White Wine: Evolution Grape: White Wine Blend Region: Oregon Winery: Sokol Blosser We discovered this wine on our honeymoon and have returned to it numerous times. It is widely distributed; if you don't see it on the shelf, ask your wine dealer if he/she can order it. It is a crisp white wine with a refreshing flavor. It is great for a casual get-together and is versatile enough to pair with a wide range of foods, from spicy to creamy. We love it with chili, pizza, and pasta. Cheers!
This appetizer has been adapted from Betty Crocker's Hostess Cookbook, 1971. We have modified it to be an easy to prepare and flavorful treat in tune with our contemporary tastes. This recipe makes about 24 mini quiches. We use a mini-muffin tin.
Ingredients 8-10 small flaky biscuits (Pillsbury refrigerated buttermilk biscuit, Grands Jr) 1-1/2 c. shredded Swiss cheese 1/2 lb or 7-8 slices bacon (1/2 cup cooked) 5 green onions (bottom 3"-4" only) 4 eggs, beaten 1 c. sour cream 1/2 t. salt dash pepper 1 t. Worcestershire sauce
Heat oven to 375 F. Cook bacon until crispy, break into small pieces and set aside on paper towel to drain.
Divide each biscuit into 3 sections horizontally. They should peel apart fairly easily; some may be thicker than others. Ease each round of biscuit into the muffin tray, pressing the center down and sides up to form a nice cup. Try to keep the sides as high as possible.
In large measuring cup, beat eggs with whisk until frothy. Add salt, pepper, Worcestershire, and sour cream. Whisk until well mixed and smooth. Fold in cheese, bacon, and onion.
Spoon mixture into each muffin cup. Pour any extra egg mixture over the cups. Try to minimize overflow at the edge of the dough because the egg at the bottom will burn. Bake 20 - 25 minutes until lightly browned. During baking they will rise quite high, but while cooling they rapidly lose height. Cool in pan 5 minutes.
Do Ahead: May be baked in advance, cooled, wrapped in foil. At serving time, heat in 350 F oven for 10 minutes.
This is another Utica, New York favorite! It is an easy and delicious appetizer that we have adapted.
Ingredients 1 frozen bread dough loaf 1 lb. of your favorite Italian sausage (remove casing and discard) 1-1/2 c. mozzarella cheese 1/4 - 1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese (use as much or little as you like) Light olive oil Beaten whole egg
Set frozen bread loaf into large bowl, cover bowl with plastic wrap, and let it thaw and rise to at least double in size. This may take 6-8 hours depending on the weather. More heat will make it rise faster.
Rub olive oil all over 11 x 17 cookie sheet pan.
Cook sausage (out of casings) in frying pan until browned. Turn onto paper towel to drain. Set aside.
Gently ease dough out of bowl and onto sheet pan. Spread out onto pan with your finger tips. It will tend to want to shrink back in. Brush dough with half of beaten egg.
Sprinkle a light dusting of Parmesan cheese all over the dough. Spread sausage all over dough, easing dough to edges of pan as it gets weighted down. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top.
Start at short end and roll dough into loaf. Turn long seam to bottom. Tuck ends of dough under to close off ends.
Brush loaf with egg.
Bake at 350 F for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Slice while warm. Can be served warm or at room temperature.
Dough 1-1/2 c. warm water (no more than 130 F) 4 c. all-purpose flour 1 T. salt 4 T. olive oil 2 pkg. active dry yeast
1. Combine yeast, 1/2 c. flour, and water in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to sit undisturbed for 15 minutes. 2. In separate bowl, combine 2 c. of remaining flour with salt and oil. Mix thoroughly with whisk or hands. This makes a nice silky mix. 3. Add yeast mixture to step 2. 4. Mix in remaining 1-1/2 c. flour. 5. Knead 15 min on a lightly floured surface (or 10 min in bread machine on Dough setting) until smooth (a nice round ball). 6. Place dough in bowl rubbed with thin coat of olive oil and dusted with flour. Cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size (1-2 hours). 7. If you are not going to use dough immediately, you may punch it down and place it in a ziploc and refrigerate until ready to use. 8. Preheat oven to 500 F. 9. Remove from refrigerator. Punch down and press or roll out on lightly floured sruface. 10. Lightly oil (olive oil) a 11 x 17 x 3/4 sheet pan. Place dough in pan and push to stretch evenly leaving a lip at the edge to hold tomato sauce. Press fingertips into dough to make depressions all over. Let dough rest for 10-15 minutes. 11. Spread cooled sauce over dough. Turn oven down to 450 F. Bake for 20 minutes until crust is golden brown. 12. After removing pie from oven, sprinkle 4 T. of romano cheese all over tomato sauce. 13. Cool to room temperature or chill to serve.
