Categories
Dessert Pumpkin Uncategorized

Hazelnut Pumpkin Bars

Hazelnut Pumpkin Bars
Hazelnut Pumpkin Bars

It’s the 4th anniversary of StreamingGourmet today! Celebrate by watching some classic pumpkin and Halloween videos in StreamingGourmet’s video collections.

It’s time for another pumpkin blogging binge at StreamingGourmet. You see, I’m a little pumpkin obsessed and even more, Halloween obsessed, so this won’t be the first time I publish a slew of pumpkin recipes in October. There’s always something new to try with pumpkin, so check back often over the next few weeks for pumpkin recipes that are sweet, savory and everything in between.

This time, I’m starting with pumpkin bars. There is a pumpkin bar recipe that has truly made the internet rounds, usually with pecans. I’ve done some tweaking here to make these my own, including swapping in hazelnuts for pecans. You might also like them with a dolup of whipped cream on top or perhaps with a serving of ice cream. The trick to getting these right is to make sure you give the bars time to set before sprinkling the nut mixture on top. Otherwise, the nuts will just sink to the bottom.

In this recipe, you’ll need to chop hazelnuts. I found my little mini-prep Cuisinart to be a champ. Click through to find it on Amazon:

 

Hazelnut Pumpkin Bars
 
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It's like pumpkin pie in a bar.
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 18-21
Ingredients
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup old-fashioned oats
  • ½ cup packed brown sugar
  • ½ cup butter, softened
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • 2 (15 oz.) cans Pure Pumpkin
  • 2 (12 oz.) cans Evaporated Milk
  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
  • ¼ tsp ground cloves
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ½ cup hazelnuts, chopped
  • ¼ cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 Tbsp butter, softened
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
  2. Combine flour, oats, and brown sugar in a medium bowl. Cut in the butter and mix until crumbly. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 13 x 9-inch baking pan.
  3. Bake for 15 minutes.
  4. In the bowl of a standup mixer, beat together the granulated sugar, pumpkin, evaporated milk, eggs and spices. Beat at medium speed for 2 minutes until frothy. Pour over crust.
  5. Bake for 25 minutes. While the bars are baking, toast the hazelnuts in a dry sauté pan over medium heat until they start to turn dark brown. Toss them around to ensure they are toasted on all sides. Chop hazelnuts in a small food processor. Combine chopped hazelnuts and brown sugar in small bowl. Cut in the butter and mix until crumbly. Sprinkle hazelnut topping over filling. Continue baking for 15 to 25 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.

Hazelnut Pumpkin Bars
Hazelnut Pumpkin Bars
Starbucks
Categories
Sandwiches Vegetarian

Spicy Red Lentil Burger with Cilantro

Spicy Red Lentil Burger
Spicy Red Lentil Burger with Cilantro

So today I thought I might make another lentil salad, but I accidentally overcooked the red lentils. Chango presto, it’s lentil burger time. My hubby had just requested a bean burger not made with soy, so voila. Here’s my opportunity.

I wanted to make something with real flavor punch that would sing several notes, not just one. So instead of using Curry Powder or even a store-bought Garam Masala, I introduced Indian flavors by incorporating turmeric and fenugreek. Indian isn’t the only note playing here. With cumin and coriander, there’s a little Southwest happening and with the Cayenne pepper, the burger hits the tongue HOT. The fresh cilantro cools and sweetens. Try it today! Super healthy. Totally vegan. No flavor compromise.

