Easy Cheese Danish

Of all the danishes in the world, my fave has got to be Cheese Danish. I was very excited when I saw this recipe on my Ina's cookbooks because they look so easy! Oh my goodness --they tasted like I slaved all night making these delicious treats! The only warning is that this recipe makes A LOT of filling -- I want to say that it can easily make 16 pastries. I also love that the batter can be made the night before, so in the morning-- all you need to do is assemble and pop them in the oven! Enjoy!!

Ingredients

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
2 extra-large egg yolks, at room temperature
2 tablespoons ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
2 sheets (1 box) frozen puff pastry, defrosted
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
Place the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and cream them together on low speed until smooth. With the mixer still on low, add the egg yolks, ricotta, vanilla, salt, and lemon zest and mix until just combined. Don't whip!

Unfold 1 sheet of puff pastry onto a lightly floured board and roll it slightly with a floured rolling pin until it's a 10 by 10-inch square. Cut the sheet into quarters with a sharp knife. Place a heaping tablespoon of cheese filling into the middle of each of the 4 squares.

Brush the border of each pastry with egg wash and fold 2 opposite corners to the center, brushing and overlapping the corners of each pastry so they firmly stick together. Brush the top of the pastries with egg wash.

Place the pastries on the prepared sheet pan. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry and refrigerate the filled Danish for 15 minutes.

Bake the pastries for about 20 minutes, rotating the pan once during baking, until puffed and brown. Serve warm.

Yield: 8 servings (or more)

We're back and married!

We've been back now for about three weeks - and we're married! I absolutely love not having to deal with the stress of planning a destination wedding and look forward to just spending some quiet time at home with my new hubby and puppy Charlotte. One of the things that I had been wanting to do was to update my new FOOD BLOG!!! So here you go: a recipe to a fave staple at our house!!

Ham & Spinach Quiche
Yield: 6-8

9-inch one crust pie
1 c. sliced/cubed ham
1 c. shredded natural swiss cheese
1/3 c. finely shredded onion
4 large eggs
2 c. heavy whipping cream
1 pckg frozen spinach, thawed, drained.
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp ground pepper

Roll the pie crust onto a pie dish carefully.
Layer the dish with onion, ham, and then spinach.
Top with shredded cheese.
Whisk eggs, cream, salt, pepper, and ground pepper together.
Pour the egg mixture onto the dish.
Bake in the oven at 425 deg for 35 mins.
Reduce temp to 350, and bake for another 10 mins.
Let stand for 10 mins before slicing.

Onion Soup

This one is a favorite at our house all year long. Since we had extra chicken broth on hand, we decided to make this for dinner (along with my Ham & Spinach Quiche, recipe will be published next).

Onion Soup
Yield: 6 servings

4 tbsp of butter
4 Large Sweet Onions, sliced
5 c of chicken stock
One pinch of dried thyme
One pinch of dried parsley
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 c of freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
Mozarella Cheese

Optional:
2 tbsp of cognac
Croutons

• Melt the butter over medium heat in a pot. Add the sliced onions and cook for 30-45 mins until soft and beginning to brown.
• Add the chicken stock, and turn the heat to medium to high. Bring just to a boil. Turn down to simmer.
• Add herbs, cognac, pepper and salt to taste. Cook for 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 deg F.
• Place croutons & one tbsp of parmesan cheese on the bottom of bowl (or skip this if you prefer them without croutons). Add soup, top with mozarella cheese.
• Bake for 10 mins until cheese melts.