Chocolate Pumpkin Cream Cheese Truffles

I had a craving for a pumpkin treat this weekend so I went in search of a recipe I could make with stuff I already had on hand. I came across this recipe from Whole Foods for Pumpkin Cream Cheese Truffles and was all set to make them as stated in the recipe. But I find white chocolate to be such a pain to work with and honestly, I don’t really like the taste.

So although the Whole Foods recipe is the inspiration for this post, my recipe is completely different. These pumpkin truffles are made with dark chocolate and are then rolled in toasted pecans to give it some crunch.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
  • 2 Walkers Stem Ginger Shortbread cookies, crumbled
  • 3 Walkers Highlanders, crumbled
  • 1/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
  • 1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • pinch of fine sea salt
  • 2 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 1/3 cup finely chopped pecans

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Wild Mushroom Truffled Pizza Topped with Runny Eggs

.Pizzas are a great weeknight meal option; it’s easy to make it out of products in your pantry and can be customized for whatever you’re in the mood to eat that night (or what you need to clean out of the fridge!) There is a pizza place near me in Philly called Nomad Pizza that has one of my favorite pizzas: their Truffle Pecorino pizza. The pizza is topped with cheese, garlic, shiitake mushrooms, truffle oil, and a runny egg.

I wanted to try out a version of this pizza for myself. I used a mixture of baby bella, maitake, and shiitake mushroom caps and made a quick garlic truffle oil to drizzle on for extra flavor to make this recipe for Wild Mushroom Truffled Pizza Topped with Runny Eggs.

Ingredients:

  • 1 store bought pizza dough
  • 1/4 cup olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon, divided
  • 2 garlic cloves crushed
  • a drizzle of white truffle oil
  • 1 package of sliced shiitake mushroom caps
  • 1 package of sliced baby bella mushrooms
  • 1/4 cup maitake mushrooms (or any wild mushroom you prefer)
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 4 oz ricotta
  • 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
  • 4 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 4-6 oz brie (I used Champignon German Brie with mushrooms)
  • 2-4 oz Boschetto al Tartufo (Boschetto with Truffles) – you can also just use any mild cow cheese you’d like
  • 2 eggs

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Grilled Duck with Warm Mushroom Salad and Truffle Vinaigrette

Happy Memorial Day weekend! Grilling is synonymous with Memorial Day in my mind, so I was so happy to receive a Grilling Cookbook from Cooking Light a few days ago.  The cookbook: Cooking Light Way to Cook Grilling: The Complete Visual Guide to Healthy Grilling is pretty darn snazzy. The photos are gorgeous, so um, please don’t compare my crummy photos for this recipe to the ones in the book, that will make me sad. Anyways, when I saw a recipe for grilled duck, I wanted to try it. I love duck, it’s a go-to for me at restaurants. But, I’m beyond terrified to cook it myself. It’s a tough meat to cook, and if overcooked, can be super crummy. Plus, it’s not exactly cheap! But grilling? I think I can handle that…
This recipe sounded like it was written just for me and my boyfriend. Before even opening the cookbook this was our conversation:
“We should try grilling a meat we’ve never made before, I’m not in the mood for a normal burger”
“Yeah, and maybe we can grill up some asparagus and mushrooms as well. I do want a meat as part of the meal though.”
We turn to this recipe, which managed to incorporate all of our requirements, and we were sold. The only thing we weren’t sold on? The marinating time. The original recipe suggested marinating the duck overnight, up to two days. We wanted duck, and we wanted it well before tomorrow, so our marinating was closer to 3 hours instead. There are also some pretty pricey ingredients in this dish, so this would definitely be a special occasion type of meal.

 

Ingredients:
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 4 (6-ounce) boneless duck breast, skinned
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
  • Cooking spray
  • 3 cups thinly sliced shiitake mushroom caps (about 5 ounces)
  • 2 cups thinly sliced portobello mushroom caps (about 5 ounces)
  • 3/4 cup (1/4-inch) diagonally cut asparagus
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons Champagne vinegar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons truffle oil

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