Cheesecake Lollipops

I made these for my kid's valentine party at school and they were a hit!

Cheesecake:

2 -8 oz packages of cream cheese

3/4 cup of granulated sugar

3/8 cup of milk

2 eggs

1/2 cup of sour cream

1/2 Tbsp of vanilla extract

1/8 cup all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350F. grease a 9 inch baking dish.

In a large mixing bowl, mix cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Blend in milk and then the eggs one at a time, mix it just enough to incorporate. Mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour until smooth. Pour filling in prepared baking dish .

Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Let it cool down for 30 minutes and then refrigerate for 2-3 hours

Lollipops:

Toppings (Sprinkles, coconut, slivered almonds, crushed pecans,...)

1/4 pound of dark chocolate

cheesecake

lollipop sticks

Ribbon

clear plastic bags

Arrange a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet

Scoop out cheesecake with a small ice cream spoon and finish the ball by rolling it in your hands ( slightly wet hands help a lot), place a stick at the end of each and lay them on cookie sheet. Transfer the tray to the freezer for about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile place chocolate in a water bath and melt it down completely.

When cheesecake is hard , dip in the melted chocolate and immediately dip them in the topping of your choice. Let them cool completely before wrapping them.

Tiramisu

YUUUMMMMMMM!!!! I love Tiramisu, it's a rich dessert but not too sweet and the coffee and rum flavors mixes perfectly well with the mascarpone cheese....

6 egg yolks
1 lb. mascarpone cheese
3 tbsp sugar
2 cups of cooled expresso
2 tbsp of rum
22 ladyfingers
Good quality dark chocolate shavings for garnish

I use a electric mixer with the whisk attachment but you can use a hand whisk if you prefer.
Whisk sugar and egg yolks till pale yellow and creamy , add mascarpone cheese and beat until smooth, add a tbsp of expresso and mix until combined.
mix the remaining coffee and rum and pour in a shallow dish, dip each ladyfinger quickly in the mixture not letting them soak too much(they will fall apart in your hands, and you don't want that), transfer 1/2 of them to the bottom of a 13x9 dish .
Pour 1/2 the mascarpone mixture on top and spread evenly. Arrange another layer of ladyfingers and spread the rest of the mascarpone mixture on top.
Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. Sprinkle chocolate shavings on top before serving

Asparagus and Caramelized Onion Risotto

Risotto is definitely one of my favorite dishes! You should pick your rice first , i like Carnaroli. You need stock, homemade or store bought your choice! you can add different types of veggies or meat or a combination of both and have a full meal in one pot!
Ingredients:
2 cups of carnaroli  rice
4 to 6 cups of vegetable stock warm (reserve 1/4 cup to add at the end)
1/2 bottle of dry white wine warm
3 large yellow onions roughly chopped
1 bunch of asparagus
4 tbsp of butter
olive oil
salt & pepper
sugar
parsley

Heat a heavy bottom pan with some olive oil in it over medium heat, add 1/3 of the onions and saute them until softened,about 4 minutes. Add the rice and stir until each grain is well coated with oil and translucent with a white dot in the center, about 3 minutes , lower the heat and start pouring the wine(warm or you will shock the rice) and stir it constantly until it is completely absorbed. Add the stock(also warm)a ladleful at a time and keep stirring never letting the rice dry on top, it will probably take about 25 to 30 minutes to soften the rice.
When the rice is almost tender to the bite but slightly firm in the center and looks creamy add the caramelized onions and asparagus, give it a stir and add 2 tablespoons of butter and the reserved 1/4 cup of stock. Season with salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle fresh chopped parsley.

Caramelized onion and asparagus:
Heat 2 tbsp of butter and 2 tbsp of oil in a large frying pan, add 2/3 of the onion and sprinkle salt,pepper and sugar on top. Lower the temperature and cook for about 1 hour until onion is soft, translucent and tastes candy like.

Snap the hard bottoms of asparagus and cut the rest into 2" pieces , lay them on top of onions when done and cover the pan , the asparagus will cook with the heat from the onions.

Beer Braised Beef Short Ribs

Got some really good looking beef short ribs at the supermarket this morning and decided to cook them for saturday dinner. Beef ribs is one of those lesser cuts of meat that not many people experiment with , and in my mind if you can't experiment with different types of food and flavors then you are not a cook, i mean ,really, who can't grill a chicken breast or cook filet mignon?

So here's what you need:
* about 2 lbs of beef short ribs , cut into single bone sections
* 2 onions
* 4 cloves of garlic
* 1 stalk of celery
* 2-3 tbsp of all purpose flour
* olive oil
* can of beer(i used a lager)
* 2 cups of beef stock( i use homemade but you can buy the boxed ones or boil water and add a couple of bouillon cubes)
* tbsp of tomato paste
* salt and pepper to taste
* 2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme
*1 bay leaf

Sprinkle salt, pepper and flour on the ribs,..... meanwhile turn the oven to 300F and pour a bit of EVOO on a hot pan ,then lay the ribs meat side down on it and let it fry for about 2 minutes until brownish. while frying the ribs go ahead and chop 1 carrot , 1 stalk of celery , 2 whole onions and 4 cloves of garlic. After about 2 minutes all the meat is browned. Remove the meat from the pan and throw the veggies in the hot grease untill browned.
Put the beef back in the pot with the veggies, pour the beer and enough stock to cover the meat, add the tomato paste, fresh thyme and bay leaf . Bring it to a boil.  Remove from stove top and place it on a middle shelf in your oven, let it simmer in oven for about 2 hours untill meat is so tender is falling off the bone.  Remove all the meat from pot and place on cutting board while the liquid gets reduced by half, meanwhile with a small boning knife, remove meat from the bones and then remove thin cartilage in between the meat and where the bone was (that can be a little of work and working with the hot meat can burn you so it's your choice). Put meat back in reduced sauce and serve with your choice of mashed potatoes, egg noodles or i like with risotto.