Chocolate-It's What's for Dinner

How can you make quinoa unhealthy?? By adding chocolate and eating a lot of it you say?? Why yes that is how. I saw this receipe quite some time ago - almost a year in fact. I don't know why I waited so long! It is quite addictive. I used mixed quinoa and only used almonds (I didn't have any cashews). It is a bit gooey and I found it keeps better in the refrigerator. This might not be a bad thing because at least it is hidden from view. If it weren't, I would be eating even more of it!

This looked like a nice simple cake. Rather pound cakey (the Sous Chef's favorite!). I had some lemons; I had some heavy cream so why not?! Lemon-Spice Visiting Cake (Adapted from NY Times ) 1 1/2 c flour 1 1/4 t baking powder 1 t ground cardamom 1/2 t ground ginger 1/2 t sea salt 1 1/4 c sugar 1 lemon (with zest) 4 eggs 1/2 c heavy cream 2 t vanilla 5 T butter, melted Optional glaze: 1 c confectioners sugar mixed with about 2T fresh lemon juice & zest OR 1/3 c marmalade mixed with 1/2 t water (warmed to make easily spreadable) Grease & flour a loaf pan. Set aside. Whisk together flour, baking powder, cardamom, ginger, and salt. Set aside. Add sugar to another bowl and zest the  lemon lemon over the bowl to capture all those oils. Rub zest into the sugar with your fingers.  Set lemon aside. Whisk in eggs, one at a time. Add 3T of juice from the lemon.  Add vanilla and heavy cream. Whisk together. Whisk in dry ingredients into the batter

So melting potatoes are a thing?? Apparently so. These were so delicious. They were a little crusty on the outside but soft on the inside. Two things that make potatoes taste great. I followed the recipe exactly - well OK not exactly. I used regular old russets. I also used a selection of dried herbs (actually I got them as a sample from Penzey's *) *You don't know about Penzey's ??!! This is a great company that has all sorts of spices, cocoa, and vanilla too. They often throw in some free samples with your orders. I choose to support them because, there's been a bit of a boycott (on the right) because of some of their polictal beliefs. This makes me want to buy even more things from them! Hey quality products and the same political views as me - win/win.

Very unassuming looking - but don't be fooled. They are complex tasting I had recently seen caneles being made on a TV show. So when I saw this article in the NY Times magazine, I was intrigued.  I may have interests in trying new things and new equipment, but I know I will never be lining canele molds with beeswax in order to make caneles. I thought this recipe might be the closest I will ever get. Brown-Butter Mochi (Adapted from NY Times ) 1/2 c butter, additional for greasing 13.6 oz coconut milk (don't use lowfat) 12 oz evaporated milk 2 cups dark brown sugar (I had light brown and they came out fine) 4 eggs 3 t vanilla 3 3/4 c rice flour* 1 T baking powder 1t sea salt Preheat over to 350. Grease two cupcake tins with melted butter. Set aside. Use a decent sized saucepan to heat butter. Swirl butter until the foam stops and the butter turns a nice brown. It will smell nutty. This takes about 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat. Add coconut milk, evaporated milk

Beautiful looking - not so much; wonderful tasting though When I first saw this recipe, I loved the simplicity of it.  It is so adaptable and the chicken comes out so tender it just falls apart. It remains so moist. Simple Slow Cooker Chicken (Adapted from Wholefully ) 1 onion 4 cloves garlic, whole 3-4 lb whole chicken salt/pepper 1 lemon 1 sprig Rosemary 5 sprigs thyme 1 c white wine, approx In a slow cooker, place onion and garlic. Sprinkle salt/pepper inside and outside of chicken. Place lemon wedges arount chieken. Add Rosemary and thyme. Pour white wine to the side of the chicken until. It should be about 1/4 inch up the side of the chicken. Cook on low 6-8 hours until chicken is tender and falling off the bone. You have some options for serving. If you would like to brown the skin - put chicken on baking sheet and broil OR remove chicken from slow cooker. Strain liquid. Make a roux in a small saucepan (or if you can use your slow cooker crock on top of the sto