Romancing The Chocolate: Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread: From Denny: Summer time and the zucchini are multiplying like rabbits in our gardens! Zucchini bread is always welcome just plain but how about "gilding the lily"? Add some cocoa, chocolate chips and espresso powder to put it over the top.
Quick breads like this recipe are always welcome for the holidays or when you want something special - but not complicated or too demanding of your time and effort. Like most quick breads this one is an easy recipe to make. While this delicious bread bakes just sit down, relax and tour through your favorite collected old cookbooks or breeze through some interesting online recipe databases. Works for me!
The recipe database at Spice Islands is a real treasure trove of goodies - and I've only started on the dessert section! Color me into the Well Impressed Corner. :)
When I found this recipe on the ABC Recipe site, they referenced it to "Stew Leonard's." Of course, I asked the obvious question, "Who is that?"
I live in south Louisiana so had never heard of the Connecticut grocery store chain. So, I googled them and found a wonderful site worth the visit. They started out as a dairy farm in Norwalk, Connecticut and branched out from there over the decades into a full blown grocery chain. Check out this wonderful chocolate recipe.
This is a light taste of chocolate and butterscotch. If you want to intensify those flavors, step up the chocolate chips to 3/4 cup, instead of 1/2 cup. You could even drizzle the finished chilled pie with extra chocolate syrup to add that decadence factor.
As to intensifying the butterscotch flavor, why not add a few microwave melted caramel candies to the mix? Or you could add more butterscotch chips instead of taking the time to melt caramels.
Most people prefer a light taste to dishes. At our house we often like spicy dishes and strongly flavored desserts. So, if it's supposed to taste like chocolate and caramel, we want it to be obvious.
I really think this cook was showcasing the mascarpone cheese above the other flavors, so a different name would have been a better idea since the chocolate and butterscotch flavors tend to be background in this pie. The choice is yours: simple and creamy cheese with a light taste of chocolate and butterscotch - or kick it up a notch to just a bit more!
Chocolate and cherries are another winning combination enjoyed during the Valentine's Day celebration season. Tabasco just decided to kick it up a notch.
This recipe calls for making huge cookies that are shaped into football ovals and then decorated with icing to resemble the pigskin laces. Instead you can shape them into hearts, piping icing with a heart inside a heart for decoration.
Usually, we serve cheesecake chilled. Have you ever thought of eating your cheesecake while still warm from the oven? Sara likes this recipe to enjoy that warm creamy chocolate delight.
Sara bakes these chocolate cheesecakes in small ramekins. She didn't offer up a photo but check out the awesome one I found of another version of chocolate cheesecake at flickr, decked out in blackberries.
Like any upside down cake this one is practically beginner cook and foolproof. The custard requires a more experienced cook and a little time but is well worth the effort.
Romancing The Chocolate: Cookies: Spiced Chocolate Macaroons: From Denny: Do you like spice cookies but crave the addition of chocolate? This cinnamon and chocolate pairing also happens to improve as the cookie ages. What could be better than that? A stale cookie that tastes great! :)
The cookie also contains the background dark note from a hint of cloves like I like to use in my morning stovetop cooked oatmeal. There is nothing like the pairing of cinnamon and cloves to add richness to a dish whether sweet or savory.
Romancing The Chocolate: Chef Recipe: Chocolate Tart with Caramel and Cream: From Denny: Everyone who enjoys a chocolate tart every time they can, raise their hands. Yeah, I thought so - sisters of the soul. I sure order it from the La Madeleine restaurant or other local bakery whenever it shows up in the display case. It's like a little piece of heaven in one tiny spot - a rich little chocolate pudding, a dollop of cream and some pie crust, simply divine.
This is a New York chef recipe from the famous restaurant Aureole. Chef Christopher Lee uses Sicilian sea salt to enhance the sweet creamy richness of the indulgent chocolate dessert.
He also includes the unlikely addition of the chocolate malt Ovaltine to the bittersweet baking chocolate.
Chocolate and peppermint are a great pairing, each complementing the other. What I like about this chocolate recipe is it uses bittersweet chocolate and white chocolate too. The contrast of the very dark and the light white is awesome, balanced by the roasted pistachio nuts. Can it get any better?
I've been ordering from them since Time began it seems. Gevalia is from Sweden where folks drink a ridiculous amount of coffee. We thought Americans were addicted. These guys make us look like amateurs! :)
When I was up on the site ordering some new items today I noticed they started putting up some recipes. You know me; I've got to collect them for you and me to try.
