
More at 食べ物 eXploZion!

Mexican cocoa with a dash of chili pepper, chocolate dipped marshmallow and mini chocolate cupcake with buttercream frosting. All from the delectable Cacao in Atlanta.
- Mood:
grateful

This is an adaptation of a Nigella recipe which I have modified to suit my taste. I did my shopping after work last night, and I PROMISE…it took all of 20 minutes to prepare….ridiculous! Tasted so good. Very unique in taste.
I added sweet peas, changed the wholegrain mustard to hot English mustard, changed the cidar to a citrus beer, marinated the pork chops differently, added some onions and garlic to the recipe. So in essence I have pretty much changed Nigella’s original recipe.

I can't remember where I found the recipe, but it is fantastic and so simple! The entire dish comes together in 45 minutes or less and everybody will be happy with their dinner! The chicken is tossed in a lightly sweet sauce of soy sauce, cider vinegar, sugar, garlic, and ginger and cooked together with onions that caramelize with the sugar and heat. This chicken tastes a lot more complicated than it is! Kramer thought it was absolutely delicious, and clean up was a cinch because there were only two cooking vessels involved - what more could a girl want? Recipe after the cut or on my blog at The Crepes of Wrath.
( Sweet Soy Glazed Chicken and Onions )
Since rediscovering beets, my mind has been going through new recipes for it. Something . Something...unusual.This is by far my most unlikely combination: a sweet and creamy pie on a bed of hazelnut and wheat germ crust topped with yogurt syrup. I thought I was clearly losing my mind for even attempting to make this, but I was so surprised at how crazy good it is. It didn't even last longer than a weekend meal with the family. It was gone down to the last crumb.
Creamy dreamy beet dessert...
The recipe and PDF recipe download are here.
The result? Success! I think they turned out really well; not quite as aesthetically pleasing as I'd hoped, but still extremely delicious. Mmmmm. Tiny pies.

- Mood:accomplished
as we woke up quite late this morning, i delved into my fridge for the makings of a yummy brunch item.
i came out with prosciutto and brie on toast popped into the toaster oven to get the cheese good and gooey, topped with a lightly poached egg and some shredded cheddar. back into the toaster oven to get the cheddar melted, then finished with a dollop of dijon mustard for some zip. (hubby isn't overly fond of hollandaise sauce so kept that out.)

