lobster-tarragon BLT

Is anyone going to read this post if I type one up? Or will you just glance on by and get right to the photos? I mean when I served this to my hubby and started talking he didn't hear a word I said. He was gone--transfixed to another foodie planet......
OK, I'll make it quick. Living on cape cod there is an abundance of scallops and lobster. One can get quite sick of it. Yes, it does happen. Thankfully lobster and scallops are a very mild but sweet protein with which the pairing possibilities are endless. Remember my lobster salad with spicy adobo-mayo? That was my favorite. I made it with you in mind: you know quick, easy, but really packs a flavor-punch. See I'm always thinking of you; I know you want to cook, your tastebuds are craving some real flavors, textures and such, but some nights you just don't want to do a lot of prepping--you want to eat now. I hear you. A lot of days I do not want to take an hour or more to prep and cook dinner, especially in the heat of the summer, which is coming soon btw. I give you this tasty lobster-tarragon on a BLT. It's so easy to prepare, has a few flavors going on here and will definitely wow your family, friends or guests. I mean it wowed you right? See, then you can do it too.

tarragon-lobster BLT
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(this recipe is enough for 3 good sized lobster rolls)

1 lb of fresh lobster meat
Couple tablespoons of lemon juice (optional)
2-3 TB Hellmans mayo (you don’t want a lot of mayo)
3 TB fresh tarragon, chopped
Salt & pepper to taste, if needed (I used pepper only)
6-9 Cooked bacon slices (about 2-3 slices per roll)
Sliced tomatoes
Fresh lettuce
3 jumbo rolls, buttered and toasted/grilled

Chop up lobster meat, sprinkle with lemon juice. Set in fridge until ready to use.
In separate bowl mix the mayo, tarragon and pepper. Mix and let it chill in fridge a bit to let the tarragon seep into the mayo (about 20 mins or longer if you can).
Get your buns buttered and grill them till nice and golden brown (I forgot this step this time). You can also toast or fry them if no grill.

When ready to serve, take the lobster chunks and mix them with the tarragon mayo, stir well. Then take toasted bun, fill with lettuce, tomato, bacon, then the lobster salad.
Serve with potato chips or fries.

chocolate dipped cherry-rum hand pies

Cherries soaked in rum are one of my favorite treats. I love to use them in homemade ice creams, use as a topping on ice cream, pour over warm pancakes, and have even thought about making them into a jam. Wouldn't that taste good? A rum-cherry jam? Maybe not kid friendly, but definitely adult friendly. The dark rum marinating fresh tart, ripe cherries...heavenly. Instead of making a cherry pie I wanted to kick it up a notch and make hand pies because I had in the back of my mind (for ages) on taking flaky hand pies and dipping them in milk chocolate. I got the idea (several times) when I would dip strawberries in chocolate. Why not cherries? Well, why not cherry hand pies? Cookies are done this way why not hand pies?

Well, I'm really glad I did, they were so tasty. The rum-soaked cherries, the flaky pie crust and the milk chocolate all paired really nice together. Plus they were super easy to make. If you're ever strapped for time you can easily make these with pre-made pie doughs.

chocolate dipped cherry-rum hand pies
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2 cups of dark cherries, chopped & pitted (don’t chop too small)
¼ cup of good quality DARK rum
(Might need a pinch or two of white sugar in the filling)

1-2 TB cornstarch, sifted
6 pre made round pie crusts or make your own pie dough
1 egg, beaten for egg wash
¼ cup of half & half and a beaten egg for brushing the tops of the hand pies

Milk or dark chocolate chips for dipping the hand pies in

Cook notes: I don’t have exact measurements here as I did not write the recipe down. The only area you have to look out for is making cooking the filling over heat; you might need 1 or 2 TB of cornstarch to thicken it. Use 1 TB and see how the filling comes along as you heat it up. If it’s too thick add a bit of water or if it’s too thin add some more cornstarch –just watch it as you cook it. I tend to like my pie fillings very thick. Make sure to use a dark rum—they taste better and don’t have that strong alcoholic flavor. I like to sift my cornstarch as it avoids any lumps in the sauce/filling. I used dark cherries; I have not used red cherries—don’t know how they would work. Please taste test the filling after it’s cooked and see if it needs a pinch or two of sugar. Some people love their pie fillings sweet, I do not. But experiment as you go along!

For the marinade:
use a cherry pitter or by hand slice the cherries in half, place in a glass or ceramic bowl and drizzle with dark rum, toss, cover, then refrigerate overnight.

For the filling:
When you are ready to use the cherries, let them come to room temp and mix with a generous tablespoon or TB and ½) of cornstarch. Mix thoroughly. Put into a small saucepan and cook until you have your desired thickness. Take off heat and set aside.

