Matthew Robinson

I’ve had three people ask me for this one in recent days…they’re so, so good.

4 small zucchini squash
4 ounces light cream cheese, softened
½ cup shredded pepper jack cheese
½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon dried chives

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Using a small spoon, hollow out the zucchini by removing some of its pulp, leaving at least a 1/4 inch wall. Combine the cheeses, cayenne pepper, and chives in a mixing bowl. Stuff the zucchini boats with the cheese mixture, and place them in a lightly greased baking dish. Bake 15-20 minutes, until the squash is heated through and the cheese is melted.

I don’t have another name for this one.  Because it’s four layers of decadent chocolate.  And it was my Christmas creation this year.  And I was in a coma for four days afterward.  It’s the result of a lot of thinking and figuring out and recipe combining and investigating.  And oh.  my.  It was incredible.

Cake
8 0.z. bittersweet baking chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 (8 0.z.) container sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup hot brewed coffee

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour 2 (9 inch) round pans.  Line bottoms of pans with parchment paper.  Lightly grease parchment paper.

Melt chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl at high 1 1/2 minutes until smooth.

Beat butter and sugars at medium speed until well blended.  Add eggs, 1 at a time.  Add melted chocolate.

Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt.  Gradually add chocolate mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

Stir vanilla into hot coffee.  Gradually add coffee mixture to batter.

Pour batter into prepared pans.  Bake at 350 degrees for 3 to 42 minutes.

Whipped Ganache Filling
1 (12 o.z.) package semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
1 tbsp. orange liqueur

Melt chocolate chips and whipping cream in a microwave safe bowl on high for 2 1/2 minutes, stirring until melted and smooth.  Whisk in liqueur until smooth.  Cover and chill 2 hours or until mixture is thickened.

Beat ganache at medium speed with an electric mixer 20 to 30 seconds or until soft peaks form and ganache lightens in color.  Use immediately.

Fudge Layer Crust:
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar
1 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted
1 stick margarine, room temperature
1 stick butter, room temperature

Beat eggs, egg yolks, vanilla extract and sugar and add melted chocolate chips, butter and margarine.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes in a 10-inch parchment paper lined pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray.  Set aside to cool and then refrigerate overnight.

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 (8 0z) package cream cheese, softened
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 box 10x Powdered Sugar (1 lb or 4 cups)
1 tbsp. vanilla extract

Combine cream cheese and butter in mixer until well blended.  Slowly mix in powdered sugar.  Beat for several minutes.  Stir in vanilla extract until blended, beat mixture again for one minute.

Chocolate Chunks
Melt 1/2 cup of semisweet chocolate chips and spread in thinnest possible layer on wax paper on top of a cookie sheet.  Refrigerate for several hours until hard, and break apart.  Keep cold until ready to place on cake.

Assembly (bottom up)

Fudge Layer Crust
Cake (layer 1)
Whipped Ganache Filling layer
Cake (layer 2)
Frost outside of cake

It sucks.  Really, it does.  I haven’t missed that much work or felt that bad in not just forever, but just plain ever.  I’m alive and well, getting my energy back, and now immune.  Thanks to all for your kind thoughts and prayers this past week.  Oink oink!

My college friends Natalie and Clayton Noa were in town for the weekend visiting, and they got to come to The Well for the first time this morning.  They’re regular online viewers and it was great having them for a Bulls upset here in the panhandle.  If only they’d get smart and move back for good…

So many old Well-ers back in town…we’re seriously in the process of figuring out what an Alumni Association would look like for us…if you want to be a founding member and help launch it, holla.

I’ve loved our current series, and we had a special day celebrating communion together.  Behind-the-scenes moment you didn’t see (well, some of you did): a guy at the morning service picked the “dip your cracker in it” juice cup up and took a big sip.  More power to him.  To each is own.  It was funny to see traffic divert to the other stations after that one.

I love the song It is Well. Powerful.

