Carrot Cake Truffles with Cream Cheese Icing Center

On Friday, my dorm hosted a benefit and as a result, there was a TON of cake leftover.  Within these next couple holiday weeks, you may also find that you have a lot of leftover desserts.  A fun way to not waste leftover cake is to make truffles or cake balls.  These truffles were made only out of leftover cake and white chocolate!  So if you are at a holiday party and the hosts force you to take home leftovers, take home the cake and make truffles!! This way you avoid stale or dry cake.  The icing centers are also a wonderful surprise! Plus, they are automatically portion controlling :)

Carrot Cake Truffles

• Leftover carrot cake
• 1 cup white chocolate baking chips

1. Separate the icing from the cake of the leftover cake, (save the icing carrots separately as well)
2. Freeze the icing for 10 minutes
3. Refrigerate the cake for 20 minutes
4. After icing hardens and is cold, roll the cold icing into penny size balls
5. Take the cold refrigerated cake and form about a golf ball sized truffled around the icing centers (work quickly so the cake and icing do not melt)
6. Place the truffles back into the freezer
7. Melt the white chocolate chips in the microwave
8. Dip the cold truffles into the white chocolate until completely coated
9. Put the dipped truffles back in the freezer for 5 minutes
10. Add mini icing carrots by cutting up the large icing carrots, or use colored icing tubes to create new carrots
11. Store in the refrigerator

Walnut Caramel Pie with Dried Cherry Compote

Looking for a break from the same old Thanksgiving desserts?  Well pie isn't exactly groundbreaking, but it is rare to find a pie that has a crunchy crust, overflows with a smooth filling, and is not cloyingly, tooth-aching inducing-ly sweet.  This pie from Bon Appetit hits all of the marks, and when paired with vanilla bean gelato... forget about it, call off the hounds, the  search is over. This is the new pumpkin pie, or at least another option you can offer next to it :)

Walnut Caramel Pie with Dried Cherry Compote

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2003/03/caramel_walnut_pie_with_dried_cherries#ixzz1dbTnhIw0

Crust

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 5 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 4 tablespoons (or more) ice water

Filling

• 1 1/4 cups dried tart cherries, chopped
• 1/2 cup ruby Port
•  
• 2/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 2/3 cup light corn syrup
• 3 large eggs
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted, room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup walnuts, toasted, chopped
•  

Preparation

Crust

• Blend flour, salt, and baking powder in processor. Using on/off turns, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 4 tablespoons ice water. Process just until moist clumps form, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Form dough into disk. Wrap in plastic; chill until dough is firm enough to roll out, about 30 minutes.

Filling

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Boil cherries and Port in heavy small saucepan until Port is absorbed, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Cool completely.
• Using electric mixer, beat brown sugar, corn syrup, eggs, and melted butter in large bowl until foamy. Beat in vanilla. Stir in walnuts and Port-infused cherries.
• Roll out dough on floured work surface to 11-inch round; transfer to 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Fold overhang under; crimp edges. Pour filling into crust.
• Bake pie until crust is golden and filling is brown and just set in center, about 50 minutes. Cool pie completely in dish on rack. Serve with whipped cream. VANILLA BEAN GELATO!

Pumpkin Sage Polenta

Okay, I'm pumpkin obsessed.  This autumnal side dish is just one more piece of evidence... and it won't be the last.  I served this pumpkin sage polenta with Cider Glazed Pork with Apple Bacon Compote and it was a hit at my father's birthday dinner.  It would make an awesome addition to your Thanksgiving spread as well :)
Pumpkin Sage Polenta

• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• salt and pepper to taste
• 5 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 1/2 tsp freshy ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp rubbed dried sage
• 1 cup polenta
• 1/2 cup romano cheese, grated
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter

1. In a large saucepan on medium heat, bring the stock, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and dried sage to a boil. 
2. Add the polenta, by a slow stream, whisking constantly (or it will clump). 
3. Reduce the heat to very low and whisk for 5 minutes, so it thickens
4. After 20 minutes add the pumpkin
5. Right before you are going to serve it add the cheese and butter

Cider Glazed Pork with Apple Bacon Compote

Although this isn't exactly a recipe you can make in your dorm room, nor is it a "snack", it is worth the wait!  It would be an amazing gift to your parents over the holidays, when you are sick of eating turkey leftover sandwiches.  (If it is possible to get sick of those).  The cider and sage flavors infuse and enhance their porky counterparts, resulting in a beautiful autumn dinner. Adapted from the CIA Greystone Cookbook

Cider Glazed Pork with Apple Bacon Compote

• 24 fresh sage leaves
• 2 one-pound pork tenderloins
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4 thin applewood-smoked bacon strips
• 2 clv garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 small onion, peeled, halved and thinly sliced
• 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
• 4 Granny Smith apples, cored and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 cup apple cider

