Black Raspberry Cream Cheese Tart

PASTRY CRUST

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon granulated white sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled, and cut into 1 inch pieces

1/8 to 1/4 cup ice water

In a food processor, place the flour, salt, and sugar and process until combined. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal (about 15 seconds). Pour 1/8 cup water in a slow, steady stream through the feed tube until the pastry just holds together when pinched. Add remaining water, if necessary.  Do not process more than about 30 seconds.  Turn the pastry out onto your work surface, gather it into a ball, cover with plastic, and refrigerate for about one hour to chill the butter and allow the gluten in the flour to relax. 

Once the pastry has chilled, remove from refrigerator and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll the pastry into a round. To prevent the pastry from sticking to the counter and to ensure uniform thickness, keep lifting up and turning the pastry a quarter turn as you roll (always roll from the center of the pastry outwards to get uniform thickness). 

CREAM CHEESE 

4 oz cream cheese at room temp
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 egg yolk (save the egg white for brushing on the crust)
1/2 C powdered sugar

With a whisk beat together the cream cheese, vanilla, lemon zest, egg yolk and powdered sugar. Mixture will be thick and yellowish in color. 

FILLING

2 cups fresh raspberries

4 tablespoons granulated white sugar

2 tsp lemon zest

mix the fresh raspberries with sugar and lemon zest

TO ASSEMBLE

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

spread the cream cheese on the rolled out pastry crust leaving an inch around the outside. Put fruit on top and gather the sides up crimping it as you go. Brush the crust with egg white and sprinkle with sugar if you want.

Bake pastry for 30 minutes until golden brown.


PRINTABLE RECIPE

Zucchini Pizza Bites

I got this recipe from www.skinnytaste.com.  My daughter loves zucchini, so I made them and we all fell in love with them.  So quick and easy.  It would be a great appetizer for when company come over. 

RECIPE:

• 4 slices large zucchini 1/4" thick (or 1 medium zucchini cut on diagnal)
• Spray olive oil or pam spray
• 2 tbsp pizza sauce
• 1/4 cup part skim mozzarella (or jazz it up and use pepper jack cheese)
• salt and pepper

Directions: 

Cut zucchini about 1/4 inch thick. Spray both side lightly with oil and season with salt and pepper. Broil or grill for about 2 minute on each side. Top with sauce and cheese and broil for an additional minute or two. (Careful not to burn cheese) 

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Homemade Sausage Brats

I saw this recipe on diners, drive ins and dives called jalapeno sausage.  The recipe is suppose to be wrapped in corn husks and smoked in a smoker.  I grilled them on a grill and called them a brat.  They were very good and full of flavor. I have some meat mixture left over, so tomorrow I am going to smoke them in corn husks and see how they turn out.  I will add them to my blog if they turn out good from smoking them.

       

16 corn husks

• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 tablespoon crushed black peppercorns
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped and seeded jalapeños
• 1/2-ounce chicken base dissolved in 2 ounces cold water
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh garlic
• 2 1/2 pounds coarsely ground pork butt

Heat a smoker or grill to 250 degrees F.

Soak corn husks in warm water for 15 minutes. Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a large bowl and add the ground pork. Combine well. Add the other ingredients. Put approximately 6 ounces of the sausage mixture 8 of the open wet corn husks. Put another corn husk on top and wrap and tie each end with string. Smoke until the sausage temperature reaches 160 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer. Transfer the husks to a serving platter and serve.

If you are going to grill them, omit the corn husk and form them and grill until done. 


PRINTABLE RECIPE

I had my local butcher shop coarse grind my pork butt.

 I chopped 1/4 cup of jalapeño

then I added them to my food processor and minced them smaller

I added all the dry spices in a bowl then added them to the pork

This is the chicken base I used.  I added 1 Tbls of this and blended in 1 Tbls of water, mixed them together then added it to the pork.

 I formed them and grilled them

Salmon Ravioli with Mustard Cream Sauce

I found this recipe on the web from thetravelingtable.com.  I changed it up just a little.  I also added the 

mustard cream sauce.  I thought it would go good with salmon.  

