Homemade Peanut Butter Cups I’ve always wanted to make my own chocolate and peanut butter cups. The recipes are so easy, I’m not sure why I’ve never gotten around to it until now. They really took no time at all, in nearly 30 minutes I was already sinking my teeth into these oh-so-rich peanut butter cups. I looked at a few recipes and skipped on most of them. My notes: I took the advice from Have Cake, Will Travel and added 2 tablespoons of peanut butter to the melted chocolate; I did not add extra salt; I melted the chocolate in a heavy-bottom saucepan rather than the microwave; I used regular sized cupcake liners, not minis, so mine are closer to Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups size; I used the freezer instead of the refrigerator to set up the chocolate on the bottom. They are so delicious. Due to the continued popularity of this post, I am going to finally post the recipe here instead of only linking to it! Homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter CupsAdapted from Have Cake, Will TravelMakes 12
what goes into making chocolate bowls Leave it up to me to mess up every recipe in the world... but on the flipside, by experiencing everything that goes wrong, I end up learning the most.I had seen these bowls from Stephanie's Kitchen, and decided it was a fantastic idea for my food independent study. ingredients: chocolate, and balloons! first, a giant bar of chocolate all the way from taiwan! and it's -special- grade, whatever that means. (i actually tried to pipe pretty lacy chocolate bowls first, but uh, that completely failed so i moved on. plus i don't like that pink fake chocolate.) balloons! tip number 2, after you have melted your chocolate in a double broiler and poured it into a bowl for dipping, let it cool before you dip your balloons. because although you are really excited to dip them and set them down like this... five seconds later you shall hear a POP and you (as well as your kitchen) will be covered in chocolate because apparently latex doesn't like heat.
Making Mozzarella At Home For Christmas we received a Mozzarella kit from Leener's. We had heard it was quite easy to make but I have to admit I was a little skeptical. Well, I was so wrong, making mozzarella was super easy to make & the results were wonderful! You just have to have a little patience to let the milk heat slowly & in an hour you are eating your own fresh cheese! First you ripen 1 gallon of milk with a bit of citric acid, lipase, and calcium chloride. Slowly heating over medium heat to 88 F, stirring from time to time. Once the milk reaches 88°F, you add rennet and continue heating to 105 F. By the time it reaches 105°F, it will start to look at little chunky. After resting for 20 minutes you'll be rewarded with a big chunk of cheese curds. Remove the curds with a slotted spoon, leaving the whey in the pan. Lightly smash the curds with a spoon to squeeze as much whey out of them as possible, then drain. At this point you will have a soft mozzarella ball. Now you can enjoy your own homemade cheese.
15 Minute Donuts, From Scratch Share on Pinterest This post is going to be short and sweet today just like this simple donut recipe =). I’m in love and hate with this recipe I made. Love because they are amazing, and hate because I could eat all of them. To me these taste just as good (or better) as any cake donut you could buy at your local bakery but you can make these at home in 15 minutes (some done in 15 the entire batch took about 19 to be more exact =). Share on Pinterest 15 Minute Donuts, From Scratch Ingredients 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 cup milk 1/4 cup buttermilk 1/4 cup granulated sugar 3 Tbsp melted butter 2 cups vegetable oil, for frying Granulated sugar, cinnamon sugar or powdered sugar, for coating Directions Preheat oil over medium heat in a 10 inch non-stick fry-pan (keeping an eye on it as it is heating).
Easy Fried Rice with Chicken Have leftover chicken or rice? This easy Fried Rice with Chicken is a quick and easy meal you can get on the table in 15 minutes. (Or less if you don't have to cook the rice!) We eat a lot of Tex-Mex inspired meals around here so this Asian favored dish was a yummy departure from the norm. Easy Fried Rice with Chicken Ingredients: 3 cups cooked rice (brown or white, which ever you prefer)2 cups cooked chicken, chopped3 tbs sesame oil1 cup frozen peas and carrots (thawed)3/4 small onion, chopped3 to 4 garlic gloves, minced or about 1 tsp garlic powder3 eggs, slightly beaten1/4 cup soy sauceDirections: Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium heat. Looking for more quick and easy dinner solutions? Enjoy! Don't miss any more posts! Confession No. 60 — I’d like to order a smile with that service « The Unorthodox Epicure I’m extremely fortunate. I’ve loved every job that I’ve held in my adulthood. Yes, almost every day is Friday for me. But it wasn’t always that way. Look who was allowed to serve carrots at a function this past month! As a 15-year-old working at the local Kentucky Fried Chicken I really wanted to like my job, but I was often bored … and hungry. It was then on to Red Lobster, where they told me I’d have to work my way up from the dish room. Maybe construction could’ve been my thing, except, I liked neither heat nor hard work. But through it all, whether I was dealing with a drunk customer at the drive-thru, or a surly construction foreman who spent about 10 years too many in the sun, I managed to find some sort of satisfaction. A few weeks ago, I stopped at a convenience store for some beer and Lemonheads. “Not very good,” she responded. I just laughed at that point and told her that I hoped her day improved. During a shopping trip last month, the scanner declined my check card.
Perfect Mac-n-Cheese « My Cooking Quest November 13, 2008 by joejhorn A few weeks ago I started a quest for some good mac and cheese. Nancy makes a killer mac-n-cheese but I wanted my own. I’m sure I frustrate the crap out of Nancy sometimes because I’m always looking for something better when it comes to food and recipes. My first attempt was with a Jamie Oliver version that didn’t include a bechamel sauce but instead called for mixing the cooked pasta with the cheese and then baking it. The second version, I made a few nights ago for my best bud Chad, Nancy and the boys. Chad is up from San Francisco and has been visiting for the past week. Last night was particularly funny though since you can customize your player characters. Well back to the mac-n-cheese. Chad, who is like me, super-competitive and a bit of a perfectionist said “Let’s do it again and do it right this time!” Perfect Mac-n-Cheese (serves 4 as a side dish) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beecher’s Flagship Cheese Sauce (makes 4 cups) Remove from the heat.
