.chocolate zucchini bread.

Now before you turn your nose up and close the browser, I want you to give zucchini a chance. You don't taste it and it provides not only nutrients to your bread, it makes it moist and delicious!

I've been making this recipe for years now and it's one of my favorites. I'm sure it will become one of your favorites, as well.

This recipe makes 2 loaves, or about 1 dozen large, Texas sized muffins. (Those are the kinds of muffins we made at my bakery -- we like em big!)

In a large mixing bowl, combine:


1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 cups flour
1 Tbsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

In another bowl, mix together:
3 eggs, beaten
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 cup oil (you can substitute applesauce, if you like)
2 1/2 cups grated zucchini
1/2 bag mini chocolate chips

Dump all the wet ingredients into the dry and mix using a fork just until the dry ingredients are slightly wet. Don't overmix.

Spoon into prepared bread or muffin pans and pop in a 375* oven and bake 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350* and continue baking until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Trust me... you're going to love this bread! (you can thank me later. ;) )

.chocolate cream pie.

We were in Ohio visiting my husband's family last month and while we were away, my friend came over to our house every day to check on our cat and feed her for us. To thank her, I made her favorite pie: Chocolate Cream Pie!

Not only does my BFF love it, but so does my oldest daughter. In fact, for Christmas last year, the only thing on her list was her very own chocolate cream pie. That was an easy bill for Santa to fill!

The filling is just homemade pudding. Have you ever made homemade pudding? I wonder how many people in the world make it from scratch or do they take the easy way out and use a box of Jell-o Brand Pudding? I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark that 99.99% of people in the world go with that 2nd option.

Anyway... on to the recipe. I didn't cut into the pie because.. duh.. it was going to a friend. It would have been very poor manners for me to cut into her pie. But know that underneath that cloud of fluffy whipped cream and grated chocolate is a pool of decadent chocolate yumminess.

For the crust:

Crush 1 package chocolate graham crackers in a large zip loc. Add 2 Tbsp brown sugar and 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted. Mix it all together in the bag then dump into a pie plate and press into the bottom and on the sides. Set aside.

For the filling:

3 cups milk or half and half (depends on how bad you want to be)

5 egg yolks (you can save the whites for omelets or angel food cake)

1 3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup cornstarch

1 Tbsp butter

2 tsp vanilla

dash sea salt

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 cup semi sweet chocolate

1 cup milk chocolate

Put 2 1/2 cups milk, the sugar, salt, and cocoa powder in a medium to large saucepan and bring to scald over medium high heat. Do not let this boil!

In a bowl, put the remaining 1/2 cup milk with the cornstarch and egg yolks. Whisk well.

When the milk is steaming and scalded, but not boiling, carefully pour a little bit of the hot milk into the cornstarch/yolk mixture while you continue to whisk. This is going to temper your yolks. If you poured the hot liquid in without stirring, your yolks would begin to cook and you'll have really lumpy pudding. Yuck. Don't let that happen!

Put the pot back on the burner and then pour in the tempered yolks. **NOTE: When I pour the tempered yolks back into the pot with the remaining liquid, I pour it through a fine mesh sieve to keep egg particles or any lumps out of the pot. Lumps=bad!

Kick the heat up on the burner to high and keep stirring that filling as it comes to a boil. This will thicken as it heats up and when it's nice and thick, remove from the burner. Be careful as you whisk because this will bubble and pop up at you like molten lava and it hurts REALLY bad if it touches your skin. Constant stirring is essential at this end phase because it will burn on you if you aren't careful.

Once you've removed the pot from the stove, add the butter, vanilla, and the semi & milk chocolates. You can use whatever brand you want, but note that the better chocolate you use, the better your pie will be. For my friend's pie, I actually used some dark and milk Dove chocolate. YUM!

Stir well using a rubber spatula until the chocolate bits and butter are melted. Carefully pour the filling into your chocolate graham cracker crust. Cover the top completely with Saran and pop in the fridge. You want to let this chill for at least 6 hours (overnight is best) before putting the whipped cream on. This needs to set up otherwise when you put on the whipped cream, filling will ooze out from underneath. Not what we want.

