Scrumptious Holiday Truffles

Every year at work we do a cookie swap along with a white elephant gift exchange. This year I decided to make dark chocoloate truffles instead of cookies and OH MY GOD, I think I will make these EVERY year for the holdays.

I found the recipe for the ganache on Ghirardelli's website and then created my own variations:

Dark Chocolate Truffles
Yield: 30 Truffles

    * 1 3/4 cup(s) 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips (I mixed bittersweet chocolate chips with semisweet chips...about a 2 to 1 ratio...and I of course bought Ghirardelli chocolate)
    * 1/3 cup(s) Unsweetened Cocoa
    * 1/3 cup(s) heavy whipping cream
    * 6 tablespoon(s) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Directions
In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer. Add the butter and stir until melted.

Gradually add in the chocolate chips.

 

Stir until completely melted and smooth.

 Remove from the heat and pour into a shallow bowl (9 x 13 pyrex dish works--I tripled the recipe so I used the largest pyrex dish I had).

Cool, cover, and refrigerate the mixture until firm, at least 2 hours.

Using a melon baller or small spoon, roll the mixture into 1-inch balls. I promise you that your hands will be covered in chocolate by the end of this and there is absolutely nothing wrong with licking your fingers.

Roll each ball in the cocoa. Enjoy immediately (trust me you will) or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Variations

Pecan Truffles
I bought a small bag of pecans, crushed them and laid them flat in a pan and toasted them at 375 degrees until fragrant. Then I rolled some of the truffles in the pecans.

Smore Truffles
Break marshmallows up into small chunks (about the size of the tip of your pinky) and crush the graham crackers into a dust. It was difficult to wrap the ganache around the marshmallow, but just keep forming the ball around the marshmallow, you will get it eventually. Then roll the ball into the bowl of graham cracker dust and voila! You have smore balls!

To make them extra special, I bought some silver candy cups from AC Moore (about $3 for 100) and cookie tins from the dollar store (they have some great ones with holiday prints).  Slap on a bow and you have a simple Christmas gift to hand out to your friends and family.

'Tis the season for baking!

First attempt at making a cake from scratch = Epic Fail?

I know, I know, it has been forever since I have written on this blog, but what better time to start again than the holidays. I have baking A LOT the past few weeks and part of it is because I decided to take a baking class at Charleston Cooks downtown. Totally worth the 60 bucks by the way! What better way to spend a an evening—baking delicious desserts and breads, drinking wine, and then ingesting the goodies you created while the instructors clean everything up for you! It was magical.

One of the recipes we made was a Classic Chocolate cake with Buttercream Frosting. Since we only had a few hours in the class, we didn't get to participate in baking all of the items, so I decided to take on baking the cake from the comfort of my own home. 

Little did I know all of the idiosyncrasies of making a cake. Let’s just say when your husband comes home and eats a piece of your hard work, “Chocolate Slim Jim” are not the words you want to come out of his mouth.

Let me explain. The flavor of the cake was not like a Slim Jim, it was actually quite tasty. But the texture was like a dense brownie that someone smashed to make even more dense. When the cake came out of the oven and I pressed gently on the center, there was no give, no tender push back to say “Hello, I am fluffy”, it was solid…like a Slim Jim.

The sample I gave to Mike was strip of cake from the edges I trimmed off. I hope this helps to explain his comment:

 

Items I learned for next time:

1. Cold ingredients are the enemies when making a cake. Make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature.
2. Be sure to beat the butter until fluffy BEFORE adding the sugar. I added them together and THEN tried to beat them to be fluffy.

Cold butter + sugar = butter balls      Nobody wants balls in their cake batter.

3. Do not over mix the batter after the flour is added. Part of this was because there were still lumps from the butter, so I definitely over mixed to compensate. You only need to mix until the flour is barely incorporated.
4. No air in the cake batter means your cake is not going to rise. So the fact I could find hardly any air holes in the cake was not a good sign.
5. I think this would make a good base for an ice cream cake
6. OR this would be really good with a raspberry glaze in the center and maybe cream cheese frosting

Added some chocolate shavings to make it pretty. I figured if the presentation is there, maybe people won't notice how dense it is :)

Turns out the fail was actually a success. I brought the cake to work for my friend’s birthday, and it was devoured by the end of the day. Some people said they liked that it wasn’t fluffy like a normal cake and it was very moist. 

 

If you want the recipe, just comment on this blog and I will scan a copy for you.

I am still determined to make a fluffy cake dammit.

