This time of year, I love finding recipes that incorporate candy bars. I tend to have an influx of candy in my house so I might as well use it to make awesome baked goods right? I received a couple of Equal Exchange Candy Bars recently and couldn’t stop snacking on them!
Equal Exchange is the nation’s leading Fair Trade brand of coffee, chocolate and tea. They recently launched a new line of organic, fairly traded candy bars with flavors including milk chocolate peanut butter, milk chocolate crisp with puffed rice and quinoa, and dark chocolate fruit and nut with raisins and almonds.
The milk chocolate crisp lives up to its name, the puffed rice and quinoa added a nice crunch to the milk chocolate. The dark chocolate fruit and nut is the perfect mix of chocolately goodness, nuts, and fruit. The website describes it perfectly as trail mix in candy bar form. My favorite of the three though was the milk chocolate peanut butter bar a perfect and classic combination for a reason! I decided to use the chocolate peanut butter bars in a cookie but wanted to find a cookie that sort of resembled the chocolate bar itself.
I adapted this cookie recipe for Marble Peanut Butter & Dark Chocolate Cookies from a Bakergirl recipe for Marbled Peanut Butter & Chocolate Snickers cookies.
One of my favorite parts of reading other blogger’s pages is checking out the “about me” sections of their blogs. It’s always so interesting to read how bloggers began cooking, how they decided to start and blog, and what else in life interests them. So when I was offered a copy of White Jacket Required: A Culinary Coming-of-Age Story written by Jenna Weber of the wonderful blog Eat Live Run I couldn’t wait to dig in!
The book follows Jenna as she graduates college and makes the decision to go to culinary school to fulfill her dream of becoming a food writer. The book allows the reader a deep dive into Jenna’s journey to follow her dreams while dealing with life along the way. Like me, Jenna seems to pinpoint specific times in her life by food that sticks out from that time period. Throughout the book, her story is peppered with delicious recipes from her childhood as well as recipes she developed through her career.
One of the recipes stood out to me: Jenna’s recipe for Pumpkin Whoopie Pies. I am pumpkin obsessed, and I have wanted to make whoopie pies for a while now but was always kind of intimidated by them. Jenna’s recipe seemed approachable so I took the plunge.
I’m pretty sure whoopie pies can now be found basically everywhere but they originally hail from the Pennsylvania Dutch. (I gotta tell you, the Philadelphia area really has some awesome food. It’s no wonder I became a food blogger with all this inspiration surrounding me!) Whoopie pies are just cake-like cookies with creamy goodness sandwiched in between. They are oh so fluffy and just, well, make me happy. So let’s see if I can do them justice..
My CSA share this week came with the most beautiful carrots. I am not the biggest fan of carrots but I don’t mind them mixed into a dish. These were too pretty to not use! Cooking Light had a recipe in its latest issue that sounded really intriguing: Champagne-Browned Butter Chicken. The dish is pretty simple to make, although it takes a good hour and a half so this is not a weeknight meal. But the presentation is definitely snazzy enough for company!
If you’ve noticed an uptick in my interest of miniature food, the cookbook Tiny Food Party! is to blame. Teri Lyn Fisher and Jenny Park, who also write on their blog Spoon Fork Bacon, have developed an entire cookbook based on tiny versions of dozens of food. The recipes range from breakfast favorites to delicious desserts. Tiny Food Party! also includes themed menus so you can throw your own tiny food party to your friends delight.
Brian at Bridges,Burgers & Beer and I were given the opportunity to test out the recipes in this cookbook in the best way possible: by hosting a Tiny Food Party!
oOnion Rings w/ Roasted Red Pepper Aioli & Buttermilk Ranch
oPotato Salad Bites
oCaprese Skewers
–Main Bites:
oChicken n Waffles
oLamb Sliders
oShepherd’s Pie
oCountry Style Eggs Benedict
–Desserts
oFudge Puppies
oSnickerdoodle Ice Cream Sandwiches
oCinnamon Spiced Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting and Candied Bacon
We invited over a bunch of friends to help us test out the above food. We did require a few tools that might not be in everyone’s kitchen: A mini muffin tin, a deep fryer (you can use a normal pot, and then you just need a candy thermometer), biscuit cutters, and slider buns. Past that, the ingredients should be available in your local grocery store.
