cocca

I haven't been on the sugar site for almost 2 years now and it seems that they have come a long way!  I love the new site's face lift!  I will have to play around with the features a little more longer, so stay tuned! 

When I saw this, I wanted to try it!

Adapted from Chocolate and Zucchini by Clotilde Dusoulier
Makes 12


• 1 teaspoon olive oil, plus extra for greasing

• 3 small chicken breasts, cut into 1cm cubes

• 1 teaspoon minced garlic

• 3 ripe tomatoes

• 3 large eggs

• 1 ½ cups milk

• 90g plain flour

• Sea salt and cracked black pepper

• ½ cup Swiss cheese, grated

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

• 90g macadamias, chopped roughly



1. Preheat the oven to 220°C (430°F) and use a pastry brush to grease a muffin pan with olive oil.

2. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, stirring for a few seconds before adding the cubes of chicken. Cook until golden and pieces are slightly firm. Allow to cool.

3. Halve and core the tomatoes, discarding the seeds and juice. Dice the flesh into 1cm cubes.

4. Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Add the milk and whisk again. Sift in the flour, salt and pepper.

5. Add the chicken, cheese, tomatoes, parsley and macadamias and stir with a spoon.

6. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan and bake for about 35 minutes, until golden and puffy. Transfer to a rack for 2 minutes to cool, then unmould to cool completely.

Here's the link: http://spicyicecream.blogspot.com/2008/01/completely-captivated.html

Enjoy!

Apricot tarts with chocolate sauce - Perfect for Valentine's Day! <3
Serving Size: 4
Ingredients:
For the crust:
1 & 1/4 cups unbleached white flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup coconut oil (measure it in solidified form, in a dry measure)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3-5 TB ice water

For the apricot filling:
1 cup of apricot puree (can be from soaked dried or canned apricots)
splash of lemon juice
dash of cinnamon
2 teaspoons corn flour

For the chocolate sauce:
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Dutch-process
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon

For the crust:
1. Place the dry ingredient in a medium bowl.
2. Put the solidified coconut oil and margarine with the dry ingredients, coating the hardened pieces with flour, which makes the pieces easier to break up and work in.
3. Work into the flour with your fingers or a pastry blender.
4. Add the vinegar to the ice water.
5. Drizzle the water into the dough a spoonful at a time, mixing in each as you go. You have enough water in the dough when the dough holds together well when pinched. Do not add any more water than absolutely necessary.
6. Gather the dough into a ball and flatten it into a disk.
7. Wrap disk in plastic.
8. Chill in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes.
9. Roll out on floured board with floured rolling pin - or even easier, just press into pie pan evenly.
10. Using a fork, put many small holes in the bottom of the pastry.
11. Put a layer of parchment or baking paper I the bottom and fill the form with beans.
12. Blind bake at 350 for 10 minutes.
13. Remove the beans and parchment and bake for another 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.
14. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
For the apricot filling.
1. If using canned apricots (aprox. 410 grams), drain the apricot syrup but reserve.
2. Place the apricot pieces in a blender and puree.
3. Add a splash of lemon juice
4. Add a dash of cinnamon.
5. Place the puree in a saucepan.
6. Add the corn starch and stir well.
7. Heat the apricot mixture until it begins to bubble and thicken. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
For the chocolate syrup:
1. Put the water in a small sauce pan.
2. Add the sugar and salt and bring the mixture to a boil, be sure to stir well to dissolve the sugar.
3. Add the cocoa and continue stirring.
4. Cook only until the mixture begins to thicken, then remove from the heat.
5. Add the vanilla and cinnamon and mix it evenly into the syrup.
When the tart crusts have cooled and the apricot filling has slightly cooled, fill the tarts with the filling.
Allow the tarts to further cool and set.
Make the syrup.
Shortly before serving, drizzle the chocolate syrup over the tarts.
Notes:
These are much easier to make than they look, you will have chocolate sauce left over, but it keeps well in the refrigerator and has many uses.

Yum and very easy!