Nutella: A Monster’s Summer Romance

First of all let me start by apologizing for my laziness in writing this blog. It has been way too long and I blame it on remodeling our bathroom and the Spoleto Festival coming up (Mike is working crazy hours). Anyway, enough of my excuses, it is almost the summer, so there will be plenty to talk about. But let’s start with Nutella.

Nutella is the East Family drug. Typical pre-dinner snack scenario: Mike goes to the drawer, grabs a spoon, and sucks down the large spoonful of hazelnut chocolaty goodness in one fell swoop…Who wouldn’t fall in love with this upscale version of chocolate frosting? Nutella takes me away to the summer I spent in Italy where I would sit outside with my friends gazing at the “scenery” while stuffing our faces with biscuits smothered in the Italian goodness. It never lets you down and can make a simple piece of bread seem like tiramisu.

Recently we had a potluck at work and I was determined to come up with a concoction using whatever I had in the pantry. So, I had Nutella, vanilla wafers, and 3 very ripe bananas. Hmmm, ah yes, why not…banana cupcakes with Nutella frosting and crumbles of wafers on top, BRILLIANT! I don’t have any pictures and I didn’t write down any measurements, but here is a picture I found online. I like the idea of topping them with slices of banana too...it just depends on how much you like bananas.

The details:

1.      1. Buy a box of vanilla cake mix. (okay, so I had to buy one ingredient, give me a break)

2.     2.  Mash up the 3 ripe bananas, follow the instructions on the box for the cake mix, and add the banana mash   to the batter.

3.     3.  For the frosting, put a couple spoonfuls of Nutella into a bowl, add a little milk or heavy whipping cream, half a stick of butter, and some powdered sugar.

4.     4.  Mix well and add a little more of whichever ingredient you think is necessary to get the consistency you desire.

5.      5. Place cupcake liners in 2 cupcake pans (total of 24 cupcakes) and pour in the batter about ½ to ¾ full. Bake according to the directions on the box.

6.      6. Let cool and spread on the Nutella frosting mixture.

7.     7. Top with vanilla wafer crumbles (I just put a few in a Ziploc and smashed away with my fist) 

8.      8. Taste test about 2 cupcakes, you don’t want anyone to get sick and 1 cupcake isn't enough to give accurate results.

Oh yeah…summer romance here we come!

Recipe of the Day: Broccoli, Ham & Pasta Salad (minus the ham)

Let me start out by saying I really hate doing dishes. I mean, is there anyone out there who actually LIKES cleaning up after they cook? Because, personally for me, I absolutely despise this chore. I don’t know if it is because my parents always made my brother and I do the dishes almost every night growing up (in our house the rule was, you cook, everyone else cleans), but I rather stick a fork in my eye than do the dishes. It doesn’t help that Mike hates doing dishes as well. But, the other issue is I can’t stand if they sit in the sink, so I end up doing them anyway…grrr, it is a constant circle of madness.

Anyway, enough of me venting…down to the important part of my day, eating. I am dedicating this recipe to my ole buddy/coworker, Julian, who not only has decided to give up sugar, but is now in the process of becoming Vegan. Now that I think about it, this recipe wouldn’t work for him because it has dairy in it. Whatever, it is the thought that counts. Check out his sugar free blog.

This is a home made pasta salad recipe which I made vegetarian by leaving the ham out. If you want ham, then go for it, I am not stopping you. For the full recipe, click here.

Here is how it all went down:

Step 1: Boil the pasta. I like this pasta I found at Whole Foods made by “365”:

Step 2: While the pasta is boiling, combine the ingredients for the cream sauce (I only use 2 tablespoons of rice vinegar instead of 3 like the recipe calls for; 3 is too much for me)

I found our rice vinegar at the H and L supermarket. This place is AWESOME! They have everything you need for Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, etc. I have spent $4 there to make a meal that lasted me for 4 days!!!

Step 3: Mix it up

Step 4: Drain the pasta when it is finished boiling and add the chopped onions, peppers, and broccoli (I like to steam my broccoli first before adding it, but I am sure it is good raw too)

MMmmmmmmm...

Step 5: Add the cream sauce and stir it up. Add as much or as little as you want, then refrigerate for at least an hour, and enjoy! It is great to have for lunch during the week or as a little side dish for a cookout.

The Sushi Experience

For the past couple of months, Mike and I have been going to O-ku for happy hour because all of their rolls are half off and you know how we Monsters love a good deal.