At first look, the cookbook had both of us really excited. So many things stood out to us we had one heck of a time cutting it down to a few choices. I did think there were a high number of fried foods but hey, if it’s tiny, it’s not nearly as bad for you (right?)
After my first trip to Wegman’s (why has no one brought me here before?! I’m in love!), we split up the menu so we could both do some prep stuff before the party. I was able to make the seafood cocktail cups, potato salad bites, and all of the desserts completely ahead of time.
We met a few hours before the party and went on a cooking rampage. Shepherd’s Pies were filled, Caprese Skewers were … well, skewered, and the Onion Rings were prepared throughout the night (we even got some frying help from Zoe from Row Home Eats, thanks so much Zoe!)
In review, we decided the size of the Pajeon pancakes weren’t different enough to be considered mini, so Brian cut the size down a bit more for effect. The seafood cocktail cups were a hit, I loved that they were served in a cucumber cup and were quite easy to make. The mini onion rings, made from shallots, took a ton of prep work. Poor Brian was probably having nightmares of shallot slicing by the end! The Potato Salad Bites were served in mini wonton cups which made the overall flavor quite bland unfortunately. But the actual potato salad was quite delicious! I’ve already decided the Caprese skewers will be a staple for any party: they are so easy to make and the presentation is fantastic.
Panjeon
Seafood Cocktail Cups
Mini Onion Rings
Potato Salad Bites
Caprese Skewers
The mini mains were definitely the crowd favorites. The Chicken and Waffles, served on mini Eggo Waffles (in the freezer section of your supermarket) were drizzled with a bit of honey. We substituted chicken thighs for the chicken tenders suggested and were really pleased with the results. We could not get enough of these!
The Lamb Sliders were also absolutely fantastic. Brian flips a mean (mini) burger! The sliders were topped with a mini slice of cheese, roasted red pepper aioli, caramelized red onions, and arugula. I know, sorry, your mouth is now watering. There was a good bit of prep work for these but it was well worth it. I loved that when it came down to the actual party, it was basically just assembly!
The Country Style Eggs Benedict was the biggest surprise, at least for me. Served on a mini biscuit, we used quail eggs and drizzled them with a roasted garlic cheese sauce. I could eat these all day!
The Shepherds Pies were gone before I could grab a taste, so I’m going to call those a win. My only complaint as someone with Irish blood was that the recipe used cumin. Cumin? Anywho, it was delicious. And I hate to admit it, but the cumin was a big part of that tastiness. We had some trouble making the little puff pastry cups the pies were made in so be sure to actually prick the bottoms of the dough before baking. Those little guys puff like crazy!
Dessert was a mixed bag, completely due to human (a.k.a Kaitlin) error. You’ll never believe this, but ice cream sandwiches don’t travel well. Insanity, right? If you could get past the meltiness of the ice cream sandwich, these were super tasty. Ah well.
The Fudge Puppies were another favorite. We used the leftover mini waffles from the Chicken N Waffles and dipped them in melted chocolate. We then rolled them in crushed banana chips. Mmmm. Best part of these was I was able to make them the day before, refrigerate them, and bring them out when needed. No day of work required.
Last but certainly not least were the Cinnamon Spiced Cupcakes. I’ve gotta tell you, the frosting for these cupcakes stole the show. It was oh so creamy and delicious. Topping it with pieces of candied bacon didn’t hurt either.
Overall, people left full and happy. Brian and I were pret-ty proud of ourselves after turning out all of this food! We’ve already decided that we are Tiny Food Party addicts. Although the next time we have a tiny food party, we think a potluck version would work best so that we can munch on all the bites at the same time!
The cookbook is really extensive but it’s got me thinking… what else would you make in tiny food form? Mini grilled cheese dipped in a “tomato soup?” Mini whoopie pies? The options are endless!
This cookbook is actually being released today, October 9. You can find it at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or at your local store.
I’m not even going to pretend to care about football. I have no clue what is going on on the field, nor do I honestly want to. Not even going to school with Flacco could peak my interest in the sport. But I do care about the food aspect of watching football, to no one’s surprise.