Whipped cream

2 cups heavy or whipping cream

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

In a chilled bowl, add the cold cream. Using a chilled bowl and whisk/beaters will give you the best results for cream. Whip on medium speed until the cream is frothy and you can see ribbons of cream as it whips. Slowly (SLOWLY!) sprinkle in the sugar as you continue to whip. Whip on high until you have firm peaks. Mix in the vanilla.

Spoon onto the top of your set pie and spread out using your spatula or an offset frosting spatula. Take a piece of chocolate bar (in my case, I used a piece of Dove dark chocolate) and grate using a zester or the fine side of a cheese grater.

Keep this pie refrigerated until it's time to eat.

Valentine's Day Dinner

A couple of weeks ago, I had a last minute opportunity to attend the US Bocuse d'Or final at The Culinary Institute of America. Twelve teams fought to be the US representative at the main Bocuse d'Or competition in Lyon, France January 2011.

Chef Thomas Keller, is the President of the US Bocuse d'Or organization and while there I was able to get him to sign my copy of The French Laundry cookbook! (Awesome!)

Anyway.... Part of my Valentine menu was inspired by a recipe in that book and the beef broth I made, *did* come from his instructions and it took all stinking day to make. That's okay though. The flavor of that stock was A-MAZING!!!

Competition floor


Chef Daniel Boulud introducting some of the judges

One of the presentation trays as it passes the judges -- (thank you zoom lens for having the capability to get these shots from my seat in the bleachers!)


At church, we can sign up to feed the missionaries who are serving full-time. Right now, we have the cutest, SWEETEST Sister Missionaries that I just love so when I saw that they didn't have plans on the calendar for Valentine's Day (except church), I put my name down and got to scheming. I like to make food they normally don't get every day and for this holiday, I wanted to make it extra special and extra delicious!

Dinner was served in 3 courses -


{Course #1}
Sweetheart Salad w/ Goat Cheese Croquette & Sweet Potato w/ Rosemary Rolls
I made my roll dough like normal but before adding the flour and salt, I stirred in 1 cup mashed sweet potatoes and 1 Tbsp rosemary. A little extra flour is necessary due to the moistness of the sweet potatoes, but if you gauge it by how the dough pulls together, you'll have just the right amount. I loved how savory these were. Delicious.

The salad was in a parmesan bowl that I made, but I didn't keep them in the oven long enough and they flattened out. They were so delicious with this salad! What I did was use my silpat and sprinkled two semi large circles on the mat (on a cookie sheet) and popped into a 400* oven. Let it melt until nice and golden brown. Remove and let sit for a few minutes so the cheese is cool enough to handle. Slowly pull the cheese up and off the Silpat and place over an upside down bowl. Allow the cheese to cool and harden completely.

My "sweetheart" salad had mini hearts cut out of a red bell pepper, I did a zigzag cut around radishes and when pulled apart, they look like little flowers, I curled green onion sprigs by slicing the chive part and then popping in a bowl of ice water for 30 minutes. Grated carrots, sliced cucumbers, and topped with a goat cheese croquette.

To make the croquette, I cut semi-thick slices off a goat cheese log. Dipped each slice in egg wash (1 egg white + 1 Tbsp water) and then into a bowl of crushed Panko breadcrumbs.
Place all the pieces on a plate and put in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes. Heat a little oil in a small saucepan and carefully put each croquette in to fry. When golden brown on both sides, remove and sit on a paper towel to drain. Put on top of the salad. This ooey, gooey warm bit of goodness is pure heaven!




{Course 2}

Parmesan Polenta Cake, Pan-seared Pork Tenderloin, & Root Vegetable Garnish

Polenta: Bring 2 cups water and 1/2 tsp salt to boil in a saucepan. Add 3/4 cup polenta and cook until thick. Add 1 Tbsp butter and a small handful of fresh grated parmesan cheese. Taste. Season with more salt and pepper if necessary. Dump out into a 9x13 pan and refrigerate. This can be made a day before hand to cut down prep time. I used a circle cutter to cut out all the cakes. This made 12 rounds. When ready to plate, heat a skillet. Melt butter and carefully place a cake for each person in the pan. Fry until both sides are golden.

