Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Meatballs and spaghetti is one of my favorite foods, so when my mom made this recipe for me I fell in love with it.  I actually like it over traditional meatballs.  I decided to make mini-meatballs over a bed of rice to serve as an appetizer for Friday night Shabbos dinner and it was a huge hit.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

1 pound ground beef

1 large egg

1/4 cup breadcrumbs

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp pepper

1 (16-ounce) can of whole berry cranberry sauce

1 (26 ounce) jar of your favorite marinara sauce

1. Place the ground beef into the mixing bowl.  Add the egg, breadcrumbs, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder to the beef.

2. Mush the mixture until all the ingredients are incorporated.

3. Form the mixture into balls between the size of a dime or nickel (for smaller meatballs) and quarter or half-dollar size (for larger meatballs).

4. Pour the cranberry sauce and the marinara sauce into a medium pot.  Place the pot over medium heat and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring with a spoon every few minutes until the sauce is smooth/the marinara and the cranberry sauce are incorporated).

5. Add the meatballs to the pot slowly, being careful not to have the sauce spray up and burn you.

6. Set the heat as low as possible.

7. Cover the pot and cook for about 40 minutes.

Serve over rice or pasta.

Enjoy!!

Peanut Butter Mousse

I love peanut butter and I love mousse, so when I found this recipe in the new Chic cookbook I was soo excited to try it.  I've made it twice and each time people can't get enough of it.  The second time I made it, I made a double batch and put them into chocolate mold cups with cut-up strawberries on top and a chocolate syrup (I used nestle - it's pareve) drizzle underneath and once those were finished, my guests asked if there was more mousse - I ended up bringing out the 2nd batch and people ate it plain.  It's SOO good and soo easy.  For the pareve cream cheese you can use Tofutti brand or Trader Joe's makes a pareve cream cheese which is very good and cheaper.

Peanut Butter Mousse

1 cup peanut butter

4 oz (1/2 cup) non-dairy whip topping

1/2 cup coconut (or soy or almond) milk

3/4 cup confectioners' sugar

1 container (8 oz) non-dairy cream cheese

1/2 tbsp. vanilla extract (not necessary if you don't have it, I didn't use it the 2nd time I made this recipe)

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer or with a hand mixer, beat the peanut butter, whip topping, coconut (or soy or almond) milk, confectioners' sugar, pareve cream cheese, and vanilla.

2.  Whip the mixture for about 5 minutes until it begins to stiffen.

3.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Enjoy!!

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Sticks

This recipe was soo easy to make and took no time at all.  They were really good.  I mixed white chocolate chips and regular chocolate chips but you can use whichever you like.  You can also use nuts.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Sticks

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup white chocolate chips
1/4 cup regular chocolate chips


1) Preheat oven to 350°F.
2) Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Set aside.
3) In a medium bowl, mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.
4) In a large mixing bowl (or Kitchen-Aid), combine the oil, sugar, and brown sugar until smooth.  Mix in the egg.
5) Stir in half the cocoa mixture and mix until a smooth dough forms (about 1 minute on a low speed).  Stir in the rest of the cocoa mixture.  Using your hands, knead the chips (or nuts) into the dough - they won't fully incorporate only mixing with a Kitchen-Aid or hand mixer.
6) Transfer half the dough to the prepared sheet.  Form the dough into a long log, about 3-4 inches wide.  Repeat with the remaining dough.  Leave 2-3 inches of space between the logs to allow for spreading.
7) Bake fore 25 minutes (no longer - you want the biscotti's to remain soft inside).
8) Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes.  Slide the parchment paper off the cookie sheet.  This will give you room to cut the logs into sticks when they have cooled.  Using a knife, cut cooled logs into 3/4-inch slices.

Enjoy!!

Cheese Tortellini in a Cheese-Tomato Sauce

I recently found kosher frozen cheese tortellini at my local kosher market and knew I had to try it.  I had never had tortellini before so I was excited to try something new.  There are many different sauces that can be made with the tortellini but I stuck with a cheese-tomato sauce that resembles a rosa-rosa sauce.

Cheese Tortellini in a Cheese-Tomato Sauce

1 package frozen tortellini

1 jar marinara sauce

1 package of shredded cheese

parmesan cheese

1.  Cook tortellini according to package.

2.  While the tortellini is draining pour about half a jar of marinara sauce into a small saucepan/pot and heat until warm.

