A Taste of Koko: Hot chocolate Uncategorized “There’s nothing better than a good friend, except a good friend with Chocolate” Linda Grayson This is my take on ‘Hot Chocolate’. Instead of the typical cup of steaming hot chocolate, these cups are made 100% out of chocolate. Perfect for a party to entertain your guests. They’ll get a kick out of the velvety smooth mousse and edible cup that holds it. You get a cold creaminess from whipped cream, sweetness and crunch from chocolate cup, and heat from the cayenne pepper. Prepare to have your taste buds dancing to a sweet and spicy tune! I seem to be doing more social media now a days but I still enjoy baking up a storm in the kitchen. Chocolate cups. To make these chocolate cups, melt about 4 ounces to make 3 cups. I suggest using a high quality melting chocolate. Place the chocolate covered balloons on a pan covered with parchment paper. You can either let the balloon sit for 30 minutes or stick them into the fridge to harden up faster. Fill first with chocolate mousse Enjoy!
Chicken and Black Bean Burritos - www.phillyburbs.com: Type A Kitchen I'm so glad you're here today because I've made you glorified Hot Pockets circa 1994. Let me tell you what kind of meal this is. This is the kind of meal you make when your day has gone by in a complete blur. These types of days make me wish a company like Apple would invent LDVR. (Life DVR. Tryin' to go mainstream.) This is the kind of meal you make when your patience is stretched to the max, and you've come to the conclusion that the world has gone mad and you're the only normal person left on Earth. And this is the kind of meal you make when you're so hungry that a Hot Pocket starts sounding like a good idea. No... just, no. Instead, make homemade chicken and black bean hot pocket-style burritos in ten minutes flat. Come on, you have ten minutes. Boneless, skinless chicken is tossed with smoky spices and sauted with creamy black beans. Serve with all your favorite burrito condiments, like sour cream, salsa, and limes. Chicken and Black Bean Burritos Adapted from Cooking Light Magazine
Pasta with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce I love pasta. Always have. Always will. Today’s dish is the perfect example. I used to eat a dish just like this at a restaurant in Los Angeles, and when I moved away I was forced to replicate it in my kitchen lest I begin to confuse nostalgia for this pasta with nostalgia for James and run back to southern California. Not that everyone in Newport Beach has 1.7 children and dogs named Britney. To begin, fire up the grill (the range in the Lodge has this built in grill), the broiler, or the open flame on your cooktop. What we need to do is char the heck out of the red peppers. Whether it’s under the broiler or on the grill, I usually blacken them for about ten minutes, then remove them and set them on a plate for a few minutes. After a few minutes, throw the peppers into a large Ziploc bag. Seal the bags. While the red peppers are sweating, grab some pine nuts. Heat a small skillet over medium-low heat. Pour a couple of tablespoons into the pan. Peel and finely mince the cloves. Yum. Yikes.
15 Basic Stir Fry Sauce Recipes (Food and Whine) I love a good stir fry and they are a great way to use up odds and ends of meat, vegetable and noodles. And let’s face it, they are a quick and easy dinner solution. Simply cook up some rice or throw in some noodles and it’s a family-pleasing meal. I rarely start with a recipe – just a pile of odds and ends. So it occurred to me recently that what I really needed was a stir-fry sauce “cheat sheet” – a handy reference for the combination of sauce ingredients I need to make different kinds of stir fry to combine with my collection of ingredients. Here I’ve collected 15 great stir-fry sauce recipes that can be printed to keep handy in the kitchen (or bookmarked, if you prefer). Instructions for all of these recipes … just combine the ingredients in a small bowl, stir well to combine, then add to your stir fry. Lemon Stir-Fry Sauce – Great with seafood stir fries, such as shrimp and/or scallops, as well as chicken. Lemon Stir-Fry Sauce II – nice with chicken and seafood. Tips: Tips:
one-pan dark chocolate chunk skillet cookie For some reason, I was craving this on Saturday. Nothing else would do. All I wanted was a warm, gooey, chocolate chip cookie, straight out of an iron skillet. With just a little ice cream. I flipped through a cookbook or two, and discovered you could make chocolate chip cookies with melted butter. by Abigail Dodge) even had you mix the entire dough in the saucepan where you melted the butter, and then scoop out the cookies from there. As this was a lazy Saturday, and my intent was only to satisfy my craving (not a den of Cub Scouts’ or a mob of preschoolers’), I exercised no financial caution and dumped an entire cup of chopped Valrhona chocolate into the mix. To make this, since it is such a simple recipe, use the very best ingredients you can. And then run a 5k. Now I know that most of you don’t have an enormous bar of Valrhona chocolate lying around. I know. To order the same Lodge Logic Skillet that I used, you can find it right here on amazon. 1. 2.
