chocolate-pb bars w/ bbq pretzels

No I haven't lost my mind...yet. Yes, I have cabin fever; a bad case of it actually. And yes, these taste friggin amazing. Does it sound gross? Of course it does! If it didn't then why on earth would I make it? Ha! Kidding.
I used those Snyder-that-can-crack-your-teeth-pretzels. Hubby asked me to buy them for him, I did, they sat there for a couple days. Afraid I would eat them in one sitting during one of our many thousand snowstorms we've had already, I went ahead and used them so I wouldn't eat them, but then ate them anyway because they are in another form now. Makes sense right?
And yes, I have one of those ANNOYING husbands that can eat ONLY ONE potato chip and save the rest for the year 2087. That irks me and is so unfair.
This recipe sounds gross and all, but in all honesty its not. You don't taste the bbq. What you taste is the twang of the pretzels that pairs very well with the pb and chocolate. I think you could use any pretzel you like, but I doubt ranch flavored would work well.
I did NOT write this recipe down, but I think I remembered everything as I happily went along. With that said, PLEASE taste-test as you go along just in case I did forget something.

chocolate-pb bars w/ bbq pretzels
print recipe

¼ cup light brown sugar {packed}
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp
1 and ¾ cups creamy peanut butter
A pinch of salt
A handful of salted cocktail peanuts to add into batter, optional
10 ounces high quality milk chocolate chips PLUS ¼ cup, divided
8 ounces high quality bittersweet chocolate chips
About 2 – 3 TB of butter for melting chocolates

For pretzels:
About 2 - 3 cups crushed Snyders BBQ pretzels, loosely crushed we want semi-big chunks (I cannot remember if it was 2 or 3 cups, sorry)
About ½ stick or ¼ cup of butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Grease up an 8 by 8 inch brownie pan (I used non stick spray). Melt the other half stick of butter for the pretzels in a pan. In a bowl mix the melted butter and pretzels. Press them evenly into the prepared brownie pan. Bake in preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until set. Do NOT let this brown!
Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle on the ¼ cup of milk chocolates; let them melt on their own then take a spatula and spread as evenly as you can without moving the pretzels. Let cool and harden.
Combine the brown sugar, confectioners' sugar, 1/2 room temp butter, peanut butter, and pinch of salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Blend until smooth. If you want to add in cocktail peanuts, this would be the time.
Dump the mixture out into the cooled pan & press it down, making it an even as possible.
Melt the chocolates & 2 TB of butter in a double boiler, or in a heat-proof bowl set over simmering water. Stir occasionally to combine and get nice and glossy.
Spread the melted chocolate over the peanut butter base & smooth out the surface. I like to let my pan sit at room temp for about an hour, then put in fridge to finish hardening. Once chocolate is set. Simply run a slim/skinny knife around edges to loosen. Invert the pan onto large plate/platter. You can either serve this pretzel side up or down.
You will need a very sharp knife to cut through the hard chocolate. Be careful.

sweet potato hash w/ adobo and fried tomatoes

I'd like to say congrats to Lauren at Keep it Sweet for winning the two cookbooks by warren brown. Lauren had said her favorite cake was "I think my favorite cake is a classic moist chocolate cake with perfect buttercream frosting". Well Lauren you're going to love these cookbooks; awesome, informative instructions on how to make really good show-worthy cakes. Enjoy. And please share with us what you make! I know I'm dying to know!



So it's really hard to do a post after those fabulous chocolate ganache donuts with salty pistachios. I mean how can you compete with that? Well, let me see if I can try.
Sweet potato hash I know I've made before for you, but had to share another version that I enjoyed so much so that I know you'll love it too. I actually make sweet potato hash a lot, in various ways: stuffed in a burrito with cheese and rice, under eggs, over french toast, in soup, oh the list is endless because it is so versatile and tasty.
If you're a heat-junkie like me then you will love this hash. I adore adobo's--it was the perfect pairing to put them in a "sweet" potato hash.
How have you made hash before? Any favorites?

sweet potato hash with adobo
print recipe

2-3 sweet potatoes, chopped into 1-inch cubes
EV olive oil
A few TB’s of butter
salt & pepper
¼ - ½ cup caramelized onions
Worcestershire sauce
1 – 3 chopped adobo chile peppers in sauce, minced (these are hot so use caution)

Caramelize some onions (about 1 giant sweet yellow onion) after it's done caramelizing add a few drops of the Worcestershire sauce, set aside.
Heat up same skillet (don’t clean it) with some EVOO and fry up the sweet potatoes until nice & crispy, season with salt and pepper. Towards the end of cooking add a few tablespoons of butter to the skillet to melt into the hash. Then add in a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce, mix until combined. Then add in the chopped/minced adobo. Stir, then serve with eggs and fried tomatoes.

