Caramel Cheesecake Apple Dip

Ingredients: 
12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
3 Tbs. heavy cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Caramel sauce (recipe below) or store bought
Heath milk chocolate pieces
mini chocolate chips
2-4 Granny Smith or other crisp tart apples, sliced and soaking in lemon juice/water until ready to serve

Method:
This is the method is to make a layered dip, for a quick method see note below.
Line a six inch cake pan or springform pan with plastic wrap. Use enough plastic wrap to hang over the sides of the pan about 2 inches.

Place softened cream cheese in a mixing bowl and beat on medium speed until smooth. Scrap down the sides of the bowl. Add the heavy cream and powdered sugar, mix well, until smooth. Place half of the cream cheese mixture in the lined pan and smooth with the back of a spoon. (If you dip the spoon into warm water before you start to smooth the cream cheese, it will be much easier to spread.) Spoon on a layer of caramel. Sprinkle with a layer of chocolate chips and the Health pieces. How much you use is up to you but don't go to overboard or you may have trouble spreading the top layer of cream cheese.

Place in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes. This will let the caramel set up a bit and make topping it with the remaining cream cheese much easier. Scoop the remaining cream cheese on top and smooth out using the back of a dampened spoon, like you did for the first layer. Fold the overhanging plastic wrap over the top and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to overnight. Pull back the plastic wrap so that the top of the cheesecake is exposed. Place a serving plate on top of the pan and invert. Remove the pan and the plastic wrap. Spoon caramel sauce over the top of you cheese cake and top with more of the Heath pieces and chocolate chips. Place the sliced apples around the dip and serve.

*Note: If you want to throw this together super fast, just spread all the cream cheese on a serving platter and top with the caramel, Heath bits, and the mini chocolate chips. 

Caramel Sauce

Ingredients: 

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 teaspoons vanilla (or 1 teaspoon vanilla and 2 teaspoons bourbon)

pinch of sea salt

Method:

Place sugar in a small heavy sauce pan. Pour water evenly over the top. Turn stove top to medium-high heat. Hold sauce pan by the handle and swirl occasionally until sugar has dissolved. Turn heat to high, and boil until syrup turns brown around the edges of the pan, about 6-8 minutes. Swirl the syrup occasionally until it turns a deep amber and just begins to smoke.

Remove pan from heat. Add butter and whisk, until all butter is mixed in. Stir in cream. Take care adding the butter and cream as the caramel will boil up and sputter quite a bit.

If sauce has any lumps, set pan over low heat and stir until smooth then turn off heat again.

Stir in vanilla and salt. 

Apple braid

I love a good apple pie, but wasn’t really in a pie mood.  Then, when I woke up one morning craving homemade bread, inspiration struck.  Apples + Homemade Bread = An Apple Braid!  So I sliced up the apples into pieces,

tossed them with cinnamon, sugar, and lemon juice and threw them in the oven to start cooking while I made the dough for the braid.

When the dough was ready, I rolled it out into a big rectangle, then cut each side into strips.  Next I spread the apple filling down the uncut center of the dough, and then crisscrossed the strips of dough over the filling to create a braided effect.

The finished braid went onto a baking sheet into the oven until it was a nice light golden brown.  Then I brushed a vanilla cream glaze over the hot braid and set the braid aside to finish cooling.  This was the hard part—waiting for the braid to cool.  But it’s worth the wait, because the glaze will have time to set a bit, and the filling will have time to cool so that you don’t burn your tastebuds off trying to eat a slice!

Apple Braid

Makes 1 bread (approximately 12 servings)

For the Apple Filling

3 medium-size Granny Smith apples

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons lemon juice

For the Bread

2 1/2 cups bread flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon instant yeast (I prefer SAF Instant Yeast)

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup warm water

2 1/4 teaspoons vegetable oil

For the Glaze:

1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar, sifted

5 teaspoons whipping cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of kosher salt

Pinch of nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Make the Apple Filling: Peel, core, and slice the apples into thin slices, then cut the slices in half. Toss the apple pieces with the sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice. Bake the apple filling in an 8-inch square baking pan (or 9-inch pie tin) for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside. (Note: Do not turn the oven off at this point. You will be using it to bake the finished braid.)

Make the Bread: While the apple filling is baking, begin preparing the bread dough. Mix the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Add the water and oil and mix the dough for 6 minutes using an electric mixer on medium-high speed.

Spray a smooth clean surface with cooking spray and turn the dough out onto the surface. Knead the dough briefly to give it a smooth surface (this will only take several turns of the dough to accomplish). Spray a rolling pin with cooking spray and roll the dough out into a large rectangle, about 12-inches by 16-inches in size. Lift onto a greased baking sheet.

Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut each side into strips about 1-inch wide down each side, leaving the center third of the dough uncut. Spread the apple filling down the middle third of the dough. Fold strips of dough into the center, crisscrossing the filling by alternating strips from each side. Lightly press ends to seal, and straighten out the braid with your hands, if necessary, to straighten.

Bake the braid in the oven for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let the braid cool for several minutes.

Make the Glaze: Whisk together the glaze ingredients in a small bowl until blended and smooth.

Brush the glaze in a thick coat over the entire surface of the apple braid while it is still cooling. Carefully transfer the braid to a cooling rack set on a baking sheet (to catch drips) to finish cooling and prevent the bottom of the braid from becoming soggy from sitting in any pooling glaze. Slice and serve.

