Chocolate-It's What's for Dinner

Once again I had some sweet potatoes sitting around (my intentions are usually good but sometimes the carry out isn't). It was a little rainy so I thought it might be a good day for soup - and it was. Carrot Sweet Potato Soup (Adapted from my brain) 1lb carrots, cut into chunks 3-4 med sweet potatoes, cut into chunks olive oil salt 1 onion, chopped 2 stalks celery, chopped 3T brown sugar 1t cinnamon 5-6 c chicken or vegetable stock 1 c heavy cream Creme Fraiche and chives for serving Place carrots and sweet potatoes on separate roasting pans lined with silpat. Toss with about 1T of olive oil and some salt. Roast for about 1/2 hour on 450 (The carrots will be done before the sweet potatoes). Meanwhile put onions and celery in a dutch oven with some salt and olive oil on a low heat. Cook until caramelized. You can add 1T of brown sugar to help them along. Add cinnamon and brown sugar. Slowly add the 5 c of the vegetable or chicken stock. Remove carrots and sweet...

Yes we're still playing around with zucchini here.  I hadn't made this recipe for a long time and forgot how quick and easy and delicious it is. Carrot & Zucchini Ribbon Pasta (Adapted from 365 Ways to Cook Pasta ) 4 large carrots 1 zucchini 1 stick butter 3 cloves garlic basil parsley salt/pepper Shave Parmesan 1 lb pasta (fettuccine works well) Boil water for pasta. Meanwhile create ribbons out of the carrots by peeling the carrot the entire length.  At some point the carrot will either break or you will not be able to get any further ribbons (these are snacks for the chef).  Create ribbons peeling the zucchini but stop when you reach the seeds, turn zucchini, and continue until all you have left is the center (this is not a snack for the chef - this is for the compost pile). While pasta is cooking, melt butter in large skillet.  Add garlic and cook until you start to smell it. Add zucchini and carrot. Add basil.  Using tongs, gently turn...

Once the zucchini starts rolling in from the garden, you start to feel overwhelmed with zucchini.  You stuff it, bake it, tomato it, juice it, and bread it. You don't know what the heck to do with them all.  Well this is a nice and quick recipe that uses up a bit of it.  I first found the recipe in Cooking Light back in August 2010. It was just a side blurb about what to do with zucchini. I was desperate to use up zucchini so I tried it.  It is really a nice summery side dish. 3 carrots (about 1 cup) 1 zucchini (about 4 cups - see 4 you're using up 4 cups of zucchini it 1 go!!) 1/2 c dried cranberries 1/4 c mayonnaise* In a food processor, grate the carrots and empty them into a serving bowl.  Next grate the zucchini. Add them to the carrots.  Add the raisins.  Stir in the mayonnaise. It made a nice side to my Spinach Chicken burger! *I made my own mayo . I added a lot of fresh herbs since they are all growing like mad.  I used pa...

This is another great summer salad.  The only bad part is that you are cooking the grains for nearly an hour and boy does that heat up your kitchen! I found this in my recipe file - another one patiently waiting to be tried (I'm sure some of those recipes are not too patiently waiting - some have been in there a long time). I'm not even sure where I got this one from. I photocopied it so I guess I borrowed the book from someone. I have a few other recipes that look similar. If you know the book, please let me know so that I can give credit. It is a spiral-bound book - if that helps at all? Three-Grain Salad (Adapted from some recipe book??) 5 1/2 c water 1 c wheat berries 1/3 c brown rice 1/2 c hulled or pearl barley 1/3 c dried cranberries 1/4 c diced carrot 1/4 c diced celery (peeled before diced) 1 medium apple, unpeeled chopped parsley, chopped Dressing 1/3 c sugar 1/3 c olive oil 1/3 c white balsamic vinegar 2 t Worcestershire sauce 2 T shallots 2...

Since I've already offended a bunch of people with my entry on Irish Soda Bread, I figured why not offend some people from Cornwall too. Be careful how you pronounce Pasty-it's Pahs-TEE not pastey - that's another blog not mine. Cornish Pasties were supposedly created as lunches for miners.  They needed something that would fit in their lunch boxes and be easy to eat - guess they got tired of sandwiches. The first Cornish Pasty I ate was a few years ago at the West Cornwall Pasty Co in Covent Gardens in London. I know it's a chain and I generally don't like chain restaurants (if you can even call chain restaurants-restaurants) but in Europe they seem to have some good chain restaurants. After I came home, I was craving Cornish Pasties. I tried to find a recipe and could not find one that got the pastry right. I finally found one in Nigella Lawson's book . She doesn't call it a pasty, but that's what it tasted like to me. Here is where the off...