fried tomatoes

2 – 3 med size tomatoes, sliced thick, set on paper towels to dry up moisture
1/4 - 1/2 cup Flour
2-3 TB cornstarch
few dashes Old bay seasoning
2 - 3 TB cornmeal
Salt & pepper
EVOO and butter for frying up tomatoes

In a flat bowl mix all the dry ingredients. Heat up same skillet you used for the sweet potatoes (no need to clean it as it has great seasoning still left in it). Melt up some butter and EVOO. Dredge the tomatoes in the dry mixture and fry them up until brown & crispy on both sides.

chocolate donuts w/ ganache and pistachios

There's really no point in writing a lengthy post...no one's going to read it--the photos are way too distracting. The photo gods were with me on the day I made these incredibly delicious donuts. Enjoy. We did. I HIGHLY recommended making them (duh). I lend inspiration for these from the infamous doughnut plant in nyc; a place where I should be working and creating (check out the pb & jelly donuts: good sweet charlotte!).

chocolate donuts w/ ganache & salty pistachios
print recipe

1 ½ cups cake flour
½ cup dutch process cocoa
¾ cup sugar
2 ts baking powder
1 ts sea salt
¾ cup buttermilk, room temp
2 eggs
2 TB butter, melted
1 ts vanilla
(I added about ½ cup of chopped semi-sweet chocolate)

Preheat oven to 425. Spray donut pan lightly w/ non stick spray.
In a small bowl beat the eggs and vanilla.
In a large bowl mix the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Then add in the buttermilk, stir a bit, then add in the melted butter, and finally add egg mixture. Mix till just combined; no need to overmix. Fill each donut mold about 2/3 full (I overfilled, who cares, it was fine). Bake about 7 – 10 minutes. Remove from pan and place on cooling rack. It’s best to place parchment paper underneath cooling racks to make it easier to drizzle the donuts with Ganache. Recipe from dawn finicane of vanillakitchen.blogspot.com

Milk chocolate ganache w/ salty pistachios.

1 cup of high quality milk chocolate chips
2 –3 TB heavy cream

½ to ¾ cup of roasted & salted pistachios, roughly chopped
(if you don’t like pistachios then use whatever chopped nut or sprinkles you desire)

When donuts are cooled time to make the ganache. Melt the chocolate chips with the heavy cream, keep stirring till you get a nice glossy and consistency. Pour chocolate over donuts and/or dip donuts in chocolate—whichever is easiest for you. Top with chopped pistachios. Let chocolate harden/set before devouring. Should make 12 - 15

spicy peanut brittle

Ok so peanut brittle, where are the photos of that? What is this brownie crap? I know. There are none. These are all I have. And normally I would NOT want to share this recipe with you because of the lack of photos, BUT (are you listening?) BUT I had to because the spicy peanut brittle was so good, so very good. The sweet & spicy melded perfectly AND the fact that the vultures in my house ate it all in 5 hours. And these 2 -3 little pieces you see here are all that I had left when I finally realized "oh no! I forgot to take the photos before the vultures set in and ate all the brittle!". So while a photo of 3 pieces of spicy peanut brittle all alone on a plate would look like crap no matter how perfectly I positioned them; I decided to dress it up a bit with fresh whipped cream and brownies.
Peanut brittle is really a great way to dress up any dessert. So keep that in mind when you want to add a little "something something" to your next dessert. You feeling me? :-)

spicy peanut brittle
print recipe

room temp butter for greasing up the silpat & spatula (or nonstick spray)
1 cup white sugar
¼ cup water
Pinch of salt
¾ cup dry roasted salted peanuts
Pinch or 2 cayenne pepper (depending on your preference), optional

Spray a silpat sheet as well as the spatula. Place the silpat into jellyroll pan, set aside.
In a medium saucepan over high heat, combine sugar, water and salt.
Cook for 3 minutes without stirring.
Once sugar has begun to melt and turn light golden color (maybe 4- 6 minutes). At this point let is cook but now stir with spatula every once in a while. Do this for another 8 – 10 minutes or if you go by color then when you know its done is by its golden amber color, not dark but golden. Golden amber is the color we want. Take off heat, stir in the peanuts then add in your pinch or two of cayenne pepper.
Now you have to work very fast. Pour this immediately over the greased silpat, and using your spatula spread out the brittle, not too thin, not too thick. Now leave it alone for at least an hour if not more to let it harden.

Notes: almonds, walnut, pecans, pistachios would work great too

giveaway time - two cookbooks!

