From the Little Yellow Kitchen | 2011 | March

March 21st, 2011

Lemon Cheesecake Phyllo Cups

by Lauren

This post today is part of the Electrolux Top 9 Tea Party Takeover. For each tea party recipe submission by a Featured Publisher, Foodbuzz is donating $50 to support the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund whose mission is to fund research to find a method of early detection and ultimately a cure for Ovarian Cancer. Check out the Kelly Confidential website for more information or to donate today!

We had a tea party this weekend and as any good neighbor would be expected to do, we invited our neighbor, Pearl, over for said tea party. Pearl had this great idea to make Lemon Cheesecake Phyllo Cups. Shwing!

While her first attempt to make these may have gone slightly awry, the three of us put our heads together and successfully created the perfect tea party recipe. We had quite the assembly line going. It went something like this: separate, spray, sprinkle, repeat.

We imagined having this event in our tiny garden outside on a sun shiny day but the 70 mile per hour winds and intense rainstorm that hit us this weekend really put a damper on those plans. Way to ring in the Spring season San Diego…not! We appropriately reverted to sitting on the floor around our newly acquired coffee table for an indoor tea party, which was just as fabulous.

Does anyone recall this scene from toy story?

Well Chris slightly resembled Buzz on Sunday at our tea party. I felt like we had forced a bonnet on his head and made him to come to our Barbie tea party full of mini things that his giant hands looked ridiculous holding onto. It was quite a site. Unfortunately he may never speak to me again if I post the picture of it. Come to think of it, he might never speak to me again for mentioning this…

Little Yellow Note: Clarification, no, I did not actually force him to wear a bonnet.

The tea party menu consisted of more than just these cute little guys though. Here’s the complete menu:

Little Yellow Kitchen Tea Party Menu

Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Stuffed Cucumbers
Artichoke, Sundried Tomato and Goat Cheese Pastries
Funfetti Chocolate Cake Balls
Mozzerella, Tomato and Arugula Sandwiches with Sundried Tomato Pesto

No worries, we will be sharing all these great recipes at a later date! Winking smile

Here’s a tea party menu teaser recipe to wet your palates:

Phyllo Cups

makes 24 cups

Ingredients

8 sheets frozen phyllo dough, thawed

4 teaspoons sugar

Cooking spray

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat mini muffin cup tin with non-stick spray.

Separate and lay out 1 sheet of phyllo dough while keeping the other sheets covered with a damp towel so they do not dry out. Lightly coat phyllo with cooking spray and sprinkle with sugar. Lay another sheet of phyllo on top, spray and sprinkle with sugar. Repeat until you have four layers of dough.

Do this same process with the other remaining four sheets of phyllo. You should have two stacks of four sheets each.

Cut each of the stacks into 12 rectangles and press into your mini muffin tin. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until crisp.

Lemon Cheesecake Filling

Ingredients

8-oz package cream cheese

1/3 cup sugar

3 tablespoons of lemon curd

Directions

Mix together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in the lemon curd. Spoon about a tablespoon of mixture into each of the cooled phyllo cups.

Garnish with mint and berries.

From the Little Yellow Kitchen,

Lauren, Chrissy and Pearl

Posted in Dessert, Recipes | 18 Comments »

Tags: baking, dessert, Food, lemon, tea party

March 21st, 2011

Homemade Gnocchi and Porcini Mushroom Sauce Party

by Chrissy

If you are looking at the picture below, let me answer your question by saying: No, that is not driftwood I brought up from the beach!!

Yes, the porcini shrooms look, uh, a little nasty….I know, I was scared to go through with this at first sight of the ingredient.

But as soon as those porcinis hit the chicken stock steaming bath, the glorious smell will instantly change your mind about these babies. I crave them now. I long for them. They become Sirens, while in the chicken stock bath, it’s almost hard to move your face away from the top of the bowl. Ok sorry, I’ll contain myself.

Meanwhile, bake the potatoes. Popping them in the microwave is a definite time-saver.

Slice criminis and chop re-hydrated porcinis. Follow the directions (below) for perfection with the rest of the mushroom sauce.

Scoop out baked potatoes and mash them. Grate nutmeg, sprinkle salt, add some flour and drizzle egg yolks over the top.

Cut these ingredients into the mashed potatoes.

Add more flour, kneed dough into a ball. Flour surface, pat dough flat and create portions to work with.

Here’s the awesome part: employ the use of your little sister’s helpful hands, kick-back and relax. She can do all the work for you. Oh wait, but if you don’t happen to be so lucky to be making homemade gnocchi with your adorable little sis, I guess you can do this part by yourself too. Roll dough into ropes, dusting with flour when it gets sticky.