Salmon Filling

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup diced onion
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
4 ounces cream cheese
6 ounces ‘hot’ smoked salmon, or cooked salmon
1/4 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning

2 tsp chopped fresh dill

Heat the oil in a small skillet. Add the onion and bell pepper and sauté until softened. In a medium bowl combine the cream cheese, salmon, Old Bay, dill and onion mixture.
Assemble using a ravioli cutter as shown below
Roll the pasta dough as thin as possible using a pasta machine or by hand.  I used level 6 on the pasta machine, it was the thinnest i used.  Or cut the pasta in 3-inch strips. Place 1-tablespoon scoops of salmon filling on top of the pasta, spacing about 1 1/2-inches apart. Lay a second strip of pasta on top and seal around each mound of filling. Cut out each ravioli with a knife or cookie cutter. Pinch the edges to make sure they are sealed. These can be frozen on a cookie sheet until solid and then transferred to a zip bag to cook as desired. 
I froze my on a cookie sheet, then transferred them to a zip lock bag.  Then when I cooked them, I boiled them from frozen for 14 minutes. 

PRINTABLE RECIPE FOR ALL THREE RECIPES

 flake the salmon 

 I added the cooked onions and red pepper

 Add the rest of the ingredients

Lemon Pasta Dough

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 egg
Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt

In a food processor combine the flour, egg, zest, juice, oil, and salt. Process until dough forms. Depending on the flour, you made need to add a bit of water or more flour. Dump onto a floured work surface and knead until smooth, about 3-5 minutes. Wrap in plastic and let rest on the counter for 10-15 minutes.

 If you look real close you can see the lemon zest in the dough.

Mustard Cream Sauce

1 tbsp. butter
3/4 cup whipping cream (35%)
1 tsp. grainy mustard
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Pinch dried chili flakes, to taste
Handful Italian parsley, chopped
1 to 2 tbsp. chicken stock, if needed

PREPARATION

To fry pan, add butter. When butter melts, add cream, grainy mustard and lemon juice. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cook until sauce thickens or reduces by about half, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the chili flakes, parsley and season with salt and pepper. Place the raviolis into the sauce and let heat through, about 1 minute. If sauce becomes too thick, thin with 1 to 2 tbsp. chicken stock or cream. 

 Put the raviolis in the sauce, sprinkle with parsley and enjoy.

 These are so so so good.  My kids loved them.

This is the ravioli tray I used to form my raviolis. 

Ricotta & Goat Cheese Ravioli

These are your basic cheese ravioli's for my picky daughter who just likes it plain.  I added the goat cheese because I had some left over from when I made my chicken and sausage ravioli's and it really gave it a nice tangy flavor. 

Ricotta & Goat cheese recipe:

3/4 cup Ricotta cheese

3 oz goat cheese

1 egg

salt and pepper to taste

Put the goat cheese in a 1 cup measuring cup and add the ricotta cheese to equal 1 cup.  Mix cheese with 1 egg. Add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate until it sets. 

PASTA DOUGH:

1 1/2 cup Semolina Flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

2 TBls water

2 Tbls olive oil

Combine semolina and salt.  Add beaten eggs, water and oil in the center of the flour.  Slowly blend until it makes a stiff dough.  Knead 10 minutes or until the dough is elastic.  Wrap dough in plastic wrap and rest for 20 minutes.  When ready, on a lightly floured surface, roll our dough using a pasta machine to the number #6. and assemble raviolis. 

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Chicken Sausage Ravioli

Chicken Sausage Ravioli

Pasta stuffing:

2 TBls unsalted butter

one medium onion (diced)

8 ounces ground chicken

4 ounces sweet italian sausage, ground or casings removed

1/4 cups ricotta

1/4 cup grated mozzarella

 3 tablespoons goat cheese

4 leafs of basil, chopped (optional)

Cook the onion and both types of the meat with the butter.  Cool on a paper towel.  Grind in a food processor.  Add the chicken mixture to the three cheeses.  Mix well.


PRINTABLE RECIPE

Cook the onion and both types of the meat with the butter.

I used 1/4 of package of Italian sausage and half the package of ground chicken.

When cooled, grind up in food processor.

Blend the 3 cheeses together.

Add the 3 cheeses to the ground meat.

I added 4 leafs of basil, chopped to the meat mixture.

PASTA DOUGH:

1 1/2 cup Semolina Flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

2 TBls water

2 Tbls olive oil

Combine semolina and salt.  Add beaten eggs, water and oil in the center of the flour.  Slowly blend until it makes a stiff dough.  Knead 10 minutes or until the dough is elastic.  Wrap dough in plastic wrap and rest for 20 minutes.  When ready, on a lightly floured surface, roll our dough using a pasta machine to the number #6. and assemble raviolis.