1 lb of Italian pork sausage, (then cooked, drained, crumbled)
4 1/2 cups cubed day old bread
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
10 eggs slightly beaten
4 cups whole milk
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp onion powder
Fresh ground pepper to taste

Optional:
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup peeled, chopped tomatoes

1 Heat a skillet on medium high. Break up the sausage into chunks and cook, working in batches if need be, until browned all around. Make sure the chunks of sausage have some space around them or your meat will steam and not brown. Remove the cooked sausage from the pan and let sit on some paper towels on a plate to soak up the excess fat. Crumble into smaller pieces.

2 Place bread in a well buttered 9x13 inch baking pan. Sprinkle with cheese. Combine the eggs, milk, dry mustard, onion powder and pepper. Pour evenly over the bread and cheese. Sprinkle sausage and optional ingredients over the top.

3 At this stage you can cover and chill overnight, if you want to prepare ahead. If not, let sit for 10 minutes before putting in the oven. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Bake uncovered for about one hour. Tent with foil if top begins to brown too quickly.

Serves 6-8.

Here's the link: http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/000043sausage_breakfast_casserole....

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 pounds (1 kilo) dried lentils (I use the tiny dark brown ones)
1 large onion, minced
1 yam, peeled and diced
2 ribs celery, diced
2-3 carrots, peeled and diced
4 potatoes, peeled and diced
3 zucchini, diced
1 piece of pumpkin, peeled..I used about 2 cups worth of diced
4 Spanish chorizos, sliced
1/2 pound bacon (200 grams), cut into bite sized pieces
beef broth or water and bouillon to cover vegetables completely, and to allow lentils to absorb water.
2/3 cup tomato sauce or tomato puree
thyme to taste
2 bay leaves
garlic powder to taste (I actually prefer garlic powder to fresh in this recipe…fresh garlic tends to lose it’s flavor when it’s boiled, while the powder adds a toasted garlic flavor that really adds to this…alternatively, you could brown some garlic in a bit of olive oil in the stockpot before adding the other ingredients)
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Wash and sort lentils.
Place all ingredients in a large stockpot and bring to a boil.
Cover and reduce heat to low.
Simmer, covered for 2 hours, or until lentils are tender, stirring occasionally.
Remove cover and simmer until desired thickness of stew is achieved (I usually leave it another hour or so), stirring occasionally.
Serve with cracked black pepper.
** This stew is even better the next day.

Here's the link: http://canarygirl.com/?p=140

Enjoy!

Cashew Butter Chicken: Serves 2

2 Chicken legs, skin off, diced
1 1/2 tablespoons Cashew Butter
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons Soy Sauce
1/2 stalk Lemongrass (or Lemon zest)
1/4 teaspoon smoked Paprika
Pinch of sugar
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
Black Pepper
1 clove Garlic, chopped
Water

1. Combine the sauce ingredients (That’s everything but the Chicken and the Water)

2. Heat a large pan with a little oil, add the Chicken, and cook until almost done.

3. Reduce the heat and the add the sauce. Cook until the Chicken is done.

4. Add water as needed, the sauce reduces quickly.

5. Remove the Lemongrass and serve, with Rice/noodles if you like, but I think it’s best inside a warm Naan bread.

Here's the link: http://gkbloodsugar.wordpress.com/2008/01/24/cashew-butter-chicken/

Enjoy!

Makes 18 to 24 depending on your molds

750 milk (2 1/2 cups)
50 gr butter (2 TB)
3 eggs plus 3 egg yolks
200 gr granulated sugar (1 cup)
1 Tb vanilla extract
1/4 cup rum
155 gr flour (1 1/4 cups)

In a saucepan, bring the milk to a simmer, add the butter cut into dices. Mix well and let cool to lukewarm. In a bowl, mix the eggs, egg yolks, sugar and vanilla and whisk until foamy. Slowly add the rum and flour. Add the milk slowly and whisk until smooth. Pass it through a sieve if necessary. Let the batter rest in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. When the batter has rested, preheat the oven to 375F and divide it evenly among the canneles molds, generously coated with cooking spray or well oiled if you use copper. Bake for 35-45 minutes. The will be scortching hot right out of the oven, so let them cool 20 minutes or so before enjoying them.

