Long time lurker, first time poster...



1 18 oz jar of peanut butter (or, make your own!)
2 lbs powdered sugar (I didn't use quite that much)
1 cup butter, melted
(I also added a good splash of almond extract)

Chocolate Almond Bark - or, the coating of your choice.
I chose to use a chocolate, and a vanilla coating.

Mix everything except the chocolate. I started with my mixer, and ended up using my hands to get it all mixed together.
Shape in to 1 inch balls - the batter may seem a bit dry, but when you hold it in your hand long enough to form the ball, it comes together nicely!

Melt chocolate (or, candy coating of your choice) in the microwave
Dip balls in to chocolate, being sure to completely cover.
Put on wax paper to harden.

I chose to cover these with chocolate and vanilla, and then drizzled both over the top as well.
I found using a knife was the best way to get a good drizzle - though, if you had a piping bag, or I'm sure there's some tool or some such - but, a knife works well.

This recipe yielded 75 balls for me, but they were larger than 1inch, I'm sure.
This really is a simple recipe, and a wonderful gift for friends!

Last night, my brother-in-law and his wife and their baby came over to see us during their visit to California from Salt Lake City. When we were planning the visit, I asked him what their favorite meal was. "Spaghetti," he answered.

Now, I make a mean spaghetti, and an even meaner salad. So here's the recipes for it and the salad I made last night. Sorry, no pictures; it disappeared too quickly for that.

( Spaghetti )

( Mean Green Salad and Homemade Vinaigrette )

( Bonus: Oven Garlic Bread )

Good morning, everyone!
Hope you're all having a lovely start to the weekend :)

Last night, I opened a bottle of red wine and only used about a 3/4 of a cup of it. Today for dinner, I would like to use up a good portion, if not close to all, for dinner. Beef braised in red wine was the first idea I had, but I try to stay away from red meat except for special occasions, and so I nixed that. Then, I was thinking, "why can't I do the same with chicken?"

Can I? How would I go about making a "Red Wine Braised Chicken Breast"? (or other cut of chicken)
And side dishes? Rosemary roasted potatoes sound divine ;)

Thank you!!

--Rachel

I made this for a party I'm having tonight. The recipe is from Marilu Henner's Healthy Life Kitchen Cookbook. In the book, she had taste-testers write down comments on each one, and for this, someone wrote "I could wash my face in this, it tastes so good!". I made it for a party last year and it was a huge hit.

The book recommends using sourdough rounds in the recipe, but it tastes just as good with tortilla chips.



( Recipe - Joe's Black Bean Spread )

This is another one of those "too simple to be true" recipies. The recipe is here, except when I made it I used dried noodles and our regular parmesan.

Disclaimer.
I tried to repost pictures, but for some reason neither Photobucket nor Imageshack would appear correctly here. This is crossposted to sweet_baking and cooking, please visit them for pictures.
I will make an attempt to fix this problem later today. I'm really sorry.



x-posted to sweet_baking

( +1 and recipe )

I need to make a guava cake for a friend of mine's birthday on Monday, however, I can't find any fresh guavas right now. I was thinking of just making a vanilla cake with guava jelly in the middle, but I'd like it to be a little more special than that.

Any ideas? As incentive, I promise to post step-by-step photos of me baking the cake :]

A little while ago there was a post about Chicken Adobo that really got me thinking. I link-surfed the wealth of info on that site, and got a little confused. There's so many different types and styles of Chicken Adobo (... how is PORK an ingredient in CHICKEN Adobo?)

So, I'm asking for your thoughts and advice. This is the recipe I'm planning on using (or at least starting with)

Simple Chicken Adobo

4-5 lbs. chicken thighs
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon black peppercorns or freshly ground black pepper
3 bay leaves

Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Cover and marinate chicken for 1-3 hours. Bring to boil, then lower heat. Cover and let simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover and simmer until sauce is reduced and thickened, and chicken is tender, about 20 more minutes. Serve with steamed rice.

Serves 6-8

So, thoughts? The picture that accompanied the recipe looked like the chicken had been browned or something. (Maybe that was just the effects of the marinade?) I'm assuming I should remove the skin of the chicken thighs, right?

What about the type of vinegar? So many options were listed in all the other recipes I've seen. I think I'm gonna go with a mix of apple cider and rice wine vinegar. Any reasons I shouldn't use those?

Thanks in advance for your assistance. My hubby has never had Adobo and I want to make it yummy for him!

