Yes, Mom... it's National I Love Food Day!

Are you like me... there's just too many to list!

The following are my favs, and in no specific order...

1.  See's dark chocolate scotchmallows

2.  Hot cinnamon rolls with raisins (Fred's has the best!)

3.  Toast with something savory and something sweet (cottage cheese and fruit or honey)

4.  Onion rings (well done, of course)

5.  Grilled salmon where it's crispy on the outside

6.  A yummy veggie salad with a little drizzle of olive oil, lemon & salt

7.  A deliciously BBQ'd hamburger, rare

8.  Tropical fruits

9.  Delicious tomatoes, red onions, basil, israeli feta and herbs

10.  Melon with cottage cheese

11.  Ice cold, crispy fresh veggies

12.  A white pizza with extremely thin and well-done crust (pref. Pizzeria Mozza)

Yes, i do love food!

Now please tell me... what are your favorites?

Bon Appetit!

It's December 28th... National Chocolate Candy Day!!!

My absolute favorite is See's Dark Chocolate Scotchmallow.

It's a thick layer of caramel, with an absolutely perfect honey marshmallow sitting on top of it, and then dunked in a beautiful thick coat of dark chocolate.  Yummm.

 You can even keep them in the freezer, and they're just as delicious when you go to eat it.

Now tell me... what's your favorite?

 

Elijah's Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies - Yes, they're kosher for Passover!

This year i'm in charge of desserts!
First i started out with a chocolate chip cookie recipe that i got from Facebook!
You'll see i modified it - adding mint chocolate chips for Jessica, and then i made a dozen rocky road style -- adding marshmallows, almonds and more chocolate chips.  I loved the gooey marshmallows that remained on the cookie sheet after they came out of the oven!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup matzoh cake meal
• 1/4 cup potato starch
• 1 package vanilla pudding mix (either instant or regular is fine)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (although i used chocolate-mint chips)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar.
Add the eggs one at a time and mix until combined.
With the mixer on low speed, add the matzoh cake meal, potato starch, vanilla pudding, baking soda and salt.
Mix until combined.
Add the vanilla and chocolate chips.
Using a small cookie scoop, drop the dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes until the edges are slightly brown for a soft and chewy cookie.  Or bake 12-15 minutes for a crispy and crunchy cookie.
Elijah's easy going -- he'll take them any way you make them.

Chag Sameach!
Happy Passover!

Delicious dark chocolate bark

I've been making dark chocolate bark for a few years, and it's always a winner!  Although keep in mind, as most cooks and bakers will tell you, you can't skimp when it comes to the quality of your ingredients.  Inna Garten say you have to use a good bottle of red wine even if you're just cooking with it.  And legendary chef and restauranteur Daniel Baloud will tell you that you must use a high-quality bread and butter when making a croque monsier.  So with this bark, i've used both Scharffen Berger's 70% bittersweet chocolate, and Valrhona's 70% Guanaja chocolate.  And then everything else was the best quality i could find, from the sea salt to the marcona almonds and even the dried organic blueberries.  The only "run of the mill" item i used was Trader Joe's roasted coconut chips, but i must say they were delicious and not too sweet.

I imagine you can top the bark with anything, but adding some sea salt to the top seems to be a winner.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of dark chocolate (or whatever kind of chocolate you like), finely chopped
• 1-1/2 c. roasted marcona almonds (not in oil)
• 1/2 c. dried blueberries
• 1 c. roasted coconut chips
• coarse sea salt - for sprinkling

If you need to temper the chocolate, please start here.  Otherwise, melt your chocolate slowly, and you should use chips, which are not meant to temper.  I melt the chocolate on a make-shift double-boiler, or in the microwave oven.

Once it melts, remove it and using a silicone spatula, spread it onto a parchment or silicone-lined baking sheet.  Sprinkle with sea salt and whatever other ingredients you decide to use.  I've done it with just chocolate and sea salt and it's absolutely delicious and decadent.  Refrigerate for at least an hour so that it sets.  You can then break it up into whatever size you want.

Bon appetit!

Prince William's Yummy Chocolate Crunch Bars

I couldn't help but read about this dessert since i adore just about anything having to do with Prince William and his bride.  These seem to be the Brits' version of our rice krispy treats.  Maybe that's why i insisted on adding marshmallow fluff!

I made and tested them at the office, figuring if they're a hit i would bring them to Beth & Richard's on the 4th.  Elliot, Rosa and Karen loved them (even with the raisins).  I never heard from Laurence and Jessica, so i'm thinking that it was too sweet for them, or Debbie forgot to bring them home and they're still in her car.  (Oh no!)