So with the season in full swing, I figured it was about time for me to figure out how to make ribs. I “surprisingly” do not have a smoker in my tiny apartment, so I went in search of a slow cooker recipe. This Bourbon BBQ Baby Back Ribs recipe fit the bill.
Ingredients:
5 lbs baby back ribs, cut to fit in your slow cooker
I have been looking for dried lavender for the longest time. I understand that a lavender treat is probably more appropriate for a spring day, but I just came across dried lavender this week at the Head Nut in Reading Terminal and couldn’t wait another 6 months! I adapted this recipe from a Taste of Home recipe. The icing comes from a Martha Stewart recipe. Together, it makes this yummy recipe for Almond Lavender Cupcakes with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting.
Do you remember the first recipe you learned how to make? One that was probably so simple, but made you so proud when you had completed the dish? Mine (besides grilled cheese) was a chicken recipe my mom referred to as “Chicken a la Simon and Garfunkel” based on the lyrics in their song Scarborough Fair:
Are you goin’ to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.
Remember me to one who lives there,
she once was a true love of mine.
I knew the song so I was able to help make dinner by seasoning the chicken and keeping my mom company while humming the tune to the song (which I have to assume was more of a distraction than a help.. I’m a truly awful singer and I’m sure that translates into a truly awful hummer as well).
I figured this was as good as any time to learn how to roast a chicken. So I settled on Cornish game hens seasoned and stuffed with parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. I also made a “Scarborough Fair” Risotto to go with the chicken.
Ingredients: (I was making this for a family dinner but lowered the amounts to happily feed 2. Multiply as needed).
2 Cornish game hens
1 tablespoon each of dried parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme (divided)
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 lemon
4 sprigs each of fresh parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme
There is a good chance I have a rice problem, I love all things rice. My go-to meal in a pinch is always risotto. So when DailyBuzz Food had an opportunity to work with RiceSelect through their Tastemaker program, I jumped at the chance. RiceSelect is one of my favorite rice brands. You may notice their nifty containers popping out of a bunch of my posts so I was really excited to work with their rice. The catch was that they sent me one of RiceSelect’s rice randomly, I didn’t get to choose it. When I opened up the package, I discovered brown rice. Hum. I’ve never worked with brown rice before, but I was up for the challenge!
I decided to make a stir fry teriyaki dish using my favorite protein, salmon. Normally stir fry is a quick dinner choice but brown rice takes quite a bit of time to cook. But it gives you plenty of time to prep your veggies and hang out with your dinner guests!
Ingredients: (I cut this recipe for Salmon Teriyaki Stir Fry down to two servings to make it easier. Multiply as needed)
This weekend, I am co-hosting a Tiny Food Party with Bridges, Burgers & Beer, another Philly food blogger, using recipes from Teri Lyn Fisher and Jenny Park’s cookbook: Tiny Food Party. A bunch of the recipes we are making use mini muffin tins. I wanted to try out my new min muffin tins at least once before making food for the party, so I found this recipe for Mini Orange & Cardamom Muffins from a book I received last year and have used once before for a recipe (see it here) called 1 Mix, 100 Muffins.
The flavors of these muffins sounded absolutely delicious. It was a lot of prep though: you have to juice and zest the oranges for the recipe. It’s well worth it, the citrus-y flavor is perfect with the cardamom seeds.
Ingredients: (makes 48 mini muffins)
2 oranges
1/2 cup milk (maybe less)
6 whole green cardamom pods
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
Begin by melting the butter over medium-low heat. Allow to cool.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line the mini muffin pans with paper liners.
Grate the rind from the oranges and juice the oranges.
Add the milk to the orange juice until you have 1 cup total of liquid. Add the orange rind.
Remove the seeds from the cardamom pods (I just cut into them and poured them out).
Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Stir in the sugar and cardamom seeds.
Lightly beat the eggs in a separate bowl. Add the orange/milk mixture and the cooled butter.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just combined.
Spoon the batter into the muffin pans (I used a coffee scoop to measure them out, it worked really well).
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until risen and golden brown. Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack.
