Let's Get Cooking!

Now that Fall has arrived and the cooler weather is upon us, I am ready to spend more time in the kitchen cooking. This weekend we had our friends Francis, Helene and their son Liam over for dinner and I decided to try out a few new recipes*. We decided on a low key dinner of homemade pizza, Caesar salad, wine and pumpkin & chocolate cheesecake bars. For the pizzas, I made 4 different types - an olive pizza just for Arabella since that is what she requested, a margarita pizza, a "all-dressed" (that is what the call a pizza with everything on it here) and then the new recipe was potato pizza with caramelized onions and rosemary. While making the dough, cooking the sauce from scratch and chopping fresh herbs, I was also caramelizing onions (my first time, and they came out great). The house was beginning to smell like a true Italian kitchen. And the potato pizza was a hit, it even passed the test of 11 month old Liam! All of the flavors complimented each other nicely and it was a nice change from your typical pizza.



Potato Pizza with Caramelized Onions and Rosemary
Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil, plus more for brushing
2 large onions, thinly sliced
1/8 tsp sugar
225 g new potatoes (about 5 small)
1 recipe pizza dough
1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
1/3 cup crumbled feta
1/3 cup coarsely grated parmesan

HEAT medium non-stick frying pan over medium. Add 1 tbsp olive oil. Add onions and cook 1 min. Reduce heat to low. Stir in sugar and cook, stirring frequently, until onions caramelize, 25 to 30 min. If they stick to pan, add a bit of water.

PREHEAT oven to 425F. Lightly grease a large baking sheet or pizza pan with olive oil.

BOIL a small pot of salted water. Thinly slice potatoes, then add to boiling water. Cook 5 min. Drain and pat dry. Heat a large frying pan over medium-high. Add 1 tbsp olive oil and potatoes. Cook until golden, about 2 min per side. Keep warm.

ROLL dough out into a rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Transfer to prepared baking sheet, pressing to fill the whole sheet. Brush with olive oil. Spread with caramelized onions, leaving a narrow border. Top with rosemary, potatoes, feta and parmesan.

BAKE until edges are golden and crispy, about 25 to 28 min.

Next up were the pumpkin & chocolate cheesecake bars and they were so good! Not too sweet and the perfect combination of flavors. Although, Jay and Francis would have liked more chocolate on the top, but then again, they both love anything with chocolate! I was surprised at how easy the bars were to make and will definitely be making these again. I have already had a request from Lori that I make them when she visits for Halloween!



There are a bunch more that I want to try and later today, Arabella and I will be making pumpkin biscotti, yum! I will let you know how they turn out.

Pumpkin & Chocolate Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 tbsp finely chopped candied ginger
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 egg
3/4 cup pumpkin purée
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp each nutmeg and salt
250 g pkg regular cream cheese, at room temperature
2 tbsp whipping cream (35%)
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips

PREHEAT oven to 350F. Line an 8-in. square baking pan with parchment paper, letting paper overhang the pan’s edges. In a medium bowl, stir crumbs with candied ginger and butter until evenly moist. Press over bottom of an prepared pan. Bake in centre of oven until edges are golden, about 10 min.

WHISK egg in the same bowl (no need to wash). Whisk in pumpkin purée, sugar and seasonings. Cut cheese into cubes. Using an electric mixer, beat cheese into pumpkin mixture, scraping down sides of bowl if needed, until well mixed.
Pour over warm crust. Bake in centre of oven until filling is set when pan is jiggled, about 25 min. Cool completely on a rack.

HEAT cream in a small saucepan over medium-high until hot, 2 min, or microwave uncovered on high for 1 min. Remove from heat and add chocolate chips. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Spread over cooled filling. Refrigerate until chocolate is firm, about 1 hour. Use parchment paper to lift square out of pan, then slice into 20 bars. Refrigerate up to 5 days or freeze up to 1 month.

*Both recipes are from the October 2010 issue of Chatelaine.