Pumpkin Mascarpone Pie

Serves: 8
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 55 minutes

Ingredients:

Filling
1 cup pumpkin purée
1 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp lemon juice (about half a lemon)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 (8 oz) container mascarpone
Salt

Whipped Cream Topping
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup mascarpone
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbs sugar
Salt

Preparation:

1. With a mixer, beat sugar and pumpkin until combined. Add all other filling ingredients, except mascarpone, and mix until smooth. Add mascarpone and mix until combined.

2. Place mixture in a prepared crust (I used a store bought graham crust). Bake on 350 degrees for about 55 minutes, until filling is set. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack. Allow to cool completely (at least one hour).

3. For whipped cream, combine all ingredients and beat until stiff peaks form, about 4-5 minutes. Serve on top of cooled pie.

Recipe adapted from Epicurious.com.

It was another one of those days where I had mascarpone (happens a lot) and no idea what to do with it. I was at the grocery store and with my handy Epicurious app looked up mascarpone. This was the first recipe that popped up and I knew I had to try it. That was a great decision. This is DELICIOUS and incredibly easy thanks to my handy dandy hand mixer. The picture is a little off because I wasn’t patient enough to let the pie cool completely but it was tasty none the less. I also realized I should have made the whipped cream right before serving because my stiff peaks became not-so-stiff after a while in the refrigerator. Again, not the prettiest thing on the planet but DELICIOUS. You should definitely try this. It’s a bit of a combination of pumpkin pie and cheesecake. It has the flavor of a cheesecake while having the consistency of pumpkin pie. That’s a pretty great combination if you ask me.

Taco!

Mascarpone Nutella Crepes with Bananas and Strawberries

Mascarpone Nutella Crepes with Bananas and Strawberries

Serves: About 4
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

Crepes

1 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup warm water
1 tsp salt
3 tbs melted butter
2 eggs

Filling

8 oz (1 container) mascarpone, room temperature
8 oz Nutella, or equivalent
1-2 bananas, sliced
6-8 strawberries, sliced

Preparation:

1. To make crepes, combine all crepe ingredients except flour and whisk until smooth. Add flour and mix quickly until batter is combined and smooth. Heat about 1/4 tsp of butter in a pan. Add a ladle-full of batter. Move pan in a circular motion so batter covers bottom of pan. When ends begin to curl and bottom is slightly brown, flip crepes and cook until lightly brown on both sides.

2. To make filling, combine mascarpone and Nutella and mix until fully incorporated. Spread mixture on half of a crepe and cover in bananas and strawberries. Fold crepe over and if desired fold again. Top with cheese-chocolate mixture and fruit slices and serve.

Recipe adapted from Circle B Kitchen.

I really wanted chocolate and I had mascarpone (which until today I was pronouncing mar-sca-pone, not ma-scar-pone) so I scoured the internet for something tasty and at least moderately heathy. I found this great recipe and I knew my search was over! I had all of the required ingredients in the house and I could make them in about 30 minutes and satisfying my chocolate craving. They. Are. Delicious. Eat them. Like, now.

A few tips: Definitely set out the mascarpone early so it’s room temperature. Otherwise it will be REALLY difficult to mix. Trust me, I did that and it was horrible. Also, you’re first crepe will probably be funny looking. That’s also ok. Mine was definitely not right but Adam will eat anything so it’s ok. And finally, don’t worry about using too little batter and start spinning the pan IMMEDIATELY. I had a roommate once who is French and I watched her make crepes once so I consider myself an expert.

Taco!

Lemon Bars

Lemon Bar

Serves 24
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 65 minutes

Ingredients:

Crust

3 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)
1 tsp salt
3 sticks butter, cut into tbs

Filling

6 eggs
1 tbs lemon zest (1 lemon)
1/2 cup lemon juice (3-4 lemons)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
Confectioners sugar for topping

Beef Stew

Beef Stew

Serves 6
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

2 lbs stew meat
1 medium onion, chopped
2 large russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 clove garlic, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 cups water
1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp paprika
Dash of allspice

Blueberry Muffin Cake

Blueberry Muffin Cake

Serves: 6-8

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

2 tsp lemon zest (zest of 1 large lemon)

3/4 cup sugar + 1 tbs for sprinkling

My First Blog Award! 7×7

Yay! I was nominated yesterday for my first blog award! I’ll admit. I cheated a little since the person who nominated me is my boyfriend, but he also legitimately loves my blog as well as me. Probably mostly because he gets to eat all the food I cook. But I digress!

Here are the rules for receiving the award:

1. Thank the person who gave it to you.

2. Share seven random facts about yourself.

3. Share seven of your worthy posts under the following headers: Most Beautiful Piece, Most Helpful, Most Popular, Most Controversial, Most Surprisingly Successful, Most Underrated and Most Pride Worthy.

4. Nominate seven other bloggers and notify them.

So here we go!

