Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Oreo Pie

Usually, you all get to hear from my mom on Sunday evenings when she blogs a recipe for the week.  She left at 6AM this morning with three other ladies and her boss to go to a conference in Hershey, PA.  In honor of her traveling to "Chocolate Town" this week, I'm positing this recipe.  I made this pie yesterday for dinner tonight.  Dan and I had my dad over for dinner along with our neighbor lady, Darlene, who we adore.  *IT*IS*DELICIOUS* and oh so easy to make!  The only "difficult" thing about making it is waiting for it to chill in the freezer between layers.  It really is ridiculously easy to make.  It's extremely decadent, so I recommend smaller slices than the one pictured here.  Enjoy!             -Olivia

Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Oreo Pie

 

Ingredients

• 1 package (about 36) whole Oreos
• 1 cup (16 tablespoons) butter, divided
• ⅔ cup packed brown sugar
• 1¼ cup heavy whipping cream, divided
• 1 (12 oz) bag dark chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Finely crush the Oreos with a food processor or blender. Stir crumbs together with 8 tablespoons melted butter until well combined. Press into the bottom and sides of a pie pan. Freeze crust for 10 minutes until set.
2. Combine remaining 8 tablespoons butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture begins to bubble. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Slowly whisk in ¼ cup heavy whipping cream until smooth. Cool caramel about 15 minutes. Pour the caramel over the Oreo crust, then return to freezer for about 30-45 minutes until just chilled and set. (You don't want the caramel to fully freeze.)
3. Place chocolate chips in a glass bowl. In a saucepan, bring 1 cup heavy whipping cream to a simmer over medium-high heat. Pour the cream over the chocolate chips and let sit for 5 minutes, then whisk until completely smooth. Pour the chocolate over the caramel and freeze for a final 30 minutes, until just chilled and set. OR refrigerate, covered, until ready to serve. Before serving, sprinkle the top with a flaky sea salt like kosher salt.

BLUE CHEESE SAUCE

BLUE CHEESE SAUCE
Olivia found this Bobbie Flay recipe and gave it a try with waffle fries.  I haven't tried it but it looks delicious.  Although it would be good with potato fries and potato chips, I wonder what it would be like over your favorite pasta, a baked potato, drizzled over a breaded chicken patty (kinda of like a country fried steak), or even served with chicken wings instead of blue cheese dressing!  If you make it and like it, put your imagination into overdrive and be creative with your use of this great sauce.
-Nanette

Blue Cheese Sauce:

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups whole milk  (I used 2% milk.)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small Spanish onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Pinch cayenne pepper
1/2 pound crumbled blue cheese

Directions

Blue Cheese Sauce:
Place the milk in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat. Heat the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the warm milk, and continue whisking until thickened. Season with salt and cayenne pepper. Continue cooking for 5 minutes, whisking occasionally. Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese. If the sauce is too thick, thin it with a little extra milk. Serve sauce warm with potato chips or French fries for dipping.

ENGLISH MUFFIN BREAD

ENGLISH MUFFIN BREAD
As far as I am concerned, bread is a tricky thing.  Getting the measurements right is important, getting the dough to rise is crucial and subject to many a pitfall, and kneading is an inexact science.  Having said all of that Olivia and I have neither one excelled at the art of bread making but occasionally venture into the somewhat daunting world of creating a tasty loaf.

Recently Olivia found this recipe on the www.kingarthurflour.com web site with an accompanying tutorial and decided to take the plunge.  When she said she also made homemade butter to go with it, I was impressed.  I haven't tried this bread, but she raved about how much she enjoyed making it compared to most bread recipes and how very good it was!  If you are a seasoned baker or just getting your feet wet in the bread making arena, try this recipe.  Olivia assures me you won't regret it!
-Nanette

ENGLISH MUFFIN BREAD

• 3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon instant yeast
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or olive oil
• cornmeal, to sprinkle in pan

directions

1) Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and instant yeast in a large mixing bowl.

2) Combine the milk, water, and oil in a separate, microwave-safe bowl, and heat to between 120°F and 130°F. Be sure to stir the liquid well before measuring its temperature; you want an accurate reading. If you don't have a thermometer, the liquid will feel quite hot (hotter than lukewarm), but not so hot that it would be uncomfortable as bath water.

3) Pour the hot liquid over the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl.

4) Beat at high speed for 1 minute. The dough will be very soft.

5) Lightly grease an 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan, and sprinkle the bottom and sides with cornmeal.

6) Scoop the soft dough into the pan, leveling it in the pan as much as possible.

7) Cover the pan, and let the dough rise till it's just barely crowned over the rim of the pan. When you look at the rim of the pan from eye level, you should see the dough, but it shouldn't be more than, say, 1/4" over the rim. This will take about 45 minutes to 1 hour, if you heated the liquid to the correct temperature and your kitchen isn't very cold. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 400°F.

8) Remove the cover, and bake the bread for 22 to 27 minutes, till it's golden brown and its interior temperature is 190°F.

9) Remove the bread from the oven, and after 5 minutes turn it out of the pan onto a rack to cool. Let the bread cool completely before slicing.

Yield: 1 loaf.

Springtime Menu

Springtime Menu
You may have guessed by now that Olivia and I love the holidays and love preparing food for the holidays.  Easter is no exception.  This Easter was like many others for us.  The preparation started a few days before Easter Sunday.  We shopped, chopped, baked, peeled etc. getting ready.  Like every holiday, I made deviled eggs for my son-in-law because he really likes them.

Olivia did something really special this year.  She recreated a rye bread recipe my grandmother used to make.  It was a challenge because Grandma Mae was an excellent baker but did many things from memory and feel.  Olivia realized when she read the handwritten recipe that it did not include the amount of yeast to use and called for "Bohemian" rye flour which she never did find.  She made a few adjustments but added the anise seed, caraway seed, and orange zest called for in the recipe. It turned out wonderfully and Grandma Mae would have been very proud of her.

Here was our menu for the day:

-Appetizers of crackers and St. Anne's cheese ball (a specialty made by our church) at Christmas time and frozen for future use.
-A fabulous salad complete with candied pecans, blue cheese, dried cranberries, bacon, etc. with a delightful balsamic vinaigrette dressing
-Cooked baby carrots drizzled with maple syrup
-Asparagus wrapped in prosciutto and oven roasted
-Glazed ham
-Mashed potatoes
-Homemade rye bread
-Deviled eggs
-Homemade carrot cake (made with crushed pineapple and homemade cream cheese icing)
-Riesling and Malbec wine

 
This is a picture of the dinner table as we were getting the food on the table.

It was a glorious day that started with a sunrise Easter service at church.  The sun rose, the bells rang, the white flowers filled the air with Springtime beauty, and we boldly declared the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The weather was gorgeous with sun and temperatures in the low 60s.

Friends of ours from church joined our family for lunch and then a rousing game of dominoes.  We could not have have asked for more.  We had time for worship, time for food, and time for fun.  To put it simply, we were blessed.  We hope you and your family had a blessed day as well.
-Nanette