Tenderloin: This part was the easiest. Cut thick slices of tenderloin. Season well with salt, pepper, and thyme (fresh is best). Heat a skillet over medium high heat. When hot, drizzle in some olive oil and carefully place each medallion in the pan. Sear for 3-4 minutes on each side. Pop into a 350* oven until the centers are no longer squishy, but still spongy. We don't want to overcook the pork!

Root Vegetable Garnish: Peel and slice celery root into batons (rectangles). Slice those little snack size carrots into quarters. Slice a beet and then cut into very very fine dice (small squares). Take 3 cloves garlic and crush with the side of your knife. Remove the dry skin.

Heat three saucepans up with water. If you don't have three, then just use one and alternate your cooking. Put the carrot and celery root in a small pot of boiling water. Cook until just slightly fork tender (do not overcook!). Strain and put the veggies into ice water immediately to stop them from cooking any further. Drain and set aside.

Boil some more water. This time, add the beet and repeat the same method as above. You want to cook the beet separately because it will bleed color everywhere and you don't want to change the color of the other vegetables.

Finally, we're going to do the exact same thing with the garlic! Boil in water until fork tender, drain, shock with ice bath, drain and set aside.

When you're ready to plate your food, put the veggies in a little saute pan to heat back up with 1 Tbsp butter. Season with salt and pepper. I think some chopped italian parsley would have been perfect for some color. I had used up the last of my parsley to make my beef stock so I wasn't able to do this.

Savory beef sauce: Heat olive oil in a skillet. Saute chopped carrot (2), 1/2 an onion, diced, 2 stalks celery, and 1 bay leaf. When the veggies are cooked through, remove from the pan. Add 1 Tbsp butter and move around the bottom of the pan. When melted, add 1 cup red wine and 3 cups beef stock. Cook over medium high heat until the sauce has reduced by half and is starting to thicken. If it doesn't thicken, stir a little beef stock and a tsp or two of cornstarch in a small bowl. Whisk until there aren't any more lumps and then carefully add to the sauce. Stir well. Once thick (not too thick!), drain through a mesh sieve to remove any particles.

When you're ready to plate, put one of the polenta cakes in the center of the plate. Carefully stack two pieces of tenderloin on top. Spoon the vegetable garnish on top, and then drizzle with the beef sauce. Be prepared for pure silence at the dinner table. Everyone will be too busy enjoying every bite of this dish! :)

{Course 3}

Bittersweet Chocolate Charlotte

I'd been eyeing this recipe for awhile and decided it would be perfect for this dinner. What says "I love you" better than chocolate? Come on now.

To improve on the recipe, I made my own chocolate lady fingers. I have to say, WAY better than store bought but with all the eggs you need to make both the Charlotte and Lady fingers, I say buy them if you can find them. (I used over a DOZEN eggs!)

I love individual desserts for special dinners so I lined the inside of my ramekins with a parchment circle on the bottom (for easy releasing) and put lady fingers around the edge. I cut my lady fingers in half so they were flush with the top of the ramekin. Once you have sides covered, spoon in some of the chocolate mousse. Top the mousse with more lady fingers and press slightly to make sure there aren't any air holes. Cover with saran and chill overnight.

When ready to plate, I simply ran a small knife around the inside of the ramekin to unstick any lady fingers then sat a plate on top. Flip them over so the Charlotte pops out (might require some shaking of the ramekin). Pull up the parchment circle if it's still attached to the Charlotte.

I piped on some whipped cream (use fresh whipped if you can. Aerosol whipped cream will melt and deflate all over and will be a huge huge mess), drizzled with a little ganache I had in my fridge, and garnished with a white chocolate heart I made the night before.

The perfect ending to a perfect night! I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's day. When you're looking for a showstopping meal for your loved one, or if you just want to impress the pants off your guests/family, I definitely suggest this meal! You'll be the talk of the town!

.brownies to die for.

