, but it includes her changes and comments. (Interestingly, it calls for baking soda, not powder, but the results seem right)
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
Makes 1 loaf
This is mixed completely by hand.
Heat oven to 325°F (or 350 on convection).
Grease & flour a 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan (or use baking spray).
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
Mix in the oil, bananas, and eggs.
Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.
Pour into the prepared pan.
Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 60-80minutes.
Cool the loaf pan for 10 minutes, then turn out and cool completely, right side up.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 2942, 2013-01-01_113530
Emily and I made two ingredient cookies. Basically, you mash up two bananas and a cup of quick oats, then cook them at 350 for 15 minutes. We also added a little bit of Splenda. And we kept having to add some more quick oats since it seemed a bit too wet (and they mentioned that you may need to do that). Also, they warn you about them sticking but I used a silpat and it worked fine.
They were okay. About what you would expect. It just tastes like bananas and oatmeal. Not all that good, but they may serve to be really good on something like a bike ride.
Two Ingredient Oatmeal Cookies (From The Burlap Bag)
Local Copy -- password is the name of my dog, all lower case
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 3226, 2013-03-02_232222
I made Snickerdoodles from the recipe below taken out of one of my Dad's recipe books. I used to make them with the recipe when I was much younger so I decided to use it again.
I followed the recipe pretty closely except I used Wolfram Alpha to convert 3.5 cups flour to 17 ounces and 2 cups sugar to 14 ounces. I also just mixed all of the dry ingredients into the wet slowly at the end.
I made big ones since it was supposed to make 35 to 40 but only made 28. I forgot how much they spread. Some stuck a bit but I was able to separate them. I'll do smaller ones and more batches next time. They tasted pretty good. Some were a bit too cooked but still tasted fine.
They were very good. Nice flavors rich taste. I'd make them again if I have a need to.
Snickerdoodles (from ???)
Local Copy-- password is the name of my dog, all lower case
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6715, 2013-09-27_143055
Falafel and Snickerdoodles -- back to top
Manav wanted me to show him how to make falafel so we made this together. We followed the standard falafel recipe spretty much by the book. We made a double batch and cooked them both. The ones towards the bottom of the oven got more browned but both were fine.
We served them with a Za'atar dip (FF Greek Yogurt, Za'atar, salt, pepper garlic powder) and with store-bought hummus on whole wheat pita pockets.
We also made snickerdoodles following the recipe from last time. They mostly came out ok but were not consistently cooked. I moved the racks to the top of the oven but I don't think I left enough space. I staggered them when I put them in and one ones on the bottom shelf that had overlap cooked less than the others. So, when I left them in a bit longer, we got some browned ones. Next time, I need to leave more space between trays.
Also, we made 36 larger ones. We should make more smaller ones next time. It is better when they don't stick and when they are smaller. (FWIW, I also made Manav take most of them home!)
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6784, 2013-10-17_111836
Peanut butter-Coconut Marshmallow Popcorn Balls -- back to top
These are for the person watching Gracie. I made marshmallow pop-corn balls. I didn't follow a specific recipe but I read a bunch to get the idea. They are actually all roughly the same.
My goal was to make something different but I also wanted to have coconut and peanut butter since I was trying to resemble Chick-O-Sticks.
My first version was a bit overdone with peanut butter, toasted coconut, toffee and whiskey. I didn't taste the coconut (though I really only tried it while it was cooking, not a final one). So I simplified it and stepped it up for the second.
I haven't really tasted them yet. I will wait and update this post as needed.
Both:
Version 1:
Version 2:
Pop the popcorn. (I used an air-popper).
Toast the coconut in a frying pan. Place coconut in pan on medium and keep it moving. As it gets close, take off the heat and keep stirring using the residual heat to finish toasting. Move to a dish when finished. (note that the sugar will leave quite a bit of mess on the pan)
To make the batter, melt the butter and peanut butter (and whiskey for version 1) on medium. When melted, add the marshmallows (and_untoasted_coconut for version 2). Combine until all melted. Scrape the pan as needed.