Ingredients --

• 1 box of graham crackers
• 1/4 cup of golden raisins
• 1/4 cup of chopped nuts (i used peanuts)
• 1 jar of marshmallow fluff (optional; this was not in the original recipe)
• 5 ounces of milk chocolate
• 5 ounces of dark chocolate
• 1 stick of butter (at room temperature)
• 1 14oz can of condensed milk

      For the topping --

• 9 ounces of dark chocolate 

In a large bowl, mash all of the graham crackers.  I found it easiest to use the bottom of a small metal bowl.
Add marshmallow fluff, raisins and nuts.
Melt both chocolates, butter and condensed milk.  (I suggest doing this slowly so that the chocolate doesn't burn.)
Add it to the graham cracker mixture and stir.
Pour into a parchment-lined, 11x7" baking dish.
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

The original recipe calls for melting 5 ounces of dark chocolate and pouring over the refrigerated mixture.  But i wanted to temper the chocolate so that it didn't melt in your hands.  Tempering is actually easy, but takes patience.  You'll see i have a cheat sheet i keep in my baking drawer.  You need to slowly heat the chocolate to 115° and then take it off the stove and let it cool to 84°.  It can take a while to cool down, so one trick is to add more finely chopped chocolate -- about 1/3 as much as you melted.  Once it cools to 84°, put it back on the stove and heat to 90°.  You can then remove and pour on top of the chilled pan of chocolate crunch cake.  You'll see the chocolate start to harden.

My cheat sheet

Buon appetito!

The best chocolate banana bread!

Delicious chocolate chip banana bread.  Yummm.

My lovely sous chefs... Miz Em (L) and Miz Jess (R)

It's been a rough road since my fall last June, but with the help of my two sous chefs (Miz Jess and Mizz Em), i've finally cooked something and am blogging about it.  Yay, and thank you both for your help.  You came over to swim, and I put you to work.  But seriously, I wouldn't have done this without your help!

So a couple weeks ago i had a delicious banana bread and Colleen said it's really easy and the reason she thinks it's so good is it's made with buttermilk.  I found this recipe online and thought it sounds like Colleen's, so i'll give it a try.  The only thing i did different, is i used whole wheat pastry flour instead of regular baking flour, and then my sous chefs convinced me a little dark chocolate couldn't hurt.  Yes, we could have opted for nuts, but why use nuts when you have good dark chocolate?  One other thing... next time i see no reason to use the stand mixer.  It would have been just fine to use a large bowl and fork to mix it.  I think it came out delicious!  Dense, but not too dense; Nice banana aroma but not too much banana; and a hint of chocolate, without over doing it!

Ingredients --

•  2 eggs, beaten
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup mashed bananas (overly ripe work best)
• 1-1/2 cups white sugar
• 1-3//4 cups all purpose flour  whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Optional:  1/2 cup chopped nuts (or chocolate or raisins)

Preheat oven to 3258° F.
Spray or grease one 9x5 inch loaf pan.
Blend together the eggs, buttermilk, oil and bananas.
Sift together the sugar, flour, baking soda and salt.  Add to the banana mixture and stir in nuts, chocolate or raisins.  Mix well.
Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

And remember... next time you have bananas that are overly ripe, don't throw them out... make banana bread.

Buon appetito!

Yummy Chocolate Pumpkin Bread-Puddin'

The best dessert, but oops... i forgot to add the schlag for the photo op!

This is it!!!

I think this must be my very favorite dessert to make, because...

• it's so easy;
• chocolate... bread... what more does a person need/want?
• people haven't stopped asking me for the recipe!  

I made some slight modifications to Bobby Flay's Pumpkin Bread Pudding, such as using freshly made dulce de leche (OMG!  you can eat it with a spoon directly from a jar in the fridge!) with fresh whipped cream instead of Bobby's Spicy Caramel Apple Sauce and Vanilla Bean Creme Anglaise.  Also, i did the ultimate... i added small chunks of dark chocolate bits.  Oh... and i substituted brioche rolls instead of his pumpkin bread. The modifications can be endless.  I'd love to know what you're going to do to make it your bread pudding!

NOTE:  As good as this dessert is, and as good as it may look, i continue to forget to add the whipped cream (schlag) and powdered sugar to the one plated for pictures.  Just imagine... 

  
Ingredients -

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
• 6 large egg yolkls
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons pure maple syrun
• 1 cup pure canned pumpkin puree
• 2 tablespoons bourbon
• pumpkin bread  I prefer brioche or about 10 brioche rolls
• chopped semi-sweet chocolate chunks
• sprinkling of walnuts
• confectioners sugar (just to sprinkle on top)
• Dulce de leche (recipe to follow)
• Fresh whipped cream, or schlag

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F°. 

Combine the cream, milk, vanilla bean and seeds in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer.

Whisk together the yolks, sugar, maple syrup, and pumpkin puree in a large bowl.
Slowly whisk in the hot cream mixture until combined, remove the vanilla pod, and whisk in the bourbon.
Strain the custard into a clean bowl.  (I have no idea what this is for, so i didn't do it.)