For the pie crusts:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Take your egg wash, place in a small dish and beat it well, set aside. Take your other egg wash: the half & half and egg and mix well in another dish, set aside. Use pre made pie crusts or make your own using the recipe I provided above. When you are ready, lay your pie crust on a well floured board, cut the circle in half. Take one half, place about 3-4 TB of the filling on one half, don’t spread the filling to the edges. Take your egg wash, and brush the edges of the pie crust—all edges. Then seal them up. Take the edges and fold them over about a ¼ of an inch all the way around; take a fork and crimp them down. This way you have a pie crust all the way around and it prevents any filling spillage. Now take your half & half and egg wash and brush the tops of the hand pies before baking. Also place a small slit or two on the top and middle of each hand pie to let the steam vent. Bake on parchment lined cooking sheets for about 20-30 minutes or until the tops are light golden brown.
Mine were done around the 30 minute mark.

Let them cool before dipping into melted chocolate. I also topped a couple of mine with fresh coconut right after they had been dipped in chocolate.

quick and easy bacon, pb, cream cheese cinnamon rolls

Love finding creative ways to kick up even the most simplest of ingredients/products at Trader Joe's. It seems every time I go there there is always some new product. For those that follow me on Twitter, you know that when I do go there I'm always sharing photos of the latest finds. One of the latest finds that I had to finally give a try was the cinnamon rolls. They are next to the buttermilk biscuits in the refrigerator section, usually close to the dairy products.
The rolls are ok. They are very light, not heavy at all which is good. I like a lighter cinnamon roll especially if I'm going have a lot of stuff on it. Gotta balance the stuff to bread ratio. It's strange that there are only five rolls in a pack (why 5 I don't know, where did the 6th one go? To trader joe himself?). It also says "jumbo" on the package--I just don't think they are jumbo, certainly not small, but rather med-large size. They taste good when I added the extra flavors; I just wish there was more cinnamon filling inside the rolls of dough--just wasn't enough. Would I buy them again? Sure. Very easy to put together, and the best part very easy to kick up a few notches.

quick & easy pb, bacon, cream cream cinnamon rolls
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1 pack of Trader Joe’s Cinnamon Rolls (in the can)
2-3 TB of Trader Joe’s peanut butter-cream cheese
3-4 strips of cooked bacon, crumbled
A few dashes of cinnamon, optional

Cook 3 – 4 strips of bacon until crispy. Crumble into small pieces, set aside.

Bake cinnamon rolls according to package directions. Take the sugar topping in the cinnamon pack and mix with 2-3 TB of the Trader Joe Peanut Butter-cream cheese in a saucepan over low heat. Stir until well mixed and melted.
When rolls are done baking pour the pb-cream frosting over the rolls, top with the bacon, and sprinkle with cinnamon if desired.

chocolate pistachio fudge (my way)

Do you like fudge? I don't, really. I find it too sweet. Those fudge shops that you see in the malls and outlets, I cringe when I get near one because of that overwhelming smell of corn syrup. It's just so strong for my nosebuds. And here comes the second part: I do like a lighter fudge, a less sweeter fudge. Let me explain. For me, I think the whole purpose of a good fudge should be a good balance of butter (yes butter), sugar, vanilla (or chocolate or whatever flavor you are making), cream, and some sort of texture. I firmly believe fudge should always have some texture, if not then it's just a block of sugar. Ick. So, with all that said I think I have found a "lighter" version of fudge with a buttery, milky taste; not over-powered by sugar. The consistency is NOT creamy like standard fudge, but more flaky/airy which is perfect for the melting-in-your-mouth factor. Rest assured once you taste it you won't really care that the texture is different because this fudge literally melts away in your mouth. (that was the best part after all this experimenting).
So where do you stand on fudge? Love it hate it? You might want to give this a go if you are on the fence--this might change your mind about all that corn-syrupy fudges. I can tell you this does NOT taste like a block of soft, chocolate sugar. I think you'll love this kind of fudge.

Note: I did NOT get this recipe off a Hershey's can; it's a bit different than that one. I played around with my molasses-peanut chew recipe and came up with this fudge recipe.

chocolate-pistachio fudge
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5 TB salted butter
1 TB butter to grease ceramic/glass dish
5 and ½ ounces high quality semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup cream
1 & ½ cup white sugar
1 ts high quality vanilla extract
Giant pinch of sea salt
1 or 1 ½ cup of salted, roasted pistachios (use as much or as little as you desire)