Spicy Red Lentil Burgers
Spicy Red Lentil Burgers

Spicy Red Lentil Burgers with Cilantro
 
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Fenugreek, Cumin, Cayenne and Cilantro come together for a spicy, Indian inspired vegan burger.
Author:
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • ½ cup dry lentils
  • 1½ cups water
  • 1 small red onion
  • 8-10 mini carrots, chopped in a mini food processor
  • ½ cup raw almonds chopped in a mini food processor
  • 2 cloves chopped garlic
  • 1 Tbsp ground cumin
  • 2 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp Cayenne pepper
  • ½ tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp ground fenugreek
  • ½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped finely
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1-2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 4 buns
Instructions
  1. To prepare the lentils, bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add lentils, reduce heat and cover partially. Simmer for about 15 minutes, which will overcook the lentils. Remove from heat and set aside uncovered.
  2. In a separate saute pan, heat a Tbsp of olive oil over medium heat. Add chopped onion and saute until onions are softened, about 5 minutes. Add shredded carrots and garlic and continue cooking, stirring frequently.
  3. Add chopped almonds, cumin, coriander, cayenne, turmeric, and fenugreek and continue to saute for a minute or two more while these flavors meld. Then remove from heat.
  4. In a medium large mixing bowl, combine the lentils, onion mixture, cilantro, and salt. Stir to combine well. Shape into 4 patties.
  5. In a large skillet over medium flame, heat the olive oil. Add patties and sautee until golden brown on one side, about 3 minutes. Flip and repeat. Serve immediately. These can be stored and cooked later.

 


Categories
Appetizers Produce Salads

California Strawberry Salad

Strawberry Salad
California Strawberry Salad - Photo courtesy of the CA Strawberry Commission

Last week the California Strawberry Commission hosted an event for bloggers and food writers in San Francisco. Cheryl Sternman Rule was on hand discussing her amazing book, Ripe: A Fresh, Colorful Approach to Fruits and Vegetables. After the event, the CA Strawberry Commission shared recipes that I am privileged to share with you. One of my favorites is the California Strawberry Salad, a recipe developed by True Food Kitchen. True Food Kitchen is a restaurant with several locations in Southern California and Arizona. It was developed in partnership with Andrew Weil, MD and their goal is to make mouthwatering food that is also great for your health. I hope they have plans to move to the Bay Area!

For more great strawberry recipes, check out the recipe collection at the CA Strawberry Commission website.

Strawberry Salad
California Strawberry Salad - Photo courtesy of the California Strawberry Commission
California Strawberry Salad
 
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A savory salad courtesy of True Food Kitchen and the California Strawberry Commission. Used by permission.
Author:
Recipe type: Appetiser
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 2 cups snap peas, cleaned
  • 1 fennel bulb, diced
  • 1 pint strawberries, washed and sliced
  • 4 oz baby greens
  • 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus more for roasting
  • 1 Tbsp agave nectar
  • 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1⁄2 cup goat cheese
  • 1⁄2 cup toasted walnuts
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Blanch the snap peas in salted boiling water for 30 seconds. Refresh in ice water immediately after cooking to lock in the bright green color and to keep from overcooking.
  2. Lay out the fennel on a sheet pan. Season with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast snap peas at 375 degrees for 10 minutes or until tender and caramelized. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 45 minutes.
  3. Arrange strawberries, baby greens, blanched snap peas and roasted fennel in a large salad bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the agave nectar and balsamic vinegar with the olive oil to create the vinaigrette. Whisk until incorporated. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  4. Divide on four plates and drizzle vinaigrette over the salad. Top the salad with equal parts goat cheese and walnuts.
Strawberry Salad
California Strawberry Salad - Photo courtesy of the CA Strawberry Commission
Categories
Poultry Sauces Uncategorized

Chicken Breasts in Vermouth

Chicken Breasts in Vermouth
Chicken Breasts in Vermouth

The book, Chicken and Other Poultry, published by the California Culinary Academy in 1986 was a mainstay in my college apartment kitchen in 1992. So much so, that when I took a guy named John P. to the “Screw Your Roommate Dance” at Swarthmore that year, I made this dish for our special candlelight dinner beforehand. The book describes the dish as “elegant enough for guests, looks impressive, but it actually couldn’t be easier to put together.” It was perfect for a food-obsessed, but novice college chef like me. And if I could pull it off at age 20, and remember what it tasted like lo these 21 years later, this dish is worth adding to your repertoire, right?

I’ve adapted the recipe a bit here to account for all of the changes we’ve seen over the last 20 years. For example, when the book was published in 1986, boneless, skinless chicken breasts were not available at the grocery store, so they go to the trouble of telling you to split, bone and skin the breasts. I’ve boosted the flavorings a bit, by increasing the onions and mushrooms, but the the essence of the recipe is the same: a vermouth reduction serves as the foundation for a classic mushroom cream sauce.

