foods that only look fancy!

[sillyberry]

I recently made Brazilian Cheese Bread, and it made me think about foods that are super easy to make but look super gourmet.

Anyone have recipes that fit into that category?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Easy Brazilian Cheese Bread

(check out the website for all sorts of helpful pictures and tips!)

INGREDIENTS
1 egg*
1/3 cup olive oil
2/3 cup milk
Scant 1 1/2 cups (170 grams) tapioca flour
1/2 cup (packed, about 66 grams) grated cheese, your preference, though we got the best results from Mexican farmer''s cheese - queso fresco
1 teaspoon of salt (or more to taste)

*It helps when baking with eggs to start with eggs at room temperature. If you don''t plan ahead (that would be me, usually) you can put the egg in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes to gently take off the chill of the fridge.

METHOD
1 Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease a mini-muffin tin. Put all of the ingredients into a blender and pulse until smooth. You may need to use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the blender so that everything gets blended well. At this point you can store the batter in the refrigerator for up to a week.
2 Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until all puffy and just lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool on a rack for a few minutes.
Eat while warm or save to reheat later.
Enough batter for 16 mini muffin sized cheese breads.
Note that Brazilian cheese bread is very chewy, a lot like Japanese mochi.

 

[lulu]

I''m bumping this because I''m always on the lookout for these recipes too, and I know we have great cooks here.

 

[brazen_irish_hussy]

This is the greatest desert to bring to functions because everyone else always brings basic cupcakes and this is like something out of a fancy Italian cafe(actually, it is).

CASSATA CAKE
1 16 oz Sara Lee pound cake (Take cake out of freezer. Donʼt get efficient and do this earlier--the cake slices better when itʼs partially frozen.)

12 oz semisweet chocolate, cut in small pieces
3/4 cup strong black coffee
1/2 lb unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces and thoroughly chilled
Place chocolate and coffee in a bowl over just simmering water. Stir occasionally until melted. Remove from heat and beat in butter, 1 piece at a time. Beat until mixture is smooth. Chill until spreading consistency.

1 lb whole milk ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
3 orange-flavored liqueur
2 oz semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
Cream ricotta in food processor or mixer. Add cream, sugar and orange liqueur. Remove. With a rubber spatula, fold in chocolate. Place mixture in refrigerator.

Slice cake into four slices with a sharp, serrated knife. Place one third of filling on bottom slice. Place another slice on top, keeping sides and ends even, and spread with 1/3 of ricotta. Repeat and end with a plain slice of cake on top. Gently press the loaf to make it compact.
Refrigerate.
Frost with chocolate mixture all around the cake. Refrigerate

So basically, it is pound cake with orange cream and chocolate chunks in stripes with a chocolate coffee frosting. the frosting has to be cold though. It is really runny and slowly get firmer, and you will have a real mess if you try and jump the gun. The cake takes no time to make, but you can''t do it last minute since things all need to chill

Overall, no baking, just a chopper and a mixer.

 

[yssie]

Profiteroles with chocolate and almond slices

They take about an hour to make, look great, and keep for a good two weeks if stored in airtight containers.


Pastry:
-1c flour
-2tsp sugar
-1/2c milk
-dash of salt
-5tbsp unsalted butter
-4 eggs
-1 egg white beaten (for wash)

Filling:
-1c milk
-3 egg yolks
-6tbst sugar
-2tbsp cornstarch
-2 tbsp vanilla extract (but I use a lot more

)

Topping:
-1:1 white chocolate chips/bittersweet chocolate chips
-1/3c half&half
-almond slices

Pastry:
-Preheat oven to 400F
-Combine flour, sugar, salt in a big bowl
-Mix milk, butter, and 1/2c water in a saucepan, bring to a boil, then turn off heat and add the flour mixture. Stir until it becomes a doughy ball that pulls away from the edges of the saucepan. Move to new bowl and let cool.
-Add eggs until dough becomes shiny and sticky (if dry, add another egg)
-drop rounds of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet, brush with wash, and bake for 10-12m (or until they are golden brown and have started to rise)
-pull them out, cut in half and let cool

Filling:
-combine milk, 2tbsp sugar in saucepan and heat
-whisk yolks and remaining sugar, add cornstarch, and add into hot milk mixture
-cook until it thickens (and keep stirring or it'll burn)
-cool, then pour into pastry puffs right before serving
-topping: heat the chocolate chips in milk or cream so they don't burn.

 

[taovandel]

I made these for Easter...I bought the chocolate for the shell at a grocery store---melted it down and brushed it into cupcake liners. Put in refrigerator (I did it over night but it hardens up in a few hours). Carefully (still made mistakes) peeled the paper away.

Then I just used prepackaged mousse mix and the stick is a pirouette stick (Hazelnut).

Used some melba sauce and fresh raspberries....

And there you have it...a fancy looking dessert!

 

[princesss]

Alton Brown''s Pork Wellington is amazing, and looks gorgeous when sliced and served!

 

[CDNinNYC]

Creme Brulee is super easy to make. Here''s the recipe I use:

Ingredients
8 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar, plus 1/4 cup for the brulee topping
2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I use vanilla paste instead)

Preparation
Preheat oven to 300ºF.