Remember this is hot sugar, never touch the hot sugar, never be tempted to taste test, and always use oven mits.
Butter an 8-by-8-inch or 8 x 9 baking dish, set aside. Get out a candy thermometer and clip onto pot.
In a large heavy duty pot (with high sides preferably) combine the butter, chocolate, cream, sugar, and salt. Place over a medium heat and stir constantly and CONSTANTLY scraping the bottom of pan. (You will be doing this for a while). Let it boil and cook until the temperature reaches around 247 -249 (soft ball stage). Once it hits this temperature remove from heat
And add in the vanilla extract (it will make a lot of noise and sizzle, just add in and stand back then stir in)
Once mixed, add in the pistachios, stir, then pour the hot mixture into your prepared buttered baking dish.
Let cool off at room temperature. Should take a couple hours to harden up.
Gently lift it out of baking dish and transfer to a wooden board or plastic cutting board. It might be hard to lift out, I just turned the dish upside down and let gravity pop it out.
Using a sharp knife to cut into little squares. You should get about 20-25 little squares?

sweet potato fries w/ cheeseburger

OK not the most glamorous dish I know. Don't click away. At least think of this dish as meal that you can create/customize to your own liking. If you don't like what I put on it, think about putting your own types of proteins on it. This can easily be a meal; a tasty and creative meal when you break it down and think about the endless toppings that go with sweet potatoes: be it sweet or savory. Still with me? Good.
So lately, with this head cold I've been craving all kinds of foods and creations. Plus I am addicted to sweet potato fries--who isn't? Sweet potatoes are so good for you; nutritional powerhouse, loaded with Vitamin A, and have anti-inflammatory properties which I didn't know. Click here for more info. This dish is really tasty, fast to put together, and almost carb-less. Other inspiration came about from a comment I received when I made the infamous "cheeseburger & sweet potato fries pizza". A person said how they wished they could have this pizza, but are off carbs for a while. Of course that got me thinking why not try and make a "almost" carb-less version of that pizza, but just as tasty? And the best part with this dish is the no carb crash & burn later (which I hate). I know sweet potatoes have some carbs in them, the good carbs. The first round of this I made for breakfast, topping it with cooked sausage and eggs. GOOD stuff! I craved it again and made this version with the cheeseburger.
If you do make this, and I know I will again and again, try it topped with a fried egg or two. And yes, those are pickles on there, but they are bread & butter (sweet). Dill pickles do NOT go too well with this. Also, you all know I have a fussy hubby that hates vegetables and fruits BUT he eats this, all of it. And his dad loves me for that and gives me kisses for it too. Gotta love that right? :-)
The show "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" is that an excellent show or what? Well one episode they had sweet potato fries loaded with chili, and then another they had Chef Cat Cora giving us her favorite way. So glad to see and hear that sweet potatoes are quickly becoming popular, and even made into restaurant-like chains and food trucks. Wouldn't that be fabulous to have a food truck that serves up sweet potato fries topped with various fresh toppings, themes, and trio's of dipping sauces? I would get my fries topped with a taco salad or maybe a good thai style peanut sauce. If I was in a sweet mood, maybe some warm melted peanut butter with a hint of maple syrup and raisins. How would you top your sweet potato fries?

sweet potato fries w/ cheeseburger
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1 pack of frozen sweet potato fries
1 pound of ground beef
salt & pepper
couple dashes of Worcestershire sauce
1/2 - 1 cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
bread & butter pickles, optional but amazing
ketchup, optional but wonderful

Other ideas:
a couple fried eggs on top
caramelized onions

Bake fries according to package direction.
Brown ground beef.
In the last few minutes of browning the beef add in the Worcestershire sauce, then add in the cheese. Take off heat.
Layer fries on a plate, then add the cheeseburger mixture, and pickles. Or whatever else you fancy.

a good sugar cookie

The perfect sugar cookie, a good sugar cookie--hard to find isn't it?
Well it's hard to recreate too.
What is the perfect sugar cookie? Is it taste, texture, creaminess, the right amount of sugar to butter ratio?
For me it's not being too sweet, with more butterness taste over sugar taste.
What about you? What do you look for?
We all have different likes, wants & needs in a sugar cookie.
I love a light airy cookie with real buttery taste, crisp edges and just a hint of chewiness (a hint!).
Need to have the right sugar sprinkles on my sugar cookies for texture and eye appeal.


Some sprinkles really stink--too corn syrupy tasting or too chemically tasting. Who likes that? Not me. But I have found some really good sugar sprinkles made with pure sugar, no chemicals, and colored naturally. In of all place, my second home: Whole Foods. Yes indeed. They have the best sugar sprinkles. They are a bit pricey, but the flavor is spot on--what one would think a sugar sprinkle should taste and look like: like sugar and like big old chunks of glistening sugar crystals. No dyes, or chemicals either. Best part? The sugar crystals stay crunchy "after" baking. A lot of good bakers look for that. So give these a go, you can find them at any Whole Foods in the baking section, next to the jimmies, in the same area as the extracts, herbs, and spices.