Buffalo Chicken Bites One of my favorite guilty pleasures is buffalo wings, especially dipped in blue cheese dressing. There's something about the buffalo chicken and blue cheese combo that really appeals to me and I had a craving for it lately. When I came across a recipe for ham and cheese stuffed pretzel bites, I figured I could substitute it with chicken and blue cheese. That's when I decided to make these Buffalo Chicken Bites... yum! These are such an awesome snack, which could be a meal in itself if you have enough of them. It's not hard since they are addictively delicious! I plan on making these again and experimenting with other fillings such a steak, provolone, sauteed peppers and onions for Philly Cheesesteak Bites... or even pepperoni, italian sausage, mozzarella and mushrooms for Pizza Bites. Buffalo Chicken Bites 2 1/4 teaspoons rapid rise dry yeast 2 tablespoons brown sugar 1 cup warm milk ( I used 2%) 2 1/2 cups of flour Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in the middle of the oven.
espresso chocolate chip shortbread cookie recipe Recipe: espresso chocolate chip shortbread What new views through the lens? I went leaf hunting today and found… tall trees leftover snow on the mountains the big kahuna The rest of the sampler from today’s jaunt is on the photo blog. Right, so the title of today’s post should read “to the dogs(‘ sitters)”. espresso to batter mini chocolate chips Of course, I don’t want any hard feelings to be taken out on my girl. everyone likes some dough roll it out I have made one hundred million billion of these cookies to date. measure the slices slap it on a baking sheet and go I made a double batch of these today. this cookie will solve our energy crisis Espresso Chocolate Chip Shortbread[print recipe]from Smitten Kitchen *Note: I didn’t follow all of the instructions in Deb’s version because I am a lazy bum. Dissolve espresso powder in boiling water.
Chocolate Therapy: Crockpot Chicken Tacos I'll keep this short and sweet: this is one of my all time favorite recipes. If there is one crockpot recipe you need in your repertoire, this is it. But truthfully, after making it once you won't even need the recipe because it's just so darn easy. Three ingredients and almost zero work. The result is a juicy, flavorful shredded chicken that makes some killer tacos. I like to load up my tacos, so they look a bit messy in the pictures. You can easily put together a great tortilla soup with the leftovers from the chicken. **As a side note, I am SO grateful to everyone who has made this recipe and/or commented on the post. Crockpot Chicken TacosRecipe from Tasty KitchenServes: ~12 people 1 1oz Envelope Taco Seasoning*6 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts, thawed1 16oz jar Salsa* Dump all ingredients into a crockpot and give it a little stir to blend the seasoning with the salsa. For tacos, serve the chicken with soft flour tortillas, guacamole, lettuce, shredded cheese and/or sour cream.
Mozzarella Sticks When I told my friends I was planning on making homemade mozzarella sticks for a guy’s weekend out of town the idea was met with a profound lack of enthusiasm. Everybody knows that I like to experiment in the kitchen, but somehow the idea of making a bar food staple like mozzarella sticks from scratch seemed like a complete waste of time to the group. After being lectured about the innumerable brands available in the freezer section at the grocery store and a heated debate about whether marinara or ranch is the better dipping accompaniment, I decided to risk further heckling and see if I couldn’t one-up T.G.I. It might have been the alcohol, but the first batch was gone within a matter of seconds. With the right breadcrumbs, fragrant Italian spices and an organized assembly line for the essential double-dredging technique, perfect, scratch-made mozzarella sticks can be made at home in no time and with little effort. For the Mozzarella Sticks: For the Buttermilk Dip: Serves 4
Oven Roasted Potatoes | My Adventures In The Country When I heard this month’s Kitchen Bootcamp Challenge was potatoes, I was pumped. Originally, I had great plans for the sweet potatoes still in my basement from last fall, but after researching and chatting with the hubby, I decided to go with Yukon Gold potatoes instead. My husband isn’t a huge fan of sweet potatoes and I wanted to make something he would enjoy too, so that’s how I settled on this oven roasted potato recipe. Yukon Golds are our favorite potato to grow in the garden and they absolutely melt in your mouth when freshly dug from the garden. I did some more searching through The Professional Chef and on the web and actually settled on a recipe from epicurious.com. Don’t get me wrong, there was nothing wrong with the flavor, just a personal preference as far as how potato-coated my hands were when I was done. Notes:The above link to The Professional Chef is an amazon affiliate link. You Might Also Like:
A Two Bite Breakfast: Bacon & Eggs in Toast Cups * Updated post from archive: Originally posted March 29, 2009 If you where to ask me what is my favorite meal of the day without a thought my response would be breakfast! I love breakfast! I love brunch! I love bacon! I love breggs! These little goodies are all of the above in a little two bite package. The other day I was scanning through my copy of William & Sonoma’s: Tools and Techniques. And, they are crazy easy to make. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Trim the crust and the corners off the bread, making wonky looking circles. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and lay the bacon strips on it. Shape the cooled bacon into the toast cups, with the meaty side out. Also, if you aren’t a fan of creamy delicious runny eggs you can beat 4 eggs with a bit of milk, season and spoon into the cups. Lower the temperature of the oven down to 350 degrees. Run a knife along the edges and use a small spoon to pop them out. For the love of eggs, bacon and toast! Ingredients 6 slices of bread 6 eggs