French toast bread pudding ***

EASY overnight French Toast Casserole
12 Servings 
INGREDIENTS 1 loaf (10 ounces) French bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (10 cups) 8 eggs 3 cups milk 4 teaspoons sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 3/4 teaspoon salt, optional For the Topping: 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, cubed 3 tablespoons sugar 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon Maple syrup, optional DIRECTIONS Place bread cubes in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla and salt if desired. Pour over bread. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Dot with butter. Combine sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over the top. Cover and bake at 350 degrees F for 45-50 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 5 minutes. Serve with syrup if desired. Special Offer: Take advantage of a special offer for Cooking.com guests and subscribe today to Taste of Home magazine! Click for details. " 'via Blog this'

JUNIORS Original New York Cheesecake

Surprisingly, this is one of the easiest cakes to make. Follow this recipe from Junior’s that we have specially adapted for your home kitchen and you’ll soon be slicing up the best cheesecake you’ve ever tasted. Alan Rosen explains what make it so special: “It’s light but not crumbly, oh-so-creamy but not dense, and with that heavenly cream cheese flavor that makes junior’s New York cheesecake famous the world over.”

Yield : Makes one 9-inch cheesecake, about 2½ inches high

Ingredients

• 1 recipe 9-inch Junior’s Sponge Cake Crust or regular graham cracker crumbs or vanilla wafer and butter crust
• Four 8-ounce packages cream cheese (use only full fat), at room temperature
• 1 2/3 cups sugar
• ¼ cup cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 extra-large eggs
• ¾ cup heavy or whipping cream

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Wrap the outside with aluminum foil, covering the bottom and extending all the way up the sides. Make and bake the cake crust and leave it in the pan. Keep the oven on.

2. Put one package of the cream cheese, 1/3 cup of the sugar, and the cornstarch in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer on low until creamy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl several times. Blend in the remaining cream cheese, one package at a time, scraping down the bowl after each one.

3. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat in the remaining 1 1/3 cups sugar, then the vanilla. Blend in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after adding each one. Beat in the cream just until completely blended. Be careful not to overmix! Gently spoon the batter over the crust.

4. Place the cake in a large shallow pan containing hot water that comes about 1 inch up the sides of the springform. Bake until the edges are light golden brown and the top is slightly golden tan, about 1¼ hours. Remove the cheesecake from the water bath, transfer to a wire rack, and let cool for 2 hours (just walk away-don’t move it). Then, leave the cake in the pan, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until completely cold, preferably overnight or for at least 4 hours.

5. To serve, release and remove the sides of the springform, leaving the cake on the bottom of the pan. Place on a cake plate. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Slice the cold cake with a sharp straight-edge knife, not a serrated one. Cover any leftover cake and refrigerate or wrap and freeze for up to 1 month.

To Make an 8-inch Cake:

Make an 8-inch sponge cake crust and use the cheesecake filling ingredient amounts as follows: three 8-ounce packages cream cheese, 1/3 cups sugar, 3 tablespoons cornstarch, 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract, 2 extra-large eggs, and 2/3 cup heavy or whipping cream. The cooking time will be about the same.

Notes

The Junior’s Way

Master Baker Michael Goodman says: “Always bake the cheesecake in a water bath, as we do here at Junior’s. It keeps the heat in the oven moist and helps the cake bake slowly, gently, and evenly. This helps ensure that your cheesecake comes out of the oven with a smooth top-and no large cracks.”

amazingly delicious Brisket

Caramelized-Onion and Wine-Braised Brisket with Glazed Vegetables Bon Appétit | April 1995

