Dark Chocolate Macaroons with Hemp Hearts

So good and healthy, too.

Feel free to add more sugar to your liking.

I will not fill up this post with text that will slow you down from making these immediately.

All you need to know is that they are gluten free, filled with antioxidants from the chocolate and they include super food “Hemp Hearts”.  Hemp hearts have protein, Omega 3&6.  And the ones I used are made in Canada.  Manitobaharvest.com.  #manitobaharvest

Grab the ingredients and make these ASAP.

Ingredients

2 2/3 c   Medium shredded coconut, unsweetened
1/2 c      Mini chocolate chips semi-sweet
1/4 c      Cocoa powder
Pinch     Salt
1/2 tsp   vanilla extract
1/3 c.     Sugar
2            Egg whites
1/4 c.     Shelled hemp seeds (Hemp Hearts)

1. Preheat oven to 325F
2. Melt chocolate chips over double boiler or in microwave,  high power for 20 second intervals, stirring in between.
3. Mix all ingredients in a bowl
4. Using a cookie scoop to form cookies place on a silpat lined baking sheet (Or Parchment Paper) about an inch apart
5. Bake for 15-18 minutes
6. Enjoy

Lori

Bloody..... Cupcakes

Hi...

I wanted to share this little indulgence in the kitchen with you.  It was for a Halloween  bake-off. I didn't win the contest, however, I don't think any of the other contestants had as much fun as I did preparing their entries.

This idea comes from Easy Baked.

I used a different recipe for the cupcakes and icing but Easy Baked glass and blood are PERFECT.

This is the glass, cooling on parchment paper.  I wasn't happy with my first batch and redid it.

I found that spraying the parchment left a bit of a residue on the glass candy. My second batch was much better. I let it harden on a silicone sheet.  When done I used the heel of a kitchen knife to shatter the glass.

 

I couldn't resist taking this picture. No one was hurt.  It is delicious though.

Red velvet cupcakes are sooooo pretty.

Here is my display.  I made the skulls using easy melts and a mould.

Fun, Beautiful Dessert

What you need

One package of Chocolate wafers
Whipping cream
Sugar
Vanilla
Raspberries
Kahlua or other liqueur for flavouring (optional)

Whip up some fresh whipping cream, sweetened to your liking, add a dash of vanilla and if desired add something special, like kahlua or triple sec, etc....  Optional.  For my first attempt I used only vanilla extract.







Spread a layer of whipped cream on the chocolate wafers.















Slip in some berries on one of the layers.  Now you stack the layers on top of each other. Only one of the layers will have berries.

It doesn't matter where the layer of berries is, but the cake is a little less tippy if the berries are not in the bottom layers.

I made five layers of wafers and cream, put the berries in the middle layer and one plain layer on top. You can do more or less if you wish....

Now, use whipped cream to ice it like a layer cake.





Let them set up in the fridge for at least two hours, the cookies will soften and have a cake like texture. So pretty, so fun....


I grated some dark chocolate on them and dropped a few berries on the plate.

Green Eggs and Ham

This is my version of Green Eggs and Ham. Great for company and can be easily doubled or tripled.

I've followed a recipe for this dish for some time but this morning I had left over mascarpone and was determined to incorporate it into breakfast. This recipe also includes fresh basil from my herb garden and baby arugula to add more flavour and texture.   Can be easily doubled or tripled. 

Recipe

2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves of garlic - finely chopped
4-6 slices of Canadian Bacon or Peameal Bacon
2/3cup Mascarpone Cheese (or cream cheese softened with milk)
4 large eggs
1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil (more if desired)
2 cups baby arugula
1/4 cup parmesean cheese

Heat frying pan over medium heat add olive oil. Cut bacon into 1 inch squares. Add bacon pieces and garlic to frying pan and cook over medium to med/low heat until garlic is soft, approx 7-8 minutes.  While bacon and garlic are cooking beat eggs, add chopped fresh basil.

 Increase heat to medium.  Add mascarpone to the pan to melt and stir, about one to two minutes.  Add Arugula and stir to wilt, about one minute. Add eggs and stir as you would to make scrambled eggs.  Continue cooking eggs slowly over medium heat until desired doneness.  I prefer my eggs a little on the moist side. I find that if they get cooked too much they become rubbery and runny.  I don't like that.  When they are cooked to your liking turn of the heat and stir in the parmesean cheese.  Serve with toast and coffee or tea, a nice fruit salad and, of course, mimosa!!

I have often made a large batch and placed the eggs in a large dish to serve a group of people at brunch.  Because the ham/bacon is in the eggs you have a one dish main that looks and tastes great.