Note about the molds:
Last time they came my parents brought many of my favorite Demarle silicone pans (a bit pricey but so worth it) as well as a couple others they did not have on stock, called Moulflex, cheaper, bright red and a little bit lighter. I was skeptical but grateful at the same time as I did not want to pay for copper canneles molds...Oh trust me I could...they are so pretty and shiny...but I can't justify such an expense to my beloved! The Moulflex ones worked like a charm! The only copper thing I owned is the hot chocolate pot in the top picture that I found at an antique store.

Here's the link: http://tartelette.blogspot.com/2008/01/canneles-favorite-and-addicting-s...

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 3oz. packages ladyfingers
3/4 cup whipping cream
1 8oz. container mascarpone or cream cheese
3 tablespoons instant espresso
1/2 cup sugar
1 splash coffee flavored vodka (Kahlua would be fun too)
1 1/2 cup water

a bunch of bittersweet chocolate shavings

Put the 3 tablespoons of instant espresso in a medium bowl combine with 3 tablespoons of boiling water. Stir until the espresso powder completely dissolved. Add the 1 1/2 cups of water and the splash of booze. Stir!
Meanwhile, whip the cream with the 1/2 cup of sugar. When you have made whipped cream, add the mascarpone and stir it up! Try not to take too many tastes, because you might get stressed at the assembly part and think you may not have enough! (I’m serious)

In the dish/bowl/serving container you are using put 3 heaping tablespoons of the cream on the bottom. Dunk each ladyfinger in the coffee mixture for less than a second. Layer them on top of the cream in the dish. When you are done with the first layer, add more cream on top. It’s like you are making a lasagna! Now continue with your second layer. Top that with the last of your cream. With the help of a potato peeler, and shave a hunk of bittersweet chocolate on top. If you do not have a hunk of bittersweet chocolate lying around like I do…. Dust the top with cocoa powder.

I let this sit in the fridge for about 45 minutes and then brought it over to my friends house. We ate it about 3 hours later and it was scrumptious! It took about 20 minutes to assemble (phew!).

Here’s a shot of the layering process:

Up close on the shavings-

Here’s the layered dish:

Here's the link: http://www.shutterbean.com/tiramisu/

Enjoy!

here's another one that i would love to make someday.

Master Dough
from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

The book contains several master dough recipes, and this is an enriched, sweet dough, perfect for a loaf of Challah (the braided dough) and the Sticky Rolls. You start by mixing the master dough first, Let that rest overnight in the refrigerator, then the next day, pinch off a cantaloupe sized hunk-o-dough to make your Sticky Pecan Caramel Cinnamon Rolls! Return the rest to the refrigerator to use for another day.

1 3/4 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 tbl instant yeast
1 1/2 tbl kosher salt
4 lg eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
7 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, mix together the eggs, honey, melted butter, yeast and salt. Stir well with a wooden spoon. Add in the flour. STIR, BABY STIR!!! Stir until you don't see any more dry bits of flour. Cover (not airtight) and stick it in the refrigerator overnight, or up to 4 days. The longer you let it fart around in the refrigerator (literally!), the better tasting the dough will be.

pssst....if you want, you can let it rise for 2 hours on the counter, pinch off the dough that you need to make your rolls. However, I've found that with only a 2-hour rise, the bread isn't very flavorful. Still good, but definitely not as good as if you had let it sit 1-4 days in the refrigerator.

This is what the mixed dough looks like:

Sticky Pecan Caramel Cinnamon Rolls
adapted from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

The photos I have on this post was the book's recipe followed exactly. However, the recipe below is modified it a bit, increasing the amount of caramel and amount of filling, as I like my rolls to be oozing, dripping of the sweet cinnamon butter and sugar. Think of Cinnabon, that chain store found in every American mall, except EVEN BETTER.

The Dough
A cantaloupe sized chunk of the Master Dough (about 1.5 lbs)

The Gooey Sticky Caramel Topping
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 tsp kosher salt
2/3 cup brown sugar
30 toasted pecan halves

The Heavenly Sweet Cinnamon Butter Filling
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
2/3 cup chopped and toasted pecans
1 tsp kosher salt

9" square or round cake pan

The first thing you need to do is take that master dough out of the refrigerator, grab a small cantalope sized chunk of dough. Return the rest of it to the refrigerator to use another time (psst...get the book for all the other recipes using this dough!). Generously flour your hands and the dough. Shape the dough into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough and tucking it to the bottom all around, rotating hte ball a quarter-turn as you go. This creates a taut, smooth surface. Let the dough rest, covered with a towel to take the chill off.