Of the things you actually eat...what is the weirdest recipe you know?

I've had these on my to-bake list for a long time: self frosting Nutella cupcakes idea morphed from here. Instead of converting everything, I just used my own yellow cake recipe with a heaping teaspoon of Nutella in each cupcake. It was my first time using this yellow cake recipe, and wow, it is so good, rich and crumbly. Dare I say it? Better than a store bought cake mix!

( recipe + 2 pics )

Hello fellow Pornistas!

I'm afraid that the help I am looking for may only come from the Aussie's amongst us. I packed up my house about 18 months ago and put everything into storage. I have since returned and unpacked a bit, which of course included all my cookbooks and magazines. I have unfortunately been completely unable to find a specific recipe in a Donna Hay magazine!

I am looking for a Red Wine, Onion & Beef Pie recipe. I am convinced for some reason that it was in either an Autumn or Winter edition of Donna Hay. I have looked through both Autumn issues 8 & 14 without success, as well as issue 15 (Food & Wine), issue 9 (Food & Wine) & issue 22 (Winter). I have a feeling it might be in issue 20, which I do own, somewhere but I have been unable to find. It has a lovely cake on the front of it, with the icing dripping off. It would be an Autumn issue. It could also be issue 16, a Winter, which I also have but have misplaced.

Can anyone help me? It might be to hot to make pie right now (it's 40C here today in Perth) but I've been craving it for a while, and am going away in the next two months and would like to take it with me. If anyone has it, I would be so eternally grateful. I'm just looking for the recipe, not the magazine!! *grin*

Cheers!

ETA: It's actually a veal, onion & red wine pie. Nope, still beef. How do I know? I posted a picture of it in June '05! And also it was requested, I never posted the recipe! How.. silly.

Earlier this week, I had a sushi night (pics to come, hopefully!) and bought some pollock (goberge, for you Frenchies). Unfortunately, since there were only two people enjoying the spread, I now have a tonne of pollock left over and I'm not really a fish person. I'm especially not a pollock person - the texture of it is really kinda creepy. :(

Anyhow. Since I plan on making more sushi in the near future (but not too near), do you think I can freeze it? The package we bought had two vacuum-sealed halves, and we only opened one, so I still have a small unopened package of pollock. I'm sure it will keep for a while in the fridge, if nothing else.

Also, any idea how long the opened package should last? I've put it in a ziploc bag, but I don't want it to go bad.

Thanks!

Picture of my first-ever sponge roulade - also known as a swiss or jam roll!

X posted from my food blog... thought you ladies would appreciate a giggle

Obvious to those who know me and know of me, I am a foodie. This means that pretty much every topic can be conveyed in terms of food. This became clear this morning during a conversation I had with my husband Jay.

My husband is a pragmatist. There are few grey areas and certainly none in pastels of the rainbow. He follows schematics to plot out details and I use recipes as inspiration, more a source of helpful guidelines and less a rigid format.

Our morning discussion was centered on one of the gender bias issues of our time, relationships and how the participants are viewed by each other.

A widely read book insists that men and women each come from someplace different in the universe. I beg to differ. I believe that we are all from Earth and in fact all end up in the kitchen. The kitchen is where we discover the deep rooted differences between our genders and how we view the other side.

The example that leads me to this conclusion follows.

When women shop for groceries they shop for ingredients. Women select a ripe piece of fruit, examine it closely for visable flaws and blemishes and toss it back immediately if it is not found to be acceptable. "Maybe someone else can use a sub par banana today but not me" is her thought as she ponders through aisle after aisle of things that she can combine, mold and use to create her perfect meal. She may,after combing through the produce section ,decide to return to that banana for sentimental reasons and select the flawed fruit knowing in her heart that it will soon become incredible banana bread under her artful construction. It certainly works in the favor of the banana if another shopper is seen lurking nearby and has her eye cast upon it. The banana however is truly best served by just sitting there behaving aloof and apathetic, as fruits should do.

When men shop it is fast, efficient and effective for immediate gratification with no thought process as to the shopping experience. Men shop for food, not ingredients. The man says, "I'm a 5.00 START kinda cook" he wants his food hot and ready to consume between commercials on the Simpsons. Shopping is not an event in man speak. For a woman it can be a life changing experience. Seriously, ask a woman about the first time she purchased good chocolate and she'll remember the time, place and be able to describe the exquisite sensual experience of consuming it...as detailed as she will be about her first lover.