If you like Jamie Oliver’s Chicken and Leek Stroganoff, you’ll love this dish too. Orange replaces lemon in this dish for the citrus burst that lightens the cream sauce. It’s a nice little surprise.

This dish is easy and fast. Make it for dinner tonight!

Chicken Breasts in Vermouth
Chicken Breasts in Vermouth

 

Chicken Breasts in Vermouth
 
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Elegant enough for guests, easy enough for novice home chefs.
Author:
Recipe type: Entree
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 2 shallots, minced
  • ¾ cup dry vermouth
  • ½ pint sliced mushrooms
  • 1 cup whipping cream
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 Tbsp grated orange rind
  • Wedges from leftover orange for garnish
  • 4 Tbsp flat, Italian parsley, chopped
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 200˚F.
  2. In a medium sautée pan over medium flame, heat oil with garlic, being careful not to scorch the garlic. Sauté breast halves in the oil until browned on both sides (about 7 minutes per side for thick breasts)
  3. Remove breasts to an ovenproof serving dish, keeping as much of the oil in the sautée pan as possible. Keep breasts warm in the oven while you prepare the cream sauce.
  4. If necessary, add another dab of olive oil and heat through. Then add the shallot and sautée until softened and turning golden brown. Add the vermouth and deglaze the pan, scraping brown pits from the side of the pan. simmer until reduced by about half. Add mushrooms and quickly heat through. Pour in cream and increase the flame to high. Bring to a boil and allow to thicken. Reduce the heat and season with salt and pepper.
  5. To add the egg yolk, beat it in a small bowl and stir in a few tablespoons of the hot sauce. Pour this mixture into the pan and stir to combine completely and thicken. Keep the heat low so that the egg doesn't curdle.
  6. Add the orange rind and simmer to heat through and release essential oils.
  7. Pour the sauce over the chicken, sprinkle parsley over the sauce, garnish with orange slices and serve. I like to serve it with jasmine rice, to have something to soak up all that yummy sauce.

 

wine.com
Categories
Dessert Produce Vegetarian

Plum Clafoutis and a CSA Box Giveaway

Plum Clafoutis
Plum Clafoutis

A few weeks ago, a company called Full Circle reached out and offered me the opportunity to experience their CSA box delivery program free of charge for a brief period of time. They recently expanded into the Bay Area from Washington State and Idaho, and they wanted to give bloggers like me a chance to sample their new service. There was no requirement to review or purchase the product, but it is such a great service, I am happy to write about it here. In this week’s box, there were Santa Rosa Plums. I knew it was time to make Plum Clafoutis. More about that later. First, let me tell you about Full Circle Farms and invite you to enter a drawing to win one free farm box delivery from them! Details below.

Full Circle delivers a weekly box of local & organic fruits and veggies right to your doorstep. You can pick items from their artisan grocery list too – dairy, breads, pastas, grass-fed meats, coffee, jams and more. They started as an organic farm 15 years ago in North Bend, WA. Now, they’re CSA program has grown to serve thousands in the Northwest, Alaska and most recently, the Bay Area. They work with a bunch of the best organic and family farms on the West Coast. When I check my front step on Wednesdays, it feels like Christmas morning.

Santa Rosa Plums
Santa Rosa Plums

If you’d like to have fresh, organic produce delivered to your doorstep too, enter “STREAMINGGOURMET’S 1 FREE FARM BOX FROM FULL CIRCLE GIVEAWAY” Entries could include: a TWEET, a FB share, a PIN, a Google+, or a BLOG POST. All entries must link back to this post. LEAVE A COMMENT at the bottom detailing your entries and you will be entered into the drawing. The DEADLINE is Sunday, August 12 at midnight PDT. To win, you must reside within one of Full Circle’s Delivery Areas.

FullCircleDeliveryAreas

If you are the winner, you will be contacted by email, and given a coupon code to enter during the registration process on the Full Circle website. We will also announce the winner on FB and Twitter. You will be under no obligation to purchase any items from Full Circle. (Credit card required at signup. Membership required through online registration, automatic renewal unless cancelled.) So starting sharing and comment below to enter! The more ways you share, the better your chances of winning.