In a large bowl, combine the egg yolks and the 1/3 cup sugar, whisk together until the sugar has
dissolved and the mixture is thick and pale yellow. Add cream and vanilla, and continue to whisk
until well blended, strain into a large bowl, skimming off any foam or bubbles.

Divide mixture among 6 ramekins or custard cups. Place in a water bath, and bake until set
around edges, but still loose in the center, about 40-50 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave
in the water bath until cooled. Remove cups from water bath and chill for at least 2 hours, or up
to 2 days.

When ready to serve, sprinkle about 1-2 teaspoons sugar over each custard. For best results, use a
small hand torch to melt the sugar. If you do not have a torch, place ramekins under the broiler
until sugar melts. Re-chill custards a few minutes before serving.

Serves 6.

 

[sillyberry]

Love it! Taovandel, that is one lovely looking treat!

Thanks everyone - and keep them coming, pretty please!

 

[caroleena]

honestly, I always thought lamb was so fancy and difficult to make, until I made it this past Easter! So easy, and so delicious.

I got a leg of lamb (they had all bundled and tied up already at the store), marinated it overnight with a mix I made (red wine, dijon mustard, dried thyme, fresh rosemary, salt & pepper, and LOTS of garlic), I also made slits in the meat and added garlic slices. The next day, I covered it, popped it in the oven, and roasted it for 3 1/2-4 hours. Mouth watering! Great for a fancy dinner, and all the prep work was done the night before.

 

[luvinlife]

TAO-
Looks YUMMY!

 

[elrohwen]

I think anything braised fits this category. Braising is just simmering in a bit of liquid for a long time - couldn''t be easier!

For short ribs, I just brown the ribs, cook some onion/carrot/celery, then put the ribs in with the veggies and a bottle of wine. 3 hours later you have something delicious that looks (and tastes) very gourmet, but took almost no work. Beouf bourguignon and coq au vin are the same idea.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Standing rib roast. 1 rib feeds 2 people so I usually get a 2 rib roast to have leftovers.

Rub outside with salt, pepper and rosemary

roast in the oven at 350 degrees for 18 minutes per lb.

Let rest for 20-30 minutes before carving.

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Date: 4/17/2010 12:03:02 AM
Author:sillyberry
I recently made Brazilian Cheese Bread, and it made me think about foods that are super easy to make but look super gourmet.

LOL! Down here, Cheese bread is pretty much an everyday kind of food - not gourmet at all. But very, very yummy (specially warm from the oven).

 

[sillyberry]

Date: 4/19/2010 12:30:41 PM
Author: Lady_Disdain

Date: 4/17/2010 12:03:02 AM

Author:sillyberry

I recently made Brazilian Cheese Bread, and it made me think about foods that are super easy to make but look super gourmet.

LOL! Down here, Cheese bread is pretty much an everyday kind of food - not gourmet at all. But very, very yummy (specially warm from the oven).

Lucky! I''ve only had it at Brazilian steakhouses, so to me it is definitely an unusual treat!

 

[PumpkinPie]

I have always wanted to make creme brulee but somehow haven''t been brave enough yet! Perhaps this will be the encouragement that I need

 

[hawaiianorangetree]

Date: 4/17/2010 11:11:26 PM
Author: CDNinNYC
Creme Brulee is super easy to make. Here''s the recipe I use:

Ingredients
8 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar, plus 1/4 cup for the brulee topping
2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I use vanilla paste instead)

Preparation
Preheat oven to 300ºF.

In a large bowl, combine the egg yolks and the 1/3 cup sugar, whisk together until the sugar has
dissolved and the mixture is thick and pale yellow. Add cream and vanilla, and continue to whisk
until well blended, strain into a large bowl, skimming off any foam or bubbles.

Divide mixture among 6 ramekins or custard cups. Place in a water bath, and bake until set
around edges, but still loose in the center, about 40-50 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave
in the water bath until cooled. Remove cups from water bath and chill for at least 2 hours, or up
to 2 days.

When ready to serve, sprinkle about 1-2 teaspoons sugar over each custard. For best results, use a
small hand torch to melt the sugar. If you do not have a torch, place ramekins under the broiler
until sugar melts. Re-chill custards a few minutes before serving.

Serves 6.

I made this tonight and it was lovely!! My new husband was suitably impressed.

Thank you for sharing it!!

 

[CDNinNYC]

Date: 4/23/2010 9:39:46 AM
Author: hawaiianorangetree
I made this tonight and it was lovely!! My new husband was suitably impressed.

Thank you for sharing it!!

Yay, I''m glad you liked it, HOT!

Maevie, definitely try it and let us know how it turns out.

 

[elrohwen]

I said before that braising is my favorite and I wanted to share that I''m making carnitas tonight!

Nothing better than throwing some liquid and some pork into a dutch oven and letting it go for a few hours. If I had more storage room I''d get a crock pot to do the work for me.

Another one that I thought of is bread. Just regular bread. I think there''s an impression out there that bread is hard, but it''s ridiculously easy. Far easier than any other baked good, in my opinion, because there are few ingredients and very little fussiness in how it looks (unlike cakes). You just need to let it rise for a few hours, so you can''t do it while you''re at work all day, but otherwise it''s so easy. I probably only spend 25min of actual hands on work to make a couple loaves of bread.