They also have Hendrick's Gin martinis and their cocktails are $3 off (I think happy hour runs from 5-7). Hendrick's Gin is the only type of Gin that I will actually drink straight. All you need is a cucumber slice on the side of your glass and you are golden (Thank you to Mike for introducing me to this drink...or should I thank the bartender who introduced HIM to the drink in Scotland, let's go with the bartender).

It is a dangerously smooth drink, so be CAREFUL because you will get drunk FAST.

Anyway, sorry for the tangent there, back to sushi. I would say our favorites are the Firecracker roll, Avocado wrapped roll, Tuna Tataki roll, and the Filet Mignon Tataki Roll. They also have this potato wrapped roll which is a shrimp tempura, avocado roll wrapped in shoe-string potatoes and deep fried. It is insanely delicious, but it gets to be a little much with all of the fried potatoes around it, definitely one you want to share with someone else. So in the end, O-ku is what I would call the "City Mouse" of the sushi world...very "swanky".

On the other end of the spectrum is The Oriental Garden in Mt. P. ...this is the "Country Mouse" of sushi. It is this little hole in the wall place off of Coleman Boulevard that, from what I have heard, used to be a Hardees. When we walked in, the place was completely packed out. We seated ourselves in the 1970's booth and reviewed the laminated menu layered under the glass table top. The waitress later came out with the full menu and we ordered two house salads with ginger dressing, 3 orders of Nigiri, 1 spicy tuna roll, and 1 shrimp and avocado roll...we walked out of there spending only 29 bucks!!!

I am sorry O-ku, but your fancy shmancy ways are low priority on our list... I think Mike and I have found our new hot spot to get our sushi fix. The Charleston population was correct, The Oriental Garden is by far the best sushi we have had in town. The rolls were so big, I could hardly pick the pieces up with my chopsticks...or maybe that is just because I suck at using chopsticks.

Anyway, what I am trying to say is if you want the "City Mouse", night on the town, where you get dressed up and look at hot waitresses all night, then go to O-ku. If you want the authentic "Country Mouse" sushi experience where you get more bang for your buck, then go to The Oriental Garden...NOW!

Recipe of the Day: Pillow Cookies

I have been wanting to try this recipe for a while now. It all started when my friend introduced me to the website www.bakerella.com. I was flipping through the site with my mouth gaping open, as I salivated and stared, eyes glazed over, at these decadent objects referred to as pillow cookies. This great invention consists of baking a batch of brownies, mixing up some cookie dough (Bakerella uses chocolate chip), creating monstrous sized balls with the dough, stuffing them with the baked brownie, and THEN baking the cookie. I couldn't resist.

SO, I started thinking, what would be even better than brownie stuffed chocolate chip cookies? WHY YES!!! Brownie stuffed PEANUT BUTTER cookies. It would be like an inside out Reese's Peanut Butter cup times ten.

Last night I decided to take on this endeavor to create my own pillow cookies. Now don’t get too excited, I did not make these from scratch. I bought one box of Ghirardelli dark chocolate chunk brownie mix (yeah, that’s right) and 2 pouches of Betty Crocker Peanut Butter cookie mix.

I mixed up the brownies and popped them in the oven. I made sure to bake them about 5-10 minutes less than the time on the box so they would be a little fudgey. While they were baking I licked the brownie bowl…I mean, I mixed up the 2 bags of peanut butter cookie mix, did a couple taste tests and placed the dough in the refrigerator (the dough is suppose to refrigerate for 45 minutes to an hour.)

Once the brownies were done, I pulled them out to let them cool and then turned the oven down to 325 degrees. Then the fun began. I ate a couple brownies, I had to do a taste test again, I didn’t want to kill anyone. Then I pulled the peanut butter cookie dough out of the refrigerator and formed about 10 extremely UGE (no H) balls.

I pushed my thumb down in each of them to make a hole to place the brownie in.

I cut the brownies into 1 x 1 in. chunks and stuffed them in each ball of dough, then folded the dough over the top to cradle the brownie bites. Oh my god, I wanted to eat them just like that, it was so tempting.

AND THEN…popped them in the oven for about 13 minutes or so. Just be careful because I screwed up the first batch. I don’t know if it was the pan or what, but the bottoms turned black. I was so upset that I cut the tops off so I could still eat them.

WHOOPS!

For the other batches (I could only fit about 4 or 5 cookies on one pan), I cooked them for half of the time on the middle rack and then moved them to the top rack for the rest of the time. But, you have to consider that our oven is freakin’ 100 years old, so I am sure it will be better if you have a newer model.