And when you get your box, if plums are still in season, you just might want to make this classic French dessert, Plum Clafoutis. It’s like a custardy cake. Or is it a cakey custard? I like mine particularly eggy, so this one is more like a cakey custard. For extra oomph, you could do what Julia Child would do and soak your plums in cognac first, or I like the idea of soaking them in Cointreau, a French liqueur with orange overtones. I didn’t have any Cointreau on hand, so I went without and it still tasted great. Make sure you eat the clafoutis soon after it leaves the oven. Because it has certain soufflée qualities, it’s just not the same the next day.

Plum Clafoutis
 
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The classic French dessert, not too sweet and just right for a summer's CSA box full of plums.
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • 6-8 Santa Rosa plums (or any variety of plum or stone fruit)
  • 1 Tbsp of sugar
  • 1-2 Tbsp butter
  • 5 large eggs + 1 egg yolk
  • ¼ cup of sugar
  • 1½ cups milk (I used 2%)
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
  • Powdered sugar
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Spray a 9x12 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Slice the plums in half and remove the pits. Place the plums in the pan with the skin side down. Sprinkle with the sugar and dot with a little butter on each one.
  2. In a stand-up mixer, beat the eggs for about 2 minutes until they start to get stiff. Add the sugar and beat until sugar is nearly dissolved. Add the milk and vanilla and whisk to combine. Add the sifted flour and whisk to combine. Do not overmix.
  3. Pour the batter over the plums. Bake in the oven for about an hour. The batter will puff up and then start to brown. When it is golden brown on top, it's done.
  4. After the clafoutis has cooled a bit, dust it with the powdered sugar and serve. Clafoutis is best eaten right out of the oven! Serve with vanilla ice cream for a extra punch.

More great clafoutis recipes from around the web:

Cherry Almond Clafoutis

Julia Child’s Plum Clafouti

Cherry-Almond Clafoutis

Cherry Clafouti

Gratinee Blog Use Real Butter Blog Simply Recipes Blog
Categories
Fish & Shellfish

Cilantro-Lime Halibut

Cilantro Lime Halibut
Cilantro Lime Halibut

Food like this that keeps me feeling great. Full of flavor, protein, vitamins – this is the kind of food that keeps me “on track.”

The sauce is light. I’ve stuck with chicken stock, white wine and lime juice as its base. When I made it originally back in 2012, I also used an infused oil that was available at Mollie Stones. It was called Nona Luisa’s Blood Orange infused Olive Oil. With just a tad of it in the pan at the beginning, it gave the dish an extra zest. I’m not sure that it is still available.

To keep things light, grain-free, and low-carb in general, serve this over a bed of greens, or with a Cucumber and Avocado Ceviche piled on top. For today, lettuce with a little blood-orange olive oil vinaigrette did just fine.

Cilantro-Lime Halibut
 
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Cilantro and lime are the perfect pairing for halibut.
Author:
Recipe type: Main
Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • 2 (1/2 lb) Northern Halibut Filets
  • 2 tsp Mollie Stone's Blood Orange Olive Oil (or regular olive oil)
  • Dusting of garlic-pepper
  • ¼ cup white wine
  • ¼ cup chicken stock
  • Juice of one lime
  • 2 green onions, chopped from the white part halfway up the green part
  • Another slug of Blood Orange Olive Oil
  • A bunch of fresh cilantro
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Coat the filets with garlic pepper on the flesh side. When pan is heated, add filet flesh side down to pan to sear that side. Allow to cook for about 30 seconds. Then flip filets over with tongs.
  2. Add white wine to pan and cover to steam. After about 2 minutes, much of the wine will have evaporated. Add the chicken stock gradually. Allow the filets to steam for another couple of minutes. Then add the lime juice. When bubbling and both filets are opaque all the way through, add the green onions to the pan and swirl in the sauce for a moment.
  3. Remove filets to beds of lettuce. Add a tsp of the Blood Orange Olive, swirl the green onions in the sauce one more time and then pour equal parts over the fish.
  4. Garnish with fresh cilantro and lime wedges. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

 

