I’m finally here with the Daring Baker Challenge for August, the Dobos Torta. It has an interesting history as a cake invented for keeping longer than other pastries of its era.  The recipe was k ept secret until it’s inventor, Jozsef C. Dobos, retired and gave the recipe to the Budapest Confectioners’ and Gingerbread Makers’ Chamber of Industry, provided every member of the chamber could use it freely. I’ll bet he would have a food blog if he hadn’t retired in 1906.

I had intended to make this as a birthday cake for my MIL who just arrived this weekend, but it didn’t quite work out that way. Still, we enjoyed the cake together.

The sponge cake and the buttercream are just sort of ‘meh’ in my opinion.  We’ve had buttercream similar to this before, and while I understand their utility and place in the realm of desserts, it’s just not my personal favorite. The cake layers were very easy to make and baked quickly as they were so thin.

I think the thin layers look just fabulous with the thin layers of buttercream. I really like the way the buttercream holds its shape and firms up in the fridge, making for easy cutting. The real highlight of this challenge for me was the caramel. I think I didn’t get it as hot as I was supposed to, because mine came out softer than I had expected it to. Still, this was greater success than I have managed before with sugar play and I was able to make a few interesting shapes with it and twist some to drape around the cake. It drooped easily if it warmed at all, but it was cute while it lasted. I wish I would have had some hazelnuts to prop up the caramel cake wedges on the top, because I love that look.

Thanks to Lorraine and Angela for a fun challenge!

The August 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonful of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers’ cookbook Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.

Yesterday I took one of my girls to school for the first time. I was not one of the parents with a video recorder, a camera that looked like what you might expect from a National Geographic photojournalist, or even a point-and-shoot camera snapping up photos of every step she took to the front door. I was in the car, dropping her off at the door with a wave and ‘have a good day!’. Tartlet 2 started 4th grade with Ms. Sabin. The rest of the tartlets and I started a new school year at home. With the new territory of a brick and mortar school comes the backpack, the gym shoes, and packing a lunch. I’m not likely to be as cute and creative as Jennifer’s Vegan Lunch Box, but hopefully we can get nutritious lunches ready for the kid before it’s time to head out the door each day. Unfortunately, I bought the lunch box one day and found the little boxes another . . . it doesn’t hold three of them at one time, no matter how you rearrange them. So the pretzels ended up in a little bag in the front pouch.

Another lesson learned last week was about salmonella. I think I gave myself a case of that last week after licking my cake batter spoon. I should know better, as Tartlet 1 pointed out, because I won’t let the kids do such a stupid thing. If you do the math and figure that salmonella is in 1 out of every 10-20,000 eggs and I tend to go through 3 dozen eggs each week, sometimes more, then I use roughly 2000 eggs each year and the chances are that every 5-10 years I will lick a spoon with a contaminated raw egg. Unfortunately, despite the violence with which I was sick last week, I’m fairly certain the odds that I’ll lick a spoon in the future are probably greater than 1 in 10,000. I don’t learn all that quickly, I suppose.

I’m trying to get back in the blogging groove after a summer of very little baking and I have to say that I’ve missed participating in the Daring Bakers, Sugar High Friday, and Hay, Hay It’s Donna Day events the last couple of months. Unfortunately, I’m still a couple of days late putting this one up, but here I am, finally, with the copy cat cookies that were this months DB challenge.

First I did the Milans, thinking I might only do those and not both, but I really did want to try making marshmallows. Despite warnings that the Milan cookies spread, I wasn’t prepared for just *how much*! We’re talking s-p-r-e-a-d, and maybe we’ll just skip the comparisons to hips.

Also, while the batter sat waiting for the next sheet to bake, the cookies developed a lot more air bubbles. I was trying to aim for a crisp cookie that didn’t brown too much, but I never achieved that. Part of the cookies sat out overnight sandwiched with the filling (I chose to flavor mine with raspberry extract/flavor rather than orange zest), and part of them I put in a zip bag to play with the next day. The ones in the zip bag retained some crispness, but those that sat with the filling were chewy and not at all the texture of a Pepperidge Farms Milan. So for future reference, I would probably bake the cookies in advance and fill them not long before serving them. The girls absolute LOVED these cookies and declared them not *good*, but wonderful, the best cookies ever, and absolutely delicious. WIN!