Remember, flour is your best friend when working with this dough. Take a big knife to the ropes and make even-sized pillows of potato love.

So pretty! Check out that freshly grated nutmeg, laced throughout the dough!

Roll each little pillow with a fork to create grooves. Don’t forget this step, because otherwise the gnocchi will be lame if it can’t do its job, which is to hold the sauce. Don’t make lame gnocchi, I gave a fair warning.

Dust with flour. Now, they are ready to dip into the salted jacuzzi tub. And they won’t last long in there. Be sure to have a certified lifeguard on the ready, like for example your slotted spoon. You see, these little guys are fine when they dive in, but after about a minute they tend to float, face-down, on the surface. You may have to do some mouth-to-mouth resuscitation later on.

Add the cooked gnocchi to the sauce, while bringing it back up to a simmer. Add a tab of butter, a drizzle of olive oil, and another half cup of reserved stock. Toss the gnocchi in the sauce, garnish with parmesan cheese and serve.

By far one of my favorite dishes….I could eat it for days. Come to think of it, I think I actually did–that gnocchi can be so filling, it definitely goes a long way.

Thanks for helping, Sarah! We tackled such a great dish together! I can’t wait for the next sister cooking extravaganza.

INGREDIENTS:

GNOCCHI:

3 large Russet potatoes

2 large egg yolks, beaten

1‑2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

Few gratings fresh nutmeg (or dried, if desired)

MUSHROOM SAUCE:

1 lb. cremini mushrooms, wiped and sliced

.10 ounce package dried porcini mushrooms (or equivalent weight loose)

2 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup dry red Italian wine

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/3 cup coarsely chopped Italian parsley

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1Tablespoon butter

Fresh grated parmesan, to garnish

Salt

Fresh black pepper

PREPARATION:

Mushroom Sauce

1. Warm the chicken stock and, in a bowl, pour over the dried porcini mushrooms. Let soak for about 20 minutes. Remove from stock and reserve. Coarsely chop porcini mushrooms and set aside. *

2. Heat olive oil in large pan and add sliced cremini mushrooms and a pinch of salt. Let cook, stirring occasionally, for about 7 minutes. Add porcini mushrooms, garlic and red pepper flakes and continue to cook for another 5 minutes.

3. Add the wine and let reduce. Add half of the reserved stock and let reduce. Add in another half of the stock and reduce, again. Mix in chopped parsley. Turn off heat if the gnocchi is not yet cooked.

4. Return saucepan to heat, and add the cooked gnocchi to the sauce. Add another half cup of stock, a tab of butter, and a drizzle of olive oil. Fold gnocchi into sauce. Garnish with freshly grated parmesan and a sprinkle of chopped parsley.

*Little Yellow Note: Be sure to filter the left over mushroom liquid through a paper towel, to be sure there is no gritty substance.

Gnocchi

1. Use fork to poke several holes in potatoes. Bake the potatoes, either in a 400 degree oven for 45 minutes or in the microwave for about 12 minutes, turning half way through. Cut them in half to let the inside cool off and to release steam. Scoop out the insides into a large bowl, and mash with a fork or masher. You will need about 3 cups of loosely packed potatoes; places on clean surface and let cool to room temperature.

2. Grate the nutmeg over the potatoes, sprinkle salt, drizzle the mixed egg yolk, and a half cup of flour. Gently fold together and when almost incorporated, add another 1/4 cup flour and repeat. Form a ball of dough and set aside.

3. Clean surface, dust with flour, set dough ball on top and begin kneading. Gently kneed, just a few times, adding a little more flour, as necessary.

4. Cut the dough in quarters. With one portion of the dough, roll into a long 1/2 inch-wide rope. Cut rope into 1-inch pieces and place onto floured cooking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the dough. Lightly roll each gnocchi with a fork to create groves. Dust with flour. **

5. Bring a large pot of salted water to a gentle boil. Carefully drop in the gnocchi and cook. They are done with the float to the surface. This should take about a minute. With a slotted spoon, scoop the cooked gnocchi and add to the sauce.

**Little Yellow Note: You can freeze half of the gnocchi if you are only serving 2-4 people. Just be sure to dust with flour and place in a single layer in a Ziploc bag and freeze, laying flat.

From the Little Yellow Kitchen,

Chrissy

Posted in Dinner, Recipes | 7 Comments »

Tags: cooking, dinner, Food, herbs, italian, parmesan, recipe, wine

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Lemon Cheesecake Phyllo Cups

Homemade Gnocchi and Porcini Mushroom Sauce Party

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