While the dough is unchilling, mix the topping and the filling.

FOR THE TOPPING: Cream together the butter, salt and sugar. Spread this topping evenly on the bottom of the cake pan. Sprinkle with pecan halves (I used chopped pecans in my photos).

FOR THE FILLING: Cream together all ingredients except the pecans. Set aside.

Dust your counter with flour and roll out the dough with a rolling pin to 1/8" thick rectangle. Try to get it 13" x 17" I had trouble with the rectangle shape, so I we just rolled it into a large oval. Spread the sweet butter filling evenly on the surface. Sprinkle chopped pecans all over. Here is Andrew, the bad-ass baker boy at work. (hey, if your kid wants to eat sweets, make him cook or bake it himself - that's my rule!)

Roll it up, starting with the long side.

Flour your serrated knife and cut roll into 9 even pieces (square pan) or 8 pieces (round pan).

Set it in the pan on top of the caramel, cover with towel and rest for 40 minutes

Preheat your oven to 350F. The book says to bake for 40 minutes, or until golden brown and well set in the center. But take a peek at the rolls around the 30 minute mark.

I used my convection setting (325F for 22min)

While still hot, run a knife round the edge of pan and invert immediately onto a plate. If you wait until it cools, the caramel will harden and it will be difficult to turn out.

YUM. Soft, pillowy dough. Sweet cinnamon and nutmeg butter dribbling down your chin. Sticky, gooey caramel. Crunchy pecans.

Wanna bite?

Here's the link: http://steamykitchen.com/blog/2008/01/12/caramelroll/

enjoy!

see, i don't cook, but i'm going to learn and start. so i'll be posting recipes that i would love to try in the near future. i hope you try them and let me know if it's good or not! here's my first one, i found it here...

http://www.latartinegourmande.com/2008/01/12/custard-fruit-crumble/

Stewed Fruit and Vanilla Custard Crumble
(For 6 small ramekins)

For the vanilla custard (you will have leftovers, so you might decide to divide the recipe by two to have less; I personally never tire of custard and enjoy it eaten by the spoonful, with fresh strawberries):

• 2 cups + 2 Tbsp whole milk
• 1 vanilla bean, cut open lengthwise and seeds removed
• 1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp blond cane sugar
• 5 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
For the crumble:
• 1/4 cup quinoa flour*
• 1/4 cup brown rice flour*
• 1/4 cup packed muscovado sugar
• 2.5 Tbsp butter, cold and diced
*Or use all-purpose flour

For the stewed fruit, apples, strawberries and red currants:
• 4 Macoun apple, or a variety good for stewing
• 1 cup red currants
• 1 large handful of strawberries, cut in 4
• 1/2 vanilla bean, cut open lengthwise and seeds removed
• 2 Tbsp water
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1/3 cup blond cane sugar

Steps:
• To make the vanilla-flavored custard, pour the milk in a pot and add the vanilla bean and seeds. Bring to a boil and stop. Cover and let infuse for about 30 min. Discard the vanilla bean and reheat the milk. Keep.
• With an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks and sugar until light and foamy. Then add the cornstarch and mix well.
• Pour the hot milk slowly while stirring. Pour the cream in the pot again and bring to a boil to have the cream thicken. Stir constantly and cook for 1 or 2 min. Remove then from the heat.
• Pour the thick cream in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap to prevent a crust to form. Let cool.
To make the crumble, use your fingertips to mix all ingredients. Place back in the fridge if necessary.
To make the fruit, place the apples (peeled, cored and diced) in a pot with the sugar, spices and water. Simmer until the fruit is very soft (about 8 to 10 min). Then add the red currants and strawberries, and continue to cook for 1 to 2 min. Remove and keep.
To assemble your crumbles, start by preheated your oven at 350 F. Grease six ramekins. Add the stewed fruit at the bottom (keep some to top the custard) and add 1 full Tbsp of custard in the middle. Cover with the rest of the stewed fruit, and then finish with the crumble. Bake for 30 to 35 min and then remove from the oven. Let cool before eating. It is best eaten lukewarm!

enjoy!