This recipe, if you do make them try using the European butter.
It's just a better grade of butter with a better flavor; a richer flavor of butter.
So if you like light sugar cookie with a hint of chewiness, gentle crisp edges and incredible pure butter flavor, then give these a go. I promise you will love these. When I made these for friends they were not only gone in a matter of minutes but everyone wanted the recipe. That good! These are perfect for any Easter functions you have coming up; way better than store bought.

perfect sugar cookie

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2 sticks unsalted butter, grated & kept cold (use European butter if you can, makes all the diff)
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 TB pure vanilla extract
2 ½ cups all purpose flour (13 ½ oz)
1 ts sea salt
1 and ¼ ts baking powder
1/2 ts baking soda

course sugar sprinkles, for decorating

In a bowl mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt, set aside.
In a mixing bowl, mix butter and both sugars until just mixed. It won’t be creamy because butter is so cold—that’s ok. Add the egg and vanilla, mix till just incorporated.
Add in the dry to the wet and mix till just incorporated—never over mix. The dough should be a little dry. We want to mix as little as possible as we don’t want the butter to get too warm nor do we want gluten to start forming—this will give us a nice light, airy, crispy cookie. Place bowl in fridge to chill/firm up. At least an hour, longer if its warm weather.
When ready to bake preheat oven to 375 degrees. You can divide dough how ever you like; I wanted large cookie so I made “almost” golfball sized balls and kept them round as they will spread when baking. Roll the balls in the sugar sprinkles on one side (or both if you desire). Place onto parchment lined cookie trays or non stick cookie trays. Do not press flat.
Bake for 18-22 minutes—all depending on your oven. Look for almost golden brown edges.
I got about 15-17 large cookies; if you make them smaller maybe you will get about 25-30 cookies, I don't know haven't made them small yet.

cake mix muffins

I must be the only person on the planet that did not know this. Cake mixes make wonderful last minute muffins. You all know this already right? I feel like an idiot. Rarely do I buy cake mixes, but when I made the cake pops I got an extra box just in case (don't all the foodies always get an extra this or that to store/hoard?). So when the cake mix box meets the 3 pounds of blueberries I have sitting err rotting away in my fridge I said why not? Let's give this a go. And I added on some crumb topping too.
These were definitely quick and easy to make, but a little too sweet for me. Cake mix was very sweet when mixed with the blueberries and crumb topping. But the overhang edges, or the muffin tops were good. Crispy edges are the best part! I always overfill my muffins tins just for the crispy edges--I'm badass like that.
But if you ever need a last minute muffin and have very little time, these will come in handy. But you already knew that....

cake mix blueberry muffins w/ crumb topping
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muffin batter:
1 box of yellow cake mix
1 pint of blueberries

crumb topping:
1 cups flour
1 cups packed light brown sugar
½ teaspoons coarse salt
½ TB ground cinnamon
1 stick unsalted butter, melted & cooled

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease up jumbo muffin trays (mine got 12 jumbo).
In a bowl mix all the ingredients for the crumb topping, set aside.
Mix up the cake batter according to box directions. Fold in the blueberries carefully.
Fill up the muffin cups about ¾ full, sprinkle on the crumb topping.
Bake for about 30-40 minutes? Can’t remember but check them at the 30 minute mark.
I got 12 oversized muffins. I would imagine about 24 regular size?

cheeseburger and sweet potato fries pizza

Love my weekly homemade pizza nights. It's a time for me to get creative and think of new (quick & easy) ways to kick up my pizza. So while staring blindly into the freezer for 15 minutes I couldn't think of anything to top my pizza. But staring back at me the whole time was a bag of sweet potato fries. Well, yeah, duh. Why not? And it worked fabulously. You really need to try this. It's so easy, quick to put together, and the leftovers (cold) are to die for. I'll just let the pictures do the rest of the talking.
And oh one more thing, this is the PERFECT way to get your kids (or fussy hubby) to eat vegetables.

Cook notes: make sure to let your sweet potato fries thaw a bit before using, about 30 - 45 minutes. You want them still firm but thawed just a bit. I know I've said this before but the whole grain pizza dough from whole foods is to die for good (freezes perfectly too).

cheeseburger & sweet potato fries pizza

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1 pizza dough (I love whole foods whole grain pizza)

A few TB of ketchup

1-2 cups mozzarella cheese, chunks or shredded

¾- 1 lb COOKED ground beef (whatever amount you have is fine)

Small bag of sweet potato fries, thawed for at least 30-45 minutes

Caramelized onions

Salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 475.

If you want caramelized onions then sauté 1 and ½ sweet onions with olive oil in a sauté pan until just brown.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with olive oil.

