Friday, December 20, 2013

Eggnog Snickerdoodles

Eggnog Snickerdoodles Cookies

You can keep your decorated, stained glass, death-by-chocolate, triple-dunked biscotti bombs, or whatever this holiday season’s must-bake cookie will be.
Any time of year — and especially this time of year — I’ll take the delicious simplicity of a chewy, soft and sweet 
snickerdoodle over just about any fancy, overwrought confection. Even better is to pair that simple, under appreciated cookie with the most perfect of holiday beverages — eggnog.
This year, I wondered what would happen if I blended these two classic treats. That’s right ... An eggnog snickerdoodle. It 
totally makes sense. Though overtly rich and creamy, at heart eggnog is about clean vanilla creaminess with just a hint of holiday spice. You could easily say the same of snickerdoodles, which are a rich, buttery cookie with a clean vanilla taste and a light dusting of cinnamon-sugar on the outside.
Eggnog Snickerdooodles

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) butter
2 cups sugar, divided
¼ cup plain eggnog
1 Tbs dark rum or brandy
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp grated nutmeg

Preparation
1 In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
2 In a large bowl, use an electric mixer on high to beat the butter and 1½ cups of the sugar until light and fluffy. Reduce the
mixer speed to low and slowly drizzle in the eggnog, rum and vanilla, mixing until completely incorporated. Add the eggs,
then beat until well mixed.
3 Add the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for an hour.
4 When ready to bake, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
5 In a small bowl, mix together the remaining ½ cup of sugar, the cinnamon and nutmeg.
6 Working with a tablespoon of dough at a time, roll the dough between your hands to form balls. Roll each ball in the sugar
mixture to coat evenly, then arrange on the prepared baking sheet, leaving two inches between the cookies on all sides.
Bake for eight to 12 minutes, or until lightly golden, but still soft at the center. Transfer to a rack to cool.

Servings: 36
Cooking Times: 12 min
Preparation Time: 1 hour

Nutrition Facts:
Serving size: 1/36 of a recipe (1.1 ounces). Percent daily values based on the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for a 2000 calorie diet. Nutrition information calculated from recipe ingredients.
Amount Per Serving
Calories 123.45
Calories From Fat (31%) 38.35
% Daily Value
Total Fat 4.36g 7%
Saturated Fat 2.62g 13%
Cholesterol 22.96mg 8%
Sodium 72.97mg 3%
Potassium 47.57mg 1%
Total Carbohydrates 19.56g 7%
Fiber 0.36g 1%
Sugar 11.33g
Protein 1.54g 3%


For more recipes please visit www.mymackandcheese.com


Saturday, November 16, 2013

Huckleberry Cheesecake

New York Cheesecake
Crust
8 Ounces Graham Cracker Crumbs
4 Ounces Butter - Melted
1 each Lemon Zest
Filling
36 Ounces Cream Cheese
4 Ounces Heavy Cream
3 Tablespoons Flour
11 Ounces Sugar
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
1 Tablespoon Vanilla Paste
2 Ounces Triple Sec
5 Each Eggs
3 Each Egg Yolks
For the Crust
1 Combine the Crumbs, butter and zest in a bowl. Mix by hand until fully incorporated.
2 Press the crumb mix into a leak-proof springform pan. If your pan is not leak-proof, line the outside of the pan with
double layer of foil.
For the Filling
1 Place the cream cheese in a mixing bowl with the paddle attachment, beat on low until smooth, you may have a few small
lumps.
2 Add in the cream, sugar and flour. Combine well until smooth. Add in the lemon juice, vanilla, triple sec, and egg yolks,
mix until combined, scraping the sides to make sure all is incorporated. Lastly add in the whole eggs, one at a time until
fully incorporated. Again scraping the sides.
Finishing the cake
1 Pour the filling into the crumb lined pan. Place the springform pan into a baking dish full of warm water. Place in a
300° oven for 75 minutes.
2 Cheesecake is tricky for doneness. You do not want the top to brown or crack. That is the purpose of the water-bath. The
cake when cooked, should still have a bit a jiggle in the batter, but the jiggle should be like Jello not rippling water.

Note for the Huckleberry Swirl:
Hold out about 1/4 of the cheesecake batter and add pureed Huckleberry (or what ever you want, but why would anyone want to deviate from "Hucks"), with a pastry bag, pike in the swirl, have fun and be creative with it.

For more ideas visit http://mymackandcheese.com

Friday, November 15, 2013

Mama Angela's Baked Pasta and Meatballs

Before we moved from New York City, I was invited into Angela's kitchen to learn how to make her pasta!

Tonight I took my stab at it! I started with the red sauce.

Made the meatballs and cooked them by boiling on water, this helps keep them moist and not add fat to the sauce

Boiled the pasta and tossed it with the red sauce, layered with Mozzarella, Provolone, Pecorino and topped with Fresh Mozzarella and meatballs 

40 minutes in the oven covered and then the last 10 minutes uncovered.

Pull out and let set!

Bon appetito 🇮🇹

Tiger was very happy man!

For more food and recipes please visit www.mymackandcheese.com










Sunday, October 6, 2013

Peanut Butter Krispies


Peanut Butter Krispies Treats
Yield: 16 large bars
Easy, 3 ingredient no bake treats!

Ingredients
1 bag (11 oz) Butterscotch morsels
1 cup peanut butter 
6 cup crispy rice cereal

optional: 4oz white chocolate bar, melted


In microwave safe bowl, combine butterscotch morsels with peanut butter. Heat for 1 minute. Stir and heat an additional 30 seconds. Stir again (if still not completely melted, heat an additional 30 seconds. Pour over cereal, folding it in completely.
Press into an 8inch square baking dish lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate for 15-30 minutes. Cut into squares. ENJOY!

Optional: drizzle treats with melted white chocolate bar!

For more food and recipes please visit www.mymackandcheese.com 

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Cornmeal Biscuits


Cornmeal Biscuits

1 cup (5 ounces) yellow cornmeal
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
1 Tbsp honey
2 cups (10 ounces) flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
12 Tbsp (1 and 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter cut in pieces

Preheat oven to 450°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Whisk the cornmeal, buttermilk and honey together in a large bowl and set aside.
Add the dry  ingredients to the bowl of a processor along with the butter pieces and pulse about 10 times until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.
Add the buttermilk mixture and pulse just enough to bring the dough together.
Turn out onto a floured board and knead about 10 times until the dough is workable.  Add in extra flour if it’s too wet.
Pat into a 9 inch round and cut out about 8 biscuits with a 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 inch biscuit cutter.
Bake for 5 minutes, until they just start to rise, and then turn down the heat to 400, and bake for another 8 to 10  minutes, until golden.
Cool on a rack.

For more food and recipes please visit www.mymackandcheese.com 


Wednesday, September 25, 2013