 Look how big these things are

Voila! Obscenely delicious brownie stuffed peanut butter pillow cookies. I was sick by the end of the night from all of the taste testing.

Recipe Websites

Good Evening Everyone,
  The other day when I was eating lunch with my coworkers, they asked me what recipe websites I use and then I started thinking, I only use about 2 or so and I wonder what other people use? Below are the websites I use, so for whoever is reading this blog, if you have any other recommendations, please let me know because I always LOVE finding new recipes.

www.allrecipes.com
www.eatingwell.com
www.epicurious.com

And my new favorite baking site...this woman is amazing by the way...www.bakerella.com

Victim no. 354 (I lost count): Pane E Vino

This past Friday night Mike and I had a huge craving for some good Italian food. The strange thing is, we didn't really have an Italian "go-to" place. So, I got online and did some research. I ran across Pane E Vino which oddly enough we have driven past multiple times and I have always wanted to try it. It is the most adorable little restaurant off of Warren Street on Upper King. It has a very nice patio with strands of glowing lights that are very inviting.

We got there around 8:30 and we were greeted by a small Italian gentleman, Alfredo, who is actually the owner.  He asked Mike, "Would you like to sit inside or out?" while pointing up at him then he poked him in his chest and said "That's OK, I will take you outside and let you make your decision". He pointed to a little round table in the corner with 2 chairs and said "This is our romantic spot, you guys sit here by the heater". It was perfect, I laughed to myself a little because the owner was rummaging around making sure everyone was happy, he reminded me a lot of my dad...it must be an Italian thing.

Now to the important part of the restaurant, the food.

We started with one of their appetizer specials. I can't remember the name, but based on what I found online, it was something similar to "Carpaccio di Manzo". It is an arugula salad served with thinly sliced filet mignon, seared on both sides, and shavings of Parmesan Cheese. Then there was a Balsamic Vinaigrette drizzled on top and WOW, seriously the filet was like butter and I think the cheese was actually crack; they just tell you it is cheese so you won't worry about getting arrested. The only downside was we didn't ask how much it cost and later found out it was 17 bucks (probably because there was crack in it) which was more than our entree!

It looks a little gross in this picture...sorry about that

For our main entrees, Mike ordered the Lasagna and I ordered the PAPPARDELLE ALL' ANTICA (yes I just copied that straight from the website). They were both amazing! The lasagna had mushrooms in it and I don't even like mushrooms, but it was still delicious. The only thing about the Pappardelle dish is that it is served with ground pork and I was hoping for shredded pork because that is how my grandmother use to make it. Oh well, it was still good and the velvety pasta noodles made up for the ground pork (also, on the menu it specifically says this dish will not be served with cheese and that is because the chef refuses to serve the dish with cheese...NO CHEESE FOR YOU!)

And the end of the meal, the part I ALWAYS have room for...dessert. We had to order the home made Tiramisu, even if this meal was going to cause us to go broke (by the way, I think this blog is going to make us go broke).


It was so worth it...it was like eating rainbows and unicorns surrounded by light creamy deliciousness. I was in heaven.

Again, these pictures aren't doing the meal justice...for some reason the Tiramisu looks like muscle and bone from a cow surrounded by chalk dust.

This place is awesome, we will definitely be going back and will be taking my parents here and will hopefully get better pictures of the food.

Recipe of the day: Island Pork Tenderloin

This recipe is our go-to recipe for when we have guests over. If we can't come up with anything else to cook, we always resort to this meal because we have had a 100% success rate. It is great served with brown rice and asparagus or broccoli. The other bonus is that it is a healthy meal (we got this recipe out of our P90X book when we attempted the workout program about 2 and half years ago--we only made it through a month of the program, but at least we have this great recipe!)

Also, depending on who you are having over, it is a good idea to double the recipe. In the book the recipe says it makes enough for 4 servings, but I know if there is a total of 4 people eating at our house, we will make 2 lbs. of pork tenderloin and we usually don't have any leftovers (yes we are fatties).

Ingredients

16 ounces pork tenderloin, lean
2 teaspoons olive oil

Mix for Dry Rub
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon chile powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix for Wet Rub
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 tablespoon fresh garlic, finely chopped
1/2 table spoon Tabasco sauce

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Stir the Dry Rub ingredients together and then coat the pork with the mixture.
3. Heat oil in a 12 in. skillet over medium high heat and brown the pork, turning, about 4 minutes for each side.
4. Stir together the Wet Rub mixture and pat it on top of the tenderloin. Place pork in roasting pan and cook in the oven for 20 minutes.