When fully melted, add mixture to the popcorn (and add toffee for version 1). Combine with a spoon. When cooled slightly, butter (or pam) your hand and use that to help combine. When fully combined, use both hands, buttered, (or sprayed with butter pam) to shape into balls. Try not to compress them too much (I over-did it. They should have been fluffier).
For version 2, press the toasted coconut unto the balls. Rolling didn't seem to work. They needed to be pressed.
Allow to cool on a tray. Made about 12 medium-sized popcorn balls.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 6822, 2013-10-25_164145
Roasted Broccoli Soup with Waffled Parsnip and Waffled Brownies -- back to top
We had friends over and they bought us a waffle iron so we made two things waffled plus soup.
The soup was really, really good. We made it based on past soup recipes and I then wrote it up into its own recipe on my recipe book. We used Sargento Parmentino which is about 3.75 oz which is pretty low for the amount of soup.
There was not a lot of other flavors but it was still really flavorful. It needed the lime juice to brighten the flavors.
For the main meal, we made parsnip waffles. We had done them before but pancaked it. Now that we had the waffle iron, we used that. Meredith made it but I think she followed the recipe pretty well. It didn't pancake super well. I think we liked it more as a waffle. It had a nice flavor but wasn't anything out of this world. Also parsnips are really hard to waffle since they have such a thin tip.
Finally, we made brownies in the waffle iron. We used Ghirardelli dark Chocolate Mix with White Chocolate Chips. We tried doing smaller bunches but what worked best was to use a lot of batter and fill the iron. They needed 7 minutes. Also, they seemed to be very soft but they hardened at the end after they were out of the iron. And they were so good! Biggest issue was that we ate too many of them! But we will do this again.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 9612, 2015-02-17_201529
"Pumpkin Patch" Dessert -- back to top
We were invited somewhat last-minute to a halloween thing so Meredith came up with this idea for a really quick but themed dessert.
It was essentially "dirt" but with pumpkins. We made instant pudding (full-sugar) with fat-free milk. After that set, we folded in cool whip and some crumbled "Cookies and Cream" flavored oreos1. We then topped it with more crumbled oreos and candy pumpkins.
As you could imagine, it was pretty darn good!
Isn’t that just oreo flavored oreos? Oh well, they were good! ↩
Rosemary Shortbread Cookies -- back to top
We were tasked (last minute) with bringing a dessert to a party and Meredith came up with this idea. We made Rosemary short-bread based on the Joy The Baker Lavender Shortbread (Local). Essentially, we followed the recipe pretty closely except we used about the same amount of fresh rosemary instead of lavender. We used a bit of turbinado sugar but switched to regular granulated when we used it up (ended up being mostly granulated)
I think we kept pretty true to the recipe. We debated if we needed to make any changes due to the altitude but decided to not worry about it. The only other thing is we only let it sit for 25 minutes instead of 30 since we were cutting it close on time. And we probably rushed cooling them a bit but not much. Also, our butter was too cold to start so I did the trick where you pound it thin. That seemed to work well.
Final note is that I messed up and spilled some flour while adding it. We got most of it in there but probably some was lost.
Oh, and as you can see we cut it into squares. We actually used rolling pin sizers which made life much easier! I highly recommend them!
They did come out very good. A subtle rosemary flavor but not overpowering. We would do this again!
Lavender Shortbread Cookies (from Joy The Baker)
Local Copy (U: "guest", P: name of my dog, lower case)
Cardamom Almond Pear Crisp -- back to top
Meredith made these and stayed pretty true to the Oh She Glows recipe (local). The only changes she noted was she used coconut sugar and pecans. Also, she topped it with a bit of pecan-pie ice cream.
Cardamom Almond Pear Crisp (from Oh She Glows)
Local Copy (U: "guest", P: name of my dog, all lower case)
Smore Quesadilla -- back to top
Not much to this, but I decided to try to make a smore Quesadilla. All I did was heat the tortillas and then put on some marshmallow and chocolate. The marshmallow kind of expanded and made a mess. But for the 5 minutes it took to make this, it was pretty good.