Broccoli and Italian Sausage Egg Muffins

Ingredients


1 pound Italian Sausage (sweet, mild, hot variety depending on your preference)
1 cup broccoli florets
8 large eggs
1/4 cup milk (or half and half depending on how you're feeling that day)
1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp baking powder
salt & pepper to taste
Freshly grated Parmesan Cheese as needed

Directions


1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. In a large saute pan, over medium high heat, brown Italian Sausage for about 5 minutes, or until the sausage is no longer pink. Remove from heat and stir in broccoli.
3. Whisk together eggs, milk, oil and baking powder.  Season with salt and pepper.
4. Lightly spray a 12-cupcake pan with oil.Spoon out the sausage and broccoli mixture evenly into each cupcake.
5. Ladle the egg mixture over sausage and broccoli.
6. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

           

Summer Pineapple Strawberry Cooler

1 12-ounce can frozen pineapple juice concentrate, thawed
1 6-ounce can frozen limeade concentrate, thawed
4 cups cold water * 1 liter club soda, chilled
Ice cubes
Fresh strawberries (optional)
Short (6-inch) wooden skewers
Assorted fruits such as halved orange slices, halved lime slices, orange sections, raspberries, strawberries, sliced kiwifruit, and mint sprigs

Superfood Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

Superfood Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette combines ultra-healthy and flavorful ingredients like quinoa, pomegranate, citrus, avocado and beans, in a light-yet-filling meal, that’s bursting with satisfying flavors and textures.

Eat by itself, or topped with shrimp or grilled chicken.

Superfood Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

Serves 5

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dry quinoa

1/3 cup red onion, chopped

1 orange, peeled and segments chopped

1 avocado, chopped

1 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup pomegranate arils (about 1 pomegranate worth)

1 cup frozen corn, thawed

1/3 cup cilantro, chopped

salt & pepper

For the Lemon Vinaigrette:

2 lemons, juiced (need 1/4 cup juice)

2 garlic cloves, microplaned or finely minced

dash of sweetener (agave nectar, stevia or white sugar)

salt & pepper

6 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. Cook quinoa according to package directions. Set aside to cool.

2. For the Lemon Vinaigrette: combine all ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid, and shake to combine. Or, add lemon juice, garlic, sweetener, salt and pepper into a small bowl and whisk in oil.

3. Combine cooled quinoa with red onion, orange segments, avocado, beans, pomegranate arils, corn, cilantro, salt and pepper. Pour Lemon Vinaigrette over the salad and stir to combine. Serve cold or at room temperature.

A rosewater meringue with black currants and cream.

Meringue is always easier to make in large quantities. (The same goes for mayonnaise, in my experience.) You will find you have a few meringues left over for the next day. They will keep in an airtight container quite well.
Serves 6
For the meringues:
eggs – 5
caster sugar – 300g
a few drops of rosewater
 double cream - 300mls

For the blackcurrant sauce:
black currants - 300g
caster sugar - 3 tablespoons
water - 2 tablespoons


Line a baking sheet with non-stick baking parchment. Set the oven at
180˚C/Gas 6.
Make the meringues: scatter the sugar over a baking sheet, put it in the oven then leave for 10 minutes or so until warm. Whip the egg whites till firm and fluffy then fold in the warm sugar. Keep beating for a good 5 minutes with the electric wish until the meringue is shiny. Place large heaped spoonfuls of mixture on the baking sheet, leaving room for the meringues to spread and puff. Put the meringues in the oven and immediately turn the heat down to 120˚C/Gas 1. Bake for about an hour, turning down the heat if they are browning too much – you want them to be a pale honey colour.
         When the meringues are crisp on top, let them cool. The ideal is for them to remain fudgy inside.
         Make the sauce below and chill. Whip the cream till it will just about keep its shape, it shouldn’t be so thick that it will stand in peaks. Press the centre of each meringue with the back of a spoon so that you make a hollow. Pile the cream inside. Serve the sauce in a jug to pour over as you eat.

For the sauce:
for the blackcurrant sauce:
300g black currants
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons water

.          Pull the black currants from their stalks. Put them into a saucepan
with the sugar and water and bring to the boil. As soon as the berries start
to burst and the juice turn a dramatic purple remove from the heat and set
aside. Leave to cool slightly.

Baked ricotta with cinnamon cherries

Preparation Time

5 minutes

Cooking Time

5 minutes

Ingredients (serves 2)

1 x 300g pkt frozen Creative Gourmet Pitted Cherries
1 x 7cm cinnamon stick
45g (1/4 cup) icing sugar mixture
125ml (1/2 cup) Cointreau liqueur
1 x 250g pkt Margaret River Baked Ricotta

Method

1. Combine cherries, cinnamon, icing sugar and Cointreau in a bowl. Set aside, stirring once, for 1 hour to macerate.
2. Place the ricotta on a microwave-safe plate. Heat in microwave, covered, on medium/500watts/50% for 1 minute or until heated through.
3. Place the ricotta on a serving plate and top with some of the cherry mixture. Serve with remaining cherry mixture.

Notes

For a child-friendly twist, replace the Cointreau liqueur with 125ml (1/2 cup) orange juice. Allow 1 hour macerating time.