Slice, place on plate, devour and enjoy the sweet spiciness of this dish (sorry I don't have any pictures, but trust me, it is delightful).

How do you know you have had a successful vacation?

By the food you ate of course. Let's go through the rundown of LA (I will only provide the highlighted meals from each day).

Day 1
Breakfast:  Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles (which I already commented on in a previous post)

Lunch/late snack: Because I was completely stuffed from breakfast, I ended up not eating until 3 that afternoon. My friend and I ended up at this little Argentinean restaurant called LaLa's on Melrose and had some delicious bread with an olive oil dip that had parsley, garlic, and red peppers. We sipped on some yummy mojito's while munching on grilled veggies. It was the perfect way to spend an afternoon.

Dinner: My brother and his wife went all out and grilled up some jumbo shrimp and Korean BBQ (courtesy of Costco). For our sides we had some wild rice and a cucumber carrot salad. I will let the pictures speak for the tasty factor of the meal. I am so glad my brother loves food as much as I do (he may even love it more, but I don't think that is possible)

Day 2:
I am going to skip the conversation about breakfast and go right to...

Lunch: El Fuego....the perfect Mexican fix. I got a massive fajita burrito with chicken and ate the entire thing. I even got up at one time to get some more water and the owner asked if I needed a box; I proudly replied "Actually I ate the whole thing" and walked away while he stared at me in awe.

 My fat-ass burrito...it didn't even fit on my plate

Day 3:
Breakfast: I think this was my favorite breakfast of the whole trip...we went to this place in Woodland Hills called The Baker. I took a chance with their Challah French Toast hoping it would be fluffier than and not as dense as other types of french toast. Boy was I right! It was the most amazing french toast I have ever had. They served it sprinkled with powdered sugar and fresh fruit with a side of turkey bacon. The toast itself was so perfect, I didn't even use my syrup. I wanted to eat the whole thing, but I had to save one piece for Mike since he was asleep back at the house. The owner of The Baker is my hero.

Wine Tasting: Instead of going to the beach, we decided to stop and do some wine tasting. We ended up at the Sip Cielo Wine Bar. If you ever get to go to "Sip Cielo", try the “Purple Haze” from their Woodstock Collection. It was very smooth and not too sharp (sorry, I am not a wine connoisseur, so I don’t know all of the fancy technical terms for wine). The best part about the place was that they had a flight named after us, the “Monster Flight”

Day 4: This day consisted of eating the unhealthiest food possible:

Eggs with chicken/cheese for breakfast, Wendy’s for lunch, a giant pretzel with cheese dip at 6 flags for a snack, a giant funnel cake covered in powdered sugar for another snack and finally a healthy Thai dinner at Exotic Thai Café (I kept thinking it said “Erotic” Thai café when we passed it and thought, hmmm, erotic Thai food, I will have to try that).

I had their Pa-Nang Curry and wished I didn’t have to get on a plane the next day so I could have leftovers for lunch. The curry sauce was perfectly spicy and not too sweet. They garnished it with lemon grass which gave it a nice little punch and of course made it preeeeetttttyyyyy. My brother, another qualified food monster and walking garbage disposal kept stealing from my bowl of curry and constantly sniffed the air commenting how delicious it smelled. If you like Thai food, you will like Exotic Thai Café.

And that’s all. Sorry this was so long, but as you can see, it was a very successful vacation. Have a good night and I will add a new recipe for you guys later this week.

Oh how I have missed you La La land

The smog, the concrete, the traffic, and the chicken and waffles. What!?!? Chicken and Waffles? Yes, LA of all places has the best chicken and waffles. There is this crazy little place called Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles that originally started in Harlem and was brought over to LA during the mid 70's.

We went to the location off of Gower (there are 5 locations througout LA) yesterday for brunch. The outside looks somewhat like a boarded up strip club. When you walk in you are greeted by the smell of vanilla and grease with gangsta' rap from the early 90's playing in the background.

Mike was brave enough to take on the "Herb's Special" with half of a fried chicken and 2 waffles, you really don't need to eat anything until the next day. I chose to go with lucky number 13, the "Carol C. Special". Perfectly portioned with one fried chicken breast and one waffle with a 1/4 lb. of butter and delicious cup of home made syrup. I wasn't even hungry until 7 o'clock that night for dinner, and anyone who knows me well, knows for me to be full that long is a very rare occurrence. Thank you Roscoe's for saving us money and the scrumptious meal!


Mike's food before

Mike's food after