German Chocolate Cupcakes

I have a friend. Let's call him "Pal". His birthday falls on December 31st, New Year's Eve. Instead of thinking that the whole world celebrates his birthday, he thinks the party is just NEVER about him. Also, his birthday falls during our winter break each year so no treats from his work buddies. When I became friends with Pal I told him that I would make him cupcakes one day. I thought about his half birthday, but darn! That falls during our summer break. (We're not constantly on breaks at Anoka-Hennepin, it just works out that way... Well, unless you visit me at school. I'm constantly on breaks then, right, Pal?) So anyway, running joke that I would make him cupcakes. FINALLY today I knew I was going to see my Pal. I surprised him with these German Chocolate Cupcakes. He once told me that they were among his favorite kind of cakes. The recipe is from David Lebovitz, AKA the Ice Cream God. He is also a trained pastry chef. He knows his stuff. The cake was wonderful- nice and fluffy from the whipped egg whites and tasty from the Dutch cocoa and coffee. The frosting? Not like a normal German Chocolate frosting. It was more of a topping. Chocolate, toasted coconut, pecans, and a quick custard of evaporated milk and eggs. Mmmmm. Gooey. A six pack! To take home and share. Happy Birthday Hal! Thanks for giving me an excuse to make one of my favorites too :) Click here for the stolen recipe for German Chocolate Cupcakes.

Basil Chicken in Coconut Curry Sauce

The fresh basil really excited me. I can't wait to start growing basil again!

Jim really liked this dinner. I like when a new recipe really works. Some are duds and not worth repeating, but this one is a keeper. I think we're even going to add more vegetables to this recipe, or even switch up the chicken for shrimp. Yes, we are wild and crazy! The curry, the ginger, the jalapenos, the basil- all that came through and made a great dinner.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Basil Chicken in Coconut Curry Sauce.

Repeat & Pie Crust

This is a favorite. I didn't realize until today how much time it takes to make this darn pot pie. I enjoy making it though because it's full of vegetables and today I was really excited because I made my own pie crust. I actually made the crust a week ago but I froze it. I am weary of Crisco but now I realize that it really does make a crust flaky and buttery.

So yup, I'll be making my own crusts now. It was quite easy and it's pretty handy having those in the freezer.

The pie crust recipe is from my Baking Illustrated cookbook but here is the recipe online-

Click here for the stolen recipe for Basic Pie Crust.

Cinnamon Roll Bread

Seriously. One of the easiest recipes ever. This "bread" was a few ingredients mixed together, pour it in a pan, let it rest for 15 minutes, and then press in a brown sugar mixture on top. Bake for 30 minutes. Drizzle with icing.

I think this is the lazy (wo)man's cinnamon roll recipe. This would a great recipe for breakfast guests- something you can whip together and serve with coffee.



I took this picture to show you the brown sugar crusty goodness when it came out of the oven. It was bubbling and the house smelled AMAZING.

I'm going to keep this recipe handy. I can also see myself whipping this up for work peeps and their coffee.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Cinnamon Roll Bread.

Bread!!

I keep telling myself that I'm afraid of yeast. I thought I conquered it but I still steer clear of some recipes because they contain yeast. I put aside my hesitations, dug out my baking stone, and bought a pizza peel. These are all the necessary tools, says my book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.

The idea is to make a large batch of bread dough, refrigerate it, and tear off what you need for up to 2 weeks. I made a loaf and it was easy enough! It looks a little rough but it was good!! It was still warm when I buttered it up. YUM.

I can't wait to make another loaf for a dinner. I want Jim to try it right out of the oven!

Oh, and about my fear of yeast? I made THREE recipes with yeast in one day!! This bread, pizza dough, and then Cinnamon Roll Bread. Wow.

Am I Irish?

Irish food and desserts invaded the food blogs that I read like a week ago. The bloggers were all getting ready for St. Paddy's Day and making their goodies, with enough time for the rest of us to bookmark and then prepare their recipes.

Originally I was going to make Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes again but I wanted to try something new. So I went with the same idea but in cheesecake form.

The Oreo crumbs are mixed with the Irish Whiskey, the cheesecake is actually two kinds- one with chocolate and Guinness, and the other with Bailey's. So you have three different kinds of booze to make these extra special and boozey.



I also made Milk Chocolate Guinness Ice Cream. This recipe was also circulating around the food blog world, and I was buying Guinness anyway so this ice cream was perfect. I make ice cream in this house and I usually am the one who chips away at it, James only likes plain chocolate and Jim is a fan but he's content with one taste and then moves on. I thought maybe maybe if this ice cream was good that Jim would have more than one serving.


I think he's going to have seconds :)

Click here for the stolen recipe for Irish Car Bomb Cheesecake.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Milk Chocolate Guinness Ice Cream. Originally from the Ice Cream God, David Lebovitz!

White Chocolate Coconut Cream Cheese Poundcake

Yeah, that's a mouthful! I followed a recipe for Cream Cheese Poundcake and it suggested adding a cup of chopped white chocolate in the batter. So I found my new favorite white chocolate at Target today and chopped that up. I figured that since it was White Chocolate Coconut I'd substitute coconut extract for the almond extract. Oh yeah...



