June 2012 – The Weekday Chef

Cherry Cheesecake Squares

i love THIS DESSERT! iT IS SO CREAMY, LIGHT AND SWEET FOR SUMMERTIME! i MAKE 2 OF THEM IN 9 x 9 inch SQUARE PANS AND TOP EACH ONE WITH A DIFFERENT FRUIT TOPPING, OR I make 1 WITH CHOCOLATE PUDDING ON TOP. iT IS ALSO GOOD WITH STRAWBERRIES IN STRAWBERRY GLAZE. yUM!

Yummy Cheesecake squares

Cherry Cheesecake Squares
Crust:
3/4 cup real butter, softened (1 stick and a half)
1 1/2 – cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 – cups pecans, chopped

Filling:1 – 8oz pkg cream cheese
1 1/4 – cups powdered sugar
1 1/4 cups Cool Whip
1 – (21 oz) can cherry pie filling

(OR 1 Large package instant chocolate pudding mixed as pie recipe on box
OR fresh strawberries in strawberry glaze for variety in toppings)

The crust for Cherry Cheesecake Squares is really yummy, like a crescent cookie…crunchy and rich...

Make the crust by mixing the butter and flour till you get pea sized bits. Add sugar slowly while mixing. Then add chopped pecans. Press mixture into the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch pan or two 8 x 8 pans if you want to freeze one. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until light golden brown.

Cherry cheesecake squares

Use cherry pie filling for the topping on these cream cheese squares…or use strawberries with strawberry glaze in the summer if you want fresh fruit! Both are really yummy and everybody will GOBBLE it right up! It is a hit at a pot luck too!

While the crust is cooling mix the filling. Mix the cream cheese and powdered sugar together using a electric mixer. Add Cool Whip to cream cheese mixture.

You can also make this in a 9 x 13 and it is just a little thicker dessert. I like to do it this way so I can top it two different ways for variety.

The cream cheese mixture is soo yummy on these cream cheese squares…it’s fun to lick the bowl! The crust layer tastes like a crescent cookie with pecans inside. Really buttery and flaky.

When the crust is completely cooled I add the cream cheese filling on top of the crust and spread evenly. Then I top that with cherry pie filling OR chocolate instant pudding and refrigerate for a few hours until it sets up.

This is a wonderful, refreshing dessert….cherry cheesecake squares….

OR Chocolate cheesecake squares….either one is a favorite of mine….

Chocolate cheesecake squares….mmmmm….

Yummy layers of rich, creamy sweetness!

Chocolate cheesecake squares….same recipe, just different toppings….I just used mini hershey bars and Hersheys kisses and a paring knife to make the chocolate curls on top of Cool Whip.

Top it with some chocolate pudding, Cool Whip and some chocolate curls for garnish…or a strawberry! (That weird pink thing is my finger under the plate, lol…. looked like an alien or something on the plate!! EEK!

I brought this to a BBQ today for my little 2 year old granddaughter’s birthday party.
She is such a sweetie! She loved her little tea set and Brown Bear, Brown Bear book and her Winnie the Pooh cake and balloons. So sweet.

Grandma and Josie hanging out at her Birthday Party! She still has a little shiner
from falling down at the docks at Lake Powell last week. She’s a tough cookie though….

Chocolate Cheesecake Squares

I made this yummy dessert today for my little granddaughter’s birthday party. She just turned 2. It is quick and easy and great for a potluck or dessert bar in the summertime.

Recipe for Chocolate Cheesecake Squares

Crust:
3/4 cup real butter, softened (1 stick and a half)
1 1/2 – cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 – cups pecans, chopped

Filling:1 – 8oz pkg cream cheese
1 1/4 – cups powdered sugar
1 1/4 cups Cool Whip
1 Large package instant chocolate pudding mixed as pie recipe on box
( OR fresh strawberries in strawberry glaze OR 1 – (21 oz) can cherry pie filling for variety in toppings)

Chocolate cheesecake squares….mix up the crust in the mixmaster…..super quick and easy…..

Here is the crust ready for baking…..

While the crust is cooling mix the filling. Mix the cream cheese and powdered sugar together using a electric mixer. Add Cool Whip to cream cheese mixture.
When the crust is completely cooled add the cream cheese filling on top of the crust and spread evenly.

The cheesecake filling is really easy and quick but rich and creamy and yummy….

Top with cherry pie filling OR chocolate instant pudding and refrigerate for a few hours till set. You can also just do this recipe in a 9 x 13 pan and choose 1 topping only.

Make chocolate curls to top your pie pieces with by slicing off slivers of a hershy bar or chocolate kiss with a paring knife. Keep the chocolate cold or it will melt up when you try to cut the curls…..