Behind the scenes moment number two: half way through, Dean chucked the second half of his planned sermon.  Boy can that man preach.  We heard the message he was lead to share from Matthew 19.  Strong stuff to chew on for self-examination.  Like I said, this series has been incredible for us.

And Krissie was the most effortless person I’ve ever had to video.  She’s so natural, so easy going, and so genuine.  And, she makes Dean look pretty darn good.  We love our Pastor’s wife!

And finally.  Our graphics team.  Oh boy oh boy do they have a sense of humor.  Real comedians I tell you.

This was the first image I was emailed this past week as collateral for our upcoming series and the promo video we put together:

And this is what we ended up with, and what it should have been:

I mean, they’re honest at least.  Join us next Sunday! :)

I’ve been making this one for about 8 years now.  It’s a recipe I modified and perfected.  And for the first time, I’m revealing it.  And yes, it really does start with a box cake mix.

Births and deaths have been celebrated with this cake.  It’s served as the basis of some awesome table making memories.  It’s the most requested.  I’ve been proposed to after tasting it by more than one person.  Even people who don’t like chocolate like this one.  I like it better the second day.  And I won’t lie…it’s pretty dang good for breakfast with a cold glass of skim milk.

There’s one essential ingredient that seems odd in the list below…it’s a must, though.  It makes this cake, this cake.

It’s been called Better than Sex Chocolate Cake.  But I don’t really have a name for it.  All I know is that it’s my signature dessert.

1 box devil’s food cake mix
1 (3 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
2 cups sour scream
1 cup (2 sticks) melted butter
5 eggs
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups milk chocolate chips
3 extra large Hershey’s chocolate candy bars

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 10 inch Bundt pan.

In a large bowl, stir together cake mix and pudding mix.

Make a well in the center and pour in sour cream, melted butter, eggs and almond extract.  Beat on low speed until blended.  Scrape bowl, and beat 4 minutes on medium speed.  Blend in chocolate chips.  Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake for 50 to 55 minutes.  Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto cake stand.

Melt chocolate bars in microwave until runny and smooth.  Spoon/drizzle over cake while still warm.

(One of the tricks of any cake I make is to slightly under-cook it in the oven…cakes continue to cook after you pull them out, and compensating for this makes a moist cake moist!)

A lot of my blogger friends have started posting pictures and recipes of the concoctions they’ve dabbled in recently.  The fat kid inside of me craves these blogs the most.  And while I bought a Rebel Digital SLR for me for my birthday in March, I don’t play as often as I like with it.

But I did this week.  And I’m sharing two more recipes, classics in my kitchen if you ask me, that are most often enjoyed, and most often asked for when I create them.  Fair warning:  if you dine on anything in my house that you enjoy, it’s likely, actually, it’s certain, that it’s not good for you.  Your body, that is.  Your spirit–you can’t go wrong there with these two.

My favorite appetizer: Pan Fried Onion Dip, originally made by Ina Garten of Barefoot Contessa fame.  It will be on the menu at 82’s, and I think that if we get to experience food in Heaven, this will be on the buffet table.  It’s pretty easy to make, and your mouth will love you.

Pan Fried Onion Dip

2 large yellow onions
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces cream cheese (softened)
1/2 cup sour scream
1/2 cup mayonnaise

Cut the onions in half and then slice them into 1/8 inch thick half rounds.

The triple threat…gotta love anything with these three

Heat the butter and oil in a large saute pan on medium heat.  Add the onions, cayenne, salt, and pepper and saute for 10 minutes.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 more minutes, until the onions are browned and caramelized.  Allow the onions to cool.

Place the cream cheese, sour cream, and mayonnaise in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat until smooth.  Add the onions and mix well.  Taste for seasonings.  Serve at room temperature.

I’m guilty. And my conscious is feeling it.

