Chocolate Mocha Trifle

Recipe Source: Chanonn (via NWC Forums)

Ingredients:

1 pkg. (450g) brownie mix
1 3/4 C. milk
1 small box vanilla instant pudding
1/4 C. warm water
4 tsp. instant coffee granules
2 C. thawed, frozen whipped topping
3 bars (39g each) buttery toffee crunch

Directions:

Lightly spray a rectangle baker with vegetable oil. Prepare and bake brownies according to package directions. Cool completely.

In a bowl, whisk pudding mix into milk until mixture begins to thicken. Dissolve coffee granules in warm water; add to pudding mixture, mixing well. Fold in whipped topping.

Cut brownies into 1 inch cubes. Chop crunch bars. Layer 1/3 of brownie cubes onto bottom of bowl. Top with 1/3 of the pudding mixture and 1/3 of the chopped bars. Repeat layers two more times. Chill 30 minutes before serving.

Yields 12 servings.

Per serving: 343 calories; 4 g protein; 16g fat; 48g carbohydrate; 280 mg sodium

Note from Chanonn: I have just discovered Trifles…they are so beautiful and easy to make…I have tons of recipes for them if interested:)

Hummus Dip

Recipe Source: FitSugar.com

Ingredients:

1 can of garbanzo beans (chick peas)
2 cloves of garlic, minced (you can always use more)
1 – 2 tbsp tahini (it’s made out of ground up sesame seeds)
Juice from 1/3 of a lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Place all of the ingredients in a blender for a few minutes, or until the mixture is creamy and smooth.

Serve in a bowl with fresh vegetables and sliced pita bread. Or even better, try it with homemade pita chips. This would also be a great snack to have while watching the Super Bowl.

Fit’s Tips:

This is a basic recipe, so play around with it – add your own special ingredients like grated carrots or artichoke hearts.

Gert’s Summer Chicken

Recipe Source: Gert Meyers, by way of Cookie at The Cook Shack Gab & Grub

Marinated Chicken for grillin’ or BBQin’…

This makes a lovely marinade with a slightly sweet yet tangy flavor, ideal for grilled or barbecued chicken. It’s my own recipe, loosely based on a book-recipe, now long lost…

Marinade:

Mix together using a spoon or blender:

juice of a small lemon
4 tbsp of runny honey
1 tbsp of toasted sesame oil (or equivalent)
3 tbsp of vegetable oil (peanut or sunflower)
3 tbsp of light soy sauce
1 tsp of balsamic vinegar (optional)
a few drops of Tabasco(TM)
some finely, freshly ground black pepper
a small pinch of ground cayenne pepper
a small pinch of fenugreek or ginger powder

Marinating:

It’s often believed that increasing the time of marinating to overnight improves the result but in my view that’s not entirely true. A marinade can only penetrate the meat almost no more than skin-deep and so it’s my experience that a couple of hours (even shorter) works quite well. For an instant marinade, I recommend adding a little cornflower to the marinade, which will make it more clingy: then you can simply brush your meat with the mix, minutes prior to cooking.

Cooking:

Use skinless pieces of chicken: chunks or strips of breast meat for instance, although turkey would also work well. You can be fancy and create skewers with some yellow or orange pepper, some red onion and some cherry tomatoes or even pineapple pieces, for a great presentation and a bit of Wow!-factor…

Alternatively, simply marinate the strips or chunks together with the pepper etc, then cook and serve on a preheated serving dish. Tuck in!

I suggest cooking these on low heat barbecue (make sure it’s cooked through and through) or a ribbed skillet (I usually put a good dollop of salt on my skillet, which acts as an anti-adhesive ).

Happy eating!

Whoopie Pies

Recipe Source: Jen at thebarmybaker.blogspot.com, (adapted from Chocolate American Style by Lora Brody)

Makes: 9 large pies, 18 smaller ones

Cake Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour (5 ounces..I used the weight measurement instead of volume for this one)
3/4 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup whole milk (I used buttermilk instead of the whole milk and lemon juice cause I love the moisture buttermilk brings to the party)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp vanilla extract (or a little more if you like, I used 3 tsp or 1Tbsp of it)
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 large egg

Cake Directions:

Heat oven to 350F. Prepare two sheet pans by lining them with parchment paper.

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and baking soda into a medium bowl, set aside.

Mix the milk, lemon juice and vanilla together and set aside (the mixture will thicken and curdle while it sits).

Cream together the brown sugar, butter and egg until light and fluffy. Turn the mixer down to low and begin to add the flour and milk mixtures alternately. Starting with 1/3 of the flour adding 1/2 of the milk, 1/3 of the flour, the rest of the milk and then the rest of the flour mixture. Mix until just blended.

Measure the batter out with a 1/4 cup (if you want 9 large pies) or about 2 tbsp each for smaller pies. Drop this batter onto the prepared sheet pans leaving about 2 inches between the cakes. Tap the sheets gently on a counter before baking to remove a bit of the air.

Bake the cakes for 12-15 minutes (shorter time is needed for the smaller cakes, I’d say 8 to 12 minutes) until they are firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and cool on the sheet pans.

Filling Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 cups marshmallow cream or fluff ( I tried this with marshmallow cream, but it did not work out for me. I ordered the fluff and it really did make a difference….maybe it was just to warm here that one day for cream..)
2 tsp vanilla extract (or vanilla bean paste if you have it on hand to add little beautiful vanilla specs to the filling)

Filling Directions:

Place everything but the vanilla in a mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat everything until it is blended, then stir in the vanilla.