After cutting the Chocolate cheesecake dessert into squares, top each with a dollop of whip cream and some chocolate curls…

Doesn’t it look good enough to bit into right NOW? Everything is better with a little chocolate…..

Here is the cherry cheesecake dessert…It looks pretty good too! Or you could top with fresh strawberries and glaze…. I like to make two 8 x 8 pans with this recipe, so I can have 2 toppings for people to choose from.

I brought these chocolate cheesecake squares to my little 2 year old granddaughter Josie’s birthday party today…..

Here is my son helping his little 2 year old daughter blow out her candles…. Now isn’t that just the sweetest thing you’ve ever seen? Sniff….
Grandma and Josie at the party…………………..
I usually make this recipe in two 8 x 8 pans and then I can do a different topping on each one. Those who prefer fruit can have the cherry pie filling or strawberries with glaze. Either way it is a great dish for a pot luck or a dessert bar. Yummm……

Easy Chocolate Eclairs

Yummy cream filled Eclairs….with chocolate fudge icing…..

My French born sister-in-law Danielle makes these TO DIE FOR ECLAIRS every year at 4th of July. Everyone has come to expect and love her chocolate eclairs. She actually can’t make a different dessert because everybody looks forward to these 4th of July Eclairs so much! Or they’d be great for FATHER’s DAY too!

My sis-in-law made the eclairs…..I made the fruity, chocolate cupcakes….both look great on our 4th of July table don’t they?

Easy Eclairs Recipe:
1 cup water
1/2 cube butter
1 cup flour
4 eggs
Heat oven to 400. Heat water and butter to a rolling boil. Stir in flour untilmixture forms a ball. Remove from heat. Let cool a bit till batter is not hot. Beat in eggs one at a time. Drop dough 1 Tbsp size onto baking sheet using a pastry bag. Mine were about 1 3/4 inches oval x 1 1/2 and I got about 30 little eclairs.

Cook until puffy and golden. I did 14 minutes at 400 and then turned oven down to 350 for 5 minutes. I think from posts I read on other blogs 20 minutes is perfect for smaller eclairs. Larger ones about 20 minutes at 400 and 4 minutes at 350 but watch them the last 3 minutes. Your oven might be different as I am at high altitude.

Directions

Heat water and butter till boiling. Add flour and stir constantly until mixture is smooth.

The ingredients for cream eclairs are only 4….so easy!

Water, butter, flour and eggs….

Batter before adding the eggs…..I let it beat a little to let off some of the steam….

Then I added 1 egg at a time and beat for a minute in between eggs…..

The eclair batter is like pudding…

I piped the batter onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper….

I added a blob of eclair batter to each of the 4 corners…then pressed the parchment paper on top. It helps
“glue” the paper down to the cookie sheets.

Here are my finished Eclairs….just out of the oven!

Now they are ready to fill with the creamy, rich pudding filling….each one was a half a handful !

Cool. Cut a slit in the side of puff with a knife. Fill eclairs with a pastry bag filled with the french vanilla pudding mixture. Make chocolate icing and spread over top. Keep refrigerated. Makes 12 large or 24 eclairs (mine made 30 little round ones- bigger than the Costco size) I think this is a perfect dessert to bring to a party because if you have other desserts, this can be a side garnish and they are so cute and yummy too.

French Vanilla Cream Filling
1/2 pint whipping cream (smallest carton)
1 small box instant French vanilla instant pudding
1/2 cup milk
Whip until thick.

HERE is a link to a yummy eclair recipe from Annie’s Eats if you like mocha flavor.

1/2 cup milk, pint of cream and small box of french vanilla instant pudding….

The filling is really rich and creamy too…I had to pop an eclair in my mouth to taste test it!

Squeeze inside of your little puffs….so easy!

Chocolate Fudgy Glaze
1/2 slick butter
2 Tbsp. cocoa
2 Tbsp. milk
2 cups powdered sugar ( I used a little less, just add it till desired consistency)

Heat until melted, stirring constantly-add 2 cups powdered sugar until melted. Shake a fork
back & forth and then the other way to ice tops of eclairs if you want a cool design. Or just frost with a knife.

This was the most delicious chocolate glaze!

It was easy and quick….

And it tastes like the most divine fudge! Really!

Chocolate Eclairs….oh my yum! Wouldn’t these eclairs be cute with at little flag sticking out on a toothpick? I saw some at Hobby Lobby the other day….shoulda bought them now that I think about it…..

Wouldn’t you love a creamy chocolaty eclair bite? That’s what I’m talkin’ about!

Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo

I was in the mood for Italian. I had leftover whipped cream from a strawberry shortcake my daughter-in-law had brought over. So I decided to make some Alfredo sauce over chicken and pasta!

Chicken Alfredo Pasta

Chicken Alfredo Pasta….sooooo yummy!

• 4 Tablespoons butter (in fry pan)
• ½ tsp Lawry’s or Johnny’s Seasoning Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt or mince a medium garlic clove into the fried onion
• 1/4 cup finely minced onion fried in the butter with the garlic clove)
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 ½ cup whipping cream
• 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour

• 2 Tablespoon white wine

• ½ tsp cracked black pepper
• a few shakes of chopped parsley (add it to the top of finished dish)
• 1 1/2 cups diced chicken breast (can use a rotisserie chicken diced up)
1 package ziti or fettuccine pasta boiled and drained

Dice up the onion and clove of garlic and fry up with the butter. While those are cooking mix all the other incredients in a saucepan over low heat.

Add the onion and garlic with the butter when onions are caramelized. Sauce should be thickened with the flour. Season a bit more to taste.

Mix up the cream, butter, onions, and cheese and then season while on low….

Add the alfredo sauce to the al dente pasta noodles….

The alfredo pasta tastes as decadent and delicious as it looks….not low in calories though

Boil noodles of your choice and drain. Add chicken diced up to the noodles. Top with sauce. Add the chopped parsley over the top at the end.

I served my chicken alfredo pasta with baby carrots and garlic bread…and a side salad….

It’s one of my hub’s favorite meals…..

Add broccoli florets or spinach and some sliced baby carrots and pine nuts to the mix and it makes one of my favorite Italian dishes from Tucci’s Italian! Or just add the chicken and it is simply divine.

Southwest Chicken Salad with Cafe Rio Tomatillo dressing

At school the other day for Teacher Appreciation Week, we were served a yummy Southwest Salad. Everybody was gobbling it up. It had the southwest fillers like black beans and corn and the tortilla strips and red onion and red pepper, and it had this yummy dressing that made it soooooo delish.

My finished SOUTHWEST SALAD! yUmMy! The cilantro lime dressing on top is icing on the cake!

Cilantro, lime, jalapeno, and tomatillos make up the yummy, green, creamy dressing we call Cafe Rio Tomatillo Salad Dressing .

HERE is a link to the yummiest salad dressing you’ve ever eaten. It is the Cafe Rio cilantro lime creamy ranch dressing for their salads. I love it so much I can eat it on anything from fresh carrots to baked potatoes. I stop short of just drinking the stuff.

I didn’t have ranch dressing packets on hand so substituted ranch dip instead….it wasn’t as flavorful….use the dressing packet for SURE! But these Santa Fe flavored tortilla strips were sooooo yummy on top of the Southwest Salad!

Cafe Rio’s Cilantro-lime-tomatillo salad dressing….super yum.

Cafe Rio’s Creamy Cilantro-lime-Tomatillo Dressing

Source: Sheri Denney

Ingredients:

1 (1 ounce) package Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup Mayo
1 large or 2 small tomatillos (they are green and by the tomatoes)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
1/2 teaspoon lime juice
1/2 to 1 small jalapeno, seeds removed

Chop veggies fine, throw ingredients in the blender and Mix together and then refrigerate. The dressing gets spicier the longer it is kept in the fridge.

I threw the ranch mix in with the buttermilk and mayo and diced up the 1/2 jalapeno (remove the seeds for sure!) since
I don’t like my dressing too hot. More jalapeno, the hotter and spicier it gets.

Then I peeled the tomatillo and chopped it up.

Then threw it in the blender too along with the chopped cilantro.

I chopped them all up and blended it in my blender.

I absolutely LOVE this Cafe Rio cilantro lime salad dressing…..it’s my new fav.

I cut up all my veggies to start….then added a can of drained black beans and white corn.

SOUTHWEST CHICKEN SALAD
3 Cups romaine lettuce
cherry tomatoes sliced in half
1 small avocado diced
1 cup or small can of Niblets white corn (or frozen white corn)
1 drained can of black beans
1/4 cup sliced and diced red onion
1/4 cup red pepper diced (optional)
1 1/2 cups diced rotisserie chicken cubed up (optional)
spicy tortilla strips on top to taste

Southwest Salad….Here it is before the tortilla strips and dressing were added……

Also you could add some diced white chicken breast meat, or a rotisserie chicken diced up from the market to make it a whole meal!

Oh Heavenly yum, I could eat this salad with the Cilantro Lime dressing for days…..and I DID!