For the past six week I’ve been hosting the College Community Group and dinner at my house. I’ve had the task of cooking for between 30 and 50 18 to 22 year olds. We’ve had amazing concoctions of grilled chicken sandwiches and baked ziti and chicken and yellow rice and breakfast for dinner and other splendors.

But last night, I did the unthinkable.

You see I had to work all day. And a 3 hour meeting ran to almost 5 hours. And I…you see I….well, I….

I made Stouffers lasagna.

For the love! I disappointed myself. And every culinary delighter who has dined at my house prior.

I’m a sham.

But I did make a pretty mean homemade salad.

It wasn’t enough to fully recover though.

Superman-in-the-kitchen turned Clark Kent last night.

I’ll hit a home run next week, college kiddies. I promise!

Debut: still perfecting with each time I make it!

This is a an impressive go-to for me.  I’ve made it in square, round, and a Valentine’s Day heart pans.  It’s the compilation of about 10 different recipes, notes jotted in the margins, and my experience trying to perfect the perfect cheesecake.  Other than chocolate, I’m not a “toppings” person on a cheesecake.  I use the filling as a base for graham cracker (and ginger snap) crusts as well.  I’ve never had this recipe crack, and while it looks in-depth, it’s the easiest I’ve found to make.  (A yes, for the record, sometimes when I’m rushed, I’ll just make a pan of brownies (cutting off the edges–I don’t like brownie crusts) as the fudge layer.)

Filling:
5 x 8-ounce bars cream cheese, room temperature
2 tbsp. flour
1 tbsp. powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups sugar
Grated rind of 1 small lemon
3/4 tsp. vanilla
2 egg yolks, room temperature
5 eggs, room temperature

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place first five ingredients in large mixing bowl and beat on high until they are completely blended.  Add vanilla and 2 yolks, and beat again.  Add eggs one at a time, beating until just blended (do not over beat).

Grease a 10-inch round spring form form that has been lined with buttered parchment paper (butter sides as well).  Pour filling in to prepared pan.  Batter will fill pan.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.  Lower oven temperature to 200 degrees and bake for 2 hours.  Turn off oven and open oven door and let cheesecake rest until completely cooled.  Refrigerate overnight.

Fudge Layer Crust:
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar
1 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted
1 stick margarine, room temperature
1 stick butter, room temperature

Beat eggs, egg yolks, vanilla extract and sugar and add melted chocolate chips, butter and margarine.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes in a 10-inch parchment paper lined pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray.  Set aside to cool and then refrigerate overnight.

Chocolate Ganache Covering:
16 ounces (2 2/3 cups) semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
4 tbsp. unsalted butter

Place the chocolate in a medium sized stainless steel bowl.  Set aside.  Heat cream and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Bring just to a boil.  Immediately pour the boiling ream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes.  Stir with a whisk until smooth.

Assembly:
Palace fudge layer onto top of cheesecake.  Upside down, place cake plate over fudge layer.  Invert the stack so that cake plate sits on counter (fudge layer on bottom, cheesecake layer on top).

Place strips of wax paper just under fudge layer (easy clean up).  Pour chocoalte ganache over cake and smooth top and sides.  Remove was paper strips for clean edge along the cake plate.

(For the curls, I unwrap a giant Hershey Bar, put it in the microwave for 15 second, and use a vegetable peeler along the short edge pushing away from me.  The less I think about this and try, the better the curls seem to come out.)

Debut: Thanksgiving 2008

This one is from Paula Dean’s kitchen.  I used amaretto liquor purchased pretty cheaply at ABC.

Cheesecake:
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons almond flavored liqueur

In large bowl, beat cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add sugar, beating until smooth. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in sour cream and liqueur. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 45 minutes then turn the oven off and leave the cheesecake in oven with door closed for another hour. Let the cheesecake cool completely in its pan on a wire rack then cover and chill for 4 hours. Using edges of foil as handles, remove cheesecake from pan and peel away foil.

