Crunchy Grecian Dip

This dip is just another excuse to eat your fruit!

Crunchy Grecian Dip with Apples

1 cup (6 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
1 cup sour cream, light sour cream, or plan non-fat yogurt
½ cup chopped nuts
½ cup milk
¼ cup raisins
¼ teaspoon ground allspice

Combine all ingredients; mix well.
Serve with apple slices as dippers.
Makes 2 cups.

White Chocolate Cake

A year and half or so ago, my Mother and I stumbled upon an awesome deal. We were grocery shopping in that time when Christmas has come and gone and people only shop for necessity food. We happened on a whole bunch of chocolate baking bars on sale. With the attached coupons, each bar ended up only costing 9 cents. Yeah. You read that right. Needless to say, we purchased an entire shopping bag full of chocolate.

There were all types of chocolate, including white chocolate. I’ve never done a great deal of baking with white chocolate. I love it but I mostly used it to make Peppermint Bark.

This recipe is an old one from the Houston Chronicle. I hope you enjoy it!

White Chocolate Cake

4 ounces white chocolate
½ cup boiling water
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 egg yolks, unbeaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 ½ cups sifted cake flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
White Chocolate Frosting (recipe follows)

Melt chocolate in a the microwave in a microwave safe bowl, stiring every 30 seconds until melted. Cool.
With a mixer, blend butter and sugar until creamy. Add egg yolks and beat. Add chocolate and vanilla. Stir in flour with soda, salt and buttermilk. Beat until smooth. Fold in beaten egg white.
Pour into 3 greased and floured layer pans. Bake at 350 degrees 35 to 40 minutes or until cake tests done. Turn out on rack to cool.

White Chocolate Icing

2 egg yolks
1 ½ cups evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
¼ pound margarine
4 ounces white chocolate
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix egg yolks and 1 cup milk. Add sugar and margarine. Cook in the top of a double-boiler over simmering water until thick.
Melt chocolate in remaining milk which has been heated; add to mixture. Add pecans, coconut and vanilla and stir until thoroughly mixed in.
Frost cake.

Vegetable Lasagna

This recipe comes from the fine folks at Campbell's. I don't know about you, but I grew up on Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup. It's still my go to food when I'm not feeling well or it's really cold outside. It's right up there with Grilled Cheese Sandwiches when it comes to comfort food.

That said, I'm always checking out their recipes to see what else they have come up with. Do you like lasagna as much as I do?

Vegetable Lasagna

2 cans (10 3/4 ounces each) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Broccoli Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free)

1 1/2 cups milk

Vegetable cooking spray

1 tablespoon butter

3 3/4 cups sliced mushrooms (about 10 ounces)

2 medium red or orange peppers, cut into 2-inch-long thin strips (about 3 cups)

2 medium zucchini, thinly sliced (about 3 cups)

1 medium onion, thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup)

12 uncooked no-boil lasagna noodles

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese (about 8 ounces)

• Stir the soup and milk in a small bowl and set aside. Spray a 13 x 9 x 2-inch shallow baking dish with the cooking spray.
• Heat the butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, peppers, zucchini and onion and cook until they're tender.
• Spread 1 cup soup mixture in the bottom of the prepared dish. Layer with 3 of the noodles, 1/3 of the vegetable mixture, 1 cup of the soup mixture and 1/2 cup of the cheese. Repeat the layers twice. Top with the remaining 3 noodles. Pour the remaining soup mixture over the noodles. Cover the baking dish.
• Bake at 375°F. for 40 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake for 10 minutes or until it's hot and bubbling. Let the lasagna stand for 10 minutes.

Cream Cheese Raspberry Coffee Cake

This recipe comes from the good folks over at Pillsbury. They have some wonderful recipes available on their website. This coffee cake is divine!

 

Cream Cheese Raspberry Coffee Cake

 

 Coffee Cake

 2 cans (8 oz each Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
1 teaspoon sugar                               
                               

Filling

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softed

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons grated orange peel                                          

1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 pint (2 cups) fresh raspberries                                          
                                           

Glaze

1/2 cup powdered sugar                              

1 tablespoon butter, softened
2 teaspoons orange juice

Heat oven to 350°F. Spray large cookie sheet or 14-inch pizza pan with nonstick cooking spray. Unroll both cans of dough; separate into 16 triangles. Reserve 4 triangles for topping. On sprayed cookie sheet, arrange 12 triangles in circle with points toward center, leaving 3-inch hole in center. Press dough to form 14-inch ring; press seams together to seal. Fold outer and center edges up 1/4 inch.