Make sure to cook your ground beef, don’t over cook it, can under cook just a bit because we are cooking it again in the oven.

Spread out pizza dough on sheet, place a thin layer of ketchup over dough.

Then a layer of cheese.

Then a layer of the cooked ground beef.

Then a layer of the partially thawed sweet potato fries.

Then top off with the caramelized onions.

Bake for about 20 – 30 minutes, turning pan halfway thru cooking.

Cook until desired doneness or crispy edges. Salt and pepper this when it’s fresh out of the oven.

You really have to let this cool before slicing into it. I know it’s hard. But the center of the pizza is molten hot.

sweet potato burritos

On one of those rare occasions I had leftover sweet potato hash. I know weird indeed. But look here, it went to good use: a burrito. A tasty lil critter of a burrito might I add. And as I type this I am thinking "I should have deep fried it!" That would have been heavenly.

The add in possibilities to this burrito are endless. Be creative or be "clean out the fridge'ish".
One of the great things I love about the sweet potato is they easily take the place of a meat--if seasoned right. I don't like to eat a lot of meat. Once a month I love to make my infamous cheeseburgers. I do crave them at least monthly.
I hope there are a lot of sweet potato lovers out there since I seem to post them a lot on here. They are just so versatile for meals and even for sweets. Remember when I made the sweet potato cupcakes? Yes. Need to make those again.

sweet potato burritos
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sweet potato hash (recipe below)
4 Flour tortillas
Cooked rice, any kind, any flavor
Monterey jack cheese, shredded
4 – 6 strips cooked bacon, chopped
Sour cream

Other add ins:
Beans
Tomatoes
Lettuce
Leftover chicken, pork, steak, tofu crumbles
Scrambled eggs
The list is endless….

For the sweet potato hash:
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.

To assemble:
Warm up the tortillas, Fill with the sweet potato hash, bacon, rice, cheese and sour cream. Serve.

crispy buttermilk-cheddar waffles w/ kielbasa maple syrup

When I go to diners I love to see what people are eating. Curious to see if they are like me: do they love their bacon or sausage dripping in maple syrup? Do they love cheesy grits with maple syrup? Do they have to take a bite of pancake with a bite of maple dripping bacon? And you know its great when I see there are others out there like me who think of breakfast as the absolute best time for the ultimate creations in sweet with savory. Sure desserts are another way of indulging in the whole sweet and savory family, but I truly think breakfast takes the crown. So many variations, creations can come of sweet and savory for breakfast and brunch.

To share a secret passion of mine: I have wanted for some time now to do a little bit of research on when and where or even who started the whole sweet & savory thing. I mean possibly it might not be just one person, could be a country or culture that had it in it's existence and it gradually made it over here to the US. It would be fascinating to see and learn--don't you think? As a kid I don't remember the whole sweet and savory thing being too popular, but I really wasn't reading cookbooks as a child, just watching Julia Child and Sesame Street. Julia did have one episode of cheese stuffed crepes with some sort of jam or cherry reduction. I remember this because she flambéed it. Best part.

What's your favorite "diner special"? And what's the best diner you've ever been to?

Mine would be corned beef hash, poached eggs, bacon all smothered in a perfect hollandaise sauce. Best diner? Man, that's hard a lot of good ones in NYC and New Jersey.

Crispy buttermilk-cheddar waffles w/ kielbasa-maple syrup
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Use your favorite waffle or buttermilk waffle recipe (that would serve 2-4 people)
Add to the batter ½ - ¾ cup of mild cheddar cheese, shredded
Cook as normal.

For the kielbasa-maple syrup:
Chopped kielbasa, small chunks (about ¾ - 1 cup)
1 cup or more of maple syrup

Fry up the kielbasa until nice and crispy. Degrease a little of the oil out of pan, then pour in the maple syrup, turn heat to low, and let heat up until waffles are done. Don't let it boil! Just warmed through. When waffles are done pour the hot kielbasa syrup over them.

If you don’t have a waffle recipe here is one from Cook's Illustrated:

Buttermilk Waffles
Makes about eight 7-inch round waffles.

While the waffles can be eaten as soon as they are removed from the waffle iron, they will have a crispier exterior if rested in a warm oven for 10 minutes. (This method also makes it possible to serve everyone at the same time.) Buttermilk powder is available in most supermarkets and is generally located near the dried-milk products or in the baking aisle. Leftover buttermilk powder, which can be used in a number of baking applications, can be kept in the refrigerator for up to a year. Seltzer or club soda gives these waffles a light texture that would otherwise be provided by whipped egg whites. (Avoid sparkling water such as Perrier—it’s not bubbly enough.) Use a freshly opened container for maximum lift. Serve waffles with butter and warmed maple syrup.

