Ricotta and Coffee Mousse

From Saveur

SERVES 6

• 2 cups store-bought ricotta
• 1 cup cold heavy cream
• ⅓ cup sugar
• 2 tbsp. instant espresso
• 1 tbsp. powdered gelatin
• Shaved chocolate

  

Purée ricotta in a blender until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl; set aside.

Whip together heavy cream and sugar in a large bowl until soft peaks form. Set aside.

Bring ¼ cup water to a boil in a small saucepan; remove from heat. Whisk 2 tbsp. of the water with espresso in a small bowl. Whisk remaining water with gelatin in another small bowl until dissolved.

Stir espresso mixture into ricotta, then gelatin mixture; fold in cream in 3 stages. Chill mixture for 1 hour, then transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe mixture into 6 sundae glasses; refrigerate until set, about 1 hour. Garnish with shaved chocolate.

My Notes: This is super easy to make and tasty. It's rather heavy on its own, so some chopped up berries or other fruit really helps lighten it up. I used coffee instead of espresso and that made the coffee taste extremely faint. Next time, if I use coffee, I need to make it very concentrated--not at all like a cup I would drink.

MXF

Dark Chocolate Coconut Macaroons

From Smitten Kitchen

Yield: About 4 dozen small cookies

• 4 ounces (115 grams or about 1/3 cup) unsweetened chocolate (sometimes sold as 99%), chopped small
• 14 ounces (400 grams) sweetened, flaked coconut
• 2/3 cup (130 grams) granulated sugar
• 6 tablespoons (30 grams) cocoa powder
• 3 large egg whites
• Heaped 1/4 teaspoon flaked sea salt or level 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat oven to 325°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Heat approximately half of chocolate chunks in a small saucepan until just melted, then, off the heat, stir in the remaining chunks until they’re smooth. The residual heat should be enough to melt them and leave the mixture lukewarm; if it’s not, heat the mixture again until just melted, but not very hot.
In a food processor, blend the coconut for one full minute. Add sugar and cocoa powder, blend another full minute. Add egg whites, salt and vanilla and blend until combined, then the melted chocolate until smooth. With a tablespoon measure or cookie scoop (I used a #70 scoop), scoop batter into 1-inch mounds. You can arrange the cookies fairly close together as they don’t spread, just puff a bit.

Bake cookies for 15 minutes, until the macaroons are shiny and just set. Let them rest on the tray for 10 minutes after baking (or you can let them fully cool in place, if you’re not in a rush to use the tray again), as they’ll be hard to move right out of the oven. They’ll firm up as they cool, but still remain softer and less dry inside than traditional macaroons. Thank goodness.

I like to dust them with a little powdered sugar once they’re cool. They’ll keep in an airtight container until your family finds out about them, or one week, whichever happens first.

Tube-shaped Pasta with Wild Mushrooms

From Saveur

SERVES 6

• 8 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
•  2 medium cloves garlic, crushed, peeled, and finely minced
•  ½ medium vidalia or other sweet onion, peeled and finely chopped
•  Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
•  2 lbs. assorted fresh wild mushrooms, such as chanterelles and porcini, washed, trimmed, and cut into large pieces
•  ¼ cup fino sherry
•  Leaves of 6 sprigs parsley, coarsely chopped
•  1 lb. quality tube-shaped pasta, such as Rustichella d'Abruzzo rigatoncini
•  3 oz. freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat until warm. Add 2 tbsp. of the oil, then add garlic and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper, transfer to a medium bowl, and set aside.

Return skillet to high heat. Add 2 tbsp. of the oil, then add half the mushrooms, and cook until moisture evaporates and mushrooms are lightly browned, 10–12 minutes. Transfer mushrooms to bowl with onions. Repeat process with 2 more tbsp. oil and remaining mushrooms. Return mushroom–onion mixture to skillet and stir well. Add sherry, scrape any browned bits stuck to bottom of skillet with a wooden spoon, and cook for 2 minutes. Add some water to skillet, if necessary, to make pan juices a little saucier. Add parsley, reduce heat to medium, and simmer for a few minutes. Adjust seasonings and keep warm over lowest heat.