****Contest Closed**** :-(
You know what? I have cabin fever and I'm cranky because we have WAY too many snowstorms already and it's only the beginning of January people. Of course to make myself feel even worse I read the Farmers Almanac and it said we are going to get a ton of storms. Yay! Wonderful. Isn't that great?
So to cheer myself up, I want to make you happy by having a giveaway. See if you're happy then I get happy.
I want to give away a couple fabulous cookbooks. If you are a cake lover; a kicked up cake lover that is, like me, then these are the books for you. The winner will receive BOTH of these cookbooks by Warren Brown. The cake god himself. I adore Warren Brown. He is the owner of Cake Love Bakery. Remember when he had the show Sugar Rush on the Food Network? That was such a good, relaxing show; I miss that. That and Gale Gands Sweet Dreams. I wish Warren would come back to TV, but I hear he's a busy man. If you go check out his website, he has a free cake app. How cool is that? And the best part, I hear he's super sweet--definitely a chill person with mad decorating skills; definitely a super nice person you want to bake and create with. Check out his blog too!


All you have to do is leave ONE comment with your name and email address about your all time favorite cake. And you could win BOTH of these cookbooks. Yep both.
Let's do the drawing on 1/23/2011.
Please no anynomous entries. Have a valid NAME and EMAIL address.
It might help you win if you become a fan on FB & Twitter.
Hahaha, kidding. I kid, I tease.

bourbon-vanilla bean pork roast w/ spicy pecan gravy

MmmHmm, this dish has layers of flavors. This is a sunday kind of roast dinner dish. Seriously good. The kind of dish where hubby pops in the kitchen every two hours asking "is it ready yet?". Yep, one of those kinds of dinners, where you can smell it all through the house and even outside. Remember those as a kid? Playing outside all day in the crisp fall air, coming inside for the first time and smelling your mom's roast and veggies that had been cooking for hours. Remember that smell? Remember that warmth of the kitchen? Good stuff.
This dish is worth all the prep, the marinating, etc.. Speaking of marinating I did leave this roast soaking in the marinade for 6 days. It was kind of like the Seinfeld episode (the one where they wanted to see how long they could drive the car that was almost on E? And the drive literally kept going and going and going?) Really anything soaked in booze is better right? I think I could have gone 8 days.... What would Kramer have done?

bourbon-vanilla soaked pork roast w/ spicy pecan gravy
loosely based from Emeril Lagasse
print recipe

Cook notes: I soaked my pork roast for 6 days and it was fine. The longer a meat soaks in booze the better. Make sure you pat the roast dry before roasting it. Always roast your meats on a rack, this helps with even cooking. The gravy is very thick; I like mine very thick. If you do not, then just add in more chicken stock. The gravy is not that spicy, but a gentle heat; add in more or less as you desire. And it really does help to use a high quality bourbon—makes all the difference in taste (less alcohol taste).

1 vanilla beans, split and scraped
1 ts Madagascar vanilla extract
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup plus 1 TB apple cider vinegar
2 bay leaves
A couple dashes of cinnamon
¼ cup of freshly squeezed orange juice
1 cup of good bourbon
1 pork loin, tied (about 4-6 pounds)

In a small saucepan, combine: vanilla beans, vanilla extract, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, cinnamon, orange juice, and bay leaves. Cook over medium heat until sugar is melted and the mixture is at a gentle boil, about 15- 20 mins. Take off the heat and add in the bourbon. Let cool.
Place pork in a glass or ceramic pan. Once marinade is cool pour on pork roast. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 48 hours. PLEASE turn the roast over every 12 hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove pork from marinade and pat dry. Transfer marinade to a saucepan and reduce volume by at least 1/3. (throw away the bay leaves). We are going to use some of the reduced marinade in the gravy. Recipe from dawn finicane of http://vanillakitchen.blogspot.com Place pork on a rack on a baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes to an hour, or until a thermometer reads 155 degrees F. Always let the meat rest before slicing into it; at least 5 – 10 minutes.

spicy pecan gravy:

1 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup butter
¼ cup chopped red onion
1/2 TB chopped garlic
1/8 ts cayenne pepper (I used ½ ts)
2 TB flour, sifted
1 cup pork reduction liquid
1 cup chicken stock

Make sure to toast your pecans! Then in a saucepan cook red onions in butter for about 5 – 8 minutes. Then add in the pecans, cook and stir for about 5 minutes.
Add garlic, cayenne pepper and cook for 2 minutes.
Add flour (add in the flour via a sifter so you get no lumps), cook for 2 minutes, then add marinating liquid and chicken stock.
Continue to cook until sauce has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Season to taste with salt and pepper, if needed.

brown sugar-cream cheese mashed sweet potatoes:

4 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
4 ounces cream cheese, room temp
3 TB butter, room temp
1/4 cup plus 2 TB dark brown sugar
A dash or three of pure maple syrup

Roast cut sweet potatoes in 400 degree oven till done; about 20 – 30 minutes.
Mash potatoes or use a food mill or ricer. Using a large plastic spatula, fold in butter, cream cheese, dark brown sugar, and maple syrup. Taste test, and add in salt & pepper if needed.
Serve immediately.

best of the best

Never been one to have a long list of new year's resolutions since they become hard to keep because the list is too long thus overwhelming. This year, like last, my list will be small, but powerful.
Want to work on: my recipe creations (do more, make more), my health and getting back to california. My baking has grown, orders are coming in; so I hope to keep focused and grow that even more. Health is always top priority as I get older and being a baker/chef/recipe creator the weight is very easy to put on since food is everywhere, and everything gets tasted, retasted, devoured--and fast. Sugar is a hard lil guy to keep at a minimum isn't he?
Happy New Year everyone. And thank you for being here, in my lil corner of the world. Oh how I love it when you come for a sit and chat. Enjoy a few collages of years past of my favorite creations AND some of my favorites things in life. Oh there are movies, beach maps, and some shiny things. Nifty stuff, kind of long but worth the ride. Come on!

My other 'job' is critter care. Wouldn't give that up for the world. Here are a few of the lil critters I care for & love. Clockwise: Denny & Leo 'almost human' maine coons. My tater tot Tiki. Neighbors crazy badass rooster (how I love that fascinating creature, if you want to see a video of him busting a move click here). Dexter & dixie who make sure I get enough exercise. Anderson the cutest puppy that ever lived. Tomo the gentle giant Akita. Penny (rest in peace baby). Banshee the cat who loves to pose for the camera each & every time (rest in peace lil man). And my tiki is quite possibly the worlds cutest napper.

Some of the food finds that I dig. Clockwise: crazy dragon roll at sushi joy in plymouth, ma. Giant cupcakes perfectly decorated by the talented/fabulous people in the bakery at Whole Foods in Hingham, MA. Infamous Kelly's Roast Beef, Revere, MA--if you ever come to Boston please make sure you go here, you will remember the food, forever I promise. Cupcake Charlies on Cape Cod, MA: I am thankful they are on cape cod, hostess with the mostess cupcake is top winner. More cupcake charlies. My local Starbuck's who always remember who I am. Dim Sum at Golden Dragon at Foxwoods Casino, CT. Whoopie pies the size of your head at Dennis Market, Dennis, MA. Fried shrimp at Lindsey's Restaurant, Cape Cod, MA, family owned for decades and the recipes and portion sizes never ever change, thank goodness for that.

Betsey Johnson is a place where I spend way too much money and time. That bench is just fabulous--must have that.

Some of my favorite creations. Clockwise: general 'dawn' tso's chicken. Dark & white chocolate pb cups. Greek nachos (you must make these at least once in your life). Devils food cake w/ cream cheese peanut butter filling & ganache.

These are what my blog stats say you like best. Left to right: Creamsicle cheesecake. Devils food cupcakes with salty mascarpone frosting. Pumpkin and white Oreo ice cream.

More fan fav's: left to right: Pumpkin pop tarts with buttermilk glaze. Asian beef shortribs with warm balsamic potato salad. And the infamous levain bakery clone-like cookies--the most famous recipe of ALL time here on vanilla sugar.

More of my favorite creations. left to right: Espresso bars with cinnamon glaze. Pimento cheeseburger with tomato-balsamic reduction. Banana shortbread. Pumpkin cheesecake w/ nutella ganache.

Winter on cape cod. Clockwise: East sandwich marshlands at high tide. East dennis ghost town: Chapin Beach area. Ice on the ocean, it was that cold to freeze the ocean waters. Sandy Neck Beach in east sandwich where I love to walk. But during the winter its hard to walk there as the wind is so strong, so cold it literally slaps your face.

Summer is coming! I can't wait. Clockwise: Dennis beach, a "secret" lil area on the map in between corporation and howe st. My pool/my toes--I miss chilling in the hot sun. My hydrangeas which I did not kill. Here is a lil movie I did on cape cod traffic. Dig it!

More summer fun, hard to be patient for summer when it's 20 degrees outside and snowing.

I totally got published in this wild, fun, addictive ebook by a bunch of some the great top bloggers. I have two chapters, yep, two. Neat huh? It's a great read. It has recipes, photos and the best part stories from the chefs on how and why their recipes came to be. Click here if you want to buy one. And if you did buy one already. THANK you. I mean that :-)