2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon table salt
1/2 cup dried buttermilk powder (see note)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/4 cups unflavored seltzer water

Instructions
1.1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 250 degrees. Set wire rack in rimmed baking sheet and place baking sheet in oven. Whisk flour, sugar, salt, buttermilk powder, and baking soda in large bowl to combine. Whisk sour cream, eggs, vanilla, and oil in medium bowl to combine. Gently stir seltzer into wet ingredients. Make well in center of dry ingredients and pour in wet ingredients. Using a rubber spatula, gently stir until just combined. Batter should remain slightly lumpy with streaks of flour.

2.2. Heat waffle iron and bake waffles according to manufacturer’s instructions (use about 1/3 cup for 7-inch round iron). Transfer waffles to rack in warm oven and hold for up to 10 minutes before serving with butter and maple syrup.

Technique
For Crispier Texture, Ban the Butter
For crispier results, we swapped the melted butter in our batter for oil. Unlike butter, oil contributes no moisture to the waffle. The exterior of the waffle can thus reach a higher temperature faster, giving the crust more time to form. Plus, oil helps keep the waffle cripe after it comes off the heat: As pure as fat, it is better able to repel water, keeping interior moisture from migrating to the waffle's dry, browned surface and turning it limp.

browned butter soda bread

I like soda bread, I do, but not as much as the average person might? I find it a little bland, I know it's supposed to be bland by nature; a perfect vehicle rather for warm salty butter, jam or even ham. I just kicked up this soda bread up by adding in a bit of sugar and some browned butter to the top of it halfway thru baking. One could easily argue that I took the classic white soda bread paired it with the Irish version minus the caraway seeds and raisins, AND also a mixing of the browned butter soda bread minus the rosemary. Finding a happy middle in there somewhere. If you'd like a little history on the various types of soda breads and how they came about click here at epicurious. It's quite a good read and it tells you why you need to score a cross on the top of the bread before baking. What's your favorite soda bread(s)?





browned butter soda bread
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3 cups white all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 TB of baking soda
1 ts baking powder
1 ts cream of tartar
¼ cup of superfine sugar*
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 and ½ cups buttermilk, room temp

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease up a regular loaf pan with olive oil.
Sift all of the dry ingredients, (not the oatmeal), into a large mixing bowl. Next add in the oatmeal and mix. Add in (slowly) the buttermilk. Mix with your hands until you have a very loose dough. I gave it about 4-6 turns. You do not want to overmix as you will start the gluten process and this will give you a dense loaf. No kneading! Recipe from dawn finicane of vanillasugarblog.com Put dough into greased loaf pan. Push batter down gently into the corners. Then score a cross on the top. You’re going to cook this loaf for about 45 minutes or until a cake tester in middle comes out clean. But halfway thru baking you pour on the browned butter.

browned butter:
6 TB unsalted butter cut into TB chunks. Place in med-heat saucepan. Watch until butter is browned, has brown specks on bottom all the while whisking while it’s browning away. Just when it turns golden brown and has a nutty aroma – it’s done. Take off heat. Let cool a bit then pour on load halfway thru cooking. Ok to poke a few small tiny tiny holes in bread to let butter slide in there nice and happy.
*Note: if you don’t have superfine sugar, just run regular white sugar thru a food processer until fine.

cheesy sweet potato and corn chowder

Here's another quick & easy recipe for you; nothing glamorous or fancy here. Or we could call it cleaning out the cupboards? Ever make something, and on the first taste you think "holy crap this is so good" and then turn around dying to have someone around you to taste it and revel in your joy, but there is no one there? Yeah. That happened to me when I made this soup. Not a single human being near me to taste-test with me and say "OMG girl that soup!". Tempted to run out to the neighbors house (and yes they love when I come knocking) and have them taste-test, but there was snow on the ground and that meant I had to get out of slippers and pajamas, put real clothes on and go outside. Nah. Not happening.

So let me tell you this soup is amazing. I was blown away by how warm and comforting it tasted. The roasted sweet potatoes paired with corn and then mild cheddar cheese all in a nice hot creamy bath was a perfect pairing. This is now a staple in our house. And yes it freezes nicely. Very rich, so this is not diet food, but this is food that you make a ton of: freeze some for those nights when you feel like crap/had a bad day/want "feel good soup".

Hope you love as much as I do.