Be sure to start the brisket at least a day before you plan on serving it - although it can be made up to three days ahead. Yield: Serves 8 to 10 Brisket 4 cups canned low-salt chicken broth 1 750-ml bottle dry white wine 1/2 cup brandy 1/3 cup vegetable oil 2 pounds meaty beef neck bones 3 1/2 pounds onions, thinly sliced 4 large celery stalks, sliced 1 1/2 teaspoons whole allspice 6 garlic cloves, chopped 2 teaspoons dried thyme 1 4 1/2- to 5-pound flat-cut brisket 3/4 cup chopped canned tomatoes 1 tablespoon tomato paste Vegetables 2 1/2 pounds mixed baby vegetables (such as zucchini, crookneck and pattypan squashes, turnips, carrots and new potatoes) 8 red boiling onions Assembly 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) margarine 1/4 cup honey 1 teaspoon dried thyme 10 ounces cherry tomatoes 4 ounces asparagus tips or sugar snap peas Boil first 3 ingredients in pot until reduced to 4 cups, about 25 minutes. Preheat oven to 325°F. Heat oil in large Dutch oven over high heat. Add bones; sauté until well browned, turning occasionally, about 12 minutes. Transfer bones to bowl. Add onions, celery and allspice to Dutch oven. Season with salt; cook until onions are golden, stirring often, about 25 minutes. Continue cooking until onions are deep dark brown, scraping bottom of Dutch oven and stirring often, about 15 minutes more. Add garlic and thyme; sauté 5 minutes. Transfer onion mixture to large roasting pan. Add 1 cup broth mixture to Dutch oven. Bring to boil, scraping up browned bits; transfer to roasting pan. Season brisket generously with salt and pepper. Add to Dutch oven and brown over high heat, about 5 minutes per side. Place brisket, fat side up, on onion mixture in roasting pan; surround with bones. Add remaining broth mixture and tomatoes to Dutch oven; bring to boil, scraping up browned bits. Pour mixture over brisket. Cover roasting pan tightly with heavy-duty foil and place in oven. Bake until brisket is tender, about 3 hours 45 minutes. Remove foil. Cool brisket 2 hours. Refrigerate uncovered 3 hours. Cover brisket tightly and keep chilled 1 day or up to 3 days. Scrape fat from top of pan juices; discard fat. Transfer brisket to cutting board, scraping gelled juices off brisket back into roasting pan. Bring contents of roasting pan to simmer. Discard bones. Pour contents of roasting pan into coarse strainer set over large bowl. Press on solids to release as much liquid as possible. Purée solids in processor, using on/off turns. Mix enough purée into juices in bowl to form thick sauce. Add tomato paste and whisk to blend. Pour sauce into medium saucepan and simmer until heated through. Season with salt and pepper. Slice brisket thinly across grain at slight diagonal angle. Arrange slices in glass baking dish. Drizzle 1/2 cup sauce over; cover with foil. Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Add all squashes, turnips and carrots and cook until crisp-tender, about 6 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer to large bowl. Add potatoes to boiling water and cook until just tender, about 12 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer potatoes to same bowl. Add onions to boiling water and cook until almost tender, about 4 minutes. Drain and cool slightly. Peel onions; add to same bowl. Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake brisket until heated through, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, boil margarine, honey and thyme in heavy large skillet over high heat until syrup is reduced to 1/3 cup, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Add cooked vegetables, tomatoes and asparagus; toss until heated, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Arrange brisket on platter. Bring remaining sauce to simmer. Arrange vegetables around brisket. Serve, passing remaining sauce separately.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/printerfriendly/Caramelized-Onion-and-Wine-Braised-Brisket-with-Glazed-Vegetables-426#ixzz1i8HucFwP

Potato Ruffles

Potato Ruffles

Dec 26, 2011 by Michel Richard  |

Michel Richard | Happy in the Kitchen | Artisan, 2006 | Makes 2 to 4 servings

Serve these as you would potato chips, as a nibble with cocktails, alongside a sandwich, or as a side to a main course such as roast chicken.–Michel Richard
LC These Ruffles Don’t Have Ridges–Nor Do They Need Them Note: Okay. Let’s call a spade a spade. Or, as the situation would demand, a potato chip a potato chip. These ruffles are, essentially, potato chips. And yet they’re more than that. They’re fancy schmancy, shatteringly crisp, conversation-stopping potato chips. And unlike the brand-name chip by the same name that once had an entire country trilling its little ditty, they bear no ridges–nor do they need them. They’re sufficiently, satiatingly crisp just as they are. Our one quibble? Clearly frying up a single potato, as the recipe below suggests, is only going to get you so far. Fortunately, the recipe can easily be doubled, tripled, quadrupled, or otherwise multiplied exponentially. Given how quickly our greasy little fingers kept reaching for the ruffles, it’s best to allow one large potato per person.
Seeing as they require a turning vegetable slicer, they perhaps hold most appeal, fittingly, for those casual couch potatoes who like to stay up late at night and, as such, are privvy to infomercials. That said, an old-fashioned apple peeler will work in its place, provided you make just a few adjustments. (See the comment from Dan Kraan beneath the recipe.) A Y-shaped vegetable peeler? Not so much.
Special equipment: turning vegetable slicer
Active time: 40 minutes | Total time: 40 minutes.