Crab Cakes - Cook This! Not That - Mens Health We leave mayo and a deep fryer out of the equation to make flavorful, healthy crab cakes In the skilled hands of a four-star chef or a seafaring Maryland man, the goal of a crab cake is simple: Use just enough ingredients to build flavor and bind the cakes, but never at the expense of the crab itself. The goal of the corporate cook is quite different: Make an inexpensive crab cake that will hold together under duress and leave them wanting more. That's why mayo and a deep fryer are invariably part of the process. You'll Need: 1 can (16 oz) jumbo lump crab meat 2 Tbsp minced jalapeno 2 scallions, chopped 1/2 cup minced red bell pepper 1 egg, lightly beaten 2 tsp Dijon mustard Juice of 1 lemon 1/4 tsp Old Bay seasoning 1/2 tsp salt 3/4 cup bread crumbsMango-Avocado Salsa How to Make It: *Preheat the oven to 425F. *Gently mix everything but 1/2 cup of the bread crumbs. *Spread the remaining bread crumbs on a plate and roll each crab cake over the crumbs to lightly and evenly coat.
Cinnamon Roll Sugar Cookies These are divine. Truly. They taste just like your favorite breakfast treat but in fabulous cookie form. I wish I could take credit for the idea, but I stumbled on something like it and thought I would give it a whirl. My tummy is glad I did, but my thighs? Not so much. Cookie Ingredients:- One batch sugar cookie dough (you can make your own, or just buy a roll)- 1/4 stick butter, melted- Cinnamon- Brown Sugar Cookie Instructions:- Roll out sugar cookie dough into a large rectangle (flour your rolling surface to avoid stickage!) Glaze Ingredients:- Butter, melted- Milk, warmed- Powdered (Confectioner's) Sugar- Vanilla Glaze Instructions:- Mix equal parts butter and milk- Add a dash off vanilla to butter/milk mix for flavor- Very slowly drizzle butter/milk mix into confectioner's sugar, stirring constantly until you get desired consistency
The Angry Chefs Garlicky Lemon-Pepper Chicken A lot of folks have asked me for this recipe. It’s one of The Angry Chef’s signature dishes, and I was lucky to pry it away from him. This recipe is a dream come true for garlic lovers like me. It’s tart and garlick-y and oh-so-fragrant in all the right ways. (As a bonus, you’ll surely be safe from vampires for the evening.) The instructions below are one part recipe, one part technique. Basically, the chicken breast is dredged in flour, then shallow fried in a bath of bubbling golden olive oil. Lemon juice, powdered peel, and fresh zest provide a triple dose of bright citrus flavor right near the end of cooking. Enjoy this chicken with any sort of hot, spicy rice (I have yet to get the recipe for the Demon Saffron Rice that he made around Halloween), some warm, buttered noodles, or grilled asparagus sprinkled with Parmesan. The Angry Chef’s Garlicky Lemon-Pepper Chicken: A note on ingredients The Angry Chef’s Garlicky Lemon-Pepper Chicken Serves 6-8 as a main course. Grab your chicken.