Cook notes:
Make sure to get your sweet potatoes nice and crisp; you need that texture in the soup. Those chicken bouillons really do make a difference, so try to use them. This soup freezes really well, just make sure to freeze it straight away after about 15 minutes of a cooldown. You might want to serve this in a sourdough, marble, rye bread bowl. That would be fabulous. Adding roasted or grilled chicken to this would be great too. Even chunks of lobster meat.

cheesy sweet potato & corn chowder
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3 – 4 large sweet potatoes, cut into 2 inch chunks and roasted
1 cup of chick stock
2 cans of creamed corn
8 ounces of cream cheese, room temp
½ cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup of half & half
1 – 2 TB chicken bouillon powder or you can use crushed bouillon cubes
1 & ½ cups of shredded Monterey jack cheese

This is a very thick, rich soup.
Peel and cut up sweet potatoes into 2 inch chunks. Throw them in a bowl and drizzle them with olive oil and salt & pepper. Transfer to a roasting pan and roast in 400 degree oven till nice and crisp. About 45 minutes?
In stockpot, mix the creamed corn with chicken stock, cream cheese, heavy whipping cream, half & half , and chicken bouillon till heated through. Keep warm over low heat till sweet potatoes are done. When potatoes are done throw them in the soup pot. Mix and taste test. See if it needs salt & pepper. When ready to serve turn up heat a bit and add in the shredded cheese. Serve nice and hot. This is great served in a bread bowl. Freezes great too.
Should serve 4.

white chocolate bark w/ Oreo's and Cheez Its

Let's call this PMS Christmas bark shall we? :-)
Whoa. I mean whoa dude. This stuff is crazy good. Very addicting. I have a bunch of leftovers at my house. Please come get it? It's free to a good home?
I swear I can hear you all now saying "where in the world does this crazy woman come up with this stuff?" My cravings for sweet & salty run high and deep. I am on a never-ending quest to find the ultimate in sweet & savory.
For those foodies in your life (or you) make them a batch of this for Chrismtas. They will swoon.....they will remember you forever and a day.

white chocolate bark with Oreo’s & Cheez Its
from vanillasugarblog.com
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2 bags or 22 ounces of high quality white chocolate
About 10-12 Oreo's (chocolate filled) cookies cut in half or quarters
2 large handfuls of Cheez It’s cut in half or quarters
2 TB or more of heavy cream
Generous pinch of sea salt

Have all your ingredients chopped up and ready to go as white chocolate does not stay melted long. Place parchment paper on a regular cookie sheet.
Over double boiler melt the white chocolate chips with the heavy cream, add in the salt, stirring a lot until it comes to a nice Ganache. Take off the heat, working fast add in the chopped Oreo’s and cheez its. Mix well and fast, then pour out onto parchment lined cookie sheet. Let harden about 3 hours. Cut into squares.

pb and bacon cookie bark w/ smokehouse almonds

Ready for another foodie christmas gift idea? And boy is this one super easy too. Tasty lil nuggets too. One could easily eat a cookie sheet portion of these with an ice cold glass of milk and call it a good day. These got rave reviews from my clients and friends.

And yeah, I am loving Top Chef All Stars. Did you see last nights episode at the museum? Hilarious! So funny when Dale said he was going to make "corn muffins with Nyquil".
Love every single one of those chefs. What a super, energy-packed group of chefs. They are ALL extremely friggin talented, would pay anything to just hang with them; they ALL make me want to do more, be more creative in the kitchen and rock on with my bad ass foodie self!

Cook notes:
I have given you a peanut butter cookie recipe to use, but in all honesty you can use whatever one you prefer and I also think a plain sugar cookie recipe would work here too. Remember when you are spreading the dough not to make it too thin. You might have to increase your cooking time as you are making one giant cookie in essence. Don't over cook, you want it slighty, a tiny bit, underdone because you want a moist bark, not thin and crispy. I mean one could try thin and crispy but I don't know how that would taste. Please make sure to finely mince the cooked bacon bits--this is not the recipe for large chunks.

pb & bacon cookie bark with smokey almonds
From vanillasugarblog

peanut butter cookie dough w/ bacon
(cookie dough slightly adapted from Baked: New Frontiers)
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1 3/4 cup of all-purpose flour
2 ts of baking soda
1 ts sea salt
1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted butter, softened, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 ts pure vanilla extract
1 cup creamy peanut butter
½ - ¾ cup of cooked, FINELY chopped bacon chunks (add as much or as little as you like)

For bark:
8 ounces of high quality dark chocolate (semi sweet)
A couple large handfuls of Smokehouse almonds

Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars together until fluffy.
Scrape down the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated.
The mixture will look light and fluffy.
Add the vanilla and peanut butter and beat until just incorporated.
Add half of the flour mixture and mix for 15 seconds. Add the remaining flour mixture and mix until just incorporated.
Using a spatula or wooden spoon, fold in the bacon chunks. Cover the bowl tightly and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.  I did NOT do this, I went ahead and baked them and it was fine. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. (I like to spray them with nonstick spray too). Spread the batter out fairly thick, not too thin. I would wet my fingers or spatula with water and press cookie dough down. Don’t worry about making an even square or circle, this is bark and its supposed to look rustic. Remember, don’t press it too thin!
Bake for 12 - 17 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until the edges of cookie bark are light brown. We don’t want to make this crispy; we want it still soft.
As soon as the pans come out of the oven this is when you want to sprinkle the chocolate chips over the hot cookie bark. In a few minutes the chocolate will melt and you can easily spread it around with a spatula. Then top with the smokey almonds and press them down in a bit to make sure they stay when dry. It’s not advisable to put this in the fridge to set as you will lose the glossiness of the chocolate. Takes a couple hours for chocolate to harden.