Scatter the bread cubes in a buttered 9 by 13-inch baking glass baking dish.
Pour the custard over the bread, pressing down on the bread to totally submerge it in the custard.
Let sit for 15 minutes to allow the bread to soak up some of the custard.

Place the pan in a larger roasting pan and pour hot tap water into the roasting pan until it comes half way up the sides of the glass dish.
Bake until the sides are slightly puffed and the center jiggles slightly, about 1 hour.

Remove from the oven and water bath and cool on a baking rack for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Spoon some of the bread pudding onto a plate and drizzle with the dulce de leche.
Top with freshly whipped cream.
Bread pudding is best served warm.

Buon appetito!

Julia Child's Orgasmic Brownies

Brownies, before and after.

 I wanted to make another batch of Julia Child's delicious brownies, but decided to put a spin on them since it's Valentine's Day.  The "spin" was inspired by Smitten Kitchen's gorgeous brownies, although I decided to stick with the brownie recipe i enjoy so much.

So i made two different batches, which i must say took a number of pots, pans and bowls (yes, and a lot of cleaning!).  Then i realized my heart-shaped cookie cutter was too large, so i figured i'd find a new cookie cutter on Sunday.  Wrong!  Who would have thought how difficult it is to find a small, 1" heart-shaped cookie cutter.  Since i needed something to "cleanly" slice through the brownies, i decided to use an apple corer.  So i didn't have hearts in my brownies, i had a circle.  Or, as Elliot declared, they're more like the "circle of life" brownie.  The fun part is you have dark chocolate brownies with white chocolate centers, or white chocolate brownies with dark chocolate centers.  Keeps everyone happy!

I gave my niece, Jessica, a box of the brownies and told her to share them with Annie and Emily (i've been promising Annie some of these brownies).  She texted me this morning and said I'm free to quote them --

"HOLY $HIT- your brownies are THE $HIT. Hands down best brownie I've had. Honestly, and you can quote me on that. Also you can quote Emily- 'it's orgasmic', and Annie stood up as to give you a standing ovation!  (I think Julia Child would smile knowing her brownies are "orgasmic".)

The following ingredients and recipe are for one pan of 16 brownies.  To do black & white brownies, you need to duplicate the recipe using white chocolate and a little less sugar.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups sifted all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 8 ounces unsalted butter
• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350°.
Sift the flour and salt together and set aside.
Melt the butter and chocolate in a double boiler over simmering water (water should not be touching the upper bowl).  Add 1 cup of sugar to the mixture and stir for half a minute, then remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla.
Pour the mixture into a large bowl.
Put the remaining 1 cup sugar and the eggs into a stand mixer bowl and mix or whisk by hand just to combine.
Little by little, pour half of the sugar and eggs into the chocolate mixture, stirring gently but constantly with a rubber spatula so that the eggs don't set from the heat.
Fit the whisk attachment to the mixer and whip the remaining sugar and eggs until they are thick, pale, and doubled in volume, about 3 minutes.
Using the rubber spatula, delicately fold the whipped eggs into the chocolate mixture.
When the eggs are almost completely incorporated, gently fold in the dry ingredients.
Pour and scrape the batter in to an unbuttered 9-inch square pan. (If you want thin brownies, use a considerably larger pan; say, 9 x 13).
Bake the brownies for 35-40 minutes, during which time they will rise a little and the top will turn dark and dry.
Cool the brownies in the pan on a rack.

Buon Appetito, and happy Valentine's Day!

Chocolate-covered marshmallows

I wanted to think of something super simple to bring to my parents today, and felt something sweet to ring in the new year would be apropos. 

It doesn't get much simpler, quicker or easier than this...

Ingredients --

A bag of marshmallows
1 pound of semi-sweet chocolate

minced sweetened nuts
minced candy cane (gotta have some left over from the holidays)
sprinkles, and anything else that would be good to sprinkle over these sweets
Wooden skewers

Cook the chocolate in a double-boiler.  If you know how to temper chocolate, i suggest doing so.  In the future I'll do a post on tempering chocolate, but not right now since my thermometer broke.  Tempering makes it so that the chocolate is smooth and glossy and dries to a point where you can touch it without it being "soft & gooey".

Once the chocolate is almost melted, take it off the double-boiler and stir it.
Pierce a marshmallow with a wooden skewer, and swirl it into the chocolate.  i like to swirl about 2/3 of the marshmallow, leaving part of the marshmallow exposed.
Then, while the chocolate is still soft and warm, dunk it in a bowl of the chopped nuts, candy canes or sprinkles.
Carefully remove the skewer and place on a sheet of parchment or wax paper until dried.

Voila!

And a wonderful new year to all!