Monkeybread

Posted on September 10, 2014 by yobriaahh

 

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Monkeybread by Kathryn Galindo
Story and Photos by Bria Bell

Kathryn Galindo, a senior Exercise and Sports Science major at St. Mary’s University, has made a passion of making Monkey Bread for her friends and family.

Galindo, who is also on the St. Mary’s women’s basketball team, says she appreciates her time here because of the small community “You pretty much see people you know everyday. You get to know almost everyone and I enjoy that,” she says.

Even though she will be graduating in May 2014, Galindo expresses her excitement about her future endeavors after her time at St. Mary’s is up “I plan to work for an airrosti rehab facility to be a rehab specialist,” she says.

Cooking Monkey Bread stems from when Galindo was a senior in high school.

“One of my good friends got the recipe from Pinterest and tried to make it because it looked really good, but it came out really bad. We decided to try it again at my house and it came out a lot better,” she says.

Galindo’s favorite foods include fried chicken and asparagus casserole, but she enjoys cooking Italian dishes as well as special desserts. “Overall, I’m just a general lover of food!”

For anyone trying to recreate this recipe of Monkey Bread, Galindo’s advice is to experiment with it “Keep trying to create a different version every time, change your technique occasionally, add a different ingredient like pecans or something…as long as you like it, that’s all that matters,” she says.

Ingredients:

½ cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

2 cans of Pillsbury Grands Home Style Buttermilk Biscuits (refrigerated)

½ cup firmly packed brown

¾ cup butter or margarine (melted)

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 12-cup fluted tube pan with shortening or cooking spray. In large storage plastic food bag, mix granulated sugar and cinnamon.

Separate dough into 16 biscuits; cut each into quarters. Shake in bag to coat. Arrange in pan, adding walnuts and raisins among the biscuit pieces.

In small bowl, mix brown sugar and butter; pour over biscuit pieces.

Bake 28 to 32 minutes or until golden brown and no longer doughy in center. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Turn upside down onto serving plate; pull apart to serve. Serve warm.

Makes 1-9 or 10 inch tube pan

Filed under: Class Projects, Desserts, Recipes | Tagged: , , , | 2 Comments »

Red Velvet Crepês

Posted on April 7, 2014 by Travis

Red Velvet Crepês by Wendy Araujo
Videography and Production by Travis Bowles

Chef Wendy loves making deserts. She is a St. Mary’s alumn who also enjoys eating red velvet cake. So, when this recipe found her, she couldn’t wait to give it a try.

Ingredients

Crepe Batter
– 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
– 1 teaspoon baking powder
– 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
– 1/4 teaspoon salt
– 3 tablespoons sugar
– 2 cups butter milk
– 1 1/4 cup whole or lowfat milk
– 1 large egg
– 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
– 1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder, sifted – 1 tablespoon red food color gel
– 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted + 2 tablespoons cooking oil (for pan)

Mascarpone Cream Filling
– 500 mL heavy cream
– 300 gr mascarpone cheese – 1/2 cup icing sugar
– 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
– zest of 1 orange (optional, but adds nice tang)

Chocolate Ganache Topping
– 75 gr bittersweet chocolate
– 75 mL heavy cream
– 1 tablespoon sugar

Directions

For the Mascarpone Filling:
Using a mixer, mix mascarpone cheese, 1/4 cup sugar, and vanilla until soft and fluffy. Set aside. Whip cream and remaining sugar to a stiff peak. Carefully fold into the mascarpone cheese until combined. Refrigerate until ready to use.

For Chocolate Ganche Sauce
Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set aside. In a small sauce pan, heat cream and sugar to a rolling boil. Remove from heat, and pour over chocolate. Carefully mix until homogenous, and set aside until ready to use. If the ganache sets, re-melt the chocolate over a double boiler.

Red Velvet Crepes
In a large bowl stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. Set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, milk, egg, sugar, melted butter, vanilla extract and food coloring. Whisk until combined. Pour the liquid ingredients into the mixing bowl with the dry ingredients, and stir with a wooden spoon until the dry ingredients are combined. The batter will be a little runny (think soup). If you find that the batter is too thick and pancake like, add more milk (regular). Make sure the batter is clear of lumps. With a pastry brush, brush the surface of large (non-stick) skillet with cooking oil. Heat it over medium heat. Test skillet after a couple of minutes by drizzling a few few drops of water onto the cooking surface. If the drops sizzle and evaporate, the surface is hot enough. Turn the heat down to medium. For each crepe, spoon or ladle about 1/4 cup of the batter into the center of the skillet. Holding onto the handle of the pan, remove it from the heat and swirl the pan so the batter coats the bottom of the pan. You want to make the coating as thin as possible. If you have holes in the crepe, go ahead and add more batter to the pan to cover them. Return to heat. As the batter cooks, it will dry and lose its shine (~ 2 minutes). Once this happens, use a non- metal spatula and carefully flip the crepe over. Finish cooking the crepe on the other side (~ 45 seconds). Gently slide the cooked crepe onto an ovenproof plate, and keep the finished crepes warm in an oven set at 195 degrees.