Last night my husband wanted brownies. I usually make these cakey brownies that are a lot like Texas sheet cake. Okay.. it is Texas sheet cake, but we don't call it that. He wanted rich, gooey, chewy brownies that lull you into sweet chocolate dreams. It sounded pretty good to me!

I remember I have a specialty cookbook called Chocolate. That's it. Chocolate. There are recipes for brownies, cookies, cupcakes, cakes... all devoted to my obsession. :) So I peeked in there for the perfect brownie recipe and found it.

The nice thing about this recipe too is that you dirty one dish -- a large saucepan.. minus the brownie pan you actually bake these guys in.


First you need to take 3/4 cups butter (1 1/2 sticks) and put in a saucepan over medium heat and melt completely. Turn off the burner and remove the pan from the heat.

When it's melted, add 2/3 cup cocoa powder. Mix well.

Next, measure out 1 2/3 c. sugar and add that, and 1/2 tsp salt to the pan and whisk in. It'll get really thick, but that's okay.

Whisk in 2 eggs and 1 1/2 tsp vanilla just until it's all mixed in. Don't over beat.

Sprinkle in 1 cup flour. Use a spatula to mix it all together and not the whisk. I tried it with the whisk and it was so thick it took forever to knock it all out from the middle. So learn from me... use a spatula.

Add 3/4 chocolate chips. You can use semi sweet, milk, or white chocolate chips. I'm not fussy... but I used plain ol semi sweet.

Chop 1 to 1 1/2 cups walnuts or pecans.

Spray an 8x8 baking pan with Pam and dump in the brownie batter. Spread out evenly.

Sprinkle enough chopped nuts on top to cover the surface. Pop in a 350* oven and bake for 30-35 minutes. When you insert a toothpick in the center, it should come out a little gooey on the stick. You don't want to overbake because then it won't be a moist, chewy brownie.

Remove from the oven and let it cool completely. Again.. trust me when I say let it cool. I didn't and when I cut into it, it was too gooey and wouldn't hold it's shape.

These were sinful and decadent. I could hardly eat even one of these they were so rich. So sit down and enjoy these with a tall cold glass of milk.

Printable version:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AZ-Z_fQXybIkZGcydmZqcW1fMTYwZGRzNWg0Y2c&hl=en

.chocolate souffle.

Ahhhh chocolate souffle...or should I say pure unadulterated pleasure in a ramekin.  Oh how I love thee!  This dessert recipe is the cherry on top of the cake for your Valentine Dinner.  Are you folks ready to start cooking?

Remember, you can do a lot of your prep tomorrow if you have time, that way you aren't killing yourself on Saturday.  It is a good thing Valentine's Day falls on a weekend though, right?  I really hope if you make this menu for your special love, that you'll come back and let me know how it goes.  Deal?

Okay.. back to the pot of pure pleasure.  I have to admit something.  This is the first time I have ever made a souffle.  I guess I've always been intimidated by it and thought they took so much work and time.  I couldn't have been more wrong.  Seriously.  It really isn't difficult.  You just have to know what you're doing and that's where I come in.  You are going to WOW the socks off your husband or wife if you make this for them.  Really.  So don't be afraid.  Just follow me. :)

Take 4 ramekins and butter the bottom and sides.  Dust with regular sugar.  This recipe will probably make up to six souffles, so if you have enough ramekins, by all means.. make six!

These ramekins need to go back into the fridge to sit while we make the souffle.

You need to melt 4 ounces high quality bittersweet chocolate (70% cocoa) over a double boiler on very very low heat.  You don't want your chocolate to get too hot.  A tip.  When the chocolate starts melting, turn the heat off and just let the heat melt it.

Once it's melted, just set it aside for now.

Separate five eggs, saving only 3 of the yolks.  You need all of the 5 egg whites so do not discard them.  I put my eggs on the counter to warm up a little before starting my souffles.  You will get more volume when it comes time to whip.

Put the egg yolks in a mixing bowl with 1/4 cup sugar.  Whisk on high for 3 minutes.  At that time, the yolks and sugar will be really pale and fluffy.