1. Preheat oven to 400
2. Mince 8 Sage leaves
3. Season tenderloins with salt, pepper, and minced sage leaves
4. In a large pan over medium heat, warm 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the pork tenderloins one at a time and brown each sides, about 2 mins each side. Repeat with second
5. Remove tenderloins from pan and place on a sheet tray, pour 1/2 cup of cider on and bake for 25 minutes
6. While the pork cooks, cook the bacon in the same pan for 8 minutes, then add onion and garlic
7. After about 5 minutes, add the apples and thyme
8. Then, after 5 more minutes add the rest of the cider and reduce the heat
9. Let the tenderloins rest 10 minutes before serving, serve on top of the compote

Goat Cheese Truffles

When you hear the word truffle, what comes to mind?  Smooth, creamy, dense balls of chocolate dusted with cocoa that simply melt, as you eat them one by one.  However, while walking through Wegman's the other day, I was inspired to make a new kind of truffle: Goat Cheese Truffles.

These truffles are sweet AND savory; creamy goat cheese is formed into balls and then rolled in spiced pecans and dried cranberries.  These make perfect appetizers or toppings for salads.  They are simply adorable and would be perfect for a light holiday hors-d'oeuvre.

Goat Cheese Truffles

• 1 8 oz. Goat Cheese log, medium consistency
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup Spiced Pecans

1. Pecans:  Cover 1/2 cup of pecans in 1/4 cup maple syrup, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp curry powder. Cook in a skillet on medium heat until pecans have absorbed the syrup; let cool.
2. Chop cooled pecans and mix with cranberries in a small bowl
3. Roll goat cheese into 1/2 oz balls, making about 16
4. Roll the goat cheese balls into chopped pecan and cranberry mixture

Roasted Carrot, Pistachio, and Poppy Seed Soup

This weekend I went home to meet a combination of Halloween and Christmas... 10 inches of snow in October.  This melange of seasons inspired me to incorporate fall flavors into a hearty, warm soup that would be just as relevant in January.  This soup is beautiful: a vivid orange contrasted by a snow white drizzle of cream and dotted with black poppy seed speckles.  Best of all it is low calorie, low carb, and delicious.  Your whole house will smell of roasting nuts and vegetables... a scent that can't be bought or plugged in.  Enjoy on a cold night ( I'm sure there will be enough of them to come!)

Roasted Carrot, Pistachio, and Poppy Seed Soup

Yields 4 servings

Cost: $$$$$

• 2 bags baby carrots
• 2 yellow onions, cut in fourths and separated
• 1 cup pistachios, toasted
• 6 cloves garlic
• 2 quarts chicken stock
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 4 tablespoons poppy seeds
• 2 large pieces of old country bread
• Drizzle heavy cream (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 450
2. Roast baby carrots, onions, and cloves of garlic in 1/4 cup of oil in the oven for 30-45 minutes, until caramelized and slightly blackened
3. Heat chicken stock in a large soup pot and add nuts, 2 tbs poppy seeds, and vegetables; let simmer on the lowest heat for 1-3 hours, to develop flavor
4. Blend soup with an immersion blender or in batches in a regular blender, return to low heat to serve
5. Top with poppy seed croutons and a drizzle of cream, if desired
6. Poppy Seed Croutons: Tear bread up into cubes, cover with remaining olive oil and poppy seeds, toast in the oven at 400 for about 15 minutes until browned and crispy

Heath Bar Crunch Shortbread Cookies

My friend Mike, who is British, asked me to develop a product that represented him to give away during his student office campaign.  What is easy to make, delicious, and oh so-save-the-queen-william-and-kate British?

Shortbread, my lady!

To find the most delicious and buttery shortbread recipe, I looked no further than my personal, culinary bible: Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home.

From www.amazon.com





I love cookie dough, but preferably in chocolate-chip or peanut butter form... but this cookie dough is to die for.  A good sign that your future cookie will be delectable: the dough is delectable.  These cookies melt in your mouth and will make you feel like you are at a tea party with the queen... even if you are simply in your dorm room on a Monday night.

Heath Bar Crunch Shortbread Cookies

adapted from Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home

•   1.75 sticks unsalted butter
•   0.5 cup granulated sugar + extra to sprinkle over cookies
•   1 tsp vanilla paste or extract
•   2 cups AP flour
•   1 Heath Bar crumbled into little pieces

1.  Mix butter and sugar for 3 minutes until creamy and fluffy with an electric mixer or dough paddle
2. Add vanilla paste and add flour in 1/2 cup increments, beating in between until a uniform dough has formed
3. Add the Heath Bar bits and fold into the dough with a spatula
4. Place the dough between parchment paper, rolling up the ends, and flatten four sides so you form a long rectangular brick of dough
5. Wrap the dough brick and refrigerate for 3-12 hours
6. After the dough has chilled slice the brick horizontally, forming about 20 rectangular cookies (ala slice'n'bake cookies before they sliced them for you)
7. Preheat oven to 350 and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper
8. Bake cookies for 11-14 minutes