As Easy As (Mudslide) Pie

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This is a terrific recipe to have in your roster on a hot summer day. It's easy enough for the kid's to make and while it requires significant chill time, it adds a festive end to a summer meal. The recipe which appears below comes from the Nestle test kitchen, and while I follow their ingredient list to the letter, I use the microwave to melt the chocolate for the pie. It just makes things easier. While there are several ways to melt chocolate using the microwave, I place the chocolate in a bowl and heat it on medium high for about 1 minute, then stir the chocolate and continue to heat at 15 to 20 second intervals, stirring in between, until the chocolate is melted and has a smooth consistency. The pie really needs a full 6 hours in the freezer if you want neat slices. You can cut it before then but the lower layer will not be completely set and has a tendency to run. This is a truly effortless dessert, and I do hope you'll give it a try. Here is how it is made.

Sweet Vidalia Onion Salad Dressing

One Perfect Bite was featured in the Sunday Brunch Segment of Amuse Bouche, the blog associated with the magazine Where Women Cook. It you're interested, the feature can be seen here.





From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I'm fairly even tempered and it takes a lot to move me from cold to hot. That's not to say I don't have a pet peeve or two, and, as it happened, a couple of them surfaced today. One is the accumulation of unfinished cereal sitting in boxes that are only fractionally full. That happens a lot around here because each member of my family has a favorite all their own. That favorite is generally unfinished at the end of a visit, so, to my great shame, you'll occasionally find Cocoa Puffs or Fruit Loops floating in my cereal bowl. Generally, the assortment stales before I can work my way through it and I'm left feeling guilty because I have to throw it away. That happened this morning. Another peeve surfaced this evening while the table was being set for dinner. I think we all have a vision of what we consider to be gracious living. Mine does not include a collection of jars and bottles sitting in the center of the dinner table. In my dream world, salads are tossed in the kitchen and graciously served from a bowl at the table. The Silver Fox doesn't share my vision. So, it happens that an assortment of condiments and dressings got to claim space at my table tonight. Among them was the Vidalia onion dressing I used to make peanut sauce earlier in the week. One of the advantages to making your own condiments and dressing is that you can control the amount you make by sizing the recipe for them up or down. I normally make half the recipe because that's sufficient for our needs. While I make this to use in peanut sauce, it's also wonderful on bitter greens and fresh fruit, so I have plenty of opportunities to use it and it will not go to waste. The dressing is embarrassingly easy to make, but I do have one serious caution. The Vidalia is a sweet onion. While other sweet onions can be used to make this, don't make the mistake of thinking all white onions are sweet. Ask the produce manager if you are not sure. If you make this with anything other than sweet onions it will be dreadful and you'll speak of me using adjectives I'd prefer you not. REMEMBER SWEET ONIONS. Here's the recipe.

Sweet Vidalia Onion Salad Dressing...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite adapted from Group Recipes

Ingredients:
1/2 large vidalia onion
1/4 cup vegetable oil
6 tablespoons white vinegar
8 tablespoons granulated sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons ground dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon salt or salt to taste
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper or pepper to taste

Directions:
1) Slice 1/2 inch off both ends of onion. Pierce onion skin in several places with a sharp knife. Place onion in microwave-proof bowl. Add a tablespoon of water and microwave, covered, on HIGH power until soft, about 3 to 4 minutes. Set aside to cool.
2) When cooled, peel and place in food processor. Puree until smooth. Add oil, vinegar, sugar, mustard, garlic powder, celery seed, salt and pepper and process until smooth. Chill. Yield: 1-1/2 cups.

You also might enjoy these recipes:
Caesar Salad Dressing - Shih's Cooking
Basic Vinaigrette - A Couple Cooks
Thousand Island Dressing - Cookistry
Buttermilk Ranch Dip - In Flora's Kitchen
Creamy Cilantro Tomatillo Dressing - Gina's Skinny Recipes
Honey Mustard Salad Dressing - Stylish Cuisine
Orange Balsamic Dressing - Vegacious
Feta Cheese Dill Dressing - SpiceOpolis
Homemade Catalina Dressing - For the Love of Food
Lime and Wasabi Dressing - Entertaining Made Easy
Ranch Dressing - The Brunette Foodie
Poppy Seed Dressing - Being Suzy Homemaker
Recipe for Green Goddess Salad Dressing - Kalyn's Kitchen
Pink Grapefruit Salad Dressing - One Perfect Bite
Poppy Seed Salad Dressing - One Perfect Bite
Blue Cheese Dip - One Perfect Bite

Triple-Chocolate Cheese Cake

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This is not the best cheesecake you'll ever taste, but it certainly is delicious and very easy to make. If you entertain a lot, you'll want to keep this recipe in your dessert roster. The entire cake is made in the bowl of a food processor and it's ready for the oven in less than 30 minutes. It takes about 2 hours to bake and needs to be chilled for at least 6 hours before it is topped with a lovely ganache and served. The cake is quite handsome and it looks like a lot of effort went into its creation. Only you will know that not to be true. The name of the recipe is somewhat misleading. The cake does not use three types of chocolate, but its crust, filling and topping all contain chocolate and that's what gives the cheesecake its triple chocolate name. One of the nice features of this cake is that it doesn't crack. That has to do with the way it is baked and released from the pan. It bakes in a hot oven for an hour, sits in a cold oven for an hour and when it's removed for final cooling, a sharp knife is used to release the sides of the cake from the springform pan. The cake forms a well or depression as it bakes and that is perfect for holding the ganache topping. The cake was developed by Martha Stewart and her recipe is foolproof. I think those of you who try this cheesecake will really enjoy it. Here's the recipe.

Triple-Chocolate Cheese Cake...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite inspired by Martha Stewart

Ingredients:
Crust
1 package (9 ounces) chocolate wafer cookies
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Filling
4 bars (8 ounces each) cream cheese, room temperature
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted
Chocolate Ganache
1/4 cup heavy cream
4 ounces chopped semisweet chocolate

Directions:
1) To make crust: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Assemble a 9-inch springform pan with raised side of the bottom facing down. In a food processor, pulse cookies until finely ground. Add butter, and pulse to moisten. Transfer to prepared pan, and press crumbs firmly and evenly into bottom. Place pan on a rimmed baking sheet; bake 10 minutes, and set aside.
2) To make filling: Wipe out bowl and blade of food processor. Add cream cheese, sugar, and salt; blend until smooth. With motor running, add eggs, then sour cream, and finally chocolate; blend filling until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Pour filling onto crust, and bake just until set, 1 hour. Turn oven off, and let cheesecake sit 1 hour in oven, without opening (this helps prevent cracking. Run a thin knife around the edge of pan to help prevent cracking; leave in pan, and cool completely on wire rack. Cover loosely and refrigerate, at least 6 hours or up to overnight.
3) To prepare chocolate ganache: In a small saucepan, bring cream to a boil. Remove from heat, and add chocolate. Stir until melted, then set aside until thickened, 2 to 5 minutes. Unmold cheesecake. Spread ganache in center of cheesecake; let set before serving. Yield: 8 to 10 servings.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Perfect Cheesecake - Simply Recipes
Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake - My Recipe Finds Online
Vanilla Bean Cheesecake - Carries Sweet Life
Strawberry Cheesecake Entremet - Barbara Bakes
Gorgonzola Cheesecake with Vanilla Pear Compote - Closet Cooking
No Bake Chocolate Chocolate Cheesecake Pie - $10 Buck Dinners