From Denny: Pears come in season during the Christmas holidays and are plentiful. But have you thought about what to do with them beyond enjoying them fresh or giving as holiday gifts?
Our local newspaper here in Louisiana included some recipes from USA Pears, so, of course, you know I just had to go explore their site. The site is set up to promote the pear growers' product and awareness of the fruit. Since I've been thinking about setting up my own organic orchards I've been visiting a lot of sites like this one.
While their recipe section is not extensive it has some gems like the following recipe well suited for the holiday table when you want something special to wow the family or your guests. If, you are like me, you like to try new recipes or variations on a popular theme - like baked pears. A nice touch is the lemon chamomile sauce that snuggles up to these pears.
From Denny: Chef Ina Garten shows The Today Show host, Meredith Vieira, how to cook up a tasty and romantic Valentine’s Day meal. Why is it so many of my journalism sisters are often lacking in confidence in the kitchen? :) Chef Garten is undeterred and rocks on ahead teaching good basics anyone can learn quickly. They neglected to put up the recipes for this video so watch and learn.
If you are an experienced cook, this advice from Ina might jog your mind to remember some dishes you haven't done in a while. I always retread videos like this to jog my brain because it's so easy to get into a cooking rut. Especially if you have a husband or children who keep wanting the same dishes week after week. It's always good to break out and try a new twist on a family favorite or something entirely different.
In the end, you are the best judge of what your family will eat. Sometimes, it's the smallest changes that are best enjoyed by all! Take a look at what Chef Garten offers and see what you think! Who said romantic had to only be for a couple, sometimes we can extend it to include the whole family. :)
Roasted Red Snapper Oven Roasted Vegetables Coeur à la Crème with Raspberries
Red snapper or other substantial fish: A simple sauce is made from creme fraiche (think of it like using mayonnaise as a base), Dijon mustard for some spicy heat, whole grain coarse ground mustard for some texture, salt and pepper, shallots finely diced, some vinegary capers. Combine all together and pour over the fish in the roasting pan. Place in the oven at 425-degrees F. for about 10 to 15 minutes, maybe more, until fish flakes with a test fork to see if it is done.
Roasted Red Snapper
Ingredients:
4 (8-ounce) fish fillets such as red snapper
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 ounces creme fraiche
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard
2 tablespoons minced shallots
2 teaspoons drained capers
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. (You can also use an ovenproof baking dish.) Place the fish fillets skin side down on the sheet pan. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.
Combine the creme fraiche, 2 mustards, shallots, capers, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a small bowl. Spoon the sauce evenly over the fish fillets, making sure the fish is completely covered. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish, until it's barely done. (The fish will flake easily at the thickest part when it's done.) Be sure not to overcook it! Serve hot or at room temperature with the sauce from the pan spooned over the top.
Roasted Vegetables: Ina uses potatoes and fennel which she starts off first in the roasting process at about 425-degrees F., combined with olive oil, salt and pepper - until they begin to soften, about 25 minutes. Then she adds the more delicate vegetables like asparagus and green string beans to roast some more. When they look like they are about done, sprinkle all with liberal amount of grated Paremsan cheese and roast again just until the cheese is melted.
Coeur à la Crème with Raspberries
Ingredients:
12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature (I used Trader Joe’s, do not use low or non fat cream cheese)
1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 1/2 cups cold heavy cream
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp grated lemon zest
Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean
Raspberry sauce
1 pint fresh raspberries, washed and dried
Directions:
Place the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on high for 2 minutes. Scrape down the beater and bowl with a rubber spatula and change the beater for the whisk attachment. With the mixer on low speed, add the heavy cream, vanilla, lemon zest and vanilla seeds and beat on high until the mixture is very thick, like whipped cream.
Line a 7″ sieve with cheesecloth (I used unbleached) so the ends drape over the sides and place it in a bowl so there is space between the bottom of the sieve and the bowl for the liquid to drain (about 1″). Pour the cream mixture into the cheesecloth, fold the ends over the top, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
To serve, discard the liquid, unmold the cream onto a plate and drizzle raspberry sauce around the base. Serve with raspberries and extra sauce. Alternatively, slice pieces, drizzle with sauce and scatter with raspberries.
Raspberry Sauce:
1 half-pint fresh raspberries, washed and dried
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup (12 ounces) seedless raspberry jam
1 Tbsp. framboise liqueur
Directions:
Place the raspberries, sugar and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 4 minutes. Pour the cooked raspberries, the jam and the liqueur into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and process until smooth. Chill.
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