Add 2 Tbsp flour and whisk again on high.  The mixture will start thickening now.  Make sure you scrape the sides of your mixing bowl to ensure everything is incorporated.

I didn't tell you beforehand, but you need to heat 1 cup milk just until it's warm.  Do not let it come to a boil.  While the mixer is on low speed, slowly add the milk into your egg yolk mixture.  Once the milk has been added, turn onto high speed and whisk for a minute.

Pour the entire milk/yolk mixture back into the saucepan and put on a medium burner.  You need to stay right on this and whisk getting into the corners because it will burn and try to stick on you.  So keep whisking.  It will start thickening up a little.  Once it starts thickening, REMOVE THE PAN FROM THE BURNER and whisk whisk whisk just to make sure nothing's sticking.

I returned this BACK to the mixer bowl and whisked again on high heat to make sure I had it whipped real good.

Add the melted chocolate and whisk again on high for a minute.

This is your creme patisserie and the base of your souffle.  If you aren't quite ready to go all the way with your souffle, then put a sheet of saran over the top of this mix, pressing it to seal tight on the surface of the patisserie.  Keep in a warm place.

I'm pretty sure this is how far a restaurant goes with their souffles.  Then when someone orders one, all they have to do is fold in the egg whites and bake.  Pretty amazing process, I'm sure.

Okay.. ready for the next step?  You're almost there!

If you only have one mixing bowl and whisk attachment, you're going to need to move the creme patisserie to another bowl, wash your mixing bowl well and drying it completely, and clean your whisk.  You need a very clean bowl to get your whites to whip up.

Put the 5 egg whites in the bowl with a pinch of cream of tartar.  Whip on high.  When you have soft peaks, sprinkle in 2 Tbsp sugar.  Continue to beat until you have firm peaks.  Little fluffy clouds of goodness!

Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate.  This will lighten up the base.  Add the remaining whites and quickly fold in before they deflate.  If there are striations in the batter, it's okay.  

Pull the ramekins from the oven and ladle the souffle filling into each one.  Fill just up to where the lip flutes out.

Put these into a preheated 400* oven for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes are up, pull these from the oven.  Make sure when they're baking that you don't open the oven for any reason.  The egg whites give the souffle the lift and bouyancy that make this dessert so spectacular and so indulgent.

Dust lightly with cocoa or powdered sugar.  If you want to serve this with a little whipped cream or ice cream, go right on ahead.

So is it as intimidating as you think a souffle appears to be?  If you can whip egg whites, or make a cream pie filling, you can make these!  I know I'm not scared anymore.  I even have a recipe for a lemon souffle that I'll have to try sometime.  

Thank you to all of you who are taking this Valentine dinner journey with me.  I hope you have much success and I hope the hearts and stomachs of those you love are filled this holiday weekend.

Love,

Suzanne

Printable version:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_138fs7zw8dh

.chocolate french silk pie.

Have you ever had french silk pie? If you have, you'll be familiar with the delicious light, whipped filling that has a very delicate texture. Absolutely delicious. The chocolate is very subtle, unlike a chocolate cream pie. This is really just a chocolate mousse plopped on pie crust. What can be better than that?

This pie does call for raw egg, so if you have a problem with that, this might not be the pie for you. But trust me (trust me), you will not get food poisoning and you cannot taste the egg at all.

Before making the filling, you need to make a pie crust. When I started the pie crust, I took 3 eggs out of the fridge and sat out on the counter. You don't want to use really cold eggs, but rather you want eggs that have the chill taken off them. I have found if you take them out as you start the pie crust, they'll be out long enough to whip well.


For this recipe, make one single pie crust. Put in your pie plate, stab with a fork to create air holes, and stick in a 425* oven for 10-15 minutes.

You want the pie crust to be a little golden brown. Pull from the oven and allow to cool. You can make this pie crust the night before if you want.






While the pie crust is in the oven, you need to melt 3 ounces chocolate. The key to this recipe is good chocolate. Don't use Hershey's or Toll House. I'm talking gourmet chocolate here, people.

I broke off a piece of my Callebaut bar. It is some seriously good chocolate with out about 70% cocoa. It's a nice dark chocolate.