Categories
Dessert Uncategorized

Cherry Cobbler

Cherry Cobbler
Cherry Cobbler

May 17 is National Cherry Cobbler Day! I decided to make an easy cherry cobbler with more than a hint of cinnamon. I prefer the real “biscuity” kind of topping on cobbler, rather than a streusel, or sugar crusted type topping. Using the Stonewall Kitchen Cherry Pie Filling saves one from having to pit the cherries and cook them just right. My easy cobbler recipe takes about 10 minutes to prep and 20 minutes to cook. Done and done!

icon
icon

Cherry Cobbler
 
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Easy cherry cobbler with a hint of cinnamon
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 4 Tbsp butter, cut into small pieces
  • 2 Tbsp sugar
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 29 oz Jar of Cherry Pie Filling
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 425˚F.
  2. Add pie filling to a 9 x 12 casserole dish. While preparing the batter, put the dish in the oven for about 10 minutes so that the fruit has a chance to warm up.
  3. Meanwhile, in a standup mixer, cream together the butter and the sugar until fluffy.
  4. In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the butter-sugar mixture and mix in the mixer until a crumbly dough starts to form. Don't over mix.
  5. Add the milk and stir with a spoon until mixture is a smooth batter. Again be careful not to overmix it.
  6. Remove casserole dish from the oven and spread batter over the top, trying to reach all of the corners.
  7. Bake at 425˚F for 15-20 minutes or until biscuit topping is golden brown. The cinnamon in the mixture will make it appear more brown than a normal biscuit.
  8. Serve with vanilla ice cream or just on its own. Best when served warm.

Categories
Dessert

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

May 15 is National Chocolate Chip Day. What better way to celebrate than to enjoy classic drop chocolate chip cookies with a peanut butter twist.

Tips and tricks for getting great chocolate chip cookies
1) Make them large. When they are large, the edge can be crispy while the center is still soft. That’s how I like them.
2) Don’t forget the vanilla. It seems like an ingredient of little importance, but vanilla adds depth to chocolate chip cookies (peanut butter otherwise) and without it, they seem flat
3) Don’t open the oven door while they’re cooking, but check on them through the window. You don’t want the temperature in the oven to drop, but near the end, you’ve got to watch so that they don’t over-brown.
4) For these cookies: Creamy peanut butter or chunky peanut butter. It’s up to you!
5) Use big, disc-shaped chocolate chips, like the ones made by Ghiradelli:

 

Remember that 80’s commercial for Reese’s Peanut Butter cups?

 

 

4.5 from 2 reviews
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
 
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Hey, you got your chocolate in my peanut butter!
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 24
Ingredients
  • ½ pound (2 sticks) butter, softened
  • ¾ cup white sugar
  • ¾ cup dark brown sugar
  • ¾ cup creamy peanut butter
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • ½ cup roasted, salted peanuts crushed
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 375˚F
  2. In an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars until fluffy. Add peanut butter and beat until fully incorporated.
  3. Add the eggs, one at a time and beat until each is well blended.
  4. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients in 3 batches, mixing with a spoon until fully incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips and vanilla.
  5. Drop in large tablespoons onto a cookie sheet. I was able to fit about 8 cookies on each cookie sheet.
  6. Spoon a little bit of the crushed nuts onto the top of each cookies and press gently with your fingers.
  7. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Watch closely near the end. The edges should just be browning and the middle will appear a little soft.
  8. Remove and let cool for a couple of minutes before transferring to a plate or cooling rack.
Notes
Makes 4 batches of 8 cookies. Takes 40 minutes if you cook the batches one after the other.

 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Categories
Appetizers Salads Uncategorized

Classic Caesar Salad – Mad Men Style

Caesar Salad with Shaved Parmesan

Whenever I watch Mad Men, I wish I could be transported back in time to the New York City restaurants featured on the show. Of course, many of them are still open and thriving, and NY Eater has indexed them beautifully, here. But alas, I live in San Fracisco, and my time machine is in the shop, so I am reduced to trying to recreate the recipes of the day here at home.

I worked at a restaurant in the early eighties that made Caesar Salad table-side. It’s definitely food as theater when the waiter cracks the egg over the salad and mixes it in or lifts his arm high in the air to drizzle in the olive oil. Entertain your family at home with a similar preparation. It was in Season 1, episode 2 (The Ladies’ Room) that Betty and Don Draper dine with Roger Sterling at the restaurant Toots Shor, where a Caesar Salad is prepared table-side. Also in Season 3, Episode 4 (The Arrangements), Pete Campbell, Don Draper, and a potential client, Horace “Hoho” Cook dine at Keen’s where Caesar Salads are prepared table side even today.

