Some Weekend Baking

How was your weekend? I did a lot of decorating, a lot of organizing, some shopping, a lot of watching decorating and cooking shows and a little baking. I was hoping to whip up all my Christmas cookies this weekend and freeze the dough for later baking but that didn't happen, oh well. But I was watching Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa on Sunday and was inspired to try this pound cake recipe. It uses Buttermilk which was great since I had some that I needed to use up, but I don't remember ever using buttermilk in a pound cake recipe before. It came out delicious, not to heavy, very light and fluffy. We indulged in one and froze the other for use during the holiday.

Hope you had a great weekend.

Brownie Pudding = YUMMOOO

Talk about major YUMMOOO. I made Ina Garten's Brownie Pudding this past weekend for a dinner we were invited to and boy was it good and a hit. It's like a large molten lava cake - wow. It's easy to make and delicious to eat. I highly recommend trying this recipe out sometimes.

Served with vanilla ice cream man I can't get enough of this dessert. YUM!

Panettone Bread Pudding

What is Pannettone?
Panettone: Panettone (Milanese: panetton) is a typical bread of Milan, usually prepared and enjoyed for Christmas and New Year around Italy, and one of the symbols of the city. Maltese nationals are also traditionally associated with this sweet bread. In Latin America, especially in Brazil, Bolivia and Peru, it is a Christmas dinner staple.

Pannettone is equivalent to our fruit cake but MUCH lighter, I'm not a big fan of either pannettone or fruit cake but I saw Ina Garten making a bread pudding using it and I thought that's a way I could really enjoy pannettone. I made it for our New Years get together and I also made it again this weekend for some friends of ours to have it for dessert after our paella. It's very easy to make just takes time in the oven and a million eggs and cups of 1/2 & 1/2. I think it's delicious and best to only have once a year. :)

lot's of eggs

soaking

YUMMOOO

don't forget

the NEW season of Barefoot Contessa begins tomorrow on the food network!!!

and soon her new cookbook will be out too!! I can't WAIT!

Barefoot Bloggers: Butternut Squash Risotto

I recently joined a group online called the Barefoot Bloggers, which is a group of bloggers who choose two Ina Garten Recipes a month to make and then blog about the results of that recipe on the second and fourth thursday of the month.

This month the two recipes that have been picked are Butternut Squash Risotto and Vegetable Pot Pie.

Last night I made the Butternut Squash Risotto and boy was it DELICIOUS! I have never made risotto before, but have always wanted to was just a little intimidated by the thought of it. Well it turned out delicious and it was really easy I would say the only trick or "hardest" part is that you have to keep stirring it, have to attend to it the whole time you're cooking. I actually found that to be very relaxing just standing there stirring away.

The only change I made to the recipe was instead of using pancetta I used bacon since I had just bought a pack of it. Now I can't wait to start making all kinds of risottos since I know I can!

Here's the recipe:

Butternut Squash Risotto

1 butternut squash (2 pounds)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
2 ounces pancetta, diced
1/2 cup minced shallots (2 large)
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice (10 ounces)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon saffron threads
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Peel the butternut squash, remove the seeds, and cut it into 3/4-inch cubes. You should have about 6 cups. Place the squash on a sheet pan and toss it with the olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, tossing once, until very tender. Set aside.
Meanwhile, heat the chicken stock in a small covered saucepan. Leave it on low heat to simmer.
In a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and saute the pancetta and shallots on medium-low heat for 10 minutes, until the shallots are translucent but not browned. Add the rice and stir to coat the grains with butter. Add the wine and cook for 2 minutes. Add 2 full ladles of stock to the rice plus the saffron, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Stir, and simmer until the stock is absorbed, 5 to 10 minutes. Continue to add the stock, 2 ladles at a time, stirring every few minutes. Each time, cook until the mixture seems a little dry, then add more stock. Continue until the rice is cooked through, but still al dente, about 30 minutes total. Off the heat, add the roasted squash cubes and Parmesan. Mix well and serve.

Pecan Squares

another when in Rome do as the Romans do type thing. First it was peaches now it's PECANS. I've made these before but now that we live in Georgia it seems rather appropriate to make them again and again and again... :)

These Pecan Squares are an Ina Garten recipe and they are awesome. They're easy to make too. Check out the process:

take the shortbread dough and spread it out in the pan.

combine butter, brown sugar, honey, lemon zest and orange zest in a pan and heat up on the stove, until the butter melts.



chop up the pecans


there chopped. :)

butter and sugar is combined and off the heat

once the butter, sugar mixture is off the heat add the cream and pecans:

pour the mixture over the shortbread crust (that has baked in the oven for a few minutes)

and voila! the finished product. Awesome, beautiful and delicious. Hope you have a chance to make this recipe some time soon.