gingerbread cupcakes w/ white choco-cream cheese ganache

Holiday gift? Quick and easy? Yes and yes. Or done and done! I know I've told you I've gotten a lot of emails asking me to please write up more quick & easy recipes. And lately I've been giving them out. I'm a proud to show you yet another one that happened as a matter of quick thinking. AND this is a fabulous holiday treat to give to friends, family, co-workers. My hubby brought these into work and they were gone in ONE hour. Crazy vultures! And I got an email from someone at hubbys' work saying how much she enjoyed them--I love that; that is exactly why I love to bake.

If any of you follow me on Twitter or Facebook you know I love to cruise the aisles of Trader Joe's with iphone in hand and snap up photos of the latest new items. I love Trader Joe's, I think they have good priced frozen meals, but are lacking on the fresh produce and breads. Their snacks, cookies, candies are pretty good and decently priced.
On a previous trip to TJ's I sampled their pumpkin bread and was blown away at how good it tasted; definitely didn't taste like it came from a box. So when I saw the new gingerbread mix I had to give them a go too. And yes, that is how the gingerbread cupcakes came about. Instead of baking them in a bread/loaf pan I made them into 12 cupcakes. They came out fabulous. I mean no one ever knew they were from a box--well until now. Next time you go try them. Let me know how you kicked them up. I kicked mine up by adding a white chocolate-cream cheese ganache. I just think white chocolate and gingerbread are a match made in heaven if the white chocolate has a bit of savory to it. You feeling me people? Are you with me? Good because you are going to LOVE these lil beauties.

gingerbread cupcakes with white chocolate-cream cheese ganache
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1 box of Trader Joe’s Gingerbread mix

Bake the cupcakes according to the package, but instead of using a pan use 12 cupcakes. Mine were done baking in about 17- 20 minutes. Let cool completely and start on the ganche.

White chocolate-cream cheese ganache
½ - ¾ cup of high quality white chocolate
Good splash of heavy cream
4 ounces of room temp cream cheese
Pinch of sea salt

In a saucepan, over very low heat, melt the white chocolate with the heavy cream. When the chocolate is just melted, add in the room temp cream cheese and start mixing. You will be mixing for a while to get it to a nice glossy, smooth texture. Add in the sea salt. Taste test.

When the Ganache is just about combined, take off the heat and finish mixing. Make sure your cupcakes are ready to go and be frosted as the white chocolate Ganache does NOT stay melted for long—it dries up fast.
Pour the Ganache over the cupcakes on a wire rack (or on wax paper).

frito salad

More quick and easy recipes? You got it. Here is one of my favorites when I have zero time and ZERO willpower to create a meal. This one might come in handy for everyone during this busy holiday season? It's a snap to make, literally minutes to make. And if you layer the ingredients as I did, it is very appealing to the eyes. It's not so appealing when it's mixed--tasty though. So if you have fussy kids and want to get them to eat more veggies, trust me this will work. Once they see how colorful and appealing it is I guarantee they will dig into it, Plus it has Fritos in it.
Remember eating this as a kid? When did it first come out? 1973?

Cook notes: you could easily swap out the Fritos for a more healthlier chip like multi grain corn chips, add in corn, add in peppers, etc...the possibilities are endless. Leftovers don't keep well as the chips get soggy

Frito Salad
Print Recipe

1 – 2 bags of chopped mixed greens (or iceberg)
Grated carrots
1/2 bag Fritos, Regular size (or jumbo size crushed a bit)
1 can dark red kidney beans, drained & rinsed
1 can of black olives, drained, rinsed & chopped
1 small red onion, chopped
1 pound of hamburg cooked and seasoned with taco seasonings
1-2 large tomatoes, diced
1-2 Avocados, sliced
1 btl. Catalina Salad Dressing

Cook hamburg until done, add in a taco seasoning packet along with the required amount of water. Let cool a bit.

Then layer your individual salad plates as such:
Lettuce
carrots
Corn chips
Kidney beans
Black olives
Onions
Hamburg
Tomatoes
Avocado, layered on the side so it can be seen.
Just when you are ready to serve add on the Catalina dressing.

Add in whatever you want really. Leftovers do not keep well. But I’m sure this will be gone in one night.