L

Chocolate Turtle Cookies

These have got to be my new favourite cookie. I think they will be for a long time. I mean, how can you outdo the combination of rich chocolate, toasty pecans and smooth buttery caramel.  How?

I found this recipe at Pixelated Crumb.  It is an America's Test Kitchen Recipe and really worth making.  I was on Pixelated Crumb recently to recreate those fabulous Garlic Oven Fries this past weekend and I came across their top recipes of 2012.  This one is #1 so, duh, had to try it...

The dough is sticky so it needs to be kept cool for best results.

Here is it after chilling for an hour in the fridge. That chocolate looks so rich.

In some of the reviews I read that it was important to keep the dough chilled before cooking so after initially forming the cooking balls I put the tray in the fridge to keep that butter solid and help the cookie hold its shape

After rolling them in the eggwhite and pecans I formed the caramel cup.

After baking they puff in the cup a bit and need to be pressed again. Do this right away and if the cookie cracks it is really easy to squeeze it back together when they are very warm from the oven

Now they are ready for the caramel jewels.

They are so good and despite the caramel filled cup they are not overly sweet.

Try them, let me know how yours turn out.

Cake Disaster

To celebrate Valentines Day with the BF, I made a diabetic friendly cake. Twice. It was awful.  Both times.  As a twitter follower of +Epicurious I was eager to submit my experience in response to a call for such dilemmas to @AskKemp.

I was really excited when she responded.  After a few back and forth tweets about the details of the recipe, including a tweet of a picture of the recipe, she replied that she was working on determining the problem and to my total delight - Fixing it!  AND that she wanted to include it in her next column post.

What an honour! She wanted to know if I would be patient! and wait.  Of course I would.  Not only was I excited that she would have a solution, I was beginning to believe that the recipe was flawed and its awfulness was not my doing.  Phew!

@smalldeluxe Did you see today's Ask Kemp post? I made a cake for you! epi.us/YeDQKr
— Kemp Minifie (@AskKemp) May 1, 2013

I was thrilled when I read this tweet.  As soon as I got home I checked out her post.

She made the original recipe, included a picture and posted the new and improved recipe in her post.  The original recipe turned out exactly like mine. But the new and improved recipe....  Wow! What a gorgeous looking cake.  I don't think I can post a copy of the photo but encourage you to go and take a look at the post.  The details about why the recipe didn't work are pretty impressive.

The new and improved recipe is now available under the member recipes on Epicurious.

I hope to try it out very soon!!  I will post my results. If you try this recipe please let me know how it works out for you!

Oh...  and Thank you so much, Kemp!!!

Lori

The Best Homemade Frites

These are, Seriously, the best Oven Frites I have ever tasted. I believe that they are probably healthier than anything that comes from a restaurant deep fryer or out of a plastic bag from the grocery store freezer.

I followed this recipe from Pixelated Crumb.  I only made two large potatoes and I ended up with an overcrowd the pan. I  can appreciate the difference spreading out the fries and keeping them in a single layer would make to the final product.  Oh well, maybe another trip to my favourite kitchen supply shop and another serving of garlic fries.

I didn't make the garlic aioli and I didn't miss it. These are so flavourful that they can be enjoyed with just the spice mixture and garlic oil. 

Using only two large russet potatoes I ended up with lots of fries.  The mandolin really saves time and produces nice consistently sized fries. I left the skins on... I like them that way and one less step.

Here is the garlic lightly sautéing in the oil. 

One of the steps in the recipe tells you to oil the pan and sprinkle it with sea salt and pepper. I thought it made a really interesting landscape. 

I put all my spices in a little bowl and was very intrigued by the colours. I think they are so beautiful.  And when people say to have lots of colour in your meals I will think about my fries.

Your hands are going to get messy.  Jump in, it's worth it.

It's easy to see here that there are too many fries the pan is too small for the amount of fries I made

 Before baking

Yeah, sometimes this happens when I cook.

The final product

Try these, you'll love them. And as they cook they fill up the house with the aroma of those colourful spices.



Here's the link to the Pixelated Crumb's Recipe again.

Enjoy!! I am off to make my third batch of Avocado Brownies this week.

Browniecados...? Yes Please!!

Yes Please, indeed!!

A family member sent this post to me a few days ago from the Chubby Vegetarian's Blog.  He made them last night and confirms that they are delish!!

So, looking for an excuse, justification really, to replace my damaged mini-muffin baking pan, I jumped right in...

Click here to link to Chubby Vegetarian's Recipe

I admit that the contrast does not look appealing.

My batter made enough to fill 16 mini muffin cups to about 2/3's full and I baked them for 18-20 minutes.

Whuut..  where did that one go???  :-D

  

I would recommend trying these.  You cannot tell that there is avocado in the mix and they are moist and chewy too.