The marshmallow was interesting to make. And very sticky. I didn’t make the cookie base for these, but rather used graham crackers and piped the marshmallow on top (which, when covered with chocolate, gives them an unfortunate shape).     I was glad to use a disposable decorator’s bag with no tip so I could just throw out the sticky mess when I was done. I made the mistake of placing some of the cookies too close together, so that when I went to pick them up to put them in the chocolate coating a few hours later, the neighboring marshmallows clung to my fingers like little octopi. But they were good.  And did I mention, sticky?  The chocolate melts on your hands very easily, so these are best stored in the fridge.  I served both of these cookies for dessert when we had friends over for homemade pizza and there were none left. Thanks, Nicole, for a great challenge.

The July Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

Recipes after the jump.

Mallows (Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies)
Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website

Prep Time: 10 min
Inactive Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 10 min
Serves: about 2 dozen cookies

Cookies
• 3 cups (375grams/13.23oz) all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (112.5grams/3.97oz) white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter
• 3 eggs, whisked together
• Homemade marshmallows, recipe follows
• Chocolate glaze, recipe follows

1. In a mixer with the paddle attachment, blend the dry ingredients.
2. On low speed, add the butter and mix until sandy.
3. Add the eggs and mix until combine.
4. Form the dough into a disk, wrap with clingfilm or parchment and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
5. When ready to bake, grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper or a silicon mat.
6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
7. Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness, on a lightly floured surface. Use a 1 to 1 1/2 inches cookie cutter to cut out small rounds of dough.
8. Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.
9. Pipe a “kiss” of marshmallow onto each cookie. Let set at room temperature for 2 hours.
10. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or silicon mat.
11. One at a time, gently drop the marshmallow-topped cookies into the hot chocolate glaze.
12. Lift out with a fork and let excess chocolate drip back into the bowl.
13. Place on the prepared pan and let set at room temperature until the coating is firm, about 1 to 2 hours.

Note: if you don’t want to make your own marshmallows, you can cut a large marshmallow in half and place on the cookie base. Heat in a preheated 350-degree oven to slump the marshmallow slightly, it will expand and brown a little. Let cool, then proceed with the chocolate dipping.

Homemade marshmallows:
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 3/4 cup (168.76 grams/5.95oz) sugar
• 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 2 egg whites , room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. In a saucepan, combine the water, corn syrup, and sugar, bring to a boil until “soft-ball” stage, or 235 degrees on a candy thermometer.
2. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let dissolve.
3. Remove the syrup from the heat, add the gelatin, and mix.
4. Whip the whites until soft peaks form and pour the syrup into the whites.
5. Add the vanilla and continue whipping until stiff.
6. Transfer to a pastry bag.

Chocolate glaze:
• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 2 ounces cocoa butter or vegetable oil

1. Melt the 2 ingredients together in the top of a double boiler or a bowl set over barely simmering water.

***********************

Milan Cookies
Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website

Prep Time: 20 min
Inactive Prep Time: 0 min
Cook Time: 1 hr 0 min
Serves: about 3 dozen cookies

• 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 1/2 cups (312.5 grams/ 11.02 oz) powdered sugar
• 7/8 cup egg whites (from about 6 eggs)
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons lemon extract
• 1 1/2 cups (187.5grams/ 6.61 oz) all purpose flour
• Cookie filling, recipe follows

Cookie filling:
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 orange, zested

1. In a mixer with paddle attachment cream the butter and the sugar.
2. Add the egg whites gradually and then mix in the vanilla and lemon extracts.
3. Add the flour and mix until just well mixed.
4. With a small (1/4-inch) plain tip, pipe 1-inch sections of batter onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, spacing them 2 inches apart as they spread.
5. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until light golden brown around the edges. Let cool on the pan.
6. While waiting for the cookies to cool, in a small saucepan over medium flame, scald cream.
7. Pour hot cream over chocolate in a bowl, whisk to melt chocolate, add zest and blend well.
8. Set aside to cool (the mixture will thicken as it cools).
9. Spread a thin amount of the filling onto the flat side of a cookie while the filling is still soft and press the flat side of a second cookie on top.
10. Repeat with the remainder of the cookies.