The cake is very good but it stuck to the bottom of my bundtlette pans. Darn. And then I finished the rest of the batter in my Williams Sonoma Sunflower pan, and I even sprayed the hell out of that thing, but it still stuck again. Oh well. I broke the cake into large pieces and froze them. I figured I'd find something to do with it- cake pops or trifles.

I really was just making this recipe for the hell of it, not for any specific occasion so I'm glad it was a semi-fail when it didn't count for much.

I broke a bundtlette into pieces and layered it with cheesecake pudding (Jell-o, not homemade) and blackberries. Pretty good :)

I told Jim they were healthy because of the berries and the fat free/sugar free pudding. Nevermind all the butter, chocolate and sugar that went into the poundcake!

Click here for the stolen recipe for Cream Cheese Pound Cake.

Creamy Baked Chicken Taquitos

Probably not the most authentic Mexican recipe but pretty darn good. I like the idea of baking these taquitos instead of deep frying so they are healthier. We are already imagining the other fillings we can make for other taquitos.



The filling is made from salsa verde, cream cheese, spices, shredded chicken, two kinds of cheese, etc. See the recipe below :) Maybe I could use Mexican crema instead of cream cheese next time?

I baked these for the smaller amount of time, I think if I had left them in for a few more minutes they would have been crispier. We dipped them in salsa and sour cream. This is definitely a recipe we'll make again.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Creamy Baked Chicken Taquitos.

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

This is getting its own post even though it was made for another part of a recipe. I'm making taquitos tonight and this salsa will be mixed with chicken and cream cheese for a taco filling.

The recipe is from a food blogger but the real credit goes to Rick Bayless, a famous Mexican food cook. I have one of his cookbooks (from my favorite big sis Ana) that I should use more often.

I love me some tomatillo salsa so I was happy to try a homemade salsa, something I haven't done ever with tomatillos. I think I went a little heavy with the lime juice but it's gooooood. The salsa was still warm from the roasted jalapenos and tomatillos and I made myself a little chips and salsa snack :) :) :) :)



Click here for the stolen recipe for Roasted Tomatillo Salsa.

Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins

These are definitely NOT light muffins. These are a very good banana and chocolate chip muffin. The espresso flavor is there, it's not very significant though. I think it just gives it a deeper, dark flavor. Nice.

I find that my espresso powder (pictured in the background) has come in handy for a few recipes. I've used it in brownie recipes, an ice cream, and now these muffins. It also came in handy during a blizzard when we ran out of coffee. I made espresso- mine diluted with a bit of cream and sugar :)

Click here for the stolen recipe for Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins.

Orange Chipotle Chicken

I thought this was a great recipe. It required a few ingredients that I didn't have on hand (pure maple syrup, orange juice and zest) but a few that I had handy. Chipotle chiles in adobo sauce are handy. Usually you just use one chile from a whole can, so I usually freeze them in individual baggies, and then collected in a freezer ziploc bag. I pull them out as I need them. I'm so economical :)

It came together really quickly and it was full of flavor. I've made recipes before that have been tasteless. This one was definitely flavorful. The sauce looks a little dark but it's smoky and deep. Love it.

AND this is a "clean" recipe. Clean eating is a concept that I've heard of lots of times but I have a friend at work that is a clean eater and so I thought of her when I was making this one.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Orange Chipotle Chicken.

Coconut Chicken Curry Soup

I don't have a link to this recipe because it's from my Best 30-Minute Recipe from Cook's Illustrated.

We really liked this soup too. Chicken, mushrooms, coconut milk, bok choy, cilantro, lime juice, curry paste.

Peanut Butter Cup Crunch Bars

With every bar that my husband Jim eats these go up on his "Top 5" list of things I've ever made. They were at #4 but today they're at #2, second only to his beloved Chocolate Intensity Cake.

What can't you love about a chewy brownie topped with peanuts and chopped peanut butter cups, and then a layer of chocolate, peanut butter and rice krispies? Yeah, sinful.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Peanut Butter Cup Crunch Bars. You won't regret it!

Black Bean Soup

It's winter. It's soup time! This was the first of two soups for the weekend. We really enjoyed this soup. I've never used dried beans before, and it was well worth the extra effort.

I also love a soup with lots of garnishes- especially cilantro and avocado. YUM. And some corn tortillas. BONUS.

I had some HoneyBaked Ham in the freezer, so I chopped that up. I do admit that we used more than the 4 ounces the recipe calls for :) We love our ham.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Black Bean Soup. I found the recipe online but I really used my Best 30-Minute Recipe cookbook.

White Chicken Chili

Reposted because I included the recipe below!



OH WOW. I just love this soup. I think it could be one of my favorite meals ever. OR I'm just really hungry lately :)

This soup is low-fat, flavorful, and just awesome. It does take a bit of time to make- it involves many steps, taking about 2 hours total. Well worth it.

I did substitute white hominy for the cannellini beans. It reminds me of posole. And this isn't really a white chili but a green one. Those chiles just make this soup.


