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
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.
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.
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! 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).
Chocolate Turtle Cookies I hope you’ve saved room for one last cookie recipe, because these were my favorites of the season! When Steph, the social media manager from America’s Test Kitchen, sent me a copy of I had a hard time deciding which cookies to make. I asked Joseph if he could help me narrow down the options and when I opened the cover he saw these chocolate turtle cookies and said, “Those. Make those.” And frankly, it’s just further proof that I picked out the perfect guy because he was so right. I know, it’s a new year, and eating healthier is on nearly everyone’s list of resolutions. Ingredients 1 cup all-purpose flour 1/3 cup cocoa powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, softened 2/3 cup sugar 1 large egg, separated, plus 1 egg white 2 tablespoons milk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 1/4 cups pecans, chopped fine 14 soft caramel candies 3 tablespoons heavy cream Instructions Combine flour, cocoa, and salt in bowl.
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.
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
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.
Party Food! Pizza in a Bite October 20th, 2008 by katie Getting together to watch a game? Or maybe watching a different sort of game? Pizza Bites 2 recipes pizza dough (or 2 cans refrigerated pizza dough)8 oz block mozzarella cheese4 oz thin sliced pepperoni2 tsp Italian seasoning (combine oregano, basil, parsley, and garlic)1/4 cup olive oil3 tbsp grated Parmesan cheesepizza or marinara saucePrepare pizza dough and roughly chop pepperoni. I used to use the refrigerated pizza doughs for this recipe, but I actually find the homemade dough far easier to work with. Basic Pizza Dough 1 pkg active dry yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp loose yeast)1 cup warm water1 tbsp olive oil1 tsp salt2 3/4 cup flourCombine yeast and warm water, stir to dissolve.Add oil, salt, and flour. What’s for dinner this week? Don’t miss my other pizza creations: Pizza Bagels and Pizza Egg Rolls and Pizza Bread!
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.
Chocolate Wasted Cake Ever since my brother started using the phrase "I wanna get chocolate wasted" from the movie Grown Ups I've been wanting to make this cake for his birthday. Being a chocoholic myself, I had no trouble coming up with ways to fill this cake with layer upon layer of chocolatey goodness. Just looking at this cake, I think you'll agree that it definitely deserves its name. Photo Credit: Ryan Rivera To create this chocolate beauty, I baked two layers of delicious chocolate cake. Then, I completely covered the sides of the cake with Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips. Next, I topped the cake with an assortment of chocolate candies. Last, I drizzled some melted chocolate all over the cake. I hope this cake inspires you to create your own chocolate wasted cake. Special thanks to Jef at My Food Geek for sharing some food photography tips with me recently. Chocolate Wasted CakeThis is an egg-free recipe I created to accommodate my son's food allergies. Preheat oven to 325 350 F degrees.
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.