Spread a layer of frosting on top of chocolate cake. Next, layer cheesecake and top with chocolate icing. Place second chocolate cake and ice with frosting on top and on the sides. Sprinkle almonds on sides or top.

Chocolate Cake:
1 (18.25-ounce) box chocolate cake mix
1/2 cup almond flavored liqueur
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 2 (9-inch) round cake pans.

In large bowl, combine cake mix, liqueur, water, oil and eggs. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Divide batter evenly between the 2 prepared pans. Bake 20 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pans 10 minutes. Turn out onto wire racks and let cool completely.

Chocolate Almond Frosting:
1 cup butter, softened
12 ounce semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled
3 tablespoons almond flavored liqueur
6 cup confectioners’ sugar

In a large bowl, beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add chocolate, beating until combined. Beat in almond liqueur and confectioners’ sugar until light and fluffy.

Debut: Thanksgiving 2008

On of my friends coming over for Thanksgiving dessert in lactose intolerant.  With a reduced amount of sour cream (halved it, substitute with applesauce) this works perfectly.

Crust:
1 Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust (from 15-oz. box), softened as directed on box

Filling:
1 1/4 cups sour cream
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 egg
6 cups 1/4-inch slices peeled baking apples

Topping:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Dash salt
3 tablespoons cold butter or margarine

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Unroll pie crust in 9-inch glass pie plate as directed on box for One-Crust Filled Pie. In large bowl, beat sour cream, granulated sugar, flour, salt, vanilla and egg with wire whisk until well blended; stir in apples. Pour into crust-lined pie plate.

Bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F; bake 30 minutes longer.

Meanwhile, in medium bowl, mix all topping ingredients except butter. With pastry blender or fork, cut in butter until mixture looks like coarse crumbs; refrigerate until ready to use.

Sprinkle topping over pie. Bake 20 to 25 minutes longer or until topping is golden brown. Cool completely on cooling rack, about 2 hours. Cover and refrigerate any remaining pie.

Debut: Thanksgiving 2008

Why not try it, I thought? Pumpkin cheesecake I’ve made before, and I like sweet potato pie.  I searched around and sorted through about two dozen recipes, and this one combines my favorites from them all.  My friend Sarah (as in Sarah and Alex at Princeton) has stock, I’d swear, in sweet potatoes.  That, and gourds, I think :)  She made pretty incredible sweet potato pancakes when I was there a while back, so this one is dedicated to her! (and Alex too, of course, who I’ve heard beg for my regular cheesecake!)

Crust:
35 ginger snaps, crushed
1/4 cup of pecans, finely chopped
1 stick of butter, melted

To make the crust, mix together the crushed ginger snaps, chopped pecans and melted butter.  Press the crust into a 10-inch spring-form pan, evenly covering the bottom and going up the sides about 1/4 of an inch.

Cheesecake:
2 pounds cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
Pinch salt
5 large eggs
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
4 sweet potatoes, baked, peeled, and passed through a food mill(or pureed in a food processor)

Preheat oven temperature to 450 degrees F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, place cream cheese. Use paddle attachment and beat until smooth. Continue to mix and add sugar and salt. Add the eggs 1 at a time, then add sour cream, flour, and spices. Lower speed and add sweet potato puree. Pour the batter into crust lined pan.

Place a baking pan of hot water under cheesecake pan. Bake for 15 minutes at 450 degrees F, then lower temperature to 250 degrees F and bake an additional 1 1/2 hours or until cake center is firm.

Topping:
1 cup of sour cream
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of ginger
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
1/2 cup of chopped pecans
3 tablespoons of maple syrup
1 tablespoon of brown sugar

To make the topping while the cheesecake bakes, place 1/4 cup of chopped pecans in a heated dry iron skillet, and toast for about five minutes.  Mix the sour cream, vanilla, spices, syrup and sugar together. Add the pecans.

Take cheesecake out of the oven, spread on the topping, and let sit for another half hour.

Chill in the refrigerator for 4 to 8 hours.