Monthly Archives: March 2017

Strawberry Mascarpone Tart with Mocha Crust

Posted on by
1

A strawberry tart surrounded by fresh strawberries

Strawberry Mascarpone Tart with Mocha Crust

This is one of two tarts I made for a friend’s housewarming party this weekend. Slightly adapted from Sunset Magazine

Ingredients

  • 9 ounces chocolate wafer cookies
  • 6 Tablespoons melted butter
  • 2 Tablespoons sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons espresso
  • 1 pound mascarpone cheese
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups strawberries

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 325°. Place cookies in a food processor and crush into fine crumbs. Add melted butter, sugar and espresso and process until combined. Press mixture evenly into bottom and up sides of a 10-inch tart pan.
  2. In another bowl, with a mixer on medium, beat mascarpone, honey, and vanilla until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in flour and salt.
  3. Spread filling into chocolate crust. Place tart pan on a cookie sheet and set on center rack of preheated oven. Bake until filling is pale golden and barely set in the center when you gently shake pan, 30 to 35 minutes.
  4. Remove tart from oven and let cool on a rack about 30 minutes, then chill until cold, at least 1 hour. (cover tart once cold).
  5. Shortly before serving, remove rim from pan. Rinse, stem, and thinly slice strawberries. Arrange in a spiral pattern on top of the tart.

Lamb Keftedes in Tomato Sauce

Posted on by
2

Greek Lamb Meatballs

“You’re HOW old?” They ask with such incredulity you would think I told them I have leprosy or I’m ½ human, ½ cyborg. “No, you’re lying. You can’t be.” Why would I lie about being old enough to be the grandmother of a 10 year old – and without the words “teenage mom” having passed anyone’s lips? After the initial shock wears off, I’m usually told that I look good for my age. The kiss of death – for my age, which really means I’m looking a bit haggard, but not when you consider I’m a woman of advanced years.

Yeah, I’m staring down a milestone birthday, deal with it. I have. Yes, of course I have regrets – I wish I had pursued my dreams earlier (or figured out what they were, for that matter), lived larger and bolder, loved with greater abandon, had the courage to make my mark on this world, balls to the wall. However, just because I’m no longer chugging up the hill, it doesn’t mean my life’s best parts are over. This is merely a new chapter, a new beginning and, this old dog’s looking for some new tricks.


Lamb Keftedes in Tomato Sauce

  • Servings: 16 meatballs
  • Print

Ingredients

  • ½ onion, grated
  • 1 egg + 1 yolk, beaten
  • 1 Tablespoon dried mint
  • 1 Tablespoon dried oregano
  • ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
  • 3 slices fresh white bread crumbs
  • 1 lb. ground lamb
  • 14 oz. can chopped tomatoes
  • 14 oz. can low sodium beef broth
  • 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 3 wide strips orange zest
  • 1 bay leaf
  • Chopped parsley

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray 13×9 pan with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, combine, onion, eggs, mint, oregano, cinnamon, nutmeg and cayenne, add bread crumbs and lamb. Season with salt and pepper and mix until combined. Shape into 16 torpedo-shaped meatballs. Dredge in flour and place in pan. Bake approximately 40 minutes, turning over after 20 minutes, until browned.
  2. Meanwhile combine tomatoes, broth, tomato paste, garlic, orange zest and bay leaf in a large skillet. Heat on medium high until thickened. Add meatballs and simmer until meatballs absorb some of the sauce. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle with parsley and serve with fried potatoes.

Save