So the original recipe said to bake these at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. When I did that they turned out quite dark and slightly burned on the bottoms. (in the photo above, they are the ones in the background)
Next batch I tried at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Not as browned but still too dark bottoms (that’s the one in the foreground of the above photo). So I suggest trying 350 degrees instead, checking on them at 15 but probably baking for 20 minutes.
The muffins were wonderfully floral from the cardamom, which was balanced out by the citrus of the orange. I’m glad these were mini muffins, if not I’d probably consume at least 2 normal sized versions, I loved how they tasted!
I will have a post about the Tiny Food Party in the coming days so stay tuned!
As soon as the weather begins to move into fall, I begin to think of all the hearty meals I will be making in the upcoming months. A slow cooker is such a helpful tool during colder months, it allows you to make a bunch of servings all by dropping them in a pot and just waiting. Slow cooking tough cuts of meat also turns them into the most tender fall-off-the-bone protein. I’ve never tried osso buco before, but a slow cooker version sounds basically idiot proof, so I decided to make it. I actually put this together Sunday night and when I woke up the next morning, spooned out a portion for lunch that day and froze the rest. What a great way to start the week!
I had a heck of a time finding some ingredients despite them being pretty common. So I kind of fudged some of the ingredients. For the original recipe, check it out here.
Ingredients:
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon ground black pepper, divided
½ teaspoon kosher salt, divided
About 5 pounds veal (go for the cheaper cuts—its usually made with veal shank but they were all out at my market – I used cubed veal and one veal loin chop so that there was some bone)
2 teaspoons butter, divided
2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
2 cups coarsely chopped red onion
1 ½ cups chopped celery
6 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups beef broth
2 cups dry white wine
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon minced anchovy fillets (the original recipe calls for 1 tablespoon anchovy paste)
I have no idea who decided that different foods should get taco-fied, but I am all for this movement. I love tacos, and Cooking Light comes up with the best taco recipes. These Kung Pao Chicken Tacos are everything I want in a meal: quick and easy to make, colorful, a hint of spice, and full of many ingredients I already had on hand.
Kung Pao chicken is a spicy stir-fry Chinese dish that includes peanuts, vegetables, chili peppers, and chicken. It is usually served over rice, but Cooking Light took some inspiration from Korean taco trucks and added the Kung Pao chicken to corn tortillas.
Ingredients:
6 skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
3 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce, divided (or coconut aminos to make gluten free)
Do you remember the first time you had a root beer float? I remember thinking “soda and ice cream, why hadn’t someone mentioned this deliciousness to me before this very moment?!” Mind you, I was a kid and probably didn’t need any more sugar or desserts in my life. But root beer floats always have such a wonderful feeling of nostalgia. I was at Franklin Fountain in Philadelphia recently. I saw that they sell root beer floats, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about them since. So when this month’s Cooking Light arrived with what I can only call an “Adult Root Beer Float” I was so excited to try it out.
The drink, referred to as a Black Cauldron (it’s the October issue), is just as simple as a traditional root beer float, but it uses a stout instead of root beer. To add a little bit more flavor, the drink also has a touch of vodka and brewed espresso. How can you not like this drink?
Ingredients: (makes 4)
1 pint vanilla ice cream
1/4 cup vanilla vodka
1/4 cup brewed espresso (or coffee)
24 ounces stout beer (oatmeal, chocolate, whatever your favorite is)
Brew your espresso or coffee. Allow to cool.
Add 1/2 cup vanilla ice cream to each of 4 glasses.
Top each with 1 tablespoon vodka and 1 tablespoon espresso. (Note: espresso can make this drink very bitter. Feel free to use brewed coffee instead.)
Fill with the stout (it will get very frothy).
That’s it! What a great upgrade!
If you don’t like stouts, you are obviously not going to like this drink. But as a stout lover, I couldn’t get enough of this drink. The ice cream melts into the drink, making it really creamy. On a couple of mine, it actually floated to the top!
One of the highlights of the Kennett Square Mushroom Festival was catching a cooking demonstration by Antonia Lofaso of Top Chef. She made this wonderful mushroom and green bean salad with a poached egg and bacon vinaigrette. How fantastic does that sound? I didn’t have any arugula on hand, which was in Chef Antonia’s recipe, so I decided to sub in farro instead. (Farro is a grain that you cook like rice). I also kinda sorta forgot how she made most of the stuff, but it still turned out great. This is also the first time I’ve ever poached an egg because I’ve been terrified to do so but it was much more simple than expected!
