February CHOCOHOLICS/QUEEN FOR A DAY

February's theme was "CHOCOHOLICS"..and we had so many FANTASTIC recipes it was hard to choose. But HAILEE won hands down with her recipe for "CHOCOLATE COOKIE CHEESECAKE". HAILEE is our YOUNGEST member and a newlywed; she has made some AMAZING dishes (I bet her husband loves it too).

Way to go Hailee!

Hailee was crowned our February "Queen for a Day"!

HAILEE'S winning recipe for

Chocolate Cookie Cheesecake

Ingredients

• 2 cups chocolate sandwich cookie crumbs
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 pounds cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/4 cups white sugar
• 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate sandwich cookie crumbs
• 16 ounces sour cream
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Combine 2 cups cookie crumbs, melted butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a medium bowl; firmly press mixture evenly onto bottom and 1 inch up sides of a 10-inch spring form pan. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 5 minutes; set aside.


2. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Gradually mix in 1 1/4 cups sugar, 1/3 cup whipping cream, flour, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Pour 1/3 of batter into prepared pan. Top with 1 1/2 cups cookie pieces; pour in remaining batter.


3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes. Remove cake from oven. Combine sour cream, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla; spread evenly on cheesecake. Continue baking for 7 minutes. Turn oven off and leave in oven 30 minutes. Remove cheesecake, and let cool completely on a wire rack.


4. Combine 1 cup whipping cream and chocolate chips in a saucepan; stir over low heat until chocolate melts, and then stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Pour mixture over cheesecake while still warm. Refrigerate until serving time. Should be at least 8 hours for refrigerator time, remove about 1/2 hour to 1 hour before serving, remove ring from spring form pan, decorate to choice and get out your fork!

We had RECIPES for, cream PUFFS, flour less chocolate CAKE, triple CHOCOLATE bundt cake, chocolate TURTLE pie, chocolate HERSHEY cool whip balls , and even a MEAT dish...Calzone Pie!

Here are a few more of the favorites:

Cristie's Cream Puffs

Pastry:

½ cup butter or margarine

1 cup water

¼ tsp salt

1 cup flour

4 eggs

Grease 2 cookie sheets. In a 2 qt pan over medium, heat butter, water and salt until butter mixture boil. Remove from heat. Add flour all at once. With a wooden spoon, vigorously stir until mixture forms a ball and leaves side of pan. Add eggs to flour mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition, until smooth. Cool mixture slightly. Using a large spoon and a rubber spatula, drop batter onto cookie sheet in 12 large mounds, 3 inches apart. Bake 50 minutes @ 375 F. Remove from oven, cut slit in side of each puff and return to oven for 10 minutes. Turn off oven, let puff dry out in oven for 10 minutes. Set aside.

Filling:

¾ cup sugar

¼ cup flour

¼ tsp salt

1 ½ cups milk

6 egg yolks

1 tsp almond extract

1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream

¼ cup sugar

In a 2 qt saucepan combine ¾ cup sugar, ¼ cup flour and ¼ tsp salt. Stir in 1 ½ cups milk. Over medium heat cook, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and boils, about 10 minutes; boil for 1 minute. In a small bowl, beat with fork – 6 egg yolks slightly; beat small amount of milk mixture into yolks, slowly pour egg mixture back into milk mixture, stirring. Cook over medium heat stirring until mixture thickens and coats spoon well – about 8 minutes (DO NOT BOIL). Remove from heat and add 1 tsp of almond extract. Stir. Cover with plastic wrap and shill for 2 hours. In a small bowl with mixer on medium speed, beat 1 ½ cups of heavy whipping cream and ¼ cup of sugar, Fold into custard.

FILL EACH PUFF WITH FILLING

GLAZE:

In a 1 qt sauce pan over low heat, melt 2 squares semi-sweet chocolate and 2 TBS butter stirring constantly. Stir in 1 cup of powder sugar and 3 TBS milk until smooth. Pour over each puff.

Lauri's Chocolate Hershey Cool Whip Balls

8 oz Hershey Chocolate Bar w/ almonds

4 oz Cool Whip

Graham Cracker Crumbs

Break chocolate bar into pieces and microwave for about 40 seconds. Stir and microwave for another 15 seconds if necessary (let cool for short time)

Fold in cool whip.

(Variation: add orange zest (a little to taste) and tsp of *orange liquor) Caution: when adding liquor start with tsp to insure it does not harden (seize)

Drop spoonfuls for mixture into crumbs. Roll and freeze or refrigerate.

Variation to graham crackers – chocolate, crushed nuts, *coconut

*If using coconut for crumb mixture, substitute rum in place of orange liquor

These were very YUMMY and Lauri said you can FREEZE them! hmmm a freezer full of yummy CHOCOLATE balls...what's better than that?

Lori's Calzone Pie

*2 pounds frozen bread dough thawed

1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground pork
1/2 cup white wine
1 medium onion chopped - I used shallots
1 ounce semi-sweet chocolate grated
1/4 cup chopped toasted almonds

3 egg whites stiffly beaten
1 yolk

1 TBS chopped fresh parsley

1 tsp rosemary

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp minced garlic

Directions:
1. Sauté onion and garlic in a skillet.
2. Stir in the meat, then add cayenne, rosemary and parsley – salt to taste

3. Add the wine and let simmer until the liquid is evaporated.
4. Stir in the chocolate and almonds.
5. Let simmer over low heat for about 30 minutes stirring occasionally.
6. Fold in the beaten egg whites and remove from the heat.
7. Pat the bread dough into two equal circles.
8. Place one of the circles into a greased pie plate.
9. Pour in the meat mixture and top with the other circle of dough pressing to seal the edges.
10. Prick the top of the dough with a fork.
11. Brush top with beaten egg yolk and bake for about 20 minutes in a 400 degree oven

*I substituted the bread dough for refrigerator pizza dough and made individual servings rather than one pie. I found that using the bread dough was a little too bready (and I LOVE bread). I also added a little mozzarella cheese to mixture and brushed the tops with butter and sprinkled with McCormick's garlic bread sprinkle instead of the egg yolk.

Some useful TIPS we learned along the way:

TIP # 1: Chocolate hates the heat!

Chocolate scorches easily, so don't let it get too hot too fast...

The best way to control this is to melt the chocolate using a double boiler. If you aren't stocked with one, then fill a large pot with water and set a smaller pot inside the first. The water should be hot - NOT BOILING. Make sure to continuously stir the chocolate to keep the heat evenly distributed.

TIP #2: Water is not your friend!

When melting chocolate the water must be kept below simmering to prevent steam from curling up and hitting the chocolate. If steam gets into the melted chocolate it will immediately thicken (seize). If this happens, you can add 1 - 2 TBS vegetable shortening (NEVER use butter as it contains moisture)

Make sure your pot and your utensils are completely dry!

We are all having so much FUN...the "QUEENS" are such a GREAT group of ladies!

We have a NEW member and as you can see she fit right in!

This month's theme was "LUCK O' THE IRISH" and everyone came up with some FANTASTIC recipes. Tune in next month for our favorites!!!

UNTIL THEN...let's get cooking!