x-posted

So, we've been keeping bread dough perpetually in the refrigerator for the past six weeks or so, using the master recipe from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day (available with lots of variations at Mother Earth News). I've tried lots of variants on the original recipe: all bread flour instead of AP flour, half AP and half bread flour, 1/3 whole wheat and 2/3s bread flour, etc. (For the record, my favorite is half-and-half. The texture is exactly what I like, chewy and not too dense.)
We have company this weekend, and last night I was craving cinnamon rolls. I remembered that the recipes on MEN included a variation for using the dough to make sweet rolls. Specifically, Caramel Pecan Sticky Buns. Well, some of us don't like pecans (heathens), so I decided to leave them out. Also, I absolutely adore cream cheese icing on cinnamon rolls, so I mixed some of it up as well (4oz. softened cream cheese, 2 or so cups of powdered sugar, 1 tsp of vanilla, and milk enough for the right consistency).
Really, it couldn't have been simpler. I mixed up the butter and brown sugar and spread it on the bottom of my round cake pan. Then I rolled out the dough, which was conveniently ready and waiting for me in the fridge, into a rectangle and spread it with the cinnamon/sugar/butter/etc. mixture. This was actually the trickiest part, as the softened butter kept pulling at and further squishing the dough. I'm wondering if melted butter (which I've seen in other cinnamon roll recipes) might be easier, then sprinkled with the dry stuff.
Rolled it all up, sliced it, and put it in the pan where it rested and rose for an hour. Baked in a 350° oven for 40 minutes, then took lots of pictures.
SO VERY GOOD. The brown sugar and butter made a chewy, sticky caramel that coated the outside of the rolls, while the cream cheese icing added an extra tang that went wonderfully with the sourdough-ish bread dough. One of my fellow breakfasters commented that commercial cinnamon roll makers would put out a hit on me if they ever found out about my cinnamon rolls. :)
( Here lies the real food porn. )
For the record--I've used this same dough to make bread, pizza crust, and now cinnamon rolls--all with astounding success. It is truly a miraculous substance. :)
- Mood:
happy
Has anyone done this? How did it come out? I promise lots of XXX porn from the big day.
I love how fish tacos can be lunch or dinner, and how they can be similar yet unique from place to place and served with a variety of sauces and sides. 
Norman's Miami Beach serves up mahi fish tacos with a bar and grille attitude, incorporating american taco favs like shredded cheddar lettuce and diced tomato with a spicy mayo finish.
( 2 more under the cut, one is my favorite of all time )
I used Martha Stewart's recipe found here. I made some changes to the recipe: I added hot Italian sausage, omitted the vinegar and replaced it with about a 1/4 c. vermouth (which I allowed to cook off so there wasn't an overpowering taste), used fusilli instead of penne, used heavy cream instead of half-and-half, and a dash of pumpkin pie spice at the end to bring out the pumpkin flavor a little more.
Instead of dumping all the ingredients in at once as directed, after frying and removing the rosemary, I cooked the garlic and red pepper flakes until fragrant (Cook's Illustrated put me in that habit), added the sausage (and a little bit of the pasta water to prevent sticking), removed the sausage once cooked, added the vermouth and let that cook off a bit, splatted in the pumpkin, poured in some cream and put back the sausage, thinned it with some pasta water, grated the cheese into the sauce, added the cooked pasta and thinned it to the desired consistency with the pasta water. I forgot to add some salt to flavor, so it's probably a good thing I was only cooking for myself and my mother.
Either way, it was insanely easy and quick to make and easily adjustable to personal tastes and cooking habits.
The rice was pretty good, but the enchiladas were AMAZING -- and so easy, since they can be made with a store-bought rotisserie chicken. They were creamy, tangy, saucy, and warm. You must try them! Of course my boyfriend and I ate as daintily as the pictured plate suggests (or else we scarfed down four enchiladas each as quickly as possible while watching Star Trek: DS9).

( recipe and more photos! )
To read more about these two dishes, enjoy some more whining about my illness, or just to experience the joy of link-clicking, please head over to my baking blog, Willow Bird Baking!
x posted to cooking, food_porn, and bakebakebake
I had a houseful this year, so I made TWO birds. Have to ensure leftovers, after all!
I'm sure everyone has amazing recipes, but since I've had my Turkey day early - amazingly, we don't have Thursday off here in the UK ;-) - I thought I'd post these pics as inspiration. Before/after and recipes (plus sides porn) under the cut.

The Cheesus Burger from The Grilled Cheese Grill here in PDX
Description from the menu:
"The Soon-to-be-Famous Burger Behemoth. We’ve done away with the bun and replaced it with two grilled cheese sandwiches.That’s right, two of them. One on top, one on the bottom. Pickles and American cheese inside one, Grilled Onion and Colby Jack in the other. Lettuce, Tomato, Ketchup, Mustard, and 1/3lb Burger in between.You won’t need to eat again for 2 days. Comes with a bag of chips and a case of napkins. $8.00"
Freaking awesome. Seriously. It was surprisingly similar in taste to a Dick's Deluxe for all of you from Seattle.

Does anyone watch The Shield? Kramer and I have breezed through the first four seasons in a very short period of time. I'm not sure what's so addicting about it, but I really like the show! I'm surprised, too, because I'm usually not a fan of cop dramas. FX does it again! We also found out today that LOST starts on February 2, 2010. The countdown begins!
I needed to bake something quickly the other day, and I have had this jam cake recipe in my bookmarks for years, but for some reason, I had never gotten around to making it. I don't know why I waited so long, because this cake took about an hour from start to finish and it was absolutely delicious! You can use any kind of jam that you like (I used strawberry), and its simplicity is what makes it so good. It's a light, buttery cake with a crunchy, cinnamon-y topping, gushing with sweet, sticky strawberry jam. Perfect for breakfast, as a snack, or for dessert! I highly recommend this cake, especially because all of its ingredients are pretty typical and are probably already in your home right now! Recipe on my blog at The Crepes of Wrath or after the cut.
( Jam Crumb Cake )