Make this on a relaxing Sunday and enjoy!

I just can't find this recipe online to save my life. That is just WRONG. No one has blogged about this great soup? Inconceivable!

There are 8 servings in this soup. Each serving is only 3 weight watcher points! I had two servings :)

The recipe since I was asked very nicely to share it :)



White Chicken Chili

3 lbs. bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
Salt and ground pepper
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
3 medium poblano chiles, stemmed, seeded, and chopped medium
3 medium Anaheim chiles, stemmed, seeded, and chopped medium
1 medium jalapeno chile, plus 1 small jalapeno chile, seeds and ribs removed and set aside, flesh minced
2 medium onions, minced
6 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 2 Tablespoons)
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons dried oregano
8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2- 15 oz. cans cannellini beans (or hominy), drained and rinsed
¼ cup juice from 2 to 3 limes
¼ cup minced fresh cilantro leaves
4 scallions, sliced thin

1. Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Sear the chicken, skin side down, until browned, about 4 minutes. Flip the chicken and sear on the second side until browned, about 4 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate and remove and discard the skin.

2. Add all of the chiles except the small jalapeno, onions, garlic, cumin, oregano, and 1 teaspoon salt in a large Dutch oven. Cover and cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, until the vegetables are softened, 12-15 minutes. Transfer half of the mixture to a clean plate; set aside.

3. Stir in the broth, chicken, and beans. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is fully cooked, about 20 minutes. Using tongs, transfer the chicken to a large plate. Continue to simmer the chili, uncovered, until it has thickened, 35-40 minutes.

4. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces, discarding the bones. Stir the shredded chicken, reserved chile mixture, lime juice, cilantro, scallions, and small jalapeno into the chili. Season with salt and pepper to taste. If the chile is too thick, stir in additional water to thin it out.

The chili can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Per 1 ½ cup serving: Calories 320, Fat 4.5g, Carb 28g, Protein 39g, Fiber 9g

This recipe was adapted from The Best Light Recipe, from the Editors of Cook's Illustrated.

Dad's Rocky Road Ice Cream

It's not my Dad's recipe :) It was made for my Dad because I know it's his favorite kind of ice cream. It's my sister Ana's too, I found out. Anything by David Lebovitz is my favorite, so we're all in agreement over this ice cream.

I used his lovely chocolate ice cream recipe and then mixed in some toasted chopped almonds and mini marshmallows. OMG. So good! So creamy and chocolate-y. I think the only thing that could have made this better was to make my own homemade marshmallows. I didn't want to go nuts though. Ha!

Click here for the online recipe for Rocky Road Ice Cream.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

A couple of people inspired me to make these whoopie pies. I thought my first whoopie pie adventure would be pumpkin pies with maple cream cheese frosting. Mmmm. But then I saw my sister Kristina post her pictures and my friend Ann mentioned she was making them too... I just knew that I wanted to try something new rather than just the regular (but very good) red velvet cake cupcakes.


The whoopie pies are for a family gathering tomorrow. My Dad is visiting from San Diego, for his annual ice fishing trip.


The cakes are very moist and much like regular velvet cake. They passed a very important test... with the four year old. I gave him just once cookie with a dollop of cream cheese frosting on top. He said it was "yummy".

Dishes are the most hated part of baking/cooking. I also made Rocky Road ice cream and that added quite a few more dishes to wash. Ugh.



I'll post the Rocky Road ice cream tomorrow. It's hardening in the freezer overnight. It's my Dad's favorite ice cream so I hope he likes it.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Red Velvet Whoopie Pies.

Chocolate Chip Cake (aka I Love You Cake)

I made cupcakes for giggles. I used a small part of the batter to make a small cake for the family. I knew James would get excited by the chocolate frosting and sprinkles.

(There's a small piece of the cake missing because James and I had "just one bite" a little earlier.)


Cake makes James happy!


The cake is Martha's Chocolate Chip Cake. The white cake is fluffy and sweet. The recipe asks for whipped egg whites to be folded into the cake batter, making the batter very light. Light as in fluffy, not low fat :)

The frosting is the recipe from the back of the Hershey's cocoa tin. It all went very well together.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Martha's Chocolate Chip Cake. Okay, so you can't click on the link. I can't find the recipe online. I will post it some other time. The recipe is from Martha's Cupcakes book.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Frosting.

White Russian Tiramisu

This has been a favorite of ours for a few years. I found the recipe in a Cooking Light recipe so long ago.

We like our version so much that we don't get tiramisu in restaurants. Ours might not be the most authentic but it has all the flavors we like- cream cheese, a bit of cocoa, and kahlua/coffee soaked ladyfingers. Mmmmm.


The picture might not be the most appetizing but it layers prettily and tastes great.

Click here for the stolen recipe for White Russian Tiramisu.

Browned bits!

Today I had my first proper deglazing with red wine and scraping up of browned bits on the bottom of my Dutch oven. Yay!

My sister commented that the browned bits are actually called "fond". I am fond of the fond.



It was steamy and lovely.