Spread half the little cakes with this mixture, then top with the other half of the cakes.

Jen’s Notes:

The Whoopie Pies may be wrapped individually in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to a week. I love to make these for road trips or picnics, they would be perfect for the Fourth of July. Next time anyone asks you where the best place to make whoopie is, you can smile and reply “in the kitchen, of course!”.

Whooooooopie! Happy Baking.

Stovetop ‘Baked’ Beans

Recipe Source: Hunts.com

Prep/Cooking Time: 10-20 minutes

Ingredients:

3 slices Armour Bacon, coarsely chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cans (28 ounces each) Van Camp’s Pork and Beans
1/2 cup Hunt’s Ketchup
2 tablespoons Gulden’s Spicy Brown Mustard

Directions:

Cook bacon in medium saucepan over medium-high heat 5 minutes, or until crisp, stirring occasionally.

Add onions; cook 3 minutes, or until onions are crisp-tender. Stir in beans, ketchup and mustard; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low.

Cook 20 minutes, or until sauce is thickened, stirring occasionally.

Makes: 12 servings (1/2-cup each)

Alternative Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray 2-quart casserole dish with PAM Original No-Stick Cooking Spray. Prepare recipe as directed, except after bringing bean mixture to a boil, pour into prepared dish; cover. Bake 1 hour.

Cocktail Sauce

Recipe Source: Hunts.com

Prep/Cooking Time: Up to 10 minutes

Ingredients:

2 cups Hunt’s Ketchup
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish

Directions:

Combine ketchup, vinegar and horseradish in medium bowl. Mix well. Use immediately or cover and refrigerate for later use.

Makes: 14 servings (2 tablespoons each)

White Bean Salad

Recipe Source: 101cookbooks.com

Ingredients:

2 big handfuls baby spinach, washed and dried
2 cans white cannellini beans (or freshly cooked equivalent)
2 handfuls walnuts, toasted
a couple glugs of citrus-flavored olive oil
a small splash of champagne vinegar
a few pinches fine-grained sea salt
a bit of crumbled cheese (manouri, goat cheese work nicely)

Directions:

Rinse and drain the beans. If you like your bean salad on the warm side, my shortcut for heating them up is to run them under hot water (saves having to wash a pot).

In a large bowl combine the spinach, beans and walnuts. Add the olive oil, a splash of champagne vinegar, and salt. Toss gently but make sure you get everything nicely coated. Sprinkle a bit of cheese on top and enjoy.

Serves 4.

Poblano Corn Chowder

Recipe Source: Naiveray / allrecipes.com

Prep/Cooking Time: approx 1 hour

Ingredients:

1/2 cup chopped onion
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 tablespoons margarine
1 fresh poblano chile pepper, seeded and diced
1 quart heavy cream
1 quart half-and-half cream
1/3 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon lobster base (optional)
1 pinch ground dried chile de arbol
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 (15 ounce) can cream-style corn
1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1/2 pound shrimp, peeled, deveined, and diced
salt to taste
white sugar to taste

Directions:

In a blender or food processor, puree the onion and celery; drain.

Melt 2 tablespoons margarine in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and celery puree and the poblano chile pepper. Stirring constantly, cook about 5 minutes, until tender. Mix in heavy cream, half-and-half cream, sugar, and lobster base. Season with chile de arbol and black pepper. Stirring often, bring to a gentle boil.

Melt 1/2 cup margarine in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Mix in the flour, and stir constantly until thickened. Remove from heat, and gradually mix into the large saucepan. Cook and stir until the mixture is well blended and thickened.

Mix cream-style corn and whole kernel corn into the large saucepan mixture. Stir in the shrimp, and cook 2 minutes, or until opaque. Season with salt and sugar.

Lobster Creole

Recipe Source: Jennifer / allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

1/4 bunch fresh parsley
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 large green bell pepper, diced
4 cloves crushed garlic
1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
5 cups water
red pepper sauce to taste
2/3 cup sherry
1 (4 ounce) jar pimentos, julienned
1 cup frozen petite peas
4 raw lobster tail, quartered
2/3 pound fresh shrimp, shelled and deveined without tails

Directions:

Remove the stems from the parsley and discard. In a food processor combine the parsley leaves, yellow onion, green pepper, garlic and stewed tomatoes. Process just enough to chop the ingredients up. Should retain a chunky consistency

In a large pot over medium/low heat, combine olive oil and parsley mixture. Cook for about 6 to 7 minutes.

Stir in tomato paste until completely dissolved. Pour in 5 cups of water, red pepper sauce, sherry and red pimentos. Raise the heat to medium and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Add the petit poi, lobster tails and shrimp. Simmer for 10 minutes or until shrimp are pink all the way through.

Christmas Seafood Casserole

Recipe Source: Down Home Soul Food Cooking Blog

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped onions
1 1/2 cups chopped celery
2 1/2 cups milk
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons butter
4 ounces Cheddar cheese, sliced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 pound crabmeat
1/4 pound lobster meat
1/4 pound medium shrimp
1/4 pound scallops

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium baking dish.

Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a skillet, and saute the onions and celery until tender.

Heat the milk in a saucepan over medium heat, and mix in the flour and 1 1/2 teaspoons butter until well blended. Gradually blend the cheese into the mixture. Season with salt and pepper.

In a medium bowl, mix the onions and celery with the cheese sauce mixture. Toss in the crab meat, lobster, shrimp, and scallops. Transfer to the prepared baking dish.

Bake uncovered in the preheated oven 25 minutes, or until the seafood is opaque and the surface is lightly browned.