Grilled Chicken Saltimbocca, Sides, and Grilled Strawberry Shortcake -- back to top
We had friends over and wanted to make a nice meal. They were bringing sides so we focused on dinner and dessert (and eggplant).
We made Chicken Saltimbocca. All of the chicken breasts at the store were too big so we went with chicken tenders. I pounded them out a bit and then made a marinade of:
I let it marinate for a few hours. I then dried them off and laid down a layer of prosciutto and some fresh sage. I closed it up in half, put a toothpick through (the long way from the front to the fold), and dredged it with some flour (with a bit of salt and pepper).
I grilled them for about 6 minuted per side. They worked out pretty well. I think I a toothpick of two1. But other than that, they were good. I do not know if I really got the wine though.
We also grilled some eggplant. Our friends brought a caprese salad and some cauliflower-broccoli salad. I really liked them both. We didn't make it, but they told us they reduced the balsamic first. I think I would try that in the future! It coated the stuff better and had a nice sweetness.
Meredith had seen this Joy The Baker recipe (Local 2). We made the pound cake but made High Altitude Changes. The altitude changes were:
We also added a bunch of chopped lemon thyme from Meredith's garden and the usual heavy on the vanilla.
We planned to reduce the time. I do not know if the oven wasn't hot enough or I forgot convection (really not sure). But it took a lot longer. I eventually had to cover the top to not burn it and let the rest cook through.
That did work well enough though.
After it was cool, I off four slices (8 total). I grilled them with the heat really low and coasted with melted butter (instead of oil). After I flipped them, I turned on the other burners on low and turn off the direct one while Meredith finished the strawberries. She macerated them with some additional lemon thyme and also lemon zest (and just a Tbsp of sugar). We did less sugar for the whipped cream (and a more soft-peak).
I forgot to take the final picture, but it was pretty good. The cake had a bit of crisp. It wasn't as heavy as a normal pound cake but I liked it a lot still. And the lines looked really fancy (even though it didn't make much difference).
It was also nicely moist (a concern for Albuquerque) but pound cake is pretty forgiving.
Pavlova with Pomegranate and Persimmon -- back to top
Meredith and I made Pavlova like we've done once before. We followed the recipe basically to the letter on both the meringue (which we made in the morning) and the whipped cream. I did end up going an extra 10 minutes in the oven since it didn't look done.
We topped it with pomegranate and some sliced persimmon, sliced to try and show the star-pattern inside.
I thought it worked pretty well. To quote Meredith, it isn't an indulgent dessert, but it is pretty good. And, pretty healthy as far as desserts go! It was also surprisingly easy, other than having to wait around for the 70+ minutes to cook.
You can kind of see from the picture that it really does get crispy on the outside but nicely gooey inside.
Ramen Rice Krispies -- back to top
I made Ramen Rice Krispies again. There really wasn't too much to it including us doubling the butter as we now say in the recipe (though I am going to change it to 6-8 Tbsp). The other thing was I figured I could mix the furikake into dry ingredients and that worked well and made life easier.
I ate a few while putting them away and I liked them as usual. I do think we should change the butter to 6 Tbsp since I am afraid they will all stick by the time we serve them.
I really like this recipe since it is kind of odd but also tasty.
Southern Banana Pudding -- back to top
Meredith has been wanting to make this for a while and getting invited for a BBQ was the perfect opportunity.
We followed the Add a Pinch (local1) recipe and followed it pretty closely except that we forgot the vanilla for the first few layers. And we used lite nilla wafers.
Other than that, we stayed pretty true to the recipe. It was surprisingly easy and really good. The pudding before going in tasted a lot like tapioca pudding but the banana flavor really got infused.
And it was really good and popular. It almost all got eaten!
U: guest P: name of my boston terrier. ↩