Traditional South African Melk Tert

I've made a melktert before, with my Culinary Arts class during our African foods unit. Here's a slightly different version (traditional family recipe) with what is probably a more authentic crust -- which is not actually a crust at all.

Filling Ingredients
3 T cake flour
4 T cornstarch
1 C sugar
1 liter milk
125 grams butter
4 eggs
1 T vanilla
          cinnamon

Crust Ingredients
2 T butter
2 T sugar
1 egg
3 T flour
1 tsp baking powder

Directions
Preheat oven to 400.

Begin Filling: In a large saucepan, mix cornstarch, flour and sugar. Slowly add in milk, stirring to combine dry ingredients smoothly. Bring slowly to a boil, stirring constantly until it just begins to boil, and thickens. Add butter, stirring until butter melts; stir in vanilla. Set aside to cool while preparing crust.

Prepare Crust: Cream together butter and sugar. Blend in egg. Stir in flour and baking powder. Smear evenly over bottom and up sides of a pie pan.

Complete Filling: Whisk egg whites into stiff peaks. Stir half the egg whites into filling; gently fold in the remaining egg whites. Pour filling onto pie pan; sprinkle with cinnamon.

Bake 15-20 minutes; center will still be slightly 'loose' (jiggly) in the center.

Pecan Pie

I have an allergy to nuts. So, I don't make pecan pies often. But, I do make them for the caterers where I work. Full size or, more often recently, into mini pecan 'tarts' (pictured).

Ingredients
1 (single layer) pie crust
1 C sugar
3 T brown sugar
½ tsp salt
1 C corn syrup
1/3 C butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
1 C chopped pecans
Optional: additional whole pecans (halves) for topping

Directions
Preheat oven to 350˚. Press pie crust evenly into pie dish. Spread chopped pecans into bottom of pie crust.

In a large bowl, mix together everything except pecans. Pour mixture over chopped pecans. If desired, arrange whole pecan halves on top. Bake pie for approx 50 minutes*, until center is barely jiggly in the center.

* Ovens vary, cooking time may vary as well. Pie can be covered with foil for the first 30 minutes to prevent crust or tops of pecans from burning.

Shortbread Crust

Ingredients

1 C butter, softened

2 C flour

½ C powdered sugar

Directions
Combine all ingredients, stirring -- or mixing by hand -- until thoroughly blended.
Press into pie pan or into baking dish...

Chocolate Version:
Reduce flour to 1½ C and add ¹/₃ C cocoa powder.

Chocolate Cream Pie

I have another chocolate cream pie recipe that uses only chocolate (no cocoa powder, like this one). That one and this one are both very good (and very chocolatey!). I've never made them both at the same time to do a side-by-side comparison of which one's the best. If you don't have heavy cream on hand, the other just uses milk...

Ingredients
2/3 c sugar
3 T cornstarch
2 T cocoa powder (I use dark)
dash salt
1 C heavy cream
2 C milk
3 egg yolks
1½ C semisweet choc
2 T butter
1 tsp vanilla

One 9" pie crust
          A standard pie crust is fine.
          A graham cracker or chocolate cookie crust is good.
          A chocolate shortbread crust is my personal favorite!

Directions
Combine sugar, cornstarch, cocoa powder and salt in a saucepan. Slowly whisk in, a little at a time, cream milk and egg yolks. Heat gently to a boil; boil 1 minute. Remove from heat.

Blend in semi-sweet chocolate, butter and vanilla, stirring until chocolate and butter are completely melted. Pour into prepared crust.

Once cooled, cream pie may be spread with a generous layer of whipped cream before serving; garnish with chocolate curls...

Fudge Brownies

Ingredients
1 C butter
3 C sugar
4 eggs
1 T vanilla extract
1½ C flour
1 C cocoa powder (I use dark)
1 tsp salt
optional: 1 C chocolate chips (or white chips, peanut butter chips...)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350˚. Lightly grease (or coat with non-stick cooking spray) a 9x13" baking dish.

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla, mixing until thoroughly blended. Add remaining dry ingredients all at once. If desired, fold in chocolate chips.

Pour and spread batter evenly in prepared 9x13" pan. Bake 30-40 minutes.

Flourless Chocolate Cake (...Torte)

This is better than the flourless chocolate cake recipe I've made before. ANY flourless cake I've made before has left me disappointed if I really want a cake. Even if the flavor is good, the texture isn't ever light or fluffy enough to satisfy my expectations. This recipe isn't light and fluffy  enough to be a cake, but if you call it a torte (which is typically layered, but also typically has little to no flour and is more dense)...  The flavor is rich and intensely chocolatey!

Ingredients
3 eggs
¾ C sugar
1 C semi- or bittersweet chocolate, chips or chopped
½ C butter
C unsweetened cocoa powder (I use dark)
¼ tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla


Directions
Preheat oven to 375. Grease (or lightly coat with non-stick cooking spray) an 8" round pan. Beat together eggs and sugar until well blended.

Place chocolate and butter in double boiler (or a microwave safe bowl) and melt gently.

Combine melted chocolate and butter with egg & sugar mixture. Add cocoa powder, salt and vanilla, stirring until very smooth. Pour into prepared pan; bake 25 minutes. (Toothpick test is NOT effective to test for doneness.)

Cool in pan 5-10 minutes before turning onto serving plate.

Serving suggestions: Top with chocolate ganache, drizzle with raspberry coulis, caramel sauce...