Well, I don’t suppose that was truly the line, but we unfortunately missed that particular part of Richard III last night.  Yesterday 9 of us got together in Bloomington, IL to celebrate a friend’s 30th birthday at the Illinois Shakespeare Festival. Ky, you should turn 30 more often

It was a lovely evening with everyone contributing something for a picnic dinner of bread and wine and cheese, spinach salad, pasta salad, a giant sandwich, and of course I brought mini-tarts for dessert.

The grounds of the Ewing Manor are simply fabulous and it was a perfect evening for a picnic.

I had tucked some Off! in my bag, but didn’t even need to pull it out. There were wandering minstrels and a group stopped to sing Happy Birthday to K.

The down side of an open air theatre, is the chance of being rained out, particularly in the Midwest. That is exactly what happened to us, not long after intermission. I must say they chose a very good time to call the play off. Just as we arrived at the car, it started to really pour and we would have gotten on a good drenching had we still been in our seats.

Nevertheless, it was a fabulous evening. KT’s car is equipped with video so A and I got to watch The Reduced Shakespeare Company perform the complete (abridged) works of Shakespeare on the way home. It was hilarious! So, thanks, Ky for turning 30 and letting us participate in the celebration. Now, if I can just figure out another excuse to go back . . .

Back at the end of January, The Husband bought a barn on eBay. No, I don’t mean like a barn and some property, I mean just the barn, 5 hours from home. He finally started taking it apart and bringing home the pieces in March and has been going back up to it every nice weekend he can. The first weekend he went alone, then he took Tartlet 1, another time he took Tartlets 1 & 2, another time it was Tartlets 2, 3 & 4 (Tartlet 1 was in her glory having Mom without competition!). This weekend he has taken all four Tartlets! So I am having a wonderful quiet day alone.

I’ve done the sorts of things it seems every mom I know does when the kids are gone — clean and organize without interference. Tossing out little plastic toys that no one will miss if they don’t see them going into the trash, straightening some drawers, laundry, laundry, and more laundry. Finally it was time to take a break and find some nourishment.

Many times when The Husband is gone, I don’t really cook. Either I get some take out or I scrounge leftovers. Knowing I would be sans car (no take out) and wanting something that celebrated the adult moment of being home alone, I bought some mushrooms and asparagus before the family left. I added a sprinkling of feta, some onion, a little long sweet red pepper, and seasoned it with a little fresh garlic and dried basil and oregano and tossed it with mostaccioli.  Mmmm, adult food!

Despite protests from Tartlet 1 that Barbie cakes are a special treat for the 7th birthday (and Only The Seventh Birthday!), Tartlet 3 requested a Barbie cake for her 6th birthday, at the end of May. I have posted earlier about the Barbie Cakes I made for Tartlets 1 & 2 for their respective 7th birthdays, and last year I made 14 Polly Pocket Princesses for Tartlet 3’s birthday. This time I made a couple of modifications to my previous method.

I baked a cake in the Pampered Chef bowl again and this time I also made a 9-inch cake for multiple reasons: 1) it allows for the Barbie’s leg length w/o the two inch frosting disaster of the last one; 2) it gives a platform for the birthday candle; and 3) more cake for a number of guests. Next time I’d like to use an 8-inch cake under the skirt and that on top of the 9-inch. As it was, Barbie’s feet still touched the cake board and the top of the skirt was not quite to the waist so it made for a slightly awkward transition and seemed a little out of proportion.

I couldn’t scrounge up a top that worked for the top of the dress and I prefer not to put the frosting on the doll, if I can avoid it, so instead I did a little late night hand sewing and made the top from wired ribbon.  I cut a piece of ribbon in a trapezoid to fit her figure and the wired top and bottom allowed a little better fitting.  I stitched on two straps from a narrow ribbon, also wired and easy to shape, and two snaps in the back.  Then I used a length of the narrow ribbon as embellishment at the base of the dress and at the waist.

The top has the added benefit of being reversible, since I used a double sided Christmas ribbon.   The kids have already requested that I make more clothes that will actually cover the dolls since the current Barbie fashions aren’t nearly modest enough for their sensibilities — e.g., when she sits, her skirts expose her rear end.  Fashionable in some circles, but not ours, thank goodness!

After some fun at the pool, we enjoyed the cake in the park. Barbie seems to be saying, “Yeah, Tartlet 3! Happy Birthday!” She loved the cake.