Ingredients:
2 cups water
1 cup farro
1 garlic clove, minced
1 shallot, minced
8 ounces mushrooms, chopped (if you can, go for some wild mushrooms)
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 pound green beans, trimmed, and cut into bite sized pieces
3 strips bacon, finely chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, plus 1 teaspoon, divided
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
4 eggs
Begin by cooking your farro. Bring the 2 cups water and 1 cup farro to a boil in a pot. Cover, reduce the heat, and cook for 20 minutes or until the water has evaporated.
Also bring another pot of water to a boil. Liberally salt the boiling water (Chef Antonia says that your water should “taste like the ocean”). While waiting for the water to boil, prepare your green beans and mushrooms. Add the green beans to the water for 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and reserve. Keep the water at a simmer (you’ll use it again soon).
Finely chop the bacon and add to a saute pan over medium high heat.
Cook until the bacon begins to brown and crisp. Remove from heat, reserve the pan.
Add the olive oil, 3 tablespoons cider vinegar and Dijon mustard to the bacon and whisk to combine. Set aside.
Return the saute pan to the stove and heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add the shallot and garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the mushrooms give off some water and it evaporates. Remove from heat.
Combine the green beans, farro, and mushrooms.
To poach the eggs, add 1 teaspoon of the cider vinegar to the simmering water. Drop the eggs in one at a time.
Cook for 3 minutes and remove with a slotted spoon.
Top the green beans, farro, and mushroom mixture with the poached egg. Drizzle with the bacon vinaigrette.
The textures of this dish are fantastic. Farro has the texture of a more al dente rice, which was really nice with the crunchy green beans and the meaty mushrooms.
My poached egg, was a success! Look at that egg!
The bacon vinaigrette set this dish right over the top. Little bites of smokiness were an awesome touch. This is definitely a winning dish!
This past weekend was one of my favorite September events: the Kennett Square Mushroom Festival. That’s right, an entire festival dedicated to fungi. And it’s amazing. Kennett Square’s main street (State Street) shuts down to accommodate blocks of vendors, there are cooking demonstrations, soup contests, and mushroom eating contests. There is even pumpkin mushroom ice cream. All in celebration of the mushroom. (Fun fact: Kennett Square is considered the Mushroom Capital of the world).
Naturally, I picked up a bunch of mushrooms which I will now be using to cook all week. mmm. Because today was the first “fall” feeling day, I decided to use some of the mushrooms to make a soup. I wanted to stay away from a creamy soup so I used potatoes to thicken it up. I found the inspiration for this soup in The Flavor Thesaurus by Niki Segnit (one of my favorite books for food pairings).
I’m excited to share with you this recipe for Quinoa Chicken Curry, but before I do, I wanted to share a bit about quinoa.
Although quinoa seems to be a bit of a “new” super food, it has actually been around for thousands of years and was considered one of the most important crops of the Incas. This grain-like seed is really easy to cook (you cook it like rice) but is chock full of nutritional benefits. Quinoa’s high protein content makes it a great choice for vegans and vegetarians. It is also a complete protein which means it contains all the essential amino acids. Quinoa is also rich in vitamins and minerals, including magnesium, phosphorous, zinc, iron, potassium, calcium, vitamin B, folate, and riboflavin. Quinoa is also naturally gluten free, and can be ground into a flour that allows for gluten free baking. Whew.
I really didn’t know much about quinoa, or how to use it. So I was excited to be given the chance to review The Complete Idiot’s Guide Quinoa Cookbook to learn more about it. The book is full of quinoa recipes, including breakfast, dinner, and even dessert recipes. I wanted to try one of the more traditional preparations of quinoa, but can’t wait to delve into the more interesting uses for it in future posts (Lemon Poppy Seed Quinoa Cupcakes, anyone?) The book had a recipe for Quinoa Indian Chicken Curry that sounded absolutely fantastic!
Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed and drained
4 cups chicken broth, divided
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
6 teaspoons curry powder, divided
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup frozen peas
1 medium head cauliflower, chopped into 1 inch pieces