Assembling the Crepes
Pipe mascarpone cream filling, and carefully roll. Drizzle with chocolate ganache sauce and dust with icing sugar.

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The Best New York Style Cheesecake

Posted on July 15, 2013 by koko0202

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The Best New York Style Cheesecake by Anissa Bravo
Story and Photos by Stela Khury

When Anissa Bravo, Junior English major, tried to decide what sort of food she would both feel comfortable preparing and enjoy eating, she sensed a pattern. Bravo noticed that she kept seeking out dishes that she could share easily. Her dream job as a teacher showed through her desire to unite over an often overlooked task. Bravo felt an evening off to order pizza was a fun idea, but actually taking up the task of preparing a meal was even more rewarding, if not therapeutic.

“I genuinely love all types of food! I do enjoy Mexican food because that is definitely comfort food for me; I also love Asian and Italian cuisine,” Bravo says. “But anything sweet is definitely a favorite for me.”

Bravo decided she wanted to bake a comforting dessert for her closest group of friends. She says St. Mary’s has a “homey vibe” that welcomes simple pleasures, thus she picked the simplest and most delicious dessert of all: cheesecake.  Bravo felt that after a rough start to the semester, a Friday night watching the Lord of the Rings while munching on a slice of freshly baked cheesecake was just what she and her friends needed.

“I chose the New York cheesecake with a blueberry topping because it is very delicious and also fun to make,” Bravo says. “There really isn’t any other special significance besides that I adore cheesecake… and blueberries. So, as a combination, they’re pretty spectacular.”

Bravo says that cheesecake is a fairly easy recipe to make, because it basically involves “mixing ingredients and pouring them on a pan.” The only downside of cheesecake over a plain cake is that the cheesecake needs time to cool. The New York style of cheesecake, according to Bravo, is one of the easiest if one needs to “get eating fast.” Bravo’s secret hint is to let the cheesecake cool for 30 minutes on top of the oven and then an hour in the freezer, which should allow for a firm, delicious cheesecake in half the time.

Bravo also advises aspiring chefs to remember to add a fruit topping.

“Plain cheesecake is delicious, but nothing beats a tasty kick of sweet berries,” Bravo says. “Also, the way it looks at the end is so beautiful that it makes [this cheesecake] a rewarding dessert to bake.”

Ingredients

Crust:

  • 2c finely ground graham crackers (about 30 squares)
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, melted

Filling:

  • ·2 (8-oz) blocks of cream cheese
  • ·3 eggs
  • ·1c sugar
  • ·1 pint sour cream
  • ·1 tsp vanilla extract

Fruit topping:

  • ·1 pint blueberries, raspberries or cherries
  • ·2T sugar

In a saucepan add all the ingredients and simmer over medium heat for five minutes, or until the fruit begins to release juice and the sugar to become firm. The ideal point is when, by mixing the contents of the pan, the sauce is only thick enough for the bottom of the saucepan to be perfectly visible for a moment.

Servings: 8-12

Directions

Prepare the oven by preheating it to 325°F.

In a bowl, combine the ingredients for the crust with a fork until evenly moistened. Coat the bottom and sides of pan with either cooking spray or regular cooking oil.

Pour the mixture into the pan and press the crumbs down onto the bottom of the pan and an inch up on the sides to form the base of the cheesecake.

Next, with aid of a mixer, beat the cream cheese with the vanilla extract for one minute until smooth.

On a separate bowl, add sour cream and fold in one egg at a time. Continue to beat slowly until combined. Gradually add sugar and beat these components until creamy (one or two minutes.)

Combine the cream cheese and sour cream mixtures and beat until smooth and even.

Pour the filling into the crust-lined pan and smooth the top with a spatula.

Cover the cheesecake pan with aluminum foil and place it in the oven. Bake for 45 minutes.

Let the cheesecake, still slightly jiggly, to cool in the pan for 30 minutes.

Chill in the refrigerator for at least four hours.

Finally, unmold and transfer to a cake plate.

Using a spatula spread a layer of the fruit topping of choice over the surface.

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