3.  Add about 1/2 cup to 1 cup of cheese (cheese amount is flexible to each person's liking) and about 1-2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese.

4.  Stir the sauce mixture until the cheese has melted.

5.  Pour the tortellini into the sauce mixture and let it simmer for about 5-8 minutes on a very low heat.  (This is for the sauce to really get incorporated into the tortellini and not just having the sauce sit on top of the tortellini.)

6.  When serving, sprinkle a little more parmesan cheese on top for presentation.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Lava Cake

I have been wanting to make chocolate lava cake for the longest time but only recently I got ramekins.  I originally dusted the cakes with powdered sugar while they were still in their ramekins but then i decided to overturn them and place them on a plate which created a much prettier presentation.  This recipe takes 2 steps.  I made the truffles on a Thursday night and the cake right before Shabbos and placed them on the blech to keep warm.

Chocolate Lava Cake

TRUFFLES

8 ounces good-quality semisweet chocolate

1 (8-ounce) container nondairy topping

CAKES
1 cup (2 sticks) margarine
8 ounces semisweet chocolate
4 eggs
4 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour, sifted

For the truffles
1.  Chop chocolate into small nuggets.
2.  Heat nondairy topping until very hot, but do not boil.
3.  Pour over chocolate and stir until completely melted and combined.
4.  Let mixture stand, covered, for 8 to 12 hours until firmed up.
5.  With a scoop or melon baller, scoop the mixture into small balls.

For the cakes
1.  Preheat oven to 400°F.
2.  Melt margarine with semisweet chocolate in a saucepan or microwave.
3.  Beat eggs, egg yolks and sugar with electric mixer until light colored.
4.  Mix in melted chocolate, then fold in flour by hand.
5.  Grease 8 ramekins.
6.  Pour batter into each ramekin until 3/4 full.
7.  Place a truffle in the center of each ramekin.
8.  Bake for 12 minutes.
9.  Cool slightly and dust with confectioners' sugar.
10.  Serve immediately with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.

When trying the cake , I felt that it was missing a little something, so add whatever you like.  A little pinch of salt or some liqueur into the cake batter should suffice.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Pudding Pie

During the 9 days I like to try all those dairy recipes that I collect throughout the year.  This year I made a dairy chocolate pudding pie.  It was so easy and delicious!

Chocolate Pudding Pie

1 instant chocolate pudding mix
milk (amount according to directions on pudding box)
graham cracker crust
whip cream (canister)
rich's whip, whipped

1.  Prepare the pudding as directed on pudding box.
2.  Pour pudding into graham cracker crust.
3.  Place pie into fridge until the pudding solidifies (about 1-2 hours)
4.  Add whip cream to top using rich's whip and then decorate with whip cream from a canister.

Enjoy!

Hamantaschen

I find it very hard to find a good hamantaschen recipe.  Either it's too doughy or too dry, too thick or too thin.  This year, my sister sent me a hamantaschen recipe that uses a sugar cookie recipe.  I tried it and it came out great!  It is sticky like sugar cookie dough so you will need extra flour to sprinkle on your cutting board and rolling pin.

Hamantaschen

1 1/2 cups margarine, softened

2 cups white sugar

4 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 tablespoon lemon juice

5 cups all-purpose flour, plus more if the dough is too sticky

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Filling of your choice - I used raspberry jelly, apricot jelly and chocolate chips

1.  Preheat oven to 400°F.

2.  Cream together the margarine and sugar until smooth

3.  Beat in the eggs, vanilla and lemon juice, scraping the sides occasionally.

4.  Reduce the mixer speed to low, and stir in flour, baking powder and salt.

5.  Cover and chill dough for at least 1 hour or overnight (don't skip this step!).

6.  Lightly flour your work surface.

7. Roll out the cookie dough to the same thickness as you would for sugar cookies, or slightly thicker.  Be careful not to roll the dough out too thin, or you will get holes in the hamantaschen as you fold it.

8.  Using a large glass or a round cookie cutter, cut out circles from the dough.

9.  Spoon the filling of your choice into the center of the circle.

10.  Smear some egg white or water around the edges of the circle (this will help the corners stay together), and fold the top two sides until they are touching.  Fold the bottom side up and pinch lightly.  Your hamantaschen should look like a triangle now.

11.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon mat.  Arrange the formed hamantaschen on the pan.

12.  Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until the hamantaschen are golden brown around the edges.

Enjoy!

**You can also fill the hamantaschen with Nutella, but then they are dairy**