Potato Ruffles Recipe

Ingredients

| metric conversion

• Peanut or canola oil for frying
• 2 large baking potatoes, peeled if desired

Directions

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1. Pour enough oil to reach a depth of 2 3/4 inches in a deep fryer or a large, deep pot. Do not overfill the fryer or pot as the oil will bubble up when the potatoes are added. Heat the oil to 325°F (163°C). Line a baking sheet with a paper bag cut open or with a wire cooling rack and place it next to the stove. 
2. Meanwhile, set up a turning vegetable slicer with the straight blade. Cut off both ends of a large baking potato and attach one end of the potato to the grip at the end of the handle; the other end of the potato should sit flush against the blade. Turn the handle, pushing toward the potato with gentle pressure. The potato will rotate through the blade, forming extremely long ribbons of potato.
3. Place the potatoes on paper towels and pat dry; they should be very, incontrovertibly dry before they go into the hot oil, as any residual moisture will cause the oil to bubble up and spatter even more.
4. Carefully add some of the potato ribbons to the hot oil, working in batches. Add only enough potatoes to make a layer that is no more than 2 inches thick. Fry the potatoes until they are  golden brown on the bottom. Using long tongs, gently turn the potatoes over. Continue to fry until the potatoes are evenly browned and crisp, about 6 minutes total, depending on the thickness of your ribbons.
5. When the potatoes ruffles are done, use tongs to carefully lift them onto the paper bag or rack to drain. Serve the ruffles on a platter with a generous sprinkling of fleur de sel.

Get more deliciousness at Potato Chips Recipe | Leite's Culinaria 

Chicken Cacciatore

feed 4 or more

Prep time: 1 hour on stove

Ingredients:

Chicken legs and thighs, 2-3 pieces per person ( Breasts cut in half with bones work also, wings not so much)

Make extra is delicious the next day or COLD or reheated

One baguette for dipping and sopping up sauce

4-5  cups Lori’s tomato sauce  ( see January Archive or below)

1.Make tomato sauce… ( the longer it cooks the thicker and more yummy it gets)

add 4-5 cups to large frying  pan which will be for cooking all the Chicken and turn heat on Low so sauce simmers ( lightly bubbles).

 2. Take and prepared Italian dressing ( I like Kraft Zesty Italian) pour ½ cup into a bowl add chicken and toss until coated.

3. Heat  a Large frying pan, when hot add chicken a few pieces at a time in one layer.

4. Brown chicken on both sides, as pieces brown set them into pan covering with simmering sauce, in one layer (chicken will not be cooked at this point. Cooking is completed in the sauce.)

5. Chicken should be covered with sauce…cover pot and let simmer 45 minutes

LORI’S Tomato Sauce 

Makes 2 quarts 
Prep Time: 45 minutes from chopping til eating

¼ - ½ cup olive oil enough to coat the bottom of a Large pot 1/4" (6-8 quart)
2 - 6 oz can tomato paste
2 cups onion diced
2 cloves garlic or 1 tsp granular dry
¼ cup fresh parsley 
2 tsp each basil, thyme, oregano, parsley
4-8 Cups hot water
28 oz large can Contadina crushed tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste
OPTIONAL Red Pepper flakes, a pinch at a time and stir, to taste

Directions:
1. Dice onion, mince garlic, chop  parsley, keep separate…
2. Sauté onion until soft and translucent not browned . 10 minutes
3. Add tomato paste, sauté on medium heat 5 minutes, stirring so it doesn't burn
4. Add garlic and all herbs, sauté 5 minutes stirring occasionally
5. Add crushed tomatoes, heat to bubbling on high, stirring occasionally to move tomatoes from the bottom.
6. Add water stirring as you add to combine all ingredients.
It will thicken as you simmer
 Optional: add more water to get the consistency that you enjoy .
7. Simmer consistently for 30 minutes - gently stir occasionally so bottom doesn’t burn
8. Add pinch kosher salt and pepper to Taste 
9. Add a spoonful of sugar and stir well.( from the ½ cup,) taste after each addition until you like the flavor.
10. Add  pepper flakes if you choose