Melt over a double boiler on low heat. Don't get this too hot!











In a mixing bowl, put 1 softened stick (1/2 cup) butter and 3/4 cup sugar.

You really will want to use a hand mixer or stand mixer for this. You will KILL YOURSELF trying to whip this by hand and you won't get anywhere near the texture you need/want.






Cream the sugar and butter together for about 5 minutes on medium high speed. You need to make sure you let this whip until the sugar is no longer grainy. It needs to dissolve into the butter.









Add the melted chocolate and whip to incorporate. See how fluffy this is already becoming?

Add 1 tsp vanilla at this point too. Mix well.









Now, add one egg and whip whip whip on high. When it has been whipped and the sides scraped, add the second egg.

Again, whip whip whip on high. Each time you add an egg, it will get lighter and fluffier. Scrape the sides again.

Add the third egg and whip whip whip for the last time. By this point, you will have a beautiful silky mousse filling.


Here's a better shot of that filling. See how gorgeous that is? It's almost like chocolate whipped cream!











Scrape all of the filling into the cooled pie shell. Put in the fridge to sit while we make the whipped cream.










Thanks to the magic of the internet, voila. Sweetened whipped cream! Put the whip cream in a piping bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe whip cream around the edge of the pie and a little dollop in the center.

I used my vegetable peeler to shave off some chocolate off my Callebaut bar and sprinkled that on top.

Because this pie has egg in it, you will need to keep it in the fridge at all times. Probably not a good pie to serve at a hot summer pot luck outside. No no. Not good, unless you pull it directly from the fridge, serve, and put right back.

This pie is so very simple to make. Wow your family with this dessert tonight!


Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_1312w8dkwdv

Move over Krispy Kreme.....

Can you believe in our little podunk town we don't have a donut shop? There used to be one but their donuts were really icky so they didn't last long. We didn't make donuts at the bakery because the building was not equipped with fryers or hoods, and we couldn't even outfit the place with them because the shop was protected by the historical society. Anyway.. we didn't have donuts.

I've never made them before either! I have known too many people who tried making them in the past only to have them burn their kitchens down. Yikes. Now that I know more about frying and what not, I know if your oil is too hot and you're not careful, that can happen! I used my wok to help keep my oil at a constant temperature where it is more difficult when using the stove.

Here's the recipe I used:

1 cup milk, heated

1 cup warm water

2 1/4 tsp (1 pkg) yeast

1/2 cup shortening

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp salt

7 cups flour

Heat the milk and add warm water to the bowl. Put in the yeast and let it proof for 15 minutes.

In a mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs, mixing well until creamy. Alternate adding the flour and milk/yeast mixture. About halfway through, add the salt. Once the flour has been added, dump the dough onto a well floured counter and knead until you have a really nice, soft dough.

Put in a bowl and allow to rise until double in size.

After the dough has doubled, roll out and use a circle cutter to cut the dough, and then a small circle cutter to remove the center. Put these on sprayed cookie sheets and cover with towels until they're almost double in size.

Look at my big helper! She has been bugging me ALL WEEK to make these! A perfect treat for Friday night. She even got to stay up late to enjoy them.

You want to make up your glazes beforehand. I have three different kinds. Original glaze which is just powdered sugar and a little water. Maple glaze which is powdered sugar, maple syrup and a little water. And finally chocolate glaze. I melted two tablespoons of butter with 1 1/2 cups of chocolate in a saucepan. Add about 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar and a little water once the chocolate is melted. Mix well to smooth everything out. I also bought those chocolate sprinkles from the store to put on top! (per Paige's request)

I had my oil heated to about 370*. These don't take long to fry up. Carefully CAREFULLY place the donuts into the oil.

When they're nice and golden on one side, flip them over so the otherside can cook. When both sides are golden, remove from the oil and let drain on paper towels. After you've done all the donuts, fry up those donut holes!

This is the fun part. Use a teaspoon to put the glazes on the donuts. After Jim put on the chocolate glaze, Paige put the sprinkles on.

Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_8263z5fdc3