Top 10 Young Killers Crime A number of child killings have been recorded throughout the years. These often have involved disturbing acts one can hardly imagine a child suffering through. These cases are becoming more controversial as the number of child killings increases every year. Eric Smith January 22, 1980 “You may think I’m a threat to the well-being of society. At 13, Eric Smith was bullied because of his thick glasses, freckles, long red hair and one other quality: He had protruding, elongated ears. Joshua Phillips March 17, 1984 “There should be a sensitivity to the fact that a 14-year-old is not a little adult.” – Florida Governor Jeb Bush What started as a regular room cleaning ended with the conviction of a 14-year-old boy named Joshua Phillips. People in the community, especially the boy’s parents, could hardly believe he could have killed Clifton. George Stinney October 21, 1929–June 16, 1944 “only when asked to arise and be sentenced, did he appear nervous and slightly excited” (Rowe, p.1)
Fluffy Falafel...and an easy Tzatziki! & October 21, 2009 by Linda FALAFEL with TZATZIKI I eat fairly low carb, and the carbs I do eat usually come from veggies and a lot of beans. I LOVE BEANS! This recipe is a great vegetarian dish for when you’re tired of meat or just want something a little different. The sauce is fantastic – make it ahead to let the flavors meld. Falafel: 1 medium onion, finely chopped 1/2 cup fresh or 1/4 cup dried parsley 2 cloves garlic, chopped One 15-ounce can chickpeas (garbanzo beans) OR Cannellini , drained 1 egg 2 teaspoons cumin 1 teaspoon dried or 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 1/4 teaspoon oregano Dash cayenne pepper 1 teaspoon lemon juice 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs 1 tablespoon flour Oil for frying or nonstick vegetable spray In food processor place onion, parsley, and garlic. Transfer to a bowl and mix in the egg, cumin, cilantro, salt, pepper, oregano, cayenne, lemon juice, baking powder, bread crumbs, and flour. Tzatziki: 1/2 teaspoon sugar
Fluffy Vanilla Cake with Whipped Vanilla Bean Frosting 8640 minutes, 144 hours, 25 loads of dishes, 7 recipes, 8 pounds of butter, a few tears, a couple of happy children, and 1 relieved husband later, I have finally found it: a new favourite classic vanilla cake recipe! The perfect fluffy vanilla cake and creamy vanilla frosting–sounds simple, right? Well, yes and no. Or no and yes. After I baked, frosted, and then ate some (it’s been known to happen) of each cake, I thought I’d succeeded in finding a really light and fluffy cake, but, then upon second taste, I was a bit disappointed with them and I wasn’t inspired to share them with you for that reason. The thing is, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was a recipe out there that yields a fluffy vanilla cake, you know, one that is as close as can be to the boxed white cake we all love so much (yep, I said it!). This method is found in many of the cakes in Rose Levy Beranbaum’s book entitled The Cake Bible , and it really does yield an incredibly fluffy cake. Transporting Cakes 1. . 2. 2.
Very Vanilla Valentines Cheesecake | Independent Watkins Assoc #393833 - Jan Couto Love at first bite. SUCH an overworked expression, but still… when you’re talking cheesecake, the tiniest bite is capable of sending you into paroxysms of ardor. The richness of the cream cheese! The delightful interplay of tangy and sweet; the barely crunchy crust cradling its ultra-smooth filling… Be still, my heart! There’s one problem with a traditional cheesecake, though; it’s REALLY hard to serve it in really small pieces. Take that same luscious cheesecake, though, bake it in a square pan, and all of a sudden it’s easy to have, literally, “just a tiny bite.” A 1” x 1” cube of cheesecake? Before you start: you’ll want to have 16 ounces (two large packages) of cream cheese at room temperature; so give yourself a couple of hours for this to happen. Preheat the oven to 375°F. First, the crust. 1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs, about 8 whole crackers 4 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon 5 tablespoons melted butter Can you use a 9” square pan?
The Ultimate Strawberry Lemonade One of the first times I ever realized that – HEY! I can cook for myself! – was when I first learned to make lemonade. I magically found the refrigerated lemon juice at our house and followed the directions to make my own lemonade. Sorry for the detour. Anyway, there was a summer there where I made my own lemonade every single day, making sure to rub it in my sister’s face that I knew how to and she didn’t. The key to this being the ultimate lemonade is that you blend it up with the lemon rind in there. And any time of day for that matter. (makes 2 pint-glass servings with ice) 3/4 cup sugar2 large lemons, microwaved for 30 seconds2 cups water1 cup of frozen strawberries, microwaved for 1 minute (you could use fresh, but I think the frozen works better here) In a blender squeeze the lemons and add the rest of the lemon, rind and all. **Note: I like to microwave the lemons to release more of the juices, and microwaving the strawberries does the same sort of thing.