Betty and Don Draper at Dinner
Betty and Don Draper at Dinner

Nowadays, people are a little spooked by the raw egg mixed into the dressing, but I’m someone who has eaten raw cookie dough my whole life and never -knock on wood – suffered from salmonella poisoning. This Caesar Salad recipe also calls for a coddled egg (boiled in rapidly boiling water for 40 seconds) which may comfort those who are nervous. The US Department of Agriculture measures the risk encountering a contaminated at 1 in 30,000. Coddling doesn’t quite bring the temperature of the egg to the 160˚F required to kill the bacteria, but it makes for a creamier dressing.

And what about anchovies? They weren’t a part of the orginial Caesar Cardini salad recipe, so I haven’t included them here, but if you want to add them in, just chop a few of them finely to mix into the dressing and then garnish with a few more on top.

For more about the food of Mad Men, check out The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook, available at Amazon.com:

Watch Mad Men on AMC, Sundays at 10/9c.

Caesar Salad
Serves 2-4

Ingredients

Dressing:
1 clove garlic crushed
1 egg yolk that has been coddled (boil in rapidly boing water for 40 seconds)
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 lemon, juiced
1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 pinch of salt
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly shaved Parmesan cheese, plus extra for garnish
Freshly ground black pepper

2 heads romaine lettuce
Great croutons (if you have to make them yourself, toast cubed bread in olive oil and minced garlic until golden brown).

Method

1. In a large wooden bowl, spread the crushed garlic around. Crack a coddled egg into the bowl. Add mustard, lemon juice, Worcestershire Sauce and salt. Beat with a fork. Pour the oil in a steady slow stream while continuing to beat the mixture. Tear the lettuce into the bowl and toss. Grind fresh pepper on top. Add the croutons and freshly shaved Parmesan. Toss and transfer to plates. Then shave additional Parmesan on top.

Caesar Salad
Caesar Salad

Categories
Dessert Uncategorized

Black Cherry Chocolate Parfait

Black Cherry Chocolate Parfait

It’s National Chocolate Parfait Day, so I was inspired to run to the grocery store and whip up a parfait. My goal was to make some delicious and fast. So I opted for instant pudding today, but when I have more time, I’ll go for the home-made version. I did make my own whipped cream, because although most people don’t realize it, making real whipped cream is just about as fast as pulling the canned stuff out of the fridge.

I do have this great tool that enables me to whip with little effort and no noise. It’s a rotary egg beater and they have them on Amazon:

I used the rotary egg beater to whip up the instant pudding and during the 2 minutes that was chilling in the refrigerator I used it to whip up the whipped cream. Done and done.

Now for the layering. I love the flavors of chocolate and cherry together, so I used this lovely Black Cherry jam as one of the layers. It’s difficult to see in the photograph, but it’s lodged between the chocolate pudding and the whipped cream. It’s also available on Amazon if you can’t find it in your local grocery store:

5.0 from 1 reviews
Black Cherry Chocolate Parfait
 
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Chocolate pudding, cherry jam and real whipped cream come together for a National Chocolate Parfait Day treat.
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 1 package Jell-O instant chocolate pudding
  • 2 cups milk (I use 2%)
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1 Tbsp confectioner's sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 6 Tbsp Black Cherry Jam
Instructions
  1. Using a rotary egg beater (or a whisk), beat the instant pudding mix and milk together for 2 minutes. Let chill and set in the refrigerator for 5 minutes.
  2. While the pudding is setting, use a rotary egg beater to beat together the cream, sugar and vanilla. It takes about 3-4 minutes to get nice peaks to form.
  3. Spoon pudding into the bottom of a champagne flute or other tall, narrow glass. Wipe rim with a paper towel to remove chocolate smudges. Spoon in a tablespoon of the jam into each flute, then top with whipped cream and garnish with a chocolate chip or a cherry or anything you like!
  4. Either eat immediately or chill for later.


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