The end of May was a busy time for the Fruit Tart household — a farewell party, a reception for visiting friends, an end-of-year picnic for preschool, the blog’s birthday, and Tartlet 3’s birthday. For two of these I made trifle. At the end of April I made a trifle with Alton Brown’s angel food cake, but in May I made one with a store bought angel food cake and the other I made a gluten free angel food cake, based on Alton Brown’s recipe and method.

It didn’t have quite the same texture as a regular angel food cake, and it browned faster, but since I was tearing it up to make trifle anyway, the texture wasn’t a big detractor. I thought it had good flavor and because I didn’t use any rice flour there was no grittiness in the texture. I would definitely make this again for gluten free friends, but I might tweak the ratios of flours and use more tapioca and less potato starch or use a little white sorghum. Still, it was very popular when layered with Cool Whip and fresh fruit (strawberries, blackberries, mango, kiwi, and blueberries), and most people didn’t realize it was gluten free.

Gluten Free Angel Food Cake (adapted from Alton Brown’s Angel Food Cake)

1 3/4 cups sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 c. potato starch
1/3 c. tapioca starch
1/3 c. corn starch
1/2 t. xanthan gum

12 egg whites (the closer to room temperature the better)
1/3 cup warm water
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a food processor or blender spin sugar about 2 minutes until it is superfine. Sift half of the sugar with the salt, starches and xanthan gum, setting the remaining sugar aside.

In a large bowl, use a balloon whisk to thoroughly combine egg whites, water, extract, and cream of tartar. After 2 minutes, switch to stand mixer. Slowly sift the reserved sugar, beating continuously at medium speed. Once you have achieved medium peaks, sift enough of the starch mixture in to dust the top of the foam. Using a spatula fold in gently. Continue until all of the starch mixture is incorporated.

Carefully spoon mixture into an ungreased tube pan. Bake for 35 minutes before checking for doneness with a wooden skewer. (When inserted halfway between the inner and outer wall, the skewer should come out dry).

Random.org picked the numbers 4, 6, and 10, which means Amanda Z., Lori, and N are the winners of the cookbook giveaway. Congratulations! Thank you to all the readers for helping me celebrate 3 yrs of Fruit Tart!

If you want to be entered into the Cookbook drawing, leave a comment on that post. Sunday I’ll be picking three comments using random.org and plan to get the cookbooks in the mail as soon as I have addresses from the 3 lucky winners.

Sorry for the long hiatus, which was totally unplanned. I thought I’d post about a few of the things I made for the gatherings we have hosted lately as well as a picnics and other things we’ve done, but the blog has been neglected in the flurry of activity.

I read a post sometime in the last couple of months in which the author was amazed that their family of 4 ate *sooo* many eggs, nearly  a dozen per week. I just laughed. One week recently I used 4 dozen — two dozen whites went into angel food cakes and some of the yolks were used in a key lime tart, pictured above. I think I could employ a small henhouse full time!

On another occasion I made the gluten free angel food cake pictured above. I’ll come back with a recipe for that later. In the mean time, here are pictures from our vacation:

Better than Hallmark, Mother’s Day wishes in the sand.

Crab Trap dinner for Mother’s Day. The kids especially love the buckets and shovels.

Some crabs we found, but did not eat.

Fun at the beach.

Sunset walks every evening.

While I’m away at the beach this week, I wanted to get ready to celebrate the blog’s 3rd birthday!  26 May will be three years since my first food post.  The blog has changed a little over the years, hopefully for the better, but I often come back to the same cookbook over and over again, the source for my first post. Although the Muffin Cookbook is out of print, I managed to procure three copies in very good condition to give away at the end of the month. All you have to do is a leave a comment telling me the name of your favorite muffin at the end of this post and you will be entered to win! I’ll use a random number generator to select three winners. Thanks for reading!

When The Husband and I were first married, we lived in a less than desirable part of town (I once saw someone ‘jogging’ down the alley with a TV on his shoulder — great for those more intense workouts, you know!) with very interesting neighbors, the kind that could be the fodder for several books. One of the more colorful characters and one of my favorites was B. He was always very kind and polite to me, though he looked quite rough. He enjoyed the simple pleasures — his Harley, his sports car, his beer and weed. You could tell when he was smoking — all the doors and windows were shut, the curtains were drawn, and you could practically get high from the exhaust of his swamp cooler. He was busted by the DEA and ATF twice during our 8 mos at the apartment. I never inquired as to his sources because I really didn’t want to know.