In medium bowl, combine all filling ingredients except raspberries; mix well. Gently stir in raspberries. (Mixture will be thin.) Spoon filling over dough.

With scissors or pizza cutter, cut each reserved triangle lengthwise into thirds. Place 1 teaspoon sugar on work surface. Press each dough strip into sugar. Arrange sugared dough strips, sugar side up, evenly in spoke-fashion over filling. Press ends to seal at center and outer edges.

Bake at 350°F. for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 10 minutes.

In small bowl, combine powdered sugar, butter and orange juice; stir until smooth. Drizzle over coffee cake. Serve warm.

White Chocolate Cheesecake

This recipe came from the Houston Chronicle sometime in the 1980s. I know this only because that is the time period in which I lived in Texas.

White Chocolate Cheesecake

1 ½ cups sugar
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 ½ lbs. cream cheese, softened
2 oz. white rum
1 lb. white chocolate, melted
6 eggs
Graham Cracker Crust (recipe follows)
White chocolate curls for garnish

Blend sugar, sour cream, cream cheese and rum; mix in melted chocolate. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Pour mixture into Graham Cracker Crust. Bake 40 minutes at 375 degrees; turn oven off and leave cake in oven 2 hours with door closed.

Garnish lavishly with white chocolate curls; serve chilled.

Makes 10-12 servings.

Graham Cracker Crust

½ stick butter (4 tablespoons), melted
8 teaspoons sugar
1 box graham crackers, crushed (about 1 ½ cups crumbs)

Mix melted butter with sugar and graham cracker crumbs. Pat evenly over bottom and sides of pan. Set aside.

Marbled Chocolate Brownies

This recipe comes from the Great American Home Baking folks. It came in the mail as a teaser to purchase their cookbook and inserts. Or at least I think it did. I found it in that same stack as several others. They seem simple and good. Can't wait to try them!

Marbled Chocolate Brownies

1 bar (4 oz.) bittersweet baking chocolate
½ cup (1 stick) butter
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 ¼ cups sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder

Topping

1 cup semisweet chocolate baking chips
1 cup white chocolate baking chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil, making sure some of the foil hangs over the sides. Spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

Chop the bittersweet chocolate into small pieces. Place the chocolate, butter, and cocoa powder in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH until the chocolate and butter are melted. Stir to combine and set aside.

Place the sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Add the chocolate mixture, stirring to combine. Add the eggs, one at a time, stirring after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Sift in the flour and baking powder; mix well.

Spread the batter in the prepared baking pan. Bake brownies for 30 minutes. Remove the pan from oven.

Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the brownies. Return brownies to oven for 1 minute. Remove from oven; allow the pan to sit for 1 minute. Lift the brownies out of the pan (using the foil as handles). Spread the chocolate chips over the brownies for a marbled effect. Let cool completely before cutting into bars.

Chocolate Cakes

A mocha butter cream frosting quickly turns these brownies into individual desserts. Mix ½ cup butter or margarine with 1 cup confectioners’ sugar. Flavor with 1-2 teaspoon finely ground instant coffee and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Cut the brownies in half horizontally and sandwich them together with the butter cream filling.

Cheesy Cornbread Casserole

This recipe comes from KRAFT and it's a special one for some folks I love. Personally, I avoid jalapeno peppers. Nothing fun for me about hot, hot, hot. That isn't true for everyone so this recipe is for them.

 Cheesy Cornbread Casserole

1 lb. lean ground beef

1 onion chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, finely chopped

1 can (15 oz.) enchilada sauce

1 can (15 oz.) black beans, drained

1 teaspoon garlice powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 package (8.5 oz.) corn muffin mix

1 package KRAFT Mexican Style Shredded Four Cheese with a Touch of Pheladelphia, divided

HEAT oven to 350ºF.
BROWN meat with onions and peppers in large skillet. Stir in next 4 ingredients; cook and stir 3 min. or until heated through. Spoon into 13x9-inch baking dish.
PREPARE muffin batter as directed on package; stir in cheese. Spread over meat mixture.
BAKE 20 min. or until toothpick inserted in center of cornbread topping comes out clean. Cool slightly.

Make Ahead

Prepare meat mixture. Refrigerate 3 to 4 days, or freeze up to 1 month. When ready to use, spoon into baking dish. (Thaw first, if frozen.) Top with muffin batter and continue as directed.

Special Extra

Bump up the flavor by stirring chopped canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce or chopped fresh chives into muffin batter before using as directed.