Sauce 1-2 T. olive oil 2 cloves garlic 32 oz of crushed tomatos 1-1/2 t. oregano salt and pepper to taste 4 T. pecorino romano cheese
While dough is resting in sheet pan, heat skillet on medium, add olive oil, add garlic. Do not burn garlic. Gently saute garlic until just golden or slightly before. Add crushed tomatos and oregano. Cook until the sauce has thickened, about 15-20 minutes. Don't rush this step - you need a thick sauce. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Top dough with sauce and bake at 450 F for 20 minutes.After removing pie from oven, sprinkle 4 T. of romano cheese all over tomato sauce. Cool to room temperature or chill to serve.
Sinful Valentine's Day "Triple Play Chocolate Mousse Cake"
Sure to be a HomeRun!
This is the best chocolate mousse cake we have ever had – sinfully good. Paired with a port (Rutherford Hills Zinfandel is great) or an ice wine (Johnson Estate would be a great pick) this dessert cannot be beat to celebrate Valentine’s Day or any other special occasion. It is a little bit of work, but oh-so-worth-it!
Ingredient List:
14 oz. Bittersweet Chocolate, chopped
6 oz. White Chocolate, chopped or chips
Some extra chocolate (milk chocolate or dark chocolate), shaved with a peeler for garnish
6 T Unsalted Butter, plus some to grease pan
¾ t. Espresso Powder
4 Eggs, separated
1-1/2 t. Vanilla Extract
1/3 c. Brown Sugar
2 T Dutch Process Cocoa
5 T Hot Water
1 T Tap Water
3 c. Heavy Whipping Cream
1 T. White Sugar
1/8 t. Salt
¾ t. Gelatin (Knox)
Layer 1:
7 oz Bittersweet Chocolate, chopped
6 T Unsalted Butter
¾ t. Espresso Powder
Heat ingredients above in double boiler until smooth. Cool 5 minutes.
(It is simple to make a double boiler using a glass bowl sitting on top of a saucepan with a little water in the bottom of the saucepan. Do not let the glass bowl touch the water. Let the water simmer, you will have an effective double boiler, and your chocolate will melt nicely.)
While cooling, grease a 9” spring form pan with Butter.
Separate 4 eggs. Add yolks into cooled chocolate with whisk.
Add 1-1/2 t. Vanilla Extract.
Beat egg whites with (two-finger) pinch of salt until frothy.
Add 1/3 c. light brown sugar – one half at a time.
Beat on High until soft peaks form.
Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate with whisk. Gently pull the whites into the chocolate. When that is all mixed nicely, add the remaining two-thirds and fold in with a spatula. Fold in until no white streaks remain.
(To fold in: alternate pulling the spatula down the center and scraping around the edge of the bowl. You want to try to keep some fluff in the eggs, so don’t knock them down too much.)
Smooth into an even layer on the bottom of the greased spring form pan. Bake at 350F 13-18 minutes – when done, the center will spring back just a little bit when touched lightly with your finger. Cool completely. This layer will fall dramatically as it cools – no worries – it is supposed to.
Layer 2:
7 oz. Bittersweet Chocolate
Melt chocolate in double boiler and cool (similar to layer 1).
Combine and Whisk into Chocolate:
2 T. Dutch Process Cocoa
5 T. Hot Water
Beat the following ingredients on Medium Speed until it starts to thicken, and once thickened, beat on High until soft peaks form:
1-1/2 c. Cold Heavy Whipping Cream
1 T. White Sugar
1/8 t. Salt
Fold in 1/3 of the cream with whisk (similar to layer 1). Add remaining two-thirds and fold in with spatula (similar to layer 1).
Spoon mixture onto cooled Layer 1 and smooth, if necessary. Tap pan on counter a couple times to get out any air bubbles. Use a damp cloth to wipe up any spills on the (in)side of the pan to keep it looking nice for the next later.
Place in refrigerator and chill for a couple hours.
Layer 3:
¾ t. Gelatin
1 T. Water
Combine the above ingredients and let them sit 5 minutes. The gelatin needs to work with the water.
Bring ½ c. Heavy Cream to a simmer. Add gelatin-water mixture.
In double boiler, add 6 oz. white chocolate chips and pour hot cream-gelatin mixture over top. Heat and whisk until smooth. Set aside to cool.
Whip 1 c. Heavy Whipping Cream until soft peaks (similar to layer 2).
With whisk, fold 1/3 of whipped cream into cooled white chocolate mixture. Fold in remaining two-thirds and fold in with spatula (similar to layer 1).
Spoon mixture onto Layer 2 and smooth, if necessary. Chill in refrigerator for a minimum of 2 hours.
To serve, take a sharp knife and free the edge of the cake from the pan, carefully. Gently, remove the side from the spring form pan. Place cake on serving platter and artfully shave milk or dark chocolate all over the top for garnish. Serve at room temperature. Use a wet knife to cut cleanly through (cleaning knife after each cut) or use a wire to cut.
Thanks for visiting our blog. We love food and sharing what we make. Sharing recipes is the next best thing to having you for dinner. We love trying new wines, too. We'll make updates as we have new favorite recipes or wines that shake us up! Let us know what you think of our posts.
White Wine: Evolution