1. I was nominated for this award by my amazing, awesome and talented boyfriend Adam over at Eat, Sleep, Television. Adam is a movie and tv fanatic and is also excellent at breaking episodes and movies down and just telling you how he feels. He has done some excellent reviews and even though I don’t always agree with him (Avatar ROCKS!), I love his style and ability to see things others cannot. His dream in life is to become a critic so go help him out. It will be a win-win situation.

2. Seven Random Facts… Alrighty then.

1. I don’t like crunchy desserts. My cookies will be doughy, Bob Darn It!
2. I have an obsession with shoes. And purses. And clothes. And shopping in general.
3. I wear a shower cap. Curly girls represent!
4. I’m related to Stonewall Jackson by marriage.
5. My mother is Anne Rice.
6. I LOVE Hello Kitty. Like seriously. LOVE.
7. The story behind Basmati Taco, the name. My last name is Rice. Once day my friend and I were signing up for online dating (and it worked out well I must say) and it is ridiculously hard to come up with screen names for these things. My friend suggested something rice related and we came up with Basmati. Well, that was already taken and the site recommended trying Basmati_Taco. And there you have it. I actually have never had a Basmati Taco but it will happen someday. Indian-style tacos here I come!

3. My posts:

• Most Beautiful: Steph’s Guacamole
• Most Helpful: How to Treat Your Avocados With Respect
• Most Popular: Raw Vegan Chocolate Mousse Pie
• Most Controversial: Grits Pie
• Most Surprisingly Successful: Crock Pot Orange Chicken
• Most Underrated: Sopapilla Cheesecake
• Most Pride Worthy: Creamy Tomato Basil Bisque

4. And the nominees are:

1. Journey Too
2. Going Dutch
3. Cloud of Lace
4. Danny’s Kitchen
5. Lauren’s Road Less Traveled
6. Assia’s Kaleidoscope
7. A Teaspoon Of Tumeric

And there you have it! Thanks so much to Adam and to all my readers!

Taco!

Grits Pie

Grits Pie

Serves 6-8

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

1/4 cup quick cooking grits

salt

8 tbl butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 tbl flour

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 buttermilk (I used half and half)

1 tsp vanilla extract

Pie Crust

Whipped cream for garnish

Preparation:

1. Cook grits according to package instructions. Add butter and stir until melted. Cool slightly.

2. Stir sugar, flour, eggs, buttermilk and vanilla. Stir in grits and pour into unbaked pie crust. Bake on 325 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. Can be served warm or cold. Garnish with whipped cream.

Recipe adapted from Paula Deen’s Southern Cooking Bible.

As you may know, I got a Paula Deen cook book for Christmas. I found this recipe for grits pie and was immediately intrigued. Thanks to a new found love of grits from the Grillades and Grits recipe I knew I had to try this odd-sounding dessert. I made it and holy cow is it delicious. It is the perfect amount of sweetness with a wonderful texture from the grits. Plus it was incredibly easy. Paula Deen has a crust recipe, but I’m lazy and don’t like the mess so I used a pre-made crust. I also had to use two pie crusts because it was WAY too much filling for one pie. I would definitely recommend experimenting with this one and finding out just how awesome grits can be in any form.

Taco!

Raw Vegan Chocolate Mousse Pie

Raw Vegan Chocolate Mousse Pie

Serves: 6-8

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 0, it’s raw!

Ingredients:

Crust

1 cup dried shredded raw coconut

1 cup macadamia nuts (or 1/2 cup and 1/2 cup hazelnuts)

1/2 cup packed pitted dates

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp agave nectar or coconut oil/butter

Filling

Flesh of 2 ripe avocados (learn how to tell if an avocado is ripe here)

1/2 cup baking chocolate (make sure there’s no milk if going vegan, or try using raw cacao and adding more agave until sweet enough)

1 tbl vanilla extract

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/2 tbs agave nectar

Preparation:

1. For crust, combine crust ingredients in food processor and blend until smooth. Press in to pie plate and refrigerate until needed.

2. For filling, combine filling ingredients in food processor and blend until creamy (3-5 minutes). Spread in crust and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Recipe adapted from megadaisy1 at GroupRecipes.com.

And that’s it. This was SO easy and is incredibly delicious. The idea of putting avocado in a dessert pie is certainly interesting and I was put off by it the first time I heard it suggested but I tried it and it was delicious. The avocado provides a wonderful consistency and the flavor is so mild that it can be overtaken by the chocolate. Plus, it’s a healthy alternative to standard mousse which involves a lot of sugar and other things I’m trying to eat less of. This is definitely something worth trying and maybe even experimenting with. Avocados are just that awesome! Don’t forget to check out my post on How To Treat Your Avocados With Respect.

Taco!

Sopapilla Cheesecake

Sopapilla Cheesecake

Serves 12

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

2 cans crescent roll dough

2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup butter, melted

Cinnamon and sugar