Ask a guy about his first shopping experience and he look at you with that blank stare of complete helplessness... was he really supposed to remember that after it happened? He can tell you what it took to get him there but certainly what came after entry through the mystic portal is not terribly important to recall. He got in there and got out of it what he went in for and he did it quickly by gosh...and he was prepared to eventually do it again if he had to but would certainly be happy to allow his woman to take the labor of this process solo and leave him to reap the rewards after the initial work is completed.

Women think of men as ingredients, something to mold and change into the perfect entree. Men view the perfect woman as they would the perfect dinner... ready to eat right out of the package. No fuss, no calculating and very easy clean up.

So ladies, I encourage you to remember this when seeking out your Mr right. He may be cute, but can he cook?

I believe that most of the cuisine of Europe, with the exception of a few regional specialties is the same.

Having lived and tasted Europe, the main different between Italian, German, Russian, British, and French is the sauce. The exceptions to this rule seem to be at the edges; where weather and isolation tend to transmute the cuisine. But anyone raised in the core of Europe could travel anywhere else and recognize the food.

There are of course a few things that cross the cultural boundary, not just of one culture but of cultures all over the world. Pancakes are one of those things.

Pancakes are as ubiquitous as salt and come in more varieties. All of them delicious.

I was thinking of including some arugula in a dish I'm making tonight, in place of fresh spinach, but I realized I'm not sure that I can substitute the one for the other. Anybody know if arugula will react like spinach if I wanted to wilt it over heat? Or is it only good for raw salads?

Thanks!

Tagine of Chicken with Olives and Preserved Lemons has been updated with a slight recipe change and pictures. *Lots* of pictures :).

So, I made a pot of some bomb chai tea tonight. *is drinking her third cup* Thought you guys would like the recipe! I would take a pic, but what can I say...it looks like milky tea...

Sweet Oregon Chai yield: 1 pot
4 C water
6 black tea bags (I used Tetleys)
1/2 C high quality honey (more or less to taste... I like it sweet!)
1 tsp vanilla (I don't reccomend imitation. Could also use vanilla bean here!)
1 ea 4"-5" cinnamon stick
10 ea whole cloves
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp fresh grated/zested ginger
to taste freshly grated nutmeg
4 ea white peppecorns
6 ea black peppercorns
2" strip orange zest (about this wide: |--|)
2 C milk

1)Bring the water and all spices to a steady boil in a nonreactive pot (pyrex, enamel, etc). Add teabags and reduce to a simmer. Simmer, covered for 5 minutes. (At this point, you can simmer it longer with the lid off to make a concentrate. If you do that, you may want to hold off on adding the tea, or take them out early, otherwise it will be pretty tannic.)

2)Remove from heat and whisk in milk (or strain tea and mix with milk to taste). Bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Whisk in honey and vanilla. Allow to steep, covered, to desired strength. Strain into a teapot and enjoy!!

The bread is homemade but not handmade, those bread machines are fun even if the results aren't quite as good.

sandra mort

p.s. I wrote this on the cell phone, so please forgive me for writing brief sentences and errors in spelling & punctuation!

So tomorrow is Superbowl Sunday - almost a religious holiday in the states. Anyhow, as the predominately male members of this household will be transfixed by the televison (even waaaaaay before kickoff) the big issue of the day is what are we gonna stuff our faces with while we shout at the TV?  I have smoked pork neck bones in a crock pot with all the goodies to make a great stock. Soaking next to them is a pyrex pitcher of black beans. Tomorrow I plan to combine the two. The meat entre will be oven cooked chicken thighs. Here's the thing - I have a bunch of limes I'd like to incorporate into tomorrow's meal. I could put garlic and lime on the chicken - either before or after cooking (or both). I could put some fresh lime juice in the beans when they are done and serve with lime wedges. I could do both, but it might be overkill on a good thing. So, all of this will go with steamed broccoli and buttered spaghetti squash at half time. Suggestions? What to do with the limes (besides top a few bottles of Corona) and what else (if anything) would you add to wichever dish with the limes? (easy on the hot and spicy - kids in the house. However, tabasco or chilies on the side is great!). Looking forward to you suggestions.

So for lunch today I used up the rest of my homemade peanut sauce and made Swimming Rama, only my rama was made with bok choy & seitan instead of spinach & chicken.



mmmm....tasty.