Add a generous pinch of salt to pot of boiling water. Add pasta and cook, stirring often, until just cooked through, 12–13 minutes. Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup of the pasta water, and return pasta to pot. Add mushroom–onion mixture, three-quarters of the cheese, and remaining oil to pasta and toss well , moistening pasta with some of the reserved pasta water, if you like. Transfer pasta to a warm serving platter and sprinkle with remaining Parmigiano-Reggiano.

My Notes: Reviewer suggested adding a bit of cream.

Pecan Cream Cake

From Saveur

SERVES 8–10
  

FOR THE CAKE:

• 8 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pans
• 2 cups flour, plus more for pans
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. kosher salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• ½ cup vegetable shortening
• 2 cups sugar
• 5 eggs, separated
• 1¼ cups shredded unsweetened coconut
• 1 cup finely chopped pecans

 FOR THE FROSTING:

• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 4 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
• 3½ cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• ¼ cup roughly chopped pecans, toasted

Make the cake: Heat oven to 350°. Butter and flour three 8" cake pans; set aside. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Whisk buttermilk and vanilla in another bowl. Cream butter, shortening, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until fluffy, 2–3 minutes. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. On low speed, alternately add dry ingredients in 3 batches and wet ingredients in 2 batches. Increase speed to high, and beat until batter is smooth, 5–10 seconds. Whip egg whites in a bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold egg whites, coconut, and pecans into batter. Divide batter between prepared pans and smooth top with a rubber spatula; drop pans lightly on a counter to expel large air bubbles. Bake cakes until a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean, 20–22 minutes. Let cakes cool for 20 minutes in pans; invert onto wire racks and let cool completely.

Make the frosting: Using a hand mixer, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. With the motor running, slowly add sugar and vanilla; beat until smooth.

To assemble, place one cake layer on a cake stand and spread with ⅓ cup frosting; top with another layer and spread with ⅓ cup frosting. Top with remaining layer. Cover top and sides with remaining frosting and sprinkle top with pecans; chill cake 1 hour until frosting is firm.

Stuck Pot Rice with Lentils and Yogurt

Smitten Kitchen

Serves 4 generously (a main dish) and 6 as a side

• Salt
• 1 cup brown or green lentils, washed and picked over
• 1 1/2 cups white basmati rice, rinsed well
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt, preferably whole-milk though low-fat will work, plus additional for serving
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice, plus additional lemon wedges for serving
• 1/3 cup water [edited]
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• Freshly ground black pepper or red pepper flakes
• Chopped fresh flat leaf parsley, cilantro or mint for garnish (optional)

Bring a medium-sized heavy pot with a tight fitting lid (so you can use one pot for all the steps) of salted water to a boil. [Updated direction.] Add lentils and boil for 5 minutes, then add rice boil for 5 minutes more, without stirring. Drain mixture and transfer to a large bowl.

Heat the same pot over medium-high heat. Once heated, add 2 tablespoons oil; one oil is warm, add onions and a couple pinches of salt and cover with a lid. Cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly caramelized and brown, about 10 to 12 minutes.

Add onions to bowl with rice and lentils. Stir in yogurt, lemon juice, water [edited], cumin and pepper, plus additional salt to taste.

Heat pot again over medium-high heat. Once fully hot, add remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Once that is hot, return rice mixture to pot, pressing it in. (It will sizzle.) Wrap clean kitchen towel around lid of pot so it completely covers inside of lid; gather corners on top so they do not fall anywhere near stove. Place lid on pot, sealing tightly. Reduce heat to very low. Cook undisturbed about 30 minutes; rice should smell toasty but not burned and you might need to check on it once or twice if you’re making it for the first time. Remove from heat, and let sit 5 minutes more.

Carefully remove lid and cloth, and turn pot upside down over a platter. If rice comes out in a single crust, terrific. If not, use a spatula to scrape crisp pieces out of pan and onto remaining rice. Garnish with chopped parsley and cilantro, and serve with lemon wedges and additional plain yogurt. Dig in.