But a good source of vanilla beans, now there’s something worth finding out. A year ago Cookie Baker Lynn posted about vanilla beans and I bookmarked it to check into later. About six months later I finally bought a pound of vanilla beans from Saffron.com. Yes, that’s right. A pound! Now, if you are used to buying your beans in those jars ranging in price from $7-20 with only 2-3 beans in them, you may be wondering what lottery I won. But this is an amazing source for excellent beans at prices that make using them only a little more expensive than good eggs.

They arrived in a box with a golden foil wrapping around the vanilla.  I inhaled deeply, just sniffing the package periodically for a couple of days before I finally opened it.  I think The Husband was afraid I was going to start snorting lines of vanilla seeds   Mmmmm, it smelled so good!  I finally opened the package and the beans are just luscious.  And there are so many of them!  No need to skimp! So, of course, I’ve been adding them to everything. I make vanilla yogurt about twice a month, I toss them into cupcakes and frosting, pastry cream, and of course, ice cream and frozen yogurt.

Because Saffron.com has a minimum order of $12 and a pound of vanilla beans is $20 (plus shipping — $8.55 in my case), I chose the full pound as the most cost effective choice. If you think you will not have the need for roughly 125 vanilla beans (you just aren’t being creative enough), then consider buying a pound and splitting it with a couple of friends. You could have 40 beans for the cost of buying just a few at the grocery store.

I periodically buy packages of Welch’s Dried Cherries for a snacking treat or to make a super quick and easy dessert. But ever since I first bought a package, with a recipe on the back for Cherry Oatmeal Cookies, I’ve thought it would be really tasty to make cherry chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. Since the recipe on the back of the package only made 18 cookies, I decided to come up with something different.

One thing I really wish I would have done, however, is to chop up the cherries. They make delightful lumps in the cookies, but there aren’t enough in a 5.5 oz package to get much cherry in each cookie and I didn’t want to make the cookies outrageously expensive by using several packages. Too bad I was too lazy to chop them! These cookies are really tasty and I will definitely make these again.

Cherry Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3 cups quick cooking oatmeal

1 (5.5 oz) package dried cherries, chopped
1 1/2 c. chocolate chips or chopped chocolate

Beat butter and sugars together until light and creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla.

In a separate bowl, blend together flour, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Add to butter mixture, mixing well. Add oatmeal. Fold in cherries and chocolate chips.

Chill dough for at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Drop the dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto a greased or parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake for 7-9 min or until slightly under done. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 1 minute on baking sheet before removing to cooling rack.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies, which still won’t be enough.

I had tasted some bread from Great Harvest Bread Company, but I hadn’t been to their shop until a month ago when Tartlet 2 had a field trip there. I tagged along for the field trip and loved the peek into the kitchen. The oven = WOW! Grain milled fresh daily. That day we took home a loaf of Caramel Apple Crunch and devoured it like ravenous beasts. You would think we had never tasted freshly baked bread before!

With that in our memories, I took a couple of girls with me back to the shop last Friday for some Asiago Pesto bread, which was also awesome, and we were offered a taste of the Cinnamon Chip bread. (They give everyone a free sample slice of one of the day’s breads, menu available here.) It was so great, we had to take a loaf home. The guy behind the counter said it makes awesome French toast and so our dinner plans were made for us.

Check out that oozy cinnamon sugar on the crust. Yes, it did taste as good as it looks. It didn’t really need any syrup, but the kids smothered theirs anyway. Interestingly, some of the Tartlets prefer the bread plain and at least one preferred it made into French toast.  One Tartlet thought it compared favorably to doughnuts, only healthier.  The kids have already been begging — when will I go to GHBC again?

I think most of the loaves are in the $4.50-5.50 range, scones and muffins are $2 each, and they have some great oatmeal cookies (Tartlet 2 was given one at the end of her field trip and she shared!), as well as other things we haven’t yet tried. They have a ‘club card’ — get 10 stamps and get a free loaf, and the kids think I should race to get mine filled!