Lemon Buttercream

Ingredients
1 C butter, softened
2 tsp lemon zest
2-3 C powdered sugar
1½ T heavy cream
1 T lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla

Directions
Whip butter and lemon zest until light, fluffy and very pale, almost white. Blend in 1 cup powdered sugar. Mix in heavy cream, lemon juice and vanilla. Add 1 to 2 cups more powdered sugar to reach desired consistency.

Lemon Cupcakes

Ingredients
1 C butter
2 C sugar
2 T lemon zest
4 eggs
1 t vanilla
3 C flour
2 T baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 C whole milk
2½ T lemon juice
Optional: lemon wedges and mint leaves to garnish

Directions
Preheat oven to 350˚. Line cupcake pan with paper liners.

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl; set aside. In a separate bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy and very pale. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in vanilla and lemon zest. Next, alternately blend in dry ingredients, milk and lemon juice.

Fill cupcake liners ¾ full; bake 15-18 minutes. Let cupcakes cool 10 minutes before removing from pan to cool on a rack.

Frost with lemon buttercream, or citrus cream cheese icing.

Hummus

I don't feel obligated to make hummus from scratch every time I care to enjoy some. But it's not difficult -- especially using a mini blender (Magic Bullet, Nutribullet, etc.) if you have one -- and it's nice to be able to adjust the seasonings to your own taste, or add extra flavorings...roasted red pepper, sun-dried tomato, garlic and herb...  Using the recipe below as a base, I added a little extra lemon juice and salt to mine, then kept half of it as is and blended half a jar of sun dried tomatoes I needed to use up with the other half. Both tasted great! (The hummus pictured has the sun-dried tomatoes blended in., so it's a bit redder.)

Ingredients
¼ C vegetable broth
1 14 oz can of chickpeas, drained*
2 cloves garlic
2 T lemon juice
3 T tahini*
½ t salt

* The brand of chickpeas I used was 15 ounces. I didn't have ready made tahini (sesame seed paste) but I had sesame seeds; I just put my Magic Bullet blender to use with 3 generous tablespoons of sesame seeds and the vegetable broth before adding the other ingredients. 

Directions
Combine all ingredients in a blender; blend until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed.

If desired, garnish with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of smoked paprika.

Sausage Ragù over Creamy Polenta

Ingredients
2 T olive oil
2 yellow onion
2 cloves garlic
1 C chopped carrot
½ tsp pepper
½ tsp salt
1 lb Italian sausage
15 oz tomato sauce
¼ C sugar
1-2 tsp crushed red pepper
creamy polenta
Optional garnish: grated Parmesan and chopped parsley

Directions
Small dice (or chop) onion. Mince garlic. Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic, onion, carrots, salt and pepper; cook until tender, stirring occasionally (5-7 minutes). While onion mixture is cooking, slice sausages.

Remove onion mixture to bowl, add sausage to pan and cook until browned. Return onion mixture to pan, Add tomato sauce, sugar, and crushed red pepper flakes. Bring to boil; reduce heat, simmer at least 10 minutes. Season with additional salt or pepper to taste.

Serve over creamy polenta; if desired, garnish with grated Parmesan and chopped parsley.

Chocolate Cake

I still love the denser (almost pound-cake-like) chocolate beet cake. But for a more basic version, I find this one's a bit moister and richer than the chocolate cake recipe I've used previously.

Ingredients
2 C sugar
1¾ C flour
¾ C unsweetened cocoa powder
2 T unsweetened dark cocoa powder*
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
2 eggs
1 C buttermilk
1 C coffee*
½ C vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla

* I used more of the dark cocoa powder...simply a matter of preference. And I don't like coffee; a little coffee boosts the dark/bitter flavor of the chocolate without any strong coffee flavor taking over the cake, but a whole cup is too much for me! However, any similar liquid option will do. Water doesn't alter the flavor. Fruit juices could be fun to try (orange, cranberry, raspberry, pomegranate...). I stuck with water this time knowing I had chopped peanuts and caramel as a filling between a couple layers...

Directions
Preheat oven to 350˚. Grease and flour pans, or coat with non-stick cooking spray, and line bottoms with parchment. 2 9" pans, 1 9x13" pan, or cupcake tins.

Whisk together (or use low setting of electric mixer) sugar, flour, cocoa(s), baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes.

Pour batter (which will be thin) evenly into pans. Bake...about 30-35 min for rounds, 35-40 min for 9x13, 18-22 min for cupcakes. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pans to finish cooling on wire rack.

Frost as desired.

Ground Beef (or Elk) Stroganoff

Beef is, obviously, traditional. However, thanks to Dad's hunting success and generosity, I have ground elk on hand. :)

Ingredients
2 T butter
8 oz sliced baby portabella mushrooms
1 C chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 lb lean ground beef, elk or other meat
1½ C beef broth
1½ T Worchesershire
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ C flour
1½ C sour cream (+ more to garnish at serving)
Italian parsley, finely chopped for garnish

noodles or rice

Directions
Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat; cook mushrooms, onion and garlic until tender (6-8 minutes). Transfer to small bowl; set aside.

Brown ground beef (or elk...) in skillet over medium high heat. While meat is cooking, whisk flour into ½ cup beef broth; set aside. Add remaining broth, Worcestershire, salt, pepper and nutmeg to browned meat; bring to boil. Add flour and broth mixture, stirring as it thickens. Stir in mushroom and onion mixture; cool slightly. Stir in sour cream.

Serve over noodles or rice, garnished with a dollop of sour cream and chopped parsley.