Great Harvest Bread Company
The Shoppes of Knollwood
2149 S. Neil
Champaign, IL
398-5623

Errrgh! I hate it when I miss something completely simple. For example,  I lost the password for the Daring Baker site and couldn’t log in and was completely blind to the little ‘reset password’ thingy.  So I missed a challenge, which was cheesecake and similar to the one I made for Easter. Bah! I feel like I need a reset button for my brain. I have been so scattered this month and I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to a vacation to the beach.

But at least I can remember how to bake a cake and this one was good. Very good. It’s very simple too. Plain white cake made in two layers, sliced to make four layers. Sweetened whipped cream with chopped mango folded in. Blackberries added to just the middle layer of filling. Covered with sweetened whipped cream with a hint of almond extract. Very light tasting and refreshing, it was a hit with everyone who had some. It was better than this poorly lit night kitchen photo makes it appear.

Just after Easter the FedEx man arrived with a gift from the great people at FoodBuzz. Oooh, I love getting presents! It was marked ‘Keep Refrigerated’ and ‘Perishable’. What could it be? The Tartlets gathered around to see what treasure would come from the box. Imagine my delight when it was a package of Buitoni’s new Wild Mushroom Agnolotti. Especially delightful since three of the Tartlets turn their little noses up at mushrooms, leaving all the more for me!

Oh, the ideas this lovely gift inspired. What kind of sauce to make? Hmmm . . . eggplant and zucchini in a tomato base? artichoke and leek in a cream base? maybe just a light toss with some fresh pesto? or a creamy sauce with ham and peas? oh maybe something with a little wine in it? Oh the agony of decision making! But this was just after Easter and I had a little bit of lamb leftover, which I usually save for a shepherd’s pie, and the sauteed mushrooms and onions were *sooooo* good with the lamb, that I kept thinking of how to incorporate the lamb into my pasta sauce.

The leeks couldn’t be passed up, so I started building a recipe in my head, combining things I had on hand with a few things I bought to add. Leftover half and half, leftover lamb, pignolia in the cupboard, and a lemon from the fridge were combined with a red pepper, leek, fresh grated Parmesan cheese, fresh oregano and basil to make a very tasty lunch. Tartlet 1 said that the only problem she could see with this recipe is that there wasn’t more of it!

In order to not be swayed by the flavor of my sauce, I tasted a wild mushroom agnolotti fresh from the boiling pot, and it was just amazing. Little bits of mushroom with a great flavor and would be a lovely meal without any sauce at all. Although the packages may be a bit spendy for feeding a family of six, I would absolutely buy this as a treat or for special adult meals. I loved them!

Speaking of spending money, I’d like to give a plug for buying day old bread at your grocery bakery. I picked up a day old baguette for $0.83. Now day old baguettes may seem to you like they are only useful as baseball bats or fending off would be attackers, but they make great cheesy toast. Cut the loaf in half, sprinkle with a little seasoning, top with shredded cheese and bake in a 350 – 400 F oven until the cheese melts. Not only will the bread soften so you don’t recognize it as day old, but you made a great accompaniment for your meal for a little more than a dollar (adding the cost of the cheese). It goes well with pasta and soups.

Make sure you check out what other people are doing with their pasta gifts and, if you like what you see, Buzz it!

Wild Mushroom Agnolotti with Lamb and Leek Cream Sauce

1 package Buitoni Wild Mushroom Agnolotti, cooked according to the directions

2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 medium leek
2 Tbsp. fresh basil, chopped
2 Tbsp. fresh oregano, chopped
1 crushed clove of garlic
1/2 medium red pepper, chopped
zest of one lemon
1/2 c. chopped cooked lamb

1 1/2 c. half and half (or substitute milk)
3/4 c. shredded Parmesan cheese

1/2 c. pignolia

In a heavy pan over medium heat, heat olive oil and saute leek until bright green. Add basil, oregano, garlic, red pepper, lemon and lamb. Saute until fragrant and vegetables are tender.

Add half and half and continue to heat, stirring frequently, until sauce is warm. Add the cheese and stir constantly, allowing the sauce to thicken. If you like a thicker sauce, add a Tbsp of flour to 2 Tbsp cold water and mix well, then add to the sauce and stir until thickened; for a thinner sauce, add a little milk or half and half. Stir